Fair price, treasure hunting, i.e., the thrill of finding something rare or valuable, as well as ethical and ecological reasons motivate consumers’ intentions to buy second-hand gifts, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland finds. Administered to users of one of Finland’s most popular consumer-to-consumer online marketplaces, Tori.fi, the survey also shows that an intention to buy a second-hand gift often leads to an actual purchase decision. “Our findings indicate that buying second-hand gifts is a well-thought-through decision rather than an impulsive one. It involves the ...

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, reports that Italian bears living in areas with many villages evolved and became smaller and less aggressive. Humans have long shaped the environments in which they live, dramatically affecting ecosystems and biodiversity. Habitat change and overuse are among the human activities with the greatest impacts on wildlife, often leading to population declines and/or shifts in selective pressures, thus influencing how a species evolves. The Apennine brown bear, Ursus arctos marsicanus, is a small and isolated population found only in ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – As teens gain more independence in their food choices, many parents struggle to navigate conversations about nutrition —which could be especially important during the holidays, when celebrations often center around meals. While parents recognize concerns about their teen’s eating habits, few provide concrete strategies to help them make healthy decisions during festive gatherings, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. One in three parents say it’s difficult to talk with their teen about food and weight, rising ...

In the future, scientists could use drugs made from cannabis to fight ovarian cancer. A team of scientists testing the effects of two chemical compounds sourced from cannabis on ovarian cancer cells have found that both show promising anti-cancer effects. While more research will be required to turn these results into drugs which can be delivered to patients, these findings are an important opportunity to develop effective new therapies for a cancer which is hard to diagnose and even harder to treat.  “Ovarian cancer remains one of the deadliest gynecological malignancies, characterized by late diagnosis, high recurrence ...

As fossil fuels rise in cost and green initiatives gain traction, alternative methods for producing useful compounds using microorganisms have the potential to become sustainable, environmentally friendly technologies. One such process involves the common bread yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae), to produce 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO), an organic compound often used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. However, this yeast has a low tolerance for 2,3-BDO under high concentrations, which leads to a decline in its production ability and hinders the mass commercialization ...

The first exoplanet ever discovered in 1995 was what we now call a “hot Jupiter”, a planet as massive as Jupiter with an orbital period of just a few days. Today, hot Jupiters are thought to have formed far from their stars—similar to Jupiter in our Solar System—and later migrated inward. Two main mechanisms have been proposed for this migration: (1) high-eccentricity migration, in which a planet’s orbit is disturbed by the gravity of other celestial bodies and subsequently circularized by tidal forces near the star; and (2) disk migration, in which ...

Canada should rethink its reduced pledge to the Global Fund to protect the health of people in Canada as well as around the globe, argue authors in an editorial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.252036. In November, Canada reduced its pledge by 16% to the Global Fund, which fights AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria and strengthens pandemic preparedness. Two related commentaries in the same issue describe increases in tuberculosis in Canada and the backsliding in addressing HIV/AIDS around the world and potential ...

New research shows that 1 in 4 children with major traumatic injury do not receive care in a pediatric trauma centre, where outcomes are generally better than in adult centres. The authors of the study, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250625, recommend evidence-based strategies to improve care for this vulnerable age group. “Given the strong evidence of improved clinical outcomes associated with care in pediatric trauma centres, access to these centres in Canada must be improved urgently,” ...

Singapore, 15 December 2025—As global health systems brace for the next wave of infectious and chronic diseases, scientists are looking to human genetics, population differences, medical imaging and health informatics for answers. As an example, researchers have proposed that understanding how genetic variants shape disease susceptibility across populations could transform how the world prepares for future threats. To investigate this possibility, one of the five projects awarded under this year’s Duke–Duke-NUS Research Collaboration Pilot Project Grants focuses on studies comparing cohorts in Singapore and the United States to determine genetic features ...

A revolutionary quantum sensing project that could transform cancer treatment by tracking how immune cells interact with tumours has been awarded a prestigious £2 million Future Leaders Fellowship. The four-year fellowship, funded by UK Research and Innovation, focuses on a critical problem: immune cells often fail when they encounter cancer tissue because the tumour environment disrupts their metabolism. The pathbreaking project could enable the development of improved patient-tailored cancer therapies and provide tools for earlier diagnosis and evaluation of anti-cancer drugs. Dr Aldona Mzyk will use quantum sensors, devices that harness the properties ...

UCL Press release    Under embargo until Monday 15 December at 00:01 GMT       Tech savvy users have most digital concerns  Digital concerns around privacy, online misinformation, and work-life boundaries are highest among highly educated, Western European millennials, finds a new study from researchers at UCL and the University of British Columbia.  The research, published in Information, Communication & Society, also found individuals with higher ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have re-engineered the popular Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) for simulating the flow of fluids and heat, making it lighter and more stable than the state-of-the-art. By formulating the algorithm with a few extra inputs, they successfully got around the need to store certain data, some of which span the millions of points over which a simulation is run. Their findings might overcome a key bottleneck in LBM: memory usage.   From rocket fuel and drainpipes to the inner workings of organisms, simulations of fluids ...

