Research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, clarifies the complex interaction between gut bacteria and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Experiments demonstrate that gut bacteria can produce the important substance serotonin. The finding may lead to future treatments.

IBS is a common gastrointestinal disorder, more common in women, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea. The cause of the disease is not clear, but the intestinal environment, including the gut microbiota and serotonin, appear to be important factors.

Serotonin is best known as a neurotransmitter in the brain, but over 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut, where it controls bowel movements...

A powerful new telescope has captured its first glimpse of the cosmos, and could transform our understanding of how stars, galaxies and black holes evolve.

The 4MOST (4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope), mounted on the European Southern Observatory’s VISTA telescope in Chile, achieved its ‘first light’ on 18 October 2025: a milestone marking the start of its scientific mission.

Unlike a typical telescope that takes pictures of the sky, 4MOST records spectra—the detailed colors of light from celestial objects—revealing their temperature, motion and chemical makeup. Using 2,436 optical fibers, each thinner than a human hair, the telescope can study thousands of stars and galaxies at once, splitting their light into 18,000 distinct color components.

“This is an out...

The ice giants remain some of the most interesting places to explore in the solar system. Uranus in particular has drawn a lot of interest lately, especially after the 2022 Decadal Survey from the National Academies named it as the highest priority destination. But as of now, we still don’t have a fully fleshed out and planned mission ready to go for the multiple launch windows in the 2030s.

That might actually be an advantage, though, as a new system coming online might change the overall mission design fundamentally...

Men whose prostate cancer returns after surgery or radiation therapy may now benefit from a new drug combination shown in clinical trials to cut the risk of death by more than 40%.

The combination therapy, which adds a drug called enzalutamide to commonly prescribed hormone therapy, reduced deaths in patients with recurrent prostate cancer after surgery or radiation for whom other treatments are no longer an option.

The trial results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine with simultaneous presentation during the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (ESMO) Oct. 19 in Berlin.

“After initial treatment, some patients see their prostate cancer come back in an aggressive way and are at risk for their disease to spread quic...