To the point Grackles trained to be more flexible were better at foraging afterward: They ate more foods and used more foraging techniques. Investigating their cognitive abilities in the wild shows how flexibility impacts their ability to adapt to human-modified environments. Behavioral flexibility is not the primary facilitator of a range expansion: Although high levels of flexibility were found in two successful urban bird species, only one is rapidly expanding is range. This suggests that flexibility alone does not ...

Researchers have conducted the world’s biggest ever bird survey, recording 971 different species living in forests and cattle pastures across the South American country of Colombia. This represents almost 10% of the world’s birds. They combined the results, gathered over a decade, with information on each species’ sensitivity to habitat conversion to find that the biodiversity loss caused by clearing rainforest for cattle pasture is on average 60% worse than previously thought. Until now, understanding the biodiversity impact of land-use change has generally involved ...

An antibody treatment developed at Stanford Medicine successfully prepared patients for stem cell transplants without toxic busulfan chemotherapy or radiation, a phase 1 clinical trial has shown. While the researchers tested the protocol on patients with Fanconi anemia, a genetic disease that makes standard stem cell transplant extremely risky, they expect it may also work for patients with other genetic diseases that require stem cell transplants. “We were able to treat these really fragile patients with a new, ...

By sparking the immune system into action, radiation therapy makes certain tumors that resist immunotherapy susceptible to the treatment, leading to positive outcomes for patients, according to new research by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Netherlands Cancer Institute. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health. In the study, published July 22 in Nature Cancer, investigators dove deep into the molecular biology of non-small cell lung cancer to pinpoint what happens on ...

ARLINGTON, Va. (July 22, 2025) – Afro-descendant peoples in four Amazon countries show remarkable achievements in environmental stewardship, according to new research from Conservation International, published today in Nature Communications Earth and Environment. The study assessed Afro-descendant lands in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname, finding significantly lower rates of deforestation and larger quantities of both biodiversity and irrecoverable carbon (the carbon that, if lost due to ...

New York, NY [July 22, 2025]—A study by investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with colleagues from Rabin Medical Center in Israel and other collaborators, suggests that even the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models can make surprisingly simple mistakes when faced with complex medical ethics scenarios. The findings, which raise important questions about how and when to rely on large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, in health care settings, were reported in the July 22 online issue of NPJ Digital Medicine [10.1038/s41746-025-01792-y]. The research team was inspired by Daniel Kahneman’s book “Thinking, Fast and ...

EMBL-EBI scientists and collaborators at Heidelberg University have developed CORNETO, a new computational tool that uses machine learning to gain meaningful insights from complex biological data. CORNETO enables users to extract molecular networks – maps of how genes, proteins, and signalling pathways interact – by combining experimental data from different samples and conditions with prior biological knowledge, such as signalling or metabolic networks. This can help us to better understand the mechanisms that ...

NEW YORK, New York, USA, 22 July 2025 – In a comprehensive Genomic Press interview published in Brain Medicine today, Dr. Hamilton Se-Hwee Oh reveals groundbreaking insights into the complex dialogue between our brains and bodies that fundamentally shapes aging, depression, and neurodegenerative disease. Working at Mount Sinai's prestigious Brain-Body Institute and Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease in New York City, Dr. Oh bridges multiple scientific disciplines to decode ...

It has long been established that emotions reflect in our voice – this helps us communicate more purposefully and gives listeners cues as to how they should interpret what we say. But what emotions predominate in complaints – and how do they differ between groups? Researchers in Switzerland and Canada investigated and published their findings in Frontiers in Communication. “Complaining is differentiated from neutral speech by changes in vocal expression. Complainers tend to change their intonation, pitch, rhythm, and emphasis, making them sound more emotive and expressive,” ...

NEW YORK, NY – July 21, 2025 – A new study by NYU Langone Health researchers found that the shutdown of a significant fossil fuel pollution source near Pittsburgh, PA, resulted in immediate improvements in respiratory health. The study is available online starting July 22 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a journal of the American Thoracic Society. Assessing data from nearby local and federal air quality monitors, the researchers tracked the air pollution health effects on residents near the Shenango plant before and after its closure in 2016. Results showed that within the first few ...

Kyoto, Japan --  During the midday Friday prayer hours on 28 March 2025, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck central Myanmar along the Sagaing Fault. With an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, it was the most powerful earthquake to strike Myanmar in more than a century and the second deadliest in its modern history. The cause was a strike-slip fault, in which two masses of earth "slip" past each other horizontally along a vertical fault plane. To an observer, it would look like the ground were split in two along a defined line, with both sides being wrenched past each other ...

Researchers have decoded the chromosome-level genome of Houttuynia cordata, an important East Asian medicinal plant known for its strong flavor and wide pharmacological use. This species was found to be decaploid, containing ten sets of chromosomes, and has undergone multiple genome duplications during evolution. The team identified significantly expanded gene families involved in the biosynthesis of medicinal alkaloids, including STR, DDC, 6OMT, and 4OMT. High expression of these genes in root and rhizome tissues supports their vital role in alkaloid accumulation. This study not only unveils ...

