Know What's Happening in Science
Know What's Happening in Science
High‑altitude hypoxia curbs blood‑sugar spikes in mice
A mouse study found that low‑oxygen (hypoxic) conditions cause red blood cells to absorb far more glucose and convert it into a molecule that eases oxygen release, acting as a glucose sink. Mice exposed to 8% oxygen showed markedly smaller blood‑sugar spikes after glucose injections, and the effect persisted after they returned to normal air.
Michael Pollan has released "A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness," the product of a four‑year investigation into the nature of consciousness. The book tackles the so‑called hard problem and positions itself at the crossroads of neuroscience, philosophy and spiritual inquiry, drawing wide attention from both academic and popular audiences.
Multiple studies released today using the James Webb Space Telescope show the clearest images yet of dust disks turning into planets and announce the discovery of a second exoplanet, WISPIT 2c, forming within the same disk. The findings tighten the link...
Researchers reported that the oral GLP‑1 tablet orforglipron achieved greater weight loss and blood‑sugar reduction than injectable semaglutide (Ozempic) in a 52‑week phase‑3 study. The findings could shift prescribing patterns for obesity and type‑2 diabetes.
At the inaugural International Online Conference on Optics (IOCO 2026), materials scientist Dr. Subhash Risbud showcased a rapid fused‑silica glass production method that uses high‑purity quartz sand sourced from Homerun Resources. The presentation highlighted how precise control of impurities, grain...
Aggressor Adventures announced a week‑long, fully‑supported expedition to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Tubbataha Reef from June 13‑20, 2026. The voyage aboard the Philippines Aggressor will feature marine ichthyologist Dr. Kent Carpenter, marine biologist Dr. Klaus Stiefel, and the...
India’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro‑Sciences (NIMHANS) unveiled CALM‑Brain, the country’s first digital repository of multimodal psychiatric data, with more than 2,000 participants from 900 families. The launch, led by philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, positions India at the forefront...
UT Health San Antonio has started a National Institute on Aging‑funded, randomized trial of rapamycin and everolimus in roughly 84 adults 65 to 90 years old. The six‑week study will assess safety, optimal dosing and biological markers of healthy aging,...
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute unveiled an artificial‑intelligence model that identifies Alzheimer’s disease from MRI scans with 93% accuracy. The breakthrough could shift screening from symptom‑based to image‑based detection, accelerating treatment and trial enrollment.
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan heavy‑lift rocket has been grounded after a booster anomaly on its Feb. 12 flight. The setback puts the Space Force WGS‑11 communications satellite, the Next‑Gen GEO missile‑warning payload and several NRO missions at risk of delay, with...
Scientists at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have used photon‑induced near‑field electron microscopy to capture the spatial and temporal evolution of localized surface plasmon resonances in gold and platinum nanoframes. The breakthrough provides a direct view of how...
Pulsar Fusion, a British startup, demonstrated the first sustained plasma in its Sunbird nuclear‑fusion exhaust test system during a live‑streamed event at Amazon’s MARS Conference. The breakthrough validates the Dual Direct Fusion Drive engine, which could cut Mars transit times...
Princeton researchers used the ACCESS‑enabled ACES supercomputer to simulate surfactant‑driven flows in ultra‑thin ocean bubble films, revealing that inertia can create shock‑like fronts similar to compressible‑gas dynamics. Their mathematical model identified universal similarity solutions that govern film thinning, speed, and...
During a July 2013 spacewalk, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano experienced a sudden water leak that flooded his helmet, obscuring his vision, muffling his hearing, and threatening to drown him in microgravity. The incident forced him to abort the EVA and race back...
Satellite hardware costs have plummeted, sparking a surge in AgTech precision monitoring and AI‑driven analytics. Yet an over‑reliance on satellite imagery creates a "ground truth gap" where remote data misrepresents on‑the‑ground realities, producing false compliance alerts. These alerts can unjustly...
Scientists from the University of British Columbia and Cornell documented rapid evolutionary change in the scarlet monkeyflower (*Mimulus cardinalis*) during a decade‑long megadrought across western North America. By comparing leaf and seed genetics over eight years, they identified specific markers...
