A new medical large language model (LLM) achieved over 91 percent accuracy in identifying female participants diagnosed with major depressive disorder after analyzing a short WhatsApp audio recording where participants described their week, according to a study published January 21, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Victor H. O. Otani, from Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences and Infinity Doctors Inc., Brazil, and colleagues. Major depressive disorder is a mental health condition that affects over 280 million people globally, and early detection can be critical for timely treatment. Here, Otani and colleagues used machine learning ...

Overuse of antibiotics has accelerated the development of bacterial resistance to conventional drugs, a global health crisis projected to result in more than 10 million deaths annually by 2050. The multidrug-resistant bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounts for approximately one-fifth of hospital-acquired pneumonia cases and is associated with severe illness and increased mortality. Nitric oxide is a therapeutic gas that researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass ...

An artificial intelligence-based tool can predict the medical trajectories of individual premature newborns from blood samples collected soon after they are born, a Stanford Medicine-led study has shown. The research, which will publish Jan. 21 in Science Translational Medicine, provides a new understanding of the complexity of premature birth, not as a single problem defined by early arrival but as several distinct conditions. The study is a step toward predicting and preventing complications of prematurity using treatments ...

Starchy residue preserved in ancient stone tools may rewrite the story of crop domestication in the American Southwest, according to new research led by the University of Utah. The Four Corners Potato (Solanum jamesii) has been an important cultural, nutritional and medicinal food staple across the Colorado Plateau for millennia. Despite its long history and contemporary use, the extent to which Indigenous people domesticated S. jamesii remains unknown. Previous genetic research has shown that the tubers were transported and intentionally cultivated far beyond its natural range—two crucial steps toward ...

New study shows that cancer damages its own DNA by pushing key genes to work too hard. Researchers found that the most powerful genetic “on switches” in cancer cells, called super-enhancers, drive unusually intense gene activity. That high gear creates stress on the DNA and can cause dangerous breaks. Cancer cells can often repair this damage, but the process is frequently error-prone, the repeated cycle of breaking and repairing can make these regions more prone to accumulating mutations over time. In short, the same mechanisms that help cancer grow quickly may also make its DNA more fragile, helping explain how tumors continue to evolve and, in some cases, ...

A remarkable prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone, dating back nearly half a million years ago, has been uncovered in southern England and analysed by archaeologists from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London. It is the oldest elephant bone tool to ever be discovered in Europe and provides an extraordinary glimpse into the ingenuity of the early human ancestors who made it. The research, published in Science Advances, describes the roughly 500,000-year-old tool, and reveals the unexpectedly sophisticated craftsmanship and skill of the species responsible for making it, likely either early neanderthals or another species known as Homo heidelbergensis. ...

Researchers have deciphered the diet of an important nomadic people in Eastern European history. By analyzing dental calculus, they have provided the first direct evidence that the diet of the Scythians included milk from various ruminants and horses. For centuries, the Scythians have been regarded as a nomadic horsemen people who roamed the vast steppes of Eurasia during the Iron Age. This image remains powerful to this day. In recent years, however, scientific research has challenged this simplified narrative. It shows that the so-called “Scythians” were not a uniform group, but consisted of a diverse, multi-ethnic population with different geographical origins. ...

Some of the UK’s most popular takeaway dishes contain more salt than their labels indicate, with some meals containing more than recommended daily guidelines, new research has shown. Scientists found 47% of takeaway foods that were analysed in the survey exceeded their declared salt levels, with curries, pasta and pizza dishes often failing to match what their menus claim. While not all restaurants provided salt levels on their menus, some meals from independent restaurants in Reading contained more than 10g of salt in a single portion. The UK ...

Scientists from the CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and the S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences have collaborated to develop a new class of highly precise filtration membranes. The research, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could significantly reduce energy consumption and enable large-scale water reuse in industry. Everyday industrial processes, like purifying medicines, cleaning textile dyes, and processing food, rely ...

Sweeping winds of vaporized metals have been found in a massive cloud that dimmed the light of a star for nearly nine months. This discovery, made with the Gemini South telescope in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, offers a rare glimpse into the chaotic and dynamic processes still shaping planetary systems long after their formation. In September 2024, a star 3000 light-years away suddenly became 40 times dimmer than usual, and remained so until May 2025. The star, J0705+0612, is similar to our Sun, so its ...

Old diseases return as settlement pushes into the Amazon rainforest (Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Human activity continues to expand ever further into wild areas, throwing ecology out of balance. But what begins as an environmental issue often evolves into a human problem. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara investigated how changes in land use may be driving the growth in human yellow fever cases in the Amazon basin. Their analysis, published in Biology Letters, reveals that the growing border between forested and urban areas is causing an alarming uptick in cases. “Yellow fever is increasingly infecting humans ...

A unique study exploring popular ways to “self‑gift” has found that ordering a takeaway meal is a preferred treat regardless of whether people have had a good or a bad day at work. Published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology and led by Dr Suzanna Forwood and Dr Annelie Harvey of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), the research is the first to compare how likely people are to choose a range of food and non-food options for both self-reward and self-consolation. The study involved 280 UK participants who were randomly assigned to imagine either a good, bad or average day at work. They were then asked to report ...

