Science
press releases.

Science3 Dec 2025

Global analysis: Nearly one in five child deaths linked to growth failure

SEATTLE, Wash. Dec. 2, 2025 – Nearly one million children around the globe fail to reach their fifth birthday every year due to devastating health consequences linked to child growth failure, making it the third leading risk factor for mortality and morbidity in children under five. That’s among the new findings in the latest Global Burden of Disease 2023 study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health today. Estimates show the number of deaths associated with child growth failure (CGF) declined from 2.75 million in 2000 to 880,000 in 2023; however, the adverse health effects remain substantial ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Mindfulness may help people disconnect from their smartphones

With more than four billion people around the globe owning a smartphone, researchers are now looking at ways to reduce a growing public health concern—problematic smartphone use. Dr. Susan Holtzman teaches psychology in UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She recently published a study in Mindfulness examining the overuse or dependence on smartphones and how it might be curbed with mindfulness techniques. She discusses the issue and provides a few tips for people who might be “addicted to their devices”. Can you explain problematic ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Tracking forever chemicals across food web shows not all isomers are distributed equally

BUFFALO, N.Y. — When University at Buffalo chemists analyzed samples of water, fish, and bird eggs, they weren’t surprised to find plenty of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). After all, these “forever chemicals” turn up nearly everywhere in the environment. But they were intrigued that one of the most hazardous PFAS — perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), once used in nonstick pans and firefighting foam — appeared in slightly different structural forms, known ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Making quieter dental drills to reduce dental anxiety

HONOLULU, Dec. 2, 2025 — Dental anxiety, also known as odontophobia, prevents people from getting their regular cleanings and keeping up with necessary dental hygiene. One aspect of the anxiety comes from the sound of the dental drill, which makes a high-pitched whining sound. As a dentist, Tomomi Yamada has witnessed discomfort and fear in her patients firsthand. “Originally, I was doing research on dental materials, but I realized that almost no one — not even dentists — was tackling this sound problem scientifically,” Yamada said. Yamada, an assistant professor at the University of Osaka’s graduate ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

In support of the National Institute of Nursing Research

PHILADELPHIA (December 2, 2025) – In an editorial published in JAMA Health Forum, three prominent nursing researchers have strongly defended the necessity of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and its enduring impact on public health. Titled "The Enduring Impact of the National Institute of Nursing Research and Why We Still Need It," the viewpoint addresses the Institute's future as it approaches its 40th anniversary. The authors – Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, the ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Vitamin D levels during pregnancy and dental caries in offspring

About The Study: In this cohort study, maternal plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels throughout pregnancy were inversely associated with odds of offspring early childhood caries. These findings support the potential benefit of vitamin D supplementation before or during pregnancy in reducing the risk and severity of childhood dental caries. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Yunxian Yu, M.D., Ph.D., email yunxianyu@zju.edu.cn. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi: ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Historical geography helps researchers solve 2,700-year old eclipse mystery

An international team of researchers has used knowledge of historical geography to reexamine the earliest datable total solar eclipse record known to the scientific community, enabling accurate measurements of Earth's variable rotation speed from 709 BCE. The researchers calculated how the Sun would have appeared from Qufu, the ancient Chinese capital of the Lu Duchy, during the total solar eclipse. Using this information, they analyzed the ancient description of what has been considered the solar corona—the ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

SwRI expands High-Viscosity Flow Loop to test equipment moving heavy oils

SAN ANTONIO — December 2, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has upgraded its High-Viscosity Flow Loop (HVFL) to meet increased demands in the oil and gas industry. The expanded and upgraded facility now enables SwRI to offer more comprehensive, efficient, and cost-effective heavy oil testing. Increasing production of heavy oil around the world led SwRI to develop the HVFL in 2015 to gain a better understanding of flow equipment performance in extremely viscous conditions. “Today, as operators tap into reservoirs with higher gas volume fractions, conventional pumping systems struggle to process the volatile mixture of gas and liquid, demanding ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

