Fukuoka, Japan—In a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers from Kyushu University report on the activity of sporadic E layers—about 90-120 km above sea level—during the Mother’s Day geomagnetic storm. The team found that the E layers were significantly enhanced during the recovery phase of the geomagnetic storm. Sporadic E layer, as the name suggests, is a phenomenon in which thin—about 1-5 km thick—but dense patches of ionized metals suddenly appear in the E layer of the ionosphere. Moreover, the team found that these ...

The genome structure — how genes are organized within DNA sequences in an organism — is fundamental to the processes and functions of organisms. A team at the University of Tokyo has developed a system to control and accelerate the evolution of changes in bacterial genome structure, targeting small “jumping genes,” or DNA sequences known as insertion sequences. “Most of what we know about evolution comes from studying the past. But some events, like the origin of mitochondria or other organelles, leave few traces, making it hard to reconstruct how they happened,” explained ...

Kyoto, Japan -- Stifling heat and sticky air often make summertime in the city uncomfortable. Due to the heat island effect, urban areas are significantly warmer than nearby rural areas, even at night. This, combined with more frequent extreme weather events caused by climate change, often render the city an unpleasant environment in the summer. Urbanization and climate change modify the thermal environment of urban areas, with an expectation that urban disasters from extremely hot weather and heavy rainfall will only become more severe. Mitigating potential damage involves reducing the intensity of the heat island effect and adapting to climate ...

Research from the University of Adelaide shows microbial communities in echidna pseudo-pouches undergo dramatic changes while the animal is lactating, which could help in creating an environment for their young, known as puggles, to thrive. Echidnas are monotremes, which are the only mammals that lay eggs. The early developmental stage at which they hatch from their egg means that the puggles lack a functioning immune system. “We know the reproductive microbiome is important to infant health, including for humans, but little is known about how it ...

Transmasculine and gender-diverse individuals who use testosterone are not at increased risk of gynecological cancer in the first years of hormone therapy. This is evident from large-scale research by Amsterdam UMC, which was published today in eClinicalMedicine. The results provide important insights for healthcare providers and transmasculine and gender-diverse individuals who are considering starting hormone therapy.  Transmasculine and gender-diverse people are registered as women at birth, but do not feel male, non-binary or otherwise ...

Artisanal lead mining in Nigeria is responsible for airborne lead exposures that are 10 times the U.S. Permissible Exposure Limit according to a study published today. This is the first study to report on airborne lead levels from self-employed artisanal lead miners as a source of community exposures. The study also found that airborne lead exposures from gold ore processing in Northern Nigeria is associated with exposures that are more than 30 times greater than allowable exposure limits. The artisanal gold ore processing that was monitored utilized a variety of manual and machine grinding methods to process and extract ...

Unprecedented progress in reducing the number of women smoking during pregnancy in England could be put at risk by NHS funding cuts, according to a UEA addiction expert. A new BMJ article, co-authored by Prof Caitlin Notley from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, reveals that the proportion of women smoking during pregnancy in England has almost halved in the last decade. Most of the decline happened in the last five years thanks to the introduction of dedicated stop smoking advisers in NHS maternity services since 2020. But the team fear that the reduction could be threatened by cost-cutting exercises. And they are calling for continued investment to give every ...

The American College of Cardiology has recognized three outstanding abstract presentations as Abstract Award winners at the ACC Asia 2025 Together with SCS 36th Annual Scientific Meeting on May 9-11 in Singapore. The conference brings together leading experts and cardiovascular clinicians from across Asia to examine emerging trends and evidence-based strategies in the prevention and management of patients with heart disease. This year’s winners were selected for their high-quality research that furthers the ACC’s mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. This year’s Abstract Award winners are: Yanji Qu, MD, PhD - Guangdong ...

Children who are living with severe obesity are more likely to experience a clinically relevant change in BMI when GLP-1 agonist drugs form part of their treatment, new research being presented at year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) suggests. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists mimic the action of a hormone called GLP-1 to reduce appetite and feelings of hunger, slow the release of food from the stomach and increase feelings of fullness after eating. “GLP-1 drugs are increasingly used to treat obesity in adults,” ...

Medications like semaglutide and liraglutide may help to reduce the risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) as well as death in adults with obesity and diabetes following bariatric surgery who did not achieve sufficient weight loss and diabetes control, according to new research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Malaga, Spain (11-14 May). The observational, real-life retrospective cohort study found that in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes but no prior heart disease, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) ...

New research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) has found that patients of an online obesity clinic achieved similar weight loss to that reported in clinical trials – but with less than half the medication. The study is to be published in the journal The Lancet Digital Health. Patients who followed the programme had an average weight loss of 16.7% (16.8kg/2st 9lb) after 64 weeks, which is on par with that seen in randomised controlled trials of the same drug, semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 ...

Research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) and published in the journal Nutrients indicates that collagen could be a safe and effective weight-loss supplement. Individuals with overweight and obesity who ate protein bars enriched with collagen, a protein that is found in connective tissue, lost twice as much weight as a control group who did not have the supplement.  They also experienced greater decreases in blood pressure and waist circumference and saw their liver health improve more.  They may also have ...

