Researchers have used genome-wide DNA data to identify a new insect species on the Ogasawara Islands, a remote Japanese archipelago roughly 900 to 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo. The findings suggest that evolution among island insects is more intricate than appearances imply. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

The winners of the Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2026 have been announced. 

The prizes, awarded by the learned society Applied Microbiology International (AMI), celebrate the brightest minds in the field and promote the research, group, projects, products and individuals who continue to help shape the future of applied microbiology. 

Kyoto, Japan -- Many owners will enthusiastically attest that their cat has improved their quality of life. Some studies support this common claim that caring for a feline friend has positive effects on human health and wellbeing. However, the evidence is inconsistent, and other studies have even reported possible negative effects of cat ownership.

This led a team of researchers at Kyoto University to question the idea that simply owning a cat provides intrinsic health benefits. Instead, they wondered whether any benefits or drawbacks to keeping a cat come from the quality of the relationship between the human and cat, particularly how owners interact with their cats in everyday life.

To investigate, the team conducted a one-month study of the daily lives of a group of 29 cats and their 19 owners, recruited through flyers and social media. In each household, the researchers conducted hormonal analysis through urine samples, attached Small Bluetooth Low Energy -- BLE -- beacons to the cats' collars to measure daily physical proximity, assessed the owners' mood through questionnaires, and observed the cats' behavior toward their owners and unfamiliar people.