As animals experience new things, the connections between neurons, called synapses, strengthen or weaken in response to events and the activity they cause in the brain. Neuroscientists believe that synaptic plasticity, as these changes are called, plays an important role in storing memories. However, the rules governing when and how much synapses change are not well understood. The traditional view is that the more two neurons fire together, the stronger their connection becomes; when they fire separately, their connection weakens. New research ...

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) and collaborators have discovered a groundbreaking way to control superconductivity—an essential phenomenon for developing more energy-efficient technologies and quantum computing—by simply twisting atomically thin layers within a layered device. By adjusting the twist angle, they were able to finely tune the “superconducting gap,” which plays a key role in the behavior of these materials. The research was published in Nature Physics. The superconducting gap is the energy threshold required to break apart Cooper pairs—bound electron pairs that enable superconductivity at low temperatures. ...

New Haven, Conn. — Advances in the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 over the past 15 years have yielded important new insights into the roles that specific genes play in many diseases. But to date this technology — which allows scientists to use a “guide” RNA to modify DNA sequences and evaluate the effects — is able to target, delete, replace, or modify only single gene sequences with a single guide RNA and has limited ability to assess multiple genetic changes simultaneously. Now, however, Yale scientists have developed a series of sophisticated mouse models using CRISPR (“clustered regularly ...

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) released a new clinical guideline making no recommendation — for or against — the use of computer-aided detection systems (CADe) in colonoscopy. A rigorous review of evidence showed that artificial intelligence-assisted technology helps identify colorectal polyps. However, its impact on preventing colorectal cancer — the third most common cancer worldwide — remains unclear.  Colonoscopy, performed more than 15 million times annually in the U.S., is an effective tool for detecting and preventing colorectal cancer. CADe systems have been shown to improve polyp detection ...

For the first time scientists have identified promising drug candidates that bind irreversibly with a notoriously “undruggable” cancer protein target, permanently blocking it. Transcription factors are proteins that act as ‘master switches’ of gene activity and play a key role in cancer development. Attempts over the years to design “small molecule” drugs that block them have been largely unsuccessful, so in recent years scientists have explored using peptides – small protein fragments – to block these “undruggable” targets. Now researchers from the University of Bath have for ...

[Vienna, 19.03.2025]—Between April 2020 and December 2022, over 535,000 people in Germany downloaded and activated the Corona Data Donation App (CDA). Of these, more than 120,000 voluntarily shared daily data from their smartwatches and fitness trackers with researchers, providing insights into vital functions such as resting heart rate and step count. “These high-resolution data served as the starting point for our study,” explains CSH researcher Katharina Ledebur. “We were able to compare vital signs in 15-minute intervals before, during, and after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.” Higher Resting Heart Rate ...

Imagine looking at the world through the stalked compound eyes of krill in the Southern Ocean. All of a sudden, a penguin appears like a voracious giant, streamlined like a torpedo, chasing and consuming thousands of krill at rapid speed. Now, researchers have shown that the water-borne smell of the poo of these flightless birds is enough to cause the krill to show escape behaviors. “Here we show for the first time that a small amount of penguin guano causes a sudden change in the feeding and swimming behaviors of Antarctic krill,” said Dr Nicole ...

Quantum gravity is the missing link between general relativity and quantum mechanics, the yet-to-be-discovered key to a unified theory capable of explaining both the infinitely large and the infinitely small. The solution to this puzzle might lie in the humble neutrino, an elementary particle with no electric charge and almost invisible, as it rarely interacts with matter, passing through everything on our planet without consequences. For this very reason, neutrinos are difficult to detect. However, in rare cases, ...

The parts of the brain that are needed to remember words, and how these are affected by a common form of epilepsy, have been identified by a team of neurologists and neurosurgeons at UCL. The new study, published in Brain Communications, found that shrinkage in the front and side of the brain (prefrontal, temporal and cingulate cortices, and the hippocampus) was linked to difficulty remembering words. The new discovery highlights how the network that is involved in creating and storing word memories is dispersed throughout the brain. This is particularly crucial for helping to understand conditions such as epilepsy, in which patients may have difficulty with remembering words. ...

An experimental drug appears to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s-related dementia in people destined to develop the disease in their 30s, 40s or 50s, according to the results of a study led by the Knight Family Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network-Trials Unit (DIAN-TU), which is based at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest – for the first time in a clinical trial – that early treatment to remove amyloid plaques from the brain many years before symptoms arise can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia. The study is published March 19 in The Lancet Neurology. The international study ...

UCL Press Release Under embargo until Thursday 20th March, 00:01 UK time / Wednesday 19th March, 20:01 Eastern US time Not peer reviewed | Literature review & data analysis | People   People who share more mealtimes with others are more likely to report higher levels of life satisfaction and wellbeing, finds research led by a UCL academic for the World Happiness Report. In chapter three of the report, Sharing Meals with Others, the researchers from UCL, University of Oxford, Harvard University and Gallup found that meal sharing as an indicator ...

A new analysis of data collected over three years by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration provides even stronger evidence than the group’s previous datasets that dark energy, long thought to be a “cosmological constant,” might be evolving over time in unexpected ways. Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki, professor of physics at The University of Texas at Dallas, is co-chair of the DESI working group that interprets cosmological survey data gathered by the international collaboration, which includes more than 900 researchers ...

The fate of the universe hinges on the balance between matter and dark energy: the fundamental ingredient that drives its accelerating expansion. New results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration use the largest 3D map of our universe ever made to track dark energy’s influence over the past 11 billion years. Researchers see hints that dark energy, widely thought to be a “cosmological constant,” might be evolving over time in unexpected ways. DESI is an international experiment with more than 900 researchers from over 70 institutions around the world and is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley ...

