Science
press releases.

Science20 Jan 2026

Breaking barriers in lymphatic imaging: Rice’s SynthX Center leads up to $18 million effort for ‘unprecedented resolution and safety’

Rice University’s SynthX Center, directed by Han Xiao, has received an up to five-year, $18 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics and pHenotyping Technologies (LIGHT) program to develop innovative solutions for lymphatic diseases. This project award has the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment of complex lymphatic anomalies (CLAs) and lymphedema, which are rare conditions that arise from abnormal growth of lymphatic vessels and can affect multiple organs. LIGHT is led by ...

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Science20 Jan 2026

McGill researchers identify a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk

An interdisciplinary team including researchers at McGill University has found a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk samples from Canada and South Africa. The chemicals include traces of pesticides, antimicrobials and additives used in plastics and personal-care products. The findings were published across five papers. “It is important to note that these chemicals were detected at low concentrations, and we do not fully understand the health effects of many of them. So, despite these findings, breast milk remains ideal for infants, as it has the nutrients infants need ...

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Science20 Jan 2026

World enters “era of global water bankruptcy”; UN scientists formally define new post-crisis reality for billions

UN Headquarters, New York – Amid chronic groundwater depletion, water overallocation, land and soil degradation, deforestation, and pollution, all compounded by global heating, a UN report today declared the dawn of an era of global water bankruptcy, inviting world leaders to facilitate “honest, science-based adaptation to a new reality.” “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era,” argues that the familiar terms “water stressed” and “water crisis” fail to reflect today’s reality in many places: a post-crisis condition marked by irreversible losses of natural ...

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Science20 Jan 2026

Innovations in spatial imaging could unlock higher wheat yields

Researchers at the John Innes Centre and the Earlham Institute are pioneering powerful single-cell visualisation techniques that could unlock higher yields of global wheat. Firmly in their sights is the longstanding question that has perplexed the wheat research community: Why do grains at the bottom of the spike fail to achieve full size compared to those higher up? Previous studies have analysed wheat tissue in bulk (taking dissected tissue pieces in their entirety), limiting image resolution, and increasing the likelihood of unclear results. In ...

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Science20 Jan 2026

Ice, ice, maybe: There’s always a thin layer of water on ice — or is there?

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2026 — The ice in your freezer is remarkably different from the single crystals that form in snow clouds, or even those formed on a frozen pond. As temperatures drop, ice crystals can grow in a variety of shapes: from stocky hexagonal prisms to flat plates, to Grecian columns. Why this structural roller coaster happens, though, is a mystery. When first observed, researchers thought it must relate to a hypothesis proposed by famed physicist Michael Faraday — ice below its melting point has a microscopically thin liquid layer of water across its surface. This “premelting ...

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Science20 Jan 2026

Study finds elevated alcohol involvement in suicides of lesbian, gay and bisexual women

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) women are significantly more likely to have alcohol involved at the time of suicide compared with heterosexual women, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published in JAMA Network Open. The researchers found that lesbian and gay women had a 15 percent higher likelihood of detectable blood alcohol content, a 17 percent higher chance of intoxication, and a 38 percent higher probability of any alcohol involvement at the time of death. Statistical interaction tests confirmed that associations between alcohol involvement and suicide varied ...

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Science19 Jan 2026

Austrian cow shows first case of flexible, multi-purpose tool use in cattle

In 1982, cartoonist Gary Larson published a now-iconic Far Side comic entitled Cow Tools. In it, a cow stands proudly beside a jumble of bizarre, useless objects that are “tools” in name only. The joke hinged on a simple assumption: cows are not intelligent enough to make or use tools. Now, this assumption is being challenged by a real cow named Veronika, according to a new study published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on January 19. This study is the first to describe tool use in a pet cow, suggesting that the cognitive abilities of cattle ...

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Science19 Jan 2026

New method predicts asthma attacks up to five years in advance

Researchers at Mass General Brigham and Karolinska Institutet have identified a new method to predict asthma exacerbations with a high degree of accuracy. The study is published in Nature Communications. Asthma is one of the world's most common chronic diseases, affecting over 500 million people. Asthma exacerbations – commonly known as asthma attacks – are a major cause of disease morbidity and healthcare costs. Despite the prevalence of asthma, clinicians currently lack reliable biomarkers to identify which patients are at high risk for future ...

