A stable "exceptional fermionic superfluid," a new quantum phase that intrinsically hosts singularities known as exceptional points, has been discovered by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo. Their analysis of a non-Hermitian quantum model with spin depairing shows that dissipation can actively stabilize a superfluid with these singularities embedded within it. The work reveals how lattice geometry dictates the phase's stability and provides a path to realizing it in experiments with ultracold atoms. In the quantum world, open quantum systems are those ...

Changes in early tooth development can have surprisingly big effects on a person’s smile. Missing teeth, extra teeth, unusually small or large teeth, or teeth that fuse together can cause problems in appearance, chewing , and long-term oral and general health issues. Because these problems arise from intricate signaling networks that operate during tooth development, the underlying biological causes can be difficult to pinpoint, making diagnosis and prevention challenging. Scientists have uncovered many of the networks involved, but it remains challenging to fully explain how the body decides how many teeth to form—or where each ...

Structural health monitoring (SHM) and condition monitoring are crucial processes that ensure reliability and safety of engineering systems in a variety of fields, including aerospace, civil engineering, and industry. These systems are often assessed using vibration-based methods, where damage is detected by analyzing changes in a structure’s vibration characteristics. Traditional methods typically employ contact-type sensors for this purpose. While effective, these methods face several limitations, including low spatial resolution, high costs, difficulties in sensor placement, and measurements that are restricted to small regions around each sensor. Vision-based methods, where non-contact, ...

Researchers from University of California San Diego report that an expanded, school-based tobacco prevention program in California was associated with significantly lower rates of smoking and vaping among middle and high school students. The study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health on Jan. 12, 2026, evaluated the impact of California’s Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) program following a major funding increase approved by voters in 2016. Using data from more than 160,000 students statewide, the researchers found that students attending schools receiving TUPE funding were 20% less likely to use tobacco overall and 23% less likely to vape, compared ...

 Research Highlights: Scripted TV programs in the U.S. often inaccurately portray who is most likely to need CPR and where out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen, according to an analysis of more than 160 TV episodes aired since 2008. TV programs tend to focus on white people or men receiving CPR, which mirrors real-life disparities where women and Black and Latino adults are less likely than white people to receive CPR from a lay rescuer. The analysis examined TV depictions of out-of-hospital CPR as a potential reason why there is a low prevalence of Hands-Only ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 5 A.M., ET, MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2026 What TV Gets Wrong About CPR—and Why it Matters for Saving Lives PITTSBURGH, Jan. 12, 2026—Scripted television often shows outdated CPR techniques for lay people, potentially fueling misconceptions that could delay bystanders’ lifesaving interventions in the crucial moments after a real-life cardiac arrest. That’s according to University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and School of Medicine researchers in the first analysis of TV depictions of bystander CPR, published today in Circulation: Population Health and Outcomes. In 2008, the American Heart Association (AHA) endorsed ...

It is well known that obesity typically leads to inflammation and dysfunction of fat tissue that increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It is also well established that weight loss reduces the risk of developing these diseases. However, it has been unclear whether healthy fat tissue can be reestablished by weight loss. In other words, does fat tissue retain a “memory” of the obese state after weight loss? Now, a new study led by Assistant Professor Anne Loft, Associate Professor Jesper Grud Skat ...

Gas and dust flowing from stars can, under the right conditions, clash with a star’s surroundings and create a shock wave. Now, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have imaged a beautiful shock wave around a dead star — a discovery that has left them puzzled. According to all known mechanisms, the small, dead star RXJ0528+2838 should not have such structure around it. This discovery, as enigmatic as it’s stunning, challenges our ...

Astronomers have spotted one of the oldest ‘dead’ galaxies yet identified, and found that a growing supermassive black hole can slowly starve a galaxy rather than tear it apart. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), to study a galaxy in the early universe – about three billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxy, called GS-10578 but nicknamed ‘Pablo’s Galaxy’ after the astronomer who first observed it in detail, is massive for such ...

[TOKYO, Japan, January 2025]—Wearable health devices, such as smartwatches, have become commonplace, enabling the continuous monitoring of physiological signals at the skin’s surface. Recently, a research team in Japan has developed a biohybrid approach that works inside the body—transforming engineered skin to a visible indicator of internal biological states. A joint research group, led by Tokyo City University and the University of Tokyo, in collaboration with RIKEN and Canon Medical Systems ...

Engineers at the University of California have developed a new data structure and compression technique that enables the field of pangenomics to handle unprecedented scales of genetic information. The team, led by UC San Diego electrical and computer engineering professor Yatish Turakhia, described their compressive pangenomics approach in Nature Genetics on Jan. 12, 2026. Pangenomics, a subset of bioinformatics, is the study of many different genomes from one specific species. This can provide a more holistic picture of the natural ...

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Communications, reveals how rhythmic brain waves known as alpha oscillations help us distinguish between our own body and the external world. The findings offer new insights into how the brain integrates sensory signals to create a coherent sense of bodily self. What makes you feel that your hand is yours? It might seem obvious, but the brain’s ability to tell self from non-self is a complex process. Using a combination of behavioural experiments, brain recordings (EEG), brain stimulation, and computational modelling with a total of 106 participants, ...

