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More than 30 million people with HIV must take antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications daily to keep the virus under control, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The drugs are effective but don't eliminate the virus; HIV remains hidden in "reservoirs" throughout the body, ready to reactivate if treatment stops.

Whatever challenges life throws, mothers often know best as they guide offspring through the risky stages of early development. This scenario, familiar when applied to humans, turns out to be true for plants too, according to intriguing research from the John Innes Center and Earlham Institute.

Despite decades of independent progress in population ecology and movement ecology, researchers have lacked a theoretical bridge between these two disciplines. "Ecologists have been trying to establish this link since the 1950s, when they started to characterize animal movement patterns," says Dr. Ricardo Martinez-Garcia, head of the CASUS Young Investigator Group "Dynamics of Complex Living Systems" and senior author of the study.

Scientists have created a new type of material that could enable common electronic devices to work faster and use less energy, a study suggests. The findings indicate the material, which was until now thought near-impossible to make, can act as a highly effective semiconductor—a key component of modern electrical devices.

Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have developed a new type of plastic that, according to materials theory, should not be able to exist. Its properties sit somewhere between those of glass and plastic: it is easy to (re)shape, yet resistant to impact. This unusual combination is possible because the building blocks of the material are not held together by chemical bonds, but by physical forces. As a result, the material is easier to shape and repair than conventional plastics. The researchers have published their findings in Nature Communications.

Over the last several decades, urban planners and municipalities have sought to identify and better manage the socioeconomic dynamics associated with rapid development in established neighborhoods. The term "gentrification" has been lingua franca for generations of urbanites who have seen their communities change and property values, and commensurate taxes, shift in ways that can make it difficult for longtime residents to stay. But identifying its unmanaged creep can be a challenge, particularly in densely populated areas, as its visual hallmarks—such as new facades, mixes in building materials and changes in building heights—present differently in different cities and regions.

Blood flows around the body through a complex network of vessels, which must constantly adapt to changing needs. The balance between growing new vessels and stabilizing existing vessels, so they aren't leaky, must be finely tuned. Abnormal blood vessel growth has been linked to a wide range of diseases, including bleeding disorders, cancer and diabetic retinopathy, but the underlying mechanisms aren't fully understood.

In a typical online meeting, humans don't always wait politely for their turn to speak. They interrupt to express strong agreement, stay silent when they are unsure, and let their personalities shape the flow of the discussion. Yet, when artificial intelligence (AI) agents are programmed to debate or collaborate, they are usually forced into a rigid, round-robin structure that stifles this natural dynamic.

Stanford researchers have created the first-ever global map of a rare earthquake type that occurs not in Earth's crust but in our planet's mantle, the layer sandwiched between the thin crust and Earth's molten core. The new map will help scientists learn more about the mechanics of mantle earthquakes, in turn opening a window into the complexities and triggers for all earthquakes.

One of the biggest hurdles in developing an HIV vaccine is coaxing the body to produce the right kind of immune cells and antibodies. In most vaccines, HIV proteins are attached to a larger protein scaffolding that mimics a virus. Then, a person's immune system produces a range of antibodies that recognize different bits of those proteins. Often, however, some of those antibodies react not to HIV itself, but to the scaffold used to deliver the vaccine.

Babies are born with the ability to predict rhythm, according to a study published February 5 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Roberta Bianco from the Italian Institute of Technology, and colleagues.

In a series of tea party-like experiments, Johns Hopkins University researchers demonstrate for the first time that apes can use their imagination and play pretend, an ability thought to be uniquely human.

In biology, many RNA molecules act as sophisticated microscopic machines. Among them, riboswitches function as tiny biological sensors, changing their 3D shape upon binding to a specific metabolite. This shape-change acts as a switch, often turning a downstream gene "on" or "off." The ability to design artificial switches from scratch would hold immense promise for synthetic biology, drug design, and new diagnostic tools. However, designing a sequence that can stably fold into two different shapes and switch between them is an extremely difficult challenge.

A newly discovered comet has astronomers excited, with the potential to be a spectacular sight in early April. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was spotted by a team of four amateur astronomers with a remotely operated telescope in the Atacama desert on January 13.

