Shale gas has become a cornerstone of the global energy transition, supplying large amounts of natural gas through horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. But a new scientific review warns that the extraction process also generates vast quantities of waste that carry a complex mixture of emerging contaminants, many of which pose potential risks to ecosystems and human health. In a comprehensive review published in New Contaminants, researchers systematically examined the sources, characteristics, and environmental risks of emerging contaminants released throughout the shale gas lifecycle. The study ...

Every year, billions of cigarette butts are discarded worldwide, creating one of the most pervasive and persistent forms of environmental litter. Now, researchers have demonstrated that this problematic waste can be converted into advanced carbon materials capable of powering next generation energy storage devices. In a new study published in Energy & Environmental Nanotechnology, scientists report a method to transform waste cigarette butts into nitrogen and oxygen co doped nanoporous biochar with exceptional performance ...

In an important new study, Chinese researchers have discovered the previously unrecognized role of alternative splicing of the DOC2A gene in schizophrenia. The research was conducted by scientists led by LI Ming from the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and published in Science Advances on January 16. Splicing is a process in which RNA is cut and recombined into the final RNA strand that determines how a protein—encoded by DNA—is formed. Different splicing ...

An international team of scientists, led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has discovered a new way that could speed up the healing of chronic wounds infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Worldwide, chronic wounds represent a major health challenge, with an estimated 18.6 million people developing diabetic foot ulcers[1] each year. Up to one in three people with diabetes are at risk of developing a foot ulcer during their lifetime. These wounds are a leading cause of lower-limb ...

Mass shootings in white-majority neighborhoods received roughly twice the news coverage of mass shootings in neighborhoods where a majority of residents were people of color, while coverage of police-involved shootings was disproportionately high in majority-minority communities, according to new research. This study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, Northwestern University and the University of Washington is thought to be the first to systematically document bias on gun-violence reporting in a large-scale, nationally representative sample of news media coverage, researchers said.  Researchers analyzed nearly ...

An international group of researchers led by Pompeu Fabra University has discovered the nanomachine that controls constitutive exocytosis: the uninterrupted delivery of spherical molecular packages to the cell surface. This is an essential activity present in virtually all organisms to preserve cell fitness and other vital functions such as communication with the cell’s exterior, cell growth and division. According to Oriol Gallego, who has led the research, “despite being one of the largest nanomachines in ...

About The Study: This case-control study found that a Medicaid policy that incentivized high nursing home staffing levels was associated with modest improvement in some dimensions of patient health. However, even modest effects are extremely meaningful at scale: these estimates suggest that if a similar reform were adopted nationally, there would be 6,142 fewer hospitalizations each year. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Andrew Olenski, PhD, email ano223@lehigh.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.6272) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this 2025 survey study, U.S. adults viewed opioid overdose as a serious problem. Different views on the degree to which individuals who use opioids, pharmaceutical companies, and governments are responsible for reducing overdose suggest that preferences for future actions to address overdose may vary among conservatives, moderates, and liberals. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Emma E. McGinty, PhD, MS, email emm4010@med.cornell.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...

“Research findings suggest that advanced paternal age is associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.” BUFFALO, NY — January 16, 2026 — A new research paper was published in Volume 17, Issue 12 of Aging-US on December 29, 2025, titled “Age-specific DNA methylation alterations in sperm at imprint control regions may contribute to the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring.” The study – selected as our Editors’ Choice for January, 2026 – was led by first authors Eugenia Casella and ...

An ambitious effort to create a neurophysiological paradigm to explain near-death experiences has failed to capture many fascinating and often perplexing aspects of people’s brushes with death, top University of Virginia experts argue. UVA near-death researchers Bruce Greyson, MD, and Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD, laud the international team of scientists who developed the model, called Neurophysiological Evolutionary Psychological Theory Understanding Near-Death Experience, or NEPTUNE. The NEPTUNE team aimed to bring scientific rigor to understanding near-death experiences (NDEs) – a goal shared by Greyson and Pehlivanova. ...

Inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) is known to be a significant driver of local economic development, especially in fostering entrepreneurship. Current studies have conducted in-depth investigations into the impact of IFDI on the survival, productivity, and innovation of established firms. Recently, a growing body of work has started to examine its influence on entrepreneurship and new venture creation. Notably, most of these studies leverage a broad, country-level perspective and often yield inconsistent findings. This represents a notable gap in existing literature on IFDI, particularly in the context of large emerging economies where ...

Many people are familiar with histamine, a biological molecule, that serves as a key driver of allergic reactions and other immune responses. However, histamine is also a major neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain, regulating essential cognitive functions like wakefulness, attention, and learning. Histamine levels are partially kept in check by the histamine H3 receptor (H3R), belonging to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family. In essence, H3R acts as a ‘braking system’ in the central nervous system, modulating the release of histamine and various neurotransmitters to maintain proper ...

Understanding human gene function in living organisms has long been hampered by fundamental differences between species. Although mice share most protein-coding genes with humans, their regulatory landscapes often diverge, limiting how accurately mouse models can mimic human biology. One promising solution is full-length gene humanization (FL-GH), in which entire mouse loci—including coding sequences, introns, untranslated regions, and regulatory elements—are replaced with their human counterparts. ...

