Researchers have developed a novel framework, termed PDJA (Perception–Decision Joint Attack), that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to address a long-standing challenge in the security of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) systems: how to effectively disrupt coordinated agents under realistic threat models. The new method improves both attack effectiveness and cross-layer vulnerability exploitation, opening new opportunities for evaluating the robustness of AI-driven autonomous systems such as robotics, traffic control, and distributed decision-making platforms. What’s New? In recent years, adversarial ...

When the four-member crew of Axiom-2 launched into space in May 2023 their 10-day mission was chock full of experiments aimed at understanding human physiology. Results from some of those experiments, now online at Aging Cell, highlight spaceflight as a unique model for studying aging as well as cellular resilience. The research sets the stage for testing potential anti-aging interventions for those of us who have no plans to travel in space. Spaceflight exposes astronauts to a combination of environmental stressors such as microgravity, ionizing ...

Photothermal therapy, as an emerging cancer treatment method, has attracted significant attention due to its advantages such as minimal invasiveness, low toxicity, and strong spatiotemporal control. It overcomes the limitations of traditional therapies, which often involve large wounds and systemic toxicity. Recently, a study published in Biofunctional Materials reported the successful development of a novel nanomaterial. This material demonstrates excellent photothermal conversion efficiency and good biocompatibility, showing promising potential as a long-lasting and highly effective photothermal agent in experiments, thus offering new possibilities for precise tumor treatment. Cancer ...

A mouse scurries up to six chestnuts. Three look healthy. Three have exit holes where moth larvae ate the insides before they left. What does the mouse do?  For two years, Nagoya University researchers watched wood mice make these decisions on a forest floor. They measured the time they spent selecting nuts and found that about half the mice observed spent about five seconds sniffing and comparing chestnuts before they chose, potentially increasing their exposure to predators. The other half grabbed the nearest nut and ran in one to two seconds. The study, published in Scientific Reports, confirms that mice use smell to detect ...

Curtin University researchers have demonstrated a new way to uncover the ancient history of Australia’s landscapes, which could offer crucial insights into how our environment responds to geological processes and climate change and even where deposits of valuable minerals may be found.   The international team led by Curtin’s Timescales of Mineral Systems Group at the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, in cooperation with the University of Göttingen and the University of Cologne, studied tiny crystals of zircon found ...

Helping women to keep their blood pressure at normal levels could reduce their risk of experiencing pregnancy complications, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Bristol. The research is published in BMC Medicine today [14 January]. Fernanda Morales-Berstein, Research Associate at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author, said: “Our findings suggest that higher maternal blood pressure increases the risk of multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm delivery, giving birth to smaller babies, needing to have labour induced, gestational diabetes and the baby needing to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit.” Maria ...

The postoperative complications of medical tourism may be costing the NHS up to £20,000 per patient, suggest the findings of a rapid review of the available data, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.   But data on the use, frequency, and consequences for the NHS are incomplete and haphazard, making it currently impossible to fully understand the risks of opting for surgery overseas, warn the researchers.   The number of medical tourists has risen steadily over the past several decades, ...

Smartphone apps—particularly those based on psychological theories—are 3 times as effective as no/minimal support at helping people who smoke stub out their tobacco use long term, suggests a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the online journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine.   If high quality clinical trials can confirm lasting benefits and key features, these apps could become a cornerstone of global tobacco control efforts, suggest the researchers.   Smartphone ...

Female sex and higher education are significantly linked to the escalating prevalence of obesity and overweight in Africa, finds one of the largest and most detailed analyses of body weight trends in the region, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.   Women’s odds of obesity in Africa are 5 times greater than those of men’s, while obesity is 3 times more likely in those with tertiary level education than in those with lower levels, the findings indicate.   The global prevalence of overweight and obesity has more than doubled over the past 4 decades. In 2022, 2.5 billion adults ...

**Embargo: 23.30 [UK time] / 6.30pm [US ET] Tuesday 13th January 2026**   Peer-reviewed / Systematic Review + Meta-analysis / People Moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking at a an average speed of 5 km/h (3 mph) for an extra five minutes a day is associated with a 10% reduction in all deaths in the majority of adults [1] (who accumulate around 17 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on average), and around 6% of all deaths in the least active adults [2] (those who are active at this intensity on average for around 2 minutes a day), according to a new study published in The Lancet.    The ...

For the first time, researchers have used machine learning – a type of artificial intelligence (AI) – to identify the most important drivers of cancer survival in nearly all the countries in the world. The study, which is published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1] today (Wednesday), provides information on which improvements or policy changes can be made in each country that would have the greatest impact on improving cancer survival. By going to the online tool created by the researchers, anyone can find ...

New findings from the University of East London show that online risk-taking is widespread among young people, with behaviours such as digital piracy, accessing risky online spaces or engaging with harmful content having a high potential to lead to more serious offenses.  Interviews with convicted cybercriminals in the UK and Switzerland revealed a diverse cohort spanning a wide age range and offence types, from hacking and digital fraud to sexual offences carried out online. Nearly half (47%) reported engaging ...

About 20% of U.S. adults experience major depression in their lifetime. For most people, symptoms improve within a few treatment attempts, but up to one-third of patients have treatment-resistant depression, for which standard antidepressant medication or psychotherapy isn’t enough. Now, a study shows that a small, implanted device may provide substantial, long-lasting relief to people with the most severe treatment-resistant depression. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. ...

