The accuracy of machine learning algorithms for predicting suicidal behavior is too low to be useful for screening or for prioritizing high-risk individuals for interventions, according to a new study published September 11th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Matthew Spittal of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues. Numerous risk assessment scales have been developed over the past 50 years to identify patients at high risk of suicide or self-harm. In general, these scales have had poor predictive accuracy, but the availability of modern machine ...

From pollinating flowers to enabling decomposition and supporting nutrient cycles, insects’ abundance and biodiversity are critical for maintaining healthy ecosystems. However, recent studies showing population declines have raised alarm about how insects are coping with the modern world. Understanding whether recent observations are part of longer timescale trends can help inform global conservation efforts, and identify the reasons behind the so-called “Insect Apocalypse”.  Published in Science, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology ...

A new study of ants in Fiji – involving genomic sequencing of over 4,000 ant specimens from museum collections – shows that most native species have been in decline since humans first arrived in the archipelago 3,000 years ago. Meanwhile, recently introduced ant species have expanded. The findings underscore how human activity has and continues to reshape fragile island ecosystems. Insects, which make up much of Earth’s biodiversity, provide crucial ecosystem services, including pollination, soil ...

According to a new study, most climate models exploring wildfires’ impacts on air quality overlook the effect of heat from a fire in one location on altering weather patterns – and in turn air quality – in locations farther afield. The authors of this study report that wildfires in the western United States are worsening air quality in the West but, paradoxically, may be improving it in the East. Over recent decades, wildfires in the western United States have become more frequent and intense, releasing vast amounts of smoke, which can greatly degrade air quality both locally and in regions far downwind. Often assumed to worsen when wildfire smoke drifts eastward from the ...

In a Policy Forum, Natalie Ram and colleagues discuss the concerning gaps in robust regulatory protection on direct-to-consumer genetic data and biospecimens. After declaring bankruptcy in March 2025, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company, 23andMe, sold the genetic data of over 15 million people worldwide to a nonprofit founded by 23andMe’s own CEO. Although the nature of the sale meant the data remained under familiar leadership, it was controversial and highlighted critical gaps in legal ...

New Haven, Conn. — The movement of protons through electrically charged water is one of the most fundamental processes in chemistry. It is evident in everything from eyesight to energy storage to rocket fuel — and scientists have known about it for more than 200 years. But no one has ever seen it happen. Or precisely measured it on a microscopic scale. Now, the Mark Johnson lab at Yale has — for the first time — set benchmarks for how long it takes protons to move through six charged water molecules. The discovery, made possible with a ...

We take our understanding of where we are for granted, until we lose it. When we get lost in nature or a new city, our eyes and brains kick into gear, seeking familiar objects that tell us where we are. How our brains distinguish objects from background when finding direction, however, was largely a mystery. A new study provides valuable insight into this process, with possible implications for disorientation-causing conditions such as Alzheimer’s. The scientists, based at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University and the University Medical Center Göttingen, ran an experiment with mice using ultrasound imaging to measure and record brain ...

Genoa (Italy), 11 September 2025 - Researchers from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genoa (Italy) and Brown University in Providence (USA) have discovered that people sense the hand of a humanoid robot as part of their body schema, particularly when it comes to carrying out a task together, like slicing a bar of soap. The study has been published in the journal iScience and can pave the way for a better design of robots that have to function in close contact with humans, such as those used in rehabilitation. The project, led by Alessandra Sciutti, IIT Principal ...

Images A new nanostructure acts like a wire and switch that can, for the first time, control and direct the flow of quantum quasiparticles called excitons at room temperature.    The transistor-like switch developed by University of Michigan engineers could speed up information transfer or even enable circuits that run on excitons instead of electricity—paving the way for a new class of devices.   Because they have no electrical charge, excitons have the potential to move quantum information without the losses that come with moving electrically charged particles like electrons. ...

In 1959, Lucy Shapiro, a freshman honors student at Brooklyn College majoring in arts and literature, had signed up for a course in inorganic chemistry on a lark. It didn’t interest her, and she stopped attending. But at the end of the term, having failed to officially drop the class, she was notified she had to take the final exam. “It was a multiple-choice test, so I just circled all the B's,” recalled Shapiro, PhD, professor emerita of developmental biology and director of Stanford Medicine’s Beckman Center recalled. She received a D. Three years later, the budding artist met physical ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Understanding the strategies and unmet needs of caregivers managing medications for people with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias may improve the lives of both caregivers and patients. A recent study, whose authors include Regenstrief Institute Research Scientists Noll Campbell, PharmD, M.S., and  Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH, describes the strategies and unmet needs of caregivers managing medications for people with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. By employing a user-centered design (UCD) approach and using virtual contextual inquiry, the researchers identified three distinct caregiver personas: “Checklist Cheryl,” ...

Soil microbial communities play a vital role in plant health, influencing root development, disease resistance, nutrient and soil water uptake and more. In a pioneering study, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) is partnering with universities across the country to investigate how these microbial communities impact cotton development and overall yield across diverse climates, agricultural practices and environmental stressors. In addition to extreme conditions such as drought and flooding, cotton crops are often affected by plant diseases like cotton leaf crumple ...

Net farm income in the United States is projected to reach $177 billion in 2025, a sharp increase from $128 billion in 2024. This is according to the latest update of the annual U.S. farm income and consumer food price report by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Record cattle prices and large one-time government payments have boosted 2025 income, but declines in crop prices and projected reductions in future government support ...

