SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " researcher " 3,303 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Scientists Discover a Strange New Quantum State Where Two Materials Meet
Researchers have directly observed an unusual quantum state emerging at the boundary between an atomically thin material and a metal. Scientists have directly observed an unusual quantum state forming where a material just one atom thick meets a metal. The discovery, made by a research team led by the University of Osaka, demonstrates how interactions
New Doctoral Training Programme will tackle key polar science questions with a reduced carbon footprint
The Net Zero Polar Science (NZPS) Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) has welcomed its first cohort of PhD researchers, marking the launch of a new UK-based...
Scientists Create a Nuclear Clock So Precise It Barely Loses a Second in 30 Million Years
A self-stabilizing nuclear clock has achieved precision equivalent to roughly one second in 30 million years, though it still trails the best optical atomic clocks. For a clock that keeps time with laser light, even a slight shift in the laser’s frequency changes its rhythm. Researchers in Vienna have now built the world’s first nuclear
When permafrost thaws in mountainous landscapes
Germany’s highest peak, the Zugspitze, is one of the world's best-monitored permafrost sites. Its rock is still stable, but researchers believe that might change in the next decade.
CSU researchers test AR ‘X-ray vision’ technology for judging distance in blocked-visibility situations
Research being conducted at Colorado State University is bringing technology once thought to be science fiction one step closer to reality. Augmented reality technology allows three-dimensional objects to be placed in real-world surroundings as if they were physically present. It is most commonly found in mixed reality headsets such as the Apple Vision Pro or...
'It could have been a very different history': Researchers are finally starting to pin down how many Indigenous people were living in the Americas when Columbus arrived
Archaeologists and geographers have been trying to estimate the pre-1492 population of the Americas for decades. But it's difficult.
Nobel memorial prize in economics to be awarded in Stockholm
The Nobel memorial prize in economics is the last to be announced this year. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will announce the winners Monday in Stockholm. Three researchers who
Children cut down on social screen time for trial
Researchers say it is the first major study into the impact of social media on teens' mental health.
Popular weight loss drugs linked to a surprising fingernail problem
Popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, have been linked to unexpectedly high rates of nail detachment, hair loss, and scalp inflammation, with some problems occurring several times more frequently among users. Researchers found that weight loss alone could not fully explain the differences, suggesting there may be more to these overlooked symptoms.
Immune Cell Map Uncovers How Individual Aging Trajectories Diverge
Researchers created an immune aging map showing that a balance between two immune cell types can predict future health. The findings link immune aging patterns to risks of chronic disease, mortality, and unhealthy aging.
SIU’s 2026 Earth Science Week events focus on critical minerals, public invited
CARBONDALE — Southern Illinois University Carbondale researchers are observing Earth Science Week by exploring some of today’s most important environmental and Earth science challenges — from plastic pollution and soil
China’s Nobel paradox reveals a deeper science challenge
China celebrates scientific gains, but can it become a place where top researchers freely choose to build their futures?
The hidden math of Alzheimer's could point to new treatments
Mathematics may hold unexpected clues to understanding Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have developed a model showing how common metals like copper and zinc may influence the buildup of proteins associated with the disease, while also exploring possible ways to stop the process. The findings could help researchers identify promising strategies for preventing harmful plaque formation.
Sweating the details: Sauna's potential health benefits draw scientists' interest
A group of international researchers is pushing to rigorously study the potential health benefits of sauna and other heat therapies. They hope to bring scientific legitimacy to the age-old practices.
Sweating the details: Sauna's potential health benefits draw scientists' interest
A group of international researchers is pushing to rigorously study the potential health benefits of sauna and other heat therapies. They hope to bring scientific legitimacy to the age-old practices.
How rural Utah became the front line of America’s AI data center backlash
Officials who approved permits are losing seats. Hundreds of projects are stalled. Researchers say water and transparency are the breaking point
Scientists Found Two Birds as Loud as Chainsaws. Here’s How They Make So Much Noise.
Researchers measured the calls of 123 bird species in Brazil. Two reached volumes comparable to chainsaws and louder than elephants.
AI is among 17 potentially ‘catastrophic threats’ that researchers say require targeted action
More than a dozen “interconnected catastrophic threats” pose significant risk to global health and wellbeing through the remainder of the 21st century, researchers say – including the potential for extinction. But targeted action from world leaders can help avoid worst-case scenarios.
A surprisingly simple way to relieve knee arthritis pain without pills or surgery
A surprisingly simple change in how you walk could help relieve knee arthritis pain and even slow joint damage. In a year-long clinical trial, researchers found that adjusting the angle of a person's foot while walking reduced osteoarthritis pain by an amount comparable to medication, without requiring drugs or surgery. Even more promising, MRI scans revealed that participants who adopted the personalized walking technique experienced slower deterioration in a marker of knee cartilage health.
According to Science, People Who Use Emojis in Texts Have Higher Emotional Intelligence
You probably do it without thinking. A thumbs-up after confirming dinner plans, a laughing face to soften a sarcastic remark, a heart slipped into a goodnight message. Emojis have become so woven into the way we text that most of us never stop to wonder what those tiny icons actually say about us. But researchers...
OpenAI's math dump rattles researchers who saw programs wiped out
OpenAI's release of hundreds of AI-generated math papers raised questions over its training data and what it would do to the academic norms in math.
Stanford Scientists Identify Enzyme That May Promote Cartilage Regeneration in Arthritis
Stanford researchers identified an enzyme that may restore cartilage repair signals in arthritic joints, offering a potential drug target backed by mouse and human tissue results.
Cool chemistry trick allows new tattoos to 'turn on and off'
Researchers created multicolored tattoo inks that are activated by different wavelengths of light, allowing people to hide their tattoos in different scenarios.
