Neuroscie

Losing Smell Triggers Severe Clinical Depression

Summary: Losing the senses of smell and taste inflicts an emotional, social, and psychological toll comparable to living with some of the world’s most serious chronic illnesses. The new review…

Trauma Therapy Reverses PTSD in Psychosis Patients

Summary: A new study reveals that individuals living with co-occurring psychosis and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can safely and effectively achieve recovery through an integrated, trauma-focused therapy. The STAR (Study…

Legalized Cannabis Does Not Increase Consumption

Summary: Decriminalizing cannabis or using tightly controlled legal frameworks does not increase use. However, the fully commercialized, for-profit legal markets seen in the US and Canada drive increased health risks,…

Disrupted Neuronal Microexons Drive Hyperarousal and Insomnia

Summary: A new study found that altered neuronal microexons cause hyperarousal and insomnia in zebrafish. The researchers discovered that abnormal alternative splicing spikes cAMP signaling, which acts as an 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…