Research announcements from universities, hospitals and scientific institutions. Explore the stories, people and discoveries behind the headlines.
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Results from a new animal study suggest that microscopic plastic particles found in food and beverages may affect glucose metabolism and harm organs such as the liver. The findings raise concerns about potential health risks in people and point to the need for more research. As plastic breaks down, it forms micro- (
Read the releaseThe Hertz Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the nation’s most promising innovators in science and technology, and Breakthrough Energy Discovery, a Breakthrough Energy platform focused on pre-venture, early-stage clean technology, have announced a new partnership to advance transformative climate and energy solutions. This collaboration brings together two organizations with a shared commitment to advancing scientific innovation and supporting exceptional talent. By connecting Breakthrough Energy’s innovation platform with the Hertz Foundation’s renowned community of scientific leaders, the partnership will create new opportunities ...
Read the releaseUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH – A new study led by University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh geologist Timothy Paulsen and University of Colorado Boulder thermochronologist Jeff Benowitz advances the understanding of the geologic history of Transantarctic Mountains bedrock, with implications for understanding the evolution of landscapes lying beneath the ice sheets covering Antarctica. The team of researchers analyzed the chemistry of mineral grains commonly found in igneous rocks, like granite, from the Transantarctic Mountains. The research team includes other scientists from the University of Arizona, St. Louis University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Alaska ...
Read the releaseWhat if some of the smallest ocean currents turned out to be some of the most powerful forces shaping our planet’s climate? This question is at the center of new research co-led by Texas A&M University Department of Oceanography Associate Professor Jinbo Wang, whose work is featured on the cover of the April 17 issue of Nature. It’s a big moment for Wang and his colleagues and the global science community — marking a milestone in a billion-dollar, international water mission two decades in the making, and reflecting Texas A&M University’s long-term strategy ...
Read the releaseOzone pollution is a global environmental concern that not only threatens human health and crop production, but also worsens global warming. While the formation of ozone is often attributed to anthropogenic pollutants, soil emissions are revealed to be another important source. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) researchers have examined global soil nitrous acid (HONO) emissions data from 1980 to 2016 and incorporated them in a chemistry-climate model to unveil the pivotal role soil HONO emissions play in the increase of the ozone mixing ratio in air and its negative impact on vegetation. Soil ...
Read the releaseTo achieve the European Green Deal’s goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic as well as conventional food production. NGTs—also known as gene editing-—are classified under the umbrella of GMOs, but they involve more subtle genetic tweaks. In an opinion paper publishing May 30 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability, the researchers describe how NGTs could enable rapid development of crops that are climate resilient, produce higher yields, and require less fertilizers and pesticides. “This ...
Read the releaseDense, spindly mangrove forests line the coast of tropical regions, buffering coastal flooding and providing a valuable sink for carbon, but there is concern that more intense and frequent storms due to climate change could have prolonged impacts on these ecosystems. A new study by Yale School of Environment scientists, however, suggests that these systems may be more resilient than expected. The team calculated the “recovery debt” of mangroves in Everglades National Park after hurricanes Wilma and Irma, showing that all the carbon lost during the storms was recovered within four years. (Wilma hit South Florida in 2005 and Irma hit ...
Read the releaseIn an important contribution from the social sciences, Rice University anthropologists Cymene Howe and Dominic Boyer examine the societal consequences of global glacier loss in a commentary published today in Science. Their article appears alongside new research that estimates that more than three-quarters of the world’s glacier mass could disappear by the end of the century under current climate policies. While the study projects the physical outcomes of glacial melt, Howe and Boyer highlight the social impacts and human ...
Read the releaseHoboken, N.J., May 29, 2025 — During the final week of summer in 2021, Hurricane Ida emerged from the Gulf of Mexico, turned almost directly northeast and swept through the South en route to Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Fueled by unusually heavy rains, falling on ground still saturated by two other recent large storms, Ida would eventually carve a path of destruction through the region. Some New Jersey cities and towns received as many as nine inches of rain within a 24-hour period, ...
Read the releaseAs climate change intensifies extreme weather, two new NYU studies show 3D flood visualizations developed by a cross-institutional research team dramatically outperform traditional maps for communicating risk. When Sunset Park, Brooklyn residents compared both formats that visualized flooding, 92% preferred the dynamic 3D approach. "The challenge we face is that substantial sectors of the population ignore flood warnings and fail to evacuate," said Professor Debra F. Laefer, the NYU Tandon School of Engineering senior researcher involved in both studies who holds appointments in the Civil and Urban Engineering Department and in the Center ...
Read the releaseFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Large-scale solar power arrays occupy about 0.2 percent of agricultural land in Arkansas, according to an analysis by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Solar energy production is increasingly being used to meet both energy needs and zero net emissions goals within the United States. Arkansas is following this trend with several utility-scale solar energy production systems built in 2023 and 2024, and more scheduled to come online in the following years. This has raised some concerns over the displacement of agricultural ...
Read the releaseSpring in the Arctic brings forth a plethora of peeps and downy hatchlings as millions of birds gather to raise their young. The same was true 73 million years ago, according to a paper featured on the cover of this week’s edition of the journal Science. The paper documents the earliest-known example of birds nesting in the polar regions. “Birds have existed for 150 million years,” said lead author Lauren Wilson, a doctoral student at Princeton University who earned her master’s degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “For half of the time they have existed, ...
Read the releaseAn international study has found that Earth’s glaciers will lose 76% of their 2020 mass under current climate policy pledges made by nations. Those pledges would lead to a global mean temperature 4.9 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. Consequences of the glacier mass loss include a 9-inch sea level rise, changes in biodiversity and increased natural hazards, the research finds. Alaska, one of 19 glacier regions designated by the international team, would lose 69% of its glacier mass. Of those regions, which don’t include the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, Alaska has the third-highest glacier mass today, at 16,246 gigatons. ...
