Life in balance: Ancient Andean scales illuminated by new research

this new research found that both balance scales and khipus were tied to Andean notions of well-being that prioritize achieving a state of balance and harmony in social, economic and moral affairs.

First-of-its-kind 3D model lets you explore Easter Island statues up close

Located in the middle of the South Pacific, thousands of miles from the nearest continent, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. To visit it and marvel at the quarries where its iconic moai statues were created is a luxury few get to experience.

New mapping tool could help preserve centuries-old forests in B.C.

A new study gives crucial insight into where to focus conservation measures, by identifying areas of old-growth forest in areas predicted to be stable in the face of climate change.

Non-toxic solvent enables near-perfect recycling of mixed-fiber textiles

We are producing more textiles than ever before: worldwide, well over one hundred million tons of textiles are manufactured every year—more than twice as much as in the year 2000. This makes it increasingly important not to simply throw away old textiles, but to recover them in an environmentally friendly way.

Pesticides and other common chemical pollutants are toxic to ‘good’ gut bacteria, lab-based screening indicates

A large-scale laboratory screening of human-made chemicals has identified 168 chemicals that are toxic to bacteria found in the healthy human gut. These chemicals stifle the growth of gut bacteria thought to be vital for health.

New mutation hotspot discovered in human genome

Researchers have discovered new regions of the human genome particularly vulnerable to mutations. These altered stretches of DNA can be passed down to future generations and are important for how we study genetics and disease.

== yjc
Flashy feathers may put some male pheasant species’ lives at risk

The male Lady Amherst’s pheasant knows how to put on a show when it comes to attracting mates. As well as elaborate courtship displays, they will unfurl their golden feathers to form a cape around their neck, which can prove irresistible to some females of the species.

Mapping out the hidden mechanics behind why some fads spread like wildfire

By studying data sets where people interact in groups and where some then also meet in pairs, they found that such conditions roll the pitch for a possible explosion in contagions.

== worth a read m’thinks
The real reason states first emerged thousands of years ago

The earliest known state was in Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq), followed by Egypt, the Indus Valley, China and Meso-America. The long-standing view was that the invention of agriculture was the spur for these large-scale human societies to emerge.

Microplastics pose a human health risk in more ways than one

Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5mm in size and are extremely widespread pollutants. It is estimated that over 125 trillion particles have accumulated in the ocean (surface to seabed) and they have also been detected in soils, rivers, lakes, animals and the human body.

== couldn’t pass this one up
Consciousness as the foundation: New theory addresses nature of reality

But according to this model, matter is secondary—much of what we experience is representation or illusion.

Particle accelerator waste could help produce cancer-fighting materials

Researchers have shown that intense radiation captured in particle accelerator “beam dumps” could be repurposed to produce materials used in cancer therapy.

Scientists warn mountain climate change is accelerating faster than predicted, putting billions of people at risk

Mountains worldwide are experiencing climate change more intensely than lowland areas, with potentially devastating consequences for billions of people who live in and/or depend on these regions, according to a major global review.

An fMRI marker of Alzheimer’s-related cognitive decline

Alzheimer’s disease still lacks a single reliable biomarker that can pinpoint when and where abnormal protein accumulation leads to network failure and irreversible structural damage.

Higher resolution climate models show increase in daily extreme land precipitation by 2100

The finer resolution in the resulting simulations indicates that we should expect more increases in daily extreme precipitation on land in the coming decades than prior models showed.

Lower LDL cholesterol linked to higher type 2 diabetes risk independent of statin use

Statin therapy has a reputation for raising the rate of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses in a dose-dependent fashion, with no clear understanding of why. Genetic work adds another layer, linking LDL cholesterol-lowering alleles to higher diabetes risk and suggesting that LDL-C lowering across multiple pathways may share a connection with diabetes risk.

Cooperative mammals show lower cancer rates than solitary, competitive species

Cancer is a common disease among mammals, but some species, such as the naked mole rat and elephants, have evolved resistance.

