ScienceDaily: Your source for the latest research news

Jan. 13, 2026 — Scientists at Tufts have found a way to turn common glucose into a rare sugar that tastes almost exactly like table sugar—but with far fewer downsides. Using engineered bacteria as microscopic factories, the team can now produce tagatose efficiently and cheaply, achieving yields far higher than current methods. Tagatose delivers nearly the same sweetness as sugar with significantly fewer ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Some antibiotics stop bacteria from growing without actually killing them, allowing infections to return later. Scientists at the University of Basel created a new test that tracks individual bacteria to see which drugs truly eliminate them. When tested on tuberculosis and other serious lung infections, the method revealed big differences in how bacteria tolerate treatment. The findings could ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Researchers have discovered a brain activity pattern that can predict which people with mild cognitive impairment are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Using a noninvasive brain scanning technique and a custom analysis tool, they detected subtle changes in electrical signals tied to memory processing years before diagnosis. The findings point to a new way of spotting Alzheimer’s ...

Jan. 11, 2026 — Roasted coffee may do more than wake you up—it could help control blood sugar. Researchers discovered several new coffee compounds that inhibit α-glucosidase, a key enzyme linked to type 2 diabetes. Some of these molecules were even more potent than a common anti-diabetic drug. The study also introduced a faster, greener way to uncover health-boosting compounds in complex ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Florida State University scientists have engineered a new crystal that forces atomic magnets to swirl into complex, repeating patterns. The effect comes from mixing two nearly identical compounds whose mismatched structures create magnetic tension at the atomic level. These swirling “skyrmion-like” textures are prized for their low-energy behavior and stability. The discovery could help drive ...

Jan. 11, 2026 — KAIST researchers have developed a way to reprogram immune cells already inside tumors into cancer-killing machines. A drug injected directly into the tumor is absorbed by macrophages, prompting them to recognize and attack cancer cells while activating nearby immune defenses. This eliminates the need for lab-based cell extraction and modification. In animal models, the strategy significantly ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — Stanford researchers have developed an AI that can predict future disease risk using data from just one night of sleep. The system analyzes detailed physiological signals, looking for hidden patterns across the brain, heart, and breathing. It successfully forecast risks for conditions like cancer, dementia, and heart disease. The results suggest sleep contains early health warnings doctors have ...

Jan. 8, 2026 — A team of physicists has discovered a surprisingly simple way to build nuclear clocks using tiny amounts of rare thorium. By electroplating thorium onto steel, they achieved the same results as years of work with delicate crystals — but far more efficiently. These clocks could be vastly more precise than current atomic clocks and work where GPS fails, from deep space to underwater submarines. ...

Jan. 13, 2026 — Honey bees can normally keep their hives perfectly climate-controlled, but extreme heat can overwhelm their defenses. During a scorching Arizona summer, researchers found that high temperatures caused damaging temperature fluctuations inside hives, leading to population declines. Smaller colonies were hit hardest, experiencing the most severe swings. As global temperatures rise, heat waves could ...

Jan. 13, 2026 — Scientists tracking Earth’s water from space discovered that El Niño and La Niña are synchronizing floods and droughts across continents. When these climate cycles intensify, far-apart regions can become unusually wet or dangerously dry at the same time. The study also found a global shift about a decade ago, with dry extremes becoming more common than wet ones. Together, the results show ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Microscopic ocean algae produce a huge share of Earth’s oxygen—but they need iron to do it. New field research shows that when iron is scarce, phytoplankton waste energy and photosynthesis falters. Climate-driven changes may reduce iron delivery to the oceans, weakening the base of marine food chains. Over time, this could mean fewer krill and fewer whales, seals, and ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — Coral reefs appear to run a daily timetable for microscopic life in nearby waters. Scientists found that microbial populations above reefs rise and fall over the course of a single day, shaped by feeding, predation, and coral-driven processes. Some microbes peak during daylight, while others surge at night. These rhythms offer new clues about how reefs influence their surrounding ...

Jan. 13, 2026 — MIT engineers have developed a pill that can wirelessly report when it’s been swallowed. Inside the capsule is a biodegradable antenna that sends a signal within minutes of ingestion, then safely dissolves. The system is designed to work with existing medications and could help doctors track adherence for high-risk patients. Researchers hope it will prevent missed doses that can lead to serious ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Most U.S. adults have risk factors tied to a little-known condition called CKM syndrome, which connects heart disease, kidney problems, diabetes, and obesity into one powerful health threat. When these issues overlap, the danger rises far more than when they occur alone. Despite low awareness, people are eager to learn how CKM is diagnosed and treated. Experts say understanding how these systems ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are changing how Americans spend money on food. A large Cornell study found households cut grocery spending by over 5% within six months, with even bigger drops at fast-food restaurants. Snack foods and sweets saw the steepest declines, while only a few categories like yogurt and fruit rose slightly. The effects linger for at least a year among continued ...

