Animals don’t just see the world differently from one another, they experience time itself at dramatically different speeds. That is according to a new study that considered 237 species across the animal kingdom, and which revealed that how fast an animal lives and moves strongly predicts how quickly it can visually process the world around it. In research published in leading international journal Nature – Ecology & Evolution, scientists from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Galway show that species with fast-paced ecologies, such as flying animals and “pursuit predators”, which chase ...

The progressive rise in temperatures poses a growing threat to the staging of summer sporting events in Europe and, more specifically, to the Tour de France, due to the increasing risk of heat stress for athletes. This is one of the conclusions of a study published in Scientific Reports, which analysed climate data associated with more than 50 editions of the French race. The research was led by the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) within the European project TipESM, in collaboration with institutions such as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Barcelona ...

For decades, scientists viewed the genome of a newly fertilised egg as a structural ‘blank slate’ – a disordered tangle of DNA waiting for the embryo to ‘wake up’ and start reading its own genetic instructions.  In research published today in Nature Genetics, Professor Juanma Vaquerizas and his team have found that a surprising level of structure is already in place. They’ve developed a breakthrough technology, called Pico-C, which enables scientists to see the 3D structure of the genome in unprecedented ...

Eating unhealthy foods early in life leave lasting brain and feeding changes but gut bacteria can help restore healthy eating, new University College Cork (UCC) research study finds today (Tuesday 24th February 10am) A high-fat, high-sugar diet during the early life period can cause long-lasting changes in how the brain regulates eating, even when the unhealthy diet is stopped and body weight is normalised, the researchers at APC Microbiome, a leading research institute, at UCC discovered. Children today are growing up in food environments saturated with high-fat, high-sugar options that are readily accessible and heavily promoted. ...

When cancer-driving proteins resist various treatments, Northwestern University scientists have uncovered a new solution. Don’t fight them — throw them in the cellular trash. In a new study, scientists developed a protein-like polymers (PLPs) capable of grabbing proteins and directing them to the cell’s waste-disposal machinery. From there, the proteins are degraded and disposed, triggering cancer cell death. The study will be published on Tuesday (Feb. 24) in the journal Nature Communications. As a proof-of-concept, ...

It's a small number of research labs inside tech giants that are driving the rapid rise of AI today. But this is not the first time such labs have taken center stage, a new study shows: The United States' rise as a technological superpower was fueled not just by inventions, but by the emergence of industrial research labs in the 1920s – which reshaped who invented, where innovation happened, and how breakthroughs were made.   AT A GLANCE: The making of a tech superpower: The U.S. transition to a leading economy was not gradual; it happened abruptly in the early 1920s Research labs as key drivers: The industrial research lab – ...

Living cells are sustained by countless chemical reactions that must be carefully regulated to maintain internal order and function. Enzymes play a central role in this process, accelerating reactions that would otherwise proceed too slowly to support life. Traditionally, enzymes have been viewed as passive catalysts—speeding up chemical reactions without influencing their final balance. However, how enzymes might contribute to the regulation of chemical states beyond simple catalysis remains an open question in biology. A study led by researchers from Earth-Life ...

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with an impact estimated as 80 times that of CO₂. Although efforts are being made to reduce the contribution of big polluters to methane in Japan, new research from Osaka Metropolitan University suggests that smaller sources are vastly underestimated in the Osaka metropolitan area. The discovery was made by an international collaborative research team led by Associate Professor Masahito Ueyama of the Graduate School of Agriculture who used a tower for high-altitude readings and a bike for ground-level readings of methane and ethane. Instead of spot checks, the measurements were continuous ...

A research team led by the University of Waterloo is developing a novel tool to treat cancer by engineering hungry bacteria to literally eat tumours from the inside out.  “Bacteria spores enter the tumour, finding an environment where there are lots of nutrients and no oxygen, which this organism prefers, and so it starts eating those nutrients and growing in size,” said Dr. Marc Aucoin, a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo. “So, we are now colonizing that central space, and the bacterium is essentially ridding the body of the tumour.”  Key to the approach is a bacterium called Clostridium sporogenes, which ...

Background Social memory—the ability to recognize familiar individuals and distinguish them from strangers—is fundamental to social cognition. Deficits in social memory are hallmarks of multiple neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Notably, these conditions frequently co-occur with chronic sleep disturbances. Although extensive evidence linking sleep ...

A research team in Kumamoto University has discovered that a natural compound found in pomegranate leaves and branches can directly break down harmful protein aggregates linked to transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis, a progressive and potentially life-threatening disease affecting the nerves and heart. The study, published in iScience, identifies 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (PGG) as a potent “amyloid disruptor.” TTR amyloidosis occurs when the transport protein transthyretin misfolds and accumulates as insoluble amyloid fibrils in organs. ...

For the many patients with depression who haven't found relief through medication, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) — a noninvasive therapy that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate specific areas of the brain — has become an increasingly important treatment option. But the standard course of treatment requires daily clinic visits over six-to-eight weeks, a schedule that can be difficult for many patients to manage. TMS is an established, increasingly important treatment option for treatment-resistant depression, and has been shown in large ...

