Internal displacement in Syria was used by the Assad regime to reshape the country’s political and social landscape, a new study shows. The forceful movement of people was systematically employed alongside indiscriminate violence, the research says. This was not just a consequence of war, but a strategy to depopulate key areas and repopulate them to create new political and social realities. This tactic extended the impact of displacement beyond the immediate conflict, embedding it as a long-term political tool with lasting post-war ...

Over the past two decades, Haiti has endured the devastation of two catastrophic earthquakes — first in 2010 and again in 2021. Each disaster left behind widespread destruction: buildings reduced to rubble, entire communities displaced and an overwhelming loss of life. A major factor in the severity of these tragedies was the widespread structural failure of poorly designed buildings, many of which were not constructed to withstand the powerful tremors. Marc-Ansy Laguerre, a postdoctoral associate in civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, ...

Why do people living in democratic countries vote for political candidates who openly violate democratic standards? A new study by a University of Notre Dame researcher found that diverse understandings of democracy among voters can lead to votes for authoritarian-leaning political leaders. “A considerable variety in democratic views leads part of the electorate to overlook violations of democratic norms such as minority rights protection or restraints on executive power,” said Marc Jacob, assistant ...

CLEVELAND—Brain implants hold immense promise for restoring function in patients with paralysis, epilepsy and other neurological disorders. But a team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University has discovered that bacteria can invade the brain after a medical device is implanted, contributing to inflammation and reducing the device’s long-term effectiveness.  The groundbreaking research, recently published in Nature Communications, could improve the long-term success of brain implants now that a target has been identified to address. “Understanding the role of bacteria in implant ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Prototyping large structures with integrated electronics, like a chair that can monitor someone’s sitting posture, is typically a laborious and wasteful process. One might need to fabricate multiple versions of the chair structure via 3D printing and laser cutting, generating a great deal of waste, before assembling the frame, grafting sensors and other fragile electronics onto it, and then wiring it up to create a working device. If the prototype fails, the maker will likely have no choice but to discard it and go back to the drawing board. MIT researchers have come up with a better way to iteratively design large and sturdy ...

It’s time for researchers to reconsider the current paradigm of cancer as a genetic disease, argued Sui Huang from the Institute for Systems Biology, USA, and colleagues in a new essay published March 18th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. The prevailing theory on the origin of cancer is that an otherwise normal cell accumulates genetic mutations that allow it to grow and reproduce unchecked. This paradigm has driven large-scale cancer genome sequencing projects, such as The Cancer Genome Atlas, to identify cancer-driving mutations ...

Food and non-alcoholic drink products in Mexico were substantially reformulated to be healthier following the 2020 introduction of warning labels identifying products with excessive content of calories, fat, salt, sugar, sweetener and caffeine     In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Medicine: http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004533 Article title: Product reformulation in non-alcoholic beverages and foods after the implementation ...

A major review of over 67,000 animal species has found that while the natural world continues to face a biodiversity crisis, targeted conservation efforts are helping bring many species back from the brink of extinction. The study draws on data from the IUCN Red List, the world’s largest database of species conservation status. The researchers say their results, reported in the journal PLOS Biology, highlight both the successes and the need for urgent action. The world is facing a global biodiversity crisis, with 28% of more than 160,000 assessed species threatened with extinction, and an estimated one million species facing this fate due to human activities. ...

Targeted conservation actions are essential to prevent wildlife extinctions, but more efforts are needed to fully recover biodiversity, according to a study published March 18th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Ashley Simkins of the University of Cambridge, UK and colleagues. Out of over 166,000 species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, around 28% are threatened with extinction. Global efforts to prevent extinction and recover biodiversity have had some success, but there is limited data to show which conservation actions are most effective. In this study, Simkins and colleagues compile information ...

WASHINGTON —The Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (JSCAI) proudly announces the publication of a groundbreaking special issue: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cardiovascular Interventions.   This issue explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing interventional cardiology, from diagnostic precision to procedural planning and patient outcomes. It features a collection of original research, reviews, and viewpoints that delve into AI’s applications across ...

DETROIT — A grant to Wayne State University from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is opening new doors for researchers and students to explore the future of autonomous vehicles, machines and drones. Zheng Dong, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science in Wayne State’s School of Engineering, was awarded a five-year, $595,611 NSF grant for the project, "CAREER: ChronosDrive: Ensuring Timing Correctness in DNN-Driven Autonomous Vehicles with Accelerator-Enhanced Real-Time SoC Integration." “We ...

When Jeff Kneebone was a college student in 2002, his research involved a marine mystery that has stumped curious scientists for the last two decades. That mystery had to do with thorny skates in the North Atlantic. In some parts of their range, individuals of this species come in two distinct sizes, irrespective of sex, and no one could figure out why. At the time, neither could Kneebone. In a new study, Kneebone and researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History say they’ve finally found an answer. And it’s all thanks to COVID-19. People have known about the size discrepancy in thorny skates for nearly a century, but it became critically ...

It is a deep question, from deep in our history: When did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago. Our species, Homo sapiens, is about 230,000 years old. Estimates of when language originated vary widely, based on different forms of evidence, from fossils to cultural artifacts. The authors of the new analysis took a different approach. ...

