Planet Neuroscientists

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OIST-Keio Showcase Talk Series Vol. 9 Spotlights Cryo EM Breakthroughs and Protein Science Innovation

in OIST Japan on 2026-02-20 12:00:00 UTC.

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Neuroscience has a species problem

in The Transmitter on 2026-02-16 05:00:58 UTC.

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Spaceflight literally moves your brain

Space's microgravity appears to shift the location of the brains of astronauts—without a clear effect on their health

in Scientific American on 2026-02-15 12:00:00 UTC.

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First Proof is AI's toughest math test yet. The results are mixed

Experts gave AI 10 math problems to solve in a week. OpenAI, researchers and amateurs all gave it their best shot

in Scientific American on 2026-02-14 16:00:00 UTC.

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How often do people fall passionately in love? The answer may be less than you think

A large survey of U.S. singles reveals the different ways people experience passionate romantic love

in Scientific American on 2026-02-14 13:00:00 UTC.

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Axolotls can regenerate their thymus, a complex immune system organ

Axolotls can completely rebuild their thymus, a key immune organ

in Scientific American on 2026-02-14 12:00:00 UTC.

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How roses evolved to become the flower of Valentine’s Day

Roses are red—but their ancestors looked rather different

in Scientific American on 2026-02-14 11:00:00 UTC.

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Weekend reads: CDC’s ‘unethical’ vaccine trial; The Lancet ‘refuses to retract’ letter; on the methods used to correct science

If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed.

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

• Journal tags ‘impossible’ case report with short erratum
• Guest post: The CDC hepatitis B study is unethical and must never be published
• Court challenge could chill reporting of research fraud, say whistleblower attorneys
• As journal’s retraction count nears 170, it enhances vetting

In case you missed the news, the Hijacked Journal Checker now has more than 400 entries. The Retraction Watch Database has over 63,000 retractions. Our list of COVID-19 retractions is up over 640, and our mass resignations list has 50 entries. We keep tabs on all this and more. If you value this work, please consider showing your support with a tax-deductible donation. Every dollar counts.

Here’s what was happening elsewhere (some of these items may be paywalled, metered access, or require free registration to read):

• “Controversial Danish vaccine research group faces new allegations” about 10 previous trials, Science reports. The group, recently awarded CDC funding to study the hepatitis B vaccine, called for the retraction of a previous critique. Read a guest post on the ethics of the trial.
• The Lancet “refuses to retract” paper by researcher who falsified data.
• The retraction of the 2010 ‘arsenic life’ paper tells a story “of the transformation of the methods used to correct science.”
• “Journal impact factors still exert ‘undue influence’ on hiring and grant approval panels, a survey finds. 
• “AI is not a peer, so it can’t do peer review.”
• “A framework for assessing the trustworthiness of scientific research findings.” 
• Sleuth Elisabeth Bik reviews materials science papers with “UnEDXpected Peaks.”
• “Don’t Trust the Rankings That Put China’s Universities on Top.”
• “Number of UK universities opting out of Elsevier deal hits nine.”
• “Publishing less won’t save the research system“: A response to the argument of “slow science.”
• ​​”Opinion: Scientists Could Help Reveal Fraud — and Get Paid For It.”
• “US judiciary scraps climate chapter from scientific evidence manual,” citing bias against fossil fuel companies.
• “Is there a crisis of confidence in scientific articles?”
• “‘Don’t hate the players, hate the game’: qualitative insights from education researchers on questionable and open research practices.”
• “What the Literature is Filling Up With” under the “onslaught of chatbots.” 
• “Open-source AI tool beats giant LLMs in literature reviews — and gets citations right.”
• A correction to a PNAS letter, “Confronting the inevitable: Harnessing technology to contain systemic scientific fraud,” adds acknowledgement for undisclosed use of (AI) technology.
• “Fraud in the past relied on bespoke fakery, but today’s fraudsters can exploit the online scientific world to quickly create realistic looking papers on an industrial scale.”
• “Characteristics, Citation Analysis, and Altmetrics Impact of Retracted Papers in Dentistry (2001-2024).”
• “On the determinants of journal rejection rates: evidence from the Journal of Financial Economics.”
• “OpenClaw AI chatbots are running amok — these scientists are listening in.”
• Sleuth points out “complete replacement” of authors between revisions on a now-retracted paper.
• “Lexington drug company executives indicted in alleged wire fraud scheme tied to failed cancer drug.”
• “AI ‘Copy-Paste’ Lands PhD Students in Trouble, UGC Rejects Dozens of Research Papers.” Another university “plans 10% cap on AI use in PhD thesis.”
• “An evaluation system for scientific journals”: Researchers propose “clearinghouses for journal evaluation and certification, that establish accreditation and reputation criteria based on transparent, standardized benchmarks.” 
• “University journal publishers – global, messy and underestimated.”
• “Cabells’ Predatory Reports database passes 20,000-journal milestone.”
• “In the fight to safeguard academic credibility, authentication infrastructure is a vital line of defence.”
• “Frontiers warns over paid approaches to editors.” A link to our 2024 coverage in Science of firms bribing editors.
• Researchers find growth of “mysterious citations” in computing conferences from 2021 to 2025. 
• “Conversational bibliometrics needs a recipe, not just ingredients.”
• “Who are Darcy & Roy?” A look into a possibly “predatory” publisher. 

