A new study reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on January 20 is the first to describe a phenomenon researchers refer to as “contagious urinations.” The study in 20 captive chimpanzees living at the Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan shows that, when one chimp pees, others are more likely to follow.  “In humans, urinating together can be seen as a social phenomenon,” says Ena Onishi of Kyoto University.   “An Italian proverb states, ‘Whoever doesn’t pee in company is either a thief or a spy’ (Chi non piscia in compagnia o è ...

Scientists at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have mapped a critical component of the Nipah virus, a highly lethal bat-borne pathogen that has caused outbreaks in humans almost every year since it was identified in 1999. The advance, described Jan. 20 in Cell, brings scientists a step closer to developing much-needed medicines. Currently, there are no vaccines to prevent or mitigate infection with the Nipah virus and no effective treatments for the disease ...

Demand for weight-loss medications sold under brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy continues to surge, with a recent study reporting one in eight Americans has taken or is currently using the drugs to treat diabetes, heart disease or obesity. Formally, these drugs are known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) and include Mounjaro and Zepbound. Informally, media, patients and even some physicians have dubbed GLP-1 medications as “miracle drugs” because of the profound weight loss among users. While these health benefits are well established, information is sparse on the drugs’ effects across ...

Over half of our genomes consists of thousands of remnants of ancient viral DNA, known as transposable elements, which are widespread across the tree of life. Once dismissed as the "dark side" of the genome, researchers at Helmholtz Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) have now revealed their crucial role in early embryo development. Unanswered Questions About the Role of Ancient Viral DNA Transposable elements, remnants of ancient viral DNA, are reactivated during the first hours and days following fertilization. ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital in Sweden have determined how children’s immune systems react to different kinds of cancer depending on their age. The study, which is published in the journal Cell, reveals significant differences between the immune response of children and adults, and has the potential to lead to new tailored treatments for children with cancer. “The activation of the immune system is crucial to our ability to fight cancer, but differs between children and adults,” says Petter Brodin, professor of paediatric immunology at the ...

Background and objectives Waist circumference (WC) is closely associated with metabolic diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), metabolic syndrome, and mortality. However, the correlation between WC and mortality varies across populations and has rarely been examined specifically in patients with DM. In this study, we explored the relationships between WC and both all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities among individuals with DM. Methods Participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2018 included 3,151 women and 3,473 men with DM who had baseline WC measurements. Survival data were collected from enrollment until December 31, 2019. ...

Archaeologists have uncovered a rare Tetrarchic boundary stone at the site of Abel Beth Maacah in northern Israel. Originally marking land borders under Roman Emperor Diocletian’s tax reforms, the stone provides insight into ancient land ownership, local settlement patterns, and imperial administrative practices. The discovery also introduces two previously unknown place names, expanding our understanding of the region’s historical geography and socio-economic landscape. Archaeologists Prof. Naama Yahalom-Mack and Dr. Nava Panitz-Cohen from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University, and Prof. Robert Mullins from Azusa Pacific University have uncovered a significant ...

A global survey spanning 68 countries reveals that public trust in scientists is still high. Led by the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, a team of 241 researchers conducted the largest post-pandemic study of trust in science, societal expectations and public views on research priorities. Trust in scientists is at a moderately high level worldwide, according to a new study. This is the conclusion of an international team of 241 researchers led by Viktoria Cologna of ETH Zurich and Niels G. Mede of the University of Zurich (UZH). “Our results show that most people in most countries have a relatively ...

A new international study on public trust in science, conducted across 68 countries, has found that most people trust scientists and believe they should be more involved in society and policymaking. Further, a majority of survey participants believe that scientists should be more involved in society and policymaking. Published in Nature Human Behaviours (pre print link), this research was conducted by TISP, a Harvard University-based consortium led by Dr Viktoria Cologna (Harvard University, RTH Zurich) and Dr Niels G Mede (University of Zurich), which includes 241 researchers from 169 institutions worldwide, including the University of Bath. The study, which includes 71,922 respondents—2,008 ...

People with the skin condition psoriasis often have invisible inflammation in the small intestine with an increased propensity for ‘leaky gut’, according to new research at Uppsala University. These changes in the gut could explain why psoriasis sufferers often have gastrointestinal problems and are more prone to developing Crohn’s disease. The study is published in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular Basis of Disease. Psoriasis is a hereditary, chronic skin condition that can also result in inflammation of the joints. In Sweden, almost 300,000 people live with some form of the condition. Chronic inflammatory bowel ...

A new review on zoonotic infections — diseases transmitted by animals — in the Canadian Arctic provides timely guidance to clinicians as the region experiences heightened global interest as well as climate change, which threatens the region and increases risk of disease transmission. The review, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240541, provides guidance on how to identify and manage seven zoonotic infections in people. “Indigenous Peoples continue to be caretakers of ...

People with pockets of fat hidden inside their muscles are at a higher risk of dying or being hospitalised from a heart attack or heart failure, regardless of their body mass index, according to research published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Monday).   This ‘intermuscular’ fat is highly prized in beef steaks for cooking. However, little is known about this type of body fat in humans, and its impact on health. This is the first study to comprehensively investigate the effects of fatty muscles on heart disease.   The new finding adds evidence that existing measures, such as body mass index or waist ...

