Consumer Health: How The algorithm will see you now? Patients say not without a doctor nearby

Credit: Photos Hobby, Unsplash Artificial intelligence may be reshaping modern medicine, but when it comes to their own health, patients still want to know a real person is watching the screen. Researchers at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University found that U.S. adults were significantly more likely to trust in and choose medical AI in scenarios with better AI performance, U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, national and local certifications, the presence of a clinician, and the use of representative data. The study, which is published in JAMA Network Open, is important because it underscores a central challenge Read More

Consumer Health: How Algorithm allows paramedics to predict brain damage risk after cardiac arrest

Results from the RAPID-MIRACLE trial have found, for the first time, that the widely used MIRACLE2 risk score can be applied outside a hospital setting to accurately predict brain injury following a cardiac arrest. This could inform the type of immediate care patients receive, helping to ensure they have the best treatment available while saving crucial resources. An out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) carries a high risk of death, with fewer than 10% of patients surviving. Even when a patient’s heart is successfully restarted through CPR and circulation is restored, known as return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), clinicians often face uncertainty Read More

Consumer Health: How to create better hearing aids and more accessible public spaces

Brain activity linked to speech sounds. This shows brain map illustrating areas where activity changed depending on how clear the speech was. Warmer colors show regions that became more active when speech was harder to understand and required more listening effort. Cooler colors show regions that became more active when speech was clearer and easier to understand. Credit: University of Stirling. Scientists have found that people remain engaged with stories even in noisy environments—a discovery that could pave the way for more effective hearing aids and better designed public spaces. Psychologist Dr. Aysha Motala of the University of Stiring’s Faculty Read More

Consumer Health: How AI meal plans for teens may undercount calories by nearly 700

Many teens dealing with weight issues are turning to AI models to help them create meal plans with the aim of losing weight. But a new study shows that the resulting plans may not always adequately cover necessary nutrients and calorie intake. Researchers in Turkey compared the meal planning abilities of five AI models, prompting them to create meal plans for teenagers trying to lose weight and compared the results against the recommendations of a registered dietitian. They published their findings in Frontiers in Nutrition. “We show that diet plans generated by AI models tend to substantially underestimate total energy Read More

Consumer Health: How Hybrid approach could aid studies of mood disorders

Overview. Credit: Nature Human Behaviour (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02324-0 People’s decisions are known to be influenced by past experiences, including the outcomes of earlier choices. For over a century, psychologists have been trying to shed light on the processes underpinning human decision-making and reward-based learning. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, computational algorithms that can simulate human intelligence and learn to complete specific tasks, have opened new possibilities for the study of reward-based learning. In fact, many of these systems are trained via reinforcement learning (RL), an approach that entails acquiring specific skills via a process of trial-and-error, where accurate Read More

Consumer Health: How AI can predict risk of serious heart disease from mammograms

Examples of mammograms showing mild, moderate and severe calcification. Credit: European Heart Journal / Hari Trivedi The risk of serious or fatal heart disease can be predicted with artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of mammograms, according to research published in the European Heart Journal. The study shows that AI can be used to assess the build-up of calcium deposits in the arteries of the breast from the standard X-ray mammography scans that are currently used in routine breast cancer screening. Researchers say this technique could help the disproportionate number of women who have undiagnosed and untreated cardiovascular disease. The study is Read More

Consumer Health: How AI model enables personalized blood glucose predictions for type one diabetes

BiT-MAML adopts meta-learning to address inter-patient variability and a hybrid architecture to capture both short-term and long-term patterns in BG levels. The proposed evaluation scheme shows a new approach for predicting BG levels in patients while accounting for inter-patient variability. Credit: Professor Jaehyuk Cho, Jeonbuk National University, Korea Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s own immune system attacks insulin-producing cells. As a result, patients with T1D must closely monitor their blood glucose (BG) levels and rely on insulin injections or pumps. Even small miscalculations or oversights can lead to unregulated blood sugar levels, leading Read More

Consumer Health: How AI-driven tool significantly personalizes antidepressant treatment

An AI-driven tool that tailors antidepressant treatment to individual patients was shown to improve outcomes for people with depression, compared to standard treatment, in a major international trial. It is the first time ever a mental health clinical prediction tool has been demonstrated as effective. The PETRUSHKA tool, developed by the University of Oxford, supports clinicians and patients to choose the antidepressant that is better tailored to each individual. It uses AI to combine clinical and demographic information with patient preferences, particularly around side effects, to support treatment personalization and shared decision-making in routine care. The tool was tested in Read More

Consumer Health: How AI disclosure labels may do more harm than good

A new study in JCOM finds they reduce trust in true scientific info while boosting false claims—a “truth–falsity crossover effect” that challenges current transparency policies. Credit: Federica Sgorbissa—SISSA Medialab The growing use of AI-generated scientific and science-related content, especially on social media, raises important concerns: these texts may contain false or highly persuasive information that is difficult for users to detect, potentially shaping public opinion and decision-making. Several jurisdictions and platforms are moving toward clearer disclosure of AI-generated or AI-synthesized content to protect the public. However, a new study published in JCOM warns that these labels may have the opposite Read More

Consumer Health: How AI is changing the demand for skilled workers in Germany

Around 1 in 4 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany now uses artificial intelligence (AI)—primarily to free up staff from routine tasks. In future, SMEs will increasingly need skilled workers with AI expertise. Otherwise, they risk facing recruitment difficulties when competing with large corporations. In tax consultancy firms, artificial intelligence (AI) is used to automate routine tasks such as bookkeeping and document processing. Some painting firms are using robots for standardized tasks, such as priming large surfaces. In other trades, digital assistance systems support management with route planning, telephone support and workflow management. Artificial intelligence has arrived in small Read More

Consumer Health: How Top AI coding tools make mistakes one in four times

The overall designed annotation pipeline of StructEval dataset. Credit: On arXiv. DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2505.20139 New research from the University of Waterloo shows that artificial intelligence (AI) still struggles with some basic software development tasks, raising questions about how reliably AI systems can assist developers. As Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly incorporated into software development, developers have struggled to ensure that AI-generated responses are accurate, consistent, and easy to integrate into larger development workflows. The research, “StructEval: Benchmarking LLMs’ Capabilities to Generate Structural Outputs,” appears in Transactions on Machine Learning Research and will be presented at ICLR 2026. Previously, LLMs responded Read More

Consumer Health: How AI chatbots’ tendency to always agree may reinforce delusions in vulnerable users

The integration of large language model-based AI chatbots into multiple facets of our everyday lives has opened us up to advantages that would have been considered impossible even a decade ago. The same development has, however, opened us up to unforeseen risks, including the impact that engaging with AI chatbots can have on people dealing with mental illness. AI chatbots are designed to keep conversations going, often by agreeing with users. A article by researchers from King’s College, London, found that this sycophantic tendency may sometimes do more harm than good, reinforcing unusual thoughts rather than challenging them, and potentially Read More

Consumer Health: How AI boosts breast cancer detection by 10.4% in UK screening evaluation

The UK’s first comprehensive evaluation of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in breast cancer screening found that it can increase breast cancer detection by 10.4% and has the potential to reduce the workload of health care workers by more than 30% compared to the current clinical process. Published today in Nature Cancer, the evaluation was carried out by a team of scientists, clinicians and software developers from the University of Aberdeen, NHS Grampian, and Kheiron Medical Technologies, now part of DeepHealth Inc. The study found that not only did AI help detect more cancers, most of which were invasive Read More

Consumer Health: How AI blood test detects early pancreatic cancer with up to 94% accuracy

The PanMETAI platform integrates AI with NMR metabolomics to detect pancreatic cancer from a small blood sample, offering a rapid and non-invasive diagnostic tool validated across international cohorts. Credit: Nature Communications A team of researchers from Taiwan has developed PanMETAI, an AI-powered platform that analyzes metabolic fingerprints in a simple blood sample to detect pancreatic cancer at its earliest stages—when treatment is most effective—achieving up to 94% diagnostic accuracy. The challenge of catching pancreatic cancer early Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer worldwide, with only a 13% five-year survival rate. The disease is notoriously difficult to Read More

Consumer Health: How AI model predicts Alzheimer’s from MRI brain volume loss with 92.87% accuracy

Segmented and labeled images of a normal brain. Credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute WPI researchers have used a form of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze anatomical changes in the brain and predict Alzheimer’s disease with nearly 93% accuracy. Their research, published in the journal Neuroscience, also revealed that the anatomical changes, involving loss of brain volume, differ by age and sex. “Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease can be difficult because symptoms can be mistaken for normal aging,” says Benjamin Nephew, assistant research professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology. “We found that machine-learning technologies, however, can analyze large amounts of Read More

Consumer Health: How Targeting ATF4 could curb metastasis

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have identified a protein linked to an increased risk of metastasis and recurrence in lung cancer. The findings are presented in a study published in the journal Nature that paves the way for new precision medicine approaches, particularly for older patients. Lung cancer primarily affects older individuals. Despite this, many laboratory studies rely on experimental animal models using young animals. To better reflect the reality of the disease, the researchers compared lung tumors in young and old mice. In addition, they analyzed data from approximately 1,000 lung cancer patients in the Swedish regions of Read More

Consumer Health: What is the effect of phubbing on relationships

Is your phone use hurting your relationship? A study from researchers at the University of Connecticut and Columbia University published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships suggests it might be. Amanda Denes, a principal investigator at UConn’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) and professor in the Department of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, led a study that looked at how couples’ phone habits influenced how satisfied they felt in their relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Denes worked with Chelsea Guest, a former Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication; Katrina Read More

Consumer Health: How 45% of adults 65 and older improved over 12 years

Aging in later life is often portrayed as a steady slide toward physical and cognitive decline. But a new study by scientists at Yale University suggests an alternate narrative—that older individuals can and do improve over time and their mindset toward aging plays a major part in their success. Analyzing more than a decade of data from a large, nationally representative study of older Americans, lead author Becca R. Levy, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), found that nearly half of adults aged 65 and older showed measurable improvement in cognitive Read More

Consumer Health: How Adults with concurrent hearing and vision loss report barriers in navigating complex, everyday environments

Echolocation and perceived sound localization abilities in blind individual. Credit: PLOS One (2026). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0342118 According to a recent multi-institute PLOS One study led by the Multisensory Research Lab at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine, time of hearing loss onset is a key determinant of patient confidence and self-reported sound localization abilities—the ability to perceive and locate objects in an environment—even in individuals who use hearing aids or who have received vision rehabilitation training. The National Institutes of Health-supported study highlights factors that shape how people with dual sensory loss (combined hearing and vision loss) engage with their Read More

Consumer Health: How Adult ADHD trial shows clinically relevant reduction in symptoms

After three months of using attexis in addition to treatment as usual (TAU), a statistically significant and clinically relevant improvement in the severity of ADHD symptoms was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group. Credit: D’Amelio, R., et al., (2026) Effectiveness of attexis, a digital intervention based on cognitive behavioral therapy for adults with ADHD: a randomized controlled trial. Psychological Medicine A randomized controlled trial (RCT) published in Psychological Medicine demonstrates a significant and clinically relevant reduction in ADHD symptoms in adults using the digital therapy “attexis.” Researchers from GAIA in Hamburg, in collaboration with the Saarland Read More

Consumer Health: What are the ADHD, social confidence and risk of alcohol problems

Young adults with ADHD who are less confident in social situations may be more likely to use alcohol as a coping mechanism, which puts them at higher risk for problem drinking. This was one of the findings of a study exploring the role of social functioning in drinking behaviors of young adults with ADHD. The findings, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggest that helping youth with ADHD learn healthy coping skills may prevent them from developing problems with alcohol use. Young adults with ADHD are more likely, even twice as likely, according to one study, to experience alcohol Read More

Consumer Health: How ADHD gender gap is tied to delayed diagnosis and poor outcomes

Females diagnosed with ADHD later in life are more likely to experience adolescent mental health struggles, teenage pregnancy, secondary school absences, and have more hospital appointments than those diagnosed in early childhood, finds new research. ADHD, a common neurodevelopmental condition, is less likely to be diagnosed in females than males. Females are also more likely than males to be diagnosed later on in life. Now, a new study by Cardiff University has uncovered new insights into how late diagnosis of ADHD in females can have profound impacts on their mental health and well-being. The research also showed that this group Read More

Consumer Health: How Additional radiation for liver cancer does not increase toxicity

New research from a University of Cincinnati Cancer Center study found external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is safe to administer to patients with liver cancer even after they undergo a targeted internal radiation therapy called Y90. Led by first author Sarah Feldkamp, MD, and senior author Jordan Kharofa, MD, the research was published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study background Feldkamp explained that while traditional EBRT delivers radiation from a machine outside the body, Y90 provides carefully aimed treatment for liver cancer through microscopic beads injected into the blood supply. The location and size of each tumor help Read More

Consumer Health: How ACP supports AAP’s evidence?based childhood vaccine schedule

The American College of Physicians (ACP) is warning that recent federal changes to introduce a new, more limited vaccination schedule for U.S. children based on the Danish childhood vaccine schedule abandons long-standing, science-based standards and could put children at risk. ACP is supporting the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) independently developed 2026 schedule, which it says better reflects evidence on effectiveness and safety and current disease epidemiology. The paper is published in Annals of Internal Medicine. To maintain science-driven guidance, ACP’s Immunization Committee reviewed the AAP’s independently produced 2026 schedule. ACP concluded that the AAP recommendations are more evidence based Read More

Consumer Health: How ACC/AHA guidelines are updated for dyslipidemia management

In a clinical practice guideline issued by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and nine other leading medical associations, updated recommendations are presented for managing dyslipidemia. The clinical practice guideline was published online March 13 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in Circulation. Roger S. Blumenthal, M.D., from the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease in Baltimore, and colleagues updated guidelines on the management of blood cholesterol. The authors note that to reduce lifelong risk for prolonged exposure to atherogenic lipoproteins, dyslipidemia should be treated earlier. They recommend that Read More

Consumer Health: How Peanut allergy risk increased in younger siblings of peanut-consuming children

Younger siblings of peanut-consuming children have an increased risk for peanut sensitization and allergy, which can be mitigated by early introduction of peanuts, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held from Feb. 27 to March 2 in Philadelphia. Michelle Huffaker, M.D., from the Immune Tolerance Network at Stanford University in California, and colleagues examined the interplay of environmental peanut, eczema, and early peanut introduction on the development of peanut sensitization and allergy in younger siblings of participants of the Learning Early About Peanut allergy (LEAP) Trial. The researchers Read More

