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For many companies, customer privacy is often seen as a regulatory burden that limits data use and personalization rather than as a business opportunity. Research by Natalie Chisam at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln reveals companies that handle customer data with transparency, care, and clear communication can gain a measurable competitive advantage through what researchers call privacy stewardship.

An international team of researchers has found that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes and early adaptation problems in newborns, even after taking maternal depression into account. The study also discovered that taking SSRI medication during pregnancy may reduce the risks of preterm birth and low birth weight. The work is published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM.

Environmental pollutant analysis typically requires complex sample pretreatment steps such as filtration, separation, and preconcentration. When solid materials such as sand, soil, or food residues are present in water samples, analytical accuracy often decreases, and filtration can unintentionally remove trace-level target pollutants along with the solids.

The next-generation spacesuit for NASA's Artemis III mission continues to advance by passing a contractor-led technical review, as the agency prepares to send humans to the moon's South Pole for the first time. Testing is also underway for the new suits, built by Axiom Space, with NASA astronauts and spacesuit engineers recently simulating surface operations and tasks underwater to demonstrate safety and mobility.

Humans develop sharp vision during early fetal development thanks to an interplay between a vitamin A derivative and thyroid hormones in the retina, Johns Hopkins University scientists have found. The findings could upend decades of conventional understanding of how the eye grows light-sensing cells and could inform new research into treatments for macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other age-related vision disorders. Details of the study, which used lab-grown retinal tissue, are published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Acoustic streaming generated by airborne ultrasonic phased arrays plays a critical role in the performance of advanced ultrasonic technologies, including midair haptic feedback, odor delivery, and acoustic levitation. Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a predictive model for acoustic streaming in phased arrays by integrating three-dimensional acoustic and fluid simulations.

With a few minutes of searching, anyone can find videos online of chatty birds: macaws talk to their keepers, cockatoos sing to the camera, corvids mimic the jarring sounds of construction sites. Research has shown that some birds can understand and use words in context—so, when Polly speaks up from inside her cage, she may really want a cracker—but scientists know far less about how birds use their vocal abilities in the wild. Christine Dahlin, professor of biology at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, is working to change that.

A positive newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is currently considered a medical emergency. Without early treatment, severe disability or death in infancy are likely. However, research findings from Germany and Australia now show that in rare cases, a positive screening result can be a genetic false alarm. Researchers have discovered that functional tests in a zebrafish model may enable fast and reliable clinical decision-making in cases of unclear genetic findings.

Some lobster mothers produce offspring that are far more likely to survive—in findings that could help safeguard lobster diversity. University of Exeter researchers, working in partnership with the National Lobster Hatchery (NLH) in Cornwall, studied European lobsters that survived the first few weeks of life. The paper, published in the journal Aquaculture, is titled "Hatchery lobster releases risk genetic bottlenecking via survival skews with maternal effects."

Hyperactive signaling pathways of some aggressive blood cancer cells can be tamped down by a previously unrecognized protein complex, ensuring the cancer's survival. If one component of the complex is deleted or removed, the cancer cells are sent into overdrive and die, finds a Yale-led study published in Science Signaling.

Scientists have traditionally studied how the brain controls movement by asking patients to perform structured tasks while connected to multiple sensors in a lab. While these studies have provided important insights, these experiments do not fully capture how the brain functions during everyday activities, be it walking to the kitchen for a snack or strolling through a park.

Gray wolves adapt their diets as a result of climate change, eating harder foods such as bones to extract nutrition during warmer climates, new research has found. The study, led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, and published in Ecology Letters, has implications for wolf conservation across Europe and beyond.

Brazilian scientists have made advances in an area recognized by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: the development and application of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These are porous crystalline materials that have the potential to revolutionize environmental and energy technologies. The study involved researchers affiliated with the Center for Development of Functional Materials based at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar).

