Today's Science Pulse
UK-led study reveals hidden massive star clusters deep within nearby galaxies
Astronomers using the VLA and ALMA uncovered previously unseen giant star clusters embedded deep inside nearby galaxies. The findings show that young stellar activity drives the evolution of these galaxies, reshaping their interstellar environments. Multiple observations confirm the clusters act as hidden “ring factories” of star formation.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Foundation Alloy raises $22M Series A
An STD Could Save Your (Chest)nuts
Chestnut blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, has decimated American chestnut populations, killing billions of trees since the late 1800s. European researchers discovered that infecting this fungus with the mycovirus Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV1) dramatically reduces its virulence. The virus spreads through hyphal fusion and spores, allowing treated fungal strains to act as biological control agents. France has employed CHV1‑infected strains for over four decades, helping trees recover and limiting disease spread.
Every “Hassler” Adds ~9 Months to Your Biological Age
Negative relationships may accelerate biological aging. In a new study, each additional “hassler” - someone who often causes problems or makes life difficult - was linked to ~1.5% faster aging and ~9 extra months of biological age. The catch: this showed up...
Muscle‑Brain Dialogue Holds Key to Dementia Prevention
Your muscles and your brain are in constant conversation. Most people have no idea this conversation is happening — or what's at stake when it goes quiet. Many of you fear dementia far more than a heart attack or a diabetes...
Proposing Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure to Be Manifestations of the Same Condition
Researchers propose that atrial fibrillation and heart failure share a common molecular origin: reduced expression of the transcription factor TBX5. Mouse models lacking TBX5 in the atria develop arrhythmias and gene‑expression patterns that closely resemble heart‑failure signatures. Human atrial tissue...
Debating Brainless Clones as Personal
Are you pro-bodyoid or anti-bodyoid? For the purpose of this poll, a bodyoid is: a newborn clone of you lacking a cortex, a.k.a. a brainless clone, gestated by a paid surrogate. It's organs are a perfect match (isogenic) to you...
Oral Microbiome Changes in the Correlation Between Periodontal Disease and Cognitive Decline
Researchers analyzed data from 1,157 participants in the Taizhou Imaging Study, linking periodontal health, salivary microbiome composition, and cognitive function. They found five clinical periodontal indices inversely related to cognition and identified ten bacterial genera, 21 functional pathways, and two...
Cadmium Arsenide Terahertz Device Switches at 40 GHz, Paving Way for Ultra‑Thin Nanophotonics
A team led by Sobhan Subhra Mishra has fabricated an ultrathin terahertz emitter using the topological Dirac semimetal cadmium arsenide that can be optically switched at 40 GHz on a picosecond timescale. The breakthrough eliminates the need for bulky semiconductor control...
Sydney Study Cuts Physical Qubit Count for Fault‑Tolerant Quantum Computers
University of Sydney physicists announced a new quantum error‑correction technique that could slash the number of physical qubits required for large‑scale, fault‑tolerant quantum processors. The method, based on gauge theory, has already been incorporated into IBM’s roadmap, offering a tangible...
Spin a Boiled Egg to Make It Stand Upright
If you've got a hard-boiled egg, try this before anyone eats it. Spin it fast on the table and watch it end up standing upright. Kids always go “HOW?” and then want to see it ten more times and try...
CDC Halts Rabies and Pox Virus Testing as Staff Shortages Cut Workforce by Up to 25%
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has temporarily stopped rabies and pox virus testing because severe staffing shortages have left the rabies unit with a single specialist and the pox unit without any experts. The pause affects more...
New Study Suggests Building Muscle Might Help with Depression—Especially in Women
A Mendelian‑randomization study of 341,000 UK Biobank participants found that genetic predisposition to greater muscle strength, measured by grip strength, is associated with a 14% lower risk of depression. The protective effect is markedly stronger in women, with up to...
Prediabetes May Need a Tailored Treatment Rethink
Researchers presented new data on 662 U.S. adults aged 18‑40 with prediabetes, revealing that the average five‑year risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes is 7.5%. The risk climbs to 10.9% for those meeting GLP‑1 receptor agonist (GLP‑1RA) weight‑loss criteria, 15.1%...
