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
The Mystery of Disappearing Stars
Astronomers are cataloguing "disappearing stars"—points of light that appear in historic sky plates but are missing or dimmed in modern surveys. The VASCO project cross‑matches century‑old photographic records with contemporary digital data to flag such anomalies. While most cases trace back to asteroids, plate defects, or dust‑obscured stars, a few, like the candidate N6946‑BH1, may represent failed supernovae that collapse directly into black holes. The effort highlights how archival data can uncover rare astrophysical events and test stellar‑death theories.
Kids Taste Food Much Bitterer Than Adults
You and your child are not tasting the same food. Babies have taste buds spread across the roof of their mouth, the back of their throat, and down into their epiglottis, all in much higher density than adults. Kids are also...
Oldest Astronomical Observatory in the Americas Discovered in Peru
Peru’s cultural ministry announced the discovery of a two‑level stone observatory at the ancient Caran settlement of Áspero on the Supe coast. The structure, dating to the Caral civilization (3000‑1800 BC), was used to track sun, moon and stars, linking celestial...
This Neurosurgeon Studies the Brain Close to Death. He Believes the Soul Transcends the Body.
Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, author of *The Immortal Mind*, claims that cases such as split‑brain surgery and hydranencephaly demonstrate an immaterial mind or soul, positioning his view within intelligent‑design advocacy. Leading neuroscientists, including Stanford’s Bill Newsome and Yale’s Steven Novella, reject...
This NHS Fibre Target Most of Us Miss Could Secretly Be Key to Making Your Skin Look Healthier and Plumper
Researchers have linked the NHS’s 30‑gram daily fiber target to clearer, more hydrated skin. Most adults fall about 10 g short, missing out on short‑chain fatty acids that reinforce the skin barrier and curb inflammation. A 2025 Journal of Investigative Dermatology...
Fentanyl Detected in Wild Fish Near Wastewater Treatment Plants (Video)
A University of Waterloo study found trace fentanyl, methadone and antidepressants in wild darters from Ontario rivers that receive urban wastewater. Males showed higher concentrations than females, despite the water undergoing standard treatment. Researchers used ultrasonic‑solvent extraction and electrofishing to...
Falcon 9 Upper Stage to Hit the Moon in August
The upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 that launched Firefly’s Blue Ghost and Ispace’s Hakuto‑R2 lunar landers in January 2025 is projected to hit the Moon on August 5 2026 at 2:44 a.m. Eastern Time, traveling roughly 5,400 mph (1.5 mi/s). Astronomer Bill Gray used publicly available U.S....
Researchers Teleport Photon Over 270 M, Setting New Quantum Distance Record
A team led by Paderborn University has teleported the polarization state of a single photon across a 270‑meter open‑air link, the longest distance yet for quantum teleportation between independent quantum dots. The result, published in Nature Communications, marks a pivotal...
Study Finds First‑Trimester Air Pollution Cuts Toddler Language Scores by Up to 7 Points
Researchers at King’s College London analyzed 498 Greater London infants and discovered that high exposure to traffic‑related air pollution during the first trimester reduces language scores by 5‑7 points at 18 months. Premature babies exposed throughout pregnancy lag 11 points...
Study Finds Rostral Prefrontal Cortex Bridges Mind‑Wandering and Executive Control
Scientists at the Paris Brain Institute identified the rostral prefrontal cortex as the neural bridge between the default mode and executive control networks. Using frontotemporal dementia patients, they showed that a larger functional distance between the networks predicts higher creative...
Study Finds Ultra‑Processed Foods Cut Attention Scores, Raising Biohacking Concerns
Researchers at Monash University analyzed data from 2,192 Australians and found that each 10% rise in ultra‑processed food consumption shaved 0.05 points off attention test scores. The findings suggest diet quality directly impairs cognitive performance, a key metric for nutrition‑focused...
Varenicline
Varenicline (Chantix) received FDA approval in 2006 as a partial α4β2 nicotinic receptor agonist, offering a middle‑ground approach between nicotine replacement and bupropion. Its mechanism delivers enough receptor activation to ease cravings while antagonizing nicotine’s rewarding effects. The drug quickly...
