Before plants evolved, vegetative life consisted of primitive green algae living in the sea. Like plants, these algae survived by performing photosynthesis, turning sunlight into energy. However, little light reaches the ocean where algae live; therefore, they evolved specialized organs to grab what little is available. Among these tiny ocean algae are prasinophytes, which are among the earliest photosynthetic life forms on Earth. Like all photosynthetic organisms, they rely on a pigment–protein complex called LHC to capture sunlight. How efficiently LHC performs photosynthesis in different environments depends on the pigments ...

Nearly two million children in the UK are affected by early language delays. New research will examine whether noise in nurseries is a hidden factor.  An estimated 1.9 million children across the UK are affected by early language delays, with rates doubling among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. A major new research project led by The Institute for the Science of Early Years (ISEY) at the University of East London supported by the Nuffield Foundation, will explore how background noise in nurseries affects early language development. The study ...

Doctors have found that metformin, an everyday medicine for diabetes, is associated with less progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the commonest cause of blindness in western countries. People with diabetes over the age of 55 years taking metformin were 37% less likely to develop the intermediate stage of AMD over a five year period compared to those not taking metformin. AMD is a disease which affects the central retina or macular at the back of the eye. It eventually causes the light-sensitive tissue to die off (geographic atrophy, a form of ‘dry’ ...

New York, February 2, 2026 — The invention of tiny devices capable of precisely controlling the direction and behavior of light is essential to the development of advance technologies. Researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have taken a significant step forward with the developed of a metasurface that can turn invisible infrared light into visible light and aim it in different directions—without any moving parts. The details of their work are explained in a new paper published in the journal eLight. The novel metasurface is constructed of an ultra-thin chip patterned with ...

From Laser Breakthroughs to New Frontiers in Nuclear Decay Control With the continuous progress in experimental laser technology, significant improvements in laser energy and peak intensity have been achieved in recent years. The direct interaction between intense lasers and atomic nuclei has emerged as an exciting new possibility, one capable of altering nuclear decay lifetimes. Investigating the influence of strong laser fields on nuclear decay can elucidate how these fields affect nuclear structure ...

Approaches by some European countries and Australia to protect energy consumers could help countries worldwide phase out harmful electricity disconnections without destabilising power markets, new research has found. The RMIT University-led study examines protections in Spain, France and Ireland and outlines how similar measures could be adapted in other competitive energy markets to reduce the harms caused by disconnections for non‑payment. Across Europe, 20 million households were disconnected from electricity and gas at some point during 2022, according to the EU Agency for the Cooperation ...

In a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health) identify a novel RNA molecule that plays a crucial role in preserving the integrity of a key cellular structure, nucleolus (a dense region of the cell containing a subset of crucial genetic material). Their findings also suggest this molecule may influence patient survival in certain blood cancers. A surprising discovery inside a familiar gene RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a short-lived molecule copied from DNA that enables cells to use genetic information. Specific DNA ...

URBANA, Ill.  – In Bangladesh, programs targeting ultra-poor, rural households can help families escape extreme poverty. However, the programs may have the unintended consequence of reinforcing gender gaps, a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds. “We were interested in looking at whether such interventions influence parents’ expectations for their children’s education and occupation, which can promote social mobility. Because there are huge disparities between boys and girls in Bangladesh, we also wanted to see if it affected the gender gap,” said lead author Alejandro Montoya Castaño. He was a doctoral ...

Plants grown for biofuel have the potential to power our travel industry, but an important fraction of their chemical power has remained stubbornly difficult to recover. New research from the DOE-funded Center for Advanced Biofuel and Bioproduct Innovation on the University of Illinois campus has demonstrated a way to preserve native lignin structure, a key component of plant matter for conversion to other valuable products, putting an improved pathway for biofuel and bioproduct production within reach. The ...

Almost one-third of physicians who are enrolled in Medicaid don’t actually care for a single patient covered by Medicaid insurance, according to new research led by Oregon Health & Science University. The study, published today in the journal Health Affairs, sheds new light on a program that covers nearly 80 million Americans. Researchers also found that another third of health care providers enrolled in Medicaid see a high volume of patients — more than 150 annually — and may be overburdened. Combined, the findings paint a picture of a situation in which enrollment data alone may obscure the reality ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 2 February 2026    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, 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 ...

Hybrid climate modelling has emerged as an effective way to reduce the computational costs associated with cloud-resolving models while retaining their accuracy. The approach retains physics-based models to simulate large-scale atmospheric dynamics, while harnessing deep learning to emulate cloud and convection processes that are too small to be resolved directly. In practice, however, many hybrid AI-physics models are unreliable. When simulations extend over months or years, small errors can accumulate and cause the model to become unstable. In a new ...

Last year, at least one million people in the U.S. were hospitalized for respiratory virus illnesses like the flu or COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these individuals were at higher risk of getting infections due to living or working around young children who contract more respiratory infections. A new clinical trial led by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) will test a new experimental intranasal ...

