Media Contact: pr@cos.io Open science has moved from the margins to the mainstream. With the release of our 2026–2028 Strategic Plan, COS is focusing its next phase of work on advancing Lifecycle Open Science, ensuring that research plans, data, materials, code, and outcomes remain openly connected and reusable over time. We are pleased to welcome Chris Bourg (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Marcus Munafò (University of Bath) to the COS Board of Directors at this pivotal moment. Their leadership in equitable ...

Digital CBT treatment reduced cardiac-related anxiety and improved patients' quality of life and physical function after a heart attack. This is shown in a new randomised study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, in which researchers at Karolinska Institutet compared digital CBT with standard care. Many people who suffer a heart attack develop persistent anxiety related to their heart, such as fear of new cardiac events or avoidance of everyday activities such as physical activity. The study involved 96 people who had had a heart attack at least six months earlier and who experienced significant ...

As whole-person care accelerates across the U.S. health care system, clinicians face a persistent and consequential gap: the lifestyle and upstream health factors that drive chronic disease remain largely unmeasured, undocumented, and uncompensated in health care data systems. To close that gap, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has launched the Lifestyle Medicine Whole Person Health Index (LMWPHI)— a point-of-care assessment tool designed to support the delivery of whole-person care in everyday clinical practice. The LMWPHI, central to operationalizing high-quality, evidence-based, high-value care, is embedded within ...

Fukuoka, Japan—In the fight against climate change, solar power is a promising alternative to fossil fuels. Every second, Earth receives an enormous amount of energy from the Sun. Yet solar cells capture only a fraction of it, constrained by a “physical ceiling” that seemed impossible to break. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on March 25, a research team led by Kyushu University in Japan, in collaboration with Johannes Gutenberg University　 (JGU) Mainz in Germany, used a molybdenum-based metal complex called “spin-flip” emitter to harvest ...

Osaka, Japan — Modern polymer materials face a fundamental challenge: they must remain strong and durable during use, yet ideally degrade when they are no longer needed. Designing materials that satisfy both requirements has long been a major challenge in polymer science. Researchers at The University of Osaka have now developed a molecular design strategy that reconciles these competing demands. By introducing movable molecular rings (cyclodextrins) into a polymer network, the team created a tough material whose enzymatic degradation can be switched on or off using light. In conventional polymer materials, strong mechanical properties are typically achieved by ...

(Toronto and Las Vegas, March 25, 2026) JMIR Publications, a leading open-access digital health research publisher, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) are pleased to announce a new Flat-Fee Unlimited Open Access Publishing Agreement. Following in the footsteps of similar agreements with progressive institutions worldwide, this partnership replaces individual Article Processing Charges (APCs) with a single Institutional Publishing Fee (IPF). The agreement is designed to reduce the administrative workload for library staff, eliminate financial obstacles ...

Prostate cancer affects one in five Australian men, making it the most common cancer in the country. Now, researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have produced the world’s most detailed cellular ‘atlas’ of early-stage prostate cancer, revealing the earliest changes that lead to the disease. The study describes a never-before-identified cell type and shows that many cells appearing healthy under the microscope have already begun their journey towards malignancy. These findings could reveal new risk factors, lead to earlier detection methods and help determine which patients are at risk of developing aggressive disease. The study was published in ...

A landmark multiyear collaborative National Science Foundation study conducted by researchers at Florida Atlantic University, the Brookings Institution and Texas State University, as well as four partnering Noyce institutions, sheds new light on the state of the STEM teacher workforce in high-need schools across the United States. The research highlights both the resilience of STEM teachers under significant pressures and the ongoing challenges that threaten equitable access to high-quality STEM education for students in underserved communities. Increasing student achievement in math, science and other STEM subjects is ...

Hematological malignancies, encompassing Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), multiple myeloma (MM), and leukemia, represent a major global health challenge with substantial morbidity and mortality. A new study made available online on February 11, 2026, in the Chinese Medical Journal delivers a detailed epidemiological analysis of their disease burden worldwide, with a focused comparison between China and the United States (US), leveraging the latest data from GLOBOCAN 2022 and Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 to inform evidence-based prevention ...

Digital Science, a technology company providing innovative solutions to stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ontopic, a pioneer in Virtual Knowledge Graph technology. Based in Bolzano, Italy, Ontopic is a spin-off from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and is renowned for its expertise in Ontop, the leading open-source framework for Virtual Knowledge Graphs (VKG) and Ontology-Based Data Access (ODBA). By acquiring Ontopic, Digital Science continues its commitment to democratizing research data and providing enterprise-grade AI solutions that transform fragmented data into actionable knowledge. Integrating ...

The article, titled "Emerging roles of immune cell-derived neurotransmitters in immunity and disease," published on March 17, 2026, in Immunity & Inflammation, provides a timely and authoritative review of how innate and adaptive immune cells—including macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, T cells, and B cells—produce and respond to classic neurotransmitters. This previously underappreciated facet of immunology is now recognized as a critical bridge connecting the nervous and immune systems, with profound implications for understanding health and disease. The review begins by establishing that neurotransmitter ...

Scientists have long-studied the role of dopamine, a chemical in the brain that helps control learning and movement, in order to better understand Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and depression—afflictions caused, in part, by a disruption or alteration of dopamine activity. In a study of laboratory rats, New York University neuroscientists have uncovered a new dynamic in dopamine function: the timing of the interaction of two neurotransmitters—dopamine and acetylcholine—determines whether or not dopamine is effective in guiding learning or effective movement.  “This study addresses ...

