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

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, ...

The Oceanography Society (TOS) has named Professor Dr. Oliver Zielinski a Fellow of the Society, recognizing his outstanding and sustained contributions to oceanography through scientific innovation, leadership, education, and service. The TOS Fellows Program honors members whose careers have significantly advanced understanding and stewardship of the ocean while strengthening the global oceanographic community. Dr. Zielinski will be recognized at The Oceanography Society Honors Breakfast, February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in ...

New research published in The Economic and Labour Relations Review, a UNSW-based journal, found there’s still much more to do to improve today’s working conditions for women across the world. The collection offers what its guest editors – Dr Yuvisthi Naidoo from the Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney and Honorary Associate Professor Anne Junor from the School of Business, UNSW Canberra – describe as a ‘necessary stocktake’ of how paid and unpaid work continues to both enable and limit women’s safety, wellbeing and economic power. “Overall, this collection addresses emerging and ...

Researchers led by Rice University’s Guido Pagano used a specialized quantum device to simulate a vibrating molecule and track how energy moves within it. The work, published Dec. 5 in Nature Communications, could improve understanding of basic mechanisms behind phenomena such as photosynthesis and solar energy conversion. The researchers modeled a simple two-site molecule with one part supplying energy and the other receiving it, both shaped by vibrations and their environment. By tuning the system, they could directly observe energy moving from donor to acceptor and study how vibrations and energy loss influence that transfer, providing a controlled way to test theories ...

Social media is often criticized for fueling misinformation and violence, but it could actually play a role in preventing genocide and mass atrocities – if used strategically. A new paper co-authored by Binghamton University Professor of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm examined social media hashtag campaigns during times of crisis and found that digital platforms can aid in atrocity prevention if they are tailored to the context of the crisis at hand.  “Governments are increasingly using social media, though often not with ...

CHICAGO—January 14, 2026—The American Ornithological Society (AOS) bestows the Wesley Lanyon Award every two years on an early-career ornithologist who authors the best integrative avian science review paper published in either AOS journal (Ornithology or Ornithological Applications). The award is given in honor of Wesley “Bud” Lanyon, who served as the 37th President of the American Ornithologists’ Union, one of the AOS’s predecessor societies. The 2025 AOS Wesley Lanyon Award is given to lead author Bryce W. ...

Researchers from the Centre for Palaeogenetics have managed to analyse the genome from a 14,400-year-old woolly rhinoceros, recovered from a tissue sample found preserved inside the stomach of an ancient wolf. The study, published in Genome Biology and Evolution, shows that woolly rhinos remained genetically healthy until the end of the last Ice Age. The species therefore probably died out due to a rapid collapse of the population, rather than a slow demographic decline. “Sequencing the entire genome of an Ice Age animal found in the stomach of another animal has never been done before,” says the study’s last author, Camilo Chacón-Duque, ...