“Trust in science is collapsing”—that’s the alarm we often hear. It’s not surprising, then, that recent years have seen major efforts to study the phenomenon and its dynamics in the general population. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the information professionals—journalists—who play a crucial bridging role between the world of scientific research and the public. A new paper in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) by a research group at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) of the Karlsruhe Institute of ...

Arnhem, 22 September 2025 – A new international study has uncovered a concerning lack of public understanding about cystitis and urinary tract infections (UTIs) –  common health issues that disproportionately affect women. The findings, which also highlight widespread misconceptions about prevention and treatment, underscore the urgent need for education to combat rising antibiotic resistance. In a survey of over 3,000 adults across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, 35% of respondents could not correctly define ...

Despite the expansion of virtual care in Ontario prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, specialist physicians did not expand reach to patients living at great distances from where they provided care, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250166 “We found that widespread availability of virtual care, accompanied by remuneration changes, was not associated with substantial expansion of specialists’ practices to serve patients who lived farther away,” writes Dr. Natasha Saunders, ...

Childhood exposure to chemicals used to make plastic household items presents growing health risks that can extend long into adulthood, experts from NYU Langone Health report.   This is the main conclusion after a review of hundreds of the latest studies on the topic, publishing online Sept. 21 in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. The article is being released to coincide with a gathering of experts the same week in New York City to discuss the global impact of plastics on human health. In their report, the authors outline decades of evidence that substances often added to industrial and household goods ...

Habit, not conscious choice, drives most of our actions, according to new research from the University of Surrey, University of South Carolina and Central Queensland University.  The research, published in Psychology & Health, found that two-thirds of our daily behaviours are initiated “on autopilot”, out of habit.   Habits are actions that we are automatically prompted to do when we encounter everyday settings, due to associations that we have learned between those settings and our usual responses to them.  The research also found that 46% of behaviours were both triggered by habit and aligned with ...

Engineers in Australia have developed a new building material with about one quarter of concrete’s carbon footprint, while reducing waste going to landfill. This innovative material, called cardboard-confined rammed earth, is composed entirely of cardboard, water and soil – making it reusable and recyclable. In Australia alone, more than 2.2 million tons of cardboard and paper are sent to landfill each year. Meanwhile, cement and concrete production account for about 8% of annual global emissions. Cardboard has previously been used in temporary structures and disaster shelters, such as Shigeru Ban’s iconic Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand. Inspired ...

Agricultural soils across the world are increasingly polluted by heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium, and arsenic. These toxic elements, often introduced through industrial wastewater, fertilizers, and manure, can accumulate in crops and threaten human health through the food chain. Long-term exposure is linked to kidney damage, osteoporosis, and even cancer. Protecting soil health and food safety has therefore become an urgent global challenge. In a new study published in Agricultural ...

Much excitement has built in recent years on the new class of incretin drugs that include glucagon-like-peptide-1 inhibitor (single agonists such as semaglutide) and also dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and GLP-1 receptor agonists (dual agonists such tirzepatide). Billions of dollars is now being poured into research to develop new anti-obesity medications that exhibit stronger effects while minimising side-effect profiles. But the excitement is not just limited to existing mono- and dual-agonists. In a session at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes ...

HERSHEY, Pa. — Approximately 7 million children in the United States between the ages of three and 17 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Up to 50% of children with ADHD also have severe problems with impulsive aggression and persistent irritability, according to James Waxmonsky, professor of psychiatry and University Chair in Child Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. These children can experience intense and extended emotional ...

Adults with both Down Syndrome and congenital heart defects, also known as congenital heart disease (CHD), are showing remarkable resilience despite facing significant medical challenges, according to a new MUSC study in Pediatric Cardiology. The study found that adults ages 18 to 45 with both conditions are just as likely to work, volunteer and experience the same quality of life as those with Down Syndrome alone.  The study was conducted through the Pediatric Heart Network, a consortium of leading children’s hospitals that includes ...

In 2022, after Elon Musk bought what’s now X, the company laid off 80% of its content moderation team and made Community Notes the platform’s main form of fact-checking. Previously a pilot program at Twitter, Community Notes lets users propose attaching a comment to a specific post — usually to add context or correct an inaccurate fact. If other users with diverse views vote that the comment is useful, as measured by X’s algorithm, then the note is appended to the post. Other social media platforms, including Meta and YouTube, have since followed.  A University of Washington-led study of X found that posts with Community Notes attached were less prone ...

TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico received a seven-year, $43.6 million federal grant to fund a broad range of research programs aimed at improving the health of people living in Arizona and New Mexico, while also training a new generation of scientists and staff.  The Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences will fund the new Southwest Center for Advancing Clinical and Translational Innovation, or SW CACTI. The National Institutes of Health CTSA consortium includes 61 of the leading academic research centers in the country. ...

Richmond Hill, Canada, 19 September 2025 - For nearly half a century, the conflict between Türkiye and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has not only killed tens of thousands of people but also caused deforestation, pollution, and land degradation in the region. The recent call by the incarcerated PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan for the group to disarm and dissolve offers a rare prospect for peace and order.  A new publication by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment ...

