Scientists at the University of British Columbia, working with collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have now identified what triggers these muscle-related problems. Their research, published in Nature Communications, points toward a path for developing safer statins that do not cause these complications.

How Statins Interact With Muscle Cells

To uncover the mechanism, the researchers turned to cryo-electron microscopy, an advanced imaging method that allows scientists to see proteins in near-atomic detail. Using this technique, they observed how statins interact with a key muscle protein known as the ryanodine receptor (RyR1).

This protein regulates the flow of calcium inside muscle cells, acting as a gate that opens only when muscles need to contract. The researchers found that when statins bind to RyR1, they force the channel into an open position. This causes calcium to leak continuously, which can be toxic to muscle tissue and lead to damage.

“We were able to see, almost atom by atom, how statins latch onto this channel,” said lead author Dr. Steven Molinarolo, a postdoctoral researcher in UBC’s department of biochemistry and molecular biology. “That leak of calcium explains why some patients experience muscle pain or, in extreme cases, life-threatening complications.”

A Unique Binding Pattern Revealed

The study focused on atorvastatin, one of the most commonly prescribed statins worldwide. However, the researchers believe the same mechanism may apply to other drugs in the statin family.

They discovered that statins bind to the ryanodine receptor in an unusual way. Three statin molecules cluster together inside a pocket of the protein. The first molecule binds while the channel is closed, setting the stage for it to open. Two additional molecules then lodge into place, forcing the channel fully open.

“This is the first time we’ve had a clear picture of how statins activate this channel,” said Dr. Filip Van Petegem, senior author and professor at UBC’s Life Sciences Institute. “It’s a big step forward because it gives us a roadmap for designing statins that don’t interact with muscle tissue.”

Toward Safer Cholesterol Drugs

By modifying only the parts of the statin molecule responsible for these harmful interactions, researchers may be able to keep the cholesterol-lowering benefits while reducing the risk of muscle damage.

Severe muscle injury affects only a small percentage of the more than 200 million statin users worldwide. However, milder symptoms such as soreness and fatigue are far more common and often cause patients to stop taking the medication. The new findings could help reduce these side effects and encourage patients to stay on treatments that protect their heart health.

Advanced Imaging Drives Medical Breakthroughs

The study highlights how cutting-edge imaging tools are transforming medical research. Using the UBC faculty of medicine’s high-resolution macromolecular cryo-electron microscopy facility, the team captured the statin-protein interaction in exceptional detail, turning a long-standing safety question into actionable scientific insight that could shape future therapies.

“Statins have been a cornerstone of cardiovascular care for decades,” Dr. Van Petegem said. “Our goal is to make them even safer, so patients can benefit without fear of serious side effects.”

For the millions of people who depend on statins, these advances could translate into fewer muscle problems and a better overall quality of life.

Now, scientists have taken a major step toward solving that mystery. A new study led by researchers at the University of Chicago and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has produced the most detailed model of Jupiter’s atmosphere ever created. The work provides a deeper look into the planet’s interior without needing to physically descend into its crushing depths.

One of the study’s key findings helps resolve a long running debate about Jupiter’s composition. The researchers estimate that the gas giant contains roughly one and a half times more oxygen than the sun. That result sharpens scientists’ understanding of how Jupiter and the rest of the solar system took shape.

“This is a long-standing debate in planetary studies,” said Jeehyun Yang, a postdoctoral researcher at UChicago and the study’s lead author. “It’s a testament to how the latest generation of computational models can transform our understanding of other planets.”

The study was published Jan. 8 in The Planetary Science Journal.

Storms, Clouds, and Chemical Clues

Astronomers have been watching Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere for centuries. More than 360 years ago, early telescope observations revealed a massive, persistent feature on the planet’s surface.

That feature is now known as the Great Red Spot, a colossal storm roughly twice the size of Earth that has raged for hundreds of years. It is only one part of a planet-wide system of violent winds and thick clouds that blanket Jupiter in nearly constant motion.

While these storms are visible from afar, what lies beneath them remains largely unknown. Jupiter’s clouds are so dense that NASA’s Galileo spacecraft lost contact with Earth when it plunged into the planet’s atmosphere in 2003. Today, NASA’s Juno mission studies Jupiter from orbit, gathering data from a safe distance.