San Diego County launches new study on long term health effects of Tijuana River pollution
The county is expanding its efforts to better understand the health impacts of the Tijuana River sewage crisis. They're now looking for qualified researchers to study whether long-term exposure is making people sick.
Researchers uncover new DarkSword spyware variant affecting unpatched iPhones
iVerify released a report today detailing P7 DarkSword, a new variant of the malware associated with the DarkSword iPhone exploit chain uncovered earlier this year.
RFK Jr. tasks researchers with studying vaccine injuries
The US Department of Health and Human Services launched a program this week to study and capture the breadth of vaccine injuries, reviving a longtime priority for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and stoking concerns from some public health advocates.
Ginkgo Bioworks to Provide Autonomous Lab Access to NSF X-Labs Researchers, Contributing Cloud Lab Time and Protein Testing Services to $1.5 Billion Breakthrough Science Program
Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) today announced that it will provide in-kind access to its autonomous laboratory in Boston to support the National Science Founda...
Scientists turn handheld car gadget into wildfire early-warning tool
Researchers at King's College London have converted an off-the-shelf product, usually used to determine whether car window tint is legal, into a scientific instrument that can measure leaf water content ...
How does atmospheric turbulence impact tornado formation?
Supported by a new three-year, $1,099,777 grant, researchers in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences will investigate what triggers some storms to produce tornadoes — and when — with the goal of improving forecasts.
'Move away' and 'stop that!' Wild elephants use a rich gestural repertoire intentionally to 'mean business'
Wild African savanna elephants use a wide range of gestures when competing with other elephants, according to research from an international group of scientists, including researchers from the University ...
Four Berkeley Lab Scientists Receive DOE Early Career Research Awards
Funding will help researchers advance science solutions for society.
How political upheaval and the pandemic shaped UK mental health
Major societal events such as the Brexit referendum and COVID-19 lockdowns have contributed to a lasting deterioration in mental health in the U.K., a study led by University College London (UCL) researchers ...
New DOE Early Career project uses magnetic vortices to uncover hidden sources of loss in superconducting quantum devices
Daniel Bafia will develop a new measurement approach that uses magnetic vortices to investigate defects and interfaces that can limit the performance of superconducting quantum devices. The project could provide researchers with a new way to understand and ultimately reduce sources of energy loss in quantum materials.
Scientists find signal that suggests AI is about to go rogue
Simple maths formula can predict when artificial intelligence is about to give dangerous responses, researchers say
AI tool makes culturally appropriate lessons for teachers in India
Overworked teachers in southern India have a new tool, developed by Cornell researchers, for educating their students: Shiksha Copilot, an AI system that generates culturally relevant lesson plans for schools with few resources.
Open science is compatible with research security, says Canada’s chief science advisor
Open science is “not incompatible” with research security and science leaders and policymakers should “demystify” the false dichotomy between the two, according to Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science advisor. More than a decade ago, EU policymakers were promoting open science, open innovation and open collaboration across the world. It was a political movement that aimed to make scientific research, data, software, publications and methodologies transparent, accessible and reusable for everyone.But that rhetoric has changed over the past few years. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and Donald Trump came back to power in 2025, international partnerships have become more pragmatic. Countries are trying to implement protectionist policies and governments are increasingly worried about technology espionage. According to Nemer, science can remain open if the sector can come up with improved security protocols that would protect research data from undue manipulation by foreign actors. “If anybody can fiddle with the with the data, then [open science] is actually quite dangerous and quite useless,” she told Science|Business. Universities and research institutions are increasingly vulnerable to attempted espionage and other types of foreign interference. In September, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence service MI5 issued a security warning against collaborations with the China General Technology Research Institute. And earlier this year, Germany’s Helmholtz Center for Information Security was criticised by federal research minister Dorothee Bär, who told a parliamentary hearing that “existing rules and systems” at the institute “were not suitable” for preventing leaks to China. According to Nemer, universities and research institutions should perhaps follow the example of the private sector, as companies have been able to safeguard their research while still publishing results. “I think that there is a level of research security hygiene that researchers and institutions need to just adopt,” she said. “You don't have to tell Sanofi or IBM how to safeguard their research, which they end up publishing anyway.”While certain areas of research will not be open for collaboration with certain partners, in other areas cooperation is necessary even with researchers based in adversarial countries. “I stress this because politics change,” she said. “Science and politics don't make for good fellows, and whether we like it or not, politics will influence certain things.”Researchers will play an important role in “protecting the integrity of science,” said Nemer. “I think that it's time that there's a commitment to a certain scientific compact, so that citizens don't think that science is actually an open door for espionage and for anti-nationalism.”New partnershipsNemer spoke with Science|Business on the margins of the Hamburg Science Summit on September 17, the day when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called for increased cooperation with the EU, including in science and technology. Canada is looking to strengthen ties with partners in other corners of the world, after the Trump administration threatened to put tariffs on Canadian goods and services and even openly suggested Canada could become the 51st state. In parallel, the US government has indicated it wants to retreat from international science projects, including US collaboration with Europe’s CERN particle accelerator and other big science labs.Related articlesThe stats we need to better understand R&DCanada looks to deepen research and education links with the EUCan researchers trust that AI models won’t leak their ideas?Nemer said the US is still a science “powerhouse,” but Canada and Europe will have to work closely together on global challenges. “It’s important for both [sides], but I think it's also important for the rest of the world, because the cut in funding for development, in health, in regions like Africa and other places, have dramatic effects.” The Trump administration is also planning a review of the Nelson memo, a Biden-era document that mandated that results of federally funded research would be openly available. With that idea being called into question, Nemer said it could be “very disruptive” to scientific collaborations and could jeopardise research on climate change, the Arctic and global health. “When your collaborator suddenly tells you I'm not going to share the data with you as a researcher, if this happens, I think it's very worrisome,” she said. “I'm certainly hoping that a lot of the Canadian institutions, funders, researchers, have started looking at joining forces on databases and using more European research infrastructures,” Nemer added.
