Researchers at Rice University recently convened an international group of scientists to explore how artificial intelligence and machine learning could transform one of the world’s most ambitious physics experiments: the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Held March 10-12 at Rice’s BioScience Research Collaborative, the three-day workshop brought together researchers from universities, national laboratories and international partners to discuss how the experiment’s software and computing infrastructure can better support the growing role of AI and ...

Chocolate produced in the Amazon is internationally recognized for its unique flavor. A study by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil showed that it could be even more valuable. The analysis indicates that post-harvest practices such as fermenting the beans from the fruit, combined with the appropriate choice of cultivar, can improve the nutritional quality and flavor of the chocolate, thereby expanding the market potential of the product.  “Unlike soybeans, corn, and wheat, which are priced by volume, cocoa is one of the few agricultural products where quality is much more significant ...

Potato dry rot leads to significant losses during storage and postharvest handling, making management of this disease critically important for potato farmers. Colorado State University researchers in the San Luis Valley – one of the top regions for potato production in the U.S. – have identified multiple fungal species causing dry rot in Colorado. By analyzing structural and molecular features, plant pathologists at CSU’s San Luis Valley Research Center identified four Fusarium species associated with potato dry rot in the valley – including one that hadn’t ...

Key Takeaways UCLA researchers have developed a CAR-NKT cell therapy that has shown to be more effective at fighting endometrial cancer than current immunotherapies in experimental models. While personalized treatments can cost six figures and require weeks to manufacture, this therapy can be mass-produced and stored ready-to-use at about $5,000 per dose. With all preclinical studies now complete, the team is preparing to submit applications to the Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States and is one of the few cancers in which survival rates have steadily declined over the last few decades. ...

BOZEMAN – With the support of a recent federal grant, a team of Montana State University microbiologists will spend the next three years expanding and deepening research into one of the world’s most damaging agricultural viruses, capitalizing on cutting-edge facilities and technologies housed at the university. Assistant professor Emma Loveday of the College of Agriculture’s Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology is the lead investigator on a $1.9 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study HPAI, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, more commonly known as “bird flu.” ...

New research from the University of Mississippi suggests that telling stories – from ancient campfire tales to modern-day digital communication – may be tied to how human memory evolved. It also could be a key to improving everyday retention. Matthew Reysen, associate professor of psychology, and Ole Miss doctoral student Zoe Fischer recently put storytelling to the test. Their study, published in Evolutionary Psychology, found that storytelling performs just as well, and sometimes better, than the current gold standard ...

A team of University of Mississippi researchers is developing a way to use 3D printed medicated patches to help close persistent sores and ulcers. The researchers in the School of Pharmacy have created a customizable wound scaffold that delivers natural, biodegradable antibacterials over time to encourage healing. Researchers Michael Repka, distinguished professor of pharmaceutics and drug delivery; Sateesh Vemula, postdoctoral researcher; and doctoral candidate Nouf Alshammari published their results in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. "People ...

The Chesapeake Bay’s most popular crustacean has a dark streak. Cannibalism is the No. 1 killer of juvenile blue crabs in mid-salinity waters where they are known to congregate, according to a new study from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. But shallow waters can offer a vital refuge.  Blue crabs lead a life on the run. After spending roughly two months as larvae in the ocean, they are swept back into the lower bay to morph into juvenile crabs. There, the juveniles rely on seagrass to provide partial refuge from predatory fish like striped bass. ...

Peking University, Mar 16, 2026: An innovative platform developed by PKU researchers called "cf-EpiTracing" has proved capable of detecting and tracing diseases from as little as 50 μl of human plasma, or roughly a drop of blood.  The research, published in Nature on March 4, 2026, was led by Professor He Aibin from the College of Future Technology and Professor Jing Hongmei from the Department of Hematology, PKU Third Hospital. Why it matters Current liquid biopsies (a type of blood test) struggle to pinpoint where disease signals originate, limiting their use. ...

New from JNeurosci, Elaine Pinggal, from Monash University, and colleagues assessed how sleep-like brain activity in awake adults influences sustained attention during a task.  The researchers compared sleep-like brain activity from 32 medication-withdrawn adults with ADHD to 31 neurotypical adults as participants performed a task requiring sustained attention. The ADHD group had more sleep-like brain activity, which was associated with more lapses in attention. Further analyses revealed that this activity may drive the relationship between ADHD and attention ...

Preclinical studies on animals have identified brain pathways that drive quick, protective fear responses to “scary” sounds. New from JNeurosci, Emmanouela Kosteletou-Kassotaki and colleagues, from the University of Barcelona, expand on this work by exploring whether humans also have a brain pathway enabling quick fear responses to certain sounds.  Using publicly accessible data from the Human Connectome Project, the researchers examined ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A global analysis of more than 2,300 seawater samples from more than 20 field studies around the globe indicates that human-made chemicals make up a significant portion of organic matter in coastal oceans. The international study, led by biochemists Jarmo Kalinski and Daniel Petras at the University of California, Riverside, analyzed seawater samples collected over a decade from coastal regions from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Reported in Nature Geoscience, the findings show that ...

