Researchers have developed a novel AI-driven framework using the XGBoost algorithm to accurately evaluate the skid resistance of asphalt pavements under various conditions. Published in Smart Construction, this breakthrough achieves over 90% prediction accuracy, offering a smarter and more adaptive approach to enhancing road safety and maintenance. Skid resistance is a critical factor for asphalt pavement durability and traffic safety, particularly under wet or extreme weather conditions. However, traditional evaluation methods, such as sand patch measurements or pendulum tests, often struggle with generalization across different pavement types and face challenges in quantifying ...

Background Osteosarcoma is the most prevalent primary malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. The current standard treatment involves a combination of chemotherapy and radical surgical resection. This approach, however, confronts two major clinical challenges: a high risk of postoperative recurrence and metastasis, and the creation of extensive bone defects that severely impair functional recovery and long-term quality of life. The advancement of biomaterials technology offers a promising strategy to address these dual challenges concurrently. These materials can function as localized ...

Compact, mixed-use districts are often assumed to naturally produce cleaner travel patterns, but the reality on the ground is far more complex.   In Singapore, for instance, two adjacent employment hubs—One-North and Science Park—share similar locations but differ sharply in how people move through them. A new study from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) reveals why and offers a high-resolution approach to understanding where emissions accumulate within districts rather than across entire cities.   Published in a research paper titled “A spatial framework for estimating transport emissions at the district scale: A ...

Soot emitted from diesel exhaust is the primary contributor to haze formation and elevated PM2.5 levels. Catalytic diesel particulate filters (CDPF) are considered the most economical and feasible post-treatment technique for controlling soot elimination. During cold starts of diesel engines, exhaust temperatures remain low (100-200 °C), resulting in a substantial increase in pollutant emissions. However, currently available catalysts cannot reduce the ignition temperature below the exhaust temperature, because few catalysts can continuously provide sufficient amounts ...

The excessive emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) leads to environmental problems such as global warming, and its catalytic conversion into high value-added chemicals and fuels has become a research hotspot. Methanol (CH3OH), as a saturated monohydrate, has excellent properties such as high energy density and high octane number, making it an ideal carrier for "green hydrogen". In addition, CH3OH, as an extremely important basic chemical raw material, is widely used in the synthesis of a series of important industrial chemicals and fuels. The hydrogenation ...

COVID-19 does not just affect the respiratory system, but also significantly alters the brain in people who have fully recovered from the infectious disease, highlighting the long-term neurological impact of the virus. Researchers from Griffith University’s National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Disease (NCNED) used advanced MRI techniques to ascertain the neurological implications of COVID-19 compared with those who had never been infected. The research provided compelling evidence that ...

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease. But a new cancer treatment method from CU Boulder researchers uses sound waves to soften tumors and could be a potent tool against the disease. Chemotherapy can help treat many types of cancer. Chemo drugs aim to disrupt or destroy cancer cells, which tend to grow and divide quickly. But the drugs aren’t always effective, partly because tumor tissue can be so dense that drugs can’t penetrate the inner layers of cells. Chemo drugs can also damage healthy cells and cause unpleasant side effects. In a new study in the ...

Black youth in the United States disproportionately experience fatal drowning at rates up to five times higher than their White peers. These statistics relate to historical and structural barriers Black youth face in learning to swim. In efforts to overcome these inequities, an innovative summer swimming program in Evanston, IL, was offered to Black kids entering third through fifth grades. After the three-week program, participants demonstrated significant improvement in objective and parental-reported swim skills, according to an evaluation study published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education. “Swimming is more than a sport. It ...

Six particular depressive symptoms when experienced in midlife predict dementia risk more than two decades later, finds a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers. Midlife depression has long been considered a risk factor for dementia in later life. However, new findings published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggest that this relationship is driven by a small cluster of specific symptoms rather than by depression overall. These symptoms are: Losing confidence in myself Not able to face ...

High levels of cholesterol are linked to heart disease, stroke, and many other health problems. However, this complex and vital fatty, water insoluble molecule—a lipid—is found in every cell of the body and is not all bad news. It also regulates crucial processes that science has yet to map. “Cholesterol helps build membranes and serves as the starting point for important hormones like estrone and testosterone, so it shapes many aspects of our health and disease,” says Michael ...

Australian scientists have identified the key genetic drivers behind long COVID, revealing why some people continue to experience debilitating symptoms long after their initial infection. The breakthrough, made using large scale biological datasets, could pave the way for targeted treatments and personalised diagnostics. The team, led by University of South Australia scientists, integrated genetic and molecular data from more than 100 different international studies, identifying 32 causal genes that increase the likelihood of ...

South Africa is home to some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth, contained in rocky, often layered outcroppings called microbialites. Like coral reefs, these complex “living rocks” are built up by microbes absorbing and precipitating dissolved minerals into solid formations. A new study, co-led by researchers at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and Rhodes University, suggests that these microbialites aren’t just surviving — they’re thriving. The paper, recently published in Nature Communications, quantifies how microbialites along the South African coast take up carbon ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.  –  The Office of Naval Research (ONR) named U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Petty Officer 1st Class and Navy Diver Mitchell Apgar as the 2025 ONR Sailor of the Year (SOY). SOY honors an Enlisted Sailor in the Navy in the pay grade of E-6 who demonstrates sustained superior performance, leadership and professionalism. “This is an absolute honor to be selected as this year's ONR Sailor of the Year,” Apgar said. “Coming from a Command with highly competitive and hard working first classes, my selection is a testament to the hard work and support of both my leaders ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new multicenter study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has established a practical, evidence-based definition for rapidly progressive dementia (RPD), a rare but devastating form of cognitive decline that develops over months instead of years. The findings, published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, may help clinicians recognize and treat RPD earlier, and enable researchers to work from a shared framework when studying the condition. While most types of dementia progress gradually, RPD advances with alarming speed, often leading to significant cognitive decline or death within one to two years. Although ...

Many so-called low-carbon projects promoted by major oil and gas companies — including hydrogen, biofuels, carbon capture and storage, and carbon offsetting — operate as false solutions that not only fail to effectively reduce emissions, but also prolong the lifespan of fossil fuel infrastructures, entrench environmental injustices, and reinforce the political and economic power of the very industry responsible for the climate crisis. This is demonstrated by a study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), in collaboration with the University ...

When scientists test algorithms that sort or classify data they often turn to a trusted tool called Normalized Mutual Information (or NMI) to measure how well an algorithm’s output matches reality. But according to new research, that tool may not be as reliable as many assume. In a paper published in Nature Communications, SFI Postdoctoral Fellow Max Jerdee, Alec Kirkley (University of Hong Kong), and SFI External Professor Mark Newman (University of Michigan) show that NMI — one of the most widely used metrics in data science and network research — can produce biased results. "Normalized mutual information has been used or referenced in thousands of papers in the ...

Alcohol consumption leads to the formation of a toxic compound called acetaldehyde, which damages DNA. A research team from IOCB Prague has now described in detail how cells repair this damaged genetic information. Their study provides new insight into the link between alcohol consumption and the development of cancer. The findings were published in the Nature Portfolio journal Communications Biology. The researchers focused on Fanconi anemia, a rare inherited disorder characterized by a failure to repair specific types of DNA damage. In this condition, the two strands of DNA literally become stuck ...

Viruses are everywhere in wastewater treatment plants, quietly interacting with bacteria as sewage is cleaned and reused. A new study reveals that these viral communities are far more complex and influential than previously recognized, with implications for water safety, antibiotic resistance, and how treatment performance is monitored. In research published in Biocontaminant, scientists used advanced metagenomic sequencing to track viruses and their microbial hosts across full scale wastewater treatment plants in China and Singapore. By analyzing samples from influent to final effluent, ...

You're invited! Join us for a free, live online webinar featuring Prof. Dato’ Dr. Agamutu Pariatamby FASc, Senior Professor and globally recognized expert in sustainable waste and climate solutions from the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University, Malaysia. When: December 17 (Wednesday), 2025 Malaysia Time (MYT): 10:00 AM China Standard Time (CST): 10:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): 2:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST, US & Canada): 9:00 PM (Dec 16) Where: Your screen! (Live via Zoom) Hosted by: Prof. Siming You, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom Topic: Bio-based ...

Soils do more than store carbon from plant residues. Beneath our feet, vast communities of microbes quietly pull carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into organic matter, helping regulate climate and sustain agricultural productivity. A new study reveals that this overlooked microbial process is strongly influenced by soil type, plant roots, and biochar, a carbon rich material increasingly promoted for sustainable farming. In research published in Biochar, scientists examined how autotrophic soil microbes ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 15 December 2025    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 behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------     1. ...

MIAMI, FL – A new study from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the Marine Megafauna Foundation finds that young Caribbean manta rays (Mobula yarae) often swim with groups of other fish, creating small, moving ecosystems that support a variety of marine species. South Florida—particularly along Palm Beach County—serves as a nursery for juvenile manta rays. For nearly a decade, the Marine Megafauna Foundation has been studying these rays and documenting the challenges they face from human activities near the coast, such as boat strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, which ...

The over-the-counter supplement lipoic acid may have a small beneficial effect in slowing the loss of gray matter in the brains of people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, according to new research led by Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Health Care System. However, the randomized controlled trial found that it did not improve the primary clinical outcome measured by walking speed. The findings were published Dec. 15 in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study included 54 participants with primary progressive and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. People in the experimental group ...

Norbert Holtkamp has been appointed as the new director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, effective Jan. 12, 2026. Holtkamp brings deep scientific and operational expertise to Fermilab, which is the premier particle physics and accelerator laboratory in the U.S. He is the former deputy director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University and currently serves as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, advocating for robust international scientific collaboration. He is also currently a professor of particle physics and astrophysics ...

Hyper-realistic holograms, next-generation sensors for autonomous robots, and slim augmented reality glasses are among the applications of metasurfaces, emerging photonic devices constructed from nanoscale building blocks. Now, Stanford engineers have developed an AI framework that rapidly accelerates metasurface design, with potential widespread technological applications. The framework, called MetaChat, introduces new computational tools and self-reflective AI assistants, enabling rapid solving of optics-related problems. The findings were reported recently ...