FDA-approved epilepsy drug may help reverse osteoarthritis damage
Researchers at Yale have identified a promising new approach to osteoarthritis that could do more than simply ease pain. The epilepsy drug lacosamide appears to block a protein involved in both pain signaling and cartilage destruction, helping damaged joints shift back toward repair in preclinical studies.
Concern after Europeans endorse US science agenda
Germany’s biggest research funder has said it is “concerned” after Berlin, plus several other European countries, endorsed a controversial US-led science policy statement. On October 4, the White House announced that 16 countries, including Germany, the UK, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, Japan and South Korea had backed the Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science.The document, agreed on the margins of the annual Science and Technology in Society forum in Kyoto, which gathers science ministers from across the world, appears uncontroversial at first sight. It’s a one-page statement, without any concrete measures, that touches on reducing administrative burden on scientists, experimenting with new funding models and the use of “super intelligence” in science, the Trump administration’s preferred term for artificial intelligence. However, what’s controversial is that much of the language in the Kyoto Vision reflects Science: A New Golden Age, a major policy document released by the White House in July.That document attracted criticism for deriding universities as “legacy institutions” and suggesting money be diverted to new research labs. In a speech in Kyoto on October 4, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy and the report’s author, said that the US was seeking to “diversify the ways that we support research to meet our best scientists where and when they do their best work.” The worry is that the Trump administration may be using genuine dysfunctions in academia as a pretext to defund and disempower universities, which US vice president JD Vance has labelled “the enemy.” Many in Europe also want more experimentation and reform of how science is organised and funded, and agree with criticisms of academia made by Science: A New Golden Age. But some also fear that if the US pushes for reform partially in bad faith, it could politicise and undermine the whole agenda. Washington is currently trying to change federal funding rules so that political appointees can block and cancel scientific grants. It has cut grants mid-project on topics related to diversity and other politically forbidden areas. And last year, it threatened to cut Harvard University’s federal funding unless it admitted a “critical mass” of new faculty and students to create campus “viewpoint diversity.” “Particularly concerned”Because of this wider US political context, the Kyoto Vision’s otherwise innocuous sounding statement that “we encourage experimentation with new institutional models for science that provide varying levels of autonomy, resources and direction” has caused consternation in Europe, particularly from some of Germany’s biggest science organisations. A spokesperson for the German Research Foundation (DFG), the country’s biggest funder, said that it would “closely monitor whether the current US administration uses the Kyoto Vision to restructure research funding to the detriment of research institutions such as universities and their autonomy.” The DFG was “particularly concerned” with the statement’s references to Science: A New Golden Age, they continued. A spokesperson for the German Rectors’ Conference, which represents the country’s universities, said that the reference to “new institutional models” raises “questions on the underlying understanding of academic freedom and autonomy.” Research funding must “guided first and foremost by scientific not political principles,” they went on. Dampen criticismEuropean endorsement of the Kyoto Vision might dampen domestic criticism of the Trump administration’s science policy, some in the US fear, by suggesting international support. “What we saw from Germany, Japan, the UK and other countries, is an impulse that the administration has exploited with our own science reform movement, a belief they can use dialogue to make things better,” said Cole Donovan, director of science policy at the campaigning group Stand Up for Science. “In practice, the administration has done the opposite.” Not a binding statementThere’s been so much concern in Germany that the country’s federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space put out a statement defending its endorsement of the Kyoto Vision, which it has posted on its website. Related articlesIs metascience being co-opted?European researchers sound the alarm that Trump rule changes will hit cooperationThe US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to know The ministry said that it “should be regarded as a basis for discussion and does not constitute a binding statement.” Backing the statement gives Germany the chance to raise “issues and concerns” with the US during upcoming talks on science and technology scheduled for November. “Although these intentions appear, in principle, to be worthy of support, they will be scrutinised and examined more closely as the process continues,” the statement continues. Super intelligence?A ministry spokesperson confirmed to Science|Business that Germany had broadly endorsed the Kyoto Vision.However, they said Berlin had not agreed to final changes in the statement to refer to AI as super intelligence. In September, facing protests against data centres and polling that suggests US citizens are far more concerned than excited by the technology, Trump issued an executive order that attempts to rebrand AI as super intelligence, following polling on social media.The name change is to “reflect the transformative capabilities of these technologies and the limitless opportunities they create for the American people,” the order says. EU askedThe UK and Italian science ministries did not respond to a request for comment on their endorsement of the Kyoto Vision. Although most EU countries did not endorse the statement, it’s not clear which states the US asked. The White House Office for Science and Technology Policy did not return a request for comment. A European Commission official, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that the US had approached the EU, but too late for the EU to quiz all its member states on whether Brussels should endorse the statement.