Historical accounts of the Punic Wars—and many other ancient wars—often paint a picture of soldiers riding in on imposing "war elephants." Yet, no skeletal remains of these war elephants had ever been found from the Punic War period and region. But, in 2020, archaeologists found a single bone at the Colina de los Quemados site in Córdoba, Spain that may finally provide some more direct evidence for the existence of these beasts of war. The finding is described in the team's newly published study, in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Researchers have developed a nasal spray for flu prevention that has shown promising results in preliminary human trials. Seasonal influenza (the flu) is an acute respiratory infection that affects up to one billion people per year and causes hundreds of thousands of deaths. While flu shots can be effective, they are always a best guess because scientists are never fully certain about which strains will circulate. At best, they are only 50% effective, according to historical data.

Cosmic rays are extremely fast, charged particles that travel through space at nearly the speed of light. The Amaterasu particle was detected in 2021 by the Telescope Array experiment in the U.S. It is the second-highest-energy cosmic ray ever observed, carrying around 40 million times more energy than particles accelerated at the Large Hadron Collider. Such particles are exceedingly rare and thought to originate in some of the most extreme environments in the universe.

Pregnancy is, biologically speaking, a state of controlled upheaval. The immune system recalibrates. Blood volume surges. And sometimes, inflammation rises to unsafe levels, with potential adverse health effects for both parent and child. A new study suggests that choline, a nutrient many pregnant people consume too little of, may play an underappreciated role in keeping inflammation in check. The findings are published in The Journal of Nutrition.

It stands to reason that the longer or more diligently you work at something, the better you get at it. But researchers from the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business found that consumers don't necessarily see it that way.

Trinity research shows that depending on how schemes are designed and delivered, well-being impacts can be positive or negative. Time spent in nature and peer discussion groups are key to fostering positive well-being outcomes.

Scientists at the University of Southampton have uncovered evidence from ancient rocks that Earth's climate continued to fluctuate during its most extreme ice age—known as Snowball Earth. During the Cryogenian Period, between 720 and 635 million years ago, it has long been believed that Earth's climate entirely shut down.

Researchers at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, together with data scientists, have developed a new method to largely automate the extraction of label information from digitized insect specimens. The pipeline, named ELIE, uses artificial intelligence to reliably detect and process printed labels. This significantly reduces the time-consuming manual transcription work and represents an important advance for the digitization of natural history collections worldwide. The paper is published in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

In modern medicine, antibiotics are among the most powerful tools for preventing and treating life-threatening bacterial infections. Their effectiveness, however, often depends on using the right drug at the right time. Recognizing this challenge, Yale researchers sought to better understand the prevalence of antibiotic allergy labels among patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation, which patients are most likely to carry them, and how often those labels reflect true allergy.

MXene materials are promising candidates for a new energy storage technology. However, the processes by which the charge storage takes place were not yet fully understood. A team at HZB has examined, for the first time, individual MXene flakes to explore these processes in detail. Using the in situ Scanning transmission X-ray microscope "MYSTIIC" at BESSY II, the scientists mapped the chemical states of titanium atoms on the MXene flake surfaces. The results revealed two distinct redox reactions, depending on the electrolyte. This lays the groundwork for understanding charge transfer processes at the nanoscale and provides a basis for future research aimed at optimizing pseudocapacitive energy storage devices.

COVID-19 vaccination is not the cause behind a decrease in childbirth, according to a study from Linköping University, Sweden. The results, published in the journal Communications Medicine, speak to rumors about vaccination and reduced fertility. "Our conclusion is that it's highly unlikely that the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 was behind the decrease in childbirth during the pandemic," says Toomas Timpka, professor of social medicine at Linköping University.

Our Milky Way galaxy may not have a supermassive black hole at its center but rather an enormous clump of mysterious dark matter exerting the same gravitational influence, astronomers say. They believe this invisible substance—which makes up most of the universe's mass—can explain both the violent dance of stars just light-hours (often used to measure distances within our own solar system) away from the galactic center and the gentle, large-scale rotation of the entire matter in the outskirts of the Milky Way.

The evolution of the human species is marked by an increase in brain size. Now new research suggests that could be partly dependent on increases in prenatal estrogen—revealed by looking at the length of a person's fingers. Professor John Manning, of Swansea's Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) research team, is an expert in the field of digit ratio. His work examines the relationship between the length of index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio, which is directly linked to the relative concentrations of estrogen and testosterone a baby receives during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Researchers at University of Jyväskylä (Finland) advance understanding of gold nanocluster behavior at elevated temperatures using machine learning-based simulations. This information is crucial in the design of nanomaterials so that their properties can be modified for use in catalysis and other technological applications.

