Your gut microbiome could be a calorie 'super harvester'!

In the jungle of microbes living in your gut, there's one oddball that makes methane. This little-known methane-maker might play a role in how many calories you absorb from your food, according to a new study.

The entire ecosystem of microbes is called the microbiome. Some people's gut microbiomes produce a lot of methane, while others produce hardly any.

The study found that people whose gut microbiomes produce a lot of methane are especially good at unlocking extra energy from a high-fiber diet. This may help explain why different individuals get different amounts of calories from food that makes it to the colon.

The researchers note that high-fiber diets are not the villain here. People absorb more calories overall from a Western diet of processed foods, regardless of methane production. On a high-fiber diet, people absorb fewer calories overall—but the amount varies according to methane production.

That difference has important implications for diet interventions. It shows people on the same diet can respond differently. Part of that is due to the composition of their gut microbiome.

The study, published in The ISME Journal, found that methane-producing microbes called methanogens are associated with a more efficient microbiome and higher energy absorption from food.

One of the microbiome's main jobs is helping to digest food. Microbes ferment fiber into short-chain fatty acids, which the body can use for energy. In the process, they produce hydrogen. Too much hydrogen pauses their activity, but other microbes can help keep this process going by using up the hydrogen.

Methanogens are hydrogen-eaters. As they consume hydrogen, they create methane. They are the only microbes to make this chemical compound.

The human body itself doesn't make methane, only the microbes do. So researchers suggested it can be a biomarker that signals efficient microbial production of short-chain fatty acids.

The research suggests that these microbe interactions affect the body's metabolism. The team found that higher methane production was associated with more short-chain fatty acids being made and absorbed in the gut.

Insights from this study could be a foundation for personalized nutrition.

Blake Dirks et al, Methanogenesis associated with altered microbial production of short-chain fatty acids and human-host metabolizable energy, The ISME Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf103

In utero exposure to climate disasters linked to changes in child brain development

Climate disasters may be leaving invisible imprints on developing brains before birth, according to new research.

 Scientists discovered that children whose mothers experienced Superstorm Sandy during pregnancy showed distinct brain differences that could affect their emotional development for years to come.

The study, published in PLOS One, reveals that prenatal exposure to extreme climate events, particularly when combined with extreme heat, appears to rewrite critical emotion regulation centers in the developing brain. We're seeing how climate change may be reshaping the next generation's brains before they even take their first breath. These children's brains bear invisible scars from climate disasters they never personally experienced.

The research team analyzed brain imaging data from a group of 8-year-old children whose mothers were pregnant during Superstorm Sandy, which devastated parts of New York and other coastal regions in 2012. The scans revealed that children exposed to the storm in utero had significantly larger volumes in the basal ganglia, deep brain structures involved in emotion regulation.

The combination of storm stress and extreme heat created a perfect neurological storm in developing brains.

The researchers found that while extreme heat alone didn't significantly alter brain volume, when combined with the stress of living through a major storm during pregnancy, it amplified the effects dramatically.

As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, we need to consider the invisible toll on future generations, the researchers say.

Donato DeIngeniis et al, Prenatal exposure to extreme ambient heat may amplify the adverse impact of Superstorm Sandy on basal ganglia volume among school-aged children, PLOS One (2025). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324150

New therapeutic strategy designed to help lower cholesterol levels

When the amount of cholesterol in the blood is too high, hypercholesterolemia can develop, causing serious damage to the arteries and cardiovascular health. Now, a study presents a new therapeutic tool capable of regulating blood cholesterol levels and thus opening up new perspectives in the fight against atherosclerosis caused by the accumulation of lipid plaques in the artery walls.

Specifically, the team has designed a strategy to inhibit the expression of PCSK9, a protein that plays a decisive role in modulating plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The new method, based on the use of molecules known as polypurine hairpins (PPRH), facilitates the uptake of cholesterol by cells and prevents it from accumulating in the arteries without causing the side effects of the most common statin-based medication.

Major sugar substitute found to impair brain blood vessel cell function, posing potential stroke risk

Erythritol may impair cellular functions essential to maintaining brain blood vessel health, according to researchers. Findings suggest that erythritol increases oxidative stress, disrupts nitric oxide signaling, raises vasoconstrictive peptide production, and diminishes clot-dissolving capacity in human brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Erythritol has become a fixture in the ingredient lists of protein bars, low-calorie beverages, and diabetic-friendly baked goods. Its appeal lies in its sweetness-to-calorie ratio, roughly 60–80% as sweet as sucrose with a tiny fraction of the energy yield, and its negligible effect on blood glucose. Erythritol is also synthesized endogenously from glucose and fructose via the pentose phosphate pathway, leaving baseline levels subject to both dietary and metabolic influences.

Concerns about erythritol's safety have escalated following epidemiological studies linking higher plasma concentrations with increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Positive associations between circulating erythritol and incidence of heart attack and stroke have been observed in U.S. and European cohorts, independent of known cardiometabolic risk factors. 

In the study, "The Non-Nutritive Sweetener Erythritol Adversely Affects Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cell Function," published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers designed in vitro experiments to test the cellular consequences of erythritol exposure on cerebral endothelial function.

Human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells were cultured and exposed to an amount of erythritol equivalent to consuming a typical beverage. Experimental conditions included five biological replicates per group.

Part 1

Cellular assays measured oxidative stress, antioxidant protein expression, nitric oxide bioavailability, endothelin production, and fibrinolytic capacity. Capillary electrophoresis immunoassay and ELISA were used to quantify expression of superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), catalase, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phosphorylated eNOS, endothelin-1 (ET-1), and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA).

Cells exposed to erythritol exhibited a substantial increase in oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen species levels rose by approximately 75% relative to untreated controls. Antioxidant defense markers were also elevated, with SOD-1 expression increasing by approximately 45% and catalase by approximately 25%.

Nitric oxide production declined by nearly 20% in response to erythritol. Although total eNOS expression remained unchanged, phosphorylation at the Ser1177 site, which is associated with enzymatic activation, fell by approximately 33%. In contrast, phosphorylation at the inhibitory Thr495 site increased by approximately 39%.

In another test, t-PA release in response to thrombin stimulation was blunted in erythritol-treated cells, indicating reduced fibrinolytic responsiveness.

The researchers conclude that erythritol exposure disrupts multiple mechanisms vital to maintaining cerebral endothelial health. Although results are limited to acute in vitro conditions, the findings align with prior epidemiological associations between erythritol and elevated stroke risk.

Auburn R. Berry et al, The Non-Nutritive Sweetner Erythritol Adversely Affects Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cell Function, Journal of Applied Physiology (2025). DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00276.2025

Part 2

Humans have unique breathing 'fingerprints' that may signal health status

A study published in Current Biology demonstrates that scientists can identify individuals based solely on their breathing patterns with 96.8% accuracy. These nasal respiratory "fingerprints" also offer insights into physical and mental health.

The study found that the respiratory fingerprints correlated with a person's body mass index,sleep-wake cycle, levels of depression and anxiety, and even behavioral traits. For example, participants who scored relatively higher on anxiety questionnaires had shorter inhales and more variability in the pauses between breaths during sleep.

 The results suggest that long-term nasal airflow monitoring may serve as a window into physical and emotional well-being.

Humans Have Nasal Respiratory Fingerprints, Current Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.008. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(25)00583-4

When bacteria get hungry, they kill—and eat—their neighbours!

Scientists have discovered a gruesome microbial survival strategy: when food is scarce, some bacteria kill and consume their neighbours.

The study, published in Science, was conducted by an international team. 

The researchers show that under nutrient-limited conditions, bacteria use a specialized weapon—the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS)—to attack, kill, and slowly absorb nutrients from other bacterial cells.

The T6SS is like a microscopic harpoon gun. A bacterium fires a needle-like weapon into nearby cells, injecting toxins that fatally rupture them.

Historically, scientists thought this system was mainly for competition, clearing out rivals to make space, but the multi-institutional research team discovered that bacteria aren't just killing for territory, they're strategically killing for dinner, and to help themselves grow.

Using time-lapse imaging, genetic tools, and chemical labeling, the scientists watched in slow-motion the microscopic assassins at work.

In both ocean bacteria and human gut microbes, bacteria equipped with T6SS attacked neighbors when starved of nutrients, and then grew by feeding off the deceased's leaking remains.

To prove this wasn't just coincidence, the researchers then genetically "turned off" the T6SS in some strains. When these genetically edited bacteria were placed in a nutrient-poor environment with potential prey, they couldn't grow. But the unedited bacteria, the ones still able to kill, thrived.

Their survival depended on murder.

The team also analyzed bacterial genomes across marine environments and found that these killing systems are widespread.

