Aspergillus is a fungus that is commonly found in the environment, both indoors and outdoors. This fungus species can cause aspergillosis—a respiratory infection affecting the lungs. A. fumigatus, A. nidulans, and A. niger are some of the common species within the Aspergillus genus that cause aspergillosis. In high-risk populations, such as immunocompromised individuals, aspergillosis can be life-threatening and lead to poor patient outcomes. Previous research studies have identified A. latus as an allodiploid hybrid species containing gene sequences from two distinct species: A. spinulosporus and an unknown species related to A. quadrilineatus. Owing to its allodiploid hybrid ...

Patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AF) at the time of mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (M-TEER) for severe mitral regurgitation are more than twice as likely to die or be rehospitalized for heart failure, compared to patients without AF. These are the findings from a Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital study that links the presence of AF at the time of the procedure to worse outcomes following the procedure. The results, published July 17 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, suggest that AF may have to be treated more aggressively before patients undergo this type of transcatheter procedure in order ...

A team of scientists has developed a powerful new way to detect subtle magnetic signals in common metals like copper, gold, and aluminium—using nothing more than light and a clever technique. Their research, recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, could pave the way for advances in everything from smartphones to quantum computing. The Longstanding Puzzle: Why Can’t We See the Optical Hall Effect? For over a century, scientists have known that electric currents bend in a magnetic ...

Scientists have used an AI model to reassess the results of a completed clinical trial for an Alzheimer’s disease drug. They found the drug slowed cognitive decline by 46% in a group of patients with early stage, slow-progressing mild cognitive impairment – a condition that can progress to Alzheimer’s. Using AI allowed the team to split trial participants into two groups: either slowly or rapidly progressing towards Alzheimer’s disease. They could then look at the effects of the drug on each group. More precise selection ...

A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that Neanderthals living in two nearby caves in northern Israel—butchered their food in noticeably different ways. Despite using the same tools and hunting the same prey, groups in Amud and Kebara caves left behind distinct patterns of cut-marks on animal bones, suggesting that food preparation techniques may have been culturally specific and passed down through generations. These differences cannot be explained by tool type, skill, or available resources, and may reflect practices such as drying or aging meat before butchering. The findings provide rare insight into the ...

Did Neanderthals have family recipes? A new study suggests that two groups of Neanderthals living in the caves of Amud and Kebara in northern Israel butchered their food in strikingly different ways, despite living close by and using similar tools and resources. Scientists think they might have been passing down different food preparation practices.  “The subtle differences in cut-mark patterns between Amud and Kebara may reflect local traditions of animal carcass processing,” said Anaëlle Jallon, ...

Magnets and shot glasses serve as fun holiday souvenirs, but certain foods synonymous with a country’s identity can make for extra meaningful gifts for friends and loved ones; think French cheese, Dutch Stroopwafels and Canadian maple syrup.   According to new research, communities that lived in western Iran about 11,000 years ago during the Early Neolithic period took a similar approach when it came to gift-giving.  They invested significant effort to bring wild boars hunted in dispersed parts of ...

Niigata, Japan – A group led by the Department of Neurosurgery at the Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, has successfully treated a patient with a brainstem glioma harboring a rare IDH2 mutation. The patient initially presented with a gradual loss of hearing in the left ear, and MRI showed a lesion at the left side of the brainstem, near the root exit zone of the left acoustic nerve. Initially, a brainstem glioma with H3K27M mutation was suspected. However, the gradual clinical course and unusual location of the brainstem glioma were considered atypical. The patient underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopy in which 2-hydroglutarate, a marker for IDH ...

Recently, Professor Dong Eon Kim from POSTECH's Department of Physics and Max Planck Korea-POSTECH Initiative and his research team have succeeded in unraveling for the first time the mystery of the 'electron tunneling' process, a core concept in quantum mechanics, and confirmed it through experiments. This study was published in the international journal Physical Review Letters and is attracting attention as a key to unlocking the long-standing mystery of 'electron tunneling,' which has remained unsolved for over 100 years.   While the idea of teleporting ...

Kyoto, Japan -- Many people tend to trust dogs' instincts regarding humans. If dogs gravitate towards you, dog lovers will likely see you as safe and trustworthy, but if dogs are apprehensive around you, some may begin to question your character. Yet how and even if dogs socially evaluate people remains a mystery. Studies have demonstrated that cognitively complex and social animal species -- such as chimpanzees -- can form reputations of humans either through direct interaction or by observing third-party interactions. The historically ...

At the forefront of discovery, where cutting-edge scientific questions are tackled, we often don’t have much data. Conversely, successful machine learning (ML) tends to rely on large, high quality data sets for training. So how can researchers harness AI effectively to support their investigations? Published in Physical Review Research, scientists describe an approach for working with ML to tackle complex questions in condensed matter physics. Their method tackles hard problems which were previously unsolvable by physicist simulations or by ML algorithms alone. The researchers ...

SAN ANTONIO, July 16, 2025 – The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has selected Be Well Texas, an initiative of the Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), to lead a major expansion of opioid use disorder and recovery support services across Texas. Be Well Texas has been awarded funding to administer two key components of the state’s opioid response under a Needs Capacity Assessment initiative: medications for opioid use disorder treatment services and recovery support services. This initiative is part of the broader Texas Targeted Opioid Response ...

