The Sahara Desert is one of the driest areas in the world. It gets just 3 inches of precipitation per year — one-tenth of the amount of Chicago’s rain, sleet and snow. But by the second half of the 21st century, rising global temperatures could make the Sahara much wetter, according to UIC researchers. By that time, the North African desert could see 75% more precipitation than its historical norm, as reported in Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science. Under extreme climate conditions, rainfall is expected to increase in southeastern and south-central Africa, too, the researchers said. “Changing rainfall patterns will affect ...

Studies have shown that lighted nets can reduce bycatch of sea turtles and sharks, but the idea has faced many hurdles to adoption. The batteries are short lived, expensive to replace and raise disposal concerns. The lights are too heavy and prone to snagging nets. Fishers find them difficult to work with. To get past these hurdles, researchers at Arizona State University collaborated with a team of coastal gillnet fishers to develop solar-powered lights that function as buoys, like any others threaded onto the float line of a fishing net. The LED lights flash on and off to conserve energy and can stay active for over five days with no sunlight. The net-illuminating gear is highly effective ...

Researchers reporting in ACS Energy Letters have devised a battery powered by vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and glucose. Inspired by how human bodies break down glucose for energy using enzymes, the team incorporated riboflavin into a prototype flow cell battery. The riboflavin mediator helped shuttle electrons between the battery’s electrodes and the glucose electrolyte, generating an electrochemical flow from the energy stored in the sugar. “Riboflavin and glucose flow cells can generate electricity from naturally ...

Iron-deficiency anemia is a common condition marked by tiredness, headaches or ice cravings. But the oral iron supplements used to treat it can leave behind excess iron that causes inflammation and an upset stomach. A new supplement reported in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces combines iron, prebiotics and probiotics. In trials, the treatment successfully restored blood iron levels in anemic mice without initiating an inflammatory response or throwing off the balance of the gut microbiota. “By advancing biomaterial-based iron delivery, this research offers a transformative approach to address ...

For children and young adults diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a common type of bone cancer for that age group, the odds of survival can be devastatingly low (20-30%) when the disease spreads to the lungs. “Treatments for osteosarcoma haven’t changed since the 1980s,” Balakrishna Koneru, Ph.D., said. “That leaves us with a critical need for more effective and innovative therapies for these patients.” In an effort to improve the outcomes for these young patients, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recently awarded a two-year, $198,822 grant to Koneru, an assistant professor of pediatrics ...

A new study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports indicates that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS) have an extremely high geographic association, even after controlling for race, gender, wealth, latitude, and access to neurological healthcare.  “The results of the study are surprising because previous studies have typically concluded there was no evidence for a mechanistic or genetic link between the two diseases,” explains study author Melissa Schilling, a professor at New York University’s Stern ...

More than a third of Canadian teens say climate change is impacting their mental health, according to a national study led by Athabasca University researchers. A survey of 800 Canadian youth aged 13 to 18 found that 37% reported their mental health was impacting their mental health to some extent. Teens indicated climate change has led to feelings of anxiety, stress, and worry, and fuels concerns and uncertainty for the future. “We’re seeing a lot of increased attention around how young people are feeling around climate change. A lot of that ...

Endovascular aneurysm repair is a minimally invasive technique for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms—life-threatening bulges in the aorta's abdominal section. However, it carries the risk of recurrence owing to endoleaks after stent graft implantation, necessitating regular follow-up especially since these leaks cannot be easily linked to specific symptoms. Unfortunately, only imaging-based monitoring such as computed tomography angiography or magnetic resonance imaging is available at the moment. This conventional follow-up protocol ...

Beta-blockers are widely prescribed pharmaceuticals used to manage cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, arrhythmias, and post-heart attack recovery. Among them, atenolol (ATL) and metoprolol (MTL) are particularly common. Their high chemical stability benefits therapeutic efficacy but also means they degrade slowly, persisting in the environment. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are largely ineffective at removing these compounds, allowing them to enter rivers and lakes, where even low concentrations can exert chronic toxic effects on algae, fish, and other aquatic organisms. To remove such persistent pharmaceuticals, researchers have explored the development ...

Child maltreatment, which includes abuse and neglect, is one of the most serious public health concerns worldwide. These adversities leave a lasting impact on the emotional well-being, memory, and social development of affected individuals. The problem, however, reaches far beyond its psychological impact, affecting the brain and biological processes through genetic changes, which have remained unclear until now. A recent study led by Senior Asst. Professor Shota Nishitani and Professor Akemi Tomoda from the Research Center for Child Mental Development at University of Fukui, Japan, in collaboration with Professor Masataka Nagao from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Oct. 15, 2025 — The conditions where you live may influence your brain health and risk for dementia, according to a new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine  The study, published today in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, found that individuals living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social vulnerability, environmental injustice and socioeconomic disadvantage showed measurable differences in brain structure and function.  “This study is consistent with other research showing that the state of the social environment in which people ...

New report from the World Economic Forum and Frontiers identifies ten technologies with the potential to accelerate climate action, restore ecosystems, and drive sustainable innovation within planetary boundaries. The World Economic Forum and leading open science publisher Frontiers today launched the inaugural 10 Emerging Technology Solutions for Planetary Health report, a landmark publication spotlighting ten breakthrough innovations that ...

There’s mounting evidence that popular drugs prescribed for diabetes management and weight loss — better known by trade names like Ozempic and Wegovy — could be effective in reducing alcohol use. A study from the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, released this month in Scientific Reports, found that these types of GLP-1 agonists slow the speed at which alcohol enters the bloodstream, which also slows the effects on the brain. “People who drink know there’s a difference between nursing a glass of wine and downing a shot of whiskey,” said Alex DiFeliceantonio, ...

