A new special issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B takes a bold step toward redefining one of the most debated concepts in biology and the social sciences: domestication. Titled Shifting Paradigms Towards Integrated Perspectives in Domestication Studies, the issue gathers leading voices in archaeology, evolutionary biology, and plant science to question conventional narratives and introduce new case studies that push the field forward. The volume was co-edited by Dr. Robert Spengler, leader of the Domestication and Anthropogenic ...

Agents, chatbots and other tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly used in everyday life by many. So-called large language model (LLM)-based agents, such as ChatGPT and Llama, have become impressively fluent in the responses they form, but quite often provide convincing yet incorrect information. Researchers at the University of Tokyo draw parallels between this issue and a human language disorder known as aphasia, where sufferers may speak fluently but make meaningless or hard-to-understand statements. This similarity could point toward better forms of diagnosis for aphasia, ...

Snus users who stopped using snus experienced higher blood pressure and gained weight. This has been shown by a research group at Linköping University, Sweden, in a study on 33 people, published in Harm Reduction Journal. The use and marketing of nicotine snus, which does not contain tobacco, is increasing in the UK, the US, Sweden, and other countries. Nicotine is an addictive substance which, among other things, causes blood pressure and heart rate to rise immediately after intake. But it is unclear what happens in ...

That fit people have a reduced risk of premature death from various diseases is a recurring result in many studies. New research from Uppsala University shows that people with high fitness levels in their late teens also have a reduced risk of dying from random accidents. This suggests that the associations seen in previous studies have probably been misleading. Many observational studies have shown that people who exercise more and have good cardiorespiratory fitness early in life are at lower risk of premature death from causes such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, a new study published in the European Journal of Preventive ...

When was the last time you sat in a garden and simply let your gaze wander? Observation gardens are built especially for this purpose, but can also fulfil other functions, such as providing aid for meditation. Now, an international team of researchers has investigated what it is about these gardens that makes us feel more relaxed when we sit down to observe them. To do so, they assessed the impact of Kyoto’s famous Murin-an garden and compared it to a less vigorously maintained garden. The results were published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. “Well-designed Japanese gardens have evocative and abstract sceneries designed in great detail. These sceneries encourage the viewer ...

Researchers derived pragmatic models that accurately distinguish mild, moderate and severe pneumonia in children, based on evidence from a study performed in 73 Emergency Departments (EDs) in 14 countries through the international Pediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN). The new predictive tools are intended to complement clinician judgement in deciding whether a child’s pneumonia warrants hospitalization or intensive care. The study was published in Lancet Child and Adolescent Health. Community-acquired ...

Mindfulness-based therapy can offer significant relief for individuals who are still depressed after receiving treatment, according to a new clinical trial. Researchers hope their findings, published in Lancet Psychiatry, could provide a new treatment pathway for people with depression who have not benefitted from previous treatment. The study was led by a researcher from the University of Surrey, sponsored by the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) differs from other psychological therapies by using intensive training in mindfulness meditation to help people develop ...

About The Study: In 2023 and 2024, more Part D beneficiaries were affected by their insurer exiting the marketplace than in previous years. This increase could be associated with changes to Medicare Part D from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which increased Part D plan sponsor financial liability. These IRA provisions were designed to lower out-of-pocket costs for Part D beneficiaries, but increased Part D plan exits could lead to more limited coverage options and less competitive Part D marketplaces.  Corresponding Author: To contact ...

A small cluster of cells deep within our brains, called the locus coeruleus, affects how awake and attentive we are, how we respond to stress, how we cope with anxiety and fear, and how we create memories and learn. The locus coeruleus, Latin for "blue spot," is also involved in a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s diseases.  Yet despite its importance, relatively little is known how the locus coeruleus works. It is known to receive inputs from throughout ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Have you ever been stuck on a problem, puzzling over something for what felt like ages without getting anywhere, but then suddenly the answer came to you like a bolt from the blue? We’ve all experienced that “aha! moment,” that sudden clarity or magical epiphany you feel when a new idea or perspective pops into your head as if out of nowhere. Now, new evidence from brain imaging research shows that these flashes of insight aren’t just satisfying — they actually reshape how your brain represents information, and help sear it into memory. Led by ...

PHILADELPHIA – While it may seem intuitive that people would die without life-saving medications, Penn and Harvard researchers have connected losing a federally funded prescription drug assistance program and an increase in mortality. The program, called the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), helps 14.2 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom are older Americans, afford their medications. Nationally,12.5 million people who are eligible for and enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid (“dual eligibles”) automatically qualify for the LIS, which ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, most often caused by cigarette smoking or long-term exposure to air pollutants. While there is no cure, progression can be slowed by reducing exposure to these factors.  A new study from Mass General Brigham researchers uncovered another factor linked to progression of the disease: the accumulation of mucus in the lungs. People with COPD who had persistent airway-clogging mucus plugs over a five-year period had a faster decline in lung function than those who didn’t have the plugs. The study points toward therapies that disrupt these plugs as a ...

