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Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz have developed a way to predict how trauma patients will recover, days before complications come to fruition, by analyzing the molecules in their blood. In their study published in Science Translational Medicine, the team has shown that "omics" markers (biological signals found in blood) can reveal why patients with similar injuries often recover differently, opening the door to more precise, personalized trauma care.

Research results from Innsbruck, Schwabmünchen, and Düsseldorf demonstrate how the most widely used green phosphors in commercial LEDs can be replaced by representatives of an entirely new class of compounds. Green luminescence, as required for ubiquitous white-light LEDs, currently originates mainly from phosphors with the well-known garnet structure. In times of high energy prices and political tensions that may restrict access to certain raw materials, having an alternative with a lower synthesis temperature and different chemical composition would be highly advantageous.

Robots and self-driving cars could soon benefit from a new kind of brain-inspired hardware that can allegedly detect movement and react faster than a human. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications details how an international team built their neuromorphic temporal-attention hardware system to speed up automated driving decisions.

Scientists are testing an entirely new way to fight heart disease: a gene-editing treatment that might offer a one-time fix for high cholesterol.

A key problem facing artificial intelligence (AI) development is the vast amount of energy the technology requires, with some experts projecting AI datacenters to be responsible for over 13% of global electricity usage by 2028. According to Xingjie Ni, associate professor of electrical engineering at the Penn State School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the key to addressing this roadblock could lie in computers powered by light instead of circuitry.

Throughout the past decade, Northwestern University scientists have uncovered a striking principle of vaccine design: Performance depends not only on vaccine components but also on vaccine structure. After proving this concept across multiple studies, the team developed therapeutic cancer vaccines to tackle one of the most challenging targets yet—HPV-driven tumors. In a new study published in the journal Science Advances, the scientists discovered that systematically changing the orientation and placement of a single cancer-targeting peptide can lead to formulations that supercharge the immune system's ability to attack tumors.

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Virginia Tech's Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has for the first time identified specific patterns of brain chemical activity that predict how quickly individual honey bees learn new associations, offering important insights into the biological basis of learning and decision-making. The study, published in Science Advances, found that the balance between the neurotransmitters octopamine and tyramine can predict whether a bee will learn quickly, slowly, or not at all, as they associate an odor with a reward.

Higher self-reported levels of resilience were linked to lower anxiety and depression and better coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in PLOS One by Joseph Anthony Pettit of Bangor University, U.K., and colleagues.

New archaeological evidence reveals that seabird guano—nutrient-rich bird droppings—was not only essential to boosting corn yields and supercharging agriculture in ancient Peru, but it may have been a driving force behind the rise of the Chincha Kingdom as one of the most prosperous and influential pre-Inca societies.

Global climate mitigation scenarios shape real-world policy choices of who cuts emissions, who pays, and who benefits from climate action. A new IIASA-led essay published in PLOS Climate identifies how these influential tools address equity and justice, with implications for perceptions of fairness and public trust in climate policy.

Researchers have identified a new type of visual cell in deep-sea fish larvae that challenges a century of knowledge about vertebrate visual systems. Dr. Fabio Cortesi from The University of Queensland's School of the Environment said the finding could lead to new camera technology and medical treatments.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, space offers a heart-shaped greeting. The star Mira A, about 300 light-years from Earth, has released material into an expanding cloud of gas and dust resembling a heart. Both the amount of material and the speed at which the star ejected it were unexpected.

The people of Berlin woke on August 13, 1961, to discover that their city had been split in two.

What appears to be a single volcanic eruption is often the result of complex processes operating deep beneath the surface, where magma moves, evolves, and changes over long periods of time. To fully understand how volcanoes work, scientists study the volcanic products that erupt at the surface, which can reveal the hidden magmatic systems feeding volcanic activity.

The performance and stability of smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) services depend on how uniformly and precisely semiconductor surfaces are processed. KAIST researchers have expanded the concept of everyday "sandpaper" into the realm of nanotechnology, developing a new technique capable of processing semiconductor surfaces uniformly down to the atomic level.

