Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have studied the relationship between numerical information in our vision, and how it affects our perception of space. Volunteers were asked to identify the center of lines and squares filled with numbers; how far they were from the true center revealed unexpected biases. Crucially, their work with squares showed how our perception of space is a complex interplay between “object-based” processing and our processing of numerical ...

The Society of Inorganic Materials, Japan (SIMJ) has announced a prestigious international book initiative entitled “Sustainable Materials for a Better Environment: Advances in Gypsum, Lime, Cement, and Other Inorganic Materials” to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its founding. The initiative was officially announced at the Board of Directors’ executive meeting held on November 26th, 2025. The project aims to bring together leading researchers and experts from Japan and around the world within industry and academia ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, higher fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure was associated with lower birth weight for gestational age z score, with critical windows identified during early pregnancy to mid-pregnancy; however, findings varied by sex and region. Understanding windows of susceptibility to environmental exposures can help guide research on underlying biological processes and can inform strategies for limiting exposure during certain periods of pregnancy. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Whitney Cowell, PhD, email whitney.cowell@nyulangone.org. To ...

About The Study: In this national longitudinal cohort study, middle-aged and older adults at high risk of obstructive sleep apnea had consistently worse mental health outcomes. These findings bridge knowledge gaps on the association between obstructive sleep apnea and mental health, highlighting the need for integrated screening and intervention strategies. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Tetyana Kendzerska, MD, PhD, email tkendzerska@toh.ca. To access the embargoed study: ...

Talking while driving is widely recognized as a major source of distraction, but the specific ways conversation interferes with the earliest stages of visual processing have remained largely unclear. While previous research has shown that cognitive distraction can slow braking or reduce situational awareness, the question of whether talking disrupts the foundational gaze processes that precede physical reactions has remained unanswered. Now, researchers from Fujita Health University have demonstrated that talking imposes cognitive load strong enough to delay essential eye-movement ...

The Ceramic Society of Japan’s Oxoate Ceramics Research Association is delighted to announce the launch of a major international book project titled “Functional Oxoate Ceramics and Glasses: Current Progress and Future Perspectives” to be published by Jenny Stanford Publishing. The scholarly endeavor was officially announced at The 38th Fall Meeting held at Gunma University. The forthcoming edited volume aims to curate high-quality contributions from leading researchers in Japan and abroad who specialize in glass science and functional oxoate ceramics. After three years leading up to the ...

The secret to a healthier and “younger” heart lies in the vagus nerve. A recent study coordinated by the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and published in Science Translational Medicine has shown that preserving bilateral cardiac vagal innervation is an anti-aging factor. In particular, the right cardiac vagus nerve emerges as a true guardian of cardiomyocyte health, helping to preserve the longevity of the heart independently of heart rate. The study is characterised by a strongly multidisciplinary approach, integrating experimental medicine and bioengineering applied to cardiovascular research. Specifically, the research was led ...

Preclinical study identifies Rb1 deficiency as key therapeutic vulnerability in a subset of breast cancers resistant to standard CDK4/6 inhibitors Drugs that may exploit this vulnerability are already in clinical trials Rb1-deficient cancers represent nearly 40% of triple-negative and estrogen receptor–positive tumors, which together account for roughly 20% of all breast cancers Rb1 status could also serve as an important predictive biomarker for other treatment strategies HOUSTON, DECEMBER 24, 2025 ― A new study published today in Science Translational Medicine by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center details a ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly advancing across modern healthcare, yet its role in pediatric surgery remains limited and ethically complex. This study reveals that although surgeons recognize AI’s potential to enhance diagnostic precision, streamline planning, and support clinical decision-making, its practical use is still rare and mostly academic. Pediatric surgeons expressed strong concerns about accountability in the event of AI-related harm, the difficulty of obtaining informed consent for children, the risk of data privacy ...

Prescription stimulants, such as Ritalin and Adderall, are widely used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including in children. In the U.S., about 3.5 million kids ages 3 to 17 take an ADHD medication, a number that has increased as more children have been diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder. Stimulant medications have long been thought to treat ADHD by acting upon regions of the brain that control attention, but a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis casts doubt on that thinking. Led by Benjamin Kay, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of neurology, and Nico U. Dosenbach, ...

Scientists at HSE University have found that current AI models, including ChatGPT and Claude, tend to overestimate the rationality of their human opponents—whether first-year undergraduate students or experienced scientists—in strategic thinking games, such as the Keynesian beauty contest. While these models attempt to predict human behaviour, they often end up playing 'too smart' and losing because they assume a higher level of logic in people than is actually present. The study has been published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. In the 1930s, British economist John Maynard Keynes developed the theoretical ...

An international team, including researchers from HSE University, has created the first comprehensive map of quadruplexes—unstable DNA structures involved in gene regulation. For the first time, scientists have shown that these structures function in pairs: one is located in a DNA region that initiates gene transcription, while the other lies in a nearby region that enhances this process. In healthy tissues, quadruplexes regulate tissue-specific genes, whereas in cancerous tissues they influence genes responsible for cell growth and division. These findings may contribute to the development of new anticancer drugs that target quadruplexes. The study has been published in Nucleic ...

