Drinking coffee and tea directly improves our alertness during the day, but doesn’t seem to affect how much we sleep or how well we sleep at night over the long term. Research published in the Journal of Sleep Research used genetic information to find that consuming caffeine mainly reduces sleepiness and daytime sleepiness rather than … Read more
Cloning was once considered a way to imitate life perfectly, with the same results every time. But a long-term experiment on mice revealed a different truth. The scientists followed the artificially created animals through several generations, and found that although the first clones appeared to be healthy, problems gradually increased. Over time, the … Read more
Stephen Hawking showed in the 1970s that black holes are not completely black. They slowly emit radiation and shrink over time, eventually disappearing. However, there was a problem with this explanation. If a black hole evaporates completely, what happens to all the information about the matter it has absorbed? Quantum physics says that information cannot … Read more
An international research collaboration led by the University of the Witwatersrand and Queen Mary University of London has published the most comprehensive genomic study of kidney function ever conducted in an African population, providing new information on the genetics of chronic kidney disease (CKD) across diverse African populations. Many newly identified species were common in … Read more
For thousands of years after agriculture spread to Europe, hunter-gatherers quietly endured in the lowlands of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium. A new ancient DNA study reveals that in these wet, cross-river areas, about 50% of hunter-gatherer villages survived until about 2500 BCE. They did so when most of the continent had already … Read more
A large-scale genetic analysis reveals that genetic factors that cause autism risk are similar in people of different ancestral backgrounds. By examining the DNA of thousands of people in Latin America, researchers have shown that rare genetic mutations associated with autism occur in the same genes across different populations. The results, published in the journal … Read more
About 35% of American adults get less than seven hours of sleep every night, according to the CDC’s Sleep and Sleep Disorders data. Public health messages have taken these statistics as a tragedy for decades. But a growing body of genetic and neuroscience research is forcing scientists to ask a more difficult question: what if … Read more
In a remarkable advance in the field of human genetics and precision medicine, researchers led by Victor Borda, PhD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), have conducted the most comprehensive genetic study to date focusing on urban populations throughout Peru. This extensive research provides unprecedented insight into the genetic diversity and admixture … Read more
image: Victor Borda, PhD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues have published the largest study to date on the genetics of indigenous Peruvians. vision Again Credit: University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, April 2, 2026: Latin Americans are represented in less than a quarter of a percent of genetic studies … Read more
People around the world depend on reservoirs for drinking water, hydropower, irrigation and more. These important sources of fresh water are affected by seasonal and long-term changes; the water in the reservoirs can dip during the hot summer months or due to prolonged drought, or flood after a very strong storm. Despite their importance, there … Read more