Science Featured Series

Indigenous children in Canada face disproportionately high rates of life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses, placing immense pressure on families who must navigate complex healthcare systems often far from home. Historical and ongoing effects of colonialism, including systemic inequities and barriers to access, continue to shape health outcomes. As a result, improving culturally responsive a…

Growing concerns about industrial waste have encouraged scientists to search for ways to reuse materials that would otherwise be discarded. One such waste product is red mud, a leftover substance created during aluminum production. Huge amounts of this reddish residue accumulate every year, often stored in large containment areas that can pose environmental risks. Finding […]

Modern materials used in packaging and outdoor applications are constantly exposed to harsh environments, where water, dust, and ice can degrade performance over time. Researchers have long sought ways to create surfaces that can repel contaminants and reduce maintenance needs. Inspired by natural systems such as lotus leaves, scientists are now engineering surfaces that actively […]

Every piece of wood hides a quiet complexity—built from a natural trio of compounds: cellulose for strength, hemicellulose for flexibility, and lignin as a glue for wood structure. Among these, lignin, the dark and stubborn substance that gives wood its rigidity, has long been treated as little more than industrial waste. Yet it is now […]

Understanding how best to protect young dogs from canine parvovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes severe gastrointestinal illness and even death, remains a central focus in veterinary medicine. Early in life, puppies rely on maternally derived antibody, a temporary form of immunity passed from the mother that helps shield them until their own immune […]

Understanding what motivates faculty to use new teaching methods is crucial for improving education quality in universities. Many institutions introduce programs to improve teaching, yet their success varies. Research by Dr. Juan Cruz from Rowan University, Dr. Stephanie Adams from the University of Texas at Dallas, and Dr. Flor Bravo from Universidad Nacional de Colombia examines how different f…

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are becoming more common worldwide, yet current treatments can only manage symptoms and cannot stop the diseases from progressing. Both conditions involve the gradual loss of brain cells, increased damage caused by harmful molecules known as free radicals which are unstable molecules that can injure cells, and the buil…

Bringing attention to one of the most challenging brain diseases today, Alzheimer’s continues to affect millions of people worldwide with memory loss, confusion, and steady mental decline. What makes this disease especially harmful is the buildup of harmful proteins in the brain, called amyloid-beta (Aβ), which group together and damage nerve cells. Although there are medicines that help manage s…

Tuberculosis remains a major global health concern, and in countries with aging populations its management increasingly extends beyond medical treatment alone. In Japan, where tuberculosis now primarily affects older adults, hospitalization is often prolonged, placing pressure on patients, families, and healthcare systems. While clinical markers such as infectiousness have traditionally guided di…

The mathematical language of quantum mechanics has relied on complex numbers for nearly a century, even though its founder, Erwin Schrödinger, was never fully comfortable with that choice. Complex numbers are mathematical quantities that include an imaginary component and are widely used to simplify calculations in physics. A new theoretical study revisits one of Schrödinger’s earliest ideas and …

Blood clots are one of the body’s great survival tools. They seal wounds, stop bleeding, and help us heal. But when clots form at the wrong time or in the wrong place, they can become extremely dangerous—causing heart attacks, strokes, or sudden organ damage. Keeping clotting under tight control is essential, and one of the body’s most important guardians is a protein called antithrombin. Antithr…

People are increasingly wondering what creativity means now that generative artificial intelligence is becoming a part of everyday life. With smart technologies rapidly entering creative spaces like art, writing, and music, a group of experts from the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI) joined forces to explore how humans and machines can work together creativ…

Following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians and the severe Israeli military response in Gaza, Berlin—home to Europe’s largest Palestinian community—became a center of heightened tension. A recent study in the journal Genealogy by Dr. Carola Tize of University College London examines how Palestinian families in Berlin’s Neukölln neighborhood are coping with increasing restricti…

People who enjoy deer hunting or watching wildlife often admire antlers as symbols of health, strength, and good genetics. When antlers grow in strange, uneven, or incomplete ways, most believe it’s due to past injuries. But new research offers a different explanation—one that could change how we understand deer health across Europe and other regions. Scientists led by Dr. Farkas Sükösd from the …

For decades, academically intensive charter schools have existed quietly across the United States, yet their role in the education system has received little formal attention. These schools are defined by a clear focus on strong academic learning, setting them apart from more familiar charter models that emphasize behavior rules or social goals. A recent national study examines whether this disti…

Cancer research has long focused on mutations in genes that code for proteins, the molecules that carry out most visible work inside cells, in an effort to explain how healthy cells become malignant. Yet this protein-centered view has left major gaps, including why cancers of the same type often share just few genetic mutations and why many so-called cancer genes also appear in healthy tissues. A…

Understanding how many fish are born in a given year—a measure known as year-class strength, meaning the number of fish that survive from a specific spawning year—is essential for making smart decisions about managing fish populations. But figuring this out can be tricky due to natural ups and downs in reproduction, changing death rates, and varying levels of fishing. A new study by Dr. Ji He fro…

Precision medicine—an approach to disease treatment that tailors care based on each person’s unique genetic makeup, environment, and lifestyle—is changing how cancer is treated around the world. But in Latin America, making this approach available to everyone still faces major obstacles. A new study by Dr. Ana Rita González from Policy Wisdom LLC and her team outlines how precision medicine could…

Type 2 diabetes has long been viewed as a disorder of sugar control in the body, but a new review paper from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences summaried recent publications suggests that the disease also disrupts the immune system in ways that may directly harm the heart and blood vessels. The review, led by Dr. Yunmeng Liu and published in Life, shows that changes in hormone levels…

For many children with autism, understanding and telling stories can be a real challenge. These skills are not only important for handling everyday conversations and social situations but also for doing well in school. A new study by researchers Professor Trina Spencer at the University of Kansas and Dr. Megan Kirby of Language Dynamics Group has shown that a special kind of storytelling practice…