Today's Science Pulse
Hidden Star Clusters Discovered Deep Inside Nearby Galaxies
A UK‑led study using VLA and ALMA data uncovered previously hidden giant star clusters deep within nearby galaxies, describing them as “ring factories.” The findings highlight how young stellar activity shapes galactic evolution across the universe.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Foundation Alloy raises $22M Series A
New Moth Species Named for Pope Leo
Entomologists have described a new moth species from Crete, naming it *Pyralis papaleonei* in honor of Pope Leo XIV. The insect, dubbed the Pope Leo moth, measures about 0.75 inches in wingspan and displays distinctive purple forewings with white bands and orange spots. Molecular testing revealed a six‑percent genetic gap from its nearest relative, justifying its classification as a separate species. The finding underscores the limited knowledge of European moth biodiversity despite ongoing taxonomic revisions.
IPCC Scenario Panel Drops Alarmist RCP8.5 and Peers
A rare piece of good news from the international climate bureaucracy: The committee that developed the GHG emissions scenarios used in the IPCC's climate models has removed the three most unrealistic and alarmist scenarios: RCP8.5, SSP5-8.5, and SSP3-7.0. These scenarios, especially RCP8.5,...
Even Low-Level Drinking Is Bad for Long-Term Brain Health, MRI Shows
A new longitudinal MRI study published in *Alcohol* shows that even low‑level drinking—defined as up to 60 drinks per month—diminishes brain perfusion and thins cortical tissue in healthy adults. Researchers scanned nonsmoking participants over three years and found reduced blood...
Partial Reprogramming Concern Altos Labs Is Becoming Less Stealthy
Altos Labs, launched in 2022 with roughly $3 billion in private funding, is intensifying its public profile as it pursues partial cellular reprogramming to reverse organ aging. The company is racing alongside rivals such as Life Biosciences, which has just begun...
Zap Energy: The First Fission-Fusion Company
Zap Energy announced it will develop a hybrid fission‑fusion reactor, positioning itself as the first company to blend the two technologies. The firm argues this approach can achieve net‑positive energy faster than traditional magnetic or laser‑inertial fusion designs. A recent...
GAPP Survey Shows Massive Improvements in Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Alaska Pollock Production
The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) released a second life‑cycle assessment of 2024 harvests, finding dramatically lower environmental impacts than its 2021 study. Greenhouse‑gas emissions dropped 16.7%, and pollock fillets generate only 27% of the carbon footprint of...
Super Transformer Aims to Bring Order to Biology's Data Under One AI Model
A KAUST‑led team has unveiled a “super transformer,” a multimodal AI architecture that unifies DNA sequences, gene‑expression profiles, spatial maps and tissue images into a single model. Published in Nature Methods, the system leverages transformer attention to translate disparate biological...
PRAETORIAN-DFT: Safe to Forgo Defibrillation Testing for S-ICD Implant
The PRAETORIAN‑DFT randomized trial showed that omitting defibrillation testing (DFT) after subcutaneous ICD (S‑ICD) implantation, when guided by the PRAETORIAN score, is non‑inferior to routine testing. Failed first‑shock rates were 1.7% without DFT versus 2.3% with DFT, meeting the 3%...
Hantavirus Explained: How Does It Spread and Who Is Most at Risk? – Podcast
Three passengers died and seven cases of hantavirus have been identified on a cruise ship sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, according to the World Health Organization. Two cases were confirmed by laboratory testing while five remain suspected. WHO is...
Nanocellulose From Pineapple Waste for Soil-Saving Desert Agriculture
Researchers have transformed pineapple peel waste into nanocellulose fibers that dramatically improve sandy‑soil performance. In laboratory tests on three UAE desert sands, the amendment raised water‑holding capacity by up to 32.7% and cut permeability by 58%, while quadrupling compressive strength...
Next-Gen Near-Earth Asteroid Space Telescope Takes Shape
NASA announced that the next‑generation Near‑Earth Asteroid (NEA) Space Telescope, part of the NEO Surveyor mission, has entered final hardware integration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The 50‑centimeter infrared instrument will operate from the Sun‑Earth L1 point, using a cryogenic...