Researchers have developed experimental drugs that encourage the mitochondria in our cells to work a little harder and burn more calories. The findings could open the door to new treatments for obesity and improve metabolic health. Obesity is a global epidemic and a risk factor for many diseases, including diabetes and cancer. Current obesity drugs require injections and can cause side effects, so a safe way to boost weight loss could deliver significant public health benefits. The study, led by Associate Professor Tristan Rawling from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), has just been published ...

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have discovered a practical way to detect and fix common labeling errors in large radiographic collections. By automatically verifying body-part, projection, and rotation tags, their research improves deep-learning models used for routine clinical tasks and research projects. Deep-learning models using chest radiography have made remarkable progress in recent years, evolving to accomplish tasks that are challenging for humans such as estimating cardiac and respiratory function. However, AIs are only as good as the images ...

Even a low daily intake of alcohol—-just 9 g or around one standard drink—is linked to a 50% heightened risk of mouth (buccal mucosa) cancer in India, with the greatest risk associated with locally brewed alcohol, finds a large comparative study, published online in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.   And when combined with chewing tobacco, it likely accounts for 62% of all such cases in India, the findings suggest.   Mouth cancer is the second most common malignancy in India, with an estimated 143,759 new cases and 79,979 deaths every year. Rates ...

Members of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the professional society for weather, water, and climate sciences and services, have elected Richard (Rick) Spinrad to the position of AMS president-elect for 2026, as well as electing five new council members.  Spinrad, an oceanographer, formerly served as U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the 11th administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He will be inducted as president-elect on Sunday, 25 January, 2026, during the AMS’s 106th Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas.  The five newly elected AMS Council Members are Marilyn Averill, Julie Demuth, Jordan Gerth, ...

As countries around the world grapple with the challenge of achieving net-zero emissions, a newly released online webinar recording is drawing attention to one of the most promising and underappreciated climate solutions: biomass-based carbon capture. The full recording of the international seminar, held online on December 17, 2025, is now freely available on YouTube, offering researchers, policymakers, and the public an accessible deep dive into how nature’s carbon cycle can be harnessed for large-scale climate mitigation. The webinar, ...

  Invisible pollutants at the nanoscale are quietly entering bodies and ecosystems, yet standard toxicology tools still treat living organisms like a black box. A new perspective article in the journal New Contaminants describes how cutting edge bioimaging is turning that black box into a transparent map, revealing where these particles go and how they may harm health. Lighting up hidden nano pollution Emerging nanoscale contaminants such as engineered nanomaterials and nanoplastics are now found in water, soil, food and even the air we breathe, but their tiny size and complex behavior make them hard to track with traditional methods. Conventional ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — A new study published on December 23, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, looks at how age may affect recovery for people with spinal cord injuries. “With population growth and improvements in medicine, the number of people diagnosed with spinal cord injury is increasing and the average age at the time of injury is rising,” said study author Chiara Pavese, MD, PhD, of the University of Pavia in Pavia, ...

A team led by investigators at Mass General Brigham and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has developed and validated an artificial intelligence (AI)–based noninvasive tool that can predict the likelihood that a patient’s oropharyngeal cancer—a type of head and neck cancer that develops in the throat—will spread, thereby signaling which patients should receive aggressive treatment. The research is published in Journal of Clinical Oncology. “Our tool may help identify which patients should receive multiple interventions or would be ideal candidates for clinical trials of intensive strategies such ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A study led by biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has shown for the first time that a father’s exposure to microplastics (MPs) can trigger metabolic dysfunctions in his offspring. The research, conducted using mouse models, highlights a previously unknown pathway through which environmental pollutants impact the health of future generations. While MPs have already been detected in human reproductive systems, the study, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, is the first to bridge the gap between paternal ...

“The insights gained from this study not only validate OVCAR3 as a representative model for HGSOC, but also provide a foundation for developing targeted therapeutic strategies.” BUFFALO, NY — December 23, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Volume 12 of Oncoscience on October 14, 2025, titled “Bridging clinical insight and laboratory model in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) using DNA sequencing-based profiling of TP53.” In this study, Faisal Iqbal from the University ...

FAIRFAX, VA (Dec. 23, 2025)—Registration is open for the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting. Join top interventional radiologists to shape the future of the specialty, April 11–15, 2026, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. More than just a conference, SIR’s Annual Scientific Meeting is a gathering place for a vibrant, inclusive community of more than 4,000 IR professionals—from those in training to seasoned experts. The scientific program ...

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) today announced the 10 most downloaded papers of 2025 from Stem Cell Reports, its peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Together, these highly read articles reflect the extraordinary scientific range of the field – from foundational mechanisms of pluripotency and differentiation to translational advances in regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and bioethics – and underscore the journal’s role as a trusted platform for impactful stem cell science. Engineered Proxies and the Illusion of De-Extinction A timely and widely discussed perspective examining recent claims of “de-extinction,” using dire ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oxford-led study estimates NHS spends around 3% of its primary and secondary care budget on the health impacts of heat and cold in England Analysis of 4.37 million patient records in England finds resources asymmetrically impacted by winter cold and summer heat, with about 64% linked to common cold days while very hot days drive sharp same-day demand surges A new University of Oxford-led study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, is the first to link daily temperature data to health-care use and costs across primary and secondary care in England. Using ...