Neuroscie
AI Brain Model Reveals How Fear Works in Real Life
Summary: Researchers have developed an AI-driven brain model that can track fear as it unfolds in real-world situations, offering a major shift from traditional lab-based approaches. Classic fear studies often…
Stress Levels Predict Cannabis Use
Summary: New research shows that rats with naturally higher baseline stress hormone levels are significantly more likely to self-administer cannabis vapor. Over several weeks, rats were allowed to nose-poke for…
Anti-Inflammatory Treatments Show Promise for Depression
Summary: A new analysis shows that anti-inflammatory medications may help reduce symptoms for a subset of people with depression who also have chronic, low-grade inflammation. By reviewing randomized controlled trials…
Positive Imagining Changes the Brain in Seconds
Summary: Vividly imagining a positive interaction with someone can increase how much you like them — and even alter how your brain stores information about that person. During imagined encounters,…
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…