LA JOLLA, CA—In living organisms today, complex molecules like RNA and DNA are constructed with the help of enzymes. So how did these molecules form before life (and enzymes) existed? Why did some molecules end up as the building blocks of life and not others? A new study by Scripps Research scientists helps answer these longstanding questions. The results, published in the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie on June 27, 2025, show how ribose may have become the sugar of choice for RNA development. They found that ribose binds to phosphate—another molecular ...

Patients prescribed drugs to help them lose weight may experience a rebound in weight gain after halting their prescription, finds a meta-analysis published in BMC Medicine. The study, which analyses data for patients receiving weight loss drugs across 11 randomised trials, suggests that while the amount of weight regain varies depending on the specific drug, there is a broad trend in associated weight regain after the course of medication concluded. Six anti-obesity medications (AOMs) have been approved by the US FDA for use in assisting with weight loss, including orlistat, ...

New York, NY (July 21, 2025) — Exposure to a class of synthetic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—often called “forever chemicals”—may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study led by Mount Sinai researchers. The findings were published today in eBioMedicine. The team conducted a nested case-control study (an observational study that is conducted within a larger cohort study) within BioMe, a large, electronic health record-linked research database comprising ...

Poisonings and deaths linked to the use of the local anaesthetic lidocaine have nearly tripled in the US over the past decade, finds an analysis of National Poison Data System (NPDS) reports, published online in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine  This increase contrasts with the overall fall in reported poisonings and deaths from other types of local anaesthetics over the same period, the analysis shows. Local anaesthetics are widely used for pain control, but carry an inherent risk of systemic toxicity, referred to as LAST, prompting multiple professional societies to issue ...

A new study from McMaster University researchers has found that many people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who believe they are sensitive to gluten or wheat may not actually react to these ingredients. IBS is an intestinal disorder that affects an estimated 10 per cent of Canadians – one of the highest prevalence rates globally, according to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation. It can be disruptive and debilitating, and its underlying cause is unclear. The study, published in The Lancet Gastroenetrology ...

A new subtype of diabetes has been identified in children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa and could mean many patients are not on the best treatment for them.   The new finding, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), challenges the global understanding of diabetes in young people. It raises concerns that many patients across the continent, and possibly beyond, may need their diagnosis updated to access the best treatment. The discovery was made through the largest study of its kind in the region. Researchers found that nearly two thirds (65 per cent) of young ...

An international team of researchers has made a key discovery: many children and young adults in Sub-Saharan Africa diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may have a different form of the disease - one not caused by the immune system, unlike classic T1D. This discovery could change how diabetes is diagnosed, treated and managed across the region, paving the way for more accurate care and better outcomes. The research was published today in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. “This is the first study across several Sub-Saharan African countries to use the same lab tests and genetic tools to learn more about type 1 diabetes. We've done similar research in the U.S. with different groups, ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Rare earth elements sustain the Information Age, and securing a supply of these metals has become a matter of national and economic security. They’re ubiquitous in our smart technologies, high performance materials and industrial catalysts. Yet reclaiming them is complex, dangerous and expensive. That’s why UC Santa Barbara’s Justin Wilson has partnered with the mineral recovery company REEGen. “We’ve developed a new approach to extract rare earth elements from end-of-life products like electronic waste from phones, batteries and discarded catalytic converters,” said Wilson, a professor in UCSB’s Department ...

Lunar dust is more than a mild irritant or hallmark of an untidy room like dust found on Earth. Lunar dust particles are sharp and abrasive due to the lack of atmosphere gradually dulling their surfaces, leading them to potentially damaging critical lunar equipment or causing respiratory issues for astronauts. Managing lunar dust (also known as regolith) and safeguarding astronauts or sensitive equipment on the moon isn’t as simple as sweeping it up with a broom and pan. That’s why a team of NASA-funded UCF researchers is pioneering a new nanocoating to passively mitigate the effects of lunar dust, ...

Imagine the concrete in our homes and bridges not only withstanding the ravages of time and natural disasters like the intense heat of wildfires, but actively self-healing or capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now, researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have developed a revolutionary AI model that can simulate the behavior of billions of atoms simultaneously, opening new possibilities for materials design and discovery at unprecedented scales. The current state of the world’s climate is a dire one. Brutal droughts, evaporating glaciers, ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Akesis, Inc. (Akesis), a leader in cutting-edge radiation oncology technology, has formed a groundbreaking collaboration with University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, a nationally recognized cancer care institution. Through this alliance, UH Seidman Cancer Center becomes the first medical center in the United States to implement the innovative Akesis Galaxy RTi device for patient treatments, while also serving as the flagship site for research and clinical demonstration of this advanced technology. As part of the agreement, UH Seidman Cancer Center will incorporate the Galaxy RTi into the stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) program, aiming to set new benchmarks ...

The number of dams in the United States at risk of overtopping is increasing, threatening their structural integrity and downstream communities, according to new research from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The study, published in Nature Communications, examined data from 33 dams over 50 years to determine how overtopping probability changed since 1973. The research found an increasing trend in the number of dams exhibiting critical overtopping probabilities (low, moderate and high) and ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 21 July 2025    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin         Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------     1. ...