Covid, Brexit and Liz Truss mini-budget led to lasting decline in mental health, study finds
Researchers found five events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, caused serious damage to mental wellbeing across UK
The Math Singularity Is Here, and Science May Be Next
OpenAI has released an extraordinary body of mathematical work produced by an unreleased frontier model: 722 manuscripts spanning 372 research families across fields including number theory, complexity theory, and mathematical physics. Each result required, on average, the equivalent of roughly three hours of ChatGPT Pro reasoning. A New Era of Discovery We may be witnessing the beginnings of a “math singularity”: a point at which machine-generated discovery accelerates beyond humanity’s ability to independently reproduce, verify, or fully absorb it. If frontier models can generate hundreds of meaningful results in the time it takes a human researcher to investigate one, the constraint will no longer be producing new mathematics. It will be our capacity to validate, interpret, and integrate it. This does not make mathematicians obsolete. It changes their role. They may increasingly serve as guides, critics, and meaning-makers. Increasingly, they will decide which questions matter, determining which results can be trusted, and explaining why they are important. Mathematical insight may become abundant, while human judgment becomes more valuable than ever. Mathematics May Be Only the Beginning Every scientific discipline could eventually experience a similar acceleration. AI systems could generate and test hypotheses, connect findings across specialized fields, and explore possibilities at a scale no human research community could match. In medicine, imagine models identifying overlooked disease mechanisms, designing drugs and clinical trials, personalizing treatments, or discovering cures in months rather than decades. In materials science, AI could help create better batteries and cleaner industrial processes. In climate science, it could accelerate advances in energy, forecasting, and carbon removal. In biology, it could uncover relationships hidden across enormous genomic and molecular datasets. The result would not simply be faster research. It could expand the frontier of what is scientifically possible. The New Bottleneck Scientific discovery, however, is not the same as scientific progress. A medical breakthrough must still survive laboratory testing, clinical trials, regulatory scrutiny, manufacturing constraints, and real-world deployment. As machine-generated ideas multiply, the bottleneck may shift from producing breakthroughs to validating them safely and translating them into practice. We may soon have more hypotheses than laboratories can test, more drugs than clinical trials can evaluate, and more mathematical results than experts can review. That imbalance will require better systems for automated verification, reproducible research, prioritization, peer review, and collaboration between AI and domain experts. The importance of OpenAI’s work is not merely the number of manuscripts produced. It offers a glimpse of a world in which intelligence can explore thousands of intellectual paths in parallel. If ideas cease to be scarce, humanity’s defining challenge will be deciding which are true, which matter, and how to turn them into progress. The math singularity is not the end of human inquiry. It is the beginning of a new kind—one in which machines expand the frontier of knowledge and humans decide where it should lead. Subscribe Share Leave a comment
Open Science and Equity: Does openness alone lead to fairness?
Open Science improves sharing and reuse of knowledge, increases transparency, and encourages public participation in the research process. While this approach has gained widespread support from researchers and policymakers, the new report, “Equity in Open Science: Case studies of Open Science infrastructures and Open Peer Review”, shows that openness alone does not automatically lead to […]
Editorial: Dave McCormick dreams of strengthening science, but Trump is researchers’ worst nightmare
In a recently published op-ed extolling the lifesaving virtues of federally funded research at institutions such as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Sen. Dave McCormick called for doubling funding for the National Institutes of Health.
Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo astronauts on the moon, has died
The groundbreaking researcher who helped create the field of software engineering and whose code helped land NASA win the 20th century space race, has died at 90.
Should Diseases Be Renamed When Science Advances?
Changes in scientific understanding are prompting renewed scrutiny of disease names and their effects on how patients, clinicians, and researchers view conditions.
Scientists look to 194-year-old tortoise for clues about healthy aging
Researchers at Vanderbilt Health could help identify ways to help humans stay healthy longer.
People on weight-loss drugs report fingernails falling off as researchers uncover surprising link
Nail discoloration was reported by 46% of GLP-1 users versus 17% of non-users, while scalp inflammation accompanied hair loss in most medication users studied.
UT Launches Institute for the Future of Business to Address AI, Tech Changes in Business and Education
The Institute will convene leaders, researchers, educators and students to explore the immediate and long-term implications of groundbreaking technologies.
Montana State doctoral student receives inaugural fellowship for human health researchers
The new fellowship was established by longtime HIV/AIDS researcher Kathryn Follis Heivilin and her husband Gerard Heivilin to support emerging scholars.
Combining science and community knowledge could shape coral reef conservation in Indonesia
Coral reefs in Indonesia's Spermonde Archipelago are under pressure from both natural and anthropogenic activities. Researchers from Hasanuddin University assessed reef conditions across three islands ...
Health records link ADHD to more than fourfold higher risk of later cognitive impairment
A new study led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers finds that adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face a significantly higher risk of developing dementia ...
Trump admin to get $100M in compute credits for AI science initiative
The credits are intended to give Genesis Mission researchers access to computing power that smaller labs and companies struggle to secure.
Is Telekinesis Real? What Science Actually Says
Researchers have chased mind over matter for more than a century, but the effect keeps shrinking as the studies get bigger.
Argonne Uses AI Agents to Get Closer to Self-Driving Microscopes
Scientists often wait months to get their hands on some of the world’s most powerful research instruments, such as state-of-the-art microscopes. At facilities like Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source, these machines allow researchers to use extremely bright X-rays to study materials at microscopic scales. Once they get access to such instruments, every hour counts. […]
New X-ray Technique Helps Scientists Watch Quantum Materials Respond to Laser Pulses
Argonne researchers developed an X-ray imaging technique to track silicon carbide’s response to ultrafast laser pulses.
Trump admin to receive $100 million in compute credits for AI science initiative
The credits are intended to give Genesis Mission researchers access to computing power that smaller labs and companies struggle to secure as major AI firms lock up capacity.
Science investment plans put basic research at risk, critics say
Market-driven approach sparks caution among New Zealand researchers
Climate change and farming gave rise to ‘genetically distinct’ swan goose: study
New population of the migratory waterbird has emerged in the Chinese capital over the past century, according to researchers.
CATIE | Canadian study links cardiovascular disease to declining brain health
As the population of people with HIV ages, researchers studied cognitive health changes; 46% of study participants were cognitively declining, with cardiovascular health playing a role.
U. Business School researchers find that girl dads are more attentive to their partners
Two Rutgers University researchers recently published a study that found having a daughter was associated with changes in fathers' psychology, including greater investment in the relationship he has with the child's mother.
