A special set of neurons directs mice’s attention to or away from their peers, depending on the situation. The Kobe University discovery has implications for finding causes for neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism spectrum disorder or schizophrenia. Social interactions abound with decisions: How much time do we spend with a friend? Do we prioritize time with a friend who looks distressed? Like for all behavior, there are specialized clusters of neurons in the brain that are responsible for fine-tuning such complex behavior, and it is known that developmental defects in these areas are related ...

Summertime is beer time – even if the consumption of alcoholic beers is declining in Switzerland. And for beer lovers, there is nothing better than a head of foam topping the golden, sparkling barley juice. But with many beers, the dream is quickly shattered, and the foam collapses before you can take your first sip. There are also types of beer, however, where the head lasts a long time. ETH researchers led by Jan Vermant, Professor of Soft Materials, have now discovered just why this is the case. Their study has just been published in the journal Physics of Fluids. The ...

WASHINGTON, August 26, 2025 – Beer is one of the world’s most popular drinks, and one of the clearest signs of a good brew is a big head of foam at the top of a poured glass. Even brewers will use the quality of foam as an indicator of a beer having completed the fermentation process. However, despite its importance, what makes a large, stable foam is not entirely understood. In Physics of Fluids, from AIP Publishing, researchers from ETH Zurich and Eindhoven University of Technology investigated the stability of beer foams, examining multiple types of beer at different stages of the fermentation process. Like ...

Older adults who are overweight may face a lower risk of death in the first 30 days following major elective surgery compared with those who have a normal body mass index (BMI), new research suggests. The study, to be published August 26 in the peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open, examined outcomes in older surgical patients and found that being overweight (BMI 25–29.9) was associated with the lowest short-term mortality rates. In contrast, normal and underweight patients had significantly higher risk ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of preadolescent children, greater lean mass and higher fitness were associated with fewer anxiety and depression symptoms, while higher visceral adipose tissue was associated with increased symptoms of both. Body fat percentage was only associated with greater anxiety. These findings highlight the roles of body composition in mental health and underscore the value of early identification of physical health markers to support children’s well-being and development. Corresponding author: To contact the corresponding author, Lauren B. Raine, M.P.H., Ph.D., email l.raine@northeastern.edu. To ...

About The Study: In this study, underrepresented in medicine (URiM) student matriculation into U.S. medical schools declined after the 2023 Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruling, with an emergent disparity in acceptance rates of URiM applicants relative to Asian and white students. The decline in URiM student matriculation was concentrated in states without a preexisting state-level affirmative action ban, suggesting that there may be an association between the SCOTUS ruling and demographic ...

Ghent, 26 August 2025 – Belgian scientists have uncovered new details about how the immune system responds to vaccines. Dendritic cells, which are key immune messengers that help kick-start the body’s defenses, show specific responses to lipid nanoparticles. These findings, published in Cell Reports, could lead to safer and more effective vaccines.  Dendritic cells and lipid nanoparticles  Dendritic cells are among the first to detect viruses, bacteria, or other immune challenges. These cells help coordinate the immune system’s response by alerting T cells, the immune system’s soldiers trained to eliminate threats. But dendritic cells ...

A NIMS research team has discovered a unique phenomenon that the fatigue limit of steel is improved by prior cyclic deformation (fatigue) training. Based on this finding, the research team developed a novel “pre-fatigue training” technique, which successfully doubled the fatigue limit of high-strength steel by suppressing crack initiation. This strategy offers a versatile approach to improving fatigue limit in general steels, providing an effective alternative to tempering heat treatment that inevitably sacrifices tensile strength. ...

Bacteria aren’t just mindless microbes. New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that single bacterial cells can carry a “memory” of their past environments—passing it down through generations—before eventually forgetting. Using a new technique called Microcolony-seq, scientists uncovered hidden subpopulations inside infections, each with different survival strategies. The finding could explain why antibiotics and vaccines sometimes fail—and may point the way toward more precise treatments. [Hebrew University of Jerusalem]– ...

An international team of researchers has conducted the most comprehensive global-to-local analysis to date on long COVID risk, using disability data from the height of the pandemic to identify vulnerable populations. Drawing on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 framework, the study examined years lived with disability (YLDs) caused by COVID-19 across 920 locations during 2020 and 2021. The results reveal that YLDs may serve as an early indicator of long COVID risk—particularly in areas where post-COVID conditions remain underreported. “Disability-related data may serve as an early warning ...

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with significant heterogeneity among its major histological subtypes: adenocarcinoma (ADC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). These subtypes differ not only in clinical behavior and treatment response but also in their metabolic profiles. Metabolomics has emerged as a powerful tool to decipher cancer metabolic reprogramming, offering new insights into subtype-specific metabolic alterations. This review synthesizes recent advances in metabolomic research across lung cancer subtypes, highlighting the roles of lipid, amino acid, ...

“These findings highlight the potential role of DNAm in cognitive function.” BUFFALO, NY — August 26, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Volume 17, Issue 7 of Aging (Aging-US) on July 21, 2025, titled “Association of DNA methylation age acceleration with digital clock drawing test performance: the Framingham Heart Study.” In this study, led by first author Zexu Li from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, and corresponding author Chunyu Liu from Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston University ...