Natalie McCormick, PhD, of the Rheumatology and Allergy Clinical Epidemiology Research (RACER) Center within the Division of Rheumatology in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine, is the lead author of a paper published in Diabetes Care, “Gout-Related Medication Use After Initiating Sodium–Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors in Patients With Gout and Type 2 Diabetes: Population-Based Target Trial Emulation Studies.” Q: What challenges or unmet needs make this study important? Gout, a type of inflammatory arthritis caused by a buildup of uric acid (urate) in the body, affects 5.1% ...

Gas vesicles are among the largest known protein nanostructures produced and assembled inside microbial cells. These hollow, air-filled cylindrical nanostructures found in certain aquatic microbes have drawn increasing interest from scientists due to their potential for practical applications, including as part of novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools. However, producing gas vesicles is a hard ask for cells in the lab, hindering the development of applications. In a recent study published in Nature Communications, a team of researchers led by Rice University bioengineer George Lu reports the development of a new genetic regulatory system to improve cell viability during the production ...

MIAMI — Scientists have created an AI model that forecasts moderate heat stress — a major precursor to coral bleaching — at sites along Florida’s Coral Reef up to six weeks ahead, with predictions generally accurate within one week. The study presents a site-specific, explainable machine-learning framework to support coral scientists and restoration practitioners with local reef management and emergency response planning. “This model gives coral scientists and resource managers advance notice of whether heat stress is likely to occur in a season — and, more importantly, ...

Scientists at Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) have successfully realized the highly selective asymmetric 1,6-addition of aliphatic Grignard reagents to α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. This new methodology employs an iron catalyst in combination with a chiral N-heterocyclic carbene ligand, which suppresses undesired side reactions and drives highly regio-, stereo-, and enantioselective alkyl migration. The achievement represents a major advance in organic synthesis, offering new opportunities for drug discovery, materials chemistry, and the fine-chemical sector.   In organic chemistry, ...

A study by UC Riverside and USC education scholars found that Black and Latino teens are significantly more adept than their white peers at detecting online disinformation—particularly content related to race and ethnicity. These youth are not only quicker to identify false claims and racist propaganda, but also more likely to verify posts with credible sources and respond with corrective, fact-based content,      the study found. According to the researchers, these skills are not being taught.  “This ...

As we age, we begin to lose the connections that wire up our brains—and neuroscientists aren’t sure why.  It is increasingly clear, though, that the loss of synapses—the flexible and adaptive relay stations central to our brains’ ability to think, learn, and remember—is central to the rise of cognitive decline and dementia in old age. Now, researchers supported by the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience have discovered clues that may tie synapse loss to another hallmark of brain aging: the declining ability of brain cells to break down and recycle damaged proteins. Published January 21, 2026, in Nature, the study shows ...

Key Takeaways Harvard SEAS researchers have developed a mathematical framework for optimizing the design of rolling contact joints, which are made of rolling surfaces and flexible connectors. To demonstrate their method, they developed a knee-like joint that reduced misalignment by 99% compared with standard mechanisms, and a robotic gripper that could hold three times the weight of a conventionally designed gripper.  Consider the marvelous physics of the human knee. The largest hinge joint in the body, it has two rounded bones held together ...

  Prior to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, Americans lived in communities awash with lead from industrial sources, paint, water supply pipes and, most significantly, tailpipe emissions. A dangerous neurotoxin that accumulates in human tissues and is linked to developmental deficits in children, environmental lead levels have come way down in the years since, and so have human exposures. The proof is in your hair. An analysis of hair samples conducted by University of Utah scientists show precipitous reductions in lead levels since 1916. “We were able to show through our hair samples what the lead concentrations ...

Markus Knaden's Odor-guided Behavior research group at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has been studying the effects of ozone on chemical communication in insects for some time. The research team was able to show that increased ozone levels alter the mating signal in fruit flies because ozone breaks down the carbon-carbon double bonds in the insects' sex pheromones. After male flies were exposed to ozone, they were no longer able to distinguish females from other males (see press release Air ...

You check into a hotel and toss and turn all night, but your sleep improves the following night. Scientists at Nagoya University wanted to understand why this happens. Working with mice, they have identified a group of neurons that become active when an animal enters a new environment. These neurons release a molecule called neurotensin that maintains wakefulness. The effect protects them from potential dangers in unknown surroundings. The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This discovery may explain the "first ...

Some tropical land regions may warm more dramatically than previously predicted, as climate change progresses, according to a new CU Boulder study that looks millions of years into Earth’s past. Using lake sediments from the Colombian Andes, researchers revealed that when the planet warmed millions of years ago under carbon dioxide levels similar to today’s, tropical land heated up nearly twice as much as the ocean. The study was published February 2 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  “The tropics are ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a novel liquid biopsy approach to identify early-stage cancers by measuring the random variation in DNA methylation patterns, rather than the absolute level of those patterns as in other liquid biopsies. The method, which utilizes a new metric called the Epigenetic Instability Index (EII), successfully distinguished — with high accuracy — patients with early-stage lung and breast cancers from healthy individuals. ...