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
You Don’t Need to Lose Weight to Reverse Prediabetes, Study Finds
A new Nature Medicine study shows that prediabetes can remit without any weight loss, challenging the long‑standing emphasis on shedding pounds to prevent diabetes. About 25% of participants in lifestyle programs normalized blood glucose despite stable weight, achieving protection comparable to weight‑loss remission. The research links this outcome to reduced visceral fat and heightened GLP‑1 hormone activity, suggesting that fat redistribution and metabolic changes can drive remission. These findings could reshape clinical guidance toward metabolic health metrics rather than scale‑focused goals.
Possibility of Heightened Risk of Resistant TB Following Drug Treatment of Latent TB Owing to Lack of Confirmatory Tests to...
Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) affects millions, yet treatment relies on regimens without a gold‑standard test to confirm cure. Current diagnostics—tuberculin skin test and interferon‑gamma release assay— suffer false results and cannot differentiate active disease, leaving clinicians unable to monitor drug...
Metformin Reduces Weight Gain in Young People Taking Antipsychotics
A large pragmatic trial involving 1,565 overweight or obese youths with bipolar spectrum disorders found that adding metformin to a brief lifestyle program significantly blunted weight gain associated with second‑generation antipsychotics. Over six months, the metformin group’s BMI rose only...
Dawn’s Suborbital Spaceplane Completes Radar Tracking Experiment with Defence Science and Technology
New Zealand’s Defence Science and Technology agency and the Royal Navy teamed with Dawn Aerospace to conduct the DARTE radar‑tracking experiment, using the Aurora suborbital spaceplane off the Canterbury coast. The trial demonstrated that the frigate HMNZS Te Kaha’s surveillance radar can...
Voyager's 40,000 Mph Journey Reaches Just One
By Fushin whose photo is of Orion's belt, 1300 light years away. Voyager was launched in 1977 and traveled until last year at 38000 miles per hour and made it one light day... https://t.co/oLrjZfg0t4
Could Fiber-Optic Cables Detect Moonquakes?
Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers propose using fiber‑optic cables as seismic sensors to detect moonquakes. The concept adapts telecom‑grade fiber, which can register minute strain changes, for deployment on the lunar surface. By embedding the cables in future lunar infrastructure,...
Exploring the Path to Quantum Advantage at Kavli Symposium
I'm looking forward to the Kavli Symposium tomorrow at the APS Global Physics Summit, where I'll speak about "The Road to Quantum Advantage" https://t.co/PVExMVwgFr
Study Confirms 20‑Year Fashion Cycle, Highlights Growing Trend Fragmentation
Northwestern University scientists led by Emma Zajdela quantified the long‑standing “20‑year rule” by analyzing 37,000 women’s‑clothing images from 1869 onward. Their mathematical model shows trends rise, fall, and return roughly every two decades, but the post‑1980 era displays a splintering...
Repowering U.S. Wind Farms Could Double Output to 21% Demand
New paper: Repowering existing U.S. wind farms with newer turbines could double current output so that the U.S. could meet up to 21% (instead of 10.5% currently) of electricity demand from wind. Paper: https://t.co/WSQ69VU0c5 Article https://t.co/aApXUcPvjp
Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Lifespan: Dynamic Symptom Trajectories and Multidimensional Support Framework
The Molecular Psychiatry review maps autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from childhood through old age, highlighting that symptom expression and functional challenges evolve across life stages. While pediatric ASD research dominates, the article underscores a stark evidence gap for adults and...
Mechanistic Insights Into Cannabidiol-Mediated TrkB Activation via FRS2 Interaction in Attenuating Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology and Cognitive Impairment
A recent preclinical study demonstrates that cannabidiol (CBD) directly engages the TrkB neurotrophin receptor through its PTB‑binding domain, recruiting the adaptor protein FRS2 to trigger robust downstream signaling. This activation attenuates amyloid‑β deposition, tau hyperphosphorylation, and neuroinflammation in transgenic Alzheimer’s...
