Imagine balancing a ruler vertically in the palm of your hand: you have to constantly pay attention to the angle of the ruler and make many small adjustments to make sure it doesn’t fall over. It takes practice to get good at this.  In engineering, this is called the “inverted pendulum” or “cart-pole” problem, in which a control system learns to balance an upright pole hinged to a moveable cart. This problem is used as a benchmark in fields like robotics, control theory, and artificial intelligence to gauge if ...

Early hydrocortisone treatment of extremely premature babies increases their chances of survival without lung disease, according to a study led by Linköping University. The study also shows that the treatment is safe to give. The results are published in JAMA Network Open. More than half of babies born extremely prematurely – before 28 weeks of pregnancy – get a lung disease called bronchopulmonary dysplasia, BPD, which often affects them for the rest of their lives. The disease occurs because very premature babies’ lungs are not fully developed. ...

Roberto Morandotti wins prestigious Max Born Award for pioneering research in quantum photonics  INRS professor becomes the first in Canada to receive this international honor  Professor Roberto Morandotti, a world‑renowned physicist at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), is the first researcher from Canada to receive the Max Born Award, one of the most prestigious distinctions in optics and photonics. Presented by Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America), the award honours outstanding contributions to physical optics and celebrates ...

Doctors usually focus on a person's average blood pressure, but research increasingly shows that how much blood pressure fluctuates from moment to moment is just as important. Excessive short-term variability is a strong and independent predictor of heart disease, stroke and brain injury. A group in University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology has identified a group of nerve cells in the brainstem – a region that controls vital automatic functions – that act as a stabilizing system for blood pressure. The new research suggests these ...

Munich, Germany – 19 February 2026: Preliminary results from an Italian registry describe the risk profile of women experiencing acute coronary syndromes and provide insights to improve management.1 These findings were presented today at the EAPCI Summit 2026, a new event organised by the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), an association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Ischaemic heart disease is a common condition in which the coronary arteries become narrowed due to the build-up of fatty material. ...

Researchers from the Department of Computer Science at Bar-Ilan University and from NVIDIA’s AI research center in Israel have developed a new method that significantly improves how artificial intelligence models understand spatial instructions when generating images – without retraining or modifying the models themselves. Image-generation systems often struggle with simple prompts such as “a cat under the table” or “a chair to the right of the table,” frequently placing objects incorrectly or ignoring spatial relationships altogether. The Bar-Ilan research team has introduced a creative solution that allows AI models to follow such instructions ...

“These findings underscore the promise of single-cell transcriptomic biomarkers to disentangle the systemic and cell-intrinsic components of immune aging and to measure immune aging.” BUFFALO, NY — February 19, 2026 — A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging-US on February 8, 2026, titled “Single-cell transcriptomics reveal intrinsic and systemic T cell aging in COVID-19 and HIV.” In this study, co-first authors Alan Tomusiak from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the University of Southern California, and Sierra Lore from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and ...

Species numbers alone do not fully capture how ecosystems are changing. In a global study led by researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, scientists analysed long-term data from nearly 15,000 marine and freshwater fish communities. They found that fish food webs have changed substantially over recent decades, even in places where the number of species (species richness) has remained stable. Published in Science Advances, the study shows consistent shifts in species composition, body size, and feeding ...

A study of over 50,000 pregnant women in Norway during the 2023/24 influenza season found that only 29.9% were vaccinated against influenza and 12.1% against COVID-19 during pregnancy, remaining far below recommended targets. The study was published on Eurosurveillance and conducted by Stecher et al. from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Vaccination against COVID-19 and influenza are recommended during pregnancy by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Norway, as pregnant women and their newborns have an increased risk of severe outcomes from these diseases. For at-risk groups, the WHO recommends a vaccination target of 75% for both infections. These findings emphasise ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Past studies in animals have shown that a highly processed diet is linked to memory problems and inflammation in the aged brain – and the effect can happen fast, after just three days of poor eating. A new study suggests another dietary pitfall could have a similar damaging effect in a similarly short amount of time in older adults: a lack of fiber. The study in rats also points to the amygdala – the small structure governing emotional memories, especially related to bad experiences – as a brain region that is particularly sensitive ...

Miami (February 19, 2026) – Certain neighborhood characteristics, including higher poverty, more uninsured residents, and lower educational attainment, may lead to an increase in COPD-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations, according to a new study in the January 2026 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open access journal. COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, affects more than 30 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. It can be caused by genetics and irritants like smoke ...

Food insecurity can increase anxiety and undermine employees at work, but workplace programs to address it can improve job outcomes, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “There is an implicit assumption that food insecurity primarily affects unemployed people, but it’s a pervasive issue that impacts a sizable portion of the workforce,” said lead researcher Jason Moy, MS, a doctoral student in organizational behavior at the University of Washington. “We hope business leaders can change their mindset and understand that supporting employees facing food insecurity extends beyond humanitarian concerns ...

PULLMAN, Wash. – Exposure to infection and other immune stress in the womb increases the likelihood of alcohol misuse in adulthood, a risk that may be reduced through prenatal antioxidant treatment, a new Washington State University study shows. The findings, published in the journal Psychopharmacology, provide insight into how early biological stress shapes addictive behaviors and identifies a potential approach for lowering the risk of alcohol use disorder — a problem with massive social and financial costs.  “People ...

