When a droplet of water falls on a hot pan, it dances across the surface, skimming on a thin layer of steam like a tiny hovercraft; this is known as the Leidenfrost effect. But now, researchers know what happens when a hot droplet falls on a cool surface. These new findings, publishing in the Cell Press journal Newton on March 3, demonstrate that hot and burning droplets can bounce off cool surfaces, propelled by a thin layer of air that forms beneath them. This phenomenon could inspire new strategies for slowing the spread of fires and improving engine efficiency.  "We started with a very fundamental question: What will happen ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A synthetic microbiome therapy, tested in mice, protects against severe symptoms of a gut infection that is notoriously difficult-to-treat and potentially life threatening in humans, according to a team of researchers at Penn State. The team developed the treatment for Clostridioides difficile, or C. difficile, a bacterium that can cause severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and colon inflammation. C. difficile can overgrow when the balance of the gut microbiome — the trillions of organisms that keep your body healthy — is disrupted. The team said their findings could lead to ...

Many people who have tried to lose weight by cutting calories are familiar with this frustrating reality: at some point, the body stops shedding pounds. It senses the reduced calorie intake and responds by slowing down metabolism, causing it to burn fewer calories than before the diet. This happens because the body perceives a potential starvation threat and adapts by conserving energy while still carrying out essential functions. It may seem incredibly unfair that the body doesn’t recognize the goal of weight loss and instead works against it by holding on to ...

About The Study: In this evaluation of a place-based, coordinated, countywide intervention, reports of both substantiated and unsubstantiated child sexual abuse were shown to be significantly reduced at the population level. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jennie G. Noll, PhD, email jennie_noll@urmc.rochester.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.6824) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study found a recent increase in cervical cancer incidence in rural U.S. counties, specifically among white women. In addition, incidence was 25% higher and mortality was 42% higher in rural vs urban counties in recent years. The increase in incidence and mortality in rural U.S. counties may reflect lower screening coverage and lower utilization of diagnostic and therapeutic care, likely resulting from heightened access barriers experienced in rural areas. Additionally, if unaddressed, ...

About The Study: A proposed U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule could impede buprenorphine initiation for a substantial number of patients with opioid use disorder. In this study, more than 4,500 tele-buprenorphine initiations from 2020 to 2022—20% of tele-initiations overall—would have been prohibited under requirements for an in-person visit with the tele-initiating clinician prior to or within 30 days after tele-initiation. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding ...

A research team led by Prof. LIU Chenli from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. XIAO Yichuan from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of CAS elucidated the mechanism behind bacterial cancer therapy using a genetically engineered bacterial strain. Their findings were published in Cell on March 3. Exploring the use of antitumor bacteria in cancer therapy dates back to the 1860s. Despite this long history, however, clinical application of bacterial-based cancer therapy has faced significant challenges in terms of safety and efficacy.  Recent advancements in synthetic biology have enabled ...

A new USC-led study provides the first nationwide picture of who knows about, carries, and uses naloxone to reverse deadly opioid overdoses. Mireille Jacobson, professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and a senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, said the study was conducted to address the lack of comprehensive data on access to the lifesaving medication and eventually to support work on how it affects the number of deaths attributed to opioid overdoses in the U.S. “There ...

In brief - ETH materials researchers have developed a groundbreaking method that enables the near-complete recycling of Plexiglas for the first time. - The polymer chains are broken down into their individual monomer building blocks, which can then be purified using straightforward distillation processes. - The mechanism relies on a chlorinated solvent. When exposed to UV light, a chlorine radical is released from the solvent, which then triggers the breakdown of the polymer chain. Today, plastics recycling is primarily limited to the collection of sorted PET or polyethylene beverage bottles. The plastic collected is of identical chemical composition, with polymer molecules of similar ...

Caring for a baby is a full-time job, often causing new mothers to overlook their own health needs. This situation is exemplified by the low compliance with postpartum glucose screening among women who had gestational diabetes—a condition that significantly increases their risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Now new research published today in Diabetes Care  indicates that a shorter, one-hour glucose tolerance test outperforms the standard two-hour test in predicting future risk of diabetes and could transform clinical practice. The research was led by Dr. Ravi Retnakaran, a Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, an Endocrinologist ...

By pooling the resources and expertise from alliance members, the initiative addresses common challenges in VR adoption for education, such as high development costs and lack of in-house technical expertise. The module provides a device-agnostic, 3D and 2D-accessible VR experience, enabling immersive learning opportunities for students and executives worldwide. As part of the module, a 20-minute pilot scenario allows users to engage in crisis management exercises, honing their soft skills through interactions with a digital counterpart (avatar). By uniting under a shared mission, individual alliance members’ ...

A decade after scientists in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT first began testing whether sensory stimulation of the brain’s 40Hz “gamma” frequency rhythms could treat Alzheimer’s disease in mice, a growing evidence base supporting the idea that it can improve brain health—in humans as well as animals—has emerged from the work of labs all over the world. A new review article in PLOS Biology describes the state of research so far and presents some of the fundamental and clinical questions at the forefront of the non-invasive gamma stimulation now. “As ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In our polarized society, a new study offers hope for the future: Even young children can learn to discuss and argue about meaningful problems in a respectful and productive way.   Researchers at The Ohio State University found success in a social studies curriculum for fourth graders based on teaching what they called “civic competencies.”   Over the course of a school year, findings showed that the students participating in the curriculum significantly improved their argumentation skills and disciplinary thinking.   “This will give them the ability to collaborate, communicate effectively and consider multiple perspectives”, ...

