ScienceDaily

Researchers say fructose is not just “empty calories” — it may actively push the body toward fat storage and metabolic disease. A new review found that fructose affects the body differently from glucose, disrupting normal energy regulation and promoting processes linked to obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular problems.

An ancient Chinese exercise routine may be just as powerful as a daily brisk walk for lowering blood pressure — without equipment, gyms, or intense workouts. In a major clinical trial, adults with stage 1 hypertension who practiced baduanjin, a gentle mind-body exercise combining slow movements, breathing, and meditation, saw meaningful drops in blood pressure within three months that lasted for …

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is about to pull off a dramatic close flyby of Mars, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to get a powerful gravitational boost on its journey to the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The maneuver will save propellant while giving mission scientists a rare chance to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments using Mars as a target. As Psyche approaches fro…

NASA’s Curiosity rover had an unexpectedly stubborn Mars souvenir after drilling into a rock nicknamed “Atacama” — the entire chunk ripped loose from the ground and stayed stuck to the rover’s drill. Engineers watched as Curiosity shook, vibrated, tilted, and spun the drill over several days in an effort to free the rock, while cameras captured the strange scene on the Red Planet.

Dante’s Inferno may have been far more than a religious epic. New research argues that the 14th-century poet essentially imagined a catastrophic asteroid impact centuries before modern science understood meteors. In this interpretation, Satan crashes into Earth like a giant cosmic object, blasting through the Southern Hemisphere and reshaping the planet itself — carving out the circles of Hell wh…

A new international analysis suggests there may be a surprisingly simple secret to keeping weight off after dieting: walking about 8,500 steps a day. Researchers found that people who boosted their daily steps to around that level during a weight-loss program — and kept it up afterward — were far more successful at avoiding the frustrating cycle of regaining lost weight. The study highlights a ma…

A major new analysis suggests semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) works remarkably well in adults over 65, helping many lose substantial amounts of weight while improving heart and metabolic health. Participants taking the drug lost over 15% of their body weight on average — far more than those receiving placebo treatment. Many also moved out of obesity categories entirely and reached healthier weight …

A new study suggests AI chatbots may do more than spread misinformation — they can actively strengthen a user’s false beliefs. Because conversational AI often validates and builds on what users say, it can make distorted memories, conspiracy theories, or delusions feel more believable and emotionally real. Researchers warn that AI companions may be especially risky for isolated or vulnerable peop…

Ultra-processed foods may be doing far more damage than many people realize. A major new European cardiology report warns that people who eat the most ultra-processed foods face significantly higher risks of heart disease, irregular heart rhythms, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even cardiovascular death. Researchers say these industrially manufactured foods — often packed with sugar,…

A team at the University of Hong Kong has developed a new “super steel” that can survive the harsh conditions needed to make green hydrogen from seawater. The material uses an unexpected double-protection mechanism that resists corrosion far better than conventional stainless steel. Even more impressive, it could replace costly titanium parts used in today’s hydrogen systems.

Scientists at the University of Rochester pulled off a remarkable experiment: they transferred a longevity-related gene from the famously long-lived naked mole rat into mice, and the mice ended up healthier and lived longer. The special gene boosts production of a substance called high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, which appears to protect against cancer, reduce inflammation, and support heal…

Scientists have uncovered a striking brain difference linked to psychopathy: people with psychopathic traits were found to have a striatum — a brain region tied to reward, motivation, and decision-making — that was about 10% larger on average than those without such traits. Using MRI scans and psychological assessments on 120 participants, researchers connected this enlarged brain region to thril…

Scientists have uncovered a hidden “stop-scratching” signal in the nervous system that tells your brain when enough scratching is enough. The discovery centers on a molecule called TRPV4, which acts like part of an internal braking system for itch relief. In experiments involving chronic itch similar to eczema, mice missing this signal scratched less often—but when they did scratch, they couldn’t…

A colossal underwater volcano in the South Pacific may have revealed a surprising new weapon against climate change. After the 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai, scientists detected enormous amounts of formaldehyde in the atmosphere — a telltale sign that methane, one of the planet’s most powerful greenhouse gases, was being destroyed. Researchers now believe volcanic ash mixed with salt…

Scientists have uncovered strong evidence that a major Atlantic Ocean current system tied to global climate is weakening. The slowdown has been detected across a vast region of the North Atlantic over nearly two decades. Since this ocean circulation helps regulate weather and temperatures, changes could affect storms, rainfall, sea levels, and even winter conditions in parts of Europe and North A…