Reporting world updates to you
More than a third of the world’s population is affected by metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, the most common chronic liver disease in the world. MASLD occurs when fat builds up in the liver and is associated with one or more of five conditions: obesity, Type 2 diabetes,…
A Swedish-led research team at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital has shown in a new randomized clinical trial that a low dose of the well-known medicine aspirin halves the risk of recurrence after surgery in patients with colon and rectal cancer with a certain type of genetic alteration in…
Scientists have unveiled a new approach to detecting gravitational waves in the milli-Hertz frequency range, providing access to astrophysical and cosmological phenomena that are not detectable with current instruments. Gravitational waves—ripples in spacetime predicted by Einstein—have been observed at high frequencies by ground-based interferometers such as LIGO and Virgo, and…
Astronomers have identified an enormous ‘growth spurt’ in a so-called rogue planet. Unlike the planets in our Solar System, these objects do not orbit stars, free-floating on their own instead. The new observations, made with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), reveal that this free-floating planet is…
Obesity has long been acknowledged as a risk factor for a wide range of diseases, but a more precise link between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease has remained a mystery – until now. A first-of-its-kind study from Houston Methodist found that adipose-derived extracellular vesicles, tiny cell-to-cell messengers in the body, can…
Long-term exposure to a common industrial chemical may be linked to a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease. Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a chemical used in metal degreasing and dry cleaning. Even though it has been banned for some uses, it remains in use today as an industrial solvent and lingers in…
In what experts are calling a paradigm-shifting landmark study, scientists from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) report key findings about the underlying mechanisms of immune system stress response to protein misfolding, launching a…
New research has uncovered a species of hook-toothed lizard that lived about 167 million years ago and has a confusing set of features seen in snakes and geckos — two very distant relatives. One of the oldest relatively complete fossil lizards yet discovered, the Jurassic specimen is described in a…
Flu season is fast approaching in the northern hemisphere. And a taste-based influenza testcould somedayhave you swapping nasal swabs for chewing gum. A new molecular sensor has been designed to release a thyme flavor when it encounters the influenza virus. Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science say that they plan…
Earth was not always the blue-green world we know today: the early Earth’s oxygen levels were about a million times lower than we now experience. There were no forests and no animals. For ancient organisms, oxygen was toxic. What did life look like at that time then? A recent study…
People who suspect that their sense of smell has been dulled after a bout of COVID-19 are likely correct, a new study using an objective, 40-odor test shows. Even those who do not notice any olfactory issues may be impaired. Led by the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER initiative and…
The interior of the mysterious far side of the moon may be colder than the side constantly facing Earth, suggests a new analysis of rock samples co-led by a UCL (University College London) and Peking University researcher. The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, looked at fragments of rock…
In July 2024, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Calama, Chile, damaging buildings and causing power outages. The country has endured violent earthquakes, including the most powerful recorded in history: a 9.5-magnitude “megathrust” event that struck central Chile in 1960, causing a tsunami and killing between 1,000 to 6,000 people. However, the…
On September 5, 2020, California’s Creek Fire grew so severe that it began producing it’s own weather system. The fire’s extreme heat produced an explosive thunderhead that spewed lightning strikes and further fanned the roaring flames, making containment elusive and endangering the lives of firefighters on the ground. These wildfire-born…
People who sleep poorly are more likely than others to have brains that appear older than they actually are. This is according to a comprehensive brain imaging study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal eBioMedicine. Increased inflammation in the body may partly explain the association. Poor sleep has been…
Researchers at Penn Medicine have identified specific brain circuits that are impacted by psilocybin — the active compound found in some psychedelic mushrooms — which could lead to new paths forward for pain and mental health management options. Chronic pain affects more than 1.5 billion people worldwide and is often…
A research group led by Dr. Shinichi Furuya of the NeuroPiano Institute and Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. announced research findings that for the first time scientifically clarified how pianists’ manipulations of keys alters piano timbre. Creativity in painting, music, and other arts is underpinned by the ability to create…
Gaslighting could happen to anyone who trusts the wrong person, a McGill University researcher says. Willis Klein, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, was part of a team from McGill and the University of Toronto that developed a new theoretical model with which to understand how manipulators are…
Even the United Nations International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation has seen further massive melting of glaciers in Switzerland. A winter with little snow was followed by heat waves in June 2025 that saw glaciers nearing the record levels of losses of 2022. Snow reserves from the winter were already depleted…
Scientists digging through data collected by the Cassini spacecraft have found new complex organic molecules spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This is a clear sign that complex chemical reactions are taking place within its underground ocean. Some of these reactions could be part of chains that lead to even more…
BMJ Group has retracted research suggesting that small daily quantities of apple cider vinegar might help people who are overweight or obese to lose weight. The small clinical trial was published in the open access journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health in March 2024 and its findings press released. The…
In a new study, researchers from the University of Chicago discovered that zeaxanthin, a plant-derived carotenoid best known for protecting vision, may also act as an immune-boosting compound by strengthening the cancer-fighting activity of immune cells. The findings, which were published in Cell Reports Medicine, highlight the potential of zeaxanthin…
New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution sheds light on the timelines and pathways of evolution of fungi, finding evidence of their influence on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. The study, led by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and collaborators, indicates the diversification of fungi hundreds…
McGill University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can detect previously invisible disease markers inside single cells. In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers demonstrate how the tool, called DOLPHIN, could one day be used by doctors to catch diseases earlier and guide treatment options. “This…
Global electricity use is increasing rapidly and must be addressed sustainably. Developing new materials could give us much more efficient solar cell materials than at present; materials so thin and flexible that they could encase anything from mobile phones or entire buildings. Using computer simulation and machine learning, researchers at…
A newly described fossil reveals that leeches are at least 200 million years older than scientists previously thought, and that their earliest ancestors may have feasted not on blood, but on smaller marine creatures. “This is the only body fossil we’ve ever found of this entire group,” said Karma Nanglu,…
Imagine watching a favorite movie when suddenly the sound stops. The data representing the audio is missing. All that’s left are images. What if artificial intelligence (AI) could analyze each frame of the video and provide the audio automatically based on the pictures, reading lips and noting each time a…
Researchers have discovered a way to make the immune system’s T cells significantly more effective at fighting cancer. By blocking a protein called Ant2, they were able to reprogram how these cells consume and generate energy — essentially rewiring their internal power supply. This shift makes T cells more active,…
Determining the nature of dark matter, the invisible substance that makes up most of the mass in our universe, is one of the greatest puzzles in physics. New results from the world’s most sensitive dark matter detector, LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ), have narrowed down the possibilities for one of the leading dark…
A new study suggests a habitable past and signs of ancient microbial processes on Mars — and Imperial scientists provided crucial context. Led by NASA and featuring key analysis from Imperial College London, the work has uncovered a range of minerals and organic matter in Martian rocks that point to…
