Space debris—the thousands of pieces of human-made objects abandoned in Earth’s orbit—pose a risk to humans when they fall to the ground. To locate possible crash sites, a Johns Hopkins University scientist has helped to devise a way to track falling debris using existing networks of earthquake-detecting seismometers.  The new tracking method generates more detailed information in near real-time than authorities have today—information that will help to quickly locate and retrieve the charred and sometimes toxic remains.  “Re-entries are happening more frequently. Last year, we had multiple satellites entering our atmosphere ...

Generative AI is reshaping software development – and fast. A new study published in Science shows that AI-assisted coding is spreading rapidly, though unevenly: in the U.S., the share of new code relying on AI rose from 5% in 2022 to 29% in early 2025, compared with just 12% in China. AI usage is highest among less experienced programmers, but productivity gains go to seasoned developers. The software industry is enormous. In the U.S. economy alone, firms spend an estimated $600 billion a year in wages on coding-related work. Every day, billions of lines of code keep the global economy running. How is AI changing this backbone of modern ...

A newly sequenced genome of the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum, highlights the deep antiquity of treponemal diseases in the Americas. The findings, based on a 5,500-year-old specimen from Colombia, suggest syphilis’s emergence was not dependent on the agricultural intensification and population crowding often linked to the spread of infectious disease. Instead, it was dependent on social and ecological conditions of hunter-gatherer societies. “Reframing syphilis, alongside other infectious diseases, as products of both localized and highly specific ...

Researchers present a novel way to track errant space debris as it falls to Earth in near-real-time, according to a new study. Their method uses ground-based seismic sensors. Over the last several years, the number of spent spacecraft and other debris reentering Earth’s atmosphere has grown exponentially. These uncontrolled reentries pose increasing risks to human life, infrastructure, and the environment. As Earth’s orbit grows increasingly crowded and reentries become more frequent – potentially involving spacecraft carrying toxic, flammable, or radioactive materials – these risks are expected to become more of ...

New findings offer insight into why some embryos fail to develop past zygotic genome activation (ZGA), pointing to an unexpected root of human infertility. A critical point in early development is zygotic genome activation (ZGA), a milestone that marks the transition from reliance on maternal factors to activation of its own genome. This process requires a comprehensive reshaping of chromatin and transcription networks. Failures in ZGA are a major cause of early embryo arrest and contribute to cases of infertility and pregnancy loss. Previous research has shown that endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) – genetic remnants of ancient viral infections ...

In a Policy Forum, Daniel Schroeder and colleagues discuss the risks of malicious “Artificial Intelligence (AI) swarms”, which enable a new class of large-scale, coordinated disinformation campaigns that pose significant risks to democracy. Manipulation of public opinion has long relied on rhetoric and propaganda. However, modern AI systems have created powerful new tools for shaping human beliefs and behavior on a societal scale. Large language models (LLMs) and autonomous agents can now generate vast amounts of persuasive, human-like content. When combined into collaborative AI Swarms – collections of AI-driven personas that retain memory and identity – ...

**EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL THURSDAY, JAN. 22, AT 2 P.M. ET** In experiments with mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists report new evidence that precursors of myelin-producing cells — one of the few brain cell types that continue to be produced in the adult brain — undergo differentiation widely and at a constant pace, rather than “as needed” in response to injury or advancing age. The findings, say the scientists, suggest that treatments to combat myelin-damaging diseases such as multiple sclerosis may benefit from maximizing this intrinsic potential. The new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health ...

Researchers at the University of Basel and the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel have demonstrated how quantum mechanical entanglement can be used to measure several physical parameters simultaneously with greater precision. Entanglement is probably the most puzzling phenomenon observed in quantum systems. It causes measurements on two quantum objects, even if they are at different locations, to exhibit statistical correlations that should not exist according to classical physics – it’s almost as if a measurement on one object influences the other one at a distance. The experimental demonstration of this effect, also known as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Artificial intelligence (AI) applied to abdominal imaging can help predict adults at higher risk of falling as early as middle age, a new Mayo Clinic study shows. The research, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, highlights the importance of abdominal muscle quality, a component of core strength, as a key predictor of fall risk in adults aged 45 years and older. Falls are a leading cause of injury, especially among older adults. Mayo Clinic researchers found that early markers of ...

Key Highlights  Researchers developed a new method to predict how cancer cells evolve by gaining or losing whole chromosomes.  Chromosome changes create rapid shifts that help tumors grow, adapt and resist treatment.  The new tool, called ALFA-K, maps how favorable or harmful chromosome changes are in different cancer cells.  The study quantifies how whole-genome doubling helps cancer cells survive high levels of chromosomal instability.  Findings lay the groundwork for evolution-aware approaches to cancer ...

Manuel A. Friese, MD, clinician-scientist at the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany was awarded the 2025 Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research. He is being recognized for his groundbreaking work studying the interactions between inflammation and nerve cell death (also called neurodegeneration) that drive disease progression. His work has the potential to identify new therapeutic targets for MS. It also brings the field closer to stopping disease progression, ...

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) under the microscope for their role in high drug prices have often cited their reportedly slim profit margins as evidence that they do not drive up costs. The three leading PBMs, which control about 80% of the prescription drug market, have historically reported profit margins of 4% to 7%, among the lowest in the healthcare industry. A new white paper from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics demonstrates that these slim margins are dramatically influenced by the accounting practices PBMs elect to employ. The paper also shows how efforts to assess PBM profits have become more challenging ...