Researchers from the University of Tartu Institute of Physics have developed a novel method for enhancing the quality of three-dimensional images by increasing the depth of focus in holograms fivefold after recording, using computational imaging techniques. The technology enables improved performance of 3D holographic microscopy under challenging imaging conditions and facilitates the study of complex biological structures.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. Kong Lingtao at the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a new metal-organic framework (MOF)-based material capable of efficiently removing fluoride ions from water while providing real-time visual detection. This breakthrough addresses key limitations of conventional defluoridation methods, which often suffer from low efficiency and separate processes for removal and monitoring.

There's a reason why blacksmiths fire metals before hammering them. Heat always softens metal, making it more malleable and easier to reshape. Or does it? In a surprising new study, Northwestern University engineers discovered that, in extreme conditions, heat doesn't soften pure metals—it strengthens them.

Over the last decade, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care has risen significantly, but AI-driven innovations in health care delivery have not fully met expectations. Research on the use of AI in health care requires interdisciplinary collaboration, making team structure and leadership essential for guiding AI-driven innovation. In a new study, researchers examined how studies on AI outcomes in health care reflect team structure and leadership. They found that team leadership was significantly associated with AI impact and that teams with clinical leadership had a higher likelihood of impact.

Even before a tumor in the pancreas becomes discernible, an activated cancer gene actively remodels its future environment and creates an inflammatory and immune-defensive microenvironment in which the carcinoma can grow. This has been shown by an international research team led by Ulm University in a pioneering study. The scientists' study opens up new possibilities for developing personalized intervention strategies—before a difficult-to-treat tumor even develops.

Controlled manipulation of fibers that are as thin as or even thinner than human hair is a real challenge. Despite technological development, the precise and reversible change of the microfibers' orientation is not easy. The interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, has recently developed a way to control the shape of microfibers with electricity. This brings us closer to a novel technical solution in micromechanics and soft robotics.

Metal alloys crack and fail through a mechanism called "fatigue" when repeatedly loaded and strained. While it is well known how to design alloys to withstand static loads and pressures, it is very difficult to design resistance to fatigue because it is difficult to predict how the underlying cause manifests at the atomic scale.

Weight loss is a well-recognized but poorly understood non-motor feature of Parkinson's disease (PD). Many patients progressively lose weight as the disease advances, often alongside worsening motor symptoms and quality of life. Until now, it was unclear whether this reflected muscle loss, poor nutrition, or deeper metabolic changes. New research shows that PD-related weight loss is driven mainly by a selective loss of body fat, while muscle mass is largely preserved, and is accompanied by a fundamental shift in how the body produces energy.

Hypothetical dark matter stars known as "boson stars" could leave telltale ripples across the cosmos, offering researchers a new way to probe the invisible forces shaping the universe. In 2019, a strange event was observed in the depths of space. Called GW190521, the event sent out gravitational waves—invisible ripples in the universe—that were picked up on Earth. These waves appeared to mark the moment when two massive black holes, dozens of times the mass of our sun, collided and merged. Or at least, that was the initial theory.

Time crystals could one day provide a reliable foundation for ultra-precise quantum clocks, new mathematical analysis has revealed. Published in Physical Review Letters, the research was led by Ludmila Viotti at the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Italy. The team shows that these exotic systems could, in principle, offer higher timekeeping precision than more conventional designs, which rely on external excitations to generate reliably repeating oscillations.

With extreme weather events, fires and floods growing increasingly common, general warnings are no longer adequate. Researchers at Uppsala University, in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization and others, now call for change—from mass mailings to personalized warnings that actually persuade people to act.

On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, the Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) at the Universitat Politècnica de València highlights the importance of these ecosystems as key tools for improving water quality, protecting soil and mitigating diffuse pollution, as well as the role of scientific research in developing sustainable, nature-based solutions.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have uncovered a master transcriptional regulator that controls rhizobial symbiosis between plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. By identifying an amino acid motif that emerged before the appearance of rhizobial symbiosis, they show that stabilization of DNA binding enabled this regulator to control a wide array of genes involved in nodule formation, bacterial infection, and symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have achieved a breakthrough in calcium-ion battery (CIB) technology, which could transform energy storage solutions in everyday life. Utilizing quasi-solid-state electrolytes (QSSEs), these innovative CIBs promise to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of energy storage, impacting a wide range of applications from renewable energy systems to electric vehicles.

