Neuroscie
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…
Reading Habits Predict Hidden Biases Toward Autism
Summary: A new study shows that the newspapers people read are strong predictors of their automatic, unconscious biases toward autism—even after accounting for age, education, political views, and personal experience.…
Nicotine Withdrawal Makes Smokers More Sensitive to Pain
Summary: A new study shows that abstinent smokers experience heightened pain sensitivity linked to altered activity in specific brain regions. Compared to nonsmokers, abstinent smokers required more postoperative pain relief—especially…
PTSD Linked to Accelerated Brain Aging
Summary: A new study using advanced deep-learning brain age estimation shows that World Trade Center responders with PTSD exhibit signs of accelerated brain aging. Using BrainAgeNeXt, a model trained on…
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…
