Artificial nighttime lighting is suppressing moth activity

University of Exeter

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Black Arches moth

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Credit: Dr Emmanuelle Briolat

Moths move significantly less when exposed to artificial nighttime light, new research shows.

Moths’ attraction to artificial light, such as streetlights, is common knowledge and has been much studied. But, as many people will have observed, moths may also remain still if they land near a light, apparently “trapped”.

To understand this behaviour, University of Exeter researchers caught more than 800 moths from 23 species and exposed them to LED lights (of various colours and brightness) or to natural night conditions.

Moths were collected with light traps and butterfly nets on the Penryn Campus grounds, then placed outside in individual pots exposed to one of the light conditions, and filmed to record their movements overnight.

Under 10 lux – a level you might experience near residential streetlighting – moths moved 85% less on average than moths in natural nighttime conditions. This is a big impact on how moths behave, with implications for the time they have for essential activities like finding food or mates.

This could be because the artificial light confuses the moths’ sense of time, causing them to remain still as they do in the daytime, or because the light interferes with their vision.

The study also found that, at that same 10 lux intensity, amber lighting – commonly thought to be less harmful to insects – reduced moth movement just as much as typical white LEDs.

“Our results suggest that light pollution has widespread effects on nocturnal moth activity, irrespective of lighting type,” said Dr Emmanuelle Briolat, from the Centre for Ecology & Conservation at Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

“This could have important knock-on effects for moth populations and the ‘ecosystem services’ they provide; moths are important pollinators, and a key food source for many other species, from birds to bats.

“Across Europe, moths are in decline, part of a worrying picture of global insect losses, linked to threats like pollution and land-use change – and light pollution could be a significant contributing factor.

“We already know that artificial lighting has many negative impacts on nocturnal insects, and our findings further stress the importance of preserving dark skies.”

Some moth species were even affected by white LED lighting at low levels of 0.1 lux. This is equivalent to indirect ‘skyglow’, where light from towns and cities illuminates the entire sky across many kilometres, meaning the effects could be more far reaching.

The study also looked at how the activity of moths changed through the course of the night.

Dr Jolyon Troscianko said: “While we might think that most moths are simply ‘nocturnal’ and active through the whole night, we found huge variability among species. Some were most active at the start of the night, others at the end, and most were only ever active for short periods.

“Having such short windows of activity has implications for how artificial light could interfere with the moths’ ability to find food or mates before their short adult lives end. While sitting still under artificial lights won’t kill the moths immediately, these sub-lethal effects could easily add up and prevent them from breeding successfully.”

The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

The paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, is entitled: “Severe and widespread reductions in nighttime activity of nocturnal moths under modern artificial lighting spectra.”

 

Common Emerald moth

 

The experimental setup

Credit

Dr Emmanuelle Briolat

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Journal

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2025.2704 

Article Title

Severe and widespread reductions in nighttime activity of nocturnal moths under modern artificial lighting spectra

Article Publication Date

27-Jan-2026

 

Altered brain connection found in people with ME/CFS and Long COVID

People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID experience a disruption to their brain connectivity during a mentally demanding task.

Griffith University

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Altered brain connection found in people with ME/CFS and Long COVID

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Credit: Griffith University

People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID experience a disruption to their brain connectivity during a mentally demanding task.

The new Griffith University research, published today, used ultra-high field MRI technology to investigate the significant reduction in brain connectivity in specific parts of the brain.

Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik from Griffith’s National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases said there were common symptoms experienced by people with ME/CFS or Long COVID with this study focusing on neurological features.

“The symptoms include cognitive difficulties, such as memory problems, difficulties with attention and concentration, and slowed thinking,” Professor Marshall-Gradisnik said.

Lead author and PhD candidate Maira Inderyas said the study saw participants undertake a cognitive test while inside the MRI machine to gauge their brain activity.

“The task, called a Stroop task, was displayed to the participants on a screen during the scan, and required participants to ignore conflicting information and focus on the correct response, which places high demands on the brain’s executive function and inhibitory control,” Ms Inderyas said.

“The set up allowed us to precisely measure which areas of the brain were activated while the patient was performing a mentally demanding task.

