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A new analysis from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, reports that people who follow a vegan diet tend to eat more plant-based foods, even those labeled as “unhealthy” by the plant-based diet index. This shift in eating patterns was associated with more weight loss…
Some tumors remain extremely difficult to treat, and carcinomas are among the most challenging. Unlike many other cancers, these tumors can behave unpredictably. Some even shift their appearance and begin to resemble entirely different types of cells found in the human body, such as those in the skin. This unusual…
A new preclinical study from investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine reports that hypertension disrupts blood vessels, neurons and white matter in the brain long before blood pressure rises to detectable levels. These early disruptions may help explain why hypertension is strongly associated with cognitive disorders, including vascular cognitive impairment and…
At the cellular scale, the way muscle tissue repairs itself becomes surprisingly complex. The body does not respond the same way to all forms of damage. A sudden muscle tear from a sports injury differs greatly from the slow decline in muscle strength seen in conditions such as muscular dystrophy.…
Every year, sea turtles emerge from nests on Florida’s beaches and begin the difficult crawl from the sand to the sea — a journey that plays a major role in whether they survive. Along the way, hatchlings must steer past artificial lighting, scattered debris, and predators such as birds and…
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have created wheat plants capable of promoting the formation of their own fertilizer, a development that could lower global air and water pollution and reduce farming expenses. The work comes from a research group directed by Eduardo Blumwald, a distinguished professor in the…
Chronic constipation becomes more common with age. Researchers from Mass General Brigham conducted a new study examining whether five widely followed diets could help prevent chronic constipation in middle- and older-age adults. The team monitored more than 96,000 participants for several years to see how long-term eating habits influenced the…
Experts from around the world are raising alarms about the rapid global rise of ultra-processed foods, warning that UPFs are reshaping diets and driving a surge in chronic health problems. A major three paper Series in The Lancet finds that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are rapidly replacing fresh and minimally processed…
Our fat cells, known as adipocytes, do far more than store extra body weight. They serve as an important energy reserve for the body. Inside each adipocyte, fat is packed into lipid droplets that can be tapped when fuel is needed — for example, during the hours between meals. To…
A complete plano-convex ingot has been uncovered in Sweden for the first time. When researchers at the University of Gothenburg analyzed the object using isotopic and chemical methods, the results were surprising. “Due, in particular, to its shape and size, it seemed to us a Bronze Age artifact, but the…
Forming new social connections is not always easy, even for animals known for their intelligence and communication skills. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati discovered that monk parakeets meeting unfamiliar birds tend to “test the waters” before deciding whether a potential partner is safe to approach. Instead of rushing in,…
Reconstructing Theia’s makeup: A new study in Science identifies the most likely chemical composition of Theia, the ancient planetary body that collided with early Earth. Clues to its birthplace: Theia’s reconstructed composition points to an origin in the inner Solar System and suggests it formed even closer to the Sun…
Researchers at Rutgers Health and collaborating institutions have uncovered why a widely used leukemia medication eventually stops helping most patients and have also identified a possible strategy to reverse this resistance. The team pinpointed a protein that enables cancer cells to alter the shape of their mitochondria, the structures that…
Researchers at Tulane University, working with teams from eight additional institutions, have identified a previously unknown way that nerve cells send messages. This discovery could change how scientists understand pain and may guide the development of safer and more effective treatments. The work was co-led by Matthew Dalva, director of…
Cancer biology, drug safety studies and aging research may all benefit from a fluorescent sensor created at Utrecht University. The new technology gives scientists the ability to watch DNA damage and repair unfold inside living cells in real time. This development, described in Nature Communications, enables types of experiments that…
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have identified a natural process in the brain that can remove existing amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease while also helping preserve memory and thinking ability. This process relies on astrocytes, star shaped support cells, which can be guided to clear out…
According to scholars of Scandinavian studies, many widely held beliefs about Vikings and Old Norse paganism cannot be confirmed through modern scientific methods. “They are based essentially on reports written by Christian scholars in the High Middle Ages well over a century later, since, besides brief runic inscriptions, no written…
An international group of physicists, including scientists from Washington University in St. Louis, has gathered new measurements that shed light on how black holes draw in surrounding material and release tremendous amounts of radiation and energy. The team directed a balloon-borne telescope known as XL-Calibur toward Cygnus X-1, a well-studied…
University of California, Irvine astronomers have identified an exoplanet located within a star’s habitable zone, a region where temperatures could allow liquid water to exist on the surface. Liquid water is considered essential for every form of life currently known. The planet lies in a relatively nearby part of the…
A geomagnetic superstorm is one of the most extreme forms of space weather, created when the Sun sends enormous bursts of energy and charged particles toward Earth. These powerful events rarely occur, typically appearing only once every 20-25 years. On May 10-11, 2024, Earth was hit by the strongest event…
Loggerhead turtles are equipped with two different abilities for sensing the Earth’s magnetic field, yet scientists had not determined which one they rely on to interpret the magnetic map they inherit at birth. New findings from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in Journal of…
Working with Alzheimer’s mouse models, human cells, and donated human brain tissue, researchers found that reducing levels of a molecule called PU.1 can shift microglia into a more protective mode. Microglia are immune cells that live in the brain and help maintain its health. When PU.1 levels drop, these cells…
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, working with scientists at Northwestern University, have created a noninvasive strategy to treat one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of brain cancer. Their method relies on carefully designed nanostructures made from extremely small materials that can carry potent…
What sounds like the storyline of a medieval palace drama often plays out in real-life honey bee colonies. A once-strong ruler weakens, her supporters turn against her, and a dramatic change in leadership follows. For bees, these events are not rare. These internal takeovers carry both risks and benefits for…
A recent investigation has revealed that African lions use two separate kinds of roars, not just one. This finding is expected to play an important role in improving how conservation groups track and study these big cats. Researchers at the University of Exeter uncovered a previously unrecognized “intermediary roar” that…
Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have uncovered how a catalyst used in a promising industrial reaction helps generate ammonia, a major component of fertilizer. In this process, copper oxide acts as an important catalyst in the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction, a more environmentally friendly approach compared to the traditional Haber-Bosch…
How fast and in which direction is our solar system moving through the universe? This seemingly simple question is one of the key tests of our cosmological understanding. A research team led by astrophysicist Lukas Böhme at Bielefeld University has now found new answers, ones that challenge the established standard…
In the United States, age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of permanent vision loss in adults who are 60 and older. It affects the macula, the central region of the retina that contains tightly packed cells used for sharp, detailed color vision. Roughly 20 million adults…
Every spring, the familiar songs of Wood Thrushes and warblers drift back into parks and neighborhoods across eastern North America. Few people realize that these birds spend most of their lives much farther south, relying on the lush and often remote forests of Central America to survive the rest of…
Around 115 million years ago, the waters north of Australia supported a massive shark that can be viewed as an early relative of the creatures made famous by “Jaws.” Newly examined fossils show that modern sharks began developing extremely large body sizes far earlier in their evolutionary timeline than scientists…
