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Top stories featured on ScienceDaily's Health & Medicine, Mind & Brain, and Living Well sections.

An international team of scientists has unveiled the largest and most detailed map of the universe ever created using the James Webb Space Telescope, revealing nearly 800,000 galaxies stretching back to almost the beginning of time. The COSMOS-Web project not only challenges long-held beliefs about galaxy formation in the early universe but also unexpectedly revealed 10 times more galaxies than anticipated along with supermassive black holes Hubble couldn t see.
Posted: June 7, 2025, 6:11 am
A diabetes drug may soon double as a treatment for liver disease. Dapagliflozin, an SGLT-2 inhibitor typically used for type 2 diabetes, significantly improved liver inflammation and scarring in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) during a clinical trial in China. Participants on the drug saw better liver outcomes and fewer side effects than those on a placebo. Although more research is needed, especially in diverse populations, this finding hints at a transformative role for existing medications in tackling liver diseases.
Posted: June 7, 2025, 3:13 am
Using a newly devised, three-dimensional model to study the regeneration of nerve tissue in the nose, researchers have discovered that one type of stem cell thought to be dormant may play a more significant role in preserving the sense of smell than originally believed.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 9:29 pm
A new study challenges a decades-old assumption in neuroscience by showing that the brain uses distinct transmission sites -- not a shared site -- to achieve different types of plasticity.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 9:29 pm
The effects of artificial intelligence on adolescents are nuanced and complex, according to a new report that calls on developers to prioritize features that protect young people from exploitation, manipulation and the erosion of real-world relationships.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 6:12 pm
To satisfy the seafood needs of billions of people, offering them access to a more biodiverse array of fish creates opportunities to mix-and-match species to obtain better nutrition from smaller portions of fish.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 6:12 pm
A new study found exposure to specific tiny particles in air pollution during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of various negative birth outcomes.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 6:12 pm
Scientists have discovered how pancreatic cancer cells thrive in the lungs or liver, environments that are as distinct to cells as the ocean and desert are to animals. The spread of cancer cells to organs like these often produces the very first symptoms of pancreatic cancer. But by that time, the pancreatic cancer has spread out of control.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 6:11 pm
According to a recent study, in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), epileptic seizures are significantly more common than previously known. The discovery deepens understanding of the symptoms of this memory disorder and emphasises the importance of taking epileptic seizures into account in the treatment and monitoring of patients.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:50 pm
Eating a colorful variety of flavonoid-rich foods like tea, berries, dark chocolate, and apples may significantly lower your risk of chronic diseases and even help you live longer. A major study tracking over 120,000 people for more than a decade found that it's not just the quantity but the diversity of flavonoids that offers the biggest health benefits.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:50 pm
Researchers asked patients, some of whom had experienced lower back pain for up to 40 years, if being in nature helped them coped better with their lower back pain. They found that people able to spend time in their own gardens saw some health and wellbeing benefits. However, those able to immerse themselves in larger green spaces such as forests felt even more positive, as they were able to lose themselves in the environment and focus more on that than their pain levels. The researchers have recommended trying to incorporate time spent in nature into people's treatments plans, and are also using their findings to develop virtual reality interventions that allow people to experience some of the benefits of being in nature without the need to travel anywhere if they are unable to do so.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:50 pm
A new type of mRNA vaccine is more scalable and adaptable to continuously evolving viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and H5N1, according to a new study.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:48 pm
The biosynthesis of the great variety of natural plant products has not yet been elucidated for many medically interesting substances. In a new study, an international team of researchers was able to show how ipecacuanha alkaloids, substances used in traditional medicine, are synthesized. They compared two distantly related plant species and were able to show that although both plant species use a comparable chemical approach, the enzymes they need for synthesis differ and a different starting material is used. Further investigations revealed that the biosynthetic pathways of these complex chemical compounds have developed independently in the two species. These results help to enable the synthesis of these and related substances on a larger scale for medical use.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:48 pm
As psychedelics gain traction as potential treatments for mental health disorders, an international study stands to improve the rigor and reliability of clinical research.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:48 pm
A new study shows how person-to-person variation in antibody immunity plays a key role in shaping which influenza (flu) strains dominate in a population.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 3:46 pm
Researchers have identified a gene that plays a key role in prostate cancer cells that have transitioned to a more aggressive, treatment-resistant form. The gene can be indirectly targeted with an existing class of drugs, suggesting a potential treatment strategy for patients with aggressive subtypes of prostate cancer.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 2:54 am
Marijuana use among older adults in the US has reached a new high, with 7 percent of adults aged 65 and over who report using it in the past month, according to a recent analysis.
