PHILADELPHIA – A pioneering preclinical study has shown that CAR T cell therapy—a personalized form of immunotherapy used in cancer treatment—could be a highly effective tool against atherosclerosis, the condition where a build-up of plaque in the arteries reduces blood flow, leading to heart attacks and strokes. In tests in mice, the experimental CAR T cells blocked inflammation in arteries, preventing more than two-thirds of the plaque buildup seen in untreated controls. The research, led by scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, was published today in Circulation. “Our ...

The explosiveness of a volcanic eruption depends on how many gas bubbles form in the magma – and when. Until now, it was thought that gas bubbles were formed primarily when the ambient pressure dropped while the magma was rising. Gases that were dissolved in the magma in lower strata – due to the higher pressure – escape when the pressure drops and form bubbles. The more bubbles there are in the magma, the lighter it becomes and the faster it rises. This can cause the magma to tear apart, leading to an explosive eruption.  This process can be likened to a bottle of champagne: while the bottle is closed and therefore pressurised, the carbon dioxide remains ...

In research, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are derived from skin, urine, or blood samples and developed into other cells, like heart tissue, that researchers want to study. Because of the similarities between certain dog and human diseases, canine iPS cells have potential uses  in regenerative medicine and drug discovery.　 Research on iPS cells is challenging because the cells are extremely sensitive to culture conditions. Before they are developed into other cells, iPS cells are in an undifferentiated state. At this stage, the cells are grown in a culture medium that provides the essential nutrients, growth factors, and signaling molecules that they ...

As wearable electronics migrate toward real-time health monitoring and seamless human–machine interfaces, conventional hydrogels freeze, dry out and fracture under daily conditions. Now, a multidisciplinary team led by Prof. Sang-Jae Kim (Jeju National University) has unveiled a CoN-CNT/PVA/GLE organogel sensor that marries sub-zero toughness with AI-grade pattern recognition. The device delivers 5.75 kPa-1 sensitivity across 0–20 kPa, heals in 0.24 s, and classifies handwritten English letters at 98 % accuracy—offering a robust, bio-compatible platform for next-generation soft robotics ...

As fertilizer demand rises and nitrate pollution spreads, turning waste NO₃⁻ into green NH₃ has become urgent. Now, researchers from Guizhou University, Hunan Agricultural University and Shanghai University, led by Professor Jili Yuan, Professor Wei Li and Dr Liang Wang, report a selective-etching route to RuM (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) nanoalloys that deliver 100 % Faradaic efficiency for neutral ammonia electro-synthesis at only −0.1 V vs RHE—outperforming most catalysts reported to date. Why RuM Nanoalloys Matter    • Energy Efficiency: Alloying ...

As electric vehicles, satellites and wearable electronics push into sub-zero environments, conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) lose most of their energy and power, while lithium plating threatens safety. Now, researchers from Chang’an University and Queensland University of Technology, led by Professor Limin Geng, Professor Weijia Meng and Dr Jiaye Ye, have published a forward-looking review on low-temperature (LT) electrolytes that keep LIBs charging and discharging down to −80 °C. This work offers a systematic ...

As artificial-intelligence workloads explode, the energy cost and latency of shuttling data between discrete sensors, memory and processors have become critical bottlenecks. Now, researchers from the School of Integrated Circuits at Shandong University, led by Professor Jialin Meng and Professor Tianyu Wang, have published a forward-looking review on two-dimensional MXene materials that act simultaneously as ultra-sensitive sensors and neuromorphic synapses. This work charts a direct route toward self-powered, edge-intelligent systems that see, feel ...

UC Davis researchers are leading a $5.5 million study to better understand how children with Down syndrome develop expressive communication — the skills used to share what we want, think or feel. Angela John Thurman, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the UC Davis MIND Institute, is leading the research. The five-year project is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. “Most children with Down syndrome have delays in developing expressive communication,” ...

Native Australian animals range from high-hopping kangaroos to fast-running emus – but clever little bettongs also have a special ability to find and eat the food they love.   Flinders University researchers have discovered the secrets behind a superpower of these tiny relatives of kangaroos which allows them to crack open seeds that would break the jaws of most animals. They hope the research will help conservation efforts, including finding suitable locations to reintroduce populations severely impacted by predation and habitat loss.   The new study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, reveals ...

The road to glory in the Australian Football League (AFL) is highly competitive, with as few as 0.01% of more than 640,000 young footballers and athletes from around Australia selected in the annual draft process.  With so many young players pinning their hopes on selection, sport experts from Flinders University have surveyed more than 400 young male Australian footballers (16-18 years old) to evaluate the psychological impact on their mental health and wellbeing during a draft selection year. In the midst of adolescence and crucial stages of life, striving to compete at these levels raises concerns for the effects on young male players, says Associate Professor ...

A significant proportion of under 5s in Nigeria may be being exposed to skin lightning products, if the results of a semi-urban community survey are indicative, suggests research published in the open access journal BMJ Open.   Most (80%) of the respondents’ children exposed to skin bleaching products were under 2 years old, and despite good knowledge of the health risks of the practice, these were trumped by aesthetic preferences for lighter skin tones, the survey responses show.   The cosmetic use of skin lightening products has become increasingly common globally, with very high ...

A new study has found African lions produce not one, but two distinct types of roars - a discovery set to transform wildlife monitoring and conservation efforts. Researchers at the University of Exeter have identified a previously unclassified “intermediary roar” alongside the famous full-throated roar. The study, published in Ecology and Evolution, used artificial intelligence to automatically differentiate between lion roars for the first time. This new approach had a 95.4 per cent accuracy and significantly reduced human bias to improve the identification of individual lions. Lead author Jonathan Growcott from the University of Exeter said: ...

