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After Trump's re-election, these U.S. scientists found jobs in the U.K.
More U.S. scientists are heading abroad. Three researchers explain why they decided to shift their research to universities in the U.K.
Science for Living: How acupuncture is earning its place in modern medicine
UMass Chan researchers discuss the growing evidence behind acupuncture’s role in modern integrative medicine and how it is helping to reduce chronic pain.
Scientists cured sickle cell. Then their next challenge began.
Gene editing has delivered remarkable results against sickle cell disease. Now researchers are working to make these personalized treatments faster, cheaper, and available to far more patients.
Scientists may have finally found how Alzheimer's spreads through the brain
A common brain protein may be giving Alzheimer’s disease an unexpected way to spread, carrying toxic Tau proteins from damaged neurons into healthy ones. By blocking these harmful protein packages before they reach new cells, researchers believe it may one day be possible to slow the disease's relentless progression.
Fish oil supplements no match for Alzheimer's risk, new study finds
A new study from the Keck School of Medicine at USC found a revelation regarding fish oil supplements. Here's the researchers' findings.
Scientists Found Ancient Human DNA on Cave Walls for the First Time and It Could Rewrite the Story of Prehistoric Art
The find could transform how researchers study prehistoric cave art.
Israeli health-tech conference opens in Jerusalem with 1,800 participants from 40 countries
MIXiii Health-Tech.IL 2026 brought together investors, doctors, researchers, startups and global health-tech leaders, with a focus on Israeli emergency medicine, tech-bio, and technologies.
Why scientists fear we're missing evidence of extraterrestrial life
Scientists are raising concerns that we may be overlooking evidence of extraterrestrial life even when it is present. Hidden biosignatures, limitations in detection technology, and assumptions about what life should look like can all create dangerous false negatives. The researchers say future missions should focus not only on finding life, but also on understanding how signs of life could be missed.
Scientists discover an unexpected way to make pancreatic cancer cells self-destruct
Researchers tested experimental PCAI compounds against pancreatic cancer cells and found they had powerful anticancer effects. One leading compound blocked more than 90% of cancer cell migration, suggesting it could help prevent the spread of tumors. Rather than suppressing cancer signaling, the treatment hyperactivated key pathways until the cells essentially self-destructed.
Millions of exploding stars could soon reveal dark energy's secrets
A new AI-powered framework could transform how astronomers measure the expansion of the Universe. By analyzing images of Type Ia supernovae and modeling their environments in unprecedented detail, researchers can estimate cosmic distances with near-spectroscopic accuracy. The technique is designed for the flood of data expected from the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory and may greatly improve our understanding of dark energy.
Building Community, Capacity, and Collaboration Through gmhCONNECT | Johns Hopkins Center for Global Mental Health
Doctoral trainee Yesenia Garcia shares her experience at gmhCONNECT, a training and mentoring program for global mental health researchers.
Queerying neuroscience: How legislation and institutions reframe LGBTQIA+ researchers’ careers
In honor of Pride Month, The Transmitter spoke with three researchers who surveyed hundreds of LGBTQIA+ neuroscientists to better understand how institutional support, harassment and policy intersect to shape their professional trajectories.
These fat-filled brain cells may be making multiple sclerosis worse
Scientists have uncovered a surprising clue that may help explain why multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses rapidly in some people but not others. In brain tissue from patients with severe MS, researchers found large numbers of “foamy” immune cells packed with fat droplets after absorbing damaged myelin. These overloaded cells appear to switch from helping repair the brain to fueling ongoing damage and inflammation.
Prevalence and severity of mental health problems in early-career researchers: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Nature Human Behaviour - Mental health concerns among early-career researchers are increasingly gaining attention. This preregistered systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis quantifies...
Breakthrough could lead to ‘big leaps’ in battery performance, scientists say
Researchers studied lithium-ion batteries, which are used for electric vehicles as well as portable electronics such as mobile phones and laptops.
Scientists Confirm that Two Gamma-Ray Bursts Were Caused by Collapsing Neutron Stars
Researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory have confirmed that two long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) originated from the collapse of neutron stars into black holes.
These tiny soil microbes could rescue crops from salty farmland
Researchers have discovered that beneficial soil bacteria give plants an unexpected survival advantage in salty soils. Instead of helping plants keep salt out, the microbes stimulate the production of lignin, a natural compound that strengthens roots and makes plants more resilient. Greenhouse and field tests showed healthier plants and higher yields in salty conditions. The findings could lead to bio-based treatments that help farmers grow crops on land once considered too salty for agriculture.
Brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness
The unconscious brain appears to be far more capable than scientists once believed. Researchers found that patients under general anesthesia could still process language at a sophisticated level, distinguishing nouns, verbs, and adjectives while listening to stories. Even more remarkably, neural activity showed signs of predicting upcoming words before they were heard. The results challenge traditional ideas about consciousness and hint at new possibilities for brain-computer interfaces.
Rise in cancer in younger adults may be explained by faster 'biological aging,' early study hints
Researchers report that younger adults with older‑than‑expected biological ages are more likely to develop early‑onset lung, gastrointestinal and uterine cancers, but more research is needed.
