Scientists turn sunflower oil waste into a powerful bread upgrade

As interest grows in healthier alternatives to traditional wheat-based foods, scientists are exploring new ingredients that can improve nutrition without sacrificing practicality. One promising option is partially defatted sunflower seed flour (SF), a material left behind after sunflower oil is produced. This underused by-product has shown strong potential for enriching…

Scientists finally solve a 100-year-old mystery in the air we breathe

Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed a new method that makes it possible to predict how irregularly shaped nanoparticles move through the air. These particles are a major category of air pollution and have long been difficult to model accurately. The new approach is the first that is…

A hidden Aloe vera compound takes aim at Alzheimer’s

Scientists are continuing to search for new ways to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive brain disorder that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. In a recent study, researchers identified several compounds found in Aloe vera that could offer new possibilities for future treatments. Aloe vera is best known as a…

New drug resets the body clock and cuts jet lag recovery nearly in half

A research team led by scientists from several Japanese institutions has identified a compound called Mic-628 that directly influences the body’s internal timing system. The group included Emeritus Professor Tei H. (Kanazawa University), Associate Professor Takahata Y. (Osaka University), Professor Numano R. (Toyohashi University of Technology), and Associate Professor Uriu…

Chang’e-6 lunar samples reveal a giant impact reshaped the Moon’s interior

Ever since the Moon formed, asteroid strikes have played the leading role in shaping its surface. These collisions carved out vast craters and basins and altered the Moon’s landscape and chemistry. What scientists have not fully understood is how deeply these enormous impacts affected the Moon beneath the surface. To…

Physicists solve a quantum mystery that stumped scientists for decades

Physicists have developed a new theory that brings together two major areas of modern quantum physics. The work explains how a single unusual particle behaves inside a crowded quantum environment known as a many-body system. In this setting, the particle can act either as something that moves freely or as…

Scientists found a gut compound that helps protect the liver

Children whose mothers eat a diet high in fat and sugar during pregnancy and breastfeeding face a greater chance of developing fatty liver disease later in life. New findings from the University of Oklahoma suggest that this risk may be lowered. In the study, pregnant and nursing mice given a…

Ancient bones reveal chilling victory rituals after Europe’s earliest wars

A study published in the journal Science Advances is reshaping how researchers understand early human violence. By closely examining the people who died in what may be one of Europe’s earliest known victory celebrations, scientists are challenging long-held assumptions about prehistoric warfare and its purpose. The research, titled ‘Multi-isotope biographies…

Scientists warn climate models are missing a key ocean player

Some of the most important players in Earth’s climate system are nearly invisible. Calcifying plankton, microscopic organisms that form hard shells, help regulate the planet’s temperature by capturing carbon and moving it through the ocean. A new review published in Science finds that these organisms are not fully represented in…

Pumas are back in Patagonia and Penguins are paying the price

Should conservation efforts focus on protecting one iconic species if that protection may harm another, especially in landscapes still recovering from human activity? This question lies at the center of a growing conservation challenge at Monte Leon National Park on Argentina’s Patagonian coast. The situation highlights the complexity of restoring…

This weird deep-sea creature was named by thousands of people online

The Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA), working with scientific publisher Pensoft Publishers and well known science YouTuber Ze Frank, invited the public to help name a newly identified deep-sea chiton (a type of marine mollusk). The official scientific description of the species was published today in the open-access Biodiversity Data…

That dry, bitter taste may be waking up your brain

Astringency is the dry, puckering, rough, or sandpapery feeling people notice when eating foods rich in certain plant compounds called polyphenols. Polyphenols include flavanols, which have long been linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk. Flavanols are especially common in cocoa, red wine, and berries, and research has associated them with…

These 773,000-year-old fossils may reveal our shared human ancestor

Perfectly timed fossils from Morocco reveal a forgotten African population living near the very root of the human family tree. Fossils dated with exceptional precision Sediments at Thomas Quarry I preserve a clear record of a major flip in Earth’s magnetic field that occurred about 773,000 years ago. This natural…

Something supercharged Uranus when Voyager 2 flew past

Scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) say they may have found an answer to a puzzle that has lingered for nearly four decades involving the radiation belts surrounding Uranus. When NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Uranus in 1986, it made a surprising discovery. Instruments detected an electron radiation belt…

