MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/04/2024) — In a major step toward next-generation electronics, researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have discovered a way to manipulate the direction of charge flow in ultrathin metallic films at room temperature using light. This discovery opens the door to more energy-efficient optical sensors, detectors, and quantum information devices.  The research is published in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, high-impact scientific journal. The team showed that ultra-thin layers of ruthenium dioxide (RuO2), grown on titanium dioxide ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (08/04/2025) — Large surface waves produced by powerboats are a mainstay for recreational watersports. A new study from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities shows that beneath the surface, factors such as propeller thrust and other types of waves can impact delicate lakebed ecosystems. Researchers at the University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory built on previous research to study the effects of powerboats on lake ecosystems over the 2022 and 2023 field seasons. The team placed acoustic-based sensors that measured pressure and velocities through the water column ...

Japan is famous for its beautiful mountain landscapes as well as for the challenges it offers to avid mountaineers. However, these mountains can get so treacherous that Japan actually records one of the highest numbers of mountain accidents globally. In fact, Japan had 3,126 mountain accidents in 2023, the highest annual total since 1961.   In particular, Nagano Prefecture, which has many mountains popular among climbers, is one of the regions with a high number of mountaineering accidents due to its ...

Paleontologists have identified a new species of ancient marine reptile from Germany's world-renowned Posidonia Shale fossil beds, expanding our understanding of prehistoric ocean ecosystems that existed nearly 183 million years ago. The newly classified species, named Plesionectes longicollum ("long-necked near-swimmer"), represents a previously unknown type of plesiosauroid—the group of long-necked marine reptiles that inhabited Earth's oceans during the age of dinosaurs. The specimen is a nearly complete skeleton that even preserves remnants of fossilised soft ...

nderstanding exactly how psychedelics promote new connections in the brain is critical to developing targeted, non-hallucinogenic therapeutics that can treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. To achieve this, researchers are mapping the biochemical pathways involved in both neuroplasticity and hallucinations.   In new research led by the University of California, Davis, researchers found that non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelic drugs promote neuroplasticity through the same biochemical pathway as psychedelics. ...

The Lancet: Plastic pollution is an underrecognised threat to health, experts warn as they launch a project to track plastics’ health impacts and monitor progress Ahead of the expected finalisation of an UN global plastics treaty [1], a group of international experts call for a greater focus on health impacts when considering plastic pollution. The Health Policy published in The Lancet reviews the current evidence on how plastics – including microplastics and plastic chemicals - impact health and announces the launch of a new project tracking ...

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (8/4/2025) – With the latest round of negotiations to finalize a United Nations global plastics treaty set to begin, a group of international researchers, writing in the most recent edition of The Lancet, have called for greater vigilance and regulation to curb the health impacts of plastic pollution and have announced a new project to track these impacts. An estimated 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste now pollute the planet. Across their lifecycle, plastics – including plastic chemicals - result in a range of adverse health outcomes, the researchers write in a Health Policy ...

A new report published in The Lancet issues a fresh clarion call: plastic pollution is a grave and growing danger to human and planetary health. As Ministers and diplomats arrive in Geneva for the final round of talks to conclude a global plastics treaty, the report provides the most up-to-date assessment of the links between health and plastic pollution across the full life cycle of plastic.  An estimated 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste now pollute the planet. Micro- and nanoplastic particles and multiple plastic chemicals are found in ...

New research to be presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (15-19 September) suggests that living in a rural environment in the first five years of life could increase the risk of developing type 1 diabetes compared with living in urban environments. The study is by Samy Sebraoui and Professor Soffia Gudbjornsdottir, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease where the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. This ...

  DENVER - A new editorial published in Comprehensive Physiology underscores the critical importance of understanding heart-lung interactions in pulmonary vascular disease (PVD). Tim Lahm, MD, a pulmonologist and researcher at National Jewish Health, along with a team of esteemed colleagues from institutions across the country, urges the scientific community to confront the major knowledge gaps that hinder progress in improving patient outcomes. The editorial, titled "Towards a Better Understanding of Heart-Lung Interactions in Pulmonary ...

Five faculty members at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville — Christopher Cherry, Virginia Corrigan, Bernard Issa, Hector Pulgar and Tong (Toni) Wang — have been selected to receive Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards for the 2025-26 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutes abroad. Fulbright Scholars engage in ...

Water is an essential requirement for life on Earth — it supports everything from cellular processes to ecosystems. Five papers published in ACS journals provide new insights to help protect natural water sources and ensure that more people have access to safe drinking water. Reporters can request free access to these papers by emailing newsroom@acs.org. Reducing salt contamination of tidal rivers. Across the globe, the saltwater portion of tidal rivers — which rise and fall with the ocean tides — has been traveling farther upstream in the last few decades. Researchers publishing in Environmental ...

University of Oklahoma Associate Professor Dustin Condren, Ph.D., has been named a 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Scholar by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Condren is among around 400 scholars selected nationwide for the prestigious international award. The Fulbright Scholars program aims to promote mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and those from other nations. Candidates are chosen based on their academic achievements and the strength of their proposed project. “We are immensely proud of Dr. Condren for being ...

