Lukka Bradburn traveled to rural Japan last year to document abandoned theme parks — and was surprised by what he found left behind in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and after years of decline, according to news agency SWNS. Bradburn, a printer, explorer and father of two, came across the parks after researching the areas on Google Maps. He found an entire derelict colonial "American town" area complete with hotels, churches and restaurants. The "Western Village" theme park near Nikkō, Tochigi, has stood virtually untouched since its closure in 2007, its sprawling grounds frozen in time like a ghost town straight out of 1800s America, SWNS reported. Nature has been slowly reclaiming the land: Vines have crawled up church walls and snow has blanketed abandoned porches. Opened in 1973, the theme park was inspired by classic American and Italian Western movies — but it closed because of competition from Tokyo Disneyland, per SWNS. Bradburn even discovered a replica of Mount Rushmore still intact, along with saloon bars and a stadium where crowds once watched jousting and other sports. The replica monument emerged among frost-covered trees, its stone faces still clearly defined against the sky. Nearby, weathered structures and themed facades lined the pathways, evoking the appearance of a long-forgotten frontier town. The site was littered with mannequins depicting life in "Wild West" America, according to SWNS. THESE ARE THE 5 MOST HAUNTED STATES IN THE US, DID YOURS MAKE THE LIST? Abandoned buildings include a gift shop that was boarded up and heavily damaged. Among the rubble, Bradburn managed to find a prop gun on the floor and an arcade with the original machines. With parts of the park still standing, he noted that navigating the sites was surprisingly straightforward. During his exploration, Bradburn said that both attractions were easily accessed. "The Western one had a bit of a fence, but you could pretty much just walk in," he said. "There was no security or anyone watching over it; it was just left to rot," he added, as SWNS noted. The absence of maintenance left the area in a state of disrepair. "As we got to one park it was heavily snowing and we were having to get through all these bushes," he told SWNS. "It was quite overgrown." Both were in rural areas surrounded by countryside, mountains and small towns, creating the picturesque snowy scenery seen in the photos shown within this article. On his adventure, Bradburn and his friends came across another urban explorer, a Japanese man who said he used to visit the park as a child. "There was no security or anyone watching over it; it was just left to rot." The man, who spoke limited English, told the friends he'd returned to take photographs of the theme park, according to SWNS. While exploring, Bradburn also came across the remains of Kejonuma Leisure Land, which once attracted 200,000 visitors in the remote Tohoku region; it closed in 2001. He found a decaying ornate Ferris wheel, carousels and children's train rides. The attraction closed due to falling demand and the struggling Japanese economy, per SWNS. The site, once a popular destination in the remote Tohoku region, has seen little change since its closure. Visitors can still identify many of the original attractions, though time and weather have taken a visible toll. Bradburn said he plans to return to Japan next year for further exploring. "The Japanese theme park industry entered a boom during the 1960s and 1970s, reaching a peak in the 1990s. Since then, they’ve seen a gradual decline," according to The Park Database.

Researchers have uncovered the reason an "unusual" 18th-century mummy was preserved so well in Austria – and it's highly abnormal. A study about the mummy was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. The so-called "air-dried chaplain" is housed in the crypt of the church of St. Thomas am Blasenstein in Upper Austria. Historians believe the mummy's identity was most likely Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, a vicar who had been temporarily delegated to the St. Thomas parish at the time of his death. He was between 35 and 45 years old when he died and passed away between 1730 and 1780, according to carbon dating. Experts were able to glean details about his life, including his diet, from the study. "He had a high-quality diet based on terrestrial animal products [and] showed no signs of major physical work load," the study noted. Despite his relatively healthy lifestyle, researchers believe that he died from an acute pulmonary hemorrhage after suffering from tuberculosis. "[He] was most likely a pipe smoker and suffered from chronic active pulmonary tuberculosis with peripheral and central (hilar) calcifications (primary tuberculous complex) and a right lower lobe cavity with focal heterotopic ossification and potential active inflammation," the study detailed. But experts were stunned when they came across the mummy's midsection and found it full of curious material – including wood chips, twigs and fabric. "Most surprisingly, we detected, in the otherwise completely intact abdominal (and pelvic) cavity, extensive packing with foreign material, which was identified as a mixture of wood chips, fragmented twigs, large amounts of fabric of various types, including elaborate embroidered linen, and even pieces of silk," the article said. Researchers also came across a solution made of zinc, chloride and copper that appeared to aid in the cadaver's preservation. The solution had been inserted into the mummy's abdominal cavity. "This embalming method seems to have included high-level zinc-ion solution impregnation (most likely zinc-chloride with small amounts of arsenic) and the addition of copper," the study said. "This is the first verified case of such a treatment." Researchers added, "It led to an excellent state of conservation of the [body], while the face (and skull) and peripheral extremities were less well-preserved." Professor Andreas Nerlich discussed the findings in an email with Fox News Digital, noting the embalming technique was previously unknown. "The most significant factors for the embalming of this mummy were the internal stuffing [of] fabric and wood chips and the zinc-chloride solution," the expert said. Though the mummy was found to have had a healthy diet, Nerlich said that factor "obviously had no influence." The professor added, "We have no idea whether this [embalming] technique has been applied more often, but this is the first verified case of such a treatment. We have no data on its use in other cases." The mummy is one of several well-preserved remains that have been studied and publicly reported in recent months. Last year, archaeologists unsealed a 2,000-year-old tomb in Italy and found a mummy to be in "excellent state." In March, a female 130,000-year-old baby mammoth was dissected in Russia.

