Many grooves and dimples on the surface of the brain are unique to humans, but they're often dismissed as an uninteresting consequence of packing an unusually large brain into a too-small skull. But neuroscientists are finding that these folds are not mere artifacts, like the puffy folds you get when forcing a sleeping bag into a stuff sack. The depths of some of the smallest of these grooves seem to be linked to increased interconnectedness in the brain and better reasoning ability. In a study published May 19 in The Journal of Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, researchers show that in children and adolescents, the depths of some small grooves are correlated with ...

Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers have discovered a new class of materials – called intercrystals – with unique electronic properties that could power future technologies. Intercrystals exhibit newly discovered forms of electronic properties that could pave the way for advancements in more efficient electronic components, quantum computing and environmentally friendly materials, the scientists said. As described in a report in the science journal Nature Materials, the scientists stacked two ultrathin layers of graphene, each a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — There’s good news for people with migraine who take common drugs before or during pregnancy—a new study found no increase in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and ADHD in their children. The study, which looked at drugs used for migraine attacks called triptans, is published on May 21, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that there is a link between these drugs and neurodevelopment disorders.   “These results are encouraging for people with migraine, who may be taking these drugs before they even ...

Results from the VITAL randomized controlled trial reveal that vitamin D supplementation helps maintain telomeres, protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten during aging and are linked to the development of certain diseases. The new report, which is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is based on data from a VITAL sub-study co-led by researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Georgia, and supports a promising role in slowing a pathway for biological aging.  “VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve ...

SAN ANTONIO — May 21, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute tapped into its drug formulation and manufacturing expertise to fabricate two bed netting prototypes targeting malaria-causing blood parasites. In a collaboration with researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)/Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (PVAMC), SwRI designed netting systems to deliver antimalarial drugs called Endochin-like Quinolones (ELQs) that destroy Plasmodium parasites ...

Policies that impact social determinants of health may influence an individual’s risk of depression, according to a new study published May 21, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Mary Nicolaou of the Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands, and colleagues. Globally, depression is one of the leading causes of burden of disease worldwide. Interventions focused on individual behaviors, while effective, reduce depression incidence by only about 20%, meaning that most risk factors are left unaddressed. ...

Fuel breaks for forest fires could be more effective in reducing potential risks and impacts if planned using a new optimization approach, which accounts for uncertain wildfire behavior in fire-prone landscapes of Alberta, Canada Article URL: https://plos.io/42Oi8ni Article title: Evaluating fuelbreak strategies for compartmentalizing a fire-prone forest landscape in Alberta, Canada Author countries: Canada, U.S. Funding: Funding for this work was provided by Natural Resource Canada’s Canadian Forest Service Wildfire Risk Management ...

The benefits of positive expressive writing for psychological health and wellbeing depend on the particular approach and on individual differences, according to a systematic review published on May 21, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Lauren Hoult from Northumbria University, U.K., and colleagues. Writing interventions first explored in research direct people to write about stressful or negative topics repeatedly over the course of several consecutive days, which often improves mental health in the long run, but risks heightening negative emotions in the moment. Positive expressive writing, on the other hand, emphasizes self-reflection, gratitude, ...

One in eight people worldwide suffers from mental disorders, yet less than half receive adequate treatment. New research from the University of Reading, published today (Wed, 21 May) in PLOS One, reveals that keeping a human in the loop – even in scripted roles – significantly enhances emotional engagement and perceived empathy during online psychological interviews.  Scientists tested 75 participants across three types of short online interviews about their wellbeing: one with a semi-scripted ...

All of the world’s winegrowing regions have been impacted by climate change, but with unequal impacts that vary across the growing season, reports a new study by E.M. Wolkovich of the University of British Columbia and colleagues, published May 21 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate. Winegrapes are an important perennial crop that has been highly affected by climate change. Studies show that warmer temperatures are shifting the regions suitable for winegrowing toward the poles, while traditional regions are yielding grapes that ripen faster ...

Osaka, Japan – Lightning is a phenomenon that has fascinated humanity since time immemorial, providing a stark example of the power and unpredictability of the natural world. Although the study of lightning can be challenging, scientists have, in recent years, made great strides in developing our understanding of this extreme spectacle. A study that will be published in Science Advances, led by researchers from The University of Osaka, describes a world-first observation of an intense burst of radiation, known as a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), synchronized ...

Clownfish have been shown to shrink in order to survive heat stress and avoid social conflict, Newcastle University research reveals. The fish, recognisable from the starring role in the film ‘Finding Nemo’, were studied by academics from the universities of Newcastle, Leeds and Boston, USA. The work was conducted in collaboration with Mahonia Na Dari Conservation and Research Centre, in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. The team measured the length of 134 clownfish every month for five months, and monitored the water ...

A serendipitous observation in a Chemical Engineering lab at Penn Engineering has led to a surprising discovery: a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, collect it in pores and release it onto surfaces without the need for any external energy. The research, published in Science Advances, was conducted by an interdisciplinary team, including Daeyeon Lee, Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE), Amish Patel, Professor in CBE, Baekmin Kim, a postdoctoral scholar in Lee’s lab and first author, and Stefan Guldin, Professor in Complex Soft Matter at the Technical University of Munich. Their work ...

