Articles (page 1 of 9)

{"mod_blog_articles":{"rows":[{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-07 12:12:12","title":"Socialization lessons from mountain gorillas","content":"When we think about friendship, the first images that come to mind are often laughter, support, and a shoulder to lean on. Yet a long-term study of mountain gorillas shows that, just like in humans, social life is not always a straightforward path to better health or longer life. The same bonds that offer protection can sometimes carry hidden costs.\n\nThis conclusion comes from a 21-year study of 164 wild mountain gorillas in Rwanda\u2019s Volcanoes National Park, published in [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)]. The research was led by Robin E. Morrison at the University of Zurich, working with colleagues from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda and the University of Exeter in the UK.\n\nThe findings show that a gorilla\u2019s social life is a double-edged sword. Whether being outgoing helps or harms depends on the individual and the group they live in.\n\n### Why gorillas? Why social life?\nHumans are not the only species whose health depends heavily on relationships. Dec","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccy4\/m_68d7c6ebf308cIHC_th.jpg","stats_views":47,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccy4","slug":"socialization-lessons-from-mountain-gorillas-0cccy4","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-06 05:03:08","title":"Is AI ready to replace doctors yet?","content":"\n\nA clinic visit where an artificial intelligence system greets you, listens to your symptoms, and offers a likely diagnosis may sound futuristic. Yet a large new study published in [npj Digital Medicine] suggests that scenario may not be far away, though medicine is not ready to take that leap just yet.\n\nA research team from Osaka Metropolitan University, Kyoto University, Kobe University, and several medical centers across Osaka, carried out the first systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the diagnostic skills of generative AI systems with those of physicians. From more than 18,000 studies published between 2018 and 2024, they identified 83 high-quality studies spanning 20 medical specialties.\n\nThe central question: can AI really diagnose as well as a doctor?\n\n## So, what do the numbers say?\nOn average, AI models reached a diagnostic accuracy of 52 percent. That\u2019s equivalent to getting just over half the answers right on a demanding medical exam. Not catastrophic, but far f","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyz\/m_68d7c060b394cmbF_th.jpg","stats_views":160,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyz","slug":"is-ai-ready-to-replace-doctors-yet-0cccyz","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-05 03:05:10","title":"Fruit flies sacrifice sleep to fight parasites","content":"\n\nPulling an all-nighter usually leaves people groggy, unfocused, and out of rhythm. For some animals, though, giving up sleep can mean the difference between life and death. A study published in [npj Biological Timing and Sleep shows that fruit flies resist parasites more effectively when they cut back on rest and stay active during the night.\n\nThe research, by researchers at the University of Cincinnati and the University of East Anglia in the UK, explores the evolutionary struggle between fruit flies (*Drosophila melanogaster*) and their persistent parasites: ectoparasitic mites. These mites latch onto flies, draining nutrients and shortening their lives. For the flies, survival may hinge on how much sleep they sacrifice.\n\nParasites have long shaped the way animals evolve. Malaria parasites can alter mosquito behavior, and fleas drive grooming habits in mammals. For fruit flies, the challenge comes from **Gamasodes mites**, which weaken their bodies, consume energy, and disrupt repr","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyb\/m_68d7be18bafb9xRN_th.jpg","stats_views":263,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyb","slug":"fruit-flies-sacrifice-sleep-to-fight-parasites-0cccyb","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-04 02:04:11","title":"Bariatric surgery, insurance, and the hidden cost of saving lives","content":"\n\nFor people living with severe obesity, bariatric surgery is not about appearances. It is often a matter of survival. Procedures such as gastric sleeve or bypass surgery can reduce diabetes, improve heart health, and extend life expectancy. They are widely recognized as the most effective long-term treatments for obesity.