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Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Washington have uncovered a previously underexplored feature of Alzheimer’s disease that may help scientists identify new avenues for treatment. The study, published in Science, found that the three-dimensional organization of…
The largest global survey of physicists ever conducted has revealed just how unsettled some of the biggest questions in modern physics remain. Researchers found surprisingly little agreement on topics ranging from black holes and dark matter to the long-running effort to reconcile Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics. Even…
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and a new survey suggests that many men remain unaware of a potential dietary risk factor. Just 20% of respondents knew that consuming milk and other dairy products can increase the risk of prostate cancer. Once told about the increased risk, 66% said they…
A new study suggests that the climate connection between the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans can be disrupted by major volcanic eruptions, while human-caused greenhouse gas emissions may now be driving an even more unusual breakdown in that relationship. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) combined paleoclimate evidence…
Electron microscopes can reveal structures far smaller than anything visible with ordinary light. But researchers in Austria say conventional electron microscopes may be leaving valuable information on the table. In a standard system, electrons are mainly counted to build an image. Yet each electron also carries quantum information that normally…
Plastic bottles and cookies may seem to have nothing in common, but researchers are finding a way to connect the two. By engineering yeast, scientists have developed a system that can transform compounds from plastic and agricultural waste into edible proteins, vitamins, flavorings, and other food ingredients. The approach could…
Table tennis players can make a ball suddenly curve by giving it just the right spin. That motion is caused by the Magnus effect, a familiar piece of physics that also influences the flight of larger balls in sports such as soccer. Now, an international team working at the Paul…
Artificial intelligence is giving researchers a new way to listen to what patients are saying about popular GLP-1 drugs. After analyzing more than 400,000 Reddit posts, a University of Pennsylvania team identified several symptoms reported by people using semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) that may…
Venus looks pale yellow in ordinary visible light, but the view changes dramatically in ultraviolet wavelengths. There, dark and bright features sweep across the planet’s upper sulfuric acid clouds. Scientists have observed these patterns for about a century, yet the substance producing them, known as the “unknown absorber,” has never…
Geologists studying some of Earth’s oldest volcanic rocks have found evidence that water was already influencing the planet’s interior and helping drive volcanic activity more than three billion years ago. The international team, led by Adelaide University geochemist Dr. Eric Vandenburg, examined ancient rocks from Western Australia’s Pilbara Craton. Their…
Spinach, almonds, and sweet potatoes are often praised for their nutritional value. But new research from the UNC School of Medicine suggests that for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a naturally occurring compound in these foods may contribute to intestinal inflammation. The study, published August 13, 2026 in Cellular…
Men who are already genetically predisposed to the most common type of hair loss may face an additional 7 percent risk of losing hair when using drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound for type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to a new study. Researchers at NYU Langone Health examined…
Researchers at University College London (UCL) have identified a biological mechanism that helps the body bring inflammation to an end, a finding that could eventually lead to new treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases affecting millions of people. Inflammation is one of the immune system’s most important defense responses. It helps…
A CERN experiment has given physicists a much sharper look at how gluons behave inside atomic nuclei, providing new evidence that could help distinguish between two competing explanations of what happens at extremely small scales. University of Kansas physicist Daniel Tapia Takaki played a leading role in the study, which…
Coronary artery calcium scans are becoming an increasingly popular way to assess a person’s future risk of heart disease. The quick, relatively inexpensive CT test measures calcium buildup in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. But new research from Northwestern Medicine suggests the scan may provide its greatest…
Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have demonstrated a new way to protect delicate quantum information using mechanical vibrations, essentially microscopic sound waves. The advance, developed in the lab of Marko Lončar, Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering, could support the development…
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, may do more than suppress appetite and improve blood sugar. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study found that the drug reduced several harmful effects of aging and extended lifespan in older, healthy mice. Researchers at…
Millions of people open Wordle each day hoping to solve its five-letter puzzle before their six guesses run out. Now, researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, say mathematics can dramatically improve the odds. By applying information theory, the team developed a strategy that solved 99% of Wordle…
Researchers have identified a promising way to weaken one of pancreatic cancer’s key defenses against treatment. The approach focuses on blocking IL1RAP, a receptor that plays a central role in inflammatory signaling and helps coordinate the network of cells surrounding pancreatic tumors. The work, led by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive…
Mercury and Earth followed very different paths after they formed. Mercury, the smallest planet and the one closest to the Sun, appears to have cooled relatively quickly. Roughly one billion years after its formation, volcanic activity may already have largely stopped, leaving the planet covered by a solid, continuous rocky…
Some of the best clues to living a long, healthy life may be hidden in the DNA of bats, mammals that can survive for remarkably long periods relative to their body size. The idea fascinated Juan Manuel Vazquez while he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. At…
About 66 million years ago, a large dinosaur, possibly a T. rex or Nanotyrannus, swallowed a bird. Remarkably, evidence of that ancient meal survived in fossilized feces, preserving what researchers describe as the finest feather specimen yet discovered from the age of dinosaurs. By examining that feather, scientists say they…
A study involving more than 11,000 people has found that exposure to light at night is associated with potentially harmful changes in both the structure and function of the heart. The findings were published September 9 in the European Heart Journal. The research was led by Professor Lu Qi of…
A large study across Ontario has found that widely used medications, including statins and iron supplements, can sometimes trigger a chain of additional prescriptions in older adults. In these cases, a side effect from one drug may be mistaken for a new medical condition, prompting treatment with another medication. The…
The development of a nanolaser could mark an early step toward a future in which microchips communicate entirely with particles of light. Researchers at DTU have created a tiny nanolaser that could eventually help make computers, smartphones, and data centers faster while using much less energy. The breakthrough was published…
Quantum computers remain highly vulnerable to errors and tiny disturbances from their surroundings. The longer a quantum operation takes to complete, the more time there is for those errors to build up. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have now developed a method that can perform a broad…
Summer can be lovely – until a wasp turns up. Whether they present as an irritating picnic visitor or an uninvited loft guest, common social wasps are as much a part of our summer as festivals, sun cream and the growing despair of how to entertain children who’ve forgotten how…
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found a striking association between ADHD and digestive health after analyzing data from more than 1.9 million people across 23 studies. Overall, people with ADHD were almost 50% more likely to experience gastrointestinal symptoms than people without ADHD. Some individual conditions showed even…
Quantum mechanics has always challenged our everyday understanding of reality. In the quantum world, particles can exist in a superposition of states, meaning they can occupy multiple possible positions or configurations at the same time. Physicists describe these possibilities mathematically using a wavefunction. That picture is very different from ordinary…
For roughly two centuries, human life expectancy climbed steadily as medicine, sanitation, nutrition, and healthcare improved. More recent research, however, suggests that this long upward trend may now be leveling off in developed countries. If that is the case, the next major challenge may no longer be simply preventing disease,…