Bite mark analysis on three juvenile herbivore skeletons from early Permian Texas shows large predators including Dimetrodon and Varanops were hunting sizeable plant-eating animals 280 million years ago - pushing back the fossil record of apex predator-prey relationships.

A preliminary study of 12,370 Parkinson's patients and 1.2 million controls found that drinking water drawn from carbonate aquifers was associated with a 24% higher Parkinson's risk versus other aquifer types, with groundwater age and contamination exposure as proposed mechanisms.

An Ohio University study found non-small cell lung cancer tumors express significantly higher growth hormone receptor levels than normal lung tissue, and that patients with high-receptor tumors survived 36-40 months versus 66 months for low-receptor patients. Pegvisomant restored chemo sensitivity in cell models.

A Penn State longitudinal study tracking 999 rural low-income families from preschool through first grade found strong household routines reduced child behavior problems and ADHD symptoms at school entry, but that harsh parenting fully counteracted those protective effects.

University of Pittsburgh's Fang Peng received the IEEE Medal in Power Engineering for Z-source and modular multilevel converter technologies that handle electrical faults without catastrophic arcing - with applications from power grids to hybrid electric aircraft.

NPSS 3.3, managed by SwRI on behalf of the NPSS Consortium, adds hybrid turbo-electric propulsion modeling including eVTOL systems, FMI-based co-simulation with external control software, a foreign function interface, and native CSV data export.

Taste bud biopsies from 28 patients with COVID-related taste loss over one year post-infection found reduced PLCbeta2 mRNA - a protein that amplifies sweet, bitter, and umami signals - explaining why salty and sour tastes are largely preserved while others diminish.

A DRI-led study of 71,000 atmospheric river storms in the Western U.S. and central Chile found that incorporating a 90-day antecedent precipitation proxy doubled the correlation between storm rank and flood outcome and raised hazardous storm detection by over 25%.

A Rutgers statistician developed a novel evidence framework for evaluating burn pit exposure that the VA adopted in 2024, enabling veterans to claim benefits for respiratory conditions linked to service in Southwest Asia - and published the underlying research in February 2026.

Analysis of 4,000 low-wage workers from May 2021 to January 2022 shows on-demand wage access raises monthly saving frequency 3.7%, dashboard monitoring 12.9%, and financial goal-setting 1.3% - with gains wiped out among workers who habitually pay fees for instant withdrawals.

A 30-year circumpolar satellite study led by UC Irvine documents 12,820 sq km of Antarctic grounded ice loss, with Smith Glacier retreating 42 km, Thwaites 26 km, and a puzzling retreat on the Peninsula where warm ocean water is absent.

A PNAS study by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers reveals that 88.5% of North America's known insect and arachnid species have no conservation status, with arachnids almost entirely absent from state protection lists and data skewed toward aquatic species.

An ASU team used precision calorimetry to measure hydration energetics of three biomolecule-coated magnetite nanoparticles, finding that each coating creates a distinct thermodynamic fingerprint linked to immune recognition, drug delivery potential, and circulation stability.

A University of Illinois study using 15-year climate simulations across the Midwest finds agrivoltaic systems increase soybean yields by 6% in semi-arid regions but cut maize yields 24% in humid areas - with economic viability hinging on location, crop, and policy support.

A Nano Research study demonstrates a self-rectifying memristor array with 32 quantized conductance states, stable for over 10,000 seconds at room temperature, enabling 99.93% structural similarity in AI image restoration tasks.

Chinese researchers built a composite solid electrolyte using aligned LiMPS nanosheets in a flexible PEO matrix, reaching liquid-electrolyte-level conductivity and enabling solid-state pouch cells that operate without external clamping pressure.

A rat study from Amsterdam UMC reveals the anterior insula is more active before alcohol-related choices than social ones, suggesting it encodes a bias that may drive the compulsive alcohol preference seen in alcohol use disorder.

Researchers at Radboud University and Oxford found that falsely labeling beverages as sugar-containing increased enjoyment of artificially sweetened drinks and triggered dopaminergic midbrain activation, while sugar-labels attached to actual sugar drinks reduced their perceived pleasantness.

Ultrasound AI received FDA De Novo clearance for Delivery Date AI, a cloud-based tool trained on millions of ultrasound images that achieves 0.92 R-squared accuracy in predicting delivery timing from standard OB scans without requiring biometric measurements.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences used the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as a model to show that nanoparticle surface chemistry - not just size - determines which protein cavities they bind, enabling rational design of nanoparticles targeting previously 'undruggable' sites.

Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers developed BT-YOLO, a real-time video algorithm that segments and quantifies bioluminescent 'blue tears' algal blooms at pixel level, providing a scientific basis for bloom forecasting and coastal management.

A JAMA study found insufficient sleep rising broadly among U.S. adolescents across all behavioral risk groups, with very short sleep (5 hours or less) increasing most - suggesting structural and environmental causes beyond screen time or other individual behaviors.

A JAMA Network Open study found 8.3% of U.S. adults - roughly 21.3 million people - reported ever having long COVID in 2024, with nearly 60% reporting recovery. Adults 35 and older continue to experience lasting symptoms at higher rates.

A JAMA Pediatrics study found stark disparities in birth outcomes by poverty status, with inequities in low birth weight growing in recent years and varying substantially across states based on the generosity of their antipoverty programs.

A systematic review and meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine found GLP-1 receptor agonists produced significantly greater weight loss in women than men, while efficacy remained consistent across other key subgroups including age, race, and starting BMI.