SpaceX Launches ViaSat‑3 Flight 3, Delivering 1 Tbps Broadband Across Asia‑Pacific
SpaceX lifted ViaSat‑3 Flight 3 on a Falcon Heavy rocket, positioning a 1‑terabit‑per‑second broadband satellite over the Asia‑Pacific region. The launch completes ViaSat’s three‑satellite geostationary constellation, expanding global coverage and boosting the company’s stock.
IDEAYA Biosciences Files NDA for Darovasertib/Crizotinib Under FDA’s RTOR Pathway
IDEAYA Biosciences announced that the FDA has accepted its New Drug Application for the darovasertib‑crizotinib combo under the Real‑Time Oncology Review (RTOR) program. The submission follows Phase 2/3 OptimUM‑02 data showing a 58% drop in disease‑progression risk and a median progression‑free...
Directly Decorating Double Bonds
A team led by Tobias Ritter at the Max Planck Institute has unveiled a general alkene alkylation method that couples alkyl‑zinc reagents, derived from inexpensive carboxylic acids, to thianthrenium‑activated olefins. The palladium‑catalyzed cross‑coupling works on virtually any alkene with an...
USGS Finds $64 Billion Lithium Deposit in Appalachians, Could Cut Imports by 328 Years
The U.S. Geological Survey disclosed a 2.5‑million‑ton lithium reserve in the Appalachian Mountains valued at roughly $64.4 billion. The find could replace 328 years of U.S. lithium imports, bolstering mineral security and challenging China’s dominance in the battery supply chain.
IBM Unveils Envizi Emissions API to Embed GHG Calculations in DevOps Pipelines
IBM announced the general availability of its Envizi Emissions API, a tool that integrates GHG Protocol‑aligned emissions calculations into existing software, CI/CD pipelines and monitoring systems. The API draws on IBM’s Envizi ESG Suite to deliver real‑time, traceable Scope 1‑3 data...
CFS CEO Pooh-Poohs Claim Fusion Not Worth It
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced that its compact SPARC reactor, based on MIT’s ARC tokamak design, is approaching a critical development milestone. Simultaneously, researchers from ETH Zurich released a study questioning the economic viability of fusion power plants in a...
Zap Energy Appoints Zabrina Johal as CEO to Drive Integrated Fission‑Fusion Strategy
Zap Energy announced Zabrina Johal as its new chief executive, while co‑founder Benj Conway moves to president to focus on strategy. The leadership change underpins a unified nuclear platform that blends near‑term fission with long‑term fusion, aiming to accelerate commercial...
Harvard Scientists Unveil First ‘Smell Map’ Using 5.5 Million Neurons
A team at Harvard Medical School has built the world’s first detailed map of olfactory receptors, analyzing more than 5.5 million neurons from over 300 mice. The map shows horizontal stripe patterns rather than random distribution, a discovery that could reshape...
Heriot‑Watt Researchers Achieve 100,000‑Fold Boost in Light Polarisation Control
Researchers at Heriot‑Watt University have demonstrated an all‑optical method to switch light polarisation 100,000 times stronger than previous techniques, using an aluminium‑zinc‑oxide film. The ultrafast, electronics‑free approach promises faster quantum‑communication hardware and new tools for drug synthesis.
Rohde & Schwarz Adds Pulsar Signal Simulation for LEO Navigation
Rohde & Schwarz has integrated Pulsar signal simulation into its SMBV100B and SMW200A vector signal generators, giving device makers a way to test receivers for Xona’s upcoming low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) navigation service. The software option lets engineers validate compatibility before the...
Astronomers Forecast Falcon 9 Upper Stage to Strike Moon at Mach 7 on Aug. 5
Bill Gray, using his Project Pluto tracking software, predicts the 13.8‑meter upper stage of a Falcon 9 launched in early 2025 will impact the Moon on Aug. 5 at roughly 5,400 mph (Mach 7). The event underscores concerns about lunar debris as the United...
