Earlier the researchers developed a platform called OpenCell that used microscopy to map the precise cellular location of more than 1,300 kinds of proteins under baseline conditions.
Now rather than focus on precisely pinpointing the location of particular proteins one at a time, their new approach, Organelle Profiling, considers them as constituents of a cell's organelles, its liquid interior (the cytosol), and other internal structures. In the new study, they attached unique molecular tags to 19 such compartments that collectively account for the entire cell.

After tagging, they forced cells through a narrow syringe, gently breaking them open while keeping internal structures intact. Using antibodies designed to recognize the tags, they extracted the individual compartments before determining their protein composition with mass spectrometry, an analytical technique that identifies compounds based on their electrical charge and mass.
From within these compartments, they identified and analyzed the relative location of more than 8,000 unique kinds of proteins.
The same kind of protein could appear in multiple compartments, in some cases showing up faintly when a bit of an organelle was extracted along with a neighboring compartment. The team then looked for proteins with similar profiles. In their analysis, they built a network that treats similar proteins as connected, leading to the appearance of well-delineated clusters of proteins that define individual compartments — endoplasmic reticulum, cytosol, mitochondria, and so on.

Some proteins had significant connections that straddled compartments. These proteins, which the researchers interpreted as being located at compartment boundaries, help the compartments work together to support the cell.

In the end, the team generated a map that organizes proteins according to their relationships with one another — a high-resolution view that spans the entire cell. When they compared this map to previously collected data about the proteins, they found it matched up very well.
Part 2

To next see how cells can reconfigure themselves internally in response to change, the team exposed the cells to OC43, a coronavirus that causes the common cold, then repeated the Organelle Profiling analysis. This revealed two distinct shifts: 633 kinds of proteins relocated, meaning that their relationships with other proteins in the cellular map changed significantly. Meanwhile, the overall abundance of 429 kinds of proteins increased or decreased. But, to the team's surprise, only 54 underwent both types of changes.
The shifts in location after OC43 infection provided new clues to the underlying biology. In particular, the relocation of proteins involved in a form of programmed cell death called ferroptosis led the researchers to show that increasing ferroptosis promoted infection, while decreasing it inhibited the virus. This shows that ferroptosis plays a central role in controlling infection, and could be a target for the development of new antiviral therapies.

The researchers are continuing to look for other examples of telltale protein shuffling, both in other viral infections and in Alzheimer's disease.
The group has made the data they have generated via Organelle Profiling freely available to other scientists. The team at CZ Biohub SF is also planning to offer the tools they used, including cells and reagents, to the scientific community. A streamlined software program they are developing will allow other researchers to more readily map the compartmentalization of proteins in the scenarios they study. In return, the team hopes others will contribute their data openly to build better models of how our cells are internally organized.

 Marco Y. Hein et al, Global organelle profiling reveals subcellular localization and remodeling at proteome scale, Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.11.028

Part 3

Astronomers discovered 44 ancient stars using gravitational lensing

A group of astronomers have made history by capturing an image of a record number of stars from a time when the universe was half its age.

The astronomers detected 44 stars in the "Dragon Arc" galaxy, located 6.5 billion light years away from our own Milky Way, using NASA's ultra-powerful James Webb Space Telescope.

However, the discovery was also only possible because of a well-known concept in the world of physics: gravitational lensing. First developed as part of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, its use here could help chart new interstellar territory.

What exactly is gravitational lensing and how did it help capture an image 6.5 billion years in the making?

Gravitational lensing is the distortion effect that massive objects sitting in space-time, like galaxies and even galaxy clusters, have on rays of light. 

Imagine a large, stretched out rubber sheet. If a heavy object is placed on the sheet, it creates a dip or a well, distorting the surface. If you try to roll an object like a marble from one end of the sheet to another, it can still make it to the other side but it will be deflected from its normal path.

That's exactly what's happening but with light rays instead of marbles. It's called gravitational lensing because in this case gravity … is acting as a lens distorting light, or focusing beams of light, in the same way that glass alters the path of light from the sun or a light bulb and leads it to focus differently on your retina.

Usually, the farther away a galaxy is, the harder it is to capture it with any level of fine detail. Astronomers have been observing individual stars in our own Milky Way and in nearby galaxies like Andromeda and the Magellanic Clouds. But "anything beyond our little cosmic backyard, the galaxies are too far away for us to distinguish individual stars". 

However, in this case, the astronomers were able to detect the light from 44 stars in the distant Dragon Arc galaxy using the distortion caused by the massive galaxy cluster Abell 370. The cluster essentially served as a massive magnifying glass, sitting between Earth and the Dragon Arc.

Part 1

There was also a double layer of gravitational lensing. Serendipitously, smaller objects––free-floating stars that had been set loose by the forces of the galaxy cluster––just so happened to be moving past the light coming from these stars. This phenomenon of smaller, moving objects causing a small gravitational lensing effect is known as microlensing.

When those stars pass in front of the image of this background Dragon Arc galaxy, they introduce an additional lensing effect and then magnify the galaxy even more and allow us to discern individual stars toward the edge of the disk of this galaxy.

This double lensing effect has been used before too.

It actually unlocks a whole new "line of investigation" for astrophysicists interested in looking back even further into the universe's history.

https://news.northeastern.edu/2025/01/08/gravitational-lensing-anci...

Can exercise really ease knee pain?

Movement is medicine, or so they tell people with knee osteoarthritis—but are they right?

A recent evidence review calls into question just how helpful exercise can be for easing the pain of knee arthritis.

"Exercise probably results in an improvement in pain, physical function, and quality of life in the short‐term," concluded the research team who tested this theory.

"However, based on the thresholds for minimal important differences that we used, these benefits were of uncertain clinical importance," the team added in its report published previously in the Cochrane Library.

The review casts a slight shadow on what has been considered an integral part of therapy for knee pain.

Movement is an essential part of an osteoarthritis treatment plan," the Arthritis Foundation says on its website, recommending that people take part in  strength training, stretching, aerobics, and balance exercises.

For the new review, the team evaluated data from 139 prior clinical trials involving nearly 12,500 participants that occurred up through early Jan. 2024.

On a 100-point scale, exercise for knee arthritis improved:

• Pain by 8.7 to 13.1 points
• Physical function by 9.7 to 12.5 points
• Quality of life by 4.2 to 6.1 points

But while those were significant improvements, they did not always meet established scores for making a minimal important difference in a patient's life, researchers noted.

part 1

For exercise to have a meaningful contribution, pain would need to improve by 12 points, physical function by 13 points, and quality of life by 15 points.

"The benefits were of uncertain clinical importance, meaning that they may not result in a change in symptoms that makes a noticeable difference to patients," the research team wrote.

The review team also noted that many of the studies in their review included small groups or were not well-designed.

"Many studies are of poor quality with small sample sizes," the researchers wrote. "Therefore, some studies may have made the benefits of exercise seem greater than they are."

What?!

Belinda J Lawford et al. Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2024). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004376.pub4

Part 2

Ocean temperatures hit record highs in 2024, study finds

A study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences has found that ocean warming in 2024 has led to new record high temperatures. The ocean is the hottest it has ever been recorded by humans, not only at the surface temperature but also for the upper 2000 meters.

A team of 54 scientists from seven countries had discussed in the paper how a hotter ocean affects our lives on land and what this means for our future.

The ocean is a critical part of the Earth's climate—most of the excess heat from global warming is stored in the ocean (90%) and the ocean covers 70% of the Earth's surface. Because of this, the ocean dictates our weather patterns by transferring heat and moisture into the atmosphere. The ocean also controls how fast climate change happens.

To know what is happening to the climate, the answer is in the ocean.

Results from three international teams who collaborated on this project were consistent—the ocean is warming, and 2024 was a record.

From 2023 to 2024, the global upper 2000 m ocean heat content increase is 16 zettajoules (10²¹ Joules), ~140 times the world's total electricity generation in 2023.

OHC has increased steadily by 15–20 ZJ over the past five years despite the La Niña and El Niño cycles.

The ocean surface temperature is also setting records. The surface temperature refers to temperatures just at the surface, where the ocean waters and atmosphere commute. Surface temperatures are important because they dictate how fast heat and moisture (humidity) can transfer from the ocean to the air and thus affect weather. The rise in surface temperatures since the late 1950s has been staggering.

The changes are not uniform; regional variations can be substantial. The Atlantic is warming along with the Mediterranean Sea, and across the mid-latitude Southern Ocean. While parts of the Northern Pacific Ocean have warmed very rapidly, other areas (the tropical region) have not, mostly due to the La Niña/El Niño cycle in that area. The heat has even accumulated near both the North and South Poles.