An artificial intelligence technique for detecting DNA fragments shed by tumors and circulating in a patient’s blood, developed by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators, could help clinicians more quickly identify and determine if pancreatic cancer therapies are working. After testing the method, called ARTEMIS-DELFI, in blood samples from patients participating in two large clinical trials of pancreatic cancer treatments, researchers found that it could be used to identify therapeutic responses. ARTEMIS-DELFI and another method developed by investigators, called WGMAF, to study mutations were found to be better predictors ...

New research from the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge has shed light on how plants precisely control their growth and development, revealing that seemingly similar molecular components fulfil surprisingly different jobs. The study, published in Science Advances, focuses on the SCAR/WAVE protein complex, a crucial molecular machine that helps shape plant cells by directing the formation of the internal cell scaffold known as the actin cytoskeleton. This is vital for processes like the growth of root hairs, which are essential for nutrient uptake, and the shape of leaf hairs, called trichomes. Plants, much like other complex ...

A new study published in Science Advances by researchers from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIG-CAS), along with international collaborators, reveals that deeply subducted carbonates can cause significant variations in the redox states of Earth's mantle. This process influences the formation of sublithospheric diamonds and plays a role in the long-term evolution of cratons—ancient stable parts of the continental lithosphere. The research team conducted high-pressure experiments simulating depths between ...

LONDON, ON – Mouth taping, a growing trend on social media channels like TikTok, carries serious health risks, especially for those with sleep-disordered breathing and obstructive sleep apnea, according to a paper published today in PLOS One.  The study from Lawson Research Institute (Lawson) of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI) and Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry also found no strong evidence of health benefits.  The trend involves ...

Tampa, FL, USA, May 21, 2025: The Global Virus Network (GVN) strongly supports the World Health Organization’s (WHO) newly adopted Pandemic Preparedness Accord. This agreement represents a vital and timely step toward establishing a more coordinated, transparent, and equitable global framework for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. GVN, an international coalition of leading virologists and research centers in over 40 countries, has consistently advocated for the critical components reflected in the Accord. Our recent statement ...

BOSTON – A new risk assessment score developed by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard reveals how multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, begins and progresses from precancerous to malignant states by tracing DNA mutations. The score, called an MM-like score, assesses the severity of disease and risk of progression to active cancer, with higher scores indicating faster progression. In the future, the MM-like score could be used in clinical practice to inform decisions about early intervention.  “In patients with a precursor condition for multiple myeloma, the multiple myeloma-like score helps to predict ...

Laser frequency combs are light sources that produce evenly spaced, sharp lines across the spectrum, resembling the teeth of a comb. They serve as precise rulers for measuring time and frequency, and have become essential tools in applications such as lidar, high-speed optical communications, and space navigation. Traditional frequency combs rely on large, lab-based lasers. However, recent advancements have led to the development of chip-scale soliton microcombs, which generate ultrashort pulses of light within microresonators. One of the key challenges for soliton microcombs is timing jitter, which refers to tiny fluctuations ...

When a neuron in our body gets damaged, segments of RNA produce proteins that can help repair the injury. But in neurological disorders such as ALS and spinal muscular atrophy, or following spinal cord injuries, the mechanisms for moving life-essential RNA to injured sites within the cell fail. As a result, RNA molecules can’t get to where they are needed and damage becomes permanent. Researchers at Stanford have developed a technology for transporting RNA to specific locations within a neuron, ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 21, 2025 – A new study from researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows an improvement in screening rates for anxiety and depression among epilepsy patients with the implementation of an electronic health record (EHR)-based strategy.  The findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.  “Anxiety and depression are common in epilepsy, yet they are often under-recognized and undertreated,” said Heidi Munger Clary, M.D., ...

An international team of researchers has found a genetic link to long-term symptoms after COVID-19. The identified gene variant is located close to the FOXP4 gene, which is known to affect lung function. The study, published in Nature Genetics, was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland. Biological causes behind persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection, known as long COVID or post-COVID, remain unclear. Common symptoms include fatigue, cognitive difficulties, and breathing problems, which can reduce quality of life. In an international collaboration – the Long COVID ...

NEW ORLEANS, May 21, 2025 – Have you ever walked through the ruins of an ancient city and wondered what life sounded like back then? So has Sezin Nas, a researcher of interior architecture and acoustics at Istanbul Galata University. The ancient, underground city of Derinkuyu caught Nas’s eye early on. Located in modern-day Turkey, Derinkuyu was built underground to defend against invasion, protect its citizens from harsh weather, and safely store agricultural products. At its peak, it could hold up to 20,000 people. The city spanned seven levels underground, with four main ventilation channels and over 50,000 other ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 8:15 a.m., Wednesday, May 21, 2025   Session:  D13—Current Research in Critical and Acute Care Neighborhood Health Measured by the Healthy Places Index (HPI), but Not by the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), Is Associated with Mortality for Critically Ill Sepsis Patients in the San Francisco Bay Area Date and Time: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 8:15 a.m. Location: Room 25, Hall E (North Building, Exhibition Level), Moscone Center   ATS 2025, San Francisco – Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is linked to worse health outcomes, but there are significant differences in how ...