From orbit, scientists can identify chemicals in the upper atmosphere, including ammonia, methane, ammonium hydrosulfide, water, and carbon monoxide. Researchers combine those measurements with known chemical reactions to infer what may be happening deeper below the clouds.

Even so, past studies have reached conflicting conclusions, especially when estimating how much water and oxygen Jupiter contains. Yang recognized that new modeling techniques could help resolve those disagreements.

A New Way to Model Jupiter’s Atmosphere

Jupiter’s atmosphere is a chemical maze. Molecules move between scorching temperatures deep inside the planet and cooler regions above, shifting between different states and rearranging themselves through thousands of reactions. On top of that, clouds and droplets form, dissolve, and interact with their surroundings.

To capture all of this complexity, Yang and colleagues combined atmospheric chemistry with hydrodynamics in a single model. This approach allows the simulation to track both chemical reactions and the movement of gases, clouds, and droplets together.

“You need both,” Yang said. “Chemistry is important but doesn’t include water droplets or cloud behavior. Hydrodynamics alone simplifies the chemistry too much. So, it’s important to bring them together.”

This combined approach had not been done before at this level of detail, and it led to several important insights.

Oxygen, Water, and Planetary Origins

The model produced a new estimate of Jupiter’s oxygen content, pointing again to a value of about one and a half times that of the sun. This contrasts with a recent high profile study that suggested Jupiter might contain only about a third as much oxygen.

Pinning down this number matters because oxygen plays a major role in planetary formation. The elements that make up planets and living things originated in the sun, but their proportions can vary from world to world. Those differences offer clues about how planets formed and where they came from.

One open question is whether Jupiter formed where it currently orbits or whether it migrated over time. Much of the planet’s oxygen is locked into water, which behaves very differently depending on temperature. Farther from the sun, water freezes into ice, which is easier for growing planets to collect than water vapor.

Understanding those conditions does not just explain Jupiter’s past. It also helps scientists predict what kinds of planets might form around other stars and which ones could potentially support life.

A Slower, More Mysterious Atmosphere

The model also suggests that Jupiter’s atmosphere circulates far more slowly than scientists once believed. Vertical movement of gases appears to be dramatically reduced compared to standard assumptions.

“Our model suggests the diffusion would have to be 35 to 40 times slower compared to what the standard assumption has been,” said Yang. Instead of moving through an atmospheric layer in hours, a single molecule might take several weeks.

“It really shows how much we still have to learn about planets, even in our own solar system,” Yang said.

Funding: NASA, Caltech-Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

By studying the V1298 Tau system, the researchers captured an unusually early snapshot of planetary development. Their measurements reveal planets caught in the act of changing into the super-Earths and sub-Neptunes seen throughout the galaxy.

“What’s so exciting is that we’re seeing a preview of what will become a very normal planetary system,” says John Livingston, the study’s lead author from the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo, Japan. “The four planets we studied will likely contract into ‘super-Earths’ and ‘sub-Neptunes’ — the most common types of planets in our galaxy, but we’ve never had such a clear picture of them in their formative years.”

A Young Star System Frozen in Time

V1298 Tau is remarkably young by astronomical standards, at just about 20 million years old — a blink of an eye compared to the Sun’s 4.5-billion-year history. Four large planets circle this energetic star, each ranging in size from Neptune to Jupiter. These worlds appear to be in a short-lived and chaotic stage of rapid change, offering a glimpse of what many mature planetary systems once looked like.

Astronomers believe this system represents an early version of the tightly packed, multi-planet systems commonly found across the galaxy. Much like the Rosetta Stone helped scientists interpret ancient hieroglyphics, V1298 Tau provides a key reference for understanding how the galaxy’s most common planets take shape.

Measuring Planetary Mass Without Doppler Signals

Over a ten-year period, the team relied on a combination of space-based and ground-based telescopes to monitor the system. They tracked the precise moments when each planet crossed in front of its star, events called transits. These observations revealed that the planets’ orbits were not perfectly steady. Instead, the planets subtly pulled on one another, causing small but measurable changes in their transit timing.

These variations, known as Transit-Timing Variations (TTVs), allowed scientists to calculate the planets’ masses directly for the first time.

