This time researchers designed their CAR to target their synthetic GFP antigen.

When they tested their probiotic CAR system in vitro using different human cancer cell lines, the researchers observed increased specificity and cytotoxicity relative to systems lacking either the GFP tag or receptor. Following the in vitro inspections, their system was ready to leave the garage and hit the road.

For the first in vivo test of their probiotic CAR platform, the researchers turned to immunodeficient mice bearing subcutaneous tumors derived from human cancer cells. After injecting the engineered bacteria directly into the tumor, they waited 48 hours to allow for quorum-regulated release of the GFP tags before similarly delivering the engineered CAR.¹¹ The engineered probiotic CAR system inhibited tumor growth, and subsequent flow cytometry analyses of the tumors provided evidence of increased T cell activation. 

The researchers also found that a partial system produced a partial response: empty bacteria administered alongside the engineered CAR still triggered some T cell activation at the tumor site. The best part of the system is the fact that the T cells respond really strongly to bacteria.

Part 3

To increase CAR T cell proliferation and persistence, patients must first undergo lymphodepletion to kill circulating T cells. However, a long-term goal of immunotherapies is to administer the treatment to an intact immune system. 

To test their system on a functioning immune system, the researchers implanted mouse-derived tumors on both hind flanks of immune-competent mice and then administered the engineered bacteria directly to one of the tumor sites, followed a few days later by two rounds of CAR T treatment. (They introduced an extra dose of CAR T cells to combat T cell exhaustion.) The researchers hoped that their system could generate enough inflammation to stimulate the host immune system to recognize the additional tumor, so they were excited to find a reduction in tumor growth in not only the treated tumor but also the untreated site.

The subcutaneous experiments prepared for the big experiment: intravenous administration of the probiotic CAR system. For this, they implanted human cancer cells into the mammary fat pads of mice with weakened immune systems and then administered the probiotic CAR regimen with one small tweak to the system. In order to further coax the CAR T cells to the tumor site, the researchers engineered the bacteria to corelease the immune cell attractant human chemokine ligand 16 (CXCL16).¹³ This paved a concentration gradient for the CAR T cells to drive along towards the tumor. The added chemokine cargo added a boost to the system, outperforming the standard probiotic CAR regimen with respect to tumor growth inhibition. Additionally, analyses of other organs showed that bacteria and GFP expression was restricted to the tumor site.

Before transitioning these experiments to humans, the researchers will first need to genetically attenuate their engineered bacteria. In this study, they used a wild type strain of E coli, but mice are less sensitive than humans to Gram-negative bacteria toxicity. The major focus of the lab now is trying to make a translational strain of bacteria.

Part 4

A synthetic space for the growth of bacterial therapies 

This is an example of how two different engineered systems can be complementary and synergize their function.

 Beyond remodeling the tumor environment to boost CAR T efficacy, researchers are exploring how engineered bacteria can enhance positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), focus ultrasounds, and even deliver drug-loaded nanoparticles

https://www.the-scientist.com/news/bugs-as-drugs-to-boost-cancer-th...

Part 5

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Scientists spin naturalistic silk from artificial spider gland

Researchers have succeeded in creating a device that spins artificial spider silk that closely matches what spiders naturally produce. The artificial silk gland was able to re-create the complex molecular structure of silk by mimicking the various chemical and physical changes that naturally occur in a spider's silk gland.

This eco-friendly innovation is a big step towards sustainability and could impact several industries.

Famous for its strength, flexibility, and light weight, spider silk has a tensile strength that is comparable to steel of the same diameter, and a strength-to-weight ratio that is unparalleled. Added to that, it's biocompatible, meaning that it can be used in medical applications, as well as biodegradable. So why isn't everything made from spider silk? Large-scale harvesting of silk from spiders has proven impractical for several reasons, leaving it up to scientists to develop a way to produce it in the laboratory.

Spider silk is a biopolymer fiber made from large proteins with highly repetitive sequences, called spidroins. Within the silk fibers are molecular substructures called beta sheets, which must be aligned properly for the silk fibers to have their unique mechanical properties. Re-creating this complex molecular architecture has confounded scientists for years. Rather than trying to devise the process from scratch, scientists now took a biomimicry approach.

They  attempted to mimic natural spider silk production using microfluidics, which involves the flow and manipulation of small amounts of fluids through narrow channels. Indeed, one could say that the spider's silk gland functions as a sort of natural microfluidic device.

The device developed by the researchers looks like a small rectangular box with tiny channels grooved into it. Precursor spidroin solution is placed at one end and then pulled towards the other end by means of negative pressure. As the spidroins flow through the microfluidic channels, they are exposed to precise changes in the chemical and physical environment, which are made possible by the design of the microfluidic system. Under the correct conditions, the proteins self-assembled into silk fibers with their characteristic complex structure.

The researchers experimented to find these correct conditions, and eventually were able to optimize the interactions among the different regions of the microfluidic system. Among other things, they discovered that using force to push the proteins through did not work; only when they used negative pressure to pull the spidroin solution could continuous silk fibers with the correct telltale alignment of beta sheets be assembled.

