Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of the century, warns a new UN report. It calls for radical change in…

The transition of human societies from hunter-gatherers to farmers and pastoralists is a more nuanced process than generally thought, according to a new study of peoples living in the highlands of southwest Ethiopia. Much of the study of how people transitioned away from a lifestyle based mostly on food collected from the wild to one…

Researchers have combined synthetic biology with a machine learning algorithm to create human liver organoids with blood and bile handling systems. When implanted into mice with failing livers, the lab-grown replacement livers extended life. The study, published today in Cell Systems, shows that it’s possible to trigger and speed up the maturation of a lab-grown…

Because the moon is so important to life on Earth, scientists conjecture that a moon may be a potentially beneficial feature in harboring life on other planets. Most planets have moons, but Earth’s moon is distinct in that it is large compared to the size of Earth; the moon’s radius is larger than a quarter…

Sperm are generally viewed as having just one action in reproduction — to fertilize the female’s egg — but studies are overturning that view. Published in Nature Research journal Communications Biology, new research shows that sperm also deliver signals directly to the female reproductive tissues to increase the chances of conception. Robinson Research Institute’s Professor…

Scientists have developed a model that predicts six tropical fish species will expand into northern parts of Japan as sea temperatures rise. A new study forecasts how global climate change will affect tropical fish species in Japan. The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Built Environment, predicts that six tropical fish species will expand…

Diets that replaced red meat with healthy plant proteins led to decreases in risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a new study. The study is the first meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining the health effects of red meat by substituting it for other specific types of foods. The study is the first…

The frequency of genetic variants associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has decreased progressively in the evolutionary human lineage from the Paleolithic to the present day, according to new research. The new genomic analysis compares several ADHD-associated genetic variants described in current European populations to assess its evolution in samples of the human species (Homo sapiens),…

A single allergic reaction during pregnancy prompts sexual-development changes in the brains of offspring that last a lifetime, new research suggests. Female rats born to mothers exposed to an allergen during pregnancy acted more characteristically ‘male’ — mounting other female rodents, for instance — and had brains and nervous systems that looked more like those…

The tropics is becoming hotter due to a combination of warming associated with deforestation and climate change — and that can reduce the ability of outdoor workers to perform their jobs safely. Researchers estimated how many safe working hours people living in the tropics have lost due to local temperature change associated with loss of…