Barcelona, January 15, 2026. A multidisciplinary team has uncovered a key mechanism that allows the human bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae—responsible for atypical pneumonia and other respiratory infections—to obtain cholesterol and other essential lipids directly from the human body. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, was co-led by Dr. Noemí Rotllan, from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Center for Biomedical Research in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM); Dr. Marina Marcos, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB); and Dr. David Vizarraga, from the Institute of Molecular Biology ...

“They’re very destructive when there's a lot of them, but one-on-one, what's not to love?” says Arianne Cease. She’s talking about locusts. As the director of Arizona State University’s Global Locust Initiative, Cease has a healthy admiration for these insects, even as she studies ways to manage locust swarms and prevent the destruction they cause. Locust swarms, which may conjure images of biblical plagues and ancient famines, remain a serious problem worldwide. They can destroy crops across entire regions, ruin people’s livelihoods, ...

Statement Highlights: More than one-third of adults and children in the U.S. are living with obesity. Obesity rates are highest among non-Hispanic Black children and adults, low-income families, people living in rural areas and adults with a high school education or less. The latest research indicates that barriers to maintaining a healthy weight or participating in weight management programs include: limited access to healthy foods, lack of time to prepare meals and engage in regular physical activity, ...

Women and people with anxiety are both prone to low confidence in their own abilities, but a new study by University College London (UCL) researchers has found that the two groups are prone to two distinct types of underconfidence. When they took more time to reflect on their answers in a simple experimental task, people with anxiety grew less confident in their answers, while women who were underconfident gained confidence. Lead author, Dr Sucharit Katyal, who completed the work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck UCL Centre ...

Insects are often seen as invaders due to high-profile species like the yellow-legged (Asian) hornet, the harlequin ladybird and fire ant. but new research reveals insects are also major victims of invasive alien species – exacerbating population declines and reducing their ability to provide vital services for biodiversity and people from pollination to pest control. The first global analysis of its kind, led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), revealed that invasive alien species reduce abundance of terrestrial insects* by 31% on average and reduce species richness by 21%. Invasive animals outcompete or eat insects while invasive vegetation replaces ...

Polymer capsules can store functional substances such as drugs and fragrances, making them widely used in functional cosmetics and daily necessities. However, conventional capsules use non-degradable polymers and are difficult to decompose in natural environments. They are identified as a contributing factor to the marine microplastics problem, and concerns have been raised about their impact on the ecosystem and human health. In search of an alternative, a research group led by Associate Professor Yukiya Kitayama at ...

With 440,000 employees and a value added of around 43 billion euros, the Austrian forestry and timber sector is a significant economic factor. However, the sector is suffering from a considerable shortage of skilled labour. “Forestry is characterised by physically demanding and sometimes dangerous work,” says Mario Hirz from the Institute of Automotive Engineering at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), “Forestry companies cannot find enough people who are capable of carrying out the dangerous ...

A new paper in the Journal of Public Health, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that maternity services in the North of England most consistently report higher-than-average rates of perinatal mortality, including stillbirths, compared to those in the South. The year 2025 marked the end of a decade-long UK government national maternity safety initiative, which aimed to halve the rate of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth. While this was not achieved, a 36% reduction in perinatal ...

Stretching along the Brazilian coastline, the Atlantic Forest is home to hundreds of species of birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and fishes. However, due to human expansion, only about a third of the forest’s original area remains intact. As human presence drives animals from their habitats, mosquitoes that once fed on a wide variety of hosts might be finding new, human targets to quench their thirst for blood, a new Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution study found. “Here we show that the mosquito species we captured in remnants ...

A new randomised controlled trial has found promising evidence that the smoking cessation medication varenicline (Chantix/Champix) can help people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) to reduce cannabis use.  CUD is a rising problem globally, partly due to recent legalization in several countries and US states, and until now no medications have been found to treat it.  CUD is characterized by continued use of cannabis despite ‘clinically significant impairment’ such as ignoring important social, ...

Griffith University researchers may have unlocked the secret to treating sepsis, with a Phase II clinical trial in China successfully concluding with promising results. The sepsis drug candidate, a carbohydrate-based drug called STC3141, was co-developed by Distinguished Professor Mark von Itzstein AO and his team from Griffith’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, and Professor Christopher Parish and his team at The Australian National University. “The trial met the key endpoints to indicate the drug candidate was successful in reducing sepsis in humans,” Professor von Itzstein said. STC3141 was administered as an infusion via a cannula and counteracted ...

Playing video games for more than 10 hours a week could have a significant impact on young people’s diet, sleep and body weight, according to a new Curtin University-led study published in Nutrition.   Researchers surveyed 317 students from five Australian universities with a median age of 20 years old.   They split participants into three groups depending on the self-reported amount of time spent playing video games, from ‘low gamers’ (0-5 hours per week) to ‘moderate gamers’ (5-10 hours) and ‘high gamers’ ...

Background Various tissues and organs in the human body, such as nerves, heart, bones, and skin, rely on bioelectrical signals to maintain function and support regeneration. Although conventional electrical therapies are effective, they require external power sources and invasive electrodes, leading to high risks of infection and reduced patient comfort. This review innovatively proposes the use of electrospinning to fabricate electroactive fibrous scaffolds, which mimic the structure of the extracellular matrix while providing electrical activity, thereby enabling non-invasive and self-powered tissue repair. Research Progress Electrically sensitive ...

