Findings from Mass General Brigham investigators highlight the intricate interplay of diverse physiological processes as the brain shifts from wakefulness to sleep A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham used next-generation imaging technology to discover that when the brain is falling asleep, it shows a coordinated shift in activity. They found that during NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep, parts of the brain that handle movement and sensory input stay active and keep using energy, while ...

In the battle against mosquito-borne diseases that kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, scientists turned to an unlikely ally: a fungus that smells like flowers. Taking advantage of the mosquito’s natural attraction to flowers, an international team of researchers engineered a new strain of Metarhizium fungus that imitates a flower’s sweet scent and lures the bloodsucking bugs to their deaths.  Inspired by certain fungi that the team found emit a sweet-smelling chemical called longifolene to draw ...

Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in solar physics by providing the first direct evidence of small-scale torsional Alfvén waves in the Sun's corona – elusive magnetic waves that scientists have been searching for since the 1940s. The discovery, published today in Nature Astronomy, was made using unprecedented observations from the world's most powerful solar telescope, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii. The findings could finally explain one of the Sun's greatest mysteries ...

Winter vomiting disease is caused by the Norovirus, which is most virulent during the colder half of the year. The infection clears up after a couple of days, but the protection it provides is short-lived, meaning that the same person can fall repeatedly sick in a short space of time. But some people cannot succumb to the virus, thanks to a particular gene variant. “We wanted to trace the historical spread of the gene variant,” says Hugo Zeberg, senior lecturer in genetics at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, and researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.   Defective gene protects against ...

New research finds that common nervous system components are present in the gastrointestinal tract where they influence tumour growth, revealing untapped opportunities for cancer treatment. GLOBAL: Australian researchers have identified two nervous system components that drive tumour growth in gastrointestinal cancers, creating promising new avenues for treatment with existing approved therapies.   Our gut contains its very own nervous system and is commonly regarded as the second brain. Key players of this system are neuropeptides, the signalling ...

More expensive steak, cheaper tomatoes, but the same total cost for the average basket of groceries at the supermarket. A comprehensive study, led by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has analysed the potential effects of a food tax shift – where VAT is removed from healthy foods and levies are introduced on foods that have a negative impact on the climate. The study shows that a shift in taxes could have both environmental and human health benefits, and means that 700 fewer people in Sweden would die prematurely each year. Today, diet in many high-income countries is a leading risk factor for certain diseases and premature ...

Niigata, Japan - A collaborative research group led by Haruna Kimura (graduate student), Dr. Akito Hasegawa (Assistant Professor), and Prof. Riichiro Abe from the Division of Dermatology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, together with Prof. Takemasa Ozawa from the Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, and Dr. Yoichi Ogawa (Lecturer) from the Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Yamanashi, has developed a novel therapeutic candidate that may improve the prognosis of severe cutaneous adverse reactions such as Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). SJS/TEN are severe ...

Teens and young adults who use cannabis are more likely to become regular tobacco users – even if they haven’t previously tried tobacco – compared to similar people who do not use cannabis, suggests a US study published online in the journal Tobacco Control. Around 13% of new onset tobacco use was estimated to be attributable to cannabis, the study found. Tobacco smoking has been considered a gateway to cannabis use since the 1970s when smoking was much more prevalent and when almost all people who used cannabis had smoked tobacco first. Although tobacco use among teens and young adults has declined considerably ...

The Baltic states have emerged as global leaders in promoting media freedom internationally, according to a new Index on International Media Freedom Support (IMFS). The IMFS Index evaluates countries on how actively they support media freedom beyond their borders through diplomatic, funding and safety efforts. It is published by an independent group of academics at the University of East Anglia and City St George’s, University of London. Lithuania topped the Index, reflecting its strong diplomatic efforts to advance media freedom and its visa program supporting journalists in exile, including from Belarus and Russia. Estonia ranked 4th, ...

The Medical University of South Carolina has been awarded more than $11 million by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences over five years to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) to build resilience after trauma, which will be known as the South Carolina Building Resilience through Innovative Interventions to promote Growth and Health after Trauma COBRE, or the BRIGHT Center. The BRIGHT Center will be directed by clinical psychologist Carla Kmett Danielson, Ph.D., the first woman to lead a COBRE at MUSC. This will also be the first COBRE led by faculty members in ...

A trio of biomedical scientists at the University of California and University of Massachusetts have written a research-backed defense of DEI programs that was published today in the journal Nature Cell Biology. They assert that such programs broaden participation in and democratize science—ultimately producing more effective and supportive training environments for all scientists. To support their case, they cite research that rooted the National Institutes of Health's previous stance in support of diversity—before ...

What if the key to feeding the world didn’t come from a factory, but from a wastewater treatment plant? In a groundbreaking leap for sustainable agriculture, two leading Chinese research teams have turned one of the most overlooked waste streams, sewage sludge, into a powerful new resource for farming. Not just fertilizer, but precision-engineered fertilizer. Published on September 17, 2025, in the open-access journal Carbon Research, this innovative study reveals how modified hydrochar, a carbon-rich material made from treated sewage sludge, can ...

Applying woody biochar to farmland could help farmers grow healthier crops while locking more carbon into the soil, according to a new study published in Biochar. Researchers from Suncheon National University found that carefully managed applications of biochar significantly improved soil quality, crop yield, and carbon balance in red pepper fields over two growing seasons. Biochar is a carbon-rich material made by heating plant matter under low-oxygen conditions. When added to soil, it can store carbon for long periods and enhance soil fertility. However, the ideal amount of biochar for sustaining both crop production and carbon storage has remained unclear. To address this gap, the team ...

