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
A Teaspoon of Material From a Neutron Star — the Collapsed Remnant of a Massive Star that Has Compressed All...
A teaspoon of material from a neutron star would weigh about two billion tonnes, far exceeding the combined mass of all humans. The density of neutron‑star matter is roughly 4 × 10^17 kg per cubic metre, making a sugar‑cube‑sized sample comparable to the mass of Mount Everest. Such matter can only exist under the star’s immense gravity; removed to Earth it would explode like a thermonuclear device. Ongoing missions like NASA’s NICER aim to decode the star’s interior by measuring its radius and mass.
Nattokinase Shows No Benefit in Rigorous Trial
The “300% better than statins” number comes from a 76-person Chinese study (Ren 2017) with no placebo arm. The “1,000+ people” study is a separate retrospective one. Unclear if the OP knew this and did it intentionally. The only large, randomized,...
How Artemis II Livestreamed Hi-Def Videos and Images From the Moon to Earth
NASA’s Orion Artemis II spacecraft used the MIT‑Lincoln Laboratory Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) to beam high‑definition video and photos from lunar orbit back to Earth via a laser‑com link. The system achieved up to 260 Mbps, downlinking roughly half a...
If the Universe Is Infinite — Which Current Cosmology Suggests Is Genuinely Possible — Then Somewhere Out There, Beyond the...
Current cosmology, grounded in inflationary theory and flat‑space observations, allows for an infinite universe beyond the observable 93 billion‑light‑year horizon. In such an infinite expanse, the finite number of quantum configurations means every possible arrangement—including exact duplicates of Earth and individual...
Revealing Optical Activity in Achiral Crystals
Researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have demonstrated Raman optical activity (ROA) in nickel‑titanium oxide (NiTiO₃), an achiral and non‑magnetic crystal. The effect originates from ferroaxial order—a coordinated rotation of atoms that creates an axial vector interacting with circularly polarized...
AI-Guided AFM Analyzes Nanostructures without Human Intervention
A collaborative team from Korea University, Harvard‑affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and Seoul’s biomedical engineering community published a review in ACS Nano outlining an integrated AI‑augmented atomic force microscopy (AFM) framework. The paper details how artificial intelligence can automate probe selection, scan‑path...
Understanding Neutron Star Mergers with Artificial Intelligence
An international team at GSI/FAIR introduced RHINE, a neural‑network model that predicts the energy release from r‑process nucleosynthesis during neutron‑star mergers. By training on thousands of detailed nucleosynthesis calculations, RHINE replaces costly on‑the‑fly reaction networks in hydrodynamic simulations. The approach...
Chemical Impurities Make Carbon Surfaces Superslippery
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University and Fraunhofer IWM discovered that trace chemical impurities, especially hydrogen and oxygen, enable amorphous carbon to form graphite‑like, ultra‑low‑friction layers when subjected to shear stress. Large‑scale quantum‑mechanical simulations revealed that low‑valency impurities stabilize nano‑voids, prompting...
Melanoma Rates and Mortality Peak Among Older Adults in Florida, Study Finds
A Florida Atlantic University study of adults 65 and older reveals that melanoma mortality peaks among older men, who die at roughly twice the rate of women, while incidence has remained steady from 2018 to 2021. The research also shows...
Induced Cortical On/Off Periods Mimic Sleep Functions
Researchers have shown for the first time that cortical on/off periods—brief, coordinated pauses in neuronal firing—can be artificially induced in awake mice using optogenetics. The induced states reproduced hallmark sleep functions, including synaptic downscaling and improved performance on memory‑dependent tasks....
STAT+: Novo Underwhelmed by Drug It Once Fought Pfizer For
Novo Nordisk is downplaying an obesity drug it once contested with Pfizer, signaling a shift in its confidence about the product’s market potential. The drug, previously seen as a flagship GLP‑1 therapy, now faces stiff competition from emerging rivals. Meanwhile,...
How Implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Pushing the Boundaries of Precision Die Bonding
Implantable brain‑computer interfaces (BCIs) are transitioning from lab demos to medical products, with companies like Neuralink, Paradromics, Synchron and China’s Neuracle advancing high‑density neural implants. The core engineering hurdle is assembling ultra‑delicate microelectronics that must survive years of exposure to...
Why Does One Side of the Moon Have a Lot of Craters, While the Other Does Not?
