An international team of scientists, including a senior researcher at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, has uncovered new evidence of ancient wildfires that reshapes our understanding of Earth’s turbulent Early Triassic epoch, about 250 million years ago.   The findings, reported in Communications Earth & Environment, published by Nature Portfolio under the title Wildfire, ecosystem and climate interactions in the Early Triassic, challenge the long-standing belief in a global “charcoal gap”, a time interval with little or no evidence of fire following the world’s ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 17, 2025 Contact: Jillian McKoy, jpmckoy@bu.edu  Michael Saunders, msaunder@bu.edu ## In the United States, child firearm violence prevention focuses largely on school shootings, even though the majority of child gun injuries occur outside of schools. A new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) provides additional insight into this gun violence threat, showing that children’s risk of being shot rises as soon as the school day ends. The risk of child firearm ...

Following an extensive worldwide search, Dr. Leanne Redman has been appointed Academic Director of the Charles Perkins Centre, the University of Sydney’s first and largest multidisciplinary research initiative.  A Professor of Clinical Science, Dr. Redman currently holds a number of positions at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center including the LPFA Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Associate Executive Director ...

Forced displacement has surged in recent years, fueling a global crisis. Over the past decade, the number of displaced people worldwide has nearly doubled, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency. In 2024 alone, one in 67 people fled their homes. A new study co-authored by University of Notre Dame researcher Helge-Johannes Marahrens shows that analyzing social media posts can help experts predict when people will move during crises, supporting faster and more effective aid delivery. The study ...

When current flows through a wire, it doesn’t always have a perfect path. Tiny defects within the wire mean current must travel a more circuitous route, a problem for engineers and manufacturers seeking reliable equipment.  Through a partnership with industry, researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have supported the development of a design that uses multiple strands of superconducting tape to create a cable, minimizing ...

Traditional Hawaiian fishponds (loko iʻa) are emerging as a model for climate resilience, according to a study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). The research, published in npj Ocean Sustainability, revealed Indigenous aquaculture systems effectively shield fish populations from the negative impacts of climate change, demonstrating resilience and bolstering local food security. "Our study is one of the first in academic literature to compare the temperatures ...

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a next-generation wearable system that enables people to control machines using everyday gestures — even while running, riding in a car or floating on turbulent ocean waves. The system, published on Nov. 17 in Nature Sensors, combines stretchable electronics with artificial intelligence to overcome a long-standing challenge in wearable technology: reliable recognition of gesture signals in real-world environments. Wearable technologies with gesture sensors work fine ...

A transformative approach to clean hydrogen production is set to take center stage in an upcoming international webinar that bridges molecular innovation with industrial-scale decarbonization. On Wednesday, November 26, 2025, at 18:00 Beijing Time (CST), Dr. Muhammad Aziz, Associate Professor and Lab Head at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, will present his cutting-edge research on chemical looping-based hydrogen production, a technology that simultaneously generates high-purity hydrogen, captures CO₂, and ...

A decade ago, at age 55, Don Lewis suffered a stroke in his sleep. When he woke up, he couldn’t move his left arm or leg. Lewis’ neighbor realized his truck hadn’t moved in two days and called 911 for a welfare check. When paramedics found him, he was paralyzed on one side. “At the hospital, they told me an aneurysm caused my stroke,” he said. He would remain there for two months, and after extensive physical therapy, Lewis regained use of his left leg. His left arm remains paralyzed. “I ...

A team of scientists has developed a groundbreaking material that dramatically boosts the ability to extract uranium from seawater, addressing one of the key challenges in the sustainable development of nuclear energy. The study introduces a special type of covalent organic framework (COF) that shows record-high efficiency and selectivity in isolating uranium from the vast reservoirs hidden in the world's oceans. Uranium-235, a primary fuel for nuclear power, is essential to the global effort to curb carbon emissions and move toward carbon neutrality. However, terrestrial ...

A new scientific review has shed light on how emerging pollutants commonly found in wastewater are disrupting biological phosphorus removal processes, posing risks to water quality and ecological health. The study, published in the journal New Contaminants, examines how pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and industrial chemicals interfere with the key microorganisms responsible for phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment plants. Phosphorus is a nutrient that, in excess, can trigger harmful algal blooms and degrade water quality. Many wastewater treatment facilities rely on an ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 17 November 2025     Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin               Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under ...

Researchers led by investigators at Mass General Brigham have discovered that over the last 25 years, heat and cold-related deaths have caused more than 69,000 deaths in the U.S., disproportionately affecting certain populations. The findings are published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “Prior research, many of which was ecological, modeling or forecasting in nature, has examined heat- and cold-related deaths separately, but this study provides a real, observed nationwide and contemporary assessment of deaths related to non-optimal temperatures at both ends of the spectrum and across key demographic subgroups,” ...

A collaboration between SISSA’s Physics and Neuroscience groups has taken a step forward in understanding how memories are stored and retrieved in the brain. The study, recently published in Neuron, shows that distinct perceptual biases – long thought to arise from separate brain systems – can, in fact, be explained by a single, biologically grounded mechanism. The research, led by professors Sebastian Goldt and Mathew E. Diamond, and first-authored by Francesca Schönsberg (now ...

