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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 12, 2025 at 7:26am

How climate change increased the risk of earthquakes in East Africa

Climate change is accelerating continental rifting, the geological process where landmasses slowly pull apart. According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the East African Rift System (EARS) became more tectonically active after its major lakes shrank due to a drier climate 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. This could have caused more frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Researchers studied the Lake Turkana Basin in northern Kenya. This region is ideal for analyzing how climate and tectonics interact because it lies within the magmatically active eastern part of EARS and has witnessed dramatic lake-level shifts.

Scientists examined 27 underwater faults by comparing two time periods in the South Turkana Basin. The first was the wetter Late African Humid Period (9,631–5,333 years ago) and the second was the Post-African Humid Period (5,333 years ago to present), when the climate was much drier. Using geological data and computer models, they calculated how the reduced weight of the lake water affected fault activity.

The researchers discovered that the speed of faulting in the EARS accelerated significantly after the region's major lakes shrank, showing a mean increase of 0.17 mm/year in their slipping rate.

This work provides  the first empirical evidence of increased fault activity in response to climate-induced lake level changes in the East African Rift System over time scales of 10³–10⁴ years and reveal that climate-tectonic interactions are enhanced in magmatically active rift systems.

 James D. Muirhead et al, Accelerated rifting in response to regional climate change in the East African Rift System, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-23264-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 12, 2025 at 6:58am

How climate change increased the risk of earthquakes in East Africa

Climate change is accelerating continental rifting, the geological process where landmasses slowly pull apart. According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the East African Rift System (EARS) became more tectonically active after its major lakes shrank due to a drier climate 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. This could have caused more frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Researchers studied the Lake Turkana Basin in northern Kenya. This region is ideal for analyzing how climate and tectonics interact because it lies within the magmatically active eastern part of EARS and has witnessed dramatic lake-level shifts.

Scientists examined 27 underwater faults by comparing two time periods in the South Turkana Basin. The first was the wetter Late African Humid Period (9,631–5,333 years ago) and the second was the Post-African Humid Period (5,333 years ago to present), when the climate was much drier. Using geological data and computer models, they calculated how the reduced weight of the lake water affected fault activity.

The researchers discovered that the speed of faulting in the EARS accelerated significantly after the region's major lakes shrank, showing a mean increase of 0.17 mm/year in their slipping rate.

This work provides  the first empirical evidence of increased fault activity in response to climate-induced lake level changes in the East African Rift System over time scales of 10³–10⁴ years and reveal that climate-tectonic interactions are enhanced in magmatically active rift systems.

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-climate-earthquakes-east-africa.html?...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 12, 2025 at 6:53am

Self-reactive T cells may explain why some patients can't reach undetectable HIV levels

Despite the capability of antiretroviral drugs to suppress HIV to undetectable levels, some people living with the human immunodeficiency virus can't reach the goal of viral imperceptibility even with daily doses of the potent medications.

It is a conundrum that has mystified virologists for years, but new research by a team of investigators It is a conundrum that has mystified virologists for years, but new research by a team of investigators.

Based on a study of eight people whose antiretroviral treatment did not drive down HIV to an undetectable level, the  researchers found that constant HIV in the blood is not the result of patients missing medication doses or the virus becoming drug resistant. It persists, they discovered, because of a population of insidious immune components known as "self-reactive CD4⁺ T cells".

These HIV-infected CD4⁺ T cells can release viral RNA that persists in the bloodstream, a phenomenon called nonsuppressible viremia. Simply put, nonsuppressible viremia refers to an ongoing presence of low levels of HIV in the blood.

Antiretroviral therapy halts HIV replication, reducing plasma virus concentrations to below the limit of detection, but it is not curative because of a reservoir of latently infected CD4⁺ T cells," writes lead author of the study, Dr. Fengting Wu, in Science Translational Medicine.

Even with 100% adherence to antiretroviral therapy, a large fraction of people living with HIV have residual viremia. Clinical options for managing nonsuppressible viremia are currently limited.

Even though the viremia may be low, it cannot be controlled by simply upping the dosage of antiretroviral medication. So, despite doctors' best efforts, viral RNA continues to persist in the blood. And more puzzling still, it may take years, even decades, for the viremia to emerge.

All eight patients examined by the researchers had been on long-term antiretroviral treatment for a median of 23 years before developing persistent viremia.

For the patient with the least amount of time on the therapy, it took nine years before nonsuppressible viremia occurred. Another spent 31 problem-free years on the treatment before viremia loomed as an inescapable fact of life. Yet, during the study period, some research participants who had lab-confirmed evidence of nonsuppressible viremia, had no signs of it at all.

