A machine learning model that analyzes patient demographics, electronic health record data, and routine blood test results predicted a patient’s risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, with high accuracy. These are the findings of a study published in Cancer Discovery.

New research distinguishing between passive and mentally active sitting in association with dementia has found that adults who engaged in extended durations of mentally passive sedentary behaviors had a higher risk of dementia. Replacing passive with mentally active sedentary behaviors was shown to reduce the risk of dementia onset in later life.

The researchers emphasize that these differences are a result of the unique environment for twins—such as sharing parental attention and resources—rather than a reflection of parenting quality. The study, published in the journal Child Development, analyzed data from 851 families in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS).The study is the first to compare twins to their younger, single-born siblings within the same household. This approach allowed researchers to isolate the twin experience from other factors like income and education that often skew developmental research.

When life feels overwhelming, many people instinctively turn to nature. A walk in a park. Sitting by the ocean. Watching a sunset. Is this just a pleasant feeling, or is there something deeper at work?

Regular social media use across early adolescence is related to worse reading and vocabulary development over time, according to new research from the University of Georgia. The findings are published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence.