Two years ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of an over-the-counter birth control pill for the first time in the United States without a prescription. A nationwide study published today reveals the decision has dramatically improved access to contraception, especially among women who otherwise would have had no birth control at all, either because they lack insurance or routine access to health care. The study was conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University. Published in the journal ...

Researchers have identified key factors that influence the flavour of chocolate during the cocoa bean fermentation process, a discovery that could offer chocolate producers a powerful tool to craft consistently high-quality, flavour-rich chocolate. Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Biosciences examined how cacao bean temperature, pH, and microbial communities interact during fermentation and how these factors shape chocolate flavour. The team identified key microbial species and metabolic traits associated with fine-flavour chocolate and found that both abiotic factors (such as temperature and ...

SAN ANTONIO — August 18, 2025 — A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) review of data collected from near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu supports the hypothesis that they were originally part of the Polana collisional family in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The study compared spectroscopy data from Polana with spacecraft and laboratory data from Bennu and Ryugu samples, discovering similarities in their near-infrared spectrum sufficient to support the theory that they originate ...

On Japan’s desert islands, researchers uncovered a peculiar bathroom ritual among seabirds. Reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on August 18, the team found that streaked shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) poop while flying—not while floating on water—and they do so every 4 to 10 minutes. This habit may help the birds stay clean and fertilize the ocean below.  But the team didn’t set out to document the seabirds’ bathroom habits. “I was studying how seabirds run on sea surface to take off,” says Leo Uesaka, the lead author from the University ...

SAN ANTONIO — August 18, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed and tested a micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) detection and characterization system designed for satellites and spacecraft to monitor impacts from space debris. The system provides critical post-impact data, ensuring awareness of an impact even when damage is not immediately apparent. Space debris around Earth is a growing problem, a result of commercial satellites exploding, anti-satellite missile tests and accidents that contribute to a growing junk field. Depending ...

To the point Exploratory behavior: Grackles who were trained to be more flexible were more exploratory after the training than untrained grackles. This indicates that the more an individual investigates a novel object, the more it can learn and adapt its behavior accordingly. Range expansion: Grackles in an edge population disperse farther than those in a more central population. This suggests that the rapid geographic range expansion of great-tailed grackles is associated with individuals differentially expressing dispersal behaviors. Key traits: Flexibility, exploration, and dispersal are key ...

Flowers, specialized plant structures consisting of colorful petals and green sepals, play a key role in plant propagation. In addition to their ornamental value, flowers have gained emotional and cultural significance over the years. African violet, scientifically known as Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia ionanthus Wendl., is a remarkable ornamental plant with unique color patterns in its flowers owing to the accumulation of anthocyanins—a chemical substance that imparts different colors. Among the diverse varieties of Saintpaulia flowers, the white-striped petal variety has been exclusively bred for their aesthetic appeal and horticultural value. Until recently, scientists ...

Metal oxide materials with nanoscale pores have been applied and studied in a wide range of fields, including as catalysts, adsorption and separation materials, and energy materials. Among them, single-crystalline nanoporous metal oxides—with interconnected nanopores in a single crystal—are especially lucrative. They have recently attracted attention as unique materials that combine the desirable properties of nanoporous materials, such as high specific surface area and large pore volume, with those of single crystals. While metal oxide nanoporous structures have been conventionally synthesized by replicating the nanostructure ...

A team of scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has discovered that inactivation of a stress pathway makes ER+ breast cancer cells ignore stress signals, allowing them to evade treatment. A study led by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has uncovered why some breast cancers become resistant to treatment, potentially opening the door to more effective therapies for patients. Published today in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, the study reveals how disruption to a cellular stress response system involving the JNK pathway allows estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer cells to evade ...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit national medical ethics group, applauds Colorado State University for its decision to shutter a nutrition study for which the university had approved the killing of 17,766 animals. The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the university, claimed to investigate the effect of legumes on the human gut microbiome. Public records reveal the primary investigator had to date used 1,587 mice. An initial USDA grant of $498,500 funded the experiments. A subsequent USDA Cooperative Agreement, active through ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — Heat waves are becoming more common, severe and long-lasting. These prolonged periods of hot weather are especially dangerous in already hot places like Texas. In 2023, more than 300 people in Texas died from heat, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the most since the state began tracking such deaths in 1989. Researchers found it may not only be temperatures that make heat waves unsafe but also the heat-related increase in airborne pollutants.  Bianca Pamela Aridjis-Olivos, a graduate student in aerosol and atmospheric chemistry at Texas A&M University will present her team’s results at the fall meeting of ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — More than half of the 7.5 million bales of cotton produced annually in the U.S. will be used in clothing manufacturing. The finishing techniques used to make cotton fabric smooth, water-repellant and resistant to wrinkling can be detrimental to the environment and the wearer. Now, researchers propose a method for using cottonseed oil as a “greener” and safer alternative to formaldehyde and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called forever chemicals, ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — Acetaminophen is one of the most common painkillers and is found in hundreds of different medications. While safe at recommended doses, acetaminophen overdose is the leading cause of acute liver injury in the U.S. Now, researchers propose that a new molecule has the potential to treat acetaminophen-induced liver injury (AILI) and other inflammatory conditions. They conducted a small-scale mouse trial and found that the new compound decreased AILI-caused liver inflammation and prevented liver damage. Jannatun Nayem Namme, a graduate ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — From electric cars to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, the technologies people use every day require a growing need for electricity. In theory, nuclear fusion — a process that fuses atoms together, releasing heat to turn generators — could provide vast energy supplies with minimal emissions. But nuclear fusion is an expensive prospect because one of its main fuels is a rare version of hydrogen called tritium. Now, researchers are developing new systems to use nuclear waste ...