Several possibilities could explain the lack of detectable virus production from infected CD4⁺ T cells in some study participants," write the investigators in their paper. "These include a low frequency of infected self-reactive cells, the antigen of interest not being present in the lysate, or the antigen being present at very low concentrations."

Complicating matters further, CD4⁺ T cells make clones of themselves in HIV infection, a process known as clonal expansion. A small fraction of CD4⁺ T cells infected with HIV survive and divide, creating clones of infected cells that form the viral reservoir, the source of the nonsuppressible viremia.

 Fengting Wu et al, Proviruses in CD4⁺ T cells reactive to autologous antigens contribute to nonsuppressible HIV-1 viremia, Science Translational Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adu4643

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 9:30am

Scientists Discover Mysterious Signs of Life in Bizarre Blue Volcanic Goo

Unexpected biosignatures found in a startlingly blue volcanic goo beneath the Pacific Ocean may offer clues to life's origins.
Exhumed from mud volcanoes near the Mariana Trench, at depths of almost 3,000 meters (9,833 feet), the bizarrely colored sediment samples contain fats from mysterious living organisms.

With an extremely high pH of 12 – among the highest recorded in a natural ecosystem – this nutrient-poor ooze would cause severe burns to your skin on contact. Yet researchers have now confirmed that some extremophile microbes live there.

The bottom section of one taken from the Pacman volcano consists mainly of serpentinite with bits of brucite, largely untouched by the seawater above, allowing it to maintain its striking color.

At shallower depths, closer to the mud from the ocean floor, the volcanic sediment pales to a lighter blue-green, and the brucite has been dissolved by salt water.
Within these serpentinite layers, researchers detected fats from bacterial and archaeal cell membranes – the microbes' "first line of defense" against highly alkaline conditions.
The mostly intact state of the fats indicates multiple communities of microbes are currently eking out a living in these extreme conditions, the researchers explain.
Like plants do through photosynthesis, these microbes make their own energy from methane by consuming sulfate, which produces corrosive hydrogen sulfide.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02667-6

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 9:22am

Talking with our hands: How culture shapes our gestures

New research  shows that gesture is not merely a matter of individual style or habit, but a reflection of cultural expression tied to racial identity.

The research also suggests that mismatched expectations about gesture may influence the dynamics of interracial communication.

We all clearly communicate in very different ways. Some of us may talk differently than others. Some of us may use our hands more than others. It doesn't mean we can't communicate. When we experience that mismatch in communication, maybe we all need to try a little harder to understand each other across group differences, say the researchers.

Their findings show consistent patterns suggesting that what feels natural when speaking can differ across racial groups, and that those differences can shape how people perceive one another.

Collectively, these studies highlight that gesture is not only a personal characteristic but also a culturally grounded mode of expression, deeply linked to identity and group norms. The research also underscores how mismatched expectations about nonverbal behavior may affect perceptions and interactions across racial groups.

Yes, what I say need not exactly be what you comprehend!

Esha S. Naidu et al, Talk to the hand: Black and White cultural differences in gesture use., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2025). DOI: 10.1037/xge0001862

 

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 9:15am

AI bias in hiring decisions is often copied by human reviewers, study reveals

An organization drafts a job listing with artificial intelligence. Droves of applicants conjure résumés and cover letters with chatbots. Another AI system sifts through those applications, passing recommendations to hiring managers. Perhaps AI avatars conduct screening interviews. This is increasingly the state of hiring, as people seek to streamline the stressful, tedious process with AI.

Yet research is finding that hiring bias—against people with disabilities, or certain races and genders—permeates large language models, or LLMs, such as ChatGPT and Gemini. We know less, though, about how biased LLM recommendations influence the people making hiring decisions.
In a new  study, 528 people worked with simulated LLMs to pick candidates for 16 different jobs, from computer systems analyst to nurse practitioner to housekeeper. The researchers simulated different levels of racial biases in LLM recommendations for résumés from equally qualified white, Black, Hispanic and Asian men.

When picking candidates without AI or with neutral AI, participants picked white and non-white applicants at equal rates. But when they worked with a moderately biased AI, if the AI preferred non-white candidates, participants did too. If it preferred white candidates, participants did too. In cases of severe bias, people made only slightly less biased decisions than the recommendations.

Kyra Wilson et al, No Thoughts Just AI: Biased LLM Hiring Recommendations Alter Human Decision Making and Limit Human Autonomy, Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (2025). DOI: 10.1609/aies.v8i3.36749

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 8:56am

Chronic kidney disease is now the ninth leading cause of death, global analysis finds

Record numbers of men and women globally are now estimated to have reduced kidney function, a new study shows. Figures rose from 378 million people with the disease in 1990 to 788 million in 2023 as the world population grew and aged, making it for the first time a top 10 cause of death worldwide.

