Today's Science Pulse
Hidden Star Clusters Discovered Deep Inside Nearby Galaxies
A UK‑led study using VLA and ALMA data uncovered previously hidden giant star clusters deep within nearby galaxies, describing them as “ring factories.” The findings highlight how young stellar activity shapes galactic evolution across the universe.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Foundation Alloy raises $22M Series A
Giant Squid Longer Than a School Bus Emerges From 1,500ft Deep Off Australia (Video)
Scientists from Curtin University and the Schmidt Ocean Institute have recorded the first eDNA evidence of a giant squid off Western Australia’s Ningaloo coast, deploying cameras to depths beyond 1,500 feet. The expedition also uncovered DNA traces of 226 previously undetected deep‑sea species, highlighting the region’s hidden biodiversity. Giant squids can grow up to 13 meters (42 feet) and weigh as much as 275 kg, making the find especially notable. The results were published in a peer‑reviewed study and underscore eDNA’s power for deep‑ocean exploration.
Astrophysicists Use 'Space Archaeology' To Trace the History of a Spiral Galaxy
Astrophysicists have reconstructed the 12‑billion‑year life story of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1365 by mapping oxygen across thousands of star‑forming clouds with the du Pont telescope and matching the data to a suite of 20,000 simulated galaxies. The chemical fingerprints reveal...
Will Future Missions to the Moon Be Sustainable? It May Depend on Whom You Ask
Future lunar missions are shifting from short visits to long‑term presence, with NASA’s Artemis program targeting a sustainable foothold in the 2030s and private firms eyeing a lunar economy. The article highlights the moon’s fragile environment—rocket exhaust, dust plumes and...
Cardiologists Are First in World to Use New Leaflet-Splitting Technique During TAVR
Interventional cardiologists performed the first‑in‑human transcatheter aortic root tricuspidization (ART) during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) to treat bicuspid aortic stenosis. Seven symptomatic patients, average age 64.6, underwent ART‑assisted TAVR via transfemoral access with no 30‑day deaths or strokes. The...
What Happens to Your Brain Under Anesthesia?
A Yale-led study used full‑head EEG recordings to compare brain activity under propofol anesthesia with that of natural sleep, REM, coma and wakefulness. The data reveal that anesthetized brains can occupy multiple states, some resembling deep sleep and others mirroring...
Plant Leaf Becomes Graphene Neural‑network Sensor
What happens when a graphene transistor, a Monstera leaf, and a neural network become the same thing? https://spectrum.ieee.org/graphene-sensor-plant-neural-network?share_id=9493662
Graphene “Tattoos” For Plants Could Form Neural Networks
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have created a graphene‑based “tattoo” that can be pasted onto a plant leaf to deliver real‑time moisture readings. The patch functions as a three‑terminal transistor, using the leaf as a dielectric, and...
Graphene‑ITO Hybrid Electrodes Boost Nanoscale Current by 60% for Space Solar Cells
Scientists have demonstrated that graphene‑ITO hybrid transparent electrodes increase nanoscale tunneling current by nearly 60%, offering a path to lighter, higher‑efficiency solar panels for spacecraft. The breakthrough addresses the brittleness and conductivity limits of conventional indium tin oxide (ITO) layers,...
Brain Cells Store Competing Memories that Drive or Suppress Alcohol Relapse
A study in Neuron reveals that competing memories of alcohol use and extinction are stored within the same class of striatal neurons—direct‑pathway medium spiny cells—in the dorsomedial striatum. The researchers showed that alcohol‑learning engrams reside mainly in the matrix, while...
Stanford Scientists Map the Molecular Diversity of Different Global Populations
Stanford Medicine researchers mapped the molecular profiles of 322 healthy volunteers from European, East Asian and South Asian backgrounds living across Asia, Europe and North America. By measuring lipids, proteins, metabolites and gut microbes, they identified ethnicity‑linked signatures—such as higher...
Can Helium-3 Create a ‘Gold Rush’ on the Moon?
Helium‑3, a rare isotope prized for quantum‑computing cooling, advanced medical imaging, and potential fusion fuel, is abundant on the lunar surface where solar wind implants it in ilmenite‑rich regolith. Scientists estimate up to a billion kilograms could be harvested, sparking...
