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Imagine trying to wear a left-handed glove on your right hand: it doesn’t fit because left and right hands are mirror images that can’t be superimposed on each other. This ‘handedness’ is what scientists call chirality, and it plays a fundamental role in biology, chemistry, and materials science. Most DNA…
Crystals are known far and wide for their beauty and elegance. But even though they may appear perfect on the outside, their microstructure can be quite complicated, making them difficult to model mathematically. But there are people rising to the challenge. In an article published this month in Royal Society…
A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that Neanderthals living in two nearby caves in northern Israel — butchered their food in noticeably different ways. Despite using the same tools and hunting the same prey, groups in Amud and Kebara caves left behind distinct patterns of cut-marks…
Yoga, Tai Chi, walking and jogging may be the best forms of exercise to improve sleep quality and ease insomnia, suggest the findings of a comparative pooled data analysis published in the online journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine. The findings back the use of exercise as a primary treatment strategy…
For the first time, a new study has revealed how and when we make eye contact — not just the act itself — plays a crucial role in how we understand and respond to others, including robots. Led by cognitive neuroscientist Dr Nathan Caruana, researchers from the HAVIC Lab at…
Premature menopause has been described as a life-changing diagnosis with profound physical, psychological, and social consequences. Affected women not only experience the effects of estrogen deficiency, but they also experience the unanticipated loss of reproductive function. However, some women are more adversely affected by these changes than others. A new…
Across the globe, oceans are acidifying as they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, threatening coral reefs and many other marine organisms. A new study, led by oceanographers at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, revealed that unprecedented levels of ocean acidification are expected around the main Hawaiian Islands within…
Glaciers hold layers of history preserved in ice, offering unique insights into Earth’s past that can also help us interpret the future. Trapped amidst the frozen water are microscopic deposits of dust, pollen, and even pollutants that scientists can use to examine environmental changes through time. DRI’s Ice Core Lab…
Following a large-scale wildfire, more jaguars migrated to a study site in the Brazilian wetlands that already had the largest population density of jaguars in the world, a new study found. “Finding even more jaguars and other mammals in the study area following the 2020 wildfire and extreme drought suggests…
People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have an odour that can be reliably detected from skin swabs by trained dogs, a new study has shown. The research, in collaboration with Medical Detection Dogs and the Universities of Bristol and Manchester, was published on July 15 in The Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.…
Insomnia could explain why adults with ADHD traits report having a lower quality of life, according to new research led by the University of Southampton and the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience. A study published on July 15 in BMJ Mental Health found that having higher ADHD traits was associated with…
Researchers at The University of Osaka have developed a novel method for generating ultrahigh magnetic fields via laser-driven implosions of blade-structured microtubes. This method achieves field strengths approaching one megatesla—a breakthrough in compact, high-field plasma science. Ultrastrong magnetic fields approaching the megatesla regime—comparable to those found near strongly magnetized neutron…
A medieval literary puzzle which has stumped scholars including M.R. James for 130 years has finally been solved. Cambridge scholars now believe the Song of Wade, a long lost treasure of English culture, was a chivalric romance not a monster-filled epic. The discovery solves the most famous mystery in Chaucer’s…
It turns out the Dark Ages weren’t all that dark! According to new research, medieval medicine was way more sophisticated than previously thought, and some of its remedies are trending today on TikTok. A new international research project featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals that…
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has detected the merger of the most massive black holes ever observed with gravitational waves, using the US National Science Foundation-funded (NSF) LIGO Hanford and Livingston Observatories. The merger produced a final black hole more than 225 times the mass of our Sun. The signal, designated…
Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many bull’s-eyes, alongside surprising misses. Plastic pollution, ocean acidification, and sensory pollution have risen faster than imagined, even as strong treaties curbed chemicals…
With intensifying global warming and climate change, drought has become a major threat to global agriculture, impacting crop yields and food security. To survive such adverse events, plants have evolved several strategies. One such strategy to counteract water scarcity is ‘stomatal closure,’ where stomata — the tiny pores on leaf…
Every day, your body replaces billions of cells — and yet, your tissues stay perfectly organized. How is that possible? A team of researchers at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of Delaware believe they’ve found an answer. In a new study published in…
Stroke is said to be the second leading cause of death worldwide after heart disease. To prevent the death of neurons in the brain, a research group led by Osaka Metropolitan University Associate Professor Hidemitsu Nakajima of the Graduate School of Veterinary Science has developed a drug that inhibits a…
Can you imagine a life-saving molecule whose “twin” is a deadly poison? As surprising as it may seem, this chemical reality is known as “chirality.” Like a right hand and a left hand, two molecules can have the same composition, but a different shape and arrangement in space. And this…
Intermittent energy restriction, time-restricted eating and continuous energy restriction can all improve blood sugar levels and body weight in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California. “This study is the first to compare…
Women and older adults taking the anti-obesity drug semaglutide may be at higher risk for muscle loss, but higher protein intake may help prevent muscle loss in these patients, according to a small study presented at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif. Losing muscle (or…
Earth and our entire Milky Way galaxy may sit inside a mysterious giant hole which makes the cosmos expand faster here than in neighboring regions of the universe, astronomers say. Their theory is a potential solution to the ‘Hubble tension’ and could help confirm the true age of our universe,…
Odd plants from a remote Pacific island reveal new insights into an important ecological question: how unrelated and antagonistic partners can form long-term mutualistic relationships with the same host. Scientists studying ant plants in Fiji have discovered one way that a host plant can keep the peace among residents that…
The anti-obesity medication tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity, reduced obesity-associated breast cancer growth in a mouse model, according to a study presented at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California. “Obesity is a significant risk factor for breast cancer, and while…
Cancer deaths linked to obesity have tripled in the United States over the past two decades, according to a study being presented at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif. The study, which examined more than 33,000 deaths from obesity-associated cancers, revealed sharp increases in cancer…
Consuming certain sweeteners commonly found in foods and beverages may increase the risk of early puberty in children, particularly among those who are genetically predisposed, according to a study presented at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif. The researchers found that consuming aspartame, sucralose, glycyrrhizin…
For this ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week, we gaze upon the field of stars that is NGC 1786. This object is a globular cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy that is approximately 160,000 light-years away from Earth. NGC 1786 itself…
A new weekly injectable drug could transform the lives of more than eight million people living with Parkinson’s disease, potentially replacing the need for multiple daily tablets. Scientists from the University of South Australia (UniSA) have developed a long-acting injectable formulation that delivers a steady dose of levodopa and carbidopa…
While humans can regularly replace certain cells, like those in our blood and gut, we cannot naturally regrow most other parts of the body. For example, when the tiny sensory hair cells in our inner ears are damaged, the result is often permanent hearing loss, deafness, or balance problems. In…