Jan. 11, 2026 — A new international trial has delivered striking results for people on dialysis, showing that daily fish oil supplements can sharply reduce serious heart-related events. Patients taking fish oil had far fewer heart attacks, strokes, and cardiac deaths than those on placebo. Researchers say this is especially important because dialysis patients ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — Many people with multiple sclerosis struggle with balance and coordination, and this study uncovers a hidden reason why. Researchers found that inflammation in the brain disrupts the energy supply of vital movement-controlling neurons. As their mitochondria fail, these cells weaken and eventually die, worsening motor problems over time. Protecting brain energy systems could open the door to ...

Jan. 5, 2026 — A long-running debate over Tamiflu’s safety in children may finally be settled. Researchers found that influenza, not the antiviral medication, was linked to serious neuropsychiatric events like seizures and hallucinations. Even more striking, kids treated with Tamiflu had about half the risk of these events compared to untreated children with the flu. The results suggest the drug may be ...

Jan. 5, 2026 — Nearly all women in STEM graduate programs report feeling like impostors, despite strong evidence of success. This mindset leads many to dismiss their achievements as luck and fear being “found out.” Research links impostorism to worse mental health, higher burnout, and increased thoughts of dropping out. Supportive environments and shifting beliefs about intelligence may help break the ...

Jan. 5, 2026 — New research shows gut bacteria can directly influence how the brain develops and functions. When scientists transferred microbes from different primates into mice, the animals’ brains began to resemble those of the original host species. Microbes from large-brained primates boosted brain energy and learning pathways, while others triggered very different patterns. The results suggest gut ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — Sugar-loving mouth bacteria create acids that damage teeth, but arginine can help fight back. In a clinical trial, arginine-treated dental plaque stayed less acidic, became structurally less harmful, and supported more beneficial bacteria. These changes made the biofilms less aggressive after sugar exposure. The results point to arginine as a promising, natural addition to cavity-prevention ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — Scientists at USC are launching a new trial to test a tiny stem cell implant that could restore vision in people with advanced dry macular degeneration. The hair-thin patch replaces damaged retinal cells responsible for sharp, central vision. Earlier studies showed the implant was safe and helped some patients see better. Researchers now hope it can deliver meaningful, lasting improvements in ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — Foods that rely heavily on preservatives may be doing more than extending shelf life. In a large study spanning more than a decade, people with the highest intake of preservative additives were far more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The increased risk appeared across many commonly used additives found in everyday processed foods. Researchers say the findings support advice to limit highly ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — A new study finds that TikTok videos about gout frequently spread confusing or inaccurate advice. Most clips focus on diet changes and supplements, while barely mentioning the long-term treatments doctors say are essential for controlling the disease. Many videos also frame gout as a lifestyle problem, rather than a condition driven largely by genetics and underlying health factors. Researchers ...

Jan. 9, 2026 — Scientists in South Korea have discovered a way to make all-solid-state batteries safer and more powerful using inexpensive materials. Instead of adding costly metals, they redesigned the battery’s internal structure to help lithium ions move faster. This simple structural tweak boosted performance by up to four times. The work points to cheaper, safer batteries for phones, electric vehicles, ...

Jan. 7, 2026 — Researchers have built a new platform that produces ultrashort UV-C laser pulses and detects them at room temperature using atom-thin materials. The light flashes last just femtoseconds and can be used to send encoded messages through open space. The system relies on efficient laser generation and highly responsive sensors that scale well for ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — Scientists are learning to engineer light in rich, multidimensional ways that dramatically increase how much information a single photon can carry. This leap could make quantum communication more secure, quantum computers more efficient, and sensors far more sensitive. Recent advances have turned what was once an experimental curiosity into compact, chip-based technologies with real-world ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — A new chip-based quantum memory uses nanoprinted “light cages” to trap light inside atomic vapor, enabling fast, reliable storage of quantum information. The structures can be fabricated with extreme precision and filled with atoms in days instead of months. Multiple memories can operate side by side on a single chip, all performing nearly identically. The result is a powerful, scalable ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — A distant pulsar’s radio signal flickers as it passes through space, much like stars twinkle in Earth’s atmosphere. By monitoring this effect for 10 months, researchers watched the pattern slowly evolve as gas, Earth, and the pulsar all moved. Those changes create minuscule delays in the signal, but measuring them helps keep pulsars incredibly precise. The findings also aid SETI scientists in ...

