Other Sciences News

Modified Mediterranean Diet Extends Healthy Lifespan in Mice: Study

Mostly plant-based low-amino-acid diets have the most potent effects on healthspan but require moderate methionine intake to minimize frailty. Image credit: Fanti et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2026.05.015.
Jun 25, 2026 by News Staff

In a new animal study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, scientists found that adding a precise amount of a single amino acid to a low-protein, plant-based diet dramatically reduced frailty and fat in mice; a cross-sectional analysis of epidemiological data from over 200,000 men and women pointed to similar benefits. Mostly plant-based low-amino-acid diets have the most potent effects on healthspan but require moderate methionine intake to...

read more...
Testing situation and hunters with their dogs -- examples from each of the four non-WEIRD societies: (a) pointing test in Mongolia, (b) unsolvable problem test in Vanuatu, (c) showing test in Mongolia, (d) Vanuatu, (e) Mongolia, (f) Madagascar, (g) Peru. Image credit: Bräuer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-57657-1.

Human-Dog Bond is Ancient, Universal and Strikingly the Same Everywhere: Study

Jun 23, 2026 by News Staff

New research spanning five continents and vastly different cultures — from the steppes of Mongolia to the rainforests of the Pacific — shows...

Lauren Scott & Brittany Florkiewicz show that cat facial signals correspond to different social functions, which have likely been influenced by domestication. Image credit: Sci.News / Makieni777 / Rise-a-mui / Alexas_Fotos / Dorothe / Vaclav Zavada / Artem Makarov / Daga Roszkowska / Birgit / Pasi Mammela.

Domestic Cats Age Like Humans, New Study Shows

Jun 23, 2026 by News Staff

Domestic cats (Felis catus) develop the same patterns of brain shrinkage and neurological decline as aging humans, and scientists think that makes them...

A Homo heidelbergensis, a Neanderthal and a Cro-Magnon. Image credit: SINC / José Antonio Peñas.

New Study Challenges Long-Held Idea that Our Ancestors Simply Got Bigger Over Time

Jun 22, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For decades, paleoanthropologists assumed that hominins — the lineage leading to modern humans — gradually grew larger over millions of years....

Wordle, a popular word-guessing game, challenges players to identify a five-letter secret word through iterative guesses and feedback on letter placement. The players must figure out the secret word within six guesses. After each guess, the letters will be color-coded based on different criteria. Optimizing the choice of guesses is critical for maximizing success within the limited attempts allowed. Image credit: Aladaileh et al., doi: 10.63562/2577-8439.1146.

Scientists Use Math to Solve Viral Word Game ‘Wordle’ with 99% Success Rate

Jun 18, 2026 by News Staff

Researchers at Binghamton University have applied a 70-year-old theory of information to the viral word game Wordle, revealing how a carefully chosen first...

Levin et al suggest that we could have more in common with our extraterrestrial neighbors than initially thought. Image credit: Fernando Ribas.

Consciousness is Not Exclusive to Earth’s Biology, Philosophers Argue

Jun 17, 2026 by Natali Anderson

University of California, Riverside’s Professor Eric Schwitzgebel and University of Lisbon postdoctoral researcher Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness...

Shaar et al. unveil the oldest evidence of human activity in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Image credit: Michael Chazan.

Evidence of Fire Use by Early Humans May Date Back Nearly 1.8 Million Years

Jun 16, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists have uncovered compelling new evidence that early human ancestors, likely Homo erectus, were deliberately bringing fire into Wonderwerk Cave...

Using the APP/PS1 mouse model of familial Alzheimer’s disease, Pyun et al. investigated the effect of Cu(ATSM) on brain microvascular abundance and function of P-glycoprotein and the associated effects on exogenous amyloid-beta clearance, brain amyloid burden, and cognitive function. Image credit: Pyun et al., doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.6c00252.

Experimental Copper-Based Drug Clears Alzheimer’s Plaques and Boosts Memory in Mice

Jun 15, 2026 by News Staff

Copper diacetyl bis(4-methyl-3-thiosemicarbazone), or Cu(ATSM), restored a key waste-removal system in the brain, reducing toxic amyloid-beta buildup and...

Rasheed Ahmad & Fatemah Bahman revealed that a sucrose-free low-fat diet notably disrupted gut microbial diversity and composition, leading to a depletion of short-chain fatty acid-producing commensal bacteria -- such as Lactobacillus murinus and Lachnospiraceae -- and an enrichment of pro-inflammatory or stress-adapted species, including Helicobacter ganmani, Odoribacter splanchnicus, and Alistipes spp. Image credit: Lourdes Alvarez.

