Currents can affect marine animals’ locomotion, energy expenditure and ability to navigate; the force of currents may cause them to drift off-course of their intended trajectory. A study published July 17th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Richard Michael Gunner at the Max-Planck-Institut für Verhaltensbiologie, Germany, suggests that Magellanic penguins can sense current drift and maximize navigation efficiency by alternating between traveling in a direct route in calm conditions and swimming with the flow of strong currents ...

Using a novel dome-shaped structural design, researchers present a chemically diverse collection of aerogels that remain elastic and mechanically intact under extreme temperatures. The findings open the door for the fabrication of new aerogel materials suited to extreme environments required for applications in space, aerospace, energy, and high-temperature industries. Aerogels are an advanced class of materials characterized by their extremely low density and high porosity, which makes them ideal for a wide range of applications. However, despite improvements in design and fabrication, aerogels still face challenges in maintaining thermomechanical ...

Engineered gut bacteria designed to treat kidney stones successfully colonized the gut microbiome and reduced oxalate levels in animal models and early clinical trials in humans, researchers report. The findings offer a promising, yet still imperfect, step toward microbial therapies. Efforts to manipulate the gut microbiome using engineered bacteria for therapeutic purposes have shown promise in animals, but often fail in clinical settings due to being hindered by inconsistent colonization. To overcome this challenge, Weston Whitaker and colleagues focused on Phocaeicola vulgatus, a common gut bacterium, and engineered it to consume the seaweed-derived nutrient, porphyran. ...

Tropical cyclones in Madagascar lead to sharp spikes in malaria infections – particularly in children – due to interruptions in control efforts, according to a new study. However, the findings show that newly introduced long-lasting vaccines can help to mitigate these gaps. This points to pathways to climate-resilient control strategies in malaria-prone regions. Malaria, already a persistent global health challenge, poses new threats from climate change, not only through rising temperatures that shift mosquito dynamics but also via extreme weather events like tropical cyclones. Such disasters can severely ...

A global Android smartphone-based earthquake detection and early warning system can detect seismic activity in real time and deliver life-saving alerts with effectiveness rivaling that of traditional seismic networks, according to a new study. Despite our ability to predict where they are likely to occur, earthquakes continue to pose a serious threat to communities worldwide. Large-scale events can result in widespread loss of life and injury. These risks underscore the urgent need for protective measures including earthquake ...

For his work to help capture and view dynamic small-scale behaviors of biomolecules that have gone unseen – and which are critical to applications like drug development – Zhuoran Qiao has been awarded the inaugural Chen Institute and Science Prize for Al Accelerated Research. The prize recognizes innovative young researchers who apply techniques in artificial intelligence to help the research community solve important problems and accelerate their work. “I was thrilled to partner with the Chen Institute to launch this new prize initiative,” said Yury V. Suleymanov, senior editor at Science. “Our winner, ...

Q: How would you summarize your study for a lay audience? Cells contain helper molecules called transfer RNAs (tRNAs), which carry building blocks (amino acids) to make proteins. These tRNAs can be broken down into smaller pieces called tRNA-derived RNAs (tsRNAs or tDRs) that have new jobs - to help cells deal with stress and challenging situations. In this study, we focused on one specific tDR, called tRNA-Asp-GTC-3’tDR, which becomes more abundant during stress. tRNA-Asp-GTC-3’tDR is present at baseline in kidney cells and increases in response to disease-related stress signals in cell culture and several mouse models of kidney diseases. ...

Raghu R. Chivukula, MD, PhD, a physician-investigator in the Departments of Medicine & Surgery and the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, is the senior author of a paper published in Science, “Polyglycine-mediated aggregation of FAM98B disrupts tRNA processing in GGC repeat disorders.”   Q: How would you summarize your study for a lay audience? Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, are devastating and incurable diseases. Although many neurodegenerative ...

Quicker health diagnoses, smarter energy supplies, tackling climate change and improved public service delivery – just some huge potential benefits of the new compute roadmap, launched by DSIT and UKRI. The roadmap heralds a significant increase in publicly accessible compute capacity. Investments include up to £2 billion to deliver a holistic and user-centred compute ecosystem with  £1 billion to expand the AI Research Resource 20-fold by 2030. It also provides up to £750 million for UKRI to invest in a new national supercomputing service at Edinburgh. UKRI is further ...

South San Francisco, CA (July 17, 2025) - A new study sponsored by Mirvie, which is the first to evaluate U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines for preeclampsia risk and aspirin prescription in a single, nationally representative, prospective population, found while high-risk factors had sufficient value in estimating risk, there’s limited value for the moderate risk category - leading to nonspecific recommendations for aspirin use, a recognized prevention tool.    This cohort study of 5684 participants, culled from the multi-center Miracle of Life prospective study, found the guidelines ...

A new study by a Tulane University researcher casts doubt on a widely used shortcut in rectal cancer drug trials, raising concerns that some treatments may be fast-tracked for approval without evidence they help patients live longer. The study, published in JAMA Network Open in collaboration with researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, found that the absence of detectable tumors after treatment – a key metric in clinical cancer drug trials known as pathologic complete response or pCR – does not reliably predict an improvement in long-term survival for patients diagnosed with ...

