Volcanic bubbles help foretell the fate of coral in more acidic seas By 2100 Australian and global coral reef communities will be slow to recover, less complex, and dominated by fleshy algae, as high carbon dioxide changes ocean chemistry. An international study published today in Communications Biology has used unique coral reefs in Papua New Guinea to determine the likely impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs in the face of climate change. Oceans are becoming more acidic as they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and that acid will dissolve coral limestone. But it’s hard to predict what ...

Rutgers neuroscientist Peng Jiang was visiting his hometown of Qianshan, a city in China’s Anhui province, when a neighbor came to his parents’ house with a story that would stay with him. The man’s mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in her early 60s. After nearly a decade of decline, she no longer recognized her own son. One morning, she looked at him and asked gently, “How is your mother doing? Is she well?” As the neighbor recounted the moment, he broke into tears. He told Jiang that Alzheimer’s runs in his family and that he fears his own children may one day watch him fade the way he watched his mother’s memory vanish. That ...

The recipient of this year’s Individual Award, Simine Vazire, is a psychologist at University of Melbourne and editor-in-chief of Psychological Science. She is recognized for pioneering methodological rigor, reproducibility, and collaborative research in psychology, shaping initiatives such as the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) and the journal Collabra. The Institutional Award honors a nationwide effort to systematically evaluate research results in laboratory biology. The Brazilian Reproducibility Initiative is the largest ...

The drug dexamethasone supplements cancer treatments to alleviate side effects of chemotherapy such as nausea or inflammation. Researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, have now discovered that it also fights metastases in certain types of breast cancer. The active substance dexamethasone is a synthetic signaling substance with a similar effect to the body’s own stress hormone cortisol. A research group at the University of Basel has found evidence that this drug, which has been in use for a long time, could have a new, additional effect in certain treatment-resistant ...

The same technology used in COVID-19 vaccines could help prevent muscle damage from snakebites, according to a new study published in Trends in Biotechnology today [24 November].  Scientists from the University of Reading and the Technical University of Denmark tested whether mRNA technology could be used to protect against the damage caused by the venom of the Bothrops asper snake, found in Central and South America. This snake's venom destroys muscle tissue, often leaving victims with permanent disabilities even after receiving standard treatment.  The research team wrapped specific mRNA molecules in ...

New research reveals that certain social determinants of health—such as socioeconomic status, household characteristics, and racial/ethnic minority status—have significant effects on rural–urban disparities in colorectal cancer mortality rates. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Using 1999–2020 colorectal cancer mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pertaining to all US counties, investigators assessed how different components of the Social Vulnerability Index might affect differences in colorectal ...

There’s always a touch of melancholy when a chapter that has absorbed years of work comes to an end. In the case of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), those years amount to nearly twenty — and now the telescope has completed its mission. Yet some endings are also important beginnings, opening new paths for the entire scientific community. The three papers just published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP) by the ACT Collaboration describe and contextualize in detail the sixth and final major ACT data release — perhaps the most ...

Amid concerns about the simultaneous spread of multiple respiratory diseases, such as colds and influenza, with the change of seasons in current times, a recent clinical study has scientifically proven that kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food, enhances the function of human immune cells and maintains the balance of the immune system. The World Institute of Kimchi (President: Hae Choon Chang), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, has reported the results of a single-cell genetic analysis that suggests that kimchi consumption ...

A US study of more than a million Medicaid enrollees, newly diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD), finds most – nearly seven in 10 – are not receiving access to potentially life-saving drugs within six months.  The major gap in access to these medications – vital for those receiving free or low-cost healthcare and needing treatment for a dependency on heroin, painkillers and other opioids – is revealed ahead of looming Medicaid funding cuts, which threaten to further limit access to many various medications.  The research, published ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study reveals that four wild cat species living in the same rainforest habitat in Guatemala reduce competition for food by hunting in different vertical zones, some in trees and others on the ground. Researchers from Oregon State University and the Wildlife Conservation Society of Guatemala used trail camera footage and DNA analysis of scat to study jaguars, pumas, ocelots and margays in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. They found that jaguars and ocelots primarily hunted ground-dwelling prey, while pumas and margays more frequently consumed animals that live in trees. Among the most surprising findings: Central American spider monkeys and black howler monkeys ...

Two new Cochrane reviews show strong and consistent evidence that HPV vaccines are effective in preventing cervical cancer and pre-cancerous changes, especially when given to young people before they are exposed to the virus. Girls vaccinated before the age of 16 were found to be 80% less likely to develop cervical cancer. The reviews also confirm that HPV vaccines are only likely to cause minor, transient side effects such as a sore arm. The reviews were supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a family of common ...

Around 115 million years ago, the seas off northern Australia were home to a gigantic ancestor of Jaws. Fossils of this ancient mega-predator reveal that modern sharks experimented with enormous body sizes much earlier in their evolutionary history than previously suspected, and took the top place in oceanic food chains alongside massive marine reptiles during the Age of Dinosaurs. This study presents a new interdisciplinary analysis to reconstruct size evolution in ancient sharks.    Sharks are iconic predators in the oceans today, and can trace their ancestry back over 400 million years. However, the evolutionary history ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have revealed how a catalyst in a promising chemical reaction for industry helps make ammonia, a major ingredient in fertilizer. Copper oxide is a key catalyst in the electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction, a greener alternative to the existing Haber-Bosch process. They discovered that copper particles are created mid-reaction, helping convert nitrite ions to ammonia. This insight into the underlying mechanisms promises leaps forward in developing new industrial chemistry.   As an ingredient in fertilizer, ammonia is an important chemical in industrial agriculture. The most widely adopted way to make ...

