People are more likely to act helpfully in situations where there are poorer choices to give to others, according to a new study that tested willingness to help others in different contexts. The paper, published in Nature Communications today (Monday 9 February), is the culmination of three studies involving more than 500 participants and led by academics from the University of Birmingham. The team, which also included academics from Oxford University and the University of East Anglia, found that when people were in a poor environment they were surprisingly more likely to help compared to the richer environment. Dr ...

Gas giants are large planets mostly composed of helium and/or hydrogen. Although these planets have dense cores, they don’t have hard surfaces. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants in our solar system, but there are many other gas giant exoplanets in our galaxy and some are many times larger than Jupiter. The largest gas giants blur the line between planets and brown dwarfs — those substellar objects, sometimes called “failed stars” because they do not fuse hydrogen. How do these gas giants form? Was it through core accretion, where solid cores gradually ...

In order to build the computers and devices of tomorrow, we have to understand how they use energy today. That’s harder than it sounds. Memory storage, information processing, and energy use in these technologies involve constant energy flow – systems never settle into thermodynamic balance. To complicate things further, one of the most precise ways to study these processes starts at the smallest scale: the quantum domain. New Stanford research published Feb. 9 in Nature Physics combines theory, experimentation, and machine learning ...

MDPI, the Open Access (OA) publisher, today announced more than 1,000 partners have joined its Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), a significant milestone for the organization. The agreements span 59 countries, covering North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.  Last year alone, more than 150 new libraries and academic institutions joined MDPI’s IOAP. The expansion of an existing consortium deal in Sweden added a further 75 partners to the publisher’s portfolio in January 2026, ...

Chronic alcohol consumption profoundly alters gene expression in key brain regions involved in reward, impulse control, and decision-making, according to a study led by researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint center of Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Published in the journal Addiction, the work provides new insight into the biological basis of alcohol addiction and points toward potential therapeutic targets. “Alcohol use disorder is one of the leading causes of disease and death worldwide, yet despite its enormous social and health impact, available treatment options ...

Historical redlining, a 1930s–1960s residential segregation policy, has been linked to shorter survival time in people with breast cancer. New research reveals that this association has changed over time, with disparities narrowing until recently. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Under the redlining policy, federal agencies and banks created maps that designated neighborhoods as A (“best”) to D (“hazardous,” colored red ...

Panic attacks are sudden bouts of intense fear without an obvious cause. An estimated 10% of people experience at least one panic attack in their lifetime. But between 2% and 3% of the population have such frequent and severe panic attacks that they meet the criteria for the debilitating condition ‘panic disorder’. The current standard of care for panic disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), with or without antidepressants. A technique of CBT with proven efficacy is ‘interoceptive exposure’, where therapists trigger common ...

Reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink can be applied in Canadian operating rooms (ORs) to increase environmental sustainability, advises a new guideline published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) ​https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251192​. As the Canadian health care system produces almost 5% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and 200 000 tonnes of other pollutants, many generated in ORs, it makes sense to focus on reducing these harms. An evidence-based ...

In recent years, popular culture has made ‘boundaries’ a saviour, touted as the way to prevent burnout at work and fallout with friends. But how do we make them, and what makes a boundary ‘healthy’? Psychotherapist Lynn Somerfield suggests that maintaining healthy boundaries around relationships, work and personal beliefs is crucial to good mental health. In her new book, The Seeds of Change – How Therapists Cultivate Personal Growth, she draws on patient case histories and insights from her ...

Deaths due to synthetic opioids nitazenes have likely been underestimated by up to a third. King’s College London research, published today in Clinical Toxicology, sheds light on the UK’s growing synthetic opioid problem. The presence of nitazenes on the unregulated drug market has risen steeply in the last seven years – prompting UK and international bodies to issue public health warnings about their use.   Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids which can have potencies of up to 500 times that of heroin. They can be readily manufactured at low cost. These potent synthetic opioids were ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have uncovered how fertilized rice seeds begin to divide and establish their “body axis.” Using a new imaging method, they discovered that while the first cell divides in an asymmetric way initially, this is followed by random growth and the apparently “collective” determination of a body axis. This is a significant break with known pathways, a rare glimpse into the birth and growth of plant embryos.   A key puzzle in plant science is how plants ...

