Osaka, Japan – Infertility affects about one in six couples, and male factors account for roughly half of all cases—often because sperm don’t swim well. Researchers from the University of Osaka uncovered a key component of the “switch” that keeps the movement signal strong, offering a promising new avenue for both diagnosis and treatment. When this switch is absent, sperm slow down, and fertilization fails. By restoring that signal in the lab, the team rescued swimming and achieved healthy births in mice. For sperm to successfully fertilize an egg, they must be able to swim, a process driven by their tail. This movement is activated by an ...

NEW YORK, October 13, 2025 — Scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have discovered a groundbreaking way to control sound and vibrations using a concept inspired by “twistronics,” a phenomenon originally developed for electronics. Their research, published in the journal PNAS, introduces “twistelastics”— a technique that uses tiny rotations between layers of engineered surfaces to manipulate how mechanical waves ...

Deep inside caves, water dripping from the ceiling creates one of nature’s most iconic formations: stalagmites. These pillars of calcite, ranging from centimeters to many meters in height, rise from the cave floor as drip after drip of mineral-rich water deposits a tiny layer of stone. Beyond their beauty—echoed in fanciful nicknames like the “Minaret” or the “Wedding Cake”—stalagmites are also natural archives, recording ancient climatic changes in their layered growth, much like tree rings. But what determines the shape of a stalagmite? Why do some grow into slender cones, others into massive columns, and still others into curious flat-topped forms? ...

Osaka, Japan - For many couples facing infertility, medicine offers a range of solutions. But for men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA)—a genetic condition where sperm production stalls—options remain limited. Researchers at The University of Osaka in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine have developed a pioneering approach to combat NOA. By delivering mRNA through lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) targeting specific testicular genes, they successfully restored sperm production and achieved the birth of viable offspring in a mouse model.  This treatment led to healthy, fertile offspring ...

A major international study has uncovered a new vulnerability in prostate cancer cells that could help improve treatment for one of the most common cancers affecting men. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was led by scientists from Flinders University in Australia and South China University of Technology. It reveals that two enzymes — PDIA1 and PDIA5 — play a crucial role in helping prostate cancer cells grow, survive, and resist treatment. These enzymes act as molecular bodyguards for the androgen receptor (AR), a protein that fuels prostate cancer. When PDIA1 ...

How do people keep the beat to music? When people listen to songs, slow waves of activity in the brain correspond to the perceived beat so that they can tap their feet, nod their heads, or dance along. In a new JNeurosci paper, researchers led by Cédric Lenoir, from Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), explored whether this ability is unique to hearing or whether it also happens when rhythm is delivered by touch.  The researchers recorded brain activity as study volunteers finger tapped to the beat of music delivered via sound or rhythmic vibration. ...

Hypothermia can preserve neuron health following brain injury, but complications from external cooling make it less promising therapeutically. Recent evidence suggests that activating a specific neuron population triggers a reversible, hibernation-like hypothermic state without external cooling, but does this form of hypothermia still preserve neuron health? In a new JNeurosci paper, researchers led by Takeshi Sakurai at the University of Tsukuba explored this question using male mice.  The researchers found that triggering this specific hypothermic state in mice improved motor performance ...

Many advanced cancers develop resistance to treatment and become highly aggressive, often leaving patients with limited treatment options. In some cancers, including lung, pancreatic and prostate tumors, a key driver of treatment resistance and metastasis is a protein called integrin αvβ3, which is absent in normal tissues but enriched in aggressive tumors. Previous attempts to target αvβ3 with antibody therapies worked by activating a specific type of cell in the immune system called natural killer cells, but this approach ultimately failed to significantly improve patient survival in clinical trials, potentially because the tumors ...

About The Article: Artificial intelligence carries promise and uncertainty for clinicians, patients, and health systems. This JAMA Summit Report presents expert perspectives on the opportunities, risks, and challenges of AI in health care, including how AI is developed, evaluated, regulated, and implemented across clinical and business domains.   This content is the result of JAMA Summit AI that was held in October 2024. Reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of JAMA Summit, this report features a diverse group of authors ...

University of California San Diego of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with the genetic testing company 23andMe, have identified regions of the human genome associated with cannabis use, uncovering new relationships with psychiatric, cognitive and physical health. The findings may inform the development of prevention and treatment strategies for cannabis use disorder. The study was published on October 13, 2025 in Molecular Psychiatry. “Cannabis is widely used, but its long-term effects ...

About The Study: This analysis found that both low and high increases in social media use throughout early adolescence were significantly associated with lower performance in specific aspects of cognitive function, supporting a prior finding that greater screen time was negatively but weakly associated with adolescent cognitive performance. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jason M. Nagata, MD, MSc, email jason.nagata@ucsf.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...

A multi-center randomized controlled trial with critically ill adults aged 50 years and older admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) found that twice-daily slow-tempo music (60 to 80 beats per minute) did not shorten the duration of delirium or coma, or reduce delirium severity, pain or anxiety compared with a silence-track control. While the trial did not mitigate delirium, it showed a trend to fewer days with delirium/coma among patients who received at least seven doses of slow-tempo music. There was also a trend toward fewer days of delirium/coma among patients ...

