Research Discoveries

Millions of Americans take antidepressants every day. Millions more reach for diet sodas, sugar-free gum, or low-calorie snacks sweetened with natural and artificial sweeteners. What happens when both of those things meet in the gut at the same time? According to a new study, the answer may be more tangled than previously thought. Researchers tested 39 commercially…

Skipping breakfast before a gym session is hard enough. A new study points to an odd trick that might make the empty-stomach grind a little easier: a whiff of chocolate. Men who breathed in the scent of chocolate before and during a weight session cranked out more repetitions than they did after smelling plain water, and they…

People who speak more than one language seem to have younger brains, according to research presented Monday at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2026 [1]. Our brains are made up of billions of nerve cells which need to communicate with one another. As we age, the connectivity in our brains tends to deteriorate and, as a result,…

Scientists Use Tragic Childhood Syndrome To Argue DNA Tags Help Cause Old Age Decline A child losing all their hair by age six. Bones so brittle they fracture without warning. An immune system failing before a kid even reaches their teens. These are not symptoms of old age. They are the reality for children born with a…

Cancer has a dirty trick: it can put itself to sleep. When tumor cells slip into a kind of biological hibernation, they become hard to kill, shrugging off treatment and lying low until conditions improve, then waking up and bringing the disease back. For decades, researchers have struggled to shut down this hiding strategy without causing serious…

Slathering on lotion after a morning shower feels like a task checked off for the whole day. A new study suggests that confidence may be misplaced. Researchers tested four popular moisturizers and found that, under the conditions tested, the measurable hydration boost they give skin generally fell back toward untreated skin within roughly three to five hours,…

How Much You Weighed at Birth May Determine How Hard Your Kidneys Work Under Pressure Most people have no idea what they weighed at birth. That number lives in a baby book or a parent’s memory, totally disconnected from adult life. But a new study says it may quietly shape how well the kidneys hold up under…

Scientists Discover How Pomegranate Triggers the Gut’s Own Repair System Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis both involve a gut lining that has lost its ability to keep bacteria contained, leaving the body’s immune system in a state of chronic overdrive. Scientists may have found a way to fix that. They’ve identified a specific chain of molecular events…

Dengue Has Already Found a Foothold in California, and Climate Change Could Make It Far Worse A mosquito-borne illness once considered a distant, tropical problem has been quietly taking root in California, and a new study finds that tens of millions of residents already live in areas where summer conditions are ripe for local outbreaks. Dengue fever…

Two Studies Find Gut Fungi Drive Childhood Allergy Risk, With Mouse Research Pointing to Infant Antibiotics as a Culprit Hundreds of millions of children worldwide live with allergic diseases, and the number keeps climbing. Scientists have spent decades studying the bacterial side of the gut microbiome for clues about why, but two studies published together in Nature…

That Mid-Afternoon Energy Crash May Have a Simple Fix: A 5-Minute Walk Every Hour Most American adults spend the better part of their waking hours planted in a chair, at a desk, on a couch, or behind a wheel. Researchers have known for years that this much sitting is bad for health, linked to higher rates of…

Do Cats Help With Stress? Study Finds Cat Interaction May Not Always Soothe Owners For decades, pet owners have sworn by the calming power of their animals. Rough day at work? Curl up with the cat. Feeling anxious? Let the dog climb into your lap. The idea that pets soothe stress has become something close to common…

Some national pride goes beyond flying a flag or cheering at the Olympics. It runs on a quieter, more brittle conviction that one’s country is exceptional, perhaps even the greatest, and that the rest of the world stubbornly refuses to admit it. Psychologists have a name for that mindset: national narcissism. While national narcissism appears to be…

Quitting the day job to work for yourself carries a certain mythology: the bold young founder, the garage startup, the freedom of answering to no one. A new study that followed thousands of Americans for more than three decades muddies that picture in a blunt way. For a large share of those who struck out on their…

Ancient DNA Hidden in Pacific Islanders Reveals Three Separate Encounters With a Mystery Ancestor People living in Near Oceania, a region spanning New Guinea, surrounding island chains, and the main Solomon Islands, carry more ancient, pre-modern human DNA than any other population on Earth. New research has found that their ancestors inherited genetic material from three distinct…