A new study published today in Nature Food evaluates the impacts of the European Chicken Commitment (ECC), an initiative calling on food companies to adopt slower-growing breeds and higher welfare standards. While concerns over increased costs and emissions have been barriers to adoption, the study puts those concerns in perspective. For example, using EU carbon externality costs (the cost for companies to emit one tonne of CO₂ under the EU Emissions Trading System), the study showed that it costs less than one-hundredth of a cent to prevent each hour of intense pain —equivalent to the emissions from ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — Millions of Americans have altered vision, ranging from blurriness to blindness. But not everyone wants to wear prescription glasses or contact lenses. Accordingly, hundreds of thousands of people undergo corrective eye surgery each year, including LASIK — a laser-assisted surgery that reshapes the cornea and corrects vision. The procedure can result in negative side effects, prompting researchers to take the laser out of LASIK by remodeling the cornea, rather than cutting it, in initial animal tissue tests. Michael Hill, a professor ...

The trouble with many drugs is that they go where they shouldn’t, producing unwanted side effects. Psychiatric drugs might cause dissociation, painkillers can induce nausea and chemotherapy often damages healthy cells. Now a team of Stanford Medicine researchers are closing in on a novel solution: a non-invasive system that can deliver drugs anywhere in the body with precision down to a few millimeters. The system uses nanoparticles to encapsulate drugs along with ultrasound to unleash the drugs at their intended destinations.  In a new study, published Aug. 18 ...

The body’s cells change their shape to close gaps such as wounds – with part of the cell flexing depending on the curve of the gap and the organisation of cell-internal structures, a new study reveals. Epithelial cells line the body’s surfaces inside and out - forming a barrier to protect against physical damage, pathogens, and dehydration. They play key roles in absorbing nutrients and removing waste products, as well as producing substances such as enzymes and hormones. Scientists have discovered that these cells’ endoplasmic reticulum (ER) ...

High frequency radio waves can wirelessly carry the vast amount of data demanded by emerging technology like virtual reality, but as engineers push into the upper reaches of the radio spectrum, they are hitting walls. Literally. Ultrahigh frequency bandwidths are easily blocked by objects, so users can lose transmissions walking between rooms or even passing a bookcase. Now, researchers at Princeton engineering have developed a machine-learning system that could allow ultrahigh frequency transmissions to dodge those obstacles. In an August 18 article in Nature Communications, the researchers unveiled a system ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2025 — No matter whether it’s crushed or cubed, ice eventually melts into a puddle — but an alternative called jelly ice doesn’t. Researchers Jiahan Zou and Gang Sun developed a one-step process to create the reusable, compostable material from gelatin, the same ingredient in jiggly desserts. Because frozen jelly ice doesn’t leak as it thaws, it’s ideal for food supply chains and medication transport. The team is also exploring protein-based structures for food-safe coatings and lab-grown meat scaffolds. Zou will present her results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall ...

What inspired you to become a researcher? I was introduced to the One Health Initiative during my undergraduate studies, which opened my eyes to the power of collaborative science. This initiative promotes collaboration between veterinary medicine, human medicine, environmental disciplines, and other scientific fields to advance our collective well-being. What fascinated me was how interconnected our health challenges really are – diseases don't respect boundaries between species or environments. I realized that the discoveries we make in ...

Dr. Seon Joon Kim and his team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)'s Convergence Research Center for SEIF have developed a "high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene" material that can be dispersed in water, polar and nonpolar organic solvents. This is an achievement that fundamentally overcomes the solvent compatibility limitation that has hindered the practical use of high-conductivity MXene, and is noted as a general-purpose technology that can be widely applied to high-tech industries in the future. MXene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial with high electrical conductivity, excellent solvent dispersibility, and excellent EMI shielding ...

The off-label use of ketamine to treat chronic pain is not supported by scientific evidence, a new Cochrane review has found. Ketamine is an anaesthetic commonly used for procedural sedation and short-term pain relief. Ketamine is also frequently prescribed off-label to manage chronic pain conditions such as nerve pain, fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome. It is one of several NMDA receptor antagonists — a group of drugs thought to reduce pain by blocking certain brain receptors involved in pain signalling. The review, conducted by researchers from UNSW Sydney , ...

A Covid infection, particularly in women, may lead to blood vessels aging around five years, according to research published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Monday).   Blood vessels gradually become stiffer with age, but the new study suggests that Covid could accelerate this process. Researchers say this is important since people with stiffer blood vessels face a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack.   The study was led by Professor Rosa ...

The meta-analysis of 33 studies, the first of its kind, looked at the relationship between sensitivity and common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Researchers found there was a significant, positive relationship between the two, concluding that highly sensitive people are more likely to experience depression and anxiety compared to those who are less sensitive. In the study, sensitivity was defined as a personality trait that reflects people’s capacity to perceive and process environmental stimuli such as bright lights, subtle changes in the environment and other peoples’ ...