Robert Egan
Verified
As seen in:
Science X,
Taylor & Francis Online,
NC State University,
Phys.org,
Spreaker,
RTÉ,
Medical Xpress,
BioRxiv,
New Jersey Law Journal,
EIN News,
BiggerPockets
and
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Robert Egan
'Planimal' cells retain nearly entire algal genome after experimental cell fusion
This microscope image captures the fusion of a unicellular red alga (Cyanidioschyzon merolae) with a cultured animal cell. In the upper part of the image, a small, green algal cell is fused with a much larger, transparent animal cell. The other small green spheres are algal cells, while the large transparent cell below is another animal cell. Credit: Sachihiro Matsunaga, University of Tokyo.
Genomic analysis restores species status to 12 overlooked Great Barrier Reef corals
An international team of scientists working with Queensland Museum's CoralBank project has uncovered previously hidden coral diversity on the reefs of Australia's east coast—such as John Brewer Reef off the coast of Townsville. Credit: Tom Bridge.
Happy face, angry voice: Human–dog interaction study tracks conflicting cues
Recording dogs' brain activity in response to conflicting cues can shed light on how they integrate emotional information when interacting with humans. Credit: Associate Professor Takatomi Kubo from Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Japan Dogs, having lived alongside humans for tens of thousands of years, are keenly tuned in to our emotions.
New body map traces origins of complex movements in the brains of mice
Structural connectivity from body-part-specific S1 and V1 to M2 confirms M2 topography. Credit: Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-78900-3 A new biological blueprint of how the body of a mouse is represented in its brain could help scientists answer a fundamental question: How do we perform complex motions that use more than one body part, such as coordinating arm, hand, head and lips to sip a spoonful of soup? The study was published in Nature Communications.
A perfect couple: Chromium keeps ruthenium grounded in water electrolysis
Artistic illustration of the Ru-O-Cr atomic units in the catalyst. Credit: ICFO They say opposites attract, and many couples do fit this pattern. One is pragmatic and down-to-earth, while the other is a dreamer with their head in the clouds. Yet, these differences make them perfect for each other. According to researchers at ICFO, chemical interactions between atoms are not that different. Ruthenium, for instance, belongs to the "dreamer" class.
A microbe-made molecule may reverse gut damage by boosting NAD levels
N-MNA drives stem cell renewal for epithelial repair. Credit: Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aef2882 Scientists at Rutgers Health have discovered a molecule produced by "good" gut bacteria that rapidly heals the intestinal lining, protecting against severe inflammatory diseases and triggering increased production of a coenzyme whose levels diminish with age.
Longer inhibitory connections can push simulated neural networks beyond critical tipping point
Illustration of the additive process used to generate connectivity. Credit: PLOS Computational Biology (2026). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014798 In neuroscience, the brain criticality hypothesis proposes that neurons in the brain are arranged in such a way that neural activity lies at or near a transition point between two extremes: an ordered state where neural activity dies out quickly and a disordered state where neural activity tends to spread quickly and potentially grow uncontrollably.
Molecular sensor makes invisible traces of mercury easier to see
Graphical abstract. Credit: Talanta (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2026.129679 Mercury contamination presents an obvious challenge: it is invisible. A glass of water or a piece of fruit can seem perfectly normal to the naked eye, even when trace amounts of toxic mercury are present. Detecting such minute levels usually requires specialized laboratory tools and trained experts.
Fruit fly sleep protein yields peptides that inhibit drug-resistant bacteria in lab tests
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Researchers at University of Tsukuba and collaborating institutions have identified short antimicrobial peptides derived from Nemuri, a sleep-inducing protein in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications. As antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to pose a global health threat, there is an urgent need for antimicrobial agents that act through mechanisms distinct from those of existing antibiotics.
Blood NAD levels track heart disease, not aging, study of more than 1,000 adults finds
Top (green): in healthy adults, whole-blood NAD does not decline with age (remaining stable in men and rising in women). Bottom (red): in people with chronic disease, NAD is lower (it declines with age in men, and the increase seen in healthy women disappears). Lower NAD is most clearly associated with cardiovascular disease, particularly hypertension.
New genetic atlas reveals traces of 10,000 years of sheep breeding
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain For around 10,000 years, humans have selectively bred sheep for desirable traits. Generation after generation, we have chosen animals for their wool, size and reproductive characteristics and gradually left our mark on their DNA. But how has this long history of breeding affected the genetic mechanisms that control when and where genes are active?
Mapping an enzyme offers clues to treating rare genetic disease
Structure of the full AASS protein determined by cryo-electron microscopy. Credit: Wu, Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aej2268. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have mapped an enzyme that could be targeted to develop new treatments for glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1), a rare genetic disorder that can lead to brain damage, revealing new details about how the enzyme works and how its activity is controlled. The findings were published in Science Advances.
