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One of the biggest unsolved challenges in modern physics is bringing together two powerful theories that describe very different parts of reality. Quantum theory explains the behavior of extremely small particles with remarkable precision. Einstein’s general theory of relativity, on the other hand, describes gravity and the motion of planets,…
Two dimensional materials have drawn intense interest because their electronic and magnetic properties could power future technologies. Scientists have traditionally treated these two behaviors as separate. Engineers at Illinois Grainger Engineering have now shown that they are connected by the same underlying mathematics. In a study published in Physical Review…
Childhood obesity has been increasing in recent years. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about one in five children and teenagers in the United States met the clinical definition of obesity in 2024. Preventing obesity in children is not simple. For many years, the main approaches have focused…
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a major global health problem and one of the leading causes of disability. About 30% of people diagnosed with depression develop treatment-resistant depression (TRD), meaning their symptoms do not improve sufficiently with standard antidepressant medications. Ketamine has gained attention as a fast-acting antidepressant for people…
Dr. Rowan Martindale, a paleoecologist and geobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, was hiking through the Dadès Valley in Morocco’s Central High Atlas Mountains when something unusual caught her attention and made her stop. Martindale and her research team, including Stéphane Bodin of Aarhus University, were exploring the…
A large UK study involving more than 165,000 people with dementia has found that the drug risperidone is linked to a higher risk of stroke in all groups of patients. The findings challenge previous assumptions that certain patients might be safer candidates for the medication. Instead, researchers found no clearly…
How much fiber you eat can strongly influence your overall health. Fiber supports healthy digestion and has been linked to a lower risk of certain cancers, among many other benefits. That growing awareness may help explain why the “fibermaxxing” trend is gaining attention. Fibermaxxing refers to consuming at least the…
Scientists are using satellites to reveal which bridges around the world may be at risk of failure — and how to catch problems before disaster strikes. Adding satellite monitoring to bridge inspections reduces the number of structures labeled high risk by about one third. Among the bridges that still rank…
Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in “magic mushrooms,” has drawn growing interest from scientists studying treatments for conditions such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and some neurodegenerative diseases. Despite its therapeutic promise, the intense hallucinogenic effects associated with the compound may limit how widely it can be used in…
The accumulation of tau protein in the brain is a defining feature of Alzheimer’s disease. In a study published March 5 in the Cell Press journal Cell Press Blue, researchers describe a newly identified biological process that may help explain how tau builds up. The research combined animal experiments, cell…
Stepping outside on a chilly winter morning or placing a mint in your mouth quickly creates a cooling sensation. That feeling begins with a microscopic sensor inside the body that signals the brain when something is cold. Scientists have now produced the first detailed images showing how this sensor works,…
For many years, nuclear physicists believed that “Islands of Inversion” were found mainly in isotopes packed with extra neutrons. These unusual regions of the nuclear chart are places where the normal structure of atomic nuclei suddenly stops following the expected rules. In these cases, the well known magic numbers vanish,…
Roughly 15% of asteroids that pass near Earth have a smaller companion orbiting them. These paired objects are known as binary asteroid systems, and they are surprisingly common in our region of the solar system. A research team led by the University of Maryland has now found that these systems…
People who reported using a smartphone while sitting on the toilet were more likely to have hemorrhoids than those who did not use their phones in the bathroom. The finding comes from a new study led by Chethan Ramprasad of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the United States and…
A new study from Northwestern University warns that coordinated scientific fraud is becoming increasingly common. From fabricated data to purchased authorships and paid citations, researchers say organized groups are manipulating the academic publishing system. To investigate the issue, scientists combined large scale analysis of scientific publications with detailed case studies.…
The brain relies on countless chemical messages to keep its networks running smoothly. One way to imagine this system is like traffic lights guiding cars through a busy city. A new study focused on nitric oxide, a common chemical messenger in the brain. Researchers found that in some forms of…
New archaeological research suggests that seabird guano, nutrient-rich bird droppings, played a major role in transforming agriculture in ancient Peru and may have helped propel the Chincha Kingdom to prominence as one of the most prosperous and influential societies before the Inca. Dr. Jacob Bongers, lead author of the study…
All-solid-state batteries (ASSB) are widely viewed as a safer and potentially more energy-dense alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Their performance depends strongly on how quickly ions can travel through solid electrolytes. Identifying materials that enable this rapid ion movement has traditionally required time-consuming synthesis and experimental characterization. Researchers also rely…
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have uncovered new insights into the emotional lives of dogs, helping explain why some golden retrievers are more anxious, energetic, or aggressive than others. Their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to demonstrate that certain genes…
Scientists at Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine have identified a rare genetic variant that can directly cause metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Researchers previously believed this condition developed mainly from a mix of genetic susceptibility and lifestyle or environmental influences. However, findings…
Bone and skeletal injuries are a major cause of long-term disability around the world. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now developed a cell-free cartilage structure designed to guide the body as it repairs damaged bone. According to the study, this engineered transplant can promote bone healing without provoking…
Researchers led by scientists at UCL have discovered a protein that appears to set off diabetic retinopathy, a common eye disease caused by high blood sugar damaging the retina’s blood vessels. The condition is one of the leading causes of vision loss among working-age adults. The study, conducted in mice…
During the Middle Ages, a devastating plague wiped out roughly one third of Europe’s population. The disease spread through fleas that carried the bacterium Yersinia pestis. These fleas passed the infection from rats to humans, fueling the catastrophe known as the Black Death. But the history of plague goes back…
Gravity often feels dependable and unchanging. It seems steady enough that we rarely question it. But the real picture is more surprising. In reality, gravity does not have exactly the same strength everywhere on Earth. Its pull varies slightly across the planet’s surface. After accounting for the effects of Earth’s…
Materials can behave in surprising ways when they are thinned down layer by layer until they are only a single atom thick. In a new study published in Nature Materials, physicists led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin observed a sequence of unusual magnetic states in an…
In 2009, investigators uncovered a disturbing scandal at a cemetery outside Chicago. Employees at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, were accused of digging up older graves, relocating the remains to other areas within the cemetery, and then selling the newly emptied burial plots again. When the case finally went…
Researchers at Texas Children’s Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) and Baylor College of Medicine have reported a promising experimental strategy that could eventually help treat Rett syndrome. Their findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, describe a potential way to increase levels of a key brain protein that is disrupted in…
A new study by researchers from the University of Surrey, the University of South Carolina, and Central Queensland University suggests that much of what we do each day is guided by habit rather than deliberate decision making. The research, published in Psychology & Health, found that about two thirds of…
A new genomic study of koala populations in Australia suggests that rapid population growth may help restore genetic variation that was lost during past declines. Researchers found that when populations recover quickly, the increase in numbers can encourage recombination, a process that rearranges DNA into new combinations. This genetic mixing…
Researchers at Yokohama National University in Japan have identified a previously unknown species of marine fungus capable of killing harmful algae that form toxic blooms. The organism, named Algophthora mediterranea, is a microscopic chytrid fungus that can infect a wide variety of hosts. Chytrids are a diverse group of aquatic…
