Plants are quietly absorbing microplastics from soil and air, and those particles can work their way into our food and ecosystems, according to a new review by researchers at Nankai University in China. The study pulls together the latest evidence to show how plastic fragments and fibers enter plants through roots and leaves, how they travel and accumulate inside tissues, and what this means for crop health, soil microbes, and global food security.

In a landmark study from the Journal of Sport and Health Science, an international team of researchers has gathered evidence from 27 reviews and 135 studies to provide a first global consensus on the definition and classification of short bouts of accumulated exercise. They expect its implementation to empower populations to avoid sedentary behavior, such as prolonged sitting, and move increasingly often, promoting improvements in public health.

A nationwide, multicenter trial in China compares tegoprazan-based (TACB) and esomeprazole-based (EACB) triple therapy plus bismuth for Helicobacter pylori. TACB has 93.5% eradication in the full analysis set, superior to EACB’s 86.4%, with comparable safety and high compliance.

A new study published in Biochar reveals that alkaline biochar, a type of carbon-rich soil amendment, significantly improves microbial carbon use efficiency and nutrient cycling in saline-alkali soils. These findings could help farmers and land managers restore degraded soils in arid and semi-arid regions around the world.

In a recent study, Medical University of South Carolina researchers compared two ways to help kids to get effective trauma therapy: training therapists vs. training therapists plus child protective services’ workers, juvenile justice professionals, school guidance counselors and others to spot struggling kids and refer them. Both approaches reduced kids’ posttraumatic stress and depression. The second method identified more kids who had experienced trauma and needed help and increased the number who finished treatment.

Researchers developed DeepMet, a new AI system that sharply improves long-range weather forecasting across the U.S. The model predicts key temperature and humidity patterns up to 45 days ahead with far greater accuracy than current systems, helping identify extreme heat and cold events earlier. DeepMet offers faster, more reliable guidance for climate preparedness and public-health protection.

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team conducted a review that examined the theoretical foundations of Artificial Superintelligence and explored how misaligned AI systems could optimize for wrong objectives, leading to patient harm and systemic failures.