Creatine, the supplement popular with athletes for its ability to help build strength and power, is increasingly being recognized for its broad health benefits. The compound’s usefulness extends well beyond the gym, according to Dr. Richard Kreider, professor and director of the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Lab at Texas A&M University. Kreider has spent more than 30 years investigating the effects of creatine, a naturally occurring compound stored in the muscle that combines with phosphate to form creatine phosphate, which ...

Coordinated behaviors like swarming – from ant colonies to schools of fish – are found everywhere in nature. Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have given a nod to nature with a next-generation robot system that’s capable of movement, exploration, transport and cooperation. A study in Science Advances describing the new soft robotic system was co-led by L. Mahadevan, the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology ...

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness, especially in older adults. A key feature of early AMD is the formation of drusen, clumps of debris made of lipids and proteins that collect between two layers at the back of the eye — the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Bruch’s membrane (BrM). These drusen are not just signs of the disease; they actively contribute to vision loss by damaging the retina above them. Scientists suspect that lipoproteins — fat-protein complexes like high density lipoprotein (HDL) — play a big role in forming drusen. However, it wasn’t clear why these lipoproteins get stuck in BrM in the first place. This ...

University of Connecticut professor of anthropology Dimitris Xygalatas is a scientist and self-declared rational thinker. But he’s also a lifelong soccer fan, and he fully admits that when his Greek home team finally won their league in 2019, he cried tears of joy. “Not what you might call a rational organism’s behavior,” he jokes. But his reaction is in keeping with his latest study, to be published online Monday, June 9, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which shows that the intense feelings of joy, ...

Northwestern University biophysicists have developed a new computational tool for identifying the gene combinations underlying complex illnesses like diabetes, cancer and asthma. Unlike single-gene disorders, these conditions are influenced by a network of multiple genes working together. But the sheer number of possible gene combinations is huge, making it incredibly difficult for researchers to pinpoint the specific ones that cause disease. Using a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, the new method amplifies limited gene expression data, enabling ...

As solar energy becomes more affordable and widespread, farmland has emerged as a prime location for large-scale solar development. But with this expansion comes a persistent question: Do nearby property values suffer when solar farms move in? In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences looked at millions of property sales and thousands of commercial solar sites to shed some light on one of the mostly commonly cited downsides of large-scale solar adoption.  “As the ...

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — A new study explains the genetic underpinnings of a rare and aggressive form of ovarian cancer – and offers a potential pathway for new treatments.   High-grade serous carcinoma, the most common type of ovarian cancer, usually begins in the fallopian tube, before spreading to the ovaries and other pelvic organs. The cancer is typically discovered at an advanced stage and becomes resistant to current chemotherapies. Its underlying genetics are complex, with multiple genetic alterations and instabilities. One of the genes involved is CDK12.   In this new study, published in the Proceedings ...

Deep in the swamps of the American Southeast stands a quiet giant: the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). These majestic trees, with their knobby “knees” and towering trunks, are more than just swamp dwellers – they’re some of the oldest living organisms in Eastern North America. Some have been around for more than 2,500 years, quietly thriving in nutrient-poor, flooded forests where most other trees would wither. But life isn’t easy for these ancient trees. They’re under siege ...

The inaccuracy of race and ethnicity data found in electronic health records (EHRs) can negatively impact patient care as artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into healthcare. Because hospitals and providers inconsistently collect such data and struggle to accurately classify individual patients, AI systems trained on these datasets can inherit and perpetuate racial bias. In a new publication in PLOS Digital Health, experts in bioethics and law call for immediate standardization of methods for collection of race and ethnicity data, and for developers to warranty race and ethnicity data quality in medical AI systems. The research synthesizes concerns about why patient ...

HOUSTON – (June 9, 2025) – Researchers at Rice University have developed a soft robotic arm capable of performing complex tasks such as navigating around an obstacle or hitting a ball, guided and powered remotely by laser beams without any onboard electronics or wiring. The research could inform new ways to control implantable surgical devices or industrial machines that need to handle delicate objects. In a proof-of-concept study that integrates smart materials, machine learning and an optical control system, a team of Rice researchers led by materials scientist Hanyu Zhu used a light-patterning device to ...

Investigative journalists are facing severe challenges and threats, and their vital connections with whistleblowers are under increasing pressure, researchers have said. Legal intimidation is having a "chilling effect" and those engaged in crime and security journalism are encountering extreme risks. Experts have discussed their significant concerns about the perils many journalists face in their commitment to uncovering truth, from pervasive state surveillance to targeted prosecution and even espionage ...

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — As recommendations suggest extending hormone-based breast cancer treatment to 10 years for some patients, a new study sheds light on whether patients are opting for it.   In a study of 591 women with early stage breast cancer who completed five years of endocrine therapy, 47% decided to continue the treatment. Patients with stage 2 disease were more likely to continue, with 62% agreeing, compared to 39% of patients with stage 1 cancer.   The study, led by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and Stanford Medicine, was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.   Endocrine ...

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has promoted Melissa Cregger and Carrie Eckert to serve as chief science officers, advancing the center’s mission of innovations for new domestic biofuels, chemicals and materials. Cregger will oversee CBI’s development of resilient, high-yielding, non-food feedstock crops, while Eckert will guide the center’s research on cost-effective methods to break down and convert plant biomass into valuable fuels and products. Brian Davison, chief scientist for biotechnology at ORNL and formerly chief science officer for the center, ...