Consumer Health: How Omalizumab is as effective as multifood oral immunotherapy for individuals with food allergy

Individuals with one to three allergenic foods are able to introduce and continue eating allergenic foods at 12 months after multifood oral immunotherapy (mOIT) or omalizumab, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held from Feb. 27 to March 2 in Philadelphia. R. Sharon Chinthrajah, M.D., from Stanford University in California, and colleagues examined dietary consumption (DC) feasibility after about 52 weeks of mOIT or omalizumab (29 and 51 participants, respectively) for one to three allergenic foods. The researchers found that using daily diaries at three and six months, Read More

Consumer Health: How No increase seen in asthma exacerbations with ICI use for melanoma, renal cell carcinoma

For patients with asthma, receipt of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy for melanoma or renal cell carcinoma is not associated with an increased risk for exacerbations, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, held from Feb. 27 to March 2 in Philadelphia. Manan Shah, from the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues examined asthma exacerbation rates in patients receiving ICIs versus matched controls in a retrospective cohort study utilizing the TriNetX U.S. Collaborative Network. Data were included for 2,329 patients (aged 18 to 80 years) with Read More

Consumer Health: How 3D and mixed reality can transform bone cancer surgery

By using digital blueprints to navigate the hidden landscape of the human body, multidisciplinary teams are proving that the best way to fight a 3D challenge like bone cancer is with a 3D solution. Credit: Yale University When a patient is diagnosed with osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer, the mission is to remove the tumor entirely. Leaving behind even a microscopic cluster of malignant cells can be the difference between remission and cancer recurrence. In the world of musculoskeletal oncology, a specialized orthopedic surgeon must act as both an architect and a demolition expert. An article published in Read More

Consumer Health: What is the 3D printable scaffold to support fast bone growth

Cylindrical demonstrations of the 3D printed scaffolds. Credit: 2026 EPFL SMaL CC BY SA A bone-like composite developed at EPFL uses naturally occurring enzymes to accelerate mineralization through an energy-efficient, room-temperature process. The strong, lightweight material shows promise for bone repair applications. Inspired by the resilient and self-repairing mechanical properties of bone, scientists have been developing synthetic materials using one of bone’s main components: a mineral called hydroxyapatite (HA). However, the high-temperature processes typically required to produce HA-based materials use significant energy and restrict the use of biologically active components, like enzymes, to promote bone growth. Researchers in the Soft Read More

Consumer Health: How New 3D material enables brain cells to communicate

Electron microscope image of tetrapodal zinc oxide. The four-armed crystals form the initial scaffold for the aerohydrogels, which is later transformed into an ultralight hydrogel network. Credit: AG Funktionale Nanomaterialien, Kiel University Until now, conventional 3D cell cultures have often been either too rigid or too unstable to realistically reproduce the complex interactions between brain cells. Researchers at Kiel University (CAU) have now developed a novel 3D material on which human brain cells can grow and exchange signals in the lab. This makes it possible to study neuronal processes and cell communication much closer to real physiological conditions. An interdisciplinary Read More

Consumer Health: How Open 3D Human Organ Atlas lets users explore anatomy in unprecedented detail

Joseph Brunet, UCL Senior Research Fellow and lead author, with Dheresa Urban, UCL Research Fellow, Joanna Purzycka, ESRF Engineer and Beamline Scientist, Hector Dejea I Velardo on ESRF Beamline BM18 preparing to scan a human heart. Credit: ESRF/Stef Candé An international team of scientists and clinicians has announced the launch of a new open-access 3D portal that allows users to explore intact human organs in unprecedented detail—from the whole organ down to individual cells locally. The Human Organ Atlas, created using a powerful synchrotron imaging method, brings together some of the most detailed 3D images of human organs ever produced. Read More

Consumer Health: How One in 20 babies experiences physical abuse

Credit: Rene Terp from Pexels About one in 20 infants worldwide is subjected to physical abuse by a caregiver in their first two years of life. That’s the central finding of a new study co-led by researchers from the UBC faculty of medicine and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), the first to bring together anonymous reports from caregivers about behaviors like spanking, slapping, shaking and hitting. The findings are published in the journal eClinicalMedicine. “About four to five percent of parents are behaving in physically aggressive ways toward their babies,” said Dr. Nichole Fairbrother, clinical associate professor in UBC’s department Read More

Consumer Health: How Babies with congenital heart disease have altered brain networks

A, B: Two resting state networks are altered in babies with congenital heart disease preoperation, but after surgery these networks are similar to healthy babies. C, D: Postoperative resting state network spatial patterns (red boxes) more closely match controls and show reduced asymmetry in brain hemispheres relative to preoperative babies (blue boxes). Credit: Kim et al., 2026. The prevalence of congenital heart disease points to the need for a better understanding of how it influences neurodevelopment. Jung-Hoon Kim and Catherine Limperopoulos, from Children’s National Hospital, led a study examining brain network disruptions that may be linked to congenital heart disease. Read More

Consumer Health: Why averages fail for bacteria in the open ocean

Illustration of motile bacteria encountering a sinking organic particle (“marine snow”), colonizing it, reproducing, and releasing offspring that disperse to search for additional particles. Credit: Vicente I. Fernandez, Stocker Lab/ETH Zurich How can bacteria that forage on organic particles survive in vast ocean regions where such particles are extremely sparse? A new study by researchers from ETH Zurich and Queen Mary University of London shows that variability at the level of individual bacteria plays a central role. Using a probabilistic population model linking mathematics and microbiology, the team demonstrates that rare, high-impact encounters sustain bacterial populations even when average conditions Read More

Consumer Health: How Australia doesn’t have a youth crime problem—it has a youth justice problem

Credit: Maia Fotografia from Pexels Getting tough on youth crime is politically easy. Building a youth justice system that is safe, accountable and capable of learning is much harder. And the public is worried. Some offenses are serious and visible, and harsher penalties sound like “real” action. But, if the death of 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd tells us anything, it’s that youth justice cannot be understood only as a question of punishment. It is also a question of whether the state can run a safe, accountable system for children in its care. Cleveland Dodd died in youth detention in Western Australia Read More

Consumer Health: How New atlas maps aging brain epigenetic shifts across eight regions and 36 cell types

Salk researchers used spatial transcriptomics to map where different cell types reside in the mouse brain. Shown are excitatory neurons (left, blue), inhibitory neurons (middle, red), and non-neuronal cells (right, green), color-coded by cell type. Credit: Salk Institute Neurodegenerative diseases affect more than 57 million people globally. The incidence of these diseases, from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s to ALS and beyond, is expected to double every 20 years. Though scientists know aging is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, the full mechanisms behind aging’s impact remain unclear. One major mechanistic influence on aging is epigenetic change: the way small chemical Read More

Consumer Health: How Astronomers discover long-period radio transient of unknown origin

Ks-band Gemini observation of ASKAP J1424 with Stokes I radio contours from ATCA C3363 observation overlaid. Credit: arXiv (2026). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2603.07857 Using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), astronomers have discovered a new long-period radio transient source, which received the designation ASKAP J142431.2–612611 (ASKAP J1424 for short). The newfound transient has a period of approximately 36 minutes and its nature is unknown. The finding was reported in a paper published March 9 on the arXiv preprint server. ASKAP on the hunt for mysterious transients Long-period radio transients (LPTs) are a new class of periodic radio emitters, with ultralong rotation periods (ranging Read More

Consumer Health: How ‘Asian flush’ mutation may trigger ferroptosis during heart attacks,

Professor Yin Huiyong, professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at CityUHK (right), and his research assistant, Dr Zhong Shanshan. Credit: City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) About 40% of East Asians suffer from alcohol intolerance, known as “Asian Flush Syndrome,” caused by an ALDH2 genetic mutation. Beyond facial flushing, this mutation carries serious cardiovascular risks. Carriers experience more severe heart damage during heart attacks, though the mechanism was unclear. While the medical community has long observed that carriers of this mutation suffer more severe heart damage during a myocardial infarction, the specific underlying process has remained a mystery until Read More

Consumer Health: How Artificial kinetochores take the pressure off aging chromosomes during meiosis

Image showing that protein-based artificial kinetochores (magenta) can interact with spindle microtubules (green) in a similar manner to chromosomes (cyan). Credit: 2026 Yuanzhuo Zhou For sexual reproduction to yield healthy offspring, newly generated oocytes—immature egg cells—must receive the correct amount of DNA after cell division. This process of segregating chromosomes becomes more prone to failure as we age. Now, RIKEN researchers have identified a strategy that could help to prevent such errors and restore healthy production of oocytes. Oocytes are produced by a cell-division process known as meiosis, during which every chromosome is duplicated. These replicates form X-shaped structures in Read More

Consumer Health: What does the appendix do? Biologists explain the complicated evolution of this inconvenient organ

Credit: AI-generated image Most people know only two things about the appendix: You don’t need it—and if it bursts, you need surgery fast. That basic story traces back at least to Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who developed the theory of natural selection. In “The Descent of Man,” he described the appendix as a vestige: a leftover from plant-eating ancestors with larger digestive organs. For more than a century, that interpretation shaped both textbook and casual medical wisdom. But the evolutionary story of the appendix turns out to be much more complicated. Along with our colleague Helene M. Hartman, a Read More

Consumer Health: How Sleep apnea aggravates muscle loss in people with COPD

A volunteer patient performs the six-minute walk test, which is used to assess functional capacity. Credit: UFSCar Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is known for causing breathing difficulties and limiting everyday activities. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), on the other hand, is usually associated with loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. However, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports shows that having both conditions has an even more profound impact on patients’ muscle strength and quality. “Although it’s generally associated only with lung function, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is systemic, with multiple impacts. When combined with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, Read More

Consumer Health: how to untangle these widespread mental health disorders

For decades, one of the greatest challenges to treating neurological disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is that its symptoms often resemble those of several other conditions. Overlapping disorders are extremely common when it comes to neurological diagnoses. A child who struggles to sit still, focus or complete tasks could have ADHD, anxiety, a learning disability or simply be reacting to stress at home. A teenager who seems emotionally volatile and impulsive might be showing early signs of a mood disorder, ADHD or trauma. An adult who constantly misses deadlines, forgets important obligations and feels chronically overwhelmed might be dealing with workplace Read More

Consumer Health: How Antibiotic resistance can vary depending on where the bacteria live

Media pH (abscissa) differentially affects ?-lactamase resistance (MIC, ordinate). Credit: Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2026). DOI: 10.1128/aem.01775-25 New research from the Technical University of Denmark indicates that the outcome of a resistance measurement may depend on the conditions under which the bacterium is tested. Standard laboratory tests are carried out under fixed, uniform conditions, but if, for example, the test environment is altered, the very same bacterium may in some cases be either more or less susceptible to an antibiotic than the laboratory result indicates. The research is published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. When doctors or veterinarians Read More

Consumer Health: How Anti-obesity treatment could cost as little as $3 per month:

A blockbuster anti-obesity and diabetes drug could cost as little as $3 per month to manufacture once it goes off patent later this month, researchers said Friday, providing a major opportunity to boost health in low- and middle-income countries. Semaglutide, the active molecule in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy treatments, leads to considerable weight loss in patients and thus can provide major help in managing diabetes and other medical problems related to obesity. Semaglutide will lose patent protection in countries such as Brazil, China, and India later this month, and researchers identified 150 countries where it was never patented. Using Read More

Consumer Health: How Antarctic waters DNA survey discovers many microbial genes new to science

The Southern Ocean—vast, boundless waters surrounding Antarctica—plays an outsized role in global climate, largely thanks to tiny drifting organisms called plankton that soak up carbon. Reporting in Nature Communications on March 9, researchers have completed the most comprehensive survey to date of DNA associated with these microbes, paving the way for a better understanding of their role in climate change. Decade-long quest to map microbes The study stems from nearly a decade of genetic analysis conducted by biogeochemist Nicolas Cassar, Lee Hill Snowdon Bass Chair at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, together with researchers from the European Institute Read More

Consumer Health: How Brain charts emotion in a map-like way

An illustration of the environment in which artificial agents were allowed to “walk” and make their own predictions about what they would experience depending on where they moved along the graph. (ECCO Lab). Credit: ECCO Lab / Emory University It is well established in psychology that humans conceptualize emotions by features known as valence (the degree of pleasantness or unpleasantness) and arousal (the intensity of bodily reactions, such as rapid breathing or a racing heart). If you think of “pleasantness” as longitude and “bodily reaction” as latitude, you can imagine a “mental map,” with nodes that “chart” knowledge of emotion. Read More

Consumer Health: How Anchoring a key immune molecule makes T cells hit harder

(A) Schematic overview over the CombiCell experimental system. (B) Mean (circles) and nonlinear fits (lines) of CombiCell cytotoxicity in % expressing ICAM1-FL or ICAM1-TL, respectively loaded with different concentrations of CD19. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2530126123 Researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology have found that physically resisting the formation of an immunological synapse actually promotes a stronger immune response. The findings could help explain how immune responses become weakened in cancer and chronic infection and inform the design of more effective vaccines. How protein positioning shapes T cell power In a new study Read More

Consumer Health: How Analysis of 1,000 Tinder profiles reveals nine standard pose types

Choosing a Tinder profile picture may feel like a free, personal and creative act. But how true is that? A new study from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) shows that, far from being unique, most users follow one of a small number of visual strategies. The research, led by Alejandro García Alamán, a member of the CIRCLE Lab and instructor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, identifies nine standardized profile types that recur systematically on these platforms. The study, based on an analysis of 1,000 real Tinder profiles in the Barcelona area, was published in The Journal Read More

Consumer Health: How Increased fitness may amplify brain boost following exercise

Credit: Brain Research (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2026.150253 Increasing our level of physical fitness leads to a bigger release of brain-boosting proteins following one session of exercise, finds a new study led by a UCL researcher. The study, published in Brain Research, took a group of inactive unfit participants through a 12-week training program of cycling three times per week and made them fitter. Researchers found that as their fitness increased, so did the amount of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) released following exercise, resulting in improved brain function. Just 15 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise releases BDNF, a brain protein Read More

Consumer Health: How Half of Americans unaware of at-home colon cancer screening options

