Today's Science Pulse
UK-led study reveals hidden massive star clusters deep inside nearby galaxies
Astronomers using the VLA and ALMA uncovered previously unseen giant star clusters, described as "ring factories," embedded within nearby galaxies. A complementary analysis of roughly 18,000 star‑forming regions showed that the energetic activity of young stars plays a decisive role in shaping galaxy evolution.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Foundation Alloy raises $22M Series A
Quantum Battery Breakthrough Signals Future Critical Minerals Demand
Australian researchers led by CSIRO have demonstrated the world’s first proof‑of‑concept quantum battery, proving that a quantum system can charge, store and release energy. The laser‑charged organic microcavity prototype exhibits a counter‑intuitive effect: it charges faster as its size grows, unlike conventional batteries. While still experimental, the technology promises ultra‑fast EV charging and wireless power, potentially reshaping energy storage. Its development is expected to boost demand for critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel and cobalt.
AlphaFold Adds Millions of Complexes, Illuminating Protein Interactions
Millions of protein complexes added to AlphaFold Database shed light on how proteins interact https://t.co/Kt9oFFkAf2 https://t.co/tEnlYOTCPl
Top Rated Books About the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Available on Amazon
The March 2026 Amazon roundup highlights the most highly regarded books on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Leading titles such as *The Eerie Silence*, *Confessions of an Alien Hunter* and *Reinventing SETI* combine historical perspective, insider experience, and the newest technosignature...
EVs Saved 2.3 M Barrels Daily, Could Double by 2030
EVs helped avoid the use of 2.3 million barrels of oil daily last year. By 2030, that number could more than double to 5.25 million barrels https://t.co/ipPiTXbIvV
These Fish Know when You’re Watching Them
Researchers observed emperor cichlids in Lake Tanganyika reacting aggressively when divers stared directly at the fish or their offspring, indicating the fish can perceive human attention. Using waterproof cameras, the team compared behaviors when divers looked at eggs, hatchlings, the...
Platypus Fur Has a Surprising Feature Seen only in Bird Feathers
Researchers discovered that platypus fur contains hollow, spherical melanosomes, a structure previously thought exclusive to bird feathers. Electron microscopy of 12 platypus specimens confirmed the hollow melanosomes, which were absent in 126 other mammal species including echidnas and marsupials. Chemical...
Brain Scans Reveal a Bipolar-Like Link to Childhood Trauma in some Depressed Patients
An Italian neuroimaging study of 260 inpatients found that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poorer white‑matter integrity, especially in patients with bipolar disorder. In bipolar patients, higher exposure to physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect correlated with widespread...
Cortical Regulation of Collective Social Dynamics During Environmental Challenge
The study reveals that medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) ensembles encode collective social variables such as huddle size, membership, and active versus passive entry decisions in mice facing cold stress. Using a custom SLEAP‑based multi‑animal pose‑tracking pipeline and calcium imaging, the...
China’s Space Program Past, Present, and Future
China’s space program has transformed into a full‑spectrum state system by March 2026, operating the Tiangong space station, a growing satellite‑internet fleet, and advanced lunar and deep‑space missions. Recent milestones include Chang’e‑6’s far‑side sample return and Tianwen‑2’s asteroid‑return flight, while reusable...
Chickenpox Spreads Airborne, but Not via Spit Droplets
You would think that the chickenpox virus being airborn would mean “little drops of spit in the air” since that’s how most viruses do it. Alas. That is not how chickenpox goes airborn 😬
Experts Officially Predict El Niño for 2026; How Big Will It Be?
NOAA, the National Weather Service and the Climate Prediction Center forecast a shift from La Niña to ENSO‑neutral conditions by May 2026, with a 55 % chance of neutral weather through July. The outlook then turns to El Niño, which carries a 62 % probability...
Samples From Asteroid Ryugu Contain All Five Nucleobases
In December 2020 Hayabusa2 returned 20 mg of Ryugu dust to Earth, and a Japanese‑U.S. team has now identified all five DNA/RNA nucleobases in the material. Using a refined extraction protocol and high‑resolution mass spectrometry, the researchers detected adenine, guanine, cytosine,...
