A low-energy challenger to the quantum computer that also works at room temperature may be the result of research at the University of Gothenburg. The researchers have shown that information can be transmitted using magnetic wave motion in complex networks. Spintronics explores magnetic phenomena in nano-thin layers of magnetic materials that are exposed to magnetic fields, electric currents and voltages. These external stimuli can also create spin waves, ripples in a material's magnetisation that travel with a specific phase and energy. The researchers ...

HERNDON, Va., February 25, 2025 -- One of the human impacts of natural hazards is household displacement.  Destructive floods, wildfires, earthquakes and hurricanes often force people to leave their homes -- some briefly, others for months or indefinitely. Most disaster risk assessments, used by insurance companies, government agencies, development banks, and academic researchers to predict the potential future impacts of natural hazards, fail to account for hardships incurred by household displacement. Instead, they focus on direct ...

In residential areas, where a growing number of older people live, the first- and last-mile mobility between their homes and bus stops has become a social problem. Older adults are encouraged to relinquish their licenses and rely on public transportation. Demand-responsive transport (DRT) has the potential to address this social problem. DRT is a mode of transportation that dispatches on demand to pick up and drop off passengers according to their needs. However, older adults’ lesser acceptance of digital solutions poses a challenge to this new system. Dr. Haruka Kato, a junior associate professor at Osaka Metropolitan ...

A world-first technology has been developed by introducing a roll-to-roll compatible flash process into secondary battery electrode manufacturing, significantly suppressing the performance degradation of thick electrodes. This breakthrough presents a new possibility of reducing battery costs by minimizing inactive materials and simplifying the manufacturing process while increasing energy density and capacity, making batteries smaller and lighter. The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Seog-Hyeon Ryu, hereinafter referred to as KIMM), an institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, has developed an electrode activation technology utilizing an ...

Named LLM4SD (Large Language Model 4 Scientific Discovery), the new AI system is an interactive Large Language Model (LLM) tool which can carry out basic steps of scientific research i.e. retrieve useful information from literature and develop hypotheses from data analysis. The tool is freely available and open source.  When asked, the system is also able to provide insights to explain its results, a feature that is not available for many current scientific validation tools.  LLM4SD was tested with 58 separate research tasks relating to molecular properties across four different scientific domains: physiology, physical chemistry, biophysics and quantum mechanics.  Lead ...

Researchers from Japan and Taiwan reveal for the first time that helium, usually considered chemically inert, can bond with iron under high pressures. They used a laser-heated diamond anvil cell to find this, and the discovery suggests there could be huge amounts of helium in the Earth’s core. This could challenge long-standing ideas about the planet’s internal structure and history, and may even reveal details of the nebula our solar system coalesced from. If you’ve ever seen a volcanic eruption and wondered what might be coming ...

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister pushed through the finishing tape at Iffley Road track in Oxford, England, and collapsed into the arms of friends after becoming the first human to run a mile in less than four minutes. “It was the running equivalent to summiting Mount Everest for the first time,” said University of Colorado Boulder Integrative Physiology Professor Rodger Kram. “Prior to Bannister, it was considered impossible—beyond the limits of human physiology.” Seven decades later, a female runner has yet to follow ...

A high dietary intake of lean and oily fish may slow the progression of disability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), suggests a comparative population based study, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.   The anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties of the nutrients found in fish may be key, say the researchers, who add that their findings underscore the potential importance of diet in managing the disease. Emerging evidence indicates that diet may have a role in the development of inflammatory diseases, including MS, explain the researchers.  While previously published research has linked fish ...

UK Armed Forces servicewomen needing an abortion face a unique set of hurdles around access and care, as well as stigma and judgemental attitudes from senior (usually male) colleagues, indicates the first study of its kind, published online in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.   Although based on a relatively low response rate, the findings prompt the researchers to call for more information and policy on abortion provision, both for service personnel and military healthcare professionals. In the UK around 1 in 3 women ...

The use of powerful synthetic opioids, such as sufentanil and remifentanil, during surgery is linked to a subsequent poor ‘pain experience’---a composite of emotional, cognitive, and physical aspects of pain— suggests research published in the open access journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.   The findings highlight the need to reassess intraoperative pain relief strategies to reduce complications after surgery and improve the quality of patient care, say the researchers. Most patients ...

Millions of people with type 2 diabetes could receive better treatment thanks to a new, simple low-cost tool, according to groundbreaking research announced today at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference 2025 and published in the Lancet. Researchers at the University of Exeter, funded by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome and NIHR Exeter Biomedical Research Centre, and supported by Diabetes UK, have developed an innovative way of identifying the most effective glucose-lowering drugs for a person with type 2 diabetes. By predicting which drug will lead to the largest reduction in blood glucose ...

Peer reviewed/ Simulation/modelling /People   A new AI model can flag female patients who are at higher risk of heart disease based on an electrocardiogram (ECG).   The researchers say the algorithm, designed specifically for female patients, could enable doctors to identify high-risk women earlier, enabling better treatment and care. Details are published today in Lancet Digital Health.   An ECG records the electrical activity of the heart and is one of the most common medical tests in the world. In ...

