Science
press releases.

Science26 Aug 2025

Feeling good about yourself

Emotions are complicated things. Researchers have found some differences between men and women, but basically the same factors play the biggest part in whether we feel good about ourselves. “We investigated differences between the sexes and the relationships between factors that influence participants’ motivation and well-being,” said Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU’s) Department of Psychology. He has spent many years studying what it takes for people to achieve their goals, and in this ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

People with schizophrenia have higher risk of COPD

Miami (August 26, 2025) – People with schizophrenia are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting a possible syndemic relationship between the two diseases, in addition to people not seeking appropriate medical care. A new article examining the link between COPD and schizophrenia appears in the July 2025 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open access journal. COPD encompasses conditions including emphysema and ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

Sibling-specific aggression in women and girls

Human men are typically more aggressive than human women, a finding supported by reams of research. But surveys of 4,136 individuals in 24 countries reveal an exception to the trend: aggression in sibling relationships. Douglas T. Kenrick and Michael E.W. Warnum, along with a team of 49 colleagues, asked participants how often they had acted aggressively towards a sister, a brother, a female friend, a male friend, a female acquaintance, or a male acquaintance—both when they were children and when they were adults. Aggressive actions included both direct aggression, such as hitting/slapping ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

Study raises red flags about BPA replacements

Chemicals used to replace bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging can trigger potentially harmful effects in human ovarian cells, according to McGill University researchers. A new study examined several chemicals commonly used in price stickers on packaged meat, fish, cheese and produce found early signs of potential toxicity. The findings, published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, raise concerns about the safety of BPA-free packaging and whether current regulations go far enough to protect consumers. BPA substitutes disrupt gene expression The research began with the 2023 discovery by Stéphane Bayen, Associate Professor in McGill’s ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

The irresistibility of extrapolating from past performance

Researchers explore the human tendency to look to the past to predict the future—even when people rationally know outcomes are completely random. A fair coin flip is the prototypically random-outcome event. Russell Roberts and colleagues asked 12,000 people to predict coin flip outcomes in a sequence of five fair coin tosses—some in person, some online. With such a large number of participants, they were able to analyze subsets of people who—by chance—made a series of successful or unsuccessful guesses without any deception or manipulation of the ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

Predicting nationality from beliefs and values

Different countries have different cultures, and social scientists have developed theories about which values are most important in differentiating the world’s cultures. Abhishek Sheetal and colleagues used the power of machine learning to identify the crucial distinguishing characteristics of the world’s national cultures in a theory-blind manner. The authors trained a neural network to predict an individual’s country of origin from their attitudes, values, and beliefs, as measured by the World Values Survey, a global study that probes everything from religious beliefs ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

Mindset shift about catastrophes linked to decreased depression, inflammation

Catastrophes, by definition, are devastating, but they can often be catalysts for lasting, positive change – and if people can adopt that perspective, they may see some real benefits, a Stanford-led study suggests. In a randomized, controlled trial, a one-hour intervention was given to a group of adults designed to shift their mindset, or core beliefs and assumptions, about having lived through a catastrophe like the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of seeing growth opportunities in the experience. Those who received the intervention showed lower levels of depression three months later compared to a control group. Blood tests also revealed lower ...

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Science26 Aug 2025

Two thirds of reproductive-aged women have at least one modifiable risk factor for birth defects, study reveals

Ann Arbor, August 26, 2025 - An analysis using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) among 5,374 women of reproductive age indicates that two thirds of women within this demographic have at least one modifiable risk factor, such as low folate status or unmanaged diabetes, that can increase the chance of serious birth defects. The new study appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, highlights that identifying and addressing these changeable risk factors, especially before pregnancy, are important for public health programs and healthcare providers ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

VCs backed Black founders after BLM – but it didn’t last

Five years ago, in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, Black-founded startups had “a moment” when venture capitalists (VCs) were eager to invest. In the two years after Floyd’s death, the share of VC dollars that went to Black businesses jumped by 43%. Unfortunately for those fledgling companies, and the ones that have followed, that interest and those dollars were short-lived, according to new Cornell research. “The main increase in funding was among those investors who, before May 25, 2020, had never ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