“The scans show changes in the brain regions which may contribute to cognitive difficulties such as memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and slower thinking.”

The research supported what many people with ME/CFS and Long COVID experience which was that cognitive effort was not just tiring but could have real neurological impacts, and adequate rest was not optional but essential.

The ultra-high field MRI used in the study was one of only two available in Australia.

The research was funded by ME Research UK and the Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation.

The paper ‘Distinct functional connectivity patterns in myalgic encephalomyelitis and Long COVID patients during cognitive fatigue: a 7 Tesla task-fMRI study’ has been published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

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Journal

Journal of Translational Medicine

DOI

10.1186/s12967-026-07708-y 

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Distinct functional connectivity patterns in myalgic encephalomyelitis and long COVID patients during cognitive fatigue: a 7 Tesla task-fMRI study

Article Publication Date

29-Jan-2026

 

A tiny fish is helping clinicians avoid unnecessary multi-million-dollar treatment for babies suspected of having spinal muscular atrophy

Griffith University

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A tiny fish is helping clinicians avoid unnecessary multi-million-dollar treatment for babies suspected of having spinal muscular atrophy

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Credit: Griffith University

The tiny zebrafish is helping researchers rapidly determine whether a newborn’s genetic mutation is likely to cause spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), one of the leading causes of infant mortality worldwide.

The world-first research, led by Dr Jean Giacomotto from Griffith University’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, has featured on the front cover of EMBO Molecular Medicine this month (January).

Dr Giacomotto said: “SMA is a genetic disorder which causes progressive loss of motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness and loss of basic motor functions.”

“Without treatment, SMA is typically fatal, and while highly effective therapies now exist, they can exceed US$2 million per child per year and must be initiated before symptoms appear such as when a baby is able to sit but lacks sufficient neck strength to hold their head steady.

“If treatment starts after the emergence of these symptoms, the child will have already experienced irreversible degenerative damage, leading to life-long problems and possibly death within the first years of life.

“When a baby carries a mutation which has never been seen before, known as a ‘variant of uncertain significance or VUS’, clinicians face an impossible dilemma – start treatment immediately, risk unnecessary intervention, or wait and risk irreversible nerve damage.”

To solve this, Dr Giacomotto and his team developed a rapid zebrafish-based functional assay which could determine the pathogenicity of a novel SMN1 mutation within days, potentially informing urgent clinical decisions worldwide.

“Within a clinically meaningful timeframe, we were able to functionally test each baby’s exact mutation and show it was not harmful,” Dr Giacomotto said.

“This research provides the clearest demonstration to date that zebrafish can play a decisive role in clinical variant interpretation, particularly in newborns flagged through expanding genomic screening programs.

“With genomic sequencing rising worldwide, clinicians are encountering more and more uncertain variants.

“This tiny fish offers a fast and affordable way to help resolve these cases and reduce distress for families.”

The research titled ‘Clinical relevance of zebrafish for gene variants testing: Proof-of principle with SMN1/SMA’ has been published and featured as front cover in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

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Journal

EMBO Molecular Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s44321-025-00355-8 

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Clinical relevance of zebrafish for gene variants testing. Proof-of-principle with SMN1/SMA

 

Reducing drug deaths from novel psychoactive substances relies on foreign legislation, but here’s how it can be tackled closer to home

Guest editorial by Ric Treble and Caroline Copeland, authors of a new Frontiers in Pharmacology article on drug legislation

Frontiers

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by Ric Treble and Caroline Copeland

The illicit drug trade is international, and different countries have developed different strategies intended to minimize its negative effects, most commonly through controls on, or prohibition of, specified substances. But which approaches to banning substances are actually most effective in reducing harm? 

The advent of NPS, and the range of subsequent legislative controls introduced by different countries, has created a natural experiment. Using data from the UK’s National Programme on Substance Abuse Mortality (NPSUM), our study examines how different national and international control strategies have translated into real-world outcomes within England, Wales, and Northern Ireland by examining NPS deaths.

