People with Cannabis Disorder Do Not Seem to Pay Increased Attention to Pictures of Cannabis
Australian researchers examined whether people with moderate‑to‑severe cannabis use disorder (CUD) display an attentional bias toward cannabis images. Using a visual‑probe task with 108 participants, they found no overall bias compared with controls. Within the CUD group, only a marginally faster response to cannabis‑paired arrows was observed among those with more severe symptoms, a difference too small to be conclusive. The authors caution that the sample excluded comorbid psychiatric conditions and call for larger, more direct investigations.
World Water Day: Earth’s Freshwater Reveals New Species & Faces Mounting Threats
World Water Day highlighted three contrasting freshwater stories: scientists described over 300 new freshwater fish species in 2025, including two cave‑adapted species in China and the largest North American fish in a century; Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, is being...
Why Are Some Stars Not Always Visible In The Night Sky? An Astronomer Explains
The article explains why some stars remain visible year‑round while others vanish with the seasons. It contrasts solar and sidereal days, showing that stars rise about four minutes earlier each night because a sidereal day is 23 hours 56 minutes. Circumpolar stars near...
J. Michael Bishop, Nobel Prize Winner for Cancer Research, Dies at 90
J. Michael Bishop, Nobel laureate who uncovered oncogenes, died at 90 from pneumonia. His 1989 Nobel Prize with Harold Varmus identified gene families that mutate into cancer‑causing oncogenes, fundamentally altering tumor biology. Bishop joined UCSF in 1968, later serving as...
SpaceX Offers Details on Orbital Data Center Satellites
SpaceX disclosed technical details for an ambitious orbital data center constellation, targeting up to one million satellites powered by high‑end AI processors. The initiative, called Terafab, aims to produce one terawatt of chips annually—about 50 times current advanced‑chip output—and will...
Jeff Bezos’ Space Company Unveils Plans for Orbital Anti-Asteroid Defense Weapons
Blue Origin announced a Near‑Earth Object (NEO) Hunter mission concept in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, aiming to test multiple asteroid‑deflection techniques such as ion‑beam propulsion and direct kinetic impact. The plan leverages the in‑development Blue Ring spacecraft, which...
Albert Einstein’s Brain: What Have Scientists Discovered?
Scientists have examined Albert Einstein’s preserved brain for decades, uncovering several anatomical differences that may relate to his extraordinary cognitive abilities. Studies report wider parietal lobes, a lower neuron‑to‑glia ratio in the left posterior parietal cortex, a thicker corpus callosum,...
Scientists Identify the Age Your Body Starts Ageing Faster – This Is Exactly What Happens Inside Your Body After a...
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a Cell 2025 study analyzing 516 tissue samples from 76 donors aged 14‑68. They identified a distinct inflection point around age 50, with the most pronounced protein remodeling occurring between 45 and...
Clinical Performance of an Ultra-Brief Delirium Screening Tool in Hospitalized Older Adults
Researchers validated the Ultra‑Brief 2‑item Screener (UB‑2) for delirium in hospitalized older adults. In a cohort of 97 patients aged 65 and above, UB‑2 achieved 87.1% sensitivity and 87.9% specificity against the Confusion Assessment Method reference. Patients identified with delirium...
Competitive ELISA Explained: Mechanism, Data Interpretation, and Research Applications
Competitive ELISA is a plate‑based assay where an enzyme‑labeled antigen competes with sample antigen for a limited antibody binding site, producing an inverse signal. As target concentration rises, the measured colorimetric signal falls, generating a descending standard curve. The format...
Green Insect Turns a Puzzling Shade of Hot Pink
In March, a research team on Panama’s Barro Colorado Island documented an adult female katydid (*Arota festae*) that began life with a vivid hot‑pink exoskeleton before fading to the typical green leaf mimicry. Over a 30‑day observation period, the insect’s...
The Biological Roots Behind the Chills You Get From Music and Art
A new genome‑wide analysis of over 15,000 Dutch participants shows that the tendency to experience aesthetic chills—goosebumps and shivers triggered by music, visual art, or poetry—has a measurable genetic component. The researchers estimate that family relatedness accounts for up to...
