SciTechDaily

Researchers have identified a gene that appears to balance a powerful evolutionary trade-off, boosting growth and reproductive success early in life while carrying hidden costs later on. The biological processes that help build a healthy young body may also sow the seeds of aging and cancer. Researchers have now identified a gene that appears to [...]

Researchers precisely measured the proton’s size, resolving the proton radius puzzle and strengthening confidence in the Standard Model of particle physics. Hydrogen is the simplest element in the universe and the first entry on the periodic table. Each hydrogen atom contains just one proton in its nucleus and one electron orbiting around it. Because of [...]

A machine learning-powered simulation is giving researchers a new window into the processes that create some of the universe’s heaviest elements. Where do the gold in jewelry, the uranium in nuclear fuel, and many of the universe’s heaviest elements come from? Scientists believe they are forged in some of the most violent events in the [...]

A decades-long search has revealed signs of a subtle outflow from the Milky Way’s central black hole. Something has been missing from the Milky Way’s central black hole. For more than half a century, astronomers searched for a telltale wind that theory said must be blowing from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole [...]

Measles vaccine-induced T cells were able to recognize the deadly Nipah virus, raising the possibility of broader vaccines that could help defend against multiple emerging viruses at once. T cells are among the immune system’s most powerful defenders. They can help slow tumor growth and fight serious infections. Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology [...]

New research highlights the far-reaching health effects of movement, showing that even modest physical activity can influence well-being and disease outcomes. Exercise is often treated as a lifestyle choice, but growing evidence suggests it may be one of the most powerful forms of medicine available. Researchers at Wits University have found that movement can help [...]

Scientists discovered and filmed macrophages actively destroying live melanoma cells, a finding that could improve immunotherapy and inspire new cancer treatments. Scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have, for the first time, recorded immune cells known as the body’s “housekeepers” actively attacking and consuming live melanoma cells. The discovery could reshape how researchers…

A surprising discovery inside desert mosses could reshape scientists’ understanding of plant evolution. In some of the driest places on Earth, the ground itself can be alive. What looks like a thin, dark crust on desert soil may actually be a miniature ecosystem, packed with mosses, fungi, bacteria, algae, and tiny animals. These biological soil [...]

A century after one of developmental biology’s most influential experiments, researchers have revisited the concept of the embryonic “organizer” in one of the oldest animal lineages alive today. A tiny cluster of cells in an embryo can act like a construction manager for an entire body. It helps determine which end becomes the head, which [...]

Researchers have uncovered a critical mechanism behind battery failure in solid-state batteries, offering new insights that could help unlock safer, longer-lasting energy storage technologies. Every time a smartphone is charged or an electric vehicle is plugged in, billions of lithium ions move through a battery to store energy. Future devices could perform far better with [...]

Scientists have uncovered a shared target used by multiple diarrhea-causing bacteria to invade the gut. Despite decades of research, scientists still do not have vaccines against two of the world’s most common causes of severe bacterial diarrhea: enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and Shigella. Together, these pathogens infect hundreds of millions of people each year and [...]

Vitamin B12 is needed in only trace amounts, yet its absence can have far-reaching effects. Two micrograms is an almost unimaginably small amount. It weighs less than a tiny fragment of a grain of table salt. Yet adults need only around this amount of vitamin B12 each day, depending on the guideline used, to support [...]

A new study suggests that altering the gut microbiome with probiotics may provide additional benefits for older adults being treated for depression. Could a daily probiotic help ease depression in older adults? A new clinical trial suggests the answer may be yes, adding to growing evidence that the gut and brain are more connected than [...]

A genetic study of 2,000-year-old grape seeds is shedding new light on ancient winemaking. For centuries, the vineyards of Tuscany have been associated with some of the world’s most celebrated red wines. But a cache of grape seeds buried in ancient wells is revealing a very different story about what people were growing and drinking [...]

Scientists discovered that the visual brain may secretly “feel” what it sees, turning sight into physical experience and helping make empathy possible. Working with researchers from institutions around the world, Nicholas Hedger (University of Reading) and Tomas Knapen (Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience & Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) investigated one of neuroscience’s biggest questions: how…

A new study suggests plague was already a deadly threat 5,500 years ago, striking small hunter-gatherer communities long before cities and agriculture emerged. For centuries, plague has been remembered as the disease that devastated medieval Europe, killing millions and reshaping societies. But new research suggests its deadly history stretches much further back than previously thought. [...]

Scientists identified an autoimmune mechanism linked to a major IBD risk gene, opening the door to targeted diagnosis and personalized therapies for thousands of patients. For decades, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been treated as a single disorder, even though patients often experience dramatically different symptoms, disease courses, and responses to therapy. A new study [...]

Swimming matched running for fitness gains but delivered greater heart growth and more favorable molecular changes, making it potentially more beneficial for cardiovascular health. For decades, swimming and running have been considered two of the best forms of aerobic exercise for cardiovascular health. But new research suggests they may not strengthen the heart in exactly [...]

Harvard researchers found that adding a little randomness to robot movements can prevent gridlock and dramatically boost efficiency in crowded swarms. Imagine a swarm of robots sent into a tight space to handle an urgent job, such as cleaning up an oil spill or assembling complex equipment. At first, adding more robots speeds things up. [...]

A single transistor that behaves like a brain cell in the deep freeze could help unlock the next generation of quantum computers and space exploration systems. Researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have developed a new type of brain-inspired electronic hardware that can operate at temperatures close to absolute zero. The breakthrough could [...]