Neuroscie
Immune Cells in the Brain Discovered to Control Puberty and Reproduction
Summary: In a surprising shift in our understanding of reproductive biology, researchers have discovered that fertility is not controlled by neurons alone. The study reveals that microglia—the brain’s primary immune…
AI Autocomplete Covertly Shifts Human Opinions
Summary: AI-powered writing tools do more than just speed up your typing—they may be subtly rewriting your worldviews. A large-scale study reveals that biased autocomplete suggestions can shift a user’s…
AI Models Predict New Vision Mechanisms in Real Brains
Summary: For decades, neuroscience textbooks have taught that the first stage of visual processing relies on two types of cells specialized in detecting “edges”—sharp transitions between light and dark. However,…
How Your Brain Sizes Up Others in Real-Time
Summary: Whether you’re negotiating a contract or playing a friendly game of rock-paper-scissors, your brain is constantly “sizing up” the other person—a process scientists call adaptive mentalization. A new study…
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…
