WASHINGTON — In a new study, researchers carried out the most extensive coordinated comparison of optical clocks to date by operating clocks and the links connecting them simultaneously across six countries. Spanning thousands of kilometers, the experiment represents a significant step toward redefining the second and ultimately establishing a global optical time scale. “The accurate time and frequency signals provided by atomic clocks are essential for many everyday technologies — like GPS, managing power grids and keeping financial transactions in sync,” said  Helen Margolis, head of time and frequency ...

A third of the world’s population struggles with water scarcity. In many of these areas, fog holds water that could provide a lifeline — if only it could be captured. Harvesting that water more efficiently has become the work of researchers from two colleges at Virginia Tech, who recently improved on their original fog harp design with a model that more closely resembles another musical instrument: a guitar. Their latest findings have been published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Harvesting water from resources such as fog is not a new idea. Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient ...

We live in the age of -omics. We have genomics to study complete sets of DNA. We have proteomics focused on all the proteins within our cells. And we have metabolomics for metabolites like sugars and lipids. Despite their massive reach and intense focus, these fields have blind spots. They’re both in the margins and all around us. Today, we know we’re as much a product of our surroundings as our genetics. The question then becomes, “How do we measure the impacts of all these external factors in conjunction with one another—and with the biology ...

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 313,780 cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2025, resulting in approximately 35,770 deaths. Bone metastasis — a stage of prostate cancer where the disease spreads to the bones — is the leading cause of prostate cancer-related death and currently remains incurable. “This stage of prostate cancer is devastating to the patient, as it often affects the bones of the spine, resulting in severe pain from fractures and spinal cord compression, along with significant neurological and functional disabilities,” Srinivas Nandana, Ph.D., ...

Scientists with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have created an engineered model of the supportive tissue found within a lymph node to study human health.   Working with scientists at the University of Virginia, the researchers are building a bioengineered model of a human lymph node, which performs essential roles in the immune system throughout the body.  The goal of the research, which published in April in APL Bioengineering, is to provide scientists with a model that accurately mirrors dynamic fluid flow — a natural part of how lymph nodes ...

The MIT Press is proud to announce that it will be adding Goldsmiths Press books to its open access platform, Direct to Open (D2O), starting in 2026. The partnership expands the offerings freely available through D2O, and furthers both press’ missions in building a more open and accessible future for academic publishing. Launched in 2021, D2O is the MIT Press’s bold, innovative framework for open access monographs that shifts publishing from a solely market-based purchase model where individuals and libraries buy single ...

Getting used to carbon monoxide T. kivui grows at high temperatures and is able to produce organic substances from simple molecules such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen. These properties can be used to utilize the bacterium in connection with biomass gasification plants, for example, in order to valorlize synthesis gas produced there from waste biomass such as agricultural residues or wood waste. For example, T. kivui can be used to sustainably produce acetic acid through gas fermentation and, after appropriate genetic modification, ethanol or isopropanol – raw materials ...

The architecture and processes underlying visual word recognition represent some of the most intricate systems in human cognition. The seemingly simple act of reading a word involves not only a complex interplay between cognitive layers but also relationships between the word’s spelling, phonology, and meaning. Over time, research has revealed that our mental systems rely on specific, consistent mappings between these properties to perform fast and accurate word recognition.   In particular, multiple studies have shown that orthographic-semantic ...

Since the time of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, cancer has been recognized as being sensitive to heat. Today, this principle forms the basis of hyperthermia treatment—a promising cancer therapy that uses controlled heat to kill tumor cells while sparing healthy ones. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, hyperthermia works by heating cancerous tissue to temperatures around 50 °C, causing cancer cell death while simultaneously activating the body's immune system against the tumor. This approach holds particular ...

Hyponatremia, or low blood sodium concentration, is typically viewed as a symptomless condition—until recently. A research team led by Professor Yoshihisa Sugimura, including Dr. Haruki Fujisawa, Professor Atsushi Suzuki, Professor Tsuyoshi Miyakawa, and Professor Akihiro Mouri, from Fujita Health University, Japan, has demonstrated that chronic hyponatremia (CHN) can directly cause anxiety-like behaviors in mice by disrupting key neurotransmitters in the brain. Their findings, published online in the journal Molecular Neurobiology on May 14, 2025, reveal that CHN alters monoaminergic signaling in the amygdala, a brain region ...

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, the world urgently needs clean and renewable energy sources. Hydrogen is one such clean energy source that has zero carbon content and stores much more energy by weight than gasoline. One promising method to produce hydrogen is electrochemical water-splitting, a process that uses electricity to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen. In combination with renewable energy sources, this method offers a sustainable way to produce hydrogen and can contribute ...

A rich and varied mix of microbes in the mouth, particularly bacteria, is not only important for our oral health, but may hold clues for other conditions. A new study led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing finds that a lower diversity of microbes in the mouth is associated with depression. The mouth is home to between 500 billion and 1 trillion bacteria—the second-largest community of microorganisms in our bodies, after the gut. A growing number of studies point to the connection between the oral microbiome and our overall health, from diabetes to dementia, a relationship thought to be driven by inflammation and disruptions to the immune system. A recent ...

