Recent epic leaps in genetics have created a biodiversity library. As the genetic make-up of animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and viruses has been mapped, researchers racing to develop solutions to today’s global challenges run into a question: Why be limited to a mouse? Electric eels, octopi, birds, sponges, and plastic-gobbling bacteria are amongst the new stages on which discovery is unfolding. The challenge is to refine the theater to optimize performance. In today’s Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Michigan State University evolutionary biologist Jason Gallant presses a case for research – from classrooms and laboratories to funding agencies ...

“These findings suggest a physiological interaction between exercise and L-BAIBA supplementation to improve soleus muscle and bone properties and reduce bone marrow adiposity.” BUFFALO, NY — November 11, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Volume 17, Issue 10 of Aging-US on October 1, 2025, titled “L-β-aminoisobutyric acid (L-BAIBA) in combination with voluntary wheel running exercise enhances musculoskeletal properties in middle-age male mice.” In this study led by first author ...

(Toronto and Little Rock, November 11, 2025)  JMIR Publications, a premier open access publisher of digital health research, and The MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society (MCBIOS), a leading professional organization for computational biology and bioinformatics, today announced a strategic, long-term partnership. This agreement formally designates JMIR Bioinformatics and Biotechnology as the official journal of MCBIOS. This landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) creates a stable, high-impact venue for MCBIOS members to publish their research, particularly the output from the Society's annual conference. Both organizations are now ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Studying brain patterns in soccer fans, researchers found that certain circuit regions of the brain were activated while viewing soccer matches involving their favorite team, triggering positive and negative emotions and behaviors, according to a new study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The researchers say these patterns could apply to other types of fanaticism as well, and that the circuits are forged early in life. Soccer is a global phenomenon, and its followers ...

Computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest, abdomen, and spine, taken originally to detect problems such as kidney stones or growths on the lungs, can be repurposed through artificial intelligence (AI) to catch signs of bone loss, a new study shows. NYU Langone Health radiologists who developed the AI tool with experts at Visage say their new tool will soon be ready to provide “opportunistic screening” in NYU Langone hospitals for osteoporosis. The effort will be part of a clinical trial to diagnose those with unknown low bone density, using CT scans taken for other purposes. Publishing ...

SAN ANTONIO — November 11, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has expanded the capabilities of its world-class Metering Research Facility (MRF) to ensure existing natural gas infrastructure is compatible with hydrogen fuels. This initiative is supported by internal funding and combines SwRI’s expertise in energy, power, and automotive engineering to help several industries evaluate how blending hydrogen with natural gas affects infrastructure and technology. “Blending hydrogen into natural gas pipelines could prove to be a promising, cost-effective pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions using existing natural gas infrastructure,” ...

A globally cited statistic about the role of irrigation for food security that has formed foundational evidence for policy making and scientific research is used on a ‘hearsay’ basis and is based on weak evidence, according to a new study.   In a new paper published in PNAS Nexus, a team of researchers from the University of Birmingham has analysed the use of widely cited statistics, that irrigation agriculture produces 40% of global crops and withdraws 70% of global freshwater resources. ...

The EU is considering introducing a blanket ban on the man-made chemicals called PFAS because of the risks they pose. Researchers have now found that these substances can even alter the genes of birds before they hatch. These substances are called ‘forever chemicals’ because they break down very slowly in the natural environment. Some people may know them by the abbreviation PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are also very abundant. “These substances are used in hundreds of products, ranging from frying pans and waterproof clothing to firefighting foam, food packaging and stain-resistant ...

November 11, 2025 – The American Pediatric Society (APS) is pleased to announce the election of 92 new members to its distinguished community. Founded in 1888, APS is North America's first and most prestigious academic pediatric organization. New members will be formally recognized at the APS Howland Gala, held during the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 Meeting in Boston, April 24–27, 2026. APS members are recognized child health leaders of extraordinary achievement who work together to strengthen academic pediatrics by expanding the workforce, nurturing leaders, ...

During winter months, frost can unleash icy havoc on cars, planes, heat pumps, and much more. But thermal defrosting with heaters is very energy intensive, while chemical defrosting is expensive and toxic to the environment. Jonathan Boreyko, associate professor in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, and his research team may have found a new and improved method for deicing. His philosophy is to combat ice by exploiting its own physics instead of using heat or chemicals, creating methods of frost removal ...

Herdon, Va., November 11, 2025 - From dogs and cats to dairy cows and sea turtles, animals around the world are suffering from various cancers, obesity, diabetes, and degenerative joint disease. Understanding the forces driving an increase in these non-communicable diseases (NCDs) chronic diseases is vital for both animal and human health. However, interdisciplinary research on NCDs in animals is lacking.     A Risk Analysis study introduces an innovative conceptual model for improving the surveillance and management of these chronic animal diseases. Developed ...

Background and Aims Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) frequently occurs in patients with porto-sinusoidal vascular disease (PSVD), but its clinical characteristics and outcomes remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the clinical features and outcomes of PVT in PSVD. Methods A total of 169 patients with PSVD confirmed by hepatic histology were included. PVT was diagnosed using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data, portal hypertension-related complications, comorbidities, and mortality were collected and compared between patients with and without PVT. The primary ...

The idea that irrigated agriculture underpins global food and water security—producing 40% of crops and using 70% of freshwater—has become widespread in science and policy. However, these statistics are not empirically supported, according to a new analysis. Arnald Puy and colleagues traced these figures through citations in 3,693 scientific documents published from 1966 to 2024. The authors found that 60–80% of citation paths led to sources without supporting data or that did not contain the claimed numbers. Only approximately 1.5% of cited documents provided original data. When ...