In Senegal, Artisanal Fishing Kills a Surprising Number of Sharks and Rays: Study
A new study of two southern Senegal landing sites found artisanal fisheries harvested more than 100,000 sharks, rays and guitarfish between June 2021 and July 2022, a figure the authors say likely underestimates the true scale. By extrapolating from the two sites,...
How to Catch a Meteor Shower From Halley’s Comet
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower, sourced from debris left by Halley’s comet, reaches its peak on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Meteors travel at roughly 41 miles per second, producing about ten visible streaks per hour for observers in the northern...
Physics Isn’t Human-Sized Anymore
The post argues that modern physics is outgrowing human intuition as researchers tackle systems with massive dimensionality and data. Machine learning, especially neural operators, is being deployed to accelerate simulations of fluids, plasmas, and other complex phenomena. The 2024 Nobel...
Conscious Spending Can Unlock Greener Science
Researchers are urged to adopt conscious spending habits to curb chemical waste and lower lab operating costs. Buying smaller reagent batches and recycling high‑use solvents can shrink the “chemical graveyard” while extending the life of existing inventories. Green technologies such...
Fermilab Completes Its Part in Upgrading World’s Most Powerful X-Ray Laser
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermilab has finished building and shipping the final superconducting cryomodule for the high‑energy upgrade of SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). The upgrade adds 23 cryomodules, doubling the X‑ray beam energy and delivering pulses up...
NASA Research Shows Early Life Relied on Rare Metal
NASA‑funded researchers have shown that microbes on early Earth employed the metal molybdenum as far back as 3.7–3.1 billion years ago, long before the element became abundant in the oceans. The study, published in Nature Communications, reconstructs the evolutionary history of...
'I Was Not Looking for This': Scientist Accidentally Finds Shortcut to Mars that Could Slash Travel Time in Half
A new study suggests ultra‑short Mars trajectories inspired by early asteroid orbit estimates could cut round‑trip travel time to as little as five months. The research, published in Acta Astronautica, shows a 34‑day Earth‑to‑Mars leg is geometrically possible, though it...
Embryos Begin Female; Male Development Requires Y Gene
The female form is the human default. For the first 7 to 8 weeks of pregnancy, every embryo looks the same. They all start with a bipotential gonad and both sets of reproductive ducts. Around week 7, if a Y chromosome...
Cambridge Researchers Reveal How the Brain’s Default Mode Network Shapes Personal Consciousness
Peter Coppola and Emmanuel Stamatakis of the University of Cambridge released a study showing the brain’s default mode network generates individualized conscious signatures. Using fMRI on 16 volunteers, the research highlights how personal meaning emerges from neural activity, a discovery...
Woolpert and Chance Maritime in Uncrewed Hydrographic Survey First
Woolpert and Chance Maritime have launched NOAA's first fully uncrewed offshore hydrographic survey off Pensacola, Florida, using the 40‑foot MC40 and 29‑foot MC29 unmanned surface vessels equipped with Woolpert’s multibeam sonar. The mission will capture 1,391 square nautical miles of...
Psychedelic Science Breakthrough: Increased Brain Entropy From Psilocybin Predicts Lasting Psychological Insight and Well-Being
Researchers at UCSF and Imperial College London reported that a single high dose of psilocybin (25 mg) triggers a rapid surge in brain signal entropy, which correlates with heightened psychological insight the next day and sustained improvements in well‑being up to...
Neuroscientist Shares Six Daily Habits to Boost Brain Health and Motivation
Dr. Alex Rivera, a neuroscientist with two decades of research, detailed six daily habits that protect brain health and sustain motivation. The routine emphasizes light movement, enjoyable activities, purposeful work, celebrating micro‑wins, regular social contact, and adequate sleep.
UCLA Study Shows Dopamine Expands Perceived Time and Boosts Memory Formation
UCLA psychologists published a study in Nature Communications showing that activation of the brain’s ventral tegmental area lengthens perceived time and improves memory encoding. The work, based on fMRI scans of 32 volunteers, suggests dopamine’s role in segmenting experience may...
