At a time marked by debate about identity, migration and national cohesion, a new study brings a surprising message: Most Americans want a more ethnically and religiously diverse society than the one they live in today. The study, published in the journal Ethos, is based on a representative questionnaire survey of 986 American citizens. Participants were asked to assess both the actual and ideal composition of ethnic and religious groups in the United States. ‘We wanted to investigate whether the idea of a multicultural United States still has popular ...

Utica, NY - A groundbreaking new study led by researchers at the Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) has identified a promising molecular target to protect the heart against damage caused by high-fat diet and obesity. The study, published this week in the leading journal Science Signaling, highlights the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B, a nodal enzyme involved in insulin signaling, as a key driver in maladaptive cardiac metabolism and dysfunction under dietary stress. In obesity and high-fat diet conditions, the heart undergoes a metabolic switch, moving from ...

Researchers led by Gen Kurosawa at the RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) in Japan have used theoretical physics to discover how our biological clock maintains a consistent 24-hour cycle—even as temperatures change. They found that this stability is achieved through a subtle shift in the “shape” of gene activity rhythms at higher temperatures, a process known as waveform distortion. This process not only helps keep time steady but also influences how well our internal clock synchronizes with the day-night cycle. The study was published in PLOS Computational Biology on July 22.   Have ...

A group of University of Ottawa researchers have already shown how scientists can harness gene therapies to deliver nano-sized treatments for cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases. Unfortunately, the delivery agents in the process do not possess any therapeutic potential and ultimately degrade after acting as the messenger. So, the researchers asked: can we not develop nanoparticle platforms to be more than just mules?  “Since millions of particles are injected to deliver ...

Public health promotion campaigns can be effective, but they do not tend to be efficient. Most are time-consuming, expensive, and reliant on the intuition of creative workers who design messages without a clear sense of what will spark behavioral change. A new study conducted by Dolores Albarracín and Man-pui Sally Chan of the University of Pennsylvania, government and community agencies, and researchers at the University of Illinois and Emory University suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) can facilitate theory- and evidence-based message selection. The research group, led by Albarracín, a social psychologist who is the Amy Gutmann ...

Peking University, July 16, 2025: A research team led by Prof. Yang Yuchao from the School of Electronic and Computer Engineering at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School has achieved a global breakthrough by developing the first sort-in-memory hardware system tailored for complex, nonlinear sorting tasks. Published in Nature Electronics, the study titled “A fast and reconfigurable sort-in-memory system based on memristors” proposes a comparator-free architecture, overcoming one of the ...

Living near green spaces before and during pregnancy as well as in early childhood is associated with a reduced risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, according to Rutgers Health researchers. Published in Environment International, the study examined how exposure to green spaces during critical periods of early childhood development influences the risk of neurodevelopmental conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental delays. The researchers said the impact of exposure to these ...

First to track teen dating app use through real-time smartphone data versus self-reports Over six months, 23.5% of teens used dating apps, higher than previous estimates Apps may provide valuable social connections, particularly for sexual and gender minorities CHICAGO --- Nearly one in four teenagers are using dating apps — and it may not be hurting their mental health, suggests a new Northwestern Medicine study that monitored adolescents over six months. The findings challenge the popular belief that dating apps are harmful for teenagers. Instead, the study suggests, these apps may ...

Artificial intelligence chatbots are everywhere these days, from smartphone apps and customer service portals to online search engines. But what happens when these handy tools overestimate their own abilities?  Researchers asked both human participants and four large language models (LLMs) how confident they felt in their ability to answer trivia questions, predict the outcomes of NFL games or Academy Award ceremonies, or play a Pictionary-like image identification game. Both the people and the LLMs tended to be overconfident about how they would hypothetically perform. ...

Peking University, July 07, 2025: A research team led by Prof. Pan Feng from the School of Advanced Materials, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School has uncovered key mechanisms that govern how protons are stored and transported in aqueous batteries. The study provides critical insights that could lead to safer, faster-charging, and higher-capacity alternatives to today’s lithium-ion batteries. Published in Matter, a Cell Press journal, the study titled “Proton storage and transfer in aqueous batteries” reveals how hydrogen-bond network engineering enables efficient proton storage and transport. Background Aqueous batteries, ...

Understanding how ancient species arranged themselves in space is a key puzzle in paleoecology, but direct evidence of how prehistoric organisms used their body structures to regulate spacing has long eluded scientists. Now, researchers in China have uncovered the first direct evidence: Approximately 436-million-year-old brachiopods from the early Silurian period used tiny, bristle-like structures called setae to maintain orderly, "checkerboard" spacing—ensuring they had enough room to thrive on the ancient seafloor. The findings, published in Proceedings ...

Considerable biomass loss 320 million trees are killed by lightning each year Lightning has a greater impact on forests than previously thought. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed new model calculations that, for the first time, estimate the global influence of lightning on forest ecosystems. According to their findings, an estimated 320 million trees die each year due to lightning strikes. Tree losses caused by direct lightning-ignited wildfires are not included ...

Precancerous cells must adapt to and overcome cellular stress and inflammation in order to progress and form malignant tumors. Now, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified a link between stress and inflammation and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most aggressive and lethal types of cancer. The findings could serve as an early warning system for the disease, leading to the detection of PDAC before it becomes life-threatening. Previous studies have shown ...