\n\nGiven the stakes, you might expect that surgeons performing these operations would be strongly supported. Instead, a new study published in the [ANZ Journal of Surgery] reveals a troubling reality. Bariatric surgeons across Australia are being forced out of practice, not because of surgical complications or lack of demand, but because of the skyrocketing cost of **professional indemnity insurance (PII)**.\n\nIf this continues, the consequences will fall hardest on the patients who need surgery the most.\n\n### Professional indemnity insurance \nProfessional indemnity insurance is mandatory for doctors in Australia. It protects them in case a patient sues for malpractice.","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyn\/m_68d72a8272c46SFm_th.jpg","stats_views":360,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyn","slug":"bariatric-surgery-insurance-and-the-hidden-cost-of-saving-lives-0cccyn","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-03 08:12:01","title":"The curious story of symbiotic cyanobacteria","content":"\n\n\nIf you\u2019ve ever walked along the shore and admired the vastness of the ocean, you might not realize that some of the most important players in sustaining life on our planet are invisible to the naked eye. Cyanobacteria, those microscopic photosynthetic organisms drifting through the sea, generate oxygen and organic matter that fuel ecosystems. They are, quite literally, engines of life on Earth.\n\nYet not all cyanobacteria live independently. Some exist in partnerships so close that their very genomes, the instruction manuals of life, have been reshaped. A recent study published in [Scientific Reports] by Takuro Nakayama and colleagues at the University of Tsukuba, Yamagata University, and Japan\u2019s Marine-Earth Science and Technology Agency explored this hidden world. The team sequenced the genome of a cyanobacterium living inside a dinoflagellate called *Citharistes regius*. What they found reveals a story of reductive evolution and convergent lifestyles, where two separate microb","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccy7\/m_68d7220c2b266qTe_th.jpg","stats_views":442,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccy7","slug":"the-curious-story-of-symbiotic-cyanobacteria-0cccy7","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-02 11:08:05","title":"What happens when entire galaxies interact","content":"\n\nIf you step outside on a dark night in the Southern Hemisphere, you might spot two cloudy smudges hanging in the sky: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. They\u2019re not storm clouds, but dwarf galaxies orbiting our Milky Way, visible to the naked eye. These companion galaxies have long fascinated astronomers, not only because they\u2019re close enough to study in detail, but also because they\u2019re caught in a cosmic tug-of-war where pulling, twisting, and reshaping each other turns into a slow-motion galactic dance.\n\nA study published in [The Astrophysical Journal] by a team of researchers from Nagoya University dives into this galactic dance. Instead of focusing on the galaxies\u2019 gas or ancient stars, the authors zoomed in on some of the most dramatic dancers: massive stars. These stellar giants, at least eight times the mass of our Sun, live fast and die young, exploding as supernovae after just a few million years. Because they form from dense gas clouds, they act like tracer part","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyd\/m_68d6ce39caea2fRJ_th.jpg","stats_views":531,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyd","slug":"what-happens-when-entire-galaxies-interact-0cccyd","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-10-01 08:03:03","title":"A new AI to analyze public opinion","content":"\n\nWhen you\u2019re a policymaker trying to make sense of thousands of public comments on a new environmental policy, you worry about comments concerning costs and fairness, or hear personal stories on the topic. Whatever those responses entail, the sheer volume of them is overwhelming. Traditionally, you\u2019d need a team of researchers working for weeks or months, combing through text line by line to identify common themes. However, with a machine performing the same work in hours, these jobs can be completed at a fraction of the cost.\n\nThat\u2019s the promise of DECOTA, the Deep Computational Text Analyzer developed by a team of researchers from the University of Bath and University College London, and published on [Psychological Methods].