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press releases.

Science25 Sep 2025

A rapid rise of private club and travel teams in youth sports

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study provides evidence of the explosive growth of private club and travel teams in youth sports over the past 60 years. Researchers found that kids who were born in the 1990s were about three times as likely to participate in private club and travel sports as those who were born in the 1950s. Findings were based on adults’ retrospective reports of their experiences while growing up. About 4% of surveyed adults who were born in the 50s said they ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

New genetic model reveals calcium-induced calcium release is dispensable for skeletal muscle contraction

The mechanism of skeletal muscle contraction is a process that relies on calcium signaling. However, the physiological role of calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) through the ryanodine receptor type 1 (RyR1) has remained unresolved for decades. A new study led by Associate Professor Takashi Murayama from Juntendo University in Japan, along with his team members Drs. Takuya Kobayashi and Nagomi Kurebayashi from Juntendo University, and Dr. Toshiko Yamazawa from Jikei University School of Medicine, published ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

In quest for better NSAIDs, researchers decouple inflammation from pain

Scientists at the NYU Pain Research Center have identified which receptor in prostaglandins—the hormone-like substance targeted by common painkillers—causes pain but not inflammation. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, may help researchers to develop more selective drugs to treat pain with fewer side effects. “Inflammation and pain are usually thought to go hand in hand. But being able to block pain and allow inflammation—which promotes healing—to proceed is an important step in ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

The fattening forest: trees of the Amazon are getting bigger

Average tree size across the Amazon has increased by 3.2% every decade consistent with a response to rising carbon dioxide levels, a new study suggests. The new research published today (25 Sep) in Nature Plants by a global team of tropical forest scientists shows that the average size of trees in Amazon forests has increased over recent decades. The team of almost a hundred researchers monitored the size of trees in 188 permanent plots and discovered that the increase has continued for at least 30 years. The study is the result ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

Minute witnesses from the primordial sea

Earth scientists often face huge challenges when researching the earth’s history: many significant events occurred such a long time ago that there is little direct evidence available. Consequently, researchers often have to rely on indirect clues or on computer models. The team led by ETH Professor Jordon Hemingway, however, has now discovered a unique natural witness to this period: tiny egg-shaped iron oxide stones that can be used to directly measure the carbon reserves in the primordial ocean. Viewed ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

Hot springs in Japan give insight into ancient microbial life on Earth

Earth was not always the blue-green world we know today: the early Earth's oxygen levels were about a million times lower than we now experience. There were no forests and no animals. For ancient organisms, oxygen was toxic. What did life look like at that time then? A recent study led by Fatima Li-Hau (graduate student at ELSI at the time of the research) along with the supervisor Associate Professor Shawn McGlynn (at the time of research) of the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, explores this question by examining iron-rich hot springs that mimic the chemistry of Earth's ancient oceans around the time ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

Shortfin mako sharks show enhanced thermoregulation abilities during deep dives

Tunas, billfishes, and some sharks, such as white sharks and shortfin mako sharks, have an ability known as regional endothermy, which allows them to maintain body temperatures higher than the ambient water. This ability has been regarded as an adaptation to cold environments. However, its role in warm-water species such as shortfin mako sharks, bigeye tuna, and swordfish has been unclear. In this study, we attached data loggers to shortfin mako sharks caught off southeastern Taiwan to record water temperature, body temperature, and swimming depth (Fig. 1). During repeated deep dives, ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

High-pressure processing alters stability of anthocyanin–catechin complexes

Researchers found that while HPP promotes the formation of anthocyanin–catechin complexes, it simultaneously reduces their thermal and light stability by decreasing the proportion of dominant conformations. Anthocyanins are natural pigments abundant in fruits, vegetables, tea, and wine, prized for their vivid colors and health benefits including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardioprotective properties. Yet their poor stability under heat and light has long hindered food applications. Copigmentation—complex formation between anthocyanins and polyphenols such as catechins—enhances both stability ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