A warmer ocean affects marine life and results in huge damage in many ways. The main way the ocean continues to influence the climate is through accompanying increases in water vapor in the atmosphere that leads to the damaging increases in extremes in the hydrological cycle.

Water vapor is also a powerful greenhouse gas and increased heating leads to drying and risk of drought and wildfire. But it also fuels storms of all sorts and leads to risk of flooding. That includes hurricanes and typhoons.

The heat in the ocean is the best measurement for monitoring the changing climate. The ocean is our sentinel for planetary warming, acting as the major sink of surplus heat accumulating in the Earth's climate system as a result of anthropogenic emissions.

If there continues to be a failure to take action to slow climate change, the disruption, unprecedented change and its implications, costs and loss and damage will continue to increase, the scientists warn.

Sea Surface Temperatures and Deeper Water Temperatures Reached a New Record High in 2024, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s00376-025-4541-3

Earth breaks yearly heat record and lurches past dangerous warming threshold

Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, with such a big jump that the planet temporarily passed a major climate threshold, weather monitoring agencies announced this week. 

It's the first time in recorded history that the planet was above a hoped-for limit to warming for an entire year, according to measurements from four of the six teams. Scientists say if Earth stays above the threshold long-term, it will mean increased deaths, destruction, species loss and sea level rise from the extreme weather that accompanies warming.

And that would come on top of a year of deadly climate catastrophes— billions of -dollar disasters in 2024—and as 2025 begins with devastating wildfires raging across most parts of the developed world. 

Last year's global average temperature easily passed 2023's record heat and kept going. It surpassed the long-term warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit ) since the late 1800s that was called for by the 2015 Paris climate pact.

The primary reason for these record temperatures is the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from the burning of coal, oil and gas.

As greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, temperatures continue to increase, including in the ocean, sea levels continue to rise, and glaciers and ice sheets continue to melt.

And there's nothing to indicate that it won't continue unless the world realizes its mistakes.

By far the biggest contributor to record warming is the burning of fossil fuels, several scientists say. 

Climate-change-related alarm bells have been ringing almost constantly, which may be causing the public to become numb to the urgency, like police sirens in the cities. In the case of the climate, though, the alarms are getting louder, and the emergencies are now way beyond just temperature.

Source: News Agencies

Global temperatures passed critical 1.5°C milestone for the first time in 2024

The earth's climate experienced its hottest year in 2024. Extreme flooding in April killed hundreds of people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A year-long drought has left Amazon river levels at an all-time low. And in Athens, Greece, the ancient Acropolis was closed in the afternoons to protect tourists from dangerous heat.

A new report from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms that 2024 was the first year on record with a global average temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. All continents except Australasia and Antarctica experienced their hottest year on record, with 11 months of the year exceeding the 1.5°C level.

Global temperatures have been at record levels—and still rising—for several years now. The previous hottest year on record was 2023. All ten of the hottest years on record have fallen within the last decade. But this is the first time a calendar year has exceeded the 1.5°C threshold.

Study: 15.4% of 0- to 35-month-olds receive invalid vaccine dose

Overall, 15.4% of children aged 0 to 35 months receive an invalid vaccine dose, receiving a vaccine earlier or later than recommended, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in Pediatrics.

Researchers  analyzed provider-verified vaccination records from the 2011 to 2020 National Immunization Survey-Child to quantify the prevalence of invalid doses among  children aged 0 to 35 months.

Invalid doses are those provided outside the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for minimum and maximum ages of vaccination and minimum intervals between doses.

The researchers found that 22,209 of 161,187 children (weighted percent, 15.4%) had an invalid vaccine dose. Overall, 44.9% of children with a minimum age or minimum interval invalid dose received extra doses and completed the series. The highest prevalence of invalid doses was seen for the three-dose rotavirus (4.4%), with 3.1% having the first dose administered after the maximum age. From 2011 to 2020, there was a decrease seen in the percentage of children with an invalid dose (16.9 to 12.5%). The odds of an invalid dose were higher for children who moved across state lines versus those who did not (adjusted odds ratio, 1.5).

To reduce invalid vaccine administration overall, equity-based national and state investments in immunization information systems and clinical support tools that help providers make accurate recommendations are needed in all settings where children receive vaccinations," the authors write in their papers.

 Alexandria N. Albers et al, Invalid Vaccine Doses Among Children Aged 0 to 35 Months: 2011 to 2020, Pediatrics (2025). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-068341

David G Bundy, Vaccination Timing: Threading the Needle Between "Too Early" and "Too Late", Pediatrics (2025). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-068972

Microplastics Are Widespread in Popular Seafoods

In some parts of the world researchers have found particles from our waste and pollution swimming in the edible tissue of just about every fish and shellfish they collected.

Of the 182 individuals caught on the Oregon coast or sold in the state's markets, only two fish, a lingcod and a herring, had zero suspicious particles in their sampled slice of edible tissue.

The rest of the lot, including rockfish, lingcod, Chinook salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp, all contained 'anthropogenic particles', which included what are thought to be fibers of dyed cottons, cellulose from paper and cardboard, and microscopic pieces of plastic.

This has wide implications for other organisms, potentially including humans too.

Scientists have recently noticed that humans who eat more seafood tend to host more microplastics in their own bodies, especially those who consume bivalves like oysters or mussels.

How long those plastics stick around in the body and what they are doing to human health is unknown and demands urgent research.

The researchers are not arguing that people should stop eating seafood altogether, but it's important that consumers and scientists understand the level of exposure.

At this point, human-generated particles of paint, soot, and microplastics are so ubiquitous as to be inescapable. These pollutants now exist in the air, water, and in many meals other than seafood.

If we are disposing of and utilizing products that release microplastics, those microplastics make their way into the environment, and are taken up by things we eat.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/toxicology/articles/10.3389/ft...

Antarctic ice melt may fuel eruptions of hidden volcanoes

A slow climate feedback loop may be bubbling beneath Antarctica's vast ice sheet. The continent, divided east to west by the Transantarctic Mountains, includes volcanic giants such as Mount Erebus and its iconic lava lake. But at least 100 less conspicuous volcanoes dot Antarctica, with many clustered along its western coast. Some of those volcanoes peak above the surface, but others sit several kilometers beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Climate change is causing the ice sheet to melt, raising global sea levels. The melting is also removing the weight over the rocks below, with more local consequences. Ice sheet melt has been shown to increase volcanic activity in subglacial volcanoes elsewhere on the globe.

Researchers ran 4,000 computer simulations to study how ice sheet loss affects Antarctica's buried volcanoes, and they found that gradual melt could increase the number and size of subglacial eruptions. The findings are published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

The reason is that this unloading of ice sheets reduces pressure on magma chambers below the surface, causing the compressed magma to expand. This expansion increases pressure on magma chamber walls and can lead to eruptions.

Some magma chambers also hold copious amounts of volatile gases, which are normally dissolved into the magma. As the magma cools and when overburden pressure reduces, those gases rush out of solution like carbonation out of a newly opened bottle of soda, increasing the pressure in the magma chamber. This pressure means that melting ice can expedite the onset of an eruption from a subglacial volcano.

Eruptions of subglacial volcanoes may not be visible on the surface, but they can have consequences for the ice sheet. Heat from these eruptions can increase ice melting deep below the surface and weaken the overlying ice sheet—potentially leading to a feedback loop of reduced pressure from the surface and further volcanic eruptions.

The authors stress that this process is slow, taking place over hundreds of years. But that means the theorized feedback could continue even if the world curtails anthropogenic warming.

 A. N. Coonin et al, Magma Chamber Response to Ice Unloading: Applications to Volcanism in the West Antarctic Rift System, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2024GC011743

Increased AI use linked to eroding critical thinking skills

As it is most people don't think critically. Now the other small percentage of people who do are also under the danger of losing their skills if they use too much of AI. 

A new study has found that increased reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) tools is linked to diminished critical thinking abilities. It points to cognitive offloading as a primary driver of the decline.

AI's influence is growing fast. A quick search of AI-related science stories reveals how fundamental a tool it has become. Thousands of AI-assisted, AI-supported and AI-driven analyses and decision-making tools help scientists improve their research.

AI has also become more integrated into daily activities, from virtual assistants to complex information and decision support. Increased usage is beginning to influence how people think, especially impactful among younger people, who are avid users of the technology in their personal lives.

An attractive aspect of AI tools is cognitive offloading, where individuals rely on the tools to reduce mental effort. As the technology is both very new and rapidly being adopted in unforeseeable ways, questions arise about its potential long-term impacts on cognitive functions like memory, attention, and problem-solving under prolonged periods or volume of cognitive offloading taking place.

