Five well-publicized polar geoengineering ideas are highly unlikely to help the polar regions and could harm ecosystems, communities, international relations, and our chances of reaching net zero by 2050.  This is according to a new assessment, published in Frontiers in Science, which looked at five of the most developed geoengineering proposals currently being considered for use in Antarctica and the Arctic.  The polar regions are home to fragile communities and ecosystems, as well as most of the world’s ice. Technological ‘geoengineering’ approaches have been proposed to delay or address the impacts of climate ...

Unarmed Black civilians are three times more likely to be shot and killed by police officers than unarmed white civilians in the U.S. In tragic cases in recent years, unarmed Black men holding innocuous objects like a wallet, cell phone, or vape pen were killed by police officers because those objects were misidentified as weapons. These split-second fatal mistakes, often under ambiguous and stressful conditions, have sparked urgent debates about their causes and how to fix them. A new brain-imaging study from researchers at Columbia University ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Using tiny particles shaped like bottlebrushes, MIT chemists have found a way to deliver a large range of chemotherapy drugs directly to tumor cells. To guide them to the right location, each particle contains an antibody that targets a specific tumor protein. This antibody is tethered to bottlebrush-shaped polymer chains carrying dozens or hundreds of drug molecules — a much larger payload than can be delivered by any existing antibody-drug conjugates. In mouse models of breast and ovarian cancer, the researchers found that treatment with ...

In a move that could reshape drug discovery, researchers at Harvard Medical School have designed an artificial intelligence model capable of identifying treatments that reverse disease states in cells. Unlike traditional approaches that typically test one protein target or drug at a time in hopes of identifying an effective treatment, the new model, called PDGrapher and available for free, focuses on multiple drivers of disease and identifies the genes most likely to revert diseased cells back to healthy function. The ...

Glioblastoma is a devastatingly effective brain cancer. Doctors can cut it out or blast it with radiation, but that only buys time. The cancer has an insidious ability to hide enough tumor cells in tissue around the tumor to allow it to return as deadly as ever. Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma survive for an average of 15 months. What’s needed is a better way of identifying those hidden cancer cells and predicting where the tumor might grow next. Jennifer Munson believes she and her research team at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have developed a tool to do just that. Their method, described ...

A new technique has measured boron in individual cancer cells for the first time, enabling researchers to better understand how drugs act to kill tumours in some cancers.   In a new article in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, a team from the University of Birmingham funded by the Rosetrees Trust have for the first time used a technology to conduct real-time measurement of boron in live tumour cells.  The technique, called single-cell ICP-MS, enabled the team to see how and when treatments for head and neck cancers enter and exit tumour cells.   Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a new form of therapeutic for head and neck cancer that involves ...

Cardiovascular diseases remain the most common cause of death worldwide. In Europe, they account for over 40 percent of all deaths. However, known risk factors such as high cholesterol levels or high blood pressure cannot fully explain the high mortality rate or the number of cardiovascular diseases. Scientists in Graz have now investigated a new factor that is closely linked to cardiovascular mortality. Elevated levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood led to a stiffer and less elastic aorta in an animal model. These findings contribute to the current understanding ...

Hafnium oxide (HfO2) has attracted attention as a promising material for ultrathin semiconductors and other microelectronic devices. The strong ionic bond between hafnium and oxygen atoms in HfO2 gives it a high dielectric constant, superior thermal stability, and a wide band gap. Notably, these properties can be maintained even at the atomic scale. Meanwhile, these properties also pose challenges in achieving highly precise and smooth etching of HfO2 films. Now, a group of researchers from Japan and Taiwan has successfully etched HfO2 films with atomic-level precision, smoothness, ...

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford University Press, finds that the relatively high rate of Autism-spectrum disorders in humans is likely due to how humans evolved in the past. About one in 31 (3.2%) children in the United States has been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that around one in 100 children have autism. From an evolutionary perspective, many scientist believe that autism and schizophrenia may be unique to humans. ...

LINKÖPING, SWEDEN, 9 September 2025 -- In a revealing Genomic Press Interview published today in Genomic Psychiatry, Dr. Gerhard Andersson traces his extraordinary journey from skateboarding punk musician to becoming the architect of a global revolution in psychological treatment delivery. The comprehensive interview unveils how two graduate students knocking on his office door in 1998 sparked a transformation that would fundamentally alter how millions access mental healthcare worldwide. From Uppsala Laboratory to Global Impact Dr. Andersson's path to scientific prominence began unexpectedly ...

TUCSON, Arizona, USA, 9 September 2025 -- A viewpoint article published today in Brain Medicine by Dr. Esther Sternberg provides a compelling portrait of how one pioneering neuroscientist continues to thrive beyond his centennial year. The tribute to Dr. Seymour Reichlin, published as part of a special Festschrift commemorating his 100th birthday, examines the multifaceted elements that have sustained his remarkable intellectual vigor and social vitality at 101 years old. Dr. Sternberg, who has directed research at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative ...

LONDON, England, UNITED KINGDOM, 9 September 2025 -- In a compelling Genomic Press Interview published today in Genomic Psychiatry, Dr Oliver Pain reveals how personal experiences and scientific curiosity converged to reshape global approaches to psychiatric genomics. The Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow transforms how scientists worldwide understand and apply genetic risk prediction for mental health disorders, developing tools that democratize access to cutting-edge genomic methodologies across international research communities. The interview illuminates Dr Pain's evolution ...

