How many fossils does it take to accurately train an image-based AI algorithm? According to a new study co-authored by Bruce MacFadden, UF Distinguished Professor Emeritus and retired curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, the answer is somewhere around 250. This number is much lower than the amount scientists previously thought was needed. This is a new spin on an old question that paleontologists have contended with for years. The amount of information that can be gleaned from a single fossil is limited to a few bare facts. If they’re ...

Bio-based polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are considered one of the most promising sustainable alternatives to fossil-derived plastics. Poly[(D-lactate)-co-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] (LAHB) is an environmentally biodegradable microbial copolyester, and its lactate (LA) content significantly influences its properties. A new study shows how reinforcing the gene expression of the LA-polymerizing enzyme in a recombinant strain of Cupriavidus necator improves the LA fraction. The LA-enriched LAHB maintained a high molecular weight and displayed a balance of strength and elongation ...

MIT researchers have discovered that two common genetic mutations that cause Rett syndrome each set off a molecular chain of events that compromises the structural integrity of developing brain blood vessels, making them leaky. The study traces the problem to overexpression of a particular microRNA (miRNA-126-3p), and shows that tamping down the miRNA’s levels helps to rescue the vascular defect. Rett syndrome is a severe developmental disorder affecting both the brain and body. It is caused by various mutations in the widely expressed MECP2 ...

Scientists have identified how specific genetic changes function in cells to influence disease risk and other human health traits. By probing regions of DNA previously linked to disease, the work has created high resolution maps of DNA variant activity, helping pinpoint the exact changes that shape blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar and other complex human traits. The study, published today in Nature and led by researchers from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), the Broad Institute, and Yale University, takes on a long-standing challenge in human genetics. Scientists have known for years that ...

What does it take to make AI that can pass as human? Try massive clusters of supercomputers. To build human-like intelligence, computer scientists think big. However, for neuroscientists who want to understand how real brains work, today’s AI only goes so far, as it replaces one deeply complicated system (the brain) with another (AI). How then do we figure out the inner workings of the biological brain? To answer this question, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Benjamin Cowley is thinking small. In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University Professor Matthew Smith and Princeton ...

About The Study: Strategic placement of a trauma center in an area with high rates of violent injury and limited trauma care access was associated with significantly reduced mortality within the service area. These findings should inform trauma system planning to address geographic disparities in trauma care access, particularly in communities with high rates of penetrating trauma.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Michael R. Poulson, MD, MPH, email michael.poulson@uchicagomedicine.org. To ...

About The Study: Given increasing rates of coronary artery disease (CAD) worldwide, the findings of this study of marked variation in radiation dose to patients from diagnostic testing identify a critical need for training, standardized protocols, and updated equipment to reduce radiation worldwide. This especially affects patients in low- and middle-income countries and patients undergoing coronary computed tomography angiograph. There are therefore important opportunities to improve the quality of CAD diagnosis for patients across the globe. Corresponding ...

About The Article: Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves and the exposure of pregnant individuals to extreme heat. This article summarizes current evidence about risks to maternal health from ambient heat (hot weather, high indoor temperatures, and occupational exposures) and how these risks can be managed. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sari Kovats, PhD, email Sari.kovats@lshtm.ac.uk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...

Brains of older adults with super healthy cognition grow more new neurons than those of their peers, according to a study from UIC, Northwestern University and the University of Washington. Researchers found that the brains of superagers — octogenarians with uncommonly nimble minds — were the most neuronally fertile, while those with Alzheimer’s disease had negligible new growth. “This is a big step forward in understanding how the human brain processes cognition, forms memories and ages. Determining why some brains age more healthily ...

[New York, NY [February 25, 2026]—A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Weill Cornell Medicine, and other institutions have uncovered a key biological explanation for why eczema so often starts in childhood. The study, in young mice, found that some types of immune cells in early-life skin are more reactive than those in adults, a difference that may help explain why children are more vulnerable to inflammation and allergic skin disease.     The findings suggest that early childhood represents a critical window for immune-driven ...

Small models, big insights into vision Understanding how the brain processes what we see is one of the central questions in neuroscience. Our visual system is incredibly powerful, able to recognize faces, objects, and scenes with ease, yet the details of how individual neurons respond to images remain complex and difficult to study. A new study published in Nature shows that it is possible to capture these responses using models that are both highly accurate and far simpler than previous approaches. The team began with a large computer model designed to predict how neurons in the visual cortex ...

The scientists report their findings in the February 26 issue of the journal Nature. The lead author of the paper is Yancheng Evelyn Li, a graduate student in the lab of Bil Clemons, the Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Biochemistry at Caltech, who is the corresponding author.   "Evolution is powerful, and in bacteria, resistance to antibiotics develops quickly. This means that we now deal with bacteria that are resistant to all the medicines that we have," Clemons says. "In the USA alone, tens of thousands of people die every year from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, ...

Coral reefs are teeming with life: they are home to over a third of all marine animal and plant species on Earth, despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor. However, this immense diversity is under threat from rising ocean temperatures. Since the 1950s, half of the world’s coral population has already disappeared.   Beyond the reef’s visible inhabitants, countless microorganisms are also under threat. These often live in symbiosis with corals, sponges and other reef dwellers, which benefits them ...

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in Economics, Finance and Management has gone in this eighteenth edition to Charles F. Manski for his pioneering contributions to the measurement of uncertainty in economic research and its application to public policy analysis. The professor at Northwestern University (Chicago, United States) is described by the committee as a “foundational figure” in the development of modern methods that have transformed how economists infer conclusions from data, report degrees of uncertainty in their models, ...

