Number 357
Vaccine for RSV shown to reduce the risk of dementia^htt
A new study shows that a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is associated with a 29% reduction in dementia risk in the following 18 months.
Scientists revive legendary golden sea silk using Korean pen shell byssus
Sea silk—often referred to as the “golden fiber of the sea”—was one of the most prized materials in the ancient Roman period, used exclusively by figures of high authority such as emperors and popes.
Tech giants’ net zero goals verging on fantasy
The credibility of climate pledges by the world’s tech giants to rapidly become carbon neutral is fading fast as they devour more and more energy in the race to develop AI and build data centers.
African societies survived climate shifts for millennia by diversifying how they lived
Livelihood diversity wasn’t just a feature of ancient African societies; it was key to survival.
Gold from e-waste opens a rich vein for miners and the environment
An interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste.
Gene therapy delivery device could allow for personalized nanomedicines on-demand
A new gene therapy delivery device could let hospital pharmacies make personalized nanomedicines to order. This democratized approach to precision medicine could revolutionize how hospitals treat rare diseases, even in low-resource settings.
Chicago’s rodents are evolving to handle city living
Scientists recently found an example of evolution in real time, tucked away in the collection drawers of the Field Museum in Chicago.
Study challenges climate change’s link to the wild winter jet stream
Large waves in the jet stream observed since the 1990s have, in recent years, driven abnormally frigid temperatures and devastating winter storms deep into regions such as the southern United States.
Scientists capture slow-motion earthquake in action
The slow earthquake was recorded spreading along the tsunami-generating portion of the fault off the coast of Japan, behaving like a tectonic shock absorber.
New Vulnerabilities Expose Millions of Brother Printers to Hacking
The cybersecurity firm revealed on Wednesday that its researchers identified eight vulnerabilities affecting multifunction printers made by Brother.
New IQ Research Shows Why Smarter People Make Better Decisions
A new study has found that individuals with a higher IQ make more realistic predictions.
Doctors Perform First Robotic Heart Transplant In US Without Opening a Chest
This technique involved precise incisions and accessing the heart through the preperitoneal space, preserving the chest wall.
== more on the LLM’s brain numbing effect
Study Finds LLM Users Have Weaker Understanding After Research
AI Makes Research Easy. Maybe Too Easy.
Scientists say they’ve proven these Canadian rocks are the oldest on Earth
Rocks from northern Quebec formed more than 4 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon.
Prior research had shown that there were a few dinosaur “lekking” spots, or leks, in the area.
How marine biomass has changed over the past 500 million years
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have measured how the abundance of ocean life has changed over the past half-billion years of Earth’s history.
Scientists detect deep Earth pulses beneath Africa
Research has uncovered evidence of rhythmic surges of molten mantle rock rising from deep within the Earth beneath Africa. These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean.
Scientists discover unknown organelle inside our cells
This little organelle has a big job helping our cells sort, recycle and discard important cargo within themselves.
Ancient canoe replica tests Paleolithic migration theory
When and where the earliest modern human populations migrated and settled in East Asia is relatively well known. However, how these populations moved between islands on treacherous stretches of sea is still shrouded in mystery.
Fixing problems in cholesterol metabolism could stave off a leading cause of blindness
The new findings suggest that increasing the amount of a molecule called apolipoprotein M (ApoM) in the blood fixes problems in cholesterol processing that lead to cellular damage in the eyes and other organs.
00 bird species face extinction within the next century, researchers warn
The study found that large-bodied birds are more vulnerable to hunting and climate change, while birds with broad wings suffer more from habitat loss.
Reconstructing the shattered visage of Queen Hatshepsut
Re-assessment of damaged statues depicting the famous female pharaoh Hatshepsut questions the prevailing view that they were destroyed as an act of defilement.
Ancient temple ruins discovered in Andes shed light on lost society
The newly discovered temple complex is located roughly 130 miles south of Tiwanaku’s established historical site, on top of a hill that was never explored in depth by researchers due to its unassuming location.
