NEW YORK, NY (Feb. 24, 2025)--A new study, led by researchers at Columbia University, suggests it is easy for youths to purchase cannabis from unlicensed dispensaries in New York City, despite state laws that bar access to recreational cannabis to those under age 21.  “Regulation to restrict access in this age group is based on evidence that cannabis affects working memory, brain development, and increases addiction risk when used at an early age,” says Ryan Sultán , an assistant professor ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have carried out an unprecedentedly detailed survey of pumice rafts in the aftermath of the 2021 Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba volcanic eruption in Japan. Using samples from 213 different locations, they considered raft density, the size and roundness of individual pumice, and biological species attached. Their findings revealed three phases in the evolution of drift pumice, involving rounding, fragmentation, and the diversification of attached biological organisms over time. It is said that 85% of volcanic eruptions happen underwater. While their cousins on land might seem more vivid, the effects of underwater eruptions can be just as ...

Historically, access to geothermal energy has hinged on real estate’s famously three most important factors: location, location, and location. Because conventional geothermal power plants require hot, permeable rocks and plenty of underground fluid, use of the technology has been limited mostly to places with recent volcanism, such as Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Kenya, El Salvador, Iceland, and the western United States. Over the past 50 years, however, techniques originally developed for oilfields and adapted for “enhanced geothermal systems” (EGS) have offered the promise ...

Many Medicare patients with advanced cancer receive potentially aggressive treatment at the expense of supportive care, according to a study that analyzed Medicare records.    The study, published in JAMA Health Forum, examined the quality of end-of-life care among 33,744 Medicare decedents. The study involved patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds, age 66 or older who died from breast, prostate, pancreatic or lung cancers.     Overall, claims records showed that 45% of the patients experienced potentially ...

As traditional candles burn, they can contribute to indoor air pollution by emitting volatile compounds and smoke, which may pose inhalation risks. Scented wax melts are often marketed as safer alternatives to candles because they’re flame- and smoke-free. But in a study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers describe how aroma compounds released from the melted wax can react with ozone in indoor air to form potentially toxic particles. Previous research has shown that scented wax melts emit more airborne scent compounds than traditional candles. The ...

ITHACA, N.Y. –Using underwater microphones and machine learning (ML), Cornell University researchers have developed a new method to estimate North Atlantic right whale numbers — offering a potentially safer and more cost-effective way to monitor this critically endangered species. Their study, published in Endangered Species Research, demonstrates how microphones combined with ML and traditional aerial survey methods can help track right whale populations in Cape Cod Bay, a crucial feeding ground where the whales gather each spring. To track this endangered species, researchers rely on costly and dangerous ...

For nearly two decades, scientists have tried to understand how negatively polarized platinum electrodes corrode, a costly mystery that plagues water electrolyzers, a promising energy technology for making hydrogen, as well as electrochemical sensors using platinum electrodes. Now, a close collaboration between researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Leiden University has finally identified the culprit, potentially paving the way for cheaper hydrogen energy production and more reliable electrochemical sensors. The results were published in Nature Materials. Electrolyzers ...

Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world’s population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an environmental threat, contaminating waterways and generating greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Agricultural Science & Technology have addressed those challenges with glass fertilizer beads. The beads control nutrient release, and the researchers say they’re environmentally compatible. “The results show that glass fertilizers can be tailored to plant needs, slowly and sustainably releasing ...

Researchers at Stockholm University have developed a fully biobased hair conditioner using lignin gel emulsions, offering a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional haircare products. Hair conditioners typically contain 20–30 ingredients, many derived from petroleum and oleochemicals, raising concerns about sustainability and environmental impact. A new study published in Science Advances, demonstrates that micellar lignin gels can effectively stabilize emulsions with natural oils, reducing the need for synthetic surfactants and complex stabilizers commonly used in commercial formulations. The research team, led by Mika Sipponen at Stockholm University, ...

Perovskite solar cells are highly efficient and low cost in production. However, they still lack stability over the decades under real weather conditions. An international research collaboration led by Prof. Antonio Abate has now published a perspective on this topic in the journal Nature Reviews Materials. They explored the effects of multiple thermal cycles on microstructures and interactions between different layers of perovskite solar cells. They conclude that thermal stress is the decisive factor in the degradation of metal-halide perovskites. Based on this, they derive the most promising strategies to increase the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells.   Perovskites ...

University of Houston professors Birol Dindoruk, Megan Robertson and Francisco Robles Hernandez have joined the prestigious list of Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors. The University of Houston now has 39 faculty members in the NAI. “We congratulate these three esteemed colleagues on being named NAI Senior Members,” said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at UH. “This recognition is a testament to their dedication, research excellence and pursuit of real-world impact by knowledge and technologies. Their achievements continue to elevate the University as a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.” NAI Senior Members ...

Only two blue whale births have ever been recorded in human history, both decades ago. This remains an extraordinary mystery given there used to be hundreds of thousands of blue whales before whaling started — even today blue whales number around 10,000 to 25,000­ — and they give birth every two to three years. Not only are births very stealthy, but calves are also only rarely sighted — far less than would be expected from their pregnancy rates. Calves closely follow their moms and are sighted as mother-calf pairs, but why are so few detected? A new University ...