The Moon’s near side hosts extensive dark lava plains, or maria, while the far side is dominated by rugged highlands and craters. These maria formed when massive early impacts created basins that later filled with molten lava, especially on the...
Ultrathin Diamond Layer Boosts Performance of High-Power Electronics
MIT researchers have demonstrated an ultrathin single‑crystal diamond interposer that embeds gallium‑nitride (GaN) dielets, dramatically improving thermal management in high‑power chips. The diamond layer spreads heat, keeping GaN and silicon at the same temperature while avoiding the parasitic capacitance of...
C. Elegans Researchers Uncover First Non‑Repeating Developmental Clock
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory researchers led by Professor Christopher Hammell have identified a master developmental clock in the nematode C. elegans. The clock, built from proteins MYRF-1 and LIN-42, is the first known non‑repeating biological timer that precisely schedules each...
High-Dose Psilocybin Triggers Temporary Cognitive Gains in 80‑Year‑Old Alzheimer’s Patient
Brazilian neuroscientists gave an 80‑year‑old woman with advanced Alzheimer’s a 5‑gram dose of psilocybin‑containing mushrooms, prompting temporary restoration of speech, bladder control and gait that lasted several weeks. A second 3‑gram dose a month later produced further emotional and functional...
Acceleration in the Lower Troposphere
A new preprint, still un‑peer‑reviewed, reports that after removing ENSO and aerosol influences, satellite lower‑troposphere temperatures show a post‑2015 warming trend of up to 0.48 °C per decade and an acceleration of roughly 0.4‑0.5 °C per decade‑squared, implying an extra 0.5‑1.0 °C of...
ETH Zurich Shows Microrobot‑Enabled Spinal Cord Repair in Fish and Mice
Researchers at ETH Zurich injected magnetically controlled microrobots loaded with induced pluripotent stem cells into injured spinal cords of zebrafish and mice, achieving measurable functional recovery within days. The bio‑hybrid robots combine stem‑cell therapy with magnetic navigation, a potential breakthrough...
Atom Computing Demonstrates Repeatable Error‑Correction on Neutral‑Atom Qubits
Atom Computing announced that its neutral‑atom quantum processor successfully performed repeatable error‑correction cycles, scaling qubit groupings from 16 to 32 while maintaining lower error rates. The breakthrough puts neutral‑atom technology in direct competition with superconducting platforms from Google and IBM.
South Korea: University Research Team Unveils AI Model to Predict Virulence of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
Sungkyunkwan University researchers unveiled DeepTYLCV, an AI model that predicts the virulence of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) directly from viral genome sequences. The hybrid system blends transformer‑based language embeddings with a multi‑scale convolutional neural network, surpassing the earlier...
Listening to How Plants Talk, Scream and Cry
At the 3rd Biotechnology Conference in Valencia, the Institute of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology (IBMCP) unveiled its Plant Ultrasound Atlas, the world’s largest collection of ultrasonic recordings from crops. The AI‑driven database, now over 30,000 hours of data, can...
Lunar Crater Hosts World’s Most Precise Optical Clock
What happens when you put the most stable laser in the solar system inside a frozen lunar crater and use it as a timekeeper? https://spectrum.ieee.org/lunar-lasers-optical-atomic-clock?share_id=9581485
IMMX's NXC-201 Shows 95
We have been fans of $IMMX for some time, and the recent selloff is creating what looks like an interesting opportunity in what may be one of the more disruptive cell therapy platforms in development. • NXC-201 has reported a...
Diabetes Drug Dramatically Lowers Heart Failure Risk in Genetic Carriers
Researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Broad Institute found that dapagliflozin, a diabetes drug, slashes heart‑failure hospitalizations by roughly 80% in patients carrying rare cardiomyopathy‑linked genetic variants. The analysis of the DECLARE‑TIMI 58 trial identified 121 such carriers among 12,685...
OriCell’s GPC3‑Targeted CAR‑T Ori‑C101 Clears NMPA for Phase II Liver Cancer Trial
OriCell Therapeutics announced that its GPC3‑directed autologous CAR‑T, Ori‑C101, has been cleared by China’s National Medical Products Administration to enter a confirmatory Phase II randomised trial in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who have failed two or more prior therapies. The...
A Hairdresser Made a Revolutionary Heat-Proof Plastic. The Secret Formula Died With Him—Maybe.
