Neuroscie

Singing to Infants Boosts Mood and Bonding

Summary: A new randomized study found that when parents sing more frequently to their infants, both babies and caregivers experience measurable improvements in mood and wellbeing. The study involved 110…

LLMs Mimics Human Cognitive Dissonance

Summary: A new study reveals that GPT-4o, a leading large language model, displays behavior resembling cognitive dissonance—a core human psychological trait. When asked to write essays either supporting or opposing…

Nitrous Oxide Unlocks Blood-Brain Barrier for Safer Gene Delivery

Summary: Researchers have discovered that nitrous oxide can safely enhance the delivery of gene therapy to the brain by making the blood-brain barrier (BBB) more permeable when paired with focused…

Boredom Is Good for You: Why Embracing It Calms the Brain

Summary: Boredom, often seen as a negative state to avoid, may actually serve an important role in emotional regulation and brain health. When we’re bored, the brain shifts away from…

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

China’s Tianwen-2 is off to collect an asteroid sample

Credit: Universe Today Asteroids are the ancient remnants of our solar system’s birth, rocky fragments that never formed into planets. Most of these celestial wanderers inhabit the asteroid belt between…

China launches space probe seeking asteroid samples

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain China on Thursday launched a space probe on the country’s first mission to retrieve samples from an asteroid and bring them home for research, the Xinhua…

What is Manhattanhenge and when can you see it?

The sun sets as seen between buildings along 42nd Street in New York, May 30, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, file Twice a year, New Yorkers and visitors are treated…

Is Venus hiding dangerous asteroids?

Most of the solar system’s asteroids are in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, others are co-orbital with planets, like the Jupiter Trojans, which form two groups: one…