For the first time, an international analysis has shown that when people with prediabetes bring their blood glucose back into the normal range through lifestyle changes, their risk of heart attack, heart failure, and premature death is cut in half. These findings could revolutionize prevention and establish a new, measurable target for clinical guidelines. Among others, researchers from University Hospital Tübingen, Helmholtz Munich, and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) took part in the study.  Millions of people in Germany live with elevated blood glucose levels without knowing ...

Lowering blood sugar levels halves the likelihood of serious heart problems in people with prediabetes.  According to King’s College London research, published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, bringing blood glucose back to normal levels – effectively reversing prediabetes – cuts the risk of death from heart disease or hospital admission for heart failure by more than 50%.   This finding is especially important in light of recent research showing that lifestyle changes alone - including ...

OKLAHOMA CITY – A new study from the University of Oklahoma suggests that small genetic differences in two proteins – previously known for their role in premature infants’ lungs – may also influence how their eyes develop, potentially affecting the risk of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP is a serious eye disease that affects premature infants, whose retinas – the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye – are still developing when they are born. In some babies, the blood vessels in the retina grow abnormally, which can lead to vision problems or even blindness. ROP is the leading ...

SereNeuro Therapeutics, a preclinical biotechnology company developing non-opioid pain therapies, unveiled new data today on a novel approach to chronic pain management and joint tissue preservation. The data highlights SN101, a first-in-class induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived therapy. SN101 utilizes mature iPSC-derived peripheral pain-sensing neurons (nociceptors) to treat chronic osteoarthritis joint pain. The data highlights a scientific approach that challenges traditional pain management logic. “Our approach utilizes high-purity, iPSC-derived nociceptors (SN101) that effectively function as a sponge for pain factors. By injecting SN101 ...

Artificial intelligence systems absorb values from their training data. The trouble is that values differ across cultures. So an AI system trained on data from the entire internet won’t work equally well for people from different cultures. But a new University of Washington study suggests that AI could learn cultural values by observing human behavior. Researchers had AI systems observe people from two cultural groups playing a video game. On average, participants in one group behaved more altruistically. ...

A new commentary in Environmental and Biogeochemical Processes proposes a practical pathway for countries to meet the global goal of protecting 30 percent of land and sea by 2030, known as the 30 × 30 target, by rethinking how existing ecological policies are counted and governed. Focusing on China, the authors argue that the country’s Ecological Protection Redline policy offers a ready model for turning ambitious maps into real conservation outcomes while balancing development needs. Turning redlines into real protection China’s Ecological Protection Redline system has legally identified about 32 percent of the ...

Indoor dust, air and everyday products are exposing people to a growing mix of “new contaminants” inside homes, schools and workplaces, according to a new perspective published in the journal New Contaminants. The authors warn that these emerging chemicals may quietly increase the risk of heart disease, cancer and developmental problems while remaining largely unregulated and poorly monitored indoors. Hidden pollution indoors People now spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, yet most pollution research and standards still focus on outdoor air. The paper highlights that ...

Children with a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma which hasn’t responded to initial treatment or that has relapsed may benefit from adding antibody treatment to usual chemotherapy, according to new results from a clinical trial.   The results of the BEACON phase 2 trial carried out by an international consortium of researchers, coordinated by the University of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that among children who have a high risk form cancer called neuroblastoma, using a monoclonal antibody treatment called dinutuximab beta ...

About The Study: In this secondary analysis of the WISDOM trial, a randomized clinical trial that enrolled women without breast cancer ages 40 to 74, criteria-independent genetic testing in a pragmatic trial identified a substantial number of women with clinically actionable results, many of whom would not have qualified for genetic testing under current guidelines. These findings support broader access to genetic testing as part of personalized breast cancer risk assessment. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lisa Madlensky, ...

Study analyzed thousands of medical records to compare melanoma rates in tanning bed users vs. non-users, and sequenced 182 skin biopsies from tanning bed users and controls Tanning bed users carried double the mutation burden of controls In users, mutations appeared even in body areas that don’t get much sun exposure CHICAGO ---Tanning bed use is tied to almost a threefold increase in melanoma risk, and for the first time, scientists have shown how these devices cause melanoma-linked DNA damage across nearly the entire skin surface, reports a new study led by Northwestern Medicine and University of California, San ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Viruses are typically described as tiny, perfectly geometric shells that pack genetic material with mathematical precision, but new research led by scientists at Penn State reveals a deliberate imbalance in their shape that helps them infect their hosts.  The finding, the researchers say, not only illuminates a fundamental viral strategy but also opens doors for antiviral drug design and molecular delivery technologies critical for vaccines, cancer therapies, medication development and ...

Tanning bed users are known to have a higher risk of skin cancer, but for the first time researchers have found that young indoor tanners undergo genetic changes that can lead to more mutations in their skin cells than people twice their age.   The study, which was led by UC San Francisco and Northwestern University, appears Dec. 12 in Science Advances.   “We found that tanning bed users in their 30s and 40s had even more mutations than people in the general population who were in their 70s and ...

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy, affecting about 1 in 8,000 people. While it is well known for causing muscle weakness and stiffness, DM1 also affects other organs, including the brain, heart and gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although around 80% of people with DM1 experience GI problems that greatly reduce their quality of life, including difficulty swallowing, delayed stomach emptying, constipation and severe conditions like intestinal obstruction, the underlying causes remain understudied. To shed light onto the causes and potential solutions to ...