Plankton are the invisible engines of life on Earth, producing much of the planet’s oxygen and forming the foundation of the oceanic food chain. They are also incredibly diverse, with tens of thousands of species described so far, and many more waiting to be discovered. Among them, protists,  tiny, single-celled organisms, stand out for their extraordinary diversity and evolutionary significance, yet for decades, scientists could study them only through genomic data, as reliable imaging methods were lacking.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, EMBL Group Leader Gautam Dey received a Zoom call from his ...

A new international study led by researchers from Aarhus University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) reveals that small bats can be just as efficient predators as lions – and often more successful. To find out how fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus), miniature carnivores from the forests of Panama, hunt in the wild, the research team equipped 20 of them with miniature “backpacks” – biologging tags that recorded every movement and sound, including those from the surrounding environment. The data revealed something remarkable: these bats hunt large prey such as frogs, birds and ...

Recent federal legislation requires the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to start implementing work requirements in their Medicaid programs by January 2027. But a new University of Michigan study suggests that those requirements may work against their intended purpose. The requirements mean people with low incomes will need to prove they’re working, or have a specific reason not to work, in order to keep their Medicaid health coverage. If they do not meet deadlines or submit the right information, they could lose their coverage for health care. But ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, structural racism was associated with inequities in neighborhood cardiovascular health, highlighting opportunities for place-based prevention efforts. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Wayne R. Lawrence, DrPH, MPH, email wayne.lawrence@nih.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.3864) Editor’s Note: Please see ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study found an increase in glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) prescriptions, with notable differences across subpopulations by insurance type, sex, and age. Tirzepatide and semaglutide grew the fastest, possibly due to their superior glycemic, weight loss, and guideline-emphasized cardiorenal benefits. Although GLP-1RAs are generally covered for type 2 diabetes (T2D), coverage for obesity is limited (e.g., Medicare excludes anti-obesity drugs). Off-label semaglutide (for T2D) use in the obesity-only group underscores access barriers. Corresponding Authors: To ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study found that frequent use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) (greater than 75% sensor wear) was associated with improved glycemic control compared with infrequent or no use of CGM. These findings suggest that clinicians should monitor CGM use at 6 months, identify potential therapeutic obstacles, and encourage continuous use of CGM.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Irl B. Hirsch, MD, email ihirsch@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.39278) Editor’s ...

Robotic palpation for in situ tissue biomechanical evaluation is crucial for disease diagnosis, especially in luminal organs. However, acquiring real-time information about the tissue’s interaction state and physical characteristics remains a substantial challenge. While commercial surgical robotic systems have integrated tactile feedback, the absence of tactile intelligence and autonomous decision-making limits the surgeon’s ability to comprehensively assess tissue mechanics, hindering the efficient detection of abnormalities. Endoscopic ...

Nonlinear optical dynamics—intensity-dependent response of light upon interaction with materials under high-intensity light sources—are of huge significance in modern photonics, findings applications in fields ranging from lasers, amplifiers, modulators, and sensors to the study of topics including quantum optics, nonlinear system dynamics, as well as light-matter interactions. In recent years, nonlinear optical effects such as Kerr and electro-optic effects have found use in microresonator-based optical frequency combs, or “microcombs.” ...

Despite enormous progress in the past two decades, the intentional control of bionic prostheses remains a challenge and the subject of intensive research. Now, scientists at the Medical University of Vienna and Imperial College London have developed a new method for precisely detecting the nerve signals remaining after an arm amputation and utilising them to control an artificial arm. The study results, published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, could form the basis for the development of the next generation of prostheses. As ...

Treatment for obesity in the UK could become a “two-tier system” where the most vulnerable patients miss out altogether. Obesity experts from King’s College London and the Obesity Management Collaborative (OMC-UK) have warned that strict eligibility criteria means that only a small number of people will have access to the weight loss drug Mounjaro on the NHS. With those able to afford it paying privately for treatment. The researchers argue, in an editorial published today in the British ...

EMBARGOED by Lancet until 12:01AM on Oct. 31, 2025 Contact: Gina DiGravio, 617-358-7838, ginad@bu.edu Researchers Discuss Gaps, Obstacles and Solutions for Contraception   (Boston)—Contraception and family planning are vital aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Despite major advances in modern contraception over the past 60 years, many gaps remain and the rate of unplanned pregnancies and abortions remains high. These issues have given rise to a new era in contraception research with great opportunities and many challenges.   In ...

Background and objectives Delirium, commonly observed in critically ill patients following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), is an acute neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by disturbances in attention, consciousness, and cognition. The underlying brain network mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the functional connectivity (FC) of the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) in delirium patients with basal ganglia ICH and to identify potential biomarkers for predicting delirium onset. Methods In this cross-sectional study, brain networkomics techniques were used to examine the FC within the ARAS in ICH ...

Computed tomography (CT) is an important diagnostic tool in clinical practice, widely used for disease screening and diagnosis. However, CT scans involve X-rays, which expose patients to radiation and potential health risks. Existing low-dose CT imaging often comes with degraded image quality, thereby affecting diagnostic accuracy. Although recent deep learning methods can markedly improve low-dose reconstruction quality, most rely on large centralized paired datasets collected under diverse vendors and scanning protocols—an approach constrained in medical imaging by privacy and regulatory requirements as well as ...