LLMs choose friends and colleagues like people

When large language models (LLMs) make decisions about networking and friendship, the models tend to act like people, across both synthetic simulations and real-world network contexts. Marios Papachristou and Yuan Yuan developed a framework to study network formation behaviors of multiple LLM agents and compared these behaviors against human behaviors. The authors conducted simulations using several large language models placed in a network, which were asked to choose which other nodes to connect with, given their number of connections, common neighbors, and shared attributes, ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Gas stoves and nitrogen dioxide exposure

Twenty-two million Americans would no longer be breathing in unhealthy levels of nitrogen dioxide if they switched from gas and propane stoves to electric stoves. Robert Jackson and colleagues combined outdoor air quality data with estimates of indoor nitrogen dioxide emissions from stoves in more than fifteen cities. As outdoor air quality improves, stoves become an increasingly important source of exposure. According to the World Health Organization, health risks to the respiratory system increase at levels above ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Beauty linked with metabolic costs of perceiving images

Humans may find images that take less energy to process aesthetically pleasing, suggesting that our attraction to beauty is at least partially an energy conservation strategy. Looking at something can feel effortless, but in energetic terms, it isn’t cheap. The brain uses 20% of the body’s energy, and the visual system accounts for about 44% of that expenditure. Looking at very simple stimuli, like a blank white room, is energy-efficient but boring. Looking at very busy or unusual image can feel tiring and unpleasant. Yikai Tang and colleagues presented 4,914 ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Moths detect bat attack signals: Ultrasonic pulse rates drive distinct escape responses

For many nocturnal moths, hearing sound waves is a matter of survival in night sky. Their ability to detect ultrasonic calls emitted by bats determines whether they escape or become prey. This predator-prey relationship has shaped the behavior, physiology, and sensory systems of both groups. Echolocating bats have developed complex call patterns to track insects in flight, while moths have evolved remarkable countermeasures, including evasive flight and sound-deflection tactics. The luna moth, for instance, spins its long hindwings to deflect the ultrasonic ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Researchers unveil first high-resolution maps of China's forest diversity patterns

A research team led by the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with multiple domestic and international research institutions, has made progress in investigating forest diversity patterns across China. The findings were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on December 2. China is recognized by Conservation International as one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries. To effectively meet its commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, it is crucial for China to clarify the fine-scale spatial patterns ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Sun-watcher SOHO celebrates thirty years

On 2 December 1995 the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) blasted into space – on what was supposed to be a two-year mission. From its outpost 1.5 million km away from Earth in the direction of the Sun, SOHO enjoys uninterrupted views of our star. It has provided a nearly continuous record of our Sun’s activity for close to three 11-year-long solar cycles. "It is testament to the ingenuity of our engineers, operators and scientists, and to international ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Alcohol and ultrasonic irradiation: An effective CCl₄ decomposition tag team

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) is a type of volatile organic compound (VOC) that was once widely used as a refrigerant and cleaning agent, but is now strictly regulated due to its toxic properties. However, its environmental impact remains a concern and recent reports indicate that CCl₄ emissions have been detected in some countries. Therefore, the development of CCl₄ decomposition technology is critical, and holds promise for its application in decomposing and neutralizing various VOCs. In search of a probable solution, Professor Kenji Okitsu and graduate student Aerfate Abulikemu from Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

National study finds where you live influences your body weight

A Curtin University-led study has found that where Australians live has a measurable influence on their body weight, with local food environments and neighbourhood design playing a big part in shaping health outcomes. The research tracked the same Australians across 14 years and discovered that people who move to a new area gradually adopt part of the typical weight profile of their new community, showing that “place” itself contributes to differences in weight across the country. Lead author PhD candidate Michael Windsor, from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, said the findings ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Beat the bugs, enjoy the beats

As summer festivals and youth gatherings return in full swing, new research from Flinders University is revealing the hidden health risks that come with multi-day events, and how to avoid them. A comprehensive review led by public health experts to identify and understand the risks that occur at multi-day events reveals that infectious disease outbreaks and foodborne illnesses are the most common public health threats at youth-focused mass gatherings. The global study examined 19 multi-day events attended predominantly by young people, ranging from music festivals and cultural ...

