A study in mice on small RNAs in sperm helps explain how the health of fathers can influence the health of their offspring. Bin He and colleagues explored how paternal immune activation in mice affects a specific class of small RNAs in sperm, known as 28S-rsRNAs. Mice were injected with lipopolysaccharides derived from the bacteria Escherichia coli, to prompt an immune response. A week later, the mice were found to have fewer sperm and an increased number of 28S-rsRNAs in what sperm they did have. Notably, these effects largely subsided six weeks post-injection—spanning ...

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, yet progress in understanding and treating cardiac disorders is limited by the shortcomings of existing experimental models. Traditional animal models often fail to capture human-specific cardiac biology, while conventional two-dimensional cell cultures lack the functional and structural complexity of heart tissue. These challenges have fueled growing interest in regenerative medicine approaches that more accurately model human heart development, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic responses, with stem ...

Using muon spin rotation spectroscopy, researchers from Japan and Canada successfully captured the rapid conversion of an imidoyl radical into a quinoxalinyl radical occurring within nanoseconds. The technique enabled real time detection of a highly reactive aromatic heterocyclic radical generated during the isocyanide insertion reaction, using muonium as a molecular tracker. The discovery is expected to advance particle-driven radical chemistry—exploring functional properties and offering new strategies for ...

Environmentally friendly buildings are highly attractive for sustainable development and efficient energy consumption. Recently, scientists have made significant strides towards the development of energy-efficient smart windows—with features such as optical modulation, high transparency, low thermal conductivity, and ultraviolet (UV) blocking and heat shielding capabilities—to replace traditional glass windows. The smart windows are a lucrative technology to protect household items as well as human health from the adverse effects of UV radiation. In a recent breakthrough, a team of researchers from the Republic of Korea, led by Professor ...

AMOLF researchers discovered a mysterious interplay of insulin signals in the worm C. elegans. The insulin-driven protein DAF-16 does not only move in and out of the cell nucleus in a complex rhythm, it does so at exactly the same moment in all cells of the body. Because of the many similarities between C. elegans and humans, the research may contribute to a better understanding of diseases such as diabetes, cancer and of ageing. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Communications on December 11. Cells experience many different types of stress, such as starvation or ...

University of Leeds news  Embargoed: 13 January 2026 10:00 GMT  Images available here     Tropical forests can recover twice as quickly after deforestation if they have adequate soil nitrogen, according to new research published today.  A team of scientists led by the University of Leeds established the world’s largest and longest experiment to see how nutrients affect forest regrowth in areas cleared for activities such as logging and ...

Young tropical forests play a crucial role in slowing climate change. Growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air, using photosynthesis to build it into their roots, trunks, and branches, where they can store carbon for decades or even centuries. But, according to a new study, this CO2 absorption may be slowed down by the lack of a crucial element that trees need to grow: nitrogen.  Published in Nature Communications and coauthored by Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies ecologist Sarah Batterman, the study estimates that ...

“What should I eat?” is perhaps the most common question patients with inflammatory bowel disease ask their doctors. It’s notoriously difficult to answer. There have been few large studies of dietary interventions for IBD, a group of disorders that includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Now, new research by Stanford Medicine investigators and their colleagues provides one potential answer. Their national, randomized controlled clinical trial found that a short-term, calorie-restrictive diet significantly improved both physical symptoms and biological indicators of mild-to-moderate Crohn’s ...

The number of vehicles in Africa is expected to double between now and 2050 – faster than on any other continent. The question is not whether mobility will increase, but how. A new study led by researchers at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, in collaboration with African partners from Makerere University, University of Port Harcourt and Stellenbosch University, shows that electric vehicles, combined with solar-powered off-grid charging systems, could be economically competitive in many African countries well before 2040. “Many models have assumed that combustion engine vehicles will continue to dominate in Africa through ...

A test that rapidly detects signs of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in stool samples could improve future diagnosis and monitoring of the condition, a study suggests. Scientists have developed a tool to measure the activity of a molecule linked to gut inflammation within faecal samples. The optical tool, known as a luminescent reporter, lights up when it detects the molecule, with higher readouts indicating increased activity and inflammation. The new technique could boost the accuracy of stool sample tests for IBD, reducing the need ...

Widely-used eye ointments can cause glaucoma implants to swell and potentially rupture, according to new research from Nagoya University in Japan. This study is the first to show, using clinical and experimental evidence, that petrolatum-based eye ointments can compromise the PRESERFLO® MicroShunt, an implant used in over 60 countries to treat glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the optic nerve and can lead to vision loss. It often results from increased intraocular pressure caused by blocked drainage of eye fluid. A recent study estimated that 76 million ...

Amsterdam, 13 January 2026. Today, the ACCESS-AD consortium is announcing the launch of a transformative European initiative that will accelerate the implementation of scientific innovations for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) management in real-world health systems. The international consortium - bringing together academic institutions, industry partners, SMEs and patient organisations - is co-led by Amsterdam UMC, Siemens Healthineers, King’s College London and Gates Ventures, with funding from the European Commission’s Innovative Health Initiative for a five-year period. The project begins at a pivotal moment for AD care in Europe. In 2025, two new disease-modifying therapies ...

A new study led by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that members of many Indigenous communities who eat certain types of locally harvested waterfowl, especially ducks with mixed or fish-based diets, may have higher levels of both mercury and healthy omega-3 fatty acids in their blood.  The research, conducted in partnership with northern First Nations communities, suggests that waterfowl, such as ducks and geese, may need to be included more regularly in monitoring programs that track both contaminants and nutrients in traditional foods.  “Traditional foods ...