Colon cancer is now the deadliest cancer for adults under 50, yet it remains one of the most preventable since polyps detected and removed during screening can’t turn into cancer later. But a new nationwide survey commissioned by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance reveals a troubling reason why colon cancer death rates are on the rise: Millions of Americans simply don’t know how easy it is to get tested. In all, 50% of Americans are unaware that colon cancer can be screened for at home, the survey showed. Researchers said this lack of knowledge combined with health care providers dismissing the Read More

Consumer Health: How 1 in 3 Americans say sacrificed for health care costs

One in three Americans said they made some sacrifice last year—like skipping a meal or rationing medicine—to cover health care costs, according to a survey released Thursday. High health care costs, especially compared to peer nations, represent a significant portion of many Americans’ strained budgets, prompting some to choose to drive less to save on gas, cut back on electricity and borrow money to make ends meet. Gathered from responses by 20,000 participants last year, the West Health-Gallup Center survey estimates more than 82 million Americans resorted to at least one sacrifice to pay medical bills. The most vulnerable and Read More

Consumer Health: How Most Americans say they don’t trust driverless cars—here’s why

Many Americans remain uneasy about driverless cars. According to new research, their concerns go far beyond safety. A new study from the University of California San Diego found that most Americans worry the technology could lead to job losses, with many saying it could worsen income inequality. Waymo “robotaxis” are already in service in a number of U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta. The survey was conducted in late 2021 and included 4,631 adults across the United States who took part in the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel. Read More

Consumer Health: How Combining cocoa clones with different post-harvest processes balances flavor and nutritional value

According to the researchers, including unfermented beans in Amazonian chocolate production would provide a powerful antioxidant boost to the human body, potentially transforming it into a superfood. Credit: Edilaine Traspadini Chocolate produced in the Amazon is internationally recognized for its unique flavor. A study by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil has shown that it could be even more valuable. The analysis indicates that postharvest practices such as fermenting the beans from the fruit, combined with the appropriate choice of cultivar, can improve the nutritional quality and flavor of the chocolate, thereby expanding the market potential of Read More

Consumer Health: How butyrate could curb amyloid-? buildup and inflammation

A) Immunoblot profile of synthetic A? preparation containing monomers, dimers, trimers, tetramers and high molecular weight oligomers. B) IF staining of HuC/D, Tuj1 (green) and A? (red) in Ctrl and A?-treated pure enteric neurons isolated from WT rat. Scale bar, 20 ?m. Credit: Molecular Psychiatry (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03522-6. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive memory loss and a significant decline in mental functions. Past studies have shown that people with AD exhibit a buildup of a protein called amyloid-? (A?), forming deposits known as amyloid plaques that disrupt communication between neurons. The accumulation of A? in Read More

Consumer Health: How Alternative breast cancer treatment is tied to about four times higher mortality

Alternative medicine use instead of traditional therapy was associated with much lower 5-year survival. Credit: Leeloo The First: http://www.pexels.com/photo/a-pink-ribbon-on-white-calendar-7805646/ The alternative medicine industry is expanding rapidly, fueled in large part by the surge of health-related content on social media. This growing trend has become an increasing concern for oncology practitioners and patients, as it can affect treatment decisions and trust in evidence-based care. The worry isn’t unfounded, as a recent study involving patients with breast cancer found that women who chose complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) instead of traditional cancer therapies had a higher risk of dying. The researchers analyzed Read More

Consumer Health: How Aligning genomic data and clinical health records identifies potential medications for treating alcohol use disorder

A novel approach has identified drugs in current use that could be repurposed for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD). In 2023, 28 million US adults had experienced AUD in the past year. But only three medications are approved by the FDA to treat the condition. Those drugs have uneven effectiveness, and health care providers’ lack of familiarity with them contributes to low use. The cost of developing a new drug is $1–3 billion, but repurposing other medications with known safety profiles—a route that historically relied on clinical observation and chance discoveries—would be dramatically less expensive. The increasing availability of large Read More

Consumer Health: How Zeolite ‘thermal batteries’ could cut data center cooling power up to 86%

Conceptual schematics of the baseline and proposed cooling systems. Credit: ChemRxiv (2026). DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2026-28wv2 Data centers—the warehouse-sized buildings that store photos, stream movies and train artificial intelligence—are voracious consumers of electricity. A surprisingly large share of that power never reaches a microchip. Instead, it is spent on cooling, hauling away the heat generated by millions of tightly packed servers. As data centers proliferate thanks to the AI boom, their electricity needs are colliding with a grid already under strain. One solution is to rethink the basics of cooling. In a new study, researchers at NYU Tandon explore an alternative solution: Read More

Consumer Health: Why zebrafish larvae prefer to circle left or right may explain how human brains encode right? and left?handedness

Credit: iScience (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.114035 Being right- or left-handed is a familiar fact about yourself that you likely don’t think about much on a day-to-day basis. However, your handedness affects how you interact with the world. For many people, it determines how they brush their teeth, use tools, play sports, write, eat and much more. Simply try to enjoy a bowl of soup or sign your name with your nondominant hand to appreciate the impact a hand preference can have on your daily life. Interestingly, this behavioral asymmetry is not unique to humans. Preferences for using the right or left Read More

Consumer Health: How Youth football is linked to 20% of sports-related TBIs in kids

Youth football accounts for the largest share of sports-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in children and young adults, nearly one in every five TBIs, according to a preliminary study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 78th Annual Meeting taking place April 18–22, 2026, in Chicago and online. Youth sports and activities included in the study, in addition to football, were soccer, basketball, cycling, skiing, snowboarding, running, baseball, hiking, roller skating, skateboarding, wrestling, cheerleading, ice hockey, lacrosse, field hockey and volleyball. “Traumatic brain injuries from sports are a common, yet preventable, source of long-term neurological and psychiatric Read More

Consumer Health: How Some young gamers may be at higher risk of mental health problems, but family and school support can help

Pre-teens who struggle to control their video gaming habits are more likely to have psychotic-like experiences a year later, a new study has found. McGill University researchers and colleagues at Maastricht University found that 12-year-olds who showed signs of problematic gaming were more likely to experience mild paranoia, unusual beliefs, or disturbed perceptions at age 13. “Problematic gaming means having difficulty controlling one’s amount of gaming, leading to distress or problems at school or in relationships,” said lead author Vincent Paquin, Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and psychiatrist at the Jewish General Hospital. Supportive environments matter Notably, young Read More

Consumer Health: How Young adults often see online hate speech as ‘normal,’

Social media users consider it “normal” to encounter online hate speech on social media and see it as part of the online environment. In certain contexts, they find it more normal than in others; for example, when it concerns prominent figures such as policymakers and content creators. However, they do not respond. Social media users believe that the normalization of online hate speech has negative consequences for our society: they believe online hate speech contributes to polarization and can lead to aggression in the offline world, both physical and verbal. This is shown by research conducted by communication scientists Dr. Read More

Consumer Health: How solar leases could fund farm investments, not shutdowns

New York state farmers who signed large-scale solar leases were three times more likely to say they’ll use the revenue from solar to invest in their farms than to reduce operations, according to a new study. Nearly half of the farmers with leases said they did not plan to change their agricultural practices at all. The study, published in Rural Sociology, dispels the myth that farmers will give up farming, with its unpredictable returns, when offered lucrative solar leases for their land. “People have been talking about this for a long time, but nobody had asked quantitatively: For farmers, if Read More

Consumer Health: What is the Workplace standards framework for surgeons released

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has released the first national framework outlining measurable workplace standards for surgeons, aimed at improving surgeon well?being, patient safety, and workforce sustainability. The framework is published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Surgery remains one of the most demanding medical specialties, with long hours, unpredictable schedules, and significant administrative responsibilities contributing to burnout and workforce attrition. Until now, no formal parameters have defined sustainable clinical practice for surgeons. The framework, “Developing Specialty-Specific Workplace Standards for Surgeons,” provides measurable standards that can be customized by surgical specialty. It is designed to be Read More

Consumer Health: How Workers who love ‘synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs

Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like “synergistic leadership,” or “growth-hacking paradigms” may struggle with practical decision-making, a new Cornell study reveals. Published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, research by cognitive psychologist Shane Littrell introduces the Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale (CBSR), a tool designed to measure susceptibility to impressive-but-empty organizational rhetoric. “Corporate bullshit is a specific style of communication that uses confusing, abstract buzzwords in a functionally misleading way,” said Littrell, a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Unlike technical jargon, which can sometimes make office communication a little easier, corporate bullshit confuses rather Read More

Consumer Health: How to improve worker performance with AI? First, help staff understand their own strengths and weaknesses

Credit: ThisIsEngineering from Pexels Managers looking to improve worker performance are increasingly turning to AI tools to boost productivity and decision quality. But research published in the journal Management Science suggests that technology alone won’t determine results. The biggest gains come when workers understand their own strengths and limitations, which helps them know when to rely on AI. The study, titled “The ABCs of Who Benefits From Working With AI: Ability, Beliefs, and Calibration,” finds that the productivity benefits of AI depend not only on a worker’s ability, but also on whether they are accurately calibrated about their own performance. Read More

Consumer Health: How Drinking water is at risk long after wildfires

Canada’s drinking water can remain at risk long after wildfires burn out, according to a UBC-led global review that found water-quality impacts often emerge months or years later—not just immediately after a fire. Researchers analyzed 23 studies across 28 watersheds worldwide, comparing pre- and post-fire levels of sediment, nutrients, metals, organic carbon, ions and wildfire-fighting chemicals. Across climates, contamination often intensified over time, particularly when storms or snowmelt washed stored ash and debris into rivers. The findings carry particular weight for Canada, where wildfire activity has intensified. In 2023, over 15 million hectares burned, more than twice the previous national Read More

Consumer Health: How Long-living wild mouse may hold secret to healthy aging

Immunometabolic resistors of aging in A. russatus. Credit: Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aec9991 When it comes to health, some of our animal neighbors have extraordinary advantages. Ostriches, for example, are highly resistant to viruses, while sharks rarely develop cancer. And species like naked mole rats and bowhead whales live for astonishingly long periods of time, decades and centuries, respectively. Researchers are now starting to understand why another species—the golden spiny mouse—seems to be unhindered by the negative health effects that typically accompany aging. Reporting in Science Advances, researchers at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) have begun to uncover how this Read More

Consumer Health: How to Wear a weighted vest to strengthen bones? Make sure you’re moving

Credit: Wake Forest University More time spent standing or stepping while wearing a weighted vest showed positive changes in bone mineral density, according to a new weight loss study from Wake Forest University. It’s encouraging news for people trying to lose weight safely, especially older adults who want to drop pounds without losing bone or muscle mass. The study, “Does time spent upright moderate the influence of a weighted vest on change in bone mineral density during weight loss among older adults,” is published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Aging. Weighted vests can provide an external load equal to Read More

Consumer Health: How lettuce cells could deliver GLP-1 pills

Researchers, including Rahul Singh (left), in the Daniell lab’s greenhouse where the production of clinical grade transgenic lettuce occurs. Credit: Henry Daniell Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form. Few drugs have entered mainstream awareness as quickly or as dramatically as glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1 receptor agonists. Initially approved by the FDA for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, they have since also transformed the therapeutic landscape of obesity and weight management. These medications Read More

Consumer Health: How Vocal analysis and AI uncover two new Amazon antbirds in five-species complex

Cercomacra cinerascens—Gray Antbird, male, Carajás National Forest, Para, Brazil. Credit: Hector Bottai/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Scientists have discovered that a widely recognized Amazonian antbird is not one, but five distinct species—including two completely new to science. This revelation of hidden biodiversity was achieved by integrating artificial intelligence, vocal analysis, and traditional museum work, demonstrating how cutting-edge technology can transform our understanding of life in Earth’s richest ecosystems. The study was conducted by Vagner Cavarzere and his master’s student Enrico L. Breviglieri from São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil, together with curator Luis F. Silveira of the University of São Paulo Read More

Consumer Health: Why do some of us vividly remember dreams and others say they don’t dream?

Some mornings, you wake up and the dream is right there. Clear and vivid. You might still feel the emotion in your chest, and it can take a few minutes to remember where you are and what was real. Other mornings, you open your eyes and there is nothing. Just a quiet sense of having slept. You might know people who think they do not dream. However, the reality is we all do. Sometimes we have many in one night. What varies is whether people remember their dreams and how often they remember them. Dream recall myth vs. reality During Read More

Consumer Health: How Vaginal estrogen therapy is not linked to cancer recurrence in survivors of endometrial cancer

Despite the increased incidence of endometrial cancer in younger women, there is limited research regarding the safety of local, low-dose vaginal estrogen therapy (ET) for survivors. A new study suggests that this form of estrogen is not only effective in relieving numerous menopause symptoms but also does not seem to increase a woman’s risk of cancer recurrence. Study results are published in the article “Vaginal estrogen therapy utilization and associated outcomes in younger survivors of endometrial cancer” online in Menopause. Until recently, all forms of hormone therapy, including local, low-dose vaginal estrogen, had the same black-boxed warning as higher-dose, systemic Read More

Consumer Health: How to Target the untargetable cancer—rezatapopt, an oral p53 reactivator

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center investigators and collaborators have tested rezatapopt, an oral p53 reactivator designed for tumors with TP53 Y220C, and observed antitumor activity across multiple solid tumor types in a phase 1 trial. Rezatapopt specifically binds Y220C-mutated p53, stabilizes p53 in a wild-type conformation, and restores p53 function. Cancer defense We all get cancer, or at least have cells that would develop into clinically cancerous tumors if not for some pretty handy proteins that suppress the initial growth. Within the 30 trillion-plus cells of the human body, it is estimated that several become cancerous in a normal day, Read More

Consumer Health: When unpaid cooking, cleaning and child care get a dollar value, income inequality in the US shrinks

When economists track inequality, they typically focus on income and spending. But a significant share of the services that families actually consume—meals cooked at home, child care, housecleaning and lawn mowing—is produced by unpaid labor that never appears in these conventional measures. As economists who study caregiving and inequality, we wanted to know whether accounting for unpaid work at home might change our understanding of inequality in American living standards—the gap between what richer and poorer Americans can actually afford to consume. To find out, we conducted a study, published in the March 2026 issue of the Journal of Public Read More

Consumer Health: What is the underrecognized Lassa fever threat with global implications

