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Heating up for health: Researcher weighs in on the science behind saunas and hot tubs
Heat therapy is hot right now. Saunas are popping up in more backyards and fitness centers. And heat is part of the constant conversation around optimizing health and wellness. But the idea of leveraging ...
Heating up for health: Researcher weighs in on the science behind saunas and hot tubs
Heat therapy is hot right now. Saunas are popping up in more backyards and fitness centers. And heat is part of the constant conversation around optimizing health and wellness. But the idea of leveraging ...
What if humans could regrow tissue? Texas A&M study moves science closer
Researchers have successfully regenerated skeletal and connective tissue — even if not perfectly formed — demonstrating the next, critical step in limb regeneration.
Citizen science helps ID elusive seabird, paves way for more citizen-backed discoveries
Vast online archives of photos, videos and sound recordings collected by the public are reshaping how scientists study the natural world, allowing researchers to answer questions that were once out of ...
Women in science – global study finds presence without power
Women make up one in three researchers worldwide, but they remain sidelined in scientific organisations.
An AI Health Coach Could Change Your Mindset
Bloom, a health coaching app created by Stanford researchers, helps people tap into their own motivations.
For the first time, scientists pinpoint the brain cells behind depression
Scientists have identified two specific types of brain cells that behave differently in people with depression, offering a clearer picture of what is happening inside the brain. By analyzing donated brain tissue with advanced genetic tools, the researchers found changes in neurons linked to mood and stress, as well as in immune-related microglia cells. These differences point to disruptions in key brain systems and reinforce that depression is rooted in biology, not just emotions.
This new brain-like chip could slash AI energy use by 70%
A breakthrough in brain-inspired computing could make today’s energy-hungry AI systems far more efficient. Researchers have engineered a new nanoelectronic device using a modified form of hafnium oxide that mimics how neurons process and store information at the same time. Unlike conventional chips that waste energy moving data back and forth, this device operates with ultra-low power—potentially slashing energy use by up to 70%.
Behind every crunch: The surprising science of potato chips
Behind the humble potato chip are researchers constantly thinking up new ways to make potatoes tastier, hardier and more adaptable.
Medical school launches first data science-focused center on immunology
The new center is the first in the Jeffrey Modell Foundation's international network focused specifically on informatics and data science. Its designation signals a shift in how researchers approach immunology, using large-scale data to better understand immune disorders and improve patient care.
TRIumph Program Uses Communication to Connect Science to Community
The Translational Research Institute’s TRIumph public speaking program makes the challenge of public speaking easier for researchers by equipping them with the tools to communicate research clearly, confidently, and in ways that connect with the communities they serve.
New clues for using common fungus to promote crop growth and health
Trichoderma species — a common fungus found in soils — have varying abilities to promote tomato plant growth and differentially affect the abundance of certain soil bacteria, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State.
A Powerful New ‘QR Code’ Untangles Math’s Knottiest Knots
With a newly discovered mathematical tool, researchers are hoping to gain unprecedented insight into the structure of complex knots.
Color-Changing Bees: Citizen Science Photographs Help Researchers Explore Bee Coloration In Response To Humidity
"Whether the colour change happens to benefit the bee in any way is still an open question that we’d love to explore," lead author Madeleine Ostwald told IFLScience.
Researchers express 'grave concern' over attacks on Iranian institutions and science
Almost 1400 people have signed an open letter calling on the international community to “defend academic life”
As Trump proposes further cuts to science spending, this Pittsburgh researcher is moving to China
Amid uncertain federal funding for science research, an infectious disease researcher is trading the hills of Pittsburgh for the mostly flat terrain on the outskirts of Shanghai.
How can scientists visualize cellular life with greater precision? - Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Highlights Salk researchers collaborated with scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine to develop a new class of probes for imaging living cells The probes, called visible-spectrum antigen-stabilizable fluorescent nanobodies (VIS-Fbs), generate high-contrast images with minimal disruption to normal cellular activity The technology enables more precise investigation of complex biological processes, including cell signaling, development, and disease progression LA JOLLA—Fluorescent proteins have revolutionized science, enabling researchers to tag and visualize individual molecules in living cells, tissues, and animals. Using these tools, researchers have watched viruses infect cells in real time, observed cellular trash collection, and tracked the signaling that spurs tumor growth.