A new Australian study has smashed the myth that generative AI systems such as ChatGPT could soon replace society’s most creative playwrights, authors, songwriters, artists and scriptwriters. The existing large language models (LLMs) have a built-in mathematical ceiling on their creative capacity, meaning they will never rival the originality or ingenuity of the most creative individuals. That’s the finding from creativity expert David Cropley, a Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of South Australia, whose study on the mathematical limits of generative AI has been published in the Journal ...

 Loggerhead turtles are able to sense the Earth’s magnetic field in two ways, but it wasn’t clear which sense the animals use to detect the magnetic field when navigating using the magnetic map they are born with. Now researchers from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveal in Journal of Experimental Biology that hatchling loggerhead turtles feel the Earth’s magnetic map to tell them where they are on their epic migration routes. Setting off from the beach of their birth, hatchling loggerhead turtles embark on some of the world’s most impressive migrations, covering thousands ...

Key takeaways  Smartphone stethoscopes, voice-detected heart failure, training using physical and virtual hearts, as well as early detection of cardiovascular disease using blood spots are among the innovations being presented at the first-ever ESC Digital & AI Summit.   Together with technology, healthcare, and innovation experts, the summit will address the challenges of implementing digital health solutions while maintaining ethical integrity.  Berlin, 21 November 2025: Smartphone stethoscopes, voice-detected heart failure, training using 3D-printed and virtual hearts and early detection of cardiovascular disease using blood spots are among the innovations ...

While artificial intelligence technology is increasingly being used — formally and informally — to support medical diagnoses, its utility in emergency medical settings remains an open question. Can AI support doctors in situations where split-second decision making can mean the difference between life and death? Researchers at Drexel University broached the question with clinicians at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to better understand how and when the technology ...

To take maximum advantage of the added days, months, and years people enjoy because of modern health care and healthier habits, they need to achieve competency in several areas necessary for longer lives, states a new Gerontological Society of America report, “Health and Wealth in the Era of Longevity.” The areas covered by the report include: Financial literacy: Having the knowledge, skill, and competence to make informed decisions about money, including how to earn, save, spend, borrow, and invest it effectively. Longevity literacy: Having a clear and ...

Researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for Advanced Pain Studies (CAPS) and their colleagues have made a fundamental discovery about a key mechanism that enables nervous system connections to strengthen. The findings have direct implications for better understanding the underlying biochemical mechanisms involved in learning and memory, as well as pain, said Dr. Ted Price BS’97, Ashbel Smith Professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, CAPS director and a co-corresponding author of the study published Nov. 20 in the journal Science. “This study gets to the core of how synaptic ...

A mysterious swarm of earthquakes that occurred near the Greek island of Santorini in early 2025 was caused by rebounding sheets of magma slicing through Earth’s crust, finds a new study by an international team involving a UCL (University College London) researcher. Between late January and early March, the team analysed over 25,000 earthquakes that occurred between Santorini and Amorgos Islands. Hundreds of these were large enough to be felt at the time, with magnitudes exceeding 4.5. The ...

By tracking the isotopic fingerprints of iron in lunar and terrestrial rocks, researchers trying to understand the origin of the Moon’s mysterious progenitor add evidence to the idea that it came from the inner Solar System. According to the findings, Theia – the Mars-sized planetary body that collided with Earth to form the Moon – was born possibly closer to the Sun than to Earth. The Moon is believed to have formed when Theia collided with early Earth roughly a hundred million years after the formation of the Solar System. Most models of this process suggest that the Moon is mostly ...

Recovery from deadly influenza infection may hinge on helping the lungs heal in addition to stopping the virus, according to a new study in mice, which shows that pairing modest antiviral therapies with immune modulation can restore damaged tissues and lung function, even after severe infection has taken hold. The findings offer a foundation for future clinical strategies to improve outcomes in severe acute respiratory disease once standard treatments are no longer sufficient. Despite the availability of vaccines and antiviral ...

The massive swarm of earthquakes that rattled the Greek islands of Santorini and Amorgos in 2025 was not caused by a slipping fault – it was triggered by pulses of magma tunneling far below the seafloor, according to a new study. The findings offer a detailed look at a “pumping” magmatic dike in action and provide a foundation for more reliable, physics-based eruption forecasting and volcanic hazard assessment. In early 2025, a burst of intense earthquakes – including several around magnitude 5 – shook the region between the islands of Santorini and Amorgos in the Aegean Sea. Because Santorini is an active volcano with a history of catastrophic eruptions, ...

A toxin-secreting gut bacterium may fuel ulcerative colitis by killing protective immune cells that maintain intestinal homeostasis, according to a new study. The findings suggest potential for new treatment strategies. Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease affecting millions of people worldwide in which the body’s immune system attacks the digestive tract, often causing severe and recurring symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, and intestinal bleeding. Although the underlying causes of UC remain ...

A new Science paper challenges the idea that language stems from a single evolutionary root. Instead, it proposes that our ability to communicate evolved through the interaction of biology and culture, and involves multiple capacities, each with different evolutionary histories. The framework unites discoveries across disciplines to explain how the ability to learn to speak, develop grammar, and share meaning converged to create complex communication. For centuries, philosophers and scientists have wrestled with understanding how human language came about. Language defines us as ...

Researchers in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School have just opened a new window into understanding the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The work not only reveals principles of evolutionary biology but also suggests a new strategy to combat the antibiotic resistance crisis, which kills an estimated 1.3 million people per year worldwide. Findings, supported in part by federal funding, are published Nov. 20 in Science. Members of the labs of Michael Baym, associate professor ...