The Bureaucracy Index, which tracks the growth in the volume of applicable German federal laws, has once again reached a record high. Since 2010, the volume of legislation has risen steadily, with no structural reversal in sight. The scope of legislation continued to rise in 2025. Despite commitments to reducing bureaucracy, regulation has not eased. The Bureaucracy Index is compiled jointly by university professor Dr. Stefan Wagner of the University of Vienna in collaboration with ESMT Berlin ...

A portable version of the global model used by ECMWF to produce medium-range weather forecasts is being made openly available to all for the first time. The OpenIFS model, a version of the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) used for research, education and training, has, until now, only been available for use under licence, for example within an institution. Now, ECMWF is making OpenIFS’s forecasts fully open source. The change will make it easier to collaborate and generate new ideas, with everyone having access to the same version of the data. “Opening ...

Aging in later life is often portrayed as a steady slide toward physical and cognitive decline. But a new study by scientists at Yale University suggests an alternate narrative — that older individuals can and do improve over time and their mindset toward aging plays a major part in their success. Analyzing more than a decade of data from a large, nationally representative study of older Americans, lead author Becca R. Levy, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), found that nearly half of adults aged 65 and older showed measurable improvement in cognitive function, physical function, or both, ...

  A team of Korean researchers has, for the first time in the world, developed a technology capable of enabling early diagnosis of major neurological disorders including epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia using only a small amount of saliva. This study was conducted jointly by a research team led by Dr. Sung-Gyu Park of the Advanced Bio and Healthcare Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), together with Prof. Ho Sang Jung’s team at Korea University and researchers from the College of Medicine at The Catholic University of Korea. The research ...

To address persistent concerns about harassment, boundary violation and user safety in digital dating spaces, a research team led by the University of Waterloo has launched an interactive Safety Map to coincide with International Women’s Day. Hundreds of millions of people use dating apps worldwide, with younger adults aged 18 to 34 being the most active users. In Canada, for example, roughly one in three people report having ...

SINGAPORE, 5 MARCH 2026—Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School have found that viruses circulating in live poultry markets can be detected more effectively by sampling the surrounding environment than by testing individual birds. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows that environmental sampling can uncover a broader range of poultry viruses—including highly pathogenic avian influenza strains that traditional surveillance may miss. Live poultry markets are widely used across Asia, supplying fresh food and supporting livelihoods. However, they are also settings where humans and animals interact closely, increasing the risk of viruses crossing ...

The team led by Prof. Lin Zhu from Guangzhou Sport University have demonstrated that 4-week low-intensity treadmill exercise before the onset of an ischemic stroke can significantly reduce brain injury and improve neurological outcomes. This study, published in Translational Exercise Biomedicine (ISSN: 2942-6812), an official partner journal of International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), offers a promising, non-pharmacological strategy for the millions of people worldwide at risk of this ...

In 2009, a scandal was exposed at a cemetery just outside of Chicago. Workers at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, were accused of exhuming old graves, dumping the remains elsewhere on the cemetery grounds, and reselling the burial plots. When the case went to trial in 2015, one key piece of evidence was a tiny clump of moss. In a new study in the journal Forensic Sciences Research, researchers are sharing the first full scientific account of the case, detailing precisely how moss played a role in proving that a ...

Teenagers across the country are getting less sleep, a researcher from the University of Connecticut reports on March 2 in JAMA. And the problem appears to be societal. Teens not getting enough sleep has been reported as a problem in the medical literature since at least the turn of the 20th century: a 1905 study in The Lancet of the sleep hours of boys in British boarding schools worried that they were not getting enough sleep due to nighttime lighting, and suggested that “late to bed and early to rise is neither physiological nor wise”. ...

A year after stopping taking weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, people regain on average 60% of their lost weight – but beyond this, their weight regain plateaus, with individuals managing to keep off 25% of the weight lost to treatment, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. It isn’t clear, however, whether the weight regain constitutes both fat and muscle, or mainly fat. Previous studies have suggested that lean body mass – including muscle – can constitute up to 40% of total weight lost during treatment. More than a billion people worldwide ...

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity may also help to lower the risk of addiction to a range of substances including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, and opioids, finds a large US study published by The BMJ today. GLP-1 receptor agonists were also associated with reduced risks of adverse outcomes such as overdoses and drug-related emergency department visits and deaths in people with pre-existing substance use disorders, the results show. Some studies suggest that GLP-1 receptor agonists ...

As the UK government considers adding health warnings to new wood burning stoves, as part of a public consultation on solid fuel burning, councils in England are being threatened with legal action for running public health campaigns warning against their use, reveals an investigation published by The BMJ today. Freedom of Information requests show that just under a third of the 50 councils in England with the highest concentration of wood burning stoves had been threatened with legal action or lobbied by the Stove Industry Association (SIA). Other local authorities have received leaflets from the main stove ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis show in a new study that GLP-1 medications may be effective at treating and preventing substance use disorders across all major addictive substances studied, suggesting these drugs target a common biological pathway underlying addiction.  From their beginnings as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have seen an explosion in use, most popularly for weight loss. Patients have reported decreased interest in alcohol and nicotine when taking GLP-1s, and observational studies have shown an association between ...

