For the first time, scientists have documented rice plants actively trapping and killing fall armyworm caterpillars. 

Researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station found that roughly half of young caterpillars on rice plants become ensnared by microscopic hairs, or trichomes, on an open rice spikelet—where the grain develops—and die when the spikelet later closes.

The researchers hypothesize the insects are drawn to the spikelet by floral scents released from the floret. Published in the journal Ecological Processes, the study opens the door to new research on alternative pest‑control strategies against fall armyworm, an insect that has developed resistance to many chemical controls.

Breeding programs could alter heritable dog characteristics to reduce the rates of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), a breathing disorder common in dogs such as Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Pugs – according to a new study led by Dr. Joanna Jadwiga Ilska of the Royal Kennel Club, published May 13, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One.

The life story of the critically endangered Rice's whale, estimated to have just 50 remaining adults, is evidenced in new analysis of the hormones it stores in its baleen throughout its life

Artificial intelligence models that automatically label organs and anatomical structures in medical images are increasingly used to study large public imaging datasets, but comparing these tools is difficult when no expert reference annotations exist. A recent study developed an open-source framework for evaluating and comparing AI-based anatomy segmentation models using inter-model agreement rather than ground truth. Applying the approach to six widely used segmentation models and chest CT scans from the National Lung Screening Trial, the researchers normalized all model outputs to follow standard lexicon, and stored the result in a common medical imaging format. Normalized representation made it possible to visualize and compare model outputs, and analyze how consistently each model segmented key structures such as the lungs, heart, ribs, vertebrae, and sternum. The results show strong agreement across models for lung segmentation, but substantial inconsistencies and systematic errors for bones and some cardiac structures, particularly among models trained on similar data. By combining quantitative agreement metrics with interactive visualization tools, the framework helps identify reliable models and flag problem cases, offering a practical way to guide model selection and large-scale reuse of AI-generated annotations.

Researchers at UMass Chan Medical School have developed a gene editing technology that allows for the precise and efficient insertion of very large DNA segments into the human genome.

When water fleas grow up in the vicinity of predators, they change their body shape. Crowns of thorns or large heads make them more difficult to eat. Researchers in Bochum provide insight into the underlying mechanisms.

In a new study, University of Washington scientists eavesdropped on Cook Inlet belugas to better understand the context of their calls and how human noise is impacting their ability to communicate with each other.

Research has found that children with higher genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia show decreases in frontal cortical surface area during early adolescence, in contrast to the regional expansion observed in children with low genetic susceptibility. This suggests that individuals with high genetic liability for schizophrenia may already show deviations in their neurodevelopmental trajectories before symptoms typically appear in young adulthood. The findings from the new study in Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, provide critical insights for refining developmental models of schizophrenia and for informing the timing of preventive interventions.

A research team has pinpointed PTCHD1-AS, a long non-coding RNA gene on the X chromosome, as a contributor to increased likelihood of ASD in males. Notably, deletions within PTCHD1-AS influence social interaction and repetitive behaviours, while leaving cognition unaffected.