Squids first appeared about 100 million years ago and quickly rose to become dominant predators in the ancient oceans, according to a new study published in the journal Science. A team of researchers from Hokkaido University developed an advanced fossil discovery technique that completely digitizes rocks with all embedded fossils in complete 3D form. It allowed them to identify one thousand fossilized cephalopod beaks hidden inside Late Cretaceous rocks from Japan. Among these small and fragile beaks were 263 squid specimens including about 40 different species that had never been seen before. Squids are rarely preserved as fossils because they don’t have hard shells. ...

Public attitudes around solar geoengineering become less politically partisan with more familiarity, suggesting that increasing public awareness of the technology could foster bipartisan engagement. ### Article URL: https://plos.io/4elOWIw Article Title: Political ideology and views toward solar geoengineering in the United States Author Countries: United Kingdom, United States Funding: RMA and BM's work is supported by Caltech’s Resnick Sustainability Institute. DE's work on this ...

Four discrete cross-sectional surveys of US adults from 2020-2024 reveal US adults reporting high confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped from 82 percent in February 2020 to a low of 56 percent in June 2022, according to a study published June 26, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health by Amyn A. Malik and colleagues from UT Southwestern Medical Center, United States. Surveys have shown the US public’s trust in public health entities has decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in 2020. This study is ...

Extreme droughts in LMICs are associated with increased sexual violence against girls and young women, emphasizing how climate change can indirectly exacerbate social vulnerabilities. ### Article URL: https://plos.io/4liX0Me   Article Title: Extreme drought and sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women: A multi-country population-based study  Author Countries: Australia, France, Indonesia, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, United States Funding: Funding from the Healthy Environments and ...

Scientists for the first time have detected a slow slip earthquake in motion during the act of releasing tectonic pressure on a major fault zone at the bottom of the ocean. The slow earthquake was recorded spreading along the tsunami-generating portion of the fault off the coast of Japan, behaving like a tectonic shock absorber. Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin described the event as the slow unzipping of the fault line between two of the Earth’s tectonic plates. Their results were published in Science. “It's like a ripple moving across the plate interface,” said Josh Edgington, who conducted the work as a doctoral student ...

The transition to agriculture and a sedentary lifestyle is one of the great turning points in human history. Yet how this Neolithic way of life spread from the Fertile Crescent across Anatolia and into the Aegean has been hotly debated. A Turkish-Swiss team offers important new insights, by combining archaeology and genetics in an innovative way. How open are people to experimenting with new ways of life? Did farming spread from its origins in Anatolia to neighboring regions by farmers migrating? Or ...

Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Queen Mary University of London have discovered that a new generation of ash trees, growing naturally in woodland, exhibits greater resistance to the disease compared to older trees. They find that natural selection is acting upon thousands of locations within the ash tree DNA, driving the evolution of resistance. The study, published in Science, offers renewed hope for the future of ash trees in the British landscape and provides compelling evidence for a long-standing prediction of Darwinian theory. Ash dieback, caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, arrived in Britain in 2012, prompting an emergency COBRA meeting. The ...

Irvine, Calif., June 26, 2025 — After a nationwide search, the University of California, Irvine has tapped one of its own to lead its research enterprise, naming internationally recognized neuroscientist Aileen Anderson as vice chancellor for research. In her new role, she will helm the Office of Research, which provides central campus administrative support, oversight and compliance assurance for UC Irvine’s research programs.   Anderson heads UC Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. Its membership includes 65 faculty from the schools of medicine, biological sciences, engineering, ...

MD Anderson Research Highlights for June 26, 2025 Promising treatment results for blood cancers, colorectal cancer and brain metastases Novel insights into early pancreatic cancer cell progression A new therapeutic target for patients with high blood pressure HOUSTON, JUNE 26, 2025 ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s ...

WASHINGTON—The new issue of Optica Quantum is available. A Gold Open Access journal from Optica Publishing Group, Optica Quantum provides a home for high-impact research in quantum information science and technology enabled by optics and photonics. Summaries of the 10 research articles in the latest issue are provided below. Takuma Nakamura, Dahyeon Lee, Jason Horng, Florent Lecocq, John Teufel, and Franklyn Quinlan, “Cryogenic photonic link using an extended-InGaAs photodiode and short pulse illumination towards high-fidelity drive of superconducting qubits,” Optica Quantum 3, 221-227 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1364/OpticaQ.546795  Optical interconnects ...

A new study published in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience has shed light on the brain structure differences associated with psychopathy — a condition known to be one of the strongest predictors of persistent violent behaviour. Using advanced neuroimaging and the Julich-Brain Atlas, researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University ,Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Georg August University, (Germany) and University of Pennsylvania (USA) have identified specific brain networks that appear to be structurally altered in individuals exhibiting psychopathic traits. The Atlas can ...

In a recent publication released by PubMed, American scientist Dr. Renee Dufault at the Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute, provides a peer-reviewed protocol for determining the role ultra-processed foods play in prenatal heavy metal exposures and changes in the expression of the zinc dependent MT-1 (metallothionein) gene that impact child neurodevelopment. Previous biomarker studies show dietary zinc deficits impact metallothionein protein levels and are associated with the bioaccumulation of lead and/or mercury in children with symptoms associated with autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity ...