Largest Review Finds No Evidence Cannabis Relieves Anxiety, Depression, PTSD
No evidence that medicinal cannabis effectively treats anxiety, depression, or PTSD - according to the largest review of cannabinoids ever conducted.
A Meteor Streaks Across the U.S. and Rattles Ohio With an Explosive Boom
A 6‑foot, 7‑ton asteroid entered Earth’s atmosphere over Lake Erie on March 17, 2026, producing a bright fireball that streaked across the sky from Indiana to New York. Traveling at roughly 45,000 mph, it fragmented over Valley City, Ohio, generating a loud...
Outdoor Athletes Show Superior Color Detection in Their Peripheral Vision
A study published in *Perception* found that athletes who regularly play outdoor sports detect peripheral colors significantly better than indoor athletes and non‑athletes. In tests, outdoor athletes required roughly one‑third less color contrast to spot brief peripheral stimuli. The research,...
By Protecting Tigers ‘We Save so Much More,’ Says Debbie Banks
The global wild tiger population is about 5,574 individuals, having lost roughly 95 % of its historic range. South Asian countries such as India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand are seeing rebounds, while Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations remain...
Scientists Finally Have Something Hopeful to Tell Us About Monarch Butterflies
New monitoring data from WWF Mexico shows the eastern monarch butterfly’s wintering footprint in central Mexico expanded to 7.2 acres, up from 4.4 acres the previous year and 2.2 acres before that, suggesting the long‑running population decline has paused. The...
Carbon Nanotube 'Black Paint' Absorbs Terahertz Radiation to Cut 6G Interference
Researchers at Skoltech and KTH have developed an ultrathin carbon‑nanotube black paint that absorbs terahertz radiation, addressing interference in emerging 6G photonic circuits. The coating, applied via aerosol chemical vapor deposition, can be tuned from 2 to 53 nm, with the...
Zymeworks to Present Clinical and Preclinical Data on ADC Programs Including Novel RAS ADC Platform at AACR Annual Meeting
Zymeworks will present Phase 1 data on its folate‑receptor‑alpha ADC ZW191 and preclinical results for a novel pan‑RAS inhibitor ADC platform at the AACR Annual Meeting. The oral presentation will detail dose‑escalation safety and efficacy in advanced solid tumours, while...
ORIC® Pharmaceuticals Announces Preclinical Rinzimetostat (ORIC-944) Presentations at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting
ORIC Pharmaceuticals announced that two preclinical abstracts on its PRC2‑targeting agent rinzimetostat (ORIC‑944) have been accepted for poster presentation at the 2026 AACR Annual Meeting. The data show rinzimetostat, an allosteric EED inhibitor, maintains potency against EZH1‑overexpressing complexes and key...
Graphene Sensors Stay Stable in Liquids, Boosting Sensitivity up to 20 Times
Researchers at Penn State have unveiled a dual‑gate graphene field‑effect transistor that remains stable in liquid environments, eliminating the signal drift that hampers conventional sensors. By pairing a high‑capacitance top gate with a low‑capacitance bottom gate and adding a feedback...
Quantum-Inspired Laser System Delivers Distance Measurements with Sub-Millimeter Accuracy
Researchers at the University of Bristol have demonstrated a quantum‑inspired laser ranging system that achieves sub‑millimetre accuracy over distances exceeding 150 metres, even under bright sunlight. By engineering classical laser pulses to emulate energy‑time entanglement, the technique suppresses solar‑induced noise...
Webinar: Operationalizing AI in Drug Development: Inside DIA’s Global AI Consortium
The Drug Information Association (DIA) has launched a public‑private AI Consortium that unites regulators, biopharma, academia, and technology firms to shape AI governance in drug development. The group is developing a seven‑step classification framework that aligns AI use‑cases with risk‑proportionate...
Ultraprocessed Food Again Linked to Higher CVD Risk: MESA
A new analysis of the Multi‑Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) links each additional daily serving of ultra‑processed food to a 5.1% rise in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). Participants in the highest consumption quintile faced a 66% higher CVD risk compared...
NASA Wants Your Hail Photos
NASA is recruiting citizen scientists to improve hailstorm forecasting through the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network. Volunteers can submit hail photos, size measurements, and timing using a free mobile app, with optional $42 rain gauges for detailed...
