Researchers have uncovered how egg cells prepare for the creation of life. Their work reveals the secrets of the Balbiani body, a remarkable structure that organizes essential molecules to guide early embryonic development. Using zebrafish models and cutting-edge imaging, the team discovered how this structure transforms from liquid droplets into a stable core, laying the groundwork for life itself. This discovery sheds light on the extraordinary precision of nature’s reproductive process. A new study led by Prof. Yaniv Elkouby and his team, including first co-authors Swastik Kar and Rachael Deis, from the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University ...

PHILADELPHIA—Opioid misuse and specifically opioid use disorder (OUD), continues to represent a significant U.S. public health threat, with more than 6 million Americans aged 12 and older meeting the criteria for OUD in 2022. Efforts to ease the crisis have included the development of genetic testing to identify individuals most at risk for OUD. New research, out today in JAMA Network Open, questions the usefulness of 15 genetic variants from an algorithm meant to predict OUD risk that was recently granted pre-marketing approval by the Food and Drug Administration. It found that the testing could lead to both false positive and false negative results. The study was led by Christal ...

LA JOLLA (January 9, 2025)—Plants may burrow into the ground and stretch toward the sun, but they’re ultimately stuck where they sprout—at the mercy of environmental threats like temperature, drought, and microbial infection. To compensate for their inability to up and move when danger strikes, many plants have evolved ways to protect themselves by altering their physiology, such as building armor around parts of their body and roots called the periderm. However, since many plant biologists who study tissue development ...

Sabre-toothed predators – best know from the infamous Smilodon – evolved multiple times across different mammal groups. A new study, published today in Current Biology reveals why: these teeth were ‘functionally optimal’ and highly effective at puncturing prey. The study, led by scientists at the University of Bristol in collaboration with Monash University shows that long, sharp blade-like teeth gave sabre-tooth’s a real advantage as ...

Russell W. Jenkins, MD, PhD, a physician investigator in the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research at the Mass General Cancer Center and an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is senior author of a new study in Cancer Immunology Research, “TBK1 is Identified as a Therapeutic Strategy to Enhance CAR T-Cell Efficacy Using Patient-Derived Organotypic Tumor Spheroids”. The study was a collaboration with the late Soldano Ferrone, MD, PhD, and was carried across the finish line by his daughter Cristina Ferrone, MD, Moshe Sade-Feldman, PhD, and several other collaborators ...

Which medicine is best when you are affected by cancer? This can vary from person to person. A new method can help people with a specific type of blood cancer get the best medicine for them. “The new method can help those affected by chronic myelogenous leukemia,” says Jennifer Sheehan, a PhD research fellow from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Production at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Sheehan was first author of a new publication in PLOS Computational Biology that describes ...

Miami (January 9, 2025) – Additional research addressing the connection between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and metabolic syndrome is needed to improve holistic patient care, according to a new editorial. The editorial is published in the November 2024 issue of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. COPD is an inflammatory lung disease, comprising several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can be caused by genetics and irritants like smoke ...

A Mount Sinai-led team of researchers has enhanced an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithm to analyze video recordings of clinical sleep tests, ultimately improving accurate diagnosis of a common sleep disorder affecting more than 80 million people worldwide. The study findings were published in the journal Annals of Neurology on January 9. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a sleep condition that causes abnormal movements, or the physical acting out of dreams, during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. RBD that occurs in otherwise healthy adults ...

The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University has acquired remarkable archives from three pioneering figures in the study of human sexuality, relationships, and wellbeing: the legendary sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, renowned anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, and respected feminist historian Dr. Judith Allen. These invaluable collections represent decades of groundbreaking research, education, and cultural contributions that will advance future scholarship and research.   “For almost 80 ...

An innovative project jointly funded by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) brings together a team of scientists from Florida Atlantic University and Lehigh University, along with a team from Japan that includes researchers from Kyoto University, University of Tokyo and Kumamoto University. The project, titled “NSF-JST: An Inclusive Human-Centered Risk Management Modeling Framework for Flood Resilience,” is supported by a three-year, $1 million award split evenly between the U.S. and Japanese teams, with the U.S. team receiving $499,271. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tracking coyote movement in metropolitan areas shows the animals spend lots of time in natural settings, but a new study suggests the human element of city life has a bigger impact than the environment on urban coyote survival. Researchers monitoring coyotes in Chicago found that habitat – areas with relatively high levels of vegetation cover and low levels of human infrastructure – did not influence coyote survival in positive or negative ways. Instead, areas densely populated with humans were ...

Given that today’s children will inherit the consequences of climate change, schools are instrumental in mobilizing a global response to the climate crisis, a science educator argues. Climate literacy advocate Kelley T. Lê argues that climate change is the defining issue of our time, and in her new book, Teaching Climate Change for Grades 6–12: Activating Science Teachers to Take on the Climate Crisis Through NGSS, Lê provides teachers, administrators, and global leaders with practical tools to empower ...

The emissions scandal in the automotive industry that came to light in 2015 has set many things in motion. Last but not least, the discussion about the need for realistic tests for vehicles in order to correctly determine their pollutant emissions instead of just testing on test rigs. Such tests and the applicable emission limits are now required by law for cars, but not for so-called category-L vehicles (mopeds, motorbikes, tricycles and quads). As part of the “LENS” project (L-vehicles Emissions and Noise mitigation Solutions) funded by the European ...