Genetic Study Finds Links Between Height and Risk of Cardiovascular and Reproductive Conditions in East Asian People
A large‑scale GWAS of over 120,000 Han Taiwanese participants identified 293 genetic variants linked to height and five linked to familial short stature. The study found that greater genetically‑predicted height raises the risk of atrial fibrillation and endometriosis in East...
Russia Launches First Rocket From Repaired Baikonur Launch Pad
Russia successfully launched a Soyuz‑2.1a rocket carrying the Progress MS‑33 cargo spacecraft from a repaired launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 22, 2026. The launch restores the only Baikonur pad capable of handling Soyuz crew and cargo missions after it was...
March 22, 1997: Comet Hale-Bopp Peaks
Comet Hale‑Bopp, discovered in July 1995 by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, reached its brightest point on March 22, 1997 with a magnitude of –0.8. The comet remained visible to the naked eye for 18 months, shattering the previous record...
Could Ozempic Help People Whose Cancer Has Spread to the Brain?
A large retrospective analysis of over 19,000 patients with cancer, type 2 diabetes and brain metastases found that those prescribed GLP‑1 receptor agonists such as Ozempic or Wegovy experienced a 37% reduction in three‑year mortality compared with matched controls. The survival...
Lab-Grown Brain Models Reveal Unique Electrical Patterns in Different Types of Autism
Researchers created patient‑derived brain organoids from urine cells and recorded their electrical activity, revealing distinct electrophysiological signatures for neurotypical controls, syndromic autism, and idiopathic autism. Organoids from syndromic cases showed hyper‑activity, while the idiopathic sample displayed reduced firing rates. Principal...
A Secret Weapon to Fight Carbon Emissions Was Just Discovered: Beavers
A Swiss study found that beaver‑engineered wetlands can sequester 108‑146 tons of carbon each year, turning a former floodplain into a net carbon sink. The carbon storage equals the emissions of roughly 832‑1,129 barrels of oil and could offset 1.2‑1.8% of...
What if the Next Great Astronomer Isn't Human? How AI Is Revolutionizing Our Study of the Cosmos
AI framework MadEvolve combines large language models with evolutionary programming to auto‑optimize cosmology code. The system has already uncovered 1,300 anomalous objects in archival Hubble data and set new performance records in reconstructing the universe’s initial conditions. By restricting LLM...
New Study Reveals One Overlooked Nutrient That Supports Aging Well
A two‑decade study of nearly 90,000 adults found that regular consumption of flavonoid‑rich foods—such as berries, apples, citrus, black tea and moderate red wine—significantly lowers age‑related frailty, physical decline, and mental health issues. Women with the highest intake saw up...
The Deep Cave Bacteria Defying Modern Medicine
Scientists exploring the isolated Lechuguilla Cave discovered microbial communities that are resistant to virtually all natural antibiotics, despite being sealed off for millions of years. Genomic analysis of a *Paenibacillus* strain revealed dozens of known resistance genes and five entirely...
Why Do Animals Have Different Pupil Shapes?
Animal pupils exhibit a remarkable variety of shapes that reflect ecological needs. Vertical slits in ambush predators sharpen vertical edges, enhancing stereoscopic depth perception, while horizontal bars in grazing prey expand the panoramic field of view along the ground. Larger...
Bio.3DGREEN Project: Creating a New Way to Produce Bio-Based Components Using Graphene Foam
The EU‑funded Bio.3DGREEN project, launched in May 2025, will run for 42 months and unites 14 partners from nine European nations. It aims to create bio‑based components using vegetable‑oil‑derived graphene foam that mimics natural sponge‑like structures. By combining biomimetic engineering...
The Sky Today on Sunday, March 22: Asteroid Iris Passes a Double Star
Asteroid 7 Iris is transiting the constellation Sextans on March 22, 2026, passing 2.6° north of the 4th‑magnitude Alpha Sextantis and within a quarter‑degree of a faint double star pair. The asteroid’s current magnitude of 9.4 makes it dimmer than the doublet...
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The Astronomy Picture of the Day highlights two galaxies in the Eridanus constellation: the face‑on barred spiral NGC 1300 and the nearby elliptical NGC 1297. Both lie roughly 70 million light‑years away in the Eridanus Galaxy Cluster and span about 100 000 light‑years across....
