Seattle, WASH.—April 30, 2025—An experiment seven years in the making has uncovered new insights into the nature of consciousness and challenges two prominent, competing scientific theories: Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT). The findings were published today in Nature and mark a pivotal moment in the goal to understand the elusive origins consciousness.  IIT suggests that consciousness emerges when information inside a system (like the brain) is highly connected and unified, for as long as the information is consciously perceived, acting as a single whole. On the other ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, commercial nontobacco nicotine use in U.S. 10th and 12th graders shifted from 2023 to 2024, marked by a doubling in nicotine pouch past-30-day use, an increase in pouch plus e-cigarette dual use, and a decrease in exclusive e-cigarette use. Prioritizing surveillance, regulation, and prevention addressing pediatric nicotine pouch use warrants consideration. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Adam M. Leventhal, PhD, email adam.leventhal@usc.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit ...

About The Study: Exposure to high levels of smoke pollution was associated with an increase in hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in this cohort study. These findings underscore the need for interventions to mitigate the health impacts of wildfire smoke exposure. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rachel C. Nethery, PhD, email rnethery@hsph.harvard.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.7956) Editor’s Note: Please ...

Mount Sinai researchers have identified for the first time the neural mechanisms in the brain that regulate both positive and negative impressions of a social encounter, as well as how an imbalance between the two could lead to common neuropsychiatric disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. The study, published April 30 in Nature, also describes how activating a serotonin receptor in the brain of a mouse model ofASD restored positive emotional value (also known as “valence”), with encouraging implications for the development of future therapies. “The ability to recognize and distinguish unpleasant from pleasant interactions ...

The use of nicotine pouches — small, easily concealed sachets of nicotine and additives that are placed between the gum and lip — nearly doubled among U.S. high school students between 2023 and 2024, according to a new USC study. The research, involving surveys of more than 10,000 teens from around the country, appears in JAMA Network Open. “This growing public health issue needs more attention. Like flavored e-cigarettes when they first emerged, use of this new oral nicotine product is becoming more widespread, particularly among adolescents,” said ...

Increasing urban vegetation by 30% could save over one-third of all heat related deaths, saving up to 1.16 million lives globally from 2000 to 2019 according to a 20-year modelling study of the impact of increasing greenness in more than 11,000 urban areas. The study, led by Monash University Professor Yuming Guo and published in The Lancet Planetary Health, showed that increasing vegetation levels by 10%, 20%, and 30% would: decrease the global population-weighted warm-season mean temperature by 0.08°C, 0.14°C, ...

Researchers from the University of California San Diego have found that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) can help rewire the brain’s response to natural healthy pleasure, leading to improved mood, greater attention to positive experiences and reduced opioid cravings. The findings, published on April 30, 2025 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), suggest that this evidence-based therapy may be a promising tool in the fight against opioid use disorder (OUD). Opioid ...

Aluminium alloys are well-known for their low weight and corrosion resistance, making them ideal candidates for applications in a low-carbon economy - from lightweight automobiles to tanks for storing green hydrogen. However, their widespread application is limited by a key challenge: they suffer from embrittlement leading to cracking and failure when exposed to hydrogen. Till now, alloys resistant to hydrogen embrittlement were rather soft, limiting their application in hydrogen-related technologies that require high strength. Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials (MPI-SusMat) ...

Geologists led by the University of Maryland and the University of Hawaiʻi finally connected the dots between one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth’s history and its source deep beneath the Pacific Ocean.  In a paper published in the journal Nature on March XX, 2025, the team revealed that the same underwater hotspot created both a chain of underwater volcanoes in the southern Pacific region and the massive Ontong-Java Plateau, the largest volcanic platform on Earth. “Up until now, we’ve had this extremely disconnected picture of the Pacific and its volcanoes,” said the study’s corresponding author ...

A new study led by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) suggests that currently available therapies may help control chronic muscle inflammation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a severe condition that leads to muscle weakness and premature death. The study, published in PNAS, identifies new mechanisms that drive chronic muscle inflammation in a disease model of a DMD. Researchers believe that targeting these mechanisms with existing therapies could help reduce inflammation and support muscle function. DMD is caused by a mutation in the dystrophin gene, which produces a large protein essential for stabilizing muscle cell membranes ...

SAN DIEGO (April 30, 2025) — Many are aware of the dire challenges with plastic waste polluting the ocean, but new research shows it may harm wildlife in ways not previously understood. In a new study just published in the journal Environmental Pollution, researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance found that plastic swallowed by northern fulmars— seabirds found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans—can leak chemicals that interfere with the birds’ hormone systems. This ...

As the global population ages, supporting older adults in maintaining their cognitive and memory functions has become a pressing concern. The United Nations estimates that by the 2070s, there will be over 2.2 billion people aged 65 or older, surpassing the global number of children under 18. This demographic shift is especially pronounced in Japan, the fastest-aging country, where 28.7% of the population is 65 or older. One promising strategy to counter cognitive decline is through olfactory stimulation—engaging the sense of smell. Smell signals travel directly to brain regions involved ...

Editorial To Improve Screenings With Technology, Focus on People First Background: This issue of Annals of Family Medicine includes four original studies that illustrate valuable concepts to consider when incorporating technology in screening to improve early detection and management of disease.   Editorial Stance: These studies highlight the importance of centering any digital health intervention on the patient’s specific clinical needs. The authors emphasize that digital tools work best when they work with, rather than replace, ...

