Researchers at the University of East London have published a new study examining how middle-aged, middle-class British women describe the effects of regular open water swimming on their wellbeing, including its impact on symptoms of menopause. The research, published in the European Journal of Ecopsychology, uses in-depth interviews to understand women’s own accounts of swimming in outdoor water and how they feel it supports their lives. The study looks at the patterns that emerged when women talked about ...

Jurassic Park — and its never-ending sequels and spinoffs — starts with a basic premise: extracting the DNA of long-dead dinosaurs from mosquitoes frozen in amber. It turns out mosquitoes really are as voracious as Michael Crichton imagined. A new study reveals that, within a small area in central Florida, mosquitoes fed on a whopping 86 different species of animals, capturing nearly all the vertebrate biodiversity in the area. “They say Jurassic Park inspired a new generation of paleontologists, ...

CHICAGO—December 17, 2025—Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) university life trustee Marty Cooper (EE ’50, M.S. ’57)—a pioneer in the field of mobile communications who’s considered the “Father of the Cell Phone”—has been awarded the 2025 Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award. Cooper, an Illinois Tech alumnus and former professor, was recognized for his lifetime of leadership in wireless communications, entrepreneurship, and public service, and for inspiring others through his work, mentorship, and ...

Lymphedema after head and neck cancer is considerably more common than previously assumed and can persist long after cancer treatment has finished. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered that patients with a low level of physical activity face a higher risk of developing lymphedema. They have also noted that a lymph scanner objectively measures changes in the condition – a method that has now been introduced in Sweden’s Southern Healthcare Region. Head and neck cancer is a collective term for several types of cancer that ...

BOSTON and MINNEAPOLIS, December 17, 2025—NEJM Evidence and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), today launched Public Health Alerts, a new series published in NEJM Evidence and on CIDRAP’s site. Public Health Alerts deliver information and early warnings about emerging health threats, enabling swift, informed responses across the U.S. and globally. The first Public Health Alerts “Influenza Virus Characteristics in Department of Defense Populations, 2024 – 2025” and “Detection of Community Transmission of Clade Ib Mpox Virus in the United States” are now live and freely available ...

A new study lead by UCC palaeontologists discovered that frogs have conserved their ecology in the last 45 million years. Dr Daniel Falk, together with colleagues from UCC, Germany and the United States, studied 45-million-year-old frogs from the Geiseltal fossil site in central Germany. Remarkably, the fossils preserve skin remnants and layers of microscopic fossilised cell structures called melanosomes. These cell structures synthesise, store, and transport melanin - the pigment responsible for skin, hair, and eye colour. Similar to modern frogs, these melanosomes occur in different body areas including the eyes, the internal organs and the ...

To the point: Three-dimensional multicellular human liver model: For the first time, a 3D human organoid model, developed with liver tissue from patients, consists of three liver cell types, derived from adult hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, and liver mesenchymal cells. Retaining structure and function: The novel complex organoid models, or assembloids, reconstruct essential structural and functional features of the human periportal liver region and have patient-specific traits. They capture key aspects of human liver physiology in a dish, including drug detoxification and metabolism. Liver disease investigation: When manipulated, ...

Imagine sitting down for an appointment with a therapist – or any care provider. Perhaps it's the first time you've seen this provider, or the first time in a while. You'll likely need to fill out a form with a set of questions to ensure they know why you're there or how you're doing. Now imagine that the symptom questionnaire is quite confusing, to the point where you need to ask someone to clarify what the questions are asking. Many people don't have to imagine – this confusion is common, according to a study led by a University of Arizona psychologist. Questionnaires like these have been the standard since the 1990s. The Patient Health ...

LA JOLLA (December 17, 2025)—Young minds are easily molded. Each new experience rewires a child’s brain circuitry, adding and removing synaptic connections between neurons. These wiring patterns become more stable with age, but biology has left some wiggle room to ensure that adult brains can still adapt and refine their circuitry as needed. This flexibility is called neuroplasticity, and our ability to learn, make new memories, and recover from injury all depend on it. So how does your brain ...

Can the weakened immune systems of older individuals be rejuvenated? Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the HI-STEM* institute, and the Broad Institute have demonstrated that this is possible with an innovative approach. In a study now published in Nature, the team showed that mRNA technology can be used to transform the liver in mice into a temporary source of important immune regulatory factors that are naturally lost during aging. This restores the formation of new immune cells, allowing older animals ...

About The Study: The multivariable findings of this study showed that chronic pain was more prevalent among rural than urban cancer survivors even after controlling for covariates, suggesting an association between chronic pain and additional factors. For example, survivorship resources are generally less available in rural areas, and rural residents may lack access to pain specialists or face insurance challenges accessing pain care. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Erika Ziller, PhD, email erika.ziller@med.uvm.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, nearly 1 in 7 graduate medical education trainees screened positive for food insecurity. Food insecurity was associated with important well-being outcomes including burnout. These findings suggest that academic medical institutions should pursue systemic solutions to address food insecurity among resident and fellow physicians as a means of supporting their well-being. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Larissa R. Thomas, MD, MPH, email larissa.thomas@ucsf.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.50044) Editor’s ...

