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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 5 minutes ago

Light-based sensor detects early molecular signs of cancer in the blood

Researchers have developed a highly sensitive light-based sensor that can detect extremely low concentrations of cancer biomarkers in the blood. The new technology could one day make it possible to spot early signs of cancer and other conditions using a simple blood test.

Biomarkers such as proteins, DNA or other molecules can be used to reveal the presence, progression or risk of cancer and other diseases. However, one of the main challenges in early disease diagnosis is the extremely low concentration of biomarkers present at the onset.

The new sensor developed now combines nanostructures made of DNA with quantum dots and CRISPR gene editing technology to detect faint biomarker signals using a light-based approach known as second harmonic generation (SHG).

This approach could help make disease treatments simpler, potentially improve survival rates and lower overall health care costs.

Wenbo Du et al, Sub-Attomolar-Level Biosensing of Cancer Biomarkers Using SHG Modulation in DNA-Programmable Quantum Dots/MoS2 Disordered Metasurfaces, Optica (2026). DOI: 10.1364/optica.577416

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 minutes ago

Why visceral fat triggers diabetes: Study points to loss of protective macrophages

Scientists discovered a surprising new way the body can fight insulin resistance and diabetes—by boosting a special type of "good" immune cell in fat tissue.

Reported in Nature Communications, the preclinical findings pave the path to developing a medication to treat and prevent type 2 diabetes, potentially replacing or supplementing GLP-1 weight maintenance drugs that lose effectiveness over time.

One-third of our population is obese or overweight—over the next decade or so, obesity will drive increasing rates of many chronic diseases, including diabetes.

Inflammation driven by immune signals given off by excess fat surrounding abdominal organs has long been known to trigger the insulin resistance that leads to type 2 diabetes.

The researchers found is that there is a subset of immune cells in our fat tissue that are actually helpful. Although they're immune cells, they're not inflammatory—rather, they actually suppress the inflammation that causes insulin resistance.

This subset of immune cells—called resident macrophages—clean up dead cells, fight infections and keep tissues healthy. SerpinB2 is a protein that helps resident macrophages survive. When too much visceral fat accumulates—which occurs when someone is overweight or obese—inflammation increases and SerpinB2 levels plummet.

This causes resident macrophages to die out, which allows fat tissue to grow larger and become more inflamed. Ultimately, the body can't respond as well to insulin, which controls blood sugar, and the person develops diabetes.

When overweight mice with insulin-resistance were given antioxidant supplements, their levels of resident macrophages increased and their insulin sensitivity improved.

Tissue-resident macrophage survival depends on mitochondrial function regulated by SerpinB2 in chronic inflammation, Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69196-4

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 21 minutes ago

The observations and analysis of M31-2014-DS1 enabled the team to reinterpret observations of a similar star, NGC 6946-BH1. This led to an important breakthrough in understanding what had happened to the outer layers that had enveloped the star after it failed to go supernova and collapsed into a black hole. The overlooked element? Convection.

Convection is a byproduct of the vast temperature differences inside the star. Material near the star's center is extremely hot, while the outer regions are much cooler. This differential causes gases within the star to move from hotter to cooler regions.

When the star's core collapses, the gas in its outer layers is still moving rapidly due to this convection. Theoretical models developed by astronomers at the Flatiron Institute have shown that this prevents most of the outer layers from falling directly in; instead, the innermost layers orbit outside of the black hole and drive the ejection of the outermost layers of the convective region.

The ejected material cools as it moves farther from the hot material around the black hole. This cool material readily forms dust as atoms and molecules combine. The dust obscures the hot gas orbiting the black hole, warming the dust and producing an observable brightening in infrared wavelengths. This lingering red glow is visible for decades after the star itself disappears.

Kishalay De, Disappearance of a massive star in the Andromeda Galaxy due to formation of a black hole, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.adt4853. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt4853

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 22 minutes ago

Failed supernova provides clearest view yet of a star collapsing into a black hole

Astronomers have watched a dying star fail to explode as a supernova, instead collapsing into a black hole. The remarkable sighting is the most complete observational record ever made of a star's transformation into a black hole, allowing astronomers to construct a comprehensive physical picture of the process.

Combining recent observations of the star with over a decade of archival data, the astronomers confirmed and refined theoretical models of how such massive stars turn into black holes. The team found that the star failed to explode as a supernova at the end of its life; instead, the star's core collapsed into a black hole, slowly expelling its turbulent outer layers in the process.

The discovery will help explain why some massive stars turn into black holes when they die, while others don't.

The now-deceased star, called M31-2014-DS1, is located around 2.5 million light-years away from Earth in the neighbouring Andromeda galaxy. 

They found that M31-2014-DS1's infrared light began brightening in 2014. Then in 2016, the star swiftly dimmed far below its original luminosity in barely a year.

Observations in 2022 and 2023 showed that the star essentially vanished in visible and near-infrared light, becoming one ten-thousandth as bright in these wavelengths. Its remnant is now only detectable in mid-infrared light, where it shines at a mere one-tenth as bright as before.

