Barcelona, Spain: The chances of breast cancer recurring remain very low when patients are treated with radiotherapy that is tailored to their individual risk following chemotherapy and surgery. These are the findings of a ten-year study presented at the 15th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC15) in Barcelona today (Wednesday).   In the study, radiotherapy treatment was selected according to whether there were still signs of breast cancer cells in patients’ lymph nodes after chemotherapy and surgery. For women with no signs of cancer remaining in the lymph nodes, this approach meant minimal or even no radiotherapy. Scaling treatment ...

People often downplay being offended during online arguments to appear more rational, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).  A new study reveals how social media users navigate, negotiate and often reject accusations of being offended during heated online exchanges, even when their language suggests strong emotional involvement.  Recent debates illustrate the pattern. For example, when YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul criticised singer Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, ...

Large-scale quantum computers are waiting in the wings. One of the main reasons we don't have them yet is because quantum hardware is so noisy. This isn’t the type of noise you’d want to shush in a crowded theater. When it comes to computers, noise means errors that crop up when conditions aren’t perfect. “We need to find a way to detect errors and correct for them,” said graduate student Evangelos Piliouras. Working with physicist Ed Barnes, Piliouras devised a method to reduce the noise and make quantum computers more noise tolerant. His work was published last month ...

A research team has developed a highly efficient biochar-supported catalyst that can convert biomass-derived chemicals into valuable industrial products under remarkably mild conditions. The study demonstrates how agricultural waste can be transformed into advanced catalytic materials, offering a greener pathway for chemical production. “By leveraging the natural structure of biomass, we created a catalyst that is both highly efficient and environmentally friendly,” said the corresponding author. “This work shows the untapped potential of biochar not just as a carbon material, but as an active partner ...

In a paradigm breaking study, Dr. Pavan Reddy, director of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and his team, in collaboration with Drs. Arul Chinnaiyan, S P Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, and Marcin Cieslik, assistant professor of pathology, both from University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, discovered a novel way the immune system, specifically T-cells, attack their target cells, reshaping long-held assumptions in immunology and demonstrating direct implications for the field of cancer immunology and bone marrow transplantation. The study appeared in Nature Immunology. The immune system relies on molecules called ...

In a new article, researchers introduce the capabilities approach-contextual integrity (CA-CI), a framework that addresses privacy and dignity risks posed by modern artificial intelligence (AI) systems, especially foundation models whose capabilities evolve across contexts and purposes. In a case study, they demonstrate how CA-CI can operationalize the European Union (EU)’s AI Act’s fundamental rights impact assessments, harm thresholds, and anticipatory governance. The article, by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan, is published in IEEE Security & ...

East Tennessee State University is one of three universities nationwide selected to develop and launch a new program designed to connect older adults living with behavioral health conditions to local senior community meal sites — strengthening nutrition, reducing isolation, and supporting overall well-being. ETSU was awarded the three-year grant by the U.S. Administration for Community Living’s Innovation in Nutrition Programs and Services program. Texas A&M University and Virginia Commonwealth University also received grants as part of the initiative, totaling about $1.49 million.   ETSU’s ...

A new study has developed an innovative biochar-based nanomaterial that can rapidly remove harmful herbicides from soil while simultaneously protecting crops from contamination. The research offers a promising solution to one of agriculture’s most persistent challenges: balancing soil remediation with food safety. “Traditional methods often focus only on removing pollutants from soil, but they overlook how these chemicals and their byproducts still enter crops,” said the study’s corresponding author. “Our approach addresses both problems at once, ensuring cleaner soil and safer food.” Herbicides such ...

Rice University professor Bidong Zhang has received a grant to develop next-generation lunar radiometric dating techniques that will acquire more accurate ages for lunar samples. This project is supported by $2.54 million over a three-year funding period from the NASA Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples program. “Lunar chronology is essential for understanding the Moon, its cosmological origin and history,” Zhang said. “This grant will allow us to develop next-generation radiometric dating techniques to acquire accurate, precise ages for lunar rocks and from that provide insight into how our closest celestial neighbor formed ...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is celebrating the successful conclusion of a research marathon on Japan’s Large Helical Device (LHD). Since it began operations in 1998, LHD has been a critical test bed for international research on fusion energy, helping to prove that stellarators can be a stable and reliable pathway toward creating a limitless source of energy on Earth.  The international collaboration involved a few dozen PPPL researchers, ...

Across much of the Rocky Mountain West, a winter of record-breaking high temperatures and historically low snowfall has forced people to think about having less water this spring. But it could also mean more severe wildfires this summer, according to new research from Western Colorado University. In a paper published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, researchers from Western’s Clark School of Environment and Sustainability found that declining snowpack not only extends the fire season but also increases the severity of forest fires. Analyzing 36 years of snowpack and wildfire data across forests in the western United States, the researchers identified two ...

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — When a person with cancer finds out they carry an inherited genetic variant that puts them at higher risk of cancer, the results can help inform their treatment or steps to prevent additional cancer.   But what about their family members who may also have inherited that genetic variant? While oncologists focus on the patient in front of them, no one follows up with family members who may be at increased risk of cancer.   “Few medical tests have implications for others beyond the patient. But with germline genetic testing, the results can be very significant to the ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A recently released prospective analysis of the first eight years of the Johns Hopkins Medicine-led Zero TB in Kids program shows that significant reduction of tuberculosis (TB) transmission and burden (the total impact of health problems — specifically death, morbidity and disability — on a population) among schoolchildren in high-burden areas can be achieved using existing TB screening, treatment and follow-up protocols.  The study — funded by the federal government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — appears in the March 2026 issue ...