Why forest conservation is also public health
In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers trapping small mammals in the Manombo Special Reserve caught tuft-tailed rats in the intact interior forest. In the nearby littoral forest, despite repeated efforts, they found none. The traps held black rats instead. The observation appears in […]
Mozilla: Anthropic's Mythos found 271 zero-day vulnerabilities in Firefox 150
CTO says new AI model is "every bit as capable" as world's best security researchers.
Adversaries may have taken missing US scientists, lawmaker says
Nearly a dozen researchers or people with links to aerospace or defense programs have disappeared or died in circumstances that some observers have deemed suspicious.
Visiting Fulbright scholar from Poland joins INL researcher to study actinide physics, unlock atomic secrets
For Adam Piotr Pikul of the Polish Academy of Sciences, there is always more to understand about the basic physics of uranium atoms. That’s why Pikul, a professor at the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research in Wrocław, is studying actinide quantum materials at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on a Fulbright Senior Award. Actinides are a group of 15 radioactive elements, including uranium.
Scientists Take a Step Toward a Quantum Internet Using New York City's Fiber
NYU researchers, working with Qunnect and Cisco, show quantum signals can run on NYC’s existing network
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
This new camera captures what happens in a trillionth of a second
Scientists have unveiled a breakthrough imaging method that can capture the hidden details of events unfolding in trillionths of a second. This new technique doesn’t just track how bright something is—it also reveals subtle structural changes that were previously invisible, all in a single shot. By effectively turning ultrafast phenomena into detailed “movies,” researchers can now watch plasma form, electrons move, and materials transform in real time.
OVPR Launches Business Development Pilot Program
The program helps UConn researchers pivot to industry partnerships to offset funding challenges
Soil that powers devices: Scientists create battery-free electricity from dirt
Science News: The researchers have developed a new type of microbial fuel cell (MFC) that provides a reliable and constant source of electricity generated by soil-d.
Meta attracts more Thinking Machines Lab talent in AI shakeup
Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab faces an AI talent drain to Meta, with founders and a researcher among recent departures from the startup.
Chinese researchers turn desert sand into fertile soil in just 10 months using cyanobacteria
Science News: The researchers at the Shapotou Desert Experimental Research Station in China have developed a revolutionary approach for reversing desertification an.
Trump’s order on psychedelics could have far-reaching science consequences
A new executive order could make it easier for researchers studying how psychedelic drugs like psilocybin, LSD and ibogaine may be useful in medicine
NVIDIA says new ReSTIR path tracing update is 2 to 3 times faster, but this is still research
ReSTIR PT Enhanced could lower the cost of real-time path tracing NVIDIA researchers have published a new paper called ReSTIR PT Enhanced: Algorithmic
After a year of turmoil, cancer researchers see promising signs for mRNA vaccines
The mRNA-based Covid vaccines helped blunt the impact of the pandemic but also sparked political backlash that has threatened to slow or derail dozens of potential cancer treatments. Now there are signs that the mRNA train is still on track.
3D printing is now possible inside living cells
For the first time, researchers have 3D-printed tiny objects directly inside of living cells, including an elephant and barcode tags.
Blockbuster GLP-1 Diabetes and Weight Loss Drugs Fails in Alzheimer’s Trial
Researchers are exploring whether GLP-1 medications used for diabetes and weight loss could treat Alzheimer’s and addiction.
Quantum computers reveal heat that flows the wrong way
Researchers have observed unusual patterns of heat flow inside quantum computers, revealing behaviors that defy classical thermodynamics.
Scientists unveil how heat-loving enzyme could help improve plastic recycling
Cutinases are fungal enzymes that naturally degrade plant cuticles and show promise for recycling plastics. However, they must balance structural rigidity to withstand high temperatures with flexibility required for catalysis. Now, researchers have investigated the structural basis of catalytic activation in a heat-tolerant cutinase, CtCut, from the fungus Chaetomium thermophilum and found that a rigid core supports stability while a flexible lid is associated with catalytic function, offering insights for improving enzymes for plastic recycling.
AI swarms could hijack democracy without anyone noticing
AI-powered personas are becoming so realistic that they can infiltrate online communities and subtly steer public opinion. Unlike traditional bots, they adapt, coordinate, and refine their messaging at a massive scale, creating a false sense of consensus. Early warning signs—like deepfakes and fake news networks—have already appeared in global elections. Researchers warn that the next election could be the true test of this technology’s power.
