US scientists look to Europe in wake of Trump funding cuts
The age-old Europe-to-US brain drain may be reversing in the wake of President Donald Trump's funding cuts and research restrictions, as US researchers look across the Atlantic for sanctuary.
Several major US research institutes face the risk of losing federal funding, and DW noted that 'the uncertainty… is so great that many researchers want to leave': A Nature poll found that 75% of US-based scientists are considering emigrating, likely to Canada or Europe.
German institutions are trying to lower the bureaucratic hurdles to hiring them, while research institutes in France are offering positions to American scientists who lost their jobs in the cuts, and academics in Britain are urging their government to do the same.

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New York Post
27 minutes ago
- New York Post
Menopause drug might prevent breast cancer and treat hot flashes, research finds
A drug intended to treat menopause symptoms could double as breast cancer prevention. New research from Northwestern University in Illinois found that Duavee, a Pfizer-made drug, 'significantly reduced' breast tissue cell growth, which is a major indicator of cancer progression. Advertisement A phase 2 clinical trial included 141 post-menopausal women who had been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), also known as stage 0 breast cancer, according to a press release from Northwestern. This non-invasive breast cancer affects more than 60,000 American women each year, often leading to an outcome of invasive breast cancer. The women were separated into two groups — one received Duavee and the other took a placebo for a month before undergoing breast surgery. Duavee is a conjugated estrogen/bazedoxifene (CE/BZA) drug, which combines estrogen with another medication that minimizes the potential harmful side effects of the hormone. Advertisement 'The key takeaway from the study is that CE/BZA slows the growth (proliferation) of cells in milk ducts of DCIS that expressed the estrogen receptor significantly more than placebo,' Dr. Swati Kulkarni, lead investigator and professor of breast surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital. 5 New research from Northwestern University found that the drug Duavee 'significantly reduced' breast tissue cell growth, a major indicator of cancer progression. Marko Geber – Another major finding is that the quality of life did not differ significantly between the two groups, but patients who took the CE/BZA reported fewer hot flashes during the study, she noted. 'This would be expected, as the drug is FDA-approved to treat hot flashes.' Advertisement Kulkarni presented the study last week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago. 5 The women in the study were separated into two groups — one received Duavee and the other took a placebo for a month before undergoing breast surgery. Gorodenkoff – 5 Those who took the drug reported fewer hot flashes during the study. fizkes – The findings are preliminary and have not yet been published in a medical journal. Advertisement 'What excites me most is that a medication designed to help women feel better during menopause may also reduce their risk of invasive breast cancer,' said the doctor, who is also a Northwestern Medicine breast surgeon. Women who face a higher risk of breast cancer — including those who have experienced 'high-risk lesions' — and who also have menopausal symptoms are most likely to benefit from the drug, according to Kulkarni. 'These women are typically advised against standard hormone therapies, leaving them with few menopausal treatment options,' the release stated. Study limitations The researchers said they are 'encouraged' by these early results, but more research is required before the medication can be considered for approval as a breast cancer prevention mechanism. 'Our findings suggest that CE/BZA may prevent breast cancer, but larger studies with several years of follow-up are needed before we would know this for sure,' Kulkarni told Fox News Digital. Dr. Sheheryar Kabraji, chief of breast medicine at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, was not involved in the study but commented on the findings. 5 'What excites me most is that a medication designed to help women feel better during menopause may also reduce their risk of invasive breast cancer,' Dr. Swati Kulkarni said. sarayutsridee – Advertisement 'While intriguing, this study is highly preliminary, and more research will be needed before we can conclude that conjugated estrogen/bazedoxifene (CD/BZA), a form of the hormone estrogen commonly prescribed to address symptoms of menopause, prevents invasive breast cancer or is effective at reducing cancer risk,' he told Fox News Digital. Kabraji also noted that the study focused on reducing levels of one specific protein, 'which does not always predict reduced recurrence of breast cancer.' 'This study did not directly show that CE/BZA treatment reduces the risk of DCIS recurrence or development of invasive cancer,' he noted. 5 According to Kulkarni,'larger studies with several years of follow-up are needed' to confirm that the drug prevents breast cancer. Science RF – Advertisement 'Importantly, however, patients who received this therapy experienced no worsening of quality of life, and saw improvement in vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes. If found to be effective in preventing breast cancer, CE/BZA is likely to have fewer side effects than current medications used for breast cancer prevention.' Lead researcher Kulkarni emphasized that this medication is not for the treatment of invasive breast cancer or DCIS. 'Right now, we can say that women who are concerned about their risk of developing breast cancer can consider this medication to treat their menopausal symptoms,' she added.