The United States government’s recent release of hundreds of previously classified Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) cases spanning the 1940s to the present, along with the new Steven Spielberg movie, Disclosure Day, about extraterrestrial life, has fuelled the idea that aliens are visiting Earth. In fact, polls in Australia, the U.S. and elsewhere indicate around a third of…

Your Parents’ DNA May Shape Your Traits in Ways You Didn’t Directly Inherit Genes don’t tell the whole story of why traits run in families. A new study of roughly 30,000 families found that a parent’s DNA may shape children’s height, body weight, and school performance not only through the genes passed down at conception, but through…

Aging Ankles Trade Efficiency for Stability, and New Research Shows Exactly When the Switch Happens Walking feels automatic to most people, something the body just handles. But inside every step is a finely tuned exchange between muscles, tendons, and the nervous system, and new research reveals that exchange starts to break down at the ankle as we…

Standing on a bus that lurches forward. Catching a stumble on an icy sidewalk. For younger people, these moments of lost balance are handled almost automatically. Fast, lower-level brainstem circuits fire off corrective signals before anyone even realizes what happened. But as people age, the brain has to recruit backup. A new study finds that older adults…

A diagonal earlobe crease called Frank’s sign may signal hidden heart disease risk, especially alongside diabetes, hypertension, smoking, or obesity. When people think about warning signs of heart disease, symptoms like chest pain, breathlessness, fatigue, or irregular heartbeat usually come to mind. But doctors say there may be another subtle clue hiding in plain sight – right…

Guava Juice May Boost Hemoglobin in Women For nearly half of all pregnant women worldwide, anemia is a daily reality. The condition, in which the body lacks enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen, is especially widespread in Indonesia, where nearly half of pregnant women and close to a third of teenage girls are affected, according…

Scientists Destroyed a Few Dozen Neurons in a Fish and Watched Its Social Life Fall Apart Researchers have captured the brain activity of a fish in the moments before it swims toward a companion, and the brain starts preparing that move several seconds before the fish does anything visible. Published in Nature Communications, the study shows this…

The rise of remote work since the pandemic has made businesses more reluctant to hire young, inexperienced workers and is the key driver of higher unemployment rates for recent college graduates, a study released Monday has found. The study, by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, compared occupations that can be done remotely — such as…

Women Over 50 With Low Protein Intake Face Dramatically Higher Odds of Losing Basic Physical Independence Getting dressed, walking to the kitchen, or simply using the bathroom. These are everyday moments most people take for granted. But for millions of older adults across Europe, those tasks are becoming increasingly difficult. A large study tracking more than 38,000…

Board-Certified Physicians Put Popular LLMs Through Their Paces, and Found Real Problems When people feel a strange pain or notice a worrying symptom, more and more of them are skipping the doctor’s office and heading straight to an AI chatbot. It’s fast, free, and available at 3 a.m. But a study suggests that convenience might come with…

A new national survey found that nearly half of American adults (48%) feel their lives are seriously lacking in fun right now. Even more jarring, 12% say they can’t even remember the last time they had a full free day to enjoy themselves. It is not a trivial complaint. Researchers found that people who do manage to…

For most people, cheese is a guilty pleasure: something delicious but probably not great for you. That assumption may be worth revisiting. A recent study took a close look at three traditional British artisan cheeses and tracked how their bacterial communities and chemical profiles shifted from production to the moment they hit the dinner table. What researchers…

Ice Age Icebergs Left 3,000 Scratch Marks in the Great Lakes, and They Recorded Winds Blowing the Wrong Way Thousands of grooves carved into the bottoms of ancient lakes, left behind by drifting icebergs thousands of years ago, have quietly preserved a record of how winds moved across North America during the last Ice Age. Researchers say…

Along a meandering river in a warm and arid region that is now Thailand roughly 113 million years ago, a plant-eating behemoth almost 27m long browsed on the treetops without much fear of predators due to its sheer size. This was Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, the largest-known dinosaur from Southeast Asia. Researchers have unearthed skeletal remains of Nagatitan, a…

