In U.S. states with anti-union labor environments, workers are up to 53% more likely to start their own businesses—and blue-collar workers are more likely to do it out of necessity. A study in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal examines how the labor environment in states with “right-to-work” (RTW) laws compared with that in neighboring states with stronger union bargaining power. “We found that the enactment of stringent anti-union laws reduces employees’ incentives to stay ...

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have launched Observer, the first multimodal medical dataset to capture anonymized, real-time interactions between patients and clinicians. Much like the medical drama The Pitt, which portrays life in the emergency room, Observer lets outsiders peer inside primary care clinics — only, in this case, none of the filmed interactions are fictional.  Until now, the data available to health care researchers has been limited to traces left behind after a visit: qualitative information like clinician notes and quantitative measurements like patient vital signs. None of these sources ...

Multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) provide a noninvasive interface with sub-millisecond temporal resolution and long-term, multi-site recordings, enabling mechanistic investigations of in vitro human brain development and disease-related dysfunction; nevertheless, conventional MEA pipelines largely rely on firing/burst statistics or channel-/waveform-level features, which can be insufficient to systematically characterize and interpret network-level organization and its subtle pathological deviations. Accordingly, representing ...

During development of the digestive system, a complex network of nerves forms around it, creating a “second brain” — the enteric nervous system (ENS) — which controls the movement of food and waste through the gut. But a combination of changes in the molecular letters making up certain genetic instructions can prevent these nerves from developing properly, leading to Hirschsprung disease (HSCR), a painful and often dangerous condition in which babies develop intestinal blockage and are unable to pass stool. A study led by NYU Langone Health researchers reveals a new strategy to ...

Some firefighter gear is manufactured with chemicals called brominated flame retardants that could pose a risk to firefighter health, according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters on Dec. 16. The study is the first published research in the U.S. to investigate and document the use of brominated flame retardants in firefighter turnout gear, worn for protection on the job. The findings could inform fire department decision-making when it comes to keeping or replacing gear. Structural firefighters — those working in the built environment — wear turnout gear consisting of three layers: a flame-resistant outer shell; a ...

The process of aging is associated with a decline in immune functions and persistent low-level inflammation. Now, researchers from Japan have discovered a strain of Lentilactobacillus capable of preventing and even reversing aging-related immune alterations. Feeding aged mice with heat-inactivated YRC2606 resulted in lowered levels of inflammatory cytokines and signaling proteins. These findings point to the possibility of a functional food intervention that has the potential to benefit an increasingly aging population. The health benefits of consuming fermented milk products have been passed down through generations, without clearly understanding ...

Doctors may soon be able to diagnose an elusive form of heart disease within seconds by using an AI model developed at University of Michigan, according to a recent study. Researchers trained the model to detect coronary microvascular dysfunction, a complex condition that requires advanced imaging techniques to diagnose, using a common electrocardiogram. Their prediction tool significantly outperformed earlier AI models in nearly every diagnostic task, including predicting myocardial flow reserve, the gold standard for ...

Americans overestimate online toxicity, believing 43% of Reddit users post severely toxic comments when only 3% actually do, and this misperception inculcates pessimism about society. Angela Y. Lee, Eric Neumann, and colleagues surveyed 1,090 American adults via the online platform CloudResearch Connect to compare people’s perceptions of harmful online behavior with platform-level data from past research. Participants overestimated the prevalence of Reddit users posting toxic content by 13-fold and overestimated the prevalence of Facebook users sharing false news by 5-fold, guessing 47% of users post false news while only 8.5% actually do. Even when participants ...

Researchers develop a theoretical framework that shows how living cell membranes can generate electricity from molecular fluctuations. Pradeep Sharma and colleagues created a model demonstrating that active biological processes, such as protein dynamics and ATP hydrolysis, create membrane fluctuations that could produce transmembrane voltages via flexoelectricity. Such transmembrane voltages can reach 90 millivolts. Voltage changes can happen on millisecond timescales, matching typical action potential curves for neurons. The authors’ framework predicts that active membrane ...

Self-harm refers to intentionally injuring one’s own body as a coping mechanism to emotional distress. It manifests in many forms and has serious consequences not only on physical health but also on mental health. Self-harm among adolescents is becoming a significant public issue. It is more common in adolescence than any other age group, and adolescent self-harm experiences can increase the likelihood of repeated self-harm, suicide risk, substance use in adulthood, and long-term mental health difficulties. Among ...

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), a large class of synthetic chemicals, are valued for their ability to withstand heat, water, and oil. These materials are used in the production of everyday as well as industrial items. PFAS molecules are made up of a chain of carbon and fluorine atoms linked together. The energy required to break the carbon–fluorine (C–F) bond is extremely high, making these compounds durable and highly resistant to biological degradation. However, PFASs are also often called "forever chemicals,” as they do not degrade easily. This persistence leads to ongoing ...

One of the most exciting advances in cancer treatments in the past decade is the development of T cell immunotherapies, in which a patient’s own immune system is trained to recognize and attack dangerous cells. Yet a full understanding of how they actually work has eluded researchers. That’s been a significant limitation, because while T cell immunotherapies are highly effective for certain subtypes of cancers, they’re ineffective for the majority of them—and the reasons why are unclear. Understanding their modus operandi could bring their benefits to a much broader group of cancer patients.   Now ...

