A single word can overturn your understanding of a sentence, and your brain chemistry may shape how hard you work to make sense of it again. Even a single word can change the meaning of an entire sentence, forcing the brain to rethink what it just read. But how efficiently the brain handles these grammatical […]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Immune System Difference That Could Explain Why Obesity Affects Men and Women Differently
Scientists have discovered that immune cells in fat tissue behave differently in males and females, potentially helping explain sex-specific responses to obesity. A type of immune cell best known for its role in allergies and asthma may help explain why obesity affects males and females differently. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside found that […]
Scientists Discover a Powerful Plastic-Eating Enzyme Hiding in an Ordinary Compost Heap
An enzyme found in compost broke down small amounts of polyurethane foam in laboratory tests, offering an early lead toward gentler ways to recycle a stubborn plastic. The polyurethane used in mattress foam, shoe soles, and refrigerator insulation is notoriously difficult to recycle on an industrial scale. A very large share of the millions of […]
This $10,000-a-Pound Spice Could Help Save Colorado Farmers
Beneath Denver’s solar panels, a spice nicknamed “red gold” is yielding a promising harvest that could help Colorado farmers earn more with less water. At Colorado State University Spur, horticulture graduate student Reece Bailey is investigating whether saffron could become a profitable addition to the state’s farms. His experiments in the campus’s urban gardens and […]
More Than a Billion Years of Earth’s History Is Missing – Scientists May Finally Know Why
Earth’s rocks are missing more than a billion years of history in some places, and the slow rise and fall of continents may explain how those chapters disappeared. A study led by University of Wollongong (UOW) PhD candidate Santosh Dhungana suggests that the slow rise and fall of continents helped create the Great Unconformity, a […]
Cancer Immunotherapy Has a Dangerous Side Effect. Scientists May Have Found a Way To Stop It
Cancer immunotherapy could become safer by stabilizing the cells that keep immune responses under control, an approach that reversed treatment-related inflammation in mice. Some cancer patients have to stop immunotherapy when their immune system starts attacking healthy tissue. These reactions can occur with drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors, which help immune cells known as T […]
Scientists Ranked 20 Protein-Rich Foods on Health, Affordability, and Sustainability. One Surprising Food Came Out on Top
Tofu took the crown in a showdown of 20 protein-rich foods judged on health, affordability, availability, and their toll on the planet. Protein-rich foods can look very different when cost, access, health, and environmental impact all enter the picture. In a study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Dr. Chris Macdonald developed a framework […]
Popular Weight-Loss Drugs May Have a Surprising Effect on Your Brain
Popular weight-loss drugs may offer benefits that extend beyond metabolism, potentially helping preserve memory and other cognitive abilities. Medications used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes may also influence memory and other cognitive abilities. But whether drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide can actually protect the brain remains uncertain, particularly after major clinical trials […]
Why Did Polynesians Suddenly Sail Across the Pacific After 1,700 Years? Scientists May Have Found the Answer
The real history behind Moana may be tied to a devastating drought that pushed Polynesian voyagers toward wetter islands and helped reshape human settlement across the Pacific. In Disney’s Moana, a young Polynesian girl sails beyond her island’s barrier reef to save her threatened home. Scientists have now uncovered evidence that a real environmental crisis […]
A Natural “Varnish” May Explain How 37,000-Year-Old Cave Art Survived
A new technique uses UV light to reveal a natural mineral varnish that may have helped preserve Chauvet Cave’s 37,000-year-old charcoal drawings. About 37,000 years ago, Paleolithic people entered a limestone cave in southeastern France and drew the animals around them, including cave bears, cave lions, bison, and horses. An ancient rockfall later sealed away […]