In the study "AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking," published in Societies, researchers investigate whether AI tool usage correlates with critical thinking scores and explores how cognitive offloading mediates this relationship.

Part 1

A mix of quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews was used with 666 participants in the United Kingdom. They were distributed across three age groups (17–25, 26–45, 46 and older) and had varying educational backgrounds.

Quantitative data collection involved a 23-item questionnaire measuring AI tool usage, cognitive offloading tendencies, and critical thinking skills, utilizing scales like the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA). ANOVA, correlation, multiple regression, and random forest regression analyses provided statistical insights. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 50 participants underwent thematic analysis for contextual depth.

Statistical analyses demonstrated a significant negative correlation between AI tool usage and critical thinking scores (r = -0.68, p < 0.001). Frequent AI users exhibited diminished ability to critically evaluate information and engage in reflective problem-solving.

Cognitive offloading was strongly correlated with AI tool usage (r = +0.72) and inversely related to critical thinking (r = -0.75). Mediation analysis revealed that cognitive offloading partially explains the negative relationship between AI reliance and critical thinking performance.

Younger participants (17–25) showed higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores compared to older age groups. Advanced educational attainment correlated positively with critical thinking skills, suggesting that education mitigates some cognitive impacts of AI reliance.

Random forest regression (R² = 0.37) and multiple regression analyses highlighted diminishing returns on critical thinking with increasing AI usage, emphasizing a threshold beyond which cognitive engagement significantly declines.

Three themes emerged from the qualitative interviews. Many participants acknowledged heavy reliance on AI for tasks like memory and decision-making, with younger users particularly affected. Respondents expressed concerns about losing critical thinking skills due to the habitual use of AI tools. Issues such as algorithmic bias and lack of transparency in AI recommendations were frequently mentioned.

The study's findings, if replicated, could have significant implications for educational policy and the integration of AI in professional settings. Schools and universities might want to emphasize critical thinking exercises and metacognitive skill development to counterbalance AI reliance and cognitive effects.

Developers of AI systems might consider cognitive implications, ensuring their tools encourage a level of engagement rather than passive reliance.

 Michael Gerlich, AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking, Societies (2025). DOI: 10.3390/soc15010006

Part 2

Vascular 'fingerprint' at the back of the eye can accurately predict stroke risk

A vascular 'fingerprint' on the light sensitive tissue layer at the back of the eye—the retina—can predict a person's risk of stroke as accurately as traditional risk factors alone, but without the need for multiple invasive lab tests, finds research published online in the journal Heart.

The fingerprint, comprising 29 indicators of vascular health, is a practical and readily implementable approach that is particularly well suited for primary health care and low-resource settings, conclude the researchers.

Stroke affects around 100 million people around the globe and kills 6.7 million of them every year, point out the researchers. Most cases are caused by modifiable risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor diet, and smoking.

The retina's intricate vascular network is known to share common anatomical and physiological features with the vasculature of the brain, making it an ideal candidate for assessing damage from systemic ill health, such as diabetes, explain the researchers.

Its potential for stroke risk prediction hasn't been fully explored, due to variable study findings and inconsistent use of the specialized imaging technique for the back of the eye—fundus photography—they add.

But machine learning (AI), such as the Retina-based Microvascular Health Assessment System (RMHAS), has opened up the possibilities for the identification of biological markers that can accurately predict stroke risk without the need for invasive lab tests, say the researchers.

To explore this further, they measured 30 indicators across five categories of retinal vascular architecture in fundus images from 68,753 UK Biobank study participants.

The five categories included caliber (length, diameter, ratio) density, twistedness, branching angle and complexity of the veins and arteries.

And they accounted for potentially influential risk factors: background demographic and socioeconomic factors; lifestyle; and health parameters, including blood pressure, cholesterol, HbA1c (blood glucose indicator), and weight (BMI).

The final analysis included 45,161 participants (average age 55). During an average monitoring period of 12.5 years, 749 participants had a stroke.

These people tended to be significantly older, male, current smokers, and to have diabetes. They also weighed more, had higher blood pressure, and lower levels of 'good' cholesterol, all of which are known risk factors for stroke.

In all, 118 retinal vascular measurable indicators were included, of which 29 were significantly associated with first time stroke risk after adjusting for traditional risk factors. Over half (17) were density indicators; eight fell into the complexity category; three were caliber indicators; and one came under the twistedness category.

Each change in density indicators was associated with an increased stroke risk of 10–19%, while similar changes in caliber indicators were associated with an increased risk of 10–14%.

Each decrease in the complexity and twistedness indicators was associated with an increased risk of 10.5-19.5%.

This retinal 'vascular fingerprint,' even when combined with just age and sex, was as good as the use of traditional risk factors alone for predicting future stroke risk, the findings showed.

Part 1

This is an observational study, and therefore no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. And the researchers acknowledge that the findings may not apply to diverse ethnicities as most of the UK Biobank's participants are white. Nor were they able to assess the risk associated with different types of stroke.
Nevertheless, they conclude, "Given that age and sex are readily available, and retinal parameters can be obtained through routine fundus photography, this model presents a practical and easily implementable approach for incident stroke risk assessment, particularly for primary health care and low-resource settings."

Retinal vascular fingerprints predict incident stroke: findings from the UK Biobank cohort study, Heart (2025). DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2024-324705

Part 2

Microscopic robots that swim towards chemical signals offer precise drug delivery solutions

Imagine microscopic robots that can navigate the body, delivering medicine precisely to damaged tissues while avoiding side effects. Researchers have discovered a new breakthrough that brings this vision closer to reality.

The research, published in the journal Soft Matter, demonstrates how specially designed microscopic robots, known as Janus particles, can detect and navigate towards chemical signals, much like bacteria-sensing food.

When placed near a chemical-releasing patch, the particles can automatically "swim" toward it and maintain a stable hovering position directly above it. Drug-carrying particles could automatically locate and hover over infected or damaged tissue that releases specific chemical signals, delivering medication precisely where needed.

Elongated particles, shaped like microscopic rods, proved more effective at maintaining their position compared to spherical ones, which tended to drift away over time.

This research brings us closer to having 'smart' microscopic devices that can deliver medicine exactly where it's needed in the body, much like having a tiny, precise delivery service at the cellular level. Instead of flooding the whole body with medication, which can cause side effects, these microscopic robots could 'swim' directly to the problem area—whether it's an infection, tumor or injury—and deliver treatment right at that spot.

Viviana Mancuso et al, Chemotactic behavior for a self-phoretic Janus particle near a patch source of fuel, Soft Matter (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D4SM00733F

Your gut bacteria are in a chemical tug-of-war with your body

Our gut is a bustling hub of activity, home to trillions of microbes that work together with our bodies to keep us healthy. A recent study explores one fascinating aspect of this partnership: how gut bacteria team up with the host body to regulate bile acids, essential molecules that control digestion, cholesterol levels, and fat metabolism.

Bile acids are produced in the liver and help digest fats. 

But it now has become clear that they're more than just digestive aids; they act as signaling molecules, regulating cholesterol levels, fat metabolism, and more. They do all this by binding to a receptor called FXR, which acts like a traffic light, controlling cholesterol metabolism and bile acid production to avoid excess buildup.

Here's where the microbes come in: gut bacteria can modify bile acids to completely change their activity. Bacteria can turn bile acids into forms that strongly activate FXR, signaling the body to slow down bile production and modify other aspects of fat metabolism. Scientists have long wondered how the body counteracts this microbial chokehold on metabolism.

In the study, researchers identified a clever trick the body uses to keep the microbial influence in check (the study used mice as a model). They found that in the intestines, the body further modifies the microbial bile acids into a new family of derivatives, called BA-MCYs, using an enzyme named VNN1. Unlike the forms made by gut bacteria, these BA-MCYs act as FXR antagonists—essentially flipping the "off switch" on FXR. This encourages bile production rather than limiting it.

This balancing act is crucial. When gut bacteria produce lots of bile acids that strongly activate FXR, the body pushes back by making BA-MCYs, ensuring the bile acid system stays finely tuned. This interplay highlights how gut microbes interact with the host body in a dynamic, give-and-take relationship. Importantly, BA-MCYs were also detected in human blood samples, indicating that the same mechanism also operates in people.

Part 1

The findings have exciting implications for health and disease. The researchers discovered that boosting BA-MCY levels in mice helped reduce fat accumulation in the liver, suggesting a potential treatment for conditions like fatty liver disease or high cholesterol. Moreover, dietary interventions such as increasing fiber intake enhanced BA-MCY production, hinting at the role of diet in managing this system.
This study reveals there is a dialogue occurring between the gut microbes and the body that is vital for regulating bile acid production.

