Whale sharks, the largest living fish species, are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Over the past 75 years, populations have declined by more than 50% worldwide, and by up to 63% in the Indo-Pacific region. Because whale sharks take up to 30 years to become sexually mature, populations can only recover slowly from threats like hunting for fins, meat, and oil, habitat loss, and entanglement in fishing nets. Now, an international group of researchers has shown that in the Bird’s Head Seascape off Indonesian West Papua, 62% of whale sharks have scars and injuries from preventable ...

Ecologists have observed a species of nocturnal spider attracting prey to its web using the bioluminescent beacons of already trapped fireflies. This rare example of a predator exploiting its prey’s mating signal for its own gain is documented in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Animal Ecology. Researchers at Tunghai University, Taiwan have observed sheet web spiders Psechrus clavis capturing fireflies in their webs and leaving them there while they emitted bioluminescent light for up to an hour. The researchers even observed the spiders going to check on the captured fireflies from time to time. Intrigued ...

Dr Donald Kilburg, who was a member of the US Department of State, says the technology is already shaping work for the likes of embassy officials whose jobs are to protect their country’s interests abroad. But the US army veteran and retired professor warns that algorithms cannot ‘read the room’, and can’t replicate the ‘empathy, intuition and deep cultural understanding’ of human diplomats. He says: “AI can streamline diplomacy, but only humans bring the empathy and intuition that make negotiations ...

A recent survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) focused on Americans’ awareness of the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer. The survey results show most people (80%) don’t know early-stage prostate cancer often presents with no physical symptoms, typically only diagnosed with a blood test. Prostate cancer affects more than 300,000 adults in the United States ...

Scientists at Kumamoto University have made a major breakthrough in regenerative medicine by successfully creating functional ureter tissue—organoids resembling the urinary tract—from pluripotent stem cells. The achievement brings researchers one step closer to developing transplantable kidneys capable of producing and expelling urine. The ureter, a critical tube that carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder, has long been missing from lab-grown kidney models. Without it, kidney ...

SHEA is deeply disappointed by the sudden departure of the CDC Director so soon after her confirmation, at a time when the agency most needs stability and authority to carry out its vital mission of protecting the health and safety of all Americans. The United States stands at a critical crossroads, where strong, trusted public health leadership is essential to restoring confidence through evidence-based practices and guidance. In an era marked by increasing assaults on science and public health, CDC must be empowered to rise above politics and remain focused on their core purpose: safeguarding ...

Deep in a forest in the Andes, high atop a tall tree, there’s a quick, colorful flash of plumage in vivid shades of yellow, green, and blue. A high-pitched musical chirp rings out. Through a carefully trained pair of binoculars, a beautiful little bird comes into view. It’s a multicolored tanager, a species that lives only in the mountains of Colombia. Seeing it in person for the first time feels like the thrill of discovery. Watching it search for fruit across the treetops brings a sense of peace and connection to nature.  Experiences like these are what motivate birdwatchers to travel the globe, in hopes ...

Contact: Gina DiGravio, 617-358-7838, ginad@bu.edu (Boston)—Next to cancer recurrence or progression, cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death in cancer survivors. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database revealed that among the more than three million who initially survived cancer between 1973 and 2012, 38% eventually succumbed to the disease while 11.3% died from cardiovascular diseases.  Specifically, cancer survivors are at a four to seven-fold higher risk of venous thromboembolism ...

For women diagnosed with early breast cancer, the long-term risk of developing a second primary cancer is low (around 2-3% greater than women in the general population), finds a study published by The BMJ today. The researchers say this information can help reassure many breast cancer survivors who believe their risk of a second primary cancer is much higher than these results suggest. Breast cancer survivors are at increased risk of developing second primary cancers, but risk estimates from previous studies are inconsistent. ...

A new study has uncovered a key difference between the immune system of males and females - and it comes down to a single gene. It is known that biological sex affects the function of the immune system, with women often being more severely affected by autoimmune conditions or allergic diseases. Scientists from the University of York have now identified the gene Malat1 as a critical player in regulating immune responses in female immune cells, but not in males.  The team studied T cells, a pillar of our immune system, in the lab and animal models of inflammation. ...

Food allergies affect more than half a billion people worldwide. In severe cases, even a small bite of the wrong food can trigger anaphylaxis — a rapid, body-wide allergic reaction that can cause difficulty breathing, a dangerous drop in blood pressure and even death. Scientists have long understood how injected allergens — like those in lab tests or insect stings — trigger anaphylaxis. But researchers have puzzled over how anaphylaxis begins in the gut after eating a food allergen. Now, Arizona State University researchers, in collaboration with a team ...

NEW YORK – August 27, 2025 – The Cardiovascular Research Foundation® (CRF®) is excited to announce the late-breaking clinical trials and science set to be presented at TCT® 2025, the annual scientific symposium of CRF® and the world’s premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. This year’s conference will take place October 25–28 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, bringing together top experts, innovators, and clinicians from around the globe. For more ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Roughly 10,000 years ago, humans started shifting from being nomadic hunter-gatherers to building large agricultural settlements, marking one of the greatest transformations in human history. This transition, known as the Neolithic Revolution, began in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East and led to the spread of farming throughout Europe. For decades, researchers have debated what drove this change. Did farming spread mainly because farmers themselves moved into new lands, ...