The University of Texas at Arlington is joining forces with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) to operate the new National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing Satellite Campus at Pegasus Park (NCTM2) in Dallas. UTA’s Institute of Biomanufacturing and Precision Medicine (IMPRINT) is partnering with TEES on NCTM2, an extension of the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM) in College Station. The collaboration will expand UTA’s biomanufacturing capabilities and provide NCTM2 with access to financial ...

Kennesaw State University researcher Chen Zhao has earned the 2025 American Heart Association Institutional Research Enhancement Award (AIREA) for his unique research on non-invasive blood flow prediction in cardiovascular disease diagnosis. The $194,032 award will allow Zhao to continue developing technology aimed at evaluating Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), a measurement used to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CAD is the leading cause of death in the United States, with an average of 375,000 to ...

Researchers of photonics from Tampere University, Finland, and Kastler-Brossel Laboratory, France, have demonstrated how self-imaging of light, a phenomenon known for nearly two centuries, can be applied to cylindrical systems, facilitating unprecedented control of light’s structure with great potential for advanced optical communication systems. In addition, a new type of space-time duality is explored for powerful analogies bridging different fields of optics. In 1836, Henry F. Talbot performed an experiment, where ...

Virginia has made significant investments in the restoration of oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay, and now a study led by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS suggests those management practices are literally paying off in the Rappahannock River. The study, recently published in the Journal of Environmental Management, was led by Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences Ph.D. student Alexandria Marquardt, who presented the results to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s (VMRC) Shellfish Management Advisory Committee ...

Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? If you rewind to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, chances are you experienced some level of pessimism. And who could blame you? With social isolation, health concerns and economic uncertainty, fear and anxiety became a daily reality for many. A team of researchers from Syracuse University and Michigan State University recently explored the personal characteristics that help people handle prolonged stressors, such as the pandemic. Led by Jeewon Oh, assistant professor of psychology in Syracuse University’s College ...

The targeted treatment of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or brain tumours is challenging because the brain is a particularly sensitive organ that is well protected. That’s why researchers are working on ways of delivering drugs to the brain precisely, via the bloodstream. The aim is to overcome the blood-brain barrier which normally only allows certain nutrients and oxygen to pass through. Microbubbles that react to ultrasound are a particularly promising method for this sort of ...

A new automated web application scanner autonomously understands and executes tasks and workflows on web applications. The tool named YuraScanner harnesses the world knowledge stored in Large Language Models (LLMs) to navigate through web applications in the same way a human user would. It is capable of working through tasks in a coherent fashion, performing the correct sequence of steps as required by, for example, an online shop. YuraScanner was tested against 20 web applications, unearthing 12 zero-day cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. The technique behind YuraScanner as well as the tool itself have been developed by researchers ...

Preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure and high levels of protein in the urine (proteinuria), indicating damage to the kidneys or other organ damage, is the main cause of maternal-fetal death in Brazil and the runner-up worldwide. In a Brazilian study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the pattern of substances present in patient blood samples varied according to the severity of the preeclampsia concerned.  The findings from the study, which was supported by FAPESP, ...

Researchers from the University of Vaasa, Finland, and Kent Business School, UK, have gathered insights on innovation policy, its current status and future perspectives in their new book “The Evolving Innovation Space”. The book offers research-based insights on how innovation can best be used to drive economic change and to find solutions to global problems. – In a changing world, where geopolitical tensions are rising and artificial intelligence is gaining ground, innovation policy must also be reconsidered from new perspectives, says Helka Kalliomäki, one of the editors.  With digital ...

Most dietary programs are designed to help people achieve weight loss or adhere to U.S. nutrition guidelines, which currently make no mention of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). UPFs – like chips or candy – are the mass-produced, packaged products that contain little or no naturally occurring foods. Eating UPFs is strongly associated with increased risk of diseases and early death. Because almost no existing programs focus specifically on reducing UPF intake, researchers from Drexel University’s College of Arts and Sciences designed an intervention that included a variety of tactics to target the uniquely problematic ...

The University of Vaasa has received funding from Business Finland for the FlexiPower research and development project, which focuses on developing and commercializing the "Building as a Battery" (BaaB) solution. The project aims to find solutions that utilize existing building infrastructure as flexible energy sources. The goal of the FlexiPower project is to develop and commercialize a solution that enables the dynamic response of building heating and cooling systems to the needs of the power system. This innovation offers a cost-effective and scalable solution for balancing the power grid without significant initial ...

Infection with Zika virus in pregnancy can lead to neurological disorders, fetal abnormalities and fetal death. Until now, how the virus manages to cross the placenta, which nurtures the developing fetus and forms a strong barrier against microbes and chemicals that could harm the fetus, has not been clear. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine with collaborators at Pennsylvania State University report in Nature Communications a strategy Zika virus uses to covertly spread in placental cells, raising little alarm in the immune system. “The Zika virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, triggered an epidemic in the Americas that began in 2015 and ...

In the delicate balancing act between human development and protecting the fragile natural world, sand is weighing down the scales on the human side. A group of international scientists in this week’s journal One Earth are calling for balancing those scales to better identify the significant damage sand extraction across the world heaps upon marine biodiversity. The first step: acknowledging sand and gravel (discussed as sand in this publication) – the world’s most extracted solid materials by mass – are a threat hiding in plain sight. “Sand is a critical resource that shapes the built and ...