Scientists in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and MIT have created a new family of tools that, for the first time, illuminates the missing half of how the immune system uses molecules called cytokines to communicate with the rest of the body. The work, described in Cell, could provide a transformative view of immune response and disease, which in turn could lead to new drugs for infectious diseases, cancer, allergies, and autoimmune diseases.

Over half of U.S. adults are using large language models (LLMs)—such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot—in some capacity. Whether using artificial intelligence to create grocery lists, turn oneself into a Muppets character or divulge one's deepest, darkest secrets, humans are relying more on AI models in their everyday lives, possibly because AI chatbots have been shown to generate responses that make people feel validated, seen and heard.

Antibiotic treatments are losing effectiveness against a range of common bacterial pathogens, including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, Salmonella and Acinetobacter, according to a warning issued by the World Health Organization last October. For the microbe that gives rise to tuberculosis, a team of researchers from Penn State and The University of Minnesota Medical School found that a potential solution may be chemically changing the structure of a naturally occurring peptide—a building block of proteins—to make it a more stable and effective antimicrobial agent, while reducing potential toxicity to human cells.

Extreme winter weather can strain power systems, stall electric vehicles and leave backup batteries unable to deliver energy when it is most needed. Researchers at Texas A&M University have now developed a battery design that continues operating through the coldest conditions. The team, led by Dr. Jodie Lutkenhaus, professor of chemical engineering and associate dean for research in the College of Engineering, published findings on a polymer-based battery in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

Every year, around 15 million babies worldwide are born before 37 weeks of gestation. Being born preterm can disrupt development, and earlier births increase the risk of life-changing health outcomes. There are currently no treatment options for brain injury that occurs because of preterm birth, but progress has been made thanks to the PREMSTEM project.

The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is not associated with autism or other neurodevelopmental problems in children whose mothers received the vaccine immediately before or during pregnancy, according to new research presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) 2026 Pregnancy Meeting.

A research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has introduced a soil amendment called humic acid-modified bentonite (HAMB). This amendment effectively enhances a soil's ability to hold onto ammonium while significantly reducing harmful nitrogen losses. These results were published in the Journal of Soils and Sediments on January 14.

A research team led by Prof. Fang Yonghua from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed and systematically optimized a novel parabolic mirror cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (PMCERS) technique, achieving a marked improvement in gas detection sensitivity through the integration of advanced optical design and signal processing methods. These results were published in Optics & Laser Technology.

Modern armor systems do not do a good enough job of protecting humans from blast-induced neurotrauma (brain and eye damage). To improve them, we may have to look to nature. In particular, a tiny shrimp that is able to protect itself from the shockwaves it generates to stun prey and rivals.

Sending a mission to the solar gravitational lens (SGL) is the most effective way of actually directly imaging a potentially habitable planet, as well as its atmosphere, and even possibly some of its cities. But, the SGL is somewhere around 650–900 AU away, making it almost four times farther than even Voyager 1 has traveled—and that's the farthest anything human has made it so far.

A major new international review co-authored by Professor Gemma Harvey, Professor of Physical Geography in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London, highlights how species that physically modify freshwater environments interact with climate change, and why understanding these processes is becoming increasingly important.

3D bioprinting, in which living tissues are printed with cells mixed into soft hydrogels, or "bio-inks," is widely used in the field of bioengineering for modeling or replacing the tissues in our bodies. The print quality and reproducibility of tissues, however, can face challenges. One of the most significant challenges is created simply by gravity—cells naturally sink to the bottom of the bioink-extruding printer syringe because the cells are heavier than the hydrogel around them.

Artificial intelligence could help people who feel overwhelmed, excluded or disadvantaged when dealing with everyday tasks like paying energy bills or booking health care appointments, according to a new study involving researchers from The University of Manchester.

What is it about a cheetah's build that enables it to run so fast? What gives the wolf its exceptional endurance? While these questions can be partly answered through animal experiments, many contributing factors can't be isolated from one another. Now, a new tool has arrived: a highly customizable, open-source robot design called The Robot of Theseus, or TROT, developed at the University of Michigan.

Marine animals, such as the extremely simple flatworm Trichoplax, are ideal model organisms for studying the early evolutionary origins of animal life processes. Despite measuring only a few millimeters and lacking true organs or nervous system, this animal interacts effectively with bacteria. A highly efficient enzyme, goose-type lysozyme (PLys, GH23), plays a key role in this process. Trichoplax uses this enzyme specifically during digestion to degrade bacterial cell walls and neutralize ingested bacteria.