This isn't just happening in the lab. It's present in many different environments and it's operational and happening in nature from the oceans to the human gut.

This insight has wide-ranging implications.

If scientists can better understand how and why these bacterial weapons work, they can begin to design smarter probiotics, ones that don't just coexist in your gut, but actively protect it by taking out harmful microbes.

It could also lead to new antibiotics, at a time when drug resistance is on the rise. The same harpoon that bacteria use to extract nutrients from competitors could be harnessed to deliver drugs directly into problem pathogens—offering a new frontier in targeted, resistance-proof therapies.

And beyond our bodies, in the ocean, bacteria help regulate the planet's carbon cycle. When killer bacteria take out the ones breaking down algae and recycling carbon, it can shift how we understand how much carbon stays in the ocean or gets released back into the atmosphere.

By decoding how microscopic bacteria kill and consume each other, the research could reshape how we think about ecosystems—from the human gut to the vast oceans that regulate Earth's climate.

Astrid K. M. Stubbusch, Antagonism as a foraging strategy in microbial communities, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adr8286. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr8286

Cancer cells use cholesterol armor to survive heat shock treatment, study discovers

Cancer has been recognized long back as being sensitive to heat. Today, this principle forms the basis of hyperthermia treatment—a promising cancer therapy that uses controlled heat to kill tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.

Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, hyperthermia works by heating cancerous tissue to temperatures around 50°C, causing cancer cell death while simultaneously activating the body's immune system against the tumor. This approach holds particular promise when combined with immunotherapy, as heat-killed cancer cells can trigger a stronger anti-tumor immune response.

Researchers have discovered that some cancer cells—even those from the same organ—react differently to heat shock, with some surprisingly more heat-resistant than others. This resistance involves two distinct cell death types: necrosis, which occurs rapidly through direct physical damage to cell membranes, and apoptosis, a slower, programmed cell death that happens hours later. In particular, how heat-resistant cancer cells regulate necrosis has received little scientific attention, limiting hyperthermia's potential as a standard cancer treatment.

Through a series of experiments in mice and cell cultures, the researchers compared the characteristics and behaviors of heat-sensitive cancer cells with heat-resistant ones. They discovered that cholesterol could act as a protective shield for cancer cells during heat treatment. Heat-resistant cancer cells contained significantly higher levels of cholesterol than heat-sensitive ones. This, in turn, helped maintain the stability of cell membranes when exposed to heat, preventing the rapid membrane breakdown that leads to necrosis.

Notably, when researchers artificially removed cholesterol from cancer cells using a cholesterol-depleting drug, even the most heat-resistant cells became vulnerable to hyperthermia treatment.

Using advanced imaging techniques, the researchers observed that heat treatment causes cell membranes to become more fluid (increased membrane fluidity). In cells with high cholesterol levels, this increase in membrane fluidity was suppressed, thereby protecting the cells from heat damage. However, when cholesterol was removed, membrane fluidity increased, making the cells much more susceptible to heat-induced damage, leading to rapid cell death through necrosis.

Part 1

Testing their findings across multiple human and mouse cancer cell lines confirmed that cholesterol levels were consistently related to heat resistance. The researchers further validated their discovery in living mice with implanted tumors, using gold nanoparticles and near-infrared light to create localized heating. Tumors treated with both cholesterol depletion and hyperthermia showed dramatic shrinkage, with most tumors completely disappearing—a far superior result compared to heat treatment alone.

This research suggests that measuring cholesterol levels in tumors could help doctors identify which patients are most likely to benefit from hyperthermia treatment. More importantly, the combination of cholesterol-depleting drugs with localized heat therapy could transform hyperthermia from an inconsistent treatment into a powerful weapon against cancer. Since cholesterol depletion primarily triggers necrosis, this approach may also enhance the immune system's ability to recognize and attack the remaining cancer cells.

 Taisei Kanamori et al, Cholesterol depletion suppresses thermal necrosis resistance by alleviating an increase in membrane fluidity, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-92232-0

Part 2

Low sodium in blood triggers anxiety in mice by disrupting their brain chemistry

Hyponatremia, or low blood sodium concentration, is typically viewed as a symptomless condition—until recently. A research team has demonstrated that chronic hyponatremia (CHN) can directly cause anxiety-like behaviors in mice by disrupting key neurotransmitters in the brain.

Their findings, published online in the journal Molecular Neurobiology, reveal that CHN alters monoaminergic signaling in the amygdala, a brain region critical for processing fear and emotion. 

Hyponatremia is usually caused by conditions like liver cirrhosis, heart failure, or syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD). In chronic cases, the brain adapts to the low-sodium environment by adjusting its cellular content through a compensatory mechanism known as volume regulatory decrease (VRD). But this adaptation, while protective, comes at a physiological cost.

This compensation process involves the loss of organic osmolytes and neurotransmitter precursors that help stabilize brain cell volume under low-sodium conditions. Over time, this may lead to disruption in the production, release, or recycling of key mood-regulating chemicals.

The researchers  found that the mice in their experiments exhibited significantly lower serum sodium levels, which were maintained over a prolonged period, consistent with chronic hyponatremia (CHN) and exhibited increased anxiety-like behaviors in both the light/dark transition and open field tests—standard behavioral assays in neuroscience.

Further biochemical analyses revealed that levels of serotonin and dopamine, two key neurotransmitters that regulate mood, were significantly reduced in the amygdala of mice with CHN. These changes were accompanied by a drop in extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation—a molecular signal for emotional regulation.

The data  suggest that CHN disrupts the balance of monoamines in the amygdala, especially serotonin and dopamine, which in turn modulates innate anxiety.

This shows not only that CHN causes anxiety-like symptoms but also that these symptoms can be alleviated with proper correction of sodium imbalance.

While the study focused on mice, the findings could apply to humans. CHN is fairly common among elderly patients and those with chronic illnesses. Identifying and treating its neurological manifestations can improve their quality of life.

Haruki Fujisawa et al, Chronic Hyponatremia Potentiates Innate Anxiety-Like Behaviors Through the Dysfunction of Monoaminergic Neurons in Mice, Molecular Neurobiology (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s12035-025-05024-y

Some plants make their own pesticide—but at what cost to the atmosphere?

A natural alternative to pesticides may be hiding in a misunderstood plant compound—but it could come at an environmental cost.

For years, scientists knew little about isoprene, a natural chemical produced by plants. New  research 40 years in the making now sheds light on how this natural chemical can repel insects—and how some plants that don't normally make isoprene could activate production in times of stress.

A  research paper in Science Advances uncovers a hormonal response triggered by isoprene that makes insects steer clear of those plants. Insects that munched on isoprene-treated leaves got a stomachache, thanks to indigestible proteins that kick in when the compound is present. Those proteins also stunt the growth of worms that dare to keep eating them.

Another paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that soybeans produce isoprene when their leaves are wounded. This discovery was particularly surprising since researchers previously thought modern crops didn't produce isoprene. This ability could make crops more resilient to heat and pests.

But that benefit could come at a cost. Isoprene is a hydrocarbon that worsens air pollution, especially in areas that already have poor air quality. If more crop plants were engineered to release isoprene, that could further damage Earth's atmosphere. The research also has implications for how soybeans may impact air pollution.

Isoprene is one of the highest emitted hydrocarbons on Earth, second only to methane emissions from human activity. These organic compounds interact with sunlight and nitrogen oxide from coal-burning facilities and vehicle emissions, creating a toxic brew of ozone, aerosols and other harmful byproducts.

Not all plants produce isoprene, however, and the ones that do tend to make more in hot weather. It's mostly found in oak and poplar trees, but unlike similar molecules in pine and eucalyptus trees, isoprene doesn't have a scent.

But as plants make more isoprene, they sacrifice some of their growth potential. When plants make isoprene, they divert carbon away from growth and storage and invest instead in their defense. Some think this is why many plants folded under evolutionary pressure to get rid of the isoprene synthase.

 Abira Sahu et al, Isoprene deters insect herbivory by priming plant hormone responses, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adu4637

Mohammad Golam Mostofa et al, Cryptic isoprene emission of soybeans, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2502360122

Scientists detect light passing through entire human head, opening new doors for brain imaging

For decades, scientists have used near-infrared light to study the brain in a noninvasive way. This optical technique, known as fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy), measures how light is absorbed by blood in the brain, to infer activity.

Valued for portability and low cost, fNIRS has a major drawback: it can't see very deep into the brain. Light typically only reaches the outermost layers of the brain, about 4 centimeters deep—enough to study the surface of the brain, but not deeper regions involved in critical functions like memory, emotion, and movement.

This drawback has restricted the ability to study deeper brain regions without expensive and bulky equipment like MRI machines.

