The story of the princess and the pea evokes an image of a highly sensitive royal young woman so refined, she can sense a pea under a stack of mattresses. When it comes to human biology, it also takes an abnormal individual to sense far beyond its surroundings, in this case, a cancer cell. Now, researchers also know that normal cells can pull a similar trick by working together. Research published in the journal PNAS from engineers at Washington University in St. Louis offers a clearer picture of how cells can sense beyond their direct environment. The research can help further the understanding of how cancer moves and point to potential targets to stop that ...

Many scientific discoveries are serendipitous—the result of chance. Seeing evolution in action in a cheese cave turned out to be exactly that for Benjamin Wolfe, associate professor of biology, and his colleagues. Back in 2016, Wolfe convinced his former post-doc advisor to drive with him to Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont to get samples of a special cheese called Bayley Hazen Blue, a ruse for her boyfriend to propose marriage at the spot where they first met. Wolfe ended up keeping that cheese in the freezer in his lab. “I’m notorious for not throwing samples away just in case we might ...

LA JOLLA, CA—What compels someone to keep engaging in alcohol use, even if it damages their health, relationships and wellbeing? A new study from Scripps Research offers an important clue: a small midline brain region plays a key role in how animals learn to continue drinking to avoid the stress and misery of withdrawal. In a new study, published in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science on August 5, 2025, the Scripps Research team zeroed in on a set of brain cells in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) in rats. They found that this region becomes more active, driving strong relapse behavior, when rats learn to associate ...

September 12, 2025 — Interventions to address firearm accessibility and related dangers should account not only for direct exposure to violence but also for complex psychosocial pathways through which firearms affect mental health across populations, according to a systematic scoping review published in the September/October issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, part of the Lippincott portfolio from Wolters Kluwer. Rodolfo Furlan Damiano, MD, PhD, of the Institute of Psychiatry at the ...

Research conducted on mice has identified that the rapid response of a specific type of defense cell is essential for controlling Oropouche virus infections and preventing serious neurological damage. Without treatment, “Oropouche fever” causes symptoms including headaches, muscle and joint pain, skin rashes, and vomiting. In severe cases, it can lead to meningitis and encephalitis. Pregnant women are at risk of complications, including miscarriage. These findings will contribute to future studies on developing therapies and vaccines against the disease. The Oropouche virus is ...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded leaders at the University of Cincinnati and Kent State University a $3 million grant to create a program that will make research resources more accessible for some smaller institutions and advance projects more efficiently across universities with cost savings.    The Supporting and HArmonizing Research Endeavors (SHARE) initiative is being led by Ohio co-principal investigators Jane Strasser at UC, Kent State University’s Douglas Delahanty and James Reecy at Iowa State University. SHARE aims to increase regional research opportunities by streamlining administration, ...

An ancient DNA analysis of the remains of several mastodons, including those which roamed along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, has revealed the Ice Age giants migrated vast distances in response to shifting climates and were far more genetically diverse than previously known. In the study published today in the journal Science Advances, researchers from McMaster University and Harvard provide new evidence which significantly revises and reshapes our understanding of the species’ deeply complex evolutionary history. Well-preserved ...

Kyoto, Japan -- The concept of quantum entanglement is emblematic of the gap between classical and quantum physics. Referring to a situation in which it is impossible to describe the physics of each photon separately, this key characteristic of quantum mechanics defies the classical expectation that each particle should have a reality of its own, which gravely concerned Einstein. Understanding the potential of this concept is essential for the realization of powerful new quantum technologies. Developing such technologies will require the ability ...

A UCLA research team has found a new way to prompt the immune system to kill cells infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a life-threatening infection that is particularly deadly in immunocompromised people. They did this by engineering antibodies that direct the immune system’s T-cells to kill cells infected with the virus, which poses a danger for people such as those who have undergone organ transplants or who have AIDS.  Infection with CMV can also lead to deafness in infants when the virus is transmitted from the mother during pregnancy. The findings could pave an alternative ...

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have created a miniaturized microscope for real-time, high-resolution, non-invasive imaging of brain activity in mice. The device is a significant step toward revolutionizing how neuroscientists study the brain. “What we are doing is creating technology to image brain activity in freely moving and behaving mice to open up the behavior paradigm,” said Weijian Yang, professor of electrical and computer engineering. “The goal is to create a device capable of enabling research into brain activity and ...

Complex biological systems are more than the sum of their parts – their properties emerge from the dynamic interaction of their components, such as molecules or cells. PhD researchers now have the opportunity to develop their own theoretical perspective on these systems as part of an international Doctoral Network. A European consortium initiated by researchers from the University of Göttingen, the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), and the University of Edinburgh has been awarded €4.5M by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions to coordinate the network. The network consists of twelve European ...

Reston, VA (September 12, 2025)—New research has been published ahead-of-print by The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM). JNM is published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and theranostics—precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. Summaries of the newly published research articles are provided below. New PET Imaging Agent Tested in Thyroid and Neuroendocrine Tumors A pilot ...

