Neuroscie
Microglial State Transitions Dictate Alzheimer’s
Summary: Researchers unmasked a critical cellular transition that dictates whether Alzheimer’s disease pathology triggers clinical dementia. The research analyzed brain tissue from older adults, including cognitively healthy centenarians, to map…
Irregular Sleep Habits Linked to Increased Brain Tissue Damage
Summary: A new study has isolated specific sleep behaviors that serve as early indicators of structural brain aging in healthy adults. The investigation utilized longitudinal brain MRI data from over…
Cannabis & Tobacco Co-Use Lower Cognitive Scores in Teens
Summary: A new study filled a critical diagnostic gap regarding substance use during the early warning phases of mental illness. Investigating adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for…
Brain’s Internal Disappointment Meter Forces Behavioral Change
Summary: A precision developmental neurobiology and behavioral study has identified a dedicated group of brain cells that function as a physical “disappointment meter.” The research isolates a distinct type of…
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…