Tomatoes in the Galápagos are quietly de-evolving
On the younger, black-rock islands of the Galápagos archipelago, wild-growing tomatoes are doing something peculiar.
Overfishing Has Caused Cod To Halve in Body Size Since 1990s, Study Finds
Evolutionary change driven by intensive fishing led cod to ‘shrink’ from average 40cm length in 1996 to 20cm in 2019.
Scientists studying suspected Lake Superior meteotsunami that left residents ‘in awe’
Experts still trying to figure out cause of Saturday’s rapid fluctuation in water levels
Work begins to create artificial human DNA from scratch
The research has been taboo until now because of concerns it could lead to designer babies or unforeseen changes for future generations.
World’s oldest boomerang doesn’t actually come back
The world’s oldest boomerang is older than previously thought, casting new light on the ingenuity of humans living at the time.
ames Webb telescope captures direct images of Saturn-sized exoplanet
TWA 7b is 110 light years away and by far the smallest-mass planet to be observed by direct imagery.
==?? repeat?
Your Brain on ChatGPT is Accumulating ‘Cognitive Debt’… Or is it ‘Decline’??
A groundbreaking MIT study just sprinkled some seriously concerning findings about what ChatGPT is doing to our brains (at least, when we write essays)…
Researchers discover how caffeine could slow cellular aging
Caffeine has long been linked to potential health benefits, including reduced risk of age-related diseases.
== in case any of you are into robotics
Google Rolls Out New Gemini Model That Can Run On Robots Locally
In a demo, the company showed robots running this local model doing things like unzipping bags and folding clothes.
Dog-sized dinosaur that ran around feet of giants discovered
A labrador-sized dinosaur was wrongly categorised when it was found and is actually a new species, scientists have discovered.
== don’t think this is limited to Europe
Noise Pollution Harms Health of Millions Across Europe, Report Finds
About 110 million people suffer stress and sleep disturbance that lead to tens of thousands of early deaths.
This is only a summary judgment decision, in the early stages of a case that is currently only being heard in the Northern District of California, with various other AI copyright cases dealing with this same “fair use” issue.
PhD Graduates Far Exceed Academic Job Opening
PhD programmes need to better prepare students for careers outside universities, researchers warn.
PhD programmes need to better prepare students for careers outside universities, researchers warn. (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01855-w) == repeat?
Scientists Use Bacteria To Turn Plastic Waste Into Paracetamol People don’t realise that paracetamol comes from oil currently.
‘A timebomb’: could a French mine full of waste poison the drinking water of millions?
Scientists fear thousands of tonnes of chemicals dumped in mining tunnels in Alsace may seep into an aquifer, with devastating consequences for people and wildlife
Killer whales ‘massage’ each other using kelp
The scientists think the massages might have a health or hygiene function, but they also believe they are a form of social bonding.
Banking data reveals early warning signs of cognitive decline in older adults
A major new study has uncovered how everyday financial behaviors—captured in routine banking data—can signal early signs of cognitive decline and financial vulnerability in older adults, up to a decade before formal intervention.
New theory proposes time has three dimensions, with space as a secondary effect
Time, not space plus time, might be the single fundamental property in which all physical phenomena occur.
Volkswagen’s Autonomous ‘ID Buzz’ Robotaxi Is Ready, And Cities And Companies Can Buy Them Soon
The ID Buzz AD, the autonomous driving version of its all-electric update to the classic VW Bus, is going into full production.
First celestial image unveiled from revolutionary telescope
Perched in Chile’s Andes mountains, the Vera C Rubin telescope has just taken its first pictures of the cosmos.
Airborne fungal spores may help predict COVID-19 and flu surges
The researchers wanted to understand the short-term role of environmental exposures—specifically fungal spores and pollen—in triggering or amplifying the incidence of respiratory viral infections such as COVID-19 and influenza.