Research Highlights: More than one-third of Asian, Black and Hispanic women in the study group reported  experiencing at least one microaggression related to race and gender during or after their pregnancy. The link between racial microaggressions and postpartum blood pressure was strongest 10 or more days after delivery, when the blood pressure may be monitored less often, the researchers noted. The researchers also noted that these types of gendered racial microaggressions can raise blood pressure postpartum and suggest blood pressure monitoring and/or treatment for high blood pressure may need to ...

If you’d like to solve a math problem on a good old-fashioned chalkboard, you want the board clean and free of any previous markings so that you have space to work. Quantum computers have a similar need for a clean workspace, and a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has found an innovative and effective way to create and maintain it.  The research effort, a collaboration with physicists at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, could address one of the main issues confronting quantum computer designers: ...

The United States generates more food waste than all but two countries. To address this, the federal government set a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030 compared to 2016 levels, to about 164 pounds per person annually. But a new study published in Nature Food and led by University of California, Davis, reveals that current state policies are falling short. Since 2016, per capita food waste has increased instead of decreasing.  “We’re just five years away from 2030 so it’s quite alarming how ...

Quantum computers require extreme cooling to perform reliable calculations. One of the challenges preventing quantum computers from entering society is the difficulty of freezing the qubits to temperatures close to absolute zero. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and the University of Maryland, USA, have engineered a new type of refrigerator that can autonomously cool superconducting qubits to record low temperatures, paving the way for more reliable quantum computation. Quantum computers have the potential to revolutionise fundamental technologies in various sectors of society, with applications in medicine, energy, encryption, AI, and logistics. While the building ...

EMBARGO 9.1.2025 New discovery makes organic solar cells more efficient and stable Researchers at Åbo Akademi University in Finland have identified and eliminated a previously unknown loss mechanism in organic solar cells that makes them more efficient and gives them a longer lifetime. The results provide new insight into how efficiency and stability can be increased in the future. The work of the Organic Electronics Research Group at Åbo Akademi University was carried out in cooperation with Professor Chang-Qi Ma's group at Suzhou Institute ...

Fiber is well known to be an important part of a healthy diet, yet less than 10% of Americans eat the minimum recommended amount. A new study from Stanford Medicine might finally convince us to fill our plates with beans, nuts, cruciferous veggies, avocados and other fiber-rich foods. The research, which will be published in Nature Metabolism on Jan. 9 identified the direct epigenetic effects of two common byproducts of fiber digestion and found that some of the alterations in gene expression had anti-cancer actions. When we eat fiber, the gut microbiome produces short-chain fatty ...

ORACLE test predicts overall cancer survival independent of currently used clinical risk factors, and it has the best predictive power in stage 1 lung cancer. A high ORACLE score is associated with a higher risk of cancer spread. ORACLE could potentially be used to pick out patients who would benefit most from chemotherapy. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the UCL Cancer Institute and UCLH have shown that a test called ORACLE can predict lung cancer survival at the point of diagnosis better than currently used clinical risk factors. This could help doctors make more informed treatment decisions for people with stage ...

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 10 AM GMT / 5 AM ET THURSDAY 9 JANUARY 2025  Pioneering new mathematical model could help protect privacy and ensure safer use of AI    AI tools are increasingly being used to track and monitor us both online and in-person, yet their effectiveness comes with big risks. Computer scientists at the Oxford Internet Institute, Imperial College London, and UCLouvain have developed a new mathematical model which could help people better understand the risks posed by AI and assist regulators in protecting peoples’ privacy. The findings have been published today (9 January) in Nature Communications.  For ...

Key takeaways Hydroclimate whiplash – rapid swings between intensely wet and dangerously dry weather – has already increased globally due to climate change, with further large increases expected as warming continues, according to a team of researchers led by UCLA’s Daniel Swain. The “expanding atmospheric sponge,” or the atmosphere’s ability to evaporate, absorb and release 7% more water for every degree Celsius the planet warms, is a key driver of the whiplash. Co-management of extreme rainfall or extreme droughts, ...

Scientists have created a catalyst for hydrogen generation from ammonia that becomes more active with time, and by counting atoms revealed changes that boost the catalyst’s performance.  A research team from the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham and Cardiff University, has developed a novel material consisting of nanosized ruthenium (Ru) clusters anchored on graphitized carbon. These Ru nanoclusters react with ammonia molecules, catalysing splitting ammonia into ...

Exiting Earth’s gravity takes an enormous amount of fuel and power. Due to this, spacecraft strapped to rockets are limited in their carry capacity and every gram must be accounted for. To lighten the load, thin membranes are being researched as alternative materials, but their plastic wrap property causes wrinkling that can affect operational performance. For this reason, there is a need to develop measurement technology that can accurately detect deformations. Professor Takashi Iwasa at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Engineering led a team in developing a method for measuring the size of wrinkles ...

Women are less likely to receive a lung transplant and spend an average of six weeks longer on the waiting list, according to a study published today (Thursday) in ERJ Open Research [1]. However, women who receive a lung transplant are more likely than men to live for five years post-transplant. Based on their findings, the researchers encourage changes in regulation and clinical guidelines to address this inequality. Lung transplantation is the only treatment for people with end-stage respiratory failure and patients on the waiting list have a high risk ...