Science says these 7 parenting beliefs may be quietly making life harder for parents and children
Every parent wants to give their child the best possible upbringing. But in trying to be the “perfect parent,” many may be putting unnecessary pressure on themselves. A 2023 survey of more than 700 parents by researchers at Ohio State University found that 57% reported experiencing parental burnout. Surprisingly, the biggest predictor wasn't the number of children they had or how many hours they worked- it was the pressure to live up to an impossible standard of parenting. Child development experts say many of the beliefs parents consider signs of “good parenting” may actually be making life harder for both parents and children. Here's what science says.Here are seven common parenting beliefs that science says may be working against both parents and children.
Hawaii is turning ocean plastic and fishing nets into roads
Hawaii researchers are giving old fishing nets and recycled plastic a second life by mixing them into asphalt roads. Early tests found these roads didn't release more plastic particles than standard pavement, with tire wear overwhelming any plastic signal from the recycled material. If future studies confirm the roads are durable, the technology could help tackle both marine pollution and overflowing landfills.
New hollow-core fiber test pushes internet speeds to 1.2Tb/s
Chinese researchers achieved a new milestone in fiber-optic technology, achieving ultra-fast data transmission over long distances without signal repeaters.
'Super puffy': Scientists ponder extreme low density of two planets
International researchers are engaged in a complex study of two planets in deep space that appear to have an average density lower than that of candy floss. The planets orbiting star TOI-791, located ...
Scratching that bug bite might feel good at first but science explains why it's a bad idea
Now researchers better understand why even a mildly annoying itch could put you on an itch-and-scratch cycle if you give in.
Scientists finally reveal the shocking truth behind England’s dolphin deaths - Futura-Sciences
A Drastic Decline Along English Shores The dolphin populations along the English coastline have been disappearing at an alarming rate for several decades. Contrary to what many might hope, these aren’t dolphins simply seeking warmer waters elsewhere. The brutal reality is that this is not migration—it’s mass mortality. English researchers...
Scratching a bug bite feels good but science says it’s a bad idea
Researchers have gained a better understanding of why we have an itch to scratch.
‘Unhealthy environment’: Arctic researcher Li Xueke leaves the US for Hong Kong
Li is among a growing cohort of US-based researchers moving to Asia as Donald Trump terminates grants for climate-related projects.
New vitamin B12 therapy shows promise against deadly brain cancer
Researchers have identified a vitamin B12–based compound that can cross the blood-brain barrier and home in on glioblastoma tumors. In animal studies, the compound accumulated preferentially in tumor tissue and delivered sustained nitric oxide directly to cancer cells. It also worked synergistically with existing glioblastoma treatments, significantly enhancing their tumor-fighting effects.
Scratching that bug bite might feel good at first but science explains why it's a bad idea
You scratched that bug bite and now it's a big itchier bump. Some science explains why scratching really can make things worse, even if you don't break the skin. University of Pittsburgh researchers put tiny “cones of shame” onto mice to help unravel what happens on a cellular level when an itch ...
Just 2 Hours of Strength Training May Lower Heart Disease Risk in Women
Researchers say that just 2 hours of weekly strength training may help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in women, especially when paired with 150 minutes of weekly aerobic exercise.
Screen time can damage under-twos’ development, landmark study suggests
Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets, smartphones and other digital devices
Screens are virtually inescapable. What are they doing to our health?
They’re in our pockets, workplaces, homes and schools — screens are everywhere. Americans are spending more than seven hours a day looking at screens. What is this doing to our well being? And does all this screen time affect different generations differently? Horizons moderator William Brangham explores what we know and don’t know with researchers Kostadin Kushlev and Courtney K. Blackwell.
Scientists infected a 'vagina on a chip' with gonorrhea — then cured it with a new antibiotic found by AI
To sift through 6 million molecules in pursuit of new gonorrhea treatments, researchers trained AI to select the best drug candidate and then tested it in a "vagina on a chip."
Braille is literacy: Rice researchers are reshaping the science of reading
As schools across the country increasingly embrace evidence-based approaches to reading instruction through the science of reading, two Rice researchers are leading an effort to ensure students who learn through braille are not left out of the research shaping literacy education.
Should “Success” in Science Be Measured Differently?
Publication volumes are one of the main ways that success is measured for researchers today. From mentorship to real-world impact, scientists argue that “publish or perish” pressures overlook many of the contributions that drive discovery forward.
Gambling disorder diagnoses spike after states legalized sports betting
Researchers analyzed millions of electronic health records and found a major difference between states that greenlit sports gambling and those that didn’t.
Gambling disorder diagnoses spike after states legalized sports betting
Researchers analyzed millions of electronic health records and found a major difference between states that greenlit sports gambling and those that didn’t.
Scientists find evidence of vast hidden magma systems inside Mars
Researchers from the University of Oxford have uncovered evidence that Mars once hosted enormous, Earth-like magmatic systems deep beneath its surface—despite the planet lacking the plate tectonics long ...
AI Assistant Tool QED Scores bioRxiv Preprint Quality
QED, an AI assistant tool, evaluates the originality and validity of bioRxiv preprints, assigning them QED Scores. Researchers report that its rankings often align with expert opinion.
AI designs the ideal burger for taste, health, and planet
Stanford researchers developed an AI tool that creates novel burger recipes optimized for individual preferences. The implications for science go well beyond food.
UT Health San Antonio researcher receives $400,000 Komen grant to study therapeutic yoga for breast cancer survivors
UT Health San Antonio researcher receives $400,000 Komen grant to study therapeutic yoga for breast cancer survivors
Neuroimaging utilization in emergency departments has increased year-over-year for a decade
Researchers believe their new data could be used to better inform staffing coverage in modern radiology departments.