Tae Hyung Won et al, Host metabolism balances microbial regulation of bile acid signalling, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08379-9

Part 2

Beach guardians: How hidden microbes protect coastal waters in a changing climate

A hidden world teeming with life lies below beach sands. New research sheds light on how microbial communities in coastal groundwater respond to infiltrating seawater.

The study, published in Environmental Microbiology, reveals the diversity of microbial life inhabiting these critical ecosystems and what might happen if they are inundated by rising seas.

Beaches can act as a filter between land and sea, processing groundwater and associated chemicals before they reach the ocean. Understanding how these ecosystems function is key to safeguarding their services in the face of sea level rise.

Microbial communities living in groundwater within beach sand play a crucial role in maintaining coastal water quality. These microbes help break down chemicals, including excess nutrients like nitrogen, which can come from natural sources, such as decomposing plant matter, or human sources, like agricultural runoff and wastewater.

The researchers found that the microbial communities remained relatively stable over changing tidal conditions and seasons. However, a wave overtopping event—when seawater surged into the aquifer due to high-energy waves—caused significant changes in the microbial makeup. Such disturbances are expected to become more frequent with rising sea levels and storm surges, making it harder for the microbes to do their water purification work.

These microbes live in complex communities, many with specialized roles that include processing nutrients and even producing or consuming greenhouse gases.

The microbial community's resilience under typical conditions is encouraging, but disturbances like wave overtopping highlight their vulnerability to climate change.

The study's findings establish a critical baseline for understanding how subterranean estuaries function and respond to environmental changes. As sea levels rise, beach sands will be forced inland or erode, altering groundwater hydrology, chemistry, and microbial composition.

The research adds a crucial piece to the puzzle of coastal resilience. By highlighting the interplay between microbial dynamics and physical processes like wave action, the study brings into question impending changes to coastal groundwater. Policymakers and coastal planners should consider the role of these hidden ecosystems when designing strategies to manage sea level rise, according to the researchers.

We rely on these microbial communities for essential biogeochemical cycling at the land-sea interface. If their capacity diminishes due to climate impacts, we could see cascading effects on coastal water quality and marine life.

 Jessica A. Bullington et al, Microbial Community of a Sandy Beach Subterranean Estuary is Spatially Heterogeneous and Impacted by Winter Waves, Environmental Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.70009

Solar panels should not be cleaned with dishwashing detergent

A study conducted at the University of Turku, Finland, investigated how household cleaning products affect the ability of solar panel glass to transmit light. The results of the study were presented at the 41st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition and in the conference proceedings.

For solar panels to work optimally, it is essential that they can absorb as much of the incoming solar radiation as possible. Soiling and, on the other hand, damage to the solar panel glass will reduce the panel's ability to absorb radiation.

A research team at the University of Turku in Finland investigated the best way to clean solar panels so that solar radiation would penetrate the panels as well as possible.

Most cleaning agents, such as glass cleaner and isopropanol, proved suitable for cleaning the studied solar panel glass.

The exception was dishwashing detergent and the results suggest that it should not be used when cleaning solar panels. Even dirty glass transmitted more light than glass cleaned with dishwashing detergent.

Solar cell surfaces are usually made of glass, but typically have an anti-reflection coating and it is important to avoid damaging it. 

The study found that the optical properties of the studied anti-reflective coating on solar panel glass did not deteriorate as a result of chemical cleaning—except when dishwashing detergent was used.

It is unlikely that dishwashing detergent damages the glass. However, rinsing does not seem to be sufficient, as the transmittance of the solar panel glass cleaned with detergent did not return to the pre-cleaning level after the rinsing.

Part 1

Even though the glass looks clean when cleaned with detergent, its ability to transmit light is significantly impaired. Therefore, a clean-looking end result does not guarantee optimal performance.
The study provides information on solar panel maintenance for users of solar power.

 Aapo Poskela et al, Impact of Textured Surfaces and Cleaning on Solar Panel Glass Transmittance, (2024). DOI: 10.4229/eupvsec2024/3av.1.17

Part 2

Dopamine acts on motivation and reinforcement learning via distinct cellular processes

Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter known to modulate motivation and reinforcement learning. While the role of dopamine in these reward-related processes is well-established, the cellular and neural circuit-level mechanisms underpinning its involvement in these processes is not yet fully understood.

So researchers  carried out a study investigating the cellular processes via which dopamine supports motivation and the reinforcement of specific behaviours.

Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggest that different aspects of reward-related behaviour are supported by two distinct dopamine receptors, namely D3 and D1.

The previous literature clearly showed that dopamine is important for motivation and reinforcement. 

This is an important topic since deficits in motivation or excessive motivation are cardinal symptoms in many mental disorders. The nucleus accumbens, a brain region where dopamine is thought to exert its effects, is uniquely enriched with a molecule that recognizes dopamine, the D3 receptor.

As an initial step in addressing the role of D3,the researchers developed a new mouse strain that enables cell-type-selective deletion of D3 receptors, including in the nucleus accumbens.

The results show that specifically, D3 receptors were found to regulate motivation, while D1 receptors appeared to regulate reinforcement.

These  findings provide the first evidence that dopamine exerts its actions on motivation and reinforcement through separable cellular processes in neurons that are part of the brain's reward circuitry.

There are important implications because medications that act on D3 receptors are used for the treatment of mood disorders.

Juan Enriquez-Traba et al, Dissociable control of motivation and reinforcement by distinct ventral striatal dopamine receptors, Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01819-9

Nicolas X. Tritsch, Motivating interest in D3 dopamine receptors, Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01820-2

Archaeologists reveal 8,000-year-old bone powder cooking practice in ancient China

A new study by archaeologists published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, provides insights into some of the earliest forms of humans processing bones into powder for cooking, dating back nearly 8,000 years (6,085 and 6,369 BC).

The finding was made at the Xielaozhuang (XLZ) site in the Henan province of North China. The site belonged to the Peiligang culture (ca. 9,000–7,000 BP), which was one of North China's most significant Neolithic cultures. It was known for being among the earliest producers of fermented beverages, creators of the oldest tonal flutes, basic textile weavers and sewers, and possibly one of the earliest users of the Chinese script.

Using a multidisciplinary approach that combined Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and starch analysis, the researchers were able to analyze the chemical, mineral, and microscopic composition of the crust-residue.

More specifically, the research team found certain compounds and minerals, including hydroxyapatite, magnesium whitlockite, phosphate (PO₄^3-), and carbonate (CO₃^2-) groups, as well as key elements, including carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium, all of which are typical components found in bone.

They concluded that bone powder was likely ground up and cooked together with various wild plants, including acorns and Job's tears.

This was particularly interesting because, despite agriculture having been developed in China around 10,000 years ago, the Peiligang culture made limited use of cultivated crops and animals, including foxtail millet, common millet, rice, and pigs. In fact, no domesticated crops were found in the crust-residue at XLZ, and from previous zooarchaeological analyses, it was known that domesticated animals, such as pigs, only made up around 10% of all remains.

The researchers speculate that bone powder processing at XLZ represented an important survival strategy during the transition from hunting-gathering to farming. It has long been hypothesized that various Paleolithic societies used bone grease extraction methods to extract extra fat (grease) and nutrients from otherwise inedible resources.

This research contributes to a growing body of evidence showing how early Neolithic societies developed sophisticated subsistence strategies during the transition from hunter-gatherer to farm-based societies.

 Xingtao Wei et al, Bone Powder and Wild Plants: Subsistence Strategies of Early Neolithic Settlers in North China, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/oa.3376

Octopus arms have segmented nervous systems to power extraordinary movements

Octopus arms move with incredible dexterity, bending, twisting, and curling with nearly infinite degrees of freedom. New research revealed that the nervous system circuitry that controls arm movement in octopuses is segmented, giving these extraordinary creatures precise control across all eight arms and hundreds of suckers to explore their environment, grasp objects, and capture prey.

Octopus arms move with incredible dexterity, bending, twisting, and curling with nearly infinite degrees of freedom. Credit: Cassady Olson

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Using cellular markers and imaging tools to trace the structure and connections from the ANC, the researchers  saw that neuronal cell bodies were packed into columns that formed segments, like a corrugated pipe. These segments are separated by gaps called septa, where nerves and blood vessels exit to nearby muscles. Nerves from multiple segments connect to different regions of muscles, suggesting the segments work together to control movement.

The best way to set up a control system for this very long, flexible arm would be to divide it into segments.