A new study led by researchers at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill shows an urgent need for improved detection and treatment of Lassa fever, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Lassa fever—a severe Ebola-like illness designated by the World Health Organization as being among the world’s top pandemic threats—causes thousands of deaths each year, mainly in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Spread primarily by rodents, the virus can also be transmitted person-to-person through direct contact with blood, body fluids, or secretions of infected individuals. Beyond Read More

Consumer Health: How ultrasound is delivered matters when opening the blood-brain barrier

The schematic representation of the experimental setup employed in the study. Credit: Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express (2025). DOI: 10.1088/2057-1976/ae1f1f Focused ultrasound combined with microbubbles is increasingly being used to safely and reversibly open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for the treatment of brain tumors and neurodegenerative disorders. While much attention has been placed on acoustic pressure and total exposure time, less is known about how the temporal structure of ultrasound delivery influences microbubble activity. In a study appearing in Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express , researchers from the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences systematically Read More

Consumer Health: How Ultra-processed foods in preschool years is associated with behavioral difficulties in childhood

Credit: Photo by Katerina Holmes via Pexels A team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has found an association between ultra-processed foods in early childhood, and behavioral and emotional development. Specifically, the team found that higher ultra-processed food consumption is linked to behavioral and emotional difficulties including anxiety, fearfulness, aggression or hyperactivity. “The preschool years are critical for child development, and it’s also when children begin to establish dietary habits,” said Kozeta Miliku, principal investigator on the study and an assistant professor of nutritional sciences in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “Our findings underscore the need Read More

Consumer Health: How Twenty percent of eligible youth prescribed GLP-1 receptor agonists

Twenty percent of potentially eligible youth are prescribed glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), with the odds of prescription higher with increasing age, increasing body mass index (BMI), and non-Hispanic White or Hispanic race and ethnicity, according to a study published online March 2 in Pediatrics. Emily F. Gregory, M.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving youth aged 12 to 17 years with BMI ?95th percentile for age and sex. GLP-1 RA prescription patterns and barriers to treatment were described. The researchers found that 325 Read More

Consumer Health: How TweetyBERT parses canary songs to better understand how brains learn language

Song Detector. Spectrogram of a canary recording containing both song and non-song segments. Credit: bioRxiv DOI: 10.1101/2025.04.09.648029 A new machine learning model, TweetyBERT, automatically segments and classifies canary vocalizations with expert-level accuracy, offering a scalable platform for neuroscience, providing insights into the neural basis of how the brain learns and produces language, and offering potential applications for understanding animal vocalization more broadly. The study by University of Oregon researchers appears in the journal Patterns. “Current AI methods for analyzing animal vocalizations require human-labeled training data, a slow and labor-intensive process. We developed TweetyBERT, a self-supervised neural network for analyzing birdsongs. Read More

Consumer Health: How Tuberculosis cases have been rising as public health agencies struggle to keep up

Scanning electron micrograph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause TB. Credit: NIAID In Johnson County, Iowa, the number of tuberculosis cases has increased in recent years—and so has the cost of containing it. The cost of contact tracing and surveillance, traveling each day to patients’ homes to ensure they take their meds, or booking hotel rooms to quarantine patients has surged from $17,000 in 2020 to $65,000 last year. That doesn’t include $13,000 spent last year on language translation, as many of the cases were among the local immigrant communities, said Danielle Pettit-Majewski, director of the Johnson County public health Read More

Consumer Health: What happens if truth is lost? Philosopher explains how truth defines our humanity

The Truth Triangle. Credit: Australasian Philosophical Review (2026). DOI: 10.1080/24740500.2025.2567000 Behind every breakthrough, there is a quest for truth. This desire is wired into humans—an insatiable curiosity about the world. Questions about truth have perplexed philosophers for thousands of years, but many focus on distinguishing fact from fiction. Gila Sher, professor of philosophy at the University of California San Diego, takes it a step further by arguing that truth is a crucial value that defines our humanity. In her article, “The Post-truth Crisis,” recently published in the Australasian Philosophical Review, Sher delves into just how dynamic truth is. She describes Read More

Consumer Health: How Trauma patients recover faster when medical teams know each other well,

When a trauma patient enters the emergency department, their potential for survival often depends on what happens within the first minutes after their arrival. After studying trauma resuscitation teams at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, the largest major trauma center in Pennsylvania, it’s clear that trauma teams aren’t organized ahead of time—they’re formed on the fly. Some team members may have worked together many times before, while others may be meeting for the first time. Those minutes can be chaotic, fast-paced, and high-stakes. The patient is usually rolled in on a stretcher, bleeding, barely breathing, and surrounded by alarms and shouting. Read More

Consumer Health: How to Track mysteries of loss of Y chromosome, cancer

The Y chromosome is among the smallest in the human body and carries the fewest genes. Researchers are paying renewed attention to its role in cancer—specifically, what happens when it vanishes. Women typically have two X chromosomes, and men an X and a Y. Men generally face a higher cancer risk than women in most shared anatomy, with the biggest differences in bladder, gastric cardiac, and larynx disease. Researchers think lifestyle factors, such as diet, exercise, and exposure to carcinogens, explain some of the disparity, but not all. Recent evidence suggests the disappearance of the Y chromosome in tumor cells Read More

Consumer Health: How U.S. tops 1,100 measles cases this year as outbreaks grow

Measles cases are climbing rapidly across the United States, with more than 1,100 infections reported in the first two months of this year, data shows. As of Feb. 26, 1,136 cases had been confirmed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That total is already far higher than usual numbers for an entire year. And health experts say the pace of spread is alarming. The current U.S. trajectory for measles cases is “disappointing and depressing and ominous,” Dr. William Schaffner told CNN. He’s an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Measles Read More

Consumer Health: How Discovery could help treat cancer at very earliest stages

Cambridge scientists have shown that when tumors first emerge, interactions with healthy cells in the underlying supportive tissue determine their ability to survive, grow, and progress to advanced stages of disease. The study, carried out in mice and further validated using human tissue, may explain why some tiny, newly-formed tumors disappear, while others manage to survive and eventually grow into cancer. Tumors arise when our DNA accumulates errors, or mutations, causing the cells to grow faster and ignore signals that would otherwise instruct damaged cells to die before they can cause harm. However, these same mutations can also accumulate in Read More

Consumer Health: How to Use tiny ripples at skin level to monitor for possible health problems below

Beginning with a video of surface wave motion, the new technique, called visual surface wave elastography, estimates the thickness and stiffness of the underlying soft tissue. Here, the method determines the stiffness and three different thicknesses of three highlighted regions on the leg. Credit: Caltech Caltech scientists have developed a method that detects tiny, imperceptible movements at the surface of objects to reveal details about what lies beneath. By analyzing the physics of waves traveling across the surface of an object—whether that be a manufactured product or the human body—the new technique can determine both the stiffness and thickness of Read More

Consumer Health: How Tiled amplicon sequencing could transform tuberculosis care

When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, and multiple variants were threatening lives around the world, scientists relied on a process called “tiled amplicon sequencing” to track the virus’s spread. Now, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) is applying those same techniques to more rapidly sequence tuberculosis. In a study appearing in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, YSPH researchers report that they successfully adapted the tiled amplicon sequencing method to accurately read the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis—the bacteria that causes tuberculosis—without needing to culture the bacteria first. This procedure Read More

Consumer Health: How proteins are controllable by heat

Proteins that change their spatial structure in response to small temperature pulses are ideal as molecular tools for thermal control of cells. Credit: Benedict Wolf Protein activity can be precisely regulated via subtle changes in temperature using heat-sensitive switches. Underlying this capability is a novel modular design strategy developed by researchers at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University. The strategy allows the integration of sensory domains in various proteins regardless of function or spatial structure. A new direction for thermogenetics This new approach in the field of thermogenetics is broadly applicable and opens up new possibilities Read More

Consumer Health: How Trapping light on thermal photodetectors shatters speed records

An artistic rendition of how the new ultrafast metasurface works. Mikkelsen’s lab’s approach, called a “metasurface,” uses precisely tailored silver nanocubes placed on a transparent film only 10 nanometers above a thin layer of gold. When light strikes the surface of a nanocube, it excites the silver’s electrons, trapping the light’s energy through a phenomenon known as plasmonics—but only at a specific frequency controlled by the nanocubes’ sizes and spacings. Credit: Duke University Electrical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated the fastest pyroelectric photodetector to date, which works by absorbing heat generated by incoming light. Capable of capturing light from Read More

Consumer Health: How Tech upgrade reveals even finer transcription detail inside cells

Colorful dots representing Seq-Scope-X proteome data monitoring more than 100 proteins. Credit: Jun Hee Lee Laboratory In 2021, a technology developed at the University of Michigan, called Seq-Scope, revolutionized the ability to map gene activity within intact tissue at microscopic resolution, enabling researchers to measure all expressed mRNA molecules and determine precisely where they are located within the tissue, using an Illumina sequencer machine. The team behind the Seq-Scope method, led by Jun Hee Lee, Ph.D., has taken the technology even further. Their findings are described in Nature Communications. “We wondered what we might see if we had even better Read More

Consumer Health: What is the 3D-printed bandage to help heal chronic wounds

Credit: European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2025.114953 A team of University of Mississippi researchers is developing a way to use 3D-printed medicated patches to help close persistent sores and ulcers. The researchers in the School of Pharmacy have created a customizable wound scaffold that delivers natural, biodegradable antibacterials over time to encourage healing. Researchers Michael Repka, distinguished professor of pharmaceutics and drug delivery; Sateesh Vemula, postdoctoral researcher; and doctoral candidate Nouf Alshammari published their results in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. “People with limited mobility or diabetes often have wounds with reduced oxygen supply,” Vemula Read More

Consumer Health: How Tax evasion should be treated as a form of corruption for criminal accountability

Credit: Olga Lioncat from Pexels Experts warn that without stronger enforcement and clearer rules on corporate liability, the U.K. will continue to struggle to prosecute tax offenses effectively. Despite having sophisticated financial crime legislation, the country still fails to hold companies and senior executives meaningfully accountable for corporate tax crime and corruption, the research, by Professor Umut Turksen, from the University of Exeter and Dr. Alison Lui, from Liverpool John Moores University, says. Experts warn the U.K. lacks a single, coherent definition of tax crime. Offenses are dispersed across common law and a patchwork of statutes, creating uncertainty for policymakers, Read More

Consumer Health: How Tau tangles may hijack brain’s energy, linking early sleep loss to Alzheimer’s changes

Tau pathology decreases cortical and hippocampal volume. Credit: npj Dementia (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s44400-025-00054-8 Scientists at the University of Kentucky have uncovered a new reason why people with Alzheimer’s disease often struggle with sleep, long before memory loss begins. The study, led by researchers at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, reveals that a protein called tau “hijacks” the brain’s energy supply, keeping the brain in a state of overactive excitability that prevents restorative rest. The research, published in npj Dementia, found that tau pathology—protein tangles that disrupt cell communication in the brains of people affected by Alzheimer’s—radically changes how the brain Read More

Consumer Health: How smart design can lower carbon emissions for residential buildings

Project workflow consisting of four software. Credit: Resources, Conservation and Recycling (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108753 Taller buildings get a bad rap. New research from University of Toronto Engineering’s Center for the Sustainable Built Environment (CSBE) has found that while adding height does slightly increase embodied emissions, other building and neighborhood design factors are far more important. The paper, published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, looked at how building height affects embodied emissions for new five- to 20-story reinforced concrete residential buildings. “There’s a fairly loud narrative that taller buildings are bad buildings, but from a resource use perspective and an embodied Read More

Consumer Health: How Sympathy works best on health warnings

Getting someone to curb or stop harmful behaviors takes not just a convincing argument, but one that evokes sympathy, says one UConn researcher whose recent study of cancer warning labels shows the benefits of using the emotion as an influencer. Part of a larger look at the effectiveness of two types of pictorial warning labels on alcohol, the latest paper from Zexin “Marsha” Ma, an assistant professor in UConn’s Department of Communication, considers what emotions those pictures should draw out to move someone to reduce or stop drinking because of the risk of cancer. Ma says her research pit narrative Read More

Consumer Health: How New?Safety?Map aims to help people?navigate risks on dating apps?

A user explores the comparison tool on the new Safety Map to assess various dating apps. Credit: University of Waterloo To address persistent concerns about harassment, boundary violation and user safety in digital dating spaces, a research team led by the University of Waterloo has launched an interactive Safety Map to coincide with International Women’s Day. Hundreds of millions of people use dating apps worldwide, with younger adults aged 18 to 34 being the most active users. In Canada, for example, roughly one in three people report having used a dating app, with 47% of users identifying as women, underscoring Read More

Consumer Health: How Sun smart kids have 50% fewer moles and a lower melanoma risk

A long-running Queensland study has found children today are developing significantly fewer moles than kids 25 years ago, with predictions of a major reduction in future melanoma risk. The Brisbane Twin Nevus Study, led by researchers at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, tracked mole development in twins and their siblings turning 12 years old each year from 1992 to 2016. The study, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, involved a total of 3,957 participants living in South-East Queensland and found the average number of moles on people’s bodies had dropped by 47% over the study’s duration. Mole count is Read More

Consumer Health: How to Prepare students to deal with ‘reality shock’ in the workplace

A new study from Hiroshima University shows that, among university students just entering the workforce, those with optimism about the future better manage “reality shock” through formation of a career-related identity. “Reality shock” is a widely recognized psychological phenomenon in which new graduates become distressed upon entering the workplace and finding that the reality of working life doesn’t match their expectations. This can lead to disappointment, confusion, depression, and anxiety, and can lower employment retention rates. The study sought to clarify the relationship between pre-employment career resilience—a set of skills that include the ability to cope with challenges, social skills, Read More

Consumer Health: How Strong alcohol labeling and pricing policy could reduce cancer in Canada

CISUR scientist Adam Sherk holds a beer bottle with a mock-up of a cancer warning label. He is lead author of a new study looking at the impact cancer warning labels and pricing tied to alcohol content could have on cancer cases and deaths in Canada. Credit: University of Victoria If Canadian jurisdictions mandated warning labels on alcohol and minimum pricing tied to the number of standard drinks in a container, it could prevent hundreds of cancer diagnoses and deaths, according to a new study led by University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR). The work is Read More