Now, researchers  have demonstrated something previously thought impossible: detecting light that has traveled all the way through an adult human head.

Their study, "Photon transport through the entire adult human head," published in Neurophotonics, shows that, with the right setup, it is possible to measure photons that pass from one side of the head to the other, even across its widest point.

To achieve this, the team used powerful lasers and highly sensitive detectors in a carefully controlled experiment. They directed a pulsed laser beam at one side of a volunteer's head and placed a detector on the opposite side. The setup was designed to block out all other light and maximize the chances of catching the few photons that made the full journey through the skull and brain.

The researchers also ran detailed computer simulations to predict how light would move through the complex layers of the head. These simulations matched the experimental results closely, confirming that the detected photons had indeed traveled through the entire head.

Interestingly, the simulations revealed that light tends to follow specific paths, guided by regions of the brain with lower scattering, such as the cerebrospinal fluid.

This breakthrough suggests that it may be possible to design new optical devices that can reach deeper brain areas than current technologies allow.

While the current method is not yet practical for everyday use—it requires 30 minutes of data collection and worked only on a subject with fair skin and no hair—this extreme case of detecting light diametrically across the head may inspire the community to rethink what is possible for the next generation of fNIRS systems.

With further development, this approach might help bring deep brain imaging into clinics and homes in a more affordable and portable form and better diagnosing platforms. This could eventually lead to better tools for diagnosing and monitoring conditions like strokes, brain injuries, or tumors, especially in settings where access to MRI or CT scans is limited.

Jack Radford et al, Photon transport through the entire adult human head, Neurophotonics (2025). DOI: 10.1117/1.NPh.12.2.025014

Study ties midlife vascular health to later dementia risk

Dementia before age 80 is potentially preventable through early intervention on common vascular risk factors, according to new research. Findings suggest that up to 44% of dementia cases could be attributed to vascular risk factors, specifically hypertension, diabetes, or smoking.

Hypertension, diabetes, and smoking are commonly implicated risk factors, likely acting through arteriosclerotic cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD).

CSVD is a catch-all term for a variety of conditions resulting from damage to small blood vessels in the brain. Narrowing, hardening, or obstruction of small blood vessels in the brain can starve brain cells of oxygen, which can damage nearby brain cells.

Early symptoms are often easily confused with, or overlap with, the normal effects of aging. Mental fog, forgotten names, misplaced objects, can occur naturally throughout a lifetime of remembering things, such that when vascular-related damage reaches the point of a dementia diagnosis, it may appear as a rapid onset, usually presenting later in life.

Attribution is further complicated by the frequent co-occurrence of vascular injury and Alzheimer's pathology, leaving unresolved how much dementia could be prevented by controlling vascular conditions earlier in life.

In the study, "Contribution of Modifiable Midlife and Late-Life Vascular Risk Factors to Incident Dementia," published in JAMA Neurology, researchers designed a prospective cohort analysis to estimate the proportion of dementia attributable to midlife and late-life  vascular risk factors.

Part 1

Analyses drew on 33 years of follow-up from over 12,000 adults across four US communities, with participant age at vascular risk measurement ranging from 45 to 74 years. Dementia incidence was tracked through standardized clinical assessments, proxy interviews, and linked medical records. Analyses were limited to self-identified Black and white participants.

Among participants with vascular risk factors measured at ages 45–54, 21.8% of dementia cases by age 80 were attributable to those risks. This proportion increased to 26.4% when measured at ages 55–64, and to 44.0% at ages 65–74. For dementia occurring after age 80, attributable fractions dropped sharply to between 2% and 8%.

Subgroup analyses revealed higher attributable risk in APOE ε4 noncarriers (up to 61.4% for those aged 65–74), Black participants (up to 52.9%), and females (up to 51.3%). APOE ε4 noncarriers are individuals who lack the gene variant with the strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. In this lower genetic-risk group, modifiable vascular conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and smoking accounted for a greater share of dementia risk.

The authors conclude, "Results suggest that maintaining ideal vascular health into late life could substantially reduce dementia risk before age 80 years."

Jason R. Smith et al, Contribution of Modifiable Midlife and Late-Life Vascular Risk Factors to Incident Dementia, JAMA Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1495

Roch A. Nianogo et al, Targeting Vascular Risk Factors to Reduce Dementia Risk, JAMA Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1493

Part 2

Nanoplastics can disrupt gut microbes in mice by interfering with extracellular vesicle-delivered microRNA

Nanoplastics can compromise intestinal integrity in mice by altering the interactions between the gut microbiome and the host, according to a paper in Nature Communications. The study explores the complex interactions of nanoplastics with the gut microenvironment in mice.

Nanoplastics are pieces of plastic less than 1,000 nanometers in diameter, which are created as plastics degrade. Previous research has suggested that nanoplastic uptake can disrupt the gut microbiota; however, the underlying mechanism behind this effect is poorly understood.

Researchers  used RNA sequencing, transcriptomic analysis and microbial profiling to analyze the effects of polystyrene nanoplastics on the intestinal microenvironment when ingested in mice. They found that nanoplastic accumulation in the mouse intestine was linked to altered expression of two proteins involved in intestinal barrier integrity (ZO-1 and MUC-13), which could disrupt intestinal permeability.

The nanoplastics were also shown to induce an intestinal microbiota imbalance, specifically an increased abundance of Ruminococcaceae, which has been implicated in gastrointestinal dysfunction in previous research.

These findings suggest a mechanism by which nanoplastics may affect the microbiota and the intestinal environment in mice. However, research would be needed to explore the ways in which nanoplastic accumulation could affect humans.

 Wei-Hsuan Hsu et al, Polystyrene nanoplastics disrupt the intestinal microenvironment by altering bacteria-host interactions through extracellular vesicle-delivered microRNAs, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59884-y

Novel coating shields iron from rust with 99.6% efficiency

Researchers have developed a highly effective dual-layer coating that provides 99.6% protection against iron corrosion. The breakthrough combines a thin molecular primer with a durable polymer layer, creating a strong, long-lasting barrier against rust. This innovation could significantly reduce maintenance costs and extend the lifespan of iron-based materials used in construction, transportation, and manufacturing.

The new research presents a solution by combining two protective layers that work together to create a strong and long-lasting barrier. The first layer is an ultra-thin coating made of N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) molecules, which form a tight bond with the iron surface.

This primer layer ensures that the second layer—a polymer-based coating—sticks firmly, creating a highly stable and durable protective shield. Thanks to this improved adhesion, the coating remains intact even in harsh conditions, such as prolonged exposure to saltwater.

Experiments showed that this dual-layer system dramatically reduced the amount of corrosion, with tests conducted in a highly corrosive saltwater environment confirming its exceptional efficiency. By forming a strong chemical connection between the iron and the protective layers, this method offers far greater durability than conventional coatings, which often wear down or peel off over time.

Linoy Amar et al, Self‐Assembled Monolayer of N‐Heterocyclic Carbene as a Primer in a Dual‐Layer Coating for Corrosion Protection on Iron, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2025). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202422879

Why the salmon on your plate contains less omega-3 than it used to

It has long been known that eating oily fish such as salmon is the best way to consume long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. These are essential for brain development, mental health and cognition. In salmon, omega-3 fatty acids must come from the fish's diet. For farmed fish, this means fishmeal and fish oil—so–called "marine ingredients" made from ground-up wild fish such as anchovy and fish by-products.

But the global supply of omega-3s is severely limited, whether from farmed or wild seafood. Many of the key fisheries supplying marine ingredients reached full exploitation in the mid-1990s. Since the growth of salmon aquaculture, increasing volumes of the limited marine ingredients supply have been taken up by fish farming.

This has raised concerns over sustainability and inflated the cost of these ingredients. The result has been a steady decline in the proportion of fish oil in farmed salmon diets, which has been replaced by plant oils. But these oils do not contain long-chain omega-3s.
In turn, the amount of omega-3s in a portion of salmon halved between 2006 and 2015. However, the salmon industry increasingly uses omega-3 as a key selling point for its product—two portions of farmed Scottish salmon per week would meet the recommended intake for an adult at current levels.
Moreover by trimming and removing skins and heads, the amount of omega-3 is reduced more.

Source: https://theconversation.com/why-the-salmon-on-your-plate-contains-l...

Study Finds a Potential Downside to Vigorous Exercise

Tumour microbes contribute to resistance
A signalling molecule produced by bacteria in breast tumours can help the cancer resist certain treatments. The cancer drug trastuzumab blocks the action of a protein called HER2, which cancer cells use to grow. Pseudomonas aeruginosa — a bacterial species commonly found in breast tumours — produces a molecule called 3oc, mainly to kill immune cells. But researchers found that 3oc has an off-target effect: it activates a chemical pathway in breast cancer cells that triggers HER2 production, dampening the effect of trastuzumab.