The ability to artificially produce silk fibers using this method could provide numerous benefits. Not only could it help reduce the negative impact that current textile manufacturing has on the environment, but the biodegradable and biocompatible nature of spider silk makes it ideal for biomedical applications, such as sutures and artificial ligaments.

Jianming Chen et al, Replicating shear-mediated self-assembly of spider silk through microfluidics, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44733-1

Just One Molecule Allows Us to See Millions More Colors Than Our Pets

Now, new research offers some clarity as to what those key vision-defining ingredients – making up just a 4 percent difference between the genes that code for these proteins – actually are.
We previously thought cone determination was basically random, though more recent studies have pointed to thyroid levels playing a role.

But a team from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington has discovered that levels of a molecule derived from vitamin A called retinoic acid make or break red-green cone ratios, at least in the case of their lab-grown retinas.

"These retinal organoids allowed us for the first time to study this very human-specific trait," says developmental biologist Robert Johnston from Johns Hopkins University. "It's a huge question about what makes us human, what makes us different."

In the lab, retinas exposed to more retinoic acid during early development (the first 60 days) resulted in higher ratios of green cones across the organoid after 200 days, while immature cones exposed to low levels of the acid developed into red cones later on.

The timing matters, too. If the retinoic acid was introduced at 130 days onwards, the effect was the same as if none had been added at all. This suggests the acid determines cone type early, and can't cause red cones to 'switch' into green cones that have already matured.

All the lab-grown retinas had similar cone densities, which allowed the team to rule out cone cell death as affecting the ratio of red to green.
part 2

Developmental biologist Sarah Hadyniak, who co-authored the study while at Johns Hopkins University, says their findings have implications for figuring out exactly how retinoic acid is acting on genes.

To get a sense of how much this could be affecting human vision, the researchers studied the retinas of 738 male adults with no signs of color vision deficiency.

The researchers were astonished at the natural variation in red/green cone ratio across this group.

"Seeing how the green and red cone proportions changed in humans was one of the most surprising findings of the new research", Hadyniak says.

It's unclear how this much variation could occur without affecting changes in vision. As Johnston put it, "if these types of cells determined the length of a human arm, the different ratios would produce amazingly different arm lengths."

This research was published in PLOS Biology.
Part 3
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Chemists tie a knot using only 54 atoms

A trio of chemists  has tied the smallest knot ever, using just 54 atoms. In their study, published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers accidentally tied the knot while trying to create metal acetylides in their lab.

The researchers were attempting to create types of alkynes called metal acetylides as a means to conduct other types of organic reactions. More specifically, they were attempting to connect carbon structures to gold acetylides—typically, such work results in the creation of simple chains of gold known as caternames.
But, unexpectedly, the result of one reaction created a chain that knotted itself into a trefoil knot with no loose ends. Trefoil knots are used in making pretzels and play a major role in knot theory. The researchers noted that the knot had a backbone crossing ratio (BCR) of 23. Knot BCRs are a measure of the strength of the knot. Most organic knots, the team notes, have a BCR somewhere between 27 and 33.

The knot represents a record—its three-leaf clover shape beats out a previous record held by a different team in China that created a 69-atom knot back in 2020. The prior record holder was created on purpose by that team using techniques developed to entwine strands into knots. The new record holder self-assembled, and the team behind it still does not understand how it happened. It is not yet known if it is possible to make a knot any smaller.

The creation of such tiny knots, the research team points out, is not just an interesting lab trick—microscopic knots are formed in many natural settings, such as in RNA and DNA and several other proteins. By creating tiny knots, chemists are learning more about how and why they come about in nature. It also could help in the discovery of new types of polymers and/or plastics.

Cells' electric fields keep nanoparticles at bay, scientists confirm

The humble membranes that enclose our cells have a surprising superpower: They can push away nano-sized molecules that happen to approach them. A team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has figured out why, by using artificial membranes that mimic the behavior of natural ones. Their discovery could make a difference in how we design the many drug treatments that target our cells.

The team's findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, confirm that the powerful electrical fields that cell membranes generate are largely responsible for repelling nanoscale particles from the surface of the cell.
This repulsion notably affects neutral, uncharged nanoparticles, in part because the smaller, charged molecules the electric field attracts crowd the membrane and push away the larger particles. Since many drug treatments are built around proteins and other nanoscale particles that target the membrane, the repulsion could play a role in the treatments' effectiveness.

The findings provide the first direct evidence that the electric fields are responsible for the repulsion.

This repulsion, along with the related crowding that the smaller molecules exert, is likely to play a significant role in how molecules with a weak charge interact with biological membranes and other charged surfaces.

This has implications for drug design and delivery, and for the behavior of particles in crowded environments at the nanometer scale.

Part 1

Membranes form boundaries in nearly all kinds of cells. Not only does a cell have an outer membrane that contains and protects the interior, but often there are other membranes inside, forming parts of organelles such as mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus. Understanding membranes is important to medical science, not least because proteins lodged in the cell membrane are frequent drug targets. Some membrane proteins are like gates that regulate what gets into and out of the cell.

The region near these membranes can be a busy place. Thousands of types of different molecules crowd each other and the cell membrane—and as anyone who has tried to push through a crowd knows, it can be tough going. Smaller molecules such as salts move with relative ease because they can fit into tighter spots, but larger molecules, such as proteins, are limited in their movements.