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Science2 Dec 2025

Elephant seals recognize their rivals from years prior

HONOLULU, Dec. 1, 2025 — How would you react if you overheard the voice of a long-lost friend or old co-worker? Chances are, just the sound of their voice will bring back memories of times you spent together. Humans are not the only animals that can remember the voices of their old acquaintances. Elephant seals, too, can remember the calls of their rivals even a year later. Caroline Casey, research scientist and adjunct professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will present her team’s research on elephant seal memory Monday, Dec. 1, at 2:45 p.m. HST as part of the Sixth ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

Iron fortified hemp biochar helps keep “forever chemicals” out of radishes and the food chain

Iron fortified hemp biochar made from agricultural waste can significantly cut the amount of “forever chemicals” that move from contaminated soil into food crops, according to a new study on radishes grown in PFAS polluted soil. Plain language overview Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are extremely persistent industrial chemicals that can move through soil, water and air and build up in crops and people. In this greenhouse study, researchers tested whether biochar made from hemp plants, and enhanced with iron, could lock PFAS in place and keep them out of edible radish bulbs. They found that ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients

Earth’s atmosphere might have contributed to the origin of life more than previously thought. In a study published Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, CU Boulder researchers and collaborators reveal that billions of years ago, the planet’s early sky might have been producing sulfur-containing molecules that were essential ingredients for life. The finding challenges a long-held theory that these sulfur molecules emerged only after life had already formed. “Our study could help us understand the evolution of life at its earliest ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

Francisco José Sánchez-Sesma selected as 2026 Joyner Lecturer

SSA and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) are pleased to announce that Francisco José Sánchez-Sesma, professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), is the 2026 recipient of the William B. Joyner Lecture Award. Sánchez-Sesma will deliver the Joyner Lecture at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting to be held 14-18 April 2026 in Pasadena, California and the 13th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (13NCEE) to be held 13-17 July 2026 in Portland, Oregon. His Joyner Lecture, "Seismic ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

Researchers discover latent antimicrobial resistance across the world

A team of researchers has discovered that latent antimicrobial resistance is more widespread across the world than known resistance. They call for broader surveillance of resistance in wastewater, as the problematic genes of the future may be hiding in the widespread reservoir of latent resistance genes. The research has been published in Nature Communications. A group of researchers has analysed 1,240 wastewater samples from 351 cities in 111 different countries and found that bacterial latent antimicrobial resistance is widespread on all the world’s continents. The research was coordinated by the DTU National Food Institute ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

Singing mice speak volumes

All mice squeak, but only some sing. Scotinomys teguina, aka Alston’s singing mice, hail from the cloud forests of Costa Rica. More than 2,000 miles north, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) neuroscientists study these musically gifted mammals to better understand the evolutionary origins of vocal communication. Their research could also tell us something about strokes, autism, and other disorders affecting speech. While most of us are familiar with mouse squeaks, “they have a whole other communications system called ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs),” says CSHL ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

Insomnia combined with sleep apnea is associated with worse memory in older women

DARIEN, IL — New research among older adults with sleep apnea reveals that verbal memory performance is significantly worse in women — but not in men — who also have insomnia. Results show that older adults with comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea — often referred to as COMISA — demonstrated worse memory performance than those with sleep apnea alone. This interaction remained significant even after adjusting for age, body mass index, sleep apnea severity, and education. However, when analyzed by sex, COMISA was significantly associated with worse verbal memory outcomes in women, but not in men. “We expected that having both insomnia and sleep apnea would ...

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Science1 Dec 2025

New guideline on pre-exposure and postexposure HIV prevention

Multiple pre-exposure (PrEP) and postexposure (PEP) treatments are now available to prevent HIV infection. An updated Canadian guideline published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250511 contains 31 recommendations and 10 good practice statements to help clinicians and other health care professionals offer these safe and effective options to teen and adult patients. The guideline is published on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2025, to raise awareness of new approaches to prevention. Pre-exposure prophylaxis involves an HIV-negative person starting antiretroviral medications ...

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