Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causes progressive vision loss in many elderly people, and no treatment is available for the so-called atrophic form of the disease. A neurostimulation system called Prima, including a subretinal implant, could change all that. The results of a clinical trial involving Inserm, Sorbonne University and CNRS - via the Institut de la vision -, the Hôpital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild and the Hôpital national des 15-20 show that it partially restored sight in over 80% of participants with AMD, who recovered their ability to read letters, numbers and words. The results are published in the New England journal of medicine. Age-related macular ...

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University-led researchers have developed a chip-sized processor and 3D printed antenna arrays that could someday lead to flexible and wearable wireless systems and improved electronic communications in a wide variety of auto, aviation, and space industry applications. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers used 3D printing, the processor, and an ink made from copper nanoparticles to create the flexible antenna arrays. “This proof-of-concept prototype paves the way ...

Trains move through the world’s subway stations in a consistent pattern: arriving, stopping, and moving to the next stop—and repeated by other trains throughout the day. A new study by a team of New York University psychology and linguistics researchers finds that our brains work much the same way when processing several words at once—as we routinely do when listening to others speak. The work, which uncovers new ways the brain functions, appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy ...

The shrinking sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is, overall, a disaster. But paradoxically, the melting of the ice can also fuel the engine of the Arctic food chains: algae. Algae are the main food source for life in the sea, but they need nitrogen to grow. And nitrogen is in short supply in the Arctic Ocean. However, a new international study led by the University of Copenhagen indicates therewill probably be more of it in the future than previously thought. This could change the future prospects for marine life in the High North and possibly for the carbon budget. The researchers ...

Alexandria, Va. – October 20, 2025 — As the U.S. confronts a historic healthcare workforce crisis, a new white paper released today calls on federal and state policymakers to modernize outdated laws, regulations, and payment systems in order to harness the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in care delivery. Titled “Aging Well with AI: Transforming Care Delivery,” the report was commissioned by HealthFORCE, in collaboration with the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) and West Health, and developed by The LINUS Group. It ...

To successfully meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we need significant breakthroughs in clean and efficient energy technologies. Central to this effort is the development of next-generation energy storage systems that can contribute towards our global goal of carbon neutrality. Among many possible candidates, high-energy-density batteries have drawn particular attention, as they are expected to power future electric vehicles, grid-scale renewable energy storage, and other sustainable applications.  Lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries stand out due to their exceptionally ...

DARIEN, IL – Eight finalists will compete in November for the first Sleep Medicine Disruptors Innovation Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The award competition is part of Sleep Medicine Disruptors 2025, which will be held in person in Austin, Texas, and livestreamed Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14 - 15. An expert panel of nine AASM members reviewed and scored 23 entries according to their novelty, practicality, and potential to improve sleep health and sleep care by solving a significant ...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive and often fatal blood cancer, has long resisted a class of drugs called proteasome inhibitors, which work well in multiple myeloma. A new study by University of California San Diego researchers shows why: AML cells activate backup stress-response systems to stay alive when proteasomes are blocked. Proteasomes are cellular machines responsible for breaking down and recycling proteins, allowing cells to stay healthy. By combining proteasome inhibitors with a second drug that disables one of two backup survival pathways, the team was able to kill AML cells more effectively, reduce disease burden and extend ...

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have created microscopic soft robots shaped like flowers that can change shape and behavior in response to their surroundings, just like living organisms do. These tiny “DNA flowers” are made from special crystals formed by combining DNA and inorganic materials. They can reversibly fold and unfold in seconds, making them among the most dynamic materials ever developed on such a small scale.  Each flower’s DNA acts like a tiny computer program, telling it how to move and react to the world around ...

Melbourne researchers have discovered gender-affirming hormone therapy can alter body proteins to match a person’s gender identity, potentially affecting susceptibility to certain health conditions. The research, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the University of Melbourne, found that sex-specific blood proteins in transgender women shifted significantly after six months of gender-affirming hormone therapy, resembling those of cisgender women. MCRI Associate Professor Boris Novakovic said remarkably the therapy reduced ...

How do mammals manage to eat in situations that cause anxiety, step into exposed spaces, or slow down when anxiety drives them to keep moving? A new study pinpoints a leptin-sensitive circuit in the lateral hypothalamus that helps to overcome anxiety to perform essential behaviours such as exploring, feeding, and limiting maladaptive hyperactivity. Leptin is a hormone that acts in the brain, regulating energy balance, influencing appetite and eating behaviour. Leptin is sensed by neurons which have leptin receptors. Many of ...

In the right combinations and conditions, two-dimensional materials can host intriguing and potentially valuable quantum phases, like superconductivity and unique forms of magnetism. Why they occur, and how they can be controlled, is of considerable interest among physicists and engineers. Research published in Nature Physics reveals a previously hidden feature that could explain how and why enigmatic quantum phases emerge.  Using a new terahertz (THz) spectroscopic technique, the researchers revealed that tiny stacks of 2D materials, found in research labs around the world, can naturally form what are known as cavities. These cavities confine light and electrons into even ...