“For astronomers, our go-to ‘Doppler’ method for weighing planets involves making careful measurements of the star’s velocity as it’s tugged by its retinue of planets.” said Erik Petigura, a co-author from UCLA. “But young stars are so extremely spotty, active, and temperamental, that the Doppler method is a non-starter.” By using TTVs, we essentially used the planets’ own gravity against each other. Precisely timing how they tug on their neighbors allowed us to calculate their masses, and sidestep the issues with this young star.”

Planets as Light as Cosmic Cotton Candy

The mass measurements revealed a striking result. Even though the planets are five to ten times larger than Earth, their masses are only five to fifteen times greater. This combination makes them extraordinarily low in density — more like planetary-sized cotton candy than solid, rocky worlds.

“The unusually large radii of young planets led to the hypothesis that they have very low densities, but this had never been measured,” said Trevor David, a co-author from the Flatiron Institute who led the system’s original discovery in 2019. “By weighing these planets for the first time, we have provided the first observational proof. They are indeed exceptionally ‘puffy,’ which gives us a crucial, long-awaited benchmark for theories of planet evolution.”

Losing Atmospheres and Shrinking Over Time

This extreme puffiness helps resolve a long-standing question in planet formation. If planets simply formed and cooled slowly, they would be far more compact. Instead, the analysis shows that these young worlds must have changed dramatically early on, quickly losing large portions of their thick atmospheres as the surrounding disk of gas around their star disappeared.

“These planets have already undergone a dramatic transformation, rapidly losing much of their original atmospheres and cooling faster than what we’d expect from standard models,” explains James Owen, a co-author from Imperial College London who led the theoretical modeling. “But they’re still evolving. Over the next few billion years, they will continue to lose their atmosphere and shrink significantly, transforming into the compact worlds we see throughout the galaxy.”

Petigura compared the system’s importance to a famous fossil discovery. “I’m reminded of the famous ‘Lucy’ fossil, one of our hominid ancestors that lived 3 million years ago and was one of the key ‘missing links’ between apes and humans,” he said. “V1298Tau is a critical link between the star/planet forming nebulae we see all over the sky, and the mature planetary systems that we have now discovered by the thousands.”

Why Our Solar System Is Different

Today, V1298 Tau stands out as a natural laboratory for studying how the most common planets in the Milky Way come into existence. Observations of this system provide rare insight into the chaotic and transformative early lives of planets and may help explain why our own solar system lacks the super-Earths and sub-Neptunes that dominate elsewhere.

“This discovery fundamentally changes how we think about planetary systems,” adds Livingston. “V1298 Tau shows us that today’s super-Earths and sub-Neptunes start out as giant, puffy worlds that contract over time. We’re essentially watching the universe’s most successful planetary architecture in the making.”

• Adults in midlife and older age who tend to be most active in the evening, especially women, showed poorer overall heart health than those without a strong preference for mornings or evenings, based on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 measure.
• Analysis of UK Biobank data suggests that common habits among night owls, including lower-quality diets, too little sleep, and higher rates of smoking, help explain why their cardiovascular health scores were lower.
• Researchers say the findings point to a clear opportunity, since improving daily habits such as sleep, diet, and smoking cessation could help night owls reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.

Late-Night Activity Tied to Poorer Heart Health

Adults in middle age and later life who tend to be more active in the evening were found to have worse cardiovascular health than those who are active earlier in the day. The association appeared to be stronger among women, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

The findings suggest that when people are most active during the day may play an important role in long-term heart health.

Study Tracks Sleep Timing in More Than 300,000 Adults

Researchers examined health data from more than 300,000 adults (average age of about 57 years) enrolled in the UK Biobank. The analysis focused on chronotypes, which describe a person’s natural preference for sleep and wake timing, and how those preferences relate to cardiovascular health.

Participants were grouped based on their self-identified daily patterns. About 8% described themselves as “definitely evening people,” meaning they typically went to bed very late (for example 2 a.m.) and reached peak activity later in the day. Around 24% reported being “definitely morning people,” who tended to wake up earlier, go to bed earlier (for example 9 p.m.), and be most active earlier in the day. The remaining 67% were categorized as having an “intermediate” chronotype if they were unsure or said they were neither clearly a morning nor evening person.