A new study from researchers at the University of Liverpool and King's College London reveals that whilst women may value the convenience of virtual postpartum care, they remain concerned about the need for physical examinations and how to access them. The researchers have called for a personalised and tiered model of care which balances efficiency, individual preference, and clinical concern. Understanding experiences of postnatal care during and post-pandemic During the recent pandemic, maternity services were rapidly reconfigured to reduce infection risks for pregnant women, new mothers, newborn ...

In the heat of a warming world, public fountains have become the crown jewels of urban cooling and interactive play. With over 100,000 installations worldwide attracting 3 billion visitors annually, these features are more than just aesthetic landmarks—they are critical hubs of human activity. However, a new editorial published in Carbon Research warns that the mist we walk through might be carrying more than just a refreshing chill. Professor Xiaohui Liu, from the Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology (Ministry of Education) ...

Scientists are proposing a new way to boost the climate benefits of biochar by pairing it with peatland restoration. A new study suggests that applying biochar to rewetted peatlands could dramatically improve long term carbon storage while making biochar production more efficient and scalable. Biochar, a charcoal like material made by heating biomass in low oxygen conditions, is widely recognized as a promising carbon dioxide removal technology. When added to soil, it can store carbon for decades or centuries. However, the stability of biochar varies depending on how it is produced and where it is applied. Current ...

Small fragments of plastic were found in nine out of 10 patients with prostate cancer, and in higher levels inside tumors than in nearby noncancerous tissue, a new study finds.  The small, single-center study was led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and its Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards. It explored the potential role of plastic exposure in development of prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer among American men according to the American Cancer Society.   Experts have found that when ...

URBANA, Ill. — A lot has changed on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus since its founding in 1867, but a storied plot of land near the south quad has been preserved nearly intact for a century and a half. The Morrow Plots, famed in song and story, represent the oldest continuously running agricultural experiment in North America, and are the second oldest in the world. And this year, they turn 150.   “The Morrow Plots are a huge part of our story in the College of ACES. They’re a direct example of how we live out our land-grant mission, providing evidence-based recommendations ...

To keep up with today’s computing needs, researchers mine the quantum realm to find better ways to handle massive data demands. A new field known as “orbitronics” is the newest of these efforts. Orbitronics uses the path of an electron around a nucleus, a property known as orbital angular momentum, to store and process more information, much more efficiently. Typically, controlling an electron’s orbit requires using magnetic materials, like iron, that are heavy, expensive and burdensome for practical orbitronics devices. In a new study, researchers developed the most streamlined system yet for generating orbital angular ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received an $80 million grant to continue research into the mysteries of exceptional longevity. The grant renews support for the Long Life Family Study, a long-running, international investigation of multiple generations of families with unusually high numbers of individuals who have lived much longer than statistical models predict, including some to age 100 and beyond. The work is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Launched in 2004, the Long Life Family Study has built on WashU Medicine’s ...

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with international partners, have shown that ocean temperature patterns help limit the global spread of droughts. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the study analysed climate data from 1901–2020 and found that synchronised droughts affected between 1.8% and 6.5% of global land, far lower than earlier claims that one-sixth of the planet could dry out at once. The study, led by Dr Udit Bhatia, with co-authors from IITGN and the Helmholtz ...

A team of scientists led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), and Leipzig University has developed a new method to track the Earth’s greenness – a key indicator of vegetation health and activity – by calculating its centre of mass. Lead author Prof. Miguel Mahecha explains: “Imagine holding a perfectly round globe in your hands and attaching small weights to it, each representing the green leaves at every point on the Earth’s surface. If you then carefully place this globe into calm water, the centre of mass will ...

Even people who are only barely altruistic still choose to self-isolate when infected, suggesting it may be a natural survival strategy, finds new University of Warwick led study. Reducing social contact is widely understood to slow disease spread, but because there is no personal health benefit gain from self-isolating, this would seem to require some concern for others. But how much do you have to care about others before you would choose to self-isolate when sick?  Published ...

EMBARGO February 23, 2026 at 3:00 PM U.S. Eastern time Over 40,000 years ago, our early ancestors were already carving signs into tools and sculptures. According to a new analysis by linguist Christian Bentz at Saarland University and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte (Museum of Prehistory and Early History) in Berlin, these sign sequences have the same level of complexity and information density as the earliest proto-cuneiform script that emerged tens of thousands of years later, around 3,000 B.C.E. Using a ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Volcanoes and wildfires can inject millions of tons of gases and aerosol particles into the air, affecting temperatures on a global scale. But picking out the specific impact of individual events against a background of many contributing factors is like listening for one person’s voice from across a crowded concourse. MIT scientists now have a way to quiet the noise and identify the specific signal of wildfires and volcanic eruptions, including their effects on Earth’s global atmospheric temperatures. In a study appearing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Pickup basketball and neighborhood kickball are less common now than for generations past, giving way to more organized and formal youth sports intended to help kids get ahead, a new study suggests. Researchers found that compared to people born in earlier decades, youths born in the 1990s spent more of their recreational time playing formal sports – coached by adults and wearing uniforms – than with friends and neighbors playing informal matchups organized by kids. “Overall, there’s been a pretty healthy mix across generations and among our respondents in playing both informal and formally organized sports, ...