WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a flexible optical touch sensor that can simultaneously detect the strength and location of pressure with high sensitivity and stability. The advance in tactile sensing paves the way for next-generation robotic touch interfaces, advanced medical diagnostics and highly responsive wearable electronics. “Unlike conventional optical tactile sensors, which tend to have a single input-output path, our sensor design achieves multiple optical channels by embedding polymer ...

Achalasia is a disease caused by impaired movement of the esophagus. Patients experience food getting stuck and regurgitated, as well as chest pain. Currently, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and high-resolution manometry are commonly used for diagnosis; however, these techniques are invasive. Achalasia has some distinct features that are visible on plain chest X-ray such as twisting or dilation of the esophagus, and fluid retention. However, these signs are vague in most cases, and for this reason, X-rays normally require swallowing barium to diagnose the condition. A research group from Osaka Metropolitan University ...

Global warming poses a growing threat to human health and work performance. Currently, about 3.6 billion people worldwide live in areas highly susceptible to climate change. From 2000 to 2019, more than 480,000 heat-related deaths occurred globally each year. Extreme heat also impairs focus and productivity and worsens mood by elevating stress hormones and disrupting sleep. In response to the increasing frequency of heat waves, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) scholars are developing next-generation personal cooling solutions that push the limits of conventional clothing and promote ...

A multi-institutional team led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators has been awarded a five-year, $20.8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, for advanced preclinical development of a promising experimental HIV vaccine. A successful vaccine to prevent new HIV infections would be a major public health breakthrough. About 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2024, according to the World Health Organization, and at the end of that year an estimated 41 million people were living with the ...

Women suffering from long COVID have a greater risk1 of experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding2. The symptoms of the illness intensify during the perimenstrual and proliferative phases of the menstrual cycle, notably fatigue, headaches, and muscle pain. This bidirectional relationship between long COVID and menstrual disorders has been revealed by a French-British research team co-led by a CNRS researcher3. An inflammatory reaction is suspected of being behind this connection, after the discovery of an immune cell cluster in the endometrium of the patients receiving treatment. ...

In global terms, the past year was distinguished not only by extreme drought but also by unusually heavy rainfall. These are the core findings of the report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on the status of our planet's water resources that was published today. The regions most affected by severe drought conditions in 2024 were the Amazon basin and Southern Africa. There was excessive rainfall, for instance, in the African tropics and the resultant flooding resulted in the deaths of 2500 people while 4 million were forced from their homes. ...

A research group from the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has found that an alteration in the POT1 gene prevents lung tissue from regenerating, which over time makes breathing difficult. The mutation prevents telomeres, the structures that protect chromosomes, from repairing. According to the authors, understanding the effect of mutations like this “is critical to developing personalised therapies” against ‘telomere syndromes’, a group of diseases that includes pulmonary fibrosis and several cancer types. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a potentially fatal disease currently without treatment, in which lung tissue develops scarring ...

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, report in ACS Nano, how proteins in cells can be controllably activated through heating, an effect that can be used to initiate programmed cell death. Cellular processes are governed by the activity of proteins.  Being able to control the functioning of proteins is therefore highly relevant for the development of biotechnological tools.  Doing so with high-enough spatial and temporal precision is hugely challenging, however.  One approach for tackling this challenge, called thermogenetics, is based on the thermal response of certain proteins, with slight heating or cooling resulting in (de)activation.  ...

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that a joint research team led by Professor Young-Chang Joo (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) and Professor Jungwon Park (School of Chemical and Biological Engineering) has, in collaboration with Professors Dae-Hyun Nam (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) and Seoin Baek (KU-KIST Graduate School) at Korea University, become the first in the world to elucidate the reconstruction mechanism of copper alloy catalysts during electrochemical CO₂ conversion reactions.   The research sheds light on atomic rearrangements in catalyst ...

In a world where evolutionary biology often gets boiled down to simplistic hierarchies of "primitive" and "advanced" species, a new book by University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) biologist Kevin Omland offers a fresh, genomics-informed perspective. Understanding the Tree of Life, published by Cambridge University Press as part of its "Understanding Life" series, invites readers to rethink evolution as a continuous, branching process where all organisms—from humans to platypuses to bacteria—are interconnected cousins sharing a common ancestry. Omland draws on decades of research ...

More than a decade of acoustic recordings of grouper grunts are providing new insight into how sound can be used to monitor and manage vulnerable fish populations. The research by Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute focused on the red hind (Epinephelus guttatus), a commercially important Caribbean grouper species.   Red hind are protogynous hermaphrodites, starting life as females and later becoming males. Each winter, they travel more than 30 kilometers to offshore sites to spawn under the full moon in large gatherings. Males use rhythmic, low-frequency sounds ...

Ensuring the structural safety of bridges, tunnels, construction machinery, and other critical infrastructure is essential for public safety, economic stability, and environmental protection. Traditional inspection methods—mainly relying on manual visual checks—are time-consuming, expensive, and often dangerous, especially in high-altitude, underwater, or hazardous environments. They are also prone to human error and often fail to detect early-stage defects, leading to unexpected structural failures and costly accidents. Intelligent inspection ...

Background and objectives Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs characterized by a strictly closed-loop covalent structure. They are abundantly detected in various cells due to their conserved nature. Studies have reported their potential association with chronic liver disease (CLD), including hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with possible roles as diagnostic and prognostic markers. This study aimed to analyze the potential use of serum-derived hsa_circ_101555 as a diagnostic tool for CLD without HCC, and to compare it with other ...