Jan. 2, 2026 — A physicist has proposed a bold experiment that could allow gravitational waves to be manipulated using laser light. By transferring minute amounts of energy between light and gravity, the interaction would leave behind faint but detectable fingerprints. The setup resembles advanced gravitational-wave detectors like LIGO, but pushes them further ...

Dec. 31, 2025 — As we age, our immune system quietly loses its edge, and scientists have uncovered a surprising reason why. A protein called platelet factor 4 naturally declines over time, allowing blood stem cells to multiply too freely and drift toward unhealthy, mutation-prone behavior linked to cancer, inflammation, and heart disease. Researchers found that restoring this protein in older mice — and even ...

Dec. 25, 2025 — Scientists are digging into the hidden makeup of carbon-rich asteroids to see whether they could one day fuel space exploration—or even be mined for valuable resources. By analyzing rare meteorites that naturally fall to Earth, researchers have uncovered clues about the chemistry, history, and potential usefulness of these ancient space rocks. ...

Jan. 11, 2026 — Scientists have unveiled a new way to capture ultra-sharp optical images without lenses or painstaking alignment. The approach uses multiple sensors to collect raw light patterns independently, then synchronizes them later using computation. This sidesteps long-standing physical limits that have held optical imaging back for decades. The result is wide-field, sub-micron resolution from distances ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — Researchers have created microscopic robots so small they’re barely visible, yet smart enough to sense, decide, and move completely on their own. Powered by light and equipped with tiny computers, the robots swim by manipulating electric fields rather than using moving parts. They can detect temperature changes, follow programmed paths, and even work together in groups. The breakthrough marks ...

Jan. 4, 2026 — New research shows that AI doesn’t need endless training data to start acting more like a human brain. When researchers redesigned AI systems to better resemble biological brains, some models produced brain-like activity without any training at all. This challenges today’s data-hungry approach to AI development. The work suggests smarter design could dramatically speed up learning while ...

Jan. 3, 2026 — Scientists have developed molecular devices that can switch roles, behaving as memory, logic, or learning elements within the same structure. The breakthrough comes from precise chemical design that lets electrons and ions reorganize dynamically. Unlike conventional electronics, these devices do not just imitate intelligence but physically encode ...

Jan. 7, 2026 — Scientists have created a new way to watch plants breathe—live and in high definition—while tracking exactly how much carbon and water they exchange with the air. The breakthrough could help unlock crops that grow smarter, stronger, and more ...

Jan. 5, 2026 — CO2 can stimulate plant growth, but only when enough nitrogen is available—and that key ingredient has been seriously miscalculated. A new study finds that natural nitrogen fixation has been overestimated by about 50 percent in major climate models. This means the climate-cooling benefits of plant growth under high CO2 are smaller than expected. The result: a reduced buffer against climate ...

Jan. 4, 2026 — Not all microbes are villains—many are vital to keeping us healthy. Researchers have created a world-first database that tracks beneficial bacteria and natural compounds linked to immune strength, stress reduction, and resilience. The findings challenge the long-standing obsession with germs as threats and instead highlight the hidden health benefits of biodiversity. This shift could influence ...

Jan. 1, 2026 — Moss may look insignificant, but it can carry a hidden forensic fingerprint. Because different moss species thrive in very specific micro-environments, tiny fragments can reveal exactly where a person has been. Researchers reviewing 150 years of cases found moss has helped solve crimes across multiple countries, including one case where it led investigators directly to a buried child. The study ...

Jan. 12, 2026 — Plastic pollution is not just in oceans and soil. Scientists have now found enormous amounts of microscopic plastic floating through urban air, far exceeding earlier estimates. Road dust and rainfall play a major role in moving these particles through the atmosphere. The findings suggest the air may be one of the most important pathways for plastic ...

Jan. 7, 2026 — Scientists have discovered that wildfires release far more air-polluting gases than previously estimated. Many of these hidden emissions can transform into fine particles that are dangerous to breathe. The study shows wildfire pollution rivals human-made emissions in some parts of the world. This helps explain why wildfire smoke can linger and worsen air quality long after the flames are ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — Earthquakes happen daily, sometimes with devastating consequences, yet predicting them remains out of reach. What scientists can do is map the hidden layers beneath the surface that control how strongly the ground shakes. A new approach speeds up complex seismic simulations by a factor of about 1,000, making risk assessments far more practical. While it won’t forecast the next quake, it could ...

Jan. 6, 2026 — When a huge earthquake struck near Kamchatka, the SWOT satellite captured an unprecedented, high-resolution view of the resulting tsunami as it crossed the Pacific. The data revealed the waves were far more complex and scattered than scientists expected, overturning the idea that large tsunamis travel as a single, stable wave. Ocean sensors ...