Ancient Maya game board with unique mosaic design discovered in Guatemala

Centuries before Monopoly, there was Patolli, a high-stakes Mesoamerican game of strategy and luck where players wagered crops and wealth as they raced their opponents around a cross-shaped board.

Macrophage-killing bacterial toxin weakens the gut’s defenses against ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the most common inflammatory bowel diseases, a lifelong condition that can cause chronic inflammation and ulcers in the lining of the large intestine. This can lead to symptoms such as rectal pain and bleeding, and persistent diarrhea.

AI Can Technically Perform 12% of US Labor Market’s Wage Value, MIT Simulation Finds

Exposure to AI is greatest in higher-paying roles that involve information processing and analysis.

China’s Giant Underground Neutrino Observatory Just Released Its First Results

Trillions of neutrinos whiz through our bodies every day, pulsing from the sun, outer space and deep beneath Earth. Yet these elusive subatomic particles have proven difficult to study.

Chinese Pharma is On the Cusp of Going Global

As the global pharmaceutical landscape undergoes profound restructuring, China’s innovative drug industry has reached its “DeepSeek Moment.” Once seen primarily as imitators, Chinese biopharmaceutical companies are now emerging as core players on the global stage, driven by original innovation and globalization capabilities.

NASA Rover Makes a Shocking Discovery: Lightning on Mars

The Perseverance rover picked up audio evidence of electric discharges in the red planet’s atmosphereA lonely rover toiling among the sands of Mars has now answered an age-old question: If lightning crackles on the red planet and no one hears it, does it still make a sound?

== yjc
Sit Back and Enjoy the Winning Images From This Year’s Nature inFocus Photography Awards

This annual competition showcases photography that documents extraordinary moments in natural history and highlights conservation issues.

Study claims to provide first direct evidence of dark matter

Nearly a century ago, scientists proposed that a mysterious invisible substance they named dark matter clumped around galaxies and formed a cosmic web across the universe. What dark matter is made from, and whether it is even real, are still open questions.

== yjc, opinion piece
‘AI Can’t Think’

Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it.

The unpowered SSDs in your drawer are slowly losing your data

SSDs have all but replaced hard drives when it comes to primary storage. They’re orders of magnitude faster, more convenient, and consume less power than mechanical hard drives. That said, if you’re also using SSDs for cold storage, expecting the drives lying in your drawer to work perfectly after years, you might want to rethink your strategy.

== yjc
Ancient Egyptian Pregnancy Test Survived Millennia Because It Worked

We have a lot more in common with ancient people than we might think. For instance, it was as useful for a woman to know 3,500 years ago whether she was pregnant or not as it is today.

== paywall?
What’s next for AlphaFold: A conversation with a Google DeepMind Nobel laureate

“I’ll be shocked if we don’t see more and more LLM impact on science,” says John Jumper.

== yjc, makes me wonder what the current definition of sanity is
EPA just approved new ‘forever chemical’ pesticides for use on food

Critics warn the EPA’s approvals of new PFAS pesticides could expose more Americans to “forever chemicals” through their food.

Hacker Conference Installed a Literal Antivirus Monitoring System

At New Zealand’s Kawaiicon cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO2 levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived.

Mind-altering ‘brain weapons’ no longer only science fiction, say researchers

UK academics say latest chemicals are ‘wake-up call’ and urge global action to stop weaponisation of neuroscience.

Adolescence lasts into 30s - new study shows four pivotal ages for your brain

The brain goes through five distinct phases in life, with key turning points at ages nine, 32, 66 and 83, scientists have revealed.

== yjc, fond of a good puzzle myself
Calgary genealogy society working to uncover secrets of thrift store mystery box

A photograph from a telegraphers union meeting. An Italian restaurant menu from Toronto. A newspaper clipping covering a graduating class of Royal Canadian Air Force engineers.

== yjc
This rubber duck museum in a U.S. border town has lost business. Now it’s moving to B.C.

Museum in Point Roberts features ‘culturally significant’ rubber ducks, with one more than 100 years old.