“China virus”, the Chinese virus — at the start of the 2020 pandemic, you likely often encountered this epithet in the media. The use of geographically-based labels to define the disease (COVID-19) and the virus causing it (SARS-CoV-2) had significant consequences on public opinion, fueling and amplifying — sometimes with very serious outcomes — prejudices against specific people and countries, accused of having a causal role in spreading the contagion. The neutral designation COVID-19, proposed for the disease by the WHO in mid-February 2020, was quickly adopted globally. However, ...

Thanks to lab-grown miniature intestines, researchers at Uppsala University have successfully mapped how aggressive Shigella bacteria infect the human gut. The study opens the door to using cultured human mini-organs to investigate a wide range of other serious infections.  Understanding how human-specific bacteria make us sick is challenging, as laboratory animals rarely reflect human physiology. In a new study published in Nature Genetics, researchers show that it is now possible to use cultured mini-organs to map how bacteria colonise the human intestinal mucosa. The team focused specifically on Shigella, a bacterium that causes severe ...

  New Danish research reveals ocean currents as a major source of mercury contamination in the Arctic Despite global reductions in mercury emissions, mercury concentrations in Arctic wildlife continue to rise. A new study published in Nature Communications by researchers from Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen reveals that ocean currents may be transporting legacy mercury pollution to the Arctic—posing a long-term threat to ecosystems and human health. “We’ve ...

Using advanced single-nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) and a widely used preclinical model for Alzheimer’s disease, researchers from Mass General Brigham and collaborators at SUNY Upstate Medical University have identified specific brain cell types that responded most to exercise. These findings, which were validated in samples from people, shed light on the connection between exercise and brain health and point to future drug targets. Results are published in Nature Neuroscience.  “While we’ve long known that exercise helps protect ...

Barcelona, Spain - 12 June 2025 - The EBMT, the EHA, and the GoCART Coalition proudly announce the release of the second edition of the EU CAR-T Handbook, a comprehensive, open-access resource covering the latest developments in CAR-T cell therapies. This updated edition provides expanded insights into scientific advances, clinical applications, and evolving regulatory frameworks. Developed with contributions from leading experts in academia and industry, the new edition includes approximately 50% more chapters than the first and offers ...

About The Study: In adult patients receiving mechanical ventilation and supplemental oxygen in the intensive care unit, minimizing oxygen exposure through conservative oxygen therapy did not significantly reduce all-cause mortality at 90 days.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Daniel S. Martin, PhD, email daniel.martin@plymouth.ac.uk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.9663) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, ...

A new molecule that lets energy hop around quickly within its structure makes the upcycling of light more efficient and tunable. The Kobe University development lays out a design strategy for better solar power harnessing as well as medical and sensor applications. While low-energy light is abundant and harmless, many technical applications from solar power generation to medical treatments rely on high-energy light. To increase the efficiency of light harvesting and to avoid high-energy light as much ...

Taking the progestogen-only contraceptive pill desogestrel continuously for more than five years is associated with a small increased risk of developing a type of brain tumour called an intracranial meningioma, finds a study from France published by The BMJ today. However, the researchers stress that the risk is low compared with some other progestogens (for every 67,000 women taking desogestrel, one might need surgery for meningioma) and disappeared one year after stopping treatment. Intracranial meningiomas are typically non-cancerous brain tumours that occasionally require surgery. ...

The rise in non-prescribed ketamine use across the UK in recent years is a cause for concern, say doctors in The BMJ today. Irene Guerrini at South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and colleagues warn that its low cost has made it popular among young people, and the number of people starting treatment for ketamine addiction in 2023-2024 reached 3609, more than eight times higher than in 2014-2015. They say public awareness of the risks and long term harms associated with ketamine remains insufficient, and they call for better diagnostic criteria, a ...

The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the ’la Caixa’ Foundation, has unveiled a new tool: the Healthy Urban Design Index (HUDI). The HUDI is a composite index that evaluates 917 European cities based on 13 indicators connected  to peoples’ health and well-being and divided into four domains: urban design, sustainable transport, environmental quality and green space accessibility. The HUDI is the result of scientific work published in The Lancet Planetary Health. The data for all cities is publicly available on https://isglobalranking.org/hudi/. In order to make the cities comparable, they have been grouped into five ...

Fetuses more exposed to certain air pollutants show changes in the size of specific brain structures, particularly during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. This is the main finding of a new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with the BCNatal center (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Hospital Clínic, and University of Barcelona) and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. It is the first study to specifically ...

A new method improving the accuracy of interpreting blood pressure measurements taken at the ankle could be crucial for people who cannot have their arm blood pressure measured. New research from the University of Exeter Medical School, published in BMJ Open and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), analysed data from over 33,000 people to create a personalised predictive model for more accurately estimating arm blood pressure from ankle readings - when compared to previously available methods. The team has developed an online calculator for healthcare professionals and patients to interpret ...

New analysis of the remains of two ‘puppies’ dating back more than 14,000 years ago has shown that they are most likely wolves, and not related to domestic dogs, as previously suggested. The genetic analysis also proved that the cubs were sisters at the age of around two months, and like modern day wolves had a mixed diet of meat and plants. Researchers, however, were surprised to see evidence of a wooly rhinoceros as part of their last meals, as this would have been a considerably large animal for a wolf to hunt. The ‘Tumat Puppies’ are two remarkably well-preserved puppy remains found in northern Siberia, about 40 km from Tumat, the nearest village. One was found ...