When the Earth froze over, where did life shelter? MIT scientists say one refuge may have been pools of melted ice that dotted the planet’s icy surface.  In a study appearing in Nature Communications, the researchers report that 635 million to 720 million years ago, during periods known as “Snowball Earth,” when much of the planet was covered in ice, some of our ancient cellular ancestors could have waited things out in meltwater ponds.  The scientists found that eukaryotes — complex cellular lifeforms ...

Intense, short-lived summer downpours are expected to become both more frequent and more intense across Alpine regions as the climate warms. In a new study, scientists from the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the University of Padova analyzed data from nearly 300 mountain weather stations and found that a 2°C rise in regional temperature could double the frequency of these extreme events. In June 2018, the city of Lausanne in Switzerland experienced an extreme and short-lived rainfall episode, with 41 millimeters of precipitation falling in just 10 minutes. Large parts of the city were flooded, resulting in estimated damage ...

People with obesity exhibit differences in walking gait, speed, energy burn and more Research team created an open-source, dominant-wrist algorithm specifically tuned for people with obesity Scientist’s exercise class with mother-in-law with obesity motivated the research  CHICAGO --- For many, fitness trackers have become indispensable tools for monitoring how many calories they’ve burned in a day. But for those living with obesity, who are known to exhibit differences in walking gait, speed, ...

Astronomers have discovered a huge filament of hot gas bridging four galaxy clusters. At 10 times as massive as our galaxy, the thread could contain some of the Universe’s ‘missing’ matter, addressing a decades-long mystery. The astronomers used the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and JAXA’s Suzaku X-ray space telescopes to make the discovery. Over one-third of the ‘normal’ matter in the local Universe – the visible stuff making up stars, planets, galaxies, life – is missing. It hasn’t yet been seen, but it’s needed to make our models of the cosmos work properly. Said models suggest that this elusive matter might exist ...

UBC researchers are proposing a solution to a key hurdle in quantum networking: a device that can “translate” microwave to optical signals and vice versa. The technology could serve as a universal translator for quantum computers—enabling them to talk to each other over long distances and converting up to 95 per cent of a signal with virtually no noise. And it all fits on a silicon chip, the same material found in everyday computers. "It's like finding a translator that gets nearly every word right, keeps ...

No matter which questions we ask an AI, the model will come up with an answer. To produce this information – regardless of whether than answer is correct or not – the model uses tokens. Tokens are words or parts of words that are converted into a string of numbers that can be processed by the LLM. This conversion, as well as other computing processes, produce CO2 emissions. Many users, however, are unaware of the substantial carbon footprint associated with these technologies. Now, researchers in Germany measured and compared CO2 emissions of different, already trained, LLMs using a set of standardized questions. “The environmental ...

Bacteria of the genus Pandoraea have not been studied much to date. Their name is reminiscent of Pandora’s box from Greek mythology, which is a symbol of uncontrollable dangers. “We have been working with an antibiotic-resistant bacterium,” says Elena Herzog. She is the first author of the publication and works as a doctoral researcher in the team of Christian Hertweck, the head of the study at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI). However, like so many things in nature, these pathogenic bacteria do not only have negative properties. “Pandoraea bacteria not only harbor risks. They also produce ...

Osaka, Japan - A research team at The University of Osaka has unveiled the molecular mechanism behind genome ejection from adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, a crucial delivery vehicle in gene therapy. The study reveals that the N-terminal region of the VP1 protein, a component of the AAV capsid, undergoes structural changes upon heating, facilitating the release of the therapeutic genetic material. This discovery offers new guidelines for vector design and stability assessment, promising more efficient and safer gene therapies. AAV vectors are widely used in gene therapy to deliver therapeutic genes into target cells. However, the precise mechanism by which these vectors release ...

Scientists and engineers at UNSW Sydney, who previously developed a method for making green ammonia, have now turned to artificial intelligence and machine learning to make the process even more efficient. Ammonia, a nitrogen-rich substance found in fertiliser, is often credited with saving much of the world from famine in the 20th century. But its benefit to humankind has come at a cost, with one of the largest carbon footprints of all industrial processes. To produce it, industrial plants need temperatures of more than 400°C and extremely high pressures – more than 200 times normal atmospheric pressure. Such energy-intensive requirements have made ammonia production ...

An international group of psychiatrists, patient associations, and pharmaceutical companies has unveiled plans to systematically include objective biological tests in the diagnosis of psychiatric conditions. This Precision Psychiatry Roadmap, which may radically change the practice of psychiatry, is published on 19 June in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. The project was coordinated by Martien Kas, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES), University of Groningen. ‘Many ...

Heading a soccer ball alters the brain, new research spearheaded by the University of Sydney has found, despite having no immediate impact on cognition.   The findings of a world-first experiment add to evidence suggesting heading a ball in the world’s most played sport can impact the brain, even when concussion doesn’t occur. The research was published today in the Sports Medicine - Open journal.   The results signal a need for further research into heading’s long-term effects, its authors say, as the ...

Intermittent fasting diets appear to have similar benefits to traditional calorie-restricted diets for weight loss, suggests an analysis of trial evidence published by The BMJ today. Alternate day fasting also demonstrates greater benefits compared with both calorie restriction and other intermittent fasting approaches, but the researchers say longer trials are needed to substantiate these findings. According to the World Health Organization in 2022, approximately 2.5 billion adults, 43% of the global adult population, were overweight, and about 890 million (16%) lived with obesity.  Weight loss can reduce cardiometabolic risk factors, such as high blood ...