New study reveals how maze-like magnetic patterns form and evolve in materials
Maze magnetic domains in soft magnetic materials strongly influence energy loss in electric motors, particularly at high temperatures. However, existing models struggle to explain their complex, temperature-dependent behavior. To address this gap, researchers developed an entropy-extended Ginzburg-Landau model combined with data-driven analysis to study these structures. The approach reveals how entropy and energy interactions drive magnetization reversal and increasing domain complexity, providing new insights into magnetic energy-loss mechanisms.
Loneliness may contribute to memory issues, but not dementia — they are 'not the same thing'
A researcher explains what we know — and what we don't — about the link between loneliness and memory problems.
Microsoft Is Quietly Opening the Windows 11 Taskbar To Third-Party AI Agents That Can Act On Your Desktop
Microsoft launches AI Agents for Windows 11 taskbar supporting third-party options, enhancing productivity with Microsoft 365 Researcher and more.
Bay Area scientists honored at the ‘Oscars of Science’ for math and physics
Researchers from Stanford and UC Berkeley are being celebrated like celebrities for advancing mathematics and developing strategies to find a hypothetical particle.
For U.S. medical researchers, shrinking labs and bare budgets are the new reality
The Trump administration has slashed the number of grants from the National Institutes of Health, with far fewer focused on women, cancer and mental health.
For U.S. medical researchers, shrinking labs and bare budgets are the new reality
The Trump administration has slashed the number of grants from the National Institutes of Health, with far fewer focused on women, cancer and mental health.
Antwerp dementia researcher wins major science prize in US
Rosa Rademakers, a scientist at VIB and University of Antwerp, has been awarded the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Los Angeles for her work on...
11 missing or dead scientists draw federal scrutiny, including 4 tied to LA County
The Trump administration is reviewing 11 cases of missing or deceased scientists, including Southern California researchers Monica Jacinto Reza, Carl Grillmair, Frank Maiwald, and Michael David Hicks.
Boston researchers take home top science honors
Boston researchers were honored for their work from physics to cosmology to gene editing.
Scientists say this type of olive oil could boost brain power
Extra virgin olive oil might help protect your brain by working through your gut. A two-year study found that people who consumed it had better cognitive performance and more diverse gut bacteria than those using refined olive oil. Researchers even identified specific microbes linked to these benefits. The findings suggest that choosing high-quality olive oil could be a simple way to support brain health as you age.
Common cleaning sponge found to release trillions of microplastic fibers
That “magic” sponge under your sink may be hiding an environmental downside. While melamine sponges are famous for effortlessly scrubbing away stubborn stains, they slowly break down as you use them—shedding tiny plastic fibers that wash into water systems. Researchers estimate that globally, these sponges could release over a trillion microplastic fibers every month, potentially entering the food chain and affecting wildlife.
How an unsolved medical mystery became a life-saving breakthrough
Inside the deadly disease confounding medicine, researchers piecing together clues and the breakthrough that meant survival for thousands of patients.
Texas health professionals urge action on microplastics
Concerns over microplastics are growing as researchers are finding them almost everywhere.
High-tech laboratories, dairy store, waterfall: Inside LSU’s new $148 million science building
“It’s going to allow us to recruit new scientists and researchers to the state of Louisiana,” Morgan Kelly, associate dean for research and administration at the LSU College of Science, said.
Healthy diet, higher lung cancer risk? Deciphering surprising link in new study
Researchers have found a link between healthier diets containing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and higher rates of early onset lung cancer in nonsmokers. Here's what experts say about these findings.
Hackers are abusing unpatched Windows security flaws to hack into organizations
A security researcher published details of three security vulnerabilities in Windows Defender, and the code used to exploit them. Now, hackers are taking advantage of the vulnerabilities in real life attacks, according to a cybersecurity firm.
Scientists May Have Finally Solved the Mystery of Christopher Columbus’ Origins
Christopher Columbus purposely kept his ancestry a mystery during his life. But unfortunately for him, some researchers might have solved it.