Consumer Health: How stress-related nerves may fuel pancreatic cancer growth

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have found that certain nerves that play an integral role in the body’s “fight or flight” stress response can support pancreatic tumor growth. These nerves, called sympathetic nerves, grow directly into pancreatic tumors and communicate with cancer cells and nearby support cells known as cancer-associated fibroblasts. This communication can change the tumor’s behavior in ways that help pancreatic cancer grow. “We were interested in gaining new insights into how sympathetic nerves interact with all of the other cells within that pancreatic cancer ecosystem, and how these interactions influence pancreatic cancer,” said the study’s first Read More

Consumer Health: How Stem cells from human baby teeth show promise for treating cerebral palsy

Mechanism of SHED-derived HGF in treating chronic perinatal brain injury. Credit: Yoshiaki Sato A Japanese research team has demonstrated in rat experiments that stem cells from human primary tooth pulp may help treat chronic-phase cerebral palsy. “This is the first animal study to show that stem cell treatment works even after motor deficits have already appeared,” said Clinical Professor Yoshiaki Sato of Nagoya University Hospital, the study’s corresponding author. The findings are published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Cerebral palsy is a condition usually caused by brain damage before or during birth, resulting in impaired posture and Read More

Consumer Health: How Statins, diuretics, and other common heart drugs do not worsen survival in multiple myeloma

Commonly prescribed cardiovascular medications—such as statins, diuretics, and blood pressure drugs—appear to have little or no negative impact on survival among people living with multiple myeloma, according to new international research. The study, published in Scientific Reports, reflects a collaboration among scientists and oncologists in the United States, Australia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “Many patients with multiple myeloma require cardiovascular medications. Our results support the idea that several common drug classes can often be continued without clear evidence of harming survival outcomes in the trial setting,” said Dr. Ahmad Abuhelwa, Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics Read More

Consumer Health: How Nearly 20 states scale back HIV medication programs

A growing number of states are rolling back financial help for HIV medications. An analysis released March 2 by the health research group KFF found that 18 states have adopted cost-cutting changes to their AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, known as ADAPs. Five more states are considering similar steps. ADAP programs are funded through the federal Ryan White Federal HIV Program. They help pay for HIV medications, provide drugs at no cost to some patients and cover insurance premiums for others. When taken daily, the medications suppress the virus to undetectable levels, which means a person cannot pass HIV to others. Read More

Consumer Health: How Specific protein and sugar molecules are affected by aging and disease identified

General workflow for the on-slide tissue digestion protocol (modified from [60]).FF; fresh frozen, FFPE; formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded. Credit: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s00216-026-06385-6 Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are typically diagnosed after irreversible pathology has developed. Aging, the strongest risk factor, drives molecular changes that predispose the brain to synaptic dysfunction and proteinopathy (neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal folding, aggregation, and accumulation of specific proteins within neurons or brain tissues). Glycosylation and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling are processes crucial for protein folding, stability and cell signaling and represent underexplored mechanisms linking aging to neurodegeneration, opening avenues Read More

Consumer Health: How Open source cancer database is created for easier disease study

Taube and Szalay Credit: Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and The Johns Hopkins University have created a novel database structure that allows investigators anywhere to more easily study multiple types of cancer data—including laboratory results, genetic sequencing and imaging data—in one setting. Called AstroID, the resource organizes clinical and correlating blood and tissue specimen information in six tiers, including information from the patient (deidentified to protect privacy); diagnosis; clinical events such as treatment or a blood draw; specimens such as material from a biopsy or serology; and then details about how those Read More

Consumer Health: How Smartphone tutorial can help people understand personal chemical exposure reports

Researchers explaining chemical exposure test results to participants. A new smartphone tutorial might help in this process. Credit: Northeastern University Flame retardants, plasticizers, and “forever” chemicals are common in household items like cookware and cosmetics. But these materials that people are exposed to every day have also been linked to health issues like decreased fertility and increased risk of certain cancers. While environmental health studies have helped explore the relationship between these common chemicals and our health, these studies don’t always report back to participants what they found. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t curious. That’s what Phil Brown, university Read More

Consumer Health: How Study links a 7.3% area boost to 13.3% resilience gain

Mangroves at Karimunjawa in Indonesia. Credit: Alvise Dabalà A global study of mangroves has found that a modest boost in conserved areas could significantly increase their ability to adapt to the changing climate, including rising sea levels. University of Queensland Ph.D. candidate Alvise Dabalà led the analysis, which showed that safeguarding the coastal mangrove ecosystem didn’t require huge expansions in protected areas, just smarter planning. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. “Mangrove forests are vital fish nurseries and carbon sinks that also shield coastlines from storms and erosion, but they’re vulnerable to rising sea levels and development,” Read More

Consumer Health: How Smart patch detects allergies before symptoms strike

The AllergE patch uses microneedles with special DNA sensors that change shape when they detect IgE allergy antibodies, producing a signal that can be read for real-time monitoring. Credit: 2025 KAUST A wearable device that alerts people with food allergies before a reaction begins has the potential to reduce life-threatening anaphylaxis and transform allergy management from reactive to preventive care. The AllergE patch is a microneedle-based biosensor developed by researchers at KAUST that painlessly detects immunoglobulin E (IgE), the antibody that triggers allergic reactions, directly from the fluid beneath the skin. Food allergies—especially to eggs, nuts, milk, and seafood—are a Read More

Consumer Health: How Simulation makes it possible to study movements of cell’s largest protein complexes without supercomputers

3D model of the tumor suppressor NF1, created by Domenico Scaramozzino. Credit: Karolinska Institutet Large protein machines in the body carry out many of the cell’s most essential tasks, from energy production to the regulation of signal transmission. Although they can now be imaged in great detail using cryo-electron microscopy, it has long been difficult to understand how these complexes actually move and function. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now developed a computational method capable of simulating the movements of some of the cell’s largest protein complexes. In the new study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers present the method, Read More

Consumer Health: How Simulated cats and elephants with touch-based memory help usher in new age of robotics

Bridging biological and artificial tactile sensing via SimTac: a simulator for modeling biomorphic-vision-based tactile sensors. Credit: Cyborg and Bionic Systems (2026). DOI: 10.34133/cbsystems.0510 A new approach to simulating biologically inspired robotics can cut the design and training of tactile robots from eighteen months to two weeks, new research suggests. Published in Cyborg & Bionic Systems, the study applies lessons from some of nature’s most famous “sensors,” including cats’ paws and elephant trunks, to help create artificial sensors with a human-like sense of touch better and faster than ever before. Combined with recent work in Nature Communications on training these tactile Read More

Consumer Health: What is the indium selenide roadmap for ultra-low-power AI and quantum computing

A comprehensive roadmap outlining the fundamental properties of two-dimensional Indium Selenides, practical research for their technological implementation, and their future scalability. Credit: Indium selenides for next-generation low-power computing devices, Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering, 2026 A research team led by Prof. Seunguk Song from the Department of Energy Science at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), in collaboration with the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the University of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, has developed a comprehensive technical roadmap for two-dimensional (2D) indium selenides (InSe)—a key material for next-generation low-power and quantum computing. The study, titled “Indium selenides for next-generation electronics Read More

Consumer Health: What is the research that got sick veterans treatment

Credit: RDNE Stock project from Pexels When Congress passed the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act in 2022, it brought long-overdue relief to veterans denied benefits because there wasn’t enough scientific evidence tying burn pit exposure to their illnesses. What few know is that Rutgers researchers helped lay the scientific groundwork that made it possible to link certain illnesses to military service in the Middle East. In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officially adopted rules to implement PACT that included a new method for conclusively determining whether specific respiratory illnesses are service-related. That method was Read More

Consumer Health: How Severe irritability in teens can be reduced by daily doses of vitamins and minerals—new research

by Julia J Rucklidge, Angela Sherwin, Joseph Boden, Roger Mulder, The Conversation Irritability is one of the most common and distressing problems teenagers and their families face. Its main symptom is an excessive reaction to negative emotional stimuli, resulting in temper outbursts and severe irritable mood. While current treatment options such as psychotherapy and medications are helpful for some, they can be inaccessible or poorly tolerated. Our new research, based on a double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial, shows broad-spectrum micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) can significantly reduce severe irritability in teenagers. Teens with severely disruptive behavior experienced especially large improvements. This offers Read More

Consumer Health: How microscopic networks power reactions

Schematic of the scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) methodology. Credit: Dr. Xiangdong/University of Warwick Catalysts are essential to modern industry, accelerating reactions used to produce everything from fertilizers and fuels to medicines and hydrogen energy. But until now, scientists could not directly observe how reactions unfold across real catalyst surfaces. In a study published in Nature Catalysis, researchers from Warwick and MIT have visualized activity across a platinum catalyst with unprecedented detail, revealing that catalyst surfaces function as coordinated, interconnected systems rather than isolated reaction hotspots. Dr. Xiangdong Xu, Research Fellow in Chemistry at the University of Warwick and first Read More

Consumer Health: How to reduce damage from earthquakes

“When the attached structure vibrates, the shaft moves back and forth inside the cylinder, and the rods push through the densely packed balls.” Credit: Moussa Leblouba A newly granted patent unveiled an innovative energy-dissipation device designed to protect buildings, infrastructure, and sensitive equipment from earthquakes, strong winds, and man-made vibrations. Granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in December 2025, the invention represents a significant milestone toward developing affordable, reliable, and power-independent systems capable of safeguarding structures exposed to extreme forces. “Earthquakes, strong winds, and even everyday vibrations from trains or machinery can cause serious damage to buildings, Read More

Consumer Health: How Do best friends or popular peers shape teen behavior?

Best friends primarily shape a child’s internal emotional state and academic behavior, popular peers set the standard for public image and social media engagement. Credit: Alex Dolce, Florida Atlantic University As children enter adolescence, peers become a dominant force in their lives. With adult supervision waning, teens look to agemates for guidance on how to act, think, and fit in. But who matters most—friends or the popular classmates? A groundbreaking longitudinal study from Florida Atlantic University reveals that peer influence is not a monolithic process. Instead, different types of peers exert influence over entirely different domains of a child’s life. Read More

Consumer Health: How Injectable ‘satellite livers’ could offer an alternative to liver transplantation

The microspheres (green), hepatocytes (magenta), and supporting fibroblasts (orange) assemble and reorganize into engineered liver grafts over time. Image shows a comparison of day zero (left) and day fourteen (right) of the grafts cultured in the laboratory. Credit: Bhatia Lab More than 10,000 Americans who suffer from chronic liver disease are on a waitlist for a liver transplant, but there are not enough donated organs for all of those patients. Additionally, many people with liver failure aren’t eligible for a transplant if they are not healthy enough to tolerate the surgery. To help those patients, MIT engineers have developed “mini Read More

Consumer Health: How risk?averse producers sell earlier in grain marketing year

Corn is transferred during a harvest in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Credit: Craig Chandler | University Communication and Marketing A new study from University of Nebraska–Lincoln agricultural economists finds that producers with safety-first risk preferences likely make notably different grain-marketing decisions than those without, offering a glimpse into how and why producers market their harvests. Specifically, according to the economic experiment highlighted in the article published in Agricultural Financial Review, participants with safety-first risk preferences sell about 8.45% more of their harvest in the first month of the marketing year. And it is likely that many producers have safety-first risk preferences Read More

Consumer Health: how end-of-world beliefs shape Americans’ response to global threats

In an era of climate anxiety, geopolitical tensions and rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, apocalyptic thinking is no longer confined to the fringes of society, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Belief in the end of the world is surprisingly common across America, and it’s significantly influencing how people interpret and respond to the most pressing threats facing humanity,” says Matthew I. Billet, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine Department of Psychology and the study’s lead author. “We are living in a culture awash in apocalyptic imagery,” he says. “What we Read More

Consumer Health: How to future?proof your career in the AI age

Datasets used to train AI algorithms may underrepresent older people. These days, Gen Z appears to be pivoting toward skilled trades, perhaps driven by a desire for “AI-proof” job security. Many young workers now view blue-collar careers as more stable than office jobs in the face of rapid change. It’s not just the youngest workers. A growing sense of unease about AI is reshaping how many people think about work. Within younger groups, this shift is showing up in hard numbers. In the UK, hiring of Gen Z workers (those born in or after 1997) in construction and trade roles Read More

Consumer Health: How Repeal of universal motorcycle helmet laws is linked to 26% increase in crash-related hospital costs

Repealing universal motorcycle helmet laws is associated with a significant increase in crash-related inpatient costs, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Using Michigan’s 2012 repeal as a natural experiment, researchers found that the policy change led to a 26% increase in average inpatient costs per motorcycle crash patient. “When people argue that helmet choice is solely a personal freedom issue, they overlook who ultimately pays for the treatment,” said Patrick L. Johnson, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and a surgery resident at the University of Michigan. “A significant portion of Read More

Consumer Health: How Remote work opens doors for workers with poor mental health

A woman and child in rural Ghana, where high rates of anxiety and depression are quietly shaping the labor market. Credit: Heather Schofield Mental health problems can be a barrier for many people seeking employment, but new research from the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business shows that remote work options can increase participation in the labor market. The study, “Psychological barriers to participation in the labor market: Evidence from rural Ghana,” in the April issue of the Journal of Development Economics, found that low-income women in Ghana who were depressed and anxious were more likely to accept employment if Read More

Consumer Health: Why cross?cultural emotional intelligence needs to be handled with care

Credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Awe has become a kind of emotional currency in Western wellness circles—revered for its ability to boost mental and physical health and even social interactions. There are findings linking awe to increased prosocial behavior, curiosity, humility, well-being, lower post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more adaptive physiological profiles. And yet across cultures, awe can provoke veneration and wonder or it can stimulate feelings of dread. What if awe does not travel? That’s the question posed by a new set of cross-cultural studies that I co-authored with researchers from a wide range of academic institutions. The research Read More

Consumer Health: How Registry data address major gaps in rare eye cancer

Eye experts at Flinders University have released new global findings that reveal how a rare eye cancer first appears, offering vital insights that will help doctors diagnose the disease earlier and improve care for patients around the world. The research draws on the International Vitreoretinal B?Cell Lymphoma Registry, the world’s largest global project dedicated to understanding this aggressive eye cancer. The paper, “Presenting Clinical Features of Vitreoretinal Lymphoma,” published in Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology gives doctors essential clues to help them recognize vitreoretinal lymphoma sooner. Vitreoretinal lymphoma is a rare cancer that begins inside the eye but often looks like Read More

Consumer Health: How A 100% recycled paving block is made from mollusk shells and mining waste

The construction industry is one of the most polluting due to its high contribution to CO2 emissions. In addition to its significant environmental cost, its materials are made from nonrenewable resources such as sand and gravel, making the search for sustainable alternatives an urgent challenge in a context where growing production demand must be balanced with environmentally responsible practices. The sector is therefore investigating the development of low-carbon-footprint materials within a circular economy and decarbonization strategy, replacing traditional materials with the waste and surplus of other industries that, in turn, struggle to dispose of their by-products. A case in point Read More

Consumer Health: How Rectal cancer incidence is rising after decades of decline as colorectal cancer shifts toward younger generations

Credit: American Cancer Society Colorectal cancer rates in the United States are moving in two very different directions, according to a new report released today from the American Cancer Society (ACS). While the disease continues to decline among older adults, rates are rising in people under 65, particularly among younger adults, signaling a troubling shift in who is being affected. The triennial report, Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026, finds that this increase is being driven largely by cancers in the distal colon (the last section, adjacent to the rectum) and the rectum. As a result, rectal cancer now makes up nearly Read More

Consumer Health: How Open data helps create adaptive systems for stroke recovery

A team of researchers from Skoltech, the Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnologies (FMBA of Russia), Lomonosov Moscow State University, and other leading organizations has released a dataset that will enable deeper study of how the brain recovers after a stroke. The work, published in Scientific Data, is the first in the world to combine long-term recordings of brain activity obtained using two advanced methods—electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The data are openly available, allowing scientists worldwide to accelerate the development of personalized rehabilitation methods and brain-computer interfaces. Stroke remains one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, Read More

Consumer Health: How realistic does a supermarket need to be?