In 1990 a BBC segment showcased Starlite, a hairdresser‑invented polymer that resisted temperatures up to 1,200 °C while keeping an egg’s interior cool. The material’s intumescent carbon‑foam mechanism attracted aerospace interest, including NASA, but inventor Maurice Ward never disclosed the formula...
New Peer-Reviewed Study by Over 20 Protein Experts Urges Rethinking Dietary Protein Recommendations Beyond Simply “Eat More Protein” – Reported...
A new peer‑reviewed study authored by more than 20 protein nutrition experts, highlighted by the National Pork Board, challenges the simplistic "eat more protein" mantra. The researchers argue that recommendations should consider protein quality, distribution across meals, and individual factors...
All Solar Cell Efficiencies at a Glance – Updated
The UNSW‑led research team released Version 68 of the Solar Cell Efficiency Tables in the July 2026 issue of Joule, now open‑access and published biannually. The update adds 21 new records, highlighted by Longi’s 28.1% efficiency on a 140 cm² silicon cell and...
Using a Bird’s Structural-Color Trick to Color Solar Modules
Chinese researchers have created quasi‑ordered photonic pigments that color photovoltaic (PV) modules by scattering light rather than absorbing it. The pigments, made from silica microspheres and polyacrylate resin, can be tuned to produce blue, cyan or gray‑white hues while letting...
The First Alien Intelligence May Not Be Alive
The article argues that humanity’s first encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence is more likely to be a machine than a living organism. Biological life faces insurmountable challenges for interstellar travel, whereas autonomous probes can survive decades or centuries in harsh space...
STAT+: Combination of Pancreatic Cancer Drugs From Tango, Revolution Leads to High Response Rate
Revolution Medicines' KRAS G12C inhibitor daraxonrasib, already highlighted for pancreatic cancer, was paired with Tango Therapeutics' epigenetic drug vopimetostat in a new study. The early‑stage trial reported durable responses in the large majority of participants, with significant tumor reductions observed....
Predicting Alzheimers & Dementia (and Minimizing Risk)
Recent epidemiological studies show that high intake of omega‑3 fatty acids from oily fish dramatically lowers dementia risk. The Framingham Offspring cohort found a 49% reduction in Alzheimer’s disease for participants with the highest red‑blood‑cell DHA levels, while a UK...
Heat Breaks the Rules at the Nanoscale and Scientists Used It to Their Advantage
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, together with Stanford and Purdue collaborators, demonstrated that gold‑patterned metamaterials can increase near‑field radiative heat transfer up to fourfold across nanometer‑scale gaps, as reported in Nature. By engineering microscopic structures that resonate with surface phonon...
Atlantic 'Cold Blob' Tied to Weakening AMOC Signals Imminent Tipping Point
A study in Geophysical Research Letters links the persistent Atlantic “cold blob” to a weakening Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The authors warn that further slowdown could push the AMOC toward a tipping point with global climate repercussions.
Scientists Identify Three Distinct Paths of Cognitive Decline in Early Alzheimer’s Disease
Researchers analyzing data from 1,629 cognitively normal adults aged 65‑85 identified three distinct trajectories of cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: stable, slow, and fast. Approximately 70% of participants, including most with elevated amyloid, remained stable over a median six‑year...
GLP‑1/GIP Therapies Deliver Double‑Digit Weight Loss in Phase 3 Trials
Eli Lilly's retatrutide, Novo Nordisk's CagriSema, Lilly's oral Foundayo and Hengrui/Kailera's ribupatide all posted Phase 3 or late‑stage results showing double‑digit weight loss and significant blood‑sugar reductions, positioning multi‑hormone GLP‑1 therapies as potential game‑changers for obesity and type‑2 diabetes.
Model for Predicting Battery RUL
Researchers at Chang’an University in Xi’an have introduced a hybrid CNN‑GRU‑PF model to predict battery remaining useful life (RUL). The approach preprocesses capacity data with CEEMDAN and Pearson correlation, extracts spatial features via a 1‑D CNN, captures temporal dependencies with...
Study Shows Father Interaction Predicts Child Heart and Metabolic Health
A Penn State team published a longitudinal study linking fathers' early sensitivity to lower markers of inflammation and blood sugar in children at age seven. The findings challenge the long‑standing focus on maternal behavior and suggest father‑specific dynamics shape long‑term...
Survodutide Cuts Liver Fat by 30% in 84% of Patients, Triggers 12% Weight Loss in Phase 3 Trial
In the SYNCHRONIZE-MASLD phase 3 trial, survodutide achieved a ≥30% reduction in liver fat in 84.2% of treated patients versus 24.3% on placebo, and produced an average 12.2% body‑weight loss versus 1.0% for placebo. The results position the GLP‑1/glucagon dual agonist...