Read the release(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Reducing travel speeds and using an intelligent queuing system at busy ports can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oceangoing container vessels by 16-24%, according to researchers at UC Santa Barbara. Not only would those relatively simple interventions reduce emissions from a major (?), direct source of greenhouse gases, the technology to implement these measures already exists. “Arguably the most impactful thing we can do to slow climate change is to cut CO2 emissions,” said Rachel Rhodes, a project scientist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at UC Santa Barbara, and lead author of a paper that appears in the journal Marine ...
Read the releaseCONTACT: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 619-685-3291 publicrelations@sdzwa.org sdzwa.org PHOTOS AND VIDEO: https://sandiegozoo.box.com/s/uzfr25f5xzcgxyj0tgww5ob6nvafuyng NEWS RELEASE New Study Finds Recovery Is Still Possible for Critically Endangered Hawaiian Honeycreeper With Urgent Intervention Latest Genomic Research Offers a Unique Lens for Understanding the Extinction Crisis in Hawai‘i SAN DIEGO (May 29, 2025) – A new scientific study, led by San Diego Zoo ...
Read the releaseThe Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, commonly referred to as the “AMOC,” is a system of ocean currents confined to the Atlantic basin that plays a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate by transporting heat from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere. The AMOC also modulates regional weather, from the mild summers in Europe to the monsoon seasons in Africa and India. Climate models have long predicted that global warming will cause the AMOC to weaken, with some projecting substantial weakening ...
Read the releaseAs coral reefs struggle to adapt to warming waters, high levels of pollution and sea-level rise, ballooning sea-urchin populations are threatening to push some reefs in Hawaii past the point of recovery. The phenomenon is described in a new study that uses on-site field work and airborne imagery to track the health of the reef in Hōnaunau Bay, Hawaii. Overfishing is the main culprit behind the explosion in sea-urchin numbers, said Kelly van Woesik, Ph.D. student in the North Carolina State University Center for Geospatial Analytics and first author of the study. “Fishing in these areas has greatly reduced the number of fishes that feed on these ...
Read the releaseInvolving communities in nature-based solutions to tackle urban climate and environmental challenges leads to innovation and multiple benefits, a study shows. Participation of citizens in NBS projects leads to innovation in design and quality, as well as people gaining greater benefits from green and blue spaces (for access, recreation and health and wellbeing), researchers found. The study showed that involving communities. Projects are also more likely to be successful in supporting nature renewal ...
Read the releaseNew Haven, Conn. — As rising global temperatures alter ecosystems worldwide, animal species usually have two choices: adapt to changing local conditions or flee to a cooler clime. Ecologists have long assumed that the world’s bird species were best equipped to respond to the pressures of climate change simply because they have the option of flying to higher altitudes or towards global poles. But a new Yale study finds that few bird species are able to escape the realities of a warming world. The findings were published May 28 in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. “They can’t move fast enough or far enough to ...
Read the releaseA paper describing the circular economy as a vital enabler for the sustainable use of resources to achieve the UN agenda for SDGs was published in the journal Circular Economy on 14 April 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cec.2025.100140). In this article, Khajuria and co-authors focused on reuse, recycling, and resource optimization, which assist businesses, governments, and communities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They published their study on 14 April 2025, in Circular ...
Read the releaseA new study shows how using drones with advanced cameras, ones that detect both heat and light, can help scientists better measure how field-grown wheat plants cope with climate change. By flying these drones over hundreds of wheat varieties, researchers could estimate key traits like how efficiently the plants breathe through their leaves, how leafy they are, and how much chlorophyll they have. They then matched these traits to specific genes in the wheat, identifying genetic markers linked to better performance under normal and dry conditions. ...
Read the releaseA survey of Oman's marine waters has revealed over 100 species of ribbon worms (Nemertea), marking the first systematic study of these marine predators in Arabian waters. The research, conducted by scientists from the University of Oregon, Moscow State University, and the University of Florida, significantly expands our knowledge of marine biodiversity in the region. Using a combination of morphological studies and DNA barcoding the researchers identified 107 ribbon worm species, 98% of which are undescribed. The research team found that 93% of the discovered species appear unique to Arabian waters. The study effectively doubles the number of genetically characterized ribbon ...
Read the releaseClose to five million smuggled seahorses worth an estimated CAD$29 million were seized by authorities over a 10-year span, according to a new study that warns the scale of the trade is far larger than current data suggest. Published today in Conservation Biology, the study analyzed online seizure records from 2010 to 2021 and found smuggling incidents in 62 countries, with dried seahorses, widely used in traditional medicine, most commonly intercepted at airports in passenger baggage or shipped in sea cargo. “The nearly 300 seizures we analyzed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures ...
Read the releaseA UC Riverside-led study has found that a smartphone app that tracks household water use and alerts users to leaks or excessive consumption offers a promising tool for helping California water agencies meet state-mandated conservation goals. Led by Mehdi Nemati, an assistant professor of public policy at UCR, the study found that use of the app—called Dropcountr—reduced average household water use by 6%, with even greater savings among the highest water users. Dropcountr works by interpreting water-use data from smart water meters, which many utilities originally ...
Read the releaseIn recent years, the concept of "rewilding" has risen to prominence in the conservation community, but to date, most efforts have been concentrated on large protected areas far from cities—and consequently, far from urban areas suffering pronounced biodiversity losses. In a recently published BioScience article, Patrick Finnerty (University of Sydney) and colleagues make the case for "urban rewilding" as a vital approach for addressing biodiversity losses, focusing on the rapidly expanding cities that are soon expected to be home to ...
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