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Language skills are essential to a child’s ability to communicate and develop. These skills enable children to engage with other people and learn from their surroundings and in the classroom.

Changes at NIH give political appointees greater power to fund or block research

The Trump administration has given notice that political appointees, rather than scientists, will ultimately decide who gets grant money from the world’s largest biomedical research funder — the federal government's National Institutes of Health.

3 Sep 2025

Generative AI creates life-saving antibiotics from scratch

What if generative AI could design life-saving antibiotics, not just art and text? In a new Cell Biomaterials paper, Penn researchers introduce AMP-Diffusion, a generative AI tool used to create tens of thousands of new antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) - short strings of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins - with bacteria-killing potential.

2 Sep 2025

Social Security praises its new chatbot. Ex-officials say it was tested but shelved under Biden.

John McGing couldn't reach a human. That might be business-as-usual in this economy, but it wasn't business; he had called the Social Security Administration, where the questions often aren't generic and the callers tend to be older, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable Americans.

2 Sep 2025

AI model predicts flu vaccine strains more accurately than WHO

AI-based models like VaxSeer outperform traditional methods in flu vaccine strain selection, enhancing effectiveness and addressing global influenza challenges.

2 Sep 2025

Study urges significant investment in cancer research in poorer nations

Researchers at the University of Southampton, examining worldwide variations in funding for cancer research, say there's a pressing need to invest more in lower-income countries.

2 Sep 2025

Breastfeeding at six months boosts children’s IQ and academic skills into adolescence

Breastfeeding at six months was linked to higher IQ, better reading and math skills, and improved conversational abilities in children, according to the ALSPAC study. The findings, based on 42 significant outcomes, highlight long-term cognitive advantages but stop short of proving causality.

1 Sep 2025

Genetic evidence reveals global patterns of language change

Throughout human history, there have been many instances where two populations came into contact – especially in the past few thousand years because of large-scale migrations as a consequence of conquests, colonialization, and, more recently, globalization.

29 Aug 2025

New study reveals how child neglect impacts critical brain pathways

When we think of child abuse, physical violence or emotional cruelty often comes to mind first. However, the most common form of maltreatment is actually much quieter: neglect.

29 Aug 2025

Glycosylation emerges as a key player in kidney disease progression

Kidney diseases affect nearly 700 million people worldwide and are a growing cause of mortality and health care costs.

29 Aug 2025

Predictable music phrases found to regulate blood pressure

A new study has found that blood pressure synchronises to predictable phrase structures in music. Blood pressure was more affected by loudness than tempo and was more strongly influenced by phrase structures that were more predictable.

29 Aug 2025

How can medical trainees use AI without losing critical thinking skills?

A NEJM review outlines how large language models (LLMs) are reshaping medical education, posing risks of deskilling, never-skilling, and mis-skilling among trainees.

28 Aug 2025

Millions of obituaries uncover shifting cultural views on legacy

What constitutes a life well-lived? A new Michigan State University-led study is turning to a common cultural artifact to find out: the obituary.

27 Aug 2025

New NIH Baby Toolbox offers breakthrough in early childhood development screening

Developmental scientists and medical social science experts at Northwestern University have spearheaded the creation of the most recent NIH Toolbox, providing the newest nationally standardized assessment of cognitive, language, motor and social-emotional skill development in infants aged 16 days to 42 months.

26 Aug 2025

Parents of premature babies have poorer sleep quality, study shows

Long sleepless nights and little rest are for many the beginning of parenthood. But how big is the problem really, and how does it affect our health? Gunhild Nordbø Marthinsen has explored this in her doctoral research at the University of Agder.

26 Aug 2025

Generative AI model scans emergency notes to identify high-risk avian influenza exposures

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine developed a new and highly effective application of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to quickly scan notes in electronic medical records and identify high-risk patients who may have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza or "bird flu", according to new findings published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

25 Aug 2025

Strategic tips for early-stage animal health companies facing regulatory challenges

Karen Greenwood shares practical advice for early-stage animal health companies navigating FDA CVM processes.

From DSI, a PLG Company 25 Aug 2025

As measles exploded, officials in Texas looked to CDC scientists. Under Trump, no one answered.

As measles surged in Texas early this year, the Trump administration's actions sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists that kept them from performing the agency's most critical function — emergency response — when it mattered most, an investigation from KFF Health News shows.

25 Aug 2025

Sugary drinks increase hair loss risk, scientists warn

A systematic review of 17 studies involving 61,332 participants reveals that vitamin D, iron, and certain foods and supplements play critical roles in hair health. Conversely, sugary drinks, alcohol, and excess vitamin A may worsen hair loss and hair quality.

25 Aug 2025

How generative AI scribes are reducing physician burnout

A new study led by Mass General Brigham researchers reveals that ambient documentation technologies – generative artificial intelligence scribes that record patient visits and draft clinical notes for physician review before incorporating them into electronic health records – led to significant reductions in physician burnout.

22 Aug 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Happy 60th, Medicare and Medicaid!

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed landmark legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid. Sixty years later, the programs represent a fifth of the federal budget and provide coverage to nearly 1 in 4 Americans.

21 Aug 2025