Scientists

An artificial intelligence (AI) model led by the company Meta is capable of translating speech and text, including direct speech-to-speech translations, from up to 101 languages in some cases. According to the research team, this model - called SEAMLESSM4T - can pave the way for fast universal translations ‘with resources to be made publicly available for non-commercial use’. The work is published in the journal Nature.

The work of a global commission, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and endorsed by more than 75 medical organisations worldwide, presents a new approach to diagnosing obesity. This is based on other measures of excess body fat, in addition to body mass index (BMI), and on objective signs and symptoms of poor health at the individual level.

Osteosarcoma is a rare bone tumor that, when it appears, usually affects children and young adults. Due to its complexity, hardly any advances in its treatment have been made in the last 40 years. A team of researchers with Spanish participation has now described the mechanism that would explain its aggressiveness in approximately half of the cases. In addition, they propose a marker that could be used to predict prognosis. The results are published in the journal Cell. 

A study led by CNIO and CNIC researchers has identified a new mechanism in mice by which brown fat can be activated and consume energy to be released as heat. The process depends on a protein called MCJ which, according to the researchers, is “a promising target for treating obesity”. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications. 

The year 2024 was the warmest year on record globally and the first calendar year in which the global average temperature exceeded its pre-industrial level by 1.5 °C, the Copernicus Climate Change Service has confirmed.  

In a press release, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) warns that a huge industrial complex threatens the skies above the Paranal Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert. According to ESO, on 24 December, AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US electricity company AES Corporation, submitted for environmental impact assessment a project for a huge industrial complex that would be located between 5 and 11 kilometres from the Paranal telescopes. This astronomical observatory, the darkest in the world, has led to important breakthroughs, such as the first image of an exoplanet or the confirmation of the accelerated expansion of the universe.

US researchers have estimated that replacing conventional building materials in new infrastructure with CO₂ capturing alternatives - such as mixing carbon aggregates into concrete or using bio-based materials in bricks - could store billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. According to the study, published in the journal Science, the move could help meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

An assessment of the extinction risk of freshwater fauna, covering more than 23,000 species, reveals that around 24% of the species studied are at risk of extinction. The analysis, published in Nature, identifies the main threats from pollution, dams, agriculture and invasive species. Decapods - such as freshwater crabs and shrimps - have the highest percentage of threatened species (30 %), followed by freshwater fish (26 %) and odonates - such as dragonflies (16 %).

A team led by the CEU San Pablo University has analysed the role of vaccination against influenza on the risk of infection and mortality. The meta-analysis, published in European Respiratory Review, includes 192 articles from different countries over the last 20 years and includes data from more than 6.5 million patients. The results show that the level of protection varies according to age group and influenza subtype. Although it does not reduce the risk of infection for influenza A H3N2 in those over 65 years of age, nor does it show a reduction in mortality for influenza B - which is less associated with mortality than influenza A - overall, vaccination is shown to be effective in both preventing infection and reducing mortality.

Inflammation is all the rage. In fact, anti-inflammatory diets that claim to fight it. This is attested to by best-selling books and influencers, ready to give us the latest tips on how to lose weight, or rather, how to reduce inflammation. But what's the truth in all this, and what does inflammation have to do with being overweight?