In a new study published today in the journal mBio, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) report that the long-standing view of the vaginal microbiome as either "optimal" or "non-optimal" based on a small number of bacterial species is overly simplistic. By analyzing vaginal microbiome data at unprecedented resolution, the team identified 25 distinct vaginal microbiome types and demonstrated that bacteria of the same species can differ substantially in their functional potential, thereby affecting how these microbes interact with the body.

A research team from POSTECH and ImmunoBiome in Korea, led by Professor Sin-Hyeog Im, has uncovered a new mechanism showing how butyrate—a short-chain fatty acid produced by gut commensal bacteria—enhances T follicular helper (Tfh) cell activity to promote antibody production and strengthen mucosal vaccine efficacy. This study identifies a new microbiota–immune–antibody production axis linking microbial metabolism to mucosal immune responses, providing a strategy to maximize the protective effects of mucosal vaccines. The findings are published in the journal Microbiome.

We've all heard the best approach to solve a problem is to "sleep on it." It turns out there may be more truth to this adage than previously thought. While stories abound of eureka moments surfacing from dreams, scientific evidence has remained elusive, due to the challenge of systematically manipulating dreams.

Alzheimer's disease is often measured in statistics: millions affected worldwide, cases rising sharply, costs climbing into the trillions. For families, the disease is experienced far more intimately. "It's a slow bereavement," says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Nicholas Tonks, whose mother lived with Alzheimer's. "You lose the person piece by piece."

It may sound like a scene from "Nosferatu," but research from the University of East Anglia shows that humans can use bat-like echolocation skills to judge the distance of objects. The new study reveals that, just like bats navigating in the dark, humans too can rely on the echoes of mouth clicks to gauge how far away objects are. While humans may not match the precision of these nocturnal navigators, the study, published in Experimental Brain Research, shows that with simple tools like mouth clicks, we can tap into a surprisingly effective form of spatial awareness.

Severe bleeding is one of the most common and preventable causes of death after traumatic injury, yet currently available tools have poor ability to determine which patients urgently need blood transfusions. A new multinational study, just published in Lancet Digital Health, suggests artificial intelligence (AI) may help close that gap.

An experimental pill called enlicitide slashed levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, commonly known as "bad" cholesterol, by up to 60%, according to a new phase three clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, this novel medication could help millions in the U.S. significantly reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

A research team has demonstrated that clopidogrel is more effective than aspirin as a long-term antiplatelet therapy in patients at high risk of recurrent cardiovascular events after coronary stent implantation. The team was led by Professors Joo-Yong Hahn, Young Bin Song, and Ki Hong Choi of the Division of Cardiology at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, together with Professor Yong Hwan Park of Samsung Changwon Hospital.

Memories must be flexible so animals can adapt when the world changes. FMI neuroscientists have found that in fruit flies, simply tasting a sugar reward again can weaken all previous associated memories. This process may inspire new ways to safely update harmful or unwanted memories. The paper is published in the journal Current Biology.

Researchers from the HUN-REN Szeged Biological Research Centre and HCEMM have just published a new study suggesting that it's not simply the number of tumor mutations that matters for immunotherapy, but the kind of mutation patterns they create. The team found a distinct "fingerprint" linked to DNA repair problems and chemical exposures that can leave tumors surprisingly hard for the immune system to spot, even when mutation counts are high. The study also points out that a patient's genetics, including common HLA types in Europeans, can shift how visible the same tumor looks to T cells. The paper was published recently in Molecular Systems Biology.

Researchers have developed an AI control system that enables soft robotic arms to learn a wide repertoire of motions and tasks once, then adjust to new scenarios on the fly without needing retraining or sacrificing functionality. This breakthrough brings soft robotics closer to human-like adaptability for real-world applications, such as in assistive robotics, rehabilitation robots, and wearable or medical soft robots, by making them more intelligent, versatile, and safe. The research team includes Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology's (SMART) Mens, Manus & Machina (M3S) interdisciplinary research group, and National University of Singapore (NUS), alongside collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore).

A study led by Dartmouth Engineering professors demonstrates a possible new technique for connecting electronic implants with the surface of the brain, as well as a new method for ensuring safe, long-term medical access to the brain. Alexander Boys and Katie Hixon combined their research areas of thin-film bioelectronics and regenerative tissue engineering to produce a neural device that promotes healing of the skull following implantation onto the brain. Their study is published in Advanced Materials Technologies and will be featured on the journal's cover in March.