Some Chick-fil-A employees are graduating from college free of debt due to a unique program. Thanks to a partnership among three entities — independent Chick-fil-A operators, Point University and Ficus Education — 177 Chick-fil-A employees were able to graduate this year while working at locations across the country, restaurant industry website QSR reported. Over 70 of the Chick-fil-A employees participated in a recent graduation ceremony at Point University, a private Christian institution in Georgia. In attendance were more than a dozen Chick-fil-A operators. "This all began in 2023 with one operator's and one university's vision: to give his team the opportunity to earn a college degree without student debt," Doug Danowski, president of Ficus Education in Georgia, told Fox News Digital. "That single decision sparked a movement." The Ficus Education employer-sponsored partnership allows employees at independently operated Chick-fil-A restaurants to complete their degrees online through Point University without having to pay out-of-pocket tuition or take out student loans. "What started as one operator's desire to invest in his team has grown into a national movement: hundreds of degrees earned, over an estimated $11 million in student debt avoided and real business impact," Danowski said. Select Chick-fil-A franchise operators pay their employees' tuition as an incentive to recruit and retain workers. "It's a partnership built around one question: How can we help operators recruit, develop and retain their people, and strengthen their restaurants?" Danowski said. More than 500 independent Chick-fil-A operators have participated in the program since its inception, Danowski said. Ficus Education hosted a hospitality suite for independent operators, their graduates and special guests immediately before the commencement ceremony. "Through Point [University] and through the partnership with Ficus [Education], we've been able to create this day when Chick-fil-A team members are going to walk across the stage and get their four-year degree or their master's degree, which is going to bring them forward in their careers," André Kennebrew, chair of the board of trustees at Point University and a former Chick-fil-A development program leader, told attendees in remarks shared with Fox News Digital. The federal education debt now exceeds $1.6 trillion, according to the U.S. Department of Education. As the Office of Federal Student Aid recently announced it has resumed collections of defaulted student loans, the 177 Chick-fil-A graduates collectively avoided more than $6 million in debt, according to QSR. The program makes it possible for employees to progress in their careers at Chick-fil-A, some with dreams of opening their own franchise, "or go somewhere else and be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever," Kennebrew said. "This is worth continuing," Kennebrew said of the program. "This is worth growing."