South Korea Clears Curocell's Limcarto‑Joo, First Home‑Grown CAR‑T Therapy
Curocell's Limcarto‑Joo received marketing approval from South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, becoming the country's first domestically developed CAR‑T therapy. The treatment targets adult patients with diffuse large B‑cell lymphoma and primary mediastinal B‑cell lymphoma, marking a shift...
Regular Sex Is Linked to Fewer Daily Menopause Symptoms, Survey Finds
A cross‑sectional survey of more than 4,000 Japanese women aged 40‑79 found that those who reported sexual intercourse within the past three months experienced fewer daily genitourinary menopause symptoms such as dryness, irritation and pelvic pain. The analysis compared 716...
The Bangui Operation: A Story of Blood, Science and Biomedical Exploitation
In the early 1990s the Pasteur Institute in Bangui ran a covert HIV‑vaccine trial that recruited roughly 3,000 Central African soldiers, extracting over 11,000 blood samples. The research was funded by French institutions and aimed to fast‑track vaccine development at...
Environmental DNA Brings the East River’s Fish Population Into Focus
Researchers from The Rockefeller University used environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to catalog vertebrate life in New York City’s East River over a year. The technique identified dozens of fish species and even traced human dietary DNA, such as chicken, despite...
This Mysterious Process Sucks Electricity Directly From Its Environment
A February 2026 study in *Newton* reports that bismuth telluride exhibits a room‑temperature non‑linear Hall effect (NLHE), enabling direct conversion of ambient electrical signals into usable current. The researchers describe the process as ultrafast and efficient, but note that the generated...
Two Launches Yesterday
SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg, marking the booster’s 13th flight and successful drone‑ship landing. Arianespace followed with an Ariane‑6 launch from French Guiana, delivering 32 Amazon Leo satellites using four side boosters. The Amazon constellation...
STAT+: Five-Way Obesity Drug Is Super Effective — in Mice
Researchers have unveiled a preclinical obesity candidate that combines five distinct mechanisms, delivering dramatic weight loss in mouse models and outperforming current GLP‑1 therapies. The multi‑modal approach targets appetite, metabolism, gut hormones, energy expenditure, and adipose tissue remodeling, achieving up...
Women Live Longer After TAVR than Men
New research published in Heart, Lung and Circulation shows that women have superior long‑term survival after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) compared with men. The analysis of 600 patients treated at a high‑volume Norwegian center between 2012 and 2019 found...
Zealand Pharma and Roche Advance Petrelintide to Phase 3 for Chronic Weight Management
Zealand Pharma and Roche are moving the amylin analog petrelintide into Phase 3 trials to treat chronic overweight and obesity. The drug achieved up to 10.7% mean weight loss in the Phase 2 ZUPREME‑1 study, with tolerability comparable to placebo. A March 2025...
A Scientist Says Humans Were Meant to Live So Much Longer—Then the Dinosaurs Ruined It
University of Birmingham microbiologist João Pedro de Magalhães proposes the "longevity bottleneck hypothesis," arguing that 100 million years of dinosaur dominance forced early mammals to prioritize rapid reproduction over long life. This evolutionary pressure, he suggests, deactivated or eliminated genes and enzymes that support...
After SBTi Reset, some Wonder if Targets Are Still Science-Aligned
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has revised its corporate net‑zero rules, allowing companies to set far less aggressive near‑term cuts. Under the new appendix, the required 2030 reduction for Scope 1‑2 emissions drops from about 42% to roughly 21%, and...
CSMC Secures $5M From Alberta for Prototype Microreactor at the University of Alberta
Toronto‑based Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (CSMC) secured a CAD $5 million (≈US $3.7 million) grant from Alberta to build an unfuelled microreactor prototype at the University of Alberta. The $10 million (≈US $7.3 million) collaborative effort creates a testing hub that avoids fissile‑material licensing while gathering performance...