A whole-genome sequencing approach shows early promise over current commercial methods for identifying more patients likely to benefit from PARP inhibitor cancer treatments, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The findings suggest further development of this approach is merited. In the study, published Jan. 12 in Communications Medicine, the researchers performed whole-genome sequencing analysis on hundreds of tumor samples obtained by informed consent as part of a precision medicine initiative by Weill Cornell, NewYork-Presbyterian and Illumina, ...

Researchers at the University of Bath in the UK are proposing thresholds for safe – or at least safer – cannabis use and hope their findings will help people monitor consumption and keep it within recommended limits – similar to how alcohol units guide safer drinking. The threshold recommendations, proposed in a paper published today in the journal Addiction, are based on a system for measuring cannabis consumption not by weight but by THC content (THC is the compound responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis). In the same ...

In about 5–10% of colorectal cancer patients, hereditary factors play a role, with higher percentages among younger patients. Research from Radboud university medical center and university hospital Bonn (UKB) in collaboration with researchers from Munich and Barcelona, shows that DNA analysis of colorectal polyps provides important additional information on the development of these polyps and colorectal cancer. This DNA analysis leads to better diagnostics and treatment ...

Leuven, January 12, 2026 – Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven have identified a molecular process that allows motor neurons to maintain protein production, a process that fails in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, reveals an early weakness in neurodegeneration and highlights a potential target for future therapies. Building proteins Motor neurons depend on local protein production within their axons to support their long-distance connections to muscles. Using advanced spatial transcriptomics, scientists at the VIB–KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research analyzed gene expression ...

Rates of multiple myeloma (MM), the second most common blood cancer in the United States, are increasing and are twice as high in men than in women. A new study published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, provides insights that may help to explain this disparity. To investigate the sex difference in MM, researchers analyzed data on 850 patients with newly diagnosed MM enrolled in the Integrative Molecular And Genetic Epidemiology (IMAGE) study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Compared with female patients, male patients were more likely to have advanced (International Staging System stage III) disease at the time of diagnosis. Males ...

by W.B. Kagan PISCATAWAY, NJ – Young adults today are digital natives—naturally fluent with devices and online platforms—so some of their most effective behavioral-health interventions will likely arrive in their pockets via text, app, or other mobile medium. Now, new research shows that such interventions for alcohol and cannabis use among young adults show potential to reduce harms, according to three reports in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Heavy drinking and cannabis use among young adults continue to exact a great cost from individuals and society, ...

How do health care professionals in Canada assess applicants for medical assistance in dying (MAiD)? A research article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251071 describes the careful approach currently used to determine eligibility, and an analysis article suggests an approach to eligibility assessments for advance requests for MAiD — which are currently available in Quebec and being considered elsewhere in Canada. In 2021, Canada ...

Air-polluting microplastics have been found in rural environments in greater quantities than in urban locations, researchers say.  Scientists led by the University of Leeds detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic per square metre per day in an area of woodland during the three-month study – almost twice as much as in a sample collected in a city centre.  They believe trees and other vegetation capture airborne microplastic particles from the atmosphere and deposit them, highlighting the impact ...

Researchers in Hong Kong will have greater opportunities to share their work with a global audience through a new open access (OA) agreement between the Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee (JULAC) and Taylor & Francis. The three-year agreement enables researchers at all participating institutions to publish OA articles in over 2,000 Taylor & Francis and Routledge Open Select (hybrid) journals without payment of an OA article publishing charge. Articles will be open on publication and free to access and reuse for readers around the world, ...

Veteran male athletes who have spent years training at high intensity may be at greater risk of serious heart problems while exercising, new University of Leeds research shows.   Published today and funded by the British Heart Foundation, the study shows that male endurance athletes aged over 50 may be more likely to experience abnormal heart rhythms during training if they already have scarring in their heart.   Nine in 10 sudden cardiac deaths during sport occur in older male athletes.  The researchers’ aim ...

“We know the genes, but not their functions.” To resolve this long-standing bottleneck in microbial research, a joint research team has proposed a cutting-edge research strategy that leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drastically accelerate the discovery of microbial gene functions. KAIST announced on January 12th that a research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Bernhard Palsson from the Department of Bioengineering at UCSD, has published a comprehensive review paper. The study systematically analyzes and organizes the latest AI-based ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a suite of algorithms to automate the counting of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in chromosomes under the microscope. Conventional analysis requires trained personnel and time, with variability between different people. The team’s machine-learning-based algorithm boasts an accuracy of 84% and gives a more objective measurement. This could be a game changer for diagnosing disorders tied to abnormal numbers of SCEs, like Bloom syndrome.   DNA, the blueprint of life for all living organisms, is found packaged inside complex ...

The U.S. boasts more than 4 million miles of rivers, peppered with laws and regulations to protect access to drinking water and essential habitat for fish and wildlife. But in the first comprehensive review of river protection, research co-led by the University of Washington shows that the existing regulations account for less than 20% of total river length and vary widely by region. Freshwater conservation strategies have historically emphasized protections against land use and development on public ...