Neuroscie
Single DMT Dose Provides Lasting Relief from Depression
Summary: While psychedelic research often focuses on hours-long “trips” with psilocybin or LSD, a landmark Phase IIa trial has proven that a much shorter experience can be just as potent.…
Brain Never Outgrows the Ability to Emotionally Evolve
Summary: The long-held belief that personality becomes “set in stone” after young adulthood is being challenged by new research. A comprehensive psychological study has found that older adults (ages 60–80)…
Musical Robot: Combining AI Speech and Song to Combat Loneliness
Summary: Loneliness, particularly among the elderly, is a growing public health crisis. Researchers have discovered a way to make robotic companions feel more “human” and emotionally resonant: combining AI-powered empathetic…
Study Links Sugary Drinks to Adolescent Anxiety
Summary: While public health initiatives often focus on the physical consequences of sugary diets—such as obesity and type-2 diabetes—the mental health impact has remained largely underexplored. A new systematic review…
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…