Q: How would you summarize your study for a lay audience? Dr. McElrath: Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disease that complicates 7-10% of pregnancies. While recent advances in understanding the underlying causes of PE have been made, predicting its occurrence has historically been difficult because it is a complex condition that likely results from a variety of causes and can present in different ways. To address this challenge, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University pigment researchers are using a rare mineral discovered in Norway more than a century ago as a road map for creating new yellows, oranges and reds that are vibrant, durable, non-toxic and inexpensive. The new pigments also carry energy-saving potential: Their ability to reflect heat from the sun means that buildings and vehicles coated in them will require less air conditioning. The study led by Mas Subramanian, who made color history in 2009 with the discovery of a vivid blue pigment now known commercially as YInMn Blue, was published in Chemistry of Materials. Funded by the National Science Foundation, ...

Increased transparency from countries about how they use AI to manage migration is needed to boost trust and strengthen the rule of law, a new study says. Any overuse of AI in migration management may perpetuate biases and errors, promoting excessive reliance on technology and undermining trust in decision‑making processes, an expert has warned. Adequate cybersecurity measures are also needed to protect sensitive data about vulnerable migrants. However, using AI for migrant management could present opportunities such as freeing up caseworkers’ time to focus on other critical areas, ...

Centuries ago, alchemists worked furiously to convert the common metal lead to valuable gold. Today, chemists are repurposing discarded solar panels to create valuable organic compounds from carbon dioxide (CO2), a common greenhouse gas. Significantly reducing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere to mitigate the most devastating effects of climate change will require a large reduction in emissions as well as strategies designed to sequester emitted CO2 and other offending gasses. While simply sequestering ...

Several local factors — including the minimum temperature reached in autumn, the water level in lakes and ponds in winter, and the presence of mute swans (Cygnus olor) — could be key for predicting the potential of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) occurring in Europe. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, are derived from a machine learning model trained on the characteristics of 21st century European HPAI outbreaks and could help improve future monitoring programmes. HPAI outbreaks are a serious concern for both animal and public health. A wave of HPAI outbreaks across the Northern Hemisphere during 2022 were associated with an ...

Boston, MA – July 17, 2025 – Early-onset gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are rising at alarming rates worldwide and, in the U.S., are increasing faster than any other type of early-onset cancer, including breast cancer, according to two recent literature reviews from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "Early-Onset Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Review," published today in JAMA, provides a comprehensive analysis of the incidence, risk factors, and treatment approaches for early-onset GI cancers. Authors note the rising rate goes ...

Vaccine boosters help keep cancer patients from being hospitalized or admitted to intensive care units due to COVID-19, according to a new study led by Cedars-Sinai investigators. Their findings, published in JAMA Oncology, offer real-world evidence to support vaccine recommendations for these patients. “Cancer patients are a vulnerable population,” said Jane Figueiredo, PhD, director of Community Health and Population Research at Cedars-Sinai and senior author of the study. “Their immune systems can be weakened by their disease and the treatments they receive, ...

About The Study: In this retrospective cohort study, COVID-19 booster vaccinations were associated with significant protection against severe COVID-19, with a favorable number needed to vaccinate among persons with cancer. However, uptake of COVID-19 vaccine boosters was low, and interventions are therefore justified to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in this high-risk population. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jacek Skarbinski, MD, email jacek.skarbinski@kp.org. To access the ...

About The Study: The results of this study suggest an association between cannabis use disorder and benign salivary gland tumors. Future prospective research with large samples and data on cannabis dosing, method of use, and benign salivary gland neoplasm pathology is required to further assess and confirm this association. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Niels C. Kokot, MD, email niels.kokot@med.usc.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2025.1955) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In line with prior research, the results of this study indicate that the public has certain reservations about the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care. While the present effect sizes are relatively small, in particular regarding AI use for administrative purposes, they may be highly relevant as trust in health care practitioners is closely linked to subjective treatment outcomes.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Moritz Reis, MSc, email moritz.reis@uni-wuerzburg.de. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.21643) Editor’s ...

The way household dogs engage with TV may depend on their personalities, suggests research published in Scientific Reports. Excitable dogs were more likely to follow on-screen objects while fearful or anxious dogs were more likely to respond to stimuli such as cars or a doorbell, with the dogs surveyed watching TV for an average of 14 minutes and eight seconds.  There has been an increase in dog-specific television programming in recent years and the frequency with which dogs are exposed to different forms of media is increasing. However, to date there has been no systematic assessment of the way in which pet dogs engage with TV at the population-level. Lane Montgomery and colleagues ...

ITHACA, N.Y. — Why is it so hard to stick to New Year’s resolutions all year long? A new study from Cornell University has found an answer: The key to achieving goals is less about the outcome and more about enjoying the journey. The findings, published July 15 in Psychological Science, challenge the assumption that if a goal is important or valuable, we’ll naturally be more likely to stick with it. Instead, they show people are more likely to stay committed to resolutions that are fun, engaging, and personally rewarding. “Across ...

Recently, Nano Research announced awardees of the 2024 Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards in Nanomaterial Self-assembly. Twenty-four outstanding young investigators under the age of 45 were selected for their extraordinary contributions in nanomaterial self-assembly. They were selected through a competitive process by an award committee from Nano Research’s editorial board. Congratulations to all the 24 awardees in 2024!   The 24 awardees include Dr. Jiarong Cai from Nankai University; Dr. Jie Chao from Nanjing University of Post & Telecommunications; ...

Integrated carbon capture and utilization has become a promising technology to achieve carbon neutrality. However, conventional studies focused on the development of novel dual-functional materials while neglecting the impact of common impurities such as sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), thereby limiting the practical industrial applicability of ICCU technology. A team of scientists has investigated the impact of SO2 and NO2 on the ICCU-dry reforming of methane (ICCU-DRM) process using a representative Ni-Ca dual-functional material. Their work is published in the journal Industrial Chemistry & Materials on 04 July 2025. “We ...