Science
press releases.

Science4 Jun 2025

As many as 1 in 5 women with a history of pregnancy or testing for pregnancy report using crisis pregnancy centers across 4 US states

Between 12 and 20% of women with a history of pregnancy or testing for pregnancy visited crisis pregnancy centers across four U.S. states, according to a new study by Maria Gallo and colleagues from The Ohio State University, U.S., published June 4, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One. Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) typically provide pregnancy and parenting resources and associate with organizations which promote missions focused on preventing abortion, opposing contraception, and advocating for abstinence outside of marriage. They are typically not medically licensed clinics, though they can be perceived as medical facilities or abortion clinics, and often provide ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Ethical considerations for closing projects "well" in the context of withdrawal of USAID

Ethical considerations for closing projects "well" in the context of withdrawal of USAID are explored by researchers and members of an affected Philippines disaster-preparedness project. #### Article URL: https://plos.io/45tYSNr Article Title: Thinking through abrupt closure in humanitarian assistance: Key ethical considerations in seemingly impossible conditions Author Countries: Canada, Philippines, United States Funding: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (4330-220-00743 to LE; 4330-220-00743 to IMB; ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

How male mosquitoes target females—and avoid traps

Embargoed: Not for Release Until 2:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time Wednesday, 04 June 2025. Even in the chaotic swarms where they reproduce, male mosquitoes possess a remarkable ability to pick up on the faint sound of a potential mate. A new study from Nagoya University in Japan suggests that males do this by being tuned into a broader range of sounds than females. The findings of this study offer fresh insight into the complex mating behavior of mosquitoes and why catching them in traps in the wild remains such a challenge. Sound-based traps that mimic the wingbeat of female mosquitoes have long been used in population ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Unlocking the timecode of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Since their discovery, the historically and biblically hugely important Dead Sea Scrolls have transformed our understanding of Jewish and Christian origins. However, while the general date of the scrolls is from the third century BCE until the second century CE, individual manuscripts thus far could not be securely dated. Now, by combining radiocarbon dating, palaeography, and artificial intelligence, an international team of researchers led by the University of Groningen has developed a date-prediction model, called Enoch, that provides much more accurate date estimates for individual manuscripts on empirical grounds. Using this ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Scientists build first genetic "toggle switch" for plants, paving the way for smarter farming

Researchers at Colorado State University have developed a tool that can be used to switch a plant’s key genetic traits on or off at will. The breakthrough was recently published in ACS Synthetic Biology and represents the first time that a synthetic genetic “toggle switch” has been used in a full-grown plant. Synthetic biologists design and build new segments of DNA that can then be inserted into living organisms to work like circuits in electronics or a computer. Just as a switch is used to turn a lightbulb on or off in an electric circuit, the team’s “toggle” turns genes on and ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

A game-changing way to treat stroke

When treating an ischemic stroke – where a clot is blocking the flow of oxygen to the brain – every minute counts. The more quickly doctors can remove the clot and restore blood flow, the more brain cells will survive, and the more likely patients are to have a good outcome. But current technologies only successfully remove clots on the first try about 50% of the time, and in about 15% of cases, they fail completely. Researchers at Stanford Engineering have developed a new technique called the milli-spinner thrombectomy that could significantly improve success rates in treating strokes, as well as heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, and other clot-related diseases. In a paper published June ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

EyeCare4Kids™ names Maggie Cline as new CEO

Midvale, UT (June 4, 2025) – EyeCare4Kids™, a non-profit organization that provides professional eye care services to low-income, visually impaired children and underserved families across the southwest United States and Africa, today announced the promotion of Maggie Cline, MPH, to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Ms. Cline joined EyeCare4Kids in 2022 and served as Executive Director Utah, where she oversaw the delivery of more than 50,000 vision services annually at school clinics, community centers, and other underserved areas across the state. Ms. Cline succeeds board-certified optician Joseph Carbone, who founded the organization in 2001 and will transition to a role focused on ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

A better understanding of how gene editing tools work

You may have seen it in the news recently: a baby in Pennsylvania with a rare genetic disorder was healed with a personalized treatment that repaired his specific genetic mutation. The treatment was created using a form of gene editing called base editing —a method created by Alexis Komor when she was a postdoctoral scholar in molecular biologist David Liu’s group at Harvard University. Since that work was published in 2016, Komor, who is now an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California San Diego, has continued to study base-editing tools to better understand and further develop their capabilities. ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Study identifies personality traits associated with bedtime procrastination

DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting found that bedtime procrastination in young adults is associated with specific personality traits, including depressive tendencies. Results show that bedtime procrastination was associated with higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness and extraversion. These results remained significant after statistically adjusting for chronotype. “Our study demonstrated that individuals who habitually procrastinate their bedtime were actually less likely to report seeking out exciting, engaging, or enjoyable activities,” said lead author Steven Carlson, ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Top scientists call for permanent ban on high seas exploitation

Extractive activity in international waters - including fishing, seabed mining, and oil and gas exploitation - should be banned forever, according to top scientists. The high seas, the vast international waters beyond national jurisdiction, remain largely unprotected and are increasingly threatened. Writing in the journal Nature, Professor Callum Roberts and co-authors argue that stopping all extractive activity in international waters would prevent irreversible damage to marine biodiversity, the climate, and ocean equity. This would ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Creating ice layer by layer: the secret mechanisms of ice formation revealed

Tokyo, Japan – Water is everywhere and comes in many forms: snow, sleet, hail, hoarfrost… However, despite water being so commonplace, scientists still do not fully understand the predominant physical process that occurs when water transforms from liquid to solid. Now, in an article recently published in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have carried out a series of molecular-scale simulations to uncover why ice forms ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Can early exposure to dogs lessen genetic susceptibility to eczema?

New research published in Allergy indicates that certain environmental exposures may affect a child’s risk of developing atopic eczema, a condition characterized by dry, itchy, and inflamed skin. In other words, although some people may be genetically predisposed to eczema, certain environmental factors may increase or decrease that risk. For the study, investigators analyzed data from 16 European studies to test for interactions between the 24 most significant eczema-associated genetic variants and 18 early-life environmental factors. They applied their findings to an additional 10 studies and used lab modelling tests to assess their results. The ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Which seeds are best to include in annual flowering seed mixes to attract insect pollinators?

Annual flowering seed mixes are often grown in gardens and parks, but the flowers included may not be the most pollinator-friendly. New research in Plants, People, Planet reveals plant species that have the potential to attract a diversity of pollinators. Investigators surveyed 447 scientific papers on plant-insect interactions and conducted field trials of commercially available seed mixes to see which plants pollinators visited the most, focusing on bees and hoverflies. These analyses and tests were used to develop two novel experimental seed mixes that were assessed for insect visitation and ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Pet dogs could combat genetic eczema risk in children

Having a dog at home could help to prevent eczema in children who are genetically prone to the condition, a study suggests. Children with a change in their DNA that increases their chance of developing eczema were less likely to have the condition if they were exposed to a dog in early life, researchers say. The findings provide new insights into what could cause eczema in children and how environmental factors may influence genetic risk, experts say. The study did not look at the effect of dog exposure in the treatment of existing eczema, and experts caution that introducing a dog may make ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

A threesome that hatches potato parasites

Potatoes produce a molecule that is converted by microbes and causes potato parasites to hatch. The Kobe University discovery of this three-way relationship not only adds a new perspective to how plants interact with their environment, it also opens an avenue for developing countermeasures against the parasite. The potato cyst nematode is a root parasite in plants like potatoes and tomatoes that can cause large-scale yield loss if left untreated. Their eggs can survive in the soil for up to 20 years and hatch when they detect certain molecules, called “hatching factors,” secreted by the roots of their target species. Kobe University phytochemistry scientist MIZUTANI ...

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Science4 Jun 2025

Abnormal uterine bleeding and insulin resistance are on the rise: Is there a connection?

CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 4, 2025)—Insulin resistance is becoming more common because of a combination of lifestyle factors, genetics, and medical conditions. A lot of those same risk factors play a role in abnormal uterine bleeding. A new study sets out to prove the connection between the two as a means to better predict abnormal uterine bleeding. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society. Abnormal uterine bleeding has become more common, with approximately 30% of women of reproductive age experiencing it. More than $34 billion in healthcare ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Dr. Nikolaos Koundouros wins 2025 Tri-Institutional Breakout Award

Dr. Nikolaos Koundouros, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded a 2025 Tri-Institutional Breakout Award for Junior Investigators. Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University present the awards to up to six exceptional investigators each year—at least one from each institution—who are recognized for their notable research achievements, impactful findings and high potential for success as independent investigators. ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Researchers develop innovative model to study sense of smell

Using a newly devised, three-dimensional model to study the regeneration of nerve tissue in the nose, researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and colleagues have discovered that one type of stem cell thought to be dormant may play a more significant role in preserving the sense of smell than originally believed. Unlike cells in the central nervous system, sensory neurons in the nasal cavity have a remarkable ability to regenerate throughout life despite near constant exposure to the outside ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Birds may be drinking on the wing, but in moderation

A new paper published in Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology examines alcohol consumption in avian species. In “The proof is in the plumage: a method for detecting dietary ethanol exposure in birds by testing for ethyl glucuronide in feathers,” authors Cynthia Y. Wang-Claypool, Ammon Corl, Joseph Jones, Jimmy A. McGuire, Rauri C.K. Bowie and Robert Dudley investigated whether birds that eat sugar-rich foods—like fruit and nectar—might regularly consume alcohol produced by natural fermentation. ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Eating an array of smaller fish could be nutrient-dense solution to overfishing

ITHACA, N.Y. - To satisfy the seafood needs of billions of people, offering them access to a more biodiverse array of fish creates opportunities to mix-and-match species to obtain better nutrition from smaller portions of fish. The right combination of certain species can provide up to 60% more nutrients than if someone ate the same quantity of even a highly nutritious species, according to an analysis by Cornell University researchers. “This research hopefully highlights the importance of biodiversity, not just because of a moral quandary that we’re causing a mass extinction on Earth, but also because biodiversity can lead to better outcomes ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Han studying potential of next generation telepresence

Bo Han, Associate Professor, Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), received funding for: “I-Corps: Translation Potential of Next Generation Telepresence Enriched by Immersive Technologies.” Han aims to conduct extensive customer discovery and assess the value and potential of next-generation telepresence enriched by immersive technologies. He will conduct interviews focused on three main customer segments: (1) education and training, (2) healthcare, and (3) fashion design. ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Being incarcerated and living in areas where more have gone to jail is associated with higher death rates

Journal: JAMA Network Open Title: Elevated death rates associated with incarceration emphasize the need for health care interventions both during and after incarceration Author: Utsha Khatri, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Population Health Science and Policy, and Global Health and Health System Design, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bottom line: This study shows individual incarceration rates and rates at the county level (the number of incarcerated individuals per 100,000 residents) are strongly associated with ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Individual- and area-level incarceration and mortality

About The Study: In this cohort study of 3.26 million individuals in the U.S., results highlighted the dual burden of incarceration on health outcomes. Individuals who were incarcerated faced significantly higher risks of death, particularly from overdoses, and elevated county incarceration rates exacerbated individual-level mortality risks. These findings suggest the need for reforms in criminal justice and public health policies to address these elevated risks and their widespread implications. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Utsha G. Khatri, M.D., M.S., email utsha.khatri@mountsinai.org. To access the embargoed study: ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

New tool to generate aneuploidies and analyze their impact on development

Barcelona, 3 June 2025 - More than 80% of early human embryos contain cells with an incorrect number of chromosomes—a phenomenon called aneuploidy. This typically stems from errors in chromosome segregation during the very first cell divisions. Remarkably, aneuploid cells are eliminated before implantation. When this does not happen, aneuploidy causes miscarriages or developmental disorders. Understanding how aneuploid cells are eliminated in these early stages is crucial for gaining insights into fertility, and it could also have implications for diseases like cancer. A team led by Dr. Marco Milán at IRB Barcelona has developed a tool that can generate customized ...

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Science3 Jun 2025

Eating more sweet food may not sway sweet preference

Turns out, your sweet tooth may not be shaped by your diet. Findings from a new randomized controlled trial suggest that eating more sweet-tasting foods doesn’t increase someone’s preference for sweet tastes. The researchers found that after six months on diets with varying amounts of sweet foods, study participants' preference for sweetness stayed the same, no matter how much sweet-tasting foods they ate. “We also found that diets with lower or higher dietary sweetness ...

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