Number 380
Antibody halts triple-negative breast cancer in preclinical models
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant forms of breast cancer. It grows quickly, spreads early and lacks the hormone receptors that make other breast cancers treatable with targeted therapies.
Alkaline-loving microbes could help safeguard nuclear waste buried deep underground
One of the best ways to keep nuclear waste out of harm’s way is to bury it in geological disposal facilities. Cement is used to provide structural support, seal gaps and encapsulate waste containers. While cement is a strong material, groundwater eventually reacts with it, forming microscopic cracks and pores through which radiation could escape.
Close-up images show how stars explode in real time
Astronomers have captured images of two stellar explosions—known as novae—within days of their eruption and in unprecedented detail. The breakthrough provides direct evidence that these explosions are more complex than previously thought.
New deep-sea species discovered during mining test
In a major research project, marine biologists from several countries have attempted to map life in one of the least explored places on Earth: the deep-sea floor of the Pacific Ocean.
Blackest Fabric Ever Made Absorbs 99.87% of All Light That Hits It
To make something ultrablack, you can’t just dip it in a dye and call it a day. It requires manipulating the structure of a material on the nanoscopic scale so that it captures as much light as possible.
Fearless frogs feast on deadly hornets
While just the sight of a hornet’s stinger is enough to fill many of us with dread, some animals, such as some birds, spiders and frogs, are known to prey on adult hornets.
Airplane and hospital air is cleaner than you might think
In the first study of its kind, scientists used an unexpected sampling tool—used face masks and an aircraft air filter—to uncover the invisible world of microbes floating in our shared air.
Scientists develop a glasses-free 3D system with a little help from AI
Watching 3D movies and TV shows is a fun and exciting experience, where images leap out of the screen. To get this effect, you usually have to wear a special pair of glasses.
Glaciers and ice sheets are melting on a huge scale, and this trend is likely to increase as the planet heats up. Scientists already knew that the movement (which is determined by gravity and the sheer mass of ice) changes slowly over decades.
Astronomers find vast spinning filament of galaxies 140 million light-years away
Cosmic filaments are the largest known structures in the universe: vast, thread-like formations of galaxies and dark matter that form a cosmic scaffolding. They also act as “highways” along which matter and momentum flow into galaxies.
Earlier ultra-relativistic freeze-out could revive a decades-old theory for dark matter
In the 1970s, physicists widely believed that dark matter may have been made up of neutrinos: tiny, chargeless particles which are part of the Standard Model, but only interact extremely weakly with other Standard Model particles.
Complex life developed nearly 1 billion years earlier than previously thought, study reveals
Complex life began to develop earlier, and over a longer span of time, than previously believed, a new study has revealed. The research sheds new light on the conditions needed for early organisms to evolve and challenges several long-standing scientific theories in this area.
Fish freshness easily monitored with a new sensor
To see if a fish is fresh, people recommend looking at its eyes and gills or giving it a sniff. But a more accurate check for food quality and safety is to look for compounds that form when decomposition starts.
Smart material instantly changes colors on demand for use in textiles and consumer products
Scientists have developed a revolutionary technique for creating colors that can change on command. These are structural colors that don’t rely on dyes or pigments and can be used for display signage, adaptive camouflage and smart safety labels, among other applications.
Free climbers discover remnants of ancient sea turtle stampede in Italy
Rocks have been found to hold many traces of Earth’s ancient history, but usually geologists have to seek them out. Every once in a while, however, these imprints of times past are found by unsuspecting visitors.
Interstellar object covered in ‘icy volcanoes’ could rewrite our understanding of how comets formed
Analysis of the second confirmed interstellar comet to visit our solar system suggests that the alien body could be covered in erupting icy, volcano-like structures called cryovolcanoes. Researchers also discovered that the comet has a metal-rich interior, which could challenge our understanding of how comets formed in our own planetary system.
10-thousand-year-old genomes from southern Africa change picture of human evolution
Homo sapiens has been around for at least 300,000 years. But exactly where on the African continent our species originated has not been known. According to some theories, Homo sapiens evolved in eastern Africa and only spread southwards around 50,000 years ago.
Satellite Captures the First Detailed Look At a Massive Tsunami
When a magnitude 8.8 earthquake ripped through the Kuril-Kamchatka subduction zone on July 29, 2025, it launched a Pacific-wide tsunami – and a rare natural experiment.
Investors fear an AI bubble. What about computer scientists?
Transformative tech is real, experts say, but we may still be in a short-term bubble.
We are hardwired to sing, and it’s good for us, too
Humans are, in effect, hardwired to sing and dance, and we likely evolved to do so. In every known culture, evidence exists of music, singing or chanting. The oldest discovered musical instruments are ivory and bone flutes dating back over 40,000 years. Before people played music, they likely sang.
Sounding the 6,000-year-old shell trumpets of Catalonia
In various regions around the world, seashells were used to produce sound. Catalonia is one such example, where many shell trumpets have been found that date from the late 5th to early 4th millennium BC.
Archaeological study challenges paleo diet, revealing humans have long eaten ‘processed plant foods’
Humans evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to be the ultimate flexible eaters—chasing carbohydrates and fats from plant and animal sources alike.
Fossils reveal anacondas have been giants for over 12 million years
Anacondas are among the largest living snakes in the world. They are usually four to five meters long and in rare cases can reach seven meters.