This sort of molecular crowding has become a very active scientific research topic, because it plays a real-world role in how the cell functions. How a cell behaves depends on the delicate interplay of the ingredients in this cellular "soup." Now, it appears that the cell membrane might have an effect too, sorting molecules near itself by size and charge.

How does crowding affect the cell and its behavior? How, for example, do molecules in this soup get sorted inside the cell, making some of them available for biological functions, but not others? The effect of the membrane could make a difference.

Marcel Aguilella-Arzo et al, Charged Biological Membranes Repel Large Neutral Molecules by Surface Dielectrophoresis and Counterion Pressure, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c12348. pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jacs.3c12348

Scientists announce breakthrough in hypersonic heat shield

In a giant leap for future hypersonic flight,  scientists have turned to multi-scale technology to develop a revolutionary new material that has achieved record high marks in tests for vital strength and thermal insulation properties.

The scientists say their porous ceramic creation opens the door to wider exploration in the fields of aerospace, chemical engineering and energy transfer and production.

For the first time, it is reported a multi-scale structure design and fast fabrication of … high-entropy ceramics via an ultrafast high-temperature synthesis technique that can lead to exceptional mechanical load-bearing capability and high thermal insulation performance," the researchers said in a paper published Jan. 2 in the journal Advanced Materials.

So they turned to the concept of high-entropy design to come up with a porous ceramic material that achieved a good balance between strength and heat resistance without the usual downsides.

High-entropy design focuses on the use of equal measures of multiple elements that can be used to create stronger, more heat-resistant and more stable components.

The researchers developed a material that achieved the demanding insulation and weight criteria for aerospace flight. Their new ceramic creation, which goes by the unassuming name 9PHEB—9-cation porous high-entropy diboride—provides "exceptional thermal stability" and "ultrahigh compressive strength," the researchers said.

"High-quality interfaces, characterized by strong bonding without defects or amorphous phases, can promote the rapid force transfer along the building block and to many other ones through connections upon loading, leading to a significant enhancement of mechanical strength," the report said.

With modification, CAR T cells can attack senescent cells, leading to slower aging in mice

Researchers have discovered that T cells can be reprogrammed to fight aging, so to speak. Given the right set of genetic modifications, these white blood cells can attack another group of cells known as senescent cells. These cells are thought to be responsible for many of the diseases we grapple with later in life.

Senescent cells are those that stop replicating. As we age, they build up in our bodies, resulting in harmful inflammation. While several drugs currently exist that can eliminate these cells, many must be taken repeatedly over time.
As an alternative, scientists turned to a "living" drug called CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cells. They discovered CAR T cells could be manipulated to eliminate senescent cells in mice. As a result, the mice ended up living healthier lives. They had lower body weight, improved metabolism and glucose tolerance, and increased physical activity. All benefits came without any tissue damage or toxicity.
If we give it to aged mice, they rejuvenate. If we give it to young mice, they age slower. No other therapy right now can do this.
Perhaps the greatest power of CAR T cells is their longevity. The team found that just one dose at a young age can have lifelong effects. That single treatment can protect against conditions that commonly occur later in life, like obesity and diabetes.
T cells have the ability to develop memory and persist in your body for really long periods, which is very different from a chemical drug. With CAR T cells, you have the potential of getting this one treatment, and then that's it. For chronic pathologies, that's a huge advantage. Think about patients who need treatment multiple times per day versus you get an infusion, and then you're good to go for multiple years.
CAR T cells have been used to treat a variety of blood cancers, receiving FDA approval for this purpose in 2017. But this team is one of the first scientists to show that CAR T cells' medical potential goes even further than cancer.

Nature Aging (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43587-023-00560-5

Co-stimulatory signaling domains have been added to newer generations of CAR T cells to improve their ability to produce more T cells after infusion and survive longer in the circulation.

Researchers observe tiny pseudoscorpion riding on a scorpion

Researchers recently  documented the first observation of phoresy involving a myrmecophile pseudo-scorpion on a myrmecophile scorpion.

Phoresy, a well-established phenomenon among pseudoscorpions, involves their attachment to hosts for dispersal into new environments. Documented instances of phoresy include pseudoscorpions attaching themselves to various hosts, ranging from mammals and birds to different insect orders and even other arachnids.

The study focused on pseudoscorpions belonging to an endemic Withiidae species, Nannowithius wahrmani, observed clinging onto the endemic scorpion species Birulatus israelensis in Israel. The research paper, titled "Hitching a ride on a scorpion: the first record of phoresy of a myrmecophile pseudoscorpion on a myrmecophile scorpion," is published in Arachnologische Mitteilungen: Arachnology Letters.

Sharon Warburg et al, Hitching a ride on a scorpion: the first record of phoresy of a myrmecophile pseudoscorpion on a myrmecophile scorpion, Arachnologische Mitteilungen: Arachnology Letters (2024). DOI: 10.30963/aramit6605

Why coffee beans taste different

Differences in the flavours of Arabica coffee varieties aren’t because of variations in individual genes. Rather, they seem to be mainly the result of wholesale swapping, deletion and rearrangement.... The most complete sequencing yet of Coffea arabica’s genome reveals that the levels of single-‘letter’ variations in the plant’s DNA “are anywhere from 10 to 100 times lower than any other species”, says plant geneticist and study co-author Michele Morgante.

