Analysis of ancient bowhead whale bones spanning 11,000 years shows the species weathered every climate shift of the Holocene without losing genetic diversity - until commercial whaling from 1540 to 1931 stripped it away, with consequences that will compound for generations.

A University of Michigan survey of over 7,000 adults finds that 7% of Americans have thought about shooting someone, firearm owners are no likelier to have these thoughts than non-owners, and 21% of those with such thoughts told someone - suggesting real opportunities for prevention.

Australian-born historian Lyndal Roper, emeritus Regius Chair of History at Oxford, has been named the 2026 Holberg Prize Laureate for pioneering scholarship that reshaped the study of witch persecutions, Martin Luther, and the German Peasants' War through the lenses of gender, psyche, and bodily experience.

MDI Bio Lab researchers show that regenerating zebrafish kidneys solve the plumbing problem of regenerative medicine: new nephrons connect to existing tubules through coordinated cell protrusions guided by Wnt signaling, offering clues for making lab-grown kidney tissue functional.

By combining biologically inspired event cameras with topological data analysis, researchers at the University of Tsukuba can passively measure the amplitude, phase, and frequency of structural vibrations - no laser, no intense lighting, no contact required.

Peking University researchers used single-cell RNA sequencing to map the immune landscape in the gut of IgA nephropathy patients, identifying expanded BCMA-positive plasma cells as the source of disease-driving antibodies and demonstrating that a BCMA-targeting bispecific antibody slashes serum IgA levels in primates.

A newly identified macrophage population called Mrep drives normal muscle regeneration through activin A signaling. But in patients with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, the same cells hijack that repair pathway to form bone inside muscle tissue, pointing to a precise therapeutic target.

A systematic review in JMA Journal documents 68 cases of acute carbon monoxide poisoning from waterpipe smoking worldwide, finding that one-fifth occurred after less than an hour of use and another fifth happened outdoors - conditions most users consider safe.

An interrupted time-series analysis of Japan's restaurant database shows the 2020 indoor smoking ban raised smoke-free establishments by 5.7 percentage points nationally, while stricter Tokyo and Chiba ordinances added another 7.8 points - but izakaya and bars remain largely unprotected.

A new study in Risk Analysis introduces biologically plausible dose-response models specific to pregnant individuals and Listeria, filling a gap in food safety policy that has long relied on generic population estimates to protect one of the most vulnerable groups.

Researchers tracking 218 children from birth found that those with higher blood levels of PFOA had lower forearm bone density at age 12, with stronger associations in females - suggesting that PFAS exposure during critical developmental windows may compromise peak bone mass.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University developed OSM CAR-T cells that target oncostatin M receptors on osteosarcoma cells, showing anti-tumor effects against all patient samples tested and killing metastatic tumors in mouse models - the first effective immunotherapy approach for the most common bone cancer in children.

Acoustic tagging of seven juvenile smalltooth sawfish in Florida's Indian River Lagoon shows strong site fidelity to a tiny stretch of the Saint Lucie River, with residency rates up to 87% - providing the first evidence that this historically important nursery is functioning again for an endangered species.

A new review in the Chinese Journal of Catalysis synthesizes recent advances in single-atom catalysts for selective hydrogenation, showing how isolated metal sites on supports achieve nearly 100% atomic utilization and precise selectivity - with implications for pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and green chemistry.

Fluorescence polarization experiments show that amyloid beta binds to microtubules with affinity comparable to tau, and competitive binding assays confirm they share overlapping binding sites - suggesting that amyloid beta displaces tau from neuronal scaffolding, potentially driving Alzheimer's pathology.

Among 6,814 US adults tracked over years, those eating 9+ daily servings of ultra-processed foods were 67% more likely to suffer a major cardiac event than those eating about one serving - with a 6.1% per-serving risk increase among Black Americans versus 3.2% among non-Black participants.

Researchers found that pulse pressure-heart rate index and estimated pulse wave velocity - both calculable from routine blood pressure and heart rate readings - independently predicted dementia risk in adults over 50, with each unit increase in one metric linked to 76% higher risk before age 65.

Among 246,822 US adults with atherosclerotic heart disease, those who received the shingles vaccine had 46% fewer major adverse cardiac events and 66% lower all-cause mortality over one year compared with unvaccinated individuals, according to a study presented at ACC.26.

Researchers describe Phylloscopus tokaraensis, the Tokara Leaf Warbler - a new bird species from Japan's volcanic Tokara Islands that is visually identical to Ijima's Leaf Warbler 1,000 km away but genetically diverged 2.8-3.2 million years ago, with no contemporary gene flow.

Dartmouth researchers analyzed 2.2 million statements from the 118th US Congress and found that personal attacks boost media visibility but show no association with increased fundraising, electoral margins, or legislative output - suggesting some legislators pursue celebrity over policy.

Analysis of 136 radiocarbon-dated organic weapons shows the bow and arrow appeared across all of western North America roughly 1,400 years ago, instantly replacing the atlatl south of northern British Columbia while coexisting with it for over 1,000 years in the Arctic and subarctic.

A new knowledge-guided machine learning model from the University of Minnesota combines hydrology physics with AI pattern recognition to predict floods with greater accuracy than either approach alone, eliminating the labor-intensive manual adjustments that current forecasting systems require.

Researchers discovered that skin cells produce a metabolic intermediate called FPP during infection, which activates the TRPV3 calcium channel to drive systemic antibody production. Plant-derived compounds carvacrol and camphor activate the same channel, boosting vaccine responses in mice without toxicity.

Biochar produced from chemical-enhanced sewage sludge leaches heavy metals at high pyrolysis temperatures above 800C, but at 550C both chemical and conventional sludge biochars show long-term metal stability - a finding that could guide safer adoption of cost-effective sewage treatment worldwide.

Obese mice treated with the HIF-activating drug Roxadustat gained less weight, showed improved glucose tolerance, preserved bone marrow vasculature, and healed fractures better than untreated obese animals - suggesting a single pathway could address metabolic and skeletal damage together.