It's been a good few months in the press for the rakali (known as moytj in Noongar)—Australia's native water rat. These long-whiskered rodents finally received the recognition they deserve, with the ABC's National Science Week poll crowning the rakali the nation's most underrated animal.

Researchers from Guangxi University, China have developed a new gas sensor that detects ammonia with a record speed of 1.4 seconds. The sensor's design mimics the structure of alveoli—the tiny air sacs in human lungs—while relying on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. The sensor uses a process that is driven by A-droplets, which are tiny water droplets containing a trapped air bubble. These droplets exploit ammonia's affinity for water to rapidly capture NH₃ when it is present.

Central Germany is among the regions where, as early as the mid-6th millennium BC, farmers displaced the Mesolithic hunter–gatherers from the fertile loess soils. Soon after this migration, however, exchange began between the newcomers and the established inhabitants. The State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt is investigating the Neolithic Eilsleben settlement, a key site for understanding this period.

Geologic reservoirs that trapped petroleum for millions of years are now being repurposed to store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. New research is improving how we monitor this storage and verify how much CO2 these reservoirs have stored.

Penn Engineers have developed a system that lets robots see around corners using radio waves processed by AI, a capability that could improve the safety and performance of driverless cars as well as robots operating in cluttered indoor settings like warehouses and factories.

Scientists have long known that Earth's core is mostly made of iron, but the density is not high enough for it to be pure iron, meaning lighter elements exist in the core, as well. In particular, it's suspected to be a major reservoir of hydrogen. A new study, published in Nature Communications, supports this idea with results suggesting the core contains up to 45 oceans' worth of hydrogen. These results also challenge the idea that most of Earth's water was delivered by comets early on.

Women with enlarged breast tissue who experience frequent headaches are often told they have "tension headaches," but new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests many have migraine, a neurologic condition that requires different evaluation and treatment. The findings were recently published in Cephalalgia Reports.

First-time mothers who were randomized to receive a smartphone app called Baby2Home for the first year after giving birth reported significantly fewer symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety, as well as better overall health, compared to first-time mothers who received usual postpartum care, according to new research presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) 2026 Pregnancy Meeting.

Visual experience triggers the formation of a web of neural connections in different brain areas in order to make sense of the world—and in particular, of feedback connections, which send information from higher-level visual centers back to earlier ones. But is the organization of these connections generic, or does it reflect the experience itself? New research suggests the latter.

The Australian Olympic Committee has sent its second-largest Winter Olympics team of 53 athletes in 10 sports to Italy for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Could a smart watch act as an early-warning system for depression relapse? New research from McMaster University suggests that disruptions in a person's sleep and daily activity routine, as detected through a simple wrist-worn device, can signal when there is increased risk of relapsing into major depression.

A team led by investigators at Mass General Brigham and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has shown that a single injection of an oncolytic virus—a genetically modified virus that selectively infects and destroys cancer cells—can recruit immune cells to penetrate and persist deep within brain tumors. The research, which is published in Cell, provides details on how this therapy prolonged survival in patients with glioblastoma, the most common and malignant primary brain tumor, in a recent clinical trial.

The Division of Energy in conjunction with the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute (GEMI) at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston has released a new white paper, "Advanced Geothermal: Opportunities and Challenges," highlighting advanced geothermal energy's potential in becoming a critical pillar of the nation's low-carbon energy future.

Numerous potential treatments for neurological conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, have worked well in lab mice but then disappointed in humans. What would help is a noninvasive, objective readout of treatment efficacy that is shared in both species. In a new study in Nature Communications, a team of MIT researchers backed by collaborators across the United States and in the United Kingdom identifies such a biomarker in fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited autism form.

A research team has discovered a crucial mechanism that underlies chemotherapy resistance and metastasis in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Their study shows that the silencing of the RASA4 gene through epigenetic mechanisms plays a crucial role in driving disease progression. The findings were published in Communications Biology on December 31.

Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that trigger unusual mental states, also referred to as "trips," altering the perceptions, thoughts, and emotions of those taking them and typically inducing hallucinations. Over the past few decades, some mental health researchers have been investigating the possible benefits of these substances for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders, particularly major depressive disorder (MDD).

The quality of a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet may matter more than the amount of carbohydrates or fat consumed when it comes to reducing heart disease risk, according to a study published in JACC.

Chemotherapy remains one of the most powerful tools in the fight against cancer, yet it often comes with significant long-term side effects that can dramatically affect patients' quality of life. Among the most debilitating is chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, which impacts both the central and peripheral nervous systems and affects up to 85% of cancer patients and survivors.

Waves hold enough energy to meet about 60% of U.S. electricity demand. We cannot harness the power of every wave, but if we can capture even some, that energy could help power coastal communities and ocean industries and build a more reliable power grid.

Adults living in rural communities often travel long distances when seeking treatment for cancer, but distant travel may not always be necessary to receive high-quality surgical care, according to a new analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Influenza vaccination is associated with significantly lower odds of myocardial infarction (MI), according to a large meta-analysis published late last week in BMC Public Health. In the study, researchers led by a team from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in Hangzhou, China, gathered data from 15 observational studies, including seven cohort studies, seven case-control studies, and one self-controlled case series. Together, the studies involved 23.5 million people. Most participants were older adults, ranging from approximately 57 to 77 years.

Genetically modified immune cells can offer precious additional time to patients with advanced multiple myeloma. However, these therapies lose their impact as the molecules on cancer cells that immune cells recognize gradually vanish. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now identified one of the molecular mechanisms behind this process. In an initial study, they succeeded in blocking it using an existing cancer drug.

French AI developer Mistral said Wednesday that it would build data centers in Sweden, its first outside France, as it races to compete with the sector's biggest names.

When we moved into our house, there was a shed in the garden. Its timbers were rotten, the floor had long since disappeared into the ground, there was no door, the window had fallen out and various creatures had moved in.

Demand-side flexibility, the ability to adjust electricity consumption in response to system needs, is often highlighted as a key tool for managing both growing electrification and a higher share of variable renewable energy, and is therefore seen as a core part of the energy transition. In the article Command and control: A systematic approach to demand-side flexibility, published in the journal Utilities Policy, Fouad El Gohary outlines an alternative approach to helping deliver flexibility at scale.

Much like baking the perfect cake involves following a list of ingredients and instructions, manufacturing energetic materials—explosives, pyrotechnics and propellants—requires precise formulations, conditions and procedures to ensure they are safe and perform as intended.

Fishing alone is a dangerous occupation. A new safety alarm could save lives by automatically stopping the boat and alerting the Coastal Radio Service and nearby vessels.

A little-known fact: In the year 1900, electric cars outnumbered gas-powered ones on the American road. The lead-acid auto battery of the time, courtesy of Thomas Edison, was expensive and had a range of only about 30 miles. Seeking to improve on this, Edison believed the nickel-iron battery was the future, with the promise of a 100-mile range, a long life and a recharge time of seven hours, fast for that era.

In the U.K., 28 million households consume 25% of the total energy and contribute to 25% of the carbon emissions. Focusing on sustainability and energy efficiency within the building sector is vital if the U.K. is to achieve its 2050 net zero target. Yet traditional methods of doing this are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have uncovered fundamental insights into designing gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors, making them safer and easier to utilize in high-value electronics such as electric vehicles and data centers. The work is published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

Hydrogen is widely regarded as one of the cleanest fuels for the future, producing only water when used. However, generating hydrogen efficiently and sustainably remains a major challenge. Most current technologies waste a large portion of solar energy as heat, limiting overall energy conversion efficiency.

As solar energy rapidly expands to meet urgent climate targets and increasing demand for electricity, the key challenge is to ensure that this transition is not just scalable but sustainable. Pioneering research led by Northumbria University shows how the renewable energy sector can scale up the production of solar energy technology while further reducing environmental impacts.

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new way to train artificial intelligence systems to solve complex problems more reliably, particularly those that require interpreting both text and images. In widely used tests to evaluate mathematical reasoning, AI models trained with this method outperformed others in solving math word problems containing visual elements like charts and diagrams.