A Reddit drama is lighting up social media as a mom of a newborn says she's "going crazy" over her husband's choices and their current family challenges, with a clinical psychologist contacted for insight on the dilemma. "Gave birth six weeks ago and it’s been rough," wrote the mom in a Reddit post. "Recovering from emergency C-section, plus they think I may have a liver pancreas issue as I keep being unwell — plus my mental health took a dive, let alone newborn care!" She continued, "My newborn is screaming anything from 2-4 hours every night. Trying everything to soothe and remedy her, as [it's] most likely colic. So far, no meds or methods have changed her behavior," the mom added. "We also have a 6-year-old who has very different needs. While the 6-week-old screams, the 6-year-old needs a bath, a bedtime story, etc." The mother said the couple have been "tag teaming this." They've been having one parent tend to one child "to make sure both are OK," she wrote. "But it’s still been unbelievably hard on all of us." Now comes an invitation and a husband's choices that sparked debate. "Please don’t go. I need help at that time." "His guy friends invited him to a BBQ tonight and it would literally be him leaving just as [our] 6-week-old kicks off," the mom wrote. "So I said, ‘Please don’t go. I need help at that time.’ Keeping in mind his friends meet regularly and it’s not like if he doesn’t do it today, that’s it for a year," she added. The husband replied, "Babies cry, just cope, I'm going," the young mother wrote. She said she "tried to point out that I know they cry, but it’s not about coping, and I felt it was really selfish that he was choosing to pick his friends over his family. I even said if it was any other time I wouldn’t have a problem with it." Her husband, she said, has "gone back to work, and I’m coping with that — it's just literally that time of night that’s tricky." But "he kept saying that I was being ‘controlling’ by not letting him see his friends. It turned into a really bad moment for us where I was devastated to be called ‘controlling.’ I really don’t think that’s what I’m trying to do and that he just couldn’t see it from my point of view." The mom said that the next day, her husband apologized. He said "he was completely wrong and [he] could see how bad things would be if he went and said he wouldn’t go." However, she added, "fast forward to today — where he tells me he’s going and if I can’t cope, he’ll take the baby and drop her at his [mom's] to look after." The problem, the young mother wrote, is that his mother "isn’t close by, doesn’t know all the things we are trying colic-wise, like the meds, etc., and would have to deal with a screaming baby. Also, my baby doesn’t know her and is only 6 weeks, so all round, not a good solution." She said that her husband "also knows things are a bit tricky between me and his mom, so I feel like this was a bit manipulative on his part. . . . He knows I’d never pick his mom as an option but can now say he’s found a solution where he can go." The at-her-wit's-end young mother wrote, "I feel like I’m going crazy here. I just want some support from my partner at the time of the day it’s most difficult with our baby!" "This is so infuriating to read." Fox News Digital reached out a California-based clinical psychologist for insight as other users on Reddit shared their own reactions and comments. One person in a top-rated comment wrote, "'You are welcome to attend your BBQ tonight. Tomorrow night, you will stay home with baby and child while I go out and have my break.' - I can guarantee he won't agree to that," the user added. "The comment ‘babies cry, just cope’ would have him sleeping in his mother’s house if he was my husband," said another person. Said yet another user on the platform, "Sorry, but your husband is being completely unreasonable. We have 2 kids … We have an agreement that if either of us goes out, it's after 7 p.m. once both are in bed. Which means we both still get a social life without leaving the other in chaos." The same person added, "It's not much to ask him to make a few sacrifices … Especially as he can still go out a bit later." Another commenter was far more worked up about the situation. "This is so infuriating to read. I’m so sorry he is treating you like this after everything you’ve been through." "He can't expect you to go through that alone." "If I had a partner who carried my child for 9 months, had major abdominal surgery and suffered ongoing health issues to ensure the safe delivery of my child — I’d be worshipping the ground they walked on for the rest of my life." The same person added, "He’s being incredibly selfish, invalidating your feelings and there’s just no excuse for this other than pure selfishness." Still another person shared a more nuanced reaction. "I can see it's hard on dads, too, and I don't blame him for wanting a break. But that's exactly the reason why he needs to stay. He can't expect you to go through that alone! He can look for other moments to recharge and meet his mates, but not during rush hour."