Upcoming Talks

• “Restoring Trust in Science: Storytelling, AI, and Integrity in Scholarly Publishing” featuring our Ivan Oransky (March 26, virtual) 

Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, follow us on X or Bluesky, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, add us to your RSS reader, or subscribe to our daily digest. If you find a retraction that’s not in our database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.

in Retraction watch on 2026-02-14 11:00:00 UTC.

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8 romance novels for readers who love science, too

Scientific American’s staff recommends eight books that are as full of science as they are of love

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 22:15:00 UTC.

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Let these nine romantic animals inspire you on Valentine’s Day

These amorous creatures could put Casanova to shame—from beguiling dancing seahorses to peacocking spiders

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 20:50:00 UTC.

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Following one of these five diets may be the key to living longer

It’s no surprise that eating fruits and vegetables is good for you, but diets that are rich in these foods could boost longevity, too, according to a new study

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 19:00:00 UTC.

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Why an Army antidrone laser grounded flights at El Paso International Airport

Sources say an Army antidrone laser near Fort Bliss prompted a brief FAA airspace closure—spotlighting the hazards of battlefield technology in civilian skies

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 17:40:00 UTC.

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How a year of RFK, Jr., has changed American science

After a year of RFK, Jr., heading the Department of Health and Human Services, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement has upended science and medicine

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 13:00:00 UTC.

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AI tool decreased political polarization from social media algorithms

Researchers used a browser extension to reorder people’s X feeds, reducing their polarizing effect

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 11:45:00 UTC.

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How much energy is released when supermassive black holes collide?

The collision of supermassive black holes shakes the entire cosmos, hard

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 11:45:00 UTC.

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NASA launches Crew-12 astronauts in Valentine’s Day gift to the ISS

Four astronauts are on their way to this orbital space station. Docking is expected on Saturday

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 11:40:00 UTC.

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How to name a Madagascar hissing cockroach for Valentine’s Day at the Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo is celebrating 15 years of its extremely popular Valentine’s Day “Name a Roach” program

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 11:30:00 UTC.

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The story of the first kiss—21.5 million years ago

Why the simple act of kissing—which can be traced back 21.5 million years—continues to confound evolutionary biologists

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 11:00:00 UTC.

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Join the Great Backyard Bird Count—for science!

Avian enthusiasts around the world will identify and count birds from February 13 through February 16 as part of a massive community science project

in Scientific American on 2026-02-13 11:00:00 UTC.

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Schneider Shorts 13.02.2026 – Prize for Academic Integrity (Europe category)

in For Better Science on 2026-02-13 06:00:00 UTC.

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This paper changed my life: Ishmail Abdus-Saboor on balancing the study of pain and pleasure

in The Transmitter on 2026-02-13 05:00:49 UTC.

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Sex bias in autism drops as age at diagnosis rises

in The Transmitter on 2026-02-13 05:00:01 UTC.

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AI uncovers solutions to Erdős problems, moving closer to transforming math

LLMs have recently helped find solutions to a number of minor longstanding problems. But a new plan called First Proof is really putting them to the test

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 21:56:00 UTC.