Conventional lithium-ion batteries contain problematic substances such as nickel and cobalt, and the solvents used to coat the electrode materials are also toxic. Materials scientists at Saarland University are therefore working to develop environmentally friendly alternatives. By introducing finely dispersed iron oxide into tiny, highly porous, hollow carbon spheres developed by Professor Michael Elsaesser at the University of Salzburg, the Saarbrücken team has achieved some very promising results: higher storage capacities using materials that are both readily available and environmentally far less problematic. These results have now been published in Chemistry of Materials.

Taiwan's chipmaker TSMC said Thursday it will be manufacturing some of the world's most cutting-edge semiconductors in Japan to meet booming artificial intelligence-related demand, in a boost for the country's chipmaking ambitions.

What if the energy produced by wind turbines on a beautiful summer day could be stored until January to heat homes in the dead of winter? It might be possible, thanks to the discovery of a new organic molecule that can hold a charge for months with virtually no loss of energy. Dubbed AzoBiPy, the molecule was developed by a research team in the Department of Chemistry at Université de Montréal in collaboration with Concordia University researchers. Their results were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Skeleton is an exhilarating Winter Olympic sport in which athletes race head-first down an ice track at speeds reaching over 80 miles per hour (130km/h). While the event can look basic at first glance, success relies heavily on highly engineered equipment and extensive wind-tunnel testing—much like elite Olympic track cycling programs.

High-powered satellites use electromagnetic waveguides to deliver energy from one component to another. Typically, they are made of heavy, inflexible metal tubes with an even heavier flange on either end, neither of which is ideal for space applications.

Metamaterials—materials whose properties are primarily dictated by their internal microstructure, and not their chemical makeup—have been redefining the engineering materials space for the last decade. To date, however, most metamaterials have been lightweight options designed for stiffness and strength.

An agentic AI tool for battery researchers harnesses data from previous battery designs to predict the cycle life of new battery concepts. With information from just 50 cycles, the tool—developed at University of Michigan Engineering—can predict how many charge-discharge cycles the battery can undergo before its capacity drops below 90% of its design capacity.

Swinburne researchers have turned old, unwanted mattresses into safe and sustainable building insulation materials using fungi. The team grew a common fungus together with shredded mattress foam to create a new material that is solid and lightweight. Their research is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Caltech scientists have developed a way to guide light on silicon wafers with low signal loss approaching that of optical fiber at visible wavelengths. This accomplishment paves the way for a new generation of ultra-coherent and efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which will have a profound impact in a variety of on-chip applications, including precision measurements, such as optical clocks for timing and gyroscopes for rotation, as well as AI data-center communications and even quantum computing.

From autonomous cars to video games, reinforcement learning (machine learning through interaction with environments) can have an important impact. That may feel especially true, for example, when you're a passenger late for dinner in an autonomous car that has learned the efficient way home. Work in Jr-Shin Li's lab develops mathematically rigorous and computationally efficient techniques to transform extremely complex reinforcement learning problems into a manageable domain.

The aviation industry accounts for a significant share of global carbon emissions. In response, the international community is expanding mandatory use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which is produced from organic waste or biomass and is expected to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fossil-based jet fuel. However, high production costs remain a major challenge, leading some airlines in Europe and Japan to pass SAF-related costs on to consumers.

Instagram is one of Australia's most popular social media platforms. Almost two in three Aussies have an account.

Empirical research is being carried out for revolutionary air conditioning technology that will contribute to solving environmental issues. At the forefront of these endeavors is Nagahiro Tsuyoshi, project professor and director of the Center for Smarttech System Co-creation in the Carbon Neutral Promotion Headquarters.

New research that surveyed more than 440 project managers worldwide has highlighted the critical connection between mindfulness and the adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the workplace. Lead author of the study, Dr. Eden Li from the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University (ECU) said that effective GenAI adoption requires not only technical skills but also mindfulness to navigate its complexities and challenges.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are breathing new life into the scientific understanding of neptunium, a unique, radioactive, metallic element—and a key precursor for production of the plutonium-238, or Pu-238, that fuels exploratory spacecraft.

As the world races to electrify everything from cars to cities, the demand for high-performance, long-lasting batteries is soaring. But the uncomfortable truth is this: many of the batteries powering our "green" technologies aren't as green as we might think.

Mechanical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a proof-of-concept method for programming mechanical properties into solid Lego-like building blocks. By controlling the solidity of hundreds of individual cells in specific patterns, the approach could allow futuristic robotics to alter their mechanical properties and functionalities on the fly.