The human gut is home to trillions of beneficial microbes that play a crucial role in health. Disruptions in this delicate community of bacteria and viruses — called the gut microbiome — have been linked to obesity, asthma and cancer, among other illnesses. Yet quick diagnostic tools to identify issues within the microbiome that could be addressed to treat these conditions are lacking. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have shown that disease-associated bacteria in the gut can be detected through exhaled breath. They found that chemicals ...

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have characterized how cellular senescence—a biological process in which aging cells change how they function—is associated with human brain structure in both development and late life. The study, published January 22 in Cell, provides new insight into how molecular signatures of cellular senescence that are present during development and aging mirror those associated with brain volume and cortical organization. Understanding brain structure is a central challenge in neuroscience. Although brain structure changes throughout life and is linked to both aging and neurodegenerative conditions ...

Giant ancestors of modern-day kangaroos — which previous research has estimated could weigh up to 250 kilograms — may have been able to hop in short bursts, according to research published in Scientific Reports. These findings challenge those of previous studies suggesting that giant kangaroos weighing more than 160 kilograms were too heavy for their ankles to withstand hopping. Megan Jones and colleagues studied the hindlimbs of 94 modern and 40 fossil specimens from 63 kangaroo and wallaby species — including members of the extinct giant kangaroo group Protemnodon, which lived during the Pleistocene (between 2.6 million and 11,700 ...

Could this mark a shift in how we think about cancer therapy? At least in the laboratory, evidence suggests it may be. An international research team has succeeded in deciphering a key mechanism that controls the growth of pancreatic cancers. The scientists identified a potential central mechanism by which cancer cells protect themselves from attack by the body's own immune system. Blocking this mechanism resulted in a dramatic reduction in tumours in laboratory animals. A look at the central driver of cell division The results of the study have now been published in Cell. The research was primarily carried out by Leonie Uhl, Amel Aziba and ...

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) today announced the upcoming release of “Charting the Translational Pathway: ISSCR Best Practices for the Development of Pluripotent Stem Cell (PSC)-Derived Therapies,” a new paper highlighting some of the most critical aspects of the ISSCR’s breakthrough interactive resource designed to transform how PSC-derived therapies are developed, evaluated, and advanced toward clinical and commercial success. The paper was published today in Stem Cell Reports. As more than 100 PSC-derived ...

A new study led by Hartmut Geiger at the University of Ulm, Germany, and Yi Zheng and Kodandaramireddy Nalapareddy, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), USA reveals that age-related changes in the gut microbiota directly impair intestinal stem cell (ISC) function and that restoring a youthful microbial environment can reverse this decline. The results were published today in Stem Cell Reports.  Cells lining the intestine are constantly renewed to maintain tissue integrity, nutrient absorption, and regenerative capacity following injury. This process ...

About The Study: Mortality has decreased for every leading cancer-related death in people younger than 50 years in the U.S. except colorectal cancer, which is now the leading cancer death in females and males combined, up from the fifth-leading cancer death in the early 1990s. Breast cancer and leukemia mortality decreased despite increasing incidence. Authors: Corresponding Author Rebecca Siegel, MPH, is available for interviews 11 AM-5 PM EST Tuesday, January 20. Senior Author Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, is ...

About The Study: Rural hospital bypass (when rural residents receive care at hospitals other than their nearest hospital) rates among commercially insured patients were substantial between 2012 and 2021, generating large payments to receiving hospitals. Relative to Medicare bypass rates, commercial bypass rates were high in this sample. The findings of this study support concerns that commercial bypass contributes to financial distress at rural hospitals. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Caitlin E. Carroll, PhD, email carrollc@umn.edu. To ...

Scientists studying the fossil remains of giant prehistoric kangaroos have found that even animals weighing more than 200kg may not have been too big to bounce, overturning long-held assumptions about the limits of hopping. Today, the red kangaroo is the largest living hopping animal and weighs around 90kg. But during the Ice Age, some kangaroos grew more than twice the size of that - some reaching up to 250kg. For years, researchers believed these giants must have abandoned hopping, as earlier studies suggested that hopping would become mechanically ...

For more than a decade, hospitals have worked to help older adults avoid repeated inpatient stays, incentivized by a federal program that cuts Medicare reimbursements if hospitals have higher-than-expected rates of readmissions for people with certain conditions. The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has helped spur innovation, including initiatives to better prepare patients and their families to manage care after hospitalization, and to support them virtually at home. But a new University of Michigan study finds that these financial penalties have hit some hospitals harder than they should, even if those hospitals have done a reasonable job at keeping people with heart ...

[New York, NY [January 22, 2026]—Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed an experimental immunotherapy that takes an unconventional approach to metastatic cancer: instead of going after cancer cells directly, it targets the cells that protect them. The study, published in the January 22 online issue of Cancer Cell, a Cell Press Journal [DOI 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.12.021], was conducted in aggressive preclinical models of metastatic ovarian and lung cancer. It points to a new strategy ...

A chain of immune reactions in the gut—driven by a key signaling protein and a surge of white blood cells from the bone marrow—may help explain why people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a higher risk of colorectal cancer, according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings point to new possibilities for diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. The study began with a focus on TL1A, an inflammatory immune signaling protein known to be associated with IBD and colorectal cancer. Experimental drugs that block TL1A activity have shown great promise against IBD in clinical trials, but how the signaling ...

Myosteatosis, the pathological infiltration of fat into skeletal muscle, is increasingly recognized as a key predictor of poor clinical outcomes across a spectrum of liver diseases. However, the field faces significant challenges, including a lack of standardized assessment methods, definitions, and diagnostic criteria, as well as an incomplete understanding of its pathophysiological mechanisms. This narrative review aims to synthesize current knowledge on myosteatosis in liver disease, covering its assessment, clinical impact across various etiologies, proposed ...