Researchers have discovered new insights into the reaction pathways of the first molecule in space. Long before stars lit up the sky, the universe was a hot, dense place where simple chemistry quietly set the stage for everything to come. Scientists have now recreated the first molecule ever to form, helium hydride, and discovered it played a much bigger role in the birth of stars than we thought. Using a special ultra-cold lab setup, they mimicked conditions from over 13 billion years ago and found that this ancient molecule helped cool the universe just enough for stars to ignite. Their findings could rewrite part of the story about how the cosmos evolved from darkness to light.

Immediately after the Big Bang, which occurred around 13...

A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool could make it much easier—and cheaper—for doctors and researchers to train medical imaging software, even when only a small number of patient scans are available.

The AI tool improves upon a process called medical image segmentation, where every pixel in an image is labeled based on what it represents—cancerous or normal tissue, for example. This process is often performed by a highly trained expert, and deep learning has shown promise in automating this labor-intensive task.

The big challenge is t...

A new study published in July 2025 tackles one of science’s most profound mysteries—how did life first emerge from nonliving matter on early Earth? Using cutting edge mathematical approaches, researcher Robert G. Endres from Imperial College London has developed a framework that suggests the spontaneous origin of life faces far greater challenges than previously understood.

The study, published on the arXiv preprint server, focuses on the difficulty of assembling structured biological information under what could be reas...

To diagnose either type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, clinicians typically rely on a lab value known as HbA1c. This test captures a person’s average blood glucose levels over the previous few months. But HbA1c cannot predict who is at highest risk of progressing from healthy to prediabetic, or from prediabetic to full-blown diabetes.

Now, scientists at Scripps Research have discovered that artificial intelligence can use a combination of other data—including real-time glucose levels from wearable monitors—to provide a more nuanced view of diabetes risk.

The new model, described in Nature Medicine, uses continuous glucose monitor (CGM) data alongside gut microbiome, diet, ph...