Sepsis, or infection causing life-threatening organ dysfunction, is a leading cause of death in children worldwide. In efforts to prevent this rare but critical condition, researchers developed and validated AI models that accurately identify children at high risk for sepsis within 48 hours, so that early preemptive care can be provided. These predictive models used routine electronic health record (EHR) data from the first four hours the child spent in the Emergency Department (ED), before organ dysfunction was present. The multi-center study, led by Elizabeth Alpern, MD, MSCE, from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, is the first to use ...

About The Study: In this comparative effectiveness study in veterans with diabetes, liraglutide, semaglutide, and dulaglutide initiators had similar risks for kidney and cardiovascular outcomes. Head-to-head randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Srinivasan Beddhu, MD, email srinivasan.beddhu@hsc.utah.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.37297) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, exposure to antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) was associated with increased risks of infections in full-term children until age 21. In preterm children born before 34 weeks’ gestation, no association between ACS and infections was found. To minimize the adverse effects of ACS treatment, more stringent criteria for ACS administration and better prediction tools for preterm birth are required.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rebecca M. Reynolds, ...

University of Cambridge scientists have used human stem cells to create three-dimensional embryo-like structures that replicate certain aspects of very early human development - including the production of blood stem cells. Human blood stem cells, also known as hematopoietic stem cells, are immature cells that can develop into any type of blood cell, including red blood cells that carry oxygen and various types of white blood cells crucial to the immune system. The embryo-like structures, which the scientists have named ‘hematoids’, are self-organising and start producing blood after around ...

Near-death experiences can have lasting, life-changing effects, and new University of Virginia School of Medicine research sheds light on the types of counseling and support that can best help people cope. The research, from UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies, is believed to be the first to explore the most common and effective ways to assist people grappling with potentially profound changes to their world view. For most, near-death experiences, or NDEs, have a positive effect; the brush with ...

What began as a student project in 2023 will now serve a whole university community. Illinois Chat, an official artificial intelligence (AI) software tool of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has launched for the Fall 2025 semester and is available for anyone on campus. In partnership with the Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Illinois Computes, NCSA developed Illinois Chat to offer large language model (LLM) abilities to the entire campus community. This campus-developed tool allows users to create personalized LLM-based chatbots – ...

Florida Atlantic University has received a $3 million, five-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, to lead a transformative community initiative designed to prevent substance use among South Florida’s youth. The new program, “Rising Strong: Empowering Youth for Substance-Free Futures,” will implement evidence-based, trauma-informed prevention strategies to reach more than 3,000 youth across Palm Beach and Broward counties ...

A new report out today shows that companies taking action for gender equality see lower staff turnover, more women in leadership and better shareholder value. The 10th report in the Gender Equity Insights Series from Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) also warns Australian businesses could fall behind their competitors if they don’t take strong action to address gender balance. The report investigates what drives gender balance. Gender balance means having at least ...

Kiwifruits, rye bread and high mineral-content water could all help alleviate chronic constipation. That’s according to the first ever evidence-based dietary guidelines for adults with chronic constipation, led by researchers at King’s College London. The new guidelines also show that taking psyllium fibre supplements, certain probiotic strains and magnesium oxide supplements can help to improve constipation. In contrast, other widely recommended approaches, including generic “high-fibre diets,” and senna supplements (a type of laxative) were found to lack strong evidence ...

BOSTON, October 12, 2025 – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are leading four studies with important new findings in breast cancer, lung cancer, and bladder cancer at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2025 in Berlin, Germany. The studies will be presented both in-person and online from October 17 to October 21. A full list of Dana-Farber Presentations at ESMO 2025 is available here: Dana-Farber Presentations at ESMO 2025 Dana-Farber investigators will also ...

A new open-source tool is reshaping how engineers design multi-material objects. Charles Wade, a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, has created a design system software package that uses functions and code to map not just shapes but also where different materials belong in a 3D object. The project, called OpenVCAD, was developed in the Matter Assembly Computation Lab led by Assistant Professor Robert MacCurdy of the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering. A new paper, published October 13 in the journal Additive Manufacturing, highlights the design tool and its potential to ...

Cancer is a challenging enough diagnosis, but many patients are dealt a second blow, even as they heal: “chemo brain.” Also called “brain fog,” this mix of cognitive issues — memory problems, struggling to find words, an inability to concentrate — affects up to three-in-four cancer patients, according to multiple studies. For many, the effects last years beyond cancer treatment. A new study offers new models for studying causes of chemo brain and points to the effects of chemotherapy drugs on the brain’s lymphatic system, which ...

A new fossil fuel site approved for development off Western Australia’s coast is estimated to contribute 876 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the course of its lifetime, according to new research led by The Australian National University (ANU) in collaboration with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st century.   The level of emissions from the Scarborough project – with liquified natural gas production from the site expected to start in 2026 and continue for at least the next 31 years – will cause, on average, 0.00039 degrees Celsius of additional global warming.    The ...