PULLMAN, Wash. — The urgent onset of “the munchies” after cannabis use isn’t imaginary – it’s a cognitive response that occurs regardless of sex, age, weight or recent food consumption and could offer clues to help people struggling with appetite loss. Those findings from a collaborative study, conducted by researchers at Washington State University and the University of Calgary, were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “There are a lot of different diseases, conditions and disorders associated with wasting syndromes ...

Pygmy sperm whales (Kogia breviceps) are among the ocean’s most enigmatic inhabitants – rarely seen and largely unstudied. They live far offshore in small groups, diving in search of squid and fish. Their quiet behavior and elusive nature have made it difficult to study them in the wild. Pygmy sperm whales are rarely encountered free-swimming. Most scientific knowledge about them has come from stranded individuals – especially along the southeastern coast of the United States, where these whales strand ...

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. In biology, AI tools called deep neural networks (DNNs) have proven invaluable for predicting the results of genomic experiments. Their usefulness has these tools poised to set the stage for efficient, AI-guided research and potentially lifesaving discoveries—if scientists can work out the kinks. “Right now, there are a lot of different AI tools where you’ll give an input, and they’ll give an output, but we don’t have a good way of assessing the certainty, or how confident they are, in their answers.” explains Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Associate Professor Peter ...

In the pursuit of powerful and stable quantum computers, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed the theory for an entirely new quantum system – based on the novel concept of ‘giant superatoms’. This breakthrough enables quantum information to be protected, controlled, and distributed in new ways and could be a key step towards building quantum computers at scale. It is anticipated that quantum computers will revolutionise technologies in areas such as drug development and encryption by tackling problems far ...

Microplastic (MP) pollution poses a major concern, especially in aquatic environments, necessitating efficient detection technologies to safeguard marine life as well as human health. However, conventional detection methods like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy require complex equipment and are often time-consuming, limiting their applicability for real-time monitoring. In this regard, electrochemical sensing methods, specifically those based on metal oxide electrodes, are highly promising for quick and sensitive ...

A new study led by Marie-Pierre Sylvestre, professor at the Université de Montréal School of Public Health, examines cannabis use 4 to 5 years after Canadian legalization by adopting a different perspective: rather than focusing solely on at-risk cases or those associated with problems, it identifies the socio-demographic, mental health, and lifestyle profiles of those who present a low risk of cannabis use disorder (CUD). The study, of which Guillaume Dubé is the lead author, analyzed data from 731 Quebec adults in their mid-thirties. The results show that among the ...

  Photos   Two of the three recipients of the second-ever Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature are from University of Michigan Engineering. The award "celebrates remarkable women working in science and technology" by providing a $250,000 prize to support their research endeavors.   Xiwen Gong, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, develops optoelectronics, or electronics that create or react to light, as well as electrically conductive materials for wearable sensors and medical devices. Zhen Xu, the Li Ka Shing Professor of Biomedical Engineering, is an ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a method to predict when someone is likely to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease using a single blood test. In a new study published Feb. 19 in Nature Medicine, the researchers demonstrated that their models predicted the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms within a margin of three to four years. This could have implications both for clinical trials developing preventive Alzheimer’s treatments and for eventually identifying individuals likely to benefit from these ...

Researchers at Amsterdam UMC have discovered that a second pregnancy alters the female brain. Previous research from the same group had already demonstrated the impact of a first pregnancy on the female brain. These results are published today in Nature Communications. The research demonstrates that both a first and a second pregnancy have a strong and unique impact on mothers’ brains. A previous study by Elseline Hoekzema and colleagues was the first to show that pregnancy changes the structure of the human brain. The research group also ...

Mass General Brigham’s evaluation of low-field MRI performance lays potential groundwork for this technology to be a lower-cost, accessible option for breast imaging Researchers at Mass General Brigham have demonstrated the technical feasibility of using ultra-low field (ULF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for breast imaging. With further refinement and evaluation, the technology could offer an alternative to existing breast cancer screening methods and may reduce barriers to screening. Results are published in Scientific Reports. “These results are a very encouraging proof of principle, though larger studies are needed to establish diagnostic performance,” ...

In 2024, researchers in the Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technology (LNET) in EPFL’s School of Engineering reported a platform for studying the hydrovoltaic (HV) effect – a phenomenon that allows electricity to be harvested when fluid is passed over the charged surface of a nanodevice. Their platform consisted of a hexagonal network of silicon nanopillars, the space between which created channels for evaporating fluid samples. Now the LNET team, led by Giulia Tagliabue, has developed this platform into a hydrovoltaic system with a power output that matches or exceeds similar technologies – with a major advantage. Instead of relying on heat and light to simply ...

In the realm of entomology, few creatures command as much fascination as the mantis. Throughout history, these striking insects have been deeply woven into local myths and legends, sometimes respected as mystical soothsayers that can guide lost travelers home, and other times feared as little devils.  Today they remain captivating animals, serving as excellent bioindicators of biodiversity, and helping us identify rich and diverse ecosystems when present as native species.  However, a new study published in the open-access Journal of Orthoptera Research reports that two mantis species identified ...