For The Better

Findings from a clinical trial has recommended methotrexate for children with severe atopic dermatitis.

Using engineered microbes as microscopic factories has given the world steady sources of life-saving drugs, revolutionized the food industry, and allowed us to make sustainable versions of valuable chemicals previously made from petroleum. But behind e…

Life on a faraway planet — if it’s out there — might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe’s pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. Scientists have now exploited those limitations to…

Researchers have shown that placental examination resulted in the accurate pathologic determination of more than 90% of previously unexplained pregnancy losses, a discovery that they say may inform pregnancy care going forward.

An international group of researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of large foraminifer, shedding new light on the ecological evolution and biodiversity of coral reefs in the Ryukyu Islands.

Bricklayer, banker, teacher — choosing a career is one of the most exciting and important decisions in our lives. At the beginning of embryonic development, our cells are also faced with this decision. Some of them become blood cells, others muscle ce…

How does pedagogical authority operate in the classroom? A team has produced one of the first in-depth field studies on this subject. By filming teachers in training over a period of several months, the researchers identified different ways of exercisi…

Researchers have discovered 16 new species of strange-looking parasitoid wasps from the Loboscelidia group. The study also revealed for the first time the unique parasitic behavior of a captive female from one species, who after parasitizing her host e…

At what age are people at their happiest? This seemingly simple question has been studied extensively over the past decades, but a definitive answer has long been elusive. A research team has now shed light on the question in a comprehensive meta-analy…

Men exposed to stressful working conditions who also felt that they put forth high effort but received low reward had twice the risk of heart disease compared to men who were free of those psychosocial stressors.

Researchers have determined how to build reliable machine learning models that can understand complex equations in real-world situations while using far less training data than is normally expected.

Scientists have found a plant gene that drives the growth of root hairs, the tiny structures that help plants find water and nutrients in the soil. The gene, dubbed ‘BUZZ,’ causes faster-growing, denser webs of roots and may also determine how plants f…

In the incredibly small world of molecules, the elementary building blocks — the atoms — join together in a very regular pattern. In contrast, in the macroscopic world with its larger particles, there is much greater disorder when particles connect. …

Aqueous potassium-ion batteries are a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries owing to their safety and low cost. However, not much is known about the properties of the solid-electrolyte interphases (SEI) that form between the electrode and the …

Transition metals exchange electrons with supporting ligands to form complexes that facilitate reaction catalysis in several industries, like pharmaceutical production. Both the metal center and the ligand moiety have pivotal roles in enabling catalysi…

New research sheds light on where and how we feel different kinds of love.

Researchers have developed a new laser-based sampling system for studying the composition of ice cores taken from glaciers. The new system has a 3-mm depth-resolution and is expected to help reconstruct continuous annual temperature changes that occurr…

New research paints a worrying picture for the different species of bees that provide multi-million-euro pollination services in Ireland each yea. The work raises concerns about the potential wide-spread exposure to multiple chemicals from two pesticid…

A new study conducted in a lab — with follow-up human breath tests being planned — showed that whole milk plain yogurt prevented almost all of the volatile compounds responsible for garlic’s pungent scent from escaping into the air.

Researchers combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex and outleap its electric-driven competitors.