Part 1

Nerves for the suckers also exited from the ANC through these septa, systematically connecting to the outer edge of each sucker. This indicates that the nervous system sets up a spatial, or topographical, map of each sucker.

Octopuses can move and change the shape of their suckers independently. The suckers are also packed with sensory receptors that allow the octopus to taste and smell things that they touch—like combining a hand with a tongue and a nose. The researchers think the "suckeroptopy," as they called the map, facilitates this complex sensory-motor ability.

 Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55475-5

Part 2

Marine animals consume microplastic particles and excrete them in feces, posing risks to marine environment

A new  study has uncovered alarming findings about the spread of microplastic particles in the marine food web. In recent years, numerous studies have examined the dangers of marine animals and more specifically, filter-feeding organisms, ingesting non-degradable microplastic particles.

In the current study, the research team sought to understand how the biological filtration by filter-feeding organisms affects the microplastics in their environment. The findings indicate that the particles are excreted in the feces of marine animals, causing them to be unidentifiable as plastic to the marine environment, but potentially as other organic matter suitable for consumption.

Additionally, the presence of microplastic within feces affects feces dispersal, which causes the accumulation of feces and plastic particles. This may increase carbon and nitrogen levels on the seafloor and lead to algal blooms, which have a critical impact on the balance of the marine food web.

Eden Harel et al, Effects of biological filtration by ascidians on microplastic composition in the water column, Chemosphere (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143589

AI-designed proteins neutralize toxins found in snake venom

A study by this year's Nobel Laureate in Chemistry reveals a possible game-changer in snakebite treatment. Researchers have created new proteins that neutralize lethal toxins found in snake venom, potentially offering a safer and more effective alternative to traditional antivenoms.

According to the WHO, venomous snakebites affect between 1.8 and 2.7 million people each year, leading to roughly 100,000 annual deaths and three times as many permanent disabilities, including lost limbs. Most injuries happen in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where weak health systems aggravate the issue.

Currently, the only antivenoms used to treat snakebite victims are derived from animal plasma and often come with high costs, limited efficacy, and adverse side effects. Venoms also differ widely across snake species, necessitating custom treatments in different parts of the world.

In recent years, however, scientists have gained a deeper understanding of snake toxins and developed new ways to combat their effects. One such development was published on 15 January in Nature.

A team led by 2024 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry David Baker from the University of Washington School of Medicine and Timothy Patrick Jenkins from DTU (the Technical University of Denmark) used deep learning tools to design new proteins that bind to and neutralize toxins from deadly cobras.

The study focuses on an important class of snake proteins called three-finger toxins, which are often the reason antivenoms based on immunized animals fail. While not yet protecting against full snake venom—which is a complex mixture of different toxins unique to each snake species—the AI-generated molecules provide full protection from lethal doses of three-finger toxins in mice: 80–100% survival rate, depending on the exact dose, toxin and designed protein.

These toxins tend to evade the immune system, rendering plasma-derived treatments ineffective. This research thus demonstrates that AI-accelerated protein design can be used to neutralize harmful proteins that have otherwise proven difficult to combat.

David Baker, De novo designed proteins neutralize lethal snake venom toxins, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08393-x. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08393-x

Mosquitoes defy droughts by drinking blood, ensuring survival and disease spread

Mosquitoes are able to survive prolonged droughts by drinking blood, which helps to explain how their populations quickly rebound when it finally rains, biologists found. 

A study examined how two species of mosquito known for infecting people with diseases such as malaria were able to survive nearly three weeks without rain.

The findings could help explain why the incidence of infection from mosquito-borne illness does not always decline during droughts. While there may be fewer mosquitoes, those that survive bite more often.

And mosquitoes appear to be benefiting from climate change as winters get warmer by biting people more!

 Christopher J. Holmes et al, Multiple blood feeding bouts in mosquitoes allow for prolonged survival and are predicted to increase viral transmission during dry periods, iScience (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.111760

India achieves 'historic' space docking mission

India docked two satellites in space Thursday, a key milestone for the country's dreams of a space station and a manned moon mission, the space agency said.

The satellites, weighing 220 kilograms (485 pounds) each, blasted off in December on a single rocket from India's Sriharikota launch site. Later they separated.

The two satellites were maneuvered back together on Thursday in a "precision" process resulting in a "successful spacecraft capture", the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, calling it a "historic moment".

India became the fourth country to achieve the feat—dubbed as SpaDeX, or Space Docking Experiment—after Russia, the United States and China.

The aim of the mission was to "develop and demonstrate the technology needed for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of two small spacecraft", ISRO said.

ISRO said the technology is "essential" for India's moon mission.

Source: ISRO

Damage to RNA, not DNA, found to be main cause of acute sunburn

We have all been told to avoid direct sunlight between 12 noon and 3 p.m., seek out shade and put on sunscreen and a hat. Nevertheless, most of us have experienced sunburn at least once. The skin turns bright red, feels irritated and needs cooling.

You may also have been told that sunburn damages the DNA. But that is not the full truth, according to researchers responsible for a new study conducted . The findings are published in the journal Molecular Cell.

Sunburn damages the DNA, leading to cell death and inflammation. So the textbooks say. But in this study researchers were surprised to learn that this is a result of damage to the RNA, not the DNA that causes the acute effects of sunburn!

RNA is similar to DNA, but whereas DNA is long lived, RNA is a more transient molecule. A type of RNA, known as messenger RNA (mRNA), functions as the intermediate 'messenger' that carries information from DNA to make proteins—the basic building blocks of cellular components.

DNA damage is serious as the mutations will get passed down to progenies of the cells, RNA damage happens all the time and does not cause permanent mutations. Therefore, we used to think that the RNA is less important, as long as the DNA is intact. But in fact, damages to the RNA are the first to trigger a response to UV radiation.

The new study was conducted on mice as well as human skin cells, and the objective was to describe the impact of UV radiation on the skin and what causes these damages. The researchers found the same skin response to UV radiation exists in both mice and human cells.

mRNA damage triggers a response in ribosomes (protein complexes that "read" the mRNA to synthesize protein), orchestrated by a protein known as ZAK-alpha—the so-called ribotoxic stress response—the new study shows. The response can be described as a surveillance system within the cells, which registers the RNA damage, leading to inflammatory signaling and recruitment of immune cells, which then leads to inflammation of the skin.

Researchers  found that the first thing the cells respond to after being exposed to UV radiation is damage to the RNA, and that this is what triggers cell death and inflammation of the skin. In mice exposed to UV radiation they found responses such as inflammation and cell death, but when they removed the ZAK gene, these responses disappeared, which means that ZAK plays a key role in the skin's response to UV-induced damage.

So you could say that everything depends on this one response, which monitors all protein translations occurring. The cells respond to the RNA damage, realizing that something is wrong, and this is what leads to cell death.

Part 1

The result of the study changes our understanding of sunburn and the skin's defense mechanisms: that RNA damage triggers a faster and more effective response, protecting the skin from further damage.
The fact that the DNA does not control the skin's initial response to UV radiation, but that something else does and that it does so more effectively and more quickly, is quite the paradigm shift.
We need to understand the function of RNA damage, as it may in the long term change our entire approach to prevention and treatment of sunburn."

"Many inflammatory skin diseases are worsened by sun exposure. Thus, understanding how our skin responds at the cellular level to UV damage opens the door to innovative treatments for certain chronic skin conditions.

Now rewrite the text books!

Anna Constance Vind et al, The ribotoxic stress response drives acute inflammation, cell death, and epidermal thickening in UV-irradiated skin in vivo, Molecular Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.10.044

Part 2

Wildfires ignite infection risks by weakening the body's immune defenses and spreading bugs in smoke

We know fire can harm directly, causing injuries and death.

But wildfires, or bushfires, can also have indirect consequences for human health. In particular, they can promote the incidence and spread of a range of infections.

Most people appreciate that fires can cause burns and smoke inhalation, both of which can be life-threatening in their own right. What's perhaps less well known is that both burns and smoke inhalation can cause acute and chronic changes in the immune system. This can leave those affected vulnerable to infections at the time of the injury, and for years to come.

Burns induce profound changes in the immune system. Some parts go into overdrive, becoming too reactive and leading to hyper-inflammation. In the immediate aftermath of serious burns, this can contribute to sepsis and organ failure.

Finding Clues to Oxygen Production on Early Earth

Possible link between Earth’s rotation rate and oxygenation

Earth's Rotation Is Slowing Down, And Could Explain Why We Have Oxygen

Ever since its formation around 4.5 billion years ago, Earth's rotation has been gradually slowing down, and its days have gotten progressively longer as a result.