Recent scholarship has concluded that Neanderthals made a second major migration from Eastern Europe to Central and Eastern Eurasia between 120,000 and 60,000 years ago. But the routes they took have long been a mystery—primarily because there are few archaeological sites connecting the two regions.  In a new analysis, a team of anthropologists—using computer simulations—has offered a map of possible pathways, which concludes Neanderthals likely used river valleys as natural highways and traveled during warmer periods to move approximately 2,000 miles (3,250 km) in less than 2,000 years.  “Our findings show that, despite obstacles like mountains ...

A new study from The University of Texas at Arlington details a novel strategy for how the body clears out dead cells during stress, revealing unexpected roles for well-known stress-response genes—a discovery that could help scientists better understand diseases affecting the immune system, brain and metabolism.   “The body is constantly creating new cells and removing old cells once they die,” said Aladin Elkhalil, lead author of the study and a third-year doctoral student in the lab of Piya Ghose, ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting found that teens with earlier, more efficient, and less variable sleep patterns at age 15 had better cardiovascular health at age 22. Results show that several healthy sleep habits at age 15 predicted a higher (better) cardiovascular health score at age 22: falling asleep and waking up earlier, spending a lower percentage of time in bed awake, and having lower variability in total sleep time and sleep onset. In contrast, average total sleep time did not predict future cardiovascular health. Results were adjusted for potential confounders ...

Cancer cannot be understood as a single, uniform disease. The more we delve into studying each type of tumor, the more we recognize the need to subclassify the disease. This concept has led to what we now call precision oncology, characterizing the molecular features of a patient's specific cancer to determine the most effective treatment. Prostate cancer is considered the most prevalent tumor among men, and it typically has a high cure rate. As such, although many men will be diagnosed with this cancer, the majority will be cured. "However, when we refer ...

A new study in the peer-reviewed journal Psychedelic Medicine showed that psilocybin administration in a sample of clergy from major world religions increased multiple domains of overall psychological well-being, including positive changes in religious attitudes and behavior as well as effectiveness in their vocation as a religious leader. Click here to read the article now. The late Roland Griffiths, of Johns Hopkins University, along with Stephen Ross and Anthony Bossis, from New York University Grossman School ...

Stress worsens sleep quality and can impair memory. Shinjae Chung, from the University of Pennsylvania, led a study to explore a neural pathway in male mice that stress may influence to cause sleep and memory disturbances.   In their JNeurosci paper, the researchers artificially activated neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) that were previously linked to stress. This experimental manipulation made mice sleep less and impaired how well mice performed in a memory task. Notably, when mice were stressed, artificially inhibiting these PVN neurons reduced stress-related memory ...

Guns are now the leading cause of death for youth in the United States. Researcher from Mass General Brigham investigated whether firearm mortality rates among U.S. children ages 0-17 changed in the 13 years following a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that applied the Second Amendment to state and local governments. In states with the most permissive firearm laws, they found evidence of 6,029 more pediatric deaths due to firearms than would have been expected based on the existing demographic trends—and more than 1,400 excess ...

Imagine having to eat something that makes you sick – just to see what’s making you ill in the first place.  That’s the harsh reality of current diagnostic tests for coeliac disease, which require people to eat large amounts of gluten for weeks in order to get an accurate diagnosis. But this painful process could soon be a thing of the past, with WEHI researchers and industry partner Novoviah Pharmaceuticals developing a world-first blood test that can identify the condition in patients – even when they’re on gluten-free diets.   At a glance New clinical research published in the high-impact ...

Tokyo, Japan – Across the world the demand for meat is growing, despite associated environmental and animal welfare costs. Although lab-grown – or cultured – meat could be part of the answer, scientists have yet to perfect one crucial detail: the taste. In an article to be published in Food Chemistry, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have measured and found a way to control the key amino acids responsible for flavor in a step toward making cultured meat taste just like the real thing. The push toward cultured meat has been adopted because conventional production is not a sustainable solution for ...

Even with today’s advanced agricultural technologies, plant diseases can still be extremely devastating to crops, causing billions of dollars in losses worldwide every year. Begomoviruses represent a prominent example of this threat—these whitefly-transmitted pathogens cause yellow leaf curl disease in peppers and can destroy up to 100% of fruit yield in affected fields across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Breeding crops that are resistant to begomoviruses has long been the most effective and widely used strategy for preventing such massive losses. Though usually effective, this approach has serious limitations, especially when dealing with mixed infections. Scientists ...

Kyoto, Japan -- After the island of Madagascar drifted away from India 88 million years ago, isolating it from all other landmasses, its flora and fauna evolved in seclusion. As these transformed into plants and animals completely unique to their island, Madagascar became a biodiversity hotspot unlike anywhere else on Earth. An important facet of this biodiversity is an ecological process called endozoochory, which is when animals eat plant seeds and then poop them out somewhere else, aiding in the spread of the plants. Most research on endozoochory has focused on the roles of ...

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is opening an unprecedented chapter in human-machine integration by establishing direct communication between the brain and external devices. Once a science fiction concept, BCI is now reshaping the landscape of neurosurgery and neurorehabilitation. By decoding brain signals to restore lost motor, sensory, and language functions, BCIs offer new hope for individuals affected by paralysis, aphasia, and neurodegenerative diseases. But their impact extends well beyond the clinic—BCIs are poised to influence cognition, ethical governance, and national security. As this disruptive technology matures, ...