In their own laboratory supermarket, researchers at the University of Bonn study consumer behavior under controlled conditions in a relatively realistic environment. Credit: Gregor Hübl / University of Bonn Researchers from the University of Bonn have taken a comprehensive look at how scientists study consumer behavior in supermarkets. Their review, published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies, covers everything from real-life grocery stores to lab-based shelves, online supermarkets, and virtual reality environments. The goal: to map which type of supermarket settings researchers use and how they use them to better understand how the context of shopping itself can influence Read More

Consumer Health: How to get ready for daylight saving time

You love it—or loathe it. Either way, the clocks jump forward one hour on Sunday morning for the start of Daylight Saving Time, providing an extra hour of evening light through Nov. 1. That means one hour less sleep this weekend. Resetting your body’s internal clock for these seasonal changes can be challenging for folks who have trouble falling asleep. That’s why Dr. Sudha Tallavajhula, a sleep medicine physician in Houston, recommends some immediate adjustments in your sleep-wake routine. “There is strong evidence that sleep deprivation around Daylight Saving Time can have negative health effects,” she said in a UT Read More

Consumer Health: How a blood test may spot a common post-surgery condition early

B/T injury leads to the early release of cMPCs. Credit: Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68857-8 Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a common post-surgery condition where bone abnormally forms within soft tissues. A new study out of Mass General Brigham assesses the viability of a simple blood test to detect HO long before it can be picked up by imaging techniques. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. Why earlier HO detection matters HO is a significant complication for nearly 1 in 3 patients undergoing hip replacement surgery. This condition not only leads to chronic pain but also restricts mobility. Read More

Consumer Health: What is the reliable measurement of cancer patients’ concerns

The fear that cancer will progress or worsen is one of the most common concerns among people living with the disease. Identifying and measuring this concern is key to providing appropriate psychological care and improving patients’ quality of life. Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona in collaboration with the Rovira i Virgili University and CEU San Pablo University has validated, for the first time in the Spanish population, the Spanish version of the Assessment of Survivor Concerns (ASC) questionnaire, a tool designed specifically to assess cancer- and health-related concerns. The study has been published in the journal Read More

Consumer Health: What’s going on inside quantum computers? New method simplifies process tomography

Overview of compilation-based quantum process tomography (CQPT). The left panel shows the main idea: an unknown quantum process transforms an input state into an output state, and CQPT uses a trainable “compiler” to learn the process by forcing the final state to return to the original input. The right panels illustrate two implementations of CQPT: a Kraus-based approach for unitary or near-unitary processes, and a Choi-based approach for general noisy processes. Credit: Le Bin Ho et al. Quantum computers work by applying quantum operations, such as quantum gates, to delicate quantum states. Ideally, quantum computers can solve complex equations at Read More

Consumer Health: How to Integrate tobacco treatment in HIV care

Cigarettes per day and confirmed abstinence by adaptive strategy. Credit: JAMA Network Open (2026). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.60593 Modern HIV treatment is one of medicine’s great success stories. With today’s therapies, many people living with HIV can expect long, full lives. But as patients age, a new reality has emerged: The biggest threats to their health are often the same ones facing the general population—heart disease, cancer, and chronic lung conditions. For many, smoking is a major contributor to those risks. Yet tobacco use can be overshadowed by other urgent medical and social concerns. E. Jennifer Edelman, MD, MHS, professor of medicine Read More

Consumer Health: How to Stop schizophrenia before it starts

Credit: Boris Ivas from Pexels Cameras that have been installed in their homes by the CIA, voices that whisper vicious words, and demons that appear in their bedroom at night. These are the delusions and hallucinations of psychosis, a core symptom of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects 1% of the global population and is caused by a complex interplay between at least 280 genes and environmental factors like childhood trauma and early cannabis use. Patients with good support and treatment can do well. But those suffering from the disease’s most disabling symptoms—psychosis together with cognitive impairment—often experience fractured relationships, joblessness, homelessness, and Read More

Consumer Health: How the Dobbs decision and abortion restrictions have changed where medical students apply to residency programs

By October 2022—four months after the Dobbs ruling—more than a dozen states had tightened abortion restrictions. Those states are shown here in blue. Credit: University of Washington In the three-and-a-half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the fragmented state of abortion access has put medical professionals in a precarious position. Many states have tightened abortion restrictions, with some enacting criminal penalties up to life in prison for physicians who perform abortions. Medical schools have curtailed abortion-related curricula. New research led in part by the University of Read More

Consumer Health: How Psychedelics may aid PTSD recovery by repairing brain myelin

A novel study in Biological Psychiatry identifies myelin plasticity after treatment with psychedelics as the missing link towards long-term PTSD recovery, triggering a large-scale reconfiguration of brain network dynamics. Credit: Biological Psychiatry / Bostanc?kl?o?lu et al. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not only characterized by strongly encoded traumatic memories, but also by disrupted coordination across brain networks. New research shows that treatment with psychedelic drugs triggers a large-scale reconfiguration of brain network dynamics driven by the remodeling of myelin—the neuronal insulation layer. The findings from the novel study in Biological Psychiatry show enhancing myelination might be a viable strategy to Read More

Consumer Health: How Novel prosthetic design combines AI and 3D printing to improve fit

Credit: Simon Fraser University A new, fully customizable 3D printed socket design is set to transform the prosthetics industry. The reimagined limb socket interface combines highly personalized pressure mapping with AI software and a lighter infill, creating a highly customized prosthetic that’s more comfortable to wear, for much longer, say researchers at Simon Fraser University. “For the first time, this 3D printing technology is capturing unique pressure and force distribution data from a patient, and using that data to design a custom prosthetic device and fabricate a much lighter, more breathable and pressure-responsive socket,” says Woo Soo Kim, professor at Read More

Consumer Health: How Self-propelling microbes switch up swimming strategy to optimize light intake

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii change swimming paths depending on light levels. Credit: Zhao Wang et al. Researchers in Hong Kong and the UK have revealed how one species of self-propelling microbes can actively change the path of their swimming motions, depending on how much light they receive. Reporting in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Zhao Wang at the University of Hong Kong shows that the switch arises as the microbe alters the beating pattern of its hair-like flagella, possibly allowing it to optimize the amount of light it absorbs for photosynthesis. Swimming in microbes To navigate their surroundings, many microbes Read More

Consumer Health: What is the link of supplements to higher oxygen levels

Hikers making their way up to the summit at Mount Whitney. Credit: Sela Salzman Oxygen is critical to life. When levels of oxygen change, it can have immediate and lasting impacts on a person’s health. Tatum Simonson, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and John B. West Endowed Chair in respiratory physiology in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Medicine & Physiology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, has studied the effects of altitude on people across the globe. Her research hopes to uncover the genetic and epigenetic factors that protect against—or contribute to—low-oxygen health issues. Read More

Consumer Health: What are the Privacy and attention promises from alternative phones at MWC

Minimalist interfaces are common among alternative phones. Alternative phones on offer at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) telecoms trade show in Barcelona this week aim to answer demand for devices that protect users’ data and attention. In the vein of Netherlands-based Fairphone, whose smartphones are marketed as ethical and environmentally friendly, other small companies have saddled up against the sector’s giants like Apple and Samsung. Light Phone, designed not to be used With a black screen showing a few lines of text and no application logos, American company Light Phone’s third model appears to have little in common with colorful Read More

Consumer Health: How Prenatal opioid exposure impacts child well-being through adolescence

Association between health care use and in-utero opioid exposure, relative to non-exposed, ages 1-18. Credit: Gaëlle Simard-Duplain and Jonathan Zhang Children with prenatal opioid exposure face struggles in health, education, and social well-being throughout their childhoods and teenage years, even when sociodemographic factors are factored out. The global opioid crisis has largely been viewed as a crisis of adult users, but it has also led to a rise in children exposed to opioids before birth, only some of whom are diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome—essentially, withdrawal. In 2023, approximately 95,000 American infants may have been exposed to opioids in utero. Read More

Consumer Health: How to decrease your ‘fear memory’ of Pregnancy

Recent Northeastern University research demonstrates how pregnancy’s hormonal milieu can change the responses to fear of pregnant subjects. Credit: Matt Modoono/Northeastern University There’s a reason that the term “mom brain” exists. In recent years, research has shown that the forgetfulness and general fogginess that mothers can experience after giving birth, both immediately and in the long term, is likely because pregnancy does change the brain. A new paper out of Northeastern University offers more clues as to why these changes may be happening. Specifically, the researchers identified that some postpartum rats displayed a reduction in their memories of fear that Read More

Consumer Health: How Predictors of prediabetes/type 2 diabetes mellitus are identified among U.S. adolescents

Male gender, younger age, and waist-to-height ratio are independent predictors of prediabetes/type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among U.S. adolescents, according to a study published online Feb. 25 in PLOS Global Public Health. Eric Peprah Osei, from the University of Illinois Chicago, used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2021 to 2023) to analyze the prevalence and factors associated with prediabetes/T2DM among 1,998 adolescents in the United States. The researchers found that 30.8% of adolescents had prediabetes or T2DM. There were significant associations for older age (odds ratio [OR], 0.93), female gender (OR, 0.50), overweight/obesity (OR, 1.57), elevated Read More

Consumer Health: How Prediabetes or diabetes are found in 1 in 3 patients during dental appointment

A new King’s College London study has revealed how a simple chairside test helps to screen patients who have other risk factors for the diabetes, such as high BMI and gum disease. The research addresses the large overlap between gum disease and diabetes and is published in the Journal of Dentistry. Diabetes and prediabetes are steadily increasing worldwide every year. According to Diabetes UK, nearly 1.3 million people could be living with type 2 diabetes in the U.K. without being diagnosed. Screening and early detection are vital to reduce complications of the condition and related cost to the NHS. In Read More

Consumer Health: How Precision tumor imaging with a fluorescence probe and engineered enzymes—selective activation enables easy visibility

Overview of the probe and enzyme. A reporter enzyme, engineered by directed evolution, does not bind to healthy tissue, only targeted cancers with particular antigens. A probe is activated by the reporter enzyme which glows under excitation light. Credit: Kojima et al. American Chemical Society Cancer is a universal issue which affects many people around the world. Many will turn to surgery in the hope a surgeon will be able to completely remove a tumor, leaving healthy tissues unaffected. Various tools and techniques have been developed over the years to improve the way these surgeries are performed, and visual imaging Read More

Consumer Health: How Power outages cost US electricity customers billions

The average cost of major outages to both residential and business customers topped $67 billion between 2018 and 2024, but that burden varied widely across states. Credit: Narayan Bhusal, ORNL; U.S. Dept of Energy Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have provided the first comprehensive analysis of the specific costs of power outages to local customers across the nation. It found that the average yearly cost of major outages topped $67 billion over the past seven years. The total annual burden on customers rose sharply over that time, with the price tag of major outages climbing Read More

Consumer Health: How Power producers have financial incentives to block market integration despite cost savings

Renewable energy is lowering electricity costs in some parts of the country, but those benefits aren’t being seen by consumers everywhere because they’re typically placed far away from demand centers. Better integrating electricity transmission networks across regions could significantly reduce generation costs, new research from the University of Michigan shows—at the expense of generation companies’ profits. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Economist Catherine Hausman, associate professor at the Ford School of Public Policy, and colleagues found that improving interregional connectivity could have saved anywhere from $5.8 billion to $7.1 billion in Read More

Consumer Health: What is the promising potential therapeutic strategy for Rett syndrome

A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital reports in Science Translational Medicine a potential new approach to treat Rett syndrome. “Rett syndrome is a rare genetic neurodevelopmental condition that causes a regression in development, typically after six to 18 months of normal growth, leading to severe impairments in motor skills, speech and communication,” said corresponding author Dr. Huda Zoghbi, Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor, director of the Duncan NRI and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “The disorder primarily affects girls; about one in 10,000 live Read More

Consumer Health: How For potassium channels, it depends on functionality

Coupling of KCNQ2/3 functionality to localization. Researchers demonstrate that while normal KCNQ2/3 (left) is strongly enriched at the AIS, dysfunctional KCNQ2/3 (right) shows a significant reduction in AIS localization efficiency. The arrow indicates the position of AIS. Scale bar, 20 µm. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2527749123 Potassium KCNQ2/3 channels are crucial for suppressing the excitability of brain cells, or neurons. When these channels don’t work properly, they can cause specific types of epilepsy like benign familial neonatal convulsions and early infantile epileptic encephalopathy. In “Coupling of Functionality to Trafficking of KCNQ2/3 Potassium Channels at Read More

Consumer Health: How Pollution, noise and climate stress all pose a serious threat to heart health

