Neuroscie
Ancient Ear Muscles Reactivate When We Struggle to Listen
Summary: Humans have vestigial ear muscles that once helped our ancestors focus on sounds. New research shows these muscles still activate when we strain to hear in noisy environments. Scientists…
Imaging Reveals Gut-Brain Connection in Alzheimer’s Disease
Summary: Scientists have used advanced X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) to uncover how gut health may influence Alzheimer’s disease. The study found structural changes in the gut of Alzheimer’s-affected mice, revealing…
Blood Test May Predict Postpartum Depression Through Hormone Levels
Summary: Women who develop postpartum depression (PPD) may have distinct neuroactive steroid levels during the third trimester of pregnancy. A study found that those with PPD had lower levels of…
How Large Social Circles Foster Trust
Summary: A new study challenges the belief that larger groups reduce cooperation, showing instead that flexible social connections enhance teamwork. Researchers found that in a prisoner’s dilemma game, participants in…
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
En route to Jupiter, Europa Clipper captures images of stars
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Three months after its launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Europa Clipper has another 1.6 billion…
Is there life out there? The existence of other technological species is highly likely
Credit: CC0 Public Domain We live in a golden age for space exploration. Scientists are gathering massive amounts of new information and scientific evidence at a record pace. Yet the…
Japan launches a navigation satellite on a new flagship rocket for an improved positioning system
The H3 Launch Vehicle No. 5, carrying the Quasi-Zenith Satellite “Michibiki No. 6,” lifts off at a launch pad in Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, southern Japan, Sunday Feb. 2,…
What we know so far
On 27 December last year, astronomers using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile discovered a small asteroid moving away from Earth. Follow-up observations have revealed that the asteroid, 2024 YR4,…
