Drugs that enhance the body’s immune response against cancer may also be altering one of its most tightly guarded boundaries: the blood-brain barrier (BBB). A recent study published by Yuval Shaked at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his team, in Cancer Discovery, finds that PD-1 inhibitors, a widely used class of cancer immunotherapy, can...
Tag: Science
Why are some people mosquito magnets?
Scientists are now making progress in deciphering the complex chemical cocktail that makes particular people more enticing to these disease-spreading bloodsuckers. A range of sensory cues can cause mosquitoes to pick one human over another — mainly the smell and heat our bodies give off, and the carbon dioxide we exhale. Female mosquitoes — which...
Constant mechanical force may be why heart cancer is so rare
The human heart beats more than 1 lakh times a day, pushing blood through the body under constant physical strain. Every second, it encounters circulating cells, including cancer cells that travel through the bloodstream. Yet tumours of the heart are strikingly rare. For decades, scientists have tried to explain this puzzle using genetics, immune surveillance,...
IIT-M, IISc team makes carbon-free version of the ferrocene sandwich
A compound called ferrocene has been a landmark of chemistry for over seven decades. It consists of an iron atom sandwiched between two flat carbon rings. Its discovery launched the field of organometallic chemistry, with numerous applications in materials science and medicine. Since then, chemists have been trying to create a version of this sandwich...
Scientists trigger ‘controlled’ earthquakes under Swiss Alps
Researchers have made the ground shake in southern Switzerland, triggering thousands of tiny earthquakes in a monitored setting, as they seek to discover seismicity insights that could reduce risks. “It was a success!” said Domenico Giardini, one of the lead researchers on the project, as he inspected a crack in the rock wall lining a...
1998 Pokhran nuclear tests reflected India’s scientific excellence: PM on National Technology Day
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (May 11, 2026) greeted people on the National Technology Day — which commemorates the momentous events of May 11, 1998, when India conducted successful nuclear tests at Rajasthan’s Pokhran — and said technology has become a key pillar in building a self-reliant India. Mr. Modi said the landmark moment...
Physical activity has stalled for 20 years, hurting health and climate
Global levels of physical activity remained unchanged despite policy recommendations and adoption over the last two decades, with large differences across gender and socio-economic groups, three new research reports have shown. Current efforts to promote participation in physical activity are both insufficient and have made no dent, the reports say. Worldwide, more than five million...
Global study reveals how psychedelics dissolve the brain’s hierarchy
For decades, people using psychedelics have described a feeling where the line between ‘me’ and the world vanishes. While it is clear these drugs cause intense shifts in vision and thought, scientists have struggled to pin down exactly what the brain is doing. A new multi-centric study published in Nature Medicine on April 6 has...
Science Snapshots: May 10, 2026
Nepal’s vulnerable communities need insect pollinators A study in Nepal has found that insect pollinators are essential for both human health and financial survival. Researchers tracked the diets and incomes of smallholder farming families and found insects are responsible for 44% of a family’s farming income and over 20% of its intake of vital nutrients,...