An innovative community-based mentoring scheme for pregnant adolescent girls in Sierra Leone has been found to save lives, whilst also helping girls return to education. The pilot trial, published in The Lancet and led by researchers at King’s College London in collaboration with local NGO Lifeline Nehemiah Projects (LNP), reduced a combination of maternal and perinatal deaths by almost half (48%). For every 18 girls mentored, one baby’s life was saved. Between July 2022 and November ...

Higher levels of wellbeing may help reduce the risk of memory loss in middle age, suggests new research, which tracked more than 10,000 over 50-year-olds across a 16-year span. Findings that are published today, in the peer-reviewed journal Aging & Mental Health, found those who said they had higher wellbeing were more likely to subsequently have better scores on memory tests. These people – all of whom were determined as having ‘healthy brains’ – also reported a greater sense of control, independence, and freedom to make choices.   This ...

Embargoed until 19 June 2025, 00:01 (CEST)    19 June 2025, Bonn – The central estimate of the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C is 130 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) (from the beginning of 2025). This would be exhausted in a little more than three years at current levels of CO2 emissions, according to the latest Indicators of Global Climate Change study published today in the journal Earth System Science Data, and the budget for 1.6°C or 1.7°C could be exceeded within nine years.     Prof. Piers Forster, Director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures at the University of Leeds and lead ...

The anti-aging drug Rapamycin has the same life-extending effect as eating less, according to new research from the University of East Anglia and University of Glasgow. Dietary restriction has long been considered one of the most reliable methods for increasing lifespan across species. But if fasting for hours sounds unpleasant, science may suggest another route to achieving a longer and healthier life. A new study published today reveals compelling evidence that Rapamycin, a compound originally developed as an immunosuppressant, offers comparable life-extending benefits in eight species of vertebrates, not including humans. Co-lead researcher Dr Zahida Sultanova, from UEA’s ...

Brain networks responsible for sensing, understanding, and responding emotionally to pain develop at different rates in infants, with the conscious understanding of pain not fully developed until after birth, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The authors of the study, published in the journal Pain, investigated how different types of pain processing develop very early on, by scanning the brains of infants born prematurely. Lead author Professor Lorenzo Fabrizi (UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology) said: “Pain is a complex ...

For immediate release Contact: Karen Kreeger, kkreeger@monell.org PHILADELPHIA (June 13, 2025) — To better understand the current barriers to including chemosensory testing as a regular part of healthcare, the conference Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing (TUCT) was convened November 5-7, 2023, in Philadelphia, bringing together scientists, clinicians, patients, and other experts for the first time. From that meeting, a new white paper, published recently in Chemical Senses, ...

LA JOLLA, CA—In the quest to develop an effective HIV vaccine, scientists from Scripps Research have made a significant leap forward. They found that a two-part delivery strategy can train the immune system to produce a stronger response to HIV, offering new hope in the fight against one of the world’s most elusive viruses. The approach, described in Science Translational Medicine on June 18, 2025, used a mouse model to test two types of adjuvants: immune-boosting molecules that improve vaccine response. One of the adjuvants helped the HIV protein persist longer in the body, and another amplified immune activation. ...

Would you rather have 10 cents in your pocket or a 1-in-10,000 shot at $1,000? Many people would choose the latter, and that could be the key to getting people to recycle more, a new University of British Columbia psychology study has found. The researchers tested the idea of offering people who return used bottles a tiny chance to win a big cash prize, instead of the typical 10-cent deposit return. The result was that people recycled 47 per cent more bottles. “This small change in how we reward recycling made a big difference. People were more excited, more engaged, and they brought in more bottles,” ...

The state of Texas awarded UTHealth Houston School of Public Health $5 million over two years for early detection and research, led by principal investigator Jooyeon Hwang, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, on cancer risk among firefighters in Texas.  Repeated exposure to harmful chemicals in fire smoke, common in the work of firefighters, can cause long-term chronic health problems including cancer, according to previous work by Hwang. Firefighters have a 9% higher risk ...

TUCSON, Ariz., June 18, 2025 — Critical Path Institute’s® (C-Path) Translational Therapeutics Accelerator (TRxA) proudly announced today a $250,000 grant award aimed at developing a novel treatment for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Kyle Apley, Ph.D., Cory Berkland, Ph.D., and Peggy Kendall M.D., at Washington University in St. Louis, have received this TRxA award to advance their work on a CD22 bidentate therapeutic designed for patients at risk of developing T1D. “We are honored to receive this support from TRxA, which will enable us to accelerate the ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2025 What is a brain age gap, and how may it affect thinking and memory skills? MINNEAPOLIS — The difference between the brain’s predicted age and actual chronological age, called a brain age gap, may influence the relationship between cognitive impairment risk factors, like high blood pressure and diabetes, and a person’s cognitive performance, also known as thinking and memory skills, according to a study published June 18, 2025, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Advances in neuroimaging have led to the development ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2025 Highlights: Having at least one social factor affecting health, like food insecurity or not having a safe place to live or enough social support, was linked to worse recovery after stroke. Food insecurity, the most common factor, was linked to having trouble moving, needing a breathing or feeding tube or hospice care. Even though they had worse recovery rates, people with these factors had better survival rates up to one year after stroke compared to those without negative social factors. This unexpected finding suggests worse recovery does not necessarily translate to poorer ...

Researchers have found a promising new method for gene therapy. They successfully restarted inactive genes by bringing them closer to genetic switches on the DNA called enhancers. The intermediate piece of DNA was cut out using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. This strategy opens up new possibilities for treating genetic diseases. The team specifically shows the technology’s potential for the treatment of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, two genetic blood diseases. In these conditions, a faulty gene could potentially be compensated by reactivating a helpful but normally inactive one. This ‘delete-to-recruit’ ...