Today's Science Pulse
UK-led study reveals hidden giant star clusters deep inside nearby galaxies
Astronomers using the VLA and ALMA uncovered previously unseen massive star clusters embedded in nearby galaxies, describing them as “ring factories” that produce giant clusters. The findings highlight how young stellar activity drives the evolution of their host galaxies.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Foundation Alloy raises $22M Series A
Robot Learns to Play Music by Ear, Opening New Possibilities in Medicine and Therapy
Scientists at USC Viterbi engineered the Musician Hand, a robotic hand that learns to play a 30‑note melody after just two minutes of self‑guided "motor babbling" on a keyboard. Using tendon‑driven fingers and neural networks, the system reproduced the tune without sheet music and even fooled judges who could not reliably tell it apart from human pianists. The researchers argue this perceptual‑robotics model could power adaptive exoskeletons and therapy robots that learn a patient’s movement patterns on the fly. The findings were published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Media Advisory: MIT to Establish Regional Quantum Hub
MIT and Massachusetts announced a $25 million state investment to build the Quantum Systems Laboratory (QSL) at MIT, matching federal funding. The shared‑use hub will integrate quantum computers, sensors, and interconnects, providing regional researchers hands‑on access. Construction slated for summer will...
Pevifoscorvir Shows Strong HBV Activity, Durable Antigen Suppression
Pevifoscorvir (ALG‑001075), a capsid assembly modulator, demonstrated nanomolar potency that far exceeds competing CAMs and earned FDA Fast Track status. Phase 1 data showed a 96‑week monotherapy course reduced HBsAg by over one log, with the decline persisting through a 24‑week...
Quantum Chemistry for Drug Discovery Still Hasn’t Had Its “ChatGPT Moment,” Biotech Founder Says
At Toronto Tech Week’s Creative Destruction Lab session, ProteinQure co‑founder Mark Fingerhuth warned that quantum chemistry has yet to experience a “ChatGPT moment” in drug discovery. While Xanadu’s CEO touted quantum chemistry as low‑hanging fruit, Fingerhuth argued that the real...
Linking Chip Layout to Hamiltonian Enables Usable Qubits
Designing useable superconducting qubits involves bridging the gap between the physical chip layout and the Hamiltonian that governs its physical behavior.
7-Day Water Fast Study Reveals What Really Happens to Your Body
A new study from Queen Mary University in London examined the molecular effects of a seven‑day water fast in 12 healthy volunteers, tracking roughly 3,000 circulating proteins. The researchers found that major protein changes, especially in extracellular matrix and brain‑related...
Long COVID Autoantibodies Bind Tissue, Cause Disease in Mice
Excited to share our study by @keylas3 et al. on pathological autoantibodies in people with Long COVID. We asked whether IgG in patients with Long COVID bind to human tissues/antigens and cause pathologies when transferred into mice. With @PutrinoLab https://t.co/tcowCufWyf...
Russian Cosmonauts Install Solar Telescope During ISS Spacewalk
On May 27, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev performed a 6‑hour, 5‑minute extravehicular activity outside the International Space Station. The EVA focused on installing a new solar telescope and retrieving several science experiments. The spacewalk ran from 10:18 a.m....
Can DEET Attract Mosquitoes? A Lab Study Offers Clues
Researchers demonstrated that yellow‑fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) can be conditioned to associate the odor of the repellent DEET with a blood meal, showing attraction in laboratory trials. Trained mosquitoes approached a DEET‑treated hand while untrained insects avoided it, indicating that...
Inside Nasa's Plans for a Lunar Base
NASA’s Artemis program is moving toward a permanent lunar presence, with a crewed landing slated for 2025 and a surface habitat to follow by the late 2020s. The agency plans to use the Lunar Gateway as an orbital staging point,...
Platform Fast-Tracks Microbial Design for High-Temp Manufacturing
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory unveiled tSAGE, a thermophilic Serine recombinase Assisted Genome Engineering platform that can insert DNA into heat‑loving microbes within weeks. The tool accelerates strain development for *Clostridium thermocellum*, a bacterium that efficiently breaks down plant...
How We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun
From ancient clay tablets to 21st‑century spacecraft, humanity’s view of the Sun has evolved dramatically. Early observers like the Babylonians and Galileo recorded sunspots, while 19th‑century spectroscopy revealed helium long before it was isolated on Earth. The 20th‑century introduction of...
