Bad habits such as smoking, heavy drinking and lack of exercise must be tackled as early as possible to boost the odds of a happy and healthy old age. That is the message of a new peer-reviewed study, published in the Annals of Medicine (Elevate), that found smoking and other vices are associated with declines in health in people as young as 36. The impact is even greater when these bad habits are indulged in over the long-term, state experts whose study tracked the mental and physical health of hundreds of people for more than 30 years. Previous research has followed people from middle-age, typically for around 20 years.  Studies to-date have shown that smoking and other ...

Researchers have long recognized that quantum communication systems would transmit quantum information more faithfully and be impervious to certain forms of error if nonlinear optical processes were used. However, past efforts at incorporating such processes could not operate with the extremely low light levels required for quantum communication. Now, a team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has improved the technology by basing the nonlinear process on an indium-gallium-phosphide nanophotonic platform. The result is substantially more efficient than prior systems, meaning that it requires much less light and operates all the way down to single photons, ...

Lateral flow tests have transformed global healthcare by enabling rapid disease detection and improving access to medical diagnostics.  However, their widespread, single-use design is creating an environmental crisis.  A new study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls for urgent action to limit plastic waste in these essential diagnostic tools. Researchers from Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh propose limiting how much plastic is used in test kits to curb unnecessary plastic waste.  Their ...

Local authorities must do more to prepare communities in British Columbia for the dangers of extreme heat, according to a new research paper from Simon Fraser University.  Four years after the infamous 2021 heat dome, which killed more than 600 people in B.C. alone, the ground-breaking study found significant differences in how municipalities within the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts are preparing for heat events.    While municipalities with larger populations and more financial resources are generally ...

National Foundation for Cancer Research Congratulates Dr. Rakesh Jain on AACR Lifetime Achievement Award Rockville, MD — The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) proudly congratulates Dr. Rakesh K. Jain—pioneering cancer researcher, educator, and longtime NFCR-supported scientist—on receiving the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. The honor, presented by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), recognizes Dr. Jain’s profound impact on the understanding and treatment ...

Soil health hinges more on how agricultural land is managed than whether the farming system is organic or conventional, according to a new study showing that farms with more intensive management have lower overall soil functionality. The findings argue that optimizing yield whilst lowering management intensity – what the authors call "productive deintensification" – may be a more sustainable path forward that could boost soil health across diverse farming practices. Soils play a critical role in supporting ...

The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in U.S. dairy cattle can be traced to a single spillover event from a wild bird, researchers report, raising concern over growing pandemic risks as the virus evolves and leaps between species. HPAI viruses pose serious threats to animal health, agriculture, and potentially human health due to their ability to cross species barriers. A specific strain, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, has spread globally, infecting wild birds, poultry and, mammals – including a small number of humans – underscoring ...

A rare carnivorous caterpillar, previously unknown to biologists, stalks spiderwebs for food whilst dressed in the remains of its prey, researcher report. This unique new species, dubbed the “bone collector,” is found only on a single mountainside on the Hawai’ian island of Oa’hu. Hawai’i’s geographic isolation has given rise to uniquely adapted invertebrates, including several species of carnivorous caterpillars like the Hawaiian inchworm (Eupithecia spp.). However, the vast majority of Lepidoptera species are herbivorous; predatory caterpillars comprise roughly 0.1% of the nearly 200,000 moth and butterfly species currently known. Here, Daniel Rubinoff ...

  A new low-energy chemical recycling method using boron and gallium can convert common silicone waste into useful chlorosilanes with high efficiency and yield. The method offers a promising new chemical pathway toward circularity in silicone materials, addressing both resource sustainability and emissions reductions in the industry. Prized for their durability, heat and chemical resistance, and low toxicity, silicone polymers are found in countless everyday products, ranging from medical devices to car parts. Each year, millions of tons of silicone are produced globally. Producing silicones is highly energy-intensive, ...

A protein identified nearly 40 years ago for its ability to stimulate the production of red blood cells plays a surprising, critical role in dampening the immune system’s response to cancer. Blocking the activity of the protein turns formerly “cold,” or immune-resistant, liver tumors in mice into “hot” tumors teeming with cancer-fighting immune cells. When combined with an immunotherapy that further activates these immune cells against the cancer, the treatment led to complete regression of existing liver tumors in most mice. Treated animals lived for the duration of the experiment. In contrast, control animals survived only a few weeks. “This ...

A study conducted by CNRS1 researchers describes a new method of recycling silicone waste (caulk, sealants, gels, adhesives, cosmetics, etc.). It has the potential to significantly reduce the sector’s environmental impacts. This is the first universal recycling process that brings any type of used silicone material back to an earlier state in its life cycle where each molecule has only one silicon atom. And there is no need for the raw materials currently used to design new silicones. Moreover, since it is chemical and not mechanical ...

A simple consultation during unrelated visits to the emergency room can help patients with high blood pressure — “the silent killer” — manage the condition, even before they experience symptoms, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago.   Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is often called the silent killer because noticeable symptoms usually appear only when the disease has already progressed to serious complications.  For the study, published in JAMA Cardiology, UIC researchers enrolled more than 500 patients with elevated ...