Ancient stone structures on the West Coast are helping experts understand more about historic food practices, according to groundbreaking scientific research. In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, University of Utah anthropologists Lisbeth Louderback and Stefania Wilks spoke about their research in southern Oregon, which was published in February in the journal American Antiquity. (See the video at the top of this article.) The experts have been analyzing stone metates – or bedrocks with grinding surfaces – to learn more about how ancient people ate. Louderback, an associate professor and curator of archeology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, told Fox News Digital that Native Americans in the Northern Great Basin would process geophytes on metates by using manos, or handheld stones. Geophytes is a term that describes plants with underground storage organs, but they're far from obscure. The group includes potatoes, carrots, ginger and onions. So the researchers got to work and did starch granule analyses on several different metates from three different sites in southern Oregon. "Sure enough, we found very good evidence of geophyte processing on these bedrock metates," Louderback said. Notably, the two experts searched the cracks and crevices of bedrock metates, which yielded many more samples than the rock surfaces. "Virtually no starch granules were on the cleaning surface, but hundreds of starch granules were observed in those cracks and crevices deep down," Louderback said. "It could be as old as Late Pleistocene [126,000 to 11,700 years ago], but the evidence we found could also be as young as 500 years ago." Because of the open-air surfaces on the stones, it is nearly impossible to date the granules' ages, the professor said. But they are undoubtedly old. "It could be as old as Late Pleistocene [126,000 to 11,700 years ago], but the evidence we found could also be as young as 500 years ago," Louderback said. "So we don't know what the antiquity of this geophyte processing is on these features, but we definitely found evidence of geophyte processing, as well as processing of other plants, wild grasses and things like that as well." What did this ancient food look like? Graduate student Stefania Wilks told Fox News Digital that most of the granules were biscuitroot, which is in the wild carrot family. "They're starchy. They get flowery. They were very important to the people living there when the Europeans came," she said. "The European explorers relied on the resources that the Native peoples were able to share with them and included these geophytes," Wilks added. "In this region, in the Northern Great Basin in general, geophytes were very, very important." "They're still accessible today. They're still useful." Images of people grinding maize into flour may come to mind, but the environment of the Northern Great Basin differs from the southwest. Instead of corn, people relied on biscuitroot – and Wilks said that the root vegetable is still eaten today. "These geophytes, [like] biscuitroot and bitterroot — they're still being eaten today, largely for ceremonial gatherings." "It's not like they go out every day and harvest them," Wilks said. "There's only certain seasons when you can actually harvest them very well or very tastily. But yes, they're still accessible today. They're still useful." She added, "Their nutritional analysis says they're very, very high-ranked food sources. So it's nice to get this longevity, this information that these were important plants in the past. And they're important plants today." Geophyte tissues don't tend to last very long in the archaeological record, unlike seeds, she said. The starch granules prove how the tools were used in ancient times. "The starch granule evidence was needed to even be able to say that these milling surfaces were used for these plants," Wilks said. How did ancient people eat biscuitroot? They could have ground them into flour, pounded them or just eaten them plain. "Not all geophytes necessarily have to get pounded," Wilks told Fox News Digital. "Think of an onion. Wild onions — you can just pick them and eat them." She continued, "You don't really need to even do anything with them. So it's just more of what we can see ethnographically. In modern ethno-historic records, we know that they were pounding and processing and grinding and patting them into cakes." Wilks emphasized the research has helped history come to life, with the starch granules proving how the tools were used back in ancient times. "We were able to see these starch granules embedded within these tools," Wilks said. "Because without this evidence, it's always been inferred that this processing of these geophytes was going on. We didn't know."

Swedish archaeologists recently found an "unusual" Viking-era coffin dating back over 1,100 years. The discovery was announced by Arkeologerna, an archaeological organization affiliated with the Swedish government, in April. The grave was found on the outskirts of Linköping, a city in southern Sweden, in fall 2022, though the find was unknown until last month. In a Facebook post, Arkeologerna said its archaeologists were investigating a stone quarry in the area when they came across the "unusual coffin grave." "The stone arrangement stood alone in majesty on the crest of a hill," the organization said in a statement translated from Swedish to English. "The view from there was expansive over the flat plains surrounding Linköping." Arkeologerna added that the stone arrangement "had a very strong edge chain, mostly consisting of edge-set blocks." "In the middle was a coffin grave from the 10th century," the translated statement added. "The coffin had been placed in a grave shaft with stone-lined sides." Archaeologists soon found that the person in the grave had been buried with an axe and a dagger, and that there were "remnants of textile, likely from a garment." Pictures show archaeologists working at the site of the carefully arranged stone circle, along with a preserved nail and a wooden sheath that held a knife. The buried person, most likely a man, came from the "upper echelons of society," according to the archaeological organization. The grave also dates back to a pivotal point in Swedish history when inhabitants gradually transitioned from pagan customs to Christian ones. The burial was "done with Christian overtones, but the stone setting was erected on a burial site from the older Iron Age." Arkeologerna project manager Alf Eriksson said that he "really did not expect a coffin grave from the Viking era." "Previously, we have investigated stone settings in the area, and they have been from the older Iron Age, so we thought this one would be, too," the expert said. "The strong edge chain of raised/edge-set stone blocks is very unusual." The discovery is one of many fascinating Viking-related finds in recent months. In January, a University Museum of Bergen archaeologist spoke to Fox News Digital about recently discovered Viking graves that were filled with coins, jewelry and other treasure. Last year, metal detectorists on the Isle of Man stumbled across a 1,000-year-old Viking "wallet," filled with 36 silver coins that were minted between 1000 and 1065.