Loss of communication can be among the most devastating symptoms for patients with paralysis. A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute and Brown University describes an investigational implantable brain computer interface (iBCI) typing neuroprosthesis that can restore communication with speed and accuracy. The tool, which utilizes the QWERTY keyboard and attempted finger movements, performed well in two BrainGate clinical trial participants—one with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and the other with a cervical spinal cord injury. Their results are published ...

A new computational tool infers changes occurring at the ends of the chromosomes housing our DNA. It does so by detecting structural alterations in cells and tissues captured in images taken of routine medical biopsies, according to findings published March 16, 2026, in Cell Reports Methods. Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute developed the TLPath model based on the hypothesis that modifications in the shape and structure of cells and tissues could be used to predict the length of repeating sections of DNA called ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional analysis found that delays in treatment initiation for early-onset colorectal cancer—often exceeding 90 days—were more common in all-urban populations and appeared to disproportionately affect young male, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, or Hispanic patients. Although absolute differences in average treatment timing were modest, the focus in this study on clinically relevant delay thresholds (30, 60, and 90 days) is supported by recent meta-analytic literature. The consistency of these delays across sociodemographic groups challenges assumptions of uniformly timely access in urban settings. Corresponding ...

About The Study: This systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 studies observed a relative increase in the annual rate of self-injury visits to health care and self-reported self-injury among children and youth, with variability in baseline rates across studies in 12 high-income countries. Effective, contextually informed, large-scale prevention initiatives are urgently needed to curb the rise in self-injury within high-income countries, particularly among female individuals.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Natasha ...

In a phase 2b clinical trial, an investigational oral therapy called PrimeC was found to be safe and well tolerated in people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), with exploratory findings suggesting target engagement and potential clinical benefits. Results of the PARADIGM study, led by researchers at Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute and Barrow Neurological Institute, were published in JAMA Neurology. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative and typically fatal disease marked by the loss of motor neurons and the gradual increase in muscle ...

About The Study: This randomized clinical trial found that continuing glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) or glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) agonist in the preprocedural period increased clinically significant residual gastric volume (RGV) but did not increase the risk of other adverse events. Clear liquids the day prior to the procedure may mitigate the risk of clinically significant RGV regardless of GLP-1/GIP use.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Tilak Shah, MD, MHS, email shaht3@ccf.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2026.0027) Editor’s ...

In a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a research team found that administering weekly injectable extended-release buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy led to higher rates of abstinence from illicit opioids than buprenorphine given daily under the tongue (sublingual), one of the standard methods of treatment. Additionally, serious adverse events were less common in those receiving extended-release treatment. The findings, which support the use of this formulation of buprenorphine for treating OUD during ...

BALTIMORE, MD, March 14, 2026, Dr. Thomas Hartung, Director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has endorsed the public launch of ToxIndex, an agentic AI platform developed by Insilica Inc. that produces comprehensive, source-traceable toxicological risk assessments in just a few hours. The launch of ToxIndex meets a critical need in chemical and drug safety, as well as in exposomics, a field of study that considers the effects of environmental exposures on human health and serves as a complement and counterpart to ...

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity are metabolic conditions with many causes, including overlapping and distinct genetic features. A polygenic risk score (PRS) can capture multiple genetic risk factors to provide an estimate for whether a person may develop a complex medical condition and how they might fare long-term. By integrating genetic findings from several of the world’s largest biobanks, investigators from Mass General Brigham built metabolic PRSs for predicting obesity and T2D, which outperformed existing ...

Dielectric ceramic capacitors are critical components in modern electronics and pulsed power systems, prized for their ultra-fast charge–discharge capabilities and high-power density. However, their real-world application has been constrained by modest recoverable energy storage density (Wrec) and energy efficiency (η), especially under extreme operating conditions. Now, a research team led by Professor Changzheng Hu from the College of Materials Science and Engineering at Guilin University of Technology has developed a new class of lead-free relaxor ferroelectric ceramics that overcome these limitations. By integrating high-entropy design with bandgap engineering, ...

Dielectric ceramic capacitors are essential core components for electronics, smart grids and new energy vehicles, prized for their high power density. As electronic devices move toward miniaturization and intelligence, the demand for lead-free dielectric ceramics with ultrahigh recoverable energy storage density (Wrec) and high efficiency (η) is becoming increasingly urgent. Relaxor ferroelectrics (RFE) suffer from relatively large remnant polarization, while superparaelectric relaxor ferroelectrics (SPE-RFE) see ...

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a serious chemotherapy complication defined by fever (≥38.3°C) and low neutrophil count (<0.5×10⁹/L). It affects 7–8 per 1,000 cancer patients, with 9.5% mortality. FN often leads to chemotherapy delays, compromising treatment efficacy. Current standard care—antibiotics and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)—faces limitations including antibiotic resistance, G-CSF side effects (bone pain, vasculitis), and refractory cases. Traditional Chinese ...

Thermal barrier coatings are indispensable shields that protect the hot-end components of gas turbines and aircraft engines from extreme temperatures. Current industry-standard YSZ coatings face several critical limitations: an unstoppable phase transition that restricts operating temperatures below 1200 °C, dramatically rising thermal conductivity due to thermal radiation above 900 °C, severe corrosion by CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (CMAS) melts, and vulnerability to moisture degradation. These combined deficiencies have driven urgent demand for next-generation TBC materials capable of sustained service at 1200–1500 °C. High-entropy ...