Pairing cutting-edge chemistry with artificial intelligence, a multidisciplinary team of scientists today published fresh chemical evidence of Earth’s earliest life – concealed in 3.3-billion-year-old rocks – and molecular evidence that oxygen-producing photosynthesis was occurring over 800 million years earlier than previously documented. In a groundbreaking study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science and several partner universities and institutions analyzed over 400 samples, including ancient sediments, fossils, modern plants and animals, and even meteorites, to see ...

One of the major realizations of the Anthropocene era has been the importance of biodiversity for the functioning of the earth system, as well as for human societies. Recent trends show that human activities are driving biodiversity loss around the globe, but previous research has also shown an increase in biodiversity in Holocene Europe, showing that human societies can in fact support the health and resilience of their environments. The cultural phenomena that accompanied the increase in biodiversity, however, are less understood. Now, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences integrates data from interdisciplinary ...

“Ocean Plastics are an Existential Threat to the Diversity of Life on Our Planet”: Data Show that Nearly Half of Animals that Ingested Plastics were Red-Listed as Threatened Species   WASHINGTON — The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today released a new study, “A quantitative risk assessment framework for mortality due to macroplastic ingestion in seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles.” Led by Ocean Conservancy researchers, the peer-reviewed paper is the most comprehensive study yet to quantify the extent to which a range of plastic types — from soft, flexible plastics like bags and food wrappers; ...

Key Takeaways: The Ngogo group of wild chimpanzees in Uganda expanded its territory after its members killed at least 21 chimpanzees in neighboring groups. In the three years after the territorial expansion, the fertility of Ngogo females doubled and the survival rates of their offspring dramatically increased. The study offers rare evidence linking intergroup lethal conflict to reproductive benefits, providing insight into the evolution of coalitionary violence.   The Ngogo chimpanzees of Uganda’s Kibale National Park have long been known for violent clashes with neighboring groups, often resulting in deaths — a phenomenon ...

A 12,000-year-old clay figurine unearthed in northern Israel, depicting a woman and a goose, is the earliest known human-animal interaction figurine. Found at the Late Natufian site of Nahal Ein Gev II, the piece predates the Neolithic and signals a turning point in artistic and spiritual expression. Combining naturalism, light manipulation, and symbolic imagination, it reveals how early communities used art to explore the relationship between humans and the natural world. Link to pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nwEejOk2uaRGxAQN3yGCTMxhroZg6f0Z?usp=sharing At ...

A new study uncovered fresh chemical evidence of life in rocks more than 3.3 billion years old, along with molecular traces showing that oxygen-producing photosynthesis emerged nearly a billion years earlier than previously thought. The international team, led by researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science, paired cutting-edge chemistry with artificial intelligence to reveal faint chemical “whispers” of biology locked inside ancient rocks. Using machine learning, the researchers trained computers to recognize subtle molecular fingerprints left behind by living organisms, even when the original biomolecules have long since degraded. Among the collaborators ...

Researchers Sumika Kato, Takeo Kubo, and Taro Fukazawa of the University of Tokyo have discovered that c1qtnf3, a secreting factor, namely a protein molecule that is secreted by a cell and influences functions of other cells, is expressed in putative muscle stem cells and shifts macrophages from immune to regenerative functions in the regenerating tails of tadpoles. The discovery offers a crucial insight into the regenerative capabilities of certain animals and paves the way for further research into potential applications in mammals. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ...

Public opinion polls and other surveys rely on data to understand human behavior. New research from Dartmouth reveals that artificial intelligence can now corrupt public opinion surveys at scale—passing every quality check, mimicking real humans, and manipulating results without leaving a trace. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show just how vulnerable polling has become. In the seven major national polls before the 2024 election, adding as few as 10 to 52 fake AI responses—at five cents each—would have flipped the predicted outcome.  Foreign adversaries could easily exploit this weakness: ...

PHILADELPHIA (November 17, 2025) – A landmark international study finds that hospitals with better nurse staffing and work environments not only benefits nurses but is significantly associated with less physician burnout and job dissatisfaction. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, provides a clear solution to the global crisis of physician burnout. A research team, led by Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR), surveyed more than 6,400 physicians and 15,000 nurses across the United States and six European countries (Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Norway, ...

Small changes in turnout could substantially alter election results in the future because the UK now has a multiparty system with majoritarian voting rules, a new study warns. Last year’s General Election, which saw a marked increase in the number of candidates and a fragmented vote, will have an impact on the mandate of the Labour government, an expert has said. The research shows how the 2024 election tested the boundaries of the first-past-the-post system and the result means the UK has an uncertain electorate with diverse preferences. While the result led to a stable government there is plenty of instability. The study, by Dr Hannah Bunting, from the University ...

Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly increased the number of people at risk of HIV diagnosis who were prescribed preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a preventative medication taken in pill or injectable form, according to Rutgers Health–led research. The study, published in Health Affairs, analyzed PrEP prescription data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., between 2012 and 2023. Researchers found rates of PrEP prescribing increased overall and significantly increased relative to the number of new HIV diagnoses across all demographic groups, potentially because ...