ITHACA, NY.—The release of the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report was announced today at the 90th annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The report, produced by a coalition of leading science and conservation organizations, reveals continued widespread declines in American bird populations across all mainland and marine habitats, with 229 species requiring urgent conservation action. The report comes five years after the landmark 2019 study that documented the loss of 3 ...

Among older adults in Spain, hospitalisation rates from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection increases progressively with age and is more likely among people with other health issues and who live in nursing homes, according to a study published in Eurosurveillance. The hospitalisation rate varied considerably with age and the presence of risk conditions, with important implications for possible targeted interventions.  This population-based cohort study analysed patient data for adults over the age of 60 years in seasons 2016/17 to 2019/20 obtained through electronic medical records ...

TAMPA, Fla. (March 13, 2025) – The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has puzzled researchers since 2011. A recent study published in Nature Communications may have identified what drove a tipping point that established the phenomenon in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Using computer modeling, a team of international researchers demonstrated that sargassum blooms were brought to the tropics by strong ocean currents and wind and thrived in ideal growing conditions. Specifically, two consecutive years of a strong negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a shift in atmospheric pressure over the Atlantic that changes circulation and wind patterns, pushed sargassum into the tropics starting ...

Miami (March 13, 2025) – For current and former smokers, statins may reduce the amount of chest muscle loss, while aspirin may contribute to increased chest muscle loss, according to a new study. The study is published in the January 2025 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Many people who are current or former smokers are prescribed statins to manage high cholesterol and aspirin to manage heart disease. Research has shown that current or former smokers experience increased skeletal muscle loss, especially in people ...

Many people dream of retiring to a warmer, less expensive country. But retirees who move abroad may be at greater risk of loneliness than those who stay in their home country, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.  “International retirement migration is increasingly popular in Europe and around the world. On social media you see all the people in Europe sunbathing in Spain, American retirees are moving to Mexico and Japanese retirees to Malaysia,” said study lead author Esma Betül Savaş, MSc, of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographics Institute. “Although these retirement migrants generally ...

Cambridge, MA, Mar 13 — Insilico Medicine(“Insilico”), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, announced today that it has successfully secured a $110 million Series E financing led by a private equity fund of Value Partners Group (HKG:0806), one of Asia’s largest independent asset management firms, with strong participation from industry- and technology-focused new investors, as well as continued support from global existing backers.  The funds raised in this round will be directed to advance Insilico's innovative drug pipeline ...

CLEVELAND—Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have discovered molecules that present the potential to drive the development of gastric cancer—among the world’s deadliest forms of the disease. Gastric, or stomach cancer, remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, according to the American Cancer Society, because it’s difficult to diagnose at an early stage and treatments often fail once the disease has spread. But a team of researchers led by Kishore Guda, associate professor at the Digestive ...

WASHINGTON—Members of the media can now register to cover hormone health and science advances at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting. The meeting will take place July 12-15, in San Francisco, Calif. ENDO 2025 offers journalists the opportunity to discuss groundbreaking research with world-renowned experts in diverse fields, including obesity, diabetes, reproductive health, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, bone health and thyroid cancer. The meeting is the premier global conference in endocrinology research and clinical care. The event is expected to draw thousands of people from all over the world. This year’s program will feature ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A nine-year study comparing a typical two-year corn and soybean rotation with a more intensive three-year rotation involving corn, cereal rye, soybean and winter wheat, found that the three-year system can dramatically reduce nitrogen — an important crop nutrient — in farm runoff without compromising yield. The new findings are detailed in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science. “Subterranean drainage pipes called tiles transport nitrogen, in the form of nitrate, from fields to streams, impairing downstream surface waters,” the scientists wrote. ...

Atrial functional mitral regurgitation (AFMR) is a common type of MR linked to high rates of heart failure, highlighting the need to understand its prognostic factors. Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a known prognostic factor in heart diseases like heart failure and degenerative MR. It is also frequently observed in AFMR patients, making it crucial to understand its impact on AFMR outcomes. To address this gap, a research team led by Dr. Tomohiro Kaneko and Dr. Nobuyuki Kagiyama from the Department of Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine at ...

A new neuroimaging study has revealed that viewing nature can help ease how people experience pain, by reducing the brain activity linked to pain perception. Published in the journal Nature Communications and led by a team from the University of Vienna and University of Exeter, the research offers a promising foundation for new types of non-pharmacological pain treatments. Using an fMRI scanner, researchers monitored the brain activity of 49 participants in Austria, as they received pain delivered through a series of small electric shocks. When they were watching videos of a natural scene compared to ...

A research group, led by Dr. Pavel Majer from IOCB Prague, in collaboration with the laboratories of Barbara Slusher and Louis Garza at Johns Hopkins University, have developed a compound that could potentially treat the autoimmune disorder alopecia areata, which causes hair loss leading to the formation of bald patches.The results of their study, recently published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, confirm the efficacy of a series of prodrugs based on derivatives of itaconic acid, simply referred to as itaconates. What is more, there is a good chance that the substances will be ...

(BERGEN, Norway) – Today, the Holberg Prize—one of the largest international prizes awarded annually to an outstanding researcher in the humanities, social sciences, law or theology—named Indian scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak as its 2025 Laureate. Spivak is University Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. She will receive the award of NOK 6,000,000 (approx. EUR 515,000) during a 5th June ceremony at the University of Bergen, Norway. Spivak is considered one of the most influential global intellectuals of our time, and she has shaped literary criticism and philosophy since the ...

