The Hertz Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the nation’s most promising innovators in science and technology, and Breakthrough Energy Discovery, a Breakthrough Energy platform focused on pre-venture, early-stage clean technology, have announced a new partnership to advance transformative climate and energy solutions. This collaboration brings together two organizations with a shared commitment to advancing scientific innovation and supporting exceptional talent. By connecting Breakthrough Energy’s innovation platform with the Hertz Foundation’s renowned community of scientific leaders, the partnership will create new opportunities ...

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A newly published study in the Journal of Neurophysiology reveals how blow flies (Calliphora vicina)—despite their minimal body weight—reliably detect forces through specialized sensory organs in their legs. The research offers new insights into insect biomechanics and presents promising applications for the design of next-generation walking robots.  Researchers at Marshall University and West Virginia University examined the behavior of campaniform sensilla—strain-detecting ...

Chinese researchers have developed a groundbreaking technology that sheds light on how the three-dimensional (3D) organization of plant genomes influences gene expression—especially in photosynthesis. The research, which was led by Prof. XIAO Jun at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with BGI Research, was published in Science Advances on May 30.   The innovative method not only provides a more precise tool for understanding the intricate 3D interactions between genes, but also highlights the critical role of long-range chromatin interactions ...

The calcitic layers of the eggshells of archosaurs (including crocodilians and birds) and turtles are composed of distinctive crystalline structures known as eggshell units. Those growing from the shell membrane are called primary eggshell units (PEUs), while those forming within the calcitic layer are called secondary eggshell units (SEUs). Although rare in modern bird eggs, SEUs are common in dinosaur eggs. Due to the lack of in-depth research on this structure, however, scientists are uncertain whether they are biogenic or abiogenic in origin. To tackle this issue, an international ...

The University of Pittsburgh’s Natasa Miskov-Zivanov, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award of $581,503 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project titled “Artificial Intelligence-Driven Framework for Efficient and Explainable Immunotherapy Design.” Through her novel approach and the development of an automated system that leverages AI and knowledge graphs to design more effective lymphocytes, she hopes to transform the ...

More than two decades ago, Denise Hines began investigating a topic most researchers wouldn’t touch: men as victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). She and collaborator Emily Douglas were the first in the U.S. to earn federal funding for this line of research, publishing studies that challenged entrenched gender assumptions and provoked debate in the field.  Their new book, The Routledge Handbook of Men’s Victimization in Intimate Relationships, offers the most thorough international synthesis ...

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH – A new study led by University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh geologist Timothy Paulsen and University of Colorado Boulder thermochronologist Jeff Benowitz advances the understanding of the geologic history of Transantarctic Mountains bedrock, with implications for understanding the evolution of landscapes lying beneath the ice sheets covering Antarctica.  The team of researchers analyzed the chemistry of mineral grains commonly found in igneous rocks, like granite, from the Transantarctic Mountains. The research team includes other scientists from the University of Arizona, St. Louis University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Alaska ...

In the world of black holes, there are generally three size categories: stellar-mass black holes (about five to 50 times the mass of the sun), supermassive black holes (millions to billions of times the mass of the sun), and intermediate-mass black holes with masses somewhere in between. While we know that intermediate-mass black holes should exist, little is known about their origins or characteristics—they are considered the rare “missing links” in black hole evolution. However, four new studies have ...

Below ocean wind farms, oil rigs and other offshore installations are mammoth networks of underwater structures, including pipelines, anchors, risers and cables, that are essential to harness the energy source. But much like terrestrial structures, these subsea constructions are also vulnerable to natural events, like submarine landslides, that can hamper the productivity of installations below the sea. Researchers at Texas A&M may now be able to accurately predict the occurrence of marine landslides using underwater site characterization data.  “One ...

America’s primary care doctors are burning out, cutting back their hours, and leaving their practices early, driven in part by the demands of handling the flood of digital messages from their patients. But a trio of new University of Michigan studies offer hope for easing this crisis, and improving both the care that patients get and the work lives of those who provide it. The studies could help primary care clinics nationwide take steps to keep the bedrock of American health care from crumbling further. All three papers, published in the Journal of ...

What if some of the smallest ocean currents turned out to be some of the most powerful forces shaping our planet’s climate? This question is at the center of new research co-led by Texas A&M University Department of Oceanography Associate Professor Jinbo Wang, whose work is featured on the cover of the April 17 issue of Nature. It’s a big moment for Wang and his colleagues and the global science community — marking a milestone in a billion-dollar, international water mission two decades in the making, and reflecting Texas A&M University’s long-term strategy ...

The job of a catalyst is to ultimately speed up reactions, which could reduce an hour-long process into several minutes. It has recently been shown that using external magnetic fields to modulate spin states of single-atom catalysts (SACs) is highly effective - enhancing oxygen evolution reaction magnetocurrent by a staggering 2,880%. With this in mind, researchers at Tohoku University proposed a completely novel strategy to apply an external magnetic field to modulate spin states, and thereby improve electrocatalytic performance. This study provides valuable insights regarding the development of efficient and sustainable electrochemical technologies ...