A “lost world” beneath the North Sea was once full of forests
Long before rising seas swallowed Doggerland beneath the North Sea, this lost landscape may have been a surprisingly lush and life-friendly haven. New DNA evidence reveals that forests of oak, elm, and hazel were already thriving there more than 16,000 years ago—thousands of years earlier than scientists thought possible. Even more astonishing, researchers detected traces of a tree species believed to have vanished from the region hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Engineering, game design faculty turn nuclear science into interactive learning experience
At Kennesaw State University, learning about nuclear energy isn’t limited to textbooks and lectures. Researchers are developing a video game that helps users understand how reactors operate through hands-on experience. At the center of the project titled “Simulating the AP1000: An Educational Game to Promote Understanding of Nuclear Energy Safety and Sustainability” is a collaboration between engineering and game design faculty. The initiative focuses on turning complex nuclear concepts into an interactive learning experience.
Microsoft Defender 0-Day Vulnerability “RedSun” Enables Full SYSTEM Access
A researcher known as “Chaotic Eclipse” released a PoC exploit for a Microsoft Defender zero-day, “RedSun,” on GitHub.
Stony Brook Medicine Spotlights Advances in Brain Health and Aging
President Andrea Goldsmith attended a series of presentations led by Stony Brook Medicine researchers, who shared emerging insights into brain health and aging.
The subtle science behind safer brain implants
In a recent publication appearing in Advanced Science, researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience challenge the assumptions surrounding the design and materials used for brain implants. ...
OpenAI launches new AI model for life sciences research
Researchers are drowning in data. AI could help.
Scientists remove “zombie” cells and reverse liver damage in mice
A rogue set of “zombie” immune cells may be driving aging and fatty liver disease by flooding tissues with inflammation. Researchers found these cells accumulate with age and high cholesterol—and can make up most of the liver’s immune cells in older mice. When scientists removed them, liver damage was dramatically reversed, even without diet changes.
Enhancing workforce training to prevent substance use disorders
KU researchers have updated training materials that prepare health care providers to prevent, identify and treat substance use disorders across Kansas.
Angry researcher drops second Windows Defender zero-day exploit: “They mopped the floor with me”
A disgruntled researcher released a second zero-day Windows Defender exploit, dubbed RedSun, shortly after Microsoft patched the first vulnerability.
Fool’s gold isn’t so foolish: Scientists find hidden treasure in pyrite
Researchers have discovered lithium hidden in pyrite within ancient shale rocks—an unexpected find that could reshape how we source this critical battery material. It raises the possibility of extracting lithium from existing waste, reducing the need for new mining.
Common IBS medications linked to higher risk of death in major study
A massive, nearly 20-year study tracking over 650,000 Americans with irritable bowel syndrome is raising new questions about the long-term safety of common treatments. Researchers found that some widely used medications—including antidepressants and certain antidiarrheal drugs—were linked to a small but noticeable increase in the risk of death over time.
BizTalk: Innovators and Healthcare Professionals Convene in Arlington
Leaders in healthcare, technology and research gathered in Arlington last month to explore how artificial intelligence is shaping the future of patient care. The Healthcare + AI Forum, held March 26 at Arlington Economic Development (AED), brought together healthcare professionals, researchers, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to discuss real-world applications of AI in healthcare, from clinical
UT Health Sciences Nursing Professor to Enter International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame
A UT Health Sciences College of Nursing professor is among 26 nurse researchers who will be inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.
Nature Is Still Molding Human Genes, Study Finds
Some researchers hold that evolution hasn’t much altered humans in the past 10,000 years. A new analysis of ancient DNA indicates that natural selection continued to shape hundreds of genes.
Scientists develop 'light switch' for the love hormone
Researchers have developed a molecular "light switch" for the so-called love hormone oxytocin, offering new insights into how social behavior, partnership bonding, emotions, and mental health are wired ...
Dangerous Microsoft Windows Update Confirmed—Do Not Download
As security researchers warn about a dangerous Microsoft Windows update that isn’t, users must pay close attention to what they are actually downloading.
The surprising reason you’re so productive one day and not the next
Feeling mentally “on” isn’t just in your head—it can significantly boost what you accomplish. Researchers found that sharper thinking on a given day leads people to set bigger goals and actually follow through. That edge can equal up to 40 extra minutes of productivity. But push too hard for too long, and the effect reverses.