Heat, Humidity of India’s Monsoon Could Extend Summer Heat Stress as Climate Warms: Study
A new study by IIT Gandhinagar, Stanford and Purdue finds that India’s monsoon season could see uncompensable heat stress (UHS) affect roughly 53 % of the country if global warming reaches 2 °C above pre‑industrial levels. Over the 1979‑2021 record, UHS‑prone area...
Bharat Innovates 2026: How an IIT Madras Incubator Helped Build the World's First 3D-Printed Rocket Engine
India’s Bharat Innovates 2026 program spotlighted Agnikul Cosmos, a Chennai‑based startup incubated at IIT Madras Research Park, for achieving the world’s first single‑piece 3D‑printed semi‑cryogenic rocket engine. The Agnilet engine powered the Agnibaan SOrTeD sub‑orbital flight on May 30 2024, reaching 20 km...
Gold-Core Nanoparticles Deliver Full-Spectrum Structural Colors
Yuwon Jeon and his team at KU‑KIST in Seoul have engineered gold‑core, silica‑shell nanoparticles that suppress blue scattering and produce vivid, stable reds, greens and blues without dyes. The breakthrough could reshape paints, coatings and anti‑counterfeiting inks.
Trees and Greenery Can Cool Cities by as Much as 18°C – but only if They’re the Right Type
Urban heat islands are driving cities to plant more vegetation, but new field research from Melbourne, Munich and Hong Kong shows that the type and arrangement of greenery matter as much as quantity. By measuring mean radiant temperature, the study found...
Amplifying Randomness with Quantum Measurements
Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated a loophole‑free Bell test that amplifies weakly random inputs into provably random numbers. Using two cryogenically cooled transmon qubits separated by 30 m, the system produced over 45 million certified random bits from 5 billion biased inputs....
![Astronauts Aboard SpaceX Dragon Capture Stunning Aurora From Space [PHOTO]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://orbitaltoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/stunning-aurora-from-orbit-scaled.jpg)
Astronauts Aboard SpaceX Dragon Capture Stunning Aurora From Space [PHOTO]
Astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon captured vivid green and deep‑red auroras from low Earth orbit as a series of coronal mass ejections triggered G2‑G3 geomagnetic storms this week. The timelapse posted by Jessica Meir shows the auroral oval wrapping the...
2026 ADA | Innovent Presents Multiple Clinical and Preclinical Results of Next-Generation Obesity & Metabolic Pipeline
Innovent Biologics unveiled a suite of next‑generation obesity and metabolic candidates at the 2026 ADA Scientific Sessions, including oral GLP‑1 receptor agonists IBI3032 (daily) and IBI3042 (weekly), a novel amylin analog IBI3040, and an INHBE‑targeting siRNA IBI3046. Preclinical studies showed...
3I/ATLAS Is only the Third Confirmed Interstellar Object Ever Detected Passing Through Our Solar System. It May Be Older than...
The discovery of 3I/ATLAS marks the third confirmed interstellar visitor to traverse our solar system, following the enigmatic 1I/‘Oumuamua and the icy comet 2I/Borisov. Detected by the ATLAS survey in Chile on 1 July 2025, the object arrived on a hyperbolic trajectory...
Artificial Intelligence-Based Modeling of the Dynamics and Regulation of Intracellular Signaling Pathways
Researchers introduced a hybrid artificial‑intelligence framework that merges physics‑informed neural networks, temporal convolutional networks, and graph neural networks to model intracellular signaling dynamics. The system was trained on 23,456 multi‑omics samples spanning key pathways such as MAPK/ERK and PI3K. Results...
No Safe Alcohol Level: Cancer Risk Rises Linearly
Alcohol is an underappreciated risk factor for cancer. A new large analysis of 843 studies found that alcohol intake was associated with a linear increase in the risk of several cancers, with no clearly safe level observed. - 16% higher risk of...
Neonatal Septicemia Caused by Edwardsiella Tarda: A Case Report and Literature Review
A five‑day‑old infant presented with jaundice, reduced feeding and irritability; blood cultures identified the rare pathogen Edwardsiella tarda. The neonate was successfully treated with meropenem and intravenous gamma globulin and discharged without complications. Follow‑up showed no residual issues. This case...