During childhood and adolescence, our brain goes through a lot of changes. But studying those changes in juvenile mice is challenging because scientists don’t have a way to repeatedly image the same animal’s neural pathways as they grow. Now, by simply rubbing a solution into a juvenile mouse’s scalp, researchers at Stanford can make the skin transparent to all visible light, allowing them to image the developing connections in a living mouse’s brain. And because the technique is reversible and non-invasive, the researchers can return to the same animal over days and weeks. The work, published Aug. ...

MADISON, Wis. – A new study co-authored by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor finds that life expectancy gains made by high-income countries in the first half of the 20th century have slowed significantly, and that none of the generations born after 1939 will reach 100 years of age on average. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study by Héctor Pifarré i Arolas of the La Follette School of Public Affairs, José Andrade ...

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have developed wheat plants that stimulate the production of their own fertilizer, opening the path toward less air and water pollution worldwide and lower costs for farmers. The technology was pioneered by a team led by Eduardo Blumwald, a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. The team used the gene-editing tool CRIPSR to get wheat plants to produce more of one of their own naturally occurring chemicals. When the plant releases the excess chemical into the soil, the chemical helps certain bacteria in the soil convert nitrogen from the air into ...

CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE FOR RELEASE: August 27, 2025   Kaitlyn Serrao 607-882-1140 kms465@cornell.edu   Certain communities of pond plants may increase greenhouse gases   ITHACA, N.Y. - The composition of aquatic plant communities in shallow freshwater bodies, including floating plants, submerged plants and phytoplankton, can have important effects on greenhouse gas production, transport and emissions, according to a new study by Cornell University researchers.   The findings could lead to aquatic plant management strategies that help mitigate the release of gases such as methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2025 Highlights: People who went through menopause earlier had lower scores on memory and thinking tests. Those who used transdermal estradiol had better test scores for episodic memory—like remembering past events—compared to those who never used hormone therapy. Those who took estradiol pills had better test scores for prospective memory—like remembering to meet for an appointment or take a medication—compared to those who never used hormone therapy. Hormone therapy did ...

MINNEAPOLIS — A new study found that Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people had the highest rate of stroke among people from other race and ethnic groups, with a rate more than three times higher than that of white people. The study is published on August 27, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Multiple studies have shown racial and ethnic disparities in the rate of stroke in the United States, but there is little information on the rate among Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people, especially ...

The textbook picture of how planets form – serene, flat discs of cosmic dust – has just received a significant cosmic twist. New research, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, is set to reshape this long-held view. An international team of scientists, wielding the formidable power of the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA), has found compelling evidence that many protoplanetary discs, the very birthplaces of planets, are in fact subtly warped.   These slight bends and twists in the disc plane, often just a few ...

Humans could learn a thing or two from orangutans when it comes to maintaining a balanced, protein-filled diet. Great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are marvels of adaptation to the vagaries of food supply in the wild, according to an international team of researchers led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientist. The critically endangered primates outshine modern humans in avoiding obesity through their balanced choices of food and exercise, the scientists found. The researchers reported their findings, based on 15 years of firsthand observations of wild orangutans ...

Insomnia patients taking cannabis-based medical products reported better quality sleep after up to 18 months of treatment, according to a study published August 27 in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Arushika Aggarwal from Imperial College London, U.K., and colleagues. About one out of every three people has some trouble getting a good night’s rest, and 10 percent of adults meet the criteria for an insomnia disorder. But current treatments can be difficult to obtain, and the drugs approved for insomnia run the risk ...

Intrusive distracting thoughts may be associated with anxiety and linked to lower well-being, and occur more often when alone than in company, per experience of sampling survey of students.    Article URL: https://plos.io/4lBYjWu Article Title: Patterns of ongoing thought in the real world and their links to mental health and well-being Author Countries: Canada, England, United States Funding: This research was supported by (i) a National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) graduate fellowship (author: BM), (ii) an award from the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (grant ID: NFRF-2021-00183, ...

A newly-discovered species of a large, crocodile-relative predator has been described via a remarkably well-preserved fossil from Argentina, according to a study published August 27, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Fernando Novas from Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Argentina, and colleagues. The Chorrillo Formation formed around 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age at the very end of the Cretaceous period. At this time, southern Patagonia was a warm, seasonally humid landscape of freshwater floodplains, home to creatures like dinosaurs, turtles, frogs, and various mammals. The new fossil unearthed in this formation is ...

A new survey-based study suggests that the “unhappiness hump”—a widely documented rise in worry, stress, and depression with age that peaks in midlife and then declines—may have disappeared, perhaps due to declining mental health among younger people. David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on August 27, 2025. Since 2008, a U-shaped trend in wellbeing with age, in which wellbeing tends to decline from childhood until around age 50 before ...