Nature
 Nature Communications paper

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How chronic stress harms the gut

Researchers have revealed one of the mind-body connections that links stress to gastrointestinal flare-ups. In mice, Lactobacillus bacteria  which naturally occur in the gut and proliferate under stressful conditions produce a chemical that disrupts teh production of  intestine-protecting cells. The team also found elevated levels of Lactobacillus, and the harmful chemical, in the faeces of people with depression. When we suffer from stress, our gut microbiome is also suffering from stress. 

Nature
 Cell Metabolism 

Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside its domain value judgments of all kinds remain 

Rare decay of the Higgs boson may point to physics beyond the Standard Model

Particle physicists have detected a novel decay of the Higgs boson for the first time, revealing a slight discrepancy in the predictions of the Standard Model and perhaps pointing to new physics beyond it. 

For this run the energy in the collision of the two protons was 13 trillion electron-volts, just below the machine's current maximum, which in more relatable units is 2.1 microjoules. That's about the kinetic energy of the average mosquito, or a grain of salt, traveling one meter per second.

Theory predicts that about 15 times per 10,000 decays, the Higgs boson should decay into a Z boson and a photon, the rarest decay in the Standard Model. It does so by first producing a pair of top quarks, or a pair of W bosons, which themselves then decay into the Z and photon.

The Atlas/CMS collaboration, work from more than 9,000 scientists, found a "branching ratio," or fraction of decays of 34 times per 10,000 decays, plus or minus 11 per 10,000—2.2 times the theoretical value.

The measured fraction is too large—3.4 standard deviations above the theoretical value, a number still too small to rule out a statistical fluke. Still, the relatively large difference hints at the possibility of a meaningful discrepancy from theory that could be due to physics beyond the Standard Model—new particles that are the intermediaries other than the top quark and W bosons.
One possibility for physics beyond the Standard Model is supersymmetry, the theory that posits a symmetry—a relationship—between particles of a half-spin, called fermions, and integer spin, called bosons, with every known particle having a partner with a spin differing by a half-integer.

Many theoretical physicists have long been advocates of supersymmetry as it would solve many conundrums that plague the Standard Model, such as the large difference (1024) between the strengths of the weak force and gravity, or why the mass of the Higgs boson, about 125 gigaelectron-volts (GeV), is so much less than the grand unification energy scale of about 1016 GeV.

G. Aad et al, Evidence for the Higgs Boson Decay to a Z Boson and a Photon at the LHC, Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.021803

Part 2

Scientists discover the moon is shrinking, causing landslides and instability in lunar south pole

Earth's moon shrank more than 150 feet in circumference as its core gradually cooled over the last few hundred million years. In much the same way a grape wrinkles when it shrinks down to a raisin, the moon also develops creases as it shrinks. But unlike the flexible skin on a grape, the moon's surface is brittle, causing faults to form where sections of crust push against one another.

A team of scientists discovered evidence that this continuing shrinkage of the moon led to notable surface warping in its south polar region—including areas that NASA proposed for crewed Artemis III landings. Because fault formation caused by the moon's shrinking is often accompanied by seismic activity like moonquakes, locations near or within such fault zones could pose dangers to future human exploration efforts.

In a paper published in The Planetary Science Journal, the team linked a group of faults located in the moon's south polar region to one of the most powerful moonquakes recorded by Apollo seismometers over 50 years ago. Using models to simulate the stability of surface slopes in the region, the team found that some areas were particularly vulnerable to landslides from seismic shaking.

Shallow moonquakes occur near the surface of the moon, just a hundred or so miles deep into the crust. Similar to earthquakes, shallow moonquakes are caused by faults in the moon's interior and can be strong enough to damage buildings, equipment and other human-made structures.

But unlike earthquakes, which tend to last only a few seconds or minutes, shallow moonquakes can last for hours and even a whole afternoon.

Watters et al, Tectonics and Seismicity of the Lunar South Polar Region, The Planetary Science Journal (2024). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ad1332

How HIV smuggles its genetic material into the cell nucleus

Each year, about 1 million individuals worldwide become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. To replicate and spread the infection, the virus must smuggle its genetic material into the cell nucleus and integrate it into a chromosome.

Researchers have now discovered that its capsid has evolved into a molecular transporter. As such, it can directly breach a crucial barrier, which normally protects the cell nucleus against viral invaders. This way of smuggling keeps the viral genome invisible to anti-viral sensors in the cytoplasm. Their study is published in Nature. 

Forty years after the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was discovered as the cause of AIDS, we have therapies that effectively keep the pathogen under control, but there is still no cure. The virus infects certain immune cells and hijacks their genetic program in order to multiply and replicate its own genetic material. The infected cells then produce the next generation of viruses until they are finally destroyed. The immunodeficiency symptoms of AIDS result from the massive loss of immune cells that normally fight viruses and other pathogens.
To use the host cell's resources, HIV must smuggle its genetic material through cellular defense lines into the cell nucleus. The nucleus, however, is closely guarded. Its nuclear envelope prevents unwanted proteins or harmful viruses from entering the nucleus and macromolecules from an uncontrolled escape. Yet, selected proteins can pass because the barrier is not hermetically sealed.