Researchers have developed a new strategy to engineer biochar with dramatically enhanced sunlight-driven chemical activity, opening promising pathways for environmental remediation and pollutant transformation. The findings demonstrate how combining biochar with artificially synthesized humic substances can significantly boost its ability to drive light-powered reduction reactions that influence metal cycling and contaminant transformation in natural environments. The study, recently published in Biochar, introduces a co-engineering approach that integrates biochar with artificial humic substances created through a controlled ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.09.014   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses the construction of a localized immune niche via supramolecular hydrogel vaccine to elicit durable and enhanced immunity against infectious diseases.   Vaccines represent one of the most potent strategies for protecting humans from the threat of infectious diseases. Conventional vaccines elicit acquired immunity by mimicking pathogen characteristics; however, their protective efficacy is limited by inadequate spatiotemporal control of ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.10.005   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses the deep learning-based discovery of tetrahydrocarbazoles as broad-spectrum antitumor agents and click-activated strategy for targeted cancer therapy. Phenotypic screening has played an important role in discovering innovative small-molecule drugs and clinical candidates with unique molecular mechanisms of action. However, conducting cell-based high-throughput screening from vast compound libraries is extremely time-consuming and expensive. Fortunately, deep learning has provided a new paradigm for identifying ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.10.031   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses DHL-11, a novel prieurianin-type limonoid isolated from Munronia henryi, targeting IMPDH2 to inhibit triple-negative breast cancer.   Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer, characterized by the poorest prognosis, and poses a significant threat to women's health. In this study two novel prieurianin-type limonoids extracted from Munronia henryi were identified, one of which, named DHL-11, exhibited antitumor activity ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.09.026   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors and RIPK1 inhibitors with synergistic antiviral efficacy in a mouse COVID-19 model. SARS-CoV-2 continues to propagate globally, posing non-negligible risks of severe COVID-19. Although several clinical antivirals and immunosuppressants offer crucial protection, there is a persistent need for additional therapeutic options to counter emerging viral variants and drug ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.11.026 This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how neg-entropy is the true drug target for chronic diseases. Molecular mechanisms of chronic diseases are complicated, and this impedes drug target identification and subsequent drug discovery. Entropy increase in human body can be considered the root cause of chronic diseases. Accordingly, the inherent neg-entropic mechanisms, for instance the homeostatic mechanisms for metabolism, immunity, self-healing, etc., are true drug targets. Only very few ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.09.037   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses an Oxygen-boosted dual-section microneedle patch for enhanced drug penetration and improved photodynamic and anti-inflammatory therapy in psoriasis.   Psoriasis is a prevalent chronic inflammatory skin disorder, characterized by epidermal thickening and an inflammatory hypoxic microenvironment, which significantly hinder drug penetration through the thickened skin and limit the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT). The authors of this article ...

Sepsis is a leading global cause of hospital deaths, occurring when the body’s response to infection damages tissue and causes organs to fail. Africa bears the world’s highest burden of sepsis, with an estimated 48 million cases each year leading to about 11 million deaths. People living with HIV face the greatest risk of dying from the condition.  A new study has found that tuberculosis, a chronic bacterial lung disease, is a major and long-overlooked cause of deadly sepsis among people living with HIV. An associated Phase 3 clinical trial called the ATLAS study found that starting tuberculosis (TB) treatment ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.10.027 This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how palmitoylation of Tfr1 enhances platelet ferroptosis and liver injury in heat stroke. Heat stroke (HS) is a severe medical emergency characterized by coagulation and high mortality due to organ injury. This study identifies a novel mechanism in which platelet ferroptosis, driven by transferrin receptor 1 (Tfr1) palmitoylation, significantly contributes to liver injury in HS. ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.10.028   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses how structure-guided design of picomolar-level macrocyclic TRPC5 channel inhibitors with antidepressant activity. Recent advances in ion channel structural biology have enhanced structure-based drug design, yet lipid-occupied binding pockets—often large and flat—remain a major hurdle for developing selective small molecules. TRPC5, a brain-enriched channel regulating depression and anxiety, is a promising therapeutic target, but current preclinical candidates suffer from moderate off-target effects. To address ...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsb.2025.11.025   This new article publication from Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, discusses therapeutic drug monitoring of biologics in inflammatory bowel disease.   Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has emerged as a valuable tool for optimizing the use of biologics in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, variations in focus, methodology, and recommendations among relevant guidelines and consensuses have contributed to inconsistencies in their quality. This guideline synthesizes current evidence to standardize TDM of biologics in IBD and improve patient ...

A new global review highlights that tackling climate change requires more than funding or innovation alone. Researchers emphasize that meaningful climate action depends on the coordinated integration of financial systems, technological solutions, and governance reforms. The study presents a comprehensive framework designed to help countries, especially developing nations, implement effective and equitable climate strategies. Climate change is increasingly threatening ecosystems, economies, and human well-being worldwide. ...

Scientists have discovered that cyanobacteria, microscopic organisms best known for driving harmful algal blooms, may play a major role in spreading antibiotic resistance genes in coastal environments. The findings highlight a previously overlooked link between natural nutrient cycling and the global challenge of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance genes enable bacteria to survive exposure to antibiotics, posing serious risks to public health, agriculture, and ecosystem stability. While these genes are widely detected in aquatic environments, their biological drivers and ecological roles have remained poorly understood. In a new study examining ...

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (2/6/2026) – Children across the globe engage in a constellation of behaviors that support cooperation, an action critical to the survival of the human species, a team of Boston College researchers report today in the journal Science Advances. The team from Associate Professor of Psychology Katherine McAuliffe’s Cooperation Lab surveyed children in the urban United States, rural Uganda, Canada, and Peru, and the hunter-horticulturalist indigenous Shuar of Ecuador. The researchers found there are cross-cultural regularities in some aspects of the development ...