The American College of Cardiology has issued Concise Clinical Guidance (CCG) recommending vaccines to protect adults with heart disease against respiratory illness, including influenza, COVID-19 and RSV, and other diseases where vaccination is shown to offer cardiovascular protective benefits.  The guidance also provides detailed evidence for each vaccine recommendation and answers to frequently asked questions to guide conversations between clinicians and patients. “Vaccination against communicable respiratory diseases and other serious diseases is critical for people ...

DALLAS and MADRID, August 26, 2025 — The World Heart Federation (WHF) is set to honor Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday, August 29, at the opening ceremony of the European Society of Cardiology Congress together with the World Congress of Cardiology in Madrid. The award is bestowed in recognition of her extraordinary leadership and lifelong commitment to transforming cardiovascular health on a global scale. The World Heart Federation is a leader and convener in global cardiovascular health. The members ...

SAN ANTONIO — August 26, 2025 — NASA has launched Surya, its new heliophysics artificial intelligence foundation model to empower solar scientists with tools to enhance research and space weather forecasting. Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Andrés Muñoz-Jaramillo led a team of scientists from several institutions and universities who played a crucial role in tailoring the scientific data and validating a powerful application to predict solar activity such as coronal mass ejections ...

Within the next few years, doctors may be able to spot signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias using routine eye exams well before symptoms appear, a new study suggests. The research, recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, links abnormal changes in the tiny blood vessels of the retinas of mice with a common genetic mutation known to increase Alzheimer’s disease risk. The findings build on previous work from the same group at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), which found similar vascular changes in mice’s brains and linked abnormalities in specific retinal cells to early ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- In a groundbreaking study, research scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute found that individuals with a parent who died from liver disease face more than double the risk of developing alcohol-associated hepatitis, one of the deadliest forms of alcohol-related liver disease, compared with similar heavy drinkers without that family history. Researchers investigated the impact of parental liver disease mortality on both the development and outcomes of alcohol-associated hepatitis in adult children. In the U.S., nearly 20,000 people die from alcoholic liver disease each year, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug ...

Background and objectives Chronic liver cirrhosis (LC) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) are interconnected hepatic disorders associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite their distinct clinical characteristics, both conditions share common pathogenic pathways that remain inadequately understood. This study aimed to identify shared gene signatures and elucidate underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods In this study, we employed Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis to explore transcriptomic ...

DALLAS, August 26, 2025 — Research shows that rural Americans are at 30% higher risk of stroke, are 40% more likely to develop heart disease and live an average of three years fewer than their urban counterparts.[1] The American Heart Association, devoted to changing the future to a world of healthier lives for all, is committed to closing the gap between rural and urban health outcomes. To continue improving cardiovascular care in rural communities, the Association announced today the three-year funding extension of its Rural Health Care Outcomes Accelerator through June 2028. Since its launch in ...

Emotions are complicated things. Researchers have found some differences between men and women, but basically the same factors play the biggest part in whether we feel good about ourselves. “We investigated differences between the sexes and the relationships between factors that influence participants’ motivation and well-being,” said Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU’s) Department of Psychology. He has spent many years studying what it takes for people to achieve their goals, and in this ...

Miami (August 26, 2025) – People with schizophrenia are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggesting a possible syndemic relationship between the two diseases, in addition to people not seeking appropriate medical care. A new article examining the link between COPD and schizophrenia appears in the July 2025 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open access journal. COPD encompasses conditions including emphysema and ...

Human men are typically more aggressive than human women, a finding supported by reams of research. But surveys of  4,136 individuals in 24 countries reveal an exception to the trend: aggression in sibling relationships. Douglas T. Kenrick and Michael E.W. Warnum, along with a team of 49 colleagues, asked participants how often they had acted aggressively towards a sister, a brother, a female friend, a male friend, a female acquaintance, or a male acquaintance—both when they were children and when they were adults.  Aggressive actions included both direct aggression, such as hitting/slapping ...

Chemicals used to replace bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging can trigger potentially harmful effects in human ovarian cells, according to McGill University researchers. A new study examined several chemicals commonly used in price stickers on packaged meat, fish, cheese and produce found early signs of potential toxicity. The findings, published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, raise concerns about the safety of BPA-free packaging and whether current regulations go far enough to protect consumers. BPA substitutes disrupt gene expression The research began with the 2023 discovery by Stéphane Bayen, Associate Professor in McGill’s ...

Researchers explore the human tendency to look to the past to predict the future—even when people rationally know outcomes are completely random. A fair coin flip is the prototypically random-outcome event. Russell Roberts and colleagues asked 12,000 people to predict coin flip outcomes in a sequence of five fair coin tosses—some in person, some online. With such a large number of participants, they were able to analyze subsets of people who—by chance—made a series of successful or unsuccessful guesses without any deception or manipulation of the ...

Different countries have different cultures, and social scientists have developed theories about which values are most important in differentiating the world’s cultures. Abhishek Sheetal and colleagues used the power of machine learning to identify the crucial distinguishing characteristics of the world’s national cultures in a theory-blind manner. The authors trained a neural network to predict an individual’s country of origin from their attitudes, values, and beliefs, as measured by the World Values Survey, a global study that probes everything from religious beliefs ...