Annual Reviews today announced that it has signed an agreement with Wiley that enables Knowledge Unlatched (KU) – most recently owned and operated by Wiley – to move to a new home within the Annual Reviews organization. The move supports one of the most recognized initiatives in open access publishing and marks KU’s return to nonprofit stewardship. Founded in 2012 by publishing innovator Frances Pinter, KU pioneered a crowdfunding model that enables libraries worldwide to support the open access ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Key Takeaways: Two areas of the brain may work in combination to tell the brain when it’s “feeling” tired. People with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often experience cognitive fatigue. Results of the study may provide a way for physicians to better evaluate and treat people who experience such fatigue. In experiments with healthy volunteers undergoing functional MRI imaging, scientists have found increased activity in two areas of the brain that work together to react to, and possibly regulate, the brain when it’s “feeling” ...

India’s population is genetically one of the most diverse in the world, yet it remains underrepresented in global datasets. In a study publishing in the Cell Press journal Cell, researchers analyzed genomic data from more than 2,700 people from across India, capturing genetic variation from most geographic regions, linguistic groups, and communities. They found that most modern-day Indian people’s ancestry can be traced back to Neolithic Iranian farmers, Eurasian Steppe pastoralists, and South Asian hunter-gatherers.  “This ...

Sarcopenia, which is a progressive and extensive decline in muscle mass and strength, is common with aging and estimated to affect up to 50% of people aged 80 and older. It can lead to disability and injuries from falls and is associated with a lower quality of life and an increased mortality. Apart from lifestyle changes, there is no current clinical treatment for sarcopenia. Space flight with the associated absence of gravity and limited strain on muscles causes muscle weakness, a prominent feature of sarcopenia, within a short period of time, providing a time lapse view on age-related atrophy-associated ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of opioid treatment programs (OTPs), although the availability of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) beyond methadone increased over time, most OTPs still did not offer all 3 forms of MOUD as of 2023. Specific organizational characteristics, such as being government operated and accepting Medicare, were associated with more comprehensive MOUD offerings. Future research should evaluate why OTPs vary in their MOUD offerings.  Corresponding Author: To ...

About The Study: In this cohort study of opioid-related index health care events, race and ethnicity–based and insurance-based disparities in access to medications for opioid use disorder persisted despite efforts to expand treatment availability. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions, including culturally tailored care, expanded access points, and policy reforms to address structural barriers and reduce inequities contributing to the overdose crisis.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Utsha G. Khatri, MD, MSHP, email utsha.khatri@mountsinai.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

With around 5,000 different ethno-linguistic and religious groups, India is one of the most culturally and genetically diverse countries in the world. Yet, it remains underrepresented in genomic surveys, even when compared to other non-European groups, such as East Asians and Africans. A new analysis of Indian genomes — the largest and most complete to date — helps untangle these groups' complex evolutionary history, uncovering a 50,000-year history of genetic mixing and population bottlenecks that shaped genetic variation, ...

UVA Health has received two anonymous $25 million estate gifts to support the University of Virginia’s Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. The $50 million of additional support for the institute enabled UVA Health to top its $1 billion fundraising goal in UVA’s Honor the Future campaign, which concludes this month.  “I’m deeply grateful for the generosity and vision of these donors, whose contributions will help us to realize the full potential of the Manning Institute, and for everyone who has helped UVA Health reach this milestone,” said UVA President Jim Ryan. “These extraordinary gifts will support the Manning Institute’s ...

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, report in Small, a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering nanotechnology, published by Wiley-WCH, Germany, how short peptides self-assemble linearly on atomically-thick solid surfaces, such as graphite and MoS2. The research addresses a longstanding challenge in materials science: understanding the complex, sequence-specific interactions between peptides and solid substrates, and the critical role of local hydration ...

A research team led by Associate Professor Ayako Okado-Matsumoto from the Department of Biology at Toho University has made a significant finding that sheds new light on Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). This study was conducted in collaboration with Professor Ryuji Sakakibara from the Department of Neurology at Sakura Medical Center, and Professors Hitoshi Nukada and Soroku Yagihashi from the Department of Exploratory Medicine on Nature, Life and Man at Toho University. The team discovered a notable change in a specific protein found in the blood of patients with DLB. Their research revealed that individuals with DLB ...

WASHINGTON — In a new study, researchers demonstrated long-term, non-invasive monitoring of blood sodium levels using a system that combines optoacoustic detection with terahertz spectroscopy. Accurate measurement of blood sodium is essential for diagnosing and managing conditions such as dehydration, kidney disease and certain neurological and endocrine disorders. Terahertz radiation, which falls between microwaves and the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, is ideal for biological applications because it is low-energy and non-harmful to tissues, ...

The Mamyshev oscillator (MO) is a type of fiber laser capable of producing high-energy laser pulses at a tunable repetition rate. It is a mode-locked laser which uses light travelling within a closed-loop cavity to produce laser emission. Harmonic mode-locking (HML) is an  advanced form of mode-locking process where multiple laser pulses are produced within one round trip of light. MOs employing HML are used for several advanced applications such as optical communication, frequency metrology, and micromachining. Despite increasing applications of HML MOs, understanding the light buildup dynamics of HML within these lasers ...

GLENVIEW, IL – First announced earlier this year, the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) educational program and formal certification exam for advanced practice providers (APPs), including nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants/associates (PAs), in critical care is now available. The CHEST Critical Care APP (CCAPP) Certification Exam was created using a rigorous and data-driven approach aligning with professional certification standards to determine the 11 topic areas on the exam. Questions focus on foundational areas for practicing critical care that are meaningful across ...