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As journal’s retraction count nears 170, it enhances vetting 

A journal is implementing tighter controls for guest editors and peer reviewers after an investigation led to the retraction of more than 160 articles. 

As we reported last month, the American Society For Testing And Materials (ASTM) International started an investigation into its Journal of Testing and Evaluation after an ASTM vendor noticed some “irregular patterns in the peer review” of a special issue. The investigation revealed the peer review process in four special sections or issues had been compromised, resulting in the retraction of 147 articles.

The journal has since pulled 19 more papers, this time from a special section on human-centered artificial intelligence published in 2021.

In response to the findings, ASTM has implemented a series of safeguards, including enhanced vetting and oversight of guest editors, tighter controls for peer reviewers, expanded use of technology-assisted screening tools to detect irregular review patterns and ongoing monitoring of editorial workflows, according to a Jan. 30 statement from the publisher.

“ASTM recognizes that the integrity of peer review is essential to scholarly communication,” the statement reads. “Retractions are never taken lightly, but they are necessary to maintain a reliable scientific record. ASTM remains committed to prevention, accountability, and continued transparency.”

Spokesperson Gavin O’Reilly confirmed the group of 19 retractions is the last batch associated with the investigation.

The journal joins 60 others with at least 165 retractions, according to our count. 

The mass retraction includes 48 papers in its “Special Issue on Testing and Evaluation of Internet of Things for Smart City” and another 43 articles in the “Special Issue on Advanced Internet of Things for Smart City (Part 2).” The publisher retracted two more batches from a special issue on the future of cognitive computing in healthcare, and a special section on advanced intelligence in information science and communication systems. Guest editors oversaw all of the issues and sections facing retractions.

The journal typically publishes 200 to 300 articles per year, by our count. The retracted papers represented 6 to 25 percent of the articles published in a given year. 

Ranganathan Mohanasundaram of Vellore Institute of Technology University in India was the guest editor of the newly retracted special section on human-centered artificial intelligence. Mohanasundaram did not return a message seeking comment. An “R. Mohanasundaram” with the same affiliation had two 2019 papers retracted as part of a mass retraction of more than 300 papers by the International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Education because of submission and/or peer review manipulation. 

Vellore Institute of Technology University is a frequently listed affiliation among the retracted batches, showing up at least 24 times.  

Among the latest batch of retractions, at least three authors had more than one paper retracted. C. Subramani of SRM Institute of Science and Technology in India was an author on two of the papers. Subramani was part of the mass retraction by the International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Education with three papers retracted. Subramani did not return a message seeking comment. 

V.G. Pratheep of Kongu Engineering College in India is an author on two papers. Pratheep had a 2022 paper in Advances in Materials Science and Engineering retracted as part of the mass retraction of nearly 12,000 articles by Hindawi to address an infiltration by paper mills of its special issues. Pratheep did not return a message seeking comment.

E.B. Priyanka with Kongu Engineering College in India is also an author on two of the papers. Priyanka told us she does not agree with the retractions. The papers were processed in an “ethical way” and peer review was proper and appropriately conducted, she told us by email.  

The mass retractions are among a growing pattern of peer review abuse within special sections.

In 2024, a Springer Nature journal retracted 34 papers from special issues for “compromised editorial handling and peer review process.” Later that year, Annals of Operations Research retracted an entire special issue over concerns about compromised peer review. In 2023, Hindawi temporarily suspended publishing special issues because of “compromised articles.”

Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, follow us on X or Bluesky, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, add us to your RSS reader, or subscribe to our daily digest. If you find a retraction that’s not in our database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.

in Retraction watch on 2026-02-12 21:10:16 UTC.

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How often does the average person fart? Scientists built a device to find out

An intrepid team of scientists has created “Smart Underwear” to measure human flatulence in a bid to better understand our farts

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 19:45:00 UTC.

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What repealing the ‘endangerment finding’ means for public health

The EPA has scrapped a rule stating that climate change harms human health. Here’s what that could mean

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 19:38:00 UTC.

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‘Inside-out’ planetary system perplexes astronomers

Four worlds around a small, dim star are challenging theories of planet formation

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 19:05:00 UTC.