Caring for a Loved One May Slow or Speed Mental Decline, Depending on the Burden For millions of Americans, taking care of an aging parent, a sick spouse, or an ailing friend is simply part of life. But a new study finds that not all caregiving is created equal, and that how much care someone provides, and…

People With Stronger Focus May Pay Less Attention to Social Media Posts, Study Finds People who are better at managing their mental focus may pay less attention to social media content once they’re connected to the person or page sharing it. Researchers argue this may reflect strategy, not laziness. Most people assume that those with stronger focus…

Recent research has highlighted that walking approximately 8,500 steps each day might effectively prevent weight regain in individuals who have lost weight. Traditionally, the guideline for daily step count has been set at 10,000; however, this new finding indicates a lower threshold may suffice. The study, conducted by specialists in the field of health and nutrition, found…

A large new analysis of randomized trials has found that regular exercise can meaningfully boost the odds of staying smoke-free, and that even a single short workout can blunt the urge to light up for up to 30 minutes afterward. Quitting smoking has never been easy. Standard treatments like nicotine patches, prescription medications, and counseling can roughly…

Study Links UPFs To Rising Dementia Risk Scores Potato chips, frozen dinners, and diet soda don’t exactly have a reputation for being brain food. But a new study of more than 2,000 Australian adults suggests these foods may be chipping away at something far more concerning than a waistline: the brain’s ability to pay attention. And eating…

A stick of chewing gum probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about cancer prevention. But a new study suggests it might be worth a second look. Researchers loaded a gum with proteins derived from an edible bean and tested it against the specific viruses and bacteria most strongly tied to head and…

  The top predator prowling the seas during the age of the dinosaurs 100 million years ago may have been the octopus. New analyses of fossilized jaws reveal that massive, kraken-like octopuses once hunted alongside other marine predators. They boasted eight arms and long bodies that extended more than 60 feet (18 meters), rivaling other carnivorous marine…

A stick of chewing gum probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about cancer prevention. But a new study suggests it might be worth a second look. Researchers loaded a gum with proteins derived from an edible bean and tested it against the specific viruses and bacteria most strongly tied to head and…

A crab scuttling sideways across a beach is one of the most recognizable movements in the animal kingdom. The shuffle is so iconic that “crabwalk” has become part of everyday language. But scientists have long debated a deceptively simple question: Did crabs figure out this trick once, or did different groups independently arrive at it? A new…

Interest in magic mushrooms has surged in recent years, and new federal data put a number on just how widespread use has become. A federal survey found that roughly 8 million Americans used psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, last year. Buried inside that figure is a pattern researchers say doctors need to pay attention to:…

Up to three in ten older adults die with significant amyloid plaques and Tau tangles in their brains yet never showed a single sign of mental decline while alive. Scientists have now identified a new mouse model that mimics this puzzling resilience, and the discovery was guided by artificial intelligence. For decades, Alzheimer’s research has been shadowed…

Loneliness doesn’t just ache emotionally. For older adults across Europe, feeling persistently lonely is tied to measurably worse memory, though not because it speeds up decline over time. A large new study tracking more than 10,000 Europeans over six years found that adults reporting high loneliness had lower memory scores from the start, but loneliness was not…

Good Friends, Less Pain, and a Sense of Purpose: What Helps Older Adults Flourish Getting older doesn’t have to mean a decline in mental health. A sweeping new study of 2,024 older Canadians found that roughly 74% weren’t just free of mental illness but were genuinely flourishing, reporting frequent happiness, life satisfaction, and a sense of purpose.…

For years, ‘Pohlsepia mazonensis’ was believed to be the earliest known octopus, with what appeared to be eight tentacles, eyes, and possibly an ink sas For over 20 years, a fossil named ‘Pohlsepia mazonensis’ was celebrated as the world’s oldest known octopus, dating back roughly 300 million years. It even made its way into the Guinness Book…