Generative artificial intelligence systems often work in agreement, complimenting the user in its response. But human interactions aren't typically built on flattery. To help strengthen these conversations, researchers in the USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing are challenging the technology to think and debate in ways that resemble human reasoning.

To lower agricultural emissions, policymakers and communities first need to pinpoint the sources—not just by country but crop by crop, field by field. In a study published in Nature Climate Change, researchers have synthesized data from multiple ground sources and models to map global cropland emissions at high resolution—down to about 10 kilometers—while breaking down emissions by crop and source and identifying regions for more precise mitigation.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive form of blood cancer. It affects people of all ages but is most common in those over 65. Around 150 people are diagnosed with the disease each year in Norway. Men are affected slightly more often than women. Fewer than 5 in 100 patients over the age of 65 survive.

Since 2010, the IceCube Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been delivering groundbreaking measurements of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. It consists of many detectors embedded in a volume of Antarctic ice measuring approximately one cubic kilometer. IceCube has now been upgraded with new optical modules to enable it to measure lower-energy neutrinos as well. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) made a significant contribution to this expansion.

As semiconductor manufacturing rapidly expands to meet growing global demand for generative AI and advanced electronics, a new review published in Environmental Science & Technology assesses the current state of science, technology, and policy around managing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) waste in the industry and outlines recommendations for a path forward.

Acupuncture may be an effective treatment for migraine without aura, a type of migraine that occurs without warning signs like flickering lights. A new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open showed that real acupuncture (inserting needles into specific points to trigger a healing response) significantly reduced the number of days patients suffered from migraines each month compared to sham acupuncture. This is a controlled version of the treatment designed to minimize therapeutic effects. The research also identified brain connectivity patterns that can predict how well a patient will respond to treatment.

One of the greatest mysteries of our planet is how a soup of lifeless chemicals transformed into the first living cell. There are several competing theories about where this happened, from frozen polar ice to superheated hydrothermal vents. But one thing that most scientists agree on is that life could not begin until a molecule appeared that could spontaneously copy itself.

Harnessing the power of the sun holds the promise of providing future societies with energy abundance. To make this a reality, fusion researchers need to address many technological challenges. For example, fusion reactions occur within a superheated state of matter, called plasma, which can form unstable structures that reduce the efficiency of those reactions.

Economic and public health conditions influence universities' research priorities. A study led by INGENIO, a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), reveals how, in times of economic growth, cooperation between universities and businesses increases, while in times of crisis and high disease burdens, collaboration with hospitals is strengthened.

A research team from the High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators from Anhui University, ShanghaiTech University, and the University of New Hampshire, has demonstrated the first electrically controllable generation of hopfions—three-dimensional topological solitons—in a solid-state magnetic system. The results are published online in Nature Materials.

In a study published today, Friday, February 13, 2026, in the journal Nature Aging, researchers show that blood-based biomarkers can support accurate dementia diagnosis across diverse populations when integrated with cognitive and neuroimaging measures. Blood-based biomarkers are emerging as one of the most promising advances for the global diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. These tests offer a more accessible, scalable, and cost-effective alternative to traditional diagnostic tools such as brain imaging or cerebrospinal fluid analysis.

A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA's first medical evacuation.

Back in 2021, Pierre Stallforth and his team at the Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) showed that bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas and Paenibacillus join forces to protect themselves from their predator, an amoeba. Now, a team led by Pierre Stallforth, Ute Hellmich, and Markus Lakemeyer has been able to show exactly how this defense mechanism works. The study was conducted by the Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse at the University of Jena and has just been published in the journal Journal of the American Chemical Society.

When AI-powered prosthetic arms that move autonomously become widespread, understanding how people feel about them and accept them will be crucial. In a study appearing in Scientific Reports, scientists used virtual reality to simulate a situation in which a participant's own arm was replaced by a robotic prosthetic arm, and examined how the prosthesis movement speed affects embodiment, including body ownership, the sense of agency, usability, and social impressions of the robot such as competence and discomfort.