A Coding Implementation for Building and Analyzing Crystal Structures Using Pymatgen for Symmetry Analysis, Phase Diagrams, Surface Generation, and Materials...
The tutorial demonstrates how the open‑source pymatgen library can be used to construct, manipulate, and analyze crystal structures such as silicon, NaCl, and LiFePO₄‑like materials. It walks through lattice inspection, symmetry detection, coordination environment analysis, oxidation‑state decoration, supercell creation, surface...
Total Thoracoscopic Vs. Small-Incision Surgery: Rib Fracture Study
A new comparative clinical study evaluated total thoracoscopic surgery against thoracoscopy‑assisted small‑incision surgery for multiple rib fractures. The total thoracoscopic approach yielded significantly lower intra‑operative blood loss, reduced postoperative pain, and shorter hospital stays, although it required slightly longer operative...
How Flatulence in Space Impacts Mission Design
Flatulence continues in orbit, but microgravity changes how the gas spreads and is perceived inside a sealed cabin. Astronauts manage digestive gas through diet design, air‑circulation engineering, and medical monitoring rather than fearing explosions. The issue is fundamentally one of...
How Space Affects the Human Immune System
Spaceflight does not simply weaken immunity; it creates a dysregulated immune environment where protective functions decline while inflammatory signals rise. Microgravity, heightened radiation, sleep disruption, and nutritional limits each perturb immune cell signaling, leading to reduced T‑cell and NK‑cell activity...
UK Study Reveals No Additional Advantage of Surfactant Therapy in Severe Bronchiolitis Cases in Infants
UK researchers completed the largest randomized trial evaluating exogenous surfactant in infants with severe bronchiolitis requiring mechanical ventilation. The Bronchiolitis Endotracheal Surfactant Study (BESS) enrolled 232 infants across 15 pediatric centers and found that surfactant administration did not shorten ventilation...
Life Forms Can Catch Rides to Other Planets on Asteroid Debris
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University demonstrated that the extremophile bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans can survive pressures up to 1.4 gigapascals and 60 % of tests at 2.4 gigapascals, mimicking the forces of an asteroid impact and ejection from Mars. The experiment used a gas‑gun...
TUMCREATE to Develop Open-Source RISC-V Processor with Integrated Post-Quantum Security
TUMCREATE, the research arm of Technical University of Munich, will lead the QUASAR‑CREATE program to build an open‑source 64‑bit RISC‑V processor with built‑in post‑quantum cryptographic (PQC) accelerators. The processor will be fabricated on GlobalFoundries’ 180‑nm node in Singapore and feature...
Psychedelic Drug MDMA Could Help Treat PTSD—But There's a Reason It's Not Widely Available
Australia became the first nation to reclassify MDMA from a prohibited to a controlled substance, permitting its use in PTSD treatment under strict conditions. The 2026 guidelines limit MDMA‑assisted psychotherapy to adults who have not responded to first‑line therapies, require...
82-Foot Tsunami Erases Doggerland ‘Paradise’ In Mesolithic Europe (Video)
Doggerland, a Mesolithic land bridge linking Britain to continental Europe, was long thought to have been wiped out by an 82‑foot tsunami triggered by the Storegga submarine landslide around 8,150 years ago. Recent research from Cambridge University challenges the notion of...
High Ambient Temperatures Linked to CKD Prevalence, ESKD Incidence
A new study links higher ambient temperatures to greater chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence and end‑stage kidney disease (ESKD) incidence across U.S. counties. Researchers found that each 1 °C increase in annual average temperature raises diagnosed CKD prevalence by 0.23 percentage...
Prothena Partners Present Data Supporting Next Generation Treatments for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease at AD/PD™ 2026
Prothena and its partners presented new clinical data on prasinezumab for Parkinson’s disease and BMS‑986446 for Alzheimer’s disease at the AD/PD 2026 conference in Copenhagen. The PASADENA and PADOVA extensions suggest a two‑year disease‑progression delay and sustained biomarker effects, supporting the...
Light-Based Technique Creates Artificial Structures that Mimic the Scaffolding of Cells
Researchers at RIKEN have introduced a laser‑based optogenetic system that prints three‑dimensional actin networks directly onto lipid bilayers, effectively acting as a 3‑D printer for cytoskeletal scaffolds. By adjusting light intensity, pulse length, and pattern, they can independently control network...
Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome in Northwest Ethiopia Cataract Patients
A cross‑sectional study in Northwest Ethiopia found a notably high prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXF) among cataract patients. Researchers screened lens capsules and pupillary borders, linking PXF occurrence to ultraviolet exposure, oxidative stress, and genetic predisposition. Systemic conditions such as...
Blood Test Predicts Long-Term Cognitive Function After Cardiac Arrest
A study presented at the ESC Acute Cardiovascular Care 2026 congress found that neurofilament light chain (NfL) measured 48 hours after out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest reliably predicts long‑term cognitive function. Compared with the traditional biomarker neuron‑specific enolase (NSE), NfL showed a strong...
Canada Cancels Small Lunar Rover that Was to Fly on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander in ’29
The Canadian Space Agency announced the cancellation of its planned lunar rover, which was to hitch a ride on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander in 2029. The rover, built by Canadensys, would have been Canada’s first surface vehicle on the...
Metformin vs Dapagliflozin: Heart Protection in Diabetic Rats
Researchers compared metformin and dapagliflozin in diabetic rats subjected to myocardial infarction, finding dapagliflozin delivered stronger cardio‑protective effects. The SGLT2 inhibitor markedly reduced oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines, and infarct size, while also improving calcium handling and contractile efficiency. Metformin showed...
Private Mission to Apophis Gets Another Customer, Two Student-Built Landers
Exlabs' ApophisExL mission, the first commercial deep‑space rideshare, has secured a second payload customer: Japan's Chiba Institute of Technology. The university team will launch two student‑built landers to touch down on asteroid Apophis during its April 13, 2029 close fly‑by....
Juicier Steaks Soon? The UK Approves Testing of Gene-Edited Cow Feed
British regulators have approved the first gene‑edited crop for animal feed, allowing Golden Promise barley with increased fat content to be tested on cattle. The modified barley is designed to accelerate weight gain, boost milk production and cut methane emissions...
Parental Acceptance and Trauma Resilience Are Linked to Faster Brain Development in 9-13-Year-Olds
An analysis of ABCD MRI data from 8,059 children aged 9‑11, with follow‑up scans at 11‑13, found that higher parental acceptance and trauma resilience are linked to accelerated cortical thinning, a marker of faster brain maturation. Conversely, exposure to household...
How DICER Cuts microRNAs with Single-Nucleotide Precision
HKUST researchers have uncovered how human DICER achieves single‑nucleotide precision when cleaving microRNA precursors. Using high‑resolution cryo‑EM, they visualized DICER’s interaction with RNA and identified two distinct 5′‑end binding pockets—one favoring uridine and a newly discovered pocket favoring guanosine. The...
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Neurons and Their Role in the Nervous System
Neurons are the fundamental units of the central and peripheral nervous systems, consisting of a cell body, dendrites, and an axon. They are classified into sensory, motor, and interneurons, each performing distinct roles in signal reception, transmission, and integration. Communication...
JWST Probes Emerging Young Star Clusters in Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 628
An international team led by Helena Faustino Vieira used JWST’s NIRSpec to study emerging young star clusters (eYSCs) in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. The FEAST program targeted 14 eYSCs, detecting helium and hydrogen recombination lines, molecular hydrogen transitions, and strong...
Balantoides Coli Is an Intestinal Parasite Common in Pigs
Balantoides coli is a protozoan parasite prevalent in pigs worldwide, with studies showing up to 70% infection rates even in high‑biosecurity herds. While most pigs remain asymptomatic, the parasite can act as an opportunistic pathogen, causing diarrhea in stressed, pregnant...
How Ants Map Social Identity
Researchers discovered that ant nestmate recognition is a flexible, learned behavior rather than a fixed genetic program. Using clonal raider ants, they showed that prolonged exposure to foreign colony odors rewrites the ants' chemical identity, allowing outsiders to be accepted...
Why Your Brain Needs Daylight To Think Clearly (M)
Recent research shows that real‑world daylight exposure directly predicts how sleepy people feel and how fast their brains respond to tasks. Participants exposed to higher natural light reported lower sleepiness scores and demonstrated quicker reaction times on cognitive tests. The...