We’ve long known that the gut microbiome plays a huge role in digestion — but current research keeps revealing just how deeply these microbes are tied to our overall health. From supporting brain function to fine-tuning our immune response and even lowering the risk of chronic diseases, the list of their benefits keeps growing.Now, a new study published in Cell by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York suggests that the microbiome may go even further — by turning bile acids into ...read more

Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone. (Image Credit: A. Smith, N. Madhusudhan (University of Cambridge) ...read more

Tracking migrants is a challenging task that policymakers, researchers and humanitarian organizations have long struggled to achieve. The data they use is often outdated, incomplete and inconsistent and this hampers efforts to understand movement and respond effectively to global crises and economic changes. Now that looks set to change thanks to the work of Guanghua Chi at Facebook-owner Meta in Menlo Park, and colleagues, who have used anonymized data from three billion Facebook users to estim ...read more

Ask any geologist about the magma reservoir beneath Yellowstone, and they’ll tell you that it’s there. But where, exactly, is a lot tougher to explain.A new paper published in Nature suggests, however, that a team of researchers has finally found the exact location of the upper boundary of Yellowstone’s magma reservoir. Locating the top of the chamber and characterizing its contents, the research reveals important insights into the future activity of the volcano at Yellowstone, indicating ...read more

Although the magnetic field of Mars hasn’t been in effect for billions of years, the evidence it left behind may suggest that the planet’s core is entirely liquid. Magnetic imprints still exist on Mars, but they’re centered around its southern half, raising a mystery that has left scientists scratching their heads for years. Recent research, however, has proposed a promising answer: the molten Martian core likely generated a magnetic field that only covered the Red Planet’s southern hemi ...read more

The Milky Way may have a twin. The discovery of the most distant spiral galaxy to date may change the way we think about both the speed and process in which such systems are birthed, an international team led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Astrophysicists have long thought that large spiral galaxies like the Milky Way form over several billion years in a chaotic process and initially form irregular shapes. But the James Webb Space Telesc ...read more

Sometimes a big medical problem requires a massive research effort. Scientists have done just that for osteoarthritis, a condition that could affect a billion people globally by 2050. Their enormous effort could help identify existing drugs suitable to treat arthritis, develop new ones specifically targeted to the disease, and, eventually create tailored approaches based on an individual arthritis sufferer’s genetic makeup. These three approaches are essentially at different heights on the dru ...read more

The use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, has only continued to increase in popularity over the years. In the U.S., e-cigarettes are the second-most common form of tobacco use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over one million middle and high school students identify as e-cigarette users, with the percentage of adult users increasing from 4.5 percent in 2019 to 6.5 percent in 2023. When it comes to traditional “combustible” cigarettes, the health risks ...read more

Just because Homo sapiens hadn’t yet developed the SPF rating system 41,000 years ago didn’t mean that they were unaware that solar radiation could prove hazardous.H. sapiens applied some form of sunscreen, shielded themselves from UV rays with clothes, and avoided the ravages of the sun by hiding in caves, according to an article in the journal Science Advances. In fact, those strategies may have helped their populations expand throughout Europe and Asia during a time when Neanderthals, who ...read more

Crocodiles are persistent — not just in their deadly pursuit of prey, but in terms of their existence. The contemporary species hails from a 230-million-year lineage that has survived two mass extinction events.A study in the journal Palaeontology identifies flexibility as a key to their longevity. Crocodylians that survived over millions of years can eat a variety of foods and live in multiple habitats. Understanding this level of adaptability could help threatened species survive. “Extinct ...read more