Eliminating Sucrose from Low-Fat Diet Alters Gut Microbiome, Animal Study Suggests

Jun 15, 2026 by News Staff

In a mouse study conducted by scientists at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait, rodents fed a sucrose-free diet developed insulin resistance, gut...

A reconstruction of Homo longi in his habitat. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

Acheulean Toolmakers Chose Their Stone with Surprising Precision

Jun 8, 2026 by News Staff

Geochemical analysis of 780,000-year-old stone tools from Israel suggests Acheulean (or Acheulian) hominins repeatedly sought specific basalt sources,...

Fault-controlled basins and interpreted structural frame in the newly-identified East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province. Image credit: Armadillo et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-026-01991-6.

Geoscientists Find Vast Fan-Shaped Structure beneath Antarctica’s Ice

Jun 8, 2026 by News Staff

By combining seismic, gravity and topographic data, a team of researchers from Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom found that several well-known...

Early Earth. Image credit: Peter Sawyer / Smithsonian Institution.

Ancient Oceans Began Losing Oxygen Millions of Years before End-Triassic Mass Extinction

Jun 2, 2026 by News Staff

Chemical traces preserved in ancient rocks indicate that marine environments were deteriorating long before the catastrophe that wiped out vast numbers...

People who drink a glass of 100% fruit juice or a smoothie each day as part of the UK’s 5-a-day healthy eating guidance see improvements in their mental wellbeing. Image credit: Joseph Mucira.

Daily Glass of Fruit Juice May Lift Your Mood: Study

Jun 1, 2026 by Natali Anderson

In a small randomized trial in the United Kingdom, adults who added a serving of 100% fruit juice or a smoothie to a healthier diet reported lower depression...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Is Dark Energy Unnecessary? Mathematicians Challenge Standard Cosmological Model of Universe

May 28, 2026 by News Staff

Mathematicians from University College London and the University of California, Davis, have published a mathematical proof that the Universe’s accelerating...

Tomato-soy juice contains high levels of lycopene and soy isoflavones.

Tomato-Soy Drink May Help Fight Chronic Inflammation in Adults with Obesity

May 27, 2026 by News Staff

In a small clinical trial, researchers at the Ohio State University found that a tomato juice rich in lycopene and soy isoflavones lowered several proteins...

Reconstruction of Homo erectus.

Upright Walking and Larger Brains May Explain Why 90% of Humans Favor Their Right Hand

May 22, 2026 by News Staff

New research from the University of Oxford and the University of Reading suggests bipedalism and expanding brain size helped drive the overwhelming dominance...

Lim et al. demonstrate that stromatolites -- the oldest fossil evidence of oxygen-producing microbial life on early Earth -- could have developed within impact craters, based on a detailed investigation of stromatolites and lake sediments in the Hapcheon impact crater, South Korea. Image credit: Lim et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-026-03206-7.

Ancient Crater Lakes May Have Provided Ideal Conditions for Earth’s Earliest Oxygen-Breathing Life

May 20, 2026 by News Staff

Researchers have discovered stromatolites — layered structures formed by microbial communities — inside a 42,000-year-old asteroid crater in...

Rehn et al. performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the cognitive and behavioral effects of diet reversal in rodent models. Image credit: Steve Buissinne.

Sugary Diets May Cause Long-Term Memory Problems Even after Eating Improves

May 19, 2026 by News Staff

An analysis of 27 animal studies found that switching to a healthier diet improved memory performance, though the effects were far weaker after diets high...

Manzi et al. tested house crickets (Acheta domesticus), among the most widely farmed insects on Earth, for what is thought a key behavioral hallmark of pain: flexible, site-directed self-protection. Image credit: Matthew Lindsey / CC BY 2.0.

Insects May Feel Pain, New Study Suggests

May 18, 2026 by Natali Anderson

When an antenna of the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is touched with a heated probe, something curious happens: the insect turns its attention to the...

Analysis of Camponotus nicobarensis venom. Image credit: Koch et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aed4078.

Formicine Ants Produce Hidden Arsenal of Venom Peptides, Study Finds

May 18, 2026 by News Staff

Entomologists have discovered that carpenter ants — the largest genus within the stingless ant subfamily Formicinae — produce dozens of previously...

© 2011-2026. Sci.News. All Rights Reserved. | Back to top