If administered early, gene therapy has the potential to change the medical history of children born with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare and lethal neurodegenerative disease of genetic origin which leads to the progressive loss of the ability to walk, talk and interact. This was confirmed by a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which showed that the therapy, if administered early, is able to preserve motor function and cognitive abilities in most patients.. The study was conducted on 39 children with MLD at the San Raffaele Hospital in ...

Researchers from the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) have applied AI-driven processes for detecting tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) in thousands of digital images of melanoma tumor tissue, significantly enhancing TLS identification and survival predictions for operable stage III/IV patients. The presence of TLS, a key biomarker for better prognosis and improved survival, is not yet a standard part of patients’ pathology reports, and manual detection is labor-intensive and can be variable. Lead investigators Ahmad A. Tarhini, MD, PhD, and Xuefeng Wang, PhD, will present the new approach at ...

About The Study: Based on estimates from this modeling study, declining childhood vaccination rates will increase the frequency and size of outbreaks of previously eliminated vaccine-preventable infections, eventually leading to their return to endemic levels. The timing and critical threshold for returning to endemicity will differ substantially by disease, with measles likely to be the first to return to endemic levels and may occur even under current vaccination levels without improved vaccine coverage and public health response. These findings support the need to continue routine childhood ...

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) released the 2024 Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents List today. Released annually, the Top 100 U.S. Universities ranking highlights and celebrates U.S. academic institutions that play a large role in advancing innovation through the critical step of securing their intellectual property through patents. This enables and empowers them to translate their inventions, bringing important technologies to the marketplace, bolstering the economy and creating tangible societal solutions.  “In the ever-evolving innovation landscape, it is imperative that the U.S. is remaining competitive and ...

Biologically speaking, female and male bonobos have a weird relationship. First, there’s the sex. It’s the females who decide when and with whom they mate. They easily parry unwanted sexual advances—and the males know better than to force the issue. Second, there’s the food. It’s the females who usually control high-value, sharable resources—a fresh kill, say. They feed while sitting on the ground, unthreatened, while males hover in tree branches waiting for their ...

Mind blanking is a common experience with a wide variety of definitions ranging from feeling “drowsy” to “a complete absence of conscious awareness.” In an opinion article publishing April 24 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, a team of neuroscientists and philosophers compiles what we know about mind blanking, including insights from their own work observing people’s brain activity.  “During wakefulness, our thoughts transition between different contents. However, there are moments that are seemingly devoid of reportable content, referred to as mind blanking,” ...

A 113-million-year-old hell ant that once lived in northeastern Brazil is now the oldest ant specimen known to science, finds a report publishing in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 24. The hell ant, which was preserved in limestone, is a member of Haidomyrmecinae—an extinct subfamily that only lived during the Cretaceous period. These ants had highly specialized, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey.  “Our team has discovered a new fossil ant species representing the earliest undisputable geological record of ants,” said author Anderson Lepeco of Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São ...

About The Study: This study contributes to the existing literature by identifying that while insurance coverage is higher among children with disabilities, their families had higher adjusted odds for all of the financial hardships evaluated, compared with families of children without disabilities. This finding suggests that insurance is inadequate for disabled children. These data demonstrate a need to structure health insurance policies to ensure that children with disabilities have their needed medical ...

About The Study: The percentage of publicly insured children receiving any mental health or neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis significantly increased between 2010 and 2019, with increases observed for most diagnostic categories examined. These findings highlight the need for access to appropriate services in safety net systems and other settings that serve this population. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Janet R. Cummings, PhD, email jrcummi@emory.edu. To ...

Childhood vaccination rates have been falling in the United States, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lower levels of immunity have resulted in a resurgence of measles cases, including a recent outbreak in western Texas that infected more than 620 people, leading to 64 hospitalizations and the deaths of two children. If immunization rates drop further over a prolonged period of time, measles and even other wiped-out diseases — such as rubella and polio — could one day make a comeback in the United States, according to a new study by researchers ...

Fewer than one in 10 senior authors in a prestigious physics journal are women, according to a new study. Of 15 countries, Canada has the worst record. The 33 Canadian-led papers in Nature Physics in the last 10 years had zero senior authors who were women, according to a new study published by the journal. Author Dr. Alannah Hallas, associate professor in the UBC Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and the department of physics and astrophysics, discusses the results and how they highlight the need for further support for young scientists in the field. What did you find? I was inspired to investigate this topic after speaking to a top scientific ...

Researchers at University of California San Diego and Wake Forest University have found that both low and moderate-high intensity exercise could be valuable tools in the fight against Alzheimer’s. The new research, published as two papers in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, describes the results of the EXERT study (Exercise in Adults with Mild Memory Problems), a multi-site clinical trial of lower or moderate-high intensity exercise in sedentary older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s dementia. The researchers also compared their results to an ...

Prostate cancer has distinct genetic properties in different groups of men that can be targeted to improve patient outcomes, UVA Cancer Center researchers have discovered. Based on new findings in Chinese men, the researchers are urging similar studies in other groups to advance precision medicine and better tailor treatments. An international team of researchers co-led by UVA’s Hui Li, PhD, looked at what are known as “chimeric RNA” in Chinese men and found both similarities and differences to those seen in Western men. These RNAs can contribute to the growth of cancer and are widely used as both indicators of cancer and targets ...