A Bacterial Signaling Molecule Lends Tumors Drug Resistance

Aggressive breast cancer can become unresponsive to monoclonal antibody treatment, but targeting tumor-resident bacteria may extend its effectiveness.

https://www.the-scientist.com/a-bacterial-signaling-molecule-lends-...

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421710122

Astronomers have located the universe's 'missing' matter

A new landmark study has pinpointed the location of the universe's "missing" matter, and detected the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) on record. Using FRBs as a guide, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and Caltech have shown that more than three-quarters of the universe's ordinary matter has been hiding in the thin gas between galaxies, marking a major step forward in understanding how matter interacts and behaves in the universe.

They've used the new data to make the first detailed measurement of ordinary matter distribution across the cosmic web. The research is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

For decades, scientists have known that at least half of the universe's ordinary, or baryonic matter—composed primarily of protons—was unaccounted for. Previously, astronomers have used techniques including X-ray emission and ultraviolet observations of distant quasars to find hints of vast amounts of this missing mass in the form of very thin, warm gas in between galaxies. Because that matter exists as hot, low-density gas, it was largely invisible to most telescopes, leaving scientists to estimate but not confirm its amount or location.

Enter FRBs—brief, bright radio signals from distant galaxies that scientists only recently showed could measure baryonic matter in the universe, but until now could not find its location. In the new study, researchers analyzed 60 FRBs, ranging from ~11.74 million light years away—FRB20200120E in galaxy M81—to ~9.1 billion light years away—FRB 20230521B, the most distant FRB on record. This allowed them to pin down the missing matter to the space between galaxies, or the intergalactic medium (IGM).

 Thanks to FRBs, we now know that three-quarters of it is floating between galaxies in the cosmic web. In other words, scientists now know the home address of the "missing" matter.

By measuring how much each FRB signal was slowed down as it passed through space, researchers tracked the gas along its journey. They shine through the fog of the intergalactic medium, and by precisely measuring how the light slows down, we can weigh that fog, even when it's too faint to see.

The results were clear: Approximately 76% of the universe's baryonic matter lies in the IGM. About 15% resides in galaxy halos, and a small fraction is burrowed in stars or amid cold galactic gas.

This distribution lines up with predictions from advanced cosmological simulations, but has never been directly confirmed until now.

This is a triumph of modern astronomy.

Liam Connor et al, A gas-rich cosmic web revealed by the partitioning of the missing baryons, Nature Astronomy (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02566-y

First artificial solar eclipses created by two European satellites

A pair of European satellites have created the first artificial solar eclipses by flying in precise and fancy formation, providing hours of on-demand totality for scientists.

The European Space Agency released the eclipse pictures at the Paris Air Show this week. Launched late last year, the orbiting duo have churned out simulated solar eclipses since March while zooming tens of thousands of miles (kilometers) above Earth.

Flying 492 feet (150 meters) apart, one satellite blocks the sun like the moon does during a natural total solar eclipse as the other aims its telescope at the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere that forms a crown or halo of light.

It's an intricate, prolonged dance requiring extreme precision by the cube-shaped spacecraft, less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in size. Their flying accuracy needs to be within a mere millimeter, the thickness of a fingernail. This meticulous positioning is achieved autonomously through GPS navigation, star trackers, lasers and radio links.

Dubbed Proba-3, the $210 million mission has generated 10 successful solar eclipses so far during the ongoing checkout phase. The longest eclipse lasted five hours.

Scientists already are thrilled by the preliminary results that show the corona without the need for any special image processing.

Source: ESA

Seeing clearly through thick fog: Researchers develop ultra-low noise, high sensitivity photodetector

Technologies enabling safe visual recognition in low-visibility environments are gaining increasing attention across sectors such as autonomous driving, aviation, and smart transportation. Thick fog remains a major challenge on highways, mountainous roads, and airport runways, where vision-based recognition systems frequently fail.

Traditional visible light cameras, LiDAR, and thermal infrared (IR) sensors experience a sharp drop in signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) under scattering conditions, making object and pedestrian detection unreliable. To overcome these challenges, researchers are seeking near-infrared (NIR) sensors that can operate stably and with low noise in real-world conditions.

A research team  has developed a high-sensitivity organic photodetector (OPD) that maintains ultra-low noise performance even in light-scattering environments.

The study is published in the journal Advanced Materials.

The team successfully reconstructed transmission images in simulated fog and smoke conditions and quantitatively verified the sensor's performance.

The study is notable as it presents the first experimental demonstration of a hardware-based visibility enhancement system in realistic fog-like environments—following the team's earlier development of an AI-based software fog removal technology that received a CES 2025 Innovation Award.

Based on this achievement, the team is advancing a software-hardware integrated solution for visibility enhancement, targeting applications in autonomous driving, smart transportation infrastructure, and drone-based surveillance.

A core innovation of the OPD lies in a self-assembled monolayer electronic blocking layer developed by the team, called 3PAFCN.

This layer, characterized by a deep HOMO energy level and high surface energy, effectively suppresses dark current and reduces interfacial charge traps, thereby enhancing device stability and responsiveness.

Through this structural innovation, the OPD achieved a low noise current of 2.18 fA, along with the highest detectivity reported among NIR OPDs of its kind—surpassing the performance of commercial silicon-based photodetectors and indicating strong commercialization potential.

The team also constructed a laboratory environment simulating real fog, where they conducted single-pixel imaging experiments using the new OPD. Even under low-light conditions where visible-spectrum sensors failed to detect targets, the OPD successfully captured optical signals and reconstructed object shapes.

Seunghyun Oh et al, Robust Imaging through Light‐Scattering Barriers via Energetically Modulated Multispectral Organic Photodetectors, Advanced Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202503868

Artificial light in big cities is extending the growing season of urban plants

Artificial light may be lengthening the growing season in urban environments by as much as 3 weeks compared to rural areas, according to an analysis of satellite data from 428 urban centers in the Northern Hemisphere over 7 years, published in Nature Cities.

Rapid urbanization is leading to hotter and brighter cities. More specifically, buildings and concrete absorb and radiate heat, causing urban heat islands, in which urban areas have higher atmospheric temperatures throughout the day and night compared to their surroundings. Likewise, the amount of artificial light at night has increased by 10% in cities within the past decade.

Light and temperature also largely regulate plant growing seasons. For example, increased lighting and temperature cause trees in cities to bud and flower earlier in the spring and change color later in the autumn than trees in rural surroundings.

Researchers analyzed satellite observations, taken between 2014 and 2020, of 428 cities in the Northern Hemisphere—including New York City, Paris, Toronto, and Beijing—and data on artificial light at night, near-surface air temperature and plant growing seasons.

They  found that the wattage of artificial light at night increases exponentially from rural areas towards urban centers. Meng and colleagues suggest that this increased amount of light appears to influence the start and end of urban growing seasons more than the increase of temperature from rural to urban areas.

They also found that the effect of artificial light is especially pronounced at the end of the growing season compared to its influence on the start. More specifically, the start of the growing season is an average of 12.6 days earlier than in rural surroundings and the end is 11.2 days later in the cities analyzed.

The authors suggest that the effect of artificial light on the growing season may be further complicated by the relatively recent general switch from high-pressure sodium lamps to LED lighting, which plants may be more responsive to.

Lvlv Wang et al, Artificial light at night outweighs temperature in lengthening urban growing seasons, Nature Cities (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44284-025-00258-2

RNA has newly identified role: Repairing serious DNA damage to maintain the genome

Your DNA is continually damaged by sources both inside and outside your body. One especially severe form of damage called a double-strand break involves the severing of both strands of the DNA double helix.

Double-strand breaks are among the most difficult forms of DNA damage for cells to repair because they disrupt the continuity of DNA and leave no intact template to base new strands on. If mis-repaired, these breaks can lead to other mutations that make the genome unstable and increase the risk of many diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration and immunodeficiency.

Cells primarily repair double-strand breaks by either rejoining the broken DNA ends or by using another DNA molecule as a template for repair. However, researchers discovered that RNA, a type of genetic material best known for its role in making proteins, surprisingly plays a key role in facilitating the repair of these harmful breaks.

These insights could not only pave the way for new treatment strategies for genetic disorders, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, but also enhance gene-editing technologies.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51457-9

Light Squeezed Out of Darkness in  Quantum Simulation

A careful alignment of three powerful lasers could generate a mysterious fourth beam of light that is throttled out of the very darkness itself.

What sounds like occult forces at work has been confirmed by a simulation of the kinds of quantum effects we might expect to emerge from a vacuum when ultra-high electromagnetic fields meet.