Thousands of tiny nuclear pores in the nuclear envelope provide a passageway. They control these transport processes with the help of importins and exportins—molecular transporters that capture cargoes with valid molecular "passcodes" and deliver them through the nuclear pore channel. A "smart" material turns these pores into one of nature's most efficient sorting and transport machines.

Part 1

This "smart" material, called FG phase, is jelly-like and impenetrable for most macromolecules. It fills and blocks the nuclear pore channel. Importins and exportins, however, can pass through because their surfaces are optimized for sliding through an FG phase.

The cell's border control in the FG phase happens extremely fast—within milliseconds. Likewise, its transport capacity is enormous: A single nuclear pore can transfer up to 1,000 transporters per second through its channel. Even with such a high traffic density, the barrier of nuclear pores remains intact and keeps suppressing unwanted border crossings. HIV, however, subverts this control.
HIV packages its genome into a capsid. Recent evidence suggests that the genome stays inside the capsid until it reaches the nucleus, and thus also when passing the nuclear pore. But there is a size problem.
The central pore channel is 40 to 60 nanometers wide. The capsid has a width of about 60 nanometers and could just squeeze through the pore.

However, a normal cellular cargo would still be covered by a transporter layer that adds at least another ten nanometers. The HIV capsid would then be 70 nanometers wide—too big for a nuclear pore. Nevertheless, cryo-electron tomography has shown that the HIV capsid gets into the nuclear pore. But how this happens has been so far a mystery in HIV infection.

 Liran Fu et al, HIV-1 capsids enter the FG phase of nuclear pores like a transport receptor, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06966-w

Part 2

Stars travel more slowly at Milky Way's edge: Galaxy's core may contain less dark matter than previously estimated

By clocking the speed of stars throughout the Milky Way galaxy,  physicists have found that stars further out in the galactic disk are traveling more slowly than expected compared to stars that are closer to the galaxy's center. The findings raise a surprising possibility: The Milky Way's gravitational core may be lighter in mass, and contain less dark matter, than previously thought.

The new results are based on the researchers' analysis of data taken by the Gaia and APOGEE instruments. Gaia is an orbiting space telescope that tracks the precise location, distance, and motion of more than 1 billion stars throughout the Milky Way galaxy, while APOGEE is a ground-based survey.

The physicists analyzed Gaia's measurements of more than 33,000 stars, including some of the farthest stars in the galaxy, and determined each star's "circular velocity," or how fast a star is circling in the galactic disk, given the star's distance from the galaxy's center.

The scientists plotted each star's velocity against its distance to generate a rotation curve—a standard graph in astronomy that represents how fast matter rotates at a given distance from the center of a galaxy. The shape of this curve can give scientists an idea of how much visible and dark matter is distributed throughout a galaxy.

What they were really surprised to see was that this curve remained flat, flat, flat out to a certain distance, and then it started tanking. This means the outer stars are rotating a little slower than expected, which is a very surprising result.

The team translated the new rotation curve into a distribution of dark matter that could explain the outer stars' slow-down, and found the resulting map produced a lighter galactic core than expected. That is, the center of the Milky Way may be less dense, with less dark matter, than scientists have thought.

 Xiaowei Ou et al, The dark matter profile of the Milky Way inferred from its circular velocity curve, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae034

Writing by hand may increase brain connectivity more than typing on a keyboard

As digital devices progressively replace pen and paper, taking notes by hand is becoming increasingly uncommon in schools and universities. Using a keyboard is recommended because it's often faster than writing by hand. However, the latter has been found to improve spelling accuracy and memory recall.

To find out if the process of forming letters by hand resulted in greater brain connectivity, researchers  now investigated the underlying neural networks involved in both modes of writing.

They showed that when writing by hand, brain connectivity patterns are far more elaborate than when typewriting on a keyboard. Such widespread brain connectivity is known to be crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, is beneficial for learning.

The researchers collected EEG data from 36 university students who were repeatedly prompted to either write or type a word that appeared on a screen. When writing, they used a digital pen to write in cursive directly on a touchscreen. When typing they used a single finger to press keys on a keyboard.

High-density EEGs, which measure electrical activity in the brain using 256 small sensors sewn in a net and placed over the head, were recorded for five seconds for every prompt.

Connectivity of different brain regions increased when participants wrote by hand, but not when they typed. These findings suggest that visual and movement information obtained through precisely controlled hand movements when using a pen contribute extensively to the brain's connectivity patterns that promote learning.

Although the participants used digital pens for handwriting, the researchers said that the results are expected to be the same when using a real pen on paper.

Their findings demonstrate the need to give students the opportunity to use pens, rather than having them type during class, the researchers said.

Handwriting but not Typewriting Leads to Widespread Brain Connectivity: A High-Density EEG Study with Implications for the Classroom, Frontiers in Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945

On tropical coasts, hermit crabs are now making their homes in plastic waste

Terrestrial hermit crabs are soft-bodied crustaceans that live near water in the world's tropical areas. Without any natural protection of their own, these crabs normally find shelter in discarded mollusk shells. But a number of terrestrial hermit crab species are beginning to opt for artificial shells frequently consisting of plastic objects found in beach trash.