Solid, liquid, gas. Most people learn about three states of matter in school and leave it at that. But deep inside planets far larger than Earth, where pressures millions of times greater than anything on our surface squeeze atoms into forms that defy easy description, matter can enter states that don’t fit neatly into any of those…

Every day, millions of people reach for hand soaps, cleaning sprays, and laundry products stamped with the word “antibacterial,” believing they’re getting extra protection. A growing body of evidence suggests those added germ-killing chemicals aren’t just unnecessary in most household situations. According to a new viewpoint paper published in Environmental Science & Technology, they may help create…

In a darkened control room in Navi Mumbai, 100 operators oversee bots monitoring 30,000 ATMs across India. Their cameras, sensors and bots do the work that 60,000 security guards once did. That control room is a small window into something much larger. Across India, the quiet machinery of automation has been reshaping – and in many cases,…

Nobody taught Ayumu to make a drum. Nobody taught him to keep a beat. Yet for more than two years, the 23-year-old chimpanzee living at a research center in Japan has been prying wooden floorboards off a walkway, repurposing them as percussion instruments, and staging structured, multi-part rhythmic performances. He is, as far as researchers know, part…

That Fitness App May Not Be So Healthy After All, Especially For Teens For most teenagers, a smartphone is as essential as a backpack. It’s how they talk to friends, follow trends, and increasingly, track what they eat and how much they exercise. But a sweeping new review of 35 studies covering more than 52,000 people, with…

That Fitness App May Not Be So Healthy After All, Especially For Teens For most teenagers, a smartphone is as essential as a backpack. It’s how they talk to friends, follow trends, and increasingly, track what they eat and how much they exercise. But a sweeping new review of 35 studies covering more than 52,000 people, with…

6 in 10 Adults Don’t Lift Weights, but New Research Says Almost Any Routine Works Six out of every ten American adults do zero strength training. A new analysis of more than 30,000 people suggests that overcomplicated advice may be one reason, and that the science of lifting weights may be far simpler than much of the…

A pill that tens of millions of Americans already take every morning may do something scientists have long hoped to prove: slow the biological clock ticking inside their cells. A large randomized clinical trial published in Nature Medicine found that adults who took a daily multivitamin-multimineral supplement for two years showed measurably slower biological aging compared to…

Low Testosterone May Worsen Fructose-Related Fatty Liver Risk Most men past 40 have heard that testosterone drops with age. What far fewer know is that declining testosterone may increase vulnerability to fat buildup in t he liver, especially in men who regularly drink sodas, fruit juices, or other high-fructose beverages. New research in mice shows the combination…

Severe COVID-19 raises lung cancer risk by 24%, study of 76 million Americans finds Surviving a severe case of COVID-19 or influenza feels like crossing a finish line. Fever breaks, oxygen levels stabilize, and eventually life returns to normal. A major new study published in the journal Cell suggests that for people who were hospitalized with either…

Somewhere between the ear and conscious awareness, something gets lost. A new study found that after just 12 minutes of passive exposure to labeled AI and human voices, the brain begins processing them as measurably distinct categories. Consciously, though, participants remained essentially unable to tell the difference. Their ability to correctly identify AI voices barely changed. Their…

Most men past 40 have heard that testosterone drops with age. What far fewer know is that declining testosterone may increase vulnerability to fat buildup in the liver, especially in men who regularly drink sodas, fruit juices, or other high-fructose beverages. New research in mice shows the combination of low testosterone and high fructose intake does something…

These popular beverages often have many other ingredients, like vitamins and plant extracts. Here’s what you should know about them. A growing number of Americans, especially younger ones, are reaching for energy drinks in order to stay up late or level up their workout. About two-thirds of teens report drinking them at least occasionally, and most who…

Microwave ovens use non-ionising radiation to heat food. It is harmless in itself, but using plastic containers for the food can increase the risk. Cancer is still considered to be a death sentence in many households, and because the disease is becoming increasingly common, it is understandable for people to be extra cautious about things of regular…