‘Always Use Preservative-Free Eye Drops’ in Sjögren’s Disease
A recent review in the Journal of Clinical Medicine recommends preservative‑free sodium hyaluronate eye drops and an overnight ointment as first‑line therapy for dry eye in Sjögren’s disease. The authors also stress treating meibomian gland dysfunction with daily warm compresses...
Biohub Open-Source AI Model Targets Protein Design for Drug Discovery
Biohub, part of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, launched an open‑source AI system that models protein biology at evolutionary scale to aid early‑stage drug discovery. The platform, described as a “world model,” was used to design protein binders targeting cancer and...
A One-Time Experimental Treatment Might Control Cholesterol for Life
Verve Therapeutics, an Eli Lilly subsidiary, reported early‑stage results for its one‑time gene therapy VERVE‑102, which edits the PCSK9 gene in liver cells. In a dose‑escalation study of 35 participants, LDL cholesterol fell between 9% and 62% after a single infusion,...
NASA Tests Lunar Rover in California Desert
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory conducted a field test of an autonomous lunar rover in the Plaster City Open Area of Southern California’s desert. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) partnered with NASA to provide a terrain that mirrors the uneven,...
SpaceX Starship From V1 to V4
SpaceX’s Starship program has progressed through four distinct vehicle families, moving from early atmospheric prototypes to the V3 configuration that debuted on May 22 2026. V3 introduced Raptor 3 engines, a redesigned Super Heavy booster, docking interfaces and propellant‑transfer hardware, marking a shift...
Satellite Laser Communications Primer
NASA’s Artemis II mission demonstrated a laser‑based optical terminal that moved 484 GB of high‑definition video, images, and telemetry between Orion and Earth, marking the first crewed lunar‑distance use of satellite laser communications. Recent demonstrations such as TBIRD’s 200 Gbps downlink (4.8 TB in...
Quantum Teleportation of Microwave States Achieved at 4 K, Surpassing Classical Limits
Researchers at the Walther‑Meißner‑Institute and Technical University of Munich have successfully teleported microwave quantum states through superconducting cables at temperatures up to 4 K, beating the classical fidelity limit. The experiment, published in Physical Review Letters, showcases a viable route for...
New Review Maps Keystone Gut Bacteria and Targets Them with Diet, Probiotics
Scientists have published a comprehensive review in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes that pinpoints the gut’s keystone bacteria and proposes targeted dietary, probiotic and prebiotic interventions to rebalance disrupted microbiomes. The analysis highlights how protein‑rich and fiber‑rich diets shape microbial ecosystems,...
Study Finds Pitching Mechanics Can Cut Elbow Stress Without Slowing Fastballs
University of Waterloo researchers demonstrated that altering arm slot and torso tilt can markedly reduce stress on a pitcher’s ulnar collateral ligament while maintaining elite‑level velocity. The findings arrive as Major League Baseball grapples with a surge in career‑threatening elbow...
Biogen-Ionis Tau Antisense Drug Shows Cognitive Slow‑down in Early Alzheimer’s Phase 2
Biogen and Ionis announced that diranersen, an antisense therapy targeting tau protein, slowed cognitive decline and cut brain tau biomarkers in a 416‑patient Phase 2 study of early Alzheimer’s disease. The dual signal of biological impact and clinical benefit could...
Small Molecules to Complex Biologics: Mastering Bioanalytical Workflows Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS)
A webinar hosted by Meadowhawk Biolabs will showcase how high‑resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), specifically the SCIEX ZenoTOF 7600+, can bridge the analytical gap between small polar metabolites and large‑molecule biologics such as antibody‑drug conjugates (ADCs). Real‑world case studies will demonstrate targeted...
How Much Suffering Do Invasive Species Cause? Researchers Are Measuring That
Researchers introduced the Animal Welfare Impact Classification for Invasion Science (AWICIS), a new framework that quantifies the suffering caused by invasive species. Initial case studies of invasive ants, flies, and other taxa revealed that welfare impacts are frequently omitted from...
Bee‑Inspired Sound‑Wave Swarm Robots Demonstrated by Penn State Team
An international research team led by Igor Aronson at Penn State built a computer model proving that tiny microrobots can coordinate via sound waves. The study shows acoustic communication can replace chemical signaling, enabling swarms that form blobs, snakes, rings...