Sept. 11, 2025  MSU has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and Comrex line for radio interviews upon request.  Contact: Emilie Lorditch: 810-844-1460, lorditch@msu.edu; Bethany Mauger: 765-571-0623, maugerbe@msu.edu   What 3I/ATLAS tells us about other solar systems  The fleeting interstellar visitor offers MSU astrophysicists clues about comets beyond our solar system   Why this matters:  MSU uncovered images of 3I/ATLAS from two months before it was detected as ...

Patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) often describe the condition as painful, disruptive and frightening. The rare chronic disease causes inflammation of the esophagus, leading to abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing, vomiting and, in some cases, food getting stuck in the throat. Now, a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researcher has received new funding to expand her investigations into the underlying causes of EoE and potential new treatments. Simin Zhang, MD, an allergist and research assistant professor in the Division of ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New developments in nuclear thermal propulsion technologies may soon enable advanced space missions to the farthest reaches of the solar system.   Leading these advances are researchers at The Ohio State University: Engineers are developing a nuclear propulsion system that uses liquid uranium to directly heat rocket propellant as an alternative to solid fuel elements used by traditional nuclear propulsion systems.   Their concept, called the centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR), is specially designed to improve rocket performance while simultaneously minimizing any engine risk.   While ...

For women who’ve overcome cervical cancer, new research from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center points to another health risk that may not be on their radar: anal cancer. Led by Hollings researchers Haluk Damgacioglu, Ph.D., and Ashish Deshmukh, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, the study sheds light on an under-recognized risk facing women with a history of cervical cancer – and highlights the need for updated screening guidelines. The paper was published in JAMA Network Open. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers: Thanks to routine screening and the HPV vaccine, it has a survival rate of over ...

Protecting Indigenous territories in areas of the Amazon rainforest with high levels of forest cover may help reduce the number of cases of several diseases (including malaria and respiratory conditions) in the surrounding areas. The results, from an analysis published in Communications Earth & Environment, highlight the importance of legal protection for Indigenous territories in the Amazon, and the complex role they play in human health. There are an estimated 2.7 million Indigenous people living in the Amazon, predominantly in Indigenous ...

Octopuses can use any of their arms to perform tasks, but tend to use a particular arm, or arms, for specific tasks. This finding, presented in a paper in Scientific Reports, reveals more about the complex behaviour these animals display. Octopus arms are complex structures consisting of four separate muscle groups — transverse, longitudinal, oblique, and circular — around a central nerve. These four muscle groups allow octopus arms to deform in a wide variety of ways to perform a range of actions used for various behaviours, from hunting and moving, to self-defence. However, little is known about how wild ...

Octopuses are among the most neurologically complex invertebrates, famed for their extraordinary dexterity. Their eight arms allow them to capture hidden prey, communicate, explore, and even mate across varied habitats. Although octopus arms rank among some of the most flexible structures in nature, their full range of movement has rarely been studied in the wild – especially in a range of underwater habitats. A new study by Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, in collaboration with researchers from the Marine Biological ...

Belém, Brazil – Gland, Switzerland (11 SEPTEMBER 2025) — New research published today in Communications Earth and Environment, a Nature Group journal, finds that municipalities in the Amazon region closest to healthy forests on Indigenous lands face less risk from rising cases of two categories of disease: cardiovascular and respiratory diseases due to forest fires and illnesses spread when humans come into closer contact with animals and insects.   The findings, released at the onset of forest fire season in the region and in advance of the climate negotiations (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, is the latest study in a growing body of evidence showing ...

By David Chandler WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- Octopus arms are one of the most flexible structures known in all of the biological world. Their agility is so extraordinary that robotics researchers want to learn the secrets behind their movements, hoping to apply some of the same principles. They envision soft, flexible robotic appendages that, like the highly tactile octopus arms, can search and carry out tasks through tight and narrow openings, such as delivering life-saving food and water to people trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Now, researchers from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – “Magic mushroom” edibles sold at smoke shops and convenience stores are likely to contain no psilocybin but instead a range of undisclosed active ingredients, a study led by an Oregon State University College of Pharmacy scientist shows. The research collaboration, which included a state-certified testing laboratory and a scientific instrument manufacturer, published its findings today in JAMA Network Open, a journal of the American Medical Association. In Portland, the scientists purchased 12 gummies and chocolates labeled as magic mushrooms and analyzed their contents. Psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound produced ...

About The Study: In this prospective study of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study cohort, modifiable parental factors in early adolescence were associated with specific adolescent sleep outcomes 4 years later, with screen use and emotional regulation serving as mediators. Adolescent sex moderated the association between parental warmth and sleep chronotype. These findings highlight potential targets for evidence-based interventions to improve adolescent sleep health. Corresponding Authors: To contact the corresponding authors, email Rosalind Ge, MSc (saig@student.unimelb.edu.au) ...

About The Study: In this economic evaluation estimating effects of the possible health care policy changes on HIV transmission, findings suggest that even modest reductions in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) coverage would result in thousands of avoidable HIV infections and billions of dollars of increases in net health care costs. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Patrick S. Sullivan, DVM, PhD, email pssulli@emory.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.31341) Editor’s Note: Please ...