Bethesda, MD (Oct. 17, 2025) — The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) today released a new clinical practice guideline on the surveillance of Barrett's esophagus, the only known precursor to esophageal cancer (adenocarcinoma), a highly lethal cancer whose incidence has risen substantially over recent decades. The guideline provides eight evidence-based recommendations and several key implementation statements to help clinicians monitor patients after a diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus, a condition associated with chronic ...

By the time patients start seeking care for multiple sclerosis (MS), the disease has already been damaging their brains for years. But until recently, scientists didn’t understand which brain cells were being targeted or when the injury began.   Now, by analyzing thousands of proteins found in the blood, scientists at UC San Francisco have created the clearest picture yet of when the disease attacks the myelin sheath that covers the nerve fibers. It shows that the immune system begins attacking ...

Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the magnetic domains on one of such ‘giant magnetofossils’ using a sophisticated method at the Diamond X-ray source. Their analysis shows that these particles could have allowed these organisms to sense tiny variations in both the direction and intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field, enabling them to geolocate themselves and ...

Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT / 5 a.m. ET Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 DALLAS, Oct. 20, 2025 — About 9 in 10 U.S. adults have not heard of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, a newly defined health condition affecting nearly 90% of adults that includes heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity, according to a new survey from the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere. However, many are interested in learning more about it. Nearly 90% of U.S. adults have at least ...

PITTSBURGH, October 20, 2025 — Doctors and researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC have developed a new treatment for epilepsy patients who don’t respond to medication and aren’t candidates for surgery. Their approach, published today in Nature Communications, uses deep brain stimulation (DBS) that is tailored to each patient’s unique brain wiring. Epilepsy affects more than 50 million people worldwide, and about a third of those do not respond to medication. For some, seizures are generated in parts of the brain that control essential functions – speech, movement or vision – that can’t be safely removed. Brain ...

If you’ve ever added liquid to a hot frying pan, maybe you noticed how the droplets bubbled up and skittered across the sizzling surface, rather than immediately flattening and wetting. This happens because the pan’s heat starts boiling the undersides of the droplets, producing vapor that acts as an insulating cushion on which they can – momentarily – dance. Previously, scientists have produced a room-temperature version of this phenomenon – known as the Leidenfrost effect – ...

Note: Abstract #6267, titled ECOG-ACRIN EA6174: Surgically Treated Adjuvant Merkel Cell Carcinoma with Pembrolizumab, is scheduled to be presented during the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting on Monday, Oct. 20, at 2:30 a.m. ET in the Cologne Auditorium, Messe Berlin, Berlin. A drug that harnesses the immune system to attack cancer cells has proved successful in preventing a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer from spreading to other organs when given immediately after surgery, a new study shows. Led by researchers at NYU ...

A new cancer clinical trial by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) shows that a drug that utilizes the body’s immune system to target and eliminate cancer cells appeared to reduce the risk of distant metastases for an aggressive form of skin cancer when given immediately after surgery, but did not significantly reduce the overall risk of recurrence, which was a co-primary endpoint of the trial. The randomized phase 3 STAMP trial (EA6174) is the largest clinical study to date evaluating pembrolizumab, ...

New research reveals that the number and complexity of cancer clinical trials since 2001 have varied across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with economic growth contributing to disparities, but only to a certain extent. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Although LMICs are expected to experience the greatest global burden of cancer in the coming years, cancer clinical trials are disproportionally concentrated in high-income countries. Because evidence suggests that LMICs have increased the number of cancer clinical trials over the last few decades, researchers investigated disparities ...

In a recent study published today in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) journal Biogeosciences, scientists have confirmed that mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is contaminating food crops not through the soil, as previously believed, but directly from the air. Driven by the surging price of gold, which has increased by more than tenfold since 2000, the rapid expansion of unregulated mining in these regions raises urgent questions about food security, human health, and environmental justice The study, conducted by an international team of scientists led by Excellent ...

According to a recent study, 44% of people with chronic conditions who responded to a population-based survey experienced medication-related burden (MRB). The burden was most common among people with diabetes, heart disease, rheumatic disease or some other musculoskeletal disorder. The greatest burden was caused by factors associated with health care, such as fragmented care and the cost of medicines, as well as adverse drug reactions or concerns about them.  “Other factors linked with MRB were poor health status, limits on functional capacity and low income,” says Pharmacist and Doctoral Researcher Heidi Mikkola from the School of Pharmacy at the University of ...

Have you ever looked at two circles of exactly the same size and sworn one was larger? If so, your eyes have been tricked by the Ebbinghaus illusion, a classic example of how context can shape what we see. Place a circle among other smaller circles, and it seems bigger; place it among larger ones, and it shrinks before our eyes. This illusion fascinates psychologists because it reveals that perception is not a mirror of the outside world but a clever construction of the brain. But here is the question that inspired our study: do other animals fall for the same tricks? If a tiny fish or a bird perceives ...

Depression is a mental illness, and support for depression can improve emotions, thoughts, and well-being. A new guideline from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommends that patients aged 18 and older talk to their health care providers about depression rather than undergo routine screening with standard tools, like questionnaires. The guideline is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250237. In Canada, depression is common, with about 1 in 10 people (without bipolar disorder) experiencing depression in their lifetimes. It negatively affects how a person ...