University of Edinburgh scientists have harnessed the power of AI in a new tool that promises to speed up analysis of data from gel electrophoresis experiments. The technique is widely used across biological sciences to separate and analyse biomolecules and routinely used to inform on many biomolecule activities such as genomic manipulation, DNA supercoiling or evaluating the success or failure of assembly of a bionanostructure or artificial conjugate. The core principle of gel electrophoresis is simple: biomolecules are suspended within inset wells in a gel matrix, a voltage is ...

Endemic to China’s Yangtze River, the Yangtze finless porpoise is known for its intelligence and charismatic appearance; it looks like it has a perpetual smile on its face. To track how this critically endangered porpoise’s habitat range has changed over time, a team of biodiversity and conservation experts compiled 724 ancient Chinese poems referencing the porpoise from historic collections across China. Publishing in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 5, their results show that the porpoise’s range has decreased by at least 65% over the past 1,400 years, with the majority of this decline occurring in the past century. ...

Young people with a diagnosable mental health condition report differences in their experiences of social media compared to those without a condition, including greater dissatisfaction with online friend counts and more time spent on social media sites. This is according to a new study led by the University of Cambridge, which suggests that adolescents with “internalising” conditions such as anxiety and depression report feeling particularly affected by social media. Young people with these conditions are more likely to report comparing themselves to others on social media, feeling a lack of self-control ...

About The Study: In this study, the prevalence of depressive symptoms increased substantially among U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Worsening mental health trends were concentrated among younger adults.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rishi K. Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil, email rwadhera@bidmc.harvard.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0993) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

About The Study: Cannabis use in pregnancy was associated with greater odds of preterm birth, small for gestational age, and low birth weight even after adjusting for co-use of tobacco products, and confidence in these findings increased from low in the prior review to moderate in the current meta-analysis. The findings of this study may help inform patient counseling and future public health policies.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jamie O. Lo, MD, email loj@ohsu.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.0689) Editor’s ...

About The Study: Parents’ use of technology in their child’s presence was negatively associated with cognitive and psychosocial outcomes and screen time among young children, although the effect sizes were small. Further research focusing on potential impacts on physical activity, sleep, and motor skills is needed. Understanding these associations is crucial for informing research and guidelines aimed at minimizing the potential negative effects of this phenomenon on early childhood development.  Corresponding ...

Is it extinct, or does it still roam somewhere deep in the misty highland forests of Vietnam and Laos? It has been nicknamed the Asian unicorn due to its almost mythical rarity, and it is the most recently discovered large land mammal, becoming known to science as late as in 1992. Even then, it was already endangered. Today, even the most optimistic estimates say fewer than 100 saola individuals (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) remain, but it could also be extinct by now. The last confirmed sighting in the wild was in 2013. Researchers have been searching for it ever since, ...

Some red algae exhibit structural color that gives their growth tips a blue hue and the rest of their bodies including their fruiting structures a white hue. Moreover, since the color-producing structures are located together with anti-herbivory chemicals, the Kobe University discovery is the first to suggest that red algae use colors for inter-species communication. Red algae are red due to the pigments they use to collect light. Kobe University phycologist KAWAI Hiroshi says: “Being a diver, I have long been aware that some red algae have a much whiter appearance ...

Groundbreaking research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine has revealed crucial new insights into the immune systems of COVID-19 survivors, particularly those struggling with persistent breathing issues. The study shows that these patients have distinct changes in their immune system that link to the severity of their lung damage. This discovery holds promise for developing targeted treatments for the lung complications of Long COVID. The researchers were struck by the diversity of immune patterns they discovered, and they say the findings highlight how varied the underlying drivers of Long COVID can be, even among patients with the ...

The Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation (CAII) at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications received $1 million in funding from NASA to support the Euclid space mission, which explores dark matter and dark energy throughout the universe. By developing and integrating an open-sourced deep learning framework to process images captured by Euclid, CAII and Principal Investigator Xin Liu aim to accurately and efficiently identify blended galaxies or overlapping sources of information that make data analysis much more difficult. “A significant challenge ...

Urban rats spread a deadly bacteria as they migrate within cities that can be the source of a potentially life-threatening disease in humans, according to a six-year study by Tufts University researchers and their collaborators that also discovered a novel technique for testing rat kidneys.  Leptospirosis is a disease caused by a type of bacteria often found in rats. It’s spread through their urine into soil, water, or elsewhere in the environment, where it becomes a source of infection ...

New York, NY [May 5, 2025]—In a national first for a medical school, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is providing all medical and graduate students, along with select faculty and staff members, access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu private and secure platform. The move reflects Mount Sinai’s commitment to pursuing innovative approaches to education and research through collaborative learning and scholarly inquiry. The launch follows a formal agreement between Mount Sinai and OpenAI that safeguards personal health, student, and other sensitive information while delivering secure, accessible, and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) ...

Over the last five years the use of highly personalized artificial intelligence chatbots — called companion chatbots — designed to act as friends, therapists or even romantic partners has skyrocketed to more than a billion users worldwide. While there may be psychological benefits to engaging with chatbots in this way, there have also been a growing number of reports that these relationships are taking a disturbing turn. Recent research from Drexel University, suggests that exposure to inappropriate behavior, and even sexual harassment, in interactions with chatbots is becoming a widespread problem and that lawmakers and AI companies must do more to address it. In ...

Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed a framework to enable decentralized artificial intelligence-based building automation with a focus on privacy. The system enables AI-powered devices like cameras and interfaces to cooperate directly, using a new form of device-to-device communication. In doing so, it eliminates the need for central servers and thus the need for centralized data retention, often seen as a potential security weak point and risk to private data. We live in an increasingly automated world. Cars, homes, factories ...

ESMT Berlin has been selected as a Pioneer Innovation Partner by the European Central Bank (ECB) to develop innovative functionalities related to the digital euro. As part of this collaboration, the business school will establish the Digital Euro Hub platform. Beyond simple consumer payments, the ECB initiative aims to explore the potential of the digital euro for businesses across industries and trade sectors. The newly created Digital Euro Hub will serve as a platform for simulating programmed payments with the digital euro and testing smart contracts. Companies interested in leveraging ...

Physically punishing children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has exclusively negative outcomes—including poor health, lower academic performance, and impaired social-emotional development—yielding similar results to studies in wealthier nations, finds a new analysis published in Nature Human Behaviour. In 2006, the United Nations Secretary General called for a ban on corporal punishment—acts of physical force to inflict pain that includes smacking, shaking, and spanking—for children. To date, 65 countries worldwide have instituted full or partial ...

Clouds form upon existing particles in the atmosphere and extreme weather events like flooding and snowstorms are related to production of large amounts of ice in clouds. Biological particles like pollen, bacteria, spores and plant matter floating in the air are particularly good at promoting ice formation in clouds, and EPFL climate scientists show that these particles concentrations evolve as temperatures rise and fall. The results are published in the Nature Portofolio Journal Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. “Biological particles are very effective at forming ice in clouds, and the formation of ice is responsible for most of the precipitation the planet ...

SAN DIEGO, CA. (MAY 5, 2025) — People with celiac disease have reported anxiety about ingesting gluten through a kiss, but a new study concludes that they can indulge without worry — even if their partner just had a gluten-filled snack, according to a study to be presented today at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2025. To be extra safe, the study recommends drinking water before smooching. “Everyone worries about whether gluten is getting into their food at a restaurant, but no one really looked at what happens when you kiss afterwards,” said Anne ...

SAN DIEGO, CA. (MAY 6, 2025) — Cancer related studies were among nearly 6,000 abstracts presented at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2025, including research on AI in patient communication, polyp detection, and colonoscopy prep. Oncologists Prefer AI Responses to GI Cancer Questions Over Physicians’ SAN DIEGO — Artificial intelligence outperformed physicians in answering gastrointestinal cancer questions, with oncologists preferring ChatGPT’s responses nearly 80% of the time, according to a study presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) ® ...

Leuven, 05 May 2025 – A group of researchers in the lab of Prof. Lucía Chávez Gutiérrez (VIB-KU Leuven) have unraveled the genetic contributions to familial Alzheimer’s Disease development and revealed how specific mutations act as a clock to predict the disease age of onset. These insights, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, could aid clinicians to improve early diagnosis and tailor treatment strategies. Alzheimer's disease remains one of the most challenging and prevalent neurodegenerative ...

New York, NY and Anchorage, AK — On May 12, 2025, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AGE) in Anchorage, Alaska, the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) will host an award ceremony to present the 2025 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research to Daniel W. Belsky, PhD. The event will be held from 1-2pm AKDT in the Tikahtnu Ballroom of the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. The award will be presented by AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD.  The Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research is ...

New research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241506 found an increase in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits across Ontario following heavy smoke in early June 2023. Canada experienced the most destructive wildfire season to date in 2023, with difficult-to-control fires across the country, including 29 mega-fires. One fire in Quebec, the province’s largest-ever wildfire, extended 1.2 million acres. Smoke from fires blanketed Canada and the United States, causing substantial damage, loss, and displacement. “The ...

A team of researchers from the University of Waterloo have created a method that makes virtual reality (VR) more accessible to people with mobility limitations.  VR games like Beat Saber and Space Pirate Trainer usually require large and dramatic movements, such as raising one’s arms above the head or quickly side-stepping, which can be difficult or impossible for people who use wheelchairs or have limited mobility. To decrease these barriers, the researchers created MotionBlocks, a tool that lets users customize ...

AAAS CEO, Sudip S. Parikh, testified as a bipartisan witness before the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday, April 30, for a hearing discussing biomedical research in America. Dr. Parikh was joined by three other executives and one patient advocate to express the importance of American support and funding for biomedical research. In Dr. Parikh’s written testimony, he cites the biomedical research ecosystem developed in the United States as the “greatest engine for discovery in the service of health that the world has ever known,” while ...

Vienna, Austria – Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological cancer in high-developed countries, most often affecting women after menopause. The majority of women are diagnosed at an early stage, when treatment outcomes are generally favorable.* For women with high-intermediate risk disease, adjuvant radiotherapy — particularly vaginal brachytherapy (a form of internal radiotherapy delivered directly to the vaginal area) — is commonly used after surgery to reduce the risk of recurrence. However, patients don’t need it equally, and some may receive more treatment than necessary, exposing ...