WASHINGTON — Dry soils in northern Mexico may trigger episodes of simultaneous drought and heatwave hundreds of miles away in the southwestern United States, such as Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, according to a new study. These “hot droughts” in the region increasingly persist through consecutive days and nights rather than easing up after sundown, the research also found, leaving no window for afflicted areas to recover. Hot drought can kill crops, worsen wildfire risk, and shock workers and outdoor enthusiasts with unexpectedly high temperatures, all ...

For decades, it’s been known that subtle chemical patterns exist in metal alloys, but researchers thought they were too minor to matter — or that they got erased during manufacturing. However, recent studies have shown that in laboratory settings, these patterns can change a metal’s properties, including its mechanical strength, durability, heat capacity, radiation tolerance, and more. Now, researchers at MIT have found that these chemical patterns also exist in conventionally manufactured metals. The surprising finding revealed a new physical phenomenon that explains the persistent patterns. In a paper published in Nature Communications today, ...

Everywhere you go, you carry a population of microbes in your gastrointestinal tract that outnumber the human cells making up your body. This microbiome has important connections to health in your gut, brain and immune system. Some resident bugs produce vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients and other helpful compounds. Even those whose direct effects seem neutral take up space that makes it harder for harmful microbes to move in. There is still much to be understood about the gut microbiome, but its connections to health suggest the potential for curating this community to address disease. New discoveries from a research ...

Researchers have uncovered how dissolved biochar—tiny carbon particles derived from burning plant material—affects soil nematodes, shedding light on both benefits and risks to these important ecosystem players. The study focused on the common laboratory worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, revealing that the impact of dissolved biochar strongly depends on the amount present in the environment. The team found that when nematodes were exposed to low concentrations of dissolved biochar, their growth and physical activity increased. These smaller doses likely functioned as extra nutrients ...

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, CLEVELAND: Researchers at Cleveland Clinic Children’s have helped identify a previously unknown gene that increases the risk of developing osteosarcoma, the most common type of malignant bone tumor in children and young adults. Recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers analyzed genetic information from nearly 6,000 children with cancer and compared it to more than 14,000 adults without cancer. Utilizing databases and prediction tools, the study authors focused on 189 genes that participate in several DNA repair pathways. The results showed that some children with cancer had inherited changes in certain DNA ...

Total solar eclipses only happen in the same spot once every 300 or 400 years, so it’s no surprise that a team of researchers at Indiana University jumped on the opportunity to use this natural experiment to better understand how light affects wild birds. Their study, led by Liz Aguilar, was published in the latest edition of Science. Aguilar is a Ph.D. student in Kimberly Rosvall’s lab in the Evolution, Ecology and Behavior program at the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington.  In ...

With a new imaging technique, scientists discover an ecosystem that determines how eggs mature and ovaries age.  The ticking of the biological clock is especially loud in the ovaries — the organs that store and release a woman’s eggs. From age 25 to 40, a woman’s chance of conceiving each month decreases drastically.  For decades, scientists have pointed to declining egg quality as the main culprit. But new research from UC San Francisco and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco shows that the story is bigger than the eggs: The surrounding ...

When the April 2024 “Great American Eclipse” plunged midday into near-night, the daily rhythms and vocal behaviors of many bird species shifted dramatically; some fell silent, others burst into song, and many erupted into a “false dawn chorus” after the Sun returned, singing as if a new day had begun. In a new study, merging citizen science, machine learning, and a continent-wide natural experiment, researchers reveal the immediate effects of light disruption on bird behavior. The daily and seasonal rhythms of birds are tightly governed by shifts between light and ...

To exploit a rich food resource that remains largely inaccessible to most predators, Europe’s largest bat captures, kills, and consumes nocturnally migrating birds in flight high above the ground, according to a new study. The findings confirm this behavior of the greater noctule (Nyctalus lasiopterus) using direct biologger observations. Billions of birds seasonally migrate at night and over long distances at high altitude. These massive flocks represent an enormous – albeit challenging – food resource for predators. Yet only three fast-flying echolocating bat species, including the greater noctule, are known to exploit this opportunity, ...

In a Policy Forum, Yue Zhu and colleagues provide an overview of China’s emerging regulation for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and its potential contributions to global AI governance. Open-source AI systems from China are rapidly expanding worldwide, even as the country’s regulatory framework remains in flux. In general, AI governance suffers from fragmented approaches, a lack of clarity, and difficulty reconciling innovation with risk management, making global coordination especially hard in the face of rising controversy. Although ...

The secret to the naked mole-rats’ extraordinarily long life may lie in subtle changes to just four amino acids, researchers report. According to a new study, evolutionary mutations in cGAS – an enzyme in the innate immune system that senses DNA to trigger immune responses – may enhance the animal’s ability to repair aging-related genetic damage, whereas in other species, such as mice and humans, cGAS can suppress DNA repair. Wrinkled and unassuming though they appear, the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is an exceptionally long-lived rodent, with a maximum life span of nearly 40 years – roughly 10 times longer than ...

Tumors are not a comfortable place to live: oxygen deficiency, nutrient scarcity, and the accumulation of sometimes harmful metabolic products constantly stress cancer cells. A research team from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna has now discovered that the acidic pH value in tumor tissue—known as acidosis—is a decisive factor in how pancreatic cancer cells adapt their energy metabolism in order to survive under these adverse conditions. The results were published in the journal Science. Poor blood circulation and increased metabolic activity often create hostile conditions in tumors: ...

