Many animals, including humans, can flexibly modulate their responsiveness to sounds according to different situations. This ability allows them to optimize the use of their limited brain resources by prioritizing the processing of critical information at any given moment. In line with this idea, a research team at Nagoya University in Japan has demonstrated that when female fruit flies are eager to mate, dopaminergic signals can influence their sensitivity to sounds, including courtship sounds from males, which are an essential source of information for species reproduction. "We believe that this finding is the first step toward understanding the neural mechanisms that underlie ...

Large ocean animals can be protected throughout much of their lifecycle by huge Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), new research shows. Scientists tracked sea turtles, manta rays and seabirds – all of which travel far and wide to forage, breed and migrate – in the Chagos Archipelago MPA in the Indian Ocean. In total, 95% of tracking locations were recorded inside the MPA’s 640,000 square kilometre area – suggesting it is large enough to protect these wandering animals. The study – by a team including Exeter and Heriot-Watt universities and ZSL – also assessed the impact of a smaller 100,000 square kilometre MPA and found seabirds would be less well protected ...

Up to 60% of women experience some fear about giving birth, especially for the first time, but a new study shows why some women are more likely to stay calm and confident in the lead-up to childbirth. In a global first, researchers from Robert Gordon University in Scotland and the University of South Australia (UniSA) investigated the factors that help ease childbirth fears, rather than stoke them. They surveyed 88 pregnant women in their third trimester before attending antenatal classes in north-east ...

Link to video and sound (details below): https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/YDQA0P5cJ7 New study links 2023 Maui wildfire to spike in suicide, overdose Deaths by suicide and drug overdose significantly increased in the aftermath of the August 2023 Maui wildfire, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study, led by Alex Ortega, dean of the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, and Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, chair of the Department of ...

Niigata, Japan – A group led by the Department of Cell Biology at the Kidney Research Center, Niigata University revealed that elevated activity of cdc42 is a critical initiation event leading to proteinuria, and proposed that suppression of cdc42 activity could be a promising therapy for nephrotic syndrome. Glomerulus is a filtration unit of the kidney, and the glomerular capillary wall functions as a barrier, preventing the leak of plasma protein into urine. Proteinuria is a clinical symptom showing dysfunction of the barrier of glomerular capillary wall, and is an aggravating factor leading to kidney failure. Besides, ...

Sophia Antipolis, France: Analysis of over 36,000 people with high blood pressure has shown that taking more steps, even below the recommended daily target of 10,000 steps, and walking faster, is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of major problems of the heart and blood vessels.  The study, published today (Thursday) in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, found that compared to a daily step count of 2,300 steps, every extra 1,000 steps was linked to a 17% reduction in the risk of developing a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), up to 10,000 steps. Additional ...

In a discovery that could broaden access to next-generation biologic medicines and vaccines, researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have engineered polymer-based nanoparticles that form with a simple temperature shift—no harsh chemicals, no specialized equipment, and no processing needed.  The new nanoparticles, described in Nature Biomedical Engineering, self-assemble at room-temperature in water and, because of these gentle conditions, can deliver proteins, which are unstable in many existing nanoparticle ...

If you’ve interacted with an artificial intelligence chatbot, you’ve likely realized that all AI models are biased. They were trained on enormous corpuses of unruly data and refined through human instructions and testing. Bias can seep in anywhere. Yet how a system’s biases can affect users is less clear. So a University of Washington study put it to the test. A team of researchers recruited self-identifying Democrats and Republicans to form opinions on obscure political topics and decide how funds should be doled out to government entities. For help, they were ...

Embargoed for release: Wednesday, August 6, 6:30 PM ET Key points: In a study that tracked the diets of more than 205,000 adults over decades, three servings weekly of French fries was associated with a 20% excess risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). There was no significant association between consumption of baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes and risk of diabetes. However, swapping any form of potatoes for whole grains was estimated to lower T2D risk. The study offers the most comprehensive findings on potatoes and T2D risk to date. Prior studies have ...

Eating three servings of French fries a week is associated with a 20% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but eating similar amounts of potatoes cooked in other ways - boiled, baked or mashed - does not substantially increase the risk, finds a study published by The BMJ today.  What’s more, replacing any form of potatoes with whole grains was associated with a lower type 2 diabetes risk, but swapping them for white rice was linked to an increased risk, the results show. Potatoes contain several nutrients including fibre, vitamin C, and magnesium, but they also have a high starch content and therefore a high glycemic index, so have been linked to a ...

Experts are calling for a global effort to identify “positive tipping points” to accelerate the green transition – and have devised a method to find them. A tipping point is a threshold where a small change can trigger a significant, often irreversible, transformation. With climate change becoming increasingly damaging and dangerous, positive tipping points in human societies and economies can spark rapid reductions in emissions and other environmental harm. Positive tipping points are already happening – with solar power and electric vehicles rapidly displacing fossil-fuelled alternatives – but many more are needed to ensure a thriving, sustainable ...

Of 1.7 million referrals for therapy in 2022-23, more than 1 million people dropped out before starting or during their therapy. This represents a dropout rate of over 60%. Many patients report worries about therapy, uncertainty about the process, and ill-preparedness for the journey ahead as to why they didn’t engage.  Using the scientific Delphi Consensus approach with 41 therapists, researchers from Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, have published a report in BMJ Open listing recommendations for things people should know, and steps they can try, while awaiting therapy ...

