Latest articles

High evidenceReview

Review links diabetes drugs to higher blood counts

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 human studies found that SGLT2 inhibitors were associated with increases in hemoglobin and hematocrit among adults with type 2 diabetes. Real-world data reported a rise in polycythemia prevalence, but evidence about blood-clotting risk was limited and mainly observational. These findings describe associations and do not establish that the medicines cause clotting events.

1 week ago·12 views

Climate & Environment

Kīlauea’s explosive magma may have waited years without a final boost

Crystals from Kīlauea’s explosive eruption around 900 C.E. suggest its magma may have been stored for years without a last-minute injection of new magma. The result indicates that such mixing may not be necessary for an explosive eruption at the volcano.

1 week ago·14 views

Climate & Environment

Climate models point to Arctic ice loss and ocean shifts at lower warming

An analysis of 54 climate models found 73 unusually large changes in ocean, sea-ice and atmospheric variables. The events, including winter Arctic sea-ice disappearance and a possible weakening of Atlantic overturning, were projected to occur earlier and at lower global warming than previous reviews assessed.

1 week ago·69 views

Biology

A new tool maps cell interactions across healthy and cancerous mouse gut tissue

Researchers developed MuSpAn, a software package for mapping how cells interact across different scales in tissue. Tests on normal mouse intestine and a mouse intestinal cancer model identified coordinated fibroblast–immune interactions and a range of fibroblast states.

1 week ago·31 views

AI & Computing

A new tool reconstructs antibiotic-resistance plasmids from short DNA reads

A new tool called plsMD reconstructs antibiotic-resistance plasmids from short-read bacterial genome data. It outperformed existing tools on two datasets, although its performance was lower on a newly sequenced-isolate dataset than on an established benchmark.

1 week ago·47 views

Biology

A tiny DNA device punctures membranes and delivers cargo, then pulls back

A programmable DNA device punctured artificial membranes, delivered attached molecular cargo and then retracted to promote resealing. Researchers also used it to control biochemical reactions in cell-sized environments, but the study does not report tests in living organisms.

1 week ago·55 views

Engineering & Technology

Single cobalt atoms help zinc–manganese batteries last 15,000 cycles

A manganese dioxide cathode containing isolated, high-spin cobalt atoms helped an aqueous zinc–manganese battery deliver 658 mAh per gram and run for more than 15,000 cycles. The researchers say the cobalt enabled reversible three-electron storage and helped convert deposited manganese compounds back into active material without added acid or a redox mediator.

1 week ago·15 views

Climate & Environment

Scarcity may make ivory, pangolin scales and rare plants more desirable

A study of illegal markets for ivory, pangolin scales and succulent plants suggests that scarcity can sometimes increase the appeal of wildlife products. The researchers say this can create feedback loops that accelerate species’ decline, limiting the effectiveness of enforcement focused only on supply.

1 week ago·19 views

Climate & Environment

Ghana boreholes showed a high dry-season fluoride risk for children

A study of 34 public boreholes in Ghana found a 69% modeled dry-season probability of fluoride-related health-risk thresholds being exceeded for children. The researchers recommend confirmatory testing and site-specific responses at high-risk boreholes, while noting that the screening approach needs testing with larger, year-round datasets.

1 week ago·11 views

Society & Economics

Adults with chronic pain want mental-health apps with clear, practical benefits

In interviews, 42 U.S. adults aged 45 and older with chronic pain and symptoms of depression or anxiety described what would make mental-health apps useful to them. They favored clear practical benefits, strong privacy protections and customizable support over gamification or extensive passive data collection.

1 week ago·17 views

Materials & Energy

Polar Bear Hair Inspires Silk-and-Cellulose Fibers for an Insulating Glove

A new all-biomass fiber uses silk and cellulose in a porous structure inspired by polar bear hair. The fibers were strong enough to make a flexible glove that showed good thermal insulation.

1 week ago·24 views

Society & Economics

Elite esports careers are most likely to end early, with prize money top-heavy

A study of 846 elite esports players finds that exits are most common early in careers, while prize earnings remain concentrated among a small elite. Earnings grew rapidly in team formats but were broadly stagnant in individual formats from 1999 to 2024.

1 week ago·15 views

Materials & Energy

A magnetic catalyst switches oxygen’s path to water or hydrogen peroxide

A bioinspired magnetic catalyst steered oxygen reduction toward either hydrogen peroxide or water, depending on the structure of its magnetic iron oxide component. The single-domain design reached 63.9% hydrogen peroxide selectivity, while the multi-domain design favored the four-electron route to water.

1 week ago·16 views

Climate & Environment

Pumped-hydro storage cut modeled emissions by 81%

A life-cycle assessment modeled pumped-hydro storage alongside wind, grid and hydropower. Compared with a baseline without storage, the system reduced modeled greenhouse-gas emissions by 81%, while steel and cement production created environmental burdens.

1 week ago·13 views

Biology

Flickering light increased a memory-related brain rhythm in the hippocampus

In an exploratory study of eight people, ultra-high-frequency flickering visual stimulation increased sharp-wave ripples in the hippocampus during wakefulness. The result suggests a possible noninvasive way to influence a memory-related brain rhythm, but the study did not test whether memory improved.

1 week ago·13 views