About The Study: In this study, physicians frequently experienced incomplete team staffing. Working with an incompletely staffed team was associated with significantly greater odds of burnout, intent to reduce clinical work hours, and intent to leave one’s current organization (ITL). Given associations between ITL and attrition, these findings emphasize the importance of adequate staffing.   Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lisa S. Rotenstein, MD, MBA, MSc, email lisa.rotenstein@ucsf.edu. To access the embargoed ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A new University at Buffalo-led study outlines how artificial intelligence-powered handwriting analysis may serve as an early detection tool for dyslexia and dysgraphia among young children. The work, presented in the journal SN Computer Science, aims to augment current screening tools which are effective but can be costly, time-consuming and focus on only one condition at a time. It could eventually be a salve for the nationwide shortage of speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, who each play a key role in diagnosing ...

Researchers have created a new kind of nanoparticle that could make ultrasound-based cancer treatments more effective and safer, while also helping prevent tumors from coming back. The study, published in the journal Nano Letters, explores a way to make high-intensity focused ultrasound less harmful to healthy tissues. Oregon Health & Science University was the first hospital in Oregon to offer prostate cancer treatment using a robotic-assisted high-intensity focused ultrasound device. Researchers in the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute’s Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, or CEDAR, wanted to improve a category of focused ultrasound ...

Quantum entanglement — a connection between particles that produces correlations beyond what is classically possible — will be the backbone of future quantum technologies, including secure communication, cloud quantum computing, and distributed sensing. But entanglement is fragile; noise from the environment degrades entangled states over time, leaving scientists searching for methods to improve the fidelity of noisy entangled states.  Now, researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular ...

New York University scientists are using artificial intelligence to determine which genes collectively govern nitrogen use efficiency in plants such as corn, with the goal of helping farmers improve their crop yields and minimize the cost of nitrogen fertilizers. “By identifying genes-of-importance to nitrogen utilization, we can select for or even modify certain genes to enhance nitrogen use efficiency in major US crops like corn,” said Gloria Coruzzi, the Carroll & Milton Petrie Professor in NYU’s Department of Biology and Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and the senior author of the study, ...

How cancer patients relying on daratumumab feel physically before starting the therapy can predict how long they will live and how well they will respond to the anti- multiple myeloma (MM) drug, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Haematology. The study analyzed data from 1,804 patients enrolled in three large-scale clinical trials—MAIA, POLLUX, and CASTOR. Across these trials, the median patient age was 66 years, and 44% were female. About half of the patients were randomly assigned to receive daratumumab-containing therapy, while the other half received standard treatments without ...

A new study co-authored by UBC Okanagan’s Dr. Julien Picault shows how scenes from hit shows like Narcos and Stranger Things can help students grasp complex economic concepts—from cartels and market control to creative destruction and inflation. Published in The Journal of Economic Education, Teaching economics with Netflix explores how carefully selected Netflix content can help undergraduate students engage with economics in a more meaningful, accessible way. “Students are already watching this ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Listen to the first notes of an old, beloved song. Can you name that tune? If you can, congratulations — it’s a triumph of your associative memory, in which one piece of information (the first few notes) triggers the memory of the entire pattern (the song), without you actually having to hear the rest of the song again. We use this handy neural mechanism to learn, remember, solve problems and generally navigate our reality. “It’s a network effect,” said UC Santa Barbara mechanical engineering professor Francesco Bullo, explaining that associative ...

How should personal data be protected? What are the best uses of it? In our networked world, questions about data privacy are ubiquitous and matter for companies, policymakers, and the public.  A new study by MIT researchers adds depth to the subject by suggesting that people’s views about privacy are not firmly fixed and can shift significantly, based on different circumstances and different uses of data. “There is no absolute value in privacy,” says Fabio Duarte, principal research scientist in MIT’s Senseable City Lab and co-author of a new paper outlining the results. “Depending on the application, people might ...

MINNEAPOLIS — To help neurologists, clinicians and families understand the current evidence for a new gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy called delandistrogene moxeparvovec, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has issued an Evidence in Focus article, published May 14, 2025, online in Neurology®. AAN Evidence in Focus articles highlight the strength of the current evidence for new therapies for neurological conditions. Their purpose is not to provide recommendations for practice, but rather to provide an overview of the available data and a framework to support care. This article reviews ...

MINNEAPOLIS — A transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini-stroke, is typically defined as a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain that causes symptoms that go away within a day, but a new study finds that people who have this type of stroke may also have prolonged fatigue lasting up to one year. The study is published on May 14, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The study does not prove that mini-strokes cause lasting fatigue; it only shows an association. “People ...

As the U.S. continues to face complex public health challenges, a new paper published by a researcher at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health calls for a redefinition of the public health workforce—one that goes beyond traditional boundaries and acknowledges the growing number of professionals outside government agencies who contribute to public health. Published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), the paper argues that while government remains the backbone of public health service delivery, it is no longer sufficient to define the workforce ...

Under embargo until 2pm EST on May 14, 2025 in Science Advances ITHACA, N.Y. – Using advanced technology that analyzes tiny gas bubbles trapped in crystal, a team of scientists led by Cornell University has precisely mapped how magma storage evolves as Hawaiian volcanoes age. Geologists have long proposed that, as the Hawaiian Islands slowly drift northwest with the Pacific Plate, they move away from a deep, heat-rich plume rising from near Earth’s core. Young volcanoes like Kilauea – positioned directly above the hotspot on Hawaii’s main island – receive a steady flow of magma. Far less is known about older ...