New research on this topic, described in a short communication by a team from the University of Warsaw's Biological and Chemical Research Center and the department of Zoology at Poland's Poznań University of Life Sciences, appears in Science of the Total Environment.

Plastic pollution, which is increasing, already comprises 85% of marine pollution worldwide. Existing research shows that most of the plastic pollution in Earth's oceans arrives there via rivers, leading to plastic waste accumulation on coastlines.

Terrestrial hermit crabs (Coenobitidae) live on all the world's tropical coastlines, and typically acquire empty shells of gastropods to protect their soft abdominal region, known as pleon. The shells protect them from predators and also keep their pleon from drying out.

Studies on the crabs' selection of shells have shown the main factors include chemical signals gleaned from shells; proximity of predators; quality of shells; and rate of individual crab growth. It has also been shown that shells play a role in sexual signaling, as the size and state of male crabs' shells affect females' mate choices.

Part 1

In discussing possible reasons for this behavior among Coenobitidae, the team notes the environmental availability of plastic waste, along with the growing scarcity of gastropod shells due to localized human activities. The researchers also suggest factors involved in individual choice, including:

• Attractiveness of artificial materials to mating females
• Lighter artificial shell weights that might benefit hermit crabs' energy
• An odor cue of dimethyl sulfide, found in both natural shells and marine waste; and
• The possibility that artificial shells may serve more efficiently as camouflage in polluted areas, given that shell selection is often made to blend into the localized environment.

These are all topics for further investigation.

"Are artificial shells setting the scene for a novel evolutionary trajectory in hermit crabs, or are they an ecological and evolutionary trap of the Anthropocene?" the researchers ask.

While this new behavior might be considered a clever adaptation, the main factor behind it is undeniable. In that vein, what this habit ultimately means for the evolution of terrestrial hermit crabs remains to be studied.

 Zuzanna Jagiello et al, The plastic homes of hermit crabs in the Anthropocene, Science of the Total Environment (2024). DOI:/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168959

Part 2

Coenobita purpureus with artificial shells: (A) plastic cap, (B) bulb fragment, (C) metal cap with a glass bottle fragment. Credit: Shawn Miller / Science of the Total Environment (2024). DOI:/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168959

Part 3

How obesity dismantles our mitochondria: Study reveals key mechanism behind obesity-related metabolic dysfunction

The number of people with obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, resulting in a worldwide epidemic. While lifestyle factors like diet and exercise play a role in the development and progression of obesity, scientists have come to understand that obesity is also associated with intrinsic metabolic abnormalities.

Now researchers  have shed new light on how obesity affects our mitochondria, the all-important energy-producing structures of our cells.

In a study published in Nature Metabolism, the researchers found that when mice were fed a high-fat diet, mitochondria within their fat cells broke apart into smaller mitochondria with reduced capacity for burning fat. Further, they discovered that this process is controlled by a single gene. By deleting this gene from the mice, they were able to protect them from excess weight gain, even when they ate the same high-fat diet as other mice.

Caloric overload from overeating can lead to weight gain and also triggers a metabolic cascade that reduces energy burning, making obesity even worse.

In the case of caloric imbalances like obesity, the ability of fat cells to burn energy starts to fail, which is one reason why it can be difficult for people with obesity to lose weight.

In addition to discovering this metabolic effect, they also discovered that it is driven by the activity of a single molecule, called RaIA. RaIA has many functions, including helping break down mitochondria when they malfunction. The new research suggests that when this molecule is overactive, it interferes with the normal functioning of mitochondria, triggering the metabolic issues associated with obesity. In essence, chronic activation of RaIA appears to play a critical role in suppressing energy expenditure in obese adipose tissue. By understanding this mechanism, we're one step closer to developing targeted therapies that could address weight gain and associated metabolic dysfunctions by increasing fat burning.

 Nature Metabolism (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-024-00978-0

Research reveals quantum entanglement among quarks

Collisions of high energy particles produce "jets" of quarks, anti-quarks, or gluons. Due to the phenomenon called confinement, scientists cannot directly detect quarks. Instead, the quarks from these collisions fragment into many secondary particles that can be detected.

Scientists recently addressed jet production using quantum simulations. They found that the propagating jets strongly modify the quantum vacuum—the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. In addition, the produced quarks retain quantum entanglement, the linkage between particles across distances. This finding, published in Physical Review Letters, means that scientists can now study this entanglement in experiments.

Adrien Florio et al, Real-Time Nonperturbative Dynamics of Jet Production in Schwinger Model: Quantum Entanglement and Vacuum Modification, Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.021902

Researchers slow down light in metasurfaces with record low loss

The speed of light can be intentionally reduced in various media. Various techniques have been developed over the years to slow down light, including electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), photonic crystals, and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS).

Notably, researchers from Harvard, led by Lene Vestergaard Hau, reduced light speed to 17 m/s in an ultracold atomic gas using EIT, which sparked the interest in exploring EIT analogs in metasurfaces, a transformative platform in optics and photonics.

Despite the benefits, slow-light structures face a significant challenge: Loss, which limits storage time and interaction length. This issue is particularly severe for metasurface analogs of EIT due to scattering loss of nanoparticles and sometimes absorption loss of materials.