Swedish archaeologists recently found an "unusual" Viking-era coffin dating back over 1,100 years. The discovery was announced by Arkeologerna, an archaeological organization affiliated with the Swedish government, in April. The grave was found on the outskirts of Linköping, a city in southern Sweden, in fall 2022, though the find was unknown until last month. In a Facebook post, Arkeologerna said its archaeologists were investigating a stone quarry in the area when they came across the "unusual coffin grave." "The stone arrangement stood alone in majesty on the crest of a hill," the organization said in a statement translated from Swedish to English. "The view from there was expansive over the flat plains surrounding Linköping." Arkeologerna added that the stone arrangement "had a very strong edge chain, mostly consisting of edge-set blocks." "In the middle was a coffin grave from the 10th century," the translated statement added. "The coffin had been placed in a grave shaft with stone-lined sides." Archaeologists soon found that the person in the grave had been buried with an axe and a dagger, and that there were "remnants of textile, likely from a garment." Pictures show archaeologists working at the site of the carefully arranged stone circle, along with a preserved nail and a wooden sheath that held a knife. The buried person, most likely a man, came from the "upper echelons of society," according to the archaeological organization. The grave also dates back to a pivotal point in Swedish history when inhabitants gradually transitioned from pagan customs to Christian ones. The burial was "done with Christian overtones, but the stone setting was erected on a burial site from the older Iron Age." Arkeologerna project manager Alf Eriksson said that he "really did not expect a coffin grave from the Viking era." "Previously, we have investigated stone settings in the area, and they have been from the older Iron Age, so we thought this one would be, too," the expert said. "The strong edge chain of raised/edge-set stone blocks is very unusual." The discovery is one of many fascinating Viking-related finds in recent months. In January, a University Museum of Bergen archaeologist spoke to Fox News Digital about recently discovered Viking graves that were filled with coins, jewelry and other treasure. Last year, metal detectorists on the Isle of Man stumbled across a 1,000-year-old Viking "wallet," filled with 36 silver coins that were minted between 1000 and 1065.

A public health alert has been issued for some ready-to-eat wraps amid concerns that the products may be contaminated with listeria. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) earlier this week issued the alert for Rachel's Food Corp. chicken and bacon ranch wraps sold in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. A recall was not requested because the affected products are no longer available for purchase, according to the announcement. "The problem was discovered when a state public health partner notified FSIS of a product sample that tested positive for listeria monocytogenes," the FSIS said. The wraps were sold under the brand names Big Y Quick Easy Meals and Market 32 by Price Chopper. Both items come in a 10-ounce clear plastic clamshell package with a sell-by date of May 7 and the lot code of 25122. The wraps have the establishment number P34657 inside the USDA mark of inspection. Mike Pepin, vice president of operations for Massachusetts-based Rachel's Food Corp., told Fox News Digital there is no immediate concern regarding the wraps since they are out of circulation. "Listeria infection is an illness caused by bacteria that can spread through many foods," according to the Mayo Clinic. No illnesses have been reported "due to consumption of these products," the FSIS said. The items were produced on May 2. Although the wraps are no longer on the market, the FSIS is "concerned that some products may be in consumers' refrigerators," according to the announcement. Anyone who has purchased the wraps is "urged not to consume them."

Gas station food is as much a slice of American cuisine as a single serving of pizza, according to one celebrity chef. In an interview with Fox News Digital, chef Andrew Zimmern, based in Minnesota, said he's spent the better part of 25 years traveling the country in a van. "I'm not sure there's someone else alive who's probably stopped as many places to eat as I have in the last two-and-a-half decades," he said. That's what Zimmern said makes him qualified to vouch for gas station food, which he believes is more appealing to hungry Americans than it may appear. He's now partnered with the Iowa-based Casey's gas stations to promote their new barbecue brisket pizza. "I really think that what it has to do with is our own sense of adventure," Zimmern said. "We don't have to cross the ocean on a 19th century tramp steamer to have an adventure. We can walk into some place and try a regional food or a regional treat that happens to be for sale in that particular shop and have just as much of a warm, fuzzy feeling." The chef praised the new barbecue brisket pizza at Casey's, which he touted for its "real, wholesome ingredients, stuff I'm happy to feed my family." He added, "And by the way, in today's price-conscious world, there should be a pizza that's a whole pizza that can feed a family of four people really easily and not cost you a million dollars." But good gas station food goes beyond just pizza, he said. "When you're in Arizona and you have a breakfast burrito at a gas station with three grandmas in the back rolling up homemade chorizo with eggs and crispy potatoes and handing them to you, you are in a very, very, very special place, and you're about to eat something really extraordinary – and they're all hiding in plain sight." Zimmern also makes no apologies about eating what he wants when he's on the road. "You try to maintain your healthy lifestyle up until the time that you have a cheat moment or a cheat day," he admitted. "If I drank slushies and ate pizza three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, I'm not sure it would really be great for me," he said. "That said, I choose not to live in a world where I need to not eat pizza. I choose to live in a world where I get to eat pizza when I want and I get to have an orange slushy made with my favorite Mexican soda brand."

