Science
press releases.

Science23 Oct 2025

Newly discovered ‘super-Earth’ offers prime target in search for alien life

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according to an international team including researchers from Penn State. They dubbed the exoplanet, named GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” as data suggest it is almost four times as massive as the Earth, and likely to be rocky planet. "We look for these types of planets because they are our best chance at finding life elsewhere,” said Suvrath Mahadevan, the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Astronomy at Penn State and co-author ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Loneliness interventions help but are not a cure-all

Interventions designed to reduce loneliness can be effective, but do not yet offer a complete solution to what is becoming a worldwide public health problem, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “Loneliness is now widely acknowledged as a serious public health concern linked to depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease and even early mortality,” said lead author Mathias Lasgaard, PhD, of the Central Denmark Region and University of Southern Denmark. “Our findings provide strong evidence that interventions can make a difference, though their overall impact remains modest. Loneliness does not have a one-size-fits-all ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Inaugural Jack Sarver Prize honors groundbreaking research by St. Louis, Dallas scientists

DALLAS, Oct. 23, 2025 — Zainab Mahmoud, M.D., M.Sc., an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Zhao Zhang, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, will receive the inaugural Jack Sarver Prize in Clinical Science and Jack Sarver Prize in Basic Science, respectively, at the American Heart Association’ Scientific Sessions 2025. The meeting, to be held Nov. 7-10, 2025, in New Orleans, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Two abstracts using Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry data presented at CHEST 2025

Miami (October 23, 2025) – The Bronchiectasis and NTM Association announced today that two abstracts using Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry data were presented at CHEST 2025, held October 19-22, 2025, in Chicago. The abstracts are: “The Relationship Between Baseline Severity of Bronchiectasis and Incident Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Infection: findings from the U.S. Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry,” which examined whether increased bronchiectasis severity was associated with an increased risk of NTM ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Widely-used technique for assessing IVF embryos may be flawed, study suggests

A test deployed in many fertility clinics to assess the viability of embryos for use in IVF is likely to overestimate the number of embryos with abnormalities, suggests a study published today. Using a new technique for imaging embryos in real time, a team led by scientists at the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, showed that abnormalities can arise at a later stage of embryo development than previously thought. This means that the tests used in some clinics may be finding errors in cells that will go on to develop into the placenta – and abnormalities in placental cells are less likely to affect the health of the fetus. When an egg has been ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Supersolid spins into synchrony

A supersolid is a paradoxical state of matter—it is rigid like a crystal but flows without friction like a superfluid. This exotic form of quantum matter has only recently been realized in dipolar quantum gases. Researchers led by Francesca Ferlaino set out to explore how the solid and superfluid properties of a supersolid interact, particularly under rotation. In their experiments, they rotated a supersolid quantum gas using a carefully controlled magnetic field and observed a striking phenomenon: “The quantum droplets of the supersolid are in a crystal-like periodic order, all dressed by a superfluid between them”, explains ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

A platform of gold reveals the forces of nature’s invisible glue

When dust sticks to a surface or a lizard sits on a ceiling, it is due to ‘nature’s invisible glue’. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have now discovered a quick and easy way to study the hidden forces that bind the smallest objects in the universe together. Using gold, salt water and light, they have created a platform on which the forces can be seen through colours. In the lab at Chalmers, doctoral student Michaela Hošková shows a glass container filled with millions of micrometre-sized gold flakes in a salt solution. Using a pipette, she picks up a drop of the ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Disrupted sleep in teens identified as suicide risk factor

Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep on school nights or have interrupted sleep are at greater risk of suicide, new research from the University of Warwick has found. Suicide is the one of the leading causes of death among adolescents in the UK. Despite teenagers’ well-known tendency to miss out on sleep—due to both biological and social factors—the long-term impact of this sleep loss on suicide risk has remained unclear. Now, researchers at the University of Warwick have demonstrated a longitudinal link between disrupted sleep in early adolescence and later suicide attempts, ...

