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Growing older brings a higher risk of serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and dementia. For years, researchers have tackled these conditions individually. Now, many scientists are stepping back to ask a broader question. Instead of treating diseases one by one, could slowing the aging process reduce the risk…
For years, researchers studying the Southern Ocean have pointed to one possible upside in an otherwise troubling climate outlook. A widely discussed idea known as iron fertilization proposed that as Antarctica warms and glaciers melt, iron trapped in the ice would be released into nearby waters. That iron would fuel…
Sponges rank among the oldest known animals on Earth, yet scientists have struggled to pinpoint exactly when they first appeared. DNA from living sponges and chemical traces preserved in ancient rocks indicate they emerged at least 650 million years ago. The findings are reported in Science Advances. That early date…
Cell division is fundamental to life, yet scientists have struggled to fully explain how it works in the earliest stages of embryonic development, especially in egg laying animals. Researchers from the Brugués group at the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL) at TUD Dresden University of Technology have now…
Scientists have revealed how viruses that infect bacteria shut down MurJ, a protein essential for building the bacterial cell wall. Remarkably, different viruses evolved separate proteins that all block MurJ in the same way, highlighting it as a promising new antibiotic target. The findings appear in the February 26 issue…
Could something as common as coffee play a role in treating cancer? Scientists at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Biosciences and Technology believe it might. Their research combines caffeine with CRISPR, a powerful gene editing tool known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, to explore new ways to…
As concerns grow about the environmental and health impacts of plastic waste, scientists are accelerating efforts to develop safer, biodegradable alternatives. At Flinders University in South Australia, several research teams are working on new materials designed to reduce pollution from single use plastics. In a recent study published in Polymers,…
One of the most remarkable features of DNA is its precision. Cells read genetic instructions in sets of three letters called codons, and each codon corresponds to a specific amino acid. Those amino acids are linked together in a defined order to build proteins, the molecules that carry out most…
Shivering in the cold is uncomfortable, but it does force the body to burn extra calories to stay warm. Research has consistently shown that cold exposure increases energy use in both mice and humans. This calorie burning through heat production is known as thermogenesis. Many scientists and drug companies are…
A research team led by Daniel Ivanov, a physics and astronomy graduate student in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at Pitt, has identified a strong candidate for one of the earliest known spiral galaxies with a stellar bar. These bright, elongated structures can strongly influence how…
New research suggests that Saturn’s brilliant rings and its largest moon, Titan, may share a violent past shaped by collisions between moons. Although NASA’s Cassini spacecraft transformed our understanding of Saturn during its 13 year mission, it also uncovered new puzzles, including the surprisingly young age of Saturn’s rings and…
Photocatalysts are materials that absorb light and use that energy to drive chemical reactions. In organic synthesis, metal based photocatalysts are especially valuable because they are durable and can be customized. By adjusting the ligands attached to the central metal atom, chemists can fine tune how the catalyst behaves. Many…
Natural gas is one of the most plentiful energy resources on Earth. It is made mostly of methane, along with ethane and propane. Today, it is primarily burned for heat and electricity, a process that releases greenhouse gases. For years, researchers and industry leaders have tried to find ways to…
Researchers at MIT have uncovered new chemical clues in extremely old rocks that suggest some of the earliest animals on Earth were likely ancestors of modern sea sponges. Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes the discovery of “chemical fossils” preserved in rocks more…
For many years, researchers believed that the DNA inside a newly fertilized egg started out as a structural ‘blank slate’ — a loose and disorganized bundle that would only gain order once the embryo began using its own genes. In that traditional view, the genome remained largely unstructured until it…
Heart disease in women is projected to rise sharply over the next 25 years. By 2050, nearly 60% of women in the United States could have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. That is up from about half of women in 2020, according to a new…
Imagine a baby Brachiosaurus no bigger than a golden retriever searching for plants alongside its siblings while trying to avoid predators eager for an easy meal. Far away, its parents, towering more than 40 feet tall, continue their lives with no direct involvement in the youngster’s daily survival. Thomas R.…
Engineers at the University of California, Davis have created a device that produces mechanical power at night by taking advantage of the temperature difference between the warmth of the Earth and the extreme cold of outer space. The system could eventually help ventilate greenhouses and other buildings without relying on…
Green hydrogen is widely seen as a key pillar of the global shift away from fossil fuels. Yet making it at scale remains both costly and environmentally complicated. One of the leading production methods, PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysis, works especially well when electricity from wind and solar power rises…
A recent study published in Aging-US explored how two common amino acids may influence how long people live. The paper, titled “The role of phenylalanine and tyrosine in longevity: a cohort and Mendelian randomization study,” examined whether levels of these nutrients in the blood are connected to lifespan. Led by…
A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula underwent the most rapid retreat seen in modern times. In only two months, nearly half of Hektoria Glacier broke apart and disappeared. New research led by the University of Colorado Boulder and published in Nature Geoscience explains what happened in 2023, when the glacier…
Physicists at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, together with colleagues from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, have shown how light at the quantum level can be deliberately shaped across space and time to produce high-dimensional and multidimensional quantum states. By carefully controlling a photon’s spatial pattern, timing,…
Scientists at the University of Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences have settled a decades long argument over the strength of the Moon’s magnetic field. For years, researchers have questioned whether the Moon generated a powerful magnetic field or only a weak one during its early history (3.5 — 4 billion…
Cells organize many of their most important activities using structures known as biomolecular condensates. Unlike traditional compartments in the cell, these droplet-like clusters are not enclosed by membranes. They help control how genetic instructions in DNA are converted into proteins, assist in clearing away cellular waste that could otherwise become…
A new scientific study has found that the Old Irish Goat shares a genetic connection with goats that lived in Ireland about 3,000 years ago during the Late Bronze Age. The findings indicate that this rare native breed represents an unbroken Irish lineage that stretches back thousands of years. The…
Feeling anxious about getting older, especially worrying about declining health, may do more than weigh on the mind. New research from NYU School of Global Public Health suggests that these fears could be linked to faster aging at the cellular level in women. “Our research suggests that subjective experiences may…
Researchers in Brazil have found new evidence that extended use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may interfere with the body’s ability to absorb important nutrients. The study was conducted by scientists at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the ABC Medical School (FMABC). PPIs include widely used medications…
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called ‘forever chemicals’, include thousands of manmade compounds used in non-stick cookware, water-resistant clothing, fire-fighting foams, food packaging, cleaning supplies, and plastics. Their chemical structure is built on extremely strong molecular bonds, allowing them to resist breaking down in the environment. As a result,…
A recent study suggests that older adults who avoid meat may be somewhat less likely to reach age 100 than those who eat it. However, the findings are more complex than they first appear and should not be taken as a simple verdict against plant based diets. Researchers followed more…
A shingles vaccine may do more than prevent a painful rash. New research from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology suggests it could also be associated with slower biological aging in older adults. Scientists analyzed information from the nationally representative U.S. Health and Retirement Study, focusing on more than…