Semaglutide can rapidly reduce heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular complications in adults with overweight or obesity who have pre-existing cardiovascular disease but not diabetes, according to a secondary analysis of the landmark Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes (SELECT) trial from the same international author team being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Malaga, Spain (11-14 May).   “These results highlight semaglutide’s early action on decreasing major cardiovascular events, with significant benefits already evident ...

As the effects of climate change intensify in urban areas, it is essential to strengthen the organizational capacity of civil defense units to implement disaster risk management, including prevention and mitigation. To contribute to this debate, a study conducted by researchers from the Brazilian National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN) proposes a public policy focused on five fronts. These are: 1) professionalization of managers and officials in the area; 2) development of capacities adapted to regional specificities and to each biome; 3) allocation of their own budget to municipalities; 4) continuous ...

Flamingos standing serenely in a shallow alkaline lake with heads submerged may seem to be placidly feeding, but there's a lot going on under the surface. Through studies of Chilean flamingos in the Nashville Zoo and analysis of 3D printed models of their feet and L-shaped bills, researchers have documented how the birds use their feet, heads and beaks to create a storm of swirling tornados, or vortices, in the water to efficiently concentrate and slurp up their prey. "Flamingos are actually predators, they are actively looking for animals that are moving in the water, and the problem they face is how to concentrate these animals, to pull them together and ...

ST. LOUIS, MO, May 12, 2025 — The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and matching funders today awarded two Seeding Solutions grants totaling over $5 million to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (Danforth Center) for crop development research. FFAR, the Danforth Center, Kansas State University, The Land Institute, the Perennial Agriculture Project and Saint Louis University provided $2,926,098 to a project accelerating the domestication of perennial crops, which are planted once and ...

How would you summarize your study for a lay audience?  Advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC) includes cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder carcinoma, and ampullary carcinoma. BTC is a rare and aggressive group of cancers, carrying one of the worst prognoses in all of oncology. Only about 10% of patients survive beyond five years.  Although these cancers differ significantly depending on where they arise within the biliary system—a network of ducts that transports bile to aid digestion—most patients receive the same standard treatment: a combination ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 12 May 2025    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, threads, and Linkedin         Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------       1. ...

University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) researchers, who are on faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, presented findings at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago last month. These included a study conducted with researchers at the National Cancer Institute, which evaluated lifetime alcohol consumption and found that current drinkers who drank an average of 14 or more drinks per week throughout adulthood ...

Geothermal energy can make a decisive contribution towards the energy revolution in Germany while supporting the changeover from the use of fossil to climate-neutral energy resources. However, to ensure widespread public acceptance, it is essential to reduce associated risks, such as the triggering of earthquakes, as far as possible. A new research project led by Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) will investigate the impact of changes in deep geothermal reservoirs caused by contact between hot rock and cold water. "We want to understand the effect of thermally induced fracture ...

A Simon Fraser University new study is challenging a commonly held misconception that there’s little organizations can do to encourage employees to disclose mental health concerns. World Health Organization data shows 15 per cent of adults have a mental health concern, while other surveys have found 65 per cent of employees believe mental health concerns interfere with their job. Yet many organizations, even those with mental health supports and programs, see disclosure as a personal decision they have no influence over.  “That’s just not what ...

Scientists at UCLA's Olympic Analytical Laboratory turned their sophisticated analytical capabilities for testing athlete samples for performance-enhancing drugs to research examining the U.S. meat supply as part of a study led by Texas Tech. The study was designed to investigate concerns that residues of growth promoters used in meat production could potentially cause athletes to test positive. The laboratory, which typically searches for prohibited substances in urine and blood samples from elite ...

A new study led by the University of Southampton and research institutes in France has uncovered the mystery of how mini sand dunes form on beaches and in deserts. While the formation of large desert dunes is well understood, scientists haven’t been able to use the same theory to explain how smaller-scale dunes - the kind you might walk through on a beach holiday, emerge. The findings, published today [12 May 2025] in the journal PNAS, not only reveal how these so-called ‘proto dunes’ occur on Earth, but could hold clues to how they form on Mars and other planets. “These are the ...

New archaeological research by Tulane University and the Proyecto Templo Mayor in Mexico reveals how obsidian – a volcanic glass used for tools and ceremonial objects and one of the most important raw materials in pre-Columbian times – moved across ancient Mesoamerica and shaped life in its capital, Tenochtitlan. The study sheds new light on the economic networks, rituals and political influence of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire.   Published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study analyzed 788 obsidian artifacts excavated from the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, the main temple and core of the Mexica Empire located in ...

A new study has uncovered hidden social patterns in ancient Hebrew kingdoms by analyzing personal names from archaeological findings. Applying diversity statistics typically used in ecological studies, the researchers found that the Kingdom of Israel had a far more diverse onomastic (naming) landscape than Judah—indicating a more open, cosmopolitan society. Over time, name diversity in Judah declined, likely reflecting increasing religious centralization and sociopolitical control. This interdisciplinary approach opens new possibilities for studying ancient cultures using statistical ...