Evolution found another way to build a primate brain
A "mini-brain" grown from human stem cells for 76 days, engineered so that cells making DACH1 glow green. Red marks brain stem cells, and cyan marks dividing cells. The flower-shaped clusters mimic the stem-cell zone of the developing human brain, and dividing stem cells carrying DACH1 appear both inside and outside these clusters. DACH1:GFP (green); cortical progenitor marker PAX6 (red); proliferative marker pH3 (cyan); nuclei (blue).
Mountain growth spurts may have sparked complex life on Earth
Mountains in Norway's Saltfjellet-Svartisen National Park, part of a large mountain belt which formed about 420 million years ago when the precursor to the North American continent crashed into a former continent composed of the Scandinavian Shield and adjacent areas in Poland, the Baltic states and western Russia.
Ancient rocks reveal a dramatic journey from deep inside Earth
Graphical abstract. Credit: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2025.106879 Surface rocks can reveal records of regions they occupied millions of years ago, even if those areas were kilometers below ground. On Türkiye's Marmara Sea's southern shores and islands, granitic rocks that are now exposed originated as molten material deep in Earth's crust.
Giving AI a 'childhood' offers insights into language development
From a single child's everyday speech experience, a vocabulary emerged. Credit: Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aeh9311 Every parent has watched it happen, and no scientist can fully explain how. A baby enters the world unable to understand a single word. Within a few years, that child recognizes thousands of words, follows complex sentences and communicates their own thoughts. What makes the achievement remarkable is how children do it.
Combining five metals in one oxide improves ethanol gas sensing
Conceptualization and characterization of high-entropy oxide (HEO) gas sensors. Credit: Advanced Science (2026). DOI: 10.1002/advs.75724 A technology that significantly improves ethanol gas sensing performance by combining five different metal elements in a single oxide has been developed.
Water-based batteries store more energy in iodine with new electrolyte design
Comparisons of mechanistic frameworks for four-electron iodine conversion in aqueous electrolytes. Credit: Nature (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11282-0 New chemistry developed by a UCL-led team could increase the energy capacity of aqueous (water-based) batteries—a step forward for a safer, more sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
Water-activated polymer forms solid shapes underwater and bonds glass fragments
Credit: Institute of Science Tokyo Cement hardens when mixed with water, allowing it to form solid structures even in wet environments. This property is known as hydraulicity. Reproducing this property in organic polymers has been challenging, as polymer materials that react with moisture often lack the combination of bulk curing and water resistance needed to harden reliably in wet conditions.
Precision RNA therapy offers hope for brain receptor disorders
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Academia Sinica in Taiwan have developed an experimental RNA-based treatment that prevents brain damage and improves learning, memory and social behavior in mice carrying a rare genetic mutation associated with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. The research is published in the journal Neuron.
Who lives in a sponge under the sea? Tiny Caribbean fish and their microscopic neighbors
The very small tusked goby, Risor ruber, and its host sponge, Ircinia felix. Credit: Theresa Rueger Two new studies involving Newcastle University marine scientist Dr. Theresa Rueger have highlighted how the tusked goby's relationship with its host sponge shapes almost every aspect of its life.
From stimulation to suppression: How nitrogen addition changes soil respiration over time
A nitrogen-addition experiment in a boreal forest stand dominated by Larix gmelinii in Inner Mongolia, China. Credit: Xing Aijun Soil respiration (Rs), the efflux of CO₂ from soils to the atmosphere driven by root and microbial activity, is one of the largest terrestrial carbon fluxes and a primary determinant of net carbon sequestration. The important role of nitrogen in driving terrestrial carbon sequestration has long been recognized.
Heat waves are threatening Europe's power supplies, researchers warn
Heat wave reduces line-current capacity and induces segment bottlenecks. Credit: Nature Energy (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-026-02151-1 An international team of researchers has shown how heat waves impact European countries' ability to generate and supply power, and how they pose an increasing threat to vital national infrastructure.
Self-learning AI separates particle jets from background noise in simulated heavy-ion collisions
This schematic shows jet production and detection in heavy-ion collisions. Red lines show heavy-ion beams. Yellow lines represent charged particle tracks. Blue boxes show calorimeters measuring energy. Light-gray cones show jet signals, which are difficult to identify due to the large underlying event background in these collisions.
Heat drives electron orbital currents, revealing first experimental evidence of orbital Nernst effect
Schematic illustration of the electrical and thermal spin and orbital current generations. Credit: National Taiwan University, redrawn from Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-77878-2 Researchers at National Taiwan University (NTU) have reported the first experimental evidence of heat-current-driven transverse accumulation of electrons' orbital angular momentum, a phenomenon known as the orbital Nernst effect. The study was recently published in Nature Communications.