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Elephants' peculiar whiskers help them sense the world around them

Pachyderm whiskers are more flexible at the tip than the base, allowing elephants to complete delicate tasks with their incredibly strong trunks

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 19:00:00 UTC.

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Did astronomers just see a star blink out to become a black hole?

A “disappearing” star in the Andromeda galaxy is the closest and best candidate for a newborn black hole that astronomers have ever seen

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 19:00:00 UTC.

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A simple shift in schedule could make cancer immunotherapy work better

in Science News: Health & Medicine on 2026-02-12 17:00:00 UTC.

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Katharine Burr Blodgett’s brilliance had to fit into the role of the only woman in a lab filled with men—it was the air she breathed

From Schenectady, N.Y., to the University of Cambridge, Katharine Burr Blodgett’s brilliance impressed the world’s leading physicists

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 16:00:00 UTC.

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EPA scraps the ‘endangerment finding’ that climate change harms human health

The Trump administration rescinded the 2009 “endangerment finding,” ending regulation of greenhouse gases from cars and trucks

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 15:15:00 UTC.

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When Passion Meets Pressure: Rethinking Love for Academia

in Women in Neuroscience UK on 2026-02-12 15:03:22 UTC.

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This baby sling turns sunlight into treatment for newborn jaundice

in Science News: Health & Medicine on 2026-02-12 15:00:00 UTC.

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The physics of ‘Penisgate’ and how ski jumpers fly

A scandal involving allegedly enlarged ski suits ahead of this year’s Winter Olympics has highlighted the intriguing physics behind ski jumps

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 15:00:00 UTC.

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New research reveals how the brain separates speech into words

Speech blurs together unless you know the language; scientists found the brain signal that separates the words

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 11:45:00 UTC.

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How do deep-sea fish see in dark water? This new study could hold the clue

Three species of Red Sea fish appear to rely on special “hybrid” retina cells to see in dim environments

in Scientific American on 2026-02-12 10:00:00 UTC.

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Microglia implicated in infantile amnesia

in The Transmitter on 2026-02-12 05:00:11 UTC.

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Court challenge could chill reporting of research fraud, say whistleblower attorneys

The U.S. government recently announced a record $6.8 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments in 2025, the most in a single year since the law’s enactment 163 years ago. For those concerned with scientific integrity, another significant FCA record was also set in 2025: the number of suits brought under the FCA by private individuals against entities they believe defrauded the federal government. 

Successful qui tam suits brought under the FCA can come with incentivizing monetary rewards – sometimes substantial – for the whistleblowers. Whistleblowers filed a record 1,297 of these so-called qui tam lawsuits in 2025, up from 979 suits in 2024. 

Despite the FCA’s banner year, legal experts say a pending challenge may weaken the law’s whistleblower power and impact. A Florida district court recently struck down the FCA’s qui tam provisions as unconstitutional because these suits involve individuals suing on behalf of the government. If an appeals court upholds the decision, some whistleblowers in that court’s jurisdiction may no longer get paid for exposing wrongdoing, a change that could allow more fraud to slip under the radar, legal analysts say.

While the qui tam provisions are most commonly used in health fraud cases, whistleblowers have also used the mechanism to expose scientific misconduct and grant fraud. In December, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims it misrepresented data in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant applications, and in January 2025, Athira Pharma agreed to pay $4 million for manipulating data in federal grant applications. 

Over the last decade, plaintiffs have also been successful in cases involving Columbia, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Duke University.

“If the qui tam provisions get overturned, it puts a shield back over the insiders,” J. Michael Slocum, a Virginia-based attorney who specializes in grants, clinical and research contracts, and research ethics, told us. “They have no real incentive, other than good science, to come forward and be the spear point to break the veil.” 

Judge: Whistleblower provisions defy constitution

The FCA has faced legal challenges over the years, but courts have upheld the constitutionality of the measure. That is, until September 2024, when Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida overturned the FCA’s qui tam provisions in Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC.

In Zafirov, a whistleblower, known in these cases as the “relator,” sued Florida Medical Associates and other providers, claiming they misrepresented patients’ medical conditions to inflate Medicare reimbursements. In qui tam cases, the Department of Justice can decide to join the suit and whistleblowers receive 15 to 25 percent of proceeds if the case is successful. If the government declines to intervene, whistleblowers can continue the suit on their own and retain 25 to 30 percent of proceeds if they succeed. In the Duke case, which settled for $112.5 million, former lab technician Joseph Thomas brought suit and received $33.8 million. 

