Explore the latest scientific discoveries, science news, breakthroughs and developments from around the world.
Scientists have discovered that a buildup of a protein called Miro1 may be a hidden driver of insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes, with preclinical experiments showing that removing it restores the muscles’ response to insulin. Exercise was also found to lower Miro1 levels in people with diabetes, revealing a potential new pathway for treating the disease.
To date, many of the methods used in clinical simulation have focused primarily on assessing technical skills and compliance with medical standards, often from a generic, interprofessional perspective. Although technical skills are essential, this approach overlooked key aspects of nursing practice, such as care ethics, relational presence with patients and emotional management among nurses.
Scientists have discovered that the stickiness of underwater “marine snow” plays a surprisingly important role in how much carbon reaches the deep ocean. Gooier particles resist bacterial breakdown and can transport more than six times as much carbon to the depths, revealing an unexpected connection between ocean slime and Earth's climate.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have used a new type of radiocarbon analysis to study a sediment core taken from the Kumano Sea off the coast of Japan. This has revealed multiple "hidden" traces of previously unknown earthquakes in the Nankai Trough, where the country's next megaquake is expected to occur. Reconstructing a more accurate picture of the past will help predict future geophysical events and prepare for potential disasters. The work is published in Radiocarbon.
Researchers from Kyushu University have found that H3mm15, a histone H3.3 subvariant, contributes to normal sperm development in mice by helping regulate gene expression during spermatogenesis. The findings show that H3mm15 cannot be interchanged with conventional H3.3; although the proteins differ at only three amino acids, they behave differently in chromatin, the DNA-protein structure that packages genetic material.
Researchers have discovered a stunning new species of tiny orange-patterned fish in the Brazilian Amazon, but its survival may already be at risk. Named Laimosemion laranja, the brilliantly colored killifish measures less than three centimeters long and was found in just three small forest pools. Its extremely limited habitat is threatened by mining, deforestation, pollution, and expanding development.
Scientists at UC San Francisco have developed a powerful new cancer therapy that remains inactive until it reaches the brain, where it switches on to attack deadly tumors. The engineered immune cells, called B-SYNC CAR-T cells, completely eliminated diffuse midline glioma (DMG), an aggressive childhood brain cancer that is almost always fatal within a year, in two mouse models.
A remarkable fossil discovery in Colombia is challenging how scientists understand major evolutionary changes in Earth's history. Researchers uncovered an incredibly diverse ancient marine ecosystem where giant reptiles, sharks, and other creatures thrived as older evolutionary groups approached extinction and newer ones emerged. They call this previously unrecognized pattern a "Biotic Inflection," suggesting that major transformations in life can occur without mass extinctions.
More than a century after Einstein revolutionized our understanding of gravity, scientists have uncovered a surprising new phenomenon hidden within his equations. Researchers at Columbia University and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez have identified a theoretical process called "gravitational reconnection," in which structures within gravitational fields can break apart and reconnect, transferring energy into matter.
A research team led by professor Seong Sik Shin of the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT) at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), in international collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), the University of California, San Diego, and Princeton University, has developed a next-generation perovskite semiconductor thin film with dramatically reduced defects. Using the same material platform, the researchers demonstrated both high-performance solar cells and LEDs.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of astronomers identified 104 magnified stellar events in a galaxy known as the Dragon, located around 6.5 billion light-years away. This discovery more than doubles the previous record of 44 such detections in the same galaxy. Because these kinds of events reveal some of the most luminous stars and likely the presence of dark matter, this study offers a rare look at the galaxy's stellar population along with a possible hint at the nature of dark matter.
An aurora is one of nature's most spectacular light shows: It looks like green or red curtains rippling across the night sky. When viewed from the ground, this colorful display might seem far away and disconnected from anything happening on Earth's surface.