Science News

New research illuminates aspects of how an early embryo, the product of fertilization of a female egg cell by a male sperm cell, can give rise to all the many cell types of the adult animal.

Fluctuations in female sex hormones could play a role in the development of allergies and asthma, a major review of evidence suggests.

A massless particle, a.k.a. Weyl fermion, predicted nearly 100 years ago, has been found in another corner of physics. Electrons in a semimetal can behave like these particles. They are either right-handed or left-handed...

With this year's severe flu season, one statistic is especially chilling. Each year, around 50 percent of all children under 5 years old who die from the flu were previously healthy. Adults who die from the flu, on the o...

New details about how a carbohydrate-restricted diet improves metabolism were revealed in a new study which could lead to improved treatments for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

A study has revealed that a new scanning technology could almost halve the number of liver biopsies carried out on people with fatty liver disease.

A new article showcases the wide differences in BRCA testing protocols at labs around the world. The article surveyed 86 laboratories around the world about their BRCA testing practices and found that all the labs differ...

A new medical guideline suggests Canada's family physicians should take a sober second thought before prescribing medical cannabis to most patients.

Experimental physicists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst today report that they have developed a fast, dynamic new process for wrapping liquid droplets in ultrathin polymer sheets, so what once was a painstakin...

At the intersection of physics and philosophy, there's a question that's weighed on the minds of great thinkers for centuries: Is there truly such a thing as free will? When we make a choice, are we fundamentally any dif...

As globalization and climate change spread tropical diseases around the globe, not all populations are equally susceptible to infection. Gene variants common in people of Asian and European ancestry, for instance, make t...

The antioxidant drug ebselen can prevent sexual transmission of Zika virus from male to female mice, according to new research. The results hint at a potential role for ebselen in preventing Zika spread among humans.

Using a computational model of the human immune system, scientists have shown that efforts to combat sepsis might be more effective if they targeted multiple steps in the molecular processes that drive the illness.

In recent years, high-profile claims in the academic literature and popular press have alleged that the sugar industry paid scientists in the 1960s to play down the link between sugar and heart disease and emphasize inst...

The team that first unveiled the rapid, inexpensive, highly sensitive CRISPR-based diagnostic tool called SHERLOCK has greatly enhanced the tool's power to work with a miniature paper test, similar to a pregnancy test, a...

Experimental activation of a small set of nerve cells in the brain prevents convulsive seizures in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of epilepsy among human adults.

Scientists have mapped for the first time the midgut metabolites of the Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that can transmit viruses that cause dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever to humans.

Analyzing the genetics and smoking habits of more than half a million people has shed new light on the complexities of controlling blood pressure.

A team of researchers have developed state-of-the-art software to predict reaction yields while varying up to four components. Their software can work for any reaction on any substrate, using Spartan data. The researcher...

Utilizing an unsuspected activity of the CRISPR-Cas12a protein, researchers created a simple diagnostic system called DETECTR to analyze cells, blood, saliva, urine and stool to detect genetic mutations, cancer and antib...

A tool that has already revolutionized disease research may soon get even better, thanks to an accidental discovery in the bacteria that cause many of the worst cases of meningitis.

A new study suggests that higher yogurt intake is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk among hypertensive men and women.