NEW YORK, February 24, 2026 – The Dana Foundation today announced Walter Koroshetz, M.D., FAAN, will join the organization as a senior advisor, effective March 1, in support of its mission to advance neuroscience that benefits society and reflects the aspirations of all people. Koroshetz, who oversaw the federal government’s largest neuroscience research portfolio as director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), will work with the Foundation’s leadership to guide science funding collaborations and support for early-career scholars and ...

“CAR T-cell therapy has emerged as a particularly promising cancer-specific treatment strategy.” BUFFALO, NY – February 25, 2026 – A new editorial perspective was published in Volume 17 of Oncotarget on February 20, 2026, titled “CAR-T therapy: Trailblazing CAR(ing) in cancer treatment.” Led by Uzma Saqib — with corresponding author Krishnan Hajela from the School of Life Sciences, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya — the perspective reviews recent clinical and translational advances in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy and highlights both its promise ...

Patients are now expected to navigate much of their care online — from seeing their doctor on a screen to booking appointments, refilling prescriptions, and checking test results through health care portals.   Yet, according to a new study by UC San Francisco, most health systems are skipping a crucial step: asking whether their patients have the access and skills to use these digital tools.   The researchers surveyed nearly 150 clinicians and informatics leaders from health care systems across the country during the first half of 2024. Just 44% said they asked their patients if they could use digital devices. Among the ...

Background and objectives Endometrial polyp (EMP) is one of the most common diagnoses in the evaluation of women with abnormal uterine bleeding. Understanding the malignancy risk associated with EMPs and related risk factors is essential for guiding both pathology practice and clinical management. This study aimed to explore risk factors for malignancy in EMPs. Methods The pathology database was searched for women diagnosed with EMP between 2021 and 2022. Patient age, polyp size, background endometrium, recurrence, and (if applicable) cancer types were recorded. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for p53 and p16 was performed on selected cases. Risk factors for malignancy were analyzed using Chi-square ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. and MIAMI — Gibson Oncology, a clinical-stage private pharmaceutical company headquartered in Miami, announced it has entered Phase 2 clinical trials with LMP744 for the treatment of first-time recurrent glioblastoma patients. The company is focused on advancing its novel small molecules with dual-action inhibition of topoisomerase 1 and reduction of overexpression of the cMYC oncogene.  “The primary endpoint of the study is to evaluate tumor regression in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Secondary endpoints will evaluate parameters such as progression-free survival, biological changes in glioblastoma tissues obtained pre- and post-treatment, ...

Photocatalysts facilitate chemical reactions by absorbing light. Metal-based photocatalysts are widely used in organic synthesis due to their durability and the ability to tune their function by modifying the ligands attached to the central metal atom. Most metals used in photocatalysts, such as ruthenium and iridium, are rare and expensive. Researchers at Nagoya University, Japan, previously developed an iron-based alternative, but it required large amounts of costly chiral ligands, which act as spatial ...

When researchers studied Norwegians who thought tick bites caused their chronic health problems, they found no objective evidence linking the symptoms to ticks. The same study finds that health problems reported by participants were associated with little physical activity and low labour force participation. Many Norwegians pull ticks from their bodies every single summer. Roughly 2 per cent of those who are bitten are infected by a bacterium that leads to Lyme disease. The disease can start with a rash that eventually spreads in the skin with a ring-shaped pattern. In some people, the disease can develop into facial paralysis, meningitis or other ...

An advanced detection system to identify and trace blockchain funds connected with criminal activity has been presented today at the Annual CyberASAP Demo Day in London.  The system, called SynapTrack, enables faster and more accurate detection of fraudulent activity using blockchains and cryptocurrencies, where traditional anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems struggle to keep pace.  Although current fraud detection methods pick up unusual activity, they deliver an extremely high rate (40%) of false positive reports. These require manual checking by compliance professionals, resulting in backlogs in identifying and acting ...

Background and objectives Infectious diarrhea is a gastrointestinal illness that results in around 1.7 billion cases and 525,000 deaths annually, particularly among children under five, according to the World Health Organization. While some Cameroonian medicinal plants show promise for treating diarrhea, many plants are used without established scientific evidence of their efficacy. These plants include Tithonia diversifolia (T. diversifolia) and Solanum torvum (S. torvum), which are traditionally used to treat diarrheal symptoms. This study sought to investigate the anti-Shigella activity of leaf ...

BETHESDA, MD – February 25, 2026 | The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (ACMGF), in partnership with Genetics in Medicine Open (GIM Open), is pleased to announce Qiliang (Andy) Ding, PhD, as the inaugural recipient of the 2026 Rising Scholar Trainee Award. This new annual award recognizes the most outstanding research publication by a trainee published in Genetics in Medicine Open during the preceding calendar year. The Rising Scholar Trainee Award was established to support early-career investigators and to recognize high-quality scholarly contributions in medical genetics and genomics. Eligible individuals include ...

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS, President Lee Ho Seong) has developed a next-generation gas sensor technology that uses low-cost and safe LED light to precisely distinguish multiple hazardous gases. Compared with conventional sensors that operate at high temperatures, the new technology consumes significantly less power, offering greater cost efficiency while delivering broad applicability. It is expected to enhance gas safety across industrial settings as well as everyday environments. Gas sensors currently used in industrial ...