Researchers have proposed an metasurface-integrated quantum analog computing system. This system ingeniously combines multi-channel metasurfaces with quantum entanglement sources, enabling quantitative phase reconstruction with high signal-to-noise ratio at low signal photon levels. Traditional phase reconstruction often involves complex operation steps, while this technology effectively simplifies the complexity of traditional phase reconstruction. It shows application potential in multiple important fields. For example, in the field of optical chips, it helps improve the performance ...

Ozone pollution is a global environmental concern that not only threatens human health and crop production, but also worsens global warming. While the formation of ozone is often attributed to anthropogenic pollutants, soil emissions are revealed to be another important source. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) researchers have examined global soil nitrous acid (HONO) emissions data from 1980 to 2016 and incorporated them in a chemistry-climate model to unveil the pivotal role soil HONO emissions play in the increase of the ozone mixing ratio in air and its negative impact on vegetation. Soil ...

To achieve the European Green Deal’s goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic as well as conventional food production. NGTs—also known as gene editing-—are classified under the umbrella of GMOs, but they involve more subtle genetic tweaks. In an opinion paper publishing May 30 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability, the researchers describe how NGTs could enable rapid development of crops that are climate resilient, produce higher yields, and require less fertilizers and pesticides.  “This ...

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death globally, yet some statistics from many different countries suggest these events declined in frequency since the COVID-19 pandemic. Mass General Brigham researchers evaluated whether these cardiac trends reflect a true change in event rates, or if they reflect that more people are dying at home rather than in hospitals. Their findings highlight potential shortcomings of cardiac care during and in the years following the height of the pandemic, suggesting ...

About The Study: This cost-effectiveness analysis found that cessation of public water fluoridation would increase tooth decay and health system costs in the U.S. Despite concerns regarding toxic effects associated with high levels of fluoride, this model demonstrates the substantial ongoing benefits of water fluoridation at safe levels currently recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Toxicity Program, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lisa Simon, MD, DMD, email lsimon@bwh.harvard.edu. To ...

About The Study: In this cohort study of middle-aged and older adults across 4 countries, both higher maternal and paternal education were generally associated with slower cognitive decline, and these associations were mediated by participants’ own education. These findings highlight the long-term relevance of parental education for offspring cognitive health across diverse cultural or socioeconomic contexts, and support the potential benefits of improving educational attainment to reduce intergenerational disparities in late-life cognitive health. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, ...

About The Study: In this national survey of internal medicine physicians, experiencing sacred moments —meaningful, memorable, and sometimes spiritual moments of connection— is common; discussing them with colleagues is not. These findings suggest that frequently experiencing sacred moments and discussing them with colleagues could bolster physician well-being. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jessica Ameling, MPH, email jameling@med.umich.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

Researchers at the Ragon Institute have made a significant discovery about how antibodies can directly enhance the body’s ability to fight Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis (TB). Despite decades of research, TB remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide, with about 10 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths annually. Currently, there is no highly effective vaccine, highlighting the urgent need for new insights and treatments. In a study published today in Immunity, Ragon faculty member Galit ...

Dense, spindly mangrove forests line the coast of tropical regions, buffering coastal flooding and providing a valuable sink for carbon, but there is concern that more intense and frequent storms due to climate change could have prolonged impacts on these ecosystems. A new study by Yale School of Environment scientists, however, suggests that these systems may be more resilient than expected. The team calculated the “recovery debt” of mangroves in Everglades National Park after hurricanes Wilma and Irma, showing that all the carbon lost during the storms was recovered within four years. (Wilma hit South Florida in 2005 and Irma hit ...

Prevailing theories about why young people experience psychotic breaks at a young age rely on individual factors like exposure to child abuse, school bullying, or drugs. But a new study from the NYU Silver School of Social Work suggests that broader social factors, such as racial inequality and experience with police violence, might contribute to the proportionately higher rates of psychosis seen among low-income young adults of color. The study, “Social Defeat and Psychosis in the United States,” ...

New research has found that men who carry a common genetic variant are twice as likely to develop dementia in their lifetime compared to women. The research, published in Neurology, used data from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial to investigate whether people who had variants in the haemochromatosis (HFE) gene, which is critical for regulating iron levels in the body, might be at increased risk of dementia. Co-author Professor John Olynyk, from the Curtin Medical School, said one in three people carry one ...

Four leading organizations in lifestyle medicine, obesity medicine, and nutrition—the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), the Obesity Medicine Association (OMA), and The Obesity Society (TOS)—have jointly released a clinical advisory titled “Nutritional Priorities to Support GLP-1 Therapy for Obesity.” Published across four peer-reviewed journals, this consensus-based guidance reflects an interdisciplinary collaboration to help clinicians support patients receiving GLP-1 receptor agonists for obesity care with evidence-based nutritional and behavioral strategies.   GLP-1 ...

In patients with diabetic foot ulcers that looked healed and met the current definition of a closed wound, closed ulcers with functionally defective skin that lost more body water were likely to re-open, according to a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) Diabetic Foot Consortium study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and published today in Diabetes Care. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently defines a closed wound as one where the surface is completely covered by new skin and ...