\n\n### The balance between quantitative and qualitative data\nNumbers tell one kind of story. Polls might say \u201c60% of people support a new tax,\u201d but comments from people explain why. The comments can reveal that maybe people like the idea in principle, bu","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyt\/m_68d6cb30495c4GFW_th.jpg","stats_views":635,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyt","slug":"a-new-ai-to-analyze-public-opinion-0cccyt","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-09-30 08:05:04","title":"Can copper in your diet help keep your brain sharp?","content":"\n\nThe secret to preserving memory and mental sharpness with age may not lie in futuristic pills but in something far more ordinary: what\u2019s on your dinner plate. According to new research, copper, a mineral that often goes unnoticed, could play an important role in keeping the brain healthy.\n\nA study from The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University in China, conducted by Weiai Jia, Kangsheng Zhu, Jingpu Shi, and Fangfang Yong, was recently published in [Scientific Reports]. Titled \u201cAssociation between dietary copper intake and cognitive function in American older adults\u201d, the work examined data from thousands of U.S. participants. It revealed a strong connection between dietary copper levels and performance on memory and thinking tests. With dementia cases projected to triple worldwide by 2050, understanding how diet can help protect cognitive function has become one of the most pressing public health priorities of our time.\n\nWhen most of us think about nutrients for the brain","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyv\/m_68c81973473712A8_th.jpg","stats_views":733,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyv","slug":"can-copper-in-your-diet-help-keep-your-brain-sharp-0cccyv","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-09-29 08:11:12","title":"A space travel reality check","content":"\n\nWhen people talk about space tourism, the conversation often drifts to the spectacular, the thrill of rocket launches, breathtaking views of Earth from orbit, or the dream of floating effortlessly in zero gravity. But behind the glamour lies a question very few stop to ask: how will the average, untrained tourist actually cope with the physical and psychological rollercoaster of spaceflight?\n\nA study published in [PLOS ONE] by a French-led team of researchers tackles this question head-on. Their work centers not on astronauts, who spend years conditioning their minds and bodies for space, but on everyday people stepping into a radically alien environment. And their laboratory wasn\u2019t a faraway space station, but something closer to home: the *Airbus A310 ZERO-G*, a modified plane that offers brief, stomach-churning glimpses of weightlessness through parabolic flight. The findings? Space tourists will need more help than many imagine, not necessarily to survive the flights, but to re","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccy6\/m_68c8152d50be0ySv_th.jpg","stats_views":828,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccy6","slug":"a-space-travel-reality-check-0cccy6","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"},{"status":40,"date":"2025-09-28 11:02:09","title":"Why precision drug delivery could change everything","content":"\n\nWhen you hear the phrase *precision medicine*, you might picture futuristic treatments tailored to your DNA, or advanced tests that reveal the unique fingerprints of your illness. For years, scientists and doctors have described precision medicine as standing on two sturdy pillars: **precision diagnosis** (figuring out what\u2019s wrong at the most detailed level possible) and **precision therapy** (crafting treatments targeted to that exact problem).\n\nBut Dr. Avnesh Thakor, a physician-scientist at Stanford University\u2019s School of Medicine, believes there\u2019s a third, equally important pillar that has been overlooked: **precision delivery**, and he lays out this vision in an article published in [MedComm]. And once you hear the reasoning, it\u2019s hard to imagine precision medicine without it. His perspective is simple but profound: even the best-designed therapies won\u2019t work if they don\u2019t reach the right cells, at the right time, in the right amounts.\n\nIn research labs, experimenta","featured_media":"https:\/\/data.paperleap.com\/mod_blog\/0cccyx\/m_68c80c81c4227Qxm_th.jpg","stats_views":927,"stats_likes":0,"stats_saves":0,"stats_shares":0,"author_firstname":"Paperleap","author_lastname":null,"category_name":"General","sID":"0cccyx","slug":"why-precision-drug-delivery-could-change-everything-0cccyx","category_sID":"0cccc0","category_slug":"general-0cccc0","author_slug":"paperleap-0cccc0"}],"total":88,"pagesize":10,"page":1},"mod_blog_settings":{"excerpt_length":50},"head":{"title":"Articles","description":"Articles","og_image":"https:\/\/www.paperleap.com\/data\/mod_blog\/featured_media.png","og_url":"https:\/\/www.paperleap.com\/blog\/articles"},"theme":{"description":"Articles"}}