From Italy and the World

From low-carb ice cream and keto protein bars to “sugar-free” soda, erythritol has become a staple ingredient in many modern foods. However, new research from the University of Colorado Boulder suggests this widely used sugar substitute may have serious downsides. Scientists found it can affect brain cells in ways that…

Anyone who has had a severe stomach illness recognizes the pattern. Even after the worst symptoms fade, appetite often disappears and can take time to return. This same effect is experienced by millions of people worldwide who live with long-term parasitic worm infections. Despite how common it is, scientists have…

Researchers have discovered how a crucial protein switches on brown fat by helping it build the blood vessels and nerve connections needed for heat production. The findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest a new way to tackle obesity that focuses on increasing how much energy the body burns instead of…

Researchers report that a newly uncovered fossil ape from northern Egypt is changing how scientists view early hominoid evolution. The discovery suggests that the closest ancestors of modern apes may have originated in northern Africa, rather than in East Africa, which has long been the main focus of fossil research.…

During midday Friday prayers on March 28, 2025, a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit central Myanmar along the Sagaing Fault. The epicenter was located near Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. It was the strongest earthquake to strike Myanmar in more than a century and the second deadliest in its modern…

Antioxidants are often promoted as powerful supplements, credited with helping prevent chronic illnesses and cancer, treating conditions like COPD and dementia, and even slowing the aging process. However, new research from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) suggests that taking high doses regularly may come…

One of the biggest challenges in cancer care is that the same therapy can be highly effective for some patients yet fail entirely for others. A new study published in Nature Communications, led by Dr. Louise Fets at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), takes a closer look at…

Scientists have uncovered a surprising way that gut bacteria interact with the human body. Certain microbes living in the digestive system can send proteins straight into human cells, actively influencing how the immune system behaves. The research, led by Helmholtz Munich with contributions from Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), Aix Marseille…

Scientists have uncovered a surprising way that gut bacteria interact with the human body. Certain microbes living in the digestive system can send proteins straight into human cells, actively influencing how the immune system behaves. The research, led by Helmholtz Munich with contributions from Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), Aix Marseille…

Species around the world are vanishing at an accelerating pace, driven by climate change, habitat destruction, and invasive species. Many lesser-known groups, including marine worms, are especially at risk, with some facing extinction before scientists have even identified them. To address this gap, researchers from the University of Göttingen, the…

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have identified previously unseen oscillation patterns known as Floquet states inside extremely small magnetic vortices. In contrast to earlier studies that relied on powerful laser pulses to generate these states, the Dresden team found that gentle stimulation using magnetic waves is enough. This discovery…

Today, Mars is known as a cold, dry desert, but its surface tells a very different story. Ancient channels, water-altered minerals, and other geological features show that the planet once had abundant water and a far more dynamic environment. Understanding how this wetter world transformed into the barren landscape we…

How much does a star determine what its planets are like? And could that influence whether those worlds can support life? Carnegie’s Luke Bouma is investigating a new way to tackle this question by using naturally occurring “space weather stations” that appear around some young stars. His findings are being…

Sea ice is remaining attached to Alaska’s northern coastline for shorter periods each year, based on 27 years of data analyzed by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This type of ice, known as landfast ice because it stays fixed to the shore rather than drifting with winds and…

Researchers from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Brazil, working with University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom, found that having both excess abdominal fat and reduced muscle mass significantly raises the risk of death. People with this combination were 83% more likely to die than those…

A team of researchers led by the University of Oxford has developed a breakthrough food supplement that could help reverse the alarming decline of honeybees. Working with Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the University of Greenwich, and the Technical University of Denmark, the scientists engineered a diet that mimics the key…