How Google Finally Leapfrogged Rivals With New Gemini Rollout

With the release of its third version this week, Google’s Gemini large language model surged past ChatGPT and other competitors to become the most capable AI chatbot, as determined by consensus industry-benchmark tests.

New Mars Orbiter Manuever Challenges Theory: That May Not Be an Underground Lake on Mars

Ancient Mars boasted abundant water, but the cold and dry conditions of today make liquid water on the Red Planet seem far less probable.

== yjc
Uh oh. The dreaded polar vortex may be making an appearance very soon

Colder-than-normal temperatures could start as soon as next week.

== yjc, lengthy, lots of graphics
Rerouting the US: Reimagining a country for high-speed trains

Nearly 200 years ago, the United States opened its first modern railway and by 1850, it was home to more than 9,000 miles of railroad — as much as the rest of the world combined. Today, US train travel is unrecognizable from its heyday, yet there’s a proven alternative to gridlocked highways and overcrowded airports: high-speed trains.

Engineers are Building the Hottest Geothermal Power Plant on Earth - Next to a US Volcano

The plant will tap into the infernal energy of Newberry Volcano, “one of the largest and most hazardous active volcanoes in the United States,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Physicists reveal a new quantum state where electrons run wild

Physicists uncovered how electrons switch between crystal-like and liquid-like states, revealing a bizarre hybrid phase where frozen and mobile electrons coexist.

== yjc, also, Indonesia is planning to move its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara, as Jakarta faces the threat of sinking beneath the waves without urgent intervention
Iran’s Capital Is Moving. The Reason Is an Ecological Catastrophe

The decision to move Iran’s capital is partly driven by climate change, but experts say decades of human error and action are also to blame.

Marine bacteria show potent antitumor effects against colorectal cancer

Through screening of multiple marine bacterial strains, the researchers found that P. angustum, in its natural, non-engineered form, selectively accumulates in tumor tissues and induces both direct tumor lysis and robust immune activation.

== yjc
What would a small black hole do to the human body?

Some people may worry about being bitten by a snake or spider, but have you ever considered what would happen if a small black hole tried to pass through your body?

== another animal, another approach (check sea turtles in the last list)
An electric discovery: Pigeons detect magnetic fields through their inner ear

In 1882, the French Naturalist Camille Viguier was among the first to propose the existence of a magnetic sense. His speculation proved correct. Many animals—from bats, to migratory birds and sea turtles use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate.

Plant breeding discovery could pave way for new crop species

One of the great mysteries in plant biology is how, given the clouds of pollen released by dozens of plant species all at the same time, an individual plant can recognize which particular species’ pollen grains will induce fertility and which to reject.

Macrophages can act like neurons for faster muscle injury repair, study finds

At the cellular level, the mechanics of how muscle tissue repair occurs gets complicated. There are significant differences between, say, tearing a muscle in a sports injury versus muscle tissue wasting away from diseases like muscular dystrophy.

Astrocytes clear amyloid plaques and preserve cognitive function in Alzheimer’s mouse models

Researchers have discovered a natural mechanism that clears existing amyloid plaques in the brains of mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and preserves cognitive function.

Potentially distinct structure in Kuiper belt discovered with help of clustering algorithm

A vast region of our solar system, called the Kuiper belt, stretches from the orbit of Neptune out to 50 or so astronomical units (AU), where an AU is the distance between Earth and the sun. This region consists mostly of icy objects and small rocky bodies, like Pluto.

Gelada baboons fake fertility to protect their young from infanticide when new males take over

In nature, it is not usual for animals to be deceptive, as evolution has typically favored communication that benefits both the sender and receiver by conveying reliable information. But, there are exceptions, particularly when the “lie” leads to beneficial mating or survival.

== yjc, at one time in my life I wanted to join a particle accelerator team
Final experimental result for the muon still challenges theorists

For experimental physicists, the latest measurement of the muon is the best of times. For theorists there’s still work to do.

== yjc, paywall?, found it interesting
The Secret Investors Shaping Your Next Decade

Inside the global flow of stealth capital—and why it impacts you.