Science News and Headlines
Science News and Headlines
Annette Dolphin, a pioneering neuropharmacologist at UCL, died on 27 January at 74 after a five‑decade career that reshaped voltage‑gated calcium‑channel research. Her 2005 discovery that α2δ subunits control channel trafficking clarified the molecular basis of neuropathic pain and revealed how gabapentin modulates this pathway. Dolphin held senior positions in the British Neuroscience Association and the Physiological Society, mentored dozens of scientists, and championed gender equity in science. Her legacy continues to influence drug development and neuroscience culture.
The age of the universe is now pinned at roughly 13.8 billion years, a figure derived from the Planck satellite’s high‑resolution mapping of the Cosmic Microwave Background and refined by Hubble‑constant measurements. Independent checks from the oldest known stars, such as...
The NRG‑LU005 phase III trial evaluated atezolizumab combined with concurrent chemoradiation in patients with limited‑stage small‑cell lung cancer (SCLC). Adding the immunotherapy did not improve overall or progression‑free survival, with median overall survival of 31.1 months versus 36.1 months for...
SpaceX postponed the Starlink 6-61 launch from Friday to Saturday, targeting an 8:30 a.m. EDT liftoff from Cape Canaveral. The mission will carry 29 new Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 booster B1095, which is on its sixth flight. A 75% chance of...
NASA’s Mission Analysis and Design for Cislunar and Planetary (MADCAP) team has been quietly tracking every spacecraft in lunar orbit for the past 15 years. In March 2025 the privately‑run Blue Ghost lander narrowly avoided a collision with another orbiter,...
A new randomized trial (INSPIRE) led by the University of Nottingham found that daily supplementation with the prebiotic fiber inulin significantly reduced knee osteoarthritis pain and improved grip strength. Participants receiving inulin also showed higher levels of butyrate and GLP‑1,...
Scientists have identified sulthiame, an old epilepsy drug, as a promising treatment for moderate‑to‑severe sleep apnea. In a German trial of 298 patients, higher doses cut breathing pauses by nearly 50% and boosted overnight oxygen levels. The findings, published in...
University of Adelaide researchers have created a low‑emission crusher, GRolls, that replaces traditional grinding in copper‑gold ore processing. Early trials show the system can reduce particle size to below 425 µm in a single pass while cutting energy use by roughly...
NASA’s SPARCS cubesat, roughly the size of a cereal box, has achieved first light by capturing both near‑ and far‑ultraviolet false‑color images of a nearby star. The mission is designed to monitor flare and sunspot activity on low‑mass stars that...
Disposable nappies generate massive waste, with 300,000 units discarded each minute worldwide. Texas startup Hiro introduced unbleached diapers that contain a packet of fungi designed to break down the product, pricing the monthly supply at $136 and a $199 subscription,...
Researchers presented PRIMARY2 trial data showing that PSMA PET/CT imaging can safely halve the number of biopsies required for men with suspected prostate cancer after a normal MRI. The molecular scan highlights aggressive cancer cells by making them glow, allowing...
The 1997 release of Doom's source code has turned the classic first‑person shooter into a versatile research platform. Scientists in Australia trained silicon‑chip neurons to navigate Doom’s 3‑D maze, while MIT engineers displayed Doom frames using fluorescent‑tagged E. coli. The game’s...
Researchers used a 3‑T MRI‑compatible deep brain stimulation system to record extensive functional MRI data from 14 Parkinson’s disease patients over a year. Each participant completed 11.7 hours of fMRI across seven stimulation conditions at five longitudinal visits, alongside structural and...
![[Therapeutics] Pyruvate Kinase Activators in Hereditary Haemolytic Anaemias: Current Evidence and Clinical Potential](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/8c90dd45d33f73eeff78aead96a79a6a.webp)
Hereditary hemolytic anemias affect millions worldwide and have few disease‑modifying options. Oral pyruvate kinase activators, especially mitapivat, increase glycolytic ATP production, correcting a common metabolic defect in red cells. Clinical trials have shown efficacy in pyruvate kinase deficiency, sickle cell...
A multinational team of psychologists showed that laypeople can accurately interpret and label the facial expressions of monkeys and apes. In a study of 212 participants, subjects categorized primate faces as happy, angry, sad, fearful, disgusted or surprised and their...
