New research examines how pH impacts the immune system

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Inhaling agricultural dust may pose significant risks to gut health for workers in animal agriculture, a University of California, Riverside, study has found.  Led by Declan McCole, a professor of biomedical sciences in the UCR School of Medicine, the study expands on prior findings that hog farm dust causes airway inflammation. The researchers now report in the Journal of Applied Toxicology that inhaling this dust also alters the gut microbiome and impairs intestinal function, including increased “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability. Leaky ...

A new international study suggests that ancient viral DNA embedded in our genome, which were long dismissed as genetic “junk”, may actually play powerful roles in regulating gene expression. Focusing on a family of sequences called MER11, researchers from Japan, China, Canada, and the US have shown that these elements have evolved to influence how genes turn on and off, particularly in early human development.   Transposable elements (TEs) are repetitive DNA sequences in the genome that originated from ancient viruses. Over millions of years, they spread throughout the genome via copy-and-paste mechanisms. Today, TEs make up nearly half of the human genome. While they ...

Osaka, Japan – Ulcerative colitis (UC) causes misery for millions worldwide. It affects the large intestine, causing pain, cramping, and frequent bowel movements with bloody diarrhea. Although some people go through periods when they feel well, the disease will suddenly flare up, causing another cycle of pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. There is currently no cure. The intestinal flora plays a vital role in UC, but the exact role is unclear. In healthy people, the intestinal flora contains a wide variety of microbes that help digestion and provide benefits for the whole body. In contrast, the intestinal flora of people with UC is unbalanced, with fewer beneficial microbes ...

Chinese researchers have recently challenged the long-held belief that "all life depends on sunlight." In a study published in Science Advances, the researchers identified how microbes in deep subsurface areas can derive energy from chemical reactions driven by crustal faulting, offering critical insights into life deep below Earth's surface. The research was led by Prof. HE Hongping, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Prof. ZHU Jianxi, both from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of CAS. Long regarded as inhospitable to life ...

(IDAHO FALLS, Idaho) – The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been chosen to serve as the chief digital officer for the Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA Institute (SMART USA). This Manufacturing USA Institute, funded by the National Institute for Standards and Technology CHIPS for America program and launched in 2025, is led by Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation. The SMART USA program is partnering with the Department of Energy to tackle the semiconductor industry’s toughest challenges, leveraging the department’s decades-long investments ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Just 9% of plastic worldwide is recycled. Due to waste mismanagement, nearly three-quarters of it ends up in landfills or the environment.  So how can plastic recycling be more efficient? A review article by University at Buffalo researchers summarizes the latest technologies and methods guided by process systems engineering approaches, from chemical solvents that can dissolve specific plastics to automated plastic sorting aided by artificial intelligence. Selected as the cover article ...

Everyone knows that if you want to enjoy the full experience of the dawn chorus in the forests of Central Europe, or carry out scientific research on bird species, you have to get up very early in the morning. Until now however, detailed data about daily and seasonal patterns in birdsong have only been available for a few species, as the observations required are time-consuming. A research team from the University of Göttingen and the Northwest German Forest Research Institute has now, for the first time, analysed the song ...

The Dan David Prize is the world’s largest history prize, recognizing up to 9 outstanding early and midcareer scholars and practitioners in the historical disciplines each year. Each Dan David Prize winner is awarded $300,000 to acknowledge their achievements and support future work. We are pleased to announce that nominations for the 5th cycle of the new Dan David Prize are now open. The deadline for nominations for the 2026 Prize is September 24, 2025. Nominees can come from anywhere in the world and work in any field related to the study of the human past, both within academia and outside it. The list of previous winners ...

Teaching a robot new skills used to require coding expertise. But a new generation of robots could potentially learn from just about anyone.  Engineers are designing robotic helpers that can “learn from demonstration.” This more natural training strategy enables a person to lead a robot through a task, typically in one of three ways: via remote control, such as operating a joystick to remotely maneuver a robot; by physically moving the robot through the motions; or by performing the task themselves while the robot watches and mimics.  Learning-by-doing ...

Researchers have discovered an unusual case where two well-known cancer-related mutations—APC and KRAS—coexisted in a woman with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and a history of endometrial cancer. This case may reveal new insights into how different genetic mutations can cooperate across organ systems to promote cancer development. FAP is a rare inherited condition that causes hundreds to thousands of polyps to grow in the colon, significantly increasing colorectal cancer risk. It is primarily caused by mutations in the APC gene, which normally acts to suppress tumors by regulating cell growth through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In contrast, ...