NASA faces tough budget constraints that could force it to scale back its planned trio of Venus missions. While the European‑led Envision mission is still under negotiation, funding shortfalls may shift the VenSAR radar instrument to ESA development. The domestically...
A study published in eLife shows that people with grapheme‑color synesthesia exhibit measurable pupil responses when viewing gray numbers, as if they were seeing actual colors. Researchers tracked 16 synesthetes and two control groups, finding pupils constricted for brighter synesthetic...
ESA’s Gaia mission concluded on March 27, 2025 after a decade of operation, having captured three trillion observations of roughly two billion stars. Launched in 2013, Gaia fulfilled its goal of mapping a billion stars, delivering an unprecedented three‑dimensional view...
Researchers at Texas A&M discovered that chronic high‑dose antioxidant supplementation, specifically N‑acetyl‑L‑cysteine (NAC) and selenium, altered sperm DNA in male mice and produced offspring with notable facial and skull abnormalities. The male mice displayed no overt health problems, indicating the...
NASA’s Artemis crew captured the first ever colour photograph of Earth taken from the Moon’s surface, broadcasting a vivid blue‑marble view back to Earth. The image was snapped by astronaut Randy Vincent during the mission’s lunar landing phase and streamed live to...
Researchers using cutting‑edge electron microscopy have detected trivalent titanium (Ti³⁺) in ilmenite from an Apollo 17 lunar rock, with roughly 15% of the titanium showing a lower oxidation state than the usual Ti⁴⁺. This finding ties the presence of Ti³⁺ to...
Researchers captured the first-ever video of a sperm whale giving birth in the open ocean, documenting a rare natural event that has eluded scientists for decades. The footage shows a pregnant female surrounded by several adult males and other members...
AstraZeneca’s in‑vivo CAR‑T platform, acquired last year, has entered a Phase I/II trial in China for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Early data show a 33% overall response rate with several partial remissions, but the study also reported one death due to severe...
Renowned physicist Sir Anthony Leggett, Nobel laureate and pioneer of macroscopic quantum theory, died on March 8, 2026. His work on superfluid helium‑3 and the Leggett–Garg inequality reshaped how scientists probe the boundary between quantum and classical realms. Over a six‑decade career...
Extreme heat in West Africa is reshaping how smallholder households allocate farm labour, prompting a shift from hired workers to unpaid family members, especially women and children. Using satellite data and household surveys from Ghana, Mali and Nigeria, researchers found...
The NCCN has revised its guidelines to place checkpoint inhibitors at the forefront of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) treatment, extending their use beyond metastatic disease to neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. PD‑1/PD‑L1 agents such as cemiplimab, cosibelimab and pembrolizumab are...
A new study by the international COMPACT collaboration shows that the limits on cosmic topology derived from Planck’s cosmic microwave background data are far less restrictive than previously believed. The team demonstrates that certain looped universe models can avoid producing...
Astronomers have identified PicII‑503, an ultra‑metal‑poor star in the ultrafaint dwarf galaxy Pictor II, marking the first unequivocal second‑generation star found outside the Milky Way. The star’s iron content is less than one‑fortieth‑thousandth that of the Sun, while its carbon abundance...
Researchers captured the first ever cooperative sperm whale birth, filmed by drones as ten females formed a protective circle to help the newborn calf reach the surface. The footage, recorded in July 2023, reveals unprecedented matriarchal teamwork among non‑primates. Meanwhile,...
The UCL Energy Institute and Strider Carbon report warns that shipowners who dismiss climate change face significant stranded‑asset risks. Supply‑side pressures from tightening emissions regulations could render carbon‑intensive vessels uncompetitive, while demand‑side trends suggest new tanker and LNG carrier orders...
NASA’s joint NASA‑ISRO NISAR mission released a radar image of the Pacific Northwest captured on 10 November 2025. The L‑band radar pierced dense cloud cover to deliver a sharp view of Seattle, Puget Sound, Portland and surrounding landmarks. NISAR’s 12‑meter antenna and...