UT Health San Antonio researcher receives $400,000 Komen grant to study therapeutic yoga for breast cancer survivors
Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, MPH, to work with Hispanics in South Texas Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu Content provided by Cliff Despres SAN ANTONIO, June 25, 2026 – Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, MPH, a cancer researcher at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio, is […]
Making Our Own Luck
We are cross-posting a piece that former NIH official Kris Willis wrote for Macroscience. Kris is now the President and Founder of the Woodley Park Institute, for which I’m a board member. Picking winners or hedging bets? Federal science agencies have long wrestled with the question of how to ensure their billions of dollars of grants and contracts result in maximum benefits for Americans. On the surface, it might seem that a goal-oriented, interventionist style of management would be the best policy: prioritize our most pressing problems and distribute funding accordingly.This top-down strategy creates a unique hazard, though: bad choices can send resources in the wrong direction, resulting in slow progress that impedes the delivery of tangible benefits to citizens. Moreover, if decision makers pursue an applied advance when the underlying scientific principles remain poorly understood, they risk costly failures and a loss of support for the research enterprise at large. Examples include Nixon’s 1971 War on Cancer, undertaken on the premise that a cure could be achieved in less than a decade, the drive to build an operational commercial fusion plant by the mid-1990s, and the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, which failed to produce the effective treatments and prevention strategies promised by 2025. The contrasting laissez-faire approach is to hedge your bets. If the path to an advance is impossible to predict, then the wisest choice might be to distribute funding to as widely as possible. The main risk of this strategy is that spreading funding thinly may limit the resources available to the most promising research, resulting in the same negative outcomes as the interventionist approach: limited support for the most promising topics, slow progress, and delayed returns. In reality, at science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, program managers navigate between these two extremes, setting some funds aside to target high-priority areas and using the rest to cover the widest possible range of meritorious proposals. This middle path seems like the most rational way to proceed, but it still requires making choices. How much should be set aside for high priority topics? What should those topics be? How should we define merit? Expert opinion can provide a helpful guide, but leading experts can have remarkably different opinions about what matters and what should be prioritized. Moreover, experts and administrators alike can be risk averse, giving an edge to high-profile, well-established concepts. What’s really needed is a data-driven framework to help guide decision-making, one that doesn’t simply repackage prestige or incumbency. Recognizing breakthroughs years in advance Many breakthroughs fail to attract funding or recognition at the earliest stages of development. Katalin Karikó, for example, spent years struggling to win grants for work on mRNA that would eventually win her and Drew Weissman a Nobel Prize. Similar stories can be told about Jim Allison’s groundbreaking studies leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy, Stan Pruisner’s demonstration that prions can self-replicate without DNA, or Robin Warren and Barry Marshall’s proof that Helicobacter pylori, not stress, causes ulcers. Yet at some point, the scientific community recognizes and responds to transformative breakthroughs like these. How does that change happen? And what if science funders could identify the areas that are on the cusp of a breakthrough? Those questions led my collaborators and me to study how scientists responded to past breakthroughs. Based on patterns in that data, we developed a means of predicting future breakthroughs, using biomedicine as a proof of concept. It’s worth taking a moment to describe how our approach works. Briefly, our prediction process begins by grouping the 18 million or so peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, the authoritative database of biomedical research, into roughly 50,000 unique topics. A small subset of these topics are so widely acclaimed as breakthroughs that they have been recognized with a major prize like a Nobel or a Lasker Award. We theorized that studying the development of these outliers over time, especially before they gained acclaim, was the key to identifying future instances of them. After defining topics, we chose 21 representative breakthroughs and asked what they looked like before they won prestigious prizes. To answer that question, we re-ran our topic-mapping algorithm repeatedly, winding back the clock one year each time, stringing together the years to follow the progress of each field as it grew and advanced. We found that in each case, the years leading up to a discovery followed a pattern: a burst of papers on a new, rapidly evolving topic, many of which quickly became influential. These characteristics—the percent of papers that are new, the percentage of papers that are brought in from other topics, and the influence of each individual paper—can all be measured separately for any given topic. Together, they act as a predictive signal that is detectable an average of five years before a transformative discovery is made, and up to thirty years before the discovery receives a major prize. Scanning the current research landscape for topics that display this signal allows us to predict what work will likely produce a future breakthrough. Each year we analyzed includes four or five signals, a number that appears to have remained constant across a twenty year time frame. In their classic work on the sociology of science, Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar established that the desire to participate in a major discovery is an important motivator for scientists as they consider whether they should take up (or abandon) a research problem. Although further work is needed, the simplest explanation for our results is that this behavior is widespread enough to detect at scale. A foundational advance, or something like it, draws the attention of scientists and causes them to change the direction of their research. They vote with their feet, staking their own reputation and careers by publishing on and citing the new idea. That upswell of interest is the foundation of our breakthrough signal. What kind of research does our model identify as a breakthrough? After building a model based on the patterns in our 21 preselected breakthroughs, we tested it by identifying all early signals of discovery from 1994 through 1997. Of the 18 signals we found in that time period, 17 can be traced forward in time to a breakthrough. Examples include super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (see the image above), the directed evolution of proteins and enzymes (Chemistry Nobel, 2018), and sequencing the human genome (National Medal of Science, 2008). The discovery of the role of leptin signaling in obesity is a particularly interesting case study. Around 1950, scientists noticed the existence of a type of lab mouse that suffered from a unique inherited form of obesity. When given the freedom to choose their own diet, these mice ate more than normal and preferred food that was high in fat. Researchers had few clues as to why the animals overate; early experiments pointed to the existence of a soluble ob factor found circulating in the bloodstream that regulated appetite, but its identity was unknown. In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman and colleagues identified and sequenced the ob gene, noting that the protein it encoded