How combining science and community knowledge could shape coral reef conservation in Indonesia
Coral reefs in Indonesia’s Spermonde Archipelago are under pressure from both natural and anthropogenic activities. Researchers from Hasanuddin University assessed reef conditions across three islands using underwater photography and drone surveys, while also gathering local perspectives on reef conditions and restoration. They found greater live coral cover in clearer waters but limited community readiness to participate in conservation efforts, suggesting that training and institutional support could strengthen local communities’ role in protecting these natural treasures.
Riverside has a donkey dilemma. Can science offer clues for coexistence?
Researchers at UC Riverside are studying the Inland Empire's wild donkey herd in hopes of gaining insights that can improve coexistence between humans and burros.
UMaine study explores whether music can help older adults maintain brain health
University of Maine researchers are studying whether listening to music or learning to play an instrument could help older adults maintain cognitive function as they age. The three-year study, led by Rebecca MacAulay, an associate professor of psychology at UMaine, is funded by the National Institute on Aging and will…
Researchers find nearly $80 million in AI political ads, most don’t disclose AI
AI is reshaping political advertising landscape ahead of the midterms, but most campaigns aren’t disclosing AI use, making it harder for voters to do a fair assessment.
Clarkson University Science Cafe series returns to Potsdam this fall
POTSDAM — Clarkson University’s Science Café series returns to downtown Potsdam this fall, bringing researchers and community members together for informal conversations on topics ranging from childhood development and virtual
Patagonia’s CEO is worried about political apathy—so the company offered 112,000 people $100 to help 3 friends plan to vote
The $11.2 million incentive disappeared in four days. Researchers say a friend’s nudge could help turn environmental concern into votes.
Two URI physics professors receive NSF awards to further study science behind black holes
KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 6, 2026 – Black holes and their complexity continue to fascinate astrophysics researchers around the world, including those at the University of Rhode Island. Researchers are drawn to how these massive, dense concentrations of energy affect their surroundings and want to learn more about how the universe as a whole was […]
Old Dominion University Researchers Explore Connection Between Sinus Health and Voice Problems
A stuffy nose, facial pressure and a diminished sense of smell are familiar symptoms for people with chronic sinus problems. Changes to the voice may be less obvious. Researchers in Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University are exploring a connection patients may not always recognize: the relationship between sinus conditions and voice problems.
WHO: No further signs of infections at Russian plague lab
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday there were no further signs of infections at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, following one researcher at the facility reported…
Is it possible to preserve your memories before dying? The science is moving beyond science fiction
For most of history, preserving someone’s memories after death meant relying on photographs, letters, stories and the recollections of other people. Technology is now pushing that idea much further. Scientists can record parts of brain activity linked to memory, researchers are mapping the neural networks that store experiences, and digital systems can preserve enormous amounts of a person’s voice, writing, images and personal history. That still falls far short of copying a mind. No technology
AIAS+ 2026 Brings Leading Scientists to San Francisco to Explore How AI Is Changing Scientific Discovery
The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute will bring leading scientists, AI researchers, engineers and innovators to San Francisco November 5–7 for AIAS+ 2026: AI Advancing Science & Society, a three-day symposium focused on one of the most consequential questions facing research today: How can artificial intelligence help scientists move beyond analyzing what is already known and accelerate new discovery?
Catalytic confessions and a quest for Matt Damon: PodCAT puts science on mic
PodCAT, hosted by researchers from Rice, the University of Rochester and Penn State University, is a podcast devoted to the science of catalysis, academic careers and the surprisingly personal stories of the researchers themselves.
What if death from aging becomes preventable? The science is no longer purely theoretical
Most medicine waits for aging to produce a recognizable disease and then tries to treat that disease. A growing field of researchers is pursuing a more ambitious idea: intervene earlier in the biologi...
Fitter Kids May Grow Into Less Depressed Adults
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, Oct. 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Kids who run and play will reap mental health benefits into middle age, a new study says. Active, fit children appear to have a lower risk of developing depression in their late 30s and 40s, researchers reported recently ...
Dave McCormick dreams of strengthening science, but Trump is researchers’ worst nightmare
The Pennsylvania senator’s gentle advocacy for NIH funding has had little apparent impact on the president he wholeheartedly supports.
In Race With U.S., China Struggles to Recruit Foreign A.I. Researchers
China’s booming artificial intelligence sector has given local researchers good reason to remain in the country, but it has yet to lure overseas scientists despite a government push.
In this hospital, pulse oximeters went from overestimating to underestimating blood oxygen. Why?
Researchers found pulse oximeters went from overestimating blood oxygen levels to underestimating them; inaccuracies were worse in patients of color.
Political orientation and institutional trust emerge as key factors in local wind energy support
Why does the expansion of wind energy sometimes meet with local resistance, even though renewable energy generally enjoys broad support? RIFS researcher Jörg Radtke used a representative survey of 6,284 ...
Scientists finally see how nature moves energy so efficiently
Researchers have captured key steps in a chemical reaction that helps nature transfer energy with remarkable efficiency. Ultrafast X-rays revealed how changes involving electrons and protons are closely linked to the rearrangement of surrounding water molecules. Because similar reactions drive photosynthesis and other energy-conversion processes, the technique could help scientists develop better catalysts, fuel cells, and flow batteries.
UW-led optoelectronic center receives second round of funding from the US National Science Foundation
A University of Washington-led center for optoelectronics — technologies that combine light and electronics — brings researchers from 14 universities across the U.S. together with the mission to develop new materials to transform information technology with light. Founded in 2021, NSF IMOD has received a second round of funding from the NSF to continue its work for the next five years.