Posted: June 3, 2025, 2:54 am
Chronic inflammatory bowel disease is challenging to treat and carries a risk of complications, including the development of bowel cancer. Young people are particularly affected: when genetic predisposition and certain factors coincide, diseases such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease usually manifest between the ages of 15 and 29 -- a critical period for education and early career development. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial. Researchers have now discovered a therapeutic target that significantly contributes to halting the ongoing inflammatory processes.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:58 pm
Aortic valve narrowing (aortic stenosis) with concomitant cardiac amyloidosis is a severe heart disease of old age that is associated with a high risk of death. Until now, treatment has consisted of valve replacement, while the deposits in the heart muscle, known as amyloidosis, often remain untreated. Researchers have now demonstrated that combined treatment consisting of heart valve replacement and specific drug therapy offers a significant survival advantage for patients.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:55 pm
A trial of an interactive game that trains people to alter their brain waves has shown promise as a treatment for nerve pain -- offering hope for a new generation of drug-free treatments.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:53 pm
Human-AI interactions are well understood in terms of trust and companionship. However, the role of attachment and experiences in such relationships is not entirely clear. In a new breakthrough, researchers from Waseda University have devised a novel self-report scale and highlighted the concepts of attachment anxiety and avoidance toward AI. Their work is expected to serve as a guideline to further explore human-AI relationships and incorporate ethical considerations in AI design.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:53 pm
Despite advances in machine vision, processing visual data requires substantial computing resources and energy, limiting deployment in edge devices. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a self-powered artificial synapse that distinguishes colors with high resolution across the visible spectrum, approaching human eye capabilities. The device, which integrates dye-sensitized solar cells, generates its electricity and can perform complex logic operations without additional circuitry, paving the way for capable computer vision systems integrated in everyday devices.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:53 pm
What happens inside your brain when you hear a steady rhythm or musical tone? According to a new study, your brain doesn't just hear it -- it reorganizes itself in real time.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:50 pm
Making a discovery with the potential for innovative applications in pharmaceutical development, a microbiology student has found a long sought-after fungus that produces effects similar to the semisynthetic drug LSD, which is used to treat conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:49 pm
Researchers have synthesized a new compound called infuzide that shows activity against resistant strains of pathogens.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:49 pm
A new way of thinking about Alzheimer's disease has yielded a discovery that could be the key to stopping the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and Parkinson's.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:49 pm
Scientists have reported use of antibacterial coatings made from resilin-mimetic proteins to fully block bacteria from attaching to a surface. A protein that gives fleas their bounce has been used to boot out bacteria cells, with lab results demonstrating the material's potential for preventing medical implant infection.
Posted: June 2, 2025, 7:48 pm
In a comparative pilot study, the Mediterranean diet and the low FODMAP diet both provided relief for patients with IBS.
Posted: May 30, 2025, 4:41 pm
Singing to your infant can significantly boost the baby's mood, according to a recent study. Around the world and across cultures, singing to babies seems to come instinctively to caregivers. Now, new findings support that singing is an easy, safe, and free way to help improve the mental well-being of infants. Because improved mood in infancy is associated with a greater quality of life for both parents and babies, this in turn has benefits for the health of the entire family, the researchers say. The study also helps explain why musical behaviors may have evolved in parents.
Posted: May 30, 2025, 4:41 pm
New research has found that men who carry a common genetic variant are twice as likely to develop dementia in their lifetime compared to women.
Posted: May 30, 2025, 4:41 pm
An international clinical trial shows an innovative CAR-T cell immunotherapy is promising against aggressive T cell cancers and has manageable side effects.
Posted: May 30, 2025, 4:39 pm
Long considered a disease brought to the Americas by European colonizers, leprosy may actually have a much older history on the American continent. Scientists reveal that a recently identified second species of bacteria responsible for leprosy, Mycobacterium lepromatosis, has been infecting humans in the Americas for at least 1,000 years, several centuries before the Europeans arrived.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 7:54 pm
Researchers determined how much outdoor particulate pollution affects indoor air quality. Their study concluded pollution from inversion and dust events is kept out of buildings, but wildfire smoke can sneak inside if efficient 'air-side economizers' are in use.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 6:57 pm
Humans and mice share persistent brain-activity patterns in response to adverse sensory experience, scientists find, opening a window to our emotions and, perhaps, neuropsychiatric disorders.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 6:01 pm
Scientists have documented the way a single gene in the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, allowed it to survive hundreds of years by adjusting its virulence and the length of time it took to kill its victims, but these forms of plague ultimately died out.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 6:01 pm
Scientists found out how naturally unstable filaments decide whether to grow or to shorten.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 6:01 pm
A new study suggests that mindfulness training and/or non-invasive brain stimulation could reduce bladder leaks and feelings of urgency in patients with 'latchkey incontinence.'