The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Drinking sugar may be worse than eating it, study finds
PROVO, Utah (KTVX) — Drinking your sugar may be worse for you than previously thought. That is, according to a recent study conducted by Brigham Young University (BYU) researchers in collaboration with several researchers from Germany-based institutions. The study, which analyzed data from over half a million people across multiple continents, found that sugar consumed through drinks, such as soda and juice, was consistently linked to a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. Sugar from other sources reportedly showed no such link or were, in some cases, associated with a lower risk of diabetes. Karen Della Corte, the lead author on the study and a BYU nutritional science professor, said this was the first study to draw clear 'dose-response' relationships between different sugar sources and Type 2 diabetes risks. 'It highlights why drinking your sugar, whether from soda or juice, is more problematic for health than eating it,' said Della Corte. The study suggests the more problematic nature of sugary drinks may come down to differing metabolic effects. Researchers said sugar-sweetened drinks contain isolated sugars that lead to a higher glycemic impact that overwhelm and disrupt metabolism in the liver. This, in turn, increases liver fat and insulin resistance, the study says. Meanwhile, the sugars that can be found in fruits, dairy products, or whole grains do not overload the liver. The beneficial nutrients, such as fiber, fats, and proteins, help slow the blood glucose responses that dietary sugars bring. 'This study underscores the need for even more stringent recommendations for liquid sugars such as those in sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice, as they appear to harmfully associate with metabolic health,' Della Corte said. 'Rather than condemning all added sugars, future dietary guidelines might consider the differential effects of sugar based on its source and form.' The study has been published in the Advances in Nutrition journal.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Astronomers Astonished by Largest Explosion Since the Big Bang
You've heard of how mighty supernovas are, or of the ungodly amounts of energy released by gamma ray bursts. But astronomers have just discovered a type of cosmic blast that puts all those to shame. They're called "extreme nuclear transients" (ENTs) — and they're quite literally the most powerful explosion witnessed since the dawn of time. What produces ENTs is appropriately catastrophic: a star, at least three times as massive as our Sun, being obliterated by a supermassive black hole. "We've observed stars getting ripped apart as tidal disruption events for over a decade, but these ENTs are different beasts, reaching brightnesses nearly ten times greater than what we typically see," Jason Hinkle, lead author of a new study published in the journal Science Advances, and a researcher at the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Astronomy (IfA), said in a statement about the work. "Not only are ENTs far brighter than normal tidal disruption events, but they remain luminous for years, far surpassing the energy output of even the brightest known supernova explosions," Hinkle added. The first clues emerged when Hinkle and his team were trawling through public data collected by the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, a vast three-dimensional map of over two billion stars and counting. Amid this stellar sea, they noticed flares of light, including one recorded in 2016 and another in 2018, that inexplicably lasted for several years. Most cosmic explosions, for comparison, only shine for several weeks. "When I saw these smooth, long-lived flares from the centers of distant galaxies, I knew we were looking at something unusual," Hinkle said. He wasn't the only one on the scent. Back in 2023, another team of astronomers reported a similar detection with the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. Following-up on these findings, Hinkle conducted additional observations with other telescopes, including the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, and linked these phenomena together. The most formidable ENT, assigned the screenname-esque moniker of Gaia18cdj, unleashed 25 times more energy than the most powerful supernova ever detected. In one year, it radiated energy equal to all the energy our Sun will produce in its entire lifetime across billions of years — times one hundred. Typically, a supernova produces "just" one Sun's worth of energy. To produce such a tremendous blast, a star has to undergo a brutal, slow death. That's what sets these apart from when a star falls into a black hole in a typical tidal disruption event, which culminates in a powerful but brief flash. An ENT draws out the torture, forming a disk of the star's shredded entrails that glows for years. This aspect of a supermassive black hole's diet could tell us a lot about how they grew to their monstrous masses — a mystery that has long haunted astronomers — and how they stamped their name on a crucial period of the universe's history. "By observing these prolonged flares, we gain insights into black hole growth when the universe was half its current age and galaxies were busy places — forming stars and feeding their supermassive black holes ten times more vigorously than they do today," said coauthor Benjamin Shappee, an associate professor at IfA, in a statement. "These ENTs don't just mark the dramatic end of a massive star's life. They illuminate the processes responsible for growing the largest black holes in the universe," Hinkle added. More on astronomy: Scientists Spot Mysterious Object in Our Galaxy Pulsing Every 44 Minutes