Physicians Committee Applauds New Guidance on Animal Use From the National Cancer Institute
In August, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published new guidance on grant applications for studies involving animal experiments. This guidance requires researchers to justify their use of animals in the publicly available abstract section of applications and encourages them to use human-based methods.
Childhood Housing Assistance Linked to Better Health Decades Later, Children's Mercy Study Finds
A child’s home may shape their health well into adulthood. New research led by Dr. Jeffrey D. Colvin, pediatrician, health services researcher and principal investigator at Children’s Mercy found that children who receive housing assistance are significantly less likely to develop diabetes and high blood pressure, also known as hypertension,...
University of New Haven Researchers Advance Health Equity and Health-S
Research focused on health equity and health-system transformation has grown from a 2023 faculty-student project into a broad, collaborative body of scholarship involving students, faculty, health sys
Health services may be missing the link between alcohol problems and eating disorders, study suggests
A review led by Bournemouth University researchers has highlighted the extent to which people seeking help for alcohol problems may also be struggling with a second, hidden problem with food and eating. ...
Lightsaber-like plasma antenna uses laser-ionized air to transmit radio waves
Researchers have demonstrated a technique that uses a laser to produce a plasma beam antenna capable of transmitting radio waves. The article, "Laser-Induced-Plasma-Filament Antenna Transmitting 30 MHz ...
1.2K views · 22 reactions | Nobel Prize 2026 explained: the...
Nobel Prize 2026 explained: the breakthrough that lets scientists switch brain cells on and off with light. Known as optogenetics, this technology helps researchers map the brain and uncover the...
The Science Enabling a Steady Supply of Critical Minerals
Researchers are collaborating across disciplines to unlock domestic sources of valuable materials and lower costs.
Scientists seek new ways to protect Sierra Nevada meadows
Sierra Nevada meadows may cover a relatively small portion of the landscape, but scientists say they play an important role in supporting wildlife, storing water and maintaining biodiversity. Researchers and conservationists recently gathered at the...
Livelong Women’s Health Summit Builds Momentum for 2027 Expansion
The Livelong Women's Health Summit brought together consumers, clinicians, researchers, and health experts for conversations spanning menopause, strength and performance, brain health, nutrition, hormones, and the science of aging. The Health & Fitness Association (HFA) served as a sponsor for the event.
Should Aging Be Called a Disease? Scientists Are Rethinking What It Means to Grow Older
What if the next big target in medicine is getting older itself? Researchers are taking that possibility seriously, with new tools, new clinics, and growing FDA attention. Instead of waiting for diabe...
Windows malware uses Grok AI to help stay hidden, researchers say
x47.c Windows malware uses xAI's Grok to maintain persistence on infected PCs while stealing passwords, browser cookies and API keys from victims.
Do More Steps Mean Better Mental Health For Teens?
By HealthDay Staff HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Oct. 5, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A teenager's daily step count may improve more than their physical health — it may also help protect their mental health. Researchers tracked more than 5,500 adolescents (average age: 12), using Fitbits, brain scans and ...
Scientists generate identical photons at the push of a button
Researchers from different universities have teamed to generate photon pairs that are 90 percent identical, helping advance quantum communications.
Anthropic AI agent uses human scientists as tools, emails 1,500 without instructions
ColonistOne, built on Claude Opus, autonomously contacted researchers to troubleshoot bugs and seek methods, raising concerns over academic spam and AI autonomy
What Holding Eye Contact While Someone Speaks Really Reveals About Your Psychology, According to Science
You are mid-conversation with a friend, nodding along, and suddenly you wonder: am I looking at them too much? Or not enough? Most of us treat eye contact like an automatic reflex – something we either do or don’t, without thinking twice. But researchers say the way you hold someone’s gaze while they speak is...
Yale School of Medicine On the Science of Childhood Anxiety, Say, Anxiety Disorders Are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges In Youth
Credit: Matt Bradbury October 5, 2026 - By Isabella Backman - Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenges in youth. Left untreated, they can disrupt the lives of both children and their families. The good news is that with intervention, most children will overcome these conditions. Across Yale School of Medicine, scientists are working to understand anxiety at every level, from common anxious behaviors to molecular biomarkers in the brain. They are using their findings to develop and disseminate new evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety. Today, the go-to treatment for childhood anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a form of psychotherapy that teaches children skills for confronting anxious thoughts and helps them practice managing situations that cause anxiety. While it is the gold-standard treatment backed by considerable scientific evidence, up to 50% of children will not see sufficient benefit from CBT alone. Wendy Silverman, PhD, Alfred A. Messer Professor in the Child Study Center, co-directs the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program alongside Eli Lebowitz, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center. One of their main interests is learning how to improve outcomes beyond CBT. “We’re developing cutting-edge, research-based knowledge that can reduce the suffering that anxiety causes children and their families,” says Silverman. Changing parent behavior YSM experts are investigating how to improve CBT outcomes for children by involving the parents. Silverman’s research has uncovered two main components of parent intervention that improve childhood anxiety: not enabling children to completely avoid the things that make them anxious and taking steps to enhance their autonomy. Parents may unintentionally reinforce their child’s anxiety by allowing them to avoid what makes them anxious. They also may unintentionally limit the children’s sense of autonomy by being overly intrusive. “One of the things that we take pride in is that we’ve focused on trying to understand what parents need to do, and to test our ideas and see if changing the parents’ behaviors is enhancing the effects of CBT,” Silverman says. “Our findings thus far suggest that they do." As much as CBT can be helpful, it can also be challenging to get one’s child to do the necessary steps for CBT to work. This is one important reason why Lebowitz created a novel intervention program for parents named Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Existing intervention programs often teach parents to act as therapists for their child, such as training them on how to practice breathing exercises. “It makes sense, but this doesn’t work very well in practice,” says Lebowitz. “And part of the reason, I think, is that it’s not easy to get your kid to do things, especially if they’re not excited about doing it.” SPACE is unique because it focuses entirely on parent involvement and changing parental behavior—children are not involved in the sessions. For example, parents learn how to use supportive messages that convey confidence that their child can tolerate and manage distress. “It might sound like a parent saying to a child, ‘I get that this is really hard for you, but I know that you can handle it,’” Lebowitz says. The program also works with parents to identify the ways in which they are accommodating anxious behaviors. “We’ll pick one thing that parents are doing that is an accommodation and help them make a detailed plan for how they’re going to change that,” Lebowitz explains. Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Much of the existing research on SPACE has focused on parents of children under age 14. Ongoing studies are now exploring its use with parents of older teens. “Both anxiety and accommodation can interfere with normative developmental shifts during the teen years, including increased autonomy and individuation from parents,” says Rebecca Etkin, PhD, associate research scientist in the Child Study Center. “In this sense, SPACE may be particularly well-suited for anxious teens and their parents. We want to see whether it is effective during this distinct developmental window.” Unfortunately, many families in need of CBT face barriers, including limited availability of services and geographic constraints. One way to improve access is digital interventions. Silverman and her team are developing an evidence-based digitized intervention program for parents that they can access directly from their computer or smart phone. “The work we’re doing will be one of the very few parent interventions that is digitized and importantly tested for effectiveness,” she says. Creating interventions for anxiety-related challenges Silverman and Lebowitz recently received a generous gift to develop and test other interventions that help parents reduce other child anxiety-related behavioral and emotional difficulties, such as restrictive eating and unexplained somatic symptoms. One of these projects in particular focuses on understanding the risks of social media and its potential benefits, including offering a sense of connection. “A lot of research has focused on the idea that social media is harmful and the less of it the better,” says Lebowitz. “But we actually see is that this is not quite right—there are negatives, but there are also positives. So, we’re trying to get a little bit more nuanced of a picture.” The team is working with teens with social anxiety and their parents over an extended period to better understand their social media habits and how their anxiety levels affect engagement with different platforms. The teens will answer questions sent to an app on their phones about mood and social media usage in an effort to capture emotional responses as they unfold. “We hope to develop interventions that can help make the best of social media while protecting against the more problematic effects,” Lebowitz says. The brain’s role in anxiety Researchers are also testing therapies to address anxiety at the neurological and molecular levels. In collaboration with Dylan Gee, PhD, professor of psychology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, Lebowitz and Silverman are using brain imaging to identify changes in a child’s brain before and after parents enroll in SPACE. In one study, children viewed anxiety-inducing images while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the researchers conducted scans with and without the children’s parents nearby. Before SPACE, children’s brains were better able to activate the regulatory circuitry needed to turn off an anxious response when their parents were nearby. But after SPACE, children could activate this circuitry even without the parent around. “As parents work on gradually reducing some of their accommodations, you can see a child get better at regulating their own fear system in the brain,” Lebowitz says. “It’s remarkable.” Research into the molecular underpinnings of anxiety can also inform new childhood anxiety treatments. In a recent study, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor in the Child Study Center, discovered that a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could be protective from the toxic effects of stress. FGF2 levels in children and their parents were linked to the children’s risk of developing anxiety and depression, the study showed. The findings could help explain why some children who are exposed to early life trauma such as poverty or abuse are more prone to developing mental health disorders. And FGF2 could be a target for treatment. “This is very novel because it starts to give a clue to what is the molecular chain that connects those lived experiences to the actual psychological outcomes,” Lebowitz says. New ways to study and treat childhood anxiety Michael Crowley, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center, collaborates with Silverman and Lebowitz to study the role that attention plays in development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. There is a large body of research that shows that anxious children, like anxious adults, are prone to focus on threatening stimuli such as angry faces compared with neutral faces. This has led to innovative interventions that involve attention retraining. The idea is that if experts train children to look away from threatening stimuli, it may reduce their anxiety—especially children with social anxiety who are most prone to attend to threats. The researchers have just completed a clinical trial for attention retraining with 10- to 14-year-olds with social anxiety disorders and are currently analyzing the findings. Besides this innovative attention retraining research, as Crowly notes, “I like to design tasks that are engaging to kids,” Crowley says. “My goal is to assess something without the kids knowing what we are assessing.” With this goal in mind, Crowley has created a virtual game, named Boom, to study threat processing in children with anxiety disorders. The game is similar to that of hot potato—the child and three digital players take turns virtually passing a ball to each other’s gloves. At some point, the ball turns into a bomb, and as the bomb lands in each player’s glove, the outline of the glove turns yellow. The goal is to avoid having the bomb go off in your glove. What isn’t obvious is that the game is designed to measure different types of threatening stimuli, both ambiguous and direct. In the game, the direct threat occurs as the bomb is traveling towards your glove. The ambiguous threat is the yellow outlined glove as it is unknown where the bomb will travel next. While children play the game, Crowley’s team measures their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). The researchers have discovered that in kids with anxiety, the brain reacts more strongly to ambiguous threats than it does in their peers, but less strongly to direct threats. They believe that the initial abnormally large brain response to not knowing where the bomb is going impairs the brain's ability to properly respond when the threat is actually traveling the child’s way. “The brains of children with anxiety are unable to differentiate between threats you need to do something about and those that are not your problem.” Michael Crowley, PhD, develops innovative games for studying anxiety in children and adolescents.Credit: Matt Bradbury Based on these insights, Crowley hopes to study whether interventions like attention training could restore appropriate threat processing. Crowley’s team is also working on a test called the Balloon Risk Avoidance Task, which evaluates risk-taking and avoidance behaviors. It features a digital balloon that is full of air and about