RNA Modifications in Gene Regulation: Functions and Pathways
RNA epigenetics has expanded to over 170 chemically modified nucleotides that shape gene expression at transcriptional and post‑transcriptional levels. The review highlights m6A as the most studied mark, detailing its writer‑METTL3/14 complex, erasers FTO/ALKBH5, and diverse readers that control RNA...
Editorial Expression of Concern: A FADD-Dependent Innate Immune Mechanism in Mammalian Cells
Nature has issued an editorial expression of concern for the 2004 study linking FADD to innate antiviral immunity after detecting overlapping microscopy images across multiple figures. The flagged panels include Figure 1g, Figure 4a, Figure 4g, and supplemental Figures S1a and S2a, suggesting possible...
New DNA Base Editor Cuts Off‑target Edits, Keeps Efficiency
A newly engineered DNA base editor significantly reduces bystander edits while maintaining high on-target efficiency, offering a more precise tool for gene therapy and genetic research. geneediting
New DNA Base Editor Minimizes Bystander Edits While Maintaining High Efficiency
Researchers at UC San Diego have engineered a minimally evolved adenine base editor (ME‑ABE) that dramatically cuts bystander DNA edits while preserving the high on‑target efficiency of newer ABE8 variants. By reverting five specific mutations in the older ABE7.10 scaffold,...
Hong Kong: AI, Robotics Drive New Aerospace Technologies
A research partnership between Hong Kong’s Space Robotics and Energy Centre and Southeast University is accelerating autonomous space‑robotics, AI‑enabled navigation, and deep‑space energy management. The collaboration, supported by HKUST labs, targets rugged robotic platforms, precision manipulation, and modular power systems...
Global Insect Rescue Plan Requires New Technology to Ensure Success
A new study in Conservation Letters finds that the 23 biodiversity targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework could reverse insect declines if met, but current metrics lack insect‑specific sensitivity. Researchers highlight that only dragonflies and damselflies have been fully assessed...
India: Space Tech Drives Smart Agriculture and Disaster Resilience
India is harnessing space and digital technologies to boost agricultural productivity and disaster resilience. ISRO and the Department of Space have launched satellite‑based programs such as FASAL, NADAMS, CHAMAN and SUFALAM that deliver real‑time crop health, yield forecasts and drought...
Xanadu Introduces Quantum Algorithm for Battery Materials Simulation and Analysis
Xanadu Quantum Technologies, together with the University of Toronto and the National Research Council of Canada, unveiled a fault‑tolerant quantum algorithm that simulates resonant inelastic X‑ray scattering (RIXS) for lithium‑rich cathode materials. The pre‑print demonstrates that the method can model...
Formalization of QFT?
A new arXiv paper claims to formalize a free scalar quantum field theory in Lean/Mathlib by constructing a Euclidean measure that satisfies the Glimm‑Jaffe Osterwalder‑Schrader axioms. The work reproduces the classic proof that the two‑point Schwinger function yields a measure...
The Comedy of Errors That Was the First-Ever Space Walk
On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed humanity’s first extravehicular activity, stepping outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft for roughly ten minutes. The EVA quickly turned hazardous as his suit swelled, causing glove and boot failures and forcing him to...
Never Mind Band-Aids, Neanderthals Had Antiseptic Birch Tar
Researchers tested birch tar extracted using Neanderthal methods and found it inhibits Staphylococcus aureus, confirming its antiseptic potential. The study shows Neanderthals could have used birch tar for wound care as early as 200,000 years ago. Modern Indigenous practices align...
All Human Diseases Emerge From Nature, Not Labs
Our government has gone full idiot. Every single human infectious disease, from smallpox and influenza to AIDS and Ebola, originally spilled into our species from nature. I know of zero exceptions to this rule (please enlighten me if you do) We don’t...
AI-Driven Memory Chip Surge Threatens Semiconductor Climate Impact
A rush to boost to production of memory chips to meet accelerating demand from sectors like AI risks adding to climate cost of the semiconductor industry https://t.co/i5aUfKotIc
AI Software for Smart Glasses Wins £1m Prize for Technology to Help People with Dementia
CrossSense Ltd’s AI‑powered smart glasses, featuring the Wispy conversational assistant, have won the £1 million Longitude prize for dementia technology. The glasses combine a camera, microphone and speakers to deliver real‑time verbal cues and floating text that help wearers complete daily...