Gut microbiota may be the key factor explaining why certain individuals do not respond well to the pneumococcal vaccine-a bacterium that can cause various diseases, such as pneumonia. This conclusion is drawn from a recent study led by the B Cell Biology Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, published in Science Advances. Researchers analyzed vaccine responses using genetically modified mouse models to study two types of pneumococcal vaccines-one commonly used in children and another in adults. Although these vaccines function through different mechanisms, both provide broad coverage. However, in individuals with a specific type of immunodeficiency, immunoglobulin ...

Press release Information embargoed until March 13, 2025, at 09:00 am (time in Barcelona, Spain)   Sorghum is an increasingly important crop for animal and human nutrition, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, due to its natural resistance to drought and high temperatures. CRAG researchers have identified the molecular mechanisms responsible for drought resistance in sorghum and developed tools that could be used in biotechnological applications. These advances could combat the effects of climate change, reduce dependence on imports and improve food security for human consumption.   Bellaterra (Barcelona), 13 March ...

It is well known that culture influences consumer behavior, but the impact of culture on pricing is less studied. One way culture might reflect in price tags is through price endings, which can be round (eg $10.00), just below (eg £9.99), or precise (eg €9.87). While all these price endings are common, little is known about why sellers in certain markets prefer one over the others. Now, researchers in Germany have examined whether cultural dimensions – individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation – impact how often consumers see certain types of price endings. “Given that culture significantly influences behavior, cognition, ...

Spinal cord injury (SCI)—a condition that leads to partial or complete paralysis—has a profound impact on millions of individuals globally. Despite recent advances in SCI treatment, restoring lost motor functions, such as hand movement, remains a significant challenge. Now, in a new study published online in Brain Communications on March 13, 2025, a team led by Professor Takuya Takahashi from the Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine at Yokohama City University, Japan, along with Dr. Yukio Nishimura, ...

Recovered grasslands need more than 75 years of continuous management to regain their biodiversity because specialized pollinators are slow to return. Kobe University's finding underscores the importance of preserving old grasslands as reservoirs of biodiversity, even if it is just as ski slopes. Grasslands worldwide are rapidly disappearing due to land-use conversion and abandonment, leading to a well-documented loss of grassland biodiversity. Restoring abandoned grasslands by removing woody vegetation and resuming traditional land management practices has positive effects ...

For residents of Kibera, one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements, access to nutritious food is often scarce. School meals are a lifeline for many families. But the case study of one small school is proving that- with the right ingredients- school meal programs can become even more beneficial. Research just published in Sustainability found that incorporating locally available, nutrient-rich crops into school meal programs can significantly improve nutrition for children while cutting costs. Changing the Menu In this ...

Do you have lots of close friends – and work hard to keep it that way? If you’ve answered “yes”, you are probably nostalgic. People who are prone to nostalgia have more close friends and put more effort into maintaining their friendships and other relationships than less sentimental sorts. That’s the finding of a new study of almost 1,500 individuals in the U.S. and Europe, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cognition and Emotion. The finding is important because maintaining close relationships with others is essential ...

Antibody treatment which activates the patient’s own immune system against cancer, known as immunotherapy, is increasingly being investigated as an alternative for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This is because it specifically targets the cancer cells, which reduces the side effects seen with more conventional therapies. Tumours, such as some breast and ovarian cancers, can express the marker HER2. HER2 is responsible for cancer growth and is the target of existing therapies, such as the most commonly used type of antibodies, IgG. However, this treatment ...

Royal Astronomical Society press release RAS PR 25/10 Embargoed until 00:01 on Thursday 13 March 2025 At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the "devastating" effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers at Keele University say these super-powerful blasts – caused by the death of a massive star – may have previously stripped our planet's atmosphere of its ozone, sparked acid rain and exposed life to harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. They believe a supernova explosion close to Earth could be to blame for both the late Devonian and Ordovician ...

Over 1.2 million medical device adverse event reports were not submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the deadline set by federal regulations, finds an analysis of recent data published by The BMJ today. Of these late reports, more than 400,000 were submitted more than six months after the manufacturer was notified of an adverse event. The researchers warn that late adverse event reporting may prevent early detection of patient safety concerns. Most medical devices in the US are approved on the condition that manufacturers report to the FDA when they learn that any of their devices have malfunctioned or may ...

Surgical adhesions — common, sometimes life-threatening complications that arise after open or laparoscopic abdominal surgery — can be prevented in mice and pigs by a gel impregnated with a molecule that blocks a key signaling pathway in the formation of scar tissue. The gel can be applied as a spray or a wash to the inside of the abdominal cavity immediately after surgery. Over a period of two weeks, the gel releases a small molecule, T-5224, that blocks the activation of adhesion-forming ...

Nickel’s role in the future of electric vehicle batteries is clear: It’s more abundant and easier to obtain than widely used cobalt, and its higher energy density means longer driving distances between charges. However, nickel is less stable than other materials with respect to cycle life, thermal stability, and safety. Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Argonne National Laboratory aim to change that with a new study that dives deep into nickel-based cathodes, one of the two electrodes that facilitate energy storage in batteries. "High-nickel cathodes ...