appeared to fit the profile of a circulating factor. A year later, a trio of high-profile publications demonstrated that ob was a hormone that regulated body weight and fat deposition by regulating appetite. One of these was co-authored by Friedman, who christened it leptin from the ancient Greek word for thin. Using our model, the data from 1996 make it clear this advance would become a breakthrough. Scientists had flocked to study the biology of the new hormone, generating the flurry of new papers and citations required to produce a signal. One of these demonstrated that serum leptin concentrations reflected the amount of adipose tissue in the human body, providing clinical validation of the earlier mouse studies. Before the identification of leptin, scientists were unable to point to a specific molecule that controlled appetite and adiposity, so that it was impossible to rule out non-physiological causes of obesity; its characterization fundamentally changed our concept of weight gain. In 2010, Friedman and fellow pioneer Douglas Coleman were awarded a Lasker for the discovery. Our work also identifies breakthroughs in clinical practice and behavioral and social sciences, even though these areas are less likely to draw the attention of major prize committees. One example that falls into this category is the introduction of endovascular aneurysm repair, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm, a leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65. Relative to the previous standard of care, it reduces in-hospital mortality by almost four-fold. In 2017, Timothy Chuter received the American College of Surgeons’ prestigious Jacobsen Innovation award for his multiple refinements to the technique. Another under-recognized breakthrough identified by our model is the development of standardized survey instruments to assess the quality of life for HIV+ patients. The antiretroviral cocktails introduced in the mid-1990s reduced AIDS mortality, but treatment came with serious side effects. The new evaluations showed that patients whose disease progressed had worse physical functioning than Americans with other chronic diseases, while those who were asymptomatic maintained a health-related quality of life on par with the overall US population. This evidence made it possible for patients and activists to argue that even in the absence of a total cure, and in spite of the side effects, alleviation of symptoms was a worthwhile priority for clinicians. My colleagues and I have failed to identify any significant recognition for the physicians and health policy experts who pioneered this advance, although in 2016, researchers called for the World Health Organization to set targets for good health-related quality of life as part of its framework to end the AIDS pandemic. From forecasting to funding How should science funders use our predictions? Any serious discussion of what we should do with this new capability needs to begin with an understanding of its limitations. We can’t (and shouldn’t) invest all of our resources in the small number of topics predicted to produce breakthroughs. Innovative new fields are born from existing ones; they rarely arise de novo. If funders don’t maintain a diverse portfolio, the breakthroughs of tomorrow will have no antecedents. Think of this as eating the seed corn, or killing the goose that lays the golden egg. There are also multiple goals of funding beyond basic scientific discovery, including translating discoveries into clinical practice, developing new technologies, supporting economic development, and training new scientists. The investments needed to accomplish these goals are likely different from those required to support emerging breakthroughs. Finally, we must be aware that we may not capture every instance of a breakthrough. The concept is fuzzy, and not every significant discovery is recognized with a major award. Further, breakthroughs are rare, meaning that our dataset is, by necessity, small. This makes formal estimates of accuracy challenging. Although our overall success rate appears to be high, any one signal may turn out to be a false positive. We found one apparent example: the development of the third generation COX-2 inhibitors, Vioxx and Celebrex, which were much celebrated in the early 2000s as effective but non-addictive pain relievers, meets all the algorithmic criteria of a breakthrough. Five years after it received FDA approval, researchers demonstrated that Vioxx was associated with serious cardiovascular complications, and the manufacturer voluntarily pulled the drug from the market. Celebrex remains available, although like other NSAIDs, it carries an FDA warning for increased cardiovascular risk. Decision makers who were overly focused on the breakthrough potential of this research might have wasted substantial resources nurturing an area that ultimately proved to be a failure—but so would those who relied on expert opinion at the time. That said, the potential benefits of funding the next mRNA vaccine or cancer immunotherapy years earlier than we might have are large. When we can’t assume the outcome of an action, it’s worth conducting an experiment. Can targeted support for areas that are poised to produce a breakthrough increase the return on scientific investment without cannibalizing future advances? With the necessary administrative infrastructure in place, conducting this experiment would be straightforward. First, identify all the breakthrough signals between 2018 and 2023, select half at random, and commit to a decade of investment. For biomedicine, a six year window should yield about 30 topics with the potential to produce a breakthrough. Providing strong support to half of these might be accomplished for $300 million a year. That’s roughly half of the recent annual budget of the NIH Common Fund or around 20% of the fiscal year 2025 budget for ARPA-H. After five years, then again at ten, compare to see which group — the one that was actively managed, or the control — produced more breakthroughs, and on what timescale. Although we used biomedicine as an example, the same experiment could just as well be run for physics, materials science, or any other discipline. Any attempt to undertake such an experiment should keep three points top of mind. First, we can predict the topic of future breakthroughs, but the people and vision for how to move the work forward are still important. In practice, this means success requires active program managers with the expertise to develop the science and the authority to do so, including by recruiting investigators. Second, we would be wise to learn from the failures of past attempts to fund transformative research. High among these are funding modestly repackaged work, confusing the genuinely novel with the merely unfamiliar, and relying too much on incumbent investigators. All of these risks can be mitigated by thoroughly and intelligently integrating high quality data into portfolio management. Finally, we need to have patience. Even with strong funding support, producing a breakthrough takes time. If supporting breakthroughs is the best way to nurture the birth of new fields, we also need to accurately describe and properly manage the other two stages, so that we invest wisely throughout the productive lifetime of ideas and divest once they reach the point of diminishing returns. We would benefit from more study of all of these phases, especially the transition from one to another. More research could answer questions like: When does a breakthrough become an established field? How do the availability of funding, the size and characteristics of the available workforce, and the accumulation of evidence that disagrees with prevailing models affect a field’s decline? Exactly how do old ideas give birth to new ones, and can we speed up the process? The more we understand about the dynamics of scientific progress, the better we can maximize the odds that our curiosity leads to results. I’d call that finding a way to make our own luck.