As climate extremes become more frequent, sugarcane growers face a double challenge: droughts that parch their crops and floods that drown them. A new review highlights how applying plant hormones from outside the plant, rather than waiting for natural processes—can strengthen sugarcane’s ability to cope with both too little and too much water. The study, published in Agricultural Ecology and Environment, examines how exogenous phytohormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellins (GA), and auxins can improve sugarcane’s drought and waterlogging tolerance. These tiny signaling ...

DALLAS and ITASCA, IL, Oct. 23, 2025 — The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association (the Association), a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere, have published updated guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care for newborn and pediatric populations. The “2025 American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care” mark a comprehensive update to the guidelines for pediatric basic and advanced life support and neonatal resuscitation since 2020. Experts from each ...

Frontline healthcare workers struggling with depression after the COVID-19 pandemic experienced significant relief from a treatment combining psilocybin group therapy with mindfulness training, according to a new study from Huntsman Mental Health Institute at University of Utah Health. Doctors and nurses who received this controlled, group psilocybin therapy along with an eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program saw far greater improvements than those who only learned mindfulness techniques. "Depression and burnout have long been serious problems for healthcare workers. When the pandemic only worsened these effects, ...

A new research paper published in Science reports the functional extinction of Acropora corals from Florida’s Coral Reef. Scientists documented catastrophic mortality of these critically endangered corals following a record-setting marine heatwave in 2023 that marked the ninth mass bleaching event for the region. Both Acropora coral species — staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) and elkhorn (Acropora palmata) — are important reef-builders in Florida and the Caribbean and have been a major focus of recent coral restoration efforts.  Led by the National Oceanic ...

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 23, 2025 — Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have uncovered an unexpected molecular partnership that reshapes scientists’ understanding of how brain inflammation arises in Alzheimer’s disease. In a study published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists led by assistant researcher Ruiming Zhao and Dr. Steve Goldstein, vice chancellor for health affairs at UC Irvine, discovered that amyloid precursor proteins – best known as the source of amyloid-beta ...

CORVALLIS, Ore – A new analysis of stone tools offers strong evidence for the theory that ancient people from the Pacific Rim traveled a coastal route from East Asia during the last ice age to become North America’s First Peoples, according to a paper published this week in the journal Science Advances. “This study puts the First Americans back into the global story of the Paleolithic – not as outliers – but as participants in a shared technological legacy,” said Loren Davis, professor of anthropology at Oregon ...

A collaborative team of scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of California Irvine, and Fort Lewis College, led by RASEI Fellow Gordana Dukovic, has found a way to slow energy leaks that have impeded the use of tiny nanocrystals in light-driven chemical and energy applications. As described in a new article published October 13 in the journal Chem, the team has used a molecule that strongly binds to the nanocrystal’s surface, essentially acting like a ‘dam’ to hold back the energy stored in the charge-separated state formed after light absorption. This technique extends the lifetime of the charge separation ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A study by University of California, Riverside, scientists has found that two toxic chemicals can form when the main ingredient in most e-cigarette fluids is heated, and that these compounds can harm human lung cells. The researchers characterized the toxicity of methylglyoxal and acetaldehyde, both known toxins that can be generated during the heating of vaping liquids containing propylene glycol. While these chemicals are already recognized as harmful in other settings, their impact during vaping has not been well understood until now. Using lab-grown human airway ...

A new genetic study overturns the myth of the “London Underground Mosquito,” revealing that this common urban insect originated not below the cities of modern Europe, but in ancient Mediterranean civilizations more than a thousand years ago, according to a new study. Modern cities are reshaping ecosystems, driving rapid adaptation in many species. A striking example is the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens, which exists in two forms: the bird-biting C. pipiens f. pipiens (pipiens), adapted to open-air, seasonal environments, and the human-biting C. pipiens f. molestus ...

The record-breaking 2023 marine heatwave has killed nearly all of Florida’s critically endangered Acropora coral colonies, marking the species’ functional extinction in Florida’s Coral Reef (FCR), researchers report. The findings sound a dire warning for the future of coral ecosystems in our rapidly warming oceans. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, such as marine heat waves, are severely undermining the health, structure, and resilience of ecosystems worldwide. Coral reefs, among the most heat-sensitive marine environments, ...

New paleontological findings offer insights into Wyoming’s “dinosaur mummies,” revealing that the stunningly preserved skin, spikes, and hooves of duck-billed dinosaurs are not fossilized flesh at all, but delicate clay molds formed by microbes as the creatures decayed, researchers report. Soft-tissue preservation in fossils usually occurs in fine-grained, oxygen-poor environments such as lagoons or seabeds, which enable the fossilization of delicate structures like feathers and skin. However, the so-called “dinosaur ...

Fatty Winter Snacks May Trick the Body into Packing on the Pounds  A new study from UC San Francisco shows that our natural eating patterns are more closely tied to seasonal rhythms than previously thought. Next time you’re tempted to raid the pantry for snacks loaded with saturated fat — especially in winter — you might want to consider that the result could be a mounting urge for high-calorie nibbles.  That’s because, from our body’s perspective, saturated fat — which ...