https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences When we think of materials, we usually think of substances like metal, concrete, glass or rubber. What these examples have in common is that they are inactive: when pushed, pulled, shifted or sheared they may move or deform, but only by using the energy that is provided from the outside through the forces applied to them. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-restless-materials-dont-pressure-snap.html Engineering Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:20:05 EDT news695484661 Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have identified simple rules that explain how complex protein structures assemble correctly and remain functional over time, despite having many theoretically possible configurations. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on bacterioferritin, a bacterial protein complex responsible for safely storing iron. Unlike simpler protein assemblies made of identical parts, many bacterioferritins are built from two different types of subunits, each with a distinct role. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-simple-proteins-evolve.html Evolution Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:40:06 EDT news695395621 Scientists have taken an important step toward a gene therapy that could one day turn off the extra genetic material that causes Down syndrome (DS). Down syndrome is a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome 21 (and consequently hundreds of triplicate genes) that leads to developmental and neurological issues. According to the Washington-based National Down Syndrome Society, approximately 1 in every 640 babies in the United States is born with DS. That makes it the most common chromosomal condition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-crispr-bold-silencing-syndrome-extra.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:40:07 EDT news695392514 The study of ancient cultures around Ethiopia during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) time period is important for understanding how some of the first Homo sapiens lived and eventually left Africa. Unfortunately, there are not many well-preserved, open-air archaeological sites from the MSA, especially with both human fossils and artifacts. The Middle Awash study area in Ethiopia, however, is one of the few areas with a well-preserved treasure trove of artifacts capable of painting a picture of early human life in Ethiopia. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports on some fascinating findings from this region, giving clues into what life—and death—might have been like. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ethiopia-afar-rift-glimpse-life.html Archaeology Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:35:25 EDT news695392501 Our industrialized, modern lifestyles may be increasing how much estrogen (the female sex hormone) gets recycled in our bodies, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. And it appears to be down to the increased abundance and diversity of specific bacteria in our gut. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-modern-lifestyles-affecting-bodies-recycle.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:40:01 EDT news695384340 Life moves in mysterious ways—and perhaps especially so for organisms that undergo dramatic shifts in levels of self-organization, such as Myxococcus xanthus. A custom-built artificial intelligence system developed by Rice University researchers helped uncover how bacterial communities organize themselves, showing that the earliest moments of a biological transition carry far more information than previously considered. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-hidden-behavior-patterns-bacteria.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:20:09 EDT news695376302 In a tank on the bottom floor of a University of Chicago research laboratory, scientists summon "The Blob" into existence by firing water jets to create an artfully choreographed series of rings. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-blob-tank-scientists-secrets-turbulence.html General Physics Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:00:01 EDT news695374501 Urban emissions of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—are rising faster than bottom-up accounting estimates anticipated, according to a study led by University of Michigan Engineering. The discrepancy was found with satellite measurements of methane over 92 major cities around the world. For 72 of the cities, there were sufficient data to track changes in methane emissions between 2019 and 2023. Overall, global urban methane emissions in 2023 were 6% higher than 2019 levels and 10% higher than 2020 levels, although they tended to decrease in European cities. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-satellites-reveal-city-methane-emissions.html Earth Sciences Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:50:01 EDT news695320261 Scientists at the VIB–VUB Center for Structural Biology have uncovered a counterintuitive principle that could reshape how membrane proteins are designed from scratch: Sometimes, making a protein less stable helps it fold correctly. In their study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrate that introducing carefully placed "imperfections," a strategy known as negative design, enables synthetic membrane proteins to fold and assemble efficiently in artificial membranes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-membrane-proteins-embracing-imperfection.html Biotechnology Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:40:01 EDT news695312581 Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that has been shown to strengthen teeth and reduce cavities. Many municipalities add fluoride to their drinking water—a process called community water fluoridation—as a public health measure to support dental health. In recent years, however, some have claimed that ingesting fluoride can harm children's IQ. Now researchers at the University of Minnesota have led a team that investigated the connection between fluoride in drinking water and children's IQ to see if these claims had merit. The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-fluoride-kids-iq-decades-analysis.