Let’s get one thing out of the way: All hummingbirds fight. Most species fight for food, using their tiny bodies and sharp bills to force competitors away from flowers. But the green hermit hummingbird, which lives primarily in mountain forests of Central and South America, fights to win a mate. “They gather together at a place in the forest that looks just like a singles bar,” said Alejandro Rico-Guevara, an associate professor of biology at the University of Washington. “They all have perches, and if someone else takes their perch — their place in the singles ...

DALLAS, Nov. 21, 2025 — One in every five American children and teens is obese; that’s up 35% from 2000, as severe childhood obesity rates have nearly doubled in that time[1]. In recognition of efforts to fight back locally to create healthier classrooms and communities, the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere, has honored nine students, schools and educators from across the country during a virtual awards ceremony on Nov. 20. The ceremony — held annually to recognize outstanding ...

LA JOLLA (November 21, 2025)—All the cells in an organism have the exact same genetic sequence. What differs across cell types is their epigenetics—meticulously placed chemical tags that influence which genes are expressed in each cell. Mistakes or failures in epigenetic regulation can lead to severe developmental defects in plants and animals alike. This creates a puzzling question: If epigenetic changes regulate our genetics, what is regulating them? Scientists at the Salk Institute have now used plant cells to discover that a type of epigenetic tag, called DNA ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, along with collaborators at Northwestern University, have developed a noninvasive approach to treat one of the most aggressive and deadly brain cancers. Their technology uses precisely engineered structures assembled from nano-size materials to deliver potent tumor-fighting medicine to the brain through nasal drops. The novel delivery method is less invasive than similar treatments in development and was shown in mice to effectively treat glioblastoma by boosting the brain’s immune response. The findings were published this month in PNAS. Glioblastoma ...

Okayama University of Science (OUS) has once again earned a place in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, released on October 9 by the UK-based higher education magazine Times Higher Education.   OUS was ranked in the 1501+ band out of 2,191 universities worldwide, marking its second consecutive appearance in the rankings. Among 115 Japanese universities included this year—four fewer than last year—OUS rose from a tie for 63rd to a tie for 52nd.   The THE World University Rankings evaluate universities ...

Researchers at Northern Arizona University and the Smithsonian found an unconventional method to understand how rainforests will survive with climate change—making tea with living leaves at the top of the rainforest canopy.  The results, published this week in JGR Biogeosciences, are encouraging: The researchers learned that tropical forests may be less sensitive to climate change than originally feared.  “Experiments like these will help us improve the models that predict not only how tropical forests will respond to future warming, ...

When militia attacks disrupted shipping lanes in the Red Sea, few imagined the ripple effects would reach the clouds over the South Atlantic. But for Florida State University atmospheric scientist Michael Diamond, the rerouting of cargo ships offered a rare opportunity to clarify a pressing climate question — How much do cleaner fuels change how clouds form?  In research published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Diamond and FSU Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science graduate student Lilli Boss showed that new fuel regulations that ...

Sugar-based liquid solvents store crucial injection-based therapeutics such as insulin and vaccines. However, the shelf lives of these therapeutics are altered because the properties of these solvents alter the critical proteins necessary for under-the-skin treatments over time. Kennesaw State University Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Mohammad Halim has received a three-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study protein- and enzyme-based solvents, aiming to improve storage of injection-based ...

Current cardiac screening tools used to prevent heart attacks fail to identify nearly half of the people who are actually at risk of having one, according to a new study led by Mount Sinai researchers. The results, published in a brief report on November 21, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Advances, expose a major flaw in patient care: that following current screening guidelines may cause missed opportunities for early detection of heart attacks and prevention. The researchers assessed the accuracy of a widely used tool, the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score, and of a newer measure, called PREVENT, which adds variables and is intended ...

LA JOLLA, CA—We owe a lot to tissue resident memory T cells (TRM). These specialized immune cells are among the body's first responders to disease.  Rather than coursing through the bloodstream—as many T cells do—our TRM cells specialize in defending specific organs. They battle viruses, breast cancer, liver cancer, melanomas, and many other health threats.  Pandurangan Vijayanand, M.D., Ph.D., William K. Bowes Distinguished Professor at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), has even shown that a greater density of TRM cells is linked to better survival ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a brain circuit that can drive repetitive and compulsive behaviours in mice, even when natural rewards such as food or social contact are available. The study has been published in the journal Science Advances and may contribute to increased knowledge about obsessive-compulsive disorder and addiction. Both animals and humans can become stuck in certain behaviours, but exactly how this is regulated in the brain has been unknown. Now, researchers have been able to show that a specific nerve circuit in the brain can put behaviours into ...

Tokyo, Japan – At low temperatures, hydrogen atoms move less like particles and more like waves. This characteristic enables “quantum tunneling”, the passage of an atom through a barrier with a higher potential energy than the energy of the atom. Understanding how hydrogen atoms move through potential barriers has important industrial applications. However, the small size of hydrogen atoms makes direct observation of their motion extremely challenging. In a study to be published in Science Advances, researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University ...