Fingertip monitors known as pulse oximeters that can be used at home to detect low blood oxygen levels (hypoxaemia) give higher readings for patients with darker than lighter skin tones, finds the largest study on this topic published by The BMJ today. This means that low blood oxygen levels may be missed in patients with darker skin tones, potentially delaying care, while patients with lighter skin tones may get unnecessary treatment. Pulse oximeters use light to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood (SpO2). For most people, a normal pulse oximeter reading is between 95% and 100%, with readings below 90-92% generally considered low and requiring medical ...

Wearing a cast for six weeks appears to be no less effective than surgery for healing unstable ankle fractures and carries fewer treatment related harms, finds a clinical trial from Finland published by The BMJ today.   Around two thirds of all ankle fractures involve a break in the fibula (the outer ankle bone). Known as Weber B fractures, they leave the ankle either stable or unstable (at risk of falling out of alignment).   Surgery remains the main treatment for Weber B ankle fractures deemed unstable, despite recent trials and guidelines increasingly supporting non-surgical options in selected patients.   To explore this further, researchers set out ...

Alcohol-free and low alcohol (“nolo”) drinks have the potential to improve public health, but experts in The BMJ today call for a precautionary approach that maximises potential benefits (eg. increased substitution of alcoholic drinks with nolo alternatives) while minimising risks (eg. preventing encroachment of nolo drinks into alcohol-free spaces). Sales of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks have increased substantially over recent years, driven by improved manufacturing techniques and consumer demand for better and healthier alternatives to alcoholic drinks, ...

Key findings Adding 100 mL of water at room temperature (25 ℃) to 1 g of the alloy powder results in nearly complete hydrolysis and yields a high hydrogen output in a short time. After correcting for water vapor, the measured hydrogen volume corresponds to approximately 737–760 mL H₂ per gram of powder (produced within about 10 minutes). Raising the water temperature to 60 ℃ further increases both reaction rate and total yield, reaching up to ≈835 mL H₂/g (uncorrected value). Microstructural analysis using SEM/TEM/EDS shows that the gas-atomized powders are spherical (diameter ~6–65 ...

Archival discoveries including a 19th-century autobiography transform our understanding of Shadrack Byfield, an English veteran of the War of 1812 who buried his own amputated arm and designed a custom prosthesis. A recurrent character in TV documentaries, books and museum exhibits in the USA and Canada, Byfield has been celebrated as an uncomplaining British soldier. But the new evidence reveals Byfield’s tenacious pursuit of veterans’ benefits and his struggles with pain, poverty, and the police.   ‘They came and pushed me about, ...

The University of Birmingham today (15 Jan) launched a new West Midlands-based facility for separating and recycling rare earth magnets that will help to reduce the UK’s reliance on imports of rare earth metals, alloys, and magnets.   Rare earth magnets are amongst the key ‘critical minerals’ that are integral to modern life. They form a core building block in technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, medical equipment, pumps, robotics, and electronics. Demand for these minerals will only increase as the adoption of low-carbon technologies ...

The Oceanography Society (TOS) has selected Dr. Corday Selden, an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, as a recipient of the TOS Early Career Award, recognizing her outstanding early-career research contributions, leadership in ocean sciences, and exceptional promise for future impact in oceanography. Dr. Selden will be recognized at The Oceanography Society Honors Breakfast, February 24, 2026, during the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Selden is a marine biogeochemist whose research has fundamentally advanced understanding of how marine microbial processes regulate ocean chemistry and Earth-system function. Her work integrates stable isotope geochemistry, ...

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the clumping of proteins called Tau, which form tangled fibrils in the brain. The more severe the clumping, the more advanced the disease is. The Tau protein, which has also been linked to many other neurodegenerative diseases, is unstructured in its normal state, but in the pathological state it consists of a well-ordered rigid core surrounded by floppy segments. These disordered segments form a “fuzzy coat” that helps determine how Tau interacts with other molecules. MIT chemists have ...

Just like every other creature, bacteria have evolved creative ways of getting around. Sometimes this is easy, like swimming in open water, but navigating more confined spaces poses different challenges. Nevertheless, new research from the University of Chicago shows that a diverse group of bacteria has learned how to use the same basic movements to move through a wide range of environments no matter how complex, from unconstrained fluids to densely packed soil and tissues. ‘Run-and-tumble' vs ‘hop-and-trap' Some of the most common bacteria, like Salmonella and ...

  Audio: Study summation by Sue Anne Bell   Older adults who were exposed to heavy rainfall after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 faced a 3% increase in the risk of death within the following year, a new University of Michigan study found.   "These findings add to the evidence that disasters don't just cause short-term disruptions. They expose and magnify the underlying fragilities in our health systems," said lead author Sue Anne Bell, U-M associate professor of nursing. "For older adults who rely on regular ...

At the time of marketing authorization, many questions regarding the optimal use of new cancer drugs remain unanswered. This concerns, for example, the appropriate dosage for different patient groups and treatment duration, but also the comparison of the available treatment options with each other, or the optimal sequence. Because of these gaps in knowledge, the best possible results for patients are often not achieved. This problem has become more acute in recent years because efforts have focused more on accelerating the marketing authorization of new drugs than on optimizing their use in everyday clinical practice. The ...

Highlights: A new study has found that for people with moderate hearing loss, being prescribed hearing aids had no impact on cognitive test scores. Following people with moderate hearing loss, researchers compared those prescribed hearing aids to those without prescriptions. They found both groups had similar average test scores on memory and thinking tests. However, researchers also found having hearing aid prescriptions was associated with a 33% lower risk of dementia. This finding does not prove that hearing aids reduce the risk. It only shows an association. While no improvement in cognitive test scores was unexpected, factors like most participants having good cognitive health ...