Metals are made of randomly oriented crystals at the microscopic-length scale. The alignment of the crystal faces creates an infinite number of configurations and complex patterns, making simulations of specific patterns difficult and expensive. Aerospace engineers in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign created a model to capture the metal material's response to stress and predict failure hotspots at a scale equivalent in pixels to over 600 million dots per inch.

The first solar eclipse of the year will grace Antarctica, and only a lucky few will get to bask—or waddle—in its glow.

When the sun goes down, solar panels stop working. This is the fundamental hurdle of renewable energy: how to save the sun's power for a rainy day—or a cold night. Chemists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a solution that doesn't require bulky batteries or electrical grids. In a paper published in the journal Science, Associate Professor Grace Han and her team detail a new material that captures sunlight, stores it within chemical bonds and releases it as heat on demand.

In the context of global decarbonization, reducing energy consumption in the building sector is an urgent issue. Researchers have developed a next-generation building energy evaluation model that combines rule-based symbolic AI computing with VR technology. This model enables real-time visualization and simultaneous evaluation of the energy-saving effects and indoor thermal comfort during the design stage of a Zero-Energy Building. This approach will have a wide range of applications in the design of next-generation smart buildings.

Cell and gene therapies, or CGT, have come a long way since they were first introduced. In the last few decades, both cell therapy—the transplantation of living cells—and gene therapy—the use of genetic material to modify cell functions—have been increasingly incorporated into clinical practice.

King's College London researchers have created a unique collection of human stem cell models that could help to uncover why HIV leads to different outcomes in different people. The research was carried out by Dr. Nathalia Almedia, postdoctoral researcher, and Sam Acors, former Ph.D. student, who are co-lead authors of the paper published in Stem Cell Reports.

Couples who spend more time savoring the pleasurable moments they share are happier together, argue less, and are more confident their relationship will last, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers say in a new study. "Savoring involves slowing down to become aware of and focus on positive experiences," said first author Noah Larsen, a graduate student at Illinois. "Savoring can occur when we reminisce on a past experience, focus on the present moment, or look ahead to a future experience."

Do you know what it means to be smart? It's a more complicated question than it may seem. There are several ways to think about intelligence—as the well-known "book-vs.-street smart" binary illustrates. By most people's definition, a truly smart person would be someone who not only thinks well but is also able to translate thought into concrete steps toward positive and practical goals. Balancing and combining different kinds of intelligence may be even more important than how much you know, or how you think.

Infertility affects approximately 8% to 12% of couples of reproductive age worldwide, and IVF (in vitro fertilization) is often the go-to treatment option. Typically, to increase the odds of a successful pregnancy, doctors need to retrieve as many eggs (oocytes) as possible. Current approaches to recovering eggs from follicular fluid, such as manual screening under a microscope, are not foolproof and can sometimes miss viable oocytes.

A specific pattern of brain activity in a frontal brain region is linked to compulsive behaviors like excessive hand washing, chronic hair-pulling, and skin-picking in people with obsessive compulsive disorder, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. But briefly disrupting that signal can rapidly ease symptoms in three people with severe, treatment-resistant OCD, according to a study published in Cell.

Off-putting smells can make even the healthiest of foods unpalatable. In a new study, researchers have developed a way to remove unpleasant aromas from plant-based proteins to make them smell more appealing. They did so by designing a two-step fermentation process to counter the odors that typically form during cultivation and extraction.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus affecting millions of people each year, with symptoms ranging from flu-like illness to severe bleeding and organ failure. Scientists are now using Wolbachia, a naturally occurring bacteria found in many insects, to turn disease-carrying mosquitoes into unlikely allies through Project Wolbachia–Singapore.

Psychedelic substances are increasingly being used under medical supervision to treat anxiety disorders and depression. However, the mechanisms by which these substances influence our perception and consciousness are largely unknown. A research team from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has now, for the first time, shown high-resolution images of brain activities in an animal model after the administration of psychedelics.

Lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) are rechargeable batteries that contain an anode (i.e., the electrode through which current flows and a loss of electrons occurs) made of lithium metal. Compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which power most electronic devices on the market today, LMBs could store more energy, charge faster and operate in extreme environments.

