RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- In a paper published earlier this month in Physical Review Letters, a team of physicists led by Jonathan Richardson of the University of California, Riverside, showcases how new optical technology can extend the detection range of gravitational-wave observatories such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, and pave the way for future observatories.  Since 2015, observatories like LIGO have opened a new window on the universe. Plans for future upgrades to the 4-kilometer LIGO detectors and the construction of a next-generation 40-kilometer observatory, Cosmic Explorer, aim to push the gravitational-wave ...

Dravet syndrome and other developmental epileptic encephalopathies are rare but devastating conditions that cause a host of symptoms in children, including seizures, intellectual disability, and even sudden death.  Most cases are caused by a genetic mutation; Dravet syndrome in particular is most often caused by variants in the sodium channel gene SCN1A. Recent research from Michigan Medicine takes aim at another variant in SCN1B, which causes an even more severe form of DEE.  Mice without the SCN1B gene experience seizures and 100 percent mortality just ...

In late July to October 2022, residents of the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa felt the earth shake several times a day, raising concerns of an imminent volcanic eruption or tsunami. An earthquake catalog for the area turned up nothing, because the islands lacked a seismic monitoring network that could measure the shaking and aid seismologists in their search for the source of the earthquake swarm. But the residents of the Taʻū, Ofu, and Olosega islands needed answers, so Clara Yoon of the ...

LA JOLLA (February 14, 2025)—Antidepressants like Prozac are commonly prescribed to treat mental health disorders, but new research suggests they could also protect against serious infections and life-threatening sepsis. Scientists at the Salk Institute have now uncovered how the drugs are able to regulate the immune system and defend against infectious disease—insights that could lead to a new generation of life-saving treatments and enhance global preparedness for future pandemics. The Salk study follows recent findings that users of selective ...

University of Leeds news Embargoed until 14 February 2025 (19:00 GMT) --- The cool conditions which have allowed ice caps to form on Earth are rare events in the planet’s history and require many complex processes working at once, according to new research. A team of scientists led by the University of Leeds investigated why Earth has existed in what is known as a 'greenhouse' state without ice caps for much of its history, and why the conditions we are living in now are so rare. They found ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Humanity may not be extraordinary but rather the natural evolutionary outcome for our planet and likely others, according to a new model for how intelligent life developed on Earth. The model, which upends the decades-old “hard steps” theory that intelligent life was an incredibly improbable event, suggests that maybe it wasn't all that hard or improbable. A team of researchers at Penn State, who led the work, said the new interpretation of humanity’s origin increases the probability ...

CLEVELAND—The process of separating useful molecules from mixtures of other substances accounts for 15% of the nation’s energy, emits 100 million tons of carbon dioxide and costs $4 billion annually. Commercial manufacturers produce columns of porous materials to separate potential new drugs developed by the pharmaceutical industry, for example, and also for energy and chemical production, environmental science and making foods and beverages. But in a new study, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found these ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new test developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can predict the performance of a new type of cementitious construction material in five minutes — a significant improvement over the current industry standard method, which takes seven or more days to complete. This development is poised to advance the use of next-generation resources called supplementary cementitious materials — or SCMs — by speeding up the quality-check process before leaving the production floor. Due ...

Drs. Vanderlei Bagnato, Rodney Bowersox and Don Lipkin from Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Class of 2025, joining 128 new members and 22 international members. This is one of the highest professional honors for engineers. “Congratulations to Drs. Bagnato, Bowersox and Lipkin for achieving this recognition. This prestigious honor reflects their groundbreaking contributions to engineering and underscores the exceptional talent within our faculty,” said Dr. Robert H. Bishop, vice chancellor and dean of Texas A&M ...

As more satellites, telescopes, and other spacecraft are built to be repairable, it will take reliable trajectories for service spacecraft to reach them safely. Researchers in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are developing a methodology that will allow multiple CubeSats to act as servicing agents to assemble or repair a space telescope. Their method minimizes fuel consumption, guarantees that servicing agents never come closer to each other ...

Several cardiovascular risk factors, such as advanced age and smoking history, are prevalent among lung cancer patients at the time of the diagnosis and increase their risk of future heart disease, according to a new study being presented at ACC’s Advancing the Cardiovascular Care of the Oncology Patient course. Comprehensive assessments are needed in this vulnerable group to improve survival outcomes and quality of care for cancer patients. Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in the United States. Smoking is a shared risk factor for lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer patients have an amplified mortality rate with the presence of ...

A study finds that 65.8% of adults surveyed had low trust in their health care system to use artificial intelligence responsibly and 57.7% had low trust in their health care systems to make sure an AI tool would not harm them. The research letter was published in JAMA Network Open. Adults who had higher levels of overall trust in their health care systems were more likely to believe their providers would protect them from AI-related harm. The letter, authored by Jodyn Platt, Ph.D., of the Department of Learning Health Sciences at University of Michigan Medical School and Paige Nong, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health comes from survey of a nationally ...