A new tool to track infant development, starting at just 16 days old

Tool spots developmental delays early, when intervention can make the biggest difference iPad app uses videos and eye-tracking to measure babies’ learning and responses Tool validated by 2,500 infants and toddlers, making it reliable across diverse families EVANSTON, Ill. --- Developmental scientists and medical social science experts at Northwestern University have spearheaded the creation of the most recent NIH Toolbox, providing the newest nationally standardized assessment of cognitive, language, motor and social-emotional skill development in infants aged 16 days to 42 months. The original NIH Toolbox, although ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Researchers to gather next week for 10th Peer Review Congress

The 10th International Congress on Peer Review and Scientific Publication will take place Sept. 3–5 in Chicago. Co-hosted by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the British Medical Journal (The BMJ), and the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), this once-every-four-years event serves as “peer review on peer review.” It turns the focus on the scientific publishing process itself, with the goal of improving the conduct, reporting, and dissemination of scientific research. Since 1989, the Congress has tackled the issues of the day, from record digitization to internet-based review. This year, ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Polysubstance involvement in youth opioid overdoses increases with age

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, August 25, 2025 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## Most research suggests that opioid overdoses involving multiple substances in the United States typically occur among people ages 25-54. However, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Mass General Brigham for Children indicates that polysubstance-involved opioid overdoses are also prevalent among youth. Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study examined trends in overdose mortality and found that, among youth, opioid overdoses more commonly involved ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Flamingos reveal their secret to ageing

Flamingos reveal their secret to ageing Is ageing inevitable? While most living beings age, some do so more slowly than others. A new scientific study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) addresses a fascinating question: what if migration influences the way we age? To explore this mystery, scientists turned their attention to the pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), a graceful migratory bird that is emblematic of the Camargue region of France. Birds that do not all age in the same way Thanks to a flamingo tagging and tracking ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Neural activity linked to self-preoccupied thinking

People tend to be self-preoccupied. Self-interest is good when it ensures that one’s needs are met, but it can also be maladaptive; research shows that the tendency to self-focus promotes the occurrence of depression and anxiety and can even prolong these conditions. Is there a neural representation of self-preoccupation? Danika Geisler and Meghan Meyer, from Colombia University, explored this question in their new JNeurosci paper. The researchers first identified a pattern of neural activity that frequently ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Firearm suicides are increasing among older women at an alarming rate

EMBARGOED UNTIL 11 am EST on Monday, August 25, 2025 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu Kate Shirley, kshirley@luskin.ucla.edu ## Older men are 13 times more likely to die by firearm suicide than women, but a new study by Boston University School of Public Health and the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs has found that suicides by gun are increasing rapidly among older women. Firearms were involved in nearly 40 percent of suicides among older women from 2014-2023, up from 34.9 percent in 2014, according to the study in JAMA Network Open. Women represent nearly half of all new gun owners in the United ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Even post-#MeToo, news reporting on sexual violence remains problematic, McGill researchers say

Even in the post-#MeToo era, news reporting on sexual violence remains problematic and causes harms, McGill researchers have found. The researchers conducted a thematic review of academic literature, analyzing 41 relevant articles published between 2013 and 2023 in the Global North to assess whether news coverage of sexual violence has evolved since the #MeToo movement of 2017 had increased awareness. “Journalistic practices can still problematically portray sexual violence, furthering harmful and lasting impacts for survivors,” said the paper’s co-author, Karen Andrews, a former master’s ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Breakthrough in 3D-printed scaffolds offers hope for spinal cord injury recovery

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/25/2025) — For the first time, a research team at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities demonstrated a groundbreaking process that combines 3D printing, stem cell biology, and lab-grown tissues for spinal cord injury recovery. The study was recently published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, more than 300,000 people in the United States suffer from spinal cord injuries, yet there is no way to completely reverse the damage and paralysis from the injury. A major challenge is the death of nerve cells ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Gut check: Glycemic control, not body weight, may sway how we choose what to eat

