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A new study delving into the genetic drivers of a rare and aggressive childhood cancer called Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor (MPNST) has revealed metabolic frailties in the cancer cells that might be exploited to improved treatments for patients. MPNST is a rare and deadly childhood cancer, which mainly affects…
A look into the throat of an active galaxy reveals a ring-shaped magnetic field that may explain extreme gamma radiation and neutrinos. Key Points A look into the heart of an active galaxy: Astronomers have captured an image of the origin of a cosmic jet. The image and its artificial…
Increased demand for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and renewable energy storage has resulted in lithium becoming a truly critical mineral. As the world races toward a clean energy future, the recycling of lithium batteries has become crucial. New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has highlighted that tapping into used…
Microbes, or microorganisms, are all around us and play an important role in bodily functions. MSU researchers found that microbes can also impact brain development. This work is significant because modern obstetric practices like peripartum antibiotic use and Cesarean delivery disturb the microbiome of mothers and newborns. New research from…
For decades, astrochemists have been looking for sulfur atoms in space and finding surprisingly little of the element that is a key ingredient to life. A new study could point to where it has been hiding. An international team of researchers including Ryan Fortenberry, an astrochemist at the University of…
A research team at the Politecnico di Milano has developed an innovative single-atom catalyst capable of selectively adapting its chemical activity. This is a crucial step forward in sustainable chemistry and the design of more efficient and programmable industrial processes. The study was published in the Journal of the American…
Over the past 8,000 years, Utah’s Great Salt Lake has been sensitive to changes in climate and water inflow. Now, new sediment isotope data indicate that human activity over the past 200 years has pushed the lake into a biogeochemical state not seen for at least 2,000 years. A University…
An experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of immunotherapy in a mouse-model study, bringing researchers one step closer to their goal of developing a universal vaccine to “wake up” the immune system against cancer. Published recently in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the University of Florida study showed that like a one-two…
The meta-analysis of 33 studies, the first of its kind, looked at the relationship between sensitivity and common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Researchers found there was a significant, positive relationship between the two, concluding that highly sensitive people are more likely to experience depression and anxiety…
A Covid infection, particularly in women, may lead to blood vessels aging around five years, according to research published today (August 18) in the European Heart Journal. Blood vessels gradually become stiffer with age, but the new study suggests that Covid could accelerate this process. Researchers say this is important…
The off-label use of ketamine to treat chronic pain is not supported by scientific evidence, a new Cochrane review has found. Ketamine is an anaesthetic commonly used for procedural sedation and short-term pain relief. Ketamine is also frequently prescribed off-label to manage chronic pain conditions such as nerve pain, fibromyalgia…
Millions of Americans have altered vision, ranging from blurriness to blindness. But not everyone wants to wear prescription glasses or contact lenses. Accordingly, hundreds of thousands of people undergo corrective eye surgery each year, including LASIK — a laser-assisted surgery that reshapes the cornea and corrects vision. The procedure can…
For a few dozen people in the world, the downside of living with a rare immune condition comes with a surprising superpower — the ability to fight off all viruses. Columbia immunologist Dusan Bogunovic discovered the individuals’ antiviral powers about 15 years ago, soon after he identified the genetic mutation…
A team of astronomers has taken the sharpest-ever picture of the unexpected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the crisp vision of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is one of many missions across NASA’s fleet of space telescopes slated to observe this comet, together providing more information about its size and physical…
How can the behavior of elementary particles and the structure of the entire universe be described using the same mathematical concepts? This question is at the heart of recent work by the mathematicians Claudia Fevola from Inria Saclay and Anna-Laura Sattelberger from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the…
As Greenland’s ice retreats, it’s fueling tiny ocean organisms. To test why, scientists turned to a computer model out of JPL and MIT that’s been called a laboratory in itself. Runoff from Greenland’s ice sheet is kicking nutrients up from the ocean depths and boosting phytoplankton growth, a new NASA-supported…
Roughly two-thirds of all emissions of atmospheric methane — a highly potent greenhouse gas that is warming planet Earth — come from microbes that live in oxygen-free environments like wetlands, rice fields, landfills and the guts of cows. Tracking atmospheric methane to its specific sources and quantifying their importance remains…
The discovery of yet another unique animal species from Rēkohu Chatham Islands illustrates how the physical qualities of an animal are influenced by its surroundings. New research led by the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka describes a new, extinct shelduck whose ancestors arrived on the islands 390,000 years…
Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the upper atmosphere will change the way geomagnetic storms impact Earth, with potential implications for thousands of orbiting satellites, according to new research led by scientists at the US. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). Geomagnetic storms, caused by massive…
Data provided by the water satellite, a joint effort between NASA and the French space agency, is helping to improve tsunami forecast models, benefitting coastal communities. The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite captured the tsunami spawned by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula…
Researchers at Columbia Engineering have built a cancer therapy that makes bacteria and viruses work as a team. In a study published recently in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the Synthetic Biological Systems Lab shows how their system hides a virus inside a tumor-seeking bacterium, smuggles it past the immune system, and unleashes…
In a new study led by Oxford University’s Department of Chemistry, chemists have demonstrated the synthesis of a cyclocarbon that is stable enough for spectroscopic characterisation in solution at room temperature. nough to be studied in liquid solution form at room temperature. The study – only the second example of…
Researchers in Japan have genetically transferred a unique courtship behavior from one fruit fly species to another. By turning on a single gene in insulin-producing neurons, the team successfully made a species of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) perform a gift-giving ritual it had never done before. The study, published in…
The twin cube satellites will operate through at least September 2026, expanding focus from the poles to the whole planet to improve modelling and weather forecasts. NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission has been extended through September 2026 and is broadening its focus from Earth’s poles…
Seventeen days after NISAR’s launch from southeastern India, an essential piece of science hardware has unfurled in orbit. Spanning 39 feet (12 meters), the drum-shaped antenna reflector on the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite mission from NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully unfurled in low Earth…
On March 28, 2025, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the Southeast Asia country of Myanmar along the Sagaing Fault, killing thousands and causing widespread damage. A new study from Caltech uses satellite imaging of the Sagaing Fault’s motion to improve models of how such faults may behave in the future.…
Researchers at Tampere University and their collaborators from Germany and India have experimentally confirmed that angular momentum is conserved when a single photon is converted into a pair – validating a key principle of physics at the quantum level for the first time. This breakthrough opens new possibilities for creating…
For the first time in more than thirty years, the heaviest nucleus decaying via proton emission has been measured. The previous similar breakthrough was achieved in 1996. The radioactive decay of atomic nuclei has been one of the keystones of nuclear physics since the beginning of nuclear research. Now the…
The entry of quantum computers into society is currently hindered by their sensitivity to disturbances in the environment. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and Aalto University and the University of Helsinki in Finland, now present a new type of exotic quantum material, and a method that uses…
White sharks exhibit stark differences between the DNA in their nuclei and the DNA in their mitochondria. Until now, scientists have pointed to the migration patterns of great whites to explain these differences. Scientists tested this theory in a new study by analyzing genetic differences between global white shark populations.…
