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.
On February 12, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur lifted off on the USSF‑87 mission but displayed a significant performance anomaly in one of its four solid rocket boosters. The anomaly, similar to the nozzle‑loss issue on the October 2024 Cert‑2 flight, prompted ULA to launch an investigation while the Space Force announced a pause on national‑security payloads until the cause is resolved. ULA had projected 16‑18 Vulcan launches in 2026, but the incident threatens that cadence. The launch occurred amid a leadership transition, with CEO Tory Bruno departing for Blue Origin and COO John Elbon serving as acting CEO.
The ESA‑CAS Smile spacecraft landed at the Guiana Space Centre on 26 February after a two‑week sea voyage aboard the cargo ship Colibri. Over the next weeks the probe will undergo health checks, propellant loading and integration with the Vega‑C launch...
On 8 March 2026 a bright fireball streaked from southwest to northeast across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, glowing for about six seconds before breaking apart. The meteoroid, estimated to be a few metres in diameter, left a visible trail...
Researchers have integrated an electric field into electrohydrodynamic (EHD) bioprinting to orient fibrin‑alginate hydrogels, producing nanofiber alignment that directs myocyte organization. The conductive polymer‑enhanced constructs exhibit improved myotube differentiation and mimic native muscle conductivity. In vivo tests on rats demonstrated...
Researchers identified macrophage‑derived Semaphorin 7A (SEMA7A) as a potent driver of atherosclerosis. Gene‑expression analysis showed high SEMA7A and its receptor integrin β1 in human mononuclear cells, and mouse models with macrophage‑specific Sema7a deletion exhibited a 57.2% reduction in lesion size and improved...
Last week, UKRI and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) faced intense scrutiny as the House of Lords and Commons committees examined a proposed 30% cut to the Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear (PPAN) research budget. Ministers acknowledged that...
A recent Government Accountability Office report reveals that the United States lacks effective oversight and transparent reporting for geoengineering activities, from decades‑old cloud‑seeding to emerging solar‑radiation projects. NOAA’s reporting forms have not been updated since 1974, resulting in incomplete, often...
ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) spotlighted five senior women who lead spacecraft missions such as JUICE, EarthCARE, and the ExoMars rover, sharing their daily skills and career paths. They highlight the importance of interpersonal communication, calm decision‑making, and human‑centred...
Mammography should include AI assessment of breast artery calcification, since it provides very useful information about cardiovascular risk https://t.co/yfTbTRrOuY https://t.co/h1C8ZnHepJ
10 out of the 33 Raptor 3's in this first test. Let's see how she all goes with this shall we!? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
An international team using ALMA has produced the largest radio image ever of the Milky Way’s central 650‑light‑year region, known as the Central Molecular Zone. The mosaic, covering an area comparable to three full moons, maps dense gas filaments, star‑forming...
If only someone had looked at this, say, back in April 2020. 🙄 Turns out that a 5% reduction in emissions for one year for a gas that accumulates in the atmosphere has a tiny effect on concentrations. https://t.co/if0d8eyX1F https://t.co/UFWo16Rc47
SpaceX successfully launched 25 additional Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket’s first stage marked its seventh flight, achieving a precise drone‑ship landing in the Pacific. With this mission, SpaceX’s 2026 launch tally of 29...
On March 8 1986, Japan’s Suisei probe became the second spacecraft to fly past Halley’s Comet, part of an international “Halley Armada” that also included two Soviet Vega probes, Japan’s Sakigake, and ESA’s Giotto. The comet’s perihelion occurred on February 9, placing it...
The FDA has formally proposed adding the modern UV filter bemotrizinol (BEMT) to the United States' list of approved sunscreen ingredients, marking the first potential new filter in decades. Bemotrizinol, already used internationally, provides highly photostable, broad‑spectrum protection without the...
The newsletter urges donations to support a lab studying lethal childhood glioma, noting NIH grant success rates of only 4‑5%. It reports FDA biologics chief Vinay Prasad’s second departure, a rare leadership turnover that could affect approval stability. Additional highlights...