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free TECH TALK X webinar “The Dual Race to AI & Global Leadership” on Wednesday, 19 February 2025  7.00 am ET / 1.00 pm CET (Duration: 60 min). The TECH TALK will be featuring a discussion between Tim Gordon (MBA’00D), Partner, Best Practice AI and Theos Evgeniou, INSEAD Professor of Technology & Business and Director of Executive Programs in AI. Tim, an INSEAD alumnus with over 20 years of international experience in digital transformation, global strategy and innovation, will join Theos to explore the two critical AI races reshaping our world: ...

Ketamine has received a Hollywood makeover. It used to be known as a rave drug (street name special K) and cat anesthetic. However, in recent years, some doctors have prescribed ketamine to treat conditions from post-traumatic stress disorder to depression. “The practice is not without controversy,” notes Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Hiro Furukawa. ‘Should we give a hallucinogen to patients in compromised mental states?’ wonder ketamine’s skeptics. The controversy came to ...

About The Study: The findings of this cross-sectional study of Black and white women with breast cancer suggest that perceived stress, perceived inadequate social support, perceived racial and ethnic discrimination, and neighborhood deprivation were associated with deleterious alterations to the systemic and tumor immune environment, particularly for Black women. Understanding biology as a possible mediator of cancer health disparities may inform prevention and public health interventions. Corresponding Author: To contact ...

About The Study: This cohort study of Finnish children and adolescents found that higher physical activity and lower screen time from childhood were associated with perceived stress and depressive symptoms in adolescence. These findings emphasize reducing screen time and increasing physical activity to promote mental health in youth. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Eero A. Haapala, PhD, email eero.a.haapala@jyu.fi. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.60012) Editor’s Note: Please see the ...

  At $144 billion, type 2 diabetes was the most expensive single health condition. Emergency department care had the fastest growth. SEATTLE, Wash., Feb. 14, 2025 – Researchers present the most comprehensive study on U.S. health care spending and variations across 3,110 counties by four payers, 148 health conditions, 38 age/sex groups, and seven types of care. That’s according to the newest and most extensive studies published in JAMA and JAMA Health Forum today. As part of this study, researchers ...

About The Study: Broad variation in health care spending was observed across U.S. counties. Understanding this variation by health condition, sex, age, type of care, and payer is valuable for identifying outliers, highlighting inequalities, and assessing health care gaps.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Joseph L. Dieleman, PhD, email dieleman@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.26790) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, variation in health care spending among U.S. counties was largely related to variation in service utilization. Understanding the drivers of spending variation in the U.S. may help policymakers assess the allocation of health care resources. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Joseph L. Dieleman, PhD, email dieleman@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.5220) Editor’s ...

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free INTHECASE webinar, “Scaling Affordable Healthcare: Balancing Purpose, Innovation & Growth” on Thursday, 20 February 2025 at 9.00 am ET  / 3.00 pm CET  (60 min).   Register and join the webinar for an engaging discussion on Access Afya’s journey to scale its affordable healthcare model while staying true to its mission of serving underserved communities. Explore how the company: Balances mission and growth Navigates the complexities of scaling up Leverages technology and data to improve care delivery With a proven business model in Kenya, ...

The body regulates its metabolism precisely and continuously, with specialised cells in the pancreas constantly monitoring the amount of sugar in the blood, for example. When this blood sugar level increases after a meal, the body sets a signal cascade in motion in order to bring it back down. In people suffering from diabetes, this regulatory mechanism no longer works exactly as it should. Those affected therefore have too much sugar in their blood and need to measure their blood sugar level and inject themselves with insulin in order to regulate it. This is ...

Tumor metastasis, recurrence, and therapeutic resistance are the main reasons for the failure of clinical cancer treatment. Studies have found that the presence of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) with stemness characteristics in malignant tumors is a key factor leading to the above undesirable results. However, there are significant limitations to current strategies with traditional molecular drugs for combating CSCs, such as the unsatisfactory in vivo stemness-suppressing efficiency, and the lack of powerful tumor-specific lethal action, resulting in remaining massive bulk tumor cells that can convert to CSCs via epithelial-to-mesenchymal ...

Palmyra is one of the most famous sites in Syria for its extraordinary heritage and archaeological remains. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980, the city saw much of its heritage destroyed during the war. Following the liberation of Syria from the Assad regime on 8 December, a multidisciplinary team has carried out a field study in Palmyra to assess the current state of the archaeological monuments and the surrounding residential areas, comparing them with their condition before the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011. The report is an initiative of Palmyrene Voices of the NGO Heritage for Peace in collaboration with the CSIC's Milà i Fontanals Institution. ‘We ...

University of Virginia Brain Institute and School of Medicine researchers have received an initial $9.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health for a $30 million clinical trial to determine if the powerful anesthetic ketamine can save patients from prolonged, life-threatening grand mal seizures that won’t respond to other treatments. “Status epilepticus,” as the seizures are known, are seizures that last more than five minutes or that strike repeatedly without the ...

Digital@INSEAD is hosting a free TECH TALK X webinar, “The Future of Agentic AI & Autonomous Organizations” on Thursday, 27 February 2025 at 9.00 am ET  / 3.00 pm CET (60 min). AI is evolving beyond tools and assistants – it is becoming autonomous. But what is holding enterprises back from fully leveraging Agentic AI? Join in the free webinar for a deep dive with Rotem Alaluf, CEO of Wand – a pioneering platform for enterprise-grade AI systems – and Peter Zemsky, ...