Reporting world updates to you
New research from UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered an evolutionary change that may explain why certain immune cells in humans are less effective at fighting solid tumors compared to non-human primates. This insight could lead to more powerful cancer treatments. The study was published in Nature Communications. It…
In the vast vacuum of space, Earth-bound limitations no longer apply. And that’s exactly where UF engineering associate professor Victoria Miller, Ph.D., and her students are pushing the boundaries of possibilities. In partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the…
Imaging data from Japan’s Himawari-8 and -9 meteorological satellites have been successfully used to monitor temporal changes in Venus’ cloud-top temperature, revealing unseen patterns in the temperature structure of various waves. A team led by the University of Tokyo collated infrared images from 2015-25 to estimate brightness temperatures on day…
Researchers have discovered a dramatic and unexpected shift in the Southern Ocean, with surface water salinity rising and sea ice in steep decline. Since 2015, Antarctica has lost sea ice equal to the size of Greenland — the largest environmental shift seen anywhere on Earth in the last decades. The…
Any high school reunion is a sharp reminder that some people age more gracefully than others. Some enter their older years still physically spry and mentally sharp. Others start feeling frail or forgetful much earlier in life than expected. “The way we age as we get older is quite distinct…
In the study, researchers from Canada, New Zealand and Mexico reported on 34 interactions spanning two decades in which orcas in the wild attempted to offer food to humans. The incidents took place in oceans around the world, from California to New Zealand to Norway to Patagonia. “Orcas often share…
A new study challenges the belief in a universal “pet effect” on human well-being. Using data collected during COVID-19 lockdowns, researchers found no significant change in respondents’ well-being when they acquired or lost a pet in their household. The findings suggest that, even during a time of extreme isolation, human-animal…
In chimpanzee communities, strong social ties can be a matter of life and death not just for the adults who form them, but for their kids, too. A new federally-funded study of wild eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) from Gombe National Park shows that female chimpanzees who were more socially…
A widely-used agricultural chemical sprayed on American and Australian fruits and vegetables to prevent fungal disease is killing beneficial insects critical for pollination and ecosystem health, new Macquarie University research shows. The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, found chlorothalonil – one of the world’s most extensively used fungicides…
Scientists have discovered that certain species of microbe found in the human gut can absorb PFAS — the toxic and long-lasting ‘forever chemicals.’ They say boosting these species in our gut microbiome could help protect us from the harmful effects of PFAS. PFAS have been linked with a range of…
A national study published in Environmental Science & Technology finds children aged 2 to 4 years in the United States are routinely exposed to a broad range of potentially harmful chemicals. Many of the chemicals the researchers identified are not routinely monitored and may pose health risks. The research was…
A new technology that uses clinical MRI machines to image metabolic activity in the brain could give researchers and clinicians unique insight into brain function and disease, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report. The non-invasive, high-resolution metabolic imaging of the whole brain revealed differences in metabolic activity and…
Novel research has revealed that adolescent vaping of current delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) has increased between 2021 and 2023. Also, adolescents are increasingly unsure about the substances they vaped in their e-cigarettes. A new study appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier,…
Originally developed for children, the diagnosis of ADHD is often difficult to make in adults. This is partly because the diagnostic criteria are based on behaviour in children. When diagnosing adults, however, these criteria are often based on adults’ subjective experiences, e.g., of having difficulty concentrating or being very impulsive.…
Scouring more than a century of studies that explored links between handedness and creativity, new Cornell University research finds the widespread belief that lefties are more creative is not actually true. “The data do not support any advantage in creative thinking for lefties,” said Daniel Casasanto, associate professor of psychology.…
Previously described as playing astronomical ‘spot the difference,’ Kilonova Seekers asks the public to compare the latest images of a section of night sky to an image of the same section of space taken on previous nights. Their goal – to spot new stars or significant changes in light intensity…
If you find eating some foods makes you sleep badly, you’re not alone — and there may be a physical cause for your bad dreams. Scientists investigating links between diet, sleep problems, and cultural beliefs about diet and sleep have found that healthier evening eating habits lead to better sleep…
A pioneering study has provided unprecedented insights into the immune response following pig-to-human kidney xenotransplantation.1 The findings, presented today at the ESOT Congress 2025, mark a significant step forward in overcoming the biggest challenge in xenotransplantation: rejection by the human immune system. Using cutting-edge spatial molecular imaging, researchers mapped how…
New research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and La Jolla Institute for Immunology, published today (June 30) in Nature Microbiology, reveals an opportunity for developing a therapy against cytomegalovirus (CMV), the leading infectious cause of birth defects in the United States. Researchers discovered a previously unappreciated mechanism…
A new study from scientists at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging has revealed a surprising player in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia: brain sugar metabolism. Published in Nature Metabolism, the research uncovers how breaking down glycogen — a stored form of glucose —…
In radiation therapy, precision can save lives. Oncologists must carefully map the size and location of a tumor before delivering high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. But this process, called tumor segmentation, is still done manually, takes time, varies between doctors — and can lead to…
Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) is thought to have originated in Eurasia: previous studies on Mycobacterium leprae, the dominant form of leprosy, suggest the disease originated in Eurasia. Ancient pathogen genomes from old bones: a team of scientists from Germany and Argentina have reconstructed two genomes of Mycobacterium lepromatosis in 4000-year-old human…
Many galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are characterized by a flat, extended, rotating stellar disk. These disk galaxies commonly contain two main parts: a thin disk and a thick disk. The thin disk contains younger, metal-rich stars, while the thick disk contains older, metal-poor stars. These distinct components hold…
Signs of planet formation may appear earlier than expected around still-forming baby stars, according to new results of higher resolution images produced using new improved techniques to reanalyze radio astronomy archive data. These newly discovered signs of planet formation will provide a better understanding of when it begins around a…
Scientists at The University of Texas at Arlington have identified a new enzyme that can be “turned off” to help the body maintain healthy cholesterol levels — a significant development that could lead to new treatments for diseases that affect millions of Americans. “We found that by blocking the enzyme…
Quantum computers have the potential to speed up computation, help design new medicines, break codes, and discover exotic new materials — but that’s only when they are truly functional. One key thing that gets in the way: noise or the errors that are produced during computations on a quantum machine…
Healthy adults exposed to fire smoke — which can be composed of gases, particulate matter, and toxins — showed alterations to their immune systems, including changes in the regulation of genes associated with asthma and allergies, and in immune cells that play a key role in fighting pathogens, compared to…
As wildfires increasingly threaten lives, landscapes, and air quality across the U.S., a Stanford-led study published in AGU Advances June 26 finds that prescribed burns can help reduce risks. The research reveals that prescribed burns can reduce the severity of subsequent wildfires by an average of 16% and net smoke…
Vance Holliday jumped at the invitation to go do geology at New Mexico’s White Sands. The landscape, just west of Alamogordo, looks surreal – endless, rolling dunes of fine beige gypsum, left behind by ancient seas. It’s one of the most unique geologic features in the world. But a national…
India’s population is genetically one of the most diverse in the world, yet it remains underrepresented in global datasets. In a study publishing in the Cell Press journal Cell, researchers analyzed genomic data from more than 2,700 people from across India, capturing genetic variation from most geographic regions, linguistic groups,…