Durotomy is a common neurosurgical complication involving a tear in the dura mater, the protective membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Damage can cause cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, leading to delayed healing, headaches, and infection, making a reliable watertight dural closure essential. Tissue adhesives are increasingly explored as alternatives to suturing for dural closure because they offer simpler and faster application. However, many existing glue-based sealants suffer from excessive swelling, leading to mass effect and unwanted tissue adhesion, which can lead to postoperative complications. To address these limitations, researchers have investigated ...

The gene variant posing the greatest genetic risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is called APOE-ε4. A different variant of the same gene, APOE-ε2, is thought to confer protection against AD.   A comparatively large study reported Jan. 16 in Alzheimer's & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, measures the frequency of APOE-ε4 and APOE-ε2 in so-called super agers — people ages 80 or older whose cognitive function is ...

A large multicentre clinical trial led by King’s College London with 150 children and adolescents has shown that a device cleared by the US FDA to treat ADHD is not effective in reducing symptoms.    The device – which uses an approach called trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) - was cleared for use by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to treat ADHD in 2019 based on a small ...

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have uncovered a key mechanism that helps the body switch off inflammation – a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for chronic diseases affecting millions worldwide. Inflammation is the body’s frontline defence against infection and injury, but when it doesn’t switch off properly, it can drive serious health conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes. Until now, scientists didn’t fully understand how the body decides to stop the immune ‘fight’ response and start healing. Published in Nature Communications, the study reveals that tiny fat-derived molecules ...

A solid – rather than liquid – electrolyte between the opposite electrodes of a battery should, in theory, enable a rechargeable lithium metal battery that is safer, packs much more energy, and charges considerably faster than the lithium-ion batteries commercially available today. For decades, scientists and engineers have explored several paths to realize the great promise of lithium metal batteries. A major problem with the solid, crystalline electrolytes under study has been the formation of microscopic cracks that ...

A national panel of experts has issued the strongest call yet for the Department of Health and Social Care to overhaul how it approaches dementia prevention, pointing to vital evidence that dementia risk can be reduced and providing a framework for the development of new government policy that could improve brain health for millions.  The Nottingham Consensus, published in Nature Reviews Neurology, was led by researchers at the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Dementia and Neurodegeneration at Queen Mary University ...

In a proof-of-concept study funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that an innovative, noninvasive technique can be used to quickly collect 3D images of the human body, from head to foot. The technology combines ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, which detects sound waves generated by light, to simultaneously collect images of both tissue and blood vessels. The findings, just published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, have the potential to address current gaps in medical imaging. Imaging ...

When we eat, our bodies convert extra calories, especially from carbs, sugar, fats, and alcohol, into molecules called “triglycerides”. Triglycerides are a form of fat or “lipid”, which the body stores away into its fat cells as an energy fuel for energy between meals. But, as we all know, excess amounts of fat in the body can be dangerous, causing a condition known as “hypertriglyceridemia” (“excess triglycerides in the blood”), which significantly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and pancreatitis. This ...

The Dutch Western Scheldt Estuary has been pushed onto an unsustainable trajectory since large-scale navigation channel deepening began in the 1970s. The dramatic increase in the annual volume of dredged sediment from the navigation channel has reduced feeding grounds for birds and made the estuary more vulnerable to sea-level rise. This is shown by the Dutch report De Westerscheldenatuur: Een mooie toekomst vraagt keuzes nu!. Dutch and Flemish researchers call on policymakers to use dredged sediment strategically for nature restoration and climate adaptation. After analysing nearly seventy years of monitoring data from the Dutch water ...

FRANKFURT. With a so-called cryo plasma-FIB (Plasma Focused Ion Beam) scanning electron microscope with nanomanipulator, the Goethe University in Frankfurt (Germany) is expanding its research infrastructure with a powerful instrument. The microscope was inaugurated today at the Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences on the Riedberg Campus – as the first of its kind in Hesse and one of only a few in all of Germany.   The large-scale instrument works with a focused plasma ion beam, which can be used to prepare tiny sections from biological cells – so-called nanobiopsies with dimensions in the nanometer range. The decisive advantage ...

Subtle abnormalities in kidney function – even within the range considered normal – may help identify people at risk of developing chronic kidney disease. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Kidney International. The researchers have therefore developed a web-based tool that could aid in early detection and thus primary prevention. Chronic kidney disease is a growing global health concern afflicting 10−15 per cent of adults worldwide and is projected ...

RESEARCH The massive consumption of fossil fuels in human society has led to increasingly severe resource crises and environmental pollution, and the efficient utilization of renewable biomass resources is one of the feasible approaches to addressing these issues. The electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to produce 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is expected to reduce the excessive reliance on fossil resource-derived terephthalic acid (PTA), a petroleum-based platform molecule. However, the development of high-performance and low-cost electrocatalysts for the efficient HMF oxidation ...