
Sun and Thousands of Stellar Twins Migrated 10,000 Light‑Years Across the Milky Way
New analysis of 6,594 solar‑twin stars shows the Sun traveled outward from the crowded galactic core to its current suburban orbit, moving roughly 10,000 ly. Chemical signatures and Gaia‑derived motions indicate a coordinated migration, with simulations pointing to the galactic bar’s influence.
Gül Dölen, a leading neuroscientist at UC Berkeley and Johns Hopkins, discussed the transformative potential of psychedelic‑assisted therapy during the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival. Her research demonstrates that compounds such as psilocybin and MDMA can rapidly alleviate treatment‑resistant depression, complex PTSD, and long‑term addiction. The findings are prompting unprecedented collaborations across political and social divides, as scientists, clinicians, and policymakers seek to integrate these therapies into mainstream mental‑health care. Dölen’s work highlights how psychedelics may unlock neural plasticity, offering a radical path to healing deep trauma.
The article explains why a single Weyl spinor field cannot be Wick‑rotated using the conventional Euclidean continuation, highlighting a fundamental mismatch between Minkowski and Euclidean spinor representations. It proposes a new framework that employs only right‑handed Weyl spinors to encode...

UK greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.4% in 2025 to 364 MtCO2e, the lowest level since 1872 and 54% below 1990. The decline was driven by coal use dropping to a 400‑year low and gas use reaching its lowest since 1992, both...
On The Climate Brink, my latest post is on what the war in Iran tells us about the hidden costs of fossil fuels https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/the-war-in-iran-shows-us-another

Will we give a shot of protective, self-amplifying RNA in patients with a heart attack in the future? @ScienceMagazine an intriguing innovation https://t.co/FcJme1ElyU https://t.co/lABFRkR3qg
Researchers at RIKEN discovered that the pond microalga Euglena agilis processes the majority of its introns using a non‑canonical splicing code, bypassing the typical GT‑AG splice site signals. Over 70 % of its introns lack the standard motifs, instead following a...

New @ScienceMagazine Engineering the brain's astrocytes to clear amyloid plaque! "CAR-A," in mouse model https://t.co/u9zJGnCLUj https://t.co/eIrrFx7iTg https://t.co/x56FDtuVW2

We're chock full of somatic mutations in our cells and tissue as we age. Some even protect us from disease! And we can learn from them to discover new medications. @CellCellPress https://t.co/mnUsarpYoR https://t.co/4c5XOD7NuC
A recent study of nearly one million U.S. hospitalizations shows in‑hospital deaths from first‑time heart attacks are climbing among adults 54 and younger. The increase is evident for both STEMI and NSTEMI cases, with women experiencing slightly higher mortality than men....

Can an AI model be a generalist to work and perform well for all types of medical images? Just published, our MedVersa paper @NEJM_AI Led by @pranavrajpurkar Free access https://t.co/5llNf94hAF https://t.co/Bf01zUZ1sk

Observable Space’s CDK 14 is a 14‑inch Corrected Dall‑Kirkham telescope that delivers observatory‑class imaging in a compact, 48‑lb package. It features a fused‑silica primary, carbon‑fiber tube, and a fast f/7.2 focal ratio with a 2,563 mm focal length, providing a flat, coma‑free...

20 years of Yamanaka stem cell factor research culminates in 2 conditional approvals for heart disease and Parkinson's disease in Japan https://t.co/8oxKxXYafu by Shinya Yamanaka @CellStemCell https://t.co/U878IxSfSi @ScienceMagazine https://t.co/HCCPaTEP7e
Researchers have used vibrating pools of silicone oil to create macroscopic droplets that bounce and walk, reproducing quantum phenomena in a fluid medium. By introducing a standing Faraday wave, the team mimicked the Kapitza‑Dirac effect, causing droplets to diffract similarly...
China’s new five‑year plan lowers its carbon‑intensity goal to a 17% cut between 2026 and 2030, a step back from the 18% target for 2021‑2025 that it already missed. Analysts warn the weaker pledge could let national emissions rise 3‑6%...

