Research announcements from universities, hospitals and scientific institutions. Explore the stories, people and discoveries behind the headlines.
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MDI Bio Lab researchers show that regenerating zebrafish kidneys solve the plumbing problem of regenerative medicine: new nephrons connect to existing tubules through coordinated cell protrusions guided by Wnt signaling, offering clues for making lab-grown kidney tissue functional.
Read the releaseBy combining biologically inspired event cameras with topological data analysis, researchers at the University of Tsukuba can passively measure the amplitude, phase, and frequency of structural vibrations - no laser, no intense lighting, no contact required.
Read the releaseAn interrupted time-series analysis of Japan's restaurant database shows the 2020 indoor smoking ban raised smoke-free establishments by 5.7 percentage points nationally, while stricter Tokyo and Chiba ordinances added another 7.8 points - but izakaya and bars remain largely unprotected.
Read the releaseAmong 6,814 US adults tracked over years, those eating 9+ daily servings of ultra-processed foods were 67% more likely to suffer a major cardiac event than those eating about one serving - with a 6.1% per-serving risk increase among Black Americans versus 3.2% among non-Black participants.
Read the releaseResearchers describe Phylloscopus tokaraensis, the Tokara Leaf Warbler - a new bird species from Japan's volcanic Tokara Islands that is visually identical to Ijima's Leaf Warbler 1,000 km away but genetically diverged 2.8-3.2 million years ago, with no contemporary gene flow.
Read the releaseAnalysis of 136 radiocarbon-dated organic weapons shows the bow and arrow appeared across all of western North America roughly 1,400 years ago, instantly replacing the atlatl south of northern British Columbia while coexisting with it for over 1,000 years in the Arctic and subarctic.
Read the releaseBiochar produced from chemical-enhanced sewage sludge leaches heavy metals at high pyrolysis temperatures above 800C, but at 550C both chemical and conventional sludge biochars show long-term metal stability - a finding that could guide safer adoption of cost-effective sewage treatment worldwide.
Read the releaseA new expert consensus validates ultrasound-derived fat fraction (UDFF) as a reliable, noninvasive tool for measuring liver fat, with pooled sensitivity of 90.4% and specificity of 83.8%, establishing diagnostic thresholds that could replace costly MRI in routine clinical screening.
Read the releaseA Frontiers in Science study argues that zero-detection food safety policies waste edible food, increase costs, and divert resources from higher-risk hazards - proposing a shift from hazard-based to risk-based approaches that weigh public health against sustainability.
Read the releaseThe V-Dem Institute's 2026 Democracy Report documents a 24% decline in the US Liberal Democracy Index score in one year - the fastest deterioration of any democracy in modern times - while nearly a quarter of all nations worldwide are now experiencing democratic backsliding.
Read the releaseAnalysis of charcoal deposits across four continents reveals that tropical peatland fire activity declined for over a millennium before spiking dramatically in the 20th century, driven by agricultural drainage and deforestation in Southeast Asia and Australasia - while less-disturbed peatlands in South America and Africa showed no such increase.
Read the releaseModeling data from 156 countries projects that climate-driven heat could cause 0.47 to 0.70 million additional premature deaths annually by 2050, as rising temperatures push populations - especially in Central America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia - into dangerous levels of physical inactivity.
Read the releaseA Lancet study surveying over 5,000 people from 13 countries identified the health and social indicators needed for the first global system to monitor preconception health, finding remarkable cross-country consensus that mental health, physical health, supportive relationships, and finances matter most before pregnancy.
Read the releaseA six-year study of 184 bull sharks at Fiji's Shark Reef Marine Reserve found that these predators form selective social relationships, preferring partners of similar size and actively avoiding certain individuals - upending the long-held view of sharks as solitary hunters.
Read the releaseResearchers identified a single odorant receptor, OR49, that allows Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to detect and avoid borneol, a plant-derived repellent compound. Knocking out the gene eliminated both the neural response and avoidance behavior, opening a path to designing more effective repellents.
Read the releaseA study of nine Amazonian cocoa clones found that fermentation reduces sugars by 95% and tannins by nearly 50% while boosting amino acids and minerals, leading researchers to propose fermented-unfermented blends that balance flavor with nutritional value.
Read the releaseA 3D-printed scaffold made from chitosan and plant-derived antimicrobials delivers sustained germ-fighting action to chronic wounds while biodegrading into the skin, avoiding both organic solvents and the antibiotic resistance risks of conventional treatments.
Read the releaseA 37-year Smithsonian field study in Chesapeake Bay found that cannibalism by adult blue crabs is the sole source of predation on juveniles in mid-salinity rivers, but crabs in the shallowest waters are only 30% likely to be eaten compared to 60-80% in deeper zones.
Read the releaseA systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 studies across 12 high-income countries found a relative increase in both healthcare visits for self-injury and self-reported self-harm among children and youth, with female individuals disproportionately affected.
Read the releaseA 140-patient NIH-supported trial found that weekly injectable extended-release buprenorphine produced significantly higher rates of illicit opioid abstinence during pregnancy than daily sublingual buprenorphine, with fewer serious adverse events and comparable neonatal outcomes.
Read the releaseInsilica's ToxIndex platform uses AI agents to orchestrate over 600 toxicology models and a 60-billion-triple knowledge graph, producing traceable risk assessments that could reshape how chemicals and drugs are evaluated for safety.
Read the releaseResearchers at Kunming University developed tantalate high-entropy ceramic coatings that endured 614 thermal shock cycles at 1500 degrees C and 12,830 fatigue cycles at 1150 degrees C while keeping a stable crystal structure - outperforming current YSZ coatings limited to 1200 degrees C.
Read the releaseWhen researchers fed 719 scientific hypotheses to ChatGPT ten times each, the AI answered correctly 76-80% of the time overall but was only 60% better than random chance, and gave contradictory answers to identical prompts in many cases.
Read the releaseThe largest study of its kind in livestock maps where gene promoters and enhancers sit in the sheep genome, offering breeders tools to select for beneficial traits while avoiding unintended harm to other tissues.
Read the releaseA University of Michigan national poll of 1,780 parents found that over half witnessed unsafe driving by their teen or young adult, yet 96% rated their child as an average or better driver. Only one in four took corrective action, despite one in three worrying their child could cause a crash.
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