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

Researchers have developed a new class of antibodies that amplify the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. By clustering immune receptors that normally receive weak signals from tumors, these four-pronged antibodies push T cells into full attack mode. In early studies, they outperformed conventional antibodies at activating cancer-killing immune cells. The work opens the door to more effective immunotherapy treatments.View the full article

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

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

A new study finds that TikTok videos about gout frequently spread confusing or inaccurate advice. Most clips focus on diet changes and supplements, while barely mentioning the long-term treatments doctors say are essential for controlling the disease. Many videos also frame gout as a lifestyle problem, rather than a condition driven largely by genetics and underlying health factors. Researchers say the platform has huge potential—but only if accurate medical voices step in.View the full article

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

DNA doesn’t just sit still inside our cells — it folds, loops, and rearranges in ways that shape how genes behave. Researchers have now mapped this hidden architecture in unprecedented detail, showing how genome structure changes from cell to cell and over time. These insights reveal why many disease-linked mutations outside genes can still cause harm. The findings could speed up the discovery of genetic risks and inspire new ways to target diseases.View the full article

Long COVID affects an estimated 65 million people worldwide and can damage the brain, heart, blood vessels, and immune system long after infection. Researchers now link symptoms to lingering virus, inflammation, micro-clots, and disrupted energy metabolism. While structured rehab and pacing can improve quality of life, a growing list of experimental treatments—from antivirals and metformin to microbiome therapies and biologics—shows early promise. Clear answers, however, are still limited by small studies and the lack of large, definitive trials.View the full article

Using NASA’s IXPE, astronomers captured an unprecedented view of a white dwarf star actively feeding on material from a companion. The data revealed giant columns of ultra-hot gas shaped by the star’s magnetic field and glowing in intense X-rays. These features are far too small to image directly, but X-ray polarization allowed scientists to map them with surprising precision. The results open new doors for understanding extreme binary star systems.View the full article

Nearly everything in the universe is made of mysterious dark matter and dark energy, yet we can’t see either of them directly. Scientists are developing detectors so sensitive they can spot particle interactions that might occur once in years or even decades. These experiments aim to uncover what shapes galaxies and fuels cosmic expansion. Cracking this mystery could transform our understanding of the laws of nature.View the full article

Scientists are uncovering why Brazil may be one of the most important yet underused resources for studying extreme longevity. Its highly diverse population harbors millions of genetic variants missing from standard datasets, including rare changes linked to immune strength and cellular maintenance. Brazilian supercentenarians often remain mentally sharp, survive serious infections, and come from families where multiple members live past 100. Together, they reveal aging not as inevitable decline, but as a form of biological resilience.View the full article

Einstein’s claim that the speed of light is constant has survived more than a century of scrutiny—but scientists are still daring to test it. Some theories of quantum gravity suggest light might behave slightly differently at extreme energies. By tracking ultra-powerful gamma rays from distant cosmic sources, researchers searched for tiny timing differences that could reveal new physics. They found none, but their results tighten the limits by a huge margin.View the full article

When scientists repeatedly drove a strongly interacting quantum system with laser “kicks,” they expected it to heat up and grow chaotic. Instead, the atoms abruptly stopped absorbing energy and locked into a stable pattern of motion. This strange effect arises from quantum coherence, which prevents the system from thermalizing despite constant forcing. The results overturn classical intuition and offer new insight into how quantum systems can resist disorder.View the full article

A brief, intense workout may do more than boost fitness—it could help fight cancer. Researchers found that just 10 minutes of hard exercise releases molecules into the bloodstream that switch on DNA repair and shut down cancer growth signals. When these molecules were applied to bowel cancer cells, hundreds of cancer-related genes changed activity. The discovery helps explain how exercise lowers cancer risk and hints at future therapies inspired by movement.View the full article

A large review of studies suggests that exercise can ease depression about as effectively as psychological therapy. Compared with antidepressants, exercise showed similar benefits, though the evidence was less certain. Researchers found that light to moderate activity over multiple sessions worked best, with few side effects. While it’s not a cure-all, exercise may be a powerful and accessible tool for many people.View the full article

Exercise doesn’t just challenge the body; it challenges how the brain interprets effort. Scientists discovered that vibrating tendons before cycling allowed people to push harder without feeling like they were working more. Their muscles and hearts worked overtime, but their sense of strain stayed the same. This brain-body mismatch could one day help make exercise feel less intimidating, especially for people who struggle to stay active.View the full article

Scientists have detected a surprisingly hot galaxy cluster dating back to the universe’s infancy. The cluster formed far earlier and burned far hotter than current models predict. Researchers believe supermassive black holes may have rapidly heated the surrounding gas. The finding could force a major rethink of how galaxy clusters grow.View the full article

Europa’s buried ocean has made it one of the most exciting places to search for life beyond Earth. However, new calculations suggest its seafloor may be calm, cold, and largely inactive, with little energy to support living organisms. Unlike Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, Europa experiences weaker tidal forces that fail to drive underwater geology. The ocean may exist, but it could be a very quiet place.View the full article

Researchers have built a new platform that produces ultrashort UV-C laser pulses and detects them at room temperature using atom-thin materials. The light flashes last just femtoseconds and can be used to send encoded messages through open space. The system relies on efficient laser generation and highly responsive sensors that scale well for manufacturing. Together, these advances could accelerate the development of next-generation photonic technologies.View the full article

Researchers at TU Wien have discovered a quantum system where energy and mass move with perfect efficiency. In an ultracold gas of atoms confined to a single line, countless collisions occur—but nothing slows down. Instead of diffusing like heat in metal, motion travels cleanly and undiminished, much like a Newton’s cradle. The finding reveals a striking form of transport that breaks the usual rules of resistance.View the full article

Tessellations aren’t just eye-catching patterns—they can be used to crack complex mathematical problems. By repeatedly reflecting shapes to tile a surface, researchers uncovered a method that links geometry, symmetry, and problem-solving. The technique works in both ordinary flat space and curved hyperbolic worlds used in theoretical physics. Its blend of beauty and precision could influence everything from engineering to digital design.View the full article

Around the bright star Fomalhaut, astronomers spotted glowing clouds of debris left behind by colossal collisions between large space rocks. One of these clouds was even mistaken for a planet before slowly fading away. Seeing two such events in just two decades hints that violent impacts may be surprisingly common in young star systems. It’s like watching planets-in-the-making collide before our eyes.View the full article

Bariatric surgery far outperformed GLP-1 weight loss drugs in a new real-world comparison of more than 50,000 patients. Two years after treatment, surgery patients lost about 58 pounds on average, while those using semaglutide or tirzepatide lost roughly 12 pounds. Even patients who stayed on GLP-1 drugs for a full year saw much smaller results than surgical patients. High dropout rates and real-world challenges appear to blunt the drugs’ effectiveness.View the full article

Researchers in Japan built a miniature human brain circuit using fused stem-cell–derived organoids, allowing them to watch the thalamus and cortex interact in real time. They found that the thalamus plays a decisive role in maturing the cortex and organizing its neural networks. Signals from the thalamus triggered synchronized activity in specific neuron types, while others remained unaffected. The system closely mimics human brain development and could transform how scientists study neurological disorders.View the full article

Researchers have reconstructed ancient herpesvirus genomes from Iron Age and medieval Europeans, revealing that HHV-6 has been infecting humans for at least 2,500 years. Some people inherited the virus directly in their DNA, passing it down across generations. The study shows that these viruses evolved alongside humans—and that one strain eventually lost its ability to integrate into our chromosomes. It’s the first time this long, intimate relationship has been proven with ancient genetic evidence.View the full article