Cardiovascular health was evaluated using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8™ metrics. This framework looks at behaviors and health factors known to support heart health, including eating a healthy diet, staying physically active, not smoking, and getting good-quality sleep. It also includes maintaining healthy levels of body weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.

Key Differences Between Night Owls and Early Birds

The researchers identified several notable patterns when comparing chronotype groups:

Compared with people in the intermediate category, those classified as “evening people,” often called night owls, were 79% more likely to have an overall poor cardiovascular health score.

Night owls also had a 16% higher risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke during a median follow-up period of about 14 years.

The link between evening chronotype and lower heart health scores was stronger among women than among men.

Much of the increased heart disease risk seen in evening types was linked to lifestyle habits, particularly nicotine use and insufficient sleep.

In contrast, “morning people,” also known as early birds, showed a 5% lower prevalence of poor cardiovascular health scores compared with individuals without a strong morning or evening preference.

Why Evening Types May Face Added Risk

“‘Evening people’ often experience circadian misalignment, meaning their internal body clock may not match the natural day-to-night light cycle or their typical daily schedules,” said lead study author Sina Kianersi, Ph.D., D.V.M.; a research fellow in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston. “Evening people may be more likely to have behaviors that can affect cardiovascular health, such as poorer diet quality, smoking and inadequate or irregular sleep.”

This misalignment may make it harder for night owls to maintain habits that support long-term heart health.

Lifestyle Changes Could Reduce Risk

The findings are not entirely discouraging for people who prefer late nights, according to Kristen Knutson, Ph.D., FAHA, volunteer chair of the 2025 American Heart Association statement, Role of Circadian Health in Cardiometabolic Health and Disease Risk. Knutson was not involved in the study.

“These findings show that the higher heart disease risks among evening types are partly due to modifiable behaviors such as smoking and sleep. Therefore, evening types have options to improve their cardiovascular health,” she said. “Evening types aren’t inherently less healthy, but they face challenges that make it particularly important for them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

Tailoring Treatment to Body Clocks

The American Heart Association scientific statement led by Knutson also recommends taking chronotype into account when planning treatment or lifestyle interventions.

“Some medications or therapies work best when they align with a specific time of relevant circadian rhythms, and this time will vary depending on whether you are a morning, intermediate, or evening chronotype,” she said. “Targeted programs for people who naturally stay up late could help them improve their lifestyle behaviors and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Study Limitations

The researchers noted that most UK Biobank participants were white people and generally healthier than the overall population, which may limit how broadly the findings apply to other groups. In addition, chronotype was assessed only once and was based on self-reported information rather than repeated measurements.

The study was partially funded by the American Heart Association.

• Men reached a 5% risk of cardiovascular disease roughly seven years earlier than women, revealing a clear and early gap in heart health.
• Coronary heart disease accounted for most of this difference, driving the earlier rise in risk among men.
• Heart disease risk looked similar for men and women until about age 35, when men’s risk began to increase more quickly.
• The earlier onset in men cannot be explained by smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes alone, pointing to additional biological or social influences.

Heart Disease Risk Appears Earlier in Men

Men start developing coronary heart disease years before women do, and the difference can be seen as early as the mid-30s, according to a large, long-term study led by Northwestern Medicine. Coronary heart disease is a major cause of heart attacks.

Based on more than 30 years of follow-up, the findings suggest that heart disease screening and prevention may need to begin earlier in adulthood, especially for men.

“That timing may seem early, but heart disease develops over decades, with early markers detectable in young adulthood,” said study senior author Alexa Freedman, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“Screening at an earlier age can help identify risk factors sooner, enabling preventive strategies that reduce long-term risk.”

Why the Male Female Gap Has Not Closed

Previous research has long shown that men tend to develop heart disease earlier than women. Over time, however, common risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes have become more alike between the sexes. Because of this, researchers expected the difference in heart disease timing to shrink.

Instead, the gap remained. That result was unexpected, Freedman said.

To better explain why these differences continue, Freedman and her colleagues say researchers need to look beyond standard measures like cholesterol and blood pressure and consider a wider range of biological and social influences.

The study was published on January 28 in the Journal of The American Heart Association.

Tracking Heart Disease From Young Adulthood

The research team analyzed data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. The project enrolled more than 5,100 Black and white adults between ages 18 and 30 in the mid-1980s and followed them through 2020.

