SciPod

How do we develop and maintain authenticity throughout our lives?

20 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As our world becomes increasingly complex, the need for genuine self-development and "inner work" grows more important. Dr Kerstin Liesenfeld and coll...

From Firefighting Foams to Molecular Mysteries: A Surfactant’s Unexpected Journey

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific discovery often unfolds in unexpected ways. What begins as a search for solutions to real-world challenges can lead researchers into unexpl...

A Silent Struggle: Understanding Childhood Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In early 2020, the world changed almost overnight. As COVID-19 swept across the world, homes were repurposed as schools, playgrounds and classrooms we...

The Essence of Team Spirit: Why Helping Others in a Group Can Be More Motivating Than Helping Yourself

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are we primarily motivated by self-interest, or can activities that advance the progress of others provide similar or even greater levels of motivatio...

Amplifying Global Voices: The Fight for Fairness in Scholarly Communication

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In our increasingly interconnected world, sharing knowledge freely and fairly is crucial for ongoing development and progress. Increasing the overall ...

Breaking Barriers in Cancer Care: How Lenvatinib Offers Hope for Resistant Thyroid Cancer

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thyroid cancer is one of the more common cancers globally, and for most patients, the prognosis is generally favorable with timely and effective treat...

The Wellbeing Balance Model: A Personalized Approach to Design Effective Wellbeing Interventions

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Troy Norris at the WellBalance Institute for Positive Wellbeing reveals how a novel approach to measuring wellbeing can lead to more eff...

Deciding when and how checklists should be used in medicine

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

While checklists are often a vital tool for medical procedures, there has so far been little guidance on how they should be designed and applied in re...

Improving Hepatitis C Screening and Care: Approaches for Reaching Underserved Populations

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Professor Mamta Jain at UT Southwestern Medical Center and her colleagues reveals how electronic alerts, patient navigation, and mailed ...

How the law is used to silence Human Rights Defenders

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Dr Aikaterini-Christina Koula at Manchester Metropolitan University reveals how legal systems are increasingly being weaponized to silen...

A genetic breakthrough for farming: editing corn inside the plant, not the lab

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Corn is a cornerstone of modern agricultural food production, particularly in North America. Humans have selectively bred such crops over generations ...

New Approaches to Defining and Measuring Human Trafficking

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Professor Rumi Kato Price at the Washington University School of Medicine and her colleagues, Professors Sheldon Zhang and Annah Bender,...

How Traditional Chinese Philosophy Shaped Modern Revolutionary Thought

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Professor Germaine A. Hoston at the University of California, San Diego, reveals how traditional Chinese philosophical idealism influenc...

Building a seismic timeline of the Nippes earthquake

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sitting directly over a complex network of fault lines, Haiti is one of the most earthquake-prone nations on Earth. In 2021, the Nippes earthquake bec...

Mixed Signals: Employment Training Outcomes for Previously Incarcerated Individuals

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Professors Tristan Nighswander and Ariel Roddy at Northern Arizona University examines the effects of pre-employment training on employm...

Behind the Screens: Improving Health Outcomes with Better Data

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We can imagine our health as a jigsaw, with each individual piece representing a different aspect of our medical history. These pieces might include b...

New Insights into Severe Depression Towards a Breakthrough in Treatment

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Associate Professor Yassir Mahgoub and his team at Penn State University have uncovered an important link between melancholia – a severe form of dep...

The Guardians of the Gut: A New Frontier in the Defence Against Viruses

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our gut contains a sleepless army, creating a hostile environment for pathogens, and helping to fortify our body’s immune defences. It may surprise ...

Defending Authentic Leadership: A Response to Critical Claims

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A recent paper from Professor William Gardner at Texas Tech University and Professor Kelly Davis McCauley at West Texas A&M University challenges a cr...

Editing DNA and Degrading Proteins: The Tools to Achieve Precision Oncology

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cancer is a daunting healthcare challenge, and is still affecting millions worldwide, despite the enormous research resources that have been directed ...

Beyond Chickens: Unlocking the Hidden Treasures of Nigeria’s Poultry

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When most of us think about poultry, our minds often turn to chickens, the staple of farms and dinner tables worldwide. However, Nigeria is home to se...

Evaluating the Impact of University Chaplains: A Two-Phase Research Study

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Dr Christopher W. B. Stephens and Sue Miller at the Susanna Wesley Foundation, Southlands College, Roehampton, reveals how university ch...

Plant-Based but Powerful: The Hidden Interactions Between Kratom and CBD

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, natural products such as kratom, which derives from a Southeast Asian tree called Mitragyna speciosa, and cannabidiol (or CBD) which ...

The Brain’s Hidden Switches: The Power of Ultrasound in Neural Modulation

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We think of our brains as safe and secure within our skulls, and not easily influenced unless we consume a mind-altering substance, suffer a traumatic...

