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A six-week study from the University of Nottingham suggests that pairing fermented kefir with a diverse prebiotic fiber mix may deliver a powerful anti-inflammatory boost. This “synbiotic” combination outperformed omega-3 supplements and fiber alone, leading to the broadest drop in inflammation-related proteins in healthy adults. By feeding beneficial microbes and helping them produce compounds like butyrate, the combo appeared to improve overall immune balance and metabolic health.View the full article

A simple brain-training program that sharpens how quickly older adults process visual information may have a surprisingly powerful long-term payoff. In a major 20-year study of adults 65 and older, those who completed five to six weeks of adaptive “speed of processing” training — along with a few booster sessions — were significantly less likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, even two decades later. Participants who received the boosted speed training had a 25% lower dementia risk compared to those who received no training, making it the only intervention in the trial to show such a lasting protective effect.View the full article

A new clinical trial suggests that changing when you eat could make a meaningful difference for people living with Crohn’s disease. Researchers found that time-restricted feeding, a form of intermittent fasting that limits meals to an 8-hour daily window, reduced disease activity by 40% and cut abdominal discomfort in half over 12 weeks. Participants also lost weight and showed healthier inflammation and immune markers, even though they did not reduce calories or change what they ate.View the full article

Three major reviews commissioned by the World Health Organization find that GLP-1 drugs including tirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound), semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), and liraglutide (Victoza and Saxenda) can lead to substantial weight loss in people with obesity. But while the results are impressive, researchers caution that most trials were funded by drugmakers, long term safety data are still limited, and side effects such as nausea are common.View the full article

Life may have started in sticky, rock-hugging gels rather than inside cells. Researchers suggest these primitive, biofilm-like materials could trap and concentrate molecules, giving early chemistry a protected space to grow more complex. Within these gels, the first hints of metabolism and self-replication may have emerged.View the full article

For millions of years, a frozen wanderer drifted between the stars before slipping into our solar system as 3I/ATLAS—only the third known interstellar comet ever spotted. When scientists turned NASA’s Swift Observatory toward it, they caught the first-ever hint of water from such an object, detected through a faint ultraviolet glow of hydroxyl gas. Even more surprising, the comet was blasting out water at a rate of about 40 kilograms per second while still far from the Sun—much farther than where most comets “switch on.”View the full article

Avian malaria is spreading across Hawaiʻi in a way scientists didn’t fully grasp until now: nearly every forest bird species can help keep the disease alive. Researchers found the parasite at 63 of 64 sites statewide, revealing that both native honeycreepers and introduced birds can quietly pass the infection to mosquitoes—even when carrying only tiny amounts of it. Because infected birds can remain contagious for months or even years, transmission keeps simmering almost everywhere mosquitoes exist.View the full article

A distant star system with four super-sized gas giants has revealed a surprise. Thanks to JWST’s powerful vision, astronomers detected sulfur in their atmospheres — a chemical clue that they formed like Jupiter, by slowly building solid cores. That’s unexpected because these planets are far bigger and orbit much farther from their star than models once allowed.View the full article

Depression in older adults may sometimes signal the early stages of Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia. Researchers found that depression often appears years before diagnosis and remains elevated long afterward, unlike in other chronic illnesses. This suggests depression may reflect early brain changes rather than emotional distress alone.View the full article

A cooler bedroom might be better for older sleepers than previously thought. Researchers found that keeping nighttime temperatures at 75°F reduced stress responses and helped the heart work more efficiently during sleep. Hot nights usually force the heart to work harder, interfering with recovery. As climate change drives warmer nights, this small adjustment could make a big difference.View the full article

Your cat’s purr may say more about who they are than their meow ever could. Scientists discovered that purrs are stable and uniquely identifiable, while meows change dramatically depending on context. Domestic cats, in particular, have evolved highly flexible meows as a way to communicate with humans. The purr, meanwhile, stays constant—making it a reliable marker of individual identity.View the full article

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the first animals to crawl onto land were strict meat-eaters, even as plants had already taken over the landscape. Now scientists have uncovered a 307-million-year-old fossil that rewrites that story: one of the earliest known land vertebrates to start eating plants. The animal, named Tyrannoroter heberti, was a stocky, football-sized creature with a skull packed with specialized teeth designed for crushing and grinding vegetation.View the full article