Researchers have identified microglia, the brain's resident immune cells, as essential regulators of puberty and fertility through the RANK signaling pathway. Deleting the RANK protein in mouse microglia prevents the onset of puberty and rapidly induces infertility in adults. Parallel...
Researchers identified a distinct neuronal cluster in the mouse medial amygdala, dubbed DIMPLE, that is permanently active in females but silent in adult virgin males. The cluster reactivates in males after a single mating event, driven by prolactin and sustained...
Mauve, the world’s first commercial space‑science telescope, recorded its first light on Feb. 9, 2026, capturing a UV spectrum of the star Alkaid. Launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter‑15 in November 2025, the 5‑inch CubeSat operates in low‑Earth orbit to study stellar flares...
In May 2024 a massive solar superstorm struck both Earth and Mars, producing spectacular aurorae and intense radiation. ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter used a rare radio‑occultation technique to record the storm’s impact on Mars, finding electron densities...
Researchers at Johannes Kepler University and the State University of Campinas have demonstrated a local droplet etching (LDE) technique to fabricate InGaAs quantum dots embedded in AlGaAs with unprecedented symmetry and low surface density. The dots exhibit radiative lifetimes around...
An international team led by Virginia Tech researchers identified fungal proteins that act as ice nucleators at relatively high subzero temperatures. The proteins, encoded by a gene likely acquired from bacteria, could replace toxic silver iodide in cloud‑seeding operations. Because...
Astronomers have validated TOI-4616 b, an Earth-sized rocky planet orbiting a nearby mid-M dwarf 91 light-years away. The planet’s 1.22 R⊕ radius and 1.55‑day orbit place it in a highly irradiated regime with an equilibrium temperature near 525 K, making its atmosphere vulnerable...
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have unveiled an integrated sequencing workflow that simultaneously reads DNA sequence and distinguishes cytosine modifications—5‑methylcytosine (5mC) and 5‑hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC)—on a single molecule. The method creates a hairpin duplex, incorporates deamination‑resistant analogs on the copy...
New research presented on BBC Inside Science indicates the planet is heating faster than climate models projected for the past decade. Professor Laura Wilcox explains the aerosol‑climate interaction data driving the revised warming trend, while scientists remain divided on whether...
Vitalist Bay 2026, the world’s largest longevity festival, returns to Berkeley’s Lighthaven campus from May 14‑17. The four‑day event consolidates six thematic tracks—Biotech, Investors, Replacement, Longevity Science, AI × Bio, and Biostasis—and features more than 60 top researchers, founders, and clinicians as...
Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, previously found in northern elephant seals, has now been confirmed in a sea otter and a sea lion along California's San Mateo coast. The virus carries the A3 mutation, which facilitates mammal‑to‑mammal transmission and originates...
QphoX has released a commercial Quantum Transducer that converts microwave‑based qubit states into optical photons for transmission over standard fiber at room temperature. The device leverages photonic integration, MEMS and superconducting nanofabrication to achieve high‑fidelity, low‑noise state conversion. IBM will...
Researchers at UC Riverside have identified a conserved brain‑stem and cervical spinal‑cord circuit that works alongside the cortex to produce fine hand movements. Functional MRI in mice and humans revealed relay centers in the medulla and C3‑C4 propriospinal segments that...
A new study of Kenya’s Mara conservancies shows that lions increasingly steer clear of zones where Maasai cattle have recently grazed, even after the herds have moved on. Researchers surveyed seven community‑owned conservancies between 2015 and 2023, covering roughly 69,000...
French researchers found that the personality trait of novelty‑seeking is the strongest predictor of alcohol relapse within three months after inpatient withdrawal. In a cohort of 76 patients, 29 relapsed and scored higher on novelty‑seeking and lower on harm avoidance,...
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers unveiled a novel simulation method that lets atoms be added or removed gradually, mimicking real‑world defect dynamics. Published in Physical Review Letters, the technique accurately models point defects and grain‑boundary structures at finite temperatures. By...
Researchers at VIB and the University of Antwerp have identified a repeat expansion in the GOLGA8A gene as a major genetic risk factor for atypical frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin‑positive inclusions (aFTLD‑U). The expansion appears in nearly 60 % of examined...
A large‑scale field trial led by Washington State University tested APIX Biosciences' nutritionally complete pollen‑replacing feed across five commercial beekeeping operations in California and Idaho. Colonies receiving the feed showed dramatically lower winter mortality—dropping from 28.8% to 15%—and emerged from...