Medicane Jolina, a rare Mediterranean cyclone, made landfall in Libya in March 2026, providing a high‑resolution case study for scientists. Researchers used a suite of Earth‑observation satellites—including Meteosat, MetOp, NOAA 20/21, and Sentinel‑1—to track its evolution from a cold‑core low to...
Researchers at UCLA Health and Stanford Medicine reported that a neoadjuvant regimen combining hypofractionated radiation, the experimental immunomodulator BO‑112, and anti‑PD‑1 therapy (nivolumab) can reshape the tumor microenvironment of soft‑tissue sarcoma. Preclinical mouse work and a Phase I trial in 14...
Scientists have documented the first example of suction feeding in birds, showing that malachite sunbirds draw nectar using tongue‑generated suction rather than beak movements. The discovery, published in Current Biology, reveals a V‑shaped trough on the tongue that creates a...
Researchers at the University of Chicago have unveiled a whole‑body spatial transcriptomics method that slices frozen mice and maps gene expression across millions of cells in a single cross‑section. Using a cryomacrotome and 600,000 spatial spots, the technique captured activity...
Researchers at UC San Diego introduced the MetALD‑ALD Prediction Index (MAPI), a biomarker panel that leverages routine blood tests to differentiate alcohol‑associated liver disease from metabolic steatotic liver disease. In a 503‑patient US cohort, MAPI achieved 60% sensitivity, 80% specificity,...
AstraZeneca announced that its investigational COPD antibody achieved positive results in two Phase 3 trials, marking a turnaround after a previous mid‑stage failure. The studies demonstrated statistically significant improvements in lung function and exacerbation rates across a broader patient population...
As a medical school professor, I teach my students to prescribe drugs. But a landmark review in Cell Metabolism argues we should prescribe exercise first. Febbraio and Pedersen -- the scientists who coined "exercise as medicine" -- reviewed 233 studies on...
The BASE collaboration at CERN successfully moved a compact, cryogenic trap loaded with antiprotons across the laboratory’s campus, demonstrating the first controlled transport of antimatter. The feat shows that ultra‑precise measurements can be decoupled from a fixed location, potentially reshaping...
A joint analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative and the All of Us Research Program, covering roughly 222,000 men and women, shows that the highest intake of several B‑vitamins is associated with up to a 20 percent lower incidence of stroke....
As a medical school professor, I was trained to focus on WHAT patients eat. But this massive meta-analysis says WHEN may be just as important. 41 randomized controlled trials. 2,287 participants. Published in BMJ Medicine. The finding: time-restricted eating improved nearly every...
As someone who has covered cancer drug development for 25 years, one of the few things I am sure of is that the odds of technology folks thinking they understand biology are much higher than the odds they actually do.
Scientists published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology have confirmed that simple heart‑rate and breathing‑rate measurements can predict an athlete’s durability during long runs. The finding gives runners a concrete, field‑based metric—physiological decoupling—to track and enhance fatigue resistance, a...
Shared and specific blood biomarkers for multimorbidity "Metabolic disturbances emerged as a key driver of multimorbidity. If confirmed, these processes could represent targets for interventions to mitigate disease accumulation." https://t.co/3nuctP2eAC https://t.co/yxk5CZHiHV
Human Longevity, Inc. and the LEV Foundation announced a strategic partnership to analyze blood samples from centenarians and supercentenarians. The collaboration will use HLI's AI‑driven precision longevity platform and LEV’s expertise in lifespan extension to uncover molecular drivers of exceptional...
Novo Nordisk announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Awiqli (insulin icodec-abae), the first and only once‑weekly basal insulin for adults with type 2 diabetes. The approval follows the ONWARDS phase 3a trial program involving roughly 2,680 patients and...
A preclinical study in Small describes an inulin‑butyrate nanogel that releases butyrate directly in the inflamed colon of mice, markedly improving colitis outcomes. The nanogel remains stable through the upper GI tract and is enzymatically activated by colonic microbes, delivering...
When we seeded Denali the idea was to break the curse of the blood/brain barrier. It took a decade and tons of faith and money. Biotech is hard. Curing diseases is hard. This is a good summary. ...