Credit: El?na Ar?ja from Pexels In an unprecedented collaboration, the European Society of Cardiology, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation have issued a joint statement calling for immediate action against environmental stressors—pollution, noise, climate stress—to reduce cardiovascular mortality. The article, which was published simultaneously in the European Heart Journal and other leading publications, warns that we must address climate change and pollution in order to combat the leading cause of death worldwide: cardiovascular disease (CVD). The text proposes local actions to achieve global impact. It also calls for the integration of pollution, Read More

Consumer Health: How Pollution exposure is linked to mental health problems: EU agency

Environmental pollution is linked to several mental health disorders in Europe, the European Environment Agency (EEA) warned Tuesday, arguing that enforcing legislation would result in Europeans being both less depressed and less anxious. Air, noise, and chemical pollution are to blame in particular, according to the EU agency. “Studies consistently indicate that air pollution, for example in the form of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), is associated with depression and depressive symptoms,” the agency noted in a report. Exposure to lead, endocrine disruptors, and other chemical substances, especially in “developmental life phases, may increase the risk of Read More

Consumer Health: How Physicians have modestly higher likelihood of dying at home or hospice

Physicians are modestly more likely to die at home or hospice compared with other highly educated occupational groups, other health care practitioners, and the general population, according to a brief report published online Feb. 24 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Vishal R. Patel, M.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues measured whether physicians are more likely than others to die at home or hospice. The analysis included ~11.2 million people (aged 30 years and older; 0.4% physicians) who died from 2020 to 2023, identified from the National Vital Statistics System. The researchers found that in an adjusted Read More

Consumer Health: How Targeted PET/CT predicts early treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis patients

[11C]DPA-713 PET/CT images of hands of both clinical responder at baseline (A) and 4 wk of aTNF treatment (B) and nonresponder at baseline (C) and 4 wk of aTNF treatment (D). Credit: W. van Binsbergen, MSc, MD, Ph.D., Amsterdam University Medical Center A new targeted PET/CT tracer can detect treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis patients in as little as four weeks, and potentially even at the start of treatment, according to new research published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Compared to the three to six months currently required to establish treatment efficacy, this new imaging technique could help determine Read More

Consumer Health: How Personalized fMRI models decode moment-to-moment chronic pain in fibromyalgia

Regional feature importance of fMRI-based chronic pain marker. The color of each region represents the importance value, calculated as the decrease in prediction accuracy when that region is excluded from the marker, with the top five regions with the highest importance values additionally marked. The regions with high importance values differ across participants. Credit: Nature Neuroscience (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-026-02221-3 Chronic pain affects nearly one in five adults worldwide and remains one of the leading causes of disability. Unlike acute pain triggered by injury, chronic pain often arises spontaneously—without an obvious external cause—and fluctuates across minutes, hours, and days. Yet clinicians Read More

Consumer Health: How New peptide catalyst enables stereoselective head-to-tail macrocycle synthesis

Catalyst-controlled stereoselective macrocyclization of a chiral linear precursor. Credit: Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aec8992 A team at ETH Zurich developed a new peptide-based organocatalyst that handles macrocycle formation from start to finish. Macrocyclic compounds are ubiquitous both in nature and in the chemical industrial setup. They are ring-shaped molecules with 12 or more atoms and are key components of many natural products and pharmaceuticals. Their unique structures let them lock onto specific proteins with impressive precision, making them exciting candidates for new therapies. Some even come with fun names—like robotnikinin, a macrocycle that inhibits the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) protein. However, synthesizing Read More

Consumer Health: How Pathogen-agnostic testing reveals hidden respiratory threats in negative samples

LLNL biologist James Thissen loads DNA samples for sequencing in a pathogen-agnostic method to identify respiratory viruses. Credit: Randy Wong / LLNL The COVID-19 pandemic brought the term “Polymerase Chain Reaction testing” into the mainstream. The PCR method is a type of nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) that detects a pathogen by finding and amplifying components of its genetic material, and it is widely used to detect SARS-CoV-2. But these types of tests have a weakness: you have to know exactly what pathogen you’re looking for. In a recent study, published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Read More

Consumer Health: What are the dementia inequities in Indigenous communities and the power of cultural resilience

The coming together of many stories and many peoples, across many lands, unified for brain health equity with Indigenous peoples and for the next generation. This is an original artwork commissioned for this manuscript, created by Isla Sutherland, daughter of Associate Professor Adrienne Withall. Credit: Alzheimer’s & Dementia (2026). DOI: 10.1002/alz.71125 An international collaboration, co-led by a University of Minnesota Medical School researcher, has published a paper in Alzheimer’s & Dementia synthesizing global evidence on the origins of dementia inequities in Indigenous communities and how community strengths can inform brain health research worldwide. “Indigenous peoples are rarely included in brain health Read More

Consumer Health: How Palm-sized piezo robot combines mobility with sub-micrometer positioning accuracy

The HB utilizes a precision stage and optical encoder to move freely and with impressive precision, making the robot a useful tool for moving sub-micrometer-sized objects. Credit: Image adapted from O. Fuchiwaki et al., Advanced Intelligent Systems 2026, DOI: 10.1002/aisy.202501141. Used under CC-BY 4.0. With the speed at which technology advances, there is little room for suboptimal performance and out-of-date tech. Precise positioning is a field where advancement is needed, as many conventional applications feature tools that are much larger than the objects being worked upon, making high precision a difficult task. Additionally, those that are highly precise have a Read More

Consumer Health: How Painless skin patch offers new way to monitor immune health

Sasan Jalili holds the microneedle skin patch, which is about the size of a quarter. Credit: The Jackson Laboratory Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed the first bandage-like microneedle patch that can sample the body’s immune responses painlessly from the skin. The device detects inflammatory signals within minutes and collects specialized immune cells within hours without the need for blood draws or surgical biopsies. Already, the patch is helping researchers and clinicians study immune responses in aging and skin autoimmunity, including vitiligo and psoriasis. In the future, it could Read More

Consumer Health: How AI is destroying our planet. We must act to check its growth—and save ourselves

Credit: AI-generated image Although the topic of AI is seemingly inescapable, its stunning environmental impacts remain mostly hidden. New studies reveal a clearer picture—one that should spur us to take action this year. Evidence shows that AI’s carbon emissions last year were equivalent to the entirety of New York City, and consumption of freshwater resources from 2025 alone exceeded the global consumption of bottled water. Corporate AI’s destructive impacts on our planet are only set to expand. Consider that by 2034, the data centers that power AI are expected to consume as much energy as all of India, the world’s Read More

Consumer Health: How Online doctors are popular but price-sensitive for young people

Young adults are more likely to consume health care when it is available via health care apps, and even more so if they do not have to pay patient fees. This has been shown in a study carried out at the University of Gothenburg. The emergence of online health care via mobile apps has brought about changes in the availability of and demand for health care. The current study, published in The Economic Journal, analyzes the consumption patterns of 19- and 20-year-olds. The study is based on data from young people in the regions of Stockholm and Västra Götaland. During Read More

Consumer Health: How Ongoing problems with kids’ heart transplant waitlists are found in two studies

The current method of listing children for heart transplant does not always rank the sickest kids first, a Stanford-led study has found. Credit: Emily Moskal, Stanford University Medical Center More babies and children survive the wait for a heart transplant than in the past, but improvements are due to better medical care, not changes to waitlist rules, a new study finds. The method used across the United States to waitlist children for heart transplants does not consistently rank the sickest patients first, according to a study led by Stanford Medicine experts. That study was published in 2024 in the Journal Read More

Consumer Health: How nursing home staffing patterns can reduce harmful falls among residents

A new study has found that nursing homes with higher staffing levels report fewer injurious falls among long-stay residents. The study also found that facilities with insufficient staff levels are associated with increased falls. Falls are one of the most common and serious safety concerns for older adults in long-term care settings, often leading to injury, loss of independence, and increased health care costs. Until now, large-scale evidence examining the impact of staffing patterns on fall-related injury rates in nursing homes has been limited. The study, “Falls in the Nursing Home: The Impact of Staffing Levels and Agency Staff Use Read More

Consumer Health: How Nitrous oxide, a product of fertilizer use, may harm some soil bacteria

Plant growth is supported by millions of tiny soil microbes competing and cooperating with each other as they perform important roles at the plant root, including improving access to nutrients and protecting against pathogens. As a byproduct of their metabolism, soil microbes can also produce nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas that has mostly been studied for its impact on the climate. While some N2O occurs naturally, its production can spike due to fertilizer application and other factors. While it has long been believed that nitrous oxide doesn’t meaningfully interact with living organisms, a new paper by two MIT Read More

Consumer Health: How Newfound third cell type enables fully functional hair follicles in the lab

Cultivation and identification of mouse dermis-derived mesenchymal cells (DDMCs). Credit: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2026.153459 Hair regrowth treatment may soon take a major leap forward, as researchers in a recent study have successfully grown complete, fully functional hair follicles outside of the living body, in a dish. This was made possible by the discovery of a previously unknown third cell type, the accessory mesenchymal cell population, which is essential for growing functional hair follicles. These specific supporting cells allow the follicle to grow deep into the skin, a process called downgrowth, to produce a proper hair shaft. Read More

Consumer Health: What is the ‘neuroimmune signature’ that can predict hepatitis complications

Enrichment of receptor activity and neuroimmune network topology across hepatitis virus infections in in vitro conditions. (a) Upset plot showing limited overlap of meta-DEGs across liver and PBMC conditions, indicating context-specific transcriptional responses. (b) Functional enrichment of viral hepatitis meta-DEGs revealed intersecting BPs, despite limited gene-level intersection. (c) Based on keyword annotations, genes were categorized as nervous system–related (orange), immune-related (blue), or others (light blue), with shared BPs depicted in gray. Node size and configuration represent the number of interactions. Credit: Journal of Medical Virology (2025). DOI: 10.1002/jmv.70742 Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered Read More

Consumer Health: How ‘Natural’ and ‘healthy’ food labels may mislead consumers

Credit: Laura James from Pexels Foods marketed as “natural” are not consistently more nutritious than their conventional counterparts, and some front-of-package nutrition labels may unintentionally encourage manufacturers to swap sugar for non-sugar sweeteners, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The peer-reviewed study, published in the British Food Journal, analyzed newly introduced U.S. packaged foods and found that while “natural” claims can influence consumer perceptions, they are unreliable indicators of overall nutritional quality. Christoph Bauner and Nathalie Lavoie, associate professors in the Department of Resource Economics at UMass Amherst, examined products introduced between 2020 Read More

Consumer Health: How natural fungal supplement improves COVID-19 vaccine response

Credit: Courtesy of UC San Diego Health Sciences Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have found that a natural fungal supplement taken at the time of COVID-19 vaccination reduced short-term vaccine side effects and helped antibodies—the body’s natural immune defenders—last longer in people who had not previously been exposed to the virus. The study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, was published March 3, 2026, in BMC Immunology. It tested a four-day oral supplement, “FoTv,” made from the mycelium—the root-like network—of two types of medicinal fungi: Fomitopsis officinalis and Trametes versicolor (FoTv). Participants began taking the Read More

Consumer Health: How Natural dye produced by Amazonian fungus can be used in cosmetics

The extract reduced substances that react with oxygen upon contact with the skin by more than 75%, i.e., it reduced compounds that can cause cell damage. Credit: Juliana Barone Teixeira / FCFAr-UNESP Initial tests with a natural dye produced by the Amazonian fungus Talaromyces amestolkiae show that eco-friendly cosmetics, such as face creams, gel sticks, and shampoos, can be developed with antioxidant and antibacterial properties. This finding is significant because microbial dyes, which are still underexplored in cosmetic research, can serve as a sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes. The fungus produces vibrant dyes ranging from red to yellow with high Read More

Consumer Health: How Natural anti-inflammatory protein could save lives of sepsis patients, mouse

A naturally occurring protein in the human body could protect people from one of the world’s biggest killers—sepsis. The protein’s ability to reduce inflammation in a preclinical study raises hopes that it could be the first new, natural anti-inflammatory discovered in 70 years. The landmark study, which has been published in Endocrinology, was carried out by Adelaide University and the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. The team of researchers found that restoring depleted levels of the protein, known as corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), reduced relative mortality in an animal model with septic shock by more than 70%. “The results from our Read More

Consumer Health: How ‘Nano-origami’ reshapes liquid droplets into six-pointed stars

Droplet transforms from a hexagon to a hexagram. Credit: Catherine Quilliet et al. For the first time, researchers in France and Israel have observed how an emulsified liquid droplet can transform from a hexagon into a six-pointed star shape in response to rising temperature. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Eli Sloutskin at Bar-Ilan University has shed new light on the mechanisms underlying this striking behavior, revealing a previously unseen form of “nano-origami,” that could inspire future generations of self-assembling nanostructures. Shape-changing droplets When tiny amounts of liquid are isolated, surface tension usually drives them Read More

Consumer Health: How In multiple sclerosis, wearable sensors may help identify people at risk of worsening disability

Wearable sensors may help identify people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are more likely to have worsening disability and loss of brain volume, according to a study published in Neurology. The study found that people with changes in their activity patterns were more likely to have worsening disability and loss of brain volume than people whose patterns did not change as much or at all. The study does not prove that changes in activity lead to progression of MS; it only shows an association. Wearable sensors measure how much light, moderate or vigorous physical activity people had during the day, Read More

Consumer Health: How to use blood samples to identify diseases years before they start

What if doctors could tell you a disease was coming years before you felt a single symptom—and stop it in its tracks? That is the goal of a sweeping new research initiative launched by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in collaboration with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF). The project, called “ORIGIN: Omics to Characterize Preclinical Stages of Non-Infectious Diseases,” brings together 10 specialties across Mount Sinai Health System in an ambitious multidisciplinary disease-prevention study. The study will analyze stored blood Read More

Consumer Health: How moss helped solve a grave-robbing mystery

Lead author Matt von Konrat in his laboratory at the Field Museum on February 26, 2026, examining the tiny bits of moss found with the re-buried bodies at Burr Oak Cemetery in 2009. The computer screen shows the view of the moss specimen under the microscope. Credit: Field Museum. In 2009, a scandal was exposed at a cemetery just outside of Chicago. Workers at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, were accused of exhuming old graves, dumping the remains elsewhere on the cemetery grounds, and reselling the burial plots. When the case went to trial in 2015, one key piece Read More