The word “nemotia”1 is a neologism, a newly coined term that, in this case, describes the sense of overwhelm and disconnect accompanying the thought that nothing you do will ever make a difference. If this describes your current frame of mind, you might find some comfort in a recent discovery made by researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History. It has to do with citizen science, a sort of reciprocal partnership in which large numbers of non-scientists collect data that is used across multiple disciplines, from environmental monitoring and conservation assessments ...

IDE Technologies, a world leader in desalination and advanced water treatment solutions, and Rice University’s Water Technologies Entrepreneurship and Research (WaTER) Institute, a multidisciplinary center advancing innovative water treatment technologies, energy transitions and resilient infrastructure, are proud to announce their strategic collaboration. This partnership brings together IDE’s international and long-standing proven expertise in commercial water treatment and the WaTER Institute’s ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Artificial intelligence holds promise for helping doctors diagnose patients and personalize treatment options. However, an international group of scientists led by MIT cautions that AI systems, as currently designed, carry the risk of steering doctors in the wrong direction because they may overconfidently make incorrect decisions. One way to prevent these mistakes is to program AI systems to be more “humble,” according to the researchers. Such systems would reveal when they are not confident in their diagnoses or recommendations and would encourage users to gather additional information when the diagnosis is uncertain. “We’re ...

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and an international team of collaborators have defined a new genetic disease marked by premature aging and deficits in brain function. The researchers published results on March 19, 2026, in Nature Communications that describe the first known project to combine genome sequencing with cellular reprogramming to identify which gene mutation is at fault and study how it causes the symptoms observed in patients suffering from this newly discovered disease. “Our collaborator identified a family of patients whose teenaged members had whitening hairs and other characteristics associated with premature aging conditions ...

Autonomous vehicles (AVs), which already operate on the roads of several major U.S. cities and in countries worldwide, are expected to play a large role in shaping the future of cities. In a new study, researchers investigated how AVs may change travel patterns during morning commutes and affect parking in business districts. By providing insights into the changes associated with parking and traffic congestion as the use of AVs rises, the study can inform urban planning efforts. Conducted by researchers ...

Severe infections increase the risk of dementia independently of other coexisting illnesses, according to a new study published March 24th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Pyry Sipilä of the University of Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues. Severe infections have been linked to an increased risk of dementia. However, it has been unclear whether this association is explained by other coexisting, non-infectious diseases that predispose people to both infections and dementia. In the new study, researchers used nationwide Finnish health registry data covering more than 62,000 individuals aged 65 or older who were diagnosed ...

Psychosocial stress is a major contributor to hypertension and cardiovascular disease, according to a new commentary published in Nature Reviews Cardiology. The article reviews decades of scientific evidence showing how chronic stress affects cardiovascular biology and examines research on the Transcendental Meditation technique as a potential strategy for reducing stress-related cardiovascular risk. The commentary was authored by Robert H. Schneider, MD, FACC, of Maharishi International University; Keith ...

Researchers led by Guilio Bernardi at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy have discovered a key relationship between dreaming and the feeling of having had a good night’s sleep. Published in PLOS Biology on March 24th, the study shows that the feeling of deep sleep is not determined solely by slow-wave brain activity. Rather, immersive dreaming that comes with increases in wake-like brain activity leads to a greater feeling of deep sleep. Why is it that sometimes we sleep 8 hours and don’t feel rested, while other times we feel like we had a great night’s sleep after only 5 hours? Research ...

The feeling of having had “a good night’s sleep” lies not only in how much we slept, but also in the subjective impression of having slept deeply and without interruption. But what constitutes the neural base of this perception is not very well understood. Now, a new study by researchers at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, appeared in Plos Biology, suggests that the dreams, especially the most vivid and immersive ones, rather than disrupting sleep, could help it feel deeper and restoring. For years, we thought deep sleep meant a "switched off" brain: slow brain waves, ...

In the U.S., youth with disabilities make up 32% of the foster care population. Youth in foster care ages 16-21 who are transitioning into adulthood with disabilities face an increased risk of unemployment, low self-esteem, homelessness, and incarceration compared to those without disabilities.  While some federal and state services are available to help youth in foster care transition successfully to adulthood, youth in foster care with disabilities have a complex array of needs that require additional services and support.    Previously, there was ...

You probably heard it from your mom a thousand times – fresh air and sunshine; it’s the cure for most anything. Now scientists at the University of Houston concur, measuring the impact of mother’s advice on mother nature to find that exposure to nature is associated with reductions in negative emotions.  Given that nearly 90% of the U.S. population is projected to reside in urban areas by 2050, researchers say integrating nature into urban design and public health initiatives is an increasingly recognized national public health and economic priority for improving emotional wellbeing.   "Findings ...

A new study finds overconfident CEOs are less likely to delegate responsibilities to underlings, particularly in settings that involve complex transactions – such as hammering out the details of high-stakes deals. “Organizations have only gotten more complex over time, often operating in multiple countries across many different sectors,” says Jared Smith, co-author of a paper on the work and a professor of finance in North Carolina State University’s Poole College of Management. “As a result, it is important for modern companies to bring more voices to the table. Involving more people who have more ...