Research announcements from universities, hospitals and scientific institutions. Explore the stories, people and discoveries behind the headlines.
Dates and source material belong to the original release.
Read our research explainersBrowse the collection · original publication order
A Norwegian study of 401 outdoor recreationists finds that 81% primarily use digital maps on mobile phones for navigation, mirroring the wayfinding strategies people apply in urban settings. Researchers warn that social media is drawing inexperienced hikers to demanding terrain with only phone navigation as backup, while paper maps and terrain-reading skills remain critical when technology fails.
Read the releaseA research team in Japan has built a shipping cushion that folds itself into a honeycomb structure, absorbs impacts, and wirelessly reports damage and load weight -- all without batteries. The device uses a passive inductor-capacitor circuit embedded in the structure's hinges, with resonant frequency shifts detected by an external coil positioned near the package.
Read the releaseScientists at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences have identified a dramatic and previously unknown structural reorganization of chromosomes in germ cells just before meiosis begins. Centromeres migrate to the nuclear periphery and chromosomes become less structured -- a state not seen in lab-grown equivalent cells, potentially explaining why in vitro gamete production consistently fails to complete meiosis.
Read the releaseWhen researchers compared 200 varieties of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana growing in nitrate-rich soil, one gene kept appearing in the data: MEKK14. A single amino acid difference in that protein determines whether a plant aggressively expands its lateral roots to harvest nitrogen -- findings with implications for more efficient fertilizer use in crops.
Read the releaseJapanese researchers found cleaner wrasse deliberately drop food near mirrors and track its reflected descent - contingency testing behavior previously documented only in dolphins and manta rays, suggesting self-awareness may be widespread in fish.
Read the releaseA multicenter Japanese study using Holter ECG with accelerometers found shorter sleep correlated with higher atrial fibrillation risk in adults in their 50s, with each additional minute of sleep linked to measurable risk reduction.
Read the releaseChinese chemists report a visible-light deracemization of alpha-aryl cyclic ketones using photocatalysis, hydrogen atom transfer, and chiral phosphoric acid - with high enantioselectivity and no transition metals, including on electron-deficient substrates.
Read the releaseThe University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine received $314 million in NIH funding in the latest Blue Ridge rankings - its best position in 20 years - with nine clinical departments in the top 15 nationally.
Read the releaseIdaho National Laboratory's National Reactor Innovation Center has opened MSTEC, a shielded argon glove box designed to measure the physical and chemical properties of molten fuel salts - data required to design, license, and operate next-generation molten salt reactors.
Read the releasePaul Sereno and 29 co-authors describe Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new spinosaurid species unearthed in Niger's central Sahara and published in Science. Distinguished by a large scimitar-shaped bony crest and found far inland from any ancient coastline, the species represents a third evolutionary phase for the group and is the first undisputed new Spinosaurus species identified in more than 100 years.
Read the releaseThe American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology have published their first-ever dedicated clinical practice guideline for acute pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in the lungs that kills roughly 1 in 5 high-risk patients. The guideline introduces a five-category severity classification system and provides treatment recommendations across care settings, from emergency departments to outpatient clinics.
Read the releaseInfrared spectroscopy has always required millions of molecules to generate a detectable signal. A UC San Diego team led by Shaowei Li has now recorded the vibrational spectrum of a single molecule using a technique called IRiSTM, which combines infrared laser excitation with scanning tunneling microscopy. The advance opens a path toward directing chemical reactions one bond at a time.
Read the releaseAn analysis of approximately 42,000 compensation claims from adult sexual assault survivors across 18 states found that 25.6% were denied. The absence of police verification accounted for 34.4% of rejections. Black and Indigenous women faced significantly lower approval odds than white women even after controlling for age, state, and application year.
Read the releaseJames R. Downing, MD, will step down as president and CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in late 2026, concluding a 12-year tenure marked by the largest strategic expansion in the hospital's history. He will remain in the role while a global search for his successor is conducted, with the Board of Governors expecting to announce an incoming CEO this summer.
Read the releaseWhen PET/CT scans couldn't account for 70% of improved glucose clearance in hypoxic mice, Gladstone Institutes researchers traced the missing sugar to an unexpected source: red blood cells programmed in hypoxic bone marrow to carry more glucose transporters and burn glucose faster to produce an oxygen-releasing molecule.
Read the releaseA study published by the American Psychological Association found that food insecurity among employed workers - not just unemployed individuals - significantly increases anxiety and reduces job performance metrics including focus, energy, and engagement. Workplace food assistance programs were associated with improved outcomes for affected employees.
Read the releaseResearchers at the Universite de Montreal examined cannabis use four to five years after Canadian legalization, focusing on identifying characteristics of adults at low risk of dependence. The study found that infrequent use, absence of anxiety or depression, and social stability distinguished low-risk users from those with problematic patterns.
Read the releaseMass General Brigham researchers demonstrated that ultra-low field MRI technology can produce breast images of sufficient quality for diagnostic evaluation. The technology costs significantly less than standard MRI systems and requires no special shielding, potentially expanding access to breast imaging in under-resourced settings.
Read the releaseUniversity of Oklahoma chemists developed layered perovskite materials that exploit their organic components - rather than the inorganic lattice that most previous work focused on - to achieve a five-fold increase in light emission efficiency with fast decay times suited to high-energy radiation detection.
Read the releaseGrowing fish, shrimp, or crabs alongside rice in flooded paddies can improve nitrogen-use efficiency by 20 to 40 percent while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a review that identifies the soil-water interface as the critical mechanism behind these gains.
Read the releaseAn analysis of the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health - the first to include sexual identity categories beyond lesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual, and the first to survey adolescents on identity - finds significantly higher substance use rates across all non-heterosexual groups, including those who identify as queer, pansexual, asexual, or uncertain.
Read the releaseA study measuring 898 dogs from 14 brachycephalic breeds identifies flat skull geometry, excess body weight, and collapsed nostrils as the three strongest predictors of breathing obstruction - with Pekingese and Japanese Chins showing the highest disease burden among breeds not previously well studied.
Read the releaseIsotope analysis of fossils from Yunxian, China places Homo erectus in eastern Asia 1.7 million years ago - roughly 600,000 years earlier than previous studies indicated - requiring a fundamental revision of when our ancestors left Africa.
Read the releaseHoney bee waggle dances convey precise information about food source location - but the 'dance floor' regions where these dances occur inside hives have never been rigorously defined. A new data-driven method from Canadian and U.S. researchers quantifies dance floor boundaries from observational data, removing the subjectivity that has complicated comparisons between colonies and experiments.
Read the releaseMichelson Medical Research Foundation awarded $150,000 each to five early-career immunologists in 2026, its largest cohort to date. The recipients - from UC Irvine, Stanford, Lund University, Columbia, and the University of Washington - are pursuing high-risk research in areas including computational protein design for cancer immunotherapy and topical vaccine strategies that harness skin immunity.
Read the release