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is mapping millions of celestial objects to better understand dark energy: the mysterious driver of our universe’s accelerating expansion. Today, the DESI collaboration released a new collection of data for anyone in the world to investigate. The dataset is the largest of its kind, with information on 18.7 million objects: roughly 4 million stars, 13.1 million galaxies, and 1.6 million quasars (extremely bright but distant objects powered by supermassive black holes at their cores).  While the experiment’s ...

A recent study conducted by researchers from Arizona State University has uncovered alarming levels of Fusarium mycotoxins in illicit cannabis samples seized in Arizona and California.   The study found that 16% of the 118 samples tested positive for harmful mycotoxins, posing potential health risks to consumers. This groundbreaking research highlights the unregulated and dangerous nature of black-market cannabis.   The study, led by Arizona State University professor Maxwell Leung, analyzed cannabis samples obtained between November 2023 and June 2024 from law enforcement seizures. The samples ...

MINNEAPOLIS — For women in their 80s, experiencing increasing sleepiness during the day over a five-year period is associated with double the risk of developing dementia during that time, according to a study published on March 19, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that daytime sleepiness causes dementia; it only shows an association. “Sleep is essential for cognitive health, as it allows the brain to rest and rejuvenate, enhancing our ability to think clearly and remember information,” said study author Yue Leng, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco. “However, ...

A study in Neurology, led by Yue Leng, PhD, and Sasha Milton, followed the sleep patterns of 733 older female participants to see if specific patterns of change were associated with a higher risk of dementia. The participants, whose average age was 83, were monitored by wrist devices that track movement and time spent asleep. They had normal cognition at the start of the study. What They Discovered  At the end of the study, five years later, 13% had developed dementia. This included 25 participants (8%) with stable sleep patterns, 39 (15%) ...

Scientists from South Africa and China have successfully established the world’s longest intercontinental ultra-secure quantum satellite link, spanning 12,900 km. Using the Chinese quantum microsatellite Jinan-1, launched into low Earth orbit, this milestone marks the first-ever quantum satellite communication link established in the Southern Hemisphere. In this demonstration, quantum keys were generated in real-time through Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), enabling the secure encryption of images transmitted between ground stations in China and South Africa via one-time pad encryption—considered unbreakable. The results from this pioneering ...

A joint research team from Southeast University and Shenzhen University has developed a novel function of semiconductor-ionic conductor (SIC) using a Cu-Sm co-doping ceria (SCDC). By enhancing ionic and electronic conductivity in the same time, the team is able to achieve superionic transport property and excellent fuel cell performance using the SIC electrolyte. It changes traditional pure ionic electrolyte to SIC with strong electron-ion coupling synergistic effect to obtain exceptional ionic conductivity and fuel cell performance. This study leads to a new way to develop advanced electrolytes and fuel cells in energy conversion technologies. Ceramic ...

NEW YORK, March 19, 2025 – Imagine a world where your phone stays cool no matter how long you use it, and it’s also equipped with tiny sensors that can identify dangerous chemicals or pollutants with unparalleled sensitivity and precision. Newly published research in the journal Nature demonstrates a new way of generating long-wave infrared and terahertz waves, which is an important step toward creating materials that can help realize these technological advances. The work, led by researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) paves the way for cheaper, smaller long-wave infrared light sources and more efficient device cooling. Phonon-polaritons ...

A team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) led by Dr. Andrés Hidalgo has discovered a specialized population of neutrophils in the skin that produce extracellular matrix, helping to maintain the skin’s resistance and integrity. The study, published in Nature, demonstrates that the immune system not only targets pathogens, but also physically strengthens the skin to prevent them entering the body. Neutrophils are an important type of circulating immune cell. The specialized neutrophils described ...

A new study explains how a parakeet’s brain helps it to mimic human words. By recording for the first time the brain activity of parakeets as they made sounds, a research team at NYU Grossman School of Medicine found that their brains generate patterns seen before only in humans as they speak.  Published online March 19 in the journal Nature, the study mapped the activity of a group of nerve cells in the bird’s brain called the central nucleus of the anterior arcopallium (AAC), which is known to strongly influence the muscles in its vocal ...

By revealing for the first time what happens in the brain when an animal makes a mistake, Johns Hopkins University researchers are shedding light on the holy grail of neuroscience: the mechanics of how we learn. The team pinpointed the exact moment mice learned a new skill by observing the activity of individual neurons, confirming earlier work that suggested animals are fast learners that purposely test the boundaries of new knowledge. The federally funded work, which upends assumptions about the speed of learning and the role of the sensory cortex, and which the researchers believe will hold true across animal ...

For the first time, scientists have witnessed the very moment DNA begins to unravel, revealing a necessary molecular event for DNA to be the molecule that codes all life. A new study from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), published in Nature, captures the moment DNA begins to unwind, allowing for all the events that follow in DNA replication. This direct observation sheds light on the fundamental mechanisms that allow cells to faithfully duplicate their genetic material, a cornerstone for growth and reproduction.  Using cryo-electron microscopy and deep learning to observe the helicase ...

For the first time, scientists have systematically analysed somatic mutations in stomach lining tissue to unpick mutational processes, some of which can lead to cancer. The team also uncovered hints of a potential new cause of stomach cancer that needs further research. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the University of Hong Kong, and their collaborators sequenced the whole genomes of normal stomach lining samples from people with and without gastric cancer. The team ...