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Energy 2026-02-17

Oxford scientists make lithium battery binders visible for the first time

University of Oxford researchers developed a staining technique using silver and bromine markers to make polymer binders - which make up less than 5% of battery electrode weight but critically affect performance - visible by electron microscopy. Using the method, they reduced internal ionic resistance by 40% in test electrodes by adjusting mixing and drying protocols, and captured the fragmentation of nanoscale cellulose coatings during electrode processing.
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Social Science 2026-02-17

Each hectare of tropical forest generates $2,400 worth of rainfall for regional agriculture

A University of Leeds study combining satellite observations with climate model simulations estimates that each hectare of tropical forest generates 2.4 million litres of rainfall annually via evapotranspiration. For the Brazilian Amazon, this translates to roughly US$20 billion per year in agricultural water value - while deforestation of approximately 80 million hectares may have already reduced that value by nearly US$5 billion annually.
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Medicine 2026-02-17

Yeast enzyme enables human cells to copy DNA without functional mitochondria

An international team led by Spain's CNIC research center transferred the yeast enzyme ScURA into human cells harboring mitochondrial disease mutations. Cells expressing ScURA could produce DNA and RNA even when the mitochondrial respiratory chain was fully blocked, using fumarate instead of oxygen as the electron acceptor - restoring normal growth without supplementation and without disrupting other cellular functions.
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Medicine 2026-02-17

5,000-year-old cave bacteria resist 10 modern antibiotics and carry 600 unexplored genes

A bacterial strain recovered from a 5,000-year-old layer of ice in Romania's Scarisoara Ice Cave was found resistant to 10 antibiotic classes, including rifampicin, vancomycin, and ciprofloxacin. The Psychrobacter SC65A.3 genome also carries nearly 600 genes of unknown function and 11 genes with antimicrobial potential - making it both a warning about melting permafrost and a potential source of novel compounds.
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Medicine 2026-02-17

E. coli bacteria engineered to produce Rhododendron drug compounds at viable scale

Kobe University researchers transferred a biosynthetic pathway from Rhododendron into E. coli bacteria, achieving 202 mg/L of orsellinic acid - 40 times higher than previous microbial yields. The platform also produced grifolic acid, a target compound with anticancer and analgesic properties, though yields remain low. The work creates a scalable production route for meroterpenoid drug candidates that were previously inaccessible.
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Medicine 2026-02-17

COVID lockdowns hid child maltreatment - ICU admissions spiked when restrictions lifted

Analysis of hospital admissions across all Canadian provinces from 2016 to 2023 finds that maltreatment admissions for children under age 2 declined 31% during the initial 16-week COVID-19 lockdown, then returned to baseline after restrictions lifted. More alarming: ICU admissions for child maltreatment increased 80% after the lockdown period, suggesting children were living in dangerous situations without detection during restrictions.
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Environment 2026-02-17

Spinning flywheels could harvest wave energy across a broad range of ocean conditions

A theoretical and numerical study published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics shows that a gyroscopic wave energy converter using a tunable spinning flywheel can achieve 50% energy absorption efficiency - the theoretical maximum for a single point absorber - across a broad range of wave frequencies, not only at a single resonant condition. The analysis provides a roadmap for adaptable ocean energy devices.
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Science 2026-02-17

Ketamine's hallucinogenic effects do not drive its benefit for alcohol use disorder

Secondary analysis of the KARE randomized controlled trial, involving 96 adults with moderate-to-severe alcohol use disorder, finds that the intensity of psychoactive effects during intravenous ketamine infusions - including altered reality, out-of-body sensations, and perceptual distortions - did not predict abstinence rates over six months. The therapeutic mechanism appears to lie elsewhere, possibly in neural network alterations.
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Medicine 2026-02-16

One in six Medicare patients relies on telehealth for medical care beyond mental health

A cross-sectional analysis of Medicare data from 2021 to 2023 published in Annals of Internal Medicine finds that 1 in 6 beneficiaries used telehealth during that period. Mental health visits dominated at 45.1% virtual, but 29 million non-mental-health telehealth visits occurred annually for conditions including diabetes, hypertension, and COVID-19 - populations that could be significantly disrupted by coverage changes.
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Science 2026-02-16

Radon risk maps prompt action in high-risk areas but may backfire in low-risk ones

A 2,000-participant online survey study in British Columbia found that seeing a radon risk map significantly increased testing intentions for people in medium-high and high-risk areas, regardless of which map format they viewed. In low-risk areas, however, the same maps had no effect or slightly reduced intentions - suggesting uniform map-based communication strategies need risk-level calibration.
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Medicine 2026-02-16

A neurological bridge between hearing loss and cognitive decline

A study published in eNeuro identifies a Functional-Structural Ratio (FSR) measuring connectivity between specific brain regions as a potential neurobiological link between presbycusis and cognitive decline. Reduced FSR in the putamen, fusiform gyrus, precuneus, and medial superior frontal gyrus correlated with worse hearing thresholds and poorer memory performance in participants with age-related hearing loss.
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Medicine 2026-02-16

Blood biomarkers taken 90 days post-transplant predict chronic GVHD risk months ahead

MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researchers developed BIOPREVENT, a machine-learning tool analyzing seven immune biomarkers from blood drawn 90-100 days after stem cell transplant. Tested across 1,310 patients in four multicenter studies, the tool separated low and high risk groups for chronic graft-versus-host disease and transplant-related death with validated accuracy to 18 months.
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Medicine 2026-02-16

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults took medication in the past seven days

A national study published in JAMA Network Open finds 2 in 3 U.S. adults reported using medication in the past week. Prescription and over-the-counter use were roughly equal in prevalence, revealing how broadly both categories of drug have become embedded in daily American health management - and why maintaining accessibility to both matters.
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