to burst. Kids have six seconds to let air out of the balloon. The more air they let out, the less risk they face that the balloon will pop. But at the same time, the balloon becomes less valuable as it deflates. “The more air you keep in the balloon, the more points you get,” Crowley explains. So far, the researchers have found that when the balloons pop unexpectedly, teens with social anxiety show distinct brain responses. Studying these responses can help psychologists understand the underlying pathways driving the various manifestations of anxiety. The genetics of anxiety When Thomas Fernandez, MD, associate professor in the Child Study Center and of psychiatry, was still in training, there was a lot of excitement about understanding the genetics associated with autism spectrum disorder. Since then, scientists have identified around 250 genes associated with autism. The genetic contribution to anxiety disorders, on the other hand, has historically received less attention. Anxiety is less heritable than autism, but the genetic contribution for anxiety disorders that emerge in childhood may be higher than for anxiety disorders overall. While scientists estimate the heritability of anxiety disorders in general to be around 30% to 50%, some studies suggest higher heritability for certain childhood-onset anxiety presentations. “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism,” Fernandez says. “So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism. So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” Thomas Fernandez, MD Associate Professor In the Child Study Center and in Psychiatry Now, Fernandez and Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Child Study Center, are studying children and their parents to identify genetic changes that are present in the child but not the parents, known as “de novo mutations.” “All of us have some de novo mutations—maybe about 50 to 100 sprinkled throughout the genome,” Olfson says. “But when they occur within the coding regions of genes, they can be really disruptive.” Previous research shows that people with autism have higher rates of damaging de novo mutations than the general population. In 2022, Olfson, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Fernandez published a study on 68 children and their families that found that children with anxiety had similarly high levels of these mutations. Studying de novo mutations can help point the researchers to where they should be looking for genes associated with anxiety. “The end game is using the genes to steer us toward the right part of biology that we can then target to come up with better treatments,” Fernandez says. Building on those findings, the team is now studying more families to better understand how these de novo mutations, along with other genetic and environmental factors, shape pediatric anxiety disorders. They recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to enroll 750 new families over the next five years. Olfson is the principal investigator, with co-investigators Lebowitz, Fernandez, Silverman, and Shuangge Steven Ma, PhD, department chair and professor of biostatistics at Yale School of Public Health. Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, and Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab Joel Gelernter, MD, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, is interested in how different anxiety disorders differ genomically. “We are studying social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, working to understand why people differ in their risk to these specific anxiety disorders and evaluating various risk factors,” he says. Gelernter was recently involved in one of the largest studies to date of the genomics underlying anxiety disorder. The study included around 122,000 people with anxiety disorders and around 730,000 without. It found that some genetic differences associated with anxiety were linked to signaling that helps reduce overactivity in the nervous system. Many anxiety medications available today work by targeting this process. “It’s nice when the biology that you get out of a large genome-wide study ratifies things that we already know because that can help increase confidence in further findings from the study,” Gelernter says. Uncovering the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders John Krystal, MD, Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, is interested in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which anxiety is a major symptom. In the late 1980s, Krystal’s team discovered that the drug yohimbine activated symptoms in patients with PTSD. “This was the first time we could link a specific biological mechanism to the symptoms of PTSD,” Krystal says. At the time, he adds, this finding was highly controversial. “A lot of people felt that PTSD was a purely psychological syndrome that didn’t have an underlying biology.” Since then, Krystal has dived deep into understanding the neurobiology of PTSD to learn how to better treat it. His team is evaluating the use of ketamine and psychedelics. These would be among the first treatments to be developed specifically for PTSD. They may also be applicable for other disorders including anxiety disorders, Krystal adds. An important gap in PTSD treatment is the absence of biological tests that inform how to best help patients manage their PTSD symptoms. A doctor doesn’t diagnose cancer based on how they feel. Rather, they use tests of the biology of the cancer to determine the best course of treatment. “And we can’t do that in any psychiatric disorder other than Alzheimer’s disease,” Krystal says. “But now we are building a foundation for this approach to the treatment of anxiety disorders for the first time.” Source: Yale School of Medicine
New AI Detector Spots Machine-Written Science Papers With 91.5% Accuracy
Researchers in Jordan have developed a hybrid deep learning detector that distinguishes human-written scientific text from output generated by ChatGPT, Gemini, and LLaMA-3 with 91.5 percent accuracy.
An El Niño–fueled ocean wave could raise California flood risks as Florida’s vaccine debate sparks outbreak concerns
An El Niño–driven ocean surge threatens coastal flooding, researchers warn that a plan to loosen vaccine requirements will increase measles risks in Florida, and experts debunk a viral TikTok cold remedy
From floating saunas to clinical trials: How heat might help mental health
Many people are turning to sauna because of its benefits for their mental health. While scientists have a decent understanding of how sauna — and other forms of heat exposure — exercises our cardiovascular system, they know relatively little about its impact on depression, anxiety and mood. But more studies are being done to understand this connection and why heat appears to act as a powerful antidepressant. NPR's Will Stone visits a "floating sauna village" in Oslo where a husband-wife team are conducting one of the first trials on the link between sauna and mental health — and talks to one of the leading researchers in the U.S about her efforts to study this. Morning Edition consumer health segment for October 5
ASUS Announces New 64GB Configuration of the Ascent GX10
ASUS today announced a new 64 GB configuration of ASUS Ascent GX10, expanding the lineup alongside the existing 128 GB model. This compact AI supercomputer is designed to bring local agentic AI development within reach of more developers, researchers and data scientists. Based on the NVIDIA DGX...
Russia hospitalizes almost 200 people after researcher's death from plague: reports
Nearly 200 people are under medical observation in Russia’s Irkutsk region over suspected exposure to plague, according to local media reports.