The Power of Plants: Making the Most of Plant-Based Proteins

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, plant-based diets have gained significant traction, not just among vegetarians and vegans but also among individuals looking to impro...

A new approach for detecting changes in word meaning over time

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Words change their meanings over time, but tracking these changes has traditionally required painstaking manual analysis by linguists. In recent years...

Pressure Points: The Science of Performing When It Matters Most

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Performing at your best when it matters most is something a lot of people struggle with. You can prepare for days, even weeks, but the moment you step...

Do Security and Regulation Failures Put Women's Health Data, Their Privacy and Even Their Safety at Risk?

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recent research from Professor Maryam Mehrnezhad at the Information Security Department, Royal Holloway University of London and a team of researchers...

Revealing the Secrets of Fish Health: Improving Research on Aging

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The African turquoise killifish, also called Nothobranchius furzeri, is a small, vibrant freshwater species that is making a big splash in aging resea...

The Confidence Conundrum: Why Unstructured Interviews Are Misleading

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Employers and other decision makers typically use interviews to make their final decision on candidates applying for important positions. The process ...

Sustaining Colorectal Cancer Screening in an Uncertain Funding Landscape

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Colorectal cancer is a significant health challenge, and ranks as the second leading cause of cancer-related death and the third most common type of c...

Comparing Simplified Physics-Based Models for Lithium-Ion Batteries

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In order to operate safely and efficiently, lithium-ion batteries rely on battery management systems to monitor their state and to control their opera...

A more complex view of how self-esteem shapes romantic relationships

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Professor Joanne Wood at the University of Waterloo reveals how self-esteem influences romantic relationships through a chain of psycholog...

Rethinking 'Sassy': The Complex Intersections of Race, Gender, and Linguistic Politeness

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Professor Denise Troutman at Michigan State University examines how race, gender, and social context shape perceptions of politeness and i...

From Shield to Shreds: Enzymes and the Breakdown of Cartilage Cocoons in Osteoarthritis

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Friction is no fun, and moving our joints freely and without pain requires that it is minimised as much as possible. Cartilage is the cushiony, slippe...

Reducing the Hidden Risks of Life-Saving Heart Devices

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, thousands of Australians undergo a procedure to have a cardiac device implanted. These devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators, help...

Pollinator Peril: How Common Agricultural Cocktails Harm Honeybees

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pollinators, including honey bees, wild bees, butterflies and many other insects, are some of the most important creatures on our planet. By pollinati...

Reviewing the formation of the universe’s first stars

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Before the universe was illuminated by stars, most of its observable matter existed in a roughly even distribution of hydrogen and helium. As these ma...

How death rituals are changing in China's fastest-growing city

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research from Professor Carsten Herrmann-Pillath at the University of Erfurt and Professor Guo Man at Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Campus r...

Understanding the twisted tectonics of the Sichuan basin

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Sichuan basin in southern China is a region of deep geological and seismological complexity, which has so far prevented researchers from understan...

Healthy Pets, Safer Humans: A Positive Step Forward for Veterinary Science

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antibiotic resistance may prove to be one of the most significant health challenges we will face this century. As bacteria continue to evolve resistan...

Revolutionising Pharmaceutical Synthesis with Continuous Flow Chemistry

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Patrick O’Neill of Pfizer, Ireland, and Professor Jie Wu of the National University of Singapore, and their team, have made groundbreaking advanc...

Pectus Excavatum: Minimally Invasive Repair, The Nuss Procedure

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For a long time, deformities of the chest wall, such as pectus excavatum, a condition where the chest appears to have sunken, remained untreated or we...

From Shame to Support: Mental Health Stigma in Conservative Communities

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In many regions around the globe, common mental health issues are cloaked in secrecy by those who experience them, and are frequently stigmatized and ...

How Latin America's Groundbreaking Treaty Intersects with European Economic Law

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima and Dr. Radu Mares at Lund University examines how a pioneering environmental agreement in Latin America and the ...

How Donald Trump has changed Canada-US relations

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Professor Will Greaves at the University of Victoria examines how the Trump presidency has impacted the long-standing security relationshi...

From Stigma to Support: A New Approach to ME/CFS Treatment in the UK

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine living with an illness that can sap your energy levels so completely that even day-to-day tasks, such as doing laundry, walking the dog, or ev...

Do dual-anonymous reviews reduce university bias in research funding?

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Dr. Anne Hultgren and colleagues at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation demonstrates that blinding reviewers to applicants' institutio...

The Genetic Blueprint of Nigerian Animals: How Genetics Research is Transforming Nigerian Wildlife and Farming

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Across the varied and diverse landscapes that make up the Nigerian countryside, animals, both wild and domesticated, are more than merely an agricultu...