The government declined to intervene in the Zafirov case, which Mizelle dismissed. She ruled the FCA’s whistleblower provisions defy the Constitution by allowing “unaccountable, unsworn, private actors to exercise core executive power with substantial consequences to members of the public.” 

Zafirov appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments on December 12. 

Attorneys for both the government and for Zafirov argued for keeping the provisions intact. The government contends that every other court that has addressed the constitutionality of the FCA’s qui tam provisions has upheld them, and the 11th Circuit “should join that consensus and reverse the district court’s outlier ruling,” according to its appeals brief. Past case law makes clear that relators do not exercise executive power when they sue under the act, the government argued.

“Rather, [relators] are pursuing a private interest in the money they will obtain if their suit prevails,” the government said. “As private litigants pursuing private interests, relators are not enforcing federal law in a manner inconsistent with the Vesting and Take Care Clauses and need not be appointed in the manner required by the Appointments Clause.” 

Attorneys for Zafirov similarly argued the district court’s decision conflicts with unanimous precedent, and that qui tam plaintiffs are “private parties pursuing partially assigned claims, not government officers wielding executive power,” according to the plaintiff’s court brief. 

The defendants countered that the FCA violates Article II of the Constitution by authorizing private parties to bring suit on behalf of the United States. That article appoints “officers” of the United States, defined as those who occupy a continuing position established by law and exercise “significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States.” 

“Private parties acting as relators may initiate enforcement actions in the government’s name, conduct those actions as they wish, seek trouble damages and statutory penalties, and bind the government through judgments,” Kannon Shanmugam, an attorney for the defendants, said during the December 12 oral arguments. “There can be no doubt that relators exercise significant executive authority in each of those respects, and yet they are not properly controlled by, appointed by, or accountable to the executive branch.”

Effects on research misconduct 

If the qui tam provisions are overturned by the 11th Circuit, the outcome would impact a relator’s ability to file a lawsuit on behalf of the United States and collect the relator’s share of damages in the court’s jurisdiction, which includes Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, said Paul Thaler, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who represents scientists and institutions in research misconduct matters. However, the change wouldn’t affect a relator’s ability to share information with the federal government, act as a witness in an investigation or share their allegations publicly, said Thaler, a partner at Cohen Seglias.

“Without the monetary incentive, however, relators may have less of a reason to come forward and will likely have fewer options to be represented by attorneys without hourly fees [as] most qui tam attorneys work on a contingency basis,” he told us. 

According to Renée Brooker, a Washington, D.C.-based whistleblower attorney with Tycko & Zavareei LLP who specializes in FCA cases, a ruling by the 11th Circuit against the qui tam provisions would only affect cases where the government does not intervene in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. In cases in which the government joins the suit, whistleblowers could still recover proceeds if the case is successful. 

“The result will be rampant and unaddressed fraud” in the healthcare industry in the affected states, she said. 

Insiders are particularly helpful in research misconduct cases, added Eva Gunasekera, a whistleblower attorney at Tycko & Zavareei and former senior counsel for healthcare fraud at the DOJ. Unlike health fraud, where government officials may open investigations based on data trends they’ve discovered, they’re not likely to spot falsified research without help. 

“With research integrity, there would be nothing identifiable, unless the FDA or NIH happened to question something they received in response to a grant application,” she told us. “Most companies are pretty good about making sure their government submissions are all buttoned up. You’d have to literally pull the curtain back, Oz style.”

Removing the qui tam provisions would essentially “blow up” the FCA in “a very harmful way,” Brooker said. She called the qui tam challenge “inconvenient, distracting and an enormous waste of the government’s time.”

“I don’t see anybody in this administration, and certainly not any prior administration, that wants to destroy the False Claims Act and the power of whistleblowing,” she said.

The FCA helps control and focus enforcement efforts where there may be fraud based on information brought to the government’s attention, Brooker said.

“We don’t want to be in a position where the government is serving subpoenas, or what’s known as ‘civil investigative demands,’ on anybody,” she told us. “We don’t want to encourage the government to open an investigation when they have no other reason and no inside information.”