A recent publication in Nature Medicine describes a novel immunotherapy targeting pancreatic cancer that has shown promising results in a first in-human phase 1/2 trial. The TACTOPS trial, which investigated the safety and clinical effects of autologous T cell therapy targeting multiple tumor antigens, was a collaboration between researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital. “We wanted to ...

Marsupials are a group of mammals that encompass many of Australia's most iconic animals, unique because of their geographically isolated evolution. Despite their household names, their microbiomes remain under-researched.   "Understanding marsupial gut microbiomes advances our knowledge of host-microbiome evolution, helps explain adaptations to challenging diets like eucalyptus, and supports conservation efforts for threatened species through improved health management,” says Kate Bowerman, a microbiologist at the University of Queensland (UQ) and co-author ...

Challenging a 50-year-old narrative about Hawaiʻi’s native birds, a new study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found no scientific evidence that Indigenous People hunted waterbird species to extinction. Published in the journal Ecosphere, the research debunks this long-held myth and offers a new, integrated theory to explain the disappearances. Researchers found no evidence that Indigenous People over-hunted birds to extinction. Instead, the authors suggest a new theory: the birds died out because of a combination of climate change, invasive species,and changes in how the land was used—most of which happened either prior to Polynesian ...

Biochar has long been promoted as a climate-friendly soil amendment, but new research suggests that treating it as a one-size-fits-all solution may be limiting its full potential. A new open-access review published in Biochar shows that engineered biochar works best when it is carefully customized for specific agricultural and environmental goals, from boosting crop yields to suppressing soil-borne diseases and remediating contaminated land. The international research team reviewed more than a decade of studies on engineered biochar and its interactions in the rhizosphere, the thin zone of soil surrounding ...

A growing body of research suggests that combining enzymes with biochar, a carbon-rich material made from agricultural and organic waste, could transform how scientists clean polluted water and soil. A new review published in Biochar provides the most comprehensive overview to date of how biochar-immobilized enzymes work, why they are effective, and what challenges remain before the technology can be widely applied. Environmental pollution from industrial chemicals, dyes, pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, and heavy metals continues to threaten ecosystems and human health worldwide. Traditional treatment methods often rely on energy-intensive processes or chemical reagents that can ...

Researchers led by Yue Pan at Shenyang Agricultural University tested how swings between wet and dry conditions affect soil organic carbon breakdown in a clay loam Alfisol from Northeast China, and whether biochar can soften these impacts. The team incubated soils for 90 days under three moisture patterns and three levels of corn straw biochar to mimic the more extreme rainfall expected under climate change.​ The study showed that stronger moisture variability sped up soil organic carbon decomposition, increasing cumulative carbon dioxide release by up to 17.2 percent compared with constant moisture. At the same time, fluctuating moisture boosted soil microbial activity and shifted the ...

For decades, global efforts to combat climate change and protect biodiversity have relied on a high-tech promise: that satellite-derived maps can tell us exactly where the world's forests are. But a new study from the University of Notre Dame reveals that these digital baselines are often in sharp disagreement, creating confusion that threatens to undermine effective climate funding and international development efforts. Because these maps determine everything from carbon storage estimates to the enactment of conservation policies, even small discrepancies can have serious ...

NEW ORLEANS – Jan. 13, 2026 – Ochsner Health has appointed Dr. Timothy Riddell as its new executive vice president and chief operating officer. In this role, Dr. Riddell will oversee clinical operations across the system’s 47 hospitals and more than 370 health and urgent care centers. He plays a vital part in guiding Ochsner toward its long-term goals for sustainability and success.  Dr. Riddell brings 28 years of experience within the Ochsner group practice to his new position. He began his career with the health system as a family medicine resident in 1997. A Louisiana native, Dr. Riddell has spent decades caring for families across ...

As the warning label on every pack of cigarettes tells us, smoking is harmful. It’s the leading preventable cause of death, disease and disability. And yet, nearly 15 percent of adults in the United States still smoke.  “Most indicate they want to quit,” said Jeff Stein, an addiction researcher and assistant professor with Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. “But knowing that smoking affects your health isn’t enough to motivate people. The future is just too abstract and often doesn’t feel real.” If ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to analyze medical images, materials data and scientific measurements, but many systems struggle when real-world data do not match ideal conditions. Measurements collected from different instruments, experiments or simulations often vary widely in resolution, noise and reliability. Traditional machine-learning models typically assume those differences are negligible — an assumption that can limit accuracy and trustworthiness. To address this issue, Penn State researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence framework with potential implications for fields ranging from Alzheimer’s disease ...

Stem Cell Reports, the peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), today announced a call for applications to serve on its editorial team as an Early Career Editor, a prestigious opportunity for outstanding, early-career scientists to help shape the future of stem cell publishing. The deadline to apply is 13 March 2026. “Publishing in Stem Cell Reports and serving as an early career editor has given me unique insights into studies outside my immediate field, while reinforcing my commitment ...

Boulder, Colo., USA: Dr. Rowan Martindale, a paleoecologist and geobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, was walking through the Dadès Valley in the Central High Atlas Mountains of Morocco when she saw something that literally stopped her in her tracks. Martindale and her colleagues, including Stéphane Bodin of Aarhus University, were trekking through the rocky valley to study the ecology of the ancient reef systems that once sat below sea level there. To get to the reefs, they first had to traverse through layers and layers of turbidites—deposits made by thick submarine ...