Neuroscie
A New Link Between Aging and Brain Decline
Summary: Scientists have identified a previously unknown genetic disease that combines the physical symptoms of premature aging (progeria) with severe neurological and intellectual deficits. By combining genome sequencing with advanced…
Why Human Babies Evolved to Be So Dependent
Summary: Researchers are challenging the traditional view of human infant helplessness as a mere biological weakness. In a new paper, researchers argue that the unique combination of a highly developed…
Paternal Depression Spikes One Year After Childbirth
Summary: A massive longitudinal study reveals a surprising trend in paternal mental health: while psychiatric diagnoses for fathers decrease during pregnancy and early infancy, they spike a year after birth…
Blood Test Predicts Long-Term Cognitive Function After Cardiac Arrest
Summary: A new study suggests that measuring neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels 48 hours after a cardiac arrest can accurately predict a survivor’s long-term cognitive health. Researchers compared NfL to…
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…
