Month: April 2025

Daily exposure to certain chemicals used to make plastic household items could be linked to more than 356,000 global deaths from heart disease in 2018 alone, a new analysis of population surveys shows. While the chemicals, called phthalates, are in widespread use globally, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific bore a…

An automated machine learning program developed by researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in conjunction with the University of Manitoba has been able to identify potential cardiovascular incidents or fall and fracture risks based on bone density scans taken during routine clinical testing. When applying the algorithm to vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) images taken in…

A landmark study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reveals that a single oral dose of baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir) significantly reduces the transmission of influenza within households, marking a major advancement in influenza management. Conducted by an international team of researchers including the LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed),…

An interdisciplinary research team from the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), the InnoHK Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health (InnoHK D24H), and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has unveiled the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) model designed to classify both the cancer stage and risk…

Energy scarcity is a central driver of animal behavior and evolution. The amazing diversity of life on this planet is a testament to the plethora of novel biological solutions to the problem of securing and maintaining energy. However, despite being so central to biology, it remains difficult to quantify, and thereby empirically analyze, energy consumption….

A team of Duke-NUS Medical School researchers designed and tested a new digital toolkit that helps consumers make healthier grocery choices online — an innovation that could play a major role in the global fight against chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. In their study, published in the American Journal of Preventive…

Senescent skin cells, often referred to as zombie cells because they have outlived their usefulness without ever quite dying, have existed in the human body as a seeming paradox, causing inflammation and promoting diseases while also helping the immune system to heal wounds. New findings may explain why: Not all senescent skin cells are the…

The less intensively you manage the soil, the better the soil can function. Such as not ploughing as often or using more grass-clover mixtures as cover crops. These are the conclusions from a research team led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). Surprisingly, it applies to both conventional and organic farming. These important insights…

A recent study provides evidence that some results of behavioural experiments with insects cannot be fully reproduced. So far, possible reproducibility problems have been little discussed in this context. If an experiment is repeated under similar conditions, the results should be the same. In reality, the situation is often different — scientists speak of a…

In the intricate world of quantum physics, where particles interact in ways that seem to defy the standard rules of space and time, lies a profound mystery that continues to captivate scientists: the nature of deconfined quantum critical points (DQCPs). These elusive critical phenomena break away from the conventional framework of physics, offering a fascinating…

Researchers have long recognized that quantum communication systems would transmit quantum information more faithfully and be impervious to certain forms of error if nonlinear optical processes were used. However, past efforts at incorporating such processes could not operate with the extremely low light levels required for quantum communication. Now, a team at the University of…

Every breath we take, every meal we eat, and every environment we encounter leaves a molecular fingerprint in our bodies — a hidden record of our lifelong exposures. Researchers in the field of exposomics explain how cutting-edge technologies are unlocking this biological archive, ushering in a new era of disease prevention and personalized medicine. The…

Fear of vision loss may deter some patients from undergoing necessary cataract surgery, according to a newly published study. Cataracts are the leading cause of reversible blindness, and surgery remains the only effective treatment. The study, recently published in The Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology, highlights the trust patients place in their physicians and the critical…

In Frank Baum’s original novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Emerald City is said to be such a brilliant shade of green that visitors must wear green-tinted glasses to protect their eyes from “the brightness and glory” of the city. The glasses are one of the wizard’s many deceits; the city viewed through green-tinted…

New research published in the journal Ornithology shows that Lesser Goldfinches, a small songbird traditionally found in the Southwest, are expanding their range northward through the Pacific Northwest at an unprecedented rate, providing insights into how species adapt to environmental change. Researchers from Washington State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology analyzed data from…

Cornell University researchers have developed a new robotic framework powered by artificial intelligence — called RHyME (Retrieval for Hybrid Imitation under Mismatched Execution) — that allows robots to learn tasks by watching a single how-to video. Robots can be finicky learners. Historically, they’ve required precise, step-by-step directions to complete basic tasks and tend to call…

A new study asked three questions about muscle protein synthesis in response to a nine-day diet and weight training regimen: First, does the source of protein — plant or animal-based — make any difference to muscle gain? Second, does it matter if total daily protein intake is evenly distributed throughout the day? And third, does…

New research from the University of Sydney links fatty, sugary diets to impaired brain function. The findings build on a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets on cognitive ability, adding to their well-known physical effects. Published on Friday in the International Journal of Obesity, the research is the…

Understanding the material basis of adaptive evolution has been a central goal in biology dating back to at least the time of Darwin. One focus of current debates is whether adaptive evolution relies on many mutations with small and roughly equal effects, or is it driven by one or a few mutations that cause major…

When you see a bag of carrots at the grocery store, does your mind go to potatoes and parsnips or buffalo wings and celery? It depends, of course, on whether you’re making a hearty winter stew or getting ready to watch the Super Bowl. Most scientists agree that categorizing an object — like thinking of…

Fifty years since its discovery, scientists have finally worked out how a molecular machine found in mitochondria, the ‘powerhouses’ of our cells, allows us to make the fuel we need from sugars, a process vital to all life on Earth. Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge, have worked…

Researchers have developed a new coronagraph — an optical device that blocks out light from a bright source — that could make it possible to see distant exoplanets obscured by light from their parent stars. The new device could reveal exoplanets beyond our solar system that today’s telescopes cannot resolve, providing insights into the possibility…

From the Japanese cypress to the ponderosa pine, wood has been used in construction for millennia. Though materials like steel and concrete have largely taken over large building construction, wood is making a comeback, increasingly being used in public and multi-story buildings for its environmental benefits. Of course, wood has often been passed over in…

A new smart insole system that monitors how people walk in real time could help users improve posture and provide early warnings for conditions from plantar fasciitis to Parkinson’s disease. Constructed using 22 small pressure sensors and fueled by small solar panels on the tops of shoes, the system offers real-time health tracking based on…