PRESS RELEASE MEDIA EMBARGO UNTIL: DEC 16, 2025 (10 am London / 3 am Arizona)   A New Fossil Face Sheds Light on Early Migrations of Ancient Human Ancestor A 1.5-million-year-old fossil from Gona, Ethiopia reveals new details about the first hominin species to disperse from Africa. Summary: Virtual reassembly of teeth and fossil bone fragments reveals a beautifully preserved face of a 1.5-million-year-old human ancestor—the first complete Early Pleistocene hominin cranium from the Horn of Africa. This fossil, from Gona, Ethiopia, hints at a surprisingly archaic face in the earliest human ancestors to migrate ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Researchers at MIT and Stanford University have developed a new way to stimulate the immune system to attack tumor cells, using a strategy that could make cancer immunotherapy work for many more patients. The key to their approach is reversing a “brake” that cancer cells engage to prevent immune cells from launching an attack. This brake is controlled by sugar molecules known as glycans that are found on the surface of cancer cells. By blocking those glycans with molecules called lectins, the researchers showed they could dramatically boost the immune system’s response to cancer cells. To achieve this, they created multifunctional molecules ...

Lung infections like pneumonia are among the world’s top killers — but diagnosing them is notoriously hard. Now, researchers at UC San Francisco have found a way to identify these infections in critically ill patients by pairing a generative AI analysis of medical records with a biomarker of lower respiratory infections. In an observational study of critically ill adults, the combination made a correct diagnosis 96 percent of the time and distinguished between infectious and non-infectious causes of respiratory failure more accurately than clinicians in the intensive ...

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) found that an increased fMRI signal is associated with reduced brain activity in around 40 percent of cases. At the same time, they observed decreased fMRI signals in regions with elevated activity. First author Dr. Samira Epp emphasizes: “This contradicts the long-standing assumption that increased brain activity is always accompanied by an increased blood flow to meet higher ...

How brain-inspired algorithms could drive down AI energy costs  AI hardware needs to become more brain-like to meet the growing energy demands of real-world applications, according to researchers.  In a study published in Frontiers in Science, scientists from Purdue University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have outlined practical approaches to overcome the limitations of modern computing hardware.   Conventional computers are based on the von Neumann architecture, with separate processors and memory ...

DALLAS, Dec. 16, 2025 — There is increasing evidence that gum disease is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and cardiometabolic health conditions. Effective prevention and treatment of gum disease, also called periodontal disease, could potentially decrease the burden of cardiovascular disease, according to a new scientific statement published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation. The new American Heart ...

Aviation’s climate impact extends beyond carbon dioxide emissions. A new study from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Imperial College, UK, reveals that contrails can represent a significant portion of aviation’s overall climate cost. The study also shows that climate impact can be reduced by optimising flight routes. In a new article in Nature Communications, The social costs of aviation CO₂ and contrail cirrus, the researchers demonstrate that both CO₂ emissions and contrail formation contribute materially to aviation’s climate impact – and that the associated societal costs differ substantially depending on weather ...

Closely related subtypes of dopamine-releasing neurons may play entirely separate roles in processing sensory information, depending on their physical structure.   New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London has found that variations in the physical structure of neurons might have a striking impact in the role that they play when processing sensory information.   It identified two different sub-types of interneuron in the olfactory bulb which ...

New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered a direct causal effect between social isolation and a faster decline in later- life cognitive function. Pathological cognitive decline is most often driven by Alzheimer’s and related dementias   The study, published today (16 December 2025) in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences  found a consistent pattern of higher social isolation causing faster cognitive decline whether ...

Being more physically active, following a balanced diet, not smoking, and keeping body weight and blood pressure under control: the same habits that protect the heart also prove decisive after a cancer diagnosis. This is the message emerging from a study carried out as part of the UMBERTO Project, conducted by the Joint Platform of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi ETS and the Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention of the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed in Pozzilli (IS), in collaboration with LUM “Giuseppe Degennaro” University in Casamassima (BA). Published in the European Heart Journal, the official journal of the European Society of Cardiology, the research is based on data from ...

December 16, 2025 -- Simultaneous use of cannabis with nicotine and tobacco products is common among cannabis users—particularly those who vape—according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The research also shows that both vaped and smoked cannabis use have increased over time, with more participants initiating use than quitting. Until now, the frequency, patterns, and motivations for cannabis use in early adulthood have remained understudied. The findings are published in Tobacco Induced Diseases. The study reveals that young adults in the New York City area—including those who do not ...

CHENGDU, Sichuan, CHINA, 16 December 2025 -- An Thought Leaders Invited Review published today in Genomic Psychiatry by Dr. Peng Lei and colleagues presents a sweeping synthesis of tau protein research that fundamentally reframes our understanding of this molecule's dual identity. What emerges from their analysis is a portrait of a protein far more versatile than its original characterization as a mere microtubule stabilizer suggested, one that participates in processes ranging from iron export to insulin secretion while simultaneously serving as a central player in some of the most devastating ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In a new book, a team of experts in educational policy, epidemiology and public health chronicles the challenges faced by educators, public health authorities and school officials during the COVID-19 pandemic and offers a guide to some of the lessons learned as K-12 schools weathered that crisis. One key message: Collaboration between schools, public health authorities and community leaders is essential to success. The book, “K-12 Schools and Public Health Partnerships: Strategies for Navigating a Crisis with Trust, Equity, and Communication,” ...