InsideTracker AI Study Shows Sustained Improvements in 43 Biomarkers Across 20,000 Users
InsideTracker’s AI‑driven health platform was linked to statistically significant, sustained improvements in 43 blood and fitness biomarkers among a real‑world cohort of 20,000 users over more than four years. The peer‑reviewed study validates the platform’s personalized recommendation engine and marks...
Study Finds Bariatric Surgery Less Costly than GLP-1 Drugs over Time
A real‑world analysis of more than 90,000 obese patients with type 2 diabetes shows bariatric surgery costs far less than GLP‑1 drugs over a two‑year horizon. After propensity‑score matching, sleeve gastrectomy averaged $41,400 versus $58,600 for GLP‑1 therapy—a $17,200 gap, while...
Creatine Shows Synergy With Exercise in Older Adults
Researchers in Spain examined whether creatine supplementation enhances high‑load, velocity‑intentional resistance training (HL‑VIRT) in adults around age 68. Over 16 weeks, participants who combined creatine with either elastic‑band or aquatic power training showed larger increases in brain‑derived neurotrophic factor, greater...
Pittsfield Lab Secures $1 Million NASA Contract to Test Artemis Spacesuits
Electro Magnetic Applications (EMA) announced that its Berkshire Innovation Center lab in Pittsfield will conduct spacesuit material testing for NASA's Artemis program, backed by more than $1 million in new NASA contracts. The effort, partnered with Synopsys, aims to certify suit...
Viridian Data Lift Prospects for Thyroid Eye Disease Drug
Viridian Therapeutics announced that its subcutaneous drug elegrobart met primary endpoints in a Phase 3 trial for chronic thyroid eye disease, showing 50%‑54% response rates versus 15% for placebo. The once‑monthly regimen also improved double vision in 61% of patients, while...
German Researchers Unveil Heat‑Resistant Polyamide That Emits White Light Dye‑Free
A research group at Justus Liebig University in Giessen has engineered a polyamide that glows white under near‑infrared laser illumination without any dyes or dopants. By swapping flexible chain segments for rigid diamantane units, the material stays intact above 400 °C,...
Ascidian Completes Adult Dose Escalation, Opens Pediatric Enrollment in STELLAR Gene Therapy Trial
Ascidian Therapeutics announced the completion of the adult dose‑escalation portion of its Phase 1/2 STELLAR trial for the RNA‑editing gene therapy ACDN-01 and opened enrollment to pediatric patients 12 years and older. The move adds a 10‑patient adult cohort and launches...
The 50-Year Quest to Create a Quantum Spin Liquid May Finally Be Over
Scientists have presented evidence that herbertsmithite, a mineral first isolated from the 1970s Kali Kafi mine in Iran, behaves as a quantum spin liquid—a state of matter where electron spins remain entangled and fluid at absolute zero. The finding suggests that...
RDL Generates More Hamstring Force Than Max Sprint
Stop underloading your hamstrings in the gym, the Romanian Deadlift (RDL) crushes sprint-level demands. New BJSM study (2026) used MRI + EMG + 3D motion capture + musculoskeletal modelling to measure actual muscle force & stretch in the hamstrings (BFlh, semimembranosus,...
Airborne COVID Transmission Confirmed on Diamond Princess
Reupping this piece from NYT when they covered our modeling of Covid transmission on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that demonstrated it was spread person-to-person through the air, when people said that couldn’t possibly be happening… https://t.co/pB5qyRFC5u https://t.co/QkW8sr7LVW
Bio Korea 2026 Kicks Off with Spotlight on Oligonucleotides
In early May 2026, several biotech firms announced pivotal milestones. Axsome Therapeutics received FDA clearance for Auvelity (AXS‑05) to treat agitation in Alzheimer’s disease, a condition affecting up to 75% of patients. Sonire Therapeutics began its U.S. Sunrise II trial of...
US Emissions Falling, but Net‑zero Delayed to 2100
US emissions will likely continue to decline over the next decade even with the partial repeal of the IRA (and the passage of the OBBBA). But the rate of decline puts us on track to get to net zero emissions...