Ant brood signal deadly infection in altruistic self-sacrifice
In many social animals, group members try to conceal their sickness to prevent social exclusion. Ant brood, however, take the opposite approach.
The Fertile Crescent, a boomerang-shaped region spanning modern-day Middle Eastern countries, is considered the cradle of civilization and where farming first emerged. But little is known about how climate change influenced early societies in this part of the world.
Scalable thermal drawing method creates liquid metal fibers for wearable electronics
Over the past decades, many research teams worldwide have started working on electronic fibers. These are yarn-like components with electronic properties that can be weaved or assembled to create new innovative textile-based electronics, clothes or other wearable systems.
Some phenomena in our daily lives are so commonplace that we don’t realize there could be some very interesting physics behind them. Take a dripping faucet: why does the continuous stream of water from a faucet eventually break up into individual droplets?
Close brush with two hot stars millions of years ago left a mark just beyond our solar system
Nearly 4.5 million years ago, two large, hot stars brushed tantalizingly close to Earth’s sun. They left behind a trace in the clouds of gas and dust that swirl just beyond our solar system—almost like the scent of perfume after someone has left the room.
Asteroid loaded with amino acids offers new clues about the origin of life on Earth
One of the most elegant theories about the origins of life on our planet is that it was kick-started by a delivery from outer space. This idea suggests that prebiotic molecules—the building blocks of life—were transported here by asteroids or other celestial bodies.
Kimchi acts as a ‘precision regulator’ for the immune system, 12-week clinical trial suggests
Amid concerns about the simultaneous spread of multiple respiratory diseases, such as colds and influenza, with the change of seasons in current times, a clinical study has scientifically proven that kimchi enhances the function of human immune cells and maintains the balance of the immune system.
Bird flu viruses are resistant to fever, making them a major threat to humans
One of the body’s self-defense mechanisms is fever, which can cause our body temperature to reach as high as 41°C, though until now it has not been clear how fever stops viruses—and why some viruses can survive.
Volcanic eruption may have triggered Europe’s deadly Black Death plague
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5gr2x914ro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
Tiny Volcano-Dwelling Creature Breaks Heat Record
The fire amoeba challenges assumptions about what complex life needs to survive on Earth.
Study Finds Tattoo Ink Moves Through the Body, Killing Immune Cells
Tattoo ink doesn’t just sit inertly in the skin. New research shows it moves rapidly into the lymphatic system, where it can persist for months, kill immune cells, and even disrupt how the body responds to vaccines.
Breath samples collected by drone hold clues to health of North Atlantic right whales
Researchers have collected spray from the blowholes of 85 of the endangered animals
The Battle Over Africa’s Great Untapped Resource: IP Addresses
When the internet was in its infancy, IP addresses were invented as a way to identify devices connected to it. Every cellphone, computer or smart television needs a distinct one to connect to the internet. Those early IP addresses, known as IPv4, made around 4.3 billion unique combinations, a number thought to be more than sufficient when they were rolled out in the early 1980s. Today, that figure is laughably small.
The Mysterious Black Fungus From Chernobyl That May Eat Radiation
At the centre of this story is a pigment found widely in life on Earth: melanin. This molecule, which can range from black to reddish brown, is what leads to different skin and hair colours in people. But it is also the reason why the various species of mould growing in Chernobyl were black.
Scientists may have solved why this ancient, advanced civilization vanished
At its peak, the ancient Indus River Valley civilization featured gridded streets, multistory brick homes, flush toilets and bustling shops. Its people traded gold, precious stones and items such as bronze carts along the region’s waterways.
Cats became our companions way later than you think
In true feline style, cats took their time in deciding when and where to forge bonds with humans. According to new scientific evidence, the shift from wild hunter to pampered pet happened much more recently than previously thought - and in a different place.
A taste of the sea: Comparing five edible seaweeds
Researchers have studied the nutritional value of five edible seaweed species, including some lesser-known algae, and examined their potential for sustainable nutrition.
Africa’s forests have switched from absorbing to emitting carbon, new study finds
Using advanced satellite data and machine learning, the researchers tracked more than a decade of changes in aboveground forest biomass, the amount of carbon stored in trees and woody vegetation. They found that while Africa gained carbon between 2007 and 2010, widespread forest loss in tropical rainforests has since tipped the balance.
Archaeologists discover solitary grave from ancient Kingdom of Kerma in remote Bayuda Desert
The discovery, made at site BP937 in Sudan, has provided valuable information about funerary practices, daily life, and environmental conditions during the early second millennium BC.
New universal law predicts how most objects shatter, from dropped bottles to exploding bubbles
When a plate drops or a glass smashes, you’re annoyed by the mess and the cost of replacing them. But for some physicists, the broken pieces are a source of fascination: Why does everything break into such a huge variety of sizes?
Tiny reconfigurable robots can help manage carbon dioxide levels in confined spaces
Most existing systems for the capture and release of CO2 consume a lot of energy, as they rely on materials that need to be heated to high temperatures to release the gas again after capturing it.
Dating a North American rock art tradition
Rock art is difficult to date for a number of reasons, not least because radiocarbon dating typically requires a rich source of organic material, like bone or wood. The paint pigments used in the Pecos River murals are inorganic mineral compounds such as iron oxides for red and yellow.
== yjc, paywall?, found it interesting
The Secret Investors Shaping Your Next Decade
Inside the global flow of stealth capital—and why it impacts you.
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
- So supposedly said the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.