Check politics at the door? Not at many workplaces, researcher says
When people think of workplace segregation, they usually think of race or gender. Yet Americans are also sorted at work by something employers rarely measure: how they vote.
Microsoft Discovery Aims To Advance The Era Of Agentic Science
The cloud-based agentic AI platform aims to help human researchers overcome resource constraints and complex data challenges to accelerate science at scale.
Short-form science: University of Washington researchers launch PaperTok to combat AI slop
A University of Washington team is helping scientists tell their own stories with a free tool that converts dense, jargon-heavy publications into short, accessible videos.
Scientists measure hidden quantum forces that could power a new generation of pharmaceutical drugs
Researchers invent a laser technique that reveals the hidden forces shaping proteins, advancing a future of precision medicine engineered with quantum precision.
Scientists Analyzed the Bones of ‘Skeleton Lake.’ What They Found Made No Sense.
Roopkund Lake sits in a frozen pocket of the Himalayas where hundreds of people died across a millennium. So why did researchers find bones from the island of Crete there?
Ohio State–led team secures NSF award to advance to next phase of the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory program
The Ohio State University is strengthening its growing prominence in quantum science, technology, and education with a $4 million, two‑year Phase II design award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance a national effort focused on next‑generation quantum sensing.The funding is helping to bring together top researchers and ...
Living with a cat: the mental health impact scientists are only now discovering - Futura-Sciences
A Surprising Connection Between Cats and Schizophrenia? An Australian study has revealed an unexpected link between cat ownership and the risk of developing schizophrenia. Researchers analyzed 17 studies conducted over 44 years, spanning 11 different countries. Their conclusion? Living with a cat could actually double your risk of developing schizophrenia-related...
Scientists discover how a single cell builds a brain with 170 billion cells
How does a single cell build a brain with billions of precisely organized neurons? Researchers suggest that brain cells use their lineage—their cellular family tree—as a kind of positional map. Cells that come from the same ancestor stay near one another, helping the brain organize itself without relying solely on chemical signals.
FDA-approved drug may finally help immunotherapy defeat rare liver cancer
Researchers found that a rare liver cancer evades immunotherapy by luring immune T cells away from the tumor and trapping them in nearby fibrous tissue. An FDA-approved drug called AMD3100 freed those T cells to attack the cancer, significantly improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in tumor samples.
How should European scientists respond to the US AI kill switch?
Earlier in June, Europe’s worst fears of technological dependence were confirmed when the White House ordered the AI firm Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using its leading models. This kill-switch moment crystalised anxieties in Brussels that the continent, lagging the US on the creation of leading-edge AI models, is now a technological of vassal of Washington. The shock has specific implications for European scientists and universities. Some governments are now worried that with AI being integrated into labs, Donald Trump now has his finger hovering over an off switch for European science. “Having restrictions on this tool, it can have an impact on our own research,” said France’s research minister, Philippe Baptiste, at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 18.Baptiste, himself a former academic, said that colleagues in mathematics had recently warned him they were now cut off from leading-edge US models, risking their work. “This model is not available anymore now because of the US restriction, and for the first time this had an impact on mathematics,” a field where large language models (LLMs) are making a significant contribution, said Baptiste. So, should European scientists avoid relying on US models in the future? Or would this be a self-harming overreaction? And how is AI being used in science, anyway? What happened?On June 12, it emerged that Washington, citing cybersecurity concerns, had ordered Anthropic to stop non-US citizens using two models: Claude Mythos 5, and Claude Fable 5, a version of Mythos but with guardrails to prevent abuse. Anthropic said Washington’s concerns were overblown. But forced to follow the order, yet with no way to check who was using the models, the company suddenly shut down access for everyone, US citizens included. There’s still no agreement on how to restore broad access. But last week, Bloomberg reported that select US companies, and the US government, still had access to Mythos despite the ban, but the EU’s cybersecurity agency Enisa had been shut out. Class division of researchersIn the longer term, access outside the US should be restored, said Marcel Salathé, co-director of the AI centre at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), because a permanent restriction would be financially ruinous to US AI firms. “Even Trump will eventually budge to economic pressure,” he said.However, US AI firms might end up operating rather like banks, doing due diligence on users of their leading-edge AI models, he went on.European scientists are unlikely to fall foul of such checks, he said. But having a Chinese postgraduate in their lab, or doing a type of research the US disapproved of, could potentially result in access being denied. “It will create a sort of class division of researchers,” he said. More than frontier modelsHowever, successfully deploying AI in science is about far more than just having access to leading LLMs such as Mythos.Instead, many science-specific tools, most famously Alphafold, which predicts protein folding structures, require “far less” computing power to train than frontier models, well within the capabilities of European supercomputers, according to a recent analysis by the Arq Foundation, a Brussel-based