Asteroid 2024 YR4, a 60‑metre near‑Earth object, once carried a 4 % chance of striking the Moon in December 2032. New observations with JWST’s NIRCam in February 2026 precisely measured its orbit, eliminating the lunar‑impact risk. The asteroid will safely miss the Moon by...
Psychedelic antidepressants are poised for FDA review this year, driven by strong investor and patient interest. William Blair analysts note that while Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato generated $1.7 billion in 2025 sales, psychedelics are unlikely to capture the entire treatment‑resistant depression market. Companies...
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has signed a deal with Tenaya Therapeutics, providing $10 million upfront and the potential for up to $1.13 billion in milestones to discover up to 15 new genetic targets for heart disease. Tenaya will apply its modality‑agnostic platform to validate...
UniQure’s one‑time gene therapy AMT‑130 showed a 75% slowdown in Huntington’s disease progression in its Phase 1/2 trial, prompting expectations for a BLA filing in early 2026. The FDA, however, reversed its earlier stance and now requires a sham‑controlled Phase 3 study,...

Astronomers can spot Earth’s shadow on any clear evening or morning, not just during lunar eclipses. The shadow rises about 4° after sunset and descends before sunrise, becoming visible when the surrounding sky brightens. Observers also see the pink “belt...

The FDA’s acting CDER director Tracy Beth Høeg is reportedly moving to hire Adam Urato, a maternal‑fetal specialist known for his skepticism of antidepressants during pregnancy. Urato has publicly called for stronger warnings on SSRIs and has filed a citizen...
PepGen’s Phase 2 FREEDOM2 trial in myotonic dystrophy type 1 received a partial FDA clinical hold due to concerns over a sub‑chronic mouse study that showed blood‑pressure changes. The agency did not question the Phase 1 human data, and the company continues dosing...
Researchers identified mitochondrial circular RNA MT‑RNR2 as abundant in young cells but depleted in older individuals and senescent fibroblasts. The RNA‑binding protein GRSF1 binds both linear and circular MT‑RNR2, linking it to TCA‑cycle enzymes and glucose metabolism. Loss of GRSF1...
Researchers discovered that boosting mitochondrial metabolism in neurons enhances long‑term memory formation in both fruit flies and mice. By reducing expression of the mitochondrial calcium exporter Letm1, calcium accumulates in the mitochondrial matrix, over‑activating metabolic pathways and increasing ATP production...

Researchers at Queen Mary University analyzed the BioTIME database and found species turnover has slowed by about a third since the mid‑1970s. The slowdown, measured over five‑year intervals, contradicts earlier expectations that climate change would accelerate community change. Ecologists note...

ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured the May 2024 solar superstorm’s effects on the Red Planet, revealing unprecedented electron spikes in the upper atmosphere. A radiation monitor on TGO logged a dose equivalent to 200 Earth days in...

Astrophotographer Chenglu Peng captured a striking view of Orion’s familiar outline and the faint hydrogen glow of Barnard’s Loop from Yomegashima Island on Lake Shinji, Japan. Using a Sony mirrorless camera paired with a fast 50 mm f/1.2 lens, he recorded...

Astronomers announce a prime viewing window for Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) beginning after sunset on March 5, when it will sit 20° above the horizon in Eridanus. The comet is easily located 2.9° east of the 4th‑magnitude star Eta Eridani and shows...
The article explains how Wick rotation swaps the Lorentz symmetry SO(3,1) of Minkowski quantum field theory for the Euclidean rotation group SO(4), and how the reverse process is more subtle. It shows that Osterwalder‑Schrader (OS) reconstruction in Euclidean space breaks...

Preliminary trials of Zorevunersen, an experimental therapy for Dravet syndrome, showed it is safe and well tolerated in 81 children. A single 70 mg dose reduced seizures by about 50%, and three doses cut seizures roughly 80% compared with baseline. The...
Researchers from Keio University, the Broad Institute and City of Hope reported that a low‑protein diet combined with four specific gut bacterial strains converts white adipocytes into energy‑burning beige fat in mice. The microbiota‑driven transformation boosted beige fat levels, improved...
The article highlights supercritical fluids, a fourth state of matter that blends the diffusion of gases with the solvating power of liquids. It explains how carbon dioxide surpasses its critical temperature of 31 °C and pressure of 73 bar, erasing the traditional...
The United States will formally exit the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on February 27, 2027, a year after the required notification period. The withdrawal follows the 2026 departure from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the first nation...
The NA62 Collaboration announced a refined measurement of the ultra‑rare K⁺→π⁺νν decay, presenting a branching ratio of 9.6 × 10⁻¹¹ with a 40% reduction in uncertainty. The result incorporates data collected in 2023‑2024 and leverages advanced machine‑learning analysis techniques. This measurement aligns...