From willow bark remedies to aspirin tablets, salicylic acid has long been part of human health. It also lies at the heart of how plants fight disease. Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a pioneering biosensor that allows scientists to watch, for the first time, how plants deploy this critical immune hormone in their battle against pathogens. Published today in Science, Dr Alexander Jones’ group at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) presents SalicS1, a genetically encoded biosensor that can detect and track the dynamics of ...

Most REDD+ forest carbon offset projects significantly overstate their climate benefits, according to a new study published in Science. The findings come from an international team of researchers, primarily based at the Guangdong Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Economy (SZ), China, with contributions from Prof. Dr. Jonathan Chase of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU).  The study analysed 52 REDD+ initiatives, ...

After nearly 25 years of research, the mystery has finally been solved: Europe’s largest bat doesn’t just eat small birds – it hunts and captures them more than a kilometre above the ground. And it eats them without landing. An international team of researchers has shed light on how Europe’s largest bat hunts and consumes small birds. The results, now published in Science, make for fascinating reading – a story of nocturnal aerial acrobatics, pursuit and predation. Every year, billions of songbirds migrate between their breeding grounds and wintering areas. Many species fly high and travel at night, partly to avoid daytime ...

A new study has mapped the distinct molecular “fingerprints” that 59 diseases leave in an individual’s blood protein – which would enable blood tests to discern troubling signs from those that are more common. Publishing today in Science, an international team of researchers mapped how thousands of proteins in human blood shift as a result of aging and serious diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. The Human Disease Blood Atlas also reveals that each individual’s blood profile has a unique molecular ...

Francis Crick Institute press release  Under strict embargo: 19:00hrs BST Thursday 9th October 2025  Peer reviewed   Experimental study  Animals   Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and Vividion Therapeutics have identified chemical compounds that can precisely block the interaction between the major cancer-driving gene RAS, and a key pathway for tumour growth.     Now entering the first clinical trial in humans, if found to be safe and effective, these drugs could be used to treat many different types of cancers while avoiding effects ...

New Orleans, LA - Ochsner Health announces the launch of its Genetic Wellness Assessment, an innovative screening tool to help identify individuals at risk for hereditary cancers. The Genetic Wellness Assessment is now available for adults interested in learning more about their cancer risk at Ochsner.org/GeneticWellnessSurvey.  The Genetic Wellness Assessment allows individuals to determine whether they may have a higher genetic risk of developing cancer by answering a few simple questions that ...

University of Arizona researchers may have uncovered a connection between chronic pain and a somewhat uncommon immune condition, opening the door to future research on immune biomarkers for chronic pain. A small study of medical records led by Julie Pilitsis, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson, unexpectedly found that 12% of chronic pain patients who were treated with spinal cord stimulation or an implanted pain medicine pump had a white blood cell condition called eosinophilia. The condition is often a result of something gone awry with the immune ...

Research conducted by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) finds that discrimination exists based on ethnic background in Spain’s leading online second-hand marketplace, especially when it comes to buying, towards people with Arab and Chinese names, who should offer up to 3% more to be treated the same as people with Spanish names. The study, by Jorge Rodríguez Menés, Clara Cortina and Maria José González, researchers with the Sociodemography Research Group (DemoSoc) of the UPF Department of Political and Social Sciences, aims to analyse the prevalence of discrimination against ethnic minorities in the main online second-hand ...

True crime is a lucrative genre, topping ratings and spawning online communities. But despite its popularity — and its ability to highlight cases that need attention — the production of true crime has a dark side, often adding to the trauma experienced by victims’ loved ones. University of Nebraska–Lincoln scholar Kelli Boling published new research highlighting the impacts of true crime media on the family and friends of crime victims. Through in-depth interviews with 20 co-victims — all of whom experienced their ...

New research led by Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) has revealed the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) in the UK in April 2016 significantly decreased labour mobility across firms by minimum wage workers. While it has delivered a pay boost for many low-paid workers, the rising wage floor could be affecting the fluidity of the job market if it is reducing workers’ incentives to search for new jobs and move between firms. The National Living Wage was introduced by the UK Government to replace the National Minimum Wage for workers aged 25 and over, initially raising the threshold hourly rate by 50 pence to £7.20. The rise represented ...

A research team in Japan has developed an innovative system that can accurately detect genetic mutations in the brain tumor within just 25 minutes. Genetic mutations are crucial markers for diagnosis of brain tumors. Unlike conventional genetic analysis methods, which typically take one to two days to obtain results, this new system allows surgeons to identify genotyping of brain tumors and determine optimal resection margins during surgery. The new system succeeded in detecting mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and telomerase ...

**Under embargo until 11AM ET Thursday 10/9/25**   October 9, 2025   UMass Amherst Researchers Create Nanoparticle Vaccine That Prevents Cancer in Mice   The vaccine also proves highly effective at preventing cancer’s deadly spread   AMHERST, Mass. — A study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers demonstrates that their nanoparticle-based vaccine can effectively prevent melanoma, pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer in mice. Not only did up to 88% of the vaccinated mice remain tumor-free (depending on the cancer), but the vaccine reduced—and in some cases completely ...

Some dogs show behaviours towards their toys that resemble behavioural addictions in humans, such as gambling and internet gaming, according to a study of 105 dogs published in Scientific Reports.  Behavioural addictions in humans are characterised by compulsive engagement with activities despite negative consequences. Although anecdotal evidence has previously suggested that some dogs display addictive-like behaviours towards toys — for example whining when a toy is out of reach and continuing to play despite overexertion or injury — this study represents the first published scientific evaluation of such behaviours ...