Clinical trial marks key milestone in fight against antibiotic resistance

Infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria cause a significant burden of disease worldwide.
Photo Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI Generated

An international clinical trial, led by The University of Queensland, has been hailed as a significant step forward in the global challenge of antibiotic resistance.

UQ researchers have led the first randomized trial across 6 countries to examine a new antibiotic, cefiderocol, in the treatment of life-threatening, drug-resistant infections.

Associate Professor Patrick Harris, of UQ’s Centre for Clinical Research, said the drug was found to be effective and safe in treating bloodstream infections.

"The study is the first randomized controlled trial to specifically examine the use of cefiderocol in bloodstream infections and sepsis," he said.

“With increasing global antimicrobial resistance, there is a need for the development of new antibiotics.’’

DNA nanospring measures cellular motor power

Experimental design for the force measurement of KIF1A.
An inert protein known as KIF5B serves as the anchor from which KIF1A pulls the nanospring. As with more familiar springs, the extended length correlates with the force being applied. But in this case, the DNA nanospring is also labeled with fluorescent molecules which give away how far it stretches to make visualization of KIF1A’s motile strength possible.
Image Credit: ©2025 Hayashi et al
(CC BY-ND 4.0)

Cells all require the transport of materials to maintain their function. In nerve cells, a tiny motor made of protein called KIF1A is responsible for that. Mutations in this protein can lead to neurological disorders, including difficulties in walking, intellectual impairment and nerve degradation. It’s known that mutations in KIF1A also result in a weakened motor performance, but this has been difficult to measure so far. Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan have measured changes in the force of KIF1A using a nanospring, a tiny, coiled structure, made of DNA which could lead to improved diagnosis of diseases related to the protein’s mutations.

We need a solar sail probe to detect space tornadoes earlier, more accurately

An artist’s rendering of the spacecraft in the SWIFT constellation stationed in a triangular pyramid formation between the sun and Earth. A solar sail allows the spacecraft at the pyramid’s tip to hold station beyond L1 without conventional fuel.
Image Credit: Steve Alvey, University of Michigan.

Spirals of solar wind can spin off larger solar eruptions and disrupt Earth’s magnetic field, yet they are too difficult to detect with our current single-location warning system, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.

But a constellation of spacecraft, including one that sails on sunlight, could help find the tornado-like features in time to protect equipment on Earth and in orbit.

The study results come from computer simulations of a massive cloud of plasma erupting from the sun and moving through the solar system. Because the simulation covers features that span distances three times Earth’s diameter down to thousands of miles, the researchers could determine how smaller, tornado-like spirals of plasma and magnetic field—called flux ropes—become concerning features in their own right.

Antibody discovered that blocks almost all known HIV variants in neutralization assays

Image Credit; Scientific Frontline / AI Generated

 A Cologne-led research team has discovered the antibody 04_A06, which neutralizes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in almost all tested variants in vitro and even overcomes typical resistance mechanisms. The discovery potentially opens up new perspectives for the prevention and treatment of HIV infections.

An international research team led by the University of Cologne has discovered an antibody that could advance the fight against HIV. The newly identified antibody 04_A06 proved to be particularly effective in laboratory tests. It was able to neutralize 98.5 percent of more than 300 different HIV strains, making it one of the broadest antibodies against HIV identified. In experiments with humanized mice – animals whose immune system has been modified to resemble that of humans – 04_A06 permanently reduced the HIV viral load to undetectable levels. Most other HIV antibodies, in contrast, only achieve short-term effects in this animal model, as resistance develops quickly. The study ‘Profiling of HIV-1 elite neutralizer cohort reveals a CD4bs bNAb for HIV-1 prevention and therapy’ was published in Nature Immunology.

Lake Tahoe Algae Experiment Suggests Seasonal Shifts Ahead

UC Davis researchers conduct periphyton research at Lake Tahoe.
Photo Credit: Brandon Berry, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center

As the climate warms and nutrient inputs shift, algal communities in cool, clear mountain lakes like Lake Tahoe will likely experience seasonal changes, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. 

Periphyton, that fuzzy layer of attached algae covering the rocks as you step into the water, is a healthy and critical part of a lake’s food web. Periphyton blooms, however, signal changes that can degrade both water quality and a shoreline’s natural beauty.

Climate change is projected to increase global water temperatures by 1.8 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. It’s also expected to increase nutrients to lake waters through increased runoff from higher intensity storms and more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow.

