Teens who regularly use e-cigarettes are equally as likely as their peers from the 1970s to take up cigarette smoking, despite a substantial reduction in the prevalence of teenage cigarette use over the last 50 years, according to a study co-led by the University of Michigan. 

A new study uses data from NASA’s PACE satellite to demonstrate a novel method for assessing global plant health. Led by UMBC’s Karl F. Huemmrich, the research leverages PACE’s Ocean Color Instrument to monitor plant responses, as indicated by reflectance from their leaves, to environmental changes like water availability and temperature. Validated against U.S. ground measurements, the technique accurately tracks plant productivity across diverse ecosystems without relying on weather data. The findings will enhance carbon sequestration tracking and early stress detection, offering a cost-effective way to monitor global ecosystems and support conservation and agriculture.

Hebrew SeniorLife and Schochet this month introduced the nationally recognized Right Care, Right Place, Right Time (R3) program at Schochet’s Fresh Pond Apartments, a 504-unit affordable housing complex in Cambridge, MA. This marks the first time the R3 program has been made available at a multi-family property. The program offers the 230 older adults at Fresh Pond Apartments resources to live healthy, active, vibrant lives.

In a discovery that could open the door to new therapies to treat metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, researchers at McMaster University, Université Laval and the University of Ottawa have developed a way to intercept a little-known molecule made by gut bacteria before they sneak into the bloodstream and fuel the liver to make more glucose and fat than necessary.

Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have discovered that PD-1—a molecule best known for putting the brakes on immune cells—also plays a critical role in helping T cells become long-term immune defenders in the skin. Early during infection, PD-1 acts like a steering wheel, guiding T cells to become protective resident memory T cells (TRM) that stay in place. These cells remember invading germs or cancer and quickly mount a response if that enemy reappears.