Unprecedented March Heat Wave Linked to Human‑Driven Warming
I'll be on @BBCWorld News America TONIGHT ~8pm ET to discuss the unprecedented March heat wave in the U.S. and its tie-in to human-caused planetary warming. Please tune in! https://t.co/bmgrFtoNpJ
Spacewalk Safety Tech Stuns While Working on Laptop
Doin some laptop work and watching the latest ISS space walk. Amazing how much tech goes into the safety of it. https://t.co/2vpLaqhNEd
Pasqal and Kipu Quantum Demonstrate Analog Counterdiabatic Optimization on 100 Qubits
Pasqal and Kipu Quantum have experimentally realized Analog Counterdiabatic Quantum Computing (ACQC) on neutral‑atom platforms, scaling the protocol to 100 qubits to solve the Maximum Independent Set (MIS) problem. By analytically deriving counterdiabatic corrections for Rabi frequency, detuning and phase,...
Stopping GLP‑1 Therapy Quickly Erodes Cardiovascular Protection
A new finding after stopping GLP-1 drugs in a large cohort with Type 2 diabetes: rapid erosion of CV benefit/protection New @bmj_latest by @zalaly @Biostayan https://t.co/JG6yB8wTJJ See thread: https://t.co/6JvfIIjVBw https://t.co/wUgWhvs9Yy
New Real-World Evidence Supports the Use of AI in Lung Cancer Screening
A prospective trial of 911 asymptomatic patients undergoing low‑dose chest CT showed that AI‑assisted nodule detection modestly increased interpretation time by about 15 seconds but significantly boosted the identification of Lung‑RADS‑positive nodules. Radiologists using the AI tool reported roughly double...
Fluorescent Ruby-Like Gems Have Been Found on Mars for the First Time
NASA's Perseverance rover has identified tiny corundum crystals—ruby or sapphire‑like gems—inside a Martian pebble named Hampden River. The rover’s SuperCam instrument used dual‑laser spectroscopy and luminescence imaging to match the spectral signature of the grains to laboratory ruby standards. This...
Building Trust in the Future of Quantum Computing
Researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) have launched a formal‑methods program to make quantum computers trustworthy. Their Laboratory on Formal Methods for Quantum Computing has introduced Concurrent Dynamic Quantum Logic (CDQL), a framework that can model...
Why Doesn’t Astronomy Magazine Recognize Messier 110?
Astronomy magazine does not list Messier 110 because the original Messier catalogue, compiled by Charles Messier, stops at 103 objects. Although Messier observed the Andromeda satellite galaxy, he never assigned it a Messier number, and it was only added by amateur Kenneth Glyn Jones...
SEEQC Reports 1st Quantum Computer with Integrated Qubit Control on a Chip at Millikelvin Temperatures
SEEQC announced the first full‑stack quantum computer that integrates superconducting digital control circuitry directly on a chip operating at 10 millikelvin. The five‑qubit processor, paired with a separate SFQ control chip, achieved single‑qubit gate fidelities above 99.5% and demonstrated nanowatt‑scale power...
In‑body Genome Editing Promises Cheaper, Practical CAR‑T Therapies
What if we could engineer T cells in the body, making CAR T vs cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other applications far more practical, much less expensive? A step forward today via genome editing T cells https://t.co/FjgQA8NUlu https://t.co/XXk43WL1ac https://t.co/rpC7eCAlJH
There Might Be Less Water on the Moon than We’d Hoped
A new study using NASA's ShadowCam on the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter finds that water ice in most of the moon’s permanently shadowed craters is limited to less than 20‑30 percent by weight, and many regions may have none at...
Boosting the Blood-Brain Barrier Could Avert Brain Damage in Athletes
Repeated head impacts in contact sports have been linked to lasting damage of the blood‑brain barrier (BBB), a finding that may underlie chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Researchers scanned 47 retired athletes using an MRI contrast agent that only enters brain...
NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Discovers Even Older Lost Rivers at Jezero Crater
NASA’s Perseverance rover used its ground‑penetrating radar to probe deeper than before in Jezero Crater. The instrument identified buried river‑carved slopes and a delta more than 35 meters below the surface. Analysis of the radar echoes indicates these features formed around...
Artemis II Rollback to Launch Pad Tomorrow at 8 PM
Artemis II SLS/Orion rollback to the launch pad is now set for tomorrow, Thursday, March 19, at 8:00 *pm.* It'll stream on NASA's YouTube channel.
How Common Are Fireballs Streaking Across the Sky?
A 1.8‑meter, 7‑ton space rock streaked across the sky near Cleveland this week, dazzling observers from Wisconsin to Maryland before disintegrating after a 55‑kilometer atmospheric passage. The American Meteor Society notes that such fireballs—meteors brighter than Venus—are far from rare,...
Brain Organoids Play Video Game, Demonstrating Cellular Computing
It's the future it's possible that we'll use cells plus silicon for compute. In this experiment, scientists used a mouse brain organoid (brain-in-a-dish) to play a video game, showing living cells can solve digital tasks. Reaching 46% proficiency in a...
AI Agents Now Reliably Verify Physics Calculations
In late 2025, tools Like Claude Code crossed a threshold. Like hyperactive master's students, their physics calculations can now be made more reliable with domain expertise and some scaffolding. Check out Tobias Osborne's talk on using a swarm of...
“Whiplash”: Heart Attack and Stroke Risk Jumps When People Stop Taking GLP-1s
Researchers tracking 333,000 U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes found that stopping GLP‑1 drugs sharply increases heart attack and stroke risk. A six‑month interruption raised cardiovascular events, and a two‑year gap elevated risk by up to 22 percent. Continuous use cut risk...
UBC Researchers Fight Tire Toxins Threatening Salmon
Researchers at UBC’s Scholes Lab have identified 6PPD‑quinone, a tire‑wear byproduct, as a lethal contaminant for coho salmon in Pacific Northwest streams. Through the interdisciplinary STREAM project they are modeling which waterways, especially those near highways and First Nations reserves,...
TerraPower Commits $450M to Build Radioisotope Production Plant
TerraPower Isotopes is committing $450 million to build a cGMP‑compliant actinium‑225 manufacturing plant in Philadelphia, a move that will expand production capacity roughly twenty‑fold. The 250,000‑square‑foot facility, slated to begin output in 2029, will create 225 full‑time jobs and benefits from...
Repeated Psilocybin Doses Yield 73% OCD Response
A randomized clinical trial of repeated doses of psilocybin for the treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder 73.3% were responders (⩾35% reduction in YBOCS scores), with 40% in remission. These effects diminished but remained substantial at 6 months. https://t.co/tp2SPIKDrB
Challenging a 300-Year-Old Law of Friction
Researchers at the University of Konstanz demonstrated a new type of sliding friction that arises without mechanical contact, driven solely by collective magnetic dynamics. By varying the separation between two magnetic layers, they showed friction peaks at intermediate distances where...
How Young Galaxies Grew Magnetic Fields Faster than Expected
A study in Physical Review Letters proposes that turbulence generated by the gravitational collapse of plasma clouds can dramatically speed up the growth of large‑scale magnetic fields in nascent galaxies. The authors show that the collapse raises eddy turnover rates,...
Sound Waves Could Be Used to Remotely Reprogram Material Stiffness
Researchers at UC San Diego, University of Michigan and CNRS have demonstrated that targeted acoustic frequencies can deterministically shift mechanical kinks in a topological metamaterial, instantly reconfiguring its stiffness profile. In a life‑sized chain of rotating disks, short sound pulses...
Machine Learning Maps Nanodiamond Nanofluid Performance on Wavy Surfaces
Researchers at Harbin Institute of Technology used a hybrid numerical‑simulation and neural‑network framework to map how nanodiamond aggregation, magnetic field strength, and surface waviness affect convective heat transfer. Aggregated nanodiamond particles lifted the Nusselt number by up to 30 % but...