What we think of as empty space is – on a quantum level – an ocean of possibility. Fields representing all kinds of physical interactions hum with the promise of particles we'd recognize as the foundations of light and the building blocks of matter itself. These virtual particles essentially pop into and out of existence in fractions of a second.

All it takes for them to manifest longer-term is the right kind of physical persuasion that discourages them from canceling one another out; the kind of persuasion a series of strong electromagnetic fields might provide when arranged in a suitable fashion.

Using nothing but photons to generate the necessary electromagnetic fields, it's hoped the light being scattered out of the darkness won't be hidden in a fog of other particles, finally proving once and for all that it is possible in physics to squeeze something out of nothing.

A team of researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK and the University of Lisbon in Portugal used a semi-classical equation solver to simulate quantum phenomena in real time and in three dimensions, testing predictions on what ought to occur when incredibly intense laser pulses combine in empty space.

Waste can turn to rock within decades
Industrial waste is turning into solid rock in as little as 35 years. Researchers analysed a cliff made up of millions of cubic metres of slag produced by now-defunct iron and steel foundries along a stretch of the English coast. A coin from 1934 and an aluminium can tab manufactured after 1989 were embedded in the material, showing that it had lithified — essentially turning into rock — within that period. “All the activity we’re undertaking at the Earth’s surface will eventually end up in the geological record as rock, but this process is happening with remarkable, unprecedented speed,” said study co-author John MacDonald.

Industrial waste can turn into rock in as little as 35 years, new research reveals, instead of the thousands or millions of years previously assumed. The finding challenges what scientists know about rock formation, revealing an entirely new "anthropoclastic rock cycle."

The scientists found that waste from seaside industrial plants turns into rock especially rapidly due to the ocean water and air, which activate minerals such as calcium and magnesium in the waste, or slag, cementing it together faster than natural sediments.

Researchers dubbed this newly discovered process the "rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle." The findings challenge long-standing theories about how rocks form and suggest industries have far less time to dispose of their waste properly than previously thought

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/doi/1...

Industrial waste is turning into a new type of rock at 'unprecedented' speed, new study finds

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/industrial-waste-i...

How chemical bonds are formed: Physicists observe energy flow in real time

For the first time, a research team  has tracked in real time how individual atoms combine to form a cluster and which processes are involved.

To achieve this, the researchers first isolated magnesium atoms using superfluid helium and then used a laser pulse to trigger the formation process. The researchers were able to observe this cluster formation and the involved energy transfer between individual atoms with a temporal resolution in the femtosecond range.

Normally, magnesium atoms instantaneously form tight bonds, which means that there is no defined starting configuration for observation of the bond-formation processes

The researchers have solved this problem, which often arises when observing chemical processes in real time, by conducting experiments with superfluid helium droplets. These droplets act like ultra-cold "nano-fridges" that isolate the individual magnesium atoms from each other at extremely low temperatures of 0.4 Kelvin (= -272.75 degrees Celsius or 0.4 degrees Celsius above absolute zero) at a distance of a millionth of a millimeter.

This configuration allowed them to initiate cluster formation with a laser pulse and track it precisely in real time.

The researchers observed the processes triggered by the laser pulse using photoelectron and photoion spectroscopy. While the magnesium atoms combined to form a cluster, they were ionized with a second laser pulse.

Researchers were able to reconstruct the processes involved in detail on the basis of the ions formed and electrons released.

A key discovery here is energy pooling. As they bind to each other, several magnesium atoms transfer the excitation energy received from the first laser pulse to a single atom in the cluster, so that it reaches a much higher energy state. This is the first time that energy pooling has been demonstrated with time resolution.

Michael Stadlhofer et al, Real-time tracking of energy flow in cluster formation, Communications Chemistry (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42004-025-01563-6

Wildfires could be harming the oceans and disrupting their carbon storage

Wildfires pollute waterways and could affect their ability to sequester carbon, recent research shows.

When forests burn, they release ash, soil particles and chemicals into the environment. In a Science of The Total Environment study which analyzed water quality and wildfire data, researchers were able to link increases in the concentrations of compounds like arsenic and lead, as well as nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to fires which had burned within the river's basin months prior.

Using monitoring data collected by Environment Canada over the last 20 years, they calculated that up to 16.3% of the variation in water quality could be attributed to wildfires. 

Black carbon is formed when fires burn the carbon in trees. Black carbon cycles very slowly in the environment, especially the particulate form, and may sequester carbon from the atmosphere when it is buried in the ocean.

In a study earlier in 2025, researchers found that there is an important seasonal aspect to this. Most of the water in the northern rivers currently comes from snowmelt, but with climate change, this could shift to being more rain-driven in the future.

This change could lead to more rapidly degradable dissolved black carbon being exported to the ocean, which means that this carbon sequestration may lessen in the future and black carbon could become an additional source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Emily Brown et al, Cumulative effects of fire in the Fraser River basin on freshwater quality and implications for the Salish Sea, Science of The Total Environment (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179416

**

Websites are tracking you via browser fingerprinting, researchers show

Clearing your cookies is not enough to protect your privacy online. New research  has found that websites are covertly using browser fingerprinting—a method to uniquely identify a web browser—to track people across browser sessions and sites.

The findings are published as part of the Proceedings of the ACM on Web Conference 2025.

Fingerprinting has always been a concern in the privacy community, but until now, we had no hard proof that it was actually being used to track users.

When you visit a website, your browser shares a surprising amount of information, like your screen resolution, time zone, device model and more. When combined, these details create a "fingerprint" that's often unique to your browser. Unlike cookies—which users can delete or block—fingerprinting is much harder to detect or prevent. Most users have no idea it's happening, and even privacy-focused browsers struggle to fully block it.

It is like a digital signature you didn't know you were leaving behind. You may look anonymous, but your device or browser gives you away.

This research marks a turning point in how computer scientists understand the real-world use of browser fingerprinting by connecting it with the use of ads.

To investigate whether websites are using fingerprinting data to track people, the researchers had to go beyond simply scanning websites for the presence of fingerprinting code. They developed a measurement framework called FPTrace, which assesses fingerprinting-based user tracking by analyzing how ad systems respond to changes in browser fingerprints.

This approach is based on the insight that if browser fingerprinting influences tracking, altering fingerprints should affect advertiser bidding—where ad space is sold in real time based on the profile of the person viewing the website—and HTTP records—records of communication between a server and a browser.

This kind of analysis lets the researchers go beyond the surface. They were  able to detect not just the presence of fingerprinting, but whether it was being used to identify and target users—which is much harder to prove.

Part 1

The researchers found that tracking occurred even when users cleared or deleted cookies. The results showed notable differences in bid values and a decrease in HTTP records and syncing events when fingerprints were changed, suggesting an impact on targeting and tracking.

Additionally, some of these sites linked fingerprinting behavior to backend bidding processes—meaning fingerprint-based profiles were being used in real time, likely to tailor responses to users or pass along identifiers to third parties.

Perhaps more concerning, the researchers found that even users who explicitly opt out of tracking under privacy laws like Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California's California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) may still be silently tracked across the web through browser fingerprinting.

Based on the results of this study, the researchers argue that current privacy tools and policies are not doing enough. They call for stronger defenses in browsers and new regulatory attention to fingerprinting practices. They hope that their FPTrace framework can help regulators audit websites and providers who participate in such activities, especially without user consent.

Zengrui Liu et al, The First Early Evidence of the Use of Browser Fingerprinting for Online Tracking, Proceedings of the ACM on Web Conference 2025 (2025). DOI: 10.1145/3696410.3714548

Part 2

Before dispersing out of Africa, humans likely had to learn to thrive in diverse habitats

All non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia around 50,000 years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time that left no detectable traces in living people.

In a paper published in Nature, new evidence explains for the first time why those earlier migrations didn't succeed.

It was found that before expanding into Eurasia 50,000 years ago, humans began to exploit different habitat types in Africa in ways not seen before.

The results showed that the human niche began to expand significantly from 70,000 years ago, and that this expansion was driven by humans increasing their use of diverse habitat types, from forests to arid deserts.

Previous dispersals seem to have happened during particularly favorable windows of increased rainfall in the Saharo-Arabian desert belt, thus creating 'green corridors' for people to move into Eurasia. However, around 70,000–50,000 years ago, the easiest route out of Africa would have been more challenging than during previous periods, and yet this expansion was sizable and ultimately successful.

Part 1

The researchers showed that humans greatly increased the breadth of habitats they were able to exploit within Africa before the expansion out of the continent. This increase in the human niche may have been a result of positive feedback of greater contact and cultural exchange, allowing larger ranges and the breakdown of geographic barriers.