Original Research Implementing a Digital Cognitive Screening Tool and Flexible Workflow Helps Primary Care Clinics Integrate Dementia Screening Background and Goal: A previous study across seven primary care clinics found that many older adults who completed a digital cognitive assessment showed possible signs of cognitive impairment. In this companion study, researchers assessed how agile implementation, an approach based on iterative improvements and tailored clinic workflows, could support the integration of digital cognitive assessment screening ...

Original Research Digital Cognitive Assessment in Primary Care May Enable Early Dementia Detection and Next Step Care Background and Goal: Many adults aged 65 and older never receive a cognitive check during regular primary care visits. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a digital cognitive assessment for Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) screening into primary care.  Study Approach: From June 2022 to May 2023, seven Indiana University Health clinics offered the five-minute Digital Clock & Recall test on an iPad to every patient 65 and older. Each ...

App-Based Hearing Screenings in Family Practice May Improve Hearing Disorder Diagnosis  Background and Goal: Pure-tone audiometry, the gold standard for assessing hearing impairment, is costly and time-consuming. This study evaluated the acceptability and feasibility of hearing screening in the routine practice of private family medicine using two self-tests.   Study Approach: 516 consecutive patients aged older than 10 years attending three private French family-practice clinics wore calibrated ...

AI-Enabled Cardiovascular Screening Shows Promise in Identifying Heart Dysfunction in Women Considering Pregnancy  Background and Goal: This study evaluated the performance of an artificial intelligence–enabled electrocardiogram (AI-ECG) and an AI-powered digital stethoscope to see how well they could detect early signs of heart dysfunction in women of reproductive age. Study Approach: In this cross-sectional pilot study, researchers examined two groups of women aged 18 to 49 who were considering pregnancy. Women who were currently pregnant or within one year postpartum were also ...

The  Global Virus Network (GVN) is highly concerned that the world is unprepared for the next pandemic and has not incorporated the lessons learned from COVID-19.  The GVN, comprised of 80+ Virology Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in 40+ countries, whose mission is to facilitate pandemic preparedness against viral pathogens and diseases that threaten public health globally, believes that systemic inadequacies and vulnerabilities persist, which threaten public health on a global scale. Furthermore, the need for governments and health organizations worldwide to invest and collaborate in developing and implementing an effective, ...

The world is changing rapidly, and so is the way wars are fought. The United States military faces challenges when it comes to securing and protecting its communication systems in a time of advanced technology and shifting global power dynamics. A key issue is the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) – the airwaves used for wireless communication, radar, GPS and other critical systems. These frequencies are under constant threat of interference from adversaries, and as warfare becomes more high-tech, the ability to control and manipulate this spectrum will determine success or failure. To address critical U.S. Air Force communications needs, Dimitris Pados, Ph.D., principal ...

With the increasing demand for underwater and implantable medical electronics, a stable and continuous power supply is essential. However, conventional wireless charging methods (such as electromagnetic induction and radio frequency-based charging) used in smartphones and wireless earphones suffer from short transmission distances, low energy transfer efficiency in biological tissues, and electromagnetic interference. To overcome these limitations, researchers are now considering the use of ultrasound as a new wireless power transfer technology. ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools significantly improve the readability of online patient education materials (PEMs), making them more accessible, a new study shows.  Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the study focused on the readability of PEMs available on the websites of the American Heart Association (AHA), American Cancer Society (ACS), and American Stroke Association (ASA). According to the researchers, these materials help patients make decisions about their health care but often exceed the recommended reading level of grade ...

An increase in physical activity between the ages of 45 and 65 could help prevent Alzheimer's disease, while inactivity may be detrimental to brain health. This is the main conclusion of a scientific paper published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, which highlights the need to promote physical activity among middle-aged adults. The study is the result of a collaboration between the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center promoted by the “la Caixa” Foundation, and the ...

The safety and durability of transport and building infrastructure are in the interests of both operators and users. To maintain the best possible building condition at the lowest possible cost, effective monitoring is required to improve condition assessment. Although there are suitable monitoring systems, they are usually not properly networked, not directly integrated into the building management system and their data is often not usable in the long term due to incomplete documentation and non-standardised evaluation procedures. In the PreMainSHM project, a team at Graz ...

A new study comparing wild and zoo-housed Sumatran orangutans reveals that life in a zoo significantly alters how orangutans interact with their environment. Researchers analyzed over 12,000 instances of daily exploratory object manipulation (EOM)—the active manipulation and visual inspection of objects associated with learning and problem-solving—across 51 orangutans aged 0.5 to 76 years. The findings show that orangutans living in zoos engage in more frequent, more diverse, and more complex exploration than their wild counterparts. “Our study shows that orangutans ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA – In the future, quantum computers could rapidly simulate new materials or help scientists develop faster machine-learning models, opening the door to many new possibilities. But these applications will only be possible if quantum computers can perform operations extremely quickly, so scientists can make measurements and perform corrections before compounding error rates reduce their accuracy and reliability. The efficiency of this measurement process, known as readout, relies on the strength of the coupling between photons, which are particles of light that carry quantum information, ...