Babies as young as two months old are able to categorise distinct objects in their brains – much earlier than previously thought – according to new research from neuroscientists in Trinity College Dublin.  The research, which combined brain imaging with artificial intelligence models, enriches our understanding of what babies are thinking and how they learn in the earliest months of life. The study has been just published in the journal Nature Neuroscience by a team from Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) and the ...

Tsukuba, Japan—The underwater dolphin kick is a swimming technique in which propulsion is generated solely through the undulatory motion of the lower limbs, increasing swimmers' speed by moving the body in a wavelike pattern similar to fish or marine mammals. However, because the human body is not naturally adapted to such undulatory movements, swimmers must master advanced motor skills to improve performance in this technique. This study analyzed time-series data of joint movements during underwater dolphin kick to examine differences in swimmer performance levels. Using conducting kinematic synergy analysis, the researchers identified two ...

Polaritons—hybrid light-matter particles—allow light to be squeezed into deep subwavelength scales, holding great promise for ultra-compact photonic devices. By structuring materials into periodic crystals, known as polaritonic crystals (PoCs), researchers can engineer exotic optical modes called Bloch modes for enhanced light control. However, once fabricated, these crystals and their Bloch modes are fixed, lacking the dynamic tunability required for adaptive optical devices. While graphene supports highly tunable plasmon polaritons, their performance is limited by substantial optical ...

SAN ANTONIO — February 2, 2026 — Southwest Research Institute’s (SwRI) Board of Directors has named Dr. Ben Thacker, P.E., chief operating officer (COO). Thacker previously served as the vice president of SwRI’s Mechanical Engineering Division. In his new role, he directs the operations of the Institute’s technical divisions and administers SwRI’s internal research program in addition to other resources and programs. Thacker also joins the Institute’s executive team, which includes President and CEO Adam Hamilton, P.E., Vice President - Finance and CFO Beth Rafferty and ...

On October 28th, Korea University’s College of Medicine (Dean Pyun Sung-Bom) and Yale University hosted a joint forum with the topic of 'Basic and Clinical Neuroscience' at lecture room 320, main building.   This joint forum was a part of the 120th anniversary celebration of Korea University. Following the last year’s theme of medical informatics, this year’s theme was neuroscience. The purpose of this forum was to realize the direction of joint research between the two universities and further enhancing their global cooperation system.   The ...

Wetlands make up only about six percent of the land area but contain about 30 percent of the terrestrial organic carbon pool. Therefore, CO2 emissions from wetlands are central to the global climate balance. In Denmark, the plan is to flood 140,000 hectares of low-lying land such as bogs and meadows as part of the Green Tripartite Agreement. Flooding such areas will slow down the decomposition of organic material in the soil and keep the CO2 in the soil rather than allowing it to be released to the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect. At least, that has been the rationale until now. However, a new study from the University of Copenhagen, published in Nature ...

Bats, critical reservoirs of viruses with significant cross-species spillover risks, have long been understudied in the Indochina Peninsula. A study led by researchers from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and their partners has unveiled the region's bat virome diversity, offering key insights into the origins of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and critical surveillance priorities. From 2020 to 2024, the team analyzed 659 samples from 197 bats across 16 species using next-generation sequencing (NGS). They identified 137 viral strains across 27 families, including 40 novel species. Rhinolophidae bats from ...

A Hiroshima University-led project has secured a $1.8 million grant from the Gates Foundation to develop a way to store bull semen using simple refrigeration instead of costly liquid nitrogen, a shift that could remove a major barrier to modern dairy cattle breeding that has long excluded farmers in low-resource regions. If successful, the technology is expected to deliver far-reaching benefits on food security and livelihoods in local communities. The project, headed by Professor Masayuki Shimada of Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, received the grant in October 2025, marking the second time his laboratory has secured ...

Glenview, Illinois – The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) announced that CHEST® Critical Care was accepted for inclusion in the Web of Science Core Collection through the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). Indexing in Web of Science marks an important milestone for the journal and further strengthens its visibility and discoverability for clinicians, researchers, and health care teams worldwide. With this indexation, CHEST Critical Care will receive its first Impact Factor for 2025 in mid-2026. The Web of ...

Twisting upwardly on trees and other plants—along with houses and even lampposts—vines are a wonder of nature. However, their marvels mask their parasitic behavior: in attaching to other life forms, vines block sunlight necessary for growth and strangle their hosts, preventing the flow of water and other nutrients. While these threats were widely known, less clear is what gives vines their searching, attaching, and climbing capabilities.  An international team of scientists has now unlocked a formula that enables vines to search for ...

57.5 Percent of Commercially Insured Patients Had at Least One Chronic Condition in 2024, According to FAIR Health Report   The Cost for a Patient with One Chronic Condition Was Nearly Double That for a Patient with No Chronic Conditions   High Cholesterol Was the Most Common of 44 Chronic Conditions Studied   NEW YORK, NY—February 2, 2026—The majority (57.5 percent) of commercially insured patients had at least one chronic condition in 2024. The average allowed amount[1] for a patient with no chronic conditions was $1,590, while the average allowed amount for a patient with one chronic condition was nearly double ($3,039). ...

Physical aggression by young people toward their parents occurs quite frequently – yet the subject remains taboo. Victims often struggle with shame and avoid seeking help, hoping to shield their children from repercussions. Now, in a first-of-its-kind longitudinal study, researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have tracked the development of this behavior from early adolescence to young adulthood, identifying which factors increase or reduce the risk.   The research draws on the Zurich Project on Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso), directed by Manuel Eisner, Denis Ribeaud and Lilly Shanahan at UZH’s Jacobs Center ...