Thaler noted research misconduct claims are most often pursued under Public Health Service (PHS) and National Science Foundation (NSF) federal regulations, and not the FCA. The FCA mechanism is more frequently used when bringing lawsuits against institutions regarding allegations of widespread failure to follow PHS or NSF guidelines for which the institutions sign assurances of compliance, he said. 

Thaler noted research misconduct matters brought under the PHS and NSF regulations do not have a monetary incentive to report, yet those matters have “not suffered from a lack of complaints.” 

 Supreme Court or bust?

Slocum said the final decision about the FCA will come from the U.S. Supreme Court. Some justices have posed questions about the provisions in recent cases, suggesting a need for reexamination.

In a dissenting opinion in Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the FCA’s qui tam provisions have “long inhabited something of a constitutional twilight zone” that is “inconsistent with Article II and that private relators may not represent the interests of the United States in litigation.” In her ruling, Mizelle, who clerked for Thomas, referenced that dissent. 

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh agreed with Thomas in Polansky, with Kavanaugh writing the court should consider the constitutionality issue in a future case. 

“In one direction or the other, it’ll end up at the Supreme Court,” said Slocum, a senior member of the law firm Slocum & Boddie in Alexandria, Virginia. “Until this Supreme Court, I don’t think any challenge against the FCA would have made it very far. This was such a settled area of the law until the last 10 years or so.”

However, Brooker said she does not see the case reaching the Supreme Court just yet. If the 11th Circuit rejects the qui tam provisions, the court will be an outlier among other circuits. In January 2026 for instance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld the FCA’s constitutionality, denying arguments to reconsider its precedent, and in June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit also reaffirmed the statute. 

“It’s not the norm for the Supreme Court to take up a circuit split where there’s only one circuit that’s an outlier,” she said. “The Supreme Court has bigger fish to fry.”

Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, follow us on X or Bluesky, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, add us to your RSS reader, or subscribe to our daily digest. If you find a retraction that’s not in our database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at team@retractionwatch.com.

in Retraction watch on 2026-02-11 21:26:36 UTC.

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This ancient South American kingdom ran on bird poop

Maize farmers in Peru’s Chincha Valley were fertilizing their crops with seabird poop as early as the year 1250

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 19:00:00 UTC.

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The largest-ever satellite of its kind just unfurled its wings in low-Earth orbit

BlueBird 6 features the biggest commercial communications array antenna ever deployed in orbit around Earth, spanning some 2,400 square feet

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 18:40:00 UTC.

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Hair extensions may contain chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive issues

A new study finds a variety of hair extensions—from natural to synthetic—contain chemicals associated with cancer, birth defects and reproductive issues

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 18:30:00 UTC.

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What does it take to eat like an Olympian?

There’s more to Winter Olympians’ diets than calories—but for some, there are also lots and lots of calories

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 17:00:00 UTC.

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FDA won’t consider a new mRNA vaccine for flu despite the technology’s life-saving promise

The U.S.’s drug safety agency declined to review a next-gen flu vaccine that uses the same tech as the coronavirus shots

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 15:45:00 UTC.

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WiNUK's Recommended Reads for International Day of Women and Girls in Science

in Women in Neuroscience UK on 2026-02-11 15:00:30 UTC.

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How ‘effectively zero-knowledge’ proofs could transform cryptography

A new tool expands the ways people can prove they’ve solved a problem without revealing the solution

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 11:45:00 UTC.

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Inside the Russian dialect coaching behind Heated Rivalry

How a Russian dialect coach helped Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie master challenging Russian sounds and build a believable accent

in Scientific American on 2026-02-11 11:00:00 UTC.

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Oligodendrocytes need mechanical cues to myelinate axons correctly

in The Transmitter on 2026-02-11 05:00:53 UTC.

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Modern AI is simply no match for the complexity likely required for harboring consciousness, says Jaan Aru

in The Transmitter on 2026-02-11 05:00:10 UTC.

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Top medical groups join forces to review vaccine science as CDC faces criticism

The American Medical Association is launching an effort to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness independently of U.S. government health agencies

in Scientific American on 2026-02-10 21:20:00 UTC.