Unlike previous humans dispersing out of Africa, those human groups moving into Eurasia after approximately 60–50,000 years ago were equipped with a distinctive ecological flexibility as a result of coping with climatically challenging habitats. This likely provided a key mechanism for the adaptive success of our species beyond their African homeland.

 Emily Hallett, Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09154-0. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09154-0

Part 2

Chemical profile of fecal samples can help predict mortality in critically ill patients

The gut microbiome and the metabolites it produces offer promising insight into disease severity in critically ill patients. In a collaborative effort, researchers developed the metabolic dysbiosis score (MDS), a novel biomarker index based on the levels of 13 key fecal metabolites—the chemical byproducts of digestion. The designed index can identify high-risk patients early and guide timely interventions that could save the lives of critically ill hospitalized patients.

According to the research article published in Science Advances, the team collected fecal specimens from 196 critically ill patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) for non-COVID-19 respiratory shock or failure. They analyzed the samples by mapping the microbiome's composition using shotgun metagenomic sequencing and measuring the gut-derived metabolites with high-precision mass spectrometry. The MDS assigned based on the results helped identify MICU patients who are at a higher risk of 30-day mortality.

Experts have long observed that the complex ecosystem of microorganisms residing in our digestive tract plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health, and its dysbiosis or imbalance in this microbiota has been linked to a range of metabolic and chronic illnesses.

Several studies have investigated possible links between fecal microbiome diversity profiles and mortality in critically ill patients in search of a potentially treatable trait. They found that ICU stays can reduce microbiome diversity, allowing harmful species such as Enterococcus and Enterobacterales to dominate over beneficial bacteria that support healthy gut function. These imbalances are often associated with serious outcomes, including an increased risk of infection and death.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids, and tryptophan metabolites are key groups of metabolites produced by the gut microbiota. Admission to the ICU, particularly following antibiotic treatment, can cause significant disruptions in these metabolites, leading to fecal metabolic dysbiosis—a condition that may contribute to increased susceptibility to various diseases.

Upon scoring the fecal samples based on the MDS, researchers found that a high MDS (>7.5) increased the risk of 30-day mortality by a factor of 8.66 in critically ill patients. The researchers, however, found no independent association between traditional microbiome diversity profile (or Enterococcus abundance) and 30-day mortality.

The researchers noted that fecal metabolic dysbiosis may represent a treatable trait in critically ill patients, with the MDS serving as a potential biomarker to identify those who could benefit from targeted interventions to correct this imbalance and improve outcomes.

 Alexander P. de Porto et al, Fecal metabolite profiling identifies critically ill patients with increased 30-day mortality, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt1466

Acute and chronic pain are different

A new study reveals that when we experience short-term (acute) pain, the brain has a built‑in way to dial down pain signals—like pressing the brakes—to keep them from going into overdrive. But in long‑term (chronic) pain, this braking system fails, and the pain signals just keep firing. This discovery helps explain why some pain goes away while other pain lingers, and it opens the door to new treatments that could stop pain from becoming chronic in the first place.

In a study published in Science Advances, researchers reveal that our bodies respond to acute (short‑term) and chronic (long‑lasting) pain in surprisingly different ways at the cellular level. Their discovery sheds new light on how pain becomes chronic—and opens the door to better‑targeted treatments.

The team studied a small but crucial region in the brainstem called the medullary dorsal horn, home to neurons that act as a relay station for pain signals. These projection neurons help send pain messages from the body to the brain.

The scientists found that during acute inflammatory pain, these neurons actually dial down their own activity. This built‑in "braking system" helps limit the amount of pain‑related signals sent to the brain. Once the inflammation and pain subside, the neurons return to their normal state.

However, in chronic pain, this braking system fails. The neurons don't reduce their activity—in fact, they become more excitable and fire more signals, potentially contributing to the persistence of pain.

Using a combination of electrophysiology and computer modeling, the researchers identified a key mechanism: a specific potassium current known as the A‑type potassium current (IA). This current helps regulate the excitability of neurons.

In acute pain, IA increases—acting like a natural sedative for the pain pathways. But in chronic pain, this current doesn't ramp up, and the neurons become hyperactive. The absence of this regulation may be one of the biological switches that turns temporary pain into a long‑lasting condition.

This is the first time  the researchers have seen how the same neurons behave so differently in acute versus chronic pain. The fact that this natural 'calming' mechanism is missing in chronic pain suggests a new target for therapy. If we can find a way to restore or mimic that braking system, we might be able to prevent pain from becoming chronic.

Ben Title et al, Opposite regulation of medullary pain-related projection neuron excitability in acute and chronic pain, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr3467. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr3467

Using psychology  to cheat you: Casino Lights Could Be Warping Your Brain to Take Risks, Scientists Warn

Casino lighting could be nudging gamblers to be more reckless with their money, according to a new study, which found a link between blue-enriched light and riskier gambling behaviour.

The extra blue light emitted by casino decor and LED screens seems to trigger certain switches in our brains, making us less sensitive to financial losses compared to gains of equal magnitude, researchers found.

 As gambling addiction continues to be a growing global problem – with 1.2 percent of the world's population thought to have a gambling disorder – the study offers some important insight into how risky behaviors might be encouraged or discouraged.

Researchers found that light with more blue wavelengths in it, which is frequently emitted by LED screens and casino lighting, could subtly influence how people perceive losses and gains. This raises questions about the role of lighting in environments like casinos or online gambling platforms.

In the research conducted, on average, the participants were significantly less loss-averse under blue-enriched light. Men were more likely to take risky bets than women, which fits in with previous research into how gambling differs between the sexes.

The researchers think circadian photoreception, which is our non-visual response to light, is playing a part here. The level of blue spectrum light may be activating specific eye cells connected to brain regions in charge of decision-making, emotional regulation, and processing risk versus reward scenarios.

Under bright, blue-heavy light such as that seen in casino machines, the $100 loss didn't appear to feel as bad, so people were more willing to take the risk.

If you open up a gambling website or head into a casino, you'll notice there's a lot of blue light going on – the opposite of the warmer light that you'll often find in bedroom lighting and sleep aids such as lamps. Under light with more blue wavelengths, people may be less able to accurately judge risk and reward due to a decreased cognitive sensitivity to loss.

That raises some questions around ethics and responsibility, according to the researchers. While encouraging risk taking might be good for the gambling business, it's not good for the patrons spending their cash.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-97370-z

 But what makes our brains decide a smell is bad?

A new study from UF Health researchers reveals the mechanisms behind how your brain decides you dislike—even loathe—a smell. The findings are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Odors are powerful at driving emotions, and it's long been thought that the sense of smell is just as powerful, if not more powerful, at driving an emotional response as a picture, a song or any other sensory stimulus.

Researchers wanted to answer these questions. 

They  started off with the amygdala, a brain region that curates your emotional responses to sensory stimuli. Although all our senses (sound, sight, taste, touch and smell) interact with this small part of your brain, the olfactory system takes a more direct route to it.

Smells evoke strong, emotional memories, but the brain's smell centers are more closely connected with emotional centers like the amygdala.

In the study, researchers looked at mice, who share neurochemical similarities with people. They can learn about odors and categorize them as good or bad. After observing their behavior and analyzing brain activity, the team found two genetically unique brain cell types that allow odors to be assigned into a bucket of good feelings or bad feelings.

Initially, the team expected that one cell type would generate a positive emotion to an odor, and another would generate a negative emotion. Instead, the brain's cellular organization gives the cells the capability of doing either.

It can make an odor positive or negative to you. And it all depends upon where that cell type projects in your brain and how it engages with structures in your brain.

 Sarah E. Sniffen et al, Directing negative emotional states through parallel genetically-distinct basolateral amygdala pathways to ventral striatum subregions, Molecular Psychiatry (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41380-025-03075-0

Using ChatGPT to write essays may be eroding critical thinking skills

A team of neurologists and AI specialists at MIT's Media Lab has led a study looking into the brain impacts of large language model (LLM) use among people who engage with them for study or work. They report evidence that the use of LLMs may lead to an erosion of critical thinking skills. In their study, posted on the arXiv preprint server, the researchers asked groups of volunteers to write essays while connected to EEG monitors.

Researchers recruited 54 volunteers. The initial group was then split into three small groups, all of whom were asked to write a 20-minute esay on the topic of philanthropy—one group was asked to use ChatGPT for help, the second was asked to use Google Search, and the third "Brain-only" group was given no tools or resources at all. The participants remained in these same groups for three writing sessions.

Each of the volunteers was fitted with an EEG device to monitor brain activity, such as cognitive engagement and mental workload, while they wrote. The researchers also performed natural language processing analysis and interviewed participants after each session. Essays were scored by human teachers as well as an AI agent.