Because participants were healthy at the start, the researchers were able to identify when cardiovascular disease risk first began to separate between men and women. Men reached a 5% rate of cardiovascular disease, defined broadly to include heart attack, stroke and heart failure, about seven years earlier than women (50.5 versus 57.5 years).

Most of this difference was due to coronary heart disease. Men reached a 2% incidence of coronary heart disease more than 10 years earlier than women. Stroke rates were similar for both sexes, and differences in heart failure appeared later in life. “This was still a relatively young sample — everyone was under 65 at last follow-up — and stroke and heart failure tend to develop later in life,” Freedman explained.

Traditional Risk Factors Do Not Tell the Whole Story

The researchers examined whether common risk factors could explain why men developed heart disease sooner. These included blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, smoking, diet, physical activity and body weight.

While some factors, especially high blood pressure, accounted for part of the difference, overall cardiovascular health did not fully explain the earlier onset in men. This points to the influence of additional biological or social factors.

Age 35 Emerges as a Key Turning Point

One of the most notable findings was when the risk gap began. Men and women had similar cardiovascular risk through their early 30s. Around age 35, men’s risk increased more quickly and remained higher through midlife.

Many heart disease prevention and screening efforts focus on adults older than 40. The new results suggest this approach may miss an important early window for action.

The authors point to the American Heart Association’s PREVENT risk equations, which can predict heart disease starting at age 30, as a promising tool for earlier intervention.

Gaps in Preventive Care for Young Men

Closing the gap between men and women may be difficult because preventive care use is uneven among U.S. adults ages 18 to 44. Women are more than four times as likely as men to attend routine checkups, largely because of gynecologic and obstetric visits.

“Our findings suggest that encouraging preventive care visits among young men could be an important opportunity to improve heart health and lower cardiovascular disease risk,” Freedman said.

She also stressed that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women, making prevention essential for everyone.

The study is titled “Sex Differences in Age of Onset of Premature Cardiovascular Disease and Subtypes: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.” Freedman is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K01HL165038). CARDIA is conducted and supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (75N92023D00002 & 75N92023D00005), Northwestern University (75N92023D00004), University of Minnesota (75N92023D00006) and Kaiser Foundation Research Institute (75N92023D00003).

The work was led by Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and physics and a senior scientist at URochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Guo and his colleagues detailed the new method in a study published in Advanced Functional Materials. Their approach focuses on modifying the inside surface of aluminum tubes by etching it to create microscopic and nanoscale pits. This textured surface becomes superhydrophobic, allowing it to strongly repel water and remain dry.

How Trapped Air Prevents Sinking

When a treated tube is placed in water, its water-repelling interior captures a stable pocket of air inside. This trapped air keeps water from filling the tube, which prevents it from becoming heavy and sinking. The process resembles natural strategies seen in diving bell spiders, which carry air bubbles underwater, and in fire ants, which form floating rafts using their water-resistant bodies.

“Importantly, we added a divider to the middle of the tube so that even if you push it vertically into the water, the bubble of air remains trapped inside and the tube retains its floating ability,” says Guo.

Improved Stability in Rough Conditions

Guo’s research group first demonstrated superhydrophobic floating devices in 2019. That earlier design relied on two water-repelling disks sealed together to create buoyancy. While effective, the disks could lose their ability to float when tilted at extreme angles. The newer tube-based design simplifies the structure and offers much greater stability, especially in turbulent environments similar to ocean conditions.

“We tested them in some really rough environments for weeks at a time and found no degradation to their buoyancy,” says Guo. “You can poke big holes in them, and we showed that even if you severely damage the tubes with as many holes as you can punch, they still float.”

From Floating Rafts to Renewable Energy

The researchers showed that multiple tubes can be connected to form rafts, which could serve as the foundation for ships, buoys, or floating platforms. In laboratory tests, the team experimented with tubes of different lengths, reaching nearly half a meter. Guo says the design can be scaled up to sizes large enough to support heavy loads.

Beyond transportation and infrastructure, the team also demonstrated that rafts made from superhydrophobic tubes could capture energy from moving water. This capability suggests a potential role for the technology in generating electricity from waves, adding a renewable energy application to its list of possibilities.

This project was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and URochester’s Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.