Reporting world updates to you
For more than a century, scientists and food companies have been looking for ways to replicate the taste of sugar without its health drawbacks. From early sweeteners like saccharin in the 19th century to modern alternatives such as stevia and monk fruit, the goal has remained the same. The challenge…
MIT engineers have developed a new type of pill designed to confirm when a patient has actually swallowed their medication. The technology could help address a widespread problem in health care: people missing doses or stopping treatment early. The system can be built directly into existing pill capsules and uses…
Over the past 20 years, scientists have increasingly identified microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) as a growing form of environmental pollution. These tiny plastic particles have been detected throughout all major parts of the Earth system, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Their widespread distribution has made plastics a…
Antibiotics are often judged by how well they slow or stop bacterial growth in laboratory tests. What is even more important, though, is whether those drugs actually kill bacteria inside the human body. Researchers at the University of Basel have now introduced a new way to measure how effectively antibiotics…
Restaurants and dinner hosts could make meals more enjoyable and cut down on social discomfort by ensuring everyone at the table is served at the same time, according to new research. Most people recognize the familiar situation at a restaurant or dinner party when one plate arrives early and the…
Using a specially designed analysis tool, scientists at Brown University have identified a brain-based biomarker that may help predict whether mild cognitive impairment will progress into Alzheimer’s disease. The approach focuses on measuring electrical activity produced by neurons, offering a new way to spot early signs of the disease directly…
The next time you take a breath, it is worth remembering that much of that oxygen can be traced back to microscopic ocean algae. Their ability to produce oxygen through photosynthesis is supported by iron dust that settles into the sea. A new study from Rutgers University, published in the…
Scientists at Florida State University have developed a new type of crystalline material that displays rare and intricate magnetic behavior. The discovery could open new paths toward advanced data storage technologies and future quantum devices. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, show that blending two…
Light from stars and the dust it illuminates may not be enough to drive the powerful winds that carry life’s essential elements across the galaxy. That is the conclusion of a new study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, based on close observations of the red giant star R…
About a decade ago, scientists identified a small group of people who feel no enjoyment when listening to music, even though their hearing is normal and they experience pleasure from other activities. This phenomenon is known as “specific musical anhedonia.” It occurs when the brain regions responsible for hearing fail…
Scientists at the University of Adelaide’s Davies Livestock Research Centre (DLRC) have unveiled the most comprehensive cattle genome ever assembled, a breakthrough expected to improve Wagyu breeding and enhance beef marbling. The research delivers a clearer picture of cattle genetics than any previous reference. “We have presented a near complete…
When people in the United States start using appetite-suppressing medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy, the effects go far beyond weight loss. New research from Cornell University shows that these drugs are linked to noticeable drops in how much households spend on food, including groceries and meals eaten outside the…
After years of careful investigation, researchers working on the Micro Booster Neutrino Experiment (MicroBooNE) have determined that a long-hypothesized particle known as the sterile neutrino does not exist. This proposed particle had been widely discussed as a possible answer to unresolved problems in particle physics. Reporting their findings in the…
A large majority of U.S. adults are unfamiliar with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, even though it affects nearly 90% of adults nationwide. CKM syndrome is a recently defined condition that brings together several major health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity. According to a new survey from the…
After more than two years of fighting, many Palestinian children in Gaza are so physically depleted and emotionally distressed that they can no longer learn or play, according to a new report. The study warns that some children now believe they will be “killed for being Gazans.” Led by the…
How do embryonic stem cells become brain cells, and which genes make that transformation possible? A new study published on January 5 in Nature Neuroscience tackles this question using powerful gene editing tools. The research was led by Prof. Sagiv Shifman from The Institute of Life Sciences at The Hebrew…
Three newly identified compounds were found to strongly inhibit α-glucosidase, an enzyme that plays a central role in breaking down carbohydrates during digestion. Because this enzyme directly affects how quickly sugars enter the bloodstream, the discovery points to possible new functional food ingredients aimed at managing type 2 diabetes. Functional…
Why the universe is expanding faster and faster remains one of the biggest open questions in physics. Current theories cannot fully explain this accelerating growth. Today’s standard picture of the universe is built on Einstein’s general theory of relativity and the standard model of particle physics. Within this framework, scientists…
Tumors in the human body contain immune cells called macrophages that are naturally capable of attacking cancer. However, the tumor environment suppresses these cells, preventing them from doing their job. Researchers at KAIST have now found a way to overcome this barrier by directly transforming immune cells already inside tumors…
This year’s flu season has been especially harsh, driven in part by the rapid spread of a new variant known as subclade K. As cases rise, a newly released study offers surprising insight into how influenza spreads and how people may better protect themselves from getting sick. To better understand…
For roughly 10,000 years, farming communities have improved their crops by saving seeds from plants with the best flavor, size, and toughness. This slow and careful process shaped nearly every fruit and vegetable found in grocery stores today. Most modern crops are the result of centuries or even millennia of…
Around 445 million years ago, Earth underwent a dramatic transformation that reshaped the future of life. In a remarkably short geological period, massive glaciers spread across the southern supercontinent Gondwana. As ice locked up water, vast shallow seas dried out, triggering an “icehouse climate” and radically altering ocean chemistry. The…
Astronomers at the University of California, Irvine have identified what appears to be the largest stream of super-heated gas ever observed in the universe, flowing out of a nearby galaxy known as VV 340a. The findings were reported in the journal Science. Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope,…
Scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have identified at least one species of nematode that is completely new to science, with evidence suggesting there may be a second. Researchers from the University of Utah recently published a paper describing the tiny roundworm and formally naming it in a way that…
A large international study has found that taking a daily fish oil supplement can sharply lower the risk of serious heart-related complications in people undergoing dialysis for kidney failure. The research was co-led in Australia by Monash Health and the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University. The study, known…
Imaging tools have dramatically reshaped how scientists study the world, from charting faraway galaxies with radio telescope networks to revealing intricate structures inside living cells. Even with decades of progress, one major obstacle has remained. At optical wavelengths, it has been extremely difficult to capture images that are both highly…
Scientists studying tiny feldspar crystals inside Australia’s oldest volcanic rocks have uncovered new clues about the early history of Earth’s interior, the formation of continents, and the origins of the Moon. These minerals act like time capsules, preserving chemical signals from billions of years ago. The research was led by…
The human gut replaces its cells faster than any other tissue in the body. Every few days, fresh cells are produced by specialized stem cells that keep the intestinal lining healthy. Over time, however, these stem cells begin to accumulate epigenetic changes. These are chemical tags attached to DNA that…
Getting a full night of sleep may play a larger role in longevity than many people realize. New research from Oregon Health & Science University indicates that regularly getting too little sleep is linked to a shorter lifespan. The findings were recently published in the journal SLEEP Advances. Nationwide Data…
Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia worldwide and remains one of the most serious challenges facing public health systems. New findings published in the journal Aging-US suggest that substances circulating in the blood may influence how quickly the disease advances. In experiments with mice, researchers found that blood…