For these first three sessions, the EEG analysis showed clear differences in brain connectivity between the groups. The Brain-only group showed the strongest and most widespread brain network activity, the search engine group showed intermediate levels of engagement, and the ChatGPT group showed the weakest overall brain connectivity.

Out of the 54 volunteers, 18 also returned months later to complete a fourth session. Those who had used ChatGPT now went the Brain-only route, and vice versa. In this session, those who had originally used ChatGPT in the first three sessions showed weaker neural connectivity, while those from the previous Brain-only group demonstrated higher memory recall.

Overall, the interviews also revealed that volunteers who used the LLM felt less ownership over their essays compared to the other groups. ChatGPT users also struggled to recall or quote from their own essays shortly after writing them. Across all measures—brain activity, language analysis, and essay scoring—participants who relied on ChatGPT performed worse than the Brain-only group.

These findings highlight the potential educational impact of relying on LLMs for writing tasks. While they can provide immediate benefits, they run the risk of reduced learning outcomes over time and frequent use may hinder the development of critical thinking skills.

Nataliya Kosmyna et al, Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task, arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2506.08872

Researchers turn toxic ancient tomb fungus into anti-cancer drug

Researchers have turned a deadly fungus into a potent cancer-fighting compound. After isolating a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus linked to deaths in the excavations of ancient tombs, the researchers modified the chemicals and tested them against leukemia cells. The result? A promising cancer-killing compound that rivals FDA-approved drugs and opens up new frontiers in the discovery of more fungal medicines.

Aspergillus flavus, named for its yellow spores, has long been a microbial villain. After archaeologists opened King Tutankhamun's tomb in the 1920s, a series of untimely deaths among the excavation team fueled rumors of a pharaoh's curse. Decades later, doctors theorized that fungal spores,

 dormant for millennia, could have played a role.

In the 1970s, a dozen scientists entered the tomb of Casimir IV in Poland. Within weeks, 10 of them died. Later investigations revealed the tomb contained A. flavus, whose toxins can lead to lung infections, especially in people with compromised immune systems.

Now, that same fungus is the unlikely source of a promising new cancer therapy.

The therapy in question is a class of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs, pronounced like the "rip" in a piece of fabric. The name refers to how the compound is produced—by the ribosome, a tiny cellular structure that makes proteins—and the fact that it is modified later, in this case, to enhance its cancer-killing properties.

Part1

While thousands of RiPPs have been identified in bacteria, only a handful have been found in fungi. In part, this is because past researchers misidentified fungal RiPPs as non-ribosomal peptides and had little understanding of how fungi created the molecules.

The synthesis of these compounds is complicated. But that's also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity.
To find more fungal RiPPs, the researchers first scanned a dozen strains of Aspergillus, which previous research suggested might contain more of the chemicals.

By comparing chemicals produced by these strains with known RiPP building blocks, the researchers identified A. flavus as a promising candidate for further study.

Genetic analysis pointed to a particular protein in A. flavus as a source of fungal RiPPs. When the researchers turned the genes that create that protein off, the chemical markers indicating the presence of RiPPs also disappeared.

This novel approach—combining metabolic and genetic information—not only pinpointed the source of fungal RiPPs in A. flavus, but could be used to find more fungal RiPPs in the future.After purifying four different RiPPs, the researchers found the molecules shared a unique structure of interlocking rings. The researchers named these molecules, which have never been previously described, after the fungus in which they were found: asperigimycins.

Even with no modification, when mixed with human cancer cells, asperigimycins demonstrated medical potential: two of the four variants had potent effects against leukemia cells.
Another variant, to which the researchers added a lipid, or fatty molecule, that is also found in the royal jelly that nourishes developing bees, performed as well as cytarabine and daunorubicin, two FDA-approved drugs that have been used for decades to treat leukemia.
Through further experimentation, the researchers found that asperigimycins likely disrupt the process of cell division. Cancer cells divide uncontrollably. These compounds block the formation of microtubules, which are essential for cell division.
Notably, the compounds had little to no effect on breast, liver or lung cancer cells—or a range of bacteria and fungi—suggesting that asperigimycins' disruptive effects are specific to certain types of cells, a critical feature for any future medication.
In addition to demonstrating the medical potential of asperigimycins, the researchers identified similar clusters of genes in other fungi, suggesting that more fungal RiPPS remain to be discovered.

 A class of benzofuranoindoline-bearing heptacyclic fungal RiPPs with anticancer activities, Nature Chemical Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41589-025-01946-9

Part 2

Earth's satellites at risk if asteroid smashes into moon

If a huge asteroid smashes into the moon in 2032, the gigantic explosion would send debris streaming toward Earth that would threaten satellites and create a spectacular meteor shower, according to researchers.

It was given the highest chance—3.1%—of hitting our home planet that scientists have ever measured for such a giant space rock.

Subsequent observations from telescopes definitively ruled out a direct hit on Earth.

However, the odds that it will crash into the moon have risen to 4.3%, according to data from the James Webb Space Telescope in May.

A new preprint study, which has not been peer-reviewed, is the first to estimate how such a collision could affect Earth.

It would be the largest asteroid to hit the moon in around 5,000 years. The impact would be comparable to a large nuclear explosion in terms of the amount of energy released.

Up to 100 million kilograms (220 million pounds) of material would shoot out from the moon's surface, according to a series of simulations run by the researchers.

If the asteroid hit the side of the moon facing Earth—which is roughly a 50% chance—up to 10% of this debris could be pulled in by Earth's gravity over the following days, they said.

 These meteors could be capable of destroying some satellites—and there are expected to be a lot more of those orbiting the planet by 2032.

A centimeter-sized rock traveling at tens of thousands of meters per second is a lot like a bullet.

In the days after the impact, there could be more than 1,000 times the normal number of meteors threatening Earth's satellites.

Meanwhile, those of us on the ground would be treated to a "spectacular" meteor shower lighting up the night sky, the study said.

But the current odds of a direct hit on the near side of the moon remain at just two percent

The asteroid is not expected to be visible again until 2028, so the world will have to wait to find out more.

If a direct hit is eventually found to be likely, humanity probably has enough time to plan a mission to spare the moon.

The preprint study, which was published on the arXiv database last week, has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Upcycling plastic into painkillers: Microbes transform everyday waste into acetaminophen

Paracetamol is traditionally made from dwindling supplies of fossil fuels including crude oil. Thousands of tons of fossil fuels are used annually to power the factories that produce the painkiller, alongside other medicines and chemicals—making a significant contribution to climate change, experts say.

The breakthrough addresses the urgent need to recycle a widely used plastic known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which ultimately ends up in landfill or polluting oceans. The strong, lightweight plastic is used for water bottles and food packaging, and creates more than 350 million tons of waste annually, causing serious environmental damage worldwide.

PET recycling is possible, but existing processes create products that continue to contribute to plastic pollution worldwide, researchers say.

Published in Nature Chemistry, a team of scientists from the University of Edinburgh's Wallace Lab used genetically reprogrammed E. coli, a harmless bacterium, to transform a molecule derived from PET known as terephthalic acid into the active ingredient of paracetamol.

Researchers used a fermentation process, similar to the one used in brewing beer, to accelerate the conversion from industrial PET waste into paracetamol in less than 24 hours.

The new technique was carried out at room temperature and created virtually no carbon emissions, proving that paracetamol can be produced sustainably. Further development is needed before it can be produced at commercial levels, the research team says.

Part 1

Some 90% of the product made from reacting terephthalic acid with genetically reprogrammed E. coli was paracetamol.

Experts say this new approach demonstrates how traditional chemistry can work with engineering biology to create living microbial factories capable of producing sustainable chemicals while also reducing waste, greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.

Nick W. Johnson et al, A biocompatible Lossen rearrangement in Escherichia coli, Nature Chemistry (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41557-025-01845-5

Part 2

Antimicrobial resistance genes hitch rides on imported seafood

Colistin is a potent, last-resort antibiotic used only to treat people with dangerous, life-threatening bacterial infections that have developed resistance to other drugs. But it's not foolproof. Worldwide, resistance to colistin is spreading, further diminishing treatment options and putting infected people at higher risk.

Researchers have identified a way that colistin  resistance genes are spreading: imported seafood.

In a new study, microbiologists  have reported the first isolation of colistin-resistance genes in bacteria found in imported shrimp and scallops, purchased from eight food markets around Atlanta, GA.

 Some countries do not have strict regulations for using antibiotics in food animal production, so imported food can be a vehicle for transmission of resistance,

The researchers presented the findings in Los Angeles at ASM Microbe 2025, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. An accompanying paper will be published in the journal mSphere.

**

Scientists find new blood type in Guadeloupe woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn.