The paper links Fermi‑detected blazars and radio galaxies through their accretion and jet radiation mechanisms, analyzing 838 BL Lacs, 784 FSRQs, 55 LERGs and 17 HERGs. Gamma‑ray photon index versus luminosity separates BL Lacs from FSRQs and shows HERGs align with FSRQs...

“Holocene Hydroclimatic Variations Over Western and Central Asia as Inferred From Speleothem Isotope Evidence” | Pleased to be among the authors of this new article in @americangeophysicalunion #JGRatmos led by my former student Liang Ning: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JD045672?prg140729=6ac46daa-138f-4444-9b99-407a402c3282
The European Union will be permitted to count up to 5% of its 2040 emissions‑reduction target against high‑quality international carbon credits starting in 2036. France’s climate envoy Benoît Faraco argues that directing a share of these credits to clean‑cooking projects could...
A new simulation study suggests Uranus and Neptune may be more rocky than icy, challenging the traditional "icy giant" label. Researchers generated thousands of interior configurations that simultaneously satisfy gravitational data and thermodynamic constraints, revealing both water‑rich and rock‑dominant possibilities....
NASA’s SpaceX CRS‑33 Dragon spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on Feb. 26, returning valuable microgravity biology experiments. The crew‑12 expedition arrived in mid‑February, expanding the ISS’s research agenda with European‑led experiments. Axiom Space announced a $350 million funding round to...
March 2026 offers a packed celestial calendar, highlighted by a total lunar eclipse on March 3 that will turn the Moon a deep red. A rare Venus‑Saturn conjunction peaks mid‑month, while the vernal equinox on March 20 marks the astronomical start of spring....

Astronomy Cast episode 784, released Feb 16, 2026, features hosts Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay exploring how pulsars—dead, rapidly rotating stars—function as precise cosmic clocks. The show explains that pulsar timing enables detection of nanohertz gravitational waves, autonomous spacecraft...
Researchers observed a ring of hydrogen bubbles rising and rotating clockwise during electrolysis, despite the absence of any fan blades. The rotation is caused by a Lorentz force generated by the interaction of electric currents and magnetic fields in the...

Astronomers have identified AT2024tvd, a tidal disruption event occurring 0.8 kiloparsecs (≈2,600 light‑years) from the nucleus of a massive galaxy 600 million light‑years away. Multi‑wavelength observations from ZTF, Swift, Pan‑STARRS, and XMM‑Newton were modeled with the kerrSED accretion‑disk framework, revealing a black hole...
You can see a black hole, or at least where one might be. It’s hiding in Omega Centauri. Here's how to spot it!

In a recent Unsupervised Learning episode, Razib Khan interviews Washington University genetics professor Mike White about his lab’s work on the biophysical architecture of regulatory DNA. White’s interdisciplinary approach combines functional genomics, synthetic biology, computational biology and deep‑learning to predict...
The 1972 Osterwalder‑Schrader framework tackles the long‑standing problem of Wick rotating spinor fields by introducing a pair of independent fermionic variables, effectively doubling the degrees of freedom when moving from Minkowski to Euclidean space. Their construction preserves the Dirac adjoint...

A team led by Alexander Platt, Daniel Harris and Sarah Tishkoff published a new Science paper showing that early African DNA entered Neanderthal genomes about 250,000 years ago, leaving a strong excess of African ancestry on the Neanderthal X chromosome....
The post reviews the quantum harmonic oscillator in the Heisenberg picture, showing how ladder operators $a$ and $a^\dagger$ solve the equations of motion and generate the familiar energy spectrum. It then contrasts this elementary construction with the Osterwalder‑Schrader (OS) Euclidean framework, noting that the...

“AI-spurred surge in data-center development could have climate consequences” by Troy Wolverton for the sfexaminer: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/technology/ais-power-needs-could-drive-climate-changes/article_b80cc5db-68f6-4697-b2a3-1cd6a07281ba.html
OpenAI teamed with particle‑physics amplitudes researchers to apply reasoning‑type language models to a puzzling non‑zero calculation. The AI iteratively generated a compact formula and mathematically proved its correctness, turning a messy multi‑particle result into a simple expression. The breakthrough highlights...