Frontiers | Science news

Health

Published on 13 Jan 2025

Not all carbs are created equal: Here are five Frontiers articles for a healthy start into the new year

At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.

Health

Published on 17 Dec 2024

Patients whose allergies cause the sniffles have different fungi living in their noses, compared to healthy people

Scientists investigated the noses of people with asthma and allergic rhinitis and found that the fungi in their noses are different to healthy people, suggesting future targets for treatments.

Health

Published on 09 Dec 2024

Sugary drinks significantly raise cardiovascular disease risk, but occasional sweet treats don’t, scientists find

A large-scale study in Sweden suggests that drinking sweetened drinks significantly increases your risk of serious cardiovascular disease, but limited consumption of treats doesn’t.

Health

Published on 04 Dec 2024

Broken sleep a hallmark sign of living with this common liver disease, scientists find

Researchers from Switzerland have shown that patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) suffer poor sleep due to sleep fragmentation and wakefulness. Patients with the more severe form metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH) or with cirrhosis, but not healthy volunteers, experienced similar sleep disturbances. Whether poor sleep causes MASLD or vice versa isn’t yet clear. A single sleep hygiene education session proved insufficient to sustainably improve sleep quality and quantity.

A blue ring formed in 1902 in a tree in northern Norway. Image by Pawel Matulewski and Liliana Siekacz.

Environment

Published on 22 Jan 2025

Curious blue rings in trees and shrubs reveal cold summers of the past — potentially caused by volcanic eruptions

Blue growth rings found in woody plant stems represent years when cells did not lignify properly because of summers too cold for growth.

Image: flickr/Pamela Carls. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Environment

Published on 06 Dec 2024

3D scans of giant hailstones reveal surprising discoveries that could help predict future storms

Scientists used CT scans to learn more about the anatomy of hailstones, information which could advance hail formation forecasting

Environment

Published on 05 Dec 2024

Gene editing and plant domestication essential to protect food supplies in a worsening climate, scientists say

To continue producing enough food for the world, we need to adapt our crops by changing their genetic code or by domesticating their more resilient ancestors

Environment

Published on 03 Dec 2024

Experts reveal how revolutionary technological advances could use the sun to source hydrogen fuel

Crucial advances in technology could allow us to harness the power of the sun to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and siphon off renewable fuel

Psychology

Published on 11 Oct 2024

Different types of teenage friendships critical to wellbeing as we age, scientists find

Scientists find that peer acceptance in young teenagers, and close friendships in older teenagers, predict low social anxiety and high life satisfaction in young adults.

Psychology

Published on 06 Jun 2024

How many days has it been since your last fit of laughter? Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.

Psychology

Published on 19 Mar 2024

Is your partner’s disturbed sleep keeping you up at night? Letting go of unattainable dreams may keep you both happy in bed

Research has now shown that the habit of letting go of unattainable goals helps people to stay satisfied with their romantic relationship if their partner experiences sleep problems. Such ‘letting go’ could also be learned, for example through training by clinical psychologists. But the results also showed that being too ready to replace unattainable goals with alternatives can worsen mutual satisfaction with a relationship, perhaps because this prevents spouses from putting more time and effort into it.

Psychology

Published on 26 Jan 2024

Writing by hand may increase brain connectivity more than typing on a keyboard

New research has shown that writing by hand leads to higher brain connectivity than typing on a keyboard, highlighting the need to expose students to more handwriting activities

Image: flickr/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 20 Nov 2024

Astronauts found to process some tasks slower in space, but no signs of permanent cognitive decline

Researchers found that astronauts’ processing speed, working memory, and attention slowed down, but a few months in space did not result in lasting cognitive impairment

Credit: Warner Bros Pictures and Legendary Pictures

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 12 Jul 2024

Real-life ‘stillsuit’: Dune-inspired upgrade for spacesuits allow astronauts to recycle urine into water

Existing waste management systems for spacesuits are uncomfortable, unhygienic, and don’t recycle valuable water in urine. Now, researchers from Cornell University have designed a prototype for an integrated urine collection and recycling system, which can be carried on the back of next-generation spacesuits. The system is now ready for testing.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 10 Jul 2024

Spectacular auroras are caused by head-on blows to Earth’s magnetic field that could damage critical infrastructure

Scientists find that interplanetary shocks which strike Earth’s magnetic field head-on cause more powerful ground-level electric currents, threatening pipelines and submarine cables.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 21 Jun 2024

Heart failure in space: scientists calculate potential health threats facing future space tourists in microgravity

In a recent Frontiers in Physiology article, Dr Lex van Loon and his co-authors used a mathematical model of the heart and lung system to simulate how microgravity could affect people, who are not trained astronauts and might have underlying health issues such as heart conditions, as they go to space.