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Science23 Oct 2025

Traffic noise joins land clearance as damaging to bird survival

From agriculture and urban land clearance to loss of habitat and feral animal predation, native wild animals and their food sources face a rising tide of threats caused by human activities. A new study led by Flinders University warns traffic noise is one more pressure faced by one of southern Australia’s rare songbirds, the threatened Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus). “Anthropogenic (human) noise has the potential to negatively impact wildlife by disrupting communication and reducing overall fitness. This includes the effects ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Extinction rates have slowed across many plant and animal groups, study shows

Prominent research studies have suggested that our planet is currently experiencing another mass extinction, based on extrapolating extinctions from the past 500 years into the future and the idea that extinction rates are rapidly accelerating. A new study by Kristen Saban and John Wiens with the University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, however, revealed that over the last 500 years extinctions in plants, arthropods and land vertebrates peaked about 100 years ago and have declined since then. Furthermore, the researchers found that the past extinctions underlying these ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Gut parasites identified from feces of ancient Mexican people

DNA within dried feces dating from more than 1,000 years ago provides valuable insights into the pathogens that plagued ancient Mexican peoples, according to a study published October 22, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Drew Capone of Indiana University, U.S., and colleagues. Ancient feces are a valuable source of information on the intestinal parasites of past populations. Microbial DNA is known to survive in stool samples, but analysis of ancient feces has historically been limited ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Neutrino experiments in US and Japan join forces

Very early on in our universe, when it was a seething hot cauldron of energy, particles made of matter and antimatter bubbled into existence in equal proportions. For example, negatively charged electrons were created in the same numbers as their antimatter siblings, positively charged positrons. When the two particles combined, they canceled each other out. Billions of years later, our world is dominated by matter. Somehow matter "won out" over antimatter, but scientists still do not know how. Now, two of the largest experiments attempting to find answers—projects that focus on subatomic particles called neutrinos—have joined forces. In a ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Adverse pregnancy outcomes and long-term risk of atrial fibrillation

About The Study: In this large national cohort, all adverse pregnancy outcomes except small for gestational age were associated with increased risk for atrial fibrillation up to 46 years later. Women with adverse pregnancy outcomes need early preventive actions and long-term clinical follow-up for timely detection and treatment of cardiovascular disorders related to the development of atrial fibrillation. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Casey Crump, MD, PhD, email casey.crump@uth.tmc.edu. To access ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Ants use a genetic 'bulldozer' to achieve a hyper-specific sense of smell

Ants have evolved an acute sense of smell, which requires each sensory neuron to choose one scent receptor out of hundreds. In a new study published in Nature, researchers at New York University have discovered what ants use to solve this biological puzzle: a self-regulating system in which choosing one gene physically silences all its neighbors. A high-stakes sense of smell Ants communicate via pheromones to hunt, detect outsiders, and determine their role within a colony. Without precise control of olfactory receptors, ant society would unravel. When ants cannot smell, “they stop performing their duties, which leads to anarchy,” explained ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Bay Area Lyme Foundation opens applications for 2026 Emerging Leader Awards and research grants

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., October 22, 2025 - Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced its call for applicants from academia and the private sector for the 2026 Emerging Leader Awards (ELA). These annual awards recognize innovative researchers advancing novel approaches in tick-borne disease diagnostics and treatments, while embodying the future of research leadership in this critical field. In 2026, Bay Area Lyme Foundation will award two $150,000 ELA grants: Lyme ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

A new post-processing route to improve tensile strength and ductility in 3d-printed alloys

In International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers have developed a dual post-processing method to make 3D-printed metals much stronger and tougher, addressing one of the field's most persistent challenges. By combining deep cryogenic treatment and laser shock peening, researchers find a new way to transform the microscopic structure of 3D-printed metals, relieving internal stresses and enhancing their mechanical resilience. Their method offers a practical route to producing stronger and more damage-tolerant components for industrial-grade metal additive manufacturing in aerospace, automotive, energy, and defense sectors. The Hidden Problem in Metal ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Natural Japanese and Taiwanese hinoki cypresses genetically differentiated 1 million years ago