To Keep Climate Science Alive, Researchers Are Speaking in Code
Words considered "woke" are vanishing from National Science Foundation proposals. Grist tracked the changes.
Microsoft faces fresh Windows Recall security concerns
A security researcher has created a new tool to steal Recall data
Medical scans and chips: the hidden fallout of the Iran war for China
Four months ago, a dozen academics and researchers from China’s top oil and gas producers issued a warning buried in an academic journal: the nation’s quest for self-sufficiency had a critical weak spot.
A new approach to brain health, one neuron at a time
Neuroscientist Paul Nuyujukian likens the brain to a stadium full of people. To eavesdrop on the crowd you could put a microphone in the middle of the stadium. But to understand the conversations you need to record individual people. He thinks about the brain the same way. To understand brain disease, he studies neurons—one at a time. And his insights are shedding light on a big global issue—stroke. The World Health Organization predicts one in four adults will have a stroke in their lifetime. Strokes can cause death, or lead to paralysis or speech problems. But there’s still a lot researchers don’t know about how the brain recovers from an event like a stroke. Nuyujukian directs a lab at Stanford University that studies how the brain controls movement, including after neurological events like stroke. We get into how he does this, and why he hopes his research could eventually help people who’ve been paralyzed. Email us your questions about the brain – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org. We may turn it into an episode in the future!Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
A new way to detect life beyond Earth without knowing what life looks like
Researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) and National Institute for Basic Biology have developed a new method to detect extraterrestrial life without relying on traditional biosignatures. By modelling how life might spread between planets, they demonstrate that life could be detected through statistical patterns across planetary populations rather than on individual planets. This "agnostic biosignature" approach could assist in guiding future searches for life beyond Earth.
95% of people carry this virus and scientists may have just found how to stop it
Scientists have taken a major step toward stopping Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), an extremely common infection linked to cancer and chronic disease. By using mice engineered with human antibody genes, researchers created powerful human-like antibodies that block the virus from attaching to and entering immune cells. One of these antibodies completely prevented infection in lab models with human immune systems, marking a breakthrough after years of difficulty tackling EBV’s ability to invade nearly all B cells.
This simple change stops robot swarms from getting stuck
In crowded environments, more robots don’t always mean faster results—in fact, too many can bring everything to a standstill. Harvard researchers discovered a surprising fix: adding a bit of randomness to how robots move can actually prevent gridlock and boost efficiency. By allowing robots to “wiggle” slightly instead of marching in straight lines, they can slip past each other and keep tasks flowing smoothly.
Scientists just solved a 160-million-year fossil mystery “I’ve never seen anything like it”
A rare fossil discovery is shedding light on the “missing years” of early sponge evolution. Scientists found a 550-million-year-old sponge that likely lacked hard skeletal parts, explaining why earlier fossils are so scarce. This supports the idea that the earliest sponges were soft-bodied and rarely preserved. The finding changes how researchers hunt for the origins of animal life.
Adopting, advancing and adapting to AI
In Penn State's Eberly College of Science, researchers are leveraging AI in a myriad of applications and instructors are finding innovative ways to incorporate AI into their classrooms. But what is artificial intelligence, and are people really talking about the same thing when they say AI?
Simon Cherry Receives ESMI Award for Significant, Long-Term Contributions to Imaging Science
The Distinguished Research Professor of biomedical engineering has received the 2026 ESMI Award from the European Society for Molecular Imaging. Among the most prestigious honors in imaging science, the award celebrates a researcher for their outstanding contributions to the interdisciplinary field.
GLP-1 medicine improves liver health independent of weight loss, study finds
Researchers at Toronto's Sinai Health have found that semaglutide—the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs that mimic the gut hormone GLP-1—acts directly on a subset of liver cells to improve ...
UCF Materials Science Undergraduate Researcher Awarded DOE Internship at National Lab
Deneé Lichtenberg is advancing new methods for recovering rare earth metals — groundbreaking work she’ll continue at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
What I’ve learned from 25 years of automated science, and what the future holds: an interview with Ross King
We’re excited to launch our new series, where we’ll be speaking with leading researchers to explore the breakthroughs driving AI and the reality of the future promises – to give you an inside perspective on the headlines. Our first interviewee is Ross King, who created the first robot scientist back in 2009. He spoke to […]
Dangerous Microsoft Windows Update Warning—Do Not Download
As security researchers warn about a dangerous Microsoft Windows update that isn’t, users must pay close attention to what they are actually downloading.