Study reveals how birds have adapted to tolerate sour food sources
Sour foods are often avoided by mammals, but many birds regularly feed on highly acidic fruits. Evolution has provided them with a clever strategy to eat extremely acidic fruit.
Scientists have long observed that the capability for a material to absorb electromagnetic radiation—a wave of energy in the form of sunlight and X-rays, among others—at a given wavelength and angle must equal its capability to emit at the same wavelength and angle.
Octopus species uses taste sensors on sucker cups to detect harmful chemicals
Prior research has shown that the undersides of octopus arms are sensitive.
Radio signal from the very early universe offers clues about the first stars
Understanding how the universe transitioned from darkness to light with the formation of the first stars and galaxies is a key turning point in the universe’s development, known as the Cosmic Dawn.
Sea spiders found farming methane-eating microbes in cultivated biofilm
A research team has identified a previously unknown symbiosis; deep sea spiders that cultivate and feed on bacteria that oxidize methane.
A Cracked Piece of Metal Self-Healed In Experiment That Stunned Scientists
In an experiment published in 2023, scientists observed a damaged section of metal healing itself. Though the repair was only on a nanoscale level, understanding the physics behind the process could inspire a whole new era of engineering.
Is ‘Minecraft’ a Better Way to Teach Programming in the Age of AI?
Students light up when they create something meaningful, and every educator has seen that spark. Self-expression fuels learning, and creativity lies at the heart of the human experience.
Brain organizes visuomotor associations into structured graph-like mental schemes, study finds
Past psychology studies suggest that the human brain stores memories and experiences following graph-like and structured patterns, specifically as a network of associations, also referred to as cognitive graphs.
People with Severe Type 1 Diabetes are Cured in Small Trial of New Drug
The treatment is the culmination of work that began more than 25 years ago when a Harvard researcher, Doug Melton, vowed to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
Why Your Car’s Touchscreen Is More Dangerous Than Your Phone
Modern vehicles have quietly become rolling monuments to terrible user experience, trading intuitive physical controls for flashy but dangerous touchscreen interfaces.
== yjc
He left the Moscow symphony in protest. Now he’s helping a small B.C. town take centre stage
Powell River, B.C.’s musical roots reach way back to town’s founding with arts and culture in mind.
Casino Lights Could Be Warping Your Brain To Take Risks, Scientists Warn
The extra blue light emitted by casino decor and LED screens seems to trigger certain switches in our brains.
== yjc
Pinball museum in Alfred, Ont., a ‘portal back to the mid-70s’
‘It’s nostalgia, from a simpler time when things were more tangible.’
What are the Carbon Costs of Asking an AI a Question?
The carbon cost of asking an artificial intelligence model a single text question can be measured in grams of CO2. Keeping those computers cool uses freshwater — about one bottle’s worth for every 100 words of text ChatGPT generates.
America Invested in EV Battery Plants. Now They May Be Stranded.
Over the past three years, companies have invested tens of billions of dollars toward making electric vehicles in the United States, buoyed by tax incentives aimed at helping American businesses compete with China.
One shot to stop HIV: MIT’s bold vaccine breakthrough
By delivering an HIV vaccine candidate along with two adjuvants, researchers showed they could generate many more HIV-targeting B cells in mice.
Record DDoS Pummels Site With Once-Unimaginable Volumes of Junk Traffic
Attacker rained down the equivalent of 9,300 full-length HD movies in just 45 seconds.
Congestion Pricing in Manhattan is a Predictable Success
Travelers in Manhattan’s central business district — and even those far beyond it — have gotten back tens of thousands of hours thanks to fewer traffic jams.
Banning Plastic Bags Works To Limit Shoreline Litter, Study Finds
Among the biggest culprits of plastic pollution in the ocean and along shorelines are thin plastic shopping bags, which have low recycling rates and often become litter when they blow away in the wind.
We're all familiar with Picasso's most famous contribution to capitalism:
"Good artists copy; great artists steal."