Brain atlas reveals how aging unfolds differently across brain regions, cell types and sexes
For the study, the team focused on an analysis of 5.3 million individual brain cells from 55 rhesus macaques spanning from early life to old age. Using advanced single-cell molecular profiling technologies that measure gene expression in individual cells, altogether, the teams profiled over 29 million cells from human, macaque and marmoset brains. Credit: BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network How do we age, and how do we become more at risk of brain diseases as we age?
Cryosphere decline beyond safe planetary limits, putting conditions for human society at risk
View of a research expedition in Antarctica in January 2026, organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute. Credit: Susa Niiranen/Stockholm University New research published at COP31 issues a stark warning about the health of the frozen parts of the planet—ice sheets, mountain glaciers, sea ice, permafrost and snow cover—known as the cryosphere.
AI helps digital humans move more naturally as they speak
DynaConTalk maps multimodal speech cues to holistic 3D co-speech motion in an aligned wavelet space. Credit: arXiv DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.09846 People communicate with more than words. A raised hand, a change in posture or a facial expression can help convey meaning and emotion.
Scientists breed a 'pan-African' malaria parasite to build a better whole-parasite malaria vaccine
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers have created a hybrid malaria parasite that combines the manufacturing advantages of the strain used in every current whole-parasite malaria vaccine with the much higher liver infectivity of a parasite collected recently in East Africa. The work is published in JCI Insight.
Gemini and DECam showcase a young Type Ia supernova
Newly discovered supernova SN 2026ahvu is seen here in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1433. The supernova appears as a very bright point of light to the right and slightly below the center of the galaxy. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA A star's explosive demise has added a shiny new feature to NGC 1433, a barred spiral galaxy approximately 50 million light-years away in the southern constellation Horologium (the Pendulum Clock).
Predicting human error before it leads to maritime emergencies
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Despite advances in navigation technology, human error still accounts for most maritime accidents globally. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) reports that human factors played a role in over 80% of marine accidents from 2014 to 2022. Although investigations typically pinpoint the causes of accidents, predicting where errors are likely to occur before a voyage remains a significant challenge.
Virtual model assists Wi-Fi 7 in making improved decisions within crowded networks
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A strong Wi-Fi signal doesn't always mean a fast connection. In busy places like offices, apartment buildings and airports, neighboring Wi-Fi networks often compete for the same radio channels. To prevent interference, devices may need to pause before transmitting, even if they could communicate simultaneously.
Direct observation of a submarine landslide reveals seafloor processes
The research team at Bute Inlet. Credit: Newcastle University Submarine landslides have significant implications for marine ecology and infrastructure, yet these unpredictable events have remained challenging to study. New research co-led by Newcastle University's Dr. Sanem Acikalin and involving an international team of collaborators from 10 institutions has provided the first direct observations of these elusive events.
Physics-inspired AI detects fake faces by analyzing color and brightness patterns
RGB image and corresponding FDIP maps (a divergence-like response, gradient magnitude interpreted as a speed-like measure, and a kinetic-energy-like response) illustrating how structural information is revealed beyond RGB appearance (original input image adapted with permission from the Deepfake and Real Images (DFRI) dataset, Manjil Karki (2020), https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/manjilkarki/deepfake-and-real-images). Credit: Frontiers in Imaging (2026).
Hamster hibernation study offers clues to Alzheimer's disease
Hibernation-induced changes in astrocytes. Credit: Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeg3486 Researchers at VIB and KU Leuven have discovered that hibernation triggers changes in brain cells that partially resemble those in Alzheimer's disease. Studying golden hamsters, the team identified changes in gene expression across the hibernation cycle, which resemble those associated with the accumulation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's.
Waves that clear waste from the brain during sleep are impaired in older adults
Multimodal imaging of neural, hemodynamic and CSF flow dynamics in NREM sleep. Credit: Nature Aging (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s43587-026-01270-4 As people age, they may sleep for shorter periods and wake up more frequently during the night. In addition to those disruptions, MIT researchers have now discovered that a process responsible for flushing waste from the brain during sleep is commonly impaired in older people.
Human-to-human hantavirus spread confirmed on cruise ship
High-security P4 laboratory at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), specializing in the analysis and handling of the most dangerous pathogens. Credit: Nicolas Schopfer – HUG In April 2026, an outbreak of severe respiratory infections, presenting as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), was detected aboard the cruise ship M/V Hondius, which had left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1.
Young green turtles find refuge in man-made lagoon in protected UAE wetland
A green turtle in the Al Qurm Wa Lehhfaiiah Protected Area. Credit: Owen Exeter A protected wetland in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become an oasis for young sea turtles, new research shows. The study tracked nine juvenile green turtles (shell length less than 60 cm (24 inches)) and found they were "highly resident" in the Al Qurm Wa Lehhfaiiah Protected Area—spending over 80% of their time there.