How Silicon Valley Is Turning Scientists Into Exploited Gig Workers
Tech elites are enriching themselves by plundering STEM institutions—and offering researchers scraps.
Adobe fixes PDF zero-day security bug that hackers have exploited for months
It's not clear how many people were compromised by this hacking campaign, but a security researcher said the hackers were targeting victims since at least November 2025.
UNCG Celebrates Undergraduate Researchers and Their Mentors
UNCG announces the winners of the 2026 Thomas Undergraduate Research and Creativity Expo and the recipients of the Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards.
Scientists discover why bread can cause weight gain without extra calories
Bread and other carbohydrate staples may be doing more than just filling plates—they could be quietly reshaping metabolism. In a surprising twist, researchers found that mice strongly preferred carbs like bread, rice, and wheat, abandoning their regular diet entirely. Even without eating more calories, they gained weight and body fat, not because they overate, but because their bodies burned less energy.
Physicists just witnessed pinpricks of darkness moving faster than the speed of light — without breaking the laws of relativity
For the first time, researchers measured singularities in combined light and sound waves moving faster than the speed of light. The findings have implications in fluid dynamics, optics and many other fields.
30 Under 30 Europe Science & Healthcare 2026: The Founders Using AI To Empower Patients And Unlock Scientific Mysteries
These young entrepreneurs, researchers and doctors are improving healthcare, empowering patients and building the hardware of the future.
Carbon removal project supports Maine’s blue economy, broader marine health
MIT researchers introduce a chemical-free approach to balancing ocean acidity that protects marine life and could have huge impact on the global aquaculture market.
Quantum systems can remember and forget at the same time, scientists discover
Quantum systems can secretly “remember” their past—even when they appear not to. Scientists found that whether a system shows memory depends on how you look at it: through its evolving state or its measurable properties. Each perspective uncovers different kinds of memory, meaning a system can seem memoryless and memory-filled at the same time. This discovery could change how researchers design and control quantum technologies.
Bethel conference highlights how ‘better science occurs’ with local knowledge at the table
Researchers and local experts gathered in Bethel in early April to share and compare environmental knowledge at the Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference, particularly across issues facing the Yukon-Kuwkoksim Delta.
GW Hosts U.S. and Finnish Leaders for Energy Innovation Seminar | GW Today | The George Washington University
Diplomats, researchers and policymakers convened at the Elliott School to explore resilient energy systems, Arctic research and transatlantic collaboration.
UNC researcher works to make AI more reliable in health care
Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health are tailoring AI to make it more reliable for solving health problems.
Nukes and Nassau Hall: Inside Princeton’s Science and Global Security Program
Co-directors of Princeton's Science and Global Security Program Zia Mian and Alexander Glaser are working to understand nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, and policies around disarmament alongside a team of researchers and visiting scholars.
❝Anti-rights groups: why we need a smarter politics of naming
As movements working to undermine universal human rights protections become more influential, the language used to call out these “anti-rights” groups also needs closer scrutiny, or else risks being self-defeating, writes Nicolas Agostini, human rights advocate and researcher.
Scientists were wrong about lifespan. Your genes matter way more than we thought
For years, scientists believed our lifespan was mostly shaped by environment and chance, with genetics playing only a minor role. But a new study from the Weizmann Institute flips that idea on its head, revealing that genes may actually account for about half of the differences in how long people live. By analyzing massive twin datasets—including twins raised apart—and using innovative simulations to filter out deaths from accidents and other external causes, researchers uncovered a hidden genetic influence that had been masked for decades.
Making light spin with a gold nanorod
Controlling photon spin, or the handedness of light, is useful for storing and transmitting information. However, generating circularly polarized light typically requires complex or chiral structures. Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science show that hitting a gold nanorod slightly off-center with an electron beam causes the light around it to rotate. This method offers a simpler way to control photon spin and could accelerate the development of smaller, more efficient optical and quantum devices.
Park inequality in Southern California creates health risks, especially during the heat
Park-wise, the region has long been a land of haves and have nots. But a new study from researchers at UC Irvine and Chapman University shows that not all parks are created equal.