Even if enough renewable energy is available, simply switching from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles (EVs) won’t be enough to fight climate change — unless the U.S. also upgrades its transmission grid, a new Northwestern University study finds. If every gas-powered vehicle in the U.S. were replaced by an EV, transmission constraints would prevent the cleanest available electricity from reaching many charging locations. This “grid congestion” would force greater reliance on nearby fossil fuel power plants, undercutting the emissions benefits of electrification. After identifying the issue, the study also recommends a modest set of targeted ...

While overdose deaths in the U.S. sharply declined in 2024, they remain high. Almost 90,000 Americans died from drug overdoses between October 2023 and September 2024. Overdose death rates are particularly high in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people. The earlier someone starts substance use, the more likely they are to have substance use problems later in life. So, it is important to work with young people to prevent substance use early in life. Researchers at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health recently partnered ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have found that better access to technology can go a long way toward achieving equity in healthcare for African Americans in the United States. According to Sharon Tettegah and Ebenezer Larnyo, both researchers at UCSB’s Center for Black Studies Research (CBSR), leveraging health technology is a promising strategy for addressing longstanding healthcare disparities “by enhancing access to care, improving its quality and reducing inequities.” “Our study shows that improving access to technology like broadband internet and smartphones, and healthcare technology use like ...

The study examined over a thousand women aged 18 to 49. Of these, 358 had suffered an ischemic stroke. Researchers compared the pregnancy histories of these women with those of 714 women who had not experienced a stroke. The results showed that more than half of the women who had an ischemic stroke had experienced at least one complication during pregnancy. In the group without ischemic stroke, this was one-third.    Women who had experienced a stillbirth were found to be nearly five times more likely to ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS – Experiencing complications during pregnancy is linked with a higher risk of stroke before age 50, according to a study published August 6, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers found female participants who had certain pregnancy complications were more likely to have an early stroke. These included preeclampsia, preterm birth, gestational diabetes, miscarriage and stillbirth. The study does not prove that pregnancy complications cause stroke. It only shows an association. “While the ...

CHICAGO – Older patients whose primary language is not English may be at greater risk for delirium after surgery in American hospitals. People who struggle with food insecurity or loneliness may be more likely to experience chronic pain after surgery. Fentanyl overdose deaths in older adults are rising at similar rates to younger people. When anesthesiologists lead preoperative care for hip fractures, patients get to the operating room faster and recover better. These findings and other timely research ...

Captive cockatoos have at least 30 different dance moves in their repertoire, including headbanging and body rolls, according to a study by Natasha Lubke at Charles Sturt University in Australia, and colleagues, publishing August 6, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One. The moves, of which 17 are newly identified, may be performed with or without music. Several species of parrot have been anecdotally observed dancing to music in captivity. Dancing results from complex brain processes including imitation, ...

A new analysis of data on scientists with exceptional early-career success—according to a metric known as citation impact—has identified common characteristics among them, some of which could also be indicators of problematic or fraudulent behaviors. John Ioannidis of Stanford University, U.S., presents these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on August 6, 2025. Citation impact reflects a scientist’s overall influence in their field, which depends, in part, on the number of ...

Adolescent girls who have weight concerns despite not being obese are more likely to also experience depression and suicidality, per Korean survey of more than 50,000 middle and high school students Article URL: http://plos.io/4m9mewW Article title: Sex differences in the association of BMI and weight perception with depression and suicidality among Korean adolescents Author countries: Republic of Korea Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Two-thirds of dogs tested in a recent survey consume higher-than-recommended levels of heavy metals in their drinking water, according to a study published August 6, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS Water by Audrey Ruple from Virginia Tech, U.S., and colleagues. The survey, which focused on well water households in 10 states, uncovered 13 instances where arsenic, lead and copper tested above EPA-recommended levels.  Roughly 15 million U.S. households use private well water and are not protected by the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act, which regulates safety testing in drinking water. These households — and the canine companions inside — ...

Analysis of ocean sediments has surfaced geochemical clues in line with the possibility that an encounter with a disintegrating comet 12,800 years ago in the Northern Hemisphere triggered rapid cooling of Earth’s air and ocean. Christopher Moore of the University of South Carolina, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on August 6, 2025. During the abrupt cool-off—the Younger Dryas event—temperatures dropped about 10 degrees Celsius in a year or less, with cooler temperatures lasting about 1,200 years. Many researchers believe that no comet was ...

August 6, 2025        Waiting in Line: Why Six Feet of Social Distancing May Not Be Enough Study, led by undergraduate physics majors at UMass Amherst and researchers at University of Cadiz, sharpens our understanding of how airborne-communicable diseases travel   AMHERST, Mass. – We all remember the advice frequently repeated during the COVID pandemic: maintain six feet of distance from every other human when waiting in a line to avoid transmitting the virus. While reasonable, the advice did not take into account the complicated fluid dynamics governing how the airborne particles ...

Dogs drink water wherever they happen to find it — a puddle, a pond, a toilet. But the stuff in their actual water bowls almost always comes from the same tap their owners use. When that water is contaminated, both dogs and humans may suffer. The risk is especially high for the 15 million American households that rely on private wells, according to a new Virginia Tech study in the journal PLOS Water. In dog drinking water sampled from wells across the country, 64 percent contained excessive levels of at least one potentially toxic heavy metal, such as lead, iron, sulfur, or arsenic.  Whatever’s ...