Neuroscie

Home Drinking Water May Impact Parkinson’s Risk

Summary: Does the water you drink hold a hidden risk for your brain? A massive new preliminary study reveals a striking association between drinking water sources and Parkinson’s disease. Researchers…

Why Socializing Loses to Alcohol in Addiction

Summary: Why do individuals with alcohol use disorders often prioritize drinking over meaningful social connections? A new study identifies a specific brain region—the anterior insula—as a key driver of this…

Laughing at Your Blunders Beats Embarrassment

Summary: We often think that acting embarrassed after a social stumble—like tripping or misnaming a colleague—shows humility and respect for social norms. However, a new study suggests that for minor,…

Using Imagination to Disrupt Negative Memory Traces

Summary: Childhood memories of harsh criticism or neglect often manifest in adulthood as a paralyzing fear of failure. However, a new clinical trial reveals that we can “rewrite” these internal…

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…