  LAWRENCE – As an avid fly fisherman, Keith Van de Riet spends a lot of time trying to think like a fish does. He does likewise in his day job as professor at the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design, having now conducted nearly a dozen experiments seeking to ascertain how fish react to waterfront edges using a variety of underwater seawall panels made to resemble plant roots. Van de Riet is a co-author of a new paper titled “Multi-Species Fish Habitat Preferences for Various Modified Concrete Armouring ...

At a glance:   First-ever clinical trial exclusively conducted among people with hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis known as pre-extensively drug-resistant TB shows many patients benefit from shorter, simpler regimens.   Not all patients benefited from the shorter, gentler course of treatment, prompting researchers to urge caution and carefully evaluate disease severity prior to selecting treatment.   In those with more severe tuberculosis, the new treatment did not always resolve the disease, a finding that highlights the importance of tailored treatment strategies.   Some ...

Critically Endangered female angelsharks (Squatina squatina) are changing normal mating routines in warming oceans as they prioritise staying cool over visiting breeding grounds when things get too hot. These changes are creating a potential mismatch in the mating behaviours between the sexes of angelshark that could have severe consequences for the future of the species, scientists say. A team of marine scientists, co-led by researchers at Lancaster University and the Angel Shark Project: Canary Islands ...

With the UK's £19 billion space economy surging, government and industry urgently need faster research, innovation and skilled talent – yet more than half of space organisations report critical shortages, a challenge now being tackled by the newly launched Surrey Space Institute at the University of Surrey. The Institute will convert the University's 45-year small satellite leadership into mission-ready solutions for climate, resilience and secure global connectivity.  The Institute will build on the legacy of the Surrey Space Centre, where Professor Sir Martin Sweeting pioneered ...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — After several years of research, the results are in on the difference in turfgrass soil surfactants that are marketed as “penetrants” and “retainers.” Mike Richardson, professor of horticulture with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, says putting greens built to United States Golf Association standards with 12-inch-deep sand root zones require meticulous water management to promote both plant health and playability. Among the most important tools for managing water in putting greens are soil surfactants, ...

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have developed a groundbreaking new method for the recovery of hearts from deceased organ donors after circulatory death (DCD). The method (rapid recovery with extended ultra-oxygenated preservation [REUP]), which involves flushing the donor heart with a cold oxygenated preservation solution after death, avoids the disadvantages of two existing preservation methods, both of which reanimate the heart, one that has ethical questions and another that is expensive. The former method known as normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) involves reanimating the heart in the deceased donor’s body, which some have ethical concerns about and is ...

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications is lending its expertise and institutional supercomputing knowledge to assist Georgia Tech in building and operating a new artificial intelligence-centered supercomputer. Nexus, a next-generation, national-scale computational resource, will integrate cutting-edge heterogeneous hardware, AI-accelerated computing and advanced software services to unify scientific and engineering research workflows for researchers throughout the country. “Hosting Nexus signals that Georgia Tech is ready ...

The Baltic ringed seal population has increased fivefold since the 1970s when long-term overhunting and environmental toxins endangered the future of the species. A new statistical model now revises the population estimate. Since its lowest point in the 1970s, the Baltic ringed seal population has grown from around 5,000 to 25,000 individuals. Behind this increase are hunting bans and the phasing out of environmentally hazardous substances such as PCB and DDT. The decline in environmental toxins has allowed the reproductive ...

The UK’s pioneering licensed IVF technique to reduce the risk of mitochondrial diseases carried out in Newcastle has seen eight babies born, published research shows. All eight babies show no signs of having mitochondrial DNA disease. The babies, four girls and four boys, including one set of identical twins, were born to seven women at high risk of transmitting serious disease caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA. The findings, reported today by the Newcastle team who pioneered mitochondrial donation using fertilised human eggs, indicate that the new treatment, known as pronuclear transfer, is effective in reducing the risk of otherwise incurable mitochondrial DNA ...

A new treatment that uses music therapy on dementia wards could improve care and support for some of the NHS’s most vulnerable patients.   Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust have piloted a music therapy approach called MELODIC, across two NHS dementia wards.   More alternatives to psychotropic medication are needed to support dementia patients who experience severe distress.   The pilot study involved a music therapist being embedded on hospital wards, the ...

CHICAGO—July 16, 2025—The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is pleased to announce the grantees of the 2025 Kessel Fellowships for Ornithological Research and Latin American/Caribbean Conservation Research Grants for early-career researchers.  The AOS Kessel Fellowship funding supports the full range of ornithological research by early-career scientists currently published in peer-reviewed journals, such as avian biology, ecology, behavior, conservation, genetics, and interdisciplinary work. One arctic research Kessel Fellowship of $30,000 was awarded to Dr. Teresa Pegan; and five individual $15,000 fellowships were awarded to Drs. Vitek ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In utero exposure to two liquid ingredients in e-cigarettes – minus the nicotine that drives addiction – can alter skull shape during fetal development, a new study in mice has found.   In a series of experiments, pregnant mice were exposed to a combination of two liquids used to create vaping’s throat hit and smoke plume. Compared to two other experimental conditions, the offspring of mothers exposed to a specific ratio of these compounds weighed less and were born with narrowed facial features and shortened skulls. The ...

Two world-famous Arizona attractions – the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater Natural Landmark – may share a hidden connection, according to new research from the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico.  Published in the journal Geology, an international research team presents the results of an intriguing "detective story" that has played out over several decades and across scientific disciplines: the meteorite impact just west of Winslow, Arizona, that created Meteor Crater about 56,000 years ago ...