In a study published in Nano Letters, researchers introduced a novel strategy to realize a metasurface analog of EIT while effectively suppressing losses.

Unlike conventional metasurface analogs of EIT induced by coupling between two localized resonances supported by closely packed meta-atoms, or between localized and collective resonances, the researchers proposed a new type called "collective EIT-like resonance," which is induced by the coupling between two collective resonances—a Mie electric dipole surface lattice resonance (ED-SLR) and an in-plane or out-of-plane electric quadrupole SLR (EQ-SLR).

Using silicon metasurfaces with a 100 nm-thick nanodisk array, they demonstrated collective EIT-like resonances with a quality factor exceeding 2,750, more than five times the state-of-the-art. In practical terms, light passing through the silicon nanodisks can be slowed down by more than 10,000 times, with a reduction in loss by more than five times compared to existing methods.

The departure from the conventional belief that metasurface performance depends on how closely meta-atoms can be placed. The researchers explored the extreme regime of zero distance between meta-atoms, essentially merging them into one. Unlike conventional methods, their approach allowed the tuning of surface lattice resonances to overlap spectrally, enabling the realization of metasurface analogs of EIT.

Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated a BIC-characterized collective EIT-like resonance utilizing the transition between the in-plane EQ-SLR and the bound state in the continuum (BIC). This suggested the potential to slow down light by an arbitrarily large factor while maintaining a growing quality factor.

 Xueqian Zhao et al, Ultrahigh-Q Metasurface Transparency Band Induced by Collective–Collective Coupling, Nano Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c04174

The first observation of a material exhibiting a supersolid phase of matter

Through experimental research, a team of physicists affiliated with multiple institutions in China has observed a material in a supersolid phase of matter for the first time. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes the experiments they conducted to accomplish this feat and its implications. Nature has published a Research Briefing in the same journal issue outlining the work done by the team on this effort.

A supersolid is a seemingly contradictory material—it is defined as rigid, but also has superfluidity, in which a liquid flows without friction. In the 1970s, theoretical work by Anthony Leggett suggested that such a material might be possible. But until now, no one has been able to find it in nature or synthesize it in the lab.

To create a supersolid, the researchers involved in this new study started with a compound called NBCP—it has the unique attribute of atoms arranged in triangular lattices. This means, the research team found, that if it is placed within a magnetic field, all its atoms will spin in the same direction.

But when the magnet is removed, the atoms all try to orient themselves with a spin opposite that of their neighbor—but because they are arranged in a triangle, "frustration" arises because of the limited possible orientations. This observation suggested that under the right conditions, NBCP could exist as a supersolid.

To create the right conditions, the researchers built an apparatus to measure the magnetocaloric effect as the material was exposed to a magnetic field without fear of heat leaks. This allowed them to map the entropy state, which in turn allowed them to detect the spin states of the atoms and their transitions. They compared the findings with theoretical calculations and determined that they were on the right track. They then carried out neutron diffraction measurements and compared them to theoretical calculations, and once again found agreement. Together, such measurements allowed them to conclude that they had observed a material in its supersolid state. The observation is expected to open new possibilities for studying quantum phenomena and simulating novel materials.

Junsen Xiang et al, Giant magnetocaloric effect in spin supersolid candidate Na2BaCo(PO4)2, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06885-w

Spin supersolid with giant magnetocaloric effect promises a new route to extreme cooling, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-04102-2. www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-04102-2

Brains Not Required
Simple cells, not just highly specialized neurons, can exhibit basic cognitive abilities such as memory, learning, and problem-solving. Tufts University biologist Michael Levin trained flatworms to expect yummy liver treats at a certain location in their dish. Even after he decapitated the worms (don’t worry! They regrew their heads), the worms could remember where to go for a liver snack. Researchers suspect that body cells are able to use weak electric fields to store information.

Why this is so cool: Plants, slime molds, and single-celled organisms also demonstrate surprising abilities to sense and respond to their environment, challenging the idea that intelligence is limited to creatures with brains. Weak fields of bioelectricity could be how cells communicate with each other and transmit information throughout the body.

What the experts say: "All intelligence is really collective intelligence, because every cognitive system is made of some kind of parts,” says Levin, who also studied the role of bioelectricity in frog development and the origin of cancer.

 body cells are able to use weak electric fields to store information. 

DNA particles that mimic viruses hold promise as vaccines

Using a virus-like delivery particle made from DNA, researchers have created a vaccine that can induce a strong antibody response against SARS-CoV-2.

The vaccine, which has been tested in mice, consists of a DNA scaffold that carries many copies of a viral antigen. This type of vaccine, known as a particulate vaccine, mimics the structure of a virus. Most previous work on particulate vaccines has relied on protein scaffolds, but the proteins used in those vaccines tend to generate an unnecessary immune response that can distract the immune system from the target.

In the mouse study, the researchers found that the DNA scaffold does not induce an immune response, allowing the immune system to focus its antibody response on the target antigen.

This approach, which strongly stimulates B cells (the cells that produce antibodies), could make it easier to develop vaccines against viruses that have been difficult to target, including HIV and influenza, as well as SARS-CoV-2, the researchers say. Unlike T cells, which are stimulated by other types of vaccines, these B cells can persist for decades, offering long-term protection.