Dec. 15, 2025 — Around 1,000 years ago, a major climate shift reshaped rainfall across the South Pacific, making western islands like Samoa and Tonga drier while eastern islands such as Tahiti became increasingly wet. New evidence from plant waxes preserved in island sediments shows this change coincided with the final major wave of Polynesian expansion eastward. ...

Dec. 12, 2025 — Fossils from Qatar have revealed a small, newly identified sea cow species that lived in the Arabian Gulf more than 20 million years ago. The site contains the densest known collection of fossil sea cow bones, showing that these animals once thrived in rich seagrass meadows. Their ecological role mirrors that of modern dugongs, which still reshape the Gulf’s seafloor as they graze. The findings ...

Nov. 16, 2025 — Researchers found that ancient hominids—including early humans—were exposed to lead throughout childhood, leaving chemical traces in fossil teeth. Experiments suggest this exposure may have driven genetic changes that strengthened language-related brain functions in modern ...

Nov. 13, 2025 — Researchers discovered that living horsetails act like natural distillation towers, producing bizarre oxygen isotope signatures more extreme than anything previously recorded on Earth—sometimes resembling meteorite water. By tracing these isotopic shifts from the plant base to its tip, scientists unlocked a new way to decode ancient humidity and climate, using both modern plants and fossilized ...

Jan. 4, 2026 — Researchers compared a traditional Chinese medicine, Yueju Pill, with a standard antidepressant and found both reduced depression symptoms. However, only Yueju Pill increased a brain-supporting protein associated with mood improvement. Brain imaging showed that unique network patterns—especially in visual regions—could predict who benefited most from Yueju Pill. This opens the door to more ...

Jan. 4, 2026 — UK experts are warning that access to new weight-loss drugs could depend more on wealth than medical need. Strict NHS criteria mean only a limited number of patients will receive Mounjaro, while many others must pay privately. Researchers say this risks worsening existing health inequalities, especially for groups whose conditions are often missed or under-diagnosed. They are calling for fairer, ...

Dec. 24, 2025 — What we put on our plates may matter more for the climate than we realize. Researchers found that most people, especially in wealthy countries, are exceeding a “food emissions budget” needed to keep global warming below 2°C. Beef alone accounts for nearly half of food-related emissions in Canada. Small changes—less waste, smaller portions, and fewer steaks—could add up to a big climate ...

Dec. 8, 2025 — A newly analyzed set of climate data points to a major volcanic eruption that may have played a key role in the Black Death’s arrival. Cooling and crop failures across Europe pushed Italian states to bring in grain from the Black Sea. Those shipments may have carried plague-infected fleas. The study ties together tree rings, ice cores, and historical writings to reframe how the pandemic ...

Nov. 29, 2025 — Millions face Medicare decisions each year, but many don’t take advantage of tools that can save them money and stress. Insurance marketing often overshadows unbiased options like SHIP, leaving people unaware of better choices. Comparing real costs—not just premiums—can prevent unpleasant surprises, especially when provider networks or drug rules change. New assistance programs for ...

Sep. 16, 2025 — Preschoolers with ADHD are often given medication right after diagnosis, against medical guidelines that recommend starting with behavioral therapy. Limited access to therapy and physician pressures drive early prescribing, despite risks and reduced effectiveness in young ...

Aug. 26, 2025 — Australian teachers are in crisis, with 9 in 10 experiencing severe stress and nearly 70% saying their workload is unmanageable. A major UNSW Sydney study found teachers suffer depression, anxiety, and stress at rates three to four times higher than the national average, largely driven by excessive administrative tasks. These mental health struggles are pushing many to consider leaving the ...

June 3, 2025 — The effects of artificial intelligence on adolescents are nuanced and complex, according to a new report that calls on developers to prioritize features that protect young people from exploitation, manipulation and the erosion of real-world ...

Dec. 28, 2025 — Researchers found that U.S. metal mines already contain large amounts of critical minerals that are mostly going unused. Recovering even a small fraction of these byproducts could sharply reduce dependence on imports for materials essential to clean energy and advanced technology. In many cases, the value of these recovered minerals could exceed the value of the mines’ primary products. The ...

Nov. 24, 2025 — Europe is investing in a coordinated effort to develop high-power optical vortex technologies and train new specialists in the field. The HiPOVor network unites academia and industry to advance applications ranging from material processing to environmentally friendly photonic ...

Nov. 21, 2025 — Scientists have directly measured the minuscule electron sharing that makes precious-metal catalysts so effective. Their new technique, IET, reveals how molecules bind and react on metal surfaces with unprecedented clarity. The insights promise faster discovery of advanced catalysts for energy, chemicals, and ...

Aug. 21, 2025 — Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations feed fire severity, but also shows that proactive thinning could prevent forests from collapsing into shrubland ...