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A single dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in magic mushrooms, may produce physical changes in the brain that remain detectable for as long as a month, according to researchers at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London. The study, published in Nature Communications, involved healthy adults who had never…
Researchers at Seoul National University and the University of Seoul have developed a programmable photonic integrated circuit that can slow light whenever needed. The team was led by Professors Namkyoo Park and Sunkyu Yu of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, working with Professor Xianji…
Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant and psychoactive substance in the world, and coffee is how most people consume it. According to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, most adults can safely consume up to 400 mg of caffeine/day (or up to five 8-ounce cups of…
“Turn off that TV, it’ll rot your brain!” has been repeated in households for generations. The word “rot” is clearly an exaggeration, but new research suggests that heavy television viewing may still have meaningful consequences for brain health. A recent study published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s…
K’gari, the world’s largest sand island, is celebrated for its striking freshwater lakes. New research from the University of Adelaide, however, suggests that even the island’s largest and deepest lakes may be vulnerable to disappearing under certain climate conditions. By examining ancient layers of lake sediment, researchers uncovered evidence that…
An international research team led by Hiroshima University has developed a technique that can reveal extremely early changes in human skin collagen, long before the damage becomes visible under conventional imaging. The findings, published in ACS Nano on July 16, 2026, suggest that collagen begins losing its precise molecular organization…
Some long-necked dinosaurs may have been far more capable of standing upright than their enormous bodies suggest. About 66 million years ago, two South American sauropods could rise onto their hind legs and remain there for relatively long periods, especially when they were young. This ability may have helped them…
Scientists led by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography are warning that oxygen is disappearing rapidly from oceans and freshwater systems, potentially pushing the planet into an “unsafe space.” Some of the resulting changes could persist for centuries and may not be reversible within human lifetimes. The new review…
Imagine a small fire breaking out in one corner of your kitchen. With the right extinguisher, you might be able to stop it quickly. Instead, the sprinkler system activates and floods the entire house, turning a contained problem into widespread damage. Researchers say something similar may happen in the brains…
Physicists have used an ordinary computer, advanced mathematics, and specialized software to solve a difficult quantum physics problem that had been described as beyond the reach of classical machines. The work was carried out by researchers at the Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute,…
Alzheimer’s disease and several other neurodegenerative disorders are linked to a damaging change in tau, a protein that normally helps support the internal structure of nerve cells. Under healthy conditions, tau stabilizes microtubules, the filament-like structures that help maintain neuronal shape and function. In disease, however, tau can twist into…
UCLA scientists have created a mineral sunscreen formula that leaves far less of the pale, chalky residue that often discourages people from using sun protection every day. Dermatologists have long recommended daily sunscreen use to reduce exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Too much ultraviolet radiation is the leading preventable cause of…
Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) are testing two technologies designed to destroy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a vast family of industrial chemicals known for resisting natural and conventional breakdown processes. The first approach uses hydrodynamic cavitation, which creates and collapses tiny vapor bubbles in contaminated water. The second…
Researchers at the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) have developed an artificial intelligence tool that may help predict serious cardiovascular problems many years before symptoms appear. The system, known as CardiOmicScore, uses information from a single blood test to estimate a person’s future risk…
A PhD student in Sydney has produced cosmic dust from scratch by recreating a small piece of the universe inside a laboratory bottle. The experiment offers new clues about how some of the chemical ingredients associated with life could have developed before Earth even formed. Linda Losurdo, a PhD candidate…
Do you sometimes notice a deep buzzing or humming noise that seems to have no identifiable source? If so, you may be among the estimated 2-4 percent of people worldwide who experience this unusual sound. Researchers have spent decades trying to determine where it originates. For some, the noise is…
Coffee has repeatedly been associated with longer life and a lower risk of several chronic illnesses. Even so, scientists have not fully understood the biological processes that might explain those benefits. New findings from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) point to one possible answer.…
A newly identified branch of the marsupial family tree is adding a surprising twist to the history of Australia’s most distinctive mammals. The finding suggests that their evolution was more complicated, and more mysterious, than scientists previously understood. Marsupials first reached Australia more than 55 million years ago. Since then,…
A rare type of meteorite known as a CO chondrite was likely the object that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago and triggered the extinction of about 75 percent of all species, including every non-avian dinosaur. Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Paris, Brussels, and Vienna reached…
A widely available antidepressant may provide meaningful relief for people experiencing persistent fatigue from long COVID, according to a global clinical trial co-led by McMaster University. Researchers found that fluvoxamine (sold under the brand name Luvox), an inexpensive medication already commonly used to treat depression and other conditions, reduced fatigue…
Several widely used sugar substitutes may be associated with faster declines in memory and thinking skills over time, according to research published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study followed nearly 13,000 adults and examined seven sweeteners that contain little or no calories. People…
A violent collision in the main asteroid belt may have triggered a prolonged wave of impacts across the inner solar system about 800 million years ago, according to a study led by the Southwest Research Institute. The researchers propose that the breakup of the parent object that formed the Eulalia…
Scientists have discovered that one of the most extreme volcanic events in Earth’s history did more than build a massive underwater plateau. It also altered the structure and chemistry of the oceanic plate beneath it. A research team led by Lecturer Azusa Shito of Okayama University of Science, working with…
A 12 week intermittent fasting program may help people maintain weight loss for at least a year after the structured intervention ends, according to research involving the University of Granada (UGR). Published in Clinical Nutrition, the study followed 99 adults who were overweight or obese. Half of the participants were…
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, are giving astronomers their clearest look yet at how supermassive black holes obtain the gas they need to grow. The images reveal long strands of gas linking a galaxy’s hot outer atmosphere to a rapidly rotating disk surrounding its central…
A Mediterranean-style diet may influence aging through an unexpected biological pathway involving tiny proteins produced inside mitochondria, according to a new study led by researchers at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Mitochondria are best known as the structures that generate energy inside cells, but scientists increasingly recognize that…
Terraforming is the process of reshaping a planet or moon so it can support humans and other Earth-like life. In theory, that means changing an alien world’s atmosphere, climate, and surface to more closely resemble Earth’s by adding oxygen, creating stable bodies of liquid water, and producing temperatures suitable for…
Every summer, lawns fill with colorful “silly sprinklers,” whose looping and twisting tubes send water spraying in unusual patterns. Their designs may look playful, but researchers have now used these backyard devices to investigate a serious and decades-old question in physics. The mystery is known as Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem. It…
Nanoplastics are already a concern because people may ingest them directly, but new research points to another possible danger. These tiny plastic particles may also make harmful bacteria more difficult to control. In a study published in Water Research, Virginia Tech researcher Jingqiu Liao and an international team found that…
Human evolution is closely associated with the development of a much larger brain. New research suggests that greater exposure to estrogen before birth may have contributed to that expansion, and that a possible trace of this hormonal influence can be seen in the relative lengths of a person’s fingers. Professor…