A $4 Tongue Swab Test Detects Tuberculosis Within 30 Minutes
Researchers have unveiled MiniDock MTB, a portable $400 device that uses $4 tongue‑swab tests to detect tuberculosis in 12‑25 minutes. The World Health Organization endorsed the test in March, marking the first official approval for a community‑based TB assay requiring minimal...
Open Source Therapeutics Divulges New PARP-1 Inhibitors
Open Source Therapeutics announced the discovery of two first‑in‑class PARP‑1 inhibitors aimed at treating DNA‑repair‑deficient cancers. The compounds demonstrated up to 80% tumor growth inhibition in mouse xenograft models and exhibit oral bioavailability with a half‑life suitable for once‑daily dosing....
Lung Cancer Risks Increase with Cannabis Use Disorder
A new retrospective cohort study of nearly 150,000 patients with cannabis‑use disorder found a 3.9‑fold increased risk of lung cancer compared with matched controls. The elevated risk was consistent across adenocarcinoma, squamous‑cell and small‑cell subtypes. Prior meta‑analyses showed no clear...
Using Synthetic Microbial Communities to Boost Bydroponic Tomato Growth
Researchers have engineered synthetic microbial communities that markedly increase tomato growth and yield in hydroponic systems. Published in npj Sustainable Agriculture, the study uses a bottom‑up design of bacteria‑fungi consortia to replicate soil‑microbe functions missing in soilless environments. The method...
Mitochondrial Genome Mutates Sharply Post‑
Mitochondria in our cells have their own genome. A new paper @nature shows it mutates sharply after age 60. Now rare, one day it might be common to receive a mito-transplant later in life 🧬 https://t.co/pEbhh9SWY2
Men’s Sexual Desire Peaks Around Age 40, Large New Study Finds
A new analysis of Estonia’s Biobank, covering 67,334 adults, reveals that men report markedly higher sexual desire than women across most of adulthood, with men’s desire peaking around age 40 before declining. Women’s desire shows a steady drop beginning in early...
3D-Printed Lymph Nodes Could Widen Access to CAR T-Cell Therapy
Researchers have shown that 3D‑printed lymph‑node scaffolds can grow CAR‑T cells more quickly and at a lower cost. The bioprinting method compresses the manufacturing timeline from several weeks to just a few days, potentially cutting expenses by up to 70...
Scientists Took a Look Inside Earth’s Core—And Made a Surprising Discovery
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have identified a dramatic reversal in the flow of Earth’s outer liquid core beneath the equatorial Pacific, shifting from a weak westward drift (1997‑2010) to a strong eastward movement that began around 2010 and...
Chardonnay By-Product May Improve Cardiovascular Health
Scientists from UC Davis, Sonomaceuticals and the USDA found that a high‑dose Chardonnay grape marc blend lowered post‑prandial triglyceride spikes in adults with mild dyslipidemia. In a 16‑week double‑blind crossover trial, participants taking 1,500 mg of the marc supplement showed a...
Protecting Heterojunction Solar Modules with UV-Downshifting, UV-Blocking
German researchers examined UV‑induced degradation in lightweight silicon heterojunction (HJT) solar modules using encapsulants with varying UV transmission. They discovered that a dual‑layer architecture—combining a UV‑downshifting EVA layer with an underlying UV‑blocking encapsulant—preserves more than 98% of initial performance after...
The Generation of Massive Schrödinger Cat States Using Ultracold Atoms
Researchers at Southern University of Science and Technology and the Quantum Science Center have experimentally generated massive Schrödinger cat states by tunneling clusters of up to seven ultracold atoms through high barriers. By engineering weakly bound atomic clusters and exploiting...
French Project Uses AI to Visualise How Climate Change Will Affect Heritage Sites
French conservation scientists have built an AI model that forecasts how climate change will affect heritage sites over the next century. The project, led by Ann Bourgès and involving PhD researchers, combines sensor readings, satellite data, and multimodal image analysis...
JWST Finds 50‑Million‑Solar‑Mass Black Hole Predating Its Host Galaxy
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has identified a supermassive black hole, Abell2744‑QSO1, that existed 700 million years after the Big Bang and appears to predate its host galaxy. The finding, based on gravitational‑lensed observations, forces astronomers to rethink how early black...