High-resolution bionic eye combines color imaging with more efficient motion detection
Biological vision and biomimetic design. Credit: Nature Materials (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-026-02685-5 Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a high-resolution bionic eye that integrates full-color imaging, an aberration-corrected field of view exceeding 160 degrees and event-driven motion detection.
Double axes and coarse pottery reveal connections across the Rhine 5,000 years ago
A double axe of the North German/South Scandinavian type. Found in a passage grave in Wangels, eastern Holstein, excavated by the Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology of Kiel University. Credit: Sebastian Schultrich The Rhine, as the boundary between Western and Central Europe, appears to be a constant feature of European history. As early as the late fourth and early third millennia B.C., the traces of human activity east and west of the river differed.
Oʻahu infrastructure threatened by tipping point in sea-level rise impacts
High tides and large wave events cause overtopping along this armored section of the Waikīkī coastline. Credit: Anna Mikkelsen, UH Mānoa/ CRC A new comprehensive study by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) at Mānoa Climate Resilience Collaborative reveals that traditional sea-level rise models, which account only for rising ocean waters, drastically underestimate the true threat to coastal infrastructure on Oʻahu, Hawai'i.
Light-activated molecules in porous crystals show potential for quantum chemical sensing
The formation of spin-polarized radical pairs in a metal–organic framework. Credit: Hamachi et al., 2026 An international research team led by Nobuhiro Yanai from the University of Tokyo and Michael R. Wasielewski from Northwestern University has created polarized radical pairs, molecules with unpaired electrons whose spins align, in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), porous materials consisting of metal ions linked by organic molecules.
Molecular mapping of 8 million cells brings cerebral architecture into focus
Credit: Cell (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.09.027 University of California, Irvine researchers have mapped approximately 8 million cells in regions deep within the human brain, identifying 60 distinct types and revealing how they form cellular communities. The work offers a foundational reference for investigating brain systems affected by Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and other neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Cancer vaccines show promise for treatment and prevention
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain For more than three decades, Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have pursued an ambitious idea: that vaccines could train the immune system to recognize and fight cancer. Now, a landmark phase 3 clinical trial of a personalized melanoma vaccine shows that this approach can improve outcomes for patients. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center was among the clinical centers that participated in the multicenter study.
Robotic tools help unlock the hidden microbial world of the deep sea
Architecture of the sensor-driven cyber-physical system for deep-sea environmental replication. Credit: Nature Sensors (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s44460-026-00128-x Scientists have developed a robotic system that can recreate the extreme conditions of the deep ocean in the laboratory, opening up access to some microorganisms for the first time. The deep sea is the largest microbial habitat on Earth and is home to a huge diversity of microorganisms.
Using AI to predict how bioplastics behave under heat
Credit: Charlesdeluvio on Unsplash A new ANIPH study shows how machine learning models can predict how PHB and PHBV respond to heat, helping manufacturers design formulations that are easier to process. PHB (poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)) and its copolymer PHBV (poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)) are among the most widely studied bio-based, biodegradable plastics, produced through bacterial fermentation rather than refined from oil.
Engineered atomic interactions help microwave sensor capture three times as much information
The quantum memory used in the experiment to detect microwaves. Credit: Bartosz Niewelt/UW Researchers from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw (UW) and the Center for Optical Quantum Technologies at the University of Warsaw's Center for New Technologies (CeNT UW) have developed a method for ultrasensitive microwave sensing.
Experimental blood test detects early breast cancer and predicts recurrence
Schematic of the experiment. Circulating nucleosomes and proteins are captured on a microscope coverslip, which facilitates sensitive quantification of multiple histone PTMs and protein biomarkers from <1 ml plasma. Fluorophore-conjugated antibodies enable simultaneous measurement of multiple marks, including their ratios and co-occurrence on individual nucleosomes. Credit: Nature (2026).
Not afraid of ghosts: Curiosity and fearlessness apparent in German shepherd genes
Meeting "ghosts" is one part of the Dog Mentality Assessment test (DMA) that the dogs in the study underwent. Credit: Voichita Marinescu German shepherd dogs bred for working are more curious and less neurotic than German shepherds bred for show. A new study from Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has shown that the differences are not only apparent in the dogs' behavior, but also in their genes.
Parrots' vibrant feathers are surprisingly susceptible to bacterial attack
Two red-and-green macaws (Ara chloropterus) in flight. Princeton biologists tested whether the psittacofulvin pigments in parrot feathers protected the feathers against damage caused by bacteria. Credit: Octavio Campos Salles Flashy birds, from peacocks to parrots, have inspired a long tradition of using animal colors to study evolution. Colorful plumage often functions as a signal—for example, to attract a mate. Alternatively, drab colors can be used for camouflage.
Show More
loading
Actions
Get in touch with Robert
Contact Robert, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack