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press releases.

Science26 Jun 2025

Chicago’s rodents are evolving to handle city living

In general, evolution is a long, slow process of tiny changes passed down over generations, resulting in new adaptations and even new species over thousands or millions of years. But when living things are faced with dramatic shifts in the world around them, they sometimes rapidly adapt to better survive. Scientists recently found an example of evolution in real time, tucked away in the collection drawers of the Field Museum in Chicago. By comparing the skulls of chipmunks and voles from the Chicagoland area collected ...

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Science26 Jun 2025

Membrane or metabolism, which came first?

LMU researchers have demonstrated a possible mechanism for metabolic processes without cell membranes in water-filled pores. Looking at life today, it is difficult to imagine how complex biological processes and structures could have developed from simple building blocks. All cellular processes and reactions appear to be closely interdependent and necessarily occur within a cell membrane. There is no known organism that deviates from this pattern. But how did it come about? How does a cell membrane form without metabolism? Or conversely, how does metabolism arise without a cell ...

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Science26 Jun 2025

New insights into seasonal shifts in sleep

A new international study drawing on 73 million nights of data reveals that our sleep patterns are seriously shaped by the day of the week, the season, and where we live. Working with sleep data from more than 116,000 adults across the globe, Flinders University sleep experts used insights from an FDA-cleared under-mattress device to track sleep duration and timing over 3.5 years. Lead author, Dr Hannah Scott from FHMRI Sleep Health says the findings give a detailed look at how geography, seasons, and our day-to-day schedules quietly disrupt the way we sleep. “Sleep patterns aren’t just about habits – they’re deeply connected to the environment around ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

GP performance pay fails to drive lasting changes in quality of care

Introducing performance related pay for UK general practices initially improved quality of care, but did not seem to provide lasting improvements beyond that expected by previous trends, finds a study published by The BMJ today. And initial gains in quality seemed to reverse when financial incentives were withdrawn, say the researchers. The UK Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) pay-for-performance programme was introduced across the NHS in 2004 to reward general practices for providing high quality care across a range of disease indicators ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Early farmers in the Andes were doing just fine, challenging popular theory

In the Andes, the rise of agriculture to replace foraging was not the result of hardship and resource scarcity, but instead a time of economic resilience and innovation, according to a study published June 25, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Luis Flores-Blanco of the University of California Davis and Arizona State University, U.S., and colleagues. The transition from foraging to farming was a major shift in human history that laid the foundations for the expansion of modern civilization. The current prevailing ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Risk of crime rises when darkness falls

A U.K. study of data on more than 30,000 crimes sheds new light on crime after dark, suggesting that the overall risk of crime rises when darkness falls, but that risk varies depending on type of crime and geographical area. Jim Uttley of the University of Sheffield, U.K., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on June 25, 2025. Prior research has shown that darkness reduces people’s feelings of safety, and that improved street lighting can help people feel safer being out after dark. However, research on whether the risk ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

"Boomerang" made from mammoth tusk is likely one of the oldest known in Europe at around 40,000 years old, per analysis of this artifact from a Polish Upper Paleolithic cave

"Boomerang" made from mammoth tusk is likely one of the oldest known in Europe at around 40,000 years old, per analysis of this artifact from a Polish Upper Paleolithic cave Article URL: https://plos.io/43ScZex Article title: Boomerang and bones: Refining the chronology of the Early Upper Paleolithic at Obłazowa Cave, Poland Author countries: Italy, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, U.K., Germany. Funding: This research was supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

"Shrinking" cod: how humans have altered the genetic make-up of fish

Cod used to be giants. With their impressive size — over a metre in length and weighing up to 40 kilograms — and abundance, they, alongside herring, were the backbone of the Baltic fishery. Today, a fully grown cod would fit neatly on a dinner plate. That is, if fishing them were still permitted: due to the collapse of the stock, a ban on targeted cod fishing has been in place since 2019. The shrinking of the cod population, in terms of both number and in size, is the result of human influence. In their new study, scientists from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have demonstrated ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Nitrate in drinking water linked to preterm birth rates

Even low levels of nitrate—a common agricultural runoff and drinking water contaminant—are associated with increased risks of preterm birth and low birthweight babies, according to a new study published June 25 in PLOS Water by Jason Semprini of Des Moines University College of Health Sciences, US. Nitrate is a naturally occurring compound increasingly found in inorganic fertilizers and, through runoff, in groundwater. When consumed by humans, nitrates can interfere with the blood’s capacity to ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Baby talk – a human superpower?