Maybe you shouldn’t always listen to your gut. Researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC recently studied flavor-nutrient learning — how people come to prefer certain food based on how it makes them feel. Flavor-nutrient learning is one factor that influences eating habits and may impact body weight. “We have to learn what we are going to eat, and one factor that’s less well studied is post-ingestive signals — our gut talking to our brain, teaching ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Scientists date the origin of Jupiter by studying the formation of “molten rock raindrops”

Four and a half billion years ago Jupiter rapidly grew to its massive size. Its powerful gravitational pull disrupted the orbits of small rocky and icy bodies similar to modern asteroids and comets, called planetesimals. This caused them to smash into each other at such high speeds that the rocks and dust they contained melted on impact and created floating molten rock droplets, or chondrules, that we find preserved in meteorites today. Now, researchers at Nagoya University in Japan and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have for the first time determined how these droplets formed and accurately dated the formation of Jupiter based on their ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

New study reveals the role of subtle changes of Northern Westerlies in the East Asian monsoon variability

The new research titled "Interstadial diversity of East Asian summer monsoon linked to changes of the Northern Westerlies", published in Nature Communications at 10 am, August 25, 2025 (London time) (https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63057-2) and led by scientists from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China the British Antarctic Survey and international collaborators, shows that isotopic signatures of the EASM during DO events are not uniform but rather reflect diverse changes in response to subtle variations of the Westerlies’ position. “Our isotope-enabled climate model successfully replicates the spatial heterogeneity seen in proxy records, ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Genetic testing of IVF embryos helps women over 35 conceive faster

Genetic testing of IVF-created embryos could help more women over 35 have a baby in less time, a clinical trial by researchers from King’s College London, King’s College Hospital, and King’s Fertility has found. Published today in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, this is the first randomised controlled trial worldwide to focus exclusively on women aged 35–42, a group at higher risk of producing embryos with chromosomal abnormalities. The trial looked at the use of Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) to check embryos ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

New guideline offers menu of options to help people quit smoking tobacco

Tobacco smoking is the number one cause of preventable disease and death in Canada; it is highly addictive and hard to stop. Recognizing these challenges, a new guideline from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care provides a menu of effective options to help people quit smoking, with behavioural and medication options and a natural health product that can be tailored and combined for personal choice. The guideline is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241584. “Quitting ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Kids in disadvantaged zip codes face up to 20 times higher odds of gun injuries

Children residing in “very low-opportunity” neighborhoods are up to 20 times more likely to be hospitalized for gun injuries than those living in the most advantaged areas, reports a new multi-state study published in Pediatrics. The study also found that most hospitalizations for gun injuries among children under 18 are the result of unintentional shootings — incidents caused by mishandling or accidental discharge of a gun. “The fewer opportunities a child has in their neighborhood, the greater their odds of ending up in the hospital with a firearm injury,” said co-author Dr. Mehul Raval, Head of Pediatric ...

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Science25 Aug 2025

Gun injury odds up to 20x higher for kids in disadvantaged ZIP codes

Study analyzed nearly 7,000 pediatric gun injuries and mapped odds by ZIP code Kids in ‘low-opportunity’ neighborhoods far more likely to be shot than those in ‘high-opportunity’ areas ‘High-opportunity’ kids are far less likely to be shot, but twice as likely to die when it happens Authors stress urgent need for safe storage and firearm safety education CHICAGO --- Children residing in “very low-opportunity” neighborhoods are up to 20 times more likely to be hospitalized ...

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Science22 Aug 2025

UMass Amherst kinesiologist receives $2 million ‘outstanding researcher’ award from NIH

A University of Massachusetts Amherst kinesiologist has received a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance his research on how myosin molecules—molecular motors crucial for muscle contraction— work together to drive different processes within cells. This multi-pronged research will lead to a better understanding of many important myosin-related functions, from how our muscles and heart contract to how the ear’s stereocilia facilitate hearing. The long-term goal is to use these findings to pinpoint the causes of dysfunction in myosin-associated diseases and to identify ...

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