Daylight‑saving time begins, moving clocks forward an hour, which shifts the optimal viewing window for the faint spiral galaxy NGC 2541 in the constellation Lynx. The galaxy, a 12th‑magnitude, 37‑million‑light‑year‑distant intermediate spiral, is best attempted around 9‑10 PM local time with a...
Penn State researchers introduced a large‑language‑model workflow that predicts the optical response of metasurfaces in seconds, replacing hours‑long simulations. By fine‑tuning an LLM on a 45,000‑design dataset, they achieved high‑accuracy forward and inverse design without bespoke neural networks. The method...
NASA announced a sole‑source contract awarding United Launch Alliance (ULA) the Centaur‑5 upper stage for future Space Launch System (SLS) flights after Artemis‑3. The decision leverages the proven RL10 engine heritage, compatibility with Mobile Launcher 1, and ULA’s existing work with...
An open letter has been circulated to protest a proposed 30% cut to the UK Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear Physics research budget, which could translate into more than a 50% reduction in postdoctoral positions. The letter highlights the UK's...
As excited as I am for the new energy and changes to the Artemis program, I am STRESSING OUT with it right now. I was almost done with my 90 minute deep dive on Artemis, making predictions and laying...
A full century after the discovery of a peculiar microscopic world, quantum mechanics has triumphed as the most precisely verified physical theory in the history of science. Yet the quantum world defies conventional notions of reality. In this episode of...
John Herschel, born March 7, 1792, was the sole child of famed astronomer William Herschel. After studying mathematics at Cambridge, he collaborated with his father and co‑founded the Royal Astronomical Society in 1820, later producing a celebrated double‑star catalog with...
Governments in the UK, US and EU are committing to phase out animal testing, starting with skin‑irritation assays and targeting broader reductions by 2030. Rapid advances in new‑approach methodologies—organs‑on‑chips, organoids and AI‑driven computational models—have driven a fourfold rise in NAM‑only...
On the evening of March 7, 2026, bright Venus will sit low in the western sky about 7° above the horizon, with first‑magnitude Saturn positioned roughly 1° southeast, creating a striking planetary conjunction. Venus appears as a 10‑arcsecond, 97%‑lit gibbous disk, while...
Remember the asteroid we thought might hit Earth or the Moon in 2032? New data from the JWST shows it will hit NEITHER. JWST's IR eyes are great for this because the asteroid is tiny and far, and thus, really dim....
There's a lot you can learn about sleep. Like 83% hadn't heard of DORAs. https://t.co/2lV3Fw6cwg https://t.co/IWRTdPTMOL
A new PNAS paper by Ayken Askapuli et al. presents ancient DNA from four medieval tombs in central Kazakhstan attributed to the Golden Horde. Radiocarbon dating places three individuals in the early‑mid 1300s and one in the 1700s, disproving local legends...
One of the most impressive advances we've ever seen for some autoimmune diseases: cures https://t.co/OZDuq4Iooy
“Scientists are trying to solve the mystery of whether global warming is speeding up” via Laura Paddison for @cnn. [I’m critical of the study, but we all agree on key point that planet will continue to warm until we stop...
In this episode, Dr. Sabine Hazen discusses her lab’s pioneering 2020 study that identified full‑genome SARS‑CoV‑2 in patient stool samples, showing the virus can persist in the gut for weeks—and potentially years—after respiratory clearance. She explains how the findings revealed...
The European Southern Observatory released a new photo of the week taken with the Very Large Telescope’s HAWK‑1 near‑infrared imager, showcasing the RCW 36 nebula in Vela. The high‑resolution image reveals a “cosmic hawk” shape and uncovers several newly forming massive...
Recent open‑access review maps the human virome’s role in aging, highlighting how gut and circulating viruses influence immunity, inflammation, and metabolism. Age‑related virome changes include expansion of bacteriophage families, reactivation of latent herpesviruses, and altered viral diversity, with centenarians displaying...
In September 2022 NASA’s DART spacecraft slammed into Dimorphos, the smaller member of the Didymos binary, deliberately altering its orbit. New analysis published in Science Advances shows the impact also slowed the entire binary system’s heliocentric speed by roughly 12 microns...