Consumer Health: Why they’re nibbling in the winter

Irked residents across Southern California have recently complained to their vector control districts about an onslaught of mosquito activity, many sporting ankle bites to prove it. Local mosquito experts blame the unseasonable weather pattern and a thriving invasive species for the surge in itchy bites. Vector control districts in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties have confirmed a significant increase in mosquito activity, which is highly unusual for this time of the year. Southern California’s mosquito season typically begins in early May, with the insect’s activity tapering off around October. But local officials say the season is getting longer as Read More

Consumer Health: How Just three molecules can launch gene-silencing condensates in stem cells

Self-clustering of three CBX2 molecules organizes Polycomb condensates to regulate H3K27me3 deposition and drive cell differentiation. Credit: Xiaojun Ren, UNC Charlotte A new study has uncovered how an exceptionally scarce protein can orchestrate the assembly of large-scale gene-silencing structures inside cells, and what happens when that process breaks down. The findings, published today in Molecular Cell, identify a self-clustering mechanism in the Polycomb protein CBX2 that is essential for initiating the formation of gene-repressive condensates and guiding stem cells toward their proper fates. Polycomb complexes are essential for establishing and maintaining cell identity, yet the physical principles behind their repression Read More

Consumer Health: How A molecular ‘switch’ could make pancreatic cancer more treatable

Zhong et al. report the critical role of oncogenic KRAS/ERK/JUNB signalling in suppressing GATA6, the master regulator of differentiation in pancreatic cancers. Key proteins in pancreatic cancer xenografts were detected by immunohistochemical staining, with the resulting photomicrographs enhanced in colour and texture with DeeVid AI tool. Credit: Zheng Zhong and Xinang Cao, Duke-NUS Medical School Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School have identified a molecular “switch” that determines whether pancreatic cancer cells resist chemotherapy or respond to it—a finding that could help convert some of the most treatment-resistant tumors into forms that are more manageable with existing drugs. Published in the Read More

Consumer Health: How Molecular defect in taste cells causes long-term taste loss after COVID

Scientists have identified molecular and structural changes in taste buds that may explain why a small subset of people experience long-term taste loss after COVID-19 infection. The study, published in Chemical Senses, provides the first direct evidence linking patients’ reported taste changes to measurable biological abnormalities inside taste cells. Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz and two Swedish universities studied 28 non-hospitalized patients who reported persistent taste disturbances more than one year after contracting COVID-19. Key findings: 8 of 28 patients showed clearly abnormal taste test scores 11 patients reported specific loss of sweet, bitter and umami taste Salty Read More

Consumer Health: How Molecular ‘catapult’ fires electrons at the limits of physics

Artist’s illustration of the interplay of a vibrational mode in electron-transfer processes. Credit: Pratyush Ghosh Electrons can be “kicked across” solar materials at almost the fastest speed nature allows, scientists have discovered, challenging long-held theories about how solar energy systems work. The finding could help researchers design more efficient ways of harvesting sunlight and converting it into electricity. The research is published in Nature Communications. In experiments capturing events lasting just 18 femtoseconds—less than 20 quadrillionths of a second—researchers at the University of Cambridge observed charge separation happening within a single molecular vibration. “We deliberately designed a system that—according to Read More

Consumer Health: How Can supercharging your cells help you live longer?

“Longevity science” is on the come up—and “mitochondria” appears to be its newest mascot. The cell’s energy-producing center is the talk of TikTok, wellness clinics and newsletters focused on longevity. Influencers peddle NAD? supplements, which are marketed as a mitochondria-focused must-take daily elixir to boost metabolism and slow aging. Anti-aging experts tout mitochondrial revitalization retreats as a way to “restore youth at the cellular level.” There are also cold plunges, high-intensity workouts and even specialized IV drips. Seemingly everywhere in health and wellness circles, mitochondria are hailed as the secret to keeping the ailments of Father Time at bay. It’s Read More

Consumer Health: How ‘Mini hearts’ show COVID-19 virus directly infects heart tissue

3D rendered surfaces and confocal images of a cardiac spheroid infected with MOI 1 SARS-CoV-2 virus 7 d post infection. Credit: Biofabrication (2026). DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ae38d7 Researchers from the Centenary Institute and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have developed a human heart cell model demonstrating that the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) can directly infect heart tissue, providing new insight into why some people experience serious heart complications during and after infection. The findings come as COVID-19 continues to affect Australians’ health, with more than 185,000 cases reported nationally in the past year, according to the Federal Government’s Notifiable Diseases Read More

Consumer Health: How military deployment affects children: Parental burnout is critical

Credit: Keira Burton from Pexels As the recent war with Iran erupts into one of the most consequential military conflicts in the Middle East, military families are facing unprecedented stress and uncertainty. A new longitudinal study, initiated in the aftermath of the outbreak of the war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, has tracked parents during the first seven months of the conflict and found that children’s behavior problems are significantly linked to parental burnout experienced by the at-home caregiver, regardless of whether a partner is deployed or still at home. How burnout shapes children’s resilience While mothers with deployed Read More

Consumer Health: How Microwave frying can help lower oil content for healthier French fries

Fried foods are popular with consumers, but their high fat content can contribute to health challenges like obesity and hypertension. If the food industry can offer lower-fat options of similar quality, people can more easily make health-conscious food choices. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have explored microwave frying of French fries, providing insights that can help food manufacturers modify their production methods. They propose combining conventional frying with microwave frying to provide the desired crispiness and texture while reducing the cooking time and oil absorption. “Consumers want healthy foods, but at the time of purchase, their cravings often Read More

Consumer Health: How Microbial assembly line makes plastic upcycling programmable

Researchers used microbes to convert plastic waste into pyruvate, an essential energy source for microbes that use it to generate other useful products. As a proof-of-concept experiment, they converted polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, from plastic bottles into the blue dye indigoidine. Credit: Fred Zwicky By converting plastic waste into a microbe-friendly food source, scientists have built an upcycling pipeline that turns the waste into a variety of useful products. The findings are detailed in the journal Nature Sustainability. The team engineered the bacterium Pseudomonas putida to convert polyethylene terephthalate, a main class of single-use plastics found in containers like water Read More

Consumer Health: How Microbe fragments ‘train’ lungs to resist allergies for months

Stromal cells (in green), which possess memory properties, around the bronchiole (smooth musculature, in red), and specifically recruited immune cells (in pink). Credit: Institut Pasteur A study conducted by scientists from the Institut Pasteur has revealed that microbes protect the lungs from subsequently developing allergies and asthma. This long-term protection is “memorized” not by immune system cells, but by fibroblasts, structural cells in the lungs. These results, published in Nature Immunology, open up new possibilities for the development of preventive strategies for respiratory allergies. The constant rise in respiratory allergies and asthma in industrialized countries raises the question of why Read More

Consumer Health: How Microbe exposure may not protect against developing allergic disease

Enhanced inflammation in HDM-induced AAD following exposure to broad diversity of microbes. SPF or PSE mice were exposed to PBS (C) or HDM for 10 d. Credit: The Journal of Immunology (2026). DOI: 10.1093/jimmun/vkaf331 The “hygiene hypothesis” suggests exposure to diverse types of microbes may protect against developing diseases caused by allergens, but a new study in mice reveals that adults’ exposure to diverse microbes and allergens may in fact worsen certain allergic conditions. “Our data suggests that it’s important to think about how we go through the world and protect ourselves from exposure to microbes, because depending on your Read More

Consumer Health: How Mental health care in Asian languages is scarce in the US

Credit: SHVETS production from Pexels Language barriers are a major obstacle to accessing mental health care for those in the US who have difficulty communicating in English. But despite increasing demand, mental health services in Asian languages are rare—and in some places, in decline, according to a study published in JAMA Health Forum. “Our research underscores an urgent need to strengthen the mental health infrastructure so people can access care in a language they can understand,” said study author Ji Eun Chang, associate professor of public health policy and management at NYU School of Global Public Health. Asian Americans are Read More

Consumer Health: How Are mental health apps like doctors, yogis, drugs or supplements?

Credit: Shea Aleksa/Cornell University Millions of people are using ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence tools for therapy, but with little government regulation, there’s no guarantee these apps are helping—or that they won’t cause harm. Cornell researchers are recommending new guidelines for developing safe and responsible large language model (LLM)-based mental well-being apps by consulting relevant experts and reviewing existing state and federal regulations. They proposed four ways to think about the apps, based on whether or not they guarantee certain benefits and how reliably those benefits are delivered. Among the questions to consider: Does the app guarantee specific relief for Read More

Consumer Health: How A new target in melanoma? Disrupting macrophage vesicles could break a tumor-fueling cycle

Melanoma cells with the cell membrane protein CD44 stained in red and the nucleus in blue. Dil-labelled extracellular vesicles taken up by cancer cells are shown in green. Credit: Kaisa Mäki-Mantila Pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages involved in immune responses accelerate the progression of melanoma through the extracellular vesicles they secrete, a study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. The findings are published in Cell Communication and Signaling. How inflammatory vesicles drive melanoma The study explored the molecular mechanisms by which extracellular vesicles secreted by pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages affect melanoma cells. Extracellular vesicles are small membrane-bound particles secreted by cells and Read More

Consumer Health: How US measles elimination status is delayed until November

An expected review of the United States’ measles elimination status has been postponed by seven months. The meeting, originally scheduled for mid-April, will now take place in November, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a regional branch of the World Health Organization. Measles has been considered eliminated in the U.S. since 2000. That means the virus was no longer spreading continuously for more than one year within the country. But large outbreaks in 2025 and early 2026 have put that status at risk. If a major outbreak that began in West Texas on Jan. 20, 2025, is shown Read More

Consumer Health: What are the Masters of water, prisoners of mercury

Christina C. Halperin at the Aguada 2 excavation site. Credit: Department of Anthropology, University of Montreal Under the supervision of Université de Montréal archaeology professor Christina Halperin, Ph.D. student Jean Tremblay spent six years, from 2018 to 2024, studying how the Mayan city of Ucanal managed its drinking water. Combining geochemistry and paleolimnology, his interdisciplinary study explored the archaeological and social issues surrounding access to water and status-based disparities in a densely populated, pre-Hispanic urban environment. The findings have been reported in the journals Archaeometry and the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Three reservoirs with distinct functions were excavated and Read More

Consumer Health: How US maternal deaths fell in 2024 and may have dropped again last year

A pregnant woman stands for a portrait in Dallas, May 18, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/LM Otero, File Fewer U.S. women died around the time of childbirth in 2024, a government analysis shows, and provisional data suggests the trend may have continued last year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported that 649 mothers died in 2024 during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth. That is down from 669 deaths in 2023, and a continued drop from 2022 and 2021—when it was the highest level in more than 50 years. Available preliminary data suggests the trend continued Read More

Consumer Health: What are the clues to personalized medicine

(A) A correlation network of the 63 immunological features is visualized using t-SNE applied to the adjacency matrix to calculate the layout. Features are colored by type, and node sizes scale relative to the importance measures from Figure 1F. For visualization, each feature is represented as a node. An edge is shown between a pair of nodes when their correlation is statistically significant (p values Patterns (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2025.101474 How people with compromised immune systems respond to vaccines is an important area of immunological research. A study led by York University has found that not only could machine-learning models accurately Read More

Consumer Health: What to know about lung cancer

It can be surprising to learn that lung cancer can develop in people who have never smoked. In fact, up to 20% of lung cancers occur in people without a history of smoking. While smoking remains the leading risk factor, other contributors include secondhand smoke, air pollution, exposure to radon and a family history of lung cancer. Possible lung cancer warning signs One of the challenges with lung cancer is that it often doesn’t cause symptoms in its early stages. When symptoms do appear, the disease is often more advanced, which is why early detection is so important. Currently, people Read More

Consumer Health: How Loneliness is linked to fear of embarrassment

A University of the Sunshine Coast study of young teenagers has identified a vicious cycle of loneliness linked to the fear of embarrassment or judgment by peers. The study of more than 170 children aged 13 to 15 found that those staying under the radar socially to avoid judgment reported greater loneliness, as well as lower trust, connection and participation in friendships. The findings are published in the journal Child &Youth Care Forum. “It explored why some teens feel lonely even when surrounded by their peers, and identified the key pattern of social avoidance,” said UniSC Lecturer in Psychology Helen Read More

Consumer Health: What is the link of South Australian algal bloom to widespread eco-anxiety and distress

Signage informing public of the HAB at Goolwa Beach in July 2025. Picture taken by Le Busque, B. Credit: Journal of Environmental Psychology (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102964 The year-long algal bloom along the South Australian coastline has not only devastated marine life and triggered health risks for humans and pets; it has also had a significant psychological impact on local residents, according to new research. An Adelaide University survey of more than 600 South Australians during the peak of the 2025 bloom found high levels of “eco-anxiety”—distress linked to environmental damage—with many participants reporting persistent worry, sadness and feelings of helplessness. Read More

Consumer Health: What is the link of Parkinson’s-related protein to faster Alzheimer’s progression in women

Alzheimer’s-related brain changes progressed up to 20 times faster in women who also had abnormal levels of a Parkinson’s-related protein, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in JAMA Network Open. The same pattern was not observed in men. A protein interaction that accelerates decline The findings suggest that when alpha-synuclein—a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease—accumulates alongside Alzheimer’s pathology, it may drive faster disease progression in women. That interaction could help explain a long-standing disparity: women make up nearly two-thirds of people living with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. Kejal Kantarci, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neuroradiologist and senior author of Read More

Consumer Health: What is the link between diabetes and heart health

Many individuals are surprised to learn that diabetes doesn’t just affect blood sugar; it also greatly increases the risk of developing heart disease. The good news is that there are many steps people can take to protect their hearts, and small changes truly can make a big difference. This heart-healthy diabetes resource is here to give you simple, useful advice to help you take care of both your heart and your body’s energy systems. Heart disease is affected by many things, and some of them can be prevented or controlled. These include high blood pressure, being overweight, high cholesterol, smoking Read More

Consumer Health: How Your lifestyle trajectory greatly influences your weight

Credit: Kampus Production from Pexels Today, almost a third of U.S. adults are overweight and 43% have obesity. Behaviors that are likely to influence weight may be cemented early on. Early adulthood, from ages 18 to 25, is a time when people tend to experience high levels of weight gain, as young people are transitioning to adulthood and good dietary, physical activity, and sleep habits may be put to the test for the first time. In a new study published in Nutrients, Tufts researchers determined that lifestyles during precollege years are often maintained into adulthood. The study found that, broadly Read More