An almost universal phenomenon in humans is the use of child-directed speech, where caregivers communicate with children often involving a particular speech style also termed “baby-talk”. Numerous studies have linked the amount of child-directed speech children hear to better learning outcomes (e.g. vocabulary size or literacy skills). This practice seems to facilitate the acquisition of language. But how did this trait evolve? To explore this, researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) and the University of Neuchâtel (UNINE), members of the NCCR Evolving Language, and colleagues from universities in France, Germany ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Pervasive surveillance of people is being used to access, monetize, coerce, and control

New research has underlined the surprising extent to which pervasive surveillance of people and their habits is powered by computer vision research – and shone a spotlight on how vulnerable individuals and communities are at risk. Analyses of over 40,000 documents, computer vision (CV) papers and downstream patents spanning four decades has shown a five-fold increase in the number of computer vision papers linked to downstream surveillance patents. The work also highlights the rise of obfuscating language that is used to normalise and even hide the existence of surveillance. The research, ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

New study shows how biomass changed over 500 million years

In a first-of-its-kind study, Stanford researchers have measured how the abundance of ocean life has changed over the past half-billion years of Earth’s history. Overall, the total mass of marine organisms has generally increased over the past 500 million years, the study showed, albeit with setbacks after major extinction events. The findings align with evidence for a similar rise in marine biodiversity – the total variety of organisms – over the past half-eon from studies dating as far back as the 19th century, suggesting an evolutionary connection between biomass and biodiversity. ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Creation of new molecule could help develop stamp-sized hard drives capable of storing 100 times more data than current tech

Chemists from The University of Manchester and The Australian National University (ANU) have engineered a new type of molecule that can store information at temperatures as cold as the dark side of the moon at night, with major implications for the future of data storage technologies. The findings, published in Nature, could pave the way for next-generation hardware about the size of a postage stamp that can store 100 times more digital data than current technologies. “The ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Even in athletes, obese BMI associated with worse concussion recovery

PITTSBURGH, June 25, 2025 – Clinicians who work with elite college athletes and military cadets should be aware of the association between higher body mass index (BMI) and worse concussion recovery, suggests new University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine research published today in Sports Medicine. The study found that athletes and cadets with a BMI equal to or above 30 had increased inflammatory biomarkers, more severe concussion symptoms and worse cognition following a concussion than those with lower BMI. These findings support previous research indicating that obesity correlates with increased ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Spotting bad batteries before they malfunction

A recent uptick in battery-related fires has drawn attention to the challenge of identifying defects that can cause these catastrophic malfunctions, but are rarely obvious to the naked eye. In hopes of preventing the dangerous glitches that can cause batteries to overheat and catch fire, researchers from Drexel University have developed a standard testing process to give manufacturers a better look at the internal workings of batteries. In a paper recently published in the journal Electrochimica Acta, the group presented methods for using ultrasound to monitor the electrochemical and mechanical functions of a battery — which ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Disposable e-cigarettes more toxic than traditional cigarettes

They may look like travel shampoo bottles and smell like bubblegum, but after a few hundred puffs, some disposable, electronic cigarettes and vape pods release higher amounts of toxic metals than older e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. For example, one of the disposable e-cigarettes studied released more lead during a day’s use than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes. The study, published June 25 in the journal ACS Central Science, noted that although most disposable ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Uncovering the role of vitamin C in skin regeneration

The skin acts as the body’s first line of defense against external threats. However, as we age, the epidermis—the outermost layer of skin—gradually becomes thinner and loses its protective strength. About 90% of the cells in this layer are keratinocytes, which originate from deeper layers of the epidermis and migrate upward, ultimately forming the skin’s protective barrier. To combat aging’s impact on skin, numerous studies have emphasized the benefits of vitamin C (VC), a vitamin well known for its role in skin health and antioxidant ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Scientists detect deep Earth pulses beneath Africa