A database, collecting and classifying tile-like patterns in biology, aims to be a resource and research catalyst. The human eye is drawn to the rhythmic beauty of tiled patterns, which occur abundantly in nature. Jana Ciecierska-Holmes, John Nyakatura and Mason Dean led a project with colleagues, offering a classification of biological tilings—repeated patterns of geometric discrete elements found in nature. Tilings are found across the tree of life, in a wide variety of taxa and at many spatial scales from ...

In an editorial, Editor-in-Chief Yannis C. Yortsos looks back at the journal’s first few years and considers the aptness of W. Brian Arthur’s 2009 definition of technology, “leveraging phenomena for useful purposes,” exploring how it might be applied across all scientific endeavors in the age of artificial intelligence, the acceleration of which has coincided with the launch of PNAS Nexus. Created to serve as a platform for scientific and technological ideas, enlightenment, and solutions, PNAS ...

A new University of California San Diego study offers compelling evidence that glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists — the class of drugs behind Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, for example — may do more than regulate blood sugar and weight. In an analysis of more than 6,800 colon cancer patients across all University of California Health sites, researchers found that those taking GLP-1 medications were less than half as likely to die within five years compared to those who weren’t on the drugs (15.5% versus 37.1%). The study, led by Raphael Cuomo, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology ...

Virtual reality (VR) gaming has gained significant attention in recent years, with an increasing number of users integrating VR and immersive headsets into their daily lives. These devices provide highly immersive visuals, creating a strong sense of presence and disconnection from the real world. However, concerns have been raised about the effects of prolonged VR use—especially at short viewing distances—on eye health and its potential link to dry eye disease, an ocular condition characterized by tear film instability. The tear film is a dynamic, multilayered system composed of lipid ...

Stroke is one of the leading causes of non-traumatic disability worldwide, affecting more than 15 million people each year, with about three-quarters experiencing long-term functional impairments. This makes it crucial to develop long-term rehabilitation programs that can promote motor relearning, enhance neural plasticity, and restore daily motor function. Robot-assisted rehabilitation, which combines neuroscience, biomechanics, and advanced control systems, is emerging as a highly promising approach. In recent years, exoskeleton-type rehabilitation robots that enable distributed ...

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a fascinating non-invasive technique that measures and records the brain’s electrical activity. It detects small electrical signals produced when neurons in the brain communicate with each other, using electrodes placed at specific locations on the scalp that correspond to different regions of the brain. EEG has applications in various fields, from cognitive science and neurological disease diagnosis to robotic prosthetics development and brain-computer interfaces (BCI).   Different brain activities produce unique EEG signal patterns. One important example is motor imagery (MI)—a ...

Researchers have long established that hormones significantly affect the brain, creating changes in emotion, energy levels, and decision-making. However, the intricacies of these processes are not well understood.  A new study by a team of scientists focusing on the female hormone estrogen further illuminates the nature of these processes. In a series of experiments with laboratory rats, it finds that the neurological mechanisms underlying learning and decision-making naturally fluctuate over the ...

Earth scientists have discovered how continents are slowly peeled from beneath, fuelling volcanic activity in an unexpected place: the oceans. The research, led by the University of Southampton, shows how slivers of continents are slowly stripped from below and swept into the oceanic mantle – the hot, mostly solid layer beneath the ocean floor that slowly flows. Here, the continental material fuels volcanic activity for tens of millions of years. The discovery solves a long-standing geological mystery: why many ocean islands far from plate tectonic ...

Many oceanic islands far from active plate tectonic boundaries contain materials that clearly originate from continents, even though they are located in the middle of an oceanic plate. Where do the continental remnants come from? Are they sediments that are recycled when oceanic plates subduct into the mantle? Or do they originate from the depths of the Earth's mantle and are carried upward by hot currents, known as mantle plumes? Both explanations are being discussed, but they fall short. This is because some volcanic regions show little evidence of crustal recycling, while others are too cool to be driven by mantle plumes. Researchers at the University of Southampton and the GFZ Helmholtz ...

The discovery of a new mechanism of resistance to common antibiotics could pave the way for improved treatments for harmful bacterial infections, a study suggests. Targeting this defence mechanism could aid efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the world’s most urgent health challenges, researchers say. Findings from the study reveal how a repair system inside some bacteria plays a pivotal role in helping them survive commonly-used antibiotics. Many of these drugs work by targeting the production of proteins essential for bacterial growth and survival. Now, researchers from the University of Edinburgh have identified ...

Reversed sex roles: In seahorses, it is the males who carry offspring to term. The females lay their eggs into a special brood pouch on the bellies of the males where they are fertilized by the male’s sperm. In the brood pouches, embryos are provided with nutrients and oxygen from the males' bodies until the males give live birth to small seahorses (viviparity). But how does this work? A German-Chinese research team led by evolutionary biologist Axel Meyer from the University of Konstanz and working in collaboration with Liu Yali and Lin Qiang from the South China Sea ...

Pore-forming proteins are found throughout nature. In humans, they play key roles in immune defense, while in bacteria they often act as toxins that punch holes in cell membranes. These biological pores allow ions and molecules to pass through membranes. Their unique ability to control molecular transport has also made them powerful nanopore tools in biotechnology, for example in DNA sequencing and molecular sensing. Despite their importance and impact on biotechnology, biological nanopores can also ...