A new study in Science Advances shows compound drought‑heat events have surged globally since the early 2000s, driven mainly by heatwave‑led events that more than doubled in area. The increase outpaces what can be explained by global warming alone, reflecting...
I’ll be kick starting British Science Week with a Live Lesson this Monday 1100hrs on CBBC. Also available from Monday at 0900hrs on the @BBC_Teach website. Do you teach Key Stage 2 Science? Need help planning next week’s lessons? Have curious kids?...
PEP protects against age-related inflammation, puts the brake on the aging process in mice, high levels in humans correlate with low inflammation So what is PEP, you ask? phosphoenolpyruvate, from glucose metabolism, a, master regulator, blocks cGAS-STING https://t.co/glMvaHSjOq https://t.co/MSVMBJbHm4
Chris Masterjohn, a nutritional scientist and mitochondrial biologist, launched Mitome, a consumer‑focused platform for mitochondrial health testing. In a conversation with Razib Khan, he critiqued the COVID‑19 response, alleging authorities overstated certainty and faced attempts at censorship. Masterjohn also argued...
The El Nino cometh. This would push up our estimate for 2026 global temperatures (though its still unlikely to surpass 2024 as the warmest year), and make 2027 very likely to be the warmest year on record given the historical...
The team led by Inkyung Jung and Yarui Diao introduced scHiCAR, a trimodal single‑cell technology that simultaneously captures transcriptome, epigenome, and 3D genome architecture. By integrating AI, the method achieves ultra‑high throughput at roughly $0.04 per cell and was used...
Dietary (caloric) restriction has so many salutary effects for slowing the aging process in animal models, but whether that can be simulated in some way in people remains unclear. This new comprehensive review @NatureAging is outstanding https://t.co/xw5bmK3NaW https://t.co/t8bBmS8HGB
A first‑in‑human phase 1 trial at UC Davis evaluated placental mesenchymal stem cells delivered intra‑uterinely to fetuses with myelomeningocele. Six pregnancies treated between June 2021 and December 2022 resulted in intact repair sites, no cerebrospinal fluid leaks, infections, or tumor formation, and MRI scans...
Mumps cases have resurfaced in the United States, with at least 34 infections confirmed across 11 states and Maryland alone reporting 26 cases. The outbreak follows a decline in childhood MMR vaccination rates that accelerated after the COVID‑19 pandemic. While...
The recent US‑Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory attacks have halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting roughly 20% of global oil flow and sending diesel and gas prices sharply higher in Europe and the United States. The...
A UNIST research team engineered a methanol‑tolerant *Methylobacterium extorquens* strain that grows 1.7 times faster than conventional microbes at 2.5 % methanol. Using adaptive laboratory evolution, they identified recurring mutations in the metY and kefB genes that boost detoxification and energy...
Recent studies suggest that persistent inflammation in the gut, lungs and skin may trigger Alzheimer’s disease. Vaccinations such as Shingrix have been shown to cut dementia risk by about 17 percent, likely by dampening inflammatory pathways. Lifestyle measures—including a Mediterranean...
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) delivered the first and second stages of its RFA ONE launch vehicle to SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland, marking a pivotal step toward the United Kingdom’s inaugural domestic orbital launch. The stages arrive after a 2024 static‑fire anomaly...
CERN has launched the final four‑month run of the Large Hadron Collider, kicking off with proton collisions on 7 March. The schedule includes nine weeks of proton collisions, three weeks of lead‑ion runs, and a two‑week high‑intensity proton test featuring 40%...
Interested in the latest sleep science and getting better quality sleep? New Ground Truths with Prof Yo-El Ju, @WashUNeurology https://t.co/2lV3Fw6cwg SRI-sleep regularity index https://t.co/zRWbVNmeap
Mathematicians have finally proved the lonely runner conjecture for eight, nine, and ten runners, marking the first major advance in decades. The breakthroughs stem from Matthieu Rosenfeld’s computer‑assisted approach, which built on Terence Tao’s finite‑speed reduction, and an undergraduate, Paul...
