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Tech Xplore / Brain-inspired AI helps soft robot arms switch tasks and stay stable

Researchers have developed an AI control system that enables soft robotic arms to learn a wide repertoire of motions and tasks once, then adjust to new scenarios on the fly without needing retraining or sacrificing functionality. ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Robotics
Phys.org / Teaching machines to design molecular switches

In biology, many RNA molecules act as sophisticated microscopic machines. Among them, riboswitches function as tiny biological sensors, changing their 3D shape upon binding to a specific metabolite. This shape-change acts ...

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 ...

Feb 6, 2026 in Biology
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 ...

Feb 6, 2026 in Medications
Phys.org / Forest soils increasingly extract methane from the atmosphere, long-term study reveals

Forest soils have an important role in protecting our climate: They remove large quantities of methane—a powerful greenhouse gas—from our atmosphere. Researchers from the University of Göttingen and the Baden-Württemberg ...

Feb 4, 2026 in Earth
Medical Xpress / Study of nearly 60,000 women finds no association between COVID vaccine and decrease in childbirth

COVID-19 vaccination is not the cause behind a decrease in childbirth, according to a study from Linköping University, Sweden. The results, published in the journal Communications Medicine, speak to rumors about vaccination ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Obstetrics & gynaecology
Medical Xpress / Immune 'hijacking' by tumors can predict cancer evolution

Predicting tumor progression is one of the major challenges in oncology. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered that neutrophils, a type of immune cell, ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Oncology & Cancer
Tech Xplore / Origami-inspired waveguides fold for launch, expand in space for satellites

High-powered satellites use electromagnetic waveguides to deliver energy from one component to another. Typically, they are made of heavy, inflexible metal tubes with an even heavier flange on either end, neither of which ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Engineering
Phys.org / Sudanese Copts acquired malaria resistance thanks to a rapid evolutionary process, research reveals

An international study investigating the genomic diversity of the Sudanese population reveals that the Copts originating in Egypt—who settled in the country between the seventh and eleventh centuries—have acquired a genetic ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Solid, iron-rich megastructure under Hawaii slows seismic waves and may drive plume upwelling

Mantle plumes beneath volcanic hotspots, like Hawaii, Iceland, and the Galapagos, seem to be anchored into a large structure within the core-mantle boundary (CMB). A new study, published in Science Advances, takes a deeper ...

Feb 3, 2026 in Earth
Phys.org / CRISPR-based biosensors enable real-time ocean health monitoring

Oceanic ecosystems are increasingly threatened by global warming, which causes coral bleaching, species migration and, through the loss of habitats and biodiversity, food web disruptions on major scales. Also, pollutants ...

Feb 5, 2026 in Biology
Phys.org / Open-access software tool helps researchers spot fake journals

Research papers in peer-reviewed academic journals are at the heart of academic integrity. New ideas and discoveries are vetted and checked by experts in the field as the boundaries of scientific knowledge are pushed forward. ...

Feb 3, 2026 in Other Sciences