NASA announced that the Artemis II Space Launch System rocket has passed its final flight‑readiness review and is slated for a launch as early as April 1, following repairs that sealed hydrogen leaks and corrected a helium‑flow fault. The 322‑foot vehicle will...
A recent AAOS presentation revealed that patients aged 50 and older experience high satisfaction after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, with 91.5% meeting expectations. The NYU Langone Health retrospective study of 155 cases reported a 7.1% graft‑failure rate and a...
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Kairos Power have signed a $27 million partnership to fast‑track the development of Kairos’s fluoride‑salt‑cooled, high‑temperature reactor, known as Hermes. The collaboration gives ORNL access to its specialized facilities for fuel testing, component manufacturing, and remote‑maintenance...
MIT researchers have built a multimaterial extrusion 3‑D printer with four independent extruders that can handle conductive, magnetic and dielectric feedstocks. Using this platform they printed a fully functional linear electric motor in about three hours, employing five different materials...
Researchers at Kyushu University have introduced SeeDB‑Live, an isotonic optical‑clearing medium based on bovine serum albumin that renders brain tissue transparent while preserving normal neuronal function. The solution, refined after screening nearly 100 compounds, enables three‑fold brighter fluorescence imaging in...
Engineers at NJIT and partners in the U.S. and Singapore have shown that lithium dendrites inside batteries are not soft but brittle, snapping like dry spaghetti. The team harvested dendrites from operating cells, measured their mechanical strength, and paired the...
A critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle washed ashore near Galveston, Texas, heavily encrusted with barnacles, algae and other epibionts. Rescuers from the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research (GCSTR) and veterinarians from the Houston Zoo provided emergency care and...
The article argues that belief in green chemistry is essential for its broader adoption, noting that the 12 principles introduced in 1998 remain peripheral in many sectors. It highlights how educators’ values shape students’ perception of sustainable practices, turning safety...
A recent PLOS Biology study shows that a high‑fat diet induces gut dysbiosis and increased intestinal permeability in mice, allowing live bacteria to migrate directly to the brain via the vagus nerve. The bacterial presence was reversible when mice returned...
Scientists at the Salk Institute released the most comprehensive single‑cell atlas of epigenetic aging in the mouse brain, profiling over 200,000 cells across eight regions and 36 cell types with methylation, chromatin conformation, and spatial transcriptomics. The map uncovers cell‑type...
Japan’s Super‑Kamiokande detector has received a major upgrade that dramatically improves its ability to detect the diffuse supernova neutrino background – the faint, ancient neutrino glow from every core‑collapse supernova in the universe. The enhancement, involving denser photomultiplier coverage and...
NASA's SPARCS CubeSat has returned its first ultraviolet images, proving the spacecraft’s camera and detectors work in orbit. The one‑year mission will continuously monitor far‑UV and near‑UV emissions from about 20 low‑mass stars, whose frequent flares influence the habitability of...
Researchers used NASA's Pleiades supercomputer to simulate the final 7.7 milliseconds of two 1.4‑solar‑mass neutron stars spiraling toward merger. The study tracked how their magnetospheres intertwine, reconnect, and accelerate particles, producing photons up to TeV‑PeV energies. While the most energetic gamma‑rays...
Researchers documented the first confirmed case of evolutionary rescue in the wild, where the scarlet monkeyflower (*Mimulus cardinalis*) developed drought tolerance within three years of California's megadrought. Genetic analysis revealed multiple mutations linked to climate adaptation, enabling surviving populations to...
Researchers at UCSF discovered the Src kinase, traditionally an intracellular signaling protein, displayed on the outer membrane of malignant cells. The finding, published in Science, showed surface Src was absent from healthy donor tissue, suggesting a tumor‑specific marker. This unexpected...
A new study in *Science* shows that rising ocean temperatures are forcing fish to mature earlier at smaller sizes, leading to higher mortality and reduced reproductive output. Incorporating these evolutionary responses, the researchers project a 20 % drop in global fish...
Physicist Konstantin Zloshchastiev proposes that our universe emerged from a primordial quantum multiverse when a super‑position of possible spacetimes collapsed during the pre‑inflationary era. He frames the collapse as a Shannon‑type information transfer that produced a logarithmic quantum liquid, eventually...