Cedars-Sinai investigators have discovered a healing mechanism that could one day be harnessed to help treat patients with spinal cord injuries, stroke, and neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Their study, published in Nature, describes a previously unknown function of astrocytes, a type of cell in the central nervous system. “Astrocytes are critical responders to disease and disorders of the central nervous system—the brain and spinal cord,” said neuroscientist Joshua Burda, PhD, assistant professor of Biomedical Sciences ...

New research has mapped the cell types that specialise to form reproductive organs in both sexes, identifying key genes and signals that drive this process. The findings offer important insights into conditions affecting the reproductive organs, and how environmental chemicals may affect reproductive health. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) used a combination of single-cell and spatial genomics technologies to analyse over half a million individual human cells from the developing reproductive system.  Published today (17 December) in Nature, the study provides the most ...

Tokyo, Japan – Discovering new inorganic materials is central to advancing technologies in catalysis, energy storage, semiconductors, and more. But finding a material with just the right properties is extremely difficult. What if an AI system could think like a human expert, explore this enormous space automatically, and suggest promising new materials on its own? In a study published this month in Cell Reports Physical Science, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo announced the development of MatAgent, an AI framework ...

Gut bacteria evolve rapidly in response to different diets, UCLA evolutionary biologists report in a new study. The researchers found that gene variants that help microbes digest starches found in ultra-processed foods have “swept” the genomes of some species of gut bacteria in industrialized parts of the world. Because these starches are industrially produced and have only been around for a few decades, scientists believe natural selection must have been acting strongly to make these genes dominant so quickly. What’s ...

Cedars-Sinai investigators, leading a multi-institutional team, have developed and validated a tool to predict which patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) need closer monitoring because their cancer is more likely to recur. The findings, published in JAMA Surgery, provide a framework to better manage ongoing follow-up care of patients whose cancer has not spread to their lymph nodes and who have had their tumors surgically removed. “We now have a way to identify patients whose higher risk of recurrence may have ...

A McGill-led study is challenging a popular theory about how dopamine drives movement, a discovery that could shift how scientists think about Parkinson’s disease treatments.  Published in Nature Neuroscience, the research found dopamine does not set the speed or force of each movement, as had been thought. Instead, it appears to act as the underlying support system that makes movement possible.  “Our findings suggest we should rethink dopamine’s role in movement,” said senior author Nicolas Tritsch, Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and researcher at the Douglas Research Centre. “Restoring ...

A new study shows that the embryo and the uterine lining conduct an active “conversation” from the very earliest stages of implantation. They engage in a back and forth of tiny packages called extracellular vesicles and lipid droplets, which carry metabolites and signals. Hormones determine what the uterus sends, and one signalling pathway (related to aryl hydrocarbon receptor, [AhR]) appears to assist in determining how hospitable the uterine environment is. When this pathway is blocked, embryos attach more strongly. These packages are taken up quickly; ...

Correction, December 16, 2025: An earlier version of this news release incorrectly stated investigators found a 218% increase in visits for general illness. The correct statistic, based on the study, is 118%.  An unusually high number of people developed a heart attack, lung complication or general illness within 90 days after the start of the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles, a new study from Cedars-Sinai reports.  “Wildfires that spread into urban areas have proven to be extremely ...

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed an acid-resistant “ultra-stable mucus-inspired hydrogel” (UMIH), marking a breakthrough in the field of gastrointestinal medicine. Traditional hydrogels—gelatin-like materials that absorb and retain water—are widely used to aid wound healing and extend drug release. However, they usually break down in acidic environments like the stomach. Inspired by the natural properties of gastric mucus, a PolyU research team has developed UMIH, a hydrogel that adheres 15 times more strongly than conventional gastric mucosal protectants, showing considerable potential for wound repair and targeted drug delivery ...

Highlights: Bacteria and yeasts shape the taste and structure of sourdough. A new study connects the choice of flour to those microbial communities. Researchers found that the same yeast shows up, no matter the flour type, but bacterial taxa have more diversity. The findings connect flour choice, environmental variables and the resulting microbial community. Washington, D.C.—Sourdough starter, a fermented mix of flour and water, is a staple for bakers. It’s also a rich experimental testing ground for microbiologists. The bread’s chewy texture ...

LOS ANGELES — Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss and blindness for Americans 65 and older, is a progressive disease affecting central vision. Over time, faces, book pages and anything directly in front of a person become obscured by blurry, dark or blind spots. Now, a novel clinical trial offers hope for patients with advanced “dry” age-related macular degeneration. Dry age-related macular degeneration is the most common form of the disease. Researchers at the USC Roski Eye Institute, part of Keck Medicine of USC, are launching a phase 2b clinical trial examining if stem cells ...

As global populations continue to grow, so does the need for nutritious food and efficient manufacturing processes. Current food production practices generate side streams that could be recycled. Researchers reporting in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry fed the side streams of carrot production to fungi, generating a sustainable source of protein. They incorporated the new protein into proof-of-concept vegan patties and sausages that testers ranked as tastier than food made from plant-based proteins. ““This ...

New ultrasound technology developed at Johns Hopkins can distinguish fluid from solid breast masses with near perfect accuracy, an advance that could save patients, especially those with dense breast tissue, from unnecessary follow-up exams, painful procedures and anxiety. In initial tests with real patients, doctors working with the new method accurately identified masses 96% of the time—they were right just 67% of the time analyzing the same masses with their regular tools. “This is important because the benefits of ultrasound in breast cancer detection can be limited by the similar appearance of benign fluid masses and solid masses, which can be ...