Study Traces Adult Heart Disease Risk Back to the Womb
Northwestern Medicine researchers followed 1,350 mother‑child pairs from birth to age 22 and found that pregnancy complications such as hypertension, pre‑eclampsia, gestational diabetes and preterm birth are associated with early signs of cardiovascular disease in the offspring. Children whose mothers...
Generative AI System Could Cut Animal Testing by Up to 50% in Preclinical Research
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt, Philipps University of Marburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology have unveiled genESOM, a generative AI tool that creates synthetic preclinical data. Trained on small experimental sets, it can mimic real laboratory...
Cyclarity Unveils Oxidized Cholesterol Excretion Data
Cyclarity Therapeutics presented Phase 1 data for UDP-003, its cyclodextrin drug that binds and removes oxidized cholesterol (7‑ketocholesterol) from humans. The Monash Victorian Heart Institute trial showed dose‑dependent urinary excretion of 7KC, with no serious adverse events and a short...
Scientists Mark Attenborough’s 100th Birthday with Newly Named Wasp
Researchers at the Natural History Museum in London have identified a new species and genus of ichneumonid wasp collected in Chile in the early 1980s. The 3.5‑mm insect has been named *Attenboroughnculus tau* to honor broadcaster David Attenborough on his...
Observation of the Acoustic Purcell Effect in Diamond Nanostructures
Harvard and collaborators have reported the first observation of the acoustic Purcell effect using a single silicon‑vacancy (SiV) center embedded in a diamond optomechanical crystal. By tuning the SiV spin transition into resonance with a 12.06 GHz mechanical breathing mode, they...
JWST Unveils Most Detailed 14‑Billion‑Year Cosmic Web Map
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have produced the most detailed map of the cosmic web ever, tracing filaments and voids back to when the universe was about one billion years old. Led by University of California, Riverside researchers,...
NASA Alters Artemis 3 Launch Vehicle Configuration
NASA announced that Artemis 3 will launch on the Space Launch System without its Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Instead, an inert spacer built at Marshall Space Flight Center will occupy the ICPS interface, preserving the vehicle’s dimensions. The change reflects a...
Japanese Study Finds Arginine Cuts Alzheimer’s Amyloid in Mice
Researchers at Kindai University in Osaka reported that the dietary amino acid arginine markedly reduced amyloid‑β plaques, brain inflammation, and cognitive deficits in fruit‑fly and mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. The finding points to a low‑cost, widely available supplement as...
Orforglipron Enables Over 70% Weight‑Loss Maintenance After GLP‑1 Injections, Phase 3 Trial Shows
In the ATTAIN‑MAINTAIN phase 3 trial, adults who switched from injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide to the oral GLP‑1 agonist orforglipron kept over 70% of their weight loss after one year. The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity, highlights...
Your Brain Can Learn Things When You’re Unconscious
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine discovered that human hippocampal neurons can learn and process language while patients are under propofol anesthesia. Using Neuropixels probes, they showed neurons improve detection of oddball tones within ten minutes and respond to grammatical...
Solar‑Powered Skydweller Drone Sets Jumbo‑Jet Wingspan Record Before Water Ditching Crash
Skydweller Aero’s solar‑powered Skydweller drone flew for eight days and 14 minutes, eclipsing all previous drone and crewed aircraft records, before a controlled water ditching off the coast of Mexico caused it to sink. The loss underscores both the promise...
Microplastics May Be an Even Bigger Problem Than We Thought
New research highlighted by the Washington Post links microplastics to climate warming, adding a global dimension to 3D‑printing waste. Desktop and industrial printers generate a variety of plastic scraps—failed prints, support structures, purge towers, and resin residues—that eventually become microplastics....
Flexible Carbon Nanotube Transistors Hit 152 GHz fT, Paving Way for 6G Wearables
A research team unveiled flexible radio‑frequency transistors built from aligned carbon nanotube arrays that achieve a peak extrinsic current‑gain cutoff (fT) of 152 GHz and a power‑gain cutoff (fmax) of 102 GHz, while consuming under 200 mW per millimeter. The breakthrough, enabled by...
Perfect Spacewalk Glove Fit Requires Custom Modeling, Trimmed Nails
Testing the fit of spacewalking gloves. My hands are in a low-pressure chamber, to see if the gloves will bulge too much during a spacewalk. I was lucky - when @nasa was making the new gloves, my hands were used...