AI think tank. Instead, tools such as Alphafold are possible because certain fields, like protein folding, weather prediction or astronomy, have large, clean, standardised datasets that can be used to train predictive models. Rather than compute, “data is the central constraint for AI for science,” the report says. For example, a less powerful physics model trained on CERN’s data “will be more valuable than the best model without certain data,” said Bengüsu Özcan, author of the report. European advantage?Europe could therefore steal a march by using its scientific data and infrastructure to create models US digital giants cannot. “They might actually match or go even beyond what these big [US] companies are doing,” said Özcan.Indeed, some European start-ups hope to create automated testing labs to create the kind of standardised data that could speed up the discovery of new materials. Materials scientists say there’s currently too little data to train models. AI scientistsHowever, even if the bottleneck for AI in science is often data, rather than compute, being at the mercy of the US for LLM access could still become a problem for European scientists. A new class of “AI scientists” based on leading LLMs is also emerging, Özcan’s report says.Unlike domain-specific tools like Alphafold, these try to automate day-to-day scientific work, by providing an overarching tool that coordinates specific models to synthesise existing literature, generate hypotheses or run analysis of data. The problem for Europe, however, is that these tools are sometimes based on US leading models. Google Deepmind’s AI Co-Scientist, for example, is built on Google’s Gemini LLM. Systematic failureThese scientific automation tools are still in their early stages, and still exhibit “systematic failures on scientific tasks,” Özcan’s report says. One of the problems is that the messy, day-to-day process of scientific discovery is largely not documented, meaning LLMs don’t have a good source of data to learn how scientists actually work. Meanwhile, some tasks, such as literature synthesis, don’t typically require access to leading edge models.However, the performance of AI scientific assistants could improve as companies such as Google pour resources into developing them. Rely on US“Unfortunately, for scientific assistants, there is not much we can do right now except rely on US frontier AI,” said Antoine Bosselut, a natural language processing expert based at EPFL. Chinese-built open models, which can run on local computers, lessening the risk of a shutdown, are touted as one alternative to US dependence. There’s also Mistral, once seen as Europe’s main AI hope, but the Paris-based company has seen its recent models fall behind in performance. But the Chinese alternatives are generally not as capable as US frontier AI models, said Bosselut, unless paired with fiddly, custom tools that allows them to act as independent agents. “Most scientists do not have the time,” he said. Don’t jump ship yetAlthough the kill switch moment is seen a warning shot for European scientists, it doesn’t mean labs should abandon US AI tools immediately. “I do not think the right response is simply to abandon US-based models and systems under the banner of sovereignty or independence,” said Mattias Björnmalm, secretary general of the Cesaer university association. “That would be an overreaction.”Related articlesEuropean sovereignty in AI requires ‘ugly trade-offs,’ say experts Robotic lab start-up makes case for €500M EU-funded materials testing facilityAI in science: is it useful? Instead, European researchers need to ask themselves whether they’re becoming dependent on technology that could be turned off in Washington, said Özcan. “They might not see this today, but they should really start asking this question,” she said. European researchers need a plan B, said Salathé. “I would recommend to every researcher, very proactively explore alternatives.”Own toolsIn addition, Björnmalm and others want European research institutions to develop their own scientific AI tools.Instead of signing AI deals with US digital giants, European universities should be using this money to create their own models, which may end up being superior for research, said Sabine Leonelli, an expert on the use of AI in science at the Technical University of Munich. “Universities in Europe seem to be happy to sign commercial contracts with US companies on the assumption [their AI tools] are better,” she said. But US frontier LLMs are typically opaque, and have been developed without independent scientific input, she said. “This is not good enough for science.”Last year, Swiss researchers released Apertus, an LLM designed to be completely transparent, from its development methods to its training data. The idea is that this makes scientific tools built on top of the model far more reproducible than with closed, commercial alternatives.“Europe needs more of this: serious capacity-building that gives researchers, universities and companies credible options,” said Björnmalm.
Archer grows business litigation team by adding Farinella as partner
Archer announced June 23 that PJ Farinella has joined the 95-year-old law firm as a partner in its business litigation practice group.
Fermented Food: Does Eating Kimchi or Sauerkraut Have Health Benefits?
Researchers are starting to understand how foods like kimchi, yogurt and sauerkraut affect our health.
The Painting That Is Still on Trial in South Korea: How the unending Korean War became a permanent excuse to criminalise expression
By Boram Jang, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International In a Seoul courtroom in March this year, a prosecutor read out charges against Jeon Seung-il, a former art student, from an indictment first written in 1989. The language had not changed, nor had the charges. Thirty-seven years later, only the young defendant had grown old. In 1989, he was 23 years old in a South Korea still shaped by decades […]
In 3-game healthcare series, underdog large-language models sweep specialized AI powerhouses
Pitting three multipurpose LLMs against two healthcare-specific AI tools, researchers have discovered the consumer-level AI can beat its purpose-built counterparts in healthcare scenarios—and soundly, at that.