Organic molecules detected in the watery plumes that spew out from cracks in the surface of Enceladus could be formed through exposure to radiation on Saturn’s icy moon, rather than originating from deep within its sub-surface ocean. The findings, presented during the EPSC–DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki this week, have repercussions for assessing the habitability of Enceladus’s ocean. ‘While the identification of complex organic molecules in Enceladus’s environment remains an important clue in assessing the moon’s habitability, the results demonstrate that radiation-driven chemistry ...

Selecting the right spot to smash a spacecraft into the surface of a hazardous asteroid to deflect it must be done with great care, according to new research presented at the EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting this week in Helsinki. Slamming into its surface indiscriminately runs the risk of knocking the asteroid through a 'gravitational keyhole' that sends it back around to hit Earth at a later date. "Even if we intentionally push an asteroid away from Earth with a space mission, we must make sure it doesn't drift into one of these ...

Do you think that Spotify's suggestions for new music becomes stranger all the time? It may be because of you. In a unique study with researchers from University of Gothenburg, 15 years of listening data shows that musical taste becomes more refined with age. Music is a strong marker of identity – but what we listen to changes with age. The results may not be that surprising, but now there is scientific evidence for the first time through an analysis of how listening habits change over time. The international study from University of Gothenburg, Jönköping University and University of Primorska, ...

As X-ray detection plays an indispensable role in industrial inspection, medical diagnosis, and security checks, the search for high-performance detection materials has never been more critical. Traditional three-dimensional (3D) metal halide perovskites show great promise for direct X-ray detection, yet their inherent ion migration severely undermines detector stability—hindering commercialization. Now, a collaborative team of researchers from institutions including Henan University, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), and ...

Combining classic comparative approaches, including collecting species from the wild, and cutting-edge light-induced gene manipulation technology, researchers from Japan and Germany have discovered how developing fly embryos solve the fundamental problem of “tissue tectonic collision” when the rapidly expanding head and torso tissues crash into each other. Different species have evolved different solutions, one of which, the ‘cephalic furrow’, has long been a mystery to developmental biologists because it forms and disappears without leaving a trace. For an animal to develop properly, two fundamental processes need to happen: cells need to be ...

Women taking popular weight-loss medications during their reproductive years may be unaware of associated risks to pregnancy and unborn babies, warn Flinders University researchers.  A new study has revealed that most Australian women of reproductive age prescribed GLP-1 receptor agonists—medications increasingly used for weight loss such as Ozempic—are not using effective contraception, despite known risks during pregnancy.   Published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the ...

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have rapidly emerged as a front-runner in next-generation photovoltaic technologies, boasting a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.95%—now rivaling crystalline silicon and CIGS cells. Yet, a critical bottleneck remains: energy losses stemming from mismatched energy levels between the perovskite absorber and charge transport layers (electron transport layers, ETLs; hole transport layers, HTLs), which hinder charge separation and transport. To address this, a team of researchers from Nanjing Tech University has published a landmark review in Nano-Micro Letters, systematically analyzing strategies to optimize energy-level alignment ...

As global concerns over emerging contaminants (such as pharmaceuticals) in wastewater grow, traditional treatment methods like ozone oxidation and activated carbon adsorption face limitations—from high energy consumption to reliance on critical raw materials. Now, a collaborative team of researchers from Gdansk University of Technology (Poland), Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), and Lund University (Sweden) has developed a game-changing solution: 3D-printed boron-nitrogen (B,N)-doped carbon electrodes fabricated via a synergistic combination of 3D printing, phase ...

As global demand grows for safe, low-cost, and sustainable energy storage technologies, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have gained increasing attention due to their high theoretical capacity, environmental friendliness, and intrinsic safety. However, their practical application has long been hindered by two major challenges: uncontrolled zinc dendrite growth and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER), both of which degrade battery performance and lifespan. Now, a collaborative research team from Nanjing University, The University of Queensland, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University has developed an ...

Thorsten Becker, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences, is the author of a new textbook, “Tectonic Geodynamics.” The book is co-authored with Claudio Faccenna, who was formerly at UT, and is now a professor at the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam and at Roma TRE University. The textbook is the first to integrate tectonics, structural geology, and geodynamics in a single volume. It will be released in November by Princeton University Press and is available for pre-order. Although ...

A new approach to manufacturing multicolour lenses could inspire a new generation of tiny, cheap, and powerful optics for portable devices such as phones and drones. The design uses layers of metamaterials to simultaneously focus a range of wavelengths from an unpolarised source and over a large diameter, overcoming a major limitation of metalenses, said the first author of the paper reporting the design, Mr Joshua Jordaan, from the Research School of Physics at the Australian National University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS). “Our design has a lot of nice features ...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a complex condition marked by a gradual decline in kidney function, which can ultimately progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Globally, the prevalence of the CKD ranges from 8% to 16%, with about 5% to 10% of those diagnosed eventually reaching ESRD, making it a major public health challenge. In a new study, researchers used machine learning and deep learning models, as well as explainable artificial intelligence (AI), to assess integrated clinical and claims data with the goal of improving prediction ...

Researchers in China have developed a novel, low-cost catalyst that efficiently removes antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) from aquaculture wastewater, offering a potential new solution to one of today’s most pressing environmental and public health challenges. The study, published in Biochar, reports on a bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃, BFO) catalyst doped with peanut shell-derived biochar (BC). When combined with peroxymonosulfate (PMS), the biochar-doped composite rapidly inactivated ARB. In laboratory tests, the PMS/5% BC-BFO system removed nearly two orders of magnitude of ARB within just 10 minutes, achieving a reaction rate of 0.4401 min⁻¹. According to the research team, ...