Enhancing antibody responses by multivalent antigen display on thymusindependent DNA origami scaffolds, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44869-0

Study finds gut microbiota influence severity of respiratory viral infection

The composition of microbiota found in the gut influences how susceptible mice are to respiratory virus infections and the severity of these infections, according to new research by researchers.

The findings, published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, report that segmented filamentous bacteria, a bacterial species found in the intestines, protected mice against influenza virus infection when these bacteria were either naturally acquired or administered.

This protection against infection also applied to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19. To maintain this protection, the study noted that segmented filamentous bacteria required immune cells in the lungs called basally resident alveolar macrophages.

In this study, the researchers investigated how differences in specific microbial species can impact outcomes of respiratory virus infections and how they might do so, which hasn't been well defined previously. They studied mice with discrete microbiome differences and mice differing in only the presence or absence of segmented filamentous bacteria. Viral titers in the lung were measured several days after infection and varied significantly depending on the nature of the microbiome of the different animal groups.

These findings uncover complex interactions that mechanistically link the intestinal microbiota with the functionality of basally resident alveolar macrophages and severity of respiratory virus infection.

Intestinal microbiota programming of alveolar macrophages influences severity of respiratory viral infection, Cell Host & Microbe (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.01.002. www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe … 1931-3128(24)00006-4

Neanderthals and humans lived side by side in Northern Europe 45,000 years ago, genetic analysis finds

A genetic analysis of bone fragments unearthed at an archaeological site in central Germany shows conclusively that modern humans—Homo sapiens—had already reached Northern Europe 45,000 years ago, overlapping with Neanderthals for several thousand years before the latter went extinct.

The findings establish that the site near Ranis, Germany, which is known for its finely flaked, leaf-shaped stone tool blades, is among the oldest confirmed sites of modern human Stone Age culture in north central and northwestern Europe.

The evidence that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis lived side by side is consistent with genomic evidence that the two species occasionally interbred. It also feeds the suspicion that the invasion of Europe and Asia by modern humans some 50,000 years ago helped drive Neanderthals, which had occupied the area for more than 500,000 years, to extinction.

The genetic analysis, along with an archaeological and isotopic analysis and radiocarbon dating of the Ranis site, are detailed in a trio of papers appearing in the journals Nature and Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Jean-Jacques Hublin, Homo sapiens reached the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000 years ago, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06923-7. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06923-7

Stable isotopes show Homo sapiens dispersed into cold steppes ~45,000 years ago at Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02318-z , www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02318-z

The ecology, subsistence and diet of ~45,000-year-old Homo sapiens at Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02303-6 , www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-02303-6

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-neanderthals-humans-side-northern-eur...

Scientists pinpoint growth of brain's cerebellum as key to evolution of bird flight

Evolutionary biologists  report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did the brains of birds evolve to enable them to fly?

The answer, they say, appears to be an adaptive increase in the size of the cerebellum in some fossil vertebrates. The cerebellum is a brain region responsible for movement and motor control.

The research findings are published in the Jan. 31 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The researchers performed positron emission tomography, or PET, imaging scans, the same technology commonly used on humans, to compare activity in 26 regions of the brain when the bird was at rest and immediately after it flew for 10 minutes from one perch to another. They scanned eight birds on different days. PET scans use a compound similar to glucose that can be tracked to where it's most absorbed by brain cells, indicating increased use of energy and thus activity. The tracker degrades and gets excreted from the body within a day or two. Of the 26 regions, one area—the cerebellum—had statistically significant increases in activity levels between resting and flying in all eight birds. Overall, the level of activity increase in the cerebellum differed by more than two standard statistical deviations, compared with other areas of the brain. The researchers also detected increased brain activity in the so-called optic flow pathways, a network of brain cells that connect the retina in the eye to the cerebellum. These pathways process movement across the visual field.

What was new in this research was linking the cerebellum findings of flight-enabled brains in modern birds to the fossil record that showed how the brains of birdlike dinosaurs began to develop brain conditions for powered flight.

Quantitative functional imaging of the pigeon brain: implications for the evolution of avian powered flight, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2172. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi … .1098/rspb.2023.2172

Brain changes behind pain sensitivity may affect older women more

A new study has found that the brain system enabling us to inhibit our own pain changes with age, and that gender-based differences in those changes may lead females to be more sensitive to moderate pain than males as older adults.

Researchers used fMRI scans to examine brain responses in men and women who had rated the intensity and unpleasantness of pain during exposure to increasing levels of heat. The results suggested that established gender differences in pain perception could likely be traced at least in part to this brain network, and offered new evidence that those gender differences may become more disparate with age.

Michelle D. Failla et al, Gender Differences in Pain Threshold, Unpleasantness, and Descending Pain Modulatory Activation Across the Adult Life Span: A Cross Sectional Study, The Journal of Pain (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.10.027

How synthetic biology is helping us: Researchers engineer viruses to kill deadly pathogens

Researchers have successfully coaxed a deadly pathogen to destroy itself from the inside out.

In a new study, researchers modified DNA from a bacteriophage or "phage," a type of virus that infects and replicates inside of bacteria. Then, the research team put the DNA inside Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), a deadly bacterