The press release
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Science19 Mar 2026

Cerebrovascular lesions in down syndrome do not follow a linear course

What has long been interpreted as permanent and irreversible vascular damage may not be exclusively so. In people with Down syndrome—one of the most robust populations for studying Alzheimer’s disease due to the near-universal presence of the characteristic proteinopathies of this dementia from the age of 40—some lesions visible on magnetic resonance imaging do not follow a linear course. A longitudinal study from the Institut de Recerca Sant Pau (IR Sant Pau), published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, shows that these alterations can fluctuate and even decrease over time in the Down syndrome population. This is especially true once the clinical symptoms ...

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Medicine19 Mar 2026

TU Graz presents neuroadaptive VR system for the treatment of arachnophobia

Researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have developed a novel virtual reality (VR) system that could make the treatment of arachnophobia, also known as spider phobia, more targeted and personalised in the future. The “VRSpi” system is a prototype which analyses the EEG data and heart rate of the participants during a confrontation with spiders in a VR environment. Based on this objective measurement data, it adjusts the intensity of the stimuli in real time to the person’s current level of anxiety. This avoids over- or under-stimulation and optimises ...

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Engineering19 Mar 2026

Turning sawdust into fire-resistant materials

Every time a tree trunk is sawn, it creates sawdust. Millions of tonnes of sawdust are produced every year worldwide, with most of it is burned to generate energy. This releases the carbon dioxide stored in the wood back into the atmosphere – which is not ideal from an environmental perspective. Now, a team of researchers at the Chair of Wood Materials Science at ETH Zurich and Empa has developed a process that can convert sawdust into a recyclable and environmentally friendly composite using the mineral struvite, a crystalline, colourless ammonium magnesium phosphate. This, in turn, keeps the sawdust in the material cycle for longer. Struvite has ...

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Medicine19 Mar 2026

European Psychiatric Association rolls out landmark action plan to modernize care and protect vulnerable mental health communities across Europe

Thursday, 19 March 2026 – Today, the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) announces the move into full implementation of the 2026 Presidential Task Forces of its Action Plan, from protecting vulnerable groups to accelerating precision psychiatry, under President Professor Andrea Fiorillo. The Plan underpins the scientific sessions of the upcoming 34th European Congress of Psychiatry, held 28–31 March in Prague, marking the first congress of Professor Fiorillo’s presidency. The ...

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Science19 Mar 2026

Direct nervous system link promises more natural leg prostheses

A research team led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has, for the first time, successfully decoded leg movements directly from the remaining nerves in people with above-knee amputations. Using novel implantable neurotechnology and an AI method based on the nervous system’s own “language”, the researchers could do what was previously impossible and interpret detailed movements – even the will to wiggle toes. This technology opens the way to future leg prostheses that feel and act more like a natural part of the body. Helping amputees regain a functional and independent ...

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Science19 Mar 2026

John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research awarded to Dr. Ludwig Kappos for his transformative contributions to MS research

Ludwig Kappos, MD, a leading physician-scientist at the University Hospital Basel in Basel, Switzerland has been awarded the 2026 John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research – one of the field’s highest honors. Dr. Kappos serves as director of the Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel and has played a central role in advancing MS research and treatment over the past several decades. Dr. Kappos will deliver the Dystel Prize lecture and formally receive the award at the ...

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Energy19 Mar 2026

Lead-free thin films turn everyday vibrations into electricity

Powerful electronics don’t have to come at an environmental cost. Scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed high-performance, lead-free piezoelectric thin films directly on standard silicon wafers. Their results mark a significant step toward production of environmentally friendly energy-harvesting devices that are compatible with conventional semiconductor manufacturing. Piezoelectric materials generate electric charge from mechanical stress and deform when exposed to an electric field. These materials are common, present for example in ...

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Science19 Mar 2026

England's 5-billion-litre water gap will not close by telling people to use less

A report drawing on input from 100+ UK water professionals finds that showering, toilet flushing, and leak reporting are the top behavior change targets - but the sector invests too little in understanding why people do these things the way they do.

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Science19 Mar 2026

Ten years of Japanese baseball data settle the designated hitter debate - sort of

Analyzing a decade of Japanese Pacific League data, researchers found that the designated hitter system does not change whether better teams win - it only changes how rosters are built. The finding arrives as Japan's Central League prepares to adopt the DH in 2027.

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Technology19 Mar 2026

How do you reconstruct rules for a game nobody has played in 1,500 years? Let AI figure it out

An international team used AI to simulate hundreds of rule sets on a mysterious Roman-era limestone board from the Netherlands, matching wear patterns to identify it as a blocking-style strategy game - pushing the genre's known history back by centuries.