Blood vessels twist, branch, narrow, and balloon in ways that dramatically affect how blood flows — but most lab models have long treated them like straight pipes. Researchers at Texas A&M have now built a new kind of “vessel-chip” that mirrors the real complexity of human blood vessels, from aneurysms to dangerous constrictions.View the full article

Why does the same virus barely faze one person while sending another to the hospital? New research shows the answer lies in a molecular record etched into our immune cells by both our genes and our life experiences. Scientists at the Salk Institute have created a detailed epigenetic map of human immune cells, revealing how inherited traits and past exposures—like infections, vaccines, or even environmental chemicals—shape immune responses in different ways.View the full article

A bonobo named Kanzi surprised scientists by successfully playing along in pretend tea party experiments, tracking imaginary juice and grapes as if they were real. He consistently pointed to the correct locations of pretend items, while still choosing real food when given the option. The results suggest that imagination may not be exclusive to humans after all.View the full article

Ultra-processed foods are everywhere in the American diet, and researchers are finding alarming consequences. Using national health data, scientists found that adults with the highest intake of these foods had a 47% higher risk of heart attack or stroke. The results held even after accounting for age, smoking, and income. Experts say reducing ultra-processed foods could become as important to public health as cutting back on tobacco once was.View the full article

Scientists have uncovered a surprising way tumors turn the immune system to their advantage. Researchers at the University of Geneva found that neutrophils—normally frontline defenders against infection—can be reprogrammed inside tumors to fuel cancer growth instead. Once exposed to the tumor environment, these immune cells begin producing a molecule called CCL3 that actively promotes tumor progression.View the full article

Around 1550, life on Rapa Nui began changing in ways long misunderstood. New research reveals that a severe drought, lasting more than a century, dramatically reduced rainfall on the already water-scarce island, reshaping how people lived, worshiped, and organized society. Instead of collapsing, Rapanui communities adapted—shifting rituals, power structures, and sacred spaces in response to climate stress.View the full article

Human evolution has long been tied to growing brain size, and new research suggests prenatal hormones may have played a surprising role. By studying the relative lengths of index and ring fingers — a clue to oestrogen and testosterone exposure in the womb — researchers found that higher prenatal estrogen was linked to larger head size in newborn boys.View the full article

Autism has long been thought of as a condition that mostly affects boys, but a massive study from Sweden suggests that idea may be misleading. Tracking nearly 3 million people over decades, researchers found that while boys are diagnosed more often in childhood, girls steadily catch up during their teenage years. By early adulthood, autism diagnoses among males and females are nearly equal.View the full article

Methane levels in Earth’s atmosphere surged faster than ever in the early 2020s, and scientists say the reason was a surprising mix of chemistry and climate. A temporary slowdown in the atmosphere’s ability to break down methane allowed the gas to linger, while unusually wet conditions boosted emissions from wetlands, rivers, lakes, and rice fields around the world. Pandemic-related changes in air pollution played a key role, indirectly weakening the atmosphere’s natural “clean-up” process.View the full article

Life’s story may stretch further back than scientists once thought. Some genes found in nearly every organism today were already duplicated before all life shared a common ancestor. By tracking these rare genes, researchers can investigate how early cells worked and what features of life emerged first. New computational tools are now helping scientists unlock this hidden chapter of evolution.View the full article

A large U.S. study suggests that not getting enough lycopene—the antioxidant that gives tomatoes their red color—may seriously raise the risk of severe gum disease in older adults. Researchers found that seniors with adequate lycopene intake had about one-third the risk of severe periodontitis compared with those who fell short.View the full article

A long-standing mystery in spintronics has just been shaken up. A strange electrical effect called unusual magnetoresistance shows up almost everywhere scientists look—even in systems where the leading explanation, spin Hall magnetoresistance, shouldn’t work at all. Now, new experiments reveal a far simpler origin: the way electrons scatter at material interfaces under the combined influence of magnetization and an electric field.View the full article

A sweeping new review of ADHD treatments—drawing on more than 200 meta-analyses—cuts through years of mixed messaging and hype. To make sense of it all, researchers have launched an interactive, public website that lets people with ADHD and clinicians explore what actually works, helping them make clearer, evidence-based decisions—while also highlighting a major gap: most solid evidence only covers short-term effects, even though long-term treatment is common.View the full article