The ideal scent detection dog is confident, persistent and resilient, without insecurities or neuroticism, according to a study featuring Dutch police dog handlers

Elusive beaked whales off the Louisiana coast may sometimes be diving right to the seafloor, finds new 3D acoustic technology which accurately pinpoints their locations using their echolocation clicks Article URL: https://plos.io/4qHMqBy Article title: Beaked whale dive behavior and acoustic detection range off Louisiana using three-dimensional acoustic tracking Author countries: U.S. Funding: Funding for this study (sites GC 01 and 02) was part of the “Assessing long-term trends and processes driving variability in cetacean density throughout the Gulf using passive acoustic ...

The vulnerable Amazonian manatee is most often found where human activity is low, with a new eDNA-based method most commonly detecting the freshwater mammal in the remote western Amazon Article URL: https://plos.io/4pYyIZW Article title: Survey of vulnerable Amazonian manatees using environmental DNA (eDNA): A method for survey in remote field settings Author countries: U.S., Brazil Funding: Donation to the International Sportfish Fund from the estate of George and Carolyn Kelso (KR and KOW), and a productivity research fellowship from the Brazilian National and Technological Development Council—CNPq: IPF (CNPq #316531/2023-5), and TH (CNPq #316532/2023-1). ...

Dogs who scored well on the Wesen test, which is used to analyze a dog’s temperament, tended to have lower levels of cortisol, often called the “stress hormone,” and higher levels of serotonin, often called the “happiness hormone”, according to a study published February 4, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Minjung Yoon from Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea, and colleagues. In the new research, twenty-four dogs (of various breeds) were analyzed with a version of the Wesen test, in which a human observer judges a dog’s temperament by watching their reaction ...

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report in Science Advances a breakthrough in human norovirus (HuNoV) research. Norovirus is a leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis worldwide with severe outcomes mostly among young children, the elderly and people with weakened or compromised immune systems. There are currently no approved vaccines or antiviral therapies, and management strategies rely solely on supportive care, including fluid and electrolyte replacement. Until now, HuNoV research has been limited by the amount of virus scientists could grow in the lab. In the current study, the Baylor team has overcome ...

The journal Big Earth Data was first launched in 2017 and has since stood out as the world’s first scholarly journal dedicated to Earth-related big data, emerging as a flagship platform at the intersection of Earth science, space science, information science, and sustainability science. Over the past decade, we have witnessed and fostered transformative advancements, from multi-source data fusion to large-model-driven analysis and from cloud computing platforms to digital twin Earth, while upholding a commitment to supporting ...

A new study, jointly led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID) in Cameroon, has detected a DNA marker in a gene encoding for a key enzyme, known as cytochrome P450, that helps mosquitoes to break down and survive exposure to pyrethroids, the main insecticides used for treating bed nets. This new finding, published in Science Translational Medicine, will help to better implement insecticide resistance management strategies and contribute to reducing the burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, home to 90% of cases globally.  Professor Charles Wondji, Professor of Genetics and Vector Biology at Liverpool School of Tropical ...

Large increases in PM2.5 exposure from wildfires have exaggerated progress in reducing inequities in traditional sources of PM2.5 in California, especially across racial groups and in years with severe wildfires like 2018.    Article URL: https://plos.io/45zJHSm Article Title: The diverging role of increasing wildfire smoke to ambient PM2.5 exposure disparity in California, 2006 to 2018  Author Countries: France, United States Funding: This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (RF1AG071024 to JAC; RF1AG071024 to TB). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation ...

A team of researchers from Peking University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new optical device capable of asymmetrically transmitting and transforming images in two opposite directions. Dubbed the “Janus meta-imager,” the device is based on diffractive deep neural networks (D²NNs) and metasurfaces, and operates without external power or nonlinear materials. Unlike conventional asymmetric imaging systems that rely on active components or limited unidirectional functions, the Janus meta-imager can perform different imaging tasks in forward and backward directions. For example, in simulations, ...

Early detection and accurate typing of cancer are critical for improving patient survival rates. While traditional pathology remains the gold standard, it often requires complex sample processing and chemical staining. In a study published in the journal PhotoniX, researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves at Southeast University and the Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University have unveiled a new "label-free" screening method. They have developed a sub-terahertz biosensor that leverages the physical ...

Antioxidants have been marketed as miracle supplements, touted for preventing chronic diseases and cancers; treating COPD and dementia; and slowing aging. While antioxidant therapies are widely used to treat male infertility, a new study from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) found that regularly consuming high doses of antioxidants negatively influences sperm DNA and may lead to offspring born with differences in craniofacial development. In a study, published in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, a team of researchers led by Dr. ...