A study of over 750 cactus species found that the rate of flower shape evolution, not flower size or pollinator specialization, predicts how quickly cacti split into new species. The finding challenges ideas dating back to Darwin.

UCLA Health hosts its first Brain Health Summit on March 20-21, 2026, bringing together neuroscientists, policymakers, and advocates to address brain disorders that affect over 180 million Americans and represent the leading cause of disability nationwide.

The Gilead Australia Medical Fellowships, which have awarded more than $4 million to locally driven clinical research over 15 years, are now accepting applications for 2027. The program funds projects in HIV, viral hepatitis, and hematological malignancies.

Analyzing 37,000 images of women's clothing from 1869 to today, mathematicians confirmed that fashion trends cycle roughly every 20 years. Their model traces the pattern to a social tension between differentiation and conformity.

A 12-year study of 1,647 adults found that higher adherence to the MIND diet - a hybrid of Mediterranean and blood-pressure-lowering eating patterns - was associated with 20% less grey matter loss and delayed brain aging by up to 2.5 years.

Researchers detected a bowel cancer biomarker called CDH1 in neighborhood wastewater samples from Louisville, with levels tracking the density of known cancer cases. The approach could flag high-risk areas before clinical data catches up.

Investors in Germany's green bond market pay a measurable premium - about 4 basis points on average - for environmentally labeled debt. The gap widens after climate events and could save governments money if they issue more green bonds.

University of British Columbia researchers tested 12 turf fields across Metro Vancouver and found that crumb rubber infill made from recycled tires releases 6PPD-quinone - a chemical lethal to coho salmon - into stormwater systems at concentrations exceeding toxic thresholds even from fields over six years old.

Scientists introduced a dynamic contact angle method that monitors water droplet behavior on biochar over 90 seconds, identifying a new category of 'pseudo-hydrophobic' materials that appear water-repellent initially but become wettable within seconds - resolving contradictions between existing measurement techniques.

Scientists developed biochar from chestnut shells and vine pruning waste that acts as a pH-responsive carrier for lysozyme, protecting the antimicrobial enzyme through acidic stomach conditions and releasing it in the intestine - offering a potential alternative to antibiotics in young livestock.

A University of South Carolina pilot study will investigate pica - the craving and consumption of non-food items like clay, ice, and soil during pregnancy - in South Carolina populations, where prior U.S. research found 38% of rural pregnant women had the condition yet 75% had no documentation in medical records.

University of Connecticut researchers found that dasatinib plus quercetin - a senolytic drug combination popular in anti-aging research - destroyed myelin insulation in mouse brains and caused the corpus callosum to vanish, with younger mice suffering more severe damage than older ones.

A $3.2 million NIH-funded study at the University of South Carolina will test whether giving SNAP families free trials of discounted produce boxes and home delivery through the Healthy Bucks program improves diet quality, with pilot data showing fewer than 25% of eligible families knew the program existed.

Northwestern Medicine researchers discovered that microglia in glioblastoma tumors use fructose metabolism via the GLUT5 transporter to suppress immune responses; deleting GLUT5 in mouse models activated cancer-killing T cells and prevented tumor growth.

A Penn State study of 14,333 inpatient shoulder replacements in Pennsylvania found that Medicare patients were 96% more likely to be readmitted within 30 days than privately insured patients, while those discharged to skilled nursing facilities had 61% higher readmission odds.

In a study of 1,998 African American adults followed for nearly seven years, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio predicted heart failure risk better than BMI, with systemic inflammation explaining 25-33% of the link between abdominal fat and heart failure.

Analysis of 662 young adults with prediabetes found that those with fasting glucose of 110-125 mg/dL who also met GLP-1 RA medication criteria had a 24.8% five-year risk of progressing to Type 2 diabetes - more than triple the 7.5% overall rate.

A Columbia University analysis of 157,000 women found that COVID-era Medicaid continuous coverage significantly reduced postpartum uninsurance among Black women in non-expansion states - a 5 percentage point drop relative to expansion states - but racial disparities in coverage persisted.

A survey of 252 Canadian adults at the Montreal Insectarium found that 44% were open to trying insect-based food and 27% would eat it regularly, but 87% preferred products where insects were not visible, and 70% cited disgust as the primary barrier.

Wayne State University received a $473,566 grant to study phosphorus removal at the Great Lakes Water Authority's wastewater facility serving 77 communities, aiming to reduce the nutrient runoff that fuels harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie and the Rouge River.

Scientists at Shandong University engineered the probiotic bacterium E. coli Nissle 1917 to synthesize the anticancer drug romidepsin directly within tumors in mice, combining bacterial tumor-targeting with localized drug production in a dual-action cancer therapy.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center analyzed blood samples from thousands of people across the U.S. and China and identified nine specific gut microbe metabolites statistically associated with higher or lower risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Georgetown University researchers found that the supposedly inactive closed form of the protein ezrin directly binds RNA and can restore metastatic behavior in osteosarcoma cells, revealing a completely new mechanism behind the spread of the most common bone cancer in children and young adults.

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich built a wheeled robot that uses a camera, depth sensing, and a language model to construct a 3D map of a room and reason about where lost objects are most likely to be, finding them roughly 30% more efficiently than unguided search.

An international team found that nonmagnetic impurities in superconductors shift background quantum states away from Majorana zero modes without disturbing the modes themselves, producing clearer spectral signatures that could accelerate progress toward topological quantum computing.