The adipose tissue, which serves as an endocrine organ, releases various molecules that regulate the repair of other damaged tissues, including the skin. Hence, adipose tissues can potentially be reengineered to regenerate the damaged organs. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology has revolutionized regenerative medicine by enabling the generation of engineered and functional 3D organs or tissues, including adipose tissues. However, the currently used tissue biofabrication methods cannot replicate ...

A team of scientists has developed a method to illuminate the dynamic behavior of nanoparticles, which are foundational components in the creation of pharmaceuticals, electronics, and industrial and energy-conversion materials. The advance, reported in the journal Science, combines artificial intelligence with electron microscopy to render visuals of how these tiny bits of matter respond to stimuli.  “Nanoparticle-based catalytic systems have a tremendous impact on society,” explains Carlos Fernandez-Granda, director of NYU’s Center for Data Science and a professor of mathematics and data science, one of the paper’s authors. “It is estimated that 90 percent ...

Gut microbes that were thought to feed exclusively on dietary fiber also get fed sugar from our guts, from which they produce short-chain fatty acids that are crucial to many body functions. The Kobe University discovery of this symbiotic relationship also points the way to developing novel therapeutics. Gut microbes produce many substances that our body needs but cannot produce itself. Among them are short-chain fatty acids that are the primary energy source for the cells lining our guts but have other important roles, too, and ...

Approximately one in five of pregnant and postpartum individuals experience depression and anxiety, yet less than 10 per cent receive proper treatment. To address this problem, a team of interdisciplinary researchers from Canada and the United States investigated if talk therapy can be effectively delivered by non-mental health specialists and telemedicine to increase access. In a paper published today in Nature Medicine, they share results from the Scaling Up Maternal Mental health care by Increasing access to Treatment (SUMMIT) Trial, which reveals promising strategies to provide the necessary support and treatment more effectively and inclusively ...

EVANSTON, Ill. --- You’ve probably heard the phrase, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” and now, science backs it up. A first-of-its-kind study from Northwestern University’s School of Communication, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Wisconsin-Madison reveals a region of the brain, long known for early auditory processing, plays a far greater role in interpreting speech than previously understood.  The multidisciplinary study being published Monday, March ...

NEW YORK, NY (March 3, 2025)--Several studies in the past decade have revealed that up to a quarter of unresponsive patients with recent brain injuries may possess a degree of consciousness that’s normally hidden from their families and physicians. New research from Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian may soon help physicians identify unresponsive brain-injury patients with hidden consciousness who are likely to achieve long-term recovery by looking for brain waves that are indicative of normal sleep patterns.  “We’re at an exciting crossroad in neurocritical care where we know that many patients appear to be unconscious, but some are recovering without ...

Two new landmark studies show how a seeming tangle of DNA is actually organized into a structure that coordinates thousands of genes to form a sperm cell. The work, published March 3 as two papers in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, could improve treatment for fertility problems and developmental disorders.  “We are finding the 3D structure of the genome,” said Satoshi Namekawa, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of California, Davis and senior author on one of the papers. “This is really showing us how the genomic architecture guides development.” Although DNA is a long, stringy molecule, in living ...

Bottom Line: Colorectal cancer and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma that harbored the KRAS G12C mutation often carried other genetic alterations that can be associated with resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors, despite no prior treatment with this therapy, according to recent results from a large multidatabase analysis. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Author: Hao Xie, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Background: “The KRAS pathway plays a crucial role in cell biology by regulating ...

Melting ice sheets are slowing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the world’s strongest ocean current, researchers have found.  This melting has implications for global climate indicators, including sea level rise, ocean warming and viability of marine ecosystems.  The researchers, from the University of Melbourne and NORCE Norway Research Centre, have shown the current slowing by around 20 per cent by 2050 in a high carbon emissions scenario.  This influx of fresh water into the Southern Ocean is expected to change ...

People seeking emergency care for hallucinogen use were at 2.6-fold higher risk of death within 5 years than the general population, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241191. The use of hallucinogens, such as ketamine, psychedelics, psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, and MDMA (Ecstasy), has rapidly increased since the mid-2010s, especially in Canada and the United States. In the US, the percentage of people reporting they used hallucinogens more than doubled from 3.8% in 2016 to 8.9% in 2021. “In Canada, an estimated 5.9% of people used a psychedelic ...

Niigata, Japan - The Department of Neurology at Niigata University and National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry（NCNP） has identified pathogenic thresholds for the CAG repeat units (RU) of the CACNA1A gene that causes SCA6. They investigated the SCA6 causative gene in 2,768 patients. They carefully examined the relationship between RU, age of onset, and family history. First, in cases with 18 or fewer RU, the proportion of family history was low. For 19 or more RU, the proportion of family history ...

Niigata, Japan - Organic molecules that serve as the building blocks of life are believed to form in space, but their exact formation sites and delivery mechanisms to planets remain a major mystery in astronomy and planetary science. One of the key elements in solving this mystery is the presence of ice in interstellar environments. In cold, dense, and shielded regions of the galaxy, atoms and molecules adhere to the surfaces of submicron-sized solid particles (dust), leading to the formation of interstellar ices. This process is similar to how snow forms in Earth’s clouds. Astronomers from Niigata University and ...