While Earth's slowdown is not noticeable on human timescales, it's enough to work significant changes over eons. One of those changes is perhaps the most significant of all, at least to us: lengthening days are linked to the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere, according to a study from 2021.

Specifically, the blue-green algae (or cyanobacteria) that emerged and proliferated about 2.4 billion years ago would have been able to produce more oxygen as a metabolic by-product because Earth's days grew longer.

There are two major components to this story that, at first glance, don't seem to have a lot to do with each other. The first is that Earth's spin is slowing down. The reason Earth's spin is slowing down is because the Moon exerts a gravitational pull on the planet, which causes a rotational deceleration since the Moon is gradually pulling away. We know, based on the fossil record, that days were just 18 hours long 1.4 billion years ago, and half an hour shorter than they are today 70 million years ago. Evidence suggests that we're gaining 1.8 milliseconds a century.

The second component is something known as the Great Oxidation Event – when cyanobacteria emerged in such great quantities that Earth's atmosphere experienced a sharp, significant rise in oxygen. Without this oxidation, scientists think life as we know it could not have emerged; so, although cyanobacteria may cop a bit of side-eye today, the fact is we probably wouldn't be here without them.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00784-3

A chain reaction: HIV vaccines can lead to antibodies against antibodies

Many vaccines work by introducing a protein to the body that resembles part of a virus. Ideally, the immune system will produce long-lasting antibodies recognizing that specific virus, thereby providing protection.

But scientists have now discovered that for some HIV vaccines, something else happens: after a few immunizations the immune system begins to produce antibodies against immune complexes already bound to the viral protein alone.

They don't yet know whether this chain reaction, described in Science Immunology, hurts or helps the immune system's ability to fight HIV, but say that understanding it better could lead to improvements in HIV vaccines. The research was published in the journal on January 17, 2025.

Understanding these responses could lead to smarter vaccine designs and immunotherapeutics. It's an exciting step forward in fine-tuning antibody and vaccine-based strategies against HIV and other diseases.

Sharidan Brown et al, Anti-Immune Complex Antibodies are Elicited During Repeated Immunization with HIV Env Immunogens, Science Immunology (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adp5218. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.adp5218

Study provides insight into how some species thrive in dark, oxygen-free environments

Most life on Earth relies on the sun's energy for survival, but what about organisms in the deep sea that live beyond the reach of its rays? A new study led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), published in The ISME Journal, sheds light on how a species of foraminifera, single-celled organisms found in almost all marine habitats, thrives in a dark, oxygen-free environment.

For this foraminifera species, the answer is chemoautotrophy, a metabolic process that utilizes inorganic energy sources, perhaps sulfide, to take up carbon, enabling it to survive in oxygen-free environments. Chemoautotrophy has been observed within Bacteria and Archaea, which are microbial organisms without a true nucleus. However, foraminifera are eukaryotes, meaning they have a well-defined nucleus, which houses an organism's genetic material.

 Fatma Gomaa et al, Array of metabolic pathways in a kleptoplastidic foraminiferan protist supports chemoautotrophy in dark, euxinic seafloor sediments, The ISME Journal (2024). DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrae248

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Brains of people with sickle cell disease appear older, study finds

Individuals with sickle cell disease—a chronic illness where misshapen, sticky blood cells clump together, reducing oxygen delivery to organs—are at a higher risk for stroke and resulting cognitive disability. But even in the absence of stroke, many such patients struggle with remembering, focusing, learning and problem solving, among other cognitive problems, with many facing challenges in school and in the workplace.

Now a multidisciplinary team of researchers and physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has published a study that helps explain how the illness might affect cognitive performance in sickle cell patients without a history of stroke.

The researchers found such participants had brains that appeared older than expected for their age. Individuals experiencing economic deprivation, who struggle to meet basic needs, even in the absence of sickle cell disease, had more-aged-appearing brains, the team also found.

The study was published January 17 in JAMA Network Open.

Brain age modelling and cognitive outcomes in young adults with and without sickle cell anemia., JAMA Network Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.53669

Neuroimaging reveals 94% of gray matter in brains of mothers undergoes changes during pregnancy

A study led by the UAB has analyzed the brains of women during pregnancy for the first time using neuroimaging techniques. The study included non-pregnant mothers, whose partners were pregnant, to distinguish biological effects from those caused by the experience of being a mother. The research shows that there is a reduction and partial recovery of almost 5% of gray matter in 94% of the total gray matter volume of the brain, especially in regions linked to social cognition.

The researchers have published the first longitudinal neuroimaging (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) study in a cohort of more than a hundred women seeking to become mothers for the first time.

In total, the researchers have analyzed the brain of 179 women to study the structural changes that occur during the second and third trimester of pregnancy and the first six months postpartum, using a scan taken before conception as a baseline. For the first time, this cohort includes a group of non-gestational mothers as a control group: women whose partners underwent pregnancy during the study. The inclusion of this group of women made it possible to determine that the trajectory of brain changes is mainly attributed to the biological process of pregnancy, rather than to the experience of becoming a mother.

The findings reveal a dynamic trajectory in the brain during pregnancy and postpartum, significantly linked to the steroid hormone fluctuations inherent to pregnancy, and to the psychological well-being of the mothers.

This work has revealed that, during the first pregnancy, gray matter volume in the brain is reduced by up to 4.9%, with a partial recovery during the postpartum period. These changes are observed in 94% of the brain, being particularly prominent in regions linked to social cognition.

The study also demonstrates, for the first time, that the evolution of these morphological changes in the brain is associated with fluctuations in two estrogens (estriol-3-sulfate and estrone-sulfate), hormones that increase exponentially during pregnancy and return to basal levels after delivery. Specifically, the researchers observed that a greater increase and subsequent decrease in estrogen levels is associated with a greater decrease and subsequent recovery of brain gray matter volume.

Finally, in analyzing the possible influence of brain changes on maternal behaviour, this study discovered that women with a higher percentage of grey  matter volume recovery during postpartum reported a greater bond with their infant at 6 months postpartum, and that maternal well-being is a key factor that positively enhances the association between brain changes and maternal-filial bonding.

This study, which comprehensively characterizes normative brain changes during pregnancy and postpartum, stands out for both its sample size and rigorous methodological control, including carefully selected groups that allowed the distinguishing of pregnancy-specific changes from those linked to the experience of motherhood.

The data obtained not only establishes a key reference for understanding the neurobiology of the maternal brain, but also serves as a basis for future studies analyzing other neuroimaging modalities and more diverse samples, including women with clinical conditions such as postpartum depression , allowing progress towards a more complete and applied understanding of the brain in this vital period.

Camila Servin-Barthet et al, Pregnancy entails a U-shaped trajectory in human brain structure linked to hormones and maternal attachment, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-55830-0

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Sepsis molecule discovery could lead to improved treatments for critically ill patients

Researchers have uncovered how a molecule found on certain bacteria may drive blood clotting in sepsis, a life-threatening condition that causes about 8 million deaths per year.

The team in the cardiovascular engineering lab at OHSU has focused on the role of specific blood clotting mechanisms in sepsis, with hopes of improving treatments for critically ill patients.

 The immune system's response to bacteria can spiral out of control sometimes.

Your blood normally forms tiny clots to contain certain bacteria to clear them from the bloodstream. But if there are too many bacteria, the system gets overwhelmed, using up all the platelets and clotting factors. The result is catastrophic—you can't stop clotting or bleeding.

The team's newest study, published in this month's issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, focused on lipopolysaccharide, or LPS, a molecule found on the surface of certain bacteria like E. coli. The researchers found that LPS can directly activate proteins in the blood that trigger clotting, which can block blood flow and damage vital organs.

This process, known as the "contact pathway," involves a chain reaction where proteins in the blood work together to form clots. The researchers showed that one specific type of LPS, called O26:B6, is particularly good at setting off this reaction, making it more likely to cause clotting problems.

Sepsis is a dangerous condition where the body's response to an infection spirals out of control, leading to widespread inflammation, organ failure and problems like excessive blood clotting. Gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli, are common culprits in sepsis because they release LPS when they invade the bloodstream.

Part 1

Sepsis can be incredibly challenging to treat in such cases. The systems that control blood clotting and bleeding become dangerously unbalanced.

The study, conducted in nonhuman primates, found that when bacteria containing LPS entered the bloodstream, it quickly activated the clotting system. This included coagulating proteins like factor XII, which seems to initiate the clotting process, causing a chain reaction.

Even when we know the bacteria causing the infection, different strains can behave differently. By understanding this,  scientists hope to develop precision therapies.