Scientists have created the first microlasers capable of detecting individual molecules and even single atomic ions, a breakthrough that could significantly advance early disease diagnosis and molecular-scale medical testing.  Microlasers are tiny glass beads measuring around just 0.1 mm  - (the width of a human hairI)  to  0.01mm – (the length of a single bacterium). With a central cavity that acts as a tiny mirror, they emit and bounce  light in a circular motion around the bead.  This circular path of trapped ...

The next time you’re scrolling your phone, take a moment to appreciate the feat: The seemingly mundane act is possible thanks to the coordination of 34 muscles, 27 joints, and over 100 tendons and ligaments in your hand. Indeed, our hands are the most nimble parts of our bodies. Mimicking their many nuanced gestures has been a longstanding challenge in robotics and virtual reality.  Now, MIT engineers have designed an ultrasound wristband that precisely tracks a wearer’s hand movements in real time. The wristband produces ultrasound images of the wrist’s muscles, tendons, ...

In a bid to better understand, and potentially treat, a host of conditions that affect early cognition, neurodevelopment and the brain later in life, investigators at Johns Hopkins Medicine and colleagues throughout the world have been mapping the molecular construction of the human brain. These models, which are supported in part by federal and international research grants, are helping researchers study genetic links and pathways involved in a variety of conditions, ranging from autism spectrum disorder, which affects about 1 in 31, or 3%, of children in the U.S., to Alzheimer’s disease, which is estimated to affect more than 7 million U.S. adults, including ...

Researchers have determined how a key protein activates brown fat by expanding blood vessels and nerves in the heat-generating tissue.  The findings, published in Nature Communications, point to a potential strategy for treating obesity that deviates from the current approach of suppressing appetite.  Most of the fat in our bodies is white fat, which stores excess energy and, at too high of levels, can lead to obesity. Humans and other mammals also have a smaller amount of brown fat, a specialized tissue ...

The first large-scale genetic study of E. coli’s protective armour has identified the five capsule types that are responsible for 70 per cent of all multidrug-resistant bloodstream infections in Europe. Researchers, including those at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oslo, and their collaborators, analysed over 18,000 bacterial genomes from samples across all continents to investigate E. coli’s armour and find new ways to penetrate it.   The study, published today (25 March) in Nature Microbiology, uncovered 90 different types of protective capsules, ...

Thanks to the 5th generation (5G) technology, we now enjoy unprecedented levels of connectivity. Nevertheless, wireless data traffic is facing an increasing demand for an even higher capacity and faster data transfer —a demand that, according to Edholm’s law, could exceed the terabit per second before 2035. Scientists are thus beginning to develop 6G, a technology that will accommodate higher speeds (around 1 terabit per second), ultra-low latency (below a millisecond), and advanced wireless connectivity. Transitioning from 5G to 6G, however, entails one major challenge: moving from the microwave to the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) frequency ...

A research team from the National Taiwan Normal University has clarified the status of a secretive reptile through a new study published in the open-access journal ZooKeys. Led by Si-Min Lin, the team focused on the Formosan legless lizard, scientifically known as Dopasia formosensis. These lizards are among the most secretive and least studied groups in Taiwan, living primarily under leaf litter and humus in moist forests. This elusive behavior makes field observations and ecological studies extremely difficult. The ...

ATLANTA, March 25, 2026 — Biodiesel is a renewable fuel and offers a sustainable and potentially carbon-neutral alternative to petroleum products. Yet production costs remain a hurdle to its widespread use. Now, researchers have developed an inexpensive way to make biodiesel from materials found along the banks of their Louisiana bayou: algae and oyster shells. The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2026 is being held March 22-26; it features nearly 11,000 presentations on a range of science topics. Biodiesel is manufactured and used around the world, but its production ...

ATLANTA, March 25, 2026 — The state of Kentucky produces 95% of the world’s bourbon, and all that bourbon leaves behind an enormous amount of waste grain, called stillage. Now, researchers at the University of Kentucky have developed a process to transform that stillage into electrodes. With the bourbon byproduct electrodes, they created supercapacitors that could store more energy than similarly sized commercial devices. The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2026 is being held March 22-26; it features nearly 11,000 presentations on a range of science topics. Josiel ...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide and can cause various types of cancer. Prophylactic HPV vaccination is highly effective and has been recommended in Switzerland since 2007 for girls and young women aged 11 to 26 – and since 2015 also for boys and young men. Catch-up vaccination is also available for women up to the age of 45. HPV vaccination is well documented among adolescents across Switzerland, with an uptake of 71% for girls and 49% for boys between 2020 and 2022. However, data on HPV vaccination among adults ...

Research Highlights: People born to mothers where the birth included a placental abruption (placenta separates from the uterus before delivery) may have a higher risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease than those whose birth did not have this complication. People born to mothers who had a placental abruption are about three times more likely to be hospitalized for cardiovascular disease by the age of 28, and about 4.6 times as likely to die from a cardiovascular event in that timeframe, compared to people born to mothers with pregnancies that were not complicated by placental abruption. Researchers say that placental ...

Britain’s hazel dormice are getting lighter in spring but fatter in autumn as our climate changes, new research suggests. The study used 30 years of data on the weight of dormice at different times of year. In May and June, after hibernation, average weight has declined over time. This could reflect the fact that smaller individuals have an advantage in warmer temperatures, as small bodies lose heat faster. Alternatively, it could be because dormice are waking more frequently during hibernation and those that don’t die are lighter by spring as a ...