Voyager-2’s only Close-Up Image of Uranus’s Moon Umbriel
Voyager‑2’s 1986 flyby produced the sole close‑up photograph of Uranus’s moon Umbriel, captured from 346,000 miles away with roughly 6‑mile resolution. The image reveals a heavily cratered, ultra‑dark surface that reflects only 16% of sunlight, similar to lunar highlands. A...
AI's Real Bottleneck: Accelerating Human Processes, Not Tech
Our bottleneck for some of the biggest change ahead may be humans. I shared the story of Paul Conyngham and his dog Rosie on my Instagram when it broke. When I read the coverage, my shock was less that ChatGPT...
Experiment Observes Quantum Radiation Reaction as Electrons Hit an Ultra-Intense Laser
Researchers at the UK Central Laser Facility have, for the first time, directly observed quantum radiation reaction when near‑light‑speed electrons collide with an ultra‑intense laser pulse. The experiment, led by Imperial College London and published in Nature Communications, captured the...
Two Marsupials Thought Extinct for 6,000 Years Found Alive in Indonesian Papua
Scientists have confirmed the survival of two marsupial species— the pygmy long‑fingered possum (Dactylonax kambuayai) and the ring‑tailed glider (Tous ayamaruensis)—that were thought extinct for 6,000 years. The animals were documented in the Bird’s Head Peninsula rainforests of Indonesian New Guinea after...
AI Tool Predicts Alzheimer’s Disease with Nearly 93% Accuracy Using Brain Scans
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute created a machine‑learning model that scans MRI images and achieved 92.87% accuracy in distinguishing Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment from healthy brains. The algorithm highlighted volume loss in the hippocampus, amygdala and entorhinal cortex...
Clinical Trial Results Support Use of Weekly Extended-Release Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy
A NIH‑backed multicenter trial of 140 pregnant adults found that weekly injectable extended‑release buprenorphine achieved significantly higher rates of illicit opioid abstinence than daily sublingual buprenorphine, while also reducing serious maternal adverse events. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine,...
Where Are All the Aliens? Maybe They Just Don't Want to Talk to Us
Researchers at Noroff University have proposed a new variable for the Drake Equation that measures a civilization’s willingness to communicate. Erik Geslin’s paper argues that many advanced extraterrestrials may deliberately stay silent, viewing contact with an ecologically unstable humanity as...
Beneath the Long White Cloud
A new feature in the magazine Now Voyager revisits the 1886 eruption that supposedly destroyed New Zealand’s Pink and White Terraces, questioning whether the famed silica cascades survived. The article frames the scientific dispute over the terraces’ fate as a...
Mathematical Foundations for Noise-Tolerant Quantum Catalysts in Real-World Environments
An international team led by Prof. Seok Hyung Lie mathematically proved that most existing quantum catalyst schemes are highly sensitive to even minimal environmental noise, causing degradation and limiting reusability. They introduced catalytic channels, a quantum operation that restores the...
The Luminous Migrants: The Blond, Blue-Eyed Peoples Who Transformed the Chalcolithic Levant
Archaeologists uncovered over 600 skeletons in Israel’s Peki’in Cave, the largest Chalcolithic burial complex in the Levant. Ancient DNA analysis of 22 individuals revealed that nearly half carried genetic markers for blue eyes, blond hair, and fair skin—traits rare in...
Engineered Anhydrobiotic Cells Detect Odors After Years of Dry, Room-Temperature Storage
Researchers at Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization engineered an anhydrobiotic Pv11 cell line to express the fruit‑fly odorant receptor Or47a and calcium‑sensitive reporter GCaMP6f. The resulting Pv11‑00443‑Or47a cells kept the insect’s extreme desiccation tolerance, enabling dry storage at...
Modeling Says the Small Magellanic Cloud Passed Through the Large Magellanic Cloud 200 Million Years Ago
New computer simulations suggest the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) passed directly through the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) about 200 million years ago, explaining the chaotic stellar motions observed in the SMC. Measurements from Hubble and Gaia showed the SMC’s stars lack...