MADISON — All celestial bodies — planets, suns, even entire galaxies — produce magnetic fields, affecting such cosmic processes as the solar wind, high-energy particle transport, and galaxy formation. Small-scale magnetic fields are generally turbulent and chaotic, yet large-scale fields are organized, a phenomenon that plasma astrophysicists have tried explaining for decades, unsuccessfully.  In a paper published January 21 in Nature, a team led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have run complex numerical ...

Bird retinas function without oxygen – solving a centuries-old biological mystery Neural tissue normally dies quickly without oxygen. Yet bird retinas − among the most energy-demanding tissues in the animal kingdom – function permanently without it. This may be relevant in future treatment of stroke patients. In a study published today in Nature, an international research team reveals how birds have solved a biological paradox. The researchers show that the inner parts of the bird retina operate under chronic oxygen deprivation, relying instead on anaerobic energy production. At the same time, the study overturns ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that by taking away the option to end a pregnancy, abortion bans force pregnant people to take on the substantially increased health risks associated with continued pregnancy. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Maria W. Steenland, SD, email msteenla@umd.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.54793) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

About The Study: In this systematic review and meta-analysis of interpersonal violence experienced globally by transgender and gender-diverse adults, a high prevalence was found. There is an urgent need to address such violence through implementation of evidence-based violence prevention and response strategies across settings. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Erin E. Cooney, PhD, email ecooney2@jhmi.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.52953) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

About The Study: This survey study found that artificial intelligence (AI) use was significantly associated with greater depressive symptoms, with magnitude of differences varying by age group. Further work is needed to understand whether these associations are causal and explain heterogeneous effects. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Roy H. Perlis, MD, MSc, email rperlis@mgb.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.54820) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional ...

About The Study: Among patients initially treated with antibiotics for uncomplicated acute appendicitis, the rate of recurrence and appendectomy at 10-year follow-up supports the use of antibiotics as an option for uncomplicated acute appendicitis in adult patients. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Paulina Salminen, MD, PhD, email paulina.salminen@varha.fi. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.25921) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including ...

People who have ADHD traits at age 10 are more likely than those without such traits to have physical health problems and to report physical health-related disability at age 46, according to a study led by University College London (UCL) and University of Liverpool researchers. The researchers say the findings likely reflect the impact of a wide range of risk factors for poor health that are linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and society’s response to people with ADHD across adulthood. The new JAMA Network Open paper is one ...

Despite guideline recommendations and improved access to care, individuals with hypertension are unlikely to measure their blood pressure at home as often as recommended, according to data from researchers at Mass General Brigham. In a retrospective cohort study, investigators found that even with free blood pressure devices, education, and personalized support, patient engagement with at-home blood pressure monitoring remained low — highlighting the need for more convenient, less burdensome monitoring tools. The findings were published in JAMA Cardiology. Previous research suggests that at-home blood pressure measurements are often more accurate than clinic readings. Current American ...

Demand for lithium is skyrocketing as factories across the world churn out electric vehicles and the massive batteries that make wind turbines and solar panels reliable sources of energy. Unfortunately, current methods for producing lithium are slow and require high-quality feedstocks that are found in relatively few locations on the planet. Ironically, the environmental costs are also significant: refining the mineral behind clean energy requires large amounts of land and pollutes water supplies that local communities depend ...

A research team led by Prof. LI Bing from the Institute of Metal Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, has overcome a longstanding bottleneck in refrigeration technology. Their findings, published in Nature on January 22, introduce a novel cooling method based on the "dissolution barocaloric effect," which offers a promising zero-carbon alternative to traditional refrigeration. Modern civilization relies on refrigeration but at a heavy cost. Traditional vapor-compression cooling consumes large quantities of electricity and produces substantial carbon emissions. Although solid-state cooling has long been considered ...

The atmosphere is an important transport medium that carries microplastics to even the most remote parts of the world. These microplastics can be inhaled and pose a health risk to humans and animals. They can also settle out of the atmosphere and contaminate oceans and soils worldwide. A new study by the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Vienna estimates microplastic emissions from land-based and oceanic sources into the atmosphere based on global measurement data and model simulations. The results: over 20 times more microplastic ...

Can a small lump of metal be in a quantum state that extends over distant locations? A research team at the University of Vienna answers this question with a resounding yes. In the journal Nature, physicists from the University of Vienna and the University of Duisburg-Essen show that even massive nanoparticles consisting of thousands of sodium atoms follow the rules of quantum mechanics. The experiment is currently one of the best tests of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale.  Matter as a wave In quantum mechanics, not only light but also matter can behave both as a particle and as a wave. This has been proven many ...

A research team of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has achieved a revolutionary breakthrough in smart materials, successfully developing soft magnetorheological textiles that can flexibly deform and modulate their mechanical properties under a human-safe magnetic field. Driven by electricity and programmable control, these new materials combine lightweight, flexible and breathable textile characteristics, making them widely applicable in smart wearables, soft robotics, virtual reality and metaverse ...