Building Rhea's Factory: How AI-Designed Enzymes Could Finally Solve Plastic Recycling
Rhea's Factory, a startup founded by molecular biologist Arzu Sandıkçı and ex‑Google product manager Mert Topcu, is leveraging AI‑driven protein language models to engineer enzymes that can break common plastics back to their original monomers. Their platform evolved from a...
May 14, 1973: Skylab Launches
On May 14, 1973, NASA launched Skylab, the United States' first space station, weighing 170,000 lb, the heaviest payload ever sent to orbit. Within a minute, the micrometeoroid/thermal shield ripped away, damaging both solar arrays and causing temperature spikes. After an 11‑day delay...
Molecules Emerge as a New Kind of Building Block for Quantum Computers
NVision Quantum Technologies announced a $55 million Series B round and published a preprint showing optical control of quantum information in a single carbene molecule. The researchers demonstrated that the molecule’s electron spin remains coherent for over 2 milliseconds at 4 kelvins and emits...
BeOne Wins Mantle Cell Lymphoma Approval, Opening New Therapy Class
The FDA granted accelerated approval to BeOne Medicines’ BCL2 inhibitor sonrotoclax, marketed as Beqalzi, for patients with relapsed or refractory mantle‑cell lymphoma who have failed at least two prior therapies, including a BTK inhibitor. The drug is the first BCL2...
TESS Reanalysis Finds 10,091 New Exoplanet Candidates, Doubling Known Count
The T16 project’s machine‑learning overhaul of NASA’s TESS archive has identified 10,091 new exoplanet candidates, a haul that could more than double the catalog of confirmed worlds. The find reshapes target lists for upcoming telescopes and deepens statistical studies of...
STAT+: Biogen’s Tau-Targeting Alzheimer’s Drug Posts Mixed Results in Mid-Stage Study
Biogen’s Phase 2 trial of the tau‑targeting Alzheimer’s drug diranersen (BIIB080) showed that the compound lowered tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue and was linked to a modest slowing of cognitive decline. The study evaluated three escalating dose levels,...
RGNX Shows 71% Microdystrophin, Eyes 2027 Approval
$RGNX Duchenne gene therapy study results are out: microdystrophin expression reached an average of 71% of normal across all 31 boys at 12 wks. Functional improvements in a subset of boys followed for one year also seen. The big question...
Chemo-Free Padcev‑Keytruda Shows Promise for Cis‑eligible Patients
$AZN Volga might have matched $MRK $PFE KN-905 in cis-ineligible patients, but here comes chemo-free Padcev + Keytruda in the cis-eligible setting. Via @ApexOnco -> https://t.co/KmwCfgZLBm
Imfinzi Set to Become First Immunotherapy for Stomach Cancer Patients on NHS
AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy Imfinzi (durvalumab) has received NICE approval, becoming the first immunotherapy available on the UK NHS for patients with resectable gastric and gastro‑oesophageal junction cancers. The approval follows the Phase III MATTERHORN trial, which showed that adding Imfinzi to standard...
Blood Test Help Personalise Depression Treatment
NeuroKaire, an Israeli startup, has launched BrightKaire—a blood‑based test that uses patient‑derived stem cells to create frontal brain neurons and assess how 70 different antidepressants affect neural connectivity. The test, now approved in Israel and the United States, promises to...
Deep-Earth Diamonds Reveal Trove of Never-Before-Seen Minerals
Researchers at the American Museum of Natural History have identified two previously unknown minerals—bernwoodite and kopylovite—trapped within deep‑mantle diamonds. Advanced laser and X‑ray microscopy allowed them to examine microscopic inclusions that survived the journey from hundreds of kilometers beneath Earth’s...
Seabed Life Triples After Bottom Trawling Ban in Scotland Protected Area
Nearly a decade after Scotland imposed a bottom‑trawling ban in the South Arran Marine Protected Area, a new study shows seabed life has tripled and species richness has doubled compared with adjacent unprotected waters. Researchers recorded more than 150 species...
What’s Coming up at SLAS Europe 2026?
The Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) will host its 2026 European Conference and Exhibition in Vienna from May 19‑21, featuring a technology provider showcase at the Vienna BioCenter and a packed scientific program. Highlights include keynote and breakout...