The surprising similarities between the structures of human cells and societies

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Professor Magnus S. Magnusson at the University of Iceland demonstrates surprising similarities between the organization of cellular prote...

Sepsis and the Silent Battle Within: Neutrophils’ Role in Sepsis-Related Complications

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sepsis is a critical illness that begins with a simple infection and degenerates into a severe and dysregulated immune response that affects the whole...

How citizens' identities shape their support for international organizations

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Research by Professors Bernd Schlipphak and Oliver Treib, both of the University of Münster, along with Doctor Constantin Schäfer of ifok GmbH, Germ...

Small but Deadly: The Tale of K. veneficum

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The oceans, huge and brimming with diverse lifeforms, pose no less a struggle for survival for their inhabitants than that faced by creatures on dry l...

The Tiny Heroes That Could Save Deer and Elk from Chronic Wasting Disease

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not difficult to picture a lush forest landscape populated with majestic deer and elk, long admired for their prowess and strength. Now, imagin...

Healing the Wounds of Racism: How Racial Literacy Can Empower Youth and Adults

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Racist encounters, both subtle and overt, continue to plague society and take a severe toll on the mental and physical health of people of colour. How...

How bursts of biomass burning can impact the Arctic

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Arctic’s climate is changing faster than almost anywhere else on Earth, but climate scientists are still uncertain how it is being affected by c...

Real-World Impact: How Targeted Therapy is Changing Cholangiocarcinoma Treatment

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive cancer that begins in the bile ducts. While the cancer is relatively rare, affecting approximately 8,000 people in...

Beyond the Heartbeat: How Direct Cardiac Investigation Could Save Lives in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Beyond

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (or HCM for short) is a serious heart condition that involves thickening of the heart muscle wall and disruption of the no...

Fishing for Findings: Uncovering the Genetics of Hearing Loss

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our hearing is amongst our most profound senses, connecting us to the surrounding world through sound. However, this connection is diminished or absen...

What Orangutan Tool Use Tells Us About Human Evolution

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Humans aren’t the only species that use tools, many animals do. Our closest relatives, the great apes, have long been known for their intelligence a...

Weeding Out the Competition: The Promise of Cover Crops in Sustainable Agriculture

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As global agriculture faces increasing challenges from climate change, soil degradation, and herbicide resistance, sustainable practices are becoming ...

A Hybrid System for Real-Time Sign Language Translation

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Neuromorphic computing is a powerful tool for identifying time-varying patterns, but is often less effective than some AI-based techniques for more co...

Unlocking the Secrets of Aging: How Stem Cells Hold the Key to Vitality

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aging is a tale written by the cells in our bodies, although some cell types play a bigger role than others. At the crux of this story is an intriguin...

A Blueprint for Life: Creating Blood Vessels in Bioprinted Tissues

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A future where injured or diseased organs can be removed and replaced with new lab-printed tissues that are customized specifically for each patient i...

Cardio-Renal Protection and Blood Sugar Balance: How SGLT-2 Inhibitors Are Changing Diabetes Care

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In their ongoing quest to improve diabetes management, researchers are searching for new insights into the mechanisms through which the body manages b...

The Hidden Architects of Movement: The Role of MBNL Proteins in Movement

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers have made a significant advancement in understanding an important component of the nervous system: the neuromuscular junction, a crucial c...

Spotting relationships in complex angular datasets

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Data involving angles can be found across a diverse array of scientific fields, but so far, the mathematical tools used to study them have often prove...

Heritage Language Learners Show Unique Advantages in Chinese Language Processing

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Learning a new language as an adult is challenging, especially when the new language has features that differ significantly from one's native tongue. ...

Unmasking a Silent Killer: How the LiverRisk Score is Changing the Rules of Liver Disease Detection

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Liver disease is a significant health challenge globally. It can often progress unnoticed for years until it becomes life-threatening. Cirrhosis is th...

Could extreme electric fields make the warp drive a reality?

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, works of science fiction have explored how the universe’s most fundamental speed limit could be broken by warping the fabric of spaceti...

Unravelling the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Europe

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The transition from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic in Europe marks a pivotal period in human evolution, with the replacement of Neanderthals by anato...

The gap between support for diversity in principle and in practice in the USA

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Americans generally celebrate the abstract principle of diversity but does this translate into the policies that they support and the friendships that...

How can we ensure that scientists in collaborative teams work well together?

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Recent studies in team science highlight the importance of individual motivations, reflective practices, and competency development in fostering effec...

The Science of Greens: Using Genetic Insights to Cultivate Better, Stronger Lettuce

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, rapid advancements in techniques for genetic analysis and manipulation have enhanced our potential to understand and improve crop div...

Statistical evidence of the link between drought and atmospheric moisture transport

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Much of the world’s rainfall is triggered by the transport of moisture along corridors high up in the atmosphere. Through fresh analysis of historic...