“A majority of lakes globally are warming as a result of climate change,” said lead author Nick Framsted, a master’s student in the UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy department and Tahoe Environmental Research Center when the study was conducted. “With their clear, cold waters, mountain lakes are exceptionally sensitive to changes in temperature and nutrients.”

Researchers on the verge of solving Mexican mystery

The Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico.
Photo Credit: Christophe Helmke, University of Copenhagen

More than two millennia ago, Teotihuacan was a thriving metropolis in central Mexico with up to 125,000 inhabitants. The city had gigantic pyramids and was a cultural center in Mesoamerica at the time.

But the city, which today consists of ruins and is a popular destination for both archaeologists and tourists, holds a great mystery. Who were its inhabitants?

Researchers Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christopher Helmke from the University of Copenhagen have presented a possible solution to the mystery in the renowned journal Current Anthropology.

By analyzing the signs on Teotihuacan's colorful murals and many other artefacts, they have concluded that the signs constitute an actual writing system, and they believe that this writing records an early form of the Uto-Aztecan language, which a thousand years later developed into the languages Cora, Huichol, and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.

Lockheed Martin Sikorsky Introduces Nomad™ Family of Long-Endurance, Runway-Independent Drones

The Nomad family of VTOL drones can be scaled in size for a variety of sea and land-based missions.
 Image Credit: Courtesy of Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company.

Less than a year after proving the flight efficiency and reliability of a novel rotor blown wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company is unveiling its Nomad™ future family of aircraft.  

The twin proprotor design combines the versatility of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing airplane. A Nomad aircraft can take off, hover, and land vertically, plus cruise on the wing for extended periods. Nomads are operated via Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ autonomy technology and predominantly use hybrid-electric propulsion, while larger variants will feature a conventional drivetrain.

Very few regret a legal gender change in Sweden

“We saw that the vast majority of people who go through the process to legally change their gender do not reverse this decision," says Kristen Clark, the study’s lead author.
Photo Credit: Tobias Sterner/Bildbyrån

Fewer than one per cent of people who have changed their legal gender choose to revert to the gender they were assigned at birth. This has been shown in a new study from Uppsala University in which the researchers looked at how stable a gender change is over time.

A new study based on national data from Sweden provides strong evidence that legal gender change in people diagnosed with gender dysphoria is stable over time. Reversal occurs in less than one per cent of cases.

“We saw that the vast majority of people who go through the process to legally change their gender do not reverse this decision. Of the 2,467 people included in the study who had applied for and obtained a change in their legal gender, only 21 changed it back to the gender they had been assigned at birth. The probability that a legal gender change will remain stable after 10 years is therefore estimated at close to 98 per cent,” says Kristen Clark, postdoc at Department of Medical Sciences and the study’s lead author.

Lidocaine poisonings rise despite overall drop in local anesthetic toxicity

UIC researchers have found that poisonings from lidocaine, the most commonly used local anesthetic, increased more than 50% between 2016 and 2020.
Photo Credit: Nappy Studio

Over the last decade, poisonings and deaths linked to the use of local anesthetics have decreased. Even so, poisonings from one commonly used anesthetic, lidocaine, have increased in the United States, according to two new studies from the University of Illinois Chicago.

By analyzing data from reports to national Poison Control Centers and to the Food and Drug Administration from 2010 to 2020, UIC researchers found total reports of poisonings fell 50% in that period. But poisonings from lidocaine increased more than 50% in less than half that time, between 2016 and 2020. The findings are published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine and the British Journal of Anesthesia.

Local anesthetics, including lidocaine, are widely used in medical care to manage pain before, during and after surgical procedures. General anesthesia acts everywhere in the body and puts patients in a sleep-like state. Local anesthesia controls pain and immobilizes a specific region of the body while a patient remains conscious.

Clam shells sound warning of Atlantic ‘tipping point’

Ocean quahog shells.
Photo Credit Paul Butler

A study of clam shells suggests Atlantic Ocean currents may be approaching a “tipping point”.

Scientists studied records of quahog clams (which can live for over 500 years) and dog cockles – because shell layers provide an annual record of ocean conditions.

They studied these natural archives to understand long-term patterns in Atlantic Ocean currents such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the subpolar gyre (SPG).

Recent studies have debated possible AMOC and SPG tipping points – transitions that would transform climate patterns. For example, AMOC collapse would have far-reaching global effects, from harsher winters in north-west Europe to shifts in global rainfall patterns, while a weakening of the SPG would be less catastrophic but still bring substantial impacts, including more frequent extreme weather in the North Atlantic region.