 The analysis explored the rise of the illness, in which the kidneys gradually lose their ability to filter waste and excess fluid from the blood. Mild cases may have no symptoms while the most severe stages can require dialysis, kidney replacement therapy, or an organ transplant.

The findings revealed that about 14% of adults in the world have chronic kidney disease. Results further showed that about 1.5 million people died from the condition in 2023, an increase of more than 6% since 1993 when accounting for differences in countries' age demographics over time.

Another major finding was that impaired kidney function, on top of killing people directly, was a key risk factor for heart disease, contributing to about 12% of global cardiovascular mortality. The results showed further that in 2023, the condition was the 12th leading cause of diminished quality of life from disability. The biggest risk factors for kidney disease were found to be high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high body mass index (a measure of obesity).

Global, regional, and national burden of chronic kidney disease in adults, 1990–2023, and its attributable risk factors: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023, The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01853-7

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 8:51am

How cells choose their direction without external signals

Cell movement is an essential biological process, whether it's cancer cells metastasizing to other parts of the body or immune cells migrating to heal a wound.

An international joint research team has elucidated the principle by which cells decide their direction and move on their own without external signals, offering a crucial clue for identifying the causes of cancer metastasis and immune diseases and establishing new treatment strategies.
Cells determine their movement direction autonomously through an internal program involving Rho family proteins. The Cdc42–FMNL interaction drives straight movement, while Rac1–ROCK enables directional changes. Disrupting Rac1–ROCK binding impairs turning and environmental adaptation. The INSPECT technique allows direct visualization of these protein interactions in living cells.

Heeyoung Lee et al, A Rho GTPase-effector ensemble governs cell migration behavior, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64635-0

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 8:46am

Dinosaur eggshells unlock a new way to tell time in the fossil record

An international team of geologists and paleontologists is pioneering a groundbreaking methodology to reliably determine the age of fossil-bearing rocks—by directly dating fossilized dinosaur eggshells.

Many fossil sites around the world are only coarsely dated. Without precise information on the geologic age of fossils, paleontologists struggle to understand how different species and ecosystems relate across time and space. Usually, researchers rely on dating minerals such as zircon or apatite found associated with fossils, but those minerals aren't always present. Attempts to date the fossils themselves, such as bones or teeth, have often produced uncertain results.

Now researchers  took a different approach. They used advanced uranium–lead (U–Pb) dating and elemental mapping to measure trace amounts of uranium and lead housed inside the calcite of fossilized dinosaur eggshells. These isotopes function like a natural clock, enabling scientists to determine when the eggs were buried.
Fossilized dinosaur eggshells can be directly dated using uranium–lead (U–Pb) isotopes in their calcite, providing geologic ages with about 5% accuracy compared to volcanic-ash dating. This method enables precise dating of fossil sites lacking datable volcanic layers, offering a new tool to reconstruct the timing of dinosaur evolution and ancient ecosystems.

Tests on dinosaur eggs from Utah (U.S.) and the Gobi Desert (Mongolia) showed that the eggshells record ages with an accuracy of about 5% relative to precise volcanic-ash dates. In Mongolia, the team determined the first-ever direct age—around 75 million years old—for a historic locality preserving dinosaur eggs and nests.

 Ryan T. Tucker et al, U-Pb calcite age dating of fossil eggshell as an accurate deep time geochronometer, Communications Earth & Environment (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-025-02895-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on November 11, 2025 at 8:40am

AI evaluates texts without bias—until the source is revealed
Large language models evaluate texts consistently and with minimal bias when no source information is provided, showing over 90% agreement across models. However, when the author’s identity or nationality is revealed, significant biases emerge, notably a strong anti-Chinese bias, and trust in human over AI authors. These findings highlight the need for transparency and safeguards in AI-driven evaluations.

How to avoid LLM evaluation bias Make the LLM identity blind:

Remove all identity information regarding author and source of the text, e.g., avoid using phrases like "written by a person from X / by model Y" in the prompt.

Check from different angles: Run the same questions twice, e. g. with and without a source mentioned in the prompt. If results change, you've likely hit a bias.

Or cross-check with a second LLM model: If divergence appears when you add a source that is a red flag.

Force the focus away from the sources: Structured criteria help anchor the model in content rather than identity.

Use this prompt, for example: "Score this using a 4-point rubric (evidence, logic, clarity, counter-arguments), and explain each score briefly." Keep humans in the loop: Treat the model as a drafting help and add a human review to the process—especially if an evaluation affects people.

 Federico Germani et al, Source framing triggers systematic bias in large language models, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adz2924

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