Neuroscie
Why did humans’ brains surpass chimps’? A tiny foe might help explain it
Viruses may be minuscule, but one could have influenced major differences between human and chimpanzee brains. Millions of years ago, a virus left DNA behind in an African ape’s genome,…
How the Brain Maps Every Number
Summary: A neuroimaging study led by cognitive neuroscientists at the INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit (Unicog) reveals that the human brain constructs a continuous, highly structured spatial semantic map in the…
Non-Drug Breakthrough for Postpartum Depression
Summary: A nationwide clinical trial led by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Massachusetts General Hospital reveals that a free, online mindfulness program significantly reduces the risk of…
Why AI Cannot Replace the Transformative Power of Human Creativity
Summary: As generative artificial intelligence masters the rapid synthesis of complex paintings, music, and literature, a new theoretical framework published in AI & Society re-evaluates the true essence of human…
Life
Nature
Newfound bat skeletons are the oldest on record
Two fossilized bat skeletons unearthed in western Wyoming represent a new species and are the oldest set of bat bones yet discovered, researchers say. The incredibly complete fossils of Icaronycteris…
Astronomy
Asteroid 2024 YR4 was Earth’s first real-life defense test
Artist’s depiction of an asteroid floating in space. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), Martin Kornmesser (ESA), Serge Brunier (ESO), Nick Risinger (Photopic Sky Survey) At this point in…
How do you fire someone into the sun?
Firing our villain straight at the Sun results in a big miss. Credit: Michael Brown, CC BY To point a rocket directly at the sun and hit would require great…
Cosmic ray puzzle resolved as scientists link ‘knee’ formation to black holes
LHAASO experiment. Credit: LHAASO Collaboration Milestone results released by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) on November 16 have solved a decades-old mystery about the cosmic ray energy…
If the supernova standard candle is wrong, it could solve the Hubble tension
An illustration showing how Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs) expand with the universe. Credit: Gabriela Secara, Perimeter Institute CC-BY-4.0 Last time I wrote about new data that overturns the standard cosmological…