A cancer diagnosis upends every aspect of an individual’s life, from sleep and appetite to work and relationships. All of it shifts the moment a doctor delivers that news. Now, a sweeping study finds how a patient reacts to such news may influence their risk of dying sooner. Researchers found that cancer patients who developed anxiety, depression,…

Most things fall apart in water. Paper, cardboard, and many eco-friendly alternatives to plastic turn soft and useless the moment they get soaked. Researchers have now created a biodegradable material that does the opposite: submerge it, and it grows nearly 50% stronger. That single property could matter enormously. Every year, the world generates roughly 400 million tons…

The Findings Raise New Questions About Alzheimer’s Prevention Doctors have long advised older adults to control their blood pressure, treat depression, and reduce stroke risk as key steps toward protecting their brains from Alzheimer’s disease. A new study suggests that advice, while sound, may be leaving out a major environmental risk factor. Analyzing nearly 28 million Medicare…

Is the street you live on lined with leafy trees, or mostly grass and pavement? That simple difference might be affecting your heart in ways scientists are just beginning to understand. A study tracking nearly 90,000 nurses across America for 18 years found neighborhoods with more visible trees showed about 4% lower rates of heart attack and…

Experts have acknowledged significant technical challenges, including the wall’s survival in extreme Antarctic conditions and long-term ocean exposure. Scientists have raised concerns over the Thwaites Glacier, which is nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier,” as it is melting at an unprecedented rate because of climate change fueled by human activities. The rapid melting rate would result in a rise…

Getting (and staying) fit isn’t cheap. Americans trying to shed pounds are paying far more than they realize. In a survey of people actively working toward weight loss, participants spent an average of $12,308 in 2025 alone, exposing what researchers call a quiet but persistent “weight tax” that extends well beyond gym memberships and salad bars. This…

Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” generated a cultural whirlwind: chart-topping success, social media saturation and frenzied debate over her artistic evolution. Nonetheless, despite this warm reception, opinions on Swift are deeply polarized by party. Democrats are far more likely to view her positively; Republicans are more likely to hold negative views. This partisan…

Taking a moment to reflect before judging your own performance sounds like solid advice. But new research suggests that for people experiencing anxiety symptoms, pausing to second-guess themselves might deepen their self-doubt. Scientists at University College London and the University of Copenhagen have discovered that anxiety-driven underconfidence grows stronger the longer someone takes to judge how they…

When former athletes with severe brain damage experience cognitive issues, doctors have been quick to blame Alzheimer’s disease in recent years. Notably, however, autopsies later revealed many of those patients actually had no Alzheimer’s at all. They had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Researchers estimate CTE was misdiagnosed as dementia in 40% of advanced cases. The finding comes…

Tornado warnings sent to smartphones typically only give local residents around 15 minutes to take shelter. That’s barely enough time to gather family, grab essentials, and find somewhere safe to ride out the weather event. Now, scientists say they’ve identified atmospheric clues that appear up to an hour before a tornado touches down. These signals may someday…

Creatine is one of the most popular sports supplements out there. It’s shown to help build muscle and improve strength, boost speed and power in athletes and benefit sports performance all round. Research also suggests this superstar nutrient may have other health benefits, including for brain function, memory, bone health and even mood. While creatine has been…

A group of volunteers spent days locked in a small hotel room with people actively infected with flu. They played games, shared objects and exercised together in conditions designed to help the virus spread. Yet not a single person caught influenza. The unexpected finding comes from a well-designed study that set out to answer a basic question:…

Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” generated a cultural whirlwind: chart-topping success, social media saturation and frenzied debate over her artistic evolution. Nonetheless, despite this warm reception, opinions on Swift are deeply polarized by party. Democrats are far more likely to view her positively; Republicans are more likely to hold negative views. This partisan…

A group of volunteers spent days locked in a small hotel room with people actively infected with flu. They played games, shared objects and exercised together in conditions designed to help the virus spread. Yet not a single person caught influenza. The unexpected finding comes from a well-designed study that set out to answer a basic question:…

Committing to an exercise regimen isn’t easy, but a younger brain is a strong motivator. When researchers asked middle-aged adults to practice aerobic exercise regularly for a year, their brains became significantly “younger,” so to speak. After 12 months of regular workouts, participants’ brains appeared about seven months younger than when they started. MRI scans analyzed by…

Near the equator, the Sun hurries below the horizon in a matter of minutes. Darkness seeps from the surrounding forest. Nearly 10,000 years ago, at the base of a mountain in Africa, people’s shadows stretch up the wall of a natural overhang of stone. They’re lit by a ferocious fire that’s been burning for hours, visible even…

Both age and menopause appear to influence attraction – but in different ways. Women’s preferences for masculine features in men shift as they age and transition through menopause, according to research exploring how attraction evolves throughout the female lifespan. The small study of 122 Polish women aged 19 to 70 found distinct patterns across age groups and…

Mice given processed fats struggled to adapt to winter. Struggling to understand why your metabolism seems out of sync with the seasons? Your body might be stuck thinking it’s still summer, thanks to the types of fats lurking in processed foods. A study from the University of California, San Francisco, suggests it’s not just how much fat…

Deep beneath the surface of our planet lies the Earth’s core, a solid ball of iron under crushing pressure. Now, however, scientists conducting laboratory experiments have found evidence suggesting it may not be a uniform sphere after all. Instead, lab tests on iron mixed with silicon and carbon show properties consistent with a layered structure, with different…

Mold lurking behind walls and under floors can sicken families for months before anyone realizes what’s wrong. Traditional mold testing requires swabbing surfaces, sending samples to labs, and waiting three to seven days for results, all while potentially harmful spores continue circulating through living spaces. Researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have created an electronic “nose”…

It might seem worlds away from the Earth we know. But can Star Trek teach us anything about the economics of our own society? Set in the mid-23rd century, the original Star Trek series told the story of the starship Enterprise. Its crew were led by the human Captain James Kirk and the half-Vulcan Mr Spock. From…

Fathers exposed to microplastics before conception may be setting their daughters up for metabolic problems later in life. A new mouse study shows when male mice consumed plastic particles before breeding, their female offspring developed insulin resistance on a high-fat diet while male offspring remained largely unaffected. Research from the University of California, Riverside found an unusual…

For decades, dietary guidelines have warned against high-fat cheese because of concerns about saturated fat and heart health. Now, a Swedish study that followed 27,670 people for nearly 30 years has uncovered a surprising benefit associated with fatty cheeses. Those who ate more high-fat cheese showed lower rates of dementia. The research found that participants consuming at…

Stuck in front of our screens all day, we often ignore our senses beyond sound and vision. And yet they are always at work. When we’re more alert we feel the rough and smooth surfaces of objects, the stiffness in our shoulders, the softness of bread. In the morning, we may feel the tingle of toothpaste, hear…

Most people in relationships would never admit it out loud, but a surprising number are keeping their options open. One in six Americans currently in a relationship confesses there’s someone else in their life they’d actually leave their partner for if that person showed romantic interest. That revelation comes from a new survey of 1,279 people in…

Anyone who has beheld Luke “The Nuke” Littler’s stellar abilities on the darts circuit will have seen the exceptional talent he displays. In January, he became the youngest World Champion in history at just 17 years old. In October, he captured his first World Grand Prix title. But what does it actually take to become a professional…

Since researchers first established the link between diet, cholesterol and heart disease in the 1950s, risk for heart disease has been partly assessed based on a patient’s cholesterol levels, which can be routinely measured via blood work at the doctor’s office. However, accumulating evidence over the past two decades demonstrates that a biomarker called C-reactive protein –…

The skull had the brow of a descendant but the face of an ancestor. When researchers finished reconstructing the DAN5/P1 cranium from Ethiopia’s Afar region, dated to between 1.6 and 1.5 million years ago, they found themselves staring at an evolutionary contradiction: a single individual who appeared to belong to two different chapters of human history at…

In the wake of Sunday’s tragic Bondi shooting, conspiracy theories and deliberate misinformation have spread on social media. One thing some people have latched onto is the idea Google Trends data show a spike in searches for “Naveed Akram” – the name of one of the attackers – from Tel Aviv (or other locations) before the shooting…

