The Hidden Dangers of Placebos
Poorly reported placebos could lead to mistaken estimates of benefits and harms. Their findings are published today, September 30, 2019, in the European Journal of…
Blood Test Can Replace Invasive Biopsy for More Patients With Lung Cancer
A growing number of patients with advanced lung cancer could soon be offered a blood test to help to decide the best treatment for them…
Type 2 Diabetes Remission Possible With ‘Achievable’ Weight Loss
People who achieve weight loss of 10% or more in the first five years following diagnosis with type 2 diabetes have the greatest chance of…
Otherworldly Discovery: Worms With Three Sexes in Mono Lake
Caltech scientists have discovered a new species of worm thriving in the extreme environment of Mono Lake. This new species, temporarily dubbed Auanema sp., has…
Statins Could Increase or Decrease Osteoporosis Risk Depending on the Dosage
A study by the Medical University of Vienna and the Complexity Science Hub Vienna shows for the first time a connection between the dosage of…
New Concept Enables More Eco-Friendly Batteries With Twice the Energy Density
A new concept for an aluminum battery has twice the energy density as previous versions, is made of abundant materials, and could lead to reduced…
Suicidal Thoughts Reduced by Sleeping Pills in Patients With Severe Insomnia
Insomnia is a driver of suicide, and particularly people with severe insomnia may safely benefit from taking a sedative to help address their sleep problems…
Supermassive Black Hole Rips Apart a Star in Rare Tidal Disruption Event
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has for the first time seen the aftermath of a star that was violently ripped apart by a supermassive…
Super-Resolution Microscopy Now Possible in Real-Time
They can make tiny cell structures visible: cutting-edge light microscopes offer resolutions of a few tenths of a nanometers—in other words, a millionth of a…
Fear Is Not a Factor in Gun Ownership
Are gun owners more or less afraid than people who do not own guns? A new study from researchers at Florida State University and the…
How to Tie Microscopic Knots Within a Solution of Liquid Crystals
Physicists at CU Boulder have gone to creative lengths to earn their scouting merit badges for knot-tying. In a study published on September 23, 2019,…
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Shows How the Brain Repurposes Unused Regions
Listening triggers synchronized activity in the ‘visual’ cortex in blind adults. In adults that are born blind, the “visual” cortex is activated in a similar…
Did Childhood Sugar Intake Decades Ago Cause Today’s Obesity Epidemic?
Current obesity rates in adults in the United States could be the result of dietary changes that took place decades ago, according to a new…
Microplastics in the Great Lakes: 1,941 Particles Per Pound of Sediment
From the Great Pacific garbage patch to inland rivers, plastics are among the most widespread contaminants on Earth. Microplastics—particles of plastic smaller than five millimeters—are…
Roman Space Telescope Fitted for ‘Starglasses’ [Video]
[Editor’s Note: The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (
Using Nanoparticles to Convert CO2 Into Valuable Resources
Enzymes use cascade reactions to produce complex molecules from comparatively simple raw materials. Researchers have now copied this principle. An international research team has used…
Key Theory on Earth’s Climate May Be Wrong
Rutgers-led study casts doubt on Himalayan rock weathering hypothesis. A key theory that attributes the climate evolution of the earth to the breakdown of Himalayan…
Machine Learning to Automatically Measure and Control Qubits
The electron spin of individual electrons in quantum dots could serve as the smallest information unit of a quantum computer. Scientists from the Universities of…