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Researchers at HZB have taken an important step toward bringing one of quantum physics’ more unusual predictions closer to experimental reality. Fractons, exotic quasiparticles previously predicted in quantum spin liquids using highly generalized gauge field theories, have now also appeared in simulations of a more realistic quantum solid-state model. Quasiparticles…
A major new analysis led by the American Cancer Society (ACS) paints a troubling picture of cancer worldwide while also highlighting how much of the burden could potentially be reduced through prevention, earlier diagnosis, and better access to care. According to Global Cancer Statistics, 2026, nearly 21 million people were…
More than 10,000 people in the United States with chronic liver disease are currently waiting for a liver transplant, yet the supply of donated organs falls far short of demand. Some patients with liver failure also cannot undergo transplantation because they are not healthy enough to withstand the operation. MIT…
Artificial intelligence (AI) and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) are producing and processing data at a scale never seen before. Internet searches, AI-generated images, recommendation systems, scientific simulations, and large language models all depend on enormous amounts of information being created, moved, stored, and analyzed. As AI becomes more…
A persistent patch of unusually warm tropical ocean helped intensify snowfall over East Antarctica, contributing to a temporary net ice sheet mass gain of about 695 billion tons, according to a new study published in Nature on August 19. Researchers found that sustained warming in the tropical warm pool during…
A large study involving more than 270,000 people suggests that one common amino acid may be tied to how long men live. Researchers led by Jie V. Zhao, Yitang Sun, Junmeng Zhang, and Kaixiong Ye from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Georgia examined whether phenylalanine and…
Researchers from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), Imperial College London, and UCL Genetics Institute have built a detailed cellular map of breast tumors, revealing separate regions filled with actively dividing cancer cells and others containing dormant cells. Published in Genome Medicine, the findings show that these inactive cancer…
Older adults at risk of dementia improved their memory, thinking skills, and overall cognitive performance after taking part in two culturally adapted lifestyle programs across 11 Latin American countries. The strongest benefits were seen among participants who received more structured guidance, including regular coaching and support. The Alzheimer’s Association-funded study,…
Sugar substitutes are often marketed as a better choice than foods loaded with refined sugar (glucose). Common examples include aspartame, the sweetener used in Equal packets, sucralose (Splenda), and sugar alcohols such as sorbitol. But growing research is complicating the idea that these alternatives are automatically healthier. A new study…
Tropical peatland fires rank among the most dangerous and stubborn fires on Earth. Instead of racing through trees and vegetation, these fires smolder through dried wetland soils and large deposits of peat, often continuing underground at relatively low temperatures. That makes them extremely difficult to extinguish and exceptionally polluting. By…
In some fusion systems, particles hotter than the core of the sun can become unstable within just a few thousandths of a second. That is far too fast for a human operator to respond. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University…
Researchers may have found a new way to weaken glioblastoma’s defenses against treatment. Blocking a protein called SET prevented tumors from forming in preclinical models, while targeting related proteins made cancer cells more vulnerable to radiation. The strategy works by restoring activity of PP2A, an enzyme that glioblastoma cells appear…
Dark matter is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in modern physics. Astronomers are highly confident that it exists and estimate that it accounts for about a quarter of the universe’s total energy content, yet scientists still do not know what it is made of. Two leading possibilities are hypothetical…
Unretouched triangular microlithic projectile points have been identified from their impact traces in the oldest occupation layers of the Obi-Rakhmat site in Uzbekistan, dating to 80,000 years ago. Their size corresponds to small arrowheads, which are directly comparable to those produced by Homo sapiens during an incursion into Neanderthal territory…
The European Society of Cardiology has issued its first guidelines dedicated to managing cardiovascular disease alongside chronic kidney disease, developed in partnership with the European Renal Association. The recommendations were published in the European Heart Journal and presented at ESC Congress 2026. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is diagnosed when abnormalities…
Scientists at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador have formally described Pristimantis milpe, a common and widespread frog that spent more than a century being mistaken for another species. The mystery was resolved by studying specimens collected in Ecuador during the 19th century and preserved at the Natural History Museum…
Researchers at the Kennedy Institute have found evidence that some joints may be more vulnerable to inflammatory arthritis before birth. The discovery could help explain a long-standing puzzle in rheumatoid arthritis: why the disease repeatedly attacks certain joints while leaving others largely untouched. The study, “The embryonic origins of site-specific…
Excess fat stored inside skeletal muscle has become an important metabolic health concern. This type of fat buildup can be encouraged by high-fat diets, physical inactivity, and aging. Unlike fat stored under the skin, lipid droplets that accumulate within muscle cells can interfere with normal muscle function and make it…
All known life on Earth relies on the same four-letter genetic alphabet. Researchers at the University of California San Diego have now shown that one of biology’s most important enzymes can accurately read and transcribe a much larger version containing eight genetic letters. The finding suggests that cells can use…
A study published in Nature Communications has revealed an unusual form of quantum oscillation in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The findings show that electrons in zirconium pentatelluride (ZrTe5) can behave in unexpected ways when exposed to temperatures close to absolute zero and extremely powerful magnetic fields. The research was led…
A new study of bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo) in Florida is challenging a previous explanation for how males and females develop their distinctively different head shapes. Researchers from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and collaborating institutions found that the sharks’ shovel shaped heads…
Knitting is no longer limited to making familiar items such as sweaters, hats, and blankets. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have shown that conventional knitting techniques can be used to create functional fabrics capable of changing shape, sensing movement, and operating…
Aging often makes itself visible in familiar ways, from gray hair and wrinkles to lapses in memory. That has fueled a longstanding scientific question: Could some of those changes eventually be slowed, prevented, or even reversed? Research involving a group of scientists from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Stanford University, Shanghai Jiao…
Puerto Rico typically enters its wet season in May, but 2026 has unfolded very differently. By late August, rainfall had remained scarce across much of the U.S. territory, allowing drought conditions to spread rapidly. The lack of rain has contributed to water shortages and rationing in some communities, prompting Puerto…
MIT researchers have engineered bacteria to work like transistors, creating living “circuit boards” that can be printed onto growth material inside a Petri dish. In conventional electronics, transistors act as switches that control whether electrical current can pass through a circuit. In the MIT system, engineered bacterial cells perform a…
A new study suggests that deliberately changing the rhythm of your breathing can influence how you make decisions by altering activity in both the heart and brain. Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin found that longer exhalations increased heart rate variability…
Summer is the busiest time of year for iceberg activity in Greenland’s glacier-fed fjords, and 2026 delivered a particularly dramatic example. In August, a huge iceberg broke away from Petermann Glacier on Greenland’s northwest coast. About the size of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it marked the largest…
Astronomers have identified a little-studied population of faint remnant radio galaxies that appear to fade quickly after their central supermassive black holes stop producing powerful radio jets. The findings provide a closer look at what happens during the final stages of a radio galaxy’s evolution. Researchers from the University of…
For nearly a century, scientists have been trying to identify dark matter, the invisible material thought to account for about 85% of all matter in the universe. Its gravitational effects can be seen throughout the cosmos, yet no experiment has directly detected the substance itself. Discovering what dark matter is…
Before birth, the human brain is assembled through an enormous series of cellular choices. At the center of this process are radial glia, a special type of stem cell that helps create many of the features that distinguish the human brain. These cells produce large numbers of the neurons and…