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Medical Xpress / Stopping COPD inhalers can lead to higher risk of flare-ups for 3 months

Stopping long-acting inhalers for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can lead to a sharp rise in flare-ups for about three months, a new study has revealed. This research by The University of Manchester and Manchester ...

18 hours ago in Medications
Phys.org / Thinking of AI-written vows? A study explains why it can backfire

Psychologists at the University of Kent are suggesting people think wisely about their use of ChatGPT this Valentine's Day after new research has revealed that we judge people most when they use AI to write love letters, ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Other Sciences
Phys.org / Listening to polymers collapse: 'Water bridges' pull the strings

It is not easy to follow the interactions of large molecules with water in real time. But this can be easier to hear than to see. This is how an international team deciphered the role of water in the collapse of PNIPAM.

Feb 5, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / 2018 Kīlauea earthquake may have stalled fault's slow slip for decades

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that took place in 2018 on the south flank of Kīlauea on the Island of Hawaiʻi may have stalled episodes of periodic slow slip along a major fault underlying the volcano, according to a new ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Earth
Tech Xplore / A bot-only social media platform: What the Moltbook experiment is teaching us about AI

What happens when you create a social media platform that only AI bots can post to? The answer, it turns out, is both entertaining and concerning. Moltbook is exactly that—a platform where artificial intelligence agents ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Computer Sciences
Tech Xplore / GeSn alloys emerge as a new semiconductor class that could reshape optoelectronics

Scientists have created a new type of material that could enable common electronic devices to work faster and use less energy, a study suggests. The findings indicate the material, which was until now thought near-impossible ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Engineering
Phys.org / Faster enzyme screening could cut biocatalysis bottlenecks in drug development

A team of biochemists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has developed a faster way to identify molecules in the lab that could lead to more effective pharmaceuticals. The discovery advances the rapidly growing ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Chemistry
Phys.org / Seeds 'listen' to mom: Study finds mother plants send ABA hormone signals that set seed dormancy

Whatever challenges life throws, mothers often know best as they guide offspring through the risky stages of early development. This scenario, familiar when applied to humans, turns out to be true for plants too, according ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Rare 'universal paralog' genes may reveal a pre-LUCA evolutionary record

All life on Earth shares a common ancestor that lived roughly four billion years ago. This so-called "last universal common ancestor" (LUCA) represents the most ancient organism that researchers can study. Previous research ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Gut physiology, not host species, dictates microbiome diversity: Study

A large-scale population metagenomic study has shed new light on the spatial heterogeneity of viral communities across the gastrointestinal tracts of ruminants, which are closely linked to human history. The team, led by ...

21 hours ago in Biology
Medical Xpress / Is Charlotte at risk for bigger measles outbreak as cases climb in the Carolinas?

The spread of a highly contagious disease is creeping into the Charlotte region. But experts say there are steps the community can take to prevent the kind of widespread outbreaks springing up in other parts of the country.

Phys.org / Peppermint oil plasma coating could cut catheter infections without releasing drugs

Australian researchers have developed a high‑performance coating made from peppermint essential oil that can be applied to the surfaces of many commonly used medical devices, offering a safer way to protect patients from ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Nanotechnology