Ningbo / Qingdao, 18 September 2025 — A new computational study reveals that polyethylene furanoate (PEF) — a bio-based polyester — has markedly stronger resistance to hydrogen permeation than commonly used polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyethylene (PE). The work, published in AI & Materials, uses density functional theory (DFT), revised force-field molecular dynamics (MD), Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC), and nudged elastic band (NEB) calculations to quantify the crystallographic origins of PEF’s superior barrier performance, pointing ...

Pregnant women rely on a balanced diet and supplements to deliver proper nutrients to their babies, to ensure they grow healthfully. Such nutrients contribute to fueling development and providing cellular building blocks that lead to healthy brains, bones, organs, and immune systems. While this kind of nutritional preparation helps during pregnancy, EMBL scientists found that metabolism – the way cells break down food into energy –  during embryonic development does more than just provide energy and cellular building blocks for proper embryonic development. Metabolism has a surprising signalling element. And by modulating metabolism in a tailored fashion, they could ...

Scientists have uncovered how the plant hormone auxin helps roots bend and downwards towards gravity – a process called gravitropism - even after encountering obstacles in soil.  Experts from the University of Nottingham’s School of Biosciences and Shanghai Jiao Tang University (SJTU), identified how auxin activates a specific gene, which strengthens cell walls on the lower side of the root. This reinforcement prevents growth below while allowing cells above to expand, making the root bend downward. The findings have been published today in Science Advances. Root ...

A new study from Duke University School of Medicine is challenging long-standing views on blood sugar regulation — and pointing to a surprising new ally in the fight against type 2 diabetes. Published Sept. 19 in Science Advances, the research reveals that pancreatic alpha cells, once thought to only produce glucagon — a hormone that raises blood sugar to maintain energy when fasting or exercising — also generate GLP-1, a powerful hormone that boosts insulin and helps regulate glucose. GLP-1 is the same hormone mimicked by ...

Graphic of electron properties around lithium hydride    A new trick for modeling molecules with quantum accuracy takes a step toward revealing the equation at the center of a popular simulation approach, which is used in fundamental chemistry and materials science studies.   The effort to understand materials and chemical reactions eats up roughly a third of national lab supercomputer time in the U.S. The gold standard for accuracy is the quantum many-body problem, which can tell you what's happening at the level of individual electrons. This is the key to chemical ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in the late 1800s while experimenting with cathode ray tubes, it was a breakthrough that transformed science and medicine. So much so that the basic concept remains in use today. But a team of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories believes they’ve found a better way, harnessing different metals and the colors of light they emit. “It’s called colorized hyperspectral X-ray imaging with multi-metal targets, or CHXI MMT for short,” said project lead Edward Jimenez, an optical engineer. Jimenez has been working with materials scientist Noelle Collins and electronics ...

Woods Hole, Mass. – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have shown large sharks can spend hours deep in the oceans' mesopelagic zone, which lies 200 to 1,000 meters (650 to 3,300 feet) below the surface. This region is home to more biomass than any other layer of the ocean, but most of its inhabitants are too tiny to serve as meals for large predators, so why are they spending so much time there? A new study published in Marine Ecology Progress Series highlights the important roles of mid-sized predators, such as bigscale pomfret, linking the upper and lower layers of the ocean foodweb. ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — While acute myocardial infarction — commonly referred to as a heart attack — remains a leading cause of death in the United States, deaths have decreased significantly over the past two decades in part due to improved treatment methods, according to Charleen Hsuan, associate professor of health policy and administration at Penn State. However, not all patients may receive the recommended treatment. According to a new study, led by Hsuan, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black patients in Florida who experienced a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) — a severe ...

Preclinical study provides first direct evidence linking colorectal cancer metastasis to the glucose-fructose blend found in sugar-sweetened beverages Metastasis is the leading cause of death among patients with colorectal cancer The combination of glucose and fructose, found in most sodas and fruit juices, activates the SORD enzyme, fueling cancer cell migration and metastasis Study suggests cutting back on sugary drinks could help slow cancer progression in patients with colorectal cancer and points to possible new treatment targets HOUSTON, SEPTEMBER 19, 2025 – A ...

Hertz Fellow Vivek Nair thinks that traditional cybersecurity approaches don’t cut it when it comes to the world of rapidly advancing AI systems. His startup company, Multifactor, aims to provide new security solutions that are designed from the ground up to protect consumers and businesses from AI-related data breaches.  Nair has now won funds from the Hertz Foundation via the Harold Newman and David Galas Entrepreneurial Initiative, which will be used to support the development of multiple new cybersecurity products aimed at both companies and individual ...

Inhaling Cannabis May Greatly Increase Your Risk of Getting Asthma If you’re looking to reduce your chances of developing lung disease, say experts at UC San Francisco, then it may be smart to avoid inhaling cannabis. A new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that inhaling marijuana every day is associated with a 44% increased chance of developing asthma. It also increased the odds of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by 27%.  The COPD risk may be understated, since the disease takes decades to develop, and the researchers ...

Researchers have focussed on building a QA system which can answer query of user from building code and reduces the laborious traditional way of manual querying. One possible solution to build a robust QA system is to utilise the power of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). Researchers have explored the potential of several retrieval methods and efficiency of Low Rank Adaptation (LoRA) to fine-tune Large Language Models (LLMs). Retrievers and LLMs are core component of a RAG system, and their performance affects ...