Low-Footprint Epoxy with Tunable Latency Enables Recycled Carbon Fibre Mat Adoption
A new low‑footprint epoxy with tunable latency enables reliable impregnation of recycled carbon‑fibre mats, paving the way for mass‑production of lightweight automotive composites. Traditional epoxy systems are carbon‑intensive, creating a paradox as the industry seeks to meet stringent Scope 3 emission...
Multipurpose Anti-Viral Pill May Treat Colds, Norovirus, Flu and Covid
Artificial intelligence flagged a long‑neglected breast‑cancer medication as a candidate to block multiple viruses, and subsequent animal studies confirmed it can inhibit coronaviruses, RSV, norovirus, influenza and hepatitis viruses. Model Medicines, a California biotech, is advancing the compound toward a...
Reasoning Data Enables Age Prediction Without Biological Samples
This may be the most important breakthrough from Insilico in aging research this year (kind of building on the concepts from the MMAI Gym). Turns out, you do not need original biological data to train foundation models to predict...
This 5-Day Diet Helped Crohn’s Patients Feel Better Fast
A national randomized trial led by Stanford Medicine tested a five‑day, calorie‑restricted fasting‑mimicking diet (FMD) in 97 patients with mild‑to‑moderate Crohn's disease. Participants followed the low‑calorie, plant‑based protocol for five days each month over three months, while a control group...
Admixtures Tune Geopolymer Concrete For 3DCP
Researchers evaluated four chemical admixtures—barium chloride, tartaric acid, sucrose, and sodium tripolyphosphate—to expand the printability window of geopolymer concrete used in extrusion‑based 3D construction printing. The study measured impacts on static and dynamic yield stress, thixotropic rebuild, setting time, and...
Annotate Second Methionine when CDS Begins with MM
Question: If a transcript has a CDS that starts with two methionines, what's the general rule for sequence annotation? Should I make it so if two METs in a row at the beginning, annotate the closest MET to rest of sequence...
Mitigating Mn‐Driven Interfacial Instability in LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4 Cathodes for Lithium‐Ion Batteries via Surface‐Intensive Ta Doping
Researchers introduced surface‑intensive tantalum (Ta) doping into LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4 (LMFP) cathodes, exploiting Ta’s low diffusivity to enrich particle surfaces. The Ta‑enriched layer elongates Li‑O bonds, widens Li⁺ pathways, and raises the near‑surface Mn²⁺ fraction, suppressing Mn³⁺‑driven degradation. Electrochemical testing showed Ta‑doped...
Ultra‐Low‐Power and Reconfigurable Optoelectronic Memtransistor Based on Vertical Nb‐WSe2/Te Van Der Waals Heterostructure
Researchers have demonstrated an ultra‑low‑power optoelectronic memtransistor built from a vertical Nb‑doped WSe₂/Te van der Waals heterostructure. The device emulates short‑ and long‑term synaptic plasticity under light stimulation, consuming less than 1 attojoule per spike—four orders of magnitude below biological synapses. It can...
Quinoxaline‐6,7‐dicarboxylate‐based Photothermal Polymers Inspired Multifunctional Hydrogels for High‐Efficient Solar‐Driven Water Purification
Researchers have created three new conjugated polymers that serve as photothermal agents in a hydrogel platform. The optimized polymer PDPP‑SeQ delivers a photothermal conversion efficiency of 26.71 % and enables a water evaporation rate of 10.18 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, the highest reported for organic...
Freeze‐Drying Tumor Tissues Derived Bio‐Patches With Hair Melanin Nanoparticles Integration for Wound Healing
Researchers have created a freeze‑dried bio‑patch from decellularized colon tumor tissue that incorporates hair‑derived melanin nanoparticles. The patch preserves extracellular matrix proteins, growth factors, and collagen while adding antioxidant and photothermal antibacterial functions. In vitro tests show enhanced cell migration,...
Boosting Activity and Stability for the Alkaline Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction via Surface Reconstruction of Cu‐Ni Core–Shell Electrocatalysts Through Oxygen Intercalation
Researchers have developed a surface‑reconstruction method that uses nitric‑acid etching to modify Cu‑Ni core‑shell electrocatalysts for the alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). The process removes a Ni‑rich surface layer, intercalates oxygen into the top ~10 atomic layers, and redistributes Cu,...