Internationally, there has been a high degree of consistency in drug control. The United Nations (UN) annually reviews and updates the lists of substances (and precursors) named in its drugs conventions, based on recommendations from the World Health Organization’s expert committee. All signatory nations of the conventions are then required to incorporate these controls into their national laws. However, this process of problem identification, data compilation, formulation of recommendations, and achieving international consensus followed by national legislation, is inevitably slow. In contrast, the appearance and spread of NPS within drug markets can be incredibly rapid, so there can be significant delays between local identification of issues arising from novel substances and the international introduction of new controls.

Beyond international laws

In response, some nations have therefore chosen to act sooner, introducing their own national controls in response to local concerns, in advance of, or in addition to, those required by the UN. This means that there is an international patchwork of legislation regarding emerging drug threats, with different substances being controlled in different countries at different times. Whilst challenging for policymakers, this variation provides a valuable opportunity to assess the impact of the application of different nations’ controls on particular substances.

In the UK, there have been very few examples of the illicit synthesis of NPS and the vast majority of such substances are imported instead, often facilitated by internet trading and ‘fast parcel’ delivery services. To address the rapid appearance of NPS, the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) has been supplemented by other measures, such as the introduction of Temporary Class Drugs Orders (2011) and the much broader Psychoactive Substances Act (2016). These measures effectively prevented open sale of NPS via ‘head shops’ and UK-based websites. However, NPS remained accessible to both individuals and distributors via internet trading and traditional drug distribution networks. 

The power of foreign legislation

Over the period studied, the major sources of NPS in the UK were chemical supply companies based in China. In response to both local and international concerns, China introduced a series of national controls over and above those required by UN scheduling, initially on specifically named substances and, more recently, on whole families of NPS by means of ‘generic’ controls. 

When we compared trends in NPS detections within the NPSUM’s mortality data with the timing of the UN’s international control requirements and the UK’s and China’s national legislations respectively, a clear pattern emerged: controls implemented in the producing countries were associated with larger reductions in NPS detections in deaths than controls introduced solely within the consuming country.

Action at home

National legislation within consumer countries is, of course, still essential. It enables national law-enforcement activity, including restricting the import and trafficking supply chain and the implementation of possession offences. However, national legislation and enforcement alone cannot eliminate drug use or its associated harms. For this reason, they must be complemented by wide-ranging harm-reduction strategies. However, legislative controls can also drive unintended consequences. Targeted bans on specific substances often stimulate the development of novel NPS, including the production of new, as yet uncontrolled, variants of substances controlled by name. This pattern has been particularly evident in the case of synthetic cannabinoids, where successive generations of legislation-avoiding substances have continued to appear, prompting the development of ever broader generic controls.

However, even generic controls have limits. Where entire families of drugs are prohibited, new drug families which produce similar effects may emerge instead. This dynamic is currently being seen in the case of highly potent synthetic opioids, a particularly concerning cause of drug-related deaths. Broad controls on fentanyl and their pre-cursors have been followed by the appearance of nitazenes and, as controls on nitazenes are being introduced, a new group of potent opioids, the orphines, has begun to appear. These cycles of control and innovation are therefore likely to continue.

Early legislative action by consumer countries remains necessary to limit the distribution and harms of newly emerging NPS. The findings of our study also demonstrate the particular effectiveness of prompt action to restrict production within source countries to prevent international distribution. If, as a result of Chinese legislative actions, production of NPS for the illicit drug trade becomes more geographically diverse, action to identify new sources of production and to encourage and support supplier nations to restrict production as soon as practicable will be required. This will present particular challenges if the substances being produced and exported are not perceived to present a threat within the producing country.

However, supply-side interventions alone cannot provide a lasting solution: as long as there is sustained demand for psychoactive substances, there will be strong incentives for suppliers to adapt, innovate, and profit. Reducing drug harms will therefore require not only responsive legislation and international co-operation, but also investment in education, prevention, and treatment to address the drivers of demand.

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Journal

Frontiers in Pharmacology

DOI

10.3389/fphar.2025.1708335 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Legislating novel psychoactive substances: Lessons from 15 years of UK mortality data (2007-2022)

Article Publication Date

29-Jan-2026