Ecologists from the School of Biological Sciences (SBS) and the Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have identified significant ecological risks associated with the release of hybrid groupers into Hong Kong’s coastal waters, a practice often linked to religious ‘mercy release’ rituals. Their study highlights how the Tiger Grouper-Giant Grouper hybrid (TGGG), also known as the Sabah grouper, disrupts local marine ecosystems by exploiting unique ecological niches and potentially becoming a dominant predator. This research, the first ...

The National Champion Tree Program (NCTP) announced its first Register of Champion Trees since 2021. The program moved from American Forests to the University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources in 2023 and has spent the past year working with state-level Champion Tree programs across the U.S. to update outdated records and verify the newly crowned champions. “We are thrilled beyond measure to share the list of the largest documented trees in the United States,” Jaq Payne, NCTP director, said. “These trees are more than just numbers on a website. They're living, breathing members of our community. I hope this register encourages folks to start ...

About The Article: This article outlines the ways in which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has worked to use electronic health record data to improve patient health, public health, and health care.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Robert M. Califf, MD, email commissioner@fda.hhs.gov. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.0068) Editor’s ...

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered a new superconducting material. They combined iron, nickel, and zirconium, to create a new transition metal zirconide with different ratios of iron to nickel. While both iron zirconide and nickel zirconide are not superconducting, the newly prepared mixtures are, exhibiting a “dome-shaped” phase diagram typical of so-called “unconventional superconductors,” a promising avenue for developing high temperature superconducting materials which can be more widely deployed in society.   Superconductors already play ...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, posing a particularly significant threat to people with HIV (PWH). To address this, CVD prevention plans rely on prediction models like atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk scores to estimate the risk of heart disease. However, previous studies have called into question whether these commonly used prediction models perform well among people with HIV, and there remains a gap in understanding of what these scores mean for PWH in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham ...

Cultural traits — the information, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and practices that shape the character of a population — are influenced by conformity, the tendency to align with others, or anti-conformity, the choice to deliberately diverge. A new way to model this dynamic interplay could ultimately help explain societal phenomena like political polarization, cultural trends, and the spread of misinformation.  A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences outlines this novel approach. Presenting a mathematical model, SFI Complexity Postdoctoral Fellow Kaleda Denton with colleagues ...

A research team from NIMS and the Japan Fine Ceramics Center (JFCC) has developed a next-generation AI device—a hardware component for AI systems—that incorporates an iono-magnonic reservoir. This reservoir controls spin waves (collective excitations of electron spins in magnetic materials), ion dynamics and their interactions. The technology demonstrated significantly higher information processing performance than conventional physical reservoir computing devices, underscoring its potential to transform AI technologies. As AI devices become increasingly sophisticated, ...

By Shawn Ballard The complexity of the human brain – 86 billion neurons strong with more than 100 trillion connections – enables abstract thinking, language acquisition, advanced reasoning and problem-solving, and the capacity for creativity and social interaction. Understanding how differences in brain signaling and dynamics produce unique cognition and behavior in individuals has long been a goal of neuroscience research, yet many phenomena remain unexplained. A study from neuroscientists and ...

As the atmosphere continues to fill with greenhouse gases from human activities, many proposals have surfaced to “geoengineer” climate-saving solutions, that is, alter the atmosphere at a global scale to either reduce the concentrations of carbon or mute its warming effect. One recent proposal seeks to infuse the atmosphere with hydrogen peroxide, insisting that it would both oxidize methane (CH4), an extremely potent greenhouse gas while improving air quality. Too good to be true? University of Utah atmospheric scientists Alfred Mayhew and Jessica Haskins were skeptical, so they set out to test the claims behind this proposal. Their results, published on ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it is accepting applications for the 2025 DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program to support the research of outstanding scientists early in their careers. The program will support over 80 early career researchers for five years at U.S. academic institutions, DOE national laboratories, and Office of Science user facilities. “The vision, creativity, and effort of early career faculty drive innovation in the basic science enterprise. The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is dedicated to ...

University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science faculty members James T. Burns, Coleen Carrigan and Liheng Cai received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) on Tuesday, as did two UVA Engineering alumni, Ashutosh Giri and Ryan Johnson.  PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. According to the release from the White House, this award recognizes “innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology.” “This award year has been extraordinary not ...

ARLINGTON, Va.—A favorite childhood memory for Dr. Sandra Chapman was visiting the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor with her father. They hung out at the memorial so often that they memorized lines to the movie playing prior to the boat ride to the memorial. So it’s appropriate that Chapman — a program officer in the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Warfighter Performance Department — is passionate about her involvement in the development of an innovative technology recently applied to efforts to preserve the area around the USS Arizona ...

Images EAST LANSING, Mich. – Our sun is essentially a searing hot sphere of gas. Its mix of primarily hydrogen and helium can reach temperatures between 10,000 and 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit on its surface and its atmosphere’s outermost layer. Because of that heat, the blazing orb constantly oozes a stream of plasma, made up of charged subatomic particles — mainly protons and electrons. The sun’s gravity can’t contain them because they hold so much energy as heat, so they drift away into space as solar wind. Understanding how charged particles ...