Fingertip monitors known as pulse oximeters that can be used at home to detect low blood oxygen levels (hypoxaemia) give higher readings for patients with darker than lighter skin tones, finds the largest study on this topic published by The BMJ today. This means that low blood oxygen levels may be missed in patients with darker skin tones, potentially delaying care, while patients with lighter skin tones may get unnecessary treatment. Pulse oximeters use light to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood (SpO2). For most people, a normal pulse oximeter reading is between 95% and 100%, with readings below 90-92% generally considered low and requiring medical ...

Wearing a cast for six weeks appears to be no less effective than surgery for healing unstable ankle fractures and carries fewer treatment related harms, finds a clinical trial from Finland published by The BMJ today.   Around two thirds of all ankle fractures involve a break in the fibula (the outer ankle bone). Known as Weber B fractures, they leave the ankle either stable or unstable (at risk of falling out of alignment).   Surgery remains the main treatment for Weber B ankle fractures deemed unstable, despite recent trials and guidelines increasingly supporting non-surgical options in selected patients.   To explore this further, researchers set out ...

Alcohol-free and low alcohol (“nolo”) drinks have the potential to improve public health, but experts in The BMJ today call for a precautionary approach that maximises potential benefits (eg. increased substitution of alcoholic drinks with nolo alternatives) while minimising risks (eg. preventing encroachment of nolo drinks into alcohol-free spaces). Sales of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks have increased substantially over recent years, driven by improved manufacturing techniques and consumer demand for better and healthier alternatives to alcoholic drinks, ...

Key findings Adding 100 mL of water at room temperature (25 ℃) to 1 g of the alloy powder results in nearly complete hydrolysis and yields a high hydrogen output in a short time. After correcting for water vapor, the measured hydrogen volume corresponds to approximately 737–760 mL H₂ per gram of powder (produced within about 10 minutes). Raising the water temperature to 60 ℃ further increases both reaction rate and total yield, reaching up to ≈835 mL H₂/g (uncorrected value). Microstructural analysis using SEM/TEM/EDS shows that the gas-atomized powders are spherical (diameter ~6–65 ...

Archival discoveries including a 19th-century autobiography transform our understanding of Shadrack Byfield, an English veteran of the War of 1812 who buried his own amputated arm and designed a custom prosthesis. A recurrent character in TV documentaries, books and museum exhibits in the USA and Canada, Byfield has been celebrated as an uncomplaining British soldier. But the new evidence reveals Byfield’s tenacious pursuit of veterans’ benefits and his struggles with pain, poverty, and the police.   ‘They came and pushed me about, ...

The University of Birmingham today (15 Jan) launched a new West Midlands-based facility for separating and recycling rare earth magnets that will help to reduce the UK’s reliance on imports of rare earth metals, alloys, and magnets.   Rare earth magnets are amongst the key ‘critical minerals’ that are integral to modern life. They form a core building block in technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, medical equipment, pumps, robotics, and electronics. Demand for these minerals will only increase as the adoption of low-carbon technologies ...

The Oceanography Society (TOS) has selected Dr. Corday Selden, an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, as a recipient of the TOS Early Career Award, recognizing her outstanding early-career research contributions, leadership in ocean sciences, and exceptional promise for future impact in oceanography. Dr. Selden will be recognized at The Oceanography Society Honors Breakfast, February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Selden is a marine biogeochemist whose research has fundamentally advanced understanding of how marine microbial processes regulate ocean chemistry and Earth-system function. Her work integrates stable isotope geochemistry, ...

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the clumping of proteins called Tau, which form tangled fibrils in the brain. The more severe the clumping, the more advanced the disease is. The Tau protein, which has also been linked to many other neurodegenerative diseases, is unstructured in its normal state, but in the pathological state it consists of a well-ordered rigid core surrounded by floppy segments. These disordered segments form a “fuzzy coat” that helps determine how Tau interacts with other molecules. MIT chemists have ...

Just like every other creature, bacteria have evolved creative ways of getting around. Sometimes this is easy, like swimming in open water, but navigating more confined spaces poses different challenges. Nevertheless, new research from the University of Chicago shows that a diverse group of bacteria has learned how to use the same basic movements to move through a wide range of environments no matter how complex, from unconstrained fluids to densely packed soil and tissues. ‘Run-and-tumble' vs ‘hop-and-trap' Some of the most common bacteria, like Salmonella and ...

  Audio: Study summation by Sue Anne Bell   Older adults who were exposed to heavy rainfall after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 faced a 3% increase in the risk of death within the following year, a new University of Michigan study found.   "These findings add to the evidence that disasters don't just cause short-term disruptions. They expose and magnify the underlying fragilities in our health systems," said lead author Sue Anne Bell, U-M associate professor of nursing. "For older adults who rely on regular ...

At the time of marketing authorization, many questions regarding the optimal use of new cancer drugs remain unanswered. This concerns, for example, the appropriate dosage for different patient groups and treatment duration, but also the comparison of the available treatment options with each other, or the optimal sequence. Because of these gaps in knowledge, the best possible results for patients are often not achieved. This problem has become more acute in recent years because efforts have focused more on accelerating the marketing authorization of new drugs than on optimizing their use in everyday clinical practice. The ...

Highlights: A new study has found that for people with moderate hearing loss, being prescribed hearing aids had no impact on cognitive test scores. Following people with moderate hearing loss, researchers compared those prescribed hearing aids to those without prescriptions. They found both groups had similar average test scores on memory and thinking tests. However, researchers also found having hearing aid prescriptions was associated with a 33% lower risk of dementia. This finding does not prove that hearing aids reduce the risk. It only shows an association. While no improvement in cognitive test scores was unexpected, factors like most participants having good cognitive health ...