METiS TechBio Raises $270M in Record HKEX AI‑Biotech IPO
METiS TechBio listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, selling 201.23 million H‑shares for HK$2.11 billion ($270 million). The offering, underwritten by Jefferies, Deutsche Bank Securities Asia and CITIC Securities, was oversubscribed more than 6,900 times, setting a new benchmark for AI‑driven biotech...
Physical Fitness Does Not Strongly Influence Mainstream Epigenetic Clocks
Epigenetic clocks, built from DNA‑methylation patterns in blood, are widely used to estimate chronological age and mortality risk. A new systematic review and meta‑analysis of 44 studies involving 145,465 participants examined whether physical fitness influences these clocks. The analysis found...
As Tick Bites Surge, Conspiracy Theories Follow
Rising temperatures are driving a surge in tick activity across the United States, with Maine seeing up to 90% of moose calves dying from winter tick infestations. The CDC has recorded the highest early‑season emergency‑room visits for tick bites since...
Molecular Grappling Hooks Boost Cancer Drug Retention and Tumor Shrinkage
Scientists led by Michael Evans and Charles Craik reported a nanodevice that physically tethers anticancer agents to tumor cell membranes. In mouse models the device cut tumor size more sharply than the drug alone while sparing healthy tissue. The breakthrough...
De-CIPHER-Ing Transcriptomes and Proteins Together with New RNA-Seq Technology
Scientists at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and UCSF unveiled CIPHER‑seq, a single‑cell platform that simultaneously measures whole‑transcriptome RNA and intracellular proteins. By optimizing fixation, permeabilization and antibody incubation, the method avoids the RNA degradation and stress artifacts that plague...
New Study: Architecture Targets the Core Bottleneck in Battery Manufacturing
A new study in Materials Science & Engineering R shows that 3‑D printing can move from prototype to mainstream lithium‑battery production by leveraging print‑defined architecture to boost active‑material utilisation to 80‑90% at 1 C, far above the 50‑70% of conventional slurry‑cast electrodes....
Scientists Discover a New Gut-Brain-Heart Connection that Regulates Blood Pressure
Researchers have identified indole‑3‑acetic acid (IAA), a gut bacterial metabolite, as a key regulator of blood pressure through a gut‑brain‑heart signaling pathway. Using a transparent zebrafish model, they showed that loss of IAA leads to overactive hypothalamic hypocretin neurons, sympathetic...
AZ Cues up Broader Use of Imfinzi in Bladder Cancer
AstraZeneca’s immunotherapy Imfinzi (durvalumab) demonstrated a significant survival benefit in the phase‑3 VOLGA trial for muscle‑invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients who cannot receive platinum chemotherapy. The study combined Imfinzi with Pfizer‑Astellas’ antibody‑drug conjugate Padcev before surgery, extending both event‑free and...
Why E5 Was the Target Nobody Went After
Toragen CEO Sandra Coufal highlighted that the HPV E5 protein has been largely ignored in favor of the better‑studied E6 and E7 oncogenes. She explained that E5 assembles six copies into a viral ion channel that cloaks infected cells from immune...
'Extreme' Crystal that Formed in 1945 Nuclear Bomb Test Is Unlike Anything Scientists Have Seen
Researchers analyzing a rare red variant of trinitite from the 1945 Trinity test have identified a previously unknown calcium‑copper‑silicon clathrate crystal. The extreme blast generated temperatures over 2,700 °F (1,500 °C) and pressures of 8 gigapascals, forcing silicon atoms into a cage‑like lattice...
Landspace Launches Improved Zhuque-2E, Long March 6A Lofts New Qianfan Satellite Group
China’s private launch firm Landspace successfully flew the upgraded Zhuque‑2E Y5, placing a 2,800‑kg payload into a 900‑km polar orbit and showcasing enhanced high‑mass capability. The rocket now delivers up to 4,000 kg to Sun‑synchronous orbit and 6,000 kg to low Earth...
From MSCs to iPSCs: Building the Cell Therapy Future
In a live session at the ISCT annual meeting, Miguel Forte and Jon Ellis discussed the evolving roles of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in cell‑therapy development. They examined the scientific advantages of each platform, highlighted persistent...