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:20:06 EDT news695316481 When extreme weather looms, timely and accurate warnings can give people the chance to adjust their plans, brace for danger and, in the most severe cases, make decisions that keep them safe. Does that mean improving weather forecasts could save more lives in a warming climate? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-weather-deaths-climate.html Environment Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:00:08 EDT news695293261 A research team has discovered a previously unknown mechanism by which the immune system fights bacterial infections. The scientists found that a specific protein, the chloride channel PACC1, is crucial for immune cells to effectively kill bacteria. If the protein is missing, it leads to increased inflammatory reactions, as well as increased mortality in an animal model in cases of bacterial sepsis. In the long term, the findings could help develop new treatment strategies for bacterial sepsis—especially in light of rising antibiotic resistance. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-sepsis-drug-boosting-chloride-channel.html Sun, 12 Apr 2026 10:00:04 EDT news694792915 The default mode network (DMN) is a distributed set of interconnected brain regions that has long been associated with internally oriented cognition, such as remembering the past, thinking about the future, or thinking about oneself. Accumulating evidence also indicates that the DMN is engaged during tasks involving external perceptual input, such as language comprehension and social perception. However, the mechanism by which the same network supports both internally and externally oriented cognition has remained unknown. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-brain-default-mode-network-sender.html Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:00:01 EDT news694861355 We thought it was evolution, but an experiment with pencils shows that tips like teeth and thorns may owe their rounded shape to mechanical wear. Most of us have been stung by a bee, bitten by an animal, or scratched by a thorny bush. But very few of us have probably taken a close look at nature's painful, pointed tips. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-teeth-thorns-coincidences-universal-nature.html Evolution Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:20:02 EDT news695033521 The hippocampus is a crucial part of the brain that plays a role in memory and learning, especially in remembering directions and locations. New research from the University of Chicago shows how this small, curved structure reorganizes its activity depending on whether a situation matches people's memories and expectations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-key-memory-center-brain-unexpected.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:20:01 EDT news695041135 Two back-to-back droughts in 2023 and 2024 caused the most severe decline in forest moisture and biomass (the total mass of living vegetation such as leaves, trunks and branches) in the Amazon since 1992, according to a study published in the journal PNAS. And many of the hardest hit areas are unlikely to recover before the next major drought arrives. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-amazon-droughts-trigger-forest-stress.html Earth Sciences Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:20:05 EDT news695033148 As the global aging population advances and countries face shrinking workforces, a new study focusing on China by IIASA researchers and colleagues from Nanjing University reveals how economic growth can persist despite these changes in age structures. Drawing on detailed data from 336 cities between 2000 and 2020, the research shows that China's long-standing demographic advantage, once powered by a large working-age population, has been steadily overtaken as the primary driver of growth by a new engine: the skills of its workforce. The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-skills-age-economic-driver-china.html Social Sciences Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:00:03 EDT news694971542 Researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have solved a long-standing mystery of how a model green microalga reorganizes its central metabolism to supercharge growth when given access to both light and a carbon source—a finding with broad implications for developing algae as a sustainable source of renewable fuels, bioproducts, and biomass. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hidden-metabolism-algae-advance-renewable.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:00:03 EDT news694970702 The world's oceans may be quietly amplifying climate change in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Rochester scientists—including Thomas Weber, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and graduate student Shengyu Wang and postdoctoral research associate Hairong Xu in Weber's lab—uncovered a key mechanism behind methane production in the open ocean. Their research indicates that this mechanism could intensify as the planet warms, providing an alarming feedback loop for global warming. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hidden-ocean-feedback-loop-climate.html Earth Sciences Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:10:02 EDT news694972141 University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have developed a bold new approach to drug development and discovery that could dramatically accelerate the creation of new medicines. UVA's Nikolay V. Dokholyan, Ph.D., and colleagues have developed a suite of artificial intelligence-powered tools, called YuelDesign, YuelPocket and YuelBond, that work together to transform how new drugs are created. The centerpiece, YuelDesign, uses a cutting-edge form of AI called diffusion models to design new drug molecules tailored to fit their protein targets exactly, even accounting for the way proteins flex and shift shape during binding. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ai-diffusion-tailor-drug-molecules.html Biotechnology Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:00:06 EDT news694968241 In the clonal raider ant (Ooceraea biroi), workers in a colony alternate between caring for larvae and laying eggs in a coordinated cycle. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena have discovered a brood pheromone released by larvae of clonal raider ants that temporarily suppresses egg-laying in adult ants. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ant-larvae-parental-odor.html Plants & Animals Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:40:04 EDT news694953121 Researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad have identified a mammalian protein, Cnpy1 (Canopy1), that is essential for the survival and function of vomeronasal sensory neurons in mice. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study shows that Cnpy1 acts as a specialized endoplasmic‑reticulum‑associated factor required to maintain functional receptor complexes in these neurons, allowing them to thrive in an unusually high ER‑stress‑like environment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-key-protein-required-function-survival.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:40:02 EDT news694797482 For more than a century, the fruit fly has been a workhorse of the biological sciences that has helped scientists to make fundamental breakthroughs in fields such as genetics and neuroscience. As it turns out, human scientists are not the only ones learning during these experiments. A recent study by Harvard neuroscientists in Current Biology shows how fruit flies are themselves figuring things out—in this case, how to manipulate balls with "play-like" experimentation. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-fly-ball-drosophila-playing-tiny.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:20:01 EDT news694790281 Can our forests adapt to a hotter and drier future climate? Temperatures are predicted to rise up to 5°C compared to pre-industrial times. Forest management needs to adapt to these conditions, which requires a better understanding of how heat and drought affect trees. A new study by a team of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and EPFL shows that warming itself is not the biggest issue for trees. The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-trees-sunburn-young.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:00:02 EDT news694788024 Cornell scientists have taken a major step toward developing a safe, reversible, long-acting and 100% effective nonhormonal male contraceptive, considered the holy grail of male contraception. A proof-of-principle study in mice, six years in the making, shows how targeting a natural checkpoint in meiosis, the process by which sex cells reproduce, safely stopped sperm production. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-big-safe-reversible-male-contraception.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:20:03 EDT news694791661 Stem cells are the body's ultimate shape-shifters, sustaining tissues by balancing two competing demands: maintaining their own population and generating specialized descendants. In many tissues, some early descendants can revert to a stem cell state through a process known as dedifferentiation. This ability can help replenish the stem cell pool when stem cells are lost. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-stem-cell-descendants-flexibility-distinct.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:20:01 EDT news694787941 When the stomach is full, how does the brain know to stop eating? Scientists long assumed the answer lies mainly with neurons, the brain's primary signaling cells. But a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that another type of brain cell called astrocytes, usually seen as "support staff," may be playing a far more active role in controlling behavior than previously thought. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-link-brain-appetite.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 14:40:01 EDT news694788002 Most of us have experienced that when our body is still and resting, the mind doesn't stop. Instead, it takes off on its own journey of generating thoughts about our past, our plans, and the people around us, a process known as mind-wandering. While researchers have learned a lot about these kinds of thoughts, there aren't many studies that explore how often our attention turns inward, toward sensations in our bodies, such as our breathing, heartbeat, or physical feelings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-body-focused-mind-mental-health.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:00:05 EDT news694773344 Oyster reef living shorelines have been found to provide a resilient and adaptive alternative to conventional hard coastal protection, reducing wave energy while supporting oyster colonization. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-oyster-reefs-stack-shoreline.html Plants & Animals Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:40:02 EDT news694770841 Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo and George Mason University's College of Science have developed a new method that improves air temperature forecasts one to five weeks in advance—without requiring additional model simulations. The methodology, detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a dual benefit, not requiring significant increase in computational cost while improving predictions. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-air-temperature-weeks-advance-simulations.html Environment Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:30:01 EDT news694713481