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Researchers led by Hiroshi Ohno at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) in Japan have discovered why smoking tobacco helps people suffering from ulcerative colitis, a chronic disease typified by inflammation of the large intestine. Published in the scientific journal Gut, the study shows that smoking produces metabolites…
Lund University archaeologists have revealed details of late medieval artillery from the wreck of the royal Danish-Norwegian flagship, Gribshunden. The shipwreck is the only known example of its kind from the medieval period — as both ship and weapons are nearly identical to those of the early Spanish and Portuguese…
Parasitic, egg-eating worms might sound like the stuff of nightmares, but they’re simply a fact of life for blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. Interestingly, a new study published in the journal PLOS One by researchers at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS suggests these worms could serve as…
Mayo Clinic researchers have pinpointed how excessive alcohol consumption contributes to fatty liver disease, a condition that affects more than one in three people in the U.S. Also known as Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease, it is a long-lasting disease that can lead to type 2 diabetes and even…
Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of liver transplantation and death worldwide, and its impact is only growing. In 2022, the annual cost of ALD in the United States was $31 billion. By 2040, this number could be as high as $66 billion. ALD has limited therapeutic options,…
Wildfires burning across Canada and the Western United States are spewing smoke over millions of Americans – the latest examples of ashy haze becoming a regular experience, with health impacts far greater than scientists previously estimated. Although wildfires have long been part of life in the Western U.S., warmer, drier…
The production and use of over 400 million tons of plastic each year has polluted beaches, rivers, and even the deepest parts of the ocean, reaching depths of up to 11,000 meters. In addition to visible environmental impacts, plastic contributes to climate change. It is estimated that plastic production generates…
An international team of authors led by Ilka Agricola, professor of mathematics at the University of Marburg, Germany, has investigated fraudulent practices in the publication of research results in mathematics on behalf of the German Mathematical Society (DMV) and the International Mathematical Union (IMU), documenting systematic fraud over many years.…
The Ig Nobel Prize honors research that first makes people laugh, then makes them think. Its 35th award ceremony possibly also makes people hungry: ISTA physicist Fabrizio Olmeda and colleagues researched the secret of a perfect cacio e pepe pasta sauce. They received the popular award for their findings on…
The ground-shaking that an earthquake generates is only a fraction of the total energy that a quake releases. A quake can also generate a flash of heat, along with a domino-like fracturing of underground rocks. But exactly how much energy goes into each of these three processes is exceedingly difficult,…
An exoplanet orbiting a dwarf star 124 light-years from Earth made headlines around the world in April 2025. Researchers at the University of Cambridge reported that planet K2-18b could be a marine world with a deep, global ocean teeming with life. However, a study now shows that so-called sub-Neptunes such…
A Rutgers-led team of scientists has uncovered evidence of how galaxies expand by tracing the invisible scaffolding of the universe created by a mysterious substance known as dark matter. In a newly published study in Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers used what they said are the largest-ever samples of special galaxies…
If you think a galaxy is big, compare it to the size of the Universe: it’s just a tiny dot which, together with a huge number of other tiny dots, forms clusters that aggregate into superclusters, which in turn weave into filaments threaded with voids — an immense 3D skeleton…
Micro- and nanoplastics prevalent in the environment routinely enter the human body through water we drink, foods we eat, and even the air we breathe. Those plastic particles infiltrate all systems of the body, including the brain, where they can accumulate and trigger Alzheimer’s-like conditions, according to a new study…
Researchers at Michigan State University have figured out how to use a fast laser to wiggle atoms in a way that temporarily changes the behavior of their host material. Their novel approach could lead to smaller, and more efficient electronics — like smartphones — in the future. Tyler Cocker, an…
All the critical minerals the U.S. needs annually for energy, defense and technology applications are already being mined at existing U.S. facilities, according to a new analysis published recently in the journal Science. The catch? These minerals, such as cobalt, lithium, gallium and rare earth elements like neodymium and yttrium, are…
The Dead Sea is a confluence of extraordinary conditions: the lowest point on the Earth’s surface, with one of the world’s highest salinities. The high concentration of salt gives it a correspondingly high density, and the water body’s status as the deepest hypersaline lake gives rise to interesting and often…
Genes are the building blocks of life, and the genetic code provides the instructions for the complex processes that make organisms function. But how and why did it come to be the way it is? A recent study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sheds new light on the origin…
Nitazenes — a class of highly potent synthetic opioids — are rapidly emerging as a major contributor to the overdose crisis, according to a Pain Medicine review published on Sept 14 by authors from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Originally developed in the 1950s but…
Two healthcare workers get COVID-19 vaccinations on the same day. Both show strong antibody responses initially, but six months later one stays healthy while the other contracts the virus. A new study published in Science Translational Medicine could help explain this difference. Researchers tracked individuals’ antibody levels after vaccinations and…
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have made light-powered gears on a micrometer scale. This paves the way for the smallest on-chip motors in history, which can fit inside a strand of hair. Gears are everywhere – from clocks and cars to robots and wind turbines. For more than 30…
New research using NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered strong evidence that Mars’ Jezero Crater experienced multiple episodes of fluid activity — each with conditions that could have supported life. By analyzing high-resolution geochemical data from the rover, scientists have identified two dozen types of minerals, the building blocks of rocks,…
An international research collaboration has used advanced computer simulations to investigate how faint radio signals from the early Universe, soon to be observed from missions on the far side of the Moon, could shed light on the fundamental properties of dark matter, reports a new study published in Nature Astronomy…
University of Warwick astronomers have uncovered the chemical fingerprint of a frozen, water-rich planetary fragment being consumed by a white dwarf star outside our Solar System. In our Solar System, it is thought that comets and icy planetesimals (small solid objects in space) were responsible for delivering water to Earth.…
In Alaska’s Brooks Range, rivers once clear enough to drink now run orange and hazy with toxic metals. As warming thaws formerly frozen ground, it sets off a chemical chain reaction that is poisoning fish and wreaking havoc on ecosystems. As the planet warms, a layer of permafrost — permanently…
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. If detected early, it can be efficiently treated, but the cost and discomfort of colonoscopies — the main diagnostic method currently in use — often result in delayed diagnosis. Using machine learning algorithms, a team from the University of…
An international team of scientists has revealed how rogue rings of DNA that float outside of our chromosomes — known as extrachromosomal DNA, or ecDNA — can drive the growth of a large proportion of glioblastomas, the most common and aggressive adult brain cancer. The discovery could open the door…
SEAS researchers have discovered the chemical mechanism by which certain salt compounds break down protein waste, like wool and feathers. The discovery enables a gentler and more sustainable protein recycling process. The textile and meat-processing industries produce billions of tons of waste annually in the form of feathers, wool and…
New research from the University of St Andrews has proposed that particles in solar flares are 6.5 times hotter than previously thought and provided an unexpected solution to a 50-year-old mystery about our nearest star. Solar flares are sudden and huge releases of energy in the Sun’s outer atmosphere that…
When Rutgers theoretical astrophysicist Charles Keeton first saw an unusual picture shared by his colleague, he was intrigued. “Have you ever seen an Einstein Cross with an image in the middle?” his colleague Andrew Baker asked, referring to a rarely seen cosmic configuration. Keeton hadn’t. The implications were enormous. “I…