More than a decade ago, researchers found that an acute complication of type 1 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), can be resolved with the hormone leptin, even in the absence of insulin.   An analysis published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation explains how leptin affects the brain and how it might be used in future therapeutics.  DKA happens when the body is unable to make insulin and begins to break down fat for fuel. This can lead to a life-threatening buildup of sugar (glucose) and ketoacids in the blood. Doctors have typically administered insulin to address ...

Oysters and mangroves are both essential to protecting and restoring Florida’s coastlines that they call home, including defending them against storms. As mangrove populations are increasing due to successful restoration efforts and favorable weather, however, their strong comeback may pose unintended consequences for oysters, according to new research from UCF graduate student Katherine Harris and Pegasus Professor Linda Walters published in the Marine Ecology Progress Series. To protect Florida’s coastlines, the researchers hope their new findings can initiate efforts ...

In recent years, doctors and scientists are increasingly studying long-lasting illnesses that begin after someone recovers from an infection. Two of the most well-known examples are long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). It has been estimated that 400 million people, globally, may have Long COVID, and nearly half of them meet criteria for ME/CFS. These conditions were often misunderstood or overlooked in the past, but that is starting to change. Researchers are now studying them as part of a larger group of illnesses called post-acute infection syndromes, or PAISs. A new review by Mass General Brigham investigator Anthony L Komaroff, ...

A recent multicenter clinical trial has uncovered inflammatory pathways that contribute to asthma flare-ups in children that occur despite treatment, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics. Eosinophilic asthma is characterized by high levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell involved in the body’s immune response. While eosinophils typically help fight infections, in eosinophilic asthma, they accumulate in the lungs and airways, causing chronic inflammation, swelling and damage to the respiratory system. Eosinophilic asthma is driven by type 2 (T2) inflammation, an immune response ...

Cell membranes cradle, protect, and gatekeep living cells. Membranes can even affect how a cell behaves. But membranes’ own erratic behavior has puzzled scientists for years.  Turns out, it’s all about perspective: When physicist Rana Ashkar’s team members looked at how membranes behave on the nanoscale, they were able to identify unified biophysical laws that membranes have adhered to all along.   Published in Nature Communications, these findings have significant implications for disease ...

New York, NY [August 1, 2025]— In a discovery that could guide the development of next-generation antidepressants and antipsychotic medications, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed new insights into how a critical brain receptor works at the molecular level and why that matters for mental health treatments. The study, published in the August 1 online issue of Science Advances, focuses on the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor, a major player in regulating mood and a common target of both traditional antidepressants and newer therapies such as psychedelics. Despite its ...

Researchers have discovered a protein which is critical for steering melanoma cancer cells as they spread throughout the body. The malignant cells become dependent on this protein to migrate, pointing to new strategies for impeding metastasis.  The protein eIF2A is generally thought to spring into action when a cell is under stress, helping ribosomes launch protein synthesis. But according to a study published today in the journal Science Advances, eIF2A has a completely different role in melanoma, helping cancerous cells control movement.  “Malignant cells that metastasize ...

Researchers at Kyoto University have discovered that an immune molecule found only in primates, called IGFL2, plays a key role in regulating inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IGFL2 is produced by a subset of immune cells in the joints of patients with RA and acts like fuel on a fire: it activates more immune cells, further amplifying inflammation and worsening joint damage. They also found that IGFL2 levels were much higher in the blood of patients with RA, especially in those with more severe symptoms. These findings support IGFL2’s potential as a diagnostic marker, a tool for monitoring disease progression, ...

Lighting plays a crucial role when it comes to visual storytelling. Whether it’s film or photography, creators spend countless hours, and often significant budgets, crafting the perfect illumination for their shot. But once a photograph or video is captured, the illumination is essentially fixed. Adjusting it afterward, a task called “relighting,” typically demands time-consuming manual work by skilled artists.  While some generative AI tools attempt to tackle this task, they rely on large-scale neural networks and billions of training images to guess how light might interact with a scene. But the process is often ...

Berkeley — Gray wolf pups are born nearly helpless: blind, deaf and lacking the acute sense of smell of their elders. They usually remain in the safe confines of their den until they are at least three weeks old. That is why UC Berkeley biologists were surprised to observe gray wolves near Yellowstone National Park traveling 20 kilometers or more over rugged, mountainous terrain, with very young pups in tow.  “The first time I saw a camera trap photo of a wolf carrying its pup, I just cracked up because the pup is being carried by its butt,” said Avery Shawler, first author of a new study presenting the findings, which appeared ...

Researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have used artificial intelligence to tackle a critical problem facing the future of energy storage: finding affordable, sustainable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. In research published in Cell Reports Physical Science, the NJIT team led by Professor Dibakar Datta successfully applied generative AI techniques to rapidly discover new porous materials capable of revolutionizing multivalent-ion batteries. These batteries, using abundant elements like magnesium, calcium, aluminum and zinc, offer a promising, cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion batteries, ...

In cheminformatics, where machine learning is transforming our understanding of how molecular properties are predicted and explained, a critical challenge has long remained: making these powerful but often "black box" models easier to interpret. Recently, researchers at the Australian National University developed a breakthrough solution: a "regional explanation" method that helps reveal how molecular structures drive their properties. This research was published June 3 in Intelligent ...