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Science19 Jan 2026

National poll: Less than half of parents say swearing is never OK for kids

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Today’s parents may be growing more relaxed about their children using curse words, according to a national poll. Only about half of parents say children should never swear, even as many acknowledge that their own kids sometimes do, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Meanwhile, more than a third of parents say whether it’s acceptable depends on the situation, while fewer say it depends on the specific word being used or that swearing is not a big deal. At the same ...

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Science19 Jan 2026

When aging affects the young: Revealing the weight of caregiving on teenagers

Caregiving in the modern era is challenging for even the most prepared adults. So, what happens when this burden falls on children? As Japan's population ages, the number of children and young people responsible for caregiving is increasing. However, the impact of this on their health and daily lives remains not well understood. To gain better insight, Professor Bing Niu and Dr. Ziyan Wang from Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Economics conducted two rounds of surveys, one in 2021 during the COVID-19 ...

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Science19 Jan 2026

Autistic and non-autistic faces may “speak a different language” when expressing emotion

Autistic and non-autistic people express emotions differently through their facial movements, according to a new study, which may help to explain why emotional expressions are sometimes misinterpreted between the two groups. In a landmark study mapping facial expressions among autistic and non-autistic individuals, researchers at the University of Birmingham used detailed facial motion tracking to create an extensive library of facial expressions linked to major emotions such as anger, happiness and sadness, with more than 265 million data points. The study, published in Autism Research, involved 25 autistic and 26 non-autistic adults, who produced nearly 5000 expressions ...

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Science19 Jan 2026

Pioneering second-order nonlinear vibrational nanoscopy for interfacial molecular systems beyond the diffraction limit

Sum-frequency generation (SFG) is a powerful vibrational spectroscopy that can selectively probe molecular structures at surfaces and interfaces, but its spatial resolution has been limited to the micrometer scale by the diffraction limit of light. Here, we overcame this limitation by utilizing a highly confined near field within a plasmonic nanogap and successfully extended the SFG spectroscopy into nanoscopic regime with ~10-nm spatial resolution. We also established a comprehensive theoretical framework that accurately describes the microscopic mechanisms of this near-field SFG process. These experimental and theoretical achievements ...

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Science17 Jan 2026

Taking paracetamol during pregnancy does not increase risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disabilities

Under embargo until Friday 16th January 2026, 23:30hrs UK time City St George’s, University of London press release Peer-reviewed / Systematic review + meta-analysis / People Taking paracetamol during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or intellectual disability among children. That is according to the most rigorous analysis of the evidence to date published today in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health, and led ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Research suggests nationwide racial bias in media reporting on gun violence

Mass shootings in white-majority neighborhoods received roughly twice the news coverage of mass shootings in neighborhoods where a majority of residents were people of color, while coverage of police-involved shootings was disproportionately high in majority-minority communities, according to new research. This study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, Northwestern University and the University of Washington is thought to be the first to systematically document bias on gun-violence reporting in a large-scale, nationally representative sample of news media coverage, researchers said. Researchers analyzed nearly ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Public views about opioid overdose and people with opioid use disorder

About The Study: In this 2025 survey study, U.S. adults viewed opioid overdose as a serious problem. Different views on the degree to which individuals who use opioids, pharmaceutical companies, and governments are responsible for reducing overdose suggest that preferences for future actions to address overdose may vary among conservatives, moderates, and liberals. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Emma E. McGinty, PhD, MS, email emm4010@med.cornell.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Ambitious model fails to explain near-death experiences, experts say

An ambitious effort to create a neurophysiological paradigm to explain near-death experiences has failed to capture many fascinating and often perplexing aspects of people’s brushes with death, top University of Virginia experts argue. UVA near-death researchers Bruce Greyson, MD, and Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD, laud the international team of scientists who developed the model, called Neurophysiological Evolutionary Psychological Theory Understanding Near-Death Experience, or NEPTUNE. The NEPTUNE team aimed to bring scientific rigor to understanding near-death experiences (NDEs) – a goal shared by Greyson and Pehlivanova. ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Multifaceted effects of inward foreign direct investment on new venture creation

Inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) is known to be a significant driver of local economic development, especially in fostering entrepreneurship. Current studies have conducted in-depth investigations into the impact of IFDI on the survival, productivity, and innovation of established firms. Recently, a growing body of work has started to examine its influence on entrepreneurship and new venture creation. Notably, most of these studies leverage a broad, country-level perspective and often yield inconsistent findings. This represents a notable gap in existing literature on IFDI, particularly in the context of large emerging economies where ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Study finds so-called super agers tend to have at least two key genetic advantages

The gene variant posing the greatest genetic risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is called APOE-ε4. A different variant of the same gene, APOE-ε2, is thought to confer protection against AD. A comparatively large study reported Jan. 16 in Alzheimer's & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, measures the frequency of APOE-ε4 and APOE-ε2 in so-called super agers — people ages 80 or older whose cognitive function is ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Scientists discover natural ‘brake’ that could stop harmful inflammation

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have uncovered a key mechanism that helps the body switch off inflammation – a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for chronic diseases affecting millions worldwide. Inflammation is the body’s frontline defence against infection and injury, but when it doesn’t switch off properly, it can drive serious health conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes. Until now, scientists didn’t fully understand how the body decides to stop the immune ‘fight’ response and start healing. Published in Nature Communications, the study reveals that tiny fat-derived molecules ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

New 3D imaging system could address limitations of MRI, CT and ultrasound

In a proof-of-concept study funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that an innovative, noninvasive technique can be used to quickly collect 3D images of the human body, from head to foot. The technology combines ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, which detects sound waves generated by light, to simultaneously collect images of both tissue and blood vessels. The findings, just published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, have the potential to address current gaps in medical imaging. Imaging ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

New discovery rewrites the rules of antigen presentation

A new discovery about how cells communicate with each other in the body’s immune system has revealed deeper insights for an international team of scientists into fundamental immune system function. The new study, published in Nature Communications, overturns a long held understanding about how T cells – white blood cells that make up a key part of the immune system – recognise lipid antigens, a chemical class of molecules that make up cell membranes. Lipids are presented to T cells by a distinct family of molecules called CD1, yet one member of this family, CD1c, has remained poorly understood despite its significant role in human immunity. For more than 30 years, ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Researchers achieve chain-length control of fatty acid biosynthesis in yeast

Medium- and short-chain fatty acids (C8-C14) are widely used in industries including food, pharmaceuticals, lubricants, and surfactants, and they are currently mainly extracted from coconut and palm oils. Developing sustainable microbial alternatives, especially for producing fatty acids with high purity and precise chain-length control, is a major goal of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. In a study published in Nature Chemical Biology, Prof. ZHOU Yongjin's team from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Martin Grininger's team from Goethe University Frankfurt developed a modular ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Water interactions in molecular sieve catalysis: Framework evolution and reaction modulation

Porous molecular sieve catalysts, including aluminosilicate zeolites and silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO) molecular sieves, are widely used in heterogeneous catalysis and are expected to play an important role in advancing carbon neutrality and sustainable development. Given the ubiquitous presence of water during catalyst synthesis, storage, and application, the interactions between water and molecular sieves—along with their subsequent effects on framework stability and catalytic performance—have garnered significant attention ...

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Science16 Jan 2026

Shark biology breakthrough: Study tracks tiger sharks to Maui mating hub

Researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) Shark Lab have solved a long-standing global mystery in shark biology: the location and nature of tiger shark mating. A new study, based on six years of acoustic tracking data, provides the first concrete evidence of a potential seasonal mating aggregation site for tiger sharks, located off Olowalu, Maui. This discovery challenges the conventional understanding of tiger sharks as purely solitary animals, revealing a predictable seasonal convergence ...

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Science15 Jan 2026

Why a life-threatening sedative is being prescribed more often for seniors

When agitated dementia patients wander or shout through the night, families and caregivers understandably feel the need to treat this frightening and potentially dangerous behavior. Antipsychotic medications are often resorted to with such patients, contributing to increases in antipsychotic treatment rates among older people. Indeed, a research letter by Rutgers and Columbia University researchers in JAMA Psychiatry shows those prescriptions are becoming more common in the United States, even though antipsychotic drugs do little for dementia and carry a black-box warning on their labels stating ...

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