Florida Atlantic University neuroscientists have uncovered a surprising role for a protein named “Frazzled” (known as DCC in mammals) in the nervous system of fruit flies, showing how it helps neurons connect and communicate with lightning speed. The discovery sheds light on the fundamental mechanisms that ensure neurons form reliable connections, or synapses, a process essential for all nervous systems, from insects to humans. In the study, researchers focused on the Giant Fiber (GF) System of Drosophila, a neural circuit that controls this fruit fly’s rapid escape reflex. ...

DALLAS, October 31, 2025 — Pulmonary embolism (PE), a type of blood clot in the lungs, sends more than half a million people to U.S. hospitals each year — and kills about one in five high-risk patients, according to the American Heart Association 2025 statistical update. PE is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death in the U.S.[1] While progress has been made in PE care, pulmonary embolism remains underdiagnosed, undertreated and inconsistently managed. To address these gaps in care, the American ...

In a major advancement for energy storage technology, Professor Yoon Seok Jung and his team at Yonsei University have revealed a new fluoride-based solid electrolyte that enables all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) to operate beyond 5 volts safely. This paper, made available online on October 3, 2025 and was published in the Nature Energy journal, addressed a long-standing barrier in battery science, achieving high voltage stability without sacrificing ionic conductivity. As Prof. Jung explains, “Our fluoride solid electrolyte, LiCl–4Li2TiF6, opens a previously forbidden route ...

Low body weight in young women has been linked to a range of health concerns, including disrupted menstrual cycles, infertility, weakened immune function, and a long-term decline in bone density. Japan has seen a rising trend in the proportion of underweight women between the ages of 20 and 39, with little to no change over the past two decades. The persistence of this trend raises concerns over the long-term health implications, especially as lean body weight has been correlated with changing dietary habits, diseases like anorexia nervosa, and even imbalances in gut microbiota. ...

Astringency is a dry, puckering, rough, or sandpapery sensation in the mouth caused by plant-derived polyphenols. Polyphenols, including flavanols, are well known for risk reduction in cardiovascular diseases. Flavanols, found abundantly in cocoa, red wine, and berries, are associated with improved memory and cognition, as well as protection against neuronal damage. Despite these benefits, flavanols have poor bioavailability—the fraction that actually enters the bloodstream after ingestion. This has left an important knowledge gap: how can flavanols influence brain function and the nervous system when so little of them is absorbed? In response to this challenge, a research ...

Sepsis continues to be a leading cause of mortality in ICUs worldwide. Despite advances in early detection and treatment, standardized antibiotic dosing frequently ignores patient-level variability—especially that associated with sex-related physiology and gender-influenced care disparities. A newly published editorial in the Journal of Intensive Medicine on September 8, 2025, is calling attention to how biological sex and gender inequities contribute to suboptimal sepsis treatment, potentially compromising outcomes for women. Authored ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Cancer immunotherapy, which uses drugs that stimulate the body’s immune cells to attack tumors, is a promising approach to treating many types of cancer. However, it doesn’t work well for some tumors, including ovarian cancer. To elicit a better response, MIT researchers have designed new nanoparticles that can deliver an immune-stimulating molecule called IL-12 directly to ovarian tumors. When given along with immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, IL-12 helps the immune system launch an attack on cancer cells. Studying a mouse model of ovarian cancer, the researchers ...

A vaccine that tackles the bacteria that cause up to 200 million childhood infections every year could be possible, experts say. In the first study of its kind, an international team including those at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oslo, the University of Oxford and the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit at Mahidol University in Thailand, analysed new and existing Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) genomes, from global samples collected between 1962-2023. H. influenzae is a type of bacteria that can cause a range of infections that are widely treated with antibiotics, but ...

Protein TDP-43 malfunctions and disrupts the normal splicing of the KCNQ2 gene Mis-splicing of the gene causes neurons to fire too much, too easily in ALS and FTD  Study authors developed a new drug, which calmed overactive ALS neurons   CHICAGO --- A new Northwestern University study using patient nervous tissue and lab-grown human neurons has uncovered how a key disease protein, TDP-43, drives overactive nerve cells in the neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).  The findings not only explain a long-standing mystery of why nerve cells overfire ...

LAWRENCE — As climate change produces ever more heat waves, how many homes in the U.S. lack adequate cooling? Who’s most vulnerable to lethal temperatures, and exactly where do they live? A researcher at the University of Kansas has produced the most comprehensive and detailed map of air conditioning usage in the United States — data that can improve the understanding of AC access for public health officials, urban planners, emergency managers, economists, energy auditors, providers of social services, private industry and other stakeholders. The research appears today in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific ...

The phrase ‘liquid metal’ may bring to mind something hazardous, like mercury or molten steel. But in the Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fiber Devices (FIMAP) in EPFL’s School of Engineering, it simply means a mixture of indium and gallium that is nontoxic, remains liquid at room temperature, and shows great promise for developing electronic fibers for wearables and robotic sensors. Unfortunately, as FIMAP head Fabien Sorin explains, liquid metals are extremely difficult to process, and it’s especially hard to produce electronic fibers that combine high and stable conductivity with stretchability. Now, the lab has overcome this ...

A spooky bat has been spotted flying over the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, right in time for Halloween. Thanks to its wide field of view, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) was able to capture this large cloud of cosmic gas and dust, whose mesmerising appearance resembles the silhouette of a bat. Located about 10 000 light-years away, this ‘cosmic bat’ is flying between the southern constellations of Circinus and Norma. Spanning an area of the sky equivalent to four full Moons, it looks as if it's trying to hunt the glowing spot above it for food.  This nebula is a stellar nursery, a vast cloud of gas and dust from ...