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the largest professional organization of stem cell researchers from around the world, is concerned about a recent statement attributed to NIH that the agency will not renew research grants involving human fetal tissue (HFT), and that research with HFT is not conducted responsibly or transparently. In fact, research with HFT has been indispensable in advancing biomedicine and saving millions of lives, and it continues to play an essential role in accelerating research that benefits patients. ISSCR President Hideyuki Okano released the following statement: “Research with HFT and HFT-derived cell lines has been ...

Reston, VA (September 11, 2025)--A new PET tracer can provide insights into how spinal cord injuries affect not only the spinal cord, but also the brain, according to new research published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. By identifying synapse loss, the PET approach provides molecularly unique and complementary information to other structural imaging methods, offering a promising objective metric to evaluate novel therapeutics for spinal cord injuries. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury ...

HOBOKEN, NJ—Wiley, a global leader in authoritative content, data-driven insights, and knowledge services that advance science and learning, today announced the release of KnowItAll 2026, featuring the new Trendfinder application that integrates chemometric analysis directly into the familiar KnowItAll interface to uncover meaningful patterns in complex spectral and chromatographic datasets. The latest version of Wiley's comprehensive KnowItAll software suite for spectral analysis and ...

A new Virginia Tech study published in PLOS One establishes a crucial baseline for understanding dog behavior on a large scale.  The research, led by Courtney Sexton, a postdoctoral associate in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, and her colleague Yuhuan Li from the University of Washington, utilized four years of owner-reported data from over 47,000 dogs in the Dog Aging Project, a large-scale initiative involving over 40 institutions.  "Most importantly, with these data, we're excited to now have a starting point from which we can continue to follow changes in the behaviors of tens of thousands of dogs as they age, ...

With the proliferation of online hate speech—which, research shows, can increase political polarization and damage mental health—leading artificial intelligence companies have released large language models that promise automatic content filtering. “Private technology companies have become the de facto arbiters of what speech is permissible in the digital public square, yet they do so without any consistent standard,” says Yphtach Lelkes, associate professor in the Annenberg School ...

Mark W. Feinberg, MD, cardiologist with the Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is the senior author of a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, “A smooth muscle cell lncRNA controls angiogenesis in chronic limb-threatening ischemia through miR-143-3p/HHIP signaling.” Q: What question were you investigating? What causes poor outcomes in patients with advanced peripheral artery disease who develop a complication called chronic limb threatening ischemia (CLTI), which has a high risk of limb amputation due to the restriction ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, childhood loneliness was associated with cognitive decline and dementia risk in middle and later adulthood, even in the absence of adult loneliness. Early interventions aimed at reducing childhood loneliness may help promote lifelong cognitive health and reducing dementia risk. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Xiuhua Guo, PhD, email statguo@ccmu.edu.cn. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.31493) Editor’s ...

About The Study: This cohort study found an association of parental diseases of despair (defined as a suicide attempt, alcohol-related disease, or substance use disorder) with youth suicidal events; this finding may be underlying the increase in adolescent suicidal behavior observed in the U.S. over the past 2 decades. Improved access to care for parents with diseases of despair and systematic screening and referral of their offspring could help to reduce the adolescent suicide rate. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, David ...

About The Study: The findings of this randomized clinical trial of older adults with chronic low back pain suggest that acupuncture needling provided greater improvements in back pain–related disability at 6 months and at 12 months compared with usual medical care alone. These findings support acupuncture needling as an effective and safe treatment option for older adults with chronic low back pain. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lynn L. DeBar, PhD, MPH, email lynn.debar@kpchr.org. To ...

According to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), older Americans with chronic low back pain who received acupuncture had greater improvement in physical function and reduced pain than those who received usual medical care only, generally prescribed medications or physical therapy. Chronic low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects over one-third of older adults in the United States. Treatment options range from pain-relieving drugs to complementary therapies, including acupuncture. There ...

Interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS that have been captured in planet-forming discs around young stars could become the seeds of giant planets, bypassing a hurdle that theoretical models have previously been unable to explain. Interstellar objects are asteroid- and comet-like bodies that have been ejected from their home system and now wander through interstellar space, occasionally encountering other star systems. Since 2017 astronomers have detected three interstellar objects passing through our Solar System: 1I/’Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov and most recently 3I/ATLAS, discovered ...

E-scooters have often been identified as more dangerous than e-bikes, but that picture changes when they are compared on equal terms. A recently published study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows in fact that the crash risk is eight times higher for e-bikes than for e-scooters, calculated based on the trip distance with rental vehicles in cities. This surprising result provides a better basis for cities to make decisions on how much to facilitate different types of micromobility. E-scooters have ...

Ditches are all around: along roads, through neighborhoods, across fields and marshes. These human-made waterways are so common that they can be easy to miss. A new literature review published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment calls on the public to pay more attention to this often neglected resource, one that could advance sustainability goals and benefit local communities with modern ditch management strategies. In the English language, “ditch” has a bad rap. It evokes images of trash or something that ought to be discarded. That negative connotation ...