The Oceanography Society (TOS) has selected Dr. Seth Zippel, Assistant Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, as a recipient of the TOS Early Career Award, recognizing his significant early-career research contributions, impact, and exceptional potential for future achievement in oceanography. Dr. Zippel will be recognized at The Oceanography Society Honors Breakfast, February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Zippel is recognized internationally for advancing the understanding of air–sea–ice interactions, surface gravity waves, and boundary-layer turbulence ...

The Oceanography Society (TOS) has selected Dr. Jeremy Horowitz as a recipient of the TOS Early Career Award, recognizing his outstanding early-career research contributions, impact, and promise for continued achievement in oceanography, along with his strong record of mentorship, outreach, and collaborative science. Dr. Horowitz will be recognized at The Oceanography Society Honors Breakfast, February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Horowitz is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and an internationally ...

HOUSTON, Jan. 14, 2026 — Kennesaw State University’s Jerry Mack has been named as the recipient of the American Heart Association’s 2025 Paul “Bear” Bryant Newcomer Coach of the Year Award. This award celebrates the achievements of an individual who has not had any previous head coaching experience at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Coach Mack will be recognized with the honor during the 40th Annual Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards ceremony presented by Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System on January 21, 2026 at Houston’s Post Oak Hotel. The event will be broadcast ...

Teeth provide a wealth of information about the lives of Iron Age Italians, according to a study published January 14, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Roberto Germano of Sapienza University of Rome, Italy and colleagues. Comparing the lifestyles of ancient cultures requires detailed information about the lives of long-deceased individuals. Human teeth are an excellent resource for this data, being very resilient structures that act as archives of life history information. In this study, Germano and colleagues combined multiple dental analyses to interpret details about health and diet in the Iron Age Italian site of Pontecagnano, dating to the 7th ...

A new study suggests that, with low to moderate levels of global greenhouse emissions in coming decades, more of India could become suitable for growing avocados. However, with high enough emissions, growing zones could shrink and destabilize by 2070. G. Karunakaran of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Indian Institute of Horticultural Research and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on January 14, 2026. Rising global demand for avocados makes them an economically significant fruit ...

Pregnant individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have higher levels of pro-inflammatory immune molecules, known as cytokines, in their vaginal mucosa than their healthy counterparts, according to a new study published January 14, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Ana Maldonado-Contreras of University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, U.S., and colleagues. However, the study also suggested that higher-quality diets, with more vegetables and fewer added sugars, are associated with lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in pregnant women both with and without IBD. Pregnant individuals with IBD ...

Underwater photos show seabirds, seals and fish interacting with a tidal turbine in Washington State Article URL: https://plos.io/4jjG9cB Video caption: A seal swims past while the turbine is stationary (video playback is at 25% speed). Video credit: Cotter et al., CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Video link: https://plos.io/4j1tc71 Article title: Observations of marine animal interactions with a small tidal turbine Author countries: U.S. Funding: The development and deployment of the Turbine Lander was sponsored by the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC) under Naval Sea Systems Command ...

1 in 5 surveyed UK adults who have experienced the death of a pet report it as more distressing than experienced human deaths, with significant rates of prolonged grief disorder symptoms also being reported following pet loss Article URL: https://plos.io/3LmqYmf Article title: No pets allowed: Evidence that prolonged grief disorder can occur following the death of a pet Author countries: Ireland Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Polyester microfibers in soil negatively impact the development of cherry tomato plants in experiments, raising concerns over the potential effect of high levels of such contaminants Article URL: https://plos.io/3Ne0e7W Article title: Polyester microfibers delay growth of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme) throughout the lifecycle Author countries: Canada Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

LGBTQ+ adults may be around twice as likely to be unemployed or to report workforce non-participation compared to heterosexual adults, per large representative Australian survey Article URL: https://plos.io/3YWSv0y Article title: Work participation disparities among LGBTQ+ Australians: Insights from a nationally representative cohort study Author countries: Australia Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Horses can smell fear: In experiments where horses smelled sweat from scared humans, they reacted to scary and sudden events with increased fear and reduced human interaction Article URL: https://plos.io/49nDTft Article title: Human emotional odours influence horses’ behaviour and physiology Author countries: France Funding: This study was granted by ANR Emodour (grant number ANR-23-CE20-0033) and Institut Français du Cheval et de l’Équitation (IFCE, grant number 32001331 Cognition Emotion). PJ was funded ...

Fukuoka, Japan—Adolescence marks an important transition not just socially and physically, but neurologically. During this period, higher cognitive functions such as planning, problem-solving, and decision-making gradually mature. Yet, the underlying mechanisms of neural circuit development remain poorly understood. Key to this process are synapses—the functional connections between neurons allow information to flow through the brain. Previously, it has long been hypothesized that synapse numbers increase during childhood and then decrease during adolescence. It has ...

Scientists have identified a promising target for treatment of a devasting autoimmune disease affecting the brain. The discovery could lead to the development of new therapies for a disease triggered by an attack on one of the key neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, the NMDA receptor. It also raises the potential for a blood test to detect a signal of the condition and enable earlier treatment with existing therapies. The study from Oregon Health & Science University published today in the journal Science Advances. The condition may be best known by the bestselling autobiography and the 2016 motion picture, ...