A common ingredient in some foods and drinks has been linked to an increased risk of blood cancers. Taurine — a non-essential amino acid that also occurs naturally in the bone marrow, brain, heart and muscles — was found to promote the growth of leukemia cells, according to a study by Wilmot Cancer Institute investigators at the University of Rochester in New York. The compound is also found in meats, fish and eggs, as well as some energy drinks and protein powders. "The key takeaway from this study is that taurine can be used by leukemia cells to promote cancer progression," Jeevisha Bajaj, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Genetics and a member of Wilmot’s Cancer Microenvironment research program, told Fox News Digital. "Developing new methods to block the cancer cells’ ability to take in taurine may improve outcomes for leukemia patients." The scientists made the discovery by happenstance as they were investigating the bone marrow with an eye toward improving treatments for blood cancer, according to a press release from the university. "Our finding that taurine can be produced by the bone marrow microenvironment was completely unexpected and therefore surprising," Bajaj said. "No one had shown this before, and it added critical information to studies of the bone marrow microenvironment, where blood cancers arise and expand." The taurine triggers cancer growth in leukemia cells by promoting a process called glycolysis, which breaks down glucose to produce energy. In particular, taurine fuels certain types of cancer that emerge from blood stem cells in the bone marrow, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the release stated. The findings were published in the journal Nature. "We are very excited about these studies because they demonstrate that targeting uptake by myeloid leukemia cells may be a possible new avenue for treatment of these aggressive diseases," said Bajaj. "Our work suggests that developing and testing effective drugs that can impede leukemia cells from using taurine could lead to new treatment approaches for these deadly cancers." The study did have some limitations, according to the researchers. "While we can find that taurine levels are high in the bone marrow of mice with leukemia compared to healthy mice, we do not have any evidence on taurine levels in humans with acute myeloid leukemia," Bajah noted. "This is something we hope to study in the future." Looking ahead, the researchers also plan to study how myelodysplastic syndromes lead to acute leukemia. Based on the findings, the scientists recommend that patients with leukemia speak with their healthcare providers before adding any new supplements or foods rich in taurine to their diet. "Since taurine is a common ingredient in energy drinks and is often provided as a supplement to mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy, our work suggests that it may be of interest to carefully consider the benefits of supplemental taurine in leukemia patients," the researchers concluded in the paper. Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but commented on the findings. "The study from the University of Rochester determined that leukemia cells in the bone marrow rely on the amino acid taurine that they don’t make themselves," he told Fox News Digital. "Future therapies promise to block the uptake of taurine into leukemia cells." Further research is needed to determine the exact process for blocking taurine, according to Siegel. "This is preliminary, but marks an important link between diet and cancer." The study was primarily funded by the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, all of which are part of the National Institutes of Health. The American Society of Hematology, the Leukemia Research Foundation and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society also provided support. Do energy drinks pose a risk? Some popular energy drinks list taurine as an ingredient. "There is concern that high-powered energy drinks containing too much taurine could fuel leukemia cells," Siegel told Fox News Digital. "This is preliminary, but marks an important link between diet and cancer." "But at the same time, there is no evidence that these drinks cause the conversion of regular bone marrow cells into leukemia cells." As the body naturally produces taurine, additional supplementation — especially from energy drinks — is "often unnecessary," according to Dr. Hooman Melamed, a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon and sports medicine expert based in Marina Del Rey, California. "From a clinical perspective, I always advise patients to give their bodies what they need, but not to overload them with substances they don't," Melamed, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. In general, Melamed said he recommends avoiding energy drinks altogether, especially those containing many synthetic additives or excessive ingredients. "You’ll often find 20+ components in these products — many of which you can’t pronounce. That alone is a red flag," he cautioned. "If you don’t recognize what’s in your food or drink, it’s probably not something your body needs."