Colorectal cancer remains a leading cause of cancer death, with incidence rising among older adults. One of the most pressing clinical questions has been whether elderly patients should receive oxaliplatin, a standard component of adjuvant chemotherapy that is known to cause serious side effects. To address this, Dr. Jun Woo Bong from Korea University Guro Hospital, with Dr. Hwamin Lee, and Dr. Seogsong Jeong from Korea University College of Medicine, conducted a large-scale population study, which was made available online on August 6, 2025, in JAMA ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Research led by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine explores the ways brain cells communicate, revealing fresh insight into the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. A multidisciplinary team used advanced imaging and computational modeling to analyze the “crosstalk” between neurons and their supporting glial cells in the human brain. This approach highlights the brain’s interconnected cellular network. “By mapping these cell interactions at the molecular level, we identified key pathways ...

Scientists regularly uncork fresh insights into beer and wine — even though they were invented thousands of years ago. Four recent discoveries go beyond buzz and bouquet, diving into the haziness and gluten content of beer as well as the astringent taste and potential health impacts of wine. Sip back and learn more about research published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Reporters can request free access to these papers by emailing newsroom@acs.org. Yeast extracts add haze to lager beer. Hazy beer styles are becoming more popular, ...

Evanston, Ill. – September 10, 2025 – The Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) announces the award of a research grant to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The grant will support a three-year study entitled Myofascial Release Therapy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome led by Primary Investigators Maria Mascarenhas, MBBS and Alain J. Benitez, MD, MSTR. The study aims to evaluate the impact of abdominal myofascial release (MFR)—a gentle, manual therapy—on symptom relief, quality of life, and bowel function in adolescents with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C). This randomized controlled study pairs MFR with ...

The growing global demand for clean energy and rising concerns over climate change have intensified the search for sustainable alternatives. Hydrogen emerges as a promising solution due to its high energy density and zero-carbon emissions. Among production methods, alkaline water electrolysis is efficient and environmentally friendly; however, its dependence on freshwater limits large-scale implementation. Seawater electrolysis offers a practical alternative by tapping Earth’s abundant water resources but contains high chloride concentrations that accelerate catalyst corrosion and reduce efficiency, posing a significant ...

Richmond Hill, Canada, 18 September 2025 – On August 31 at midnight, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar Province near the Pakistan border. Despite being moderate in magnitude, the earthquake caused extensive destruction and claimed more than 3,500 lives, including many women and children. Now, the United Nations University (UNU) scientists attribute this significant death toll to Afghanistan's decades of conflict and instability, and the nation's increasing diplomatic isolation following the Taliban takeover in 2021.  A new damage assessment of the August 31 earthquake by the United ...

An international group of four leading researchers and scientists have been shortlisted for the prestigious $75,000 Panmure House Prize.   This year’s competition attracted entries from across North America, Europe, and beyond, reflecting the global reach of the award.   Now in its fifth year, the Prize is named after Panmure House, the former Edinburgh residence of 18th-century Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith. It is regarded as one of the largest awards in financial research and is dedicated to advancing understanding of long-term ...

Genetic editing holds promise to treat incurable diseases, but the most popular method — CRISPR — sometimes does more harm than good. A new study from University of California San Diego and Yale University researchers highlights an innovative alternative approach that may be safer. CRISPR — short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats — is a method of genetic editing that uses RNA and bacterial proteins to edit DNA. It was adapted from a method used by bacteria as an immune defense against the DNA of viruses. When the method is used by scientists to edit human DNA, however, there ...

Astronomers have used observatories around the world, including the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to study the asteroid 1998 KY26, revealing it to be almost three times smaller and spinning much faster than previously thought. The asteroid is the 2031 target for Japan’s Hayabusa2 extended mission. The new observations offer key information for the mission’s operations at the asteroid, just six years out from the spacecraft’s encounter with 1998 KY26. “We found that the reality of the object is completely different from what it was previously described as,” says ...

You have 20 minutes of spare time, but the new episode of your favorite podcast is a few minutes longer. No problem; you can increase the listening speed and fit in those extra minutes. Phew. What happens when you listen to speech at a different speed? Neuroscientists thought that your brain may turn up its processing speed as well. But it turns out that at least the auditory part of the brain keeps “listening” or clocking in at a fixed time. That is the key finding of new research out today in Nature Neuroscience. The research was led by Sam Norman-Haignere, PhD, ...

A team led by Christian Baumgartner of the Institute of Health Care Engineering at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has developed a highly detailed digital twin of the A549 lung cancer cell line. The twin builds on bioelectric processes and calcium dynamics in the cell interior in innovative new ways. Calcium is a vital component in the survival of biological cells. However, if the concentration of calcium within a cell is too high, this can cause cell death – which is what makes the element such an interesting factor in cancer treatment. Created under the DigLungCancer project, the cell model builds on an earlier model from 2021 – ...

An exoplanet orbiting a dwarf star 124 light-years from Earth made headlines around the world in April 2025. Researchers at the University of Cambridge reported that planet K2-18b could be a marine world with a deep, global ocean teeming with life. However, a study now shows that so-called sub-Neptunes such as K2-18b are highly unlikely to be worlds dominated by water and that conditions there are far from conducive to life. “Water on planets is much more limited than previously believed,” notes ...