“Absolutely huge” 400-year-old black coral stuns scientists in New Zealand
A giant black coral estimated to be 300–400 years old has been discovered deep in Fiordland, New Zealand, astonishing researchers with its enormous size—about 4 meters tall and 4.5 meters wide. Scientists say it may be one of the largest black corals ever recorded in New Zealand waters and an important stronghold for the slow-growing species.
Scientists seek clues to longevity from three Brazilian sisters over 100
What is the secret to a long life? Three Brazilian sisters with a combined age of 316, who were named by Guinness this month as the oldest living trio of siblings in the world, may help researchers find out.
QED Science Launches AI Infrastructure for Scientific Validation
Recognizes The 1% After Blind Evaluation of 57,455 Scientific PreprintsTEL AVIV, Israel, June 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QED Science, a science validity engine and modern infrastructure for researchers, funders, institutions and life science organizations today launched The 1%, the top 574 life science preprints. The company anonymously scored 57,455 bioRxiv preprints submitted between May 2025 and April 2026 for originality and validity. The ranking is powered by QED Score, QED Science’s vali
Boffin claims Microsoft's supposed quantum leap does not compute due to 'basic Python errors'
Nature paper argues researchers cherry-picked data. Redmond insists its work is sound
This is the real reason your cat purrs—and it’s not what you think - Futura-Sciences
The Genetic Mystery Behind the Purr If you thought your cat’s purr was just an automatic sound of happiness—like you sighing with satisfaction after a good meal—science begs to differ. Researchers from Kyoto University’s Wildlife Research Center in Japan have identified, for the first time, genetic underpinnings to this ancient...
Scientists discover ancient brain cells that help block distractions
Scientists have discovered a tiny group of neurons in an ancient brain region that acts like a built-in focus filter, helping the brain ignore distractions and zero in on what matters most. When researchers temporarily switched off these neurons in mice, the animals became unusually distractible—similar to what is seen in ADHD—but regained normal focus as soon as the neurons were reactivated.
Why South Africa’s leopards shrank to half their normal size
A hidden population of South African leopards has revealed a remarkable evolutionary story. Researchers analyzing entire leopard genomes discovered that the Cape Floristic Region’s leopards are not only much smaller than most African leopards, but also genetically distinct after being isolated for roughly 20,000 years. Surprisingly, despite their small population, they have retained much of their genetic diversity.
Scientists discover hidden “footprints of death” that may help viruses spread
Scientists have uncovered a surprising new twist in what happens when cells die. As dying cells break apart, they leave behind tiny “footprints of death” packed with newly discovered particles that help guide the immune system to clean up the remains. But researchers found that influenza viruses can exploit this process, hiding inside these microscopic packages and potentially using them to spread to nearby cells.
Science in Seconds: Improving GLP-1
A UConn Health researcher explains how her lab is focusing on how GLP-1 medications affect the brain and how they can be improved for the future
UConn Business Researchers Discover Voluntary Corporate Climate Goals Are Viewed Favorably by Investors
'For company decisionmakers, there is clearly no argument for not considering it'
FSU Health creates grant program for projects on healthcare challenges
Florida State University is giving its researchers and local clinical providers financial support to work on addressing healthcare challenges.
Could mountains be key to unlocking hydrogen’s potential?
Researchers assessed likelihood gas was produced during creation of Alps, Pyrenees and Baetic mountains
Science Decoupling Hurts Human Progress
Science magazine has reported that in May, several members of the U.S. Congress introduced the Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries (SIRA) Act, a bill that would prohibit U.S. researchers from using federal funds to collaborate with 'blacklisted' Chinese entities. These include Chinese institutions and individuals. Joint research projects, co-authored papers, data sharing, personnel exchanges, and even the co-supervision of students would all be prohibited.
Early humans were bringing fire into caves 1.8 million years ago
A new study suggests early humans were using fire in South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave as far back as 1.79 million years ago. Researchers found burned bones deep inside the cave, where natural wildfires could not have reached, indicating that fire was likely carried in and maintained by human ancestors. The discovery pushes back the timeline for fire use and reveals surprisingly sophisticated behavior long before humans could create fire on demand.
Project ASCENT at ILL selected for EU funding under "Choose Europe for Science"
The Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) will lead the ASCENT project, funded at 1.4 M€ by the European Commission as part of the initiative "Choose Europe for Science 2025". The goal is to train the next generation of researchers and sustain Europe’s leadership in neutron science. ASCENT is one of 16 projects (three of them in France) funded under the pilot call of a programme that aims to enhance the attractiveness of research careers in Europe and address the challenge of scientific talent retention. It is also the only project led by a large-scale infrastructure.
Behind this “ordinary snake,” scientists stunned by a hidden new species - Futura-Sciences
A Mysterious Snake Revealed Researchers from the Chengdu Institute of Biology, partnering with the Giant Panda National Park, have officially described a new species of tree viper: Trimeresurus lii, affectionately dubbed the Huaxi green viper. The discovery was made in early 2025 and published in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and...
Dogs or cats: which is actually smarter, according to science - Futura-Sciences
It is one of the oldest arguments between pet owners, and it usually generates more heat than light. So what happens when you ask science instead of your group chat? The honest answer is that “smarter” is a slippery word, but researchers do have one hard number that tilts the...
Scientists alarmed after two wildfires hit Greenland within a week
Researchers say it is ‘quite wild’ to see fires at such high northern latitudes happen so early in the year
Finnish scientist Wickström awarded Körber Prize for cell research
Finnish researcher Sara Wickström has been awarded the Körber European Science Prize for discovering that cells sense physical forces, a finding that might open new possibilities for the treatment of ...
