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Non-producing oil and gas wells may emit microbial methane at rates 1,000 times higher than previously estimated

Microbial methane leaking from non-producing oil and gas wells is being emitted at rates about 1,000 times higher than previously estimated, according to a new study led by McGill University researchers. “Origins of Subsurface Methane Leaking from Nonproducing Oil and Gas Wells in Canada,” by Gianni Micucci and Mary Kang, is published in Environmental Science and Technology.

“Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas when released into the atmosphere, regardless of its origin. In particular, this study implies that non-producing oil and gas wells could continue to emit microbial methane long after the targeted formation has been fully depleted,” said Kang, study co-author and Associate Professor of Civil Engineering.

“However, the exact source of this methane is often unclear because the subsurface is a complex system with multiple gas-bearing formations,” she said.

Predicting cardiovascular events from routine mammograms using machine learning

Background Cardiovascular risk is underassessed in women. Many women undergo screening mammography in midlife when the risk of cardiovascular disease rises. Mammographic features such as breast arterial calcification and tissue density are associated with cardiovascular risk. We developed and tested a deep learning algorithm for cardiovascular risk prediction based on routine mammography images.

Methods Lifepool is a cohort of women with at least one screening mammogram linked to hospitalisation and death databases. A deep learning model based on DeepSurv architecture was developed to predict major cardiovascular events from mammography images. Model performance was compared against standard risk prediction models using the concordance index, comparative to the Harrells C-statistic.

Results There were 49 196 women included, with a median follow-up of 8.8 years (IQR 7.7–10.6), among whom 3,392 experienced a first major cardiovascular event. The DeepSurv model using mammography features and participant age had a concordance index of 0.72 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.73), with similar performance to modern models containing age and clinical variables including the New Zealand ‘PREDICT’ tool and the American Heart Association ‘PREVENT’ equations.

Mitochondria power immunity against cancer

Dendritic cells are innate immune cells that regulate the quality, magnitude, and duration of antitumor responses.

Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) are crucial in this capacity but are paradoxically rare and functionally impaired in most solid tumors. This is a major barrier to effective immunotherapy. The molecular underpinnings of cDC1 dysfunction within the tumor microenvironment are poorly understood.

In a new Science study, researchers report that mitochondrial fitness is important for cDC1 function. They also demonstrate the therapeutic rescue of cDC1 function within the tumor microenvironment in mice, which provides a framework for metabolically reprogramming dendritic cells to restore antitumor immunity.

Learn more in a new Science Perspective.

A subset of dendritic cells relies on mitochondrial fitness to trigger antitumor responses in mice.

Irene S. Molina and Malay Haldar Authors Info & Affiliations

Continue reading “Mitochondria power immunity against cancer” | >

The scientist using AI to hunt for antibiotics just about everywhere

When he was just a teenager trying to decide what to do with his life, César de la Fuente compiled a list of the world’s biggest problems. He ranked them inversely by how much money governments were spending to solve them. Antimicrobial resistance topped the list.

Twenty years on, the problem has not gone away. If anything, it’s gotten worse. Infections caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses that have evolved ways to evade treatments are now associated with more than 4 million deaths per year, and a recent analysis, published in the Lancet, predicts that number could surge past 8 million by 2050. In a July 2025 essay in Physical Review Letters, de la Fuente, now a bioengineer and computational biologist, and synthetic biologist James Collins warned of a looming “postantibiotic” era in which infections from drug-resistant strains of common bacteria like Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus, which can often still be treated by our current arsenal of medications, become fatal. “The antibiotic discovery pipeline remains perilously thin,” they wrote, “impeded by high development costs, lengthy timelines, and low returns on investment.”

Common Vitamin May Reduce Buildup of Alzheimer’s Proteins, Study Finds

New research has linked levels of vitamin D in midlife with toxic tangles of tau protein that accumulate in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease.

A statistical analysis of blood samples and brain scans from 793 adults showed that the more vitamin D in someone’s system in middle age, the lower the amount of tau protein tangles they tended to have years later.

The finding comes from an international team of researchers, and while it doesn’t prove direct cause and effect, it suggests an association that’s worth looking at.

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