Neuroscie
Mapping the Brain’s Resting Grid Through Menopause
Summary: A new study provided concrete evidence that the menopause transition is a critical neurological phase shift rather than a simple reproductive milestone. The two-year investigation tracked functional brain activity…
74 Genetic Locations Linked to Anxiety Identified
Summary: The largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) on anxiety to date has mapped the complex polygenic architecture underlying worry and fear-based responses. The massive meta-analysis evaluated genomic data from 693,869…
Daily Activity and Positive Mood Form a Continuous Loop
Summary: A new study has established a dynamic, bidirectional relationship between micro-bursts of physical activity and short-term mood optimization. The massive collaborative project synthesized data from over 8,000 global participants…
Microglial State Transitions Dictate Alzheimer’s
Summary: Researchers unmasked a critical cellular transition that dictates whether Alzheimer’s disease pathology triggers clinical dementia. The research analyzed brain tissue from older adults, including cognitively healthy centenarians, to map…
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…