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Science19 Mar 2026

A ruthenium trick keeps seawater electrolysis anodes running for over 2,000 hours

Researchers at the Ningbo Institute developed a ruthenium-stabilized nickel-iron anode that survives over 2,000 hours in chloride-rich conditions, where conventional anodes fail within 15 hours, bringing seawater hydrogen production closer to industrial reality.

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Technology19 Mar 2026

Terahertz waves can now see electrical activity inside sealed chips - without touching them

Researchers have used terahertz waves to detect electrical activity inside fully packaged semiconductor devices without physical contact, disassembly, or powering down - a first that could transform how we test and monitor electronic chips.

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Medicine19 Mar 2026

Semaglutide users showed 42% fewer psychiatric hospitalizations in a study of nearly 100,000 people

A study tracking nearly 100,000 people through Swedish national registers found that semaglutide use was associated with 42% fewer psychiatric hospitalizations, 44% lower depression-related care, and 38% lower anxiety-related care compared to periods without GLP-1 medication.

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Medicine19 Mar 2026

A standardized medication algorithm cut strokes and heart attacks across California's largest public health system

A systemwide medication algorithm deployed across all six University of California medical centers improved blood pressure control for 90,000 patients, translating to an estimated 72 strokes, 48 heart attacks, and 38 deaths prevented in just two years.

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Science19 Mar 2026

Free bets are not free: first causal evidence links gambling marketing to real harm

A randomized trial of 227 Australian gamblers provides the first causal evidence that direct marketing from betting companies increases both spending and gambling-related harm, with those receiving offers reporting 67% more short-term negative effects.

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Social Science19 Mar 2026

Cockapoos top the list: designer crossbreeds show more problem behaviors than purebred parents

A UK study of cockapoos, cavapoos, and labradoodles found that all three designer crossbreeds showed more undesirable behaviors than at least one of their purebred parent breeds, with cockapoos scoring worst in 16 of 24 behavioral comparisons.

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Science19 Mar 2026

When chess was the great equalizer: how a medieval board game defied racial hierarchies

Medieval chess created a rare social space where intellectual prowess mattered more than race or status. A Cambridge study of manuscripts from Spain to Persia shows players of all backgrounds depicted as equals across the board.

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Science18 Mar 2026

The world has a plan to save insects - but almost no way to tell if it is working

A global study finds that 23 UN biodiversity targets could help reverse insect decline, but current monitoring tools cannot detect changes in insect populations. Researchers propose AI cameras, weather radar, and citizen science to close the gap.

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Science18 Mar 2026

Taller East Asians face higher genetic risk of atrial fibrillation and endometriosis

A genome-wide analysis of more than 120,000 East Asian individuals found that genetic variants associated with greater height also increase the risk of atrial fibrillation and endometriosis, suggesting height-based polygenic scores could aid early risk screening.

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Medicine18 Mar 2026

How do you build a sensor that blood cannot clog? Copy a cell

A cell-inspired sensor using lubricin coating and SERS detection tracked the antibiotic vancomycin in unprocessed blood for over 10 hours without fouling - a world first that could enable real-time drug monitoring in critical care.

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Technology18 Mar 2026

A back-correction algorithm fixes the rainfall problem that plagues water models worldwide

An international research team developed a stepwise back-correction algorithm that dynamically adjusts rainfall data in hydrological models, improving accuracy by up to 18% across watersheds in Illinois, Colombia, and Brazil.

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Science18 Mar 2026

Losing financial stability in older age accelerates memory decline by five months per year

A study of 7,676 adults over age 50 found that significant financial deterioration was linked to memory decline equivalent to roughly five extra months of aging per year, while financial improvement did not consistently protect cognition.

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Medicine18 Mar 2026

Blocking one protein makes invisible HPV cancers suddenly vulnerable to immunotherapy

Michigan State University researchers discovered that HPV-positive head and neck cancers use a protein called MARCHF8 to destroy immune-signaling molecules, hiding tumors from the body's defenses. Knocking out MARCHF8 made previously untreatable tumors respond to immunotherapy.

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Medicine18 Mar 2026

Type 1 diabetes nearly triples dementia risk - a finding that surprised even researchers

People with type 1 diabetes were nearly three times as likely to develop dementia as those without diabetes, exceeding even the twofold risk seen in type 2 diabetes, according to a study of 283,772 people published in Neurology.

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Technology18 Mar 2026

Why AI keeps failing at work - and what 'cognitive alignment' could fix

New research published in the Academy of Management journal proposes that effective human-AI collaboration requires 'hybrid cognitive alignment' - a gradual process where people and machines develop shared expectations about roles, capabilities, and trust.

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