A new international study published in The Lancet eClinicalMedicine has mapped global blood transfusion practices for life-threatening abdominal injuries, highlighting significant variation in care worldwide and opportunities for health systems to learn from one another. The research, led by the University of Cambridge as part of the GOAL-Trauma study, analysed data from 1,768 patients treated in 187 hospitals across 51 countries. It represents the first multicentre international study to report on blood transfusion strategies for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery following trauma (trauma laparotomy). Uncontrolled bleeding is the leading cause of death following ...

31% of Gen Z men agree that a wife should always obey her husband and one third (33%) say a husband should have the final word on important decisions, according to a new global study of 23,000 people.   Gen Z men (born between 1997 and 2012) were twice as likely as Baby Boomer men (born between 1946 and 1964) to have traditional views on decision-making within a marriage, with just 13% and 17% of Baby Boomer men agreeing with those statements respectively.  By contrast, far fewer Gen Z women agreed that a wife should always obey her husband (18%) and ...

Electrical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated the fastest pyroelectric photodetector to date that works by absorbing heat generated by incoming light. Capable of capturing light from the entire electromagnetic spectrum, the ultrathin device requires no external power, operates at room temperature and can be readily integrated into on-chip applications. The advance could form the basis of a new class of multispectral cameras capable of impacting a wide range of fields such as skin cancer detection, food safety inspection and large-scale agriculture. The results appear online ...

A new review published in Energy & Environment Nexus examines how innovative geometric designs of tubular solid oxide fuel cells could accelerate the transition to cleaner and more efficient energy systems. The study provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in fabrication methods, structural designs, and real world applications of tubular SOFC technologies. Solid oxide fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electricity with high efficiency and low emissions. They are widely considered a promising technology for addressing global energy challenges because ...

A new study shows that ammonia released from intensive livestock farms can significantly increase nearby soil emissions of nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and ozone depletion. The research, published in Nitrogen Cycling, reveals that atmospheric ammonia deposition around livestock facilities can stimulate soil microbial processes that generate nitrous oxide, highlighting an overlooked pathway linking livestock pollution to global warming. Livestock farming is the largest global source of ammonia emissions. When ammonia escapes from animal housing and manure storage, it can travel through the air and deposit onto ...

A new study reports that specially engineered biochar can significantly improve compost quality by reducing nitrogen loss and accelerating the formation of stable humic substances. The findings offer a promising strategy for transforming organic waste into more effective fertilizers while lowering environmental emissions. Composting plays a critical role in recycling agricultural and food wastes into nutrient rich soil amendments. However, conventional composting systems often suffer from two major challenges. Large amounts of ...

Groundbreaking Phase 1/2a clinical trials co-led by Linda Laux, MD, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, show that the first gene regulation treatment for epilepsy is safe and well tolerated by patients with Dravet syndrome for whom antiseizure medications are not effective. Results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, include significant seizure reduction and improvement in other symptoms of Dravet syndrome, such as language, motor and behavior issues. Researchers also report sustained treatment benefits in ongoing open-label extension studies. “Our results are highly promising, ...

A new experimental treatment for children with a hard-to-treat form of epilepsy is safe and can reduce seizures dramatically, helping them lead much healthier and happier lives, the findings of a UCL (University College London) and Great Ormond Street Hospital-led international clinical trial show. In a new paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that children with Dravet syndrome had up to 91 per cent fewer seizures while being regularly administered a new medication called zorevunersen. The results also show, for the first ...

Whether it’s a sudden dash across the garage or silhouette in a backyard web, spiders evoke fear in many people. But researchers don’t have a clear picture of why, exactly, this phobia is so common. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is using state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology to pinpoint the physical characteristics of spiders that may contribute to the unease.     Emma Brase, a graduate student in psychology, was lead author on a recent Frontiers in Arachnid Science publication in which Husker researchers described results ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a hidden "movement map" deep within the brain — a discovery that could help surgeons reduce side effects from epilepsy procedures and guide future treatments for speech and movement disorders. In a study published Feb. 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team reports that a small, buried brain region called the insula contains its own organized map of the body. Distinct areas within the insula are linked ...

The New York Consortium for Space Technology Innovation and Development (NYCST) today announced the selection of projects for Round 2 of its competitive funding program, continuing its mission to invigorate and advance space technology manufacturing, workforce development, research and infrastructure in New York state. Funded through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program, Round 2 awards support organizations working on groundbreaking space-related technology development, supply-chain resilience and ...

In the three-and-a-half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the fragmented state of abortion access has put medical professionals in a precarious position. Many states have tightened abortion restrictions, with some enacting criminal penalties up to life in prison for physicians who perform abortions. Medical schools have curtailed abortion-related curricula. New research led in part by the University of Washington found that the new restrictions are not only affecting the current medical workforce — they may ...