Tsukuba, Japan—Hinoki cypress is a commercially vital species used as a high-quality building material, second only to sugi cedar in planted forest area and timber production in Japan. Natural hinoki cypress forests extend from Fukushima Prefecture in the north to Yakushima Island in the south. Taiwanese hinoki cypress is a variety and close relative of the Japanese hinoki, and its large-diameter timber was historically imported from Taiwan to Japan for constructing shrines and temples. By conducting a comprehensive population genetic analysis, this study aimed to elucidate genetic diversity, regional genetic structure, and evolutionary history across ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Deciding whether a breathing tube is best for a child

NEW YORK, NY – Oct. 22, 2025 – The emotional strain on parents and other caregivers faced with deciding whether a tracheotomy is the best treatment for their child is hard to measure. The latest clinical practice guideline from the American Thoracic Society aims to give clinicians and parents/caregivers a way forward so they can navigate difficult decisions to ensure better outcomes for young patients. The guideline was published early online today, Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. A tracheostomy is a tube that is surgically placed through an ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

FAU historian traces the transformation of U.S. nursing homes into big business

In postwar America, as suburbs spread and federal social welfare programs expanded, one underexamined building type quietly became a fixture of the American health care landscape: the nursing home. In a new article published in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, historian Willa Granger, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School of Architecture within Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, examines how a little-known company from midcentury Illinois helped lay ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Reptiles ‘pee’ crystals, and scientists are investigating what they’re made of

Unless you’ve owned reptiles, you might not know that many of them “pee” crystals. Researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society investigated the solid urine of more than 20 reptile species and found spheres of uric acid in all of them. This work reveals how reptiles uniquely package up and eliminate crystalline waste, which could inform future treatments for human conditions that also involve uric acid crystals: kidney stones and gout. Most living things have some sort of excretory system — after all, what goes in must come out. In ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Wiley announces winners of Advanced Science Young Innovator Award

HOBOKEN, NJ—Eleven researchers have earned one of the most competitive early-career honors in interdisciplinary science: the 2025 Advanced Science Young Innovator Award. Wiley, a global leader in authoritative content and research intelligence and publisher of Advanced Science, announced the award recipients today. Selected from a highly competitive pool of 472 applicants across 40 countries, this year's winners represent the highest caliber of emerging scientists translating discoveries into real-world impact. Now in its second year, ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Towards new ionic liquid-modified zeolite membranes for efficient CO2 conversion

An effective strategy to address increasing greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change is the capture and reuse of carbon dioxide (CO2). The reaction of CO2 and hydrogen (H2) can produce industrially useful chemicals, such as methanol and carbon monoxide, and synthetic fuels. However, in traditional reactors these chemical processes are limited by thermodynamic constraints and slow reaction rates, resulting in a low CO2 conversion. This is because these reactors reach equilibrium before all the reactants are converted into desired ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

New method noninvasively measures Achilles tendon structure and function in professional dancers

A study in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research uses a noninvasive, nonradioactive imaging-based method to measure the structure and function of the Achilles tendon in professional ballet dancers. The method could potentially be developed to help prevent injuries and improve rehabilitation efforts in athletes, as well as in the general public. The study involved what is called multi-echo ultrashort echo time (UTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess collagen and other components of the Achilles tendon. These ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Uncovering the biology of growing old

Scientists have long sought measurable signs in the body, called biomarkers, that reliably reveal our biological age or predict future health issues. Now, a new study in dogs—an ideal model for this research because they share our genetic diversity, diseases, and home environments—has uncovered molecular clues that could shed light on how aging unfolds in pets and people alike. For the study published October 22 in Aging Cell, scientists from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University, University of Washington, and other institutions analyzed blood samples from a group of nearly 800 dogs enrolled ...

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Science22 Oct 2025

Why do so many pro soccer players develop osteoarthritis?

A new paper in Rheumatology, published by Oxford University Press, finds that retired UK male professional football players who reported foot or ankle injuries during their careers were more likely to develop osteoarthritis in retirement. Retired players treated routinely with cortisone injections for their injuries were even more likely to report osteoarthritis. Professional football is a high-speed contact sport with high risk of injury. Foot and ankle injuries are particularly common, with ankle sprains being the most regular ankle injury and metatarsal fractures the most frequent foot injury. These injuries occur more often during football matches than ...

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