CD47 Blocks Mouse but Not Human Macrophage Phagocytosis
"the classic “don’t eat me” signal CD47 has minimal impact on human macrophage phagocytosis. By contrast, CD47 strongly suppressed mouse macrophage phagocytosis."
Maple: From Soil to Syrup
Maple syrup production contributes roughly $740 million USD to Canada’s GDP and employs thousands, yet scientific guidance on sustainable harvesting remains scarce. In October 2025, Université Laval established a Research Chair in Maple Syrup Production and Sugar Bush Management, partnered with...
Exercise Decline Accelerates Aging—New Review Offers Solutions
We now exercise five times less than we did 100 years ago. Our lifestyles are accelerating aging New review @Cell_Metabolism how to counter it https://t.co/rmb527oP0Y
Japan Funds South Africa Ammonia‑coal Tech to Cut Emissions
Japan is seeking to boost its presennce in South Africa by offering an energy transition loan and a technology that allows ammonia to be blended with coal to reduce power plant emissions https://t.co/BC6XVYmL82
Webb Telescope Captures First Direct Look at Distant Exoplanet’s Surface
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have, for the first time, directly observed the surface of a distant super‑Earth, LHS 475b, located about 40 light‑years from Earth. The planet appears dark and airless, resembling a Mercury‑like rocky world with surface...
Roscosmos Completes Crew Capsule Processing Stand at Vostochny
Last month, Roskosmos completed processing stand for the crew capsule of the PTK (Orel) new-generation spacecraft, which the ship's 2nd worksite in Vostochny spaceport. Similar installations are planned for PTK's other components. CONTEXT: https://t.co/a3ipLmZ6e9 https://t.co/aQzomFk80C
Time‑Restricted Eating Counteracts Hypoxia‑Induced Glucose Dysregulation
Time-restricted eating improves intermittent hypoxia-induced dysglycemia "In IH, TRE mitigates adverse hypoxic effects on glucose homeostasis, via improvements in pancreatic insulin secretion. Some beneficial glycemic effects of TRE are accentuated in IH. TRE may represent a novel therapeutic strategy in OSA" https://t.co/SQgSGnX6Ay
Bionic Tech Must Prove Itself Beyond the Lab
IEEE Spectrum’s special report examines bionic assistive tech through the eyes of users, not just lab demos. It follows exoskeleton pioneer Robert Woo, who after 15 years of testing highlights real‑world glitches such as safety sensors stopping on a slight...
Moderate Training Boosts Brain Metabolism; HIIT Adds Benefits
High-intensity interval and moderate-intensity continuous training on cerebral energy metabolism in older rats "These findings suggest that MICT is the preferred regimen for enhancing cerebral metabolic function and neurovascular adaptation, while HIIT serves as a complementary strategy to involve other brain...
Sleep Deprivation Leads to Major Muscle Atrophy in Rodents
Lack of sleep directly produces substantial muscular atrophy in rodent models (although it is not always easy to disentangle the effects of stress and sleep loss in such cases). https://t.co/ah019I6zNw
Study Finds Potential for Double West Coast Earthquake Threat
Researchers at Oregon State University have uncovered evidence that the Cascadia subduction zone and the northern San Andreas fault can trigger earthquakes within minutes or hours of each other. By analyzing 3,100 years of sediment cores, they identified “doublet” layers that record...
CSAIL Revives 80s Three‑s
In the '80s, future MIT prof. Bill Freeman envisioned a three-sided zipper that could switch items between soft & rigid states. Last year, CSAIL revived his idea w/an automated design tool. It 3D prints "Y-zippers" that snap gear, robots, & art...
Chemical Reprogramming Triggers Toxic Lipid Droplets In Vivo
https://t.co/F6dZ4lFcUZ problem is that most groups don't publish negative results here's a recent paper from @gladyshev_lab showing that chemical reprogramming (yes, different thank OSKM) causes lipid droplet formation and significant in vivo toxicity
Scientists Edge Closer to Mapping Psychedelic Brain Effects
Science gets closer to understanding how a psychedelic trip changes the brain https://t.co/XWKXo1TIAL via @nbcnews