March 18, 2025, Mountain View, CA -- Where do meteorites of different type come from? In a review paper in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, published online this week, astronomers trace the impact orbit of observed meteorite falls to several previously unidentified source regions in the asteroid belt.  “This has been a decade-long detective story, with each recorded meteorite fall providing a new clue,” said meteor astronomer and lead author Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center. “We now have the first outlines of a geologic map of the asteroid belt.”  Ten years ago, ...

A new large-scale study co-led by UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators provides the strongest evidence yet that a shorter, standard-dose course radiation treatment is just as effective as conventional radiotherapy for prostate cancer, without compromising the safety of patients. The shorter approach, known as isodose moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy (MHFRT), delivers slightly higher doses of radiation per session, allowing the total treatment duration to be over four to five weeks instead of seven to eight weeks. According to the study, patients who received this type ...

There’s a major difference between humans and current artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities: common sense. According to a new visionary paper by Walid Saad, professor in the College of Engineering and the Next-G Wireless Lead at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, a true revolution in wireless technologies is only possible through endowing the system with the next generation of AI that can think, imagine, and plan akin to humans. Published in the Proceedings of the IEEE Journal's Special Issue on the Road to 6G with Ph.D. student Omar Hashash and postdoctoral associate Christo Thomas, the paper's findings suggest: The missing link in the wireless revolution is ...

URBANA, Ill. – Livestock agriculture is bearing the cost of extreme weather events. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores how heat stress affects U.S. dairy production, finding that high heat and humidity lead to a 1% decline in annual milk yield. Small farms are hit harder than large farms, which may be able to mitigate some of the effects through management strategies. “Cows are mammals like us, and they experience heat stress just like we do. When cows are exposed to extreme heat, it can have a range of negative physical effects. There is an increased risk of infection, restlessness, and decreased ...

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a common severe complication of diabetes, which develops when the body can’t produce enough insulin. During DKA the body starts breaking down fat, causing a buildup of acids in the bloodstream. The symptoms often include thirst, weakness, nausea and confusion. Concerningly, this condition accounts for more than 500,000 hospital days per year, often in the intensive care unit, with an estimated cost of $2.4 billion. In a study, published in CHEST Critical Care, University of Michigan researchers show that using continuous glucose monitors can help measure glucose accurately during DKA and ...

Figures and photos   It is commonly assumed that as forest ecosystems age, they accumulate and store, or "sequester," more carbon.   A new study based at the University of Michigan Biological Station untangled carbon cycling over two centuries and found that it's more nuanced than that.   The synergistic effects of forest structure, the composition of the tree and fungal communities, and soil biogeochemical processes have more influence on how much carbon is being sequestered above and below ground than previously thought.   The ...

Guided by the lived experiences of community partners, Northwestern University scientists have simulated the effects of zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption on future air quality for the greater Chicago area. The results were published today (March 18) in the journal Frontiers of Earth Science. Motivated by California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) policy, Neighbors for an Equitable Transition to Zero-Emissions (NET-Z) Illinois members partnered with Northwestern researchers to explore how a similar strategy might play out in Cook County and the surrounding areas. To develop a model that more realistically simulates ...

An analysis of a 30,000-year-old fossil vulture from Central Italy has revealed for the first time that volcanic rock can preserve microscopic details in feathers - the first ever record of such a preservation. An international team, led by Dr Valentina Rossi (University College Cork, Ireland), discovered a new mode of preservation of soft tissues that can occur when animals are buried in ash-rich volcanic sediments. The new research, published in the scientific journal Geology, reveals that the feathers ...

In a recent study, scientists have developed a revolutionary chromosome identification system for alfalfa, one of the world's most economically vital forage crops. Leveraging an advanced Oligo-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) barcode technique, researchers successfully mapped and identified all chromosomes in alfalfa, uncovering unexpected chromosomal anomalies, including aneuploidy and large segment deletions. This breakthrough not only enhances molecular cytogenetics but also sheds light on the genetic stability ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and solar will require better ways to store energy for use when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. A new study by researchers at Penn State found that taking advantage of natural geothermal heat in depleted oil and gas wells can improve the efficiency of one proposed energy storage solution: compressed-air energy storage (CAES). The researchers recently published their findings in the Journal of Energy Storage. CAES plants compress air and store it underground when energy demand is low and then extract the air to create electricity when demand ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Insect predators found in the United States could help keep spotted lanternfly populations in check while potentially reducing reliance on chemical control methods, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Penn State. Led by entomologists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and published in Arthropod-Plant Interactions, the study evaluated the effectiveness of various insects in potentially controlling spotted lanternfly populations. The invasive pest, first detected in the United States in 2014, has spread across at least 18 states, causing significant damage to vineyards, orchards ...

In the microscopic world of bacteria, gene transfer is a powerful mechanism that can alter cellular function, drive antibiotic resistance and even shape entire ecosystems. Now an interdisciplinary group of researchers at Rice University has developed an innovative RNA “barcoding” method to track these genetic exchanges in microbial communities, providing new insights into how genes move across species. The findings were recently published in Nature Biotechnology. “We’ve long known that bacteria swap genes in ways that impact human health, biotechnology and environmental stability,” said James Chappell, associate professor of biosciences ...