Reporting world updates to you
Ivermectin administered to the whole population significantly reduces malaria transmission, offering new hope in the fight against the disease. The BOHEMIA trial, the largest study on ivermectin for malaria to date, showed a 26% reduction in new malaria infection on top of existing bed nets, providing strong evidence of ivermectin’s…
Researchers investigating atomic-scale phenomena impacting next-generation electronic and quantum devices have captured the first microscopy images of atomic thermal vibrations, revealing a new type of motion that could reshape the design of quantum technologies and ultrathin electronics. Yichao Zhang, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland Department of Materials…
Stevia may provide more benefits than as a zero-calorie sugar substitute. When fermented with bacteria isolated from banana leaves, stevia extract kills off pancreatic cancer cells but doesn’t harm healthy kidney cells, according to a research team at Hiroshima University. The researchers published their findings in the International Journal of…
What if we could prevent people from developing obesity? The World Obesity Federation expects more than half the global population to develop overweight or obesity by 2035. However, treatment strategies such as lifestyle change, surgery and medications are not universally available or effective. By drawing on genetic data from over…
New research shows that metasurfaces could be used as strong linear quantum optical networks This approach could eliminate the need for waveguides and other conventional optical components Graph theory is helpful for designing the functionalities of quantum optical networks into a single metasurface In the race toward practical quantum computers…
Millipedes get a bad rap — their many legs put people off and could classify them as “creepy crawly.” But these anthropods’ secretions could hold the key to new drug discovery for the treatment of neurological diseases and pain. Chemist Emily Mevers and her team recently discovered a new set…
A virus that typically infects black-eyed peas is showing great promise as a low-cost, potent cancer immunotherapy — and researchers are uncovering why. In a study published in Cell Biomaterials, a team led by chemical and nano engineers at the University of California San Diego took a closer look at…
The swirling spiral galaxy in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week is NGC 3285B, which resides 137 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra (The Water Snake). Hydra has the largest area of the 88 constellations that cover the entire sky in a celestial patchwork. It’s also…
A nuclear winter is a theoretical concept, but if the climate scenario expected to follow a large-scale nuclear war, in which smoke and soot from firestorms block sunlight, came to fruition, global temperatures would sharply drop, extinguishing most agriculture. A nuclear winter could last for more than a decade, potentially…
Researchers have demonstrated a new eco-friendly plastic that decomposes in deep ocean conditions. In a deep-sea experiment, the microbially synthesized poly(d-lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) (LAHB) biodegraded, while conventional plastics such as a representative bio-based polylactide (PLA) persisted. Submerged 855 meters (~2,800 feet) underwater, LAHB films lost over 80% of their mass after 13…
Precision cancer treatment on a larger scale is moving closer after researchers have developed an AI platform that can tailor protein components and arm the patient’s immune cells to fight cancer. The new method, published in the scientific journal Science, demonstrates for the first time, that it is possible to…
In an era where manipulated videos can spread disinformation, bully people, and incite harm, UC Riverside researchers have created a powerful new system to expose these fakes. Amit Roy-Chowdhury, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, and doctoral candidate Rohit Kundu, both from UCR’s Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of…
Prediabetes affects a third of people in the United States and most of them will develop Type 2 diabetes, yet effective dietary intervention strategies remain limited. Pistachios have shown promise in improving markers of diet quality, yet little is known about how they influence the gut microbiome — a key…
Researchers at Princeton University and the Simons Foundation have identified four clinically and biologically distinct subtypes of autism, marking a transformative step in understanding the condition’s genetic underpinnings and potential for personalized care. Analyzing data from over 5,000 children in SPARK, an autism cohort study funded by the Simons Foundation,…
A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found that the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated people’s brain health, even if they were never infected with the virus. What does it mean to grow older, not just in years, but in terms of brain health? Can…
Researchers from the universities of Basel and Zurich have used a historical specimen from UZH’s Medical Collection to decode the genome of the virus responsible for the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic in Switzerland. The genetic material of the virus reveals that it had already developed key adaptations to humans at the…
A pioneering international survey of people living with eating disorders has found that cannabis and psychedelics, such as ‘magic mushrooms’ or LSD, were best rated as alleviating symptoms by respondents who self-medicated with the non-prescribed drugs. The worst-rated drugs were alcohol, tobacco, nicotine and cocaine. Prescribed drugs, such as antidepressants,…
On July 8, 2025, physicists from Aalto University in Finland published a transmon qubit coherence dramatically surpassing previous scientifically published records. The millisecond coherence measurement marks a quantum leap in computational technology, with the previous maximum echo coherence measurements approaching 0.6 milliseconds. Longer qubit coherence allows for an extended window…
To succeed at university, Italian students need to pass interview-style oral exams. Now scientists have found that the time of the exam could be a critical factor influencing their success… or failure. Even when other factors were excluded, the chances of passing were highest around lunchtime, and lowest at the…
If you have ever spotted faces or human-like expressions in everyday objects, you may have experienced the phenomenon of face pareidolia. Now, a new study by the University of Surrey has looked into how this phenomenon grabs our attention, which could be used by advertisers in promoting future products. The…
In a twist worthy of a detective novel, a long-misidentified fossil at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) has emerged as a key discovery in early animal evolution. Originally described in 1865 as a caterpillar, Palaeocampa anthrax shuffled between classifications — worm, millipede, and eventually a marine polychaete — until…
The evolutionary path from dinosaurs to birds included the development of a tiny wrist bone that ultimately proved crucial for stabilizing wings in flight. A new study suggests that the bone appeared in bird ancestors millions of years earlier than first thought. Paleontologists at Yale and Stony Brook University led…
A new analysis of an exquisitely preserved fossil that lived half a billion years ago suggests that arachnids – spiders and their close kin – evolved in the ocean, challenging the widely held belief that their diversification happened only after their common ancestor had conquered the land. Spiders and scorpions…
A study by investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with colleagues from Rabin Medical Center in Israel and other collaborators, suggests that even the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models can make surprisingly simple mistakes when faced with complex medical ethics scenarios. The findings,…
A prospective cohort study examined the associations of different physical activity patterns with all-cause, cardiovascular (CV) and cancer mortality among adults with diabetes. The study found that weekend warrior and regular activity patterns meeting current physical activity recommendations were associated with similarly reduced risks for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared…
Around 10 million people globally live with the life-threatening virus HTLV-1. Yet it remains a poorly understood disease that currently has no preventative treatments and no cure. But a landmark study co-led by Australian researchers could change this, after finding existing HIV drugs can suppress transmission of the HTLV-1 virus…
Imagine the concrete in our homes and bridges not only withstanding the ravages of time and natural disasters like the intense heat of wildfires, but actively self-healing or capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now, researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have developed a revolutionary AI model that…
Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disc with prominent spiral arms, finding clear signs of a planet nestled in its inner…
When thinking about future events, optimists’ brains work similarly, while pessimists’ brains show a much larger degree of individuality. The Kobe University finding offers an explanation why optimists are seen as more sociable — they may share a common vision of the future. Optimists tend to be more satisfied with…
By sparking the immune system into action, radiation therapy makes certain tumors that resist immunotherapy susceptible to the treatment, leading to positive outcomes for patients, according to new research by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Netherlands Cancer Institute. The work…
