About The Study: This statewide cohort study found that childhood mortality is significantly higher among children bereaved by parental drug overdose, homicide, and suicide compared with the general child population. Parental homicide was associated with the highest risk of mortality in children and highlights the need for research into potential explanations, such as the impact on family restructuring and mental health. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sean Esteban McCabe, PhD, email plius@med.umich.edu. To access the embargoed ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest large language models (LLMs) can produce contextually appropriate motivational interviewing-consistent responses, but limitations in coherence and stylistic alignment highlight the need for further validation before clinical use. Motivational interviewing, a structured counseling approach, provides an empirically grounded setting for evaluating alignment between LLM-generated and human therapist responses. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Venkat Bhat, MD, MSc, email venkat.bhat@utoronto.ca. To ...

About The Study: In this multicenter randomized clinical trial among older adults with family history of dementia and/or self-reported subjective cognitive decline, exercise, intensive pharmacological reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, or both did not result in statistically significant differences in improvements in cognitive function over 24 months. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rong Zhang, PhD, email rongzhang@texashealth.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our ...

About The Study: In England’s health care system, multiple sclerosis prevalence more than doubled while survival rates increased over 30 years. Substantial gradients in tobacco use, abnormal weight, and socioeconomic deprivation persisted and were associated with mortality. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Raffaele Palladino, PhD, MD, email palladino.raffaele@gmail.com. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2026.0352) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional ...

 As modern medicine leaps forward in its ability to quickly and more-affordably run genetic disease risk tests, ethical questions have swirled about how best to inform people about risk findings they may have had no idea were coming. What information should stay in de-identified research databases? What should be uploaded into electronic medical records? Who should have access to those records? How much do people want to know about potential bad news in their genetic blueprint? And how should counseling be handled? Over the past six years, a team of Cincinnati Children’s and University of Cincinnati experts led by Leah Kottyan, PhD and Lisa Martin, PhD, has been part of ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has more than doubled in recorded prevalence in England from 2000 to 2020, increasing by 6% per year, largely due to improved diagnosis and longer life expectancy, finds a new study by University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London researchers. The team found that survival of people with MS improved significantly over time thanks to advances in treatments and care, although they also identified inequalities, with higher mortality in deprived areas. In the study published in JAMA Neurology, the researchers ...

A machine learning-based computational approach to accelerate therapeutic discovery Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by recurrent intestinal inflammation, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Although current treatments, including 5-aminosalicylic acid, antibiotics and biologics, can control or ameliorate symptoms, many patients experience incomplete responses or adverse effects. The search for safer and more effective therapies remains a major challenge. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), naturally occurring ...

Biological invasions are a major driver of biodiversity loss and invasive pollinators can reshape native plant-pollinator networks. A new study published in the journal NeoBiota, reveals that invasive pollinators are fundamentally reshaping native plant-pollinator networks in Chile, leading to a "silent takeover" that threatens the stability of one of the world's most unique biodiversity hotspots. Chile functions as a “biogeographical island,” isolated by the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert, and the Pacific Ocean. While this isolation has created a highly specialized ecosystem, ...

Key Points: A new study shows that field-portable assays are effective at identifying microbes directly in the field in real time, making it easier to study and explore caves. The researchers established a roadmap for thoroughly studying cave life, emphasizing the need to sample widely and from different materials. They also discovered that cave microbial communities change predictably from cave entrances to darker areas. The findings have implications on community ecology and public health for detecting and cataloging cave microbiomes, which may include human pathogens. Washington, D.C.—A new study has demonstrated that we now have the tools to study the incredibly ...

Past behavior matters, especially in law enforcement where certain pre-hire misbehavior by law enforcement candidates sharply increases the likelihood of police misconduct once they are hired, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The researchers analyzed pre-hire data and disciplinary records for 6,075 officers at more than 150 municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies across the United States, tracking them for up to five years. They identified which background warning signs most accurately predicted later misconduct. Officers who had a prior record of ...

Natural hazards cause enormous damage to infrastructure systems that societies depend on every day. When these systems fail, the consequences can ripple through economies and communities. Researchers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to help governments and emergency managers restore critical infrastructure faster and more effectively. A new review published in Civil Engineering Sciences examines how machine learning (ML) methods are being applied to support infrastructure recovery following natural hazards. The study was conducted by researchers from University College London and Tsinghua University and systematically analyzed 57 academic studies to understand ...

Cambridge, MA (March 23, 2026) — A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have for the first time used galactic archaeology, the study of detailed chemical fingerprints in deep space, to trace the history of a galaxy outside the Milky Way. The study, published today in the journal Nature Astronomy, demonstrates a new way to reconstruct the evolution of distant galaxies, and opens up a new field of astronomy, called “extragalactic archaeology.”  “This is the first time that a chemical archaeology ...