BMJ Study Finds Vitamin D, Calcium Pills Offer Little Fracture Protection
A new BMJ systematic review of 69 randomized trials involving more than 153,000 adults concludes that routine vitamin D and calcium supplementation offers minimal benefit for preventing fractures or falls. The findings challenge decades‑long supplement recommendations and shift focus toward...
Universal Transcriptomic Clocks Predict Lifespan Across Mammals
A team led by Alexander Tyshkovskiy published a Nature study analyzing more than 11,000 transcriptomes from mice, rats, monkeys and humans, unveiling universal transcriptomic aging clocks that forecast biological age and mortality risk across species. The findings promise a common metric...
MRNA Cancer Vaccines Reprogram Immunity to Unmask Hidden Tumors
mRNA cancer vaccines allow us to reprogram the immune system to detect the previously undetected. It's one of the most powerful technologies today and will transform cancer cures and medicine.
Basilea Secures $13.3 Million BARDA Grant to Push Novel Urinary‑Tract Antibiotic
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. announced that the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded the company a $13.3 million grant to advance its novel antibiotic ceftibuten‑ledaborbactam etzadroxil. The funding lifts BARDA’s total commitment to $25 million and opens the door to...
Arguing for the Desirability of Multi-Omics Aging Clocks
Machine‑learning models now generate biological aging clocks from diverse omics data, but most efforts still rely on single‑omic inputs such as DNA‑methylation. While early clocks like Horvath’s predict chronological age, newer clocks trained on mortality or disease outcomes show better...
Coiled Phononic Structure Super-Resonates
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have designed a coiled phononic subsurface (PSub) that passively dampens multiple Tollmien‑Schlichting instability waves in a fluid flow. The device, built from aluminum, ABS plastic and air cavities, creates a "super‑resonance" that widens...
GABA Supplement May Improve IBS-D Symptoms
Italian researchers conducted a double‑blind, placebo‑controlled crossover pilot study evaluating a GABA‑Melissa officinalis supplement in 18 IBS‑D patients. Over two four‑week treatment periods, the supplement (250 mg GABA + 50 mg Melissa extract three times daily) improved the IBS symptom severity score in 66.7%...
Electrochemical Monitoring of Synthetic Dyes in Water Using Modified Electrodes With Perovskite Oxides Integrated Halloysite Nanotubes Composites
Researchers developed a screen‑printed carbon electrode modified with FeTiO3 perovskite oxide and halloysite nanotubes to electrochemically detect three common synthetic dyes—Indigo Carmine, Sunset Yellow, and Tartrazine. The sensor, fabricated via a green ultrasonication method, delivers a wide linear range of...
Selective Removal and Recovery of Cu2+ From Complex Water via Asymmetric Electrochemical Separation System
Researchers have created an asymmetric electrochemical separation system that uses a hollow mesoporous carbon sphere–covalent organic framework (HMCS@COF) composite as the cathode to selectively extract copper ions from complex wastewater. The optimized HMCS@COF‑1 delivers 97% removal of Cu²⁺ at 1.2 V,...
Unlocking the Potential of Organic Cathode in Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries Through Composite Engineering
Researchers have created a PTO@CMK-3 composite that pairs the organic molecule pyrene‑4,5,9,10‑tetrone (PTO) with mesoporous carbon CMK‑3, dramatically improving aqueous zinc‑ion battery (AZIB) performance. The composite delivers more than 90 mAh g⁻¹ after 2,000 charge‑discharge cycles at 0.1 A g⁻¹ and retains 62% of...
Rheumatic Diseases Linked to Persistent COVID Antigen Positivity
Patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) show markedly longer persistence of SARS‑CoV‑2 antigen after infection, with 36.7% still positive at three months versus 18.9% of non‑SARD controls. A retrospective cohort of 210 SARD patients and 348 comparators revealed adjusted...
Dust-Based Surveillance for Detecting Emerging Viral Outbreaks
Researchers at Ohio State University demonstrated that routine vacuum dust collection can serve as a rapid, low‑cost surveillance tool for indoor viral outbreaks. Analyzing nearly 30 dust samples from schools, dorms and offices, they identified 54 distinct viruses, including SARS‑CoV‑2,...