Shipping Freight Rates: Mapping the progress of quantitative models

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Freight rates are crucial in the shipping industry, underpinning the operations of shipowners, carriers, and trading companies. Over the past two deca...

Inside the Kidney’s ‘Countercurrent’ Mystery: A New Model for Teaching and Studying Water Balance

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our kidneys filter blood to remove waste and can regulate water balance. We’ve all experienced that when we're thirsty urine becomes concentrated, s...

The Heart of the Matter: How Simulation Reflects Clinical Stress in Critical Care Training

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the high-stakes world of critical care, medical professionals are frequently called upon to perform life-saving procedures under intense pressure. ...

Reducing Pressure Injuries in Hospitalized Children and Babies

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The development of pressure injuries in hospital patients is a regular occurrence, and certain areas of the body are more susceptible. Although there ...

Rethinking Cultural Exchange in India in the Persianate Age, 1000-1765

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In his book India in the Persianate Age, historian Professor Richard M. Eaton of the University of Arizona challenges long-held assumptions about Indi...

Investigating how dimpled surfaces can minimise friction

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dimpled surfaces offer a useful and easily implementable way to reduce friction between lubricated surfaces as they slide over each other. Through cut...

Bronze Casting Moulds Reveal Late Shang Dynasty Craftsmanship

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bronze vessel casting technology in ancient China’s Shang Dynasty has long been of interest to archaeologists. Assistant Professor Wen Yin (Elaine) ...

Pulque: The Ancient Drink That Could Shape the Future of Health

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pulque, an ancient Mexican beverage, is making waves in the scientific community—not just as a cultural relic, but as a potential health-boosting po...

How a Biological Enzyme Could Help Concrete to Heal Itself

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As an inherently brittle material, concrete often needs to be replaced after just a few decades: driving a demand which incurs significant costs for E...

Seeing the Full Picture: The CPS-Merge Approach to Assess Complex Datasets

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the age of big data, and particularly in specialisations such as artificial intelligence, biology, and medicine, researchers often generate large a...

Beating arrhythmias with a heart in a dish

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the future, doctors will be able to create tiny replicas of your tissues in the lab, and then test them against a range of drugs, revealing exactly...

Confronting the Challenge of Huntington Disease

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited and progressive neurological disorder which is currently fatal. Dr James E. Goldman and Dr Osama Al-Dalahmah, ...

Mapping urban density from the neighbourhood to the metropolis

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So far, approaches to mapping the density of cities have often been oversimplified, causing them to overlook many key aspects of everyday urban life. ...

Rising Above Resistance: How Bacterial Research is Saving Lives in The Gambia

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Antimicrobial resistance (or AMR for short) is a pressing global health challenge that poses significant risks, particularly in low- and middle-income...

Shaping Young Minds: How Prenatal Cannabis Use Affects Brain Development

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As cannabis prohibition begins to unravel across the world, cannabis use has become more common and normalised. Researchers are assessing the impact o...

The successes of voluntary sustainability standards and the challenges they face

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Voluntary Sustainability Standards have emerged as influential tools to promote sustainable practices in global value chains and are becoming increasi...

Lessons from Tai-Chi could make Travelling Wave Reactors a reality

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In principle, travelling wave reactors offer a safe, highly efficient approach to generating nuclear power. However, development has been held back by...

The path back: Reconnecting with “the self” and others in recovery from schizophrenia and substance use disorders

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Schizophrenia and substance use disorders (or SUDs for short) are two significantly complex conditions that share overlapping symptoms and result in s...

A New Frontier in Treating Acute Ulcerative Colitis: Predicting Corticosteroid Treatment Failure

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the colon and rectum, leading to symptoms such as severe bloody diarrhoea and ...

Unveiling the Hidden Factors in Pancreatic Cancer

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pancreatic cancer, particularly pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, stands as one of the most lethal cancers. Despite being only the ninth most common c...

Rurbanity: How rural and urban phenomena intermingle worldwide

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over the next few decades, the Earth’s urban population is set to explode, with the large majority of growth happening in cities across the Global S...

An illusion of parallax: explaining a mysterious signal at the edge of the solar system

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2009, astronomers detected a mysterious source of high-energy, chargeless particles, which appeared to originate from the very edge of the solar sy...

The Key to Solving Climate Change May Lay in Indigenous Wisdom

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the Kimberley region of Western Australia, Indigenous First Australians are partnering with researchers and together they are pioneering a revoluti...

The Earth's Blueprint: How Soil Origins Guide Forest Management

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Forests are more than just a collection of trees; they are dynamic ecosystems that depend on a variety of factors to thrive. One of the most crucial y...

Mapping Environmental Change: Remote Sensing at the Frontlines of the Canadian Arctic

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Arctic is warming at a rate of three to four times faster than the global average; a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. This is, in large p...