Neuroscie
Brain Criticality May Hold Key to Learning, Memory, and Alzheimer’s
Summary: New research proposes a unified theory of brain function based on criticality—a state where the brain teeters between order and chaos, allowing it to learn, adapt, and process information…
One Gene Rewires Fear Circuits and Fuels Anxiety
Summary: Researchers have uncovered how losing the autism-linked gene PTEN in a specific set of inhibitory neurons reshapes brain circuits tied to fear and anxiety. Using advanced circuit-mapping techniques, they…
Exercise Proven to Boost Kids’ Mental Health
Summary: A massive analysis of over 375 trials shows that structured exercise significantly reduces depression and anxiety in children and teens. Low-intensity resistance activities like light weights were most effective…
How the Brain Forms Indirect Associations to Guide Complex Decisions
Summary: A new study reveals how the brain can make decisions based not only on direct experiences, but also on indirect associations between seemingly unrelated stimuli. In experiments with mice,…
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
Japan launches a climate change monitoring satellite on mainstay H2A rocket’s last flight
An H-2A rocket carrying Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle, or GOSAT-GW satellite, lifts off from a launch pad in Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, southern Japan,…
A strange bright burst in space baffled astronomers for more than a year. Now, they’ve solved the mystery
The radio burst was captured using the ASKAP radio telescope. Credit: Marcin Glowacki Around midday on June 13 last year, my colleagues and I were scanning the skies when we…
Powerful magnets could unlock detection of high-frequency gravitational waves
Magnetic Weber bar concept: Gravitational waves deform the magnet, creating oscillating magnetic fields detected by the pickup loop and SQUID. Credit: Sebastian Ellis New research published in Physical Review Letters…
Hey Siri, fix my spacecraft! A virtual assistant could help astronauts handle unexpected space mission issues
Credit: Rachel Barton/Texas A&M Engineering When astronauts make the long journey to Mars in the not-so-distant future, communication with mission control will be impossible for days to weeks at a…
