news

Posted on: 03 October 2025 Engaging in creative experiences like music, dance, visual arts, and even specific video games can slow brain aging and promote healthier brain function, says a trailblazing international GBHI study from published in Nature Communications Although creativity has long been celebrated for its cultural and personal value, this study is the first large-scale scientific evidence directly linking creative engagement to direct measurable protection of brain health.

Posted on: 15 September 2025 Scientists from the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) have discovered how nanoplastics - even smaller than microplastics - disrupt energy metabolism in brain cells. Their findings may have implications for better understanding neurodegenerative diseases characterised by declining neurological or brain function, and even shed new light on issues with learning and memory.

Posted on: 12 September 2025 Parents report improvements in physical activity, social engagement and family life in their children in the first qualitative assessment of its type led by researchers from Trinity. This study provides important evidence in an area of growing therapeutic interest. Specifically, the parents of 10 children aged 6-12 with neurological and/or physical impairments in their walking perceived improvements in most of the childrens' physical activity levels, as well as in their social engagement and family life.

Posted on: 09 September 2025 The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) has released its 'Wave 6' findings which points to challenging times for Ireland's older population. Ireland is one of the fastest ageing countries in Europe, with the population aged 65 and over projected to double by 2051.

Posted on: 08 September 2025 An early phase clinical trial published in Nature Medicine show that patients with mesothelioma - a rare cancer of the lining of the lung - who received a combination of two immunotherapy drugs before surgery had successful surgeries and encouraging early outcomes Results from an early phase clinical trial presented this week at the World Conference on Lung Cancer Meeting in Barcelona, Spain, and published in Nature

The seismic activity generated by Taylor Swift's sold-out concerts in Dublin in July 2024 provided a unique opportunity for scientific engagement and education, according to the authors of a groundbreaking new study. Geophysicist Eleanor Dunn from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies hit the headlines in July 2024 with her #SwiftQuakeDublin project studying the seismic activity generated by Taylor Swift's concerts in Dublin.

Posted on: 02 September 2025 Scientists from Trinity have discovered that electrically stimulating "macrophages" - one of the immune system's key players - can "reprogramme" them in such a way to reduce inflammation and encourage faster, more effective healing in disease and injury. This breakthrough uncovers a potentially powerful new therapeutic option, with further work ongoing to delineate the specifics.

Scientists discover how genetic mutations drive Weaver syndrome, with implications for overgrowth disorders and cancer risk Scientists have discovered how mutations in a specific gene drive the rare developmental disorder Weaver syndrome, which is marked by intellectual disability and overgrowth and predisposes people with the condition to cancer.

Posted on: 18 August 2025 A new comprehensive atlas of cells fills gaps in knowledge on how different cells in the intestine act together to drive coeliac disease, potentially opening new avenues for future therapeutic intervention Coeliac disease is a long-term autoimmune condition that affects about 0.5% to 1% of people.

A study of the Liverpool boycott of The Sun newspaper following the Hillsborough disaster has found that the boycott shaped people's perceptions of political parties and made people more left wing. The study focused on the famous and longstanding Liverpool boycott of The Sun newspaper after it blamed the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium crush on Liverpool F.C. supporters.

A new study redefines healthy aging as an environmental, social, and political phenomenon, and calls on public health strategies to expand beyond lifestyle prescriptions to address structural inequalities and governance deficits. The groundbreaking international study of 161,981 participants across 40 countries, published in Nature Medicine today reveals that air pollution, social inequality, and weak democratic institutions substantially accelerate aging.

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin are assessing how the development of spinal ligaments provide mechanical stability and impact postural support in the spine - with a view to better understanding how developmental "missteps" may contribute to spinal deformations, such as the characteristic curved spines that develop in people with scoliosis.

The exoplanet - TWA 7 b - is similar in mass to Saturn, and around 10 times lighter than anything we have previously been able to image from afar. Exoplanets are key targets in observational astronomy, as they help better understand how planetary systems form, including our own. While thousands have been detected indirectly, obtaining images of exoplanets represents a genuine challenge.

Analyses of over 40,000 documents, computer vision papers and downstream patents spanning four decades indicates the extent of this surveillance and the rise of obfuscating language that helps to normalise such approaches. New research has underlined the surprising extent to which pervasive surveillance of people and their habits is powered by computer vision research - and shone a spotlight on how vulnerable individuals and communities are at risk.

A comparative study shows that marine worms shattered their genome and rebuilt it in a radically different form when they first emerged from the sea 200 million years ago. The identified "genomic disorder" mechanism, similar to the one observed in cancer development in humans, could shed light on the evolutionary origin of terrestrial biodiversity and contribute to human health.

The discovery will help scientists now explore the important role of "queuosine", a microscopic molecule first discovered in the 1970s, in cancer and human health. An international team of scientists, co-led by researchers at Trinity College Dublin and the University of Florida, has cracked a decades-old mystery in human biology: how our bodies absorb a micronutrient that we rely on for everything from healthy brain function to guarding against cancer.

Astrophysicists have gained precious new insights into how distant "exoplanets" form and what their atmospheres can look like, after using the James Webb Telescope to image two young exoplanets in extraordinary detail. Among the headline findings were the presence of silicate clouds in one of the planet's atmospheres, and a circumplanetary disk thought to feed material that can form moons around the other.

New research from scientists at Trinity College Dublin strongly implies that heatwaves have a major influence on the spread of many diseases - and that many existing predictive models have overlooked this complexity.

Trust in scientists in Ireland is ahead of global averages, but lower among younger people, according to new research by education experts from Trinity College Dublin. The research, part of the global Trust in Science and Science-Related Populism (TISP) study , found that trust in scientists in Ireland is generally moderate to high, exceeding global averages, but notably lower among younger respondents.

An international group of scientists has identified a key molecular process that drives a deadly form of childhood brain cancer, potentially offering a much-needed, new therapeutic target. Published in leading international journal Molecular Cell , the new study has revealed how a rare but devastating childhood brain cancer-called Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG)-hijacks the cell's gene control machinery to fuel its growth.