André L. Lira et al, The physicochemical properties of lipopolysaccharide chemotypes regulate activation of the contact pathway of blood coagulation, Journal of Biological Chemistry (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.108110

Part 2

AI to stop stampedes at world's biggest gathering -Kumbhmela

Science assisting spirituality

Keen to improve India's abysmal crowd management record at large-scale religious events, organizers of the world's largest human gathering are using artificial intelligence to try to prevent stampedes.

Organizers predict up to 400 million pilgrims will visit the Kumbh Mela, a millennia-old sacred show of Hindu piety and ritual bathing that began Monday and runs for six weeks.

Deadly crowd crushes are a notorious feature of Indian religious festivals, and the Kumbh Mela, with its unfathomable throngs of devotees, has a grim track record of stampedes.

More than 400 people died after being trampled or drowned at the Kumbh Mela on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally. Another 36 people were crushed to death in 2013, the last time the festival was staged in the northern city of Prayagraj.

So AI is helping the police avoid reaching that critical mass in sensitive places.

This time, authorities say the technology they have deployed will help them gather accurate estimates of crowd sizes, allowing them to be better prepared for potential trouble. Police say they have installed around 300 cameras at the festival site and on roads leading to the sprawling encampment, mounted on poles and a fleet of overhead drones. Not far from the spiritual center of the festival at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, the network is overseen in a glass-paneled command and control room by a small army of police officers and technicians.

The footage fed into an AI algorithm that gives its handlers an overall estimate of a crowd stretching for miles in every direction, cross-checked against data from railways and bus operators.

They are using AI to track people flow, crowd density at various inlets, adding them up and then interpolating from there. The system sounds the alarm if sections of the crowd get so concentrated that they pose a safety threat.

Organizers say the scale of this year's festival is that of a temporary country -- with numbers expected to total around the combined populations of the United States and Canada.

Organizers have been eager to tout the technological advancements of this year's edition of the Kumbh Mela and their attendant benefits for pilgrims. Even the Pilgrims think  that the fact that there are cameras and drones makes them feel safe!

Yes, science and tech makes people feel safe!

Source: News agencies

Extinction threatens nearly a quarter of all freshwater species

Freshwater ecosystems cover less than 1% of Earth's surface, but are vital for life on this planet. New research reveals that damage to these environments is pushing freshwater animals to the edge of extinction, with 24% of species in danger of being wiped out.

Thousands of fish, crab and dragonfly species could become extinct in the coming decades—and many more could follow.

A landmark assessment of the health of nearly 24,000 fresh water species found that just under a quarter are at risk of extinction. Of these, almost 1,000 species are considered Critically Endangered, with 200 having potentially been lost already.

These numbers may only represent the tip of the iceberg, with scientists lacking the information needed to properly understand the extinction risk of thousands of species. The authors of the study, says that urgent action is needed to understand and protect these animals.

"Lack of data on freshwater biodiversity can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction," they say. "Freshwater landscapes are home to 10% of all known species on Earth and key for billions of people's safe drinking water, livelihoods, flood control and climate change mitigation, and must be protected for nature and people alike."

While fresh, clean water is vital for all life on land, freshwater ecosystems are some of the most threatened on Earth. Freshwater environments are being put under pressure as demand for food, water and resources increases.

Wetlands in particular, including bogs, mangroves and saltmarshes, are bearing the brunt of these losses. It's estimated that an area the size of India—a staggering 3.4 million square kilometers—of wetland has been lost since 1700.

The loss of wetlands harms far more than just the animals and plants that live there, as it also limits our ability to fight climate change and stop flooding.

Freshwater sources are also suffering from a cocktail of different challenges. An increase in water abstraction and dams on rivers are reducing the available habitat for wildlife. Some rivers, like the Colorado River, no longer even reach the sea.

The animals that persist in these reduced habitats are then impacted by sewage, industrial and plastic pollution. Yet, despite the rising risk to these species, freshwater environments are significantly understudied compared to the oceans.

While around 10% of all species depend on freshwater, the study was particularly concerned with four groups that are intimately linked to it—the decapods, odonates, mollusks and fishes.

Catherine A. Sayer et al, One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08375-z

In times of uncertainty, the brain takes the easy route by following the crowd

In uncertain situations where information is lacking, individuals often find themselves imitating the choices of others. 

This behaviour highlights a tendency to conform to others when faced with ambiguity. Computational neuroscience research has shown that the decision to follow others unconditionally serves as an alternative strategy that activates certain brain processes in uncertain environments.

Researchers investigated how the decisions of others influence individual decision-making in uncertain contexts.

Decision-making in social situations typically involves a value judgment process that integrates both personal preferences and the choices of others. This study uncovers the strategies the brain employs when access to individual preferences is compromised.

According to the research findings, now published in PLOS Computational Biology, the brain employs a "heuristic" strategy that reflects social information from the choices of others during decision-making. When value judgments based on individual preferences are not possible, individuals tend to take the shortcut of imitating the decisions made by others.

The research team arrived at these conclusions through experiments conducted on participants with partial damage to the brain's insula or dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), regions known to play critical roles in processing uncertain information.

The research team noted that the implications of these findings could extend to adolescents, whose individual preferences may be in flux. Both situations of uncertainty and the lack of established personal preferences render value judgments based on individual preferences challenging.

This study sheds light on why individuals with unclear personal preferences may be particularly sensitive to the opinions of those around them. Therefore, the importance of creating a supportive environment and implementing educational approaches to help establish individual preferences as a means of addressing social issues such as addiction.

Mark A. Orloff et al, Social conformity is a heuristic when individual risky decision-making is disrupted, PLOS Computational Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012602

Neuronal subtypes study uncovers parallel gut-to-brain pathways that regulate feeding behaviours

The ability to regulate one's own food intake is essential to the survival of both humans and other animals. This innate ability ensures that the body receives the nutrients it needs to perform daily activities, without significantly exceeding calorie intake, which could lead to health problems and metabolic disorders.

Past neuroscience studies suggest that the regulation of food intake is supported by specific regions in the brain, including the hypothalamus and caudal nucleus of the solitary tract (cNTS), which is part of the brainstem. This key region in the brainstem is known to integrate sensory signals originating from the gut and then transform them into adaptive feeding behaviours.

While previous research has highlighted the key role of the cNTS in food intake regulation, the unique contribution of the different neuron subtypes within this brainstem region and the mechanisms by which they regulate feeding remain poorly understood. Better understanding these neuron-specific mechanisms could help to devise more effective therapeutic interventions for obesity and eating disorders.

Researchers recently carried out a study aimed at identifying neuronal subtypes in the mouse cNTS that are involved in how mice control their feeding behaviors. Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, show that different types of cNTS neurons process gut-originating signals via distinct sensory pathways, collectively contributing to the regulation of feeding.

The cNTS in the brainstem serves as a hub for integrating interoceptive cues from diverse sensory pathways. Understanding  the mechanisms by which cNTS neurons transform these signals into behaviours is vital too.

So the researchers systematically analyzed the brains and feeding behaviors of mice that were genetically intervened upon to turn "off" and "on" nine types of neurons in the cNTS. The researchers found that two key neuron populations, namely Th⁺ (tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing) and Gcg⁺ (glucagon-like peptide 1-expressing) neurons encoded different aspects of food intake.

Th⁺ cNTS neurons encode esophageal mechanical distension and transient gulp size via vagal afferent inputs, providing quick feedback regulation of ingestion speed.

By contrast, Gcg+ cNTS neurons monitor intestinal nutrients and cumulative ingested calories and have long-term effects on food satiation and preference. These nutritive signals are conveyed through a portal vein–spinal ascending pathway rather than vagal sensory neurons.

New studies could explore the unique contribution of the two broad neuron populations outlined by the researchers (i.e., Th⁺ and Gcg⁺ neurons), as well as their interactions with other brain regions in regulating feeding behaviours.

Hongyun Wang et al, Parallel gut-to-brain pathways orchestrate feeding behaviors, Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01828-8

Why our biological clock ticks: Research reconciles major theories of aging

Researchers have published results that shed new light on an old question: what causes aging at the molecular level? Their findings, published in Nature Aging, describe a never-before-seen link between the two most accepted explanations: random genetic mutations and predictable epigenetic modifications. The latter, also known as the epigenetic clock theory, has been widely used by scientists as a consistent, quantitative measure of biological aging.

The new research suggests that the process may not be so simple.

Major research institutions and companies are betting on turning back the epigenetic clock as a strategy to reverse the effects of aging, but this new research suggests that this may only be treating a symptom of aging, not the underlying cause.

If mutations are in fact responsible for the observed epigenetic changes, this fact could fundamentally change the way we approach anti-aging efforts in the future.