Cochrane Review Misses Intermittent Fasting’s Metabolic Benefits
A new Cochrane review claims intermittent fasting "doesn't work." But it only measured weight loss - not insulin sensitivity, autophagy, inflammation, or gene expression. Here's what the science actually shows. The 2026 Cochrane systematic review analyzed 22 randomized controlled trials and...
NASA Prepares X-59 for Second Flight
NASA is gearing up for the X‑59 quiet‑supersonic research aircraft's second flight, slated for this week from the Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, California. The one‑hour mission will cruise at roughly 230 mph at 12,000 ft before climbing to 20,000 ft and...
Aging Genetics Pioneer Tom Johnson Passes, Legacy Endures
Thomas Eugene Johnson The field of aging genetics lost one of its pioneers. Tom Johnson's identification of the age-1 mutant allele in C. elegans was a landmark moment, showing that a single genetic change could dramatically extend lifespan. That discovery helped...
Avian Influenza Appears To Have Reached Point Reyes National Seashore
Avian influenza has been confirmed in a common murre that died at Point Reyes National Seashore, marking the disease’s arrival in the park. The incident is linked to a larger seabird mortality event across the San Francisco Bay Area. Park biologists...
Transient but Transformative: Sanofi’s mRNA CAR-T Enters in Vivo Race
Sanofi unveiled pre‑clinical data for an in‑vivo CAR‑T platform that delivers mRNA via lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and a CD8‑targeting VHH nanobody, eliminating the weeks‑long ex‑vivo manufacturing step. The approach achieved tumor suppression in mice with less than 5% liver uptake...
Mapping the Short-Term Plasticity of Working Memory
A study in Cell Reports identifies Munc13‑1 as a calcium‑sensing molecular sensor that drives short‑term synaptic strengthening essential for working memory. Using knock‑in mice, researchers showed that disrupting calcium‑phospholipid or calcium‑calmodulin pathways in Munc13‑1 impairs post‑tetanic potentiation and short‑term facilitation...
Clean Wastewater of Stubborn Antibiotics with Hybrid Nanocomposite
Researchers at National Taiwan University have unveiled a hybrid nanocomposite that merges graphene oxide, biochar, and titanium dioxide to tackle antibiotic residues in wastewater. The material leverages both adsorption and UV‑activated photocatalysis, achieving over 95% removal of veterinary antibiotics such...
GIP Drives Subcutaneous Fat Storage; Tirzepatide Leverages This
GIP preferentially enhances glucose storage and triglyceride deposition in healthier subcutaneous fat, particularly under conditions of hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia. Tirzepatide contains a GIP agonist. https://doi.org/10.2337/db10-0098 https://www.gatlan.com/ @GatlanHealth
Quantum Processor Yields 2.44 Å Distance via ZNE
Sharing a snapshot from my second talk at #APSSummit26 — this one on NMR OTOCs and Pauli‑path approaches to zero‑noise extrapolation (ZNE) to learn an inter-atomic distance of 2.44 +- 0.04 angstroms on a Google's Willow quantum processor. https://t.co/350lCfheQM
One Short Telomere Triggers Senescence and Instability
Researchers using Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed that replicative senescence is triggered when a single shortest telomere falls below a critical length, which both initiates senescence and promotes genomic instability that can transiently enable cells to escape it. 🧬 https://t.co/TOUeXB4L3v
Healthy Life Extension: Geroscience’s Guiding Principle
Healthy Life Extension: The “North Star” of Geroscience🌟| @AgingJrnl 🩺 - David Barzilai MD PhD | @agingdoc1👨⚕️ 🔗https://t.co/JqhGgOe3nA https://t.co/ieBQZ6pAQd
Feedback System Enhances Gait and Perception in Knee Prostheses
This week's Editor's Choice highlights a study by Valette and colleagues that evaluates a feedback system to improve gait and perception when using a knee prosthesis. @rlvalette Learn more in Science #Robotics: https://t.co/pWQ3r6aGLs https://t.co/xqUZp2YyCH
Complement Proteins Predict Dementia Risk over a Decade
Adding complement proteins to the blood testing schedule is in the arena Systemic complement factors in aging, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias: a longitudinal study over 10 years https://t.co/qDwmnbxHHY