Scientists have discovered that a part of the brain may be behind high blood pressure. The lateral parafacial region sits in the brainstem – the oldest part of the brain – which controls automatic functions such as digestion, breathing, and heart rate. “The lateral parafacial region is recruited into action causing us to exhale during a laugh, exercise or coughing,” says lead researcher Professor Julian Paton, director of Manaaki Manawa, Centre for Heart Research at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland. “These ...

A faulty ion channel function is a consistent biological feature of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), providing long-awaited validation for hundreds of thousands of Australians living with the debilitating illness. The new Griffith University research found a crucial cellular structure responsible for calcium transport, the TRPM3 ion channel, was faulty in immune cells from people with ME/CFS. Director and senior author, Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik from Griffith’s National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), said the TRPM3 played an essential role in calcium transport into cells, regulating responses properly ...

Scientists have discovered that blocking a key cellular enzyme thought to protect against fatty liver disease may instead increase the risk of chronic liver damage and cancer as we age. In a major new study published in Science Advances, researchers from Adelaide University have shown that loss of the enzyme Caspase-2 drives abnormal growth in liver cells, triggering inflammation, fibrosis, and a significantly higher risk of liver cancer. The findings challenge growing interest in Caspase-2 inhibitors as a potential therapeutic strategy to treat and/or prevent fatty liver disease and highlight the need for caution when targeting this ...

Kyoto, Japan -- What we know of the birth of a black hole has traditionally aligned with our perception of black holes themselves: dark, mysterious, and eerily quiet, despite their mass and influence. Stellar-mass black holes are born from the final gravitational collapse of massive stars several tens of the mass of our Sun which, unlike less massive stars, do not produce bright, supernova explosions. Or at least, this is what astronomers had previously thought, because no one had observed in real time the collapse of a massive star leading to a supernova and forming a black hole. That is, until a team of researchers at Kyoto University reported their observations of SN 2022esa. The ...

The research group of Professor Chuandong Dou at the State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, recently constructed two novel boron-hexane two-dimensional benzobenzenes using a borane-controlled cyclization strategy, elucidating the importance of boron atom doping. Using conjugated boranes as precursors, the researchers synthesized boron-hexane Z-type and bilayer benzobenzenes C32B2 via FeCl3 and Bi(OTf)3-mediated intramolecular cyclization reactions, obtaining narrow-spectrum fluorescence (half-width at half-maximum as narrow as 19 nm) and amplified spontaneous emission properties, demonstrating their ...

A team at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has created a machining method that takes a clear step beyond all existing field-assisted cutting techniques. Instead of using only one external energy field, such as heat or magnetism, the new approach applies a laser field and a magnetic field at the same time during diamond cutting. This dual-field method offers a way to machine advanced materials that are extremely difficult to process with conventional techniques. Field-assisted machining has been used for years to support precision manufacturing. But these traditional methods rely on just one type of assistance, which increasingly falls short as ...

As Australians return to work after the holidays, many will be reflecting on their health and wellbeing goals for the year ahead. New research led by Flinders University reveals that while workplace factors like long hours, work-related stress and shift work do influence high-risk drinking, personal and social factors play an even bigger role. The study, published in Drug and Alcohol Review journal, examined more than two decades of data from the national Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to uncover how job-related factors influence alcohol consumption among workers. Lead author Dr Gianluca Di Censo from Flinders’ ...

Transparent electronics usually start with indium-tin-oxide coated glass—expensive, brittle and anything but eco-friendly. A Chinese-led team has now turned ordinary basswood into a 65-micrometre membrane that behaves like smart glass yet folds like paper. Writing in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, they describe a two-step recipe: first remove lignin and oxidise the cellulose with TEMPO to create a nanofibre mesh; then hot-press and impregnate the sheet with PMMA to restore strength and push optical transmittance to 86 %. A light-sensitive skin comes from spin-coating a PMMA layer doped with WO₃ nanoparticles. When hit by sunlight or a 365 nm desk lamp, ...

First study to link COVID-19 vaccine attitudes to subsequent (including post-pandemic) vaccination behaviour sheds light on barriers to future vaccination uptake. Findings reveal a general decline in vaccine hesitancy during the 15 months following the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in 2021-2022, with almost two-thirds of those initially hesitant going on to receive one or more COVID-19 vaccinations. The most common reasons for original COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were concerns around vaccine effectiveness and side ...

People experiencing delusions during an episode of psychosis may be ‘living out’ a deeply held emotion, according to new research that provides a ‘radically different perspective’ on one of the most puzzling elements of psychosis.  About 2–3% of the UK and Australian population will experience psychosis at some point in their lives, with people commonly experiencing their first psychotic episode between the ages of 16 and 30 years old. Delusions ...

John Kempen, MD, MPH, PhD, MHS, Director of Epidemiology for Ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, is the lead author of a paper published in The Lancet Global Health, “Evaluation of fluorometholone as adjunctive medical therapy for trachomatous trichiasis surgery (FLAME): a parallel, double-blind, randomised controlled field trial in the Jimma Zone, Ethiopia.” Q: Why is trachoma important? Trachoma is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world, predominantly affecting low-income individuals, and women more ...

For the last two years, the cultivated meat industry has been experiencing growing pains. Many startups have shrunk, shut down, or pivoted. Their advances aren’t going to waste, though. The Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA), which seeks to enable production of meat, milk, and eggs from cells instead of animals, has teamed up with nonprofit partner Good Food Institute to salvage the intellectual property—the inventions—of those firms and make them publicly available to help nurture the industry.  Specifically, this effort aims to obtain and broadly distribute cell lines—cells of a specific type ...