Comparing these observations with theoretical predictions, the researchers concluded that the star's dramatic fading to such a small fraction of its original total brightness provides strong evidence that its core collapsed and became a black hole.

Stars fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores, and that process generates outward pressure to balance the incessant inward pull of gravity. When a massive star roughly 10 or more times heavier than our sun begins to run out of fuel, the balance between inward and outward forces is disrupted. Gravity begins to collapse the star, and its core succumbs first to form a dense neutron star at the center.

Often, the emission of neutrinos in this process generates a powerful shock wave that is explosive enough to rip apart most of the core and outer layers in a supernova. However, if the neutrino-powered shock wave fails to push the stellar material out, theory has long suggested that most of the stellar material would instead fall back into the neutron star, forming a black hole.

Kishalay De, Disappearance of a massive star in the Andromeda Galaxy due to formation of a black hole, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.adt4853. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt4853

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

Elephant whiskers exhibit material intelligence for touch sensing

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 21 hours ago

No association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and autism in children, new research shows
Children born to mothers who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during or shortly before pregnancy show no increased risk of autism or other neurodevelopmental problems at 18–30 months compared to children of unvaccinated mothers. Neurodevelopmental assessments revealed no significant differences between the groups, supporting the vaccine's safety in pregnancy.

Association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in pregnancy and child neurodevelopment at 18–30 months, Pregnancy (2026).

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 21 hours ago

Nanoplastics hindering cognitive abilities of fish, international research shows

Plastic makes up about 80 to 85% of marine litter, according to environmental research, with the most commonly used plastics breaking down into smaller pieces under ultraviolet light and low temperatures.

Nanoplastic exposure can impair the cognitive abilities of fish and could lead to significant impacts on marine species' ability to survive, according to a new international study.
Exposure to nanoplastics impairs cognitive function in marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma), leading to increased errors and impulsive decision-making during behavioral tests. These changes may reduce survival by affecting foraging, predator avoidance, and reproduction. Nanoplastics, due to their small size, are highly bioavailable and pose a significant, underrecognized threat to marine ecosystems.

The important things for any animal are reproduction, shelter and feed. For a fish which has changed its behavior, it may have trouble capturing food and most importantly, have trouble avoiding predators.

It may also be affected when mating and finding a mate, let alone spawning. There are huge potential effects on those three basic requirements for survival.

Xianyu Yuan et al, Nanoplastic exposure damages neural plasticity, cognitive abilities, and ecological adaptability of marine medaka Oryzias melastigma, Marine Pollution Bulletin (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119232

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 22 hours ago

Space mining without heavy machines? Microbes harvest metals from meteorites aboard space station
Microbes can extract valuable metals from meteorites in microgravity, with fungi notably enhancing palladium release. Microbial biomining remains effective in space, while nonbiological leaching is less efficient under microgravity. Extraction rates vary by metal, microbe, and gravity, highlighting the complexity and potential of microbial resource extraction for space and Earth applications.

Rosa Santomartino et al, Microbial biomining from asteroidal material onboard the international space station, npj Microgravity (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41526-026-00567-3

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 22 hours ago

The origin of magic numbers: Why some atomic nuclei are unusually stable
A new model explains the stability of magic nuclei by directly linking their shell structure to underlying proton–neutron interactions via nuclear wavefunctions. This approach naturally reproduces magic numbers and bridges phenomenological and first-principles nuclear models, offering insights into the strong nuclear force and the properties of heavy, exotic nuclei.

C. R. Ding et al, From Spin to Pseudospin Symmetry: The Origin of Magic Numbers in Nuclear Structure, Physical Review Letters (2026). DOI: 10.1103/8lzc-j1lx. On arXiv: DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2504.09148

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 22 hours ago

Only humans have chins and it's an evolutionary accident

Every chin is distinctive in the sense that humans are the only primates to possess that physical characteristic.

Chimpanzees, humans' closest living relatives, do not have a chin. Neither did Neanderthals, Denisovans, or any other extinct human species. Humans, it turns out, have a unique capacity to "take it on the chin" because we're uniquely in possession of that physical feature. That exclusive nature makes the chin well suited for identifying Homo sapiens in the fossil record.

The chin evolved largely by accident and not through direct selection, but as an evolutionary by-product resulting from direct selection on other parts of the skull.

The chin is a spandrel, a feature that arises as an unintended byproduct of evolution, just as the space under a staircase exists not for any architectural purpose, but as a byproduct of building a convenient way to get from one level to the next.

Just because we have a unique feature, like the chin, does not mean that it was shaped by natural selection to enhance an animal's survivability, for example, a buttress for the lower jaw to help dissipate the forces of chewing. The chin is likely a byproduct, not an adaptation.

Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel et al, Is the human chin a spandrel? Insights from an evolutionary analysis of ape craniomandibular form, PLOS One (2026). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0340278

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