Dark matter could be masquerading as a black hole at the Milky Way’s core

Astronomers say the Milky Way may not contain a supermassive black hole at its center after all. Instead, the galaxy’s core could be dominated by an enormous concentration of dark matter that produces the same powerful gravitational effects. This unseen material, which makes up most of the universe’s total mass,…

How COVID and H1N1 swept through U.S. cities in just weeks

Public health scientists at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health used advanced computer simulations to trace how the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States. Their results show how quickly respiratory pandemics can expand and why stopping them early is so…

Menopause linked to grey matter loss in key brain regions

New findings from the University of Cambridge suggest that menopause is associated with changes in brain structure, along with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties. Researchers found reduced grey matter volume in several important brain regions among women who had gone through menopause. The study, published in Psychological…

A century of hair shows how lead exposure collapsed

Before the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1970, lead pollution was a routine part of daily life across the United States. It came from factories, lead-based paint, drinking water pipes, and most of all from vehicle exhaust. Lead is a toxic metal that builds up in the body over…

New forecasts offer early warning of Arctic sea ice loss

Arctic sea ice plays a major role in shaping Earth’s climate system. By reflecting sunlight and helping cool the planet, it influences ocean circulation, atmospheric behavior, and extreme weather patterns far beyond the polar regions. As climate change accelerates the loss of Arctic ice, scientists increasingly rely on real-time measurements…

Scientists find a missing link between Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis

Researchers at UC San Francisco have identified new evidence that may help explain how Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) contributes to multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a long-term autoimmune condition that affects nearly one million people in the United States. The findings were published Feb. 5 in Nature Immunology. The study shows…

Scientists found a hidden fat switch and turned it off

Scientists at Cleveland-based institutions have uncovered a surprising new switch that helps the body make fat — and turning it off had dramatic effects. Obesity and fatty liver disease are becoming more common worldwide as diets grow more calorie-dense and daily life becomes less active. Scientists in Cleveland have identified…

Scientists create smart synthetic skin that can hide images and change shape

Synthetic materials are widely used across science, engineering, and industry, but most are designed to perform only a narrow range of tasks. A research team at Penn State set out to change that. Led by Hongtao Sun, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering (IME), the group developed a new…

Why colorectal cancer breaks the immune system’s rules

In most solid tumors, large numbers of regulatory T (Treg) cells are linked to worse outcomes. These immune cells normally act as brakes on the immune system, which means they can weaken the body’s ability to attack cancer. Colorectal cancer stands out as a rare and confusing exception. In this…

A clever quantum trick brings practical quantum computers closer

Quantum computers have the potential to transform fields ranging from materials science to cryptography, but today they remain extremely difficult to build and operate. One of the biggest challenges comes from decoherence, a process that introduces errors into quantum systems. These errors usually take the form of bit flips or…

Doctors test brain cell implants to restore movement in Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s disease is a long-term neurological condition that gradually worsens over time. More than one million people in the United States are living with the disease, and about 90,000 new diagnoses are made each year. While current treatments can ease symptoms, there is still no cure and no therapy proven…

A hidden brain effect of prenatal alcohol exposure

A new study published in JNeurosci reports how experiences before birth may shape the brain and behavior later in life. Led by Mary Schneider and Alexander Converse at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the interdisciplinary research examined how exposure to alcohol and stress during pregnancy affects rhesus monkey offspring once they…

Scientists found a sugar that could defeat deadly superbugs

Researchers in Australia have developed a promising new strategy to combat deadly bacteria that no longer respond to antibiotics. The team engineered antibodies that lock onto a sugar found only on bacterial cells, an approach that could support a new generation of immunotherapies for multidrug resistant infections acquired in hospitals.…

An invisible chemical rain is falling across the planet

Chemicals introduced to shield the ozone layer are now tied to an unexpected environmental consequence. A new study shows that these substances have helped spread large amounts of a long-lasting and potentially harmful forever chemical across the planet. Researchers in atmospheric science, led by a team at Lancaster University, have…

This tiny molecular trick makes spider silk almost unbreakable

Researchers have uncovered the molecular interactions that give spider silk its remarkable combination of strength and flexibility. The discovery could help scientists design new bio-inspired materials for airplanes, protective gear, and medical uses, while also offering insight into neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. The study, published in the journal…

Mars’ water mystery may have a simple ice answer

Small lakes on early Mars may have stayed liquid for decades, even though average air temperatures were far below freezing. New research suggests that cold conditions alone may not have prevented long-lasting surface water on the Red Planet. Researchers from Rice University used a climate model modified for Mars to…