Our organs age at different rates, and a blood test determining how much they’ve each aged could predict the risk of conditions like lung cancer and heart disease decades later, finds a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers. The findings, published in The Lancet Digital Health, show how accelerated ageing in specific organs can predict not only diseases affecting that organ, but diseases across the rest of the body as well. Lead author Professor Mika Kivimaki (UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences) said: “Our organs function as an integrated system, but they can age at different rates. ...

A new species of manzanita — a native California shrub famous for its twisted branches and wildfire resilience — has been discovered on the central coast, but its survival is already threatened by urban development that could destroy much of its fragile population. The discovery is detailed in a new study published in PhytoKeys, where researchers used genetic analysis to confirm the plant as a distinct species. Named Arctostaphylos nipumu to honor the Nipomo Mesa where it was discovered and its indigenous heritage, the species stands out for its shaggy gray bark — ...

New Curtin University research has revealed how massive ancient glaciers acted like giant bulldozers, reshaping Earth’s surface and paving the way for complex life to flourish. By chemically analysing crystals in ancient rocks, the researchers discovered that as glaciers carved through the landscape, they scraped deep into the Earth’s crust, releasing key minerals that altered ocean chemistry. This process had a profound impact on our planet’s composition, creating conditions that allowed ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — From integrated photonics to quantum information science, the ability to control light with electric fields — a phenomenon known as the electro-optic effect — supports vital applications such as light modulation and frequency transduction. These components rely on nonlinear optical materials, in which light waves can be manipulated by applying electric fields.  Conventional nonlinear optical materials such as lithium niobate have large electro-optic response but are ...

UdeM reproductive biologist Greg FitzHarris and his team show for the first time that sister cells can communicate with each other through a bridge that allows them to die in a coordinated way. Sister cells are a pair of cells that share the same mother cell. In a new study published in Developmental Cell, researchers led by Université de Montréal (UdeM) professor Greg FitzHarris show how the early mouse embryo gets rid of the defective or unneeded cells in pairs. “Such a mechanism could serve to ensure the elimination of cells with a ...

Identifying and delineating cell structures in microscopy images is crucial for understanding the complex processes of life. This task is called “segmentation” and it enables a range of applications, such as analysing the reaction of cells to drug treatments, or comparing cell structures in different genotypes. It was already possible to carry out automatic segmentation of those biological structures but the dedicated methods only worked in specific conditions and adapting them to new conditions was costly. An international ...

AURORA, Colo. (Feb. 25, 2025) – A new study, published today in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, tested whether a set of interventions to keep lungs expanded before, during, and after abdominal surgery could lower the risk of serious breathing problems in patients compared to the usual care at 17 academic hospitals in the U.S. The research has determined that these interventions for open abdominal surgery do not result in less severe breathing problems as compared to the usual care in those hospitals. Adult abdominal surgery patient enrollees were either given a lung expansion set of interventions or the typical care plan to follow at each hospital. ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2025 Media Contacts: Renee Tessman, rtessman@aan.com, (612) 928-6137 Natalie Conrad, nconrad@aan.com, (612) 928-6164 Microplastics in ocean linked to disabilities for coastal residents Mobility, self-care, independent living disability higher in areas with high microplastics MINNEAPOLIS – Tiny bits of plastic found in the ocean may be tied to a higher risk of disability for people who live in coastal areas with high levels, according to a preliminary study released today, ...

ROCKVILLE, MD – The 10 winners of the annual Undergraduate Poster Award Competition (UPAC) were recognized at the 69th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony on February 17, 2025. After two rounds of judging, judges from every career level selected these students for their outstanding presentations during the poster competition. Seventy-four students participated in the competition.  The 2025 UPAC winners are:  Adam Gatch, Clemson University, USA – “AΒ42 Accelerates Pathogenic Structural Transformation Within ...

How can the loss of species and habitats in agricultural landscapes be stopped? Up to now, measures have mostly been implemented by individual farms. In contrast, agri-environmental measures that are planned across farms at landscape level offer greater potential for creating suitable habitats for different species as a mosaic in the landscape. However, successful landscape level approaches also require cooperation between farms and other stakeholders from local governments, politics and nature conservation. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have therefore identified ...

LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found a potential new target for treating Parkinson's disease. Their new research reveals how a protein in brain cells may drive Parkinson's onset—and offers a possible explanation for why Parkinson's is much more common in men.  In recent years, LJI scientists have found increasing evidence that autoimmunity plays a role in the onset of Parkinson's disease. Their recent study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that PINK1 appears to mark ...

WASHINGTON—The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) has published an expert consensus statement that provides interventional cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and heart teams with practical guidance for selecting patients and performing alternative access transaortic valve replacement (TAVR). TAVR has seen substantial growth over the past decade, becoming a standard of care for many patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis. However, some patients face challenges due to inadequate femoral vascular access. The new guidelines address this gap by recommending alternative access ...

The efficient architecture of our joints, which allows our skeletons to be flexible and sturdy, originated among our most ancient jawed fish ancestors, according to a study published February 25th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Neelima Sharma of the University of Chicago and colleagues. Synovial joints are a key feature of most vertebrate skeletons, providing more mobility and stability compared to other joint types. A synovial joint allows bones or cartilage to slide past each other with the aid of a lubricated cavity between them. These joints are present in land vertebrates and bony fish, suggesting this feature had evolved in the common ancestors of these groups, but ...