A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found that the Covid-19 pandemic may have accelerated people’s brain health, even if they were never infected with the virus. What does it mean to grow older, not just in years, but in terms of brain health? Can stress, isolation, and global disruption leave their mark on people’s minds? The findings of this new study, which are published in Nature Communications, showed that people who lived through the Covid-19 pandemic showed signs of faster brain ageing over time than ...

New research from the University of Pittsburgh reveals how the immune system defends against intestinal parasitic worms, or helminths, one of the most common infections worldwide in communities with limited access to clean water and sanitation. The findings, published today in the journal Immunity, suggest that currently available non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), similar to ibuprofen, could act on the newly discovered pathway to boost immunity to parasitic infections. “While parasitic worms are less of an issue in most of the U.S. and other wealthy nations, these infections affect almost a quarter ...

A new analysis of an exquisitely preserved fossil that lived half a billion years ago suggests that arachnids – spiders and their close kin – evolved in the ocean, challenging the widely held belief that their diversification happened only after their common ancestor had conquered the land.  Spiders and scorpions have existed for some 400 million years, with little change. Along with closely related arthropods grouped together as arachnids, they have dominated the Earth as the most successful ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, preterm individuals had higher early life medical risk and faced increased mental health disorders, cardiometabolic issues, and body composition differences compared with full-term peers at age 35. Despite strong evidence linking preterm birth to long-term health consequences, many primary care clinicians in the U.S. remain unaware of these risks, often due to infrequent birth history inquiries in adult health care settings. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Amy L. D’Agata, PhD, RN, email amydagata@uri.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.22599) Editor’s ...

Like humans, animals can become stressed when trying to lead a group of peers in a particular direction, a new study from The Australian National University (ANU) has shown.   According to study co-author Associate Professor Damien Farine, many animal groups make decisions in a very democratic way, taking a “majority rules” approach.   While effective, it can also take a toll.   “We already have evidence of how this decision-making can work – it’s like a voting process. So, individuals might start to move away from the group in the direction they want to go to find food and if they get enough ...

A pioneering international survey of people living with eating disorders has found that cannabis and psychedelics, such as ‘magic mushrooms’ or LSD, were best rated as alleviating symptoms by respondents who self-medicated with the non-prescribed drugs. The worst-rated drugs were alcohol, tobacco, nicotine and cocaine. Prescribed drugs, such as antidepressants, were generally not well rated for treating eating-disorder symptoms but were positively rated for effects on general mental health. The research, led by PhD student Sarah-Catherine ...

NEW ORLEANS, July 22, 2025 — Answer ALS is proud to announce the launch of a groundbreaking collaborative initiative aimed at accelerating AI-powered drug discovery for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. This effort, known as the Louisiana AI Drug Development Infrastructure for ALS (LADDIA), brings together leading institutions and innovators, including GATC Health, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and Tulane University —  a tech-bio innovator using validated AI models to accelerate drug discovery from large-scale multiomics data —  to harness the power of artificial ...

How much can six days of eating just oats, milk, and water change your gut microbiome?  According to a recent exploratory study published in eGastroenterology, the answer is more complex than expected. Researchers from KU Leuven and collaborating institutions conducted a tightly controlled dietary intervention, known as the "Oatmeal Study", to examine whether restricting food variety could induce convergence in the gut microbiota across individuals. Surprisingly, while participants' diets became nearly identical, their microbiomes did not follow suit. It ...

Pleasant tactile stimulation drives social bonding in many animal species, especially mammals. Tactile stimulation forms the basis of the infant-caregiver relationship and often leads to affinity-like behavior, indicating the formation of social bonds. Juvenile-adolescent rats often engage in rough-and-tumble play, during which they emit characteristic ultrasonic vocalizations. These vocalizations, typically in the 50 kHz frequency range, are thought to be associated with pleasurable emotional states. Juvenile adolescent rats also emit 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in response to tickling with human hands, which mimics natural rough-and-tumble play. Moreover, these rats develop a ...

Researchers have demonstrated a new eco-friendly plastic that decomposes in deep ocean conditions. In a deep-sea experiment, the microbially synthesized poly(d-lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) (LAHB) biodegraded, while conventional plastics such as a representative bio-based polylactide (PLA) persisted. Submerged 855 meters underwater, LAHB films lost over 80% of their mass after 13 months as microbial biofilms actively broke down the material. This real-world test establishes LAHB as a safer biodegradable plastic, supporting global efforts to reduce marine plastic waste. ...

Nitrogen fertilizers used in agriculture contribute significantly to global warming. A new breeding concept, specifically for wheat, could help reduce nitrogen fertilization. This holobiont principle places the complex interactions between plants and soil microbiomes at the center of plant breeding. In combination with machine learning, this could lead to the use of new wheat varieties, as well as other crops, that are more resilient to climate change and contribute to soil health. Two recent studies led by Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna have been published in the journals Plant Biotechnology and Trends in Plant Science. To increase the supply ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Experts representing multiple societies and institutions across 14 countries have published guidance for computed tomography (CT) imaging in patients with residual lung abnormalities after COVID-19 illness. The consensus statement appears today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The statement’s authors seek to standardize the indications for when chest CT is appropriate for patients with post–COVID-19 condition, the methods for acquiring images and the terminology used for reporting residual ...