Crossing by ferry boat from Macapa to Belem by the Amazon River, Brazil. Image: Shutterstock.com

Climate action

Published on 27 Jan 2025

Empowering Amazonian communities: sustainable development through open science

The Amazon rainforest, often called the lungs of Earth, is a vast and intricate ecosystem. It hosts at least 10% of the world’s wildlife and is home to many indigenous peoples and local communities. This vast expanse of rainforest plays an important role in regulating the Earth's climate, sustaining the livelihoods of millions.

Climate action

Published on 12 Dec 2024

Sleepers made from recycled plastic could make railways even more eco-friendly

Part of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from railways lie in the energy used to produce and maintain the necessary infrastructure. Researchers from Finland here showed the feasibility of using more eco-friendly railway sleepers from two types of recycled plastic, liquid packaging board and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Carbon emissions saved each year by phasing out concrete sleepers and replacing them with such recycled plastic could amount to the equivalent of heating for 1,200 Finnish households.

Climate action

Published on 07 Nov 2024

Consistent climate action can change the air we breathe: Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.

Planting Abies religiosa (Sacred fir) seedlings under the shade of pre-existing shrubs (Senecio cinerarioides, narrow green-greyish foliage) as protective “nurse plants”. Large trees on background are adult Pinus hartwegii, the pine that reaches the timberline. Abies religiosa is completely absent in this site at 3800 meters of elevation, northeaster slope of Nevado de Toluca volcano, central Mexico, because it is too high in elevation. Planters personnel are locals of Native Indian origin. Image credit: Cuauhtémoc Sáenz-Romero, UMSNH

Climate action

Published on 18 Oct 2024

Scientists create new overwintering sites for monarch butterflies on a warming planet

Migrating monarch butterflies depend on mountain forests of sacred firs in Mexico as overwintering sites. These forests are under threat from global warming. But researchers from Mexico have now shown that seedlings derived from their original range can be transplanted successfully to a new site further east, on the higher and colder volcano Nevado de Toluca. The resulting new stand of sacred firs could ultimately serve as the overwintering sites of the future.

Frontiers | Science News

Science news

Drones could be the ‘magic tools’ we need to chase bears away from people

Curious blue rings in trees and shrubs reveal cold summers of the past — potentially caused by volcanic eruptions

What do you think ‘guilty’ sounds like? Scientists find accent stereotypes influence beliefs about who commits crimes

Not all carbs are created equal: Here are five Frontiers articles for a healthy start into the new year

Latest posts

Drones could be the ‘magic tools’ we need to chase bears away from people

Empowering Amazonian communities: sustainable development through open science

Frontiers’ Climate Action boosts biodiversity preservation in Brazil

Frontiers event sets scene for Belém's COP30 with Open Science Charter ambitions

Frontiers expands its partnership with the World Economic Forum

Curious blue rings in trees and shrubs reveal cold summers of the past — potentially caused by volcanic eruptions

Categories

Health

Not all carbs are created equal: Here are five Frontiers articles for a healthy start into the new year

Patients whose allergies cause the sniffles have different fungi living in their noses, compared to healthy people

Sugary drinks significantly raise cardiovascular disease risk, but occasional sweet treats don’t, scientists find

Broken sleep a hallmark sign of living with this common liver disease, scientists find

Environment

Curious blue rings in trees and shrubs reveal cold summers of the past — potentially caused by volcanic eruptions

3D scans of giant hailstones reveal surprising discoveries that could help predict future storms

Gene editing and plant domestication essential to protect food supplies in a worsening climate, scientists say

Experts reveal how revolutionary technological advances could use the sun to source hydrogen fuel

Psychology

Different types of teenage friendships critical to wellbeing as we age, scientists find

How many days has it been since your last fit of laughter? Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

Is your partner’s disturbed sleep keeping you up at night? Letting go of unattainable dreams may keep you both happy in bed

Writing by hand may increase brain connectivity more than typing on a keyboard

Space sciences and astronomy

Astronauts found to process some tasks slower in space, but no signs of permanent cognitive decline

Real-life ‘stillsuit’: Dune-inspired upgrade for spacesuits allow astronauts to recycle urine into water

Spectacular auroras are caused by head-on blows to Earth’s magnetic field that could damage critical infrastructure

Heart failure in space: scientists calculate potential health threats facing future space tourists in microgravity

Climate action

Empowering Amazonian communities: sustainable development through open science

Sleepers made from recycled plastic could make railways even more eco-friendly

Consistent climate action can change the air we breathe: Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

Scientists create new overwintering sites for monarch butterflies on a warming planet