Electromagnetic pulses (EMPs)—high-energy-density and ultra-wideband beams of electromagnetic radiation—are generated from sources such as nuclear explosions, high-power electromagnetic pulse devices, and intentional electromagnetic interference. These pulses can infiltrate electronic equipment to significantly incapacitate civilian and military electrical, electronic, and communications infrastructures and undermine command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. In recent years, scientists have explored EMP-shielded exterior glass windows for buildings and transportation systems to address ...

A national clinical trial led by the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology has found that oxybutynin, a drug often used to treat overactive bladder symptoms, reduces hot flashes compared to the placebo in men receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer. This primary analysis of Alliance A222001 is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. “Oxybutynin demonstrated clear and clinically meaningful improvements in both hot flash frequency and quality of life for men undergoing hormone therapy for prostate cancer,” said Bradley J. Stish, MD, the study’s lead investigator and a radiation oncologist ...

By changing the physical structure of gold at the nanoscale, researchers can drastically change how the material interacts with light – and, as a result, its electronic and optical properties. This is shown by a study from Umeå University published in Nature Communications. Gold plays a crucial role in modern advanced technology thanks to its unique properties. New research now demonstrates that changing the material's physical structure – its morphology – can fundamentally enhance both its electronic behaviour and its ability to interact with light. “This might make it possible to improve the efficiency of chemical reactions such as those used in hydrogen ...

The first study to test a digital tool designed to help people with Long COVID manage their energy levels has been developed by a team of researchers. The paper published in Nature Communications is entitled “A Digital Platform with Activity Tracking for Energy Management Support in Long COVID: A Randomised Controlled Trial”. In this study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), people with Long COVID tried out a new app called “Pace Me” to help manage their energy levels. The tool combines a wearable activity tracker (Fitbit watch) with an app that sends helpful messages throughout the day, reminding users ...

Generative AI models have been used to create enormous libraries of theoretical materials that could help solve all kinds of problems. Now, scientists just have to figure out how to make them. In many cases, materials synthes is not as simple as following a recipe in the kitchen. Factors like the temperature and length of processing can yield huge changes in a material’s properties that make or break its performance. That has limited researchers’ ability to test millions of promising model-generated materials. Now, MIT researchers have created an AI model that guides scientists ...

A sediment core from the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean has provided a research team led by geochemist Dr Torben Struve from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, with evidence of an unexpected climate feedback in Antarctica. As the team reports in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience, there was a close correlation between changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and marine algae growth over previous glacial cycles – but the correlation was not as expected. Based on the results, the team concludes ...

Scientists have created a complete map showing how hundreds of possible mutations in a key cancer gene influence tumour growth. The study focused on CTNNB1, a gene that produces the protein β-catenin, which helps regulate tissue growth and repair. When β-catenin is disrupted, cells can begin uncontrolled growth – a hallmark of cancer. By systematically testing all possible mutations in a priority area of the gene in mouse cells, the map helps explain why certain mutations appear in specific cancers and could guide the development of new treatments, experts say. Many cancers carry mutations ...

A new study in Nature Geoscience reveals that changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) closely tracked marine algae growth in the Southern Ocean over previous glacial cycles, but not in the way scientists expected. The key factor is iron-rich sediments transported by icebergs from West Antarctica. Iron acts like fertilizer for algae. But when analyzing a sediment core taken from the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean in 2001, more than three miles below the water’s surface, researchers were surprised to find that a high iron supply did not accelerate marine algae growth. “Normally, an increased supply of iron in the Southern Ocean would stimulate algae ...

People born more recently are being diagnosed with psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) more often and at younger ages than people born earlier, suggests a large study of more than 12 million people in Ontario, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250926. “Individuals with psychotic disorders face substantial morbidity and risk of premature death, and often require substantial health services and social support,” writes Dr. Daniel Myran, Gordon F. Cheesbrough ...

The fossils, representing at least five individuals, were first uncovered by Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes. “From the beginning, we knew these bones were exceptional because of their minute size. It is equally impressive how the study of this animal overturns global ideas on ornithopod dinosaur evolution,” he notes. The genus name Foskeia is derived from the ancient Greek. The prefix fos means ‘light’, given the very lightweight and small body size of grown individuals (Dieudonné et al. 2023). The combination of letters ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 01:00AM (GMT) MONDAY 2ND FEB 2026 New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered a crucial piece in the puzzle of how all animals with a spine - including all mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians - evolved.    In a paper published today (2nd February) in BMC Biology, researchers found an intriguing pattern of gene evolution which appears to be significant for the evolutionary origin and diversification of vertebrates.    All animals have major ...

Aortic Hemiarch Reconstruction Safely Matches Complex Aortic Arch Reconstruction for Acute Dissection in Older Adults NEW ORLEANS—February 1, 2026—Ascending aortic hemiarch reconstruction offers the same long-term benefits to patients over age 65 with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) as more complex extended arch reconstruction procedures, according to a study presented today at the 2026 Society of Thoracic Surgeons Annual Meeting. The finding came from a risk-adjusted analysis of 3,562 patients examining long-term survival and surgical reintervention for aortic disease following initial operation for ATAAD. Patient data came from the STS ...

An agreement on the third implementation phase of Destination Earth (DestinE), the European Commission’s initiative to develop a highly accurate digital twin of the Earth, has been signed between the European Commission and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The third phase will start in June 2026 and end in June 2028.  The DestinE digital twins enable the exploration of past, present and likely future climate and extreme conditions, ...