Romance and the heart have long been synonymous on a symbolic level, but modern science now indicates the connection may be literal. Researchers are calling for romantic relationships to be incorporated far more heavily in treatment programs for heart patients. A major review published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology analyzed how including romantic partners in cardiac…

The future is now…and it’s tiny. Robots the size of a single-celled organism can now sense their environment, make decisions, and act on them without any outside help. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan created microscopic machines measuring just 210 to 340 micrometers wide (roughly the size of a paramecium or two human…

On average, Americans will spend close to $2 million dollars on major debt payments before their life ends. That staggering figure, according to an eye-opening study, represents every car loan, mortgage payment, student loan bill, and credit card balance between age 18 and death at 78. A new analysis by JG Wentworth concludes that the average American…

The ‘Hallmarks of Aging’ Framework Has A Major Problem That Nobody Talked About Until Now The next time a death certificate lists “natural causes” or a doctor mentions someone died of “old age,” keep in mind that may not be true after all. Autopsy studies reveal that even centenarians who seemed healthy days before death succumbed to…

Ocean temperatures warmed by human-caused climate change fed the intense rainfall that triggered deadly floods and landslides across Asia in recent weeks, according to an analysis released Wednesday. The rapid study by World Weather Attribution focused on heavy rainfall from cyclones Senyar and Ditwah in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka starting late last month. The analysis…

These amphibians are all too happy to endure a few stings for a decent meal. Japanese pond frogs can eat some of the world’s most venomous insects and apparently hop away from the meal unharmed. Research reveals these amphibians tolerate repeated stings from giant hornets carrying enough venom to kill animals many times their size. Scientists in…

Watching Dogs Lifts Mood, But There’s a Catch for Pet Owners Watching videos of dogs generally boosted participants’ moods regardless of whether the animals appeared happy, neutral, or upset. Indeed, according to the research published in PeerJ, even when certain pups appeared distressed, people still felt better after watching. That’s one of the more unexpected findings from…

Most people consider the pain and permanence before getting a tattoo. Few think about the carcinogenic chemicals they’re injecting into their skin. Swedish researchers identified 2,880 individuals diagnosed with melanoma and used questionnaires to gather detailed information about tattoo exposure, sun habits, and other risk factors. The population-based study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology found…

Study Reveals A ‘Friends-and-Neighbors Effect’ That Distorts Tax Preferences Most people think the psychology of taxes is fairly straightforward and almost always tied to one’s personal bank account. Interestingly, researchers report something much more nuanced is at play. It isn’t so much about how much money someone has, but who they see every day. Published in PNAS…

A mysterious fossil foot discovered in Ethiopia more than a decade ago has now been linked to its most likely owner, and the revelation adds an important twist to the story of how our ancient relatives lived. The foot probably belonged to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a 3.4-million-year-old human ancestor that shared the East African region with the famous…

Easter Island’s famous stone heads have puzzled researchers for decades, but not for the reasons most people think. The real mystery wasn’t how ancient Polynesians carved and moved these massive sculptures across a remote Pacific island. Instead, scientists have long pondered how a society with no clear island-wide government managed to produce more than 1,000 giant statues.…

Professional Santas across America describe their work in terms that sound less like a seasonal gig and more like something they were meant to do. They talk about being “called” to the role, experiencing life-changing moments when they first don the red suit, and feeling a profound sense of purpose that extends far beyond spreading holiday cheer.…

H5N1 bird flu has infected growing numbers of people worldwide in recent years, but this week saw something new: the first recorded human case of an H5N5 avian influenza virus. What is this virus and how concerned about it should we be? What Happened? In early November, a resident of Grays Harbor, a county on the south-west…

Your morning coffee may help scientists better predict future volcanic eruptions. Like a dormant volcano, plenty of people just can’t get going in the morning without some coffee. Surprisingly, the physics of java and lava are actually quite similar, at least when it comes to bubbles. Scientists have discovered that bubble formation in rising magma follows some…