Researchers Develop Nasally Delivered DNA Vaccine for Tuberculosis
Johns Hopkins researchers have created an intranasal DNA vaccine that fuses the relMtb and Mip3α genes to target drug‑tolerant tuberculosis persisters. In mouse models the vaccine accelerated bacterial clearance, lowered lung inflammation and prevented relapse when combined with standard therapy....
A Gene Mutation May Trap the Brain in the Wrong Reality in Schizophrenia Patients
MIT researchers identified a mutation in the grin2a gene that disrupts a mediodorsal thalamus‑prefrontal circuit, slowing adaptive decision‑making in mice. By sequencing 25,000 schizophrenia cases and 100,000 controls, they pinpointed grin2a among ten high‑risk genes. Mutant mice persisted longer in...
Lessons From Belgrade on UK Research
A UK‑Serbia Science and Innovation Fellowship brought twenty UK research leaders to Belgrade, revealing both common challenges and complementary strengths in their innovation ecosystems. Serbian researchers excel in IT, agriculture and engineering, while the UK grapples with fragmented interdisciplinary funding...
U.S. Biofuels Target Could Fuel Destruction of Tropical Rainforest
President Trump announced an EPA rule that raises the Renewable Fuel Standard to 27 billion gallons of biofuel by 2027, including a 60 percent jump—about 9 billion gallons—in biomass‑based diesel. The United States does not produce enough vegetable oil to meet the new...
Reefense: Living Shoreline Mosaics Can Achieve Ecological and Engineering Outcomes with Interdisciplinary Design
A new interdisciplinary effort, dubbed Reefense, demonstrates that living shoreline mosaics—particularly oyster‑reef based designs—can deliver both coastal protection and ecosystem benefits. The research, funded by DARPA, shows that a stable substrate can provide immediate wave attenuation while the maturing reef...
Training Thermodynamic Computers by Gradient Descent
The paper introduces a gradient‑descent training framework for thermodynamic computers, allowing them to execute neural‑network‑style computations with dramatically lower energy use. By maximizing the probability of an idealized trajectory that mimics a trained neural network, the authors align the physical...
India Targets LVM3 Rocket Power Upgrade by End of 2026
India’s space agency ISRO is targeting an integrated hot‑test of its indigenous semi‑cryogenic SE/SCE‑2000 engine by the end of 2026, with test facilities already in place. The 2,000 kN thrust engine could serve as LVM3’s second stage or replace the existing...
Jersey Scraps Phase-Out of Petrol and Diesel Cars
Jersey has scrapped its plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 after a consultation showed strong public resistance. More than 2,000 respondents, including 63 % of individuals and 79 % of organisations, warned of negative economic...
Merck Initiates P-IIb/III (MALBEC) Trial of MK-8748 for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Merck has launched the pivotal Phase IIb/III MALBEC trial to evaluate MK‑8748 (Tiespectus/EYE201) in patients with neovascular age‑related macular degeneration (NVAMD). The study pits two intravitreal dose levels of the bispecific TIE2‑agonist/VEGF‑inhibitor against aflibercept 2 mg, beginning with quarterly injections for three...
Japan Approves Conditional Stem‑cell Parkinson’s Replacement Therapy
Woah. I'm slightly embarrassed that I missed this for a few weeks. Finally there is approval, in a Large Nation, for a stem cell-based REPLACEMENT therapy for an age-related condition. The condition is, no surprise, Parkinson's, which I always highlight...
Just-in-Time Decoding Enables High‑Threshold 2D Non‑Pauli Quantum Gates
Recent weeks have brought a range of new ideas in quantum error correction for fault tolerant-quantum computing, along with deeper exploration of their implications. We introduce a new approach: a method for achieving high-threshold decoding of non-Pauli codes aimed at...
Listen: Why France Is Falling Behind on Cadmium?
A recent French food‑safety study found that French consumers are exposed to cadmium levels three to four times higher than their European neighbours. The excess stems from natural limestone soils, industrial emissions, and phosphate fertilisers imported from Morocco that contain...