Want to age better? Researchers say 4-minute routine may help prevent dangerous falls
A Penn State clinical trial finds just four minutes of daily strength exercise can improve mobility, balance, and leg strength in older adults.
Listening for quantum oscillations in the Kondo insulator YbB12
Magnetic quantum oscillations have been unexpectedly observed in insulators, where freely moving charge carriers are not expected to exist. A joint study by researchers from Tokyo University of Science, The University of Tokyo, and Kobe University investigated this puzzling behavior in the Kondo insulator YbB12 using ultrasound. While no oscillations were detected in the insulating state, clear signals emerged after the material became metallic, offering new insight into unusual quantum behavior in next-generation materials.
We must support 'strange' science, RNA biologist Jeff Coller writes in The New York Times
Without federal funding, American researchers can't chase scientific questions that may lead to lifesaving cures, Hopkins RNA biologist Jeff Coller writes in 'The New York Times'
Portal messages in Epic have more than doubled since 2020
NYU Langone found that electronic health record portal messages over 5 years ending in 2025 increased by 153%. Researchers say the largely uncompensated 'pajama time' messaging can still add up.
Curiosity leads the way as students become scientists with Headwaters Science Institute
TRUCKEE, Calif. – Headwaters Science Institute transformed 166 Alder Creek Middle School (ACMS) seventh graders into field researchers during a five-day program that combined classroom learning with hands-on scientific investigations at Donner Memorial State Park. ...
Researchers develop new 'emotionally aware' model for classifying mental health conditions
Researchers have developed a new "emotionally aware" AI-based model for classifying mental health conditions, which could help clinicians better diagnose patients' mental health conditions. The Emo-MHC ...
University of Hawaiʻi researchers awarded $12M grant to advance AI, data science in medicine
The funding will be dedicated to accelerating biomedical discoveries through AI and data science to benefit people in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region, and worldwide.
Scientists have designed a clay that can prevent fruits and vegetables from rotting too quickly
The gas ethylene causes fruit and vegetables to ripen faster and is responsible for millions of tons of food being lost annually during transport and storage. Now researchers from the University of Copenhagen, among others, have succeeded in getting clay to collect the gas and hope that the material can help reduce food waste in the long term.
Will NASA’s SkyFall Mars helicopter fleet sink science at the Red Planet?
Mars researchers are wrestling with the potential costs of a flashy new NASA mission to the Red Planet
FIU experts are available to speak on artificial intelligence and emerging technology
As AI continues to reshape industries and spark critical conversations around innovation, access, and technology, FIU researchers are available to offer expert insight.
Health equity researchers fear unseen level of scrutiny under White House proposal
Health disparities researchers say a new White House proposal could disqualify much of their work from federal funding — perhaps the most serious threat yet to the future of their field.
What Would Faster Sequencing Mean for Your Research?
In this Teach Me In 10, Dr. Nick Scales, Technical Sequencing Specialist at Plasmidsaurus, discusses how Plasmidsaurus help researchers gain deeper biological insights while reducing common workflow bottlenecks.
ESA Exploration Science Workshop 2026 – Early Career Researchers Abstract Submissions
The European Space Agency is pleased to announce a Call for Abstracts for Early Career Researchers to submit abstracts to the ESA Exploration Science Workshop 2026
AI regulation is a mess, and Anthropic is caught in the crosshairs
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One common fat may fuel type 2 diabetes while another helps fight it
Not all fats affect your body the same way. Researchers found that palmitic acid, a saturated fat common in many foods, may contribute to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes by triggering inflammation, toxic fat buildup, and cellular stress. In contrast, oleic acid—the heart-healthy fat abundant in olive oil—appears to help protect insulin function and may even counter some of the harmful effects of palmitic acid.
Tubulin prevents toxic brain protein clumps linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine may have uncovered a promising new way to combat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Instead of trying to stop Tau and alpha-synuclein proteins from gathering into tiny droplets inside brain cells, the researchers found that tubulin—the protein that builds the cell’s internal transport network—can redirect these proteins away from forming toxic clumps and toward healthy, productive work.
Chinese sodium battery surprised scientists by matching key Tesla benchmarks
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Science & Medicine: A San Antonio researcher is studying magnets and money to treat alcohol use disorder
Alcohol use disorder affects millions of Americans, but treatment options remain limited, and relapse is common. A UT Health San Antonio researcher is studying two unconventional approaches that he hopes could one day be combined into a single, more effective treatment.
UH researchers awarded $12M grant to advance AI, data science in medicine | University of Hawaiʻi System News
New center will support innovative biomedical research, develop future scientific leaders, and expand research infrastructure in Hawaiʻi.
Major review finds vaping likely causes lung and oral cancer
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Scientists discover neurons must break their DNA to build the brain
As newborn neurons make their way through the developing brain, they must squeeze through incredibly tight spaces to reach their final destinations. Researchers discovered that this physical journey routinely causes some of the most severe forms of DNA damage—double-strand breaks—yet the young brain has evolved an impressive ability to repair the damage almost immediately.
Think human anatomy is finished? Scientists say think again
Despite centuries of study, scientists are still finding new details and even overlooked structures within the human body. As researchers explore anatomical differences between individuals, it’s becoming clear that the body is far more complex—and less fully understood—than textbooks suggest.