INSEAD launches Master in Finance: a global launchpad for the next generation of financial leaders

INSEAD, The Business School for the World, today announced the launch of its new Master in Finance (MIF), an innovative pre-experience degree for recent graduates and young professionals. Designed to meet the growing demand for finance professionals who combine technical mastery with cross-cultural agility, global business acumen, and leadership skills, the INSEAD MIF reflects both market demand and INSEAD’s DNA in leadership education. This pre-experience programme aims to shape the financial leaders of tomorrow. Shaping Leaders for a Transforming Financial World Building on the success of INSEAD’s Master in Management ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

Reversing age-related vision decline

Changes in vision are often a common sign of aging. If you sit in a dimly lit restaurant with anyone over the age of 60, you’ll likely hear the person say, “Hold on — let me pull out my cell phone. I need more light to read the menu!” But what if we could reverse age-related visual decline? In a new study, UC Irvine researchers explore a possible therapy for addressing “aging” in the eye and for preventing diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). “We show the potential for reversing age-related vision loss,” says Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD, an associate ...

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Science25 Sep 2025

Crnic Institute breakthrough maps how Down Syndrome biology changes with age

AURORA, Colo. (Sept. 24, 2025) – In a groundbreaking new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome (Crnic Institute) at the University of Colorado Anschutz discovered important differences in the physiological changes observed in over 300 individuals with Down syndrome across the lifespan. The study is part of the ongoing Human Trisome Project, a large, detailed cohort study of people with Down syndrome, including deep annotation ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Menopause linked to distinct differences in multiple sclerosis presentation and comorbidities, new study shows

Menopause linked to distinct differences in multiple sclerosis presentation and comorbidities, new study shows (Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, 25 September 2025) New research presented today at the 41st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS 2025) reveals that menopause may significantly influence how multiple sclerosis (MS) first presents in women, as well as the types of associated health conditions they experience.1 These novel findings could pave the ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Caring for a baby makes the world seem more dangerous

ITHACA, N.Y. — In a potentially threatening situation, the world looks more dangerous when caring for a baby, finds first-of-its-kind Cornell University psychology research using virtual environments to explore parenting dynamics. When playing an online game that placed an adult on the side of a road after running out of gas, both parents and nonparents were quicker to detect oncoming traffic—and rated cars as moving faster—when they had to keep a virtual baby out of harm’s way. Reactions were quicker ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

An eco-friendly way to see in the dark

Manufacturers of infrared cameras face a growing problem: the toxic heavy metals in today's infrared detectors are increasingly banned under environmental regulations, forcing companies to choose between performance and compliance. This regulatory pressure is slowing the broader adoption of infrared detectors across civilian applications, just as demand in fields like autonomous vehicles, medical imaging and national security is accelerating. In a paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers at NYU Tandon School ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Raising money for a charity? Don't bark up the wrong tree.

Dog owners are often associated with personality traits of being social and community-oriented while "cat people" are often thought of as introverted and more open-minded, according to prior research. But if you're about to raise money for a charity from people with pets, you may want to think about the strategy. A new Dartmouth study finds that cat owners donate slightly more than dog owners, and also donate more often and more diversely. However, people without pets donate the most. The findings are published in the journal Anthrozoӧs. To examine philanthropic ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Shining a light on dark valleytronics

In a world-first, researchers from the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have directly observed the evolution of the elusive dark excitons in atomically thin materials, laying the foundation for new breakthroughs in both classical and quantum information technologies. Their findings have been published in Nature Communications. Professor Keshav Dani, head of the unit, highlights the significance: "Dark excitons have great potential as information carriers, because they are inherently less likely to interact with light, and hence less prone to degradation of their quantum properties. ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Landmark discovery reveals how chromosomes are passed from one generation to the next

