According to a study, just one hour of scrolling social media reels on smartphones can cause eye fatigue.

The study published in the Journal of Eye Movement Research found that it is not just the time spent on digital devices but also the type of content being used that can cause the condition.

“Social media content causes greater pupil fluctuations than reading or watching a video,” said the researchers from SRM Institute of Science and Technology.

The team stated that “prolonged smartphone use, exceeding 20 minutes at a time, can lead to physical and mental health issues, including psychophysiological disorders”.

US researchers are building a non-invasive system using ultrasound to deliver drugs anywhere in the body with precision, as well as with reduced side effects.

The new system, being developed by a team of Stanford University researchers, uses nanoparticles to encapsulate drugs along with ultrasound to unleash the drugs at their intended destinations.

In a study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the team showed in rats that their system can deliver ketamine to specific regions of the brain and painkillers to specific nerves in limbs. Using a new sucrose formulation, they found that nanoparticles are safer, more stable, and easier to produce.

Two new cases of polio have been detected in Pakistan, according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH). One polio case has been reported in Lower Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while another one has been detected in Sindh's Badin district, local media reported on Monday.

The new cases include a six-year-old girl from Lower Kohistan's Union Council Pattan and a 21-month-old girl from Union Council Matli-2, Badin, The News International reported. After the detection of these new cases, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan this year has reached 21, including 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six from Sindh, and one case each from Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children aged below five years, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). There is no cure for polio, however, it can only prevented by immunisation. The polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life.

A study of population-specific responses to fermented food shows that the health effect of the bioactive peptides they contain, differ across populations and can personalise nutrition for India's diverse population, the government said on Thursday.

A recent study conducted by Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) emphasises the health benefits of traditional fermented foods.

They showed that the bioactive peptides (BAPs) or short protein fragments consisting of 2 to 20 amino acids that they contain can regulate blood pressure, blood sugar, immunity and inflammation.

The study, published in Food Chemistry and led by Professor Ashis K. Mukherjee, corresponding author and Director IASST – along with Dr Maloyjo Joyraj Bhattacharjee, Dr Asis Bala, and Dr. Mojibr Khan -- showed that foods such as yogurt, idli, miso, natto, kimchi and fermented fish contain high levels of these peptides.

Researchers from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela have uncovered how natural sugar-like molecules in the human body can alter the behaviour of a protein responsible for bone formation and repair.

The findings, published in the journal Biochemistry, can be used for advanced treatments in bone and cartilage regeneration, improved implants, and more effective protein-based medicines.

From building tissues and supporting chemical reactions to acting as signals between cells, proteins carry out various functions in the human body.

However, for the best productivity, they need to be folded or unfolded into precise three-dimensional shapes. Understanding why and how proteins unfold is a major goal in biology, with implications for medicine, biotechnology, and drug delivery.