Between the Chains: RHEON Labs Brings Its Energy Dampening Expertise to Pellet 3D Printing
RHEON Labs, a specialist in energy‑dampening polymers, has expanded its manufacturing portfolio to include pellet extrusion 3D printing. The company leverages terabytes of test data from advanced rigs to fine‑tune a highly strain‑sensitive, non‑Newtonian thermoplastic that can switch from soft...
Scientists Say BMI Gets It Wrong for over One Third of Adults
A new Italian study using dual‑energy X‑ray absorptiometry (DXA) found that the body mass index (BMI) misclassifies more than one‑third of adults when compared to direct body‑fat measurements. In a sample of 1,351 white‑Caucasian participants, over 50% of those labeled...
Newly Identified Barrier Cells Seal Off Choroid Plexus From CSF, Rest of Brain
Researchers have identified a previously unknown population of fibroblasts that create a tight‑junction barrier at the base of the choroid plexus, sealing it off from cerebrospinal fluid and the rest of the brain. The barrier, observed in both mouse models...
Leading UK Climate Scientists Warn Against New North Sea Drilling
A coalition of leading UK climate scientists has publicly warned the government against approving new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea. They argue that the additional production would generate roughly 30 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, undermining the...
Personalized NAD Boosting Needed; Redox Fingerprints Reveal Disease
Dynamics of blood NAD and glutathione in health, disease, aging and under NAD-booster treatment “In healthy population (n=299;18-70 year-olds) redox metabolites follow normal distribution in blood and remain unchanged during aging. NAD-boosting increased 4-6 fold the blood NAD+ depending on individual,...
Gut Microbiome Depletion May Rejuvenate Aging Brain
Microbiome depletion rejuvenates the aging brain "...targeting the gut microbiome or its circulating mediators may therefore represent a non-invasive approach to promote brain health and cognitive resilience in aging..." https://t.co/GuBPBxx1p9
The Awe of a Moon Launch in an Age of Trump, Turmoil and Tribal Divisions
Artemis II launched on April 2, 2026, sending four astronauts on a lunar flyby and testing critical deep‑space systems. The mission revives the spirit of Apollo 8, offering a brief unifying moment amid intense domestic division. President Trump gave a 35‑second acknowledgment before shifting...
Starship and V3 Test Flights Expected Within Six Weeks
Next flight of Starship and first flight of V3 ship & booster is 4 to 6 weeks away https://t.co/tg4OQQ7pyI
Rice Engineers Turn Dead Spiders Into Necrobotic Grippers
Dead Spiders Reanimated as Necrobotic Grippers by Rice University Engineers by @IntEngineering #Innovation #TechForGood #EmergingTech #Technology https://t.co/pKca0ZPo05
Cool: Spirit Airlines Passengers Capture Video of Artemis Rocket Launch
NASA’s Artemis II mission launched on the Space Launch System, marking a key step toward a sustained lunar presence and future Mars trips. Passengers on Spirit Airlines flight NK 3830 from Atlanta to San Juan were rerouted over Florida, capturing a rare, close‑up...
Tianlong-3 Launch Unconfirmed Amid Failure Speculation
LAUNCH of Tianlong-3 from Jiuquan at about 0417 UTC. Speculation it has failed but no official info yet.
National Science Programs Spark Kids' DIY Space Curiosity
Watched the Artemis launch yesterday with my 8yo. Today he built a rocket out of household stuff and started explaining all the parts. Don’t underestimate how important national science programs are. 🚀
Capsule Robot Endoscopy Simplifies Exams, Reduces Patient Pain
#WhatsNext? This endoscopy in a capsule robot, makes it easier for doctors to fully examine patients. It also makes examinations less painful to patients. (GiGadgets) #Robotics https://t.co/IQr2WTjyj6
AI Poised for Paradigm‑shifting Breakthroughs Beyond Human Knowledge
Now this is really interesting. It gets at whether AI models will be able to not just push at the edges of human knowledge but actually take a leap beyond the current human understanding into paradigm shifting breakthroughs. No clear...
Severe Infections Independently Raise Dementia Risk, Study Shows
The role of noninfectious comorbidities in the association between severe infections and risk of dementia in Finland: A nationwide registry study "These results support the role of severe infections as independent risk factors for dementia..." https://t.co/7gG41XSiy7