America is facing a silent epidemic—one that’s not caused by a virus or bacteria, but by disconnection. According to a new advisory from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, loneliness and social isolation are becoming major public health threats in the United States.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of U.S. adults reported feeling lonely. And while we’ve long known that loneliness hurts emotionally, we now know it also has serious physical effects. In fact, being socially disconnected can increase the risk of early death just as much as smoking daily.

A new report by Amnesty International has shed light on how the Israeli government is using facial recognition technology in the West Bank to monitor and control Palestinians — and it’s sparking major global concern.

Cameras That Decide Who Passes
At military checkpoints in cities like Hebron, Palestinians are now required to look into facial recognition cameras before being allowed to cross. These systems, powered by software called Red Wolf, use a color-coded alert system:

Researchers at Rutgers University may have found a game-changing COVID-19 vaccine that could protect people for much longer than the current options. The new vaccine, called MT-001, is showing great promise in early animal studies.

Unlike existing vaccines, which often require frequent boosters, MT-001 could provide strong protection for a year or more—and potentially even longer.

In a discovery straight out of a sci-fi novel, scientists have found a way to use AI—specifically a GPT-style model like ChatGPT—to decode human thoughts with surprising accuracy. This isn’t mind-reading with wires or chips. It’s done with something as non-invasive as an fMRI scan and a whole lot of brainpower, both human and artificial.

There’s been a big shift in the world of cancer research — and it’s catching the attention of doctors in both the US and UK. A specific type of throat cancer, called oropharyngeal cancer, is now more common than cervical cancer in some places, and experts say the cause is largely tied to oral sex.

According to Dr. Hisham Mehanna from the University of Birmingham, this type of throat cancer has been rising rapidly in the West over the last 20 years. He even describes it as an “epidemic.”

In the ongoing debate about meat vs. plant-based diets, a large group of scientists is speaking up—and their message is clear: meat plays a vital role in human health and we need to stop treating it like the enemy.

Nearly 1,000 scientists from around the world have signed a declaration defending meat’s importance in our diets and calling out the “zealotry” behind efforts to push everyone toward vegan or vegetarian lifestyles.

It looks just like a regular fish fillet, but this grouper has never touched the ocean. In a world-first, scientists have 3D-printed a ready-to-cook fish fillet using cells grown in a lab—and they say it tastes just like the real thing.

This innovation comes from Israeli food-tech company Steakholder Foods, in partnership with Umami Meats from Singapore. Their lab-grown grouper is designed to offer the same flavor and flakiness as wild-caught fish, but without the environmental cost.

You might not expect your toilet to be a source of global drug surveillance, but that’s exactly what scientists are tapping into—literally.

A research team led by the University of Queensland has been analyzing wastewater from 47 cities around the world, and the findings are eye-opening. Over three New Year’s periods, from 2019 to 2022, they found 18 new psychoactive substances—some of which hadn’t been detected before in those regions.

A new injectable treatment may soon bring major relief to millions suffering from osteoarthritis. Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) have developed a cell-based therapy that not only reduces joint inflammation but also helps regenerate damaged cartilage.That’s big news—especially since osteoarthritis affects over 520 million people worldwide and is now considered a public health crisis by the FDA.

Why Osteoarthritis Is So Hard to Treat

Big news in the world of batteries: CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, has just announced a huge leap in energy technology. They’ve developed a new “condensed” battery that can deliver an energy density of 500 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). That’s nearly double the energy density of Tesla’s current best batteries — and it’s not just an idea. CATL says they’ll begin mass production this year.