When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things — including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother’s womb. It depends on the quality of the egg cells that were already forming inside her fetal ovaries. The DNA-containing chromosomes in those cells must be cut, spliced and sorted perfectly. In males, the same process produces sperm in the testes but occurs only after puberty. “If that goes wrong, then you end up with the wrong number of chromosomes in the eggs or sperm,” said Neil Hunter, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Sharp rise in memory and thinking problems among U.S. adults, study finds

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2025. Highlights: Overall rates of self-reported cognitive disability rose from 5.3% to 7.4% in the last decade. Rates nearly doubled among younger adults ages 18 to 39. People with annual incomes under $35,000 and less education saw the biggest increases. American Indian and Alaska Native adults had the highest reported rates. Study authors call for more research into social and economic drivers. MINNEAPOLIS – A growing number of U.S. adults—particularly ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Scientists sidestep Heisenberg uncertainty principle in precision sensing experiment

Physicists in Australia and Britain have reshaped quantum uncertainty to sidestep the restriction imposed by the famous Heisenberg uncertainty principle – a result that could underpin future ultra-precise sensor technology used in navigation, medicine and astronomy. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle, introduced in 1927, says that you can’t know certain pairs of properties – such as a particle’s position and momentum – with unlimited precision at the same time. In other words, there is always a trade-off in uncertainty: the ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Study: Researchers produce the first-ever image of an open NMDA receptor

BUFFALO, N.Y. — When it comes to brain proteins, small changes can make a dramatic difference. Researchers studying NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors, which are essential for learning, memory and moment-by-moment consciousness, know that even slight changes in their activity level can mean the difference between normal function and serious neurological disorders. Now, University at Buffalo researchers in a long-term collaboration with scientists at the Vollum Institute have captured for the first time and in exquisite detail pictures of receptors in a fully open ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

AI-generated voices now indistinguishable from real human voices

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 24.09.25 02:00 ET / 07:00 London AI-generated voices now indistinguishable from real human voices New study reveals that the average listener can no longer distinguish between deepfake voices and those of real human beings Many people still think of AI-generated speech as sounding “fake” or unconvincing and easily told apart from human voices. But new research from Queen Mary University of London shows that AI voice technology has now reached a stage where it can create “voice clones” ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Tracking deadly and unpredictable postpartum hemorrhage

In the delivery room, circumstances can turn dire on a dime if the patient starts losing excessive amounts of blood. One minute she seems fine, and the next, vital signs plummet, the patient crashes, and the care team may need to scramble for a blood transfusion or perform surgery. All too often, that alert may arrive too late. Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Patients themselves may not notice, and there are few ways to easily measure the blood pouring out (or pooling in the uterus) during delivery. Even the most eagle-eyed doctor or nurse cannot ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Caltech team sets record with 6,100-qubit array

Quantum computers will need large numbers of qubits to tackle challenging problems in physics, chemistry, and beyond. Unlike classical bits, qubits can exist in two states at once—a phenomenon called superposition. This quirk of quantum physics gives quantum computers the potential to perform certain complex calculations better than their classical counterparts, but it also means the qubits are fragile. To compensate, researchers are building quantum computers with extra, redundant qubits to correct any errors. That is why robust quantum computers will require hundreds of thousands of qubits. Now, ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

SwRI’s Glein selected to give AGU Carl Sagan Lecture

SAN ANTONIO — September. 24, 2025 — The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has selected Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Christopher Glein to present the Carl Sagan Lecture at its Fall meeting. He will present “Seafaring in Space: A Personal Voyage to Enceladus,” discussing the Saturn moon with a deep ocean beneath its frozen surface, offering some of the most compelling evidence of habitability in our solar system. AGU, the world’s largest Earth and space science association, ...

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Science24 Sep 2025

Measles vaccination coverage after a post-elimination outbreak

About The Study: In this repeated cross-sectional study of 149,000 children in a large central Ohio primary care network during the 20 months after outbreak onset, all measures of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) coverage remained well below the 93% herd immunity threshold. These persistent, population-wide immunity gaps suggest the need for sustained, equity-focused public health strategies to maintain measles elimination. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rosemary A. Martoma, ...

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