Indian adults who move to cities are significantly more likely to become obese than their rural counterparts - and the longer they stay, the greater the risk

A new study of Instagram posts has uncovered strong statistical correlations suggesting that social media images may play a key role in shaping public opinion toward events, with notable social and political effects. Nafiseh Jabbari Tofighi of Istanbul Medipol University, Turkey, and Reda Alhajj of University of Calgary, Canada, Istanbul Medipol University, Turkey, and University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on July 30, 2025. Some prior studies have suggested that images and videos on social media can significantly impact users’ sentiments ...

Different dimensions of psychopathy might be associated with different physiological underpinnings of facial emotion recognition - and oxytocin could affect this skill - per scoping review of 66 studies Article URL: http://plos.io/4kFtGPd Article title: Psychophysiology of facial emotion recognition in psychopathy dimensions and oxytocin’s role: A scoping review Author countries: Portugal, U.K. Funding: This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia in the form of a fellowship awarded to DP (Ref. 2022.00586.CEECIND/CP1722/CT0011; DOI: 10.54499/2022.00586.CEECIND/CP1722/CT0011) and an institutional ...

A holistic approach reveals the global spectrum of knowledge on the impact of cumulative heat exposure on young students, according to an article published July 30 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Konstantina Vasilakopoulou from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia, and Matthaios Santamouris from the University of New South Wales, Australia. The article aims to shed light on the social and economic inequalities caused within and across countries, the potential adaptive measures to counterbalance ...

An international survey of over 300 adults reveals that males born in summer are potentially more prone to depression than those born in other seasons, though this trend was not mirrored in female study participants. #### Article URL: https://plos.io/4525W1T Article Title: Investigating the association between season of birth and symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults   Author Countries: Canada Funding: This work was supported by Kwantlen Polytechnic University Student Research Innovation Grant (SRIG 2023-60 to AK). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.  END ...

Almost all animals have symmetrical bodies: If we look at the left and right halves of our body, the limbs, eyes and ears are arranged evenly along the axis that runs through the centre of our body. This bilateral symmetry is almost universal in all animals and is only very rarely broken – with exceptions like the five-armed starfish or crab species that have one large and one small claw. One example of broken bilateral symmetry is the cichlid fish Perissodus microlepis, which is native to Lake Tanganyika in Africa. Its head and especially ...

Although metformin has been the go-to medication to manage type 2 diabetes for more than 60 years, researchers still do not have a complete picture of how it works. Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine and international collaborators have discovered a previously unrecognized new player mediating clinically relevant effects of metformin: the brain. By uncovering a brain pathway involved in metformin’s anti-diabetic action, researchers have discovered new possibilities for treating diabetes more effectively and precisely. The ...

Embargoed for release: Wednesday, July 30, 2:00 PM ET Key points: Researchers estimated that a 15% increase in U.S. solar power generation could reduce CO2 emissions by 8.54 million metric tons annually, offering major climate benefits. The benefits of added solar power varied widely by region. Areas like California, Florida, Texas, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southwest exhibited major reductions in emissions from solar increases, while other areas, such as Central, New England, and Tennessee, saw minimal impact. Solar expansion in one region can reduce emissions in neighboring regions, highlighting the importance of ...

The Black Death arrived on the shores of England in May 1348 and, in less than two years, spread throughout the country, killing an estimated 2 million people. The death toll from the disease, which was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, got so high that officials in London and other cities opened new cemeteries where hundreds of bodies were interred every day.  According to a new study, those who died around the time of the Black Death may help scientists answer a decidedly modern question: How can malnutrition early in life shape the health of humans far into adulthood? The answer may be more ...

In a small trial, Mass General Brigham researchers found a drug designed to treat Celiac disease supported a more rapid return to normal activities for patients following COVID. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but serious condition that can occur after a COVID-19 infection, presenting as high fevers, gastrointestinal symptoms, and life-threatening cardiac injury. A small, randomized clinical trial led by Mass General Brigham investigators found the oral drug larazotide—an experimental drug originally designed to treat Celiac disease—was both safe and effective in treating children with MIS-C. Their results ...

Increasing solar power generation in the United States by 15% could lead to an annual reduction of 8.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to researchers at Rutgers, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stony Brook University.   The study, published in Science Advances, found that the climate benefits of solar power differ markedly throughout U.S. regions, pinpointing where clean energy investments return the greatest climate dividends.   In 2023, 60% of U.S. electricity generation relied on fossil fuels, while 3.9% came from solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information ...