There are two prevailing theories about the relationship between aging and DNA. The somatic mutation theory suggests that aging is caused by the accumulation of mutations, permanent changes in our DNA sequence that occur randomly. The epigenetic clock theory suggests that aging occurs due to the accumulation of epigenetic modifications, minor changes to the chemical structure of DNA that do not alter the underlying sequence, but instead change which genes are on or off. Unlike mutations, epigenetic modifications can also be reversed in some cases.

Because epigenetic modifications only occur at specific sites on our genome rather than at random locations, they are easier to quantify and have become a go-to way for scientists to determine the "biological age" of cells. However, scientists have long wondered about the source of these epigenetic changes.

Part 1

To answer this fundamental question, researchers analyzed data from 9,331 patients cataloged in the Cancer Genome Atlas and the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes. By comparing genetic mutations to epigenetic modifications, they found that mutations were predictably correlated with changes in DNA methylation, one type of epigenetic modification.
They found that a single mutation could cause a cascade of epigenetic changes across the genome, not just where the mutation occurred. Using this relationship, the researchers were able to make similar predictions of age using either mutations or epigenetic changes.

Epigenetic clocks have been around for years, but scientists are only now beginning to answer the question of why epigenetic clocks tick in the first place.

This study demonstrates for the first time that epigenetic changes are intricately and predictably tied to random genetic mutations.
The study's authors note that further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between somatic mutations and epigenetic changes in aging. However, the study's findings provide a major breakthrough in our understanding of the aging process and have important implications for the development of new therapies aimed at preventing or reversing aging.
If somatic mutations are the fundamental driver of aging and epigenetic changes simply track this process, it's going to be a lot harder to reverse aging than we previously thought, say the authors of this study.
This shifts our focus from viewing aging as a programmed process to one that's largely influenced by random, cumulative changes over time.

Zane Koch et al, Somatic mutation as an explanation for epigenetic aging, Nature Aging (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00794-x

Part 2

What's behind preterm birth? Scientists discover a molecular timer

A typical human pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, but most parents know this number is only a rough estimate. Babies are born on a seemingly unpredictable timeline, with a normal pregnancy ranging from 38 to 42 weeks. And 10% of all births are preterm, meaning they occur before 37 weeks of gestation, which puts babies at risk of a host of complications.

Now  researchers have discovered a molecular timer in mice that plays a role in controlling when they give birth. Surprisingly, the timer is activated in the very first days of pregnancy and operates within the uterus.

If the same set of molecules is found to be important in human pregnancies, it could lead to new tests to identify women who are at risk of preterm labour, as well as interventions to delay it.

DNA packaging during pregnancy

Throughout pregnancy, the female body undergoes massive biological shifts, with the activity of hundreds of genes going up or down within the uterus.

Researchers were studying a protein called KDM6B which regulates gene activity. They suspected that during pregnancy, KDM6B could help regulate the genes involved in the transition to labor.

KDM6B works by removing methyl chemical groups from histones—structures that help organize and package DNA within cells. In response to KDM6B, DNA becomes more accessible to other factors that regulate gene expression, turning on the activity of nearby genes.

The team noticed that when they blocked KDM6B, pregnancies in the mice became longer, and their babies were born later than usual.

At first, the scientists suspected that, late in pregnancy, KDM6B must be activating genes in the uterus's epithelial cells, which produce hormones known to trigger labor.

But when they carried out detailed analyses on different cell types, they found that KDM6B's effects on pregnancy length were tied to a different cell type called fibroblasts. These structural cells are not typically considered to play a role in the regulation of labor. Moreover, KDM6B regulated these fibroblasts during the first days of pregnancy.

These findings highlight a surprising role for uterine fibroblasts in regulating birth timing.

Part 1

Further experiments on mice revealed that shortly after conception, more methyl groups appear on histones near certain genes in uterine fibroblasts. In response, these genes remain inactive, which enables the uterus to support pregnancy.

Over the course of pregnancy, levels of methylation on these histones fade in a slow and steady way, eventually reaching low enough levels that the nearby genes—related to pregnancy events like labor—are activated. This erosion, which does not require KDM6B, functions as a timer.

Essentially, what appears to happen is this timer gets wound up right at the beginning of pregnancy, and then progressively winds down. When histone methylation erodes enough, nearby genes flip on.

When the researchers blocked KDM6B, histones near certain genes accumulated too much methylation early in pregnancy. This increased "setpoint" meant that, despite erosion, these genes were not activated on time, delaying labour.
While the new study did not directly study preterm births, the newly discovered molecular timer could help control pregnancy length in humans.

If the newly studied molecular signals are disrupted in humans, they could be linked to preterm birth risk, his team hypothesizes. For instance, some women could begin pregnancy with lower than usual levels of histone methylation; and this could lead to the erosion of the methylation to turn on labor-related genes too quickly.

 KDM6B-dependent epigenetic programming of uterine fibroblasts in early pregnancy regulates parturition timing in mice, Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.019. www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)01432-6

Part 2

Biotin may shield brain from manganese-induced damage, study finds

While manganese is an essential mineral involved in many bodily functions, both deficiency and excessive exposure can cause health issues. Maintaining a balanced diet typically provides sufficient manganese for most individuals; however, high levels of exposure can be toxic, particularly to the central nervous system.

Chronic manganese exposure may result in a condition known as manganism, characterized by symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease, including tremors, muscle stiffness, and cognitive disturbances.

New research published in Science Signaling employs model systems and human nerve cells to show the mechanisms by which manganese inflicts damage to the central nervous system. The study also suggests that the vitamin biotin may have a protective effect, potentially mitigating manganese-induced damage.

Exposure to neurotoxic metals like manganese has been linked to the development of Parkinsonism. In this study, researchers applied untargeted metabolomics using high-resolution mass spectrometry and advanced cheminformatics computing in a newly developed model of parkinsonism, leading them to the discovery of biotin metabolism as a modifier in manganese-induced neurodegeneration.

Chronic occupational and environmental exposure to manganese, commonly from welding fumes and some sources of rural drinking water, increases the risk of Parkinsonian syndrome, which involves similar but distinct neurological symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Manganese has been previously shown to bind with the protein alpha-synuclein, causing it to misfold and accumulate in the brain.

Using the fruit fly Drosophila, researchers developed a model that mimics occupational manganese exposure in humans and found that manganese induced motor deficits, mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction, neuronal loss, and reduced lifespan in flies.

The team validated these findings using human dopaminergic neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and demonstrated that manganese exposure selectively damages these cells. The loss of dopamine-producing cells is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonian syndrome.

The research indicates that B vitamin biotin, a micronutrient synthesized by gut bacteria, enhances dopamine production in the brain. Biotin supplementation reversed neurotoxicity in flies and iPSC-derived neurons, improving mitochondrial function and reducing cell loss.

This finding aligns with a growing scientific recognition that Parkinson's is a multisystem disorder, with early symptoms often emerging in the gut, and that changes in the gut microbiome may contribute to the disease.

"Biotin supplementation shows potential as a therapeutic strategy to mitigate manganese-induced neurodegeneration, and the safety and tolerability of biotin in humans make it a promising candidate for further exploration," say the researchers.

Biotin-rich prebiotics or biotin-producing probiotics could provide non-pharmacological intervention options.

Biotin rescues manganese-induced Parkinson's disease phenotypes and neurotoxicity, Science Signaling (2025). DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.adn9868

Scientists create world's first fully-3D printed microscope in under three hours

Scientists  have created the world's first fully 3D printed microscope in under three hours and for less than £50—a fraction of the cost of traditional devices.

Using a publicly available design from the website OpenFlexure the scientists produced the microscope's frame—and clear plastic lenses they designed themselves—using low-cost, accessible 3D printers.

The microscope was completed by adding a shop-bought camera and a light, with the whole device controlled by a Raspberry Pi computer processor.

The researchers have presented their results in a paper submitted for publication in the Journal of Microscopy which is currently in pre-print on the server bioRxiv ahead of publication following peer review.

To test the imaging performance of the system, the scientists used standard test samples: a stained blood smear and a stained, thin section of mouse kidney. The microscope demonstrated sub-cellular resolution, clearly imaging individual red blood cells and detailed structures in the kidney sample.

This opens the doors to democratized access, rapid prototyping, and bespoke design of microscopes and optics at a fraction of the price of traditional microscopes. It could help scientists and medics in low-income countries around the world, as well as enabling students to learn more about science through accessible, cheap kit.

Jay Christopher et al, A fully 3D-printed optical microscope for low-cost histological imaging, bioRxiv (2024). DOI: 10.1101/2024.12.16.628684