Throughout human history, many cultures have developed belief systems that tied nature to the supernatural, fostering practices that preserved and sustained their environments. Forest spirits, river gods, or deities were often seen as guardians of natural domains, and exploiting nature carried the risk of retaliation from these beings. Today, with mounting concerns over the overexploitation of the world’s natural resources, can bringing back some of these supernatural beliefs help deter such behaviors? The underlying idea is that fear of retribution ...

Kyoto, Japan -- Around the world, we are already witnessing the detrimental effects of climate change, which we know will only become more severe. Extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, tropical cyclones, and heat waves are projected to intensify, and this will negatively impact both human society and natural ecosystems. Assessing how climate change affects extreme weather is important not only from a scientific point of view, but also from a practical perspective. It is critical that we start adapting to climate change and mitigating the effects of potential disasters. This situation ...

TORONTO, Canada—A groundbreaking study analyzing data from over 5 million older Americans has found that those who migrate within the U.S. have significantly better health outcomes than those who remain in their birth state, offering compelling evidence of a “healthy migrant effect” within U.S. borders. Published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, the study examined the prevalence of five types of disability among Americans aged 65 and older: serious vision and hearing problems, cognitive impairment, limitations in daily activities (ADLs), and physical limitations such as ...

George Gamow® award, established by the Russian-American Association of Scientists (RASA-America, Russian-American Science Association) in memory of the outstanding Russian-American physicist, Professor Georgy Antonovich Gamow (1904-1968) and to encourage members of the Russian-speaking scientific diaspora for outstanding achievements recognized by the wider scientific community, for 2024 is awarded to: Anna Krylov, professor of the University of Southern California “For her pioneering contributions to theoretical and computational chemistry, particularly the development of novel electronic structure ...

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than 25 times as potent as CO2 in warming the Earth. Reducing methane emissions is necessary to reduce the impact of global warming. In urban areas, evidence suggests that natural gas use and sewage treatment are responsible for generating methane. However, the extent of the contribution of other sources is unclear, especially in Japan. A research group led by Associate Professor Masahito Ueyama at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Agriculture measured methane and ethane concentrations ...

Many marine species are no strangers to the depths of the oceans. Some animals, like certain sharks, tuna, or turtles, routinely perform extreme dives, whereas for other species such behavior has been observed less frequently. Now, an international team of researchers working in Peru, Indonesia, and New Zealand tagged oceanic manta rays – the largest species of ray – to learn more about the deep-diving behavior of these animals. They published their results in Frontiers in Marine Science. “We show that, ...

Pulsars suggest that ultra–low-frequency gravitational waves are rippling through the cosmos. The signal seen by international pulsar timing array collaborations in 2023 could come from a stochastic gravitational-wave background—the sum of many distant sources—or from a single nearby binary of supermassive black holes. To tell these apart, Hideki Asada, theoretical physicist and Professor at Hirosaki University, and Shun Yamamoto, researcher at the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, propose a method that exploits beat phenomena between gravitational waves at nearly the same frequency, searching for ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2025 AT 12:01 AM ET  Age is Just a Number for Hopeful Mothers  New survey shows many are unaware of advancements in obstetrics care ORLANDO, FL — While delaying motherhood is a growing national trend, a new Orlando Health survey reveals a widespread public misconception. Over half of Americans (54%) believe women cannot give birth safely in their 40s. At Orlando Health, doctors are breaking down these misconceptions and empowering hopeful mothers through advanced testing and technology that ensures safer pregnancies. "Pregnant women over the age of 35 are no different than other younger patients," said ...

Bottom Line: Combining an epigenetic therapy with an anti-PD-1 antibody, which uses the body’s natural response to viral infections, showed promising results in patients with relapsed or refractory natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (R/R NKTL), a rare and aggressive cancer with limited treatment options. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Authors: Jing Tan, PhD, and Huiqiang Huang, MD, principal investigators in the State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, and Choon Kiat Ong, PhD, principal ...

Research groups led by Qing-Yuan Meng from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Xiu-Long Yang from Hebei University recently reported a novel acylation reaction for photocatalytic cleavage of olefin double bonds. Using a metal-free continuous photoredox catalytic strategy, they achieved a tertiary amine-mediated acylation of aromatic olefins via carbon-carbon double bond cleavage under mild conditions, resulting in the synthesis of a series of α-aryl ketones. Through controlled experiments and theoretical calculations, they explored the reaction mechanism, including the cleavage of both the π and σ bonds of the olefins, ...

POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) Professor Hyung Joo Lee’s research team, including integrated program students Min Young Shin and Na Rae Kim, has published the results of a study analyzing how the combined effects of droughts and wildfires influence fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in California, U.S., using 15 years of data. The study was published in the international environmental science journal Environment International.   PM2.5 refers to fine particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometers (µm) or less. Because these particles can penetrate deep into the lungs when inhaled, causing respiratory ...

Uncontrolled bleeding during surgery remains one of the deadliest medical emergencies. Injuries to internal organs such as the liver or spleen are especially dangerous because bleeding is difficult to control and often life-threatening. To tackle this challenge, researchers at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) have developed a composite bioabsorbable hemostatic sponge that can rapidly halt bleeding inside the body.   Conventional hemostatic agents often fail to adhere firmly to the bleeding site or remain in the body without degrading, which can cause secondary complications. To address this, the research team ...