Across the spectrum of human afflictions—from cancer to heart disease to rare genetic conditions—medical investigators are continually attempting to break new ground by developing better methods of treating patients. It is a global scientific enterprise in which experimental medications are subjected to rigorous testing, forgotten drugs are analyzed for new applications, and existing treatments are reevaluated. Dozens upon dozens of studies like these are charting a path forward.

Researchers from La Trobe University have launched a world-leading toolkit for health care professionals to better identify and support Autistic adults at risk of suicide.

New research published in Operations Research shows that health care systems can substantially reduce overtime, idle time, and overall staffing costs by adopting a multilocation, dynamic staff-planning model for anesthesiologists. The study is based on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), which cut daily overtime and idle time across 11 hospitals, generating over $800,000 in annual cost savings.

In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken—the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke "health" cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine.

Computer science student Jack Luo is "the kind of person who'll build you a custom AI tool just because you mentioned a problem, then take you on a midnight ride to watch the city lights."

A University of Houston professor has taken on the global challenge of reducing the staggering amount of heat generated in artificial intelligence data centers. Hadi Ghasemi, J. Willard Gibbs Distinguished Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, has found that thin films designed into tree-like, or branched shapes release heat at least three times better than today's best methods.

As the world is moving toward more sustainable energy solutions, the emergence of next-generation batteries is a crucial and indispensable milestone. One such next-generation battery is the lithium-ion battery (LIB), which is currently dominating the energy solutions sector.

Recently, a research team from the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed a fast, multi-platform compatible detection network that can "see" gas leaks in three dimensions.

A newly developed ceramic material shows record-high proton conductivity at intermediate temperatures while remaining chemically stable, report researchers from Japan. Efficient hydrogen-to-electricity conversion is critical for hydrogen-based clean energy technologies, but few materials combine chemical stability with efficient proton conductivity. Thanks to an innovative donor co-doping strategy, the proposed ceramic material features increased proton concentration and mobility, realizing exceptional conductivity and stability under CO2, O2, and H2 environments.

A new microscale gas chromatography system integrates all fluidic components into a single chip for the first time. The design leverages three Knudsen pumps that move gas molecules using heat differentials to eliminate the need for valves, according to a new University of Michigan Engineering study published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering. The monolithic gas sampling and analysis system, or monoGSA system for short, could offer reliable, low-cost monitoring for industrial chemical or pharmaceutical synthesis, natural gas pipelines, or even at-home air quality.

Concordia researchers have developed a new 3D-printing technique that uses sound waves to directly print tiny structures onto soft polymers like silicone with far greater precision than before. The approach, called proximal sound printing, opens new possibilities for manufacturing microscale devices used in health care, environmental monitoring and advanced sensors. It is described in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

Building a port on land takes time. On water, the job can be done quickly. Hagbart Skage Alsos and his research colleagues at SINTEF are investigating how to build floating ports. Ports in Northern Europe are full. Offshore wind and other projects need a port for everything that requires transport to those construction sites. Such as when a landslide obliterates and closes a road or railway for a long time. A solution has to be found—and SINTEF researchers think running test scenarios in the fjord is the place to start.

The compound eyes of the humble fruit fly are a marvel of nature. They are wide-angle and can process visual information several times faster than the human eye. Inspired by this biological masterpiece, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an insect-scale compound eye that can both see and smell, potentially improving how drones and robots navigate complex environments and avoid obstacles.

France's government on Thursday presented an energy plan to use less imported fossil fuels, including by ramping up nuclear-fueled power production over the next decade.

EPFL roboticists have shown that when a modular robot shares power, sensing, and communication resources among its individual units, it is significantly more resistant to failure than traditional robotic systems, where the breakdown of one element often means a loss of functionality.

Measuring human movement with tracking devices on looser clothing is more accurate than on tight body suits or straps. This discovery by scientists at King's College London could mark a potential breakthrough for a range of technologies, including improving accuracy of personal health devices, such as Fitbits and smart watches, and enhancing motion capture for CGI movie characters. It could also support health and medical research by making it easier to gather data on conditions affecting mobility such as Parkinson's.