Posted: May 29, 2025, 6:01 pm
The process of necrosis, a form of cell death, may represent one of the most promising ways to change the course of human aging, disease and even space travel, according to a new study.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:48 pm
New techniques used to analyze soft tissue in dinosaur fossils may hold the key to new cancer discoveries. Researchers have analyzed dinosaur fossils using advanced paleoproteomic techniques, a method that holds promise for uncovering molecular data from ancient specimens.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:48 pm
SAVANA uses a machine learning algorithm to identify cancer-specific structural variations and copy number aberrations in long-read DNA sequencing data. The complex structure of cancer genomes means that standard analysis tools give false-positive results, leading to erroneous clinical interpretations of tumour biology. SAVANA significantly reduces such errors. SAVANA offers rapid and reliable genomic analysis to better analyse clinical samples, thereby informing cancer diagnosis and therapeutic interventions.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:48 pm
Scientists have developed a data-driven method to accelerate the discovery of affordable, stable catalysts for clean hydrogen production. Using a digital platform called DigCat, they identified a low-cost metal oxide that performs both OER and HER in acidic conditions and remains stable over time.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:47 pm
Researchers have identified a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase-coding gene named bishu-1. It is involved in the thermal responsiveness of cool temperature-sensing neurons by regulating ionotropic receptor expression, thereby maintaining the cool temperature avoidance behaviors in Drosophila larvae.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:47 pm
Coffee can help you stay awake. But what does caffeine actually do to your brain once you're asleep? Using AI, a team of researchers has an answer: it affects the brain's 'criticality'.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:46 pm
Current regulations for nanomedicines overlook the effects of the different forms of the same element, such as ions, nanoparticles, and aggregates. In a recent study, researchers developed a new analytical method combining an asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation system and mass spectrometry to separately quantify these forms. This technique allows for better quality control and safety evaluation of metal-based nanomedicines, promoting their development and clinical use, with applications also extending to food, cosmetics, and the environment.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:46 pm
Cohesin is a protein that forms a ring-shaped complex which wraps and alters the DNA molecule shape. It moves through the DNA and creates specific loops in the genetic material which determine the architecture of the genome and gene expression. Some mutations in the genes of the cohesion complex are responsible for rare diseases (cohesinopathies), such as the Cornelia de Lange syndrome (SCdL) or Roberts syndrome, which affect several organs and cause malformations during development.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:46 pm
Researchers have identified C5aR1 as a novel biomarker for metastasis risk and poor prognosis in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), the most common type of metastatic skin cancer. The new study's findings in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, found that C5aR1 promotes the invasion of cSCC tumor cells. Its elevated presence suggests that C5aR1 might serve as a useful prognostic marker for metastatic disease and, potentially, a target for future therapies in advanced cSCC.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:46 pm
New HIV research shows that small changes in the virus affect how quickly or slowly it replicates and how easily it can reawaken in the body. These insights bring researchers closer to finding ways to flush out the dormant virus and eliminate it for good.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:44 pm
A lab-designed molecule developed and extensively studied could represent a breakthrough in slowing tumor recurrence in glioblastoma, an aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:44 pm
The global measles outbreak must trigger an urgent debate into whether a vaccine should be recommended earlier to better protect against the highly contagious disease during infancy, a new review states.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:43 pm
Scientists have found that genetics and type of cancer treatment contribute most to a survivor's risk of a second cancer.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:43 pm
Researchers gave participants face tattoos that can track when their brain is working too hard. The study introduces a non-permanent wireless forehead e-tattoo that decodes brainwaves to measure mental strain without bulky headgear. This technology may help track the mental workload of workers like air traffic controllers and truck drivers, whose lapses in focus can have serious consequences.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:43 pm
The liver has a unique structure, especially at the level of individual cells. Hepatocytes, the main liver cells, release bile into tiny channels called bile canaliculi, which drain into the bile duct in the liver periportal region. When this bile drainage system is disrupted, it causes liver damage and disease. Because of this unique architecture, liver disease investigation has been limited by the lack of lab-grown models that accurately show how the disease progresses, as it is challenging to recreate the liver's complex structure and cell interactions in a dish.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:42 pm
Researchers compared their long-standing diagnostic decision support systems AI tool, DXplain, with modern large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini, finding DXplain performed slightly better. They say their findings suggest that combining DXplain with LLMs could enhance clinical diagnosis and improve both technologies.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:42 pm
The activation of Protein Kinase A (PKA) is a critical part in how the body responds to stress and starvation. Using a variety of imaging and biochemical techniques, a team of researchers has revealed how the metabolic cycle that activates PKA resets itself between stressful events.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:42 pm
Immediate recovery efforts receive the most attention after severe natural disasters, yet new data from researchers at Drexel University and the University of Maryland suggests these climate events often also leave a critical long-term -- and often unaddressed -- problem in declines in access to health care.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 4:41 pm
A study finds small-scale tree cover in Costa Rica boosts biodiversity while limiting dangerous mosquito species.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 1:42 am
Interactive robots should not just be passive companions, but active partners -- like therapy horses who respond to human emotion -- say researchers.
Posted: May 29, 2025, 1:42 am
Researchers have identify a set of biomarkers that could someday make it easy to spot the disease in a patient's blood sample.
Posted: May 28, 2025, 9:49 pm
New research conducted by an international consortium shows that IBD and related conditions are now spreading through developing regions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Posted: May 28, 2025, 9:49 pm
Researchers have released the full dataset from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study, a decade-long project designed to track brain and cognitive health as people age and distinguish neurologically healthy paths from those indicating a likelihood of decline.
Posted: May 28, 2025, 9:49 pm