Research led by Earth scientists at the University of Southampton has uncovered evidence of rhythmic surges of molten mantle rock rising from deep within the Earth beneath Africa. These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience, reveal that the Afar region in Ethiopia is underlain by a plume of hot mantle that pulses upward like a beating heart. The team’s discovery reveals how the upward flow of hot material from the deep mantle is strongly influenced by the tectonic plates – the massive solid slabs ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Scientists unravel mystery of Mycetoma grain formation

Osaka, Japan – A groundbreaking study led by a global research consortium offers new hope for patients with mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease. Researchers using an insect model and transcriptome analysis have unravelled the mechanism of iron regulation between host tissue and the mycetoma grain, a fungal mass characteristic of the disease. This discovery illuminates how the causative fungus invades and develops these protective grains within subcutaneous tissue, paving the way for new drug development and less invasive treatment strategies beyond surgical removal, potentially reducing the burden on patients significantly. Mycetoma, a chronic infectious ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Flawed impact metrics jeopardize EU deregulation plans, study finds

Flawed Impact Metrics Jeopardize EU Deregulation Plans, Study Finds A newly published peer-reviewed study has raised concerns about the evidence base behind the European Union’s long-running efforts to reduce bureaucracy for businesses, suggesting that key measurement tools are methodologically flawed and have faced little scrutiny over the years. The study, led by Academy Research Fellow Matti Ylönen of the University of Helsinki, traces the EU’s deregulation agenda back to the 1990s, focusing on its reliance on the Standard Cost Model (SCM)—a ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

New study calls for rethink on alcohol policy

Policymakers and drinkers are speaking different languages when it comes to alcohol consumption, according to new research. A new study by a team psychologists, linguists and policy experts from University of Staffordshire, University of Liverpool, Oxford Brookes University and London South Bank University reveals stark differences in the way that policymakers and the public talk about alcohol consumption – and argues for a new approach to alcohol interventions and health campaigns. Using ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Following the tracks of an extremely adaptive bacterium

Diversity in the genome reflects adaptability The plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae causes major damage in agriculture. However, it also produces a large number of biologically active natural products. These could help the bacterium to adapt to changing environmental conditions and displace competitors. In a comprehensive genomic analysis, the researchers examined 18 representative strains of the bacterial species and analyzed their genetic potential to produce natural products using state-of-the-art bioinformatics methods. They were able to identify a total of 231 so-called biosynthetic gene clusters. These gene clusters ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

One in five US foods and drinks contain synthetic dyes, study shows

As many as 19% of packaged foods and beverages contain synthetic food dyes, according to new research evaluating the content of 39,763 US grocery store products. The findings were published today in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 1 Synthetic dyes are commonly used to make products more appealing, particularly those marketed to children, but a growing body of evidence suggests they may cause or worsen behavioral problems such as hyperactivity and inattention.2 Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health, the University of North Carolina and the Center for Science in the Public Interest assessed ingredient data for packaged foods ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

One in five packaged foods and drinks sold in the United States contains synthetic dyes, study shows

Philadelphia, June 25, 2025 – As many as 19% of packaged foods and beverages sold by top US food manufacturers contain synthetic food dyes, according to new research evaluating the content of 39,763 American grocery store products. The findings of the study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (JAND), published by Elsevier, demonstrate the widespread prevalence of synthetic dyes in US foods and beverages, especially those marketed to children, and can help inform policymakers interested in taking legislative or regulatory action. Food colors are an additive ...

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Science25 Jun 2025

Breaking the silence about men breaking bones

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Weak bones can have deadly consequences. Women often get bone density tests to screen for osteoporosis, yet many men don’t even realize they are at risk until they suffer a major fracture. June is Men’s Health Awareness Month, with a focus on raising awareness about osteoporosis in men. A new survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center among U.S. adults finds that only 1% of men are concerned about bone density. This concerns Paul Lewis, MD, an interventional radiologist at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “It’s a silent disease, and it’s silent until it makes some noise, ...

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