Space supercharges anti-bacterial viruses

Viruses that infect bacteria, called phages, evolve different strategies to infect their targets on the International Space Station than they do on the ground, which could help create new treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections. Researchers found that the phages took longer to infect E.coli in microgravity, and that the viruses developed microgravity-specific mutations, some of which helped them to better cling onto bacterial receptors. Once they returned to earth, they were able to kill stubborn strains of E.coli responsible for urinary tract infections that tend to be resistant to bacteriophages.

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pb...

Newly-discovered dopamine signal may help the brain steer us in the right direction
A distinct dopamine signal in the striatum encodes trajectory errors, indicating whether movement is directed toward or away from a goal, independent of classic reward-related dopamine responses. This guidance signal, triggered by visual cues and scaling with movement speed, operates alongside value signals in orthogonal spatial gradients, supporting real-time behavioural adjustments.

A Boston University-led research team has discovered a dopamine signal in the brain that helps determine whether you are moving toward or away from a goal, potentially shedding new light on how the brain uses visual information to guide behaviour
.The work shows that when mice encounter visual cues, dopamine in the striatum, located in the basal ganglia, encodes "trajectory errors," or signals that indicate whether the mice's current direction and speed are carrying them toward or away from its goal. These "guidance signals" operate independently from dopamine's classic reward value responses and arise from different sensory and motor inputs.

The findings offer insight into how the brain uses environmental cues to steer behavior and could inform the development of more targeted therapies for conditions involving dopamine dysfunction, including Parkinson's disease, addiction, OCD, and ADHD.
This discovery reveals that dopamine isn't just about how valuable something is.
It's also about whether you're headed the right way. It's a guidance signal, one that tells the brain to keep going or make a correction.

Eleanor H. Brown et al, Striatum-wide dopamine encodes trajectory errors separated from value, Nature (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-10083-1

Ultra-processed foods linked to infertility in US women

Higher intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with lower odds of fertility in US women, independent of age, weight, and lifestyle factors. Women reporting infertility consumed more ultra-processed foods and adhered less to the Mediterranean diet. Chemical exposures from processed foods, such as phthalates and BPA, may contribute to this association.

Angelina Baric et al, Ultra-processed food intake and Mediterranean diet adherence in relation to fertility status in U.S. women: Findings from NHANES 2013–2018, Nutrition and Health (2026). DOI: 10.1177/02601060261433154