Fermilab Teams up with NIU to Launch Quantum Science Program
Fermilab and Northern Illinois University have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to launch a Master of Science in Physics with a specialization in quantum science and technology. The inaugural cohort will start classes in fall 2026, with research...
Chip‑scale EPR Achieved by Ultra‑fast Optical Frequency Sweep
What happens when you shrink EPR onto a chip and sweep 1400 THz/s instead of the magnet field itself? https://spectrum.ieee.org/epr-spectroscopy-free-radicals-chip?share_id=9416801
Irisin Hormone Reverses Obesity and Insulin Resistance
Irisin, a hormone released by muscle during exercise, reverses obesity and insulin resistance in mice -- without cutting food intake or causing muscle loss. As a medical school professor, I find this striking. We have spent a decade asking how to...
Can Arid Planets Keep Their Cool?
A new study models the long‑term carbon cycle on Earth‑like planets with varying water inventories. The authors find that a planet must retain at least 20‑50% of Earth's ocean mass to keep weathering and volcanic CO₂ in balance. Below this...
Intel Expands Into Three Quantum Computing Modalities
This is significant news. Intel now has their toes in three types of quantum computing modalities, to varying degrees: - Silicon spin - Neutral atoms - Photonics
Mitochondria Shape Immune Landscape: Clinical Insights
Mitochondria orchestrated immune microenvironment and response in health and disease-clinically relevant outlook and recommendations https://t.co/bI64EK9zdf https://t.co/0UV2mkcRiP
Water Molecules Found to Actively Drive Gene Transcription Process
Researchers used sub‑2 Å cryo‑electron microscopy to map individual water molecules inside RNA polymerase II, revealing over a thousand waters positioned at catalytic sites. The study shows these waters actively mediate proton transfer, substrate recognition, and structural stabilization during transcription. This challenges...
2026‑27 Temperature Forecasts Rise Amid Strong El Niño
I've updated my 2026 and 2027 annual temperature forecasts in light of the strong El Nino forecast (and 2026 data to-date) over at the Climate Brink, as well as methodological changes for more robust uncertainties. Both are now higher than they...
Nearly 60 Nations Convene in Colombia for Energy Transition
Nearly 60 nations, save the largest polluters, gathered in Colombia this week to discuss the energy transition. https://t.co/eYIniZphK2
Recreating Atmospheres
Researchers built a meter‑scale rotating annular tank that simulates Earth’s equator‑to‑pole temperature gradient by heating the outer rim and cooling a central pipe. Filled with a water‑glycerol mixture, the tank was spun at various rates to observe how energy and...
New Science Shows Pluto No Longer Qualifies as Planet
The science case for why Pluto still isn’t a planet Sure, we lived in a simpler time when we had 9 planets, including Pluto. But we've learned a whole lot since 1929, and can't in good conscience ignore it to suit our...
Register Now for UCLA Quantum Device Design Workshop
Friendly reminder to register (if you have not already) for the upcoming Quantum Device Design Workshop at UCLA June 15–18.
Defense Business Brief: Satellite Firm’s ‘Secret Sauce’ | 3D-Print Factory in a Box | Ship-Lobby Ad
Apex Space is scaling its satellite bus production with the XL version of its Comet platform, which can still fit 16 units on a Falcon 9 launch. The company’s proprietary Octopus software acts as an end‑to‑end operating system, using AI and...
What We Know (and Don’t Know) About Peptide Safety
Peptide safety is neither automatically assured by mimicking endogenous hormones nor inherently hazardous because research is incomplete. The risk profile depends on the specific peptide, the depth of clinical evidence, product purity, and real‑world usage conditions. Early‑phase trials provide maximum...
Türkiye’s COP31 Presidency and IEA Join Forces on Clean Energy Push
Türkiye’s COP31 presidency has forged a strategic partnership with the International Energy Agency to accelerate the global clean‑energy transition amid the Iran‑Russia war‑driven energy crisis. The alliance will focus on energy security, large‑scale electrification, green industrialisation, clean cooking for 2.3 billion...