"This discovery was officially recognized in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)."

The scientific association had until now recognized 47 blood group systems.

Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the EFS involved in the discovery, told AFP that a "very unusual" antibody was first found in the patient in 2011.

Scientists were finally able to unravel the mystery in 2019 thanks to "high-throughput DNA sequencing," which highlighted a genetic mutation

The patient, who was 54 at the time and lived in Paris, was undergoing routine tests before surgery when the unknown antibody was detected.

She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself

The woman inherited the blood type from her father and mother, who each had the mutated gene.

Recycled plastics can affect hormone systems and metabolism, study shows

A single pellet of recycled plastic can contain over 80 different chemicals. A new study by researchers shows that recycled polyethylene plastic can leach chemicals into water, causing impacts on the hormone systems and lipid metabolism of zebrafish larvae.

The work is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

The plastic pollution crisis has reached global levels, threatening both planetary and human health, and recycling is proposed as one of the solutions to the plastics pollution crisis. However, as plastics contain thousands of chemical additives and other substances that can be toxic, and these are almost never declared, hazardous chemicals can indiscriminately end up in recycled products.

In a new study, researchers bought plastic pellets recycled from polyethylene plastic from different parts of the world and let the pellets soak in water for 48 hours. After which, zebrafish larvae were exposed to the water for five days. The experimental results show increases in gene expression relating to lipid metabolism, adipogenesis, and endocrine regulation in the larvae.

These short leaching times and exposure times are yet another indicator of the risks that chemicals in plastics pose to living organisms. The impacts that we measured show that these exposures have the potential to change the physiology and health of the fish.

Previous research has shown similar effects to humans, including threats to reproductive health and obesity, from exposure to toxic chemicals in plastics. Some chemicals used as additives in plastics and substances that contaminate plastics are known to disturb hormones, with potential impacts on fertility, child development, links to certain cancers, and metabolic disorders including obesity and diabetes.

Azora König Kardgar et al, Effects of leachates from black recycled polyethylene plastics on mRNA expression of genes involved in adipogenesis and endocrine pathways in zebrafish embryos, Journal of Hazardous Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138946

Tomatoes in the Galápagos are quietly de-evolving

On the younger, black-rock islands of the Galápagos archipelago, wild-growing tomatoes are doing something peculiar. They're shedding millions of years of evolution, reverting to a more primitive genetic state that resurrects ancient chemical defenses.

These tomatoes, which descended from South American ancestors likely brought over by birds, have quietly started making a toxic molecular cocktail that hasn't been seen in millions of years, one that resembles compounds found in eggplant, not the modern tomato.

In a study published recently in Nature Communications, scientists at the University of California, Riverside, describe this unexpected development as a possible case of "reverse evolution," a term that tends to be controversial among evolutionary biologists.

That's because evolution isn't supposed to have a rewind button. It's generally viewed as a one-way march toward adaptation, not a circular path back to traits once lost. While organisms sometimes re-acquire features similar to those of their ancestors, doing so through the exact same genetic pathways is rare and difficult to prove.

However, reversal is what these tomato plants appear to be doing.

The key players in this chemical reversal are alkaloids. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and other nightshades all make these bitter molecules that act like built-in pesticides, deterring insect predators, fungi, and grazing animals.

While the Galápagos are famous as a place where animals have few predators, the same is not necessarily true for plants. Thus, the need to produce the alkaloids.

What makes these Galápagos tomatoes interesting isn't just that they make alkaloids, but that they're making the wrong ones, or at least, ones that haven't been seen in tomatoes since their early evolutionary days.

Part 1

The researchers analyzed more than 30 tomato samples collected from distinct geographic locations across the islands. They found that plants on eastern islands produced the same alkaloids found in modern cultivated tomatoes. But on western islands, the tomatoes were churning out a different version with the molecular fingerprint of eggplant relatives from millions of years ago.

That difference comes down to stereochemistry, or how atoms are arranged in three-dimensional space. Two molecules can contain exactly the same atoms but behave entirely differently depending on how those atoms are arranged.

To figure out how the tomatoes made the switch, the researchers examined the enzymes that assemble these alkaloid molecules. They discovered that changing just four amino acids in a single enzyme was enough to flip the molecule's structure from modern to ancestral.
They proved it by synthesizing the genes coding for these enzymes in the lab and inserting them into tobacco plants, which promptly began producing the old compounds.

The pattern wasn't random. It aligned with geography. Tomatoes on the eastern, older islands, which are more stable and biologically diverse, made modern alkaloids. Those on the younger, western islands where the landscape is more barren and the soil is less developed, had adopted the older chemistry.

The researchers suspect the environment on the newer islands may be driving the reversal. It could be that the ancestral molecule provides better defense in the harsher western conditions.
To verify the direction of the change, the team did a kind of evolutionary modeling that uses modern DNA to infer the traits of long-extinct ancestors. The tomatoes on the younger islands matched what those early ancestors likely produced.

Still, calling this "reverse evolution" is bold. While the reappearance of old traits has been documented in snakes, fish, and even bacteria, it's rarely this clear, or this chemically precise.
And this kind of change might not be limited to plants. If it can happen in tomatoes, it could theoretically happen in other species, too.
It wouldn't happen in a year or two, but over time, maybe, if environmental conditions change enough.
And if you change just a few amino acids, you can get a completely different molecule. That knowledge could help us engineer new medicines, design better pest resistance, or even make less toxic produce.

Adam Jozwiak et al, Enzymatic twists evolved stereo-divergent alkaloids in the Solanaceae family, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59290-4

Part 2

500 bird species face extinction within the next century, researchers warn

Climate change and habitat loss could cause more than 500 bird species to go extinct in the next 100 years, researchers  have found.

Their study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, reveals this number is three times higher than all bird extinctions recorded since 1500 CE. The extinction of vulnerable birds such as the bare-necked umbrellabird, the helmeted hornbill, and the yellow-bellied sunbird-asity would greatly reduce the variety of bird shapes and sizes worldwide, harming ecosystems that depend on unique birds like these for vital functions.

The scientists found that even with complete protection from human-caused threats like habitat loss, hunting and climate change, about 250 bird species could still die out.

Many birds are already so threatened that reducing human impacts alone won't save them. These species need special recovery programs, like breeding projects and habitat restoration, to survive.

We face a bird extinction crisis unprecedented in modern times. We need immediate action to reduce human threats across habitats and targeted rescue programs for the most unique and endangered species, the researchers say.

The researchers examined nearly 10,000 bird species using data from the IUCN Red List. They predicted extinction risk based on the threats each species faces. The study found that large-bodied birds are more vulnerable to hunting and climate change, while birds with broad wings suffer more from habitat loss.

This research also identified which conservation actions will best preserve both the number of bird species and their ecological functions.

Stopping the destruction of habitats would save the most birds overall. However, reducing hunting and preventing accidental deaths would save birds with more unusual features, which are especially important for ecosystem health.

Threat reduction must be coupled with targeted recovery programmes to conserve global bird diversity, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02746-z

New evidence map shows normal use of plastic packaging contaminates food with micro- and nanoplastics

In an article published in npj Science of Food, scientists led by the Food Packaging Forum show that the normal and intended use of plastic food packaging and other food contact articles (FCAs), such as opening a plastic bottle or chopping on a plastic cutting board, can contaminate foodstuffs with micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs).

The article describes how the authors systematically evaluated 103 previously published studies investigating plastic particles less than 10 mm in foodstuffs or food simulants that had been in contact with an FCA made partly or entirely of plastic.

Food contact articles are a relevant source of MNPs in foodstuffs; however, their contribution to human MNP exposure is underappreciated, the researchers say.

 Food contact articles as source of micro- and nanoplastics: a systematic evidence map, npj Science of Food (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41538-025-00470-3

Why AI and humans see objects differently: Meaning versus visual features

While humans concentrate on the meaning of objects, artificial intelligence focuses on visual characteristics.

These dimensions represent various properties of objects, ranging from purely visual aspects, like 'round' or 'white,' to more semantic properties, like 'animal-related' or 'fire-related,' with many dimensions containing both visual and semantic elements.

 While humans primarily focus on dimensions related to meaning—what an object is and what we know about it—AI models rely more heavily on dimensions capturing visual properties, such as the object's shape or color. Researchers call this phenomenon 'visual bias' in AI.

"Even when AI appears to recognize objects just as humans do, it often uses fundamentally different strategies. This difference matters because it means that AI systems, despite behaving similarly to humans, might think and make decisions in entirely different ways, affecting how much we can trust them.

 Florian P. Mahner et al, Dimensions underlying the representational alignment of deep neural networks with humans, Nature Machine Intelligence (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42256-025-01041-7