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide and a major contributor to heart failure (HF), affecting over 64 million people globally. Steatotic liver disease (SLD) encompasses a spectrum of liver disorders characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the liver, including metabolic dysfunction-associated SLD (MASLD), MASLD with increased alcohol intake (MetALD), and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Recent research indicates that these SLD subtypes are closely linked to the development and progression of both ...

In nature, a certain size is often a prerequisite for biomolecules to perform their specific functions. For example, for proteins or DNA to fulfil their vital tasks, they must be folded in a precise manner – and this requires a certain minimum length. Chemists in the laboratory have long been able to achieve the step-by-step construction of proteins and nucleic acids with defined lengths and compositions using solid-phase synthesis. Now, for the first time, German and Korean researchers have presented a comparable synthesis ...

Trying to persuade people to abandon deeply held views often backfires, leaving groups entrenched and unable to move forward. A new study by researchers at the University of Bath in the UK proposes a strategy that is both surprising and more effective: encourage neutrality. The researchers, led by Professor Kit Yates from the Department of Mathematics, found that when individuals are encouraged to step back and adopt a neutral position – for example by abstaining in a vote – groups become more responsive, decisions become easier to reach, and shifts in consensus happen more smoothly. Neutrality does not stall ...

Researchers from the Earlham Institute, in collaboration with The Department of Biology at the University of Oxford, discovered three previously unrecognised lineages of the protist Bodo, each with its own bacterial endosymbiont (a symbiotic organism living within the body of its host). Bodo is a genus of heterotrophic (a living organism that obtains nutrition from other plants, animals, or microorganisms) protists that are common in fresh and brackish waters and soil. They are the closest known free-living relatives of Trypanosoma, a parasitic protist that causes major human diseases including Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). Until ...

Key points Study offers insight into the experiences of foreign volunteer fighters in Ukraine for the first time. US and UK veterans who have volunteered in Ukraine report extremely intense combat exposure and limited training or preparation. Many experience significant combat trauma-related distress, alcohol misuse and untreated physical injuries, yet struggle to access appropriate healthcare in Ukraine or on returning home. Existing military and civilian support systems appear to be ill-equipped to recognise ...

New research from the University of St Andrews reports sperm whales headbutting one another. The behaviour was captured on film and described scientifically for the first time, confirming accounts by 19 th century mariners of sperm whales using their heads to deliberately push and strike objects, occasionally even sinking ships, thereby inspiring Herman Melville’s classic tale Moby Dick. Using drone technology, researchers were able to film sperm whales headbutting  each other, as well as the surrounding behavioural and social context. ...

Plants need water, light and air to thrive. But when they transport water from the soil up to their leaves, they defy gravity. Scientists describe this astonishing phenomenon as “negative water potential”, a form of negative tension that enables herbs, shrubs and trees to draw water from the soil. Nevertheless, plants do not constantly extract water from the soil. For decades, researchers have sought to understand what limits a plant’s water uptake. Now, a team of researchers led by Andrea Carminati, Professor of Soil Physics at ETH Zurich, and Tim ...

ATLANTA, March 23, 2026— Anybody who tried to use a smartphone or tablet with long nails knows that there’s a learning curve. Rather than effortlessly tapping with a fingertip, you must awkwardly lay the pads of your fingers onto the screen. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just type with your fingernails instead? To try and make this idea a reality, a group of researchers are formulating a clear nail polish that could turn long fingernails into touchscreen-compatible styluses.  The team from Centenary ...

New research indicates that psychosocial factors—which influence how a person perceives, interprets, and reacts to their surroundings—do not affect an individual’s risk of developing cancer. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. For the study, investigators examined data from the Psychosocial Factors and Cancer (PSY-CA) consortium, an international research collaboration funded by the Dutch Cancer Society that analyzes information from prospective studies to assess whether psychosocial factors—such as perceived social support, loss of a loved one, relationship ...

ATLANTA, March 23, 2026 — Fast fashion is an inexpensive way to dress rapidly growing kids. But preliminary research has found that the fabric in some of these items contains an unwanted, toxic ingredient: lead. After testing several shirts from different retailers, undergraduate researchers found that all samples exceeded U.S. federal regulatory lead limits. They also estimate that even briefly chewing these fabrics (which young kids tend to do) could expose children to dangerous lead levels. The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring ...

The first study of US and UK military veterans who volunteered to fight in Ukraine reveals extreme combat exposure including drone warfare and trench fighting, with high rates of PTSD, moral injury, and alcohol misuse. Most struggled to access mental health care in Ukraine or after returning home.

Researchers at the University of St Andrews used drones to film sperm whales headbutting one another in the Azores and Balearic Islands - the first scientific documentation of a behavior that 19th-century whalers described and that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Surprisingly, it was sub-adults, not large males, engaging in the collisions.

Researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Tasmania have found that the limiting factor in plant water uptake is not the plant's own physiology but the physics of water movement through soil pores. The finding, published in Science, explains why breeding programs aimed at making drought-resistant crops through increased cellular solute concentrations have consistently failed.