New research finds that Marine Protected Areas can boost the recovery of globally important kelp forests following marine heatwaves. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology. Using four decades of satellite images, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have looked at impacts Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are having on kelp forests along the coast of California. They found that although the overall effect of MPAs on kelp forest cover was modest, the benefits ...

Oil spills and oily industrial wastewater are a nightmare for factories, the environment, and public health. Separating oil from water might sound simple, but in reality it's one of the toughest jobs in wastewater treatment—especially when the mixture contains oils of different densities, tiny droplets, or sticky contaminants. Traditional membrane filters often clog, slow down, and lose efficiency over time. In International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, a research team has developed an organic ...

Osaka, Japan – Life as we know it is based on organic molecules. In these molecules, carbon and hydrogen atoms are linked into a fascinating array of structures, such as chains or rings. One special class of organic molecules, hetero[8]circulenes, can behave in interesting ways because of their ring of eight atoms, and have many applications, including electronic devices responsible for controlling and detecting light. However, creating these molecules through planned chemical reactions, or the synthetic route, ...

It’s often mistaken for a heart attack, but Takotsubo cardiomyopathy – previously known as Broken Heart syndrome – is a serious and sometimes fatal heart condition increasingly reported in intensive care units (ICUs). Yet without a clear clinical pathway in ICUs, it’s often missed, putting critically ill patients at risk.   New research from the University of South Australia shows that using electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns and blood markers could provide an early warning system for Takotsubo Syndrome in ICU patients.   The review highlights how critical care nurses with advanced ECG skills can play a key role in recognising early signs of the condition ...

One of the stranger forms of life on our planet is the tiny, torpedo-shaped chaetognath, which roams the seas on the hunt for small crustaceans. These predators are named after the chitinous grasping spines surrounding their mouth (Greek: “chaite”, bristle, and “gnathos”, jaw), and are also known as arrow worms. Despite their ubiquity in the world’s oceans, the evolutionary origin of this unique lifeform has long baffled biologists – Charles Darwin himself noted their “obscurity of affinities” in 1844. Notably, the worm has characteristics of both protostomes, which include ...

Today marks the publication by two different studies presenting the near-complete reference genomes of the central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), a widely distributed species of dragon lizard common in central eastern Australia and popular as pets in Europe, Asia, and North America. This species has an unusual trait for an animal species: whether this lizard grows up to be a male or a female depends not only on genetics but also on the temperature of its nest. This has long made it a useful model to study the ...

When you visit a doctor, you expect them to listen. But in today’s fast-paced health care system, real listening — the kind that makes you feel seen, heard and understood — can be the first thing to go. A new article, co-authored by Dr. Leonard Berry of Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School, argues that listening isn’t just a nice gesture, it’s a powerful tool that can improve your care and even help heal the health care system itself. Berry and colleagues at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston and Henry Ford Health Detroit published their findings in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The Case ...

Nearly one in five U.S. veterans have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI), mostly in the form of a concussion. Now, the full long-term health consequences of TBI are starting to be uncovered, thanks in large part to the work of Mary Jo Pugh, PhD, RN, professor of epidemiology at University of Utah Health and investigator with the Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytical Sciences (IDEAS) Center of Innovation at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System. On August 4, Pugh won an Outstanding Research Accomplishment award at ...

NEW ORLEANS – Ochsner Children’s has achieved a major milestone by performing the first robotic-assisted pediatric spine deformity surgery in Louisiana and the Gulf South. This recently completed procedure represents a significant step forward in patient safety and precision reaffirming Ochsner Children’s leadership in innovative pediatric orthopedic care.   The procedure was performed by Ochsner Children’s pediatric orthopedic surgeons, Ryan Farmer, MD and Lawrence Haber, ...

A new study delving into the genetic drivers of a rare and aggressive childhood cancer called Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor (MPNST) has revealed metabolic frailties in the cancer cells that might be exploited to improved treatments for patients.  MPNST is a rare and deadly childhood cancer, which mainly affects teenagers and young adults. These tumors grow quickly, spread easily, and don’t respond well to current treatments. Metastasis is the leading cause of death in MPNST and there currently are no targeted ...

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enters the ocean at the surface and has been increasing the acidity of Pacific waters since the beginning of the industrial revolution over 200 years ago. A new study, led by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa oceanographers, revealed that the ocean is acidifying even more rapidly below the surface in the open waters of the North Pacific near Hawai‘i. Their discovery was published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans.  “Ocean ...

Research led by investigators at Mass General Brigham suggests that the health benefits of more aggressive blood pressure control outweigh concerns about overtreating people with high blood pressure readings. Results of the simulation study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.  The study used data from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) trial, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and other published literature to simulate lifetime health outcomes—including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure—for patients whose systolic blood pressure targets were set at <120 mm Hg, <130 mm Hg, and <140 mm Hg. Recognizing ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA – MIT researchers have developed a reconfigurable antenna that dynamically adjusts its frequency range by changing its physical shape, making it more versatile for communications and sensing than static antennas. A user can stretch, bend, or compress the antenna to make reversible changes to its radiation properties, enabling a device to operate in a wider frequency range without the need for complex, moving parts. With an adjustable frequency range, a reconfigurable antenna could adapt to changing environmental conditions and reduce the need for multiple antennas. The word “antenna” ...

**EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL AUG. 18 AT 3 P.M. ET** Two studies led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Ludwig Center, and Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering researchers report on a powerful new method that significantly improves the reliability and accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) for many applications. As an example, they apply the new method to early cancer detection from blood samples, known as liquid biopsy. One study reports on the development of MIGHT (Multidimensional Informed Generalized Hypothesis Testing), an AI  method that the researchers created to meet the high level of confidence needed for AI tools used in clinical decision making.  To illustrate ...

MEDIA EMBARGO: 3 p.m. EASTERN TIME AUGUST 18, 2025 They feel like lightning — sudden, brilliant and seemingly impossible to predict. But according to new research, those mind-flashing “aha” moments of insight may leave detectable traces before they strike. Scientists have developed a way to identify subtle behavioral changes that happen minutes before a breakthrough, offering a new window into the elusive mechanics of human creativity. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Shadab Tabatabaeian, who earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive and Information Sciences from the University of California, Merced, is lead author, ...

Using a corkscrew, writing a letter with a pen or unlocking a door by turning a key are actions that seem simple but actually require a complex orchestration of precise movements. So, how does the brain do it? According to a new study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Coimbra, the human brain has a specialized system that builds these actions in a surprisingly systematic way. Analogous to how all of the words in a language can be created by recombining the letters of its alphabet, the full repertoire ...

Roads, buildings and farms are preventing Michigan’s only rattlesnake from finding mates outside of their population. A 15-year study shows that fragmentation into smaller, more isolated patches is likely reducing the threatened snake’s chances of survival.  Michigan State University conservation biologists traced the family histories of more than 1,000 Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes caught and released in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-funded project. The new findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, surprised even the researchers – the most inbred snakes were ...

Malaria, caused by Plasmodium falciparum, remains a major global health threat, claiming 600,000 lives annually, mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Immunity to severe malaria develops after repeated infections and is mediated by antibodies blocking the parasite’s highly diversified PfEMP1 adhesion proteins from binding to the human endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) on blood vessel walls. In the collaborative study, researchers from the National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania and the University of Copenhagen first identified donors with immune plasma able to ...

SAN ANTONIO — August 18, 2025 — New research led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has confirmed decades-old theoretical models about magnetic reconnection, the process that releases stored magnetic energy to drive solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other space weather phenomena. The data was captured by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP), which is the only spacecraft to have flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere. Magnetic reconnection occurs when magnetic field lines in plasma sever and reconnect in a new configuration, releasing large amounts of stored energy. ...

A new study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a journal from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, has identified early hemodynamic valve deterioration (HVD) in more than 6% of patients just one year after undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), raising new questions about valve durability in younger, lower-risk populations. The retrospective study, which analyzed 10 years of procedures from 2012 to 2022, evaluated 2,123 patients who had complete echocardiographic follow-up data. Researchers found that patients with 1-year HVD were more likely to be younger and have smaller aortic annuli than those without HVD. Importantly, ...

Just as smart traffic management ensures smooth vehicular movement during peak hours, our body relies on a molecular traffic system to manage the surge in glucose levels after a meal. Pancreatic β-cells play a major role in this system by taking up glucose from the blood and triggering insulin release into the bloodstream. Inside these cells, glucose uptake is managed by glucose transporters (GLUTs) – proteins that move to the β-cell surface when blood glucose levels rise and facilitate the entry of glucose into the cell ...

With a $1 million Impact Award from the U.S. Department of Defense, Tianfu Wu, a University of Houston biomedical engineer, is developing a method to send medication directly to the spleen where certain immune cells cause the disease known as lupus, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.  Lupus is a debilitating autoimmune disease characterized by uncontrolled disease activity, frequent flares, long-term immunosuppression, increasing infection rates, cumulative organ damage and decreased quality of life.  The spleen has often been called the security guard of the bloodstream, filtering out old or damaged blood cells while housing millions of white blood cells, or lymphocytes, that carry ...

Innovative intervention delivered by trained community health workers – meaning nonclinical personnel with deep knowledge of the community – increased treatment utilization among participating families with children who have ADHD, according to a pilot study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. This intervention for parents and caregivers, covering topics that range from education about ADHD to discussions of stigma and barriers to care, intends to reduce inequities in access to evidence-based treatment and boost family engagement in ADHD care. “We know from previous studies that compared to White youth, Black, Hispanic, and Asian ...

Zhengang Lu and Russell Epstein, from the University of Pennsylvania, led a study to explore how people maintain their sense of direction while navigating naturalistic, virtual reality cities.  As reported in their new JNeurosci paper, the researchers collected neuroimaging data while 15 participants performed a taxi driving task in a virtual reality city. Two brain regions represented forward-facing direction as people moved around. This neural signal was consistent across variations of the city with different visual features. The signal was also ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – When it comes to adopting artificial intelligence in high-stakes settings like hospitals and airplanes, good AI performance and a brief worker training on the technology is not sufficient to ensure systems will run smoothly and patients and passengers will be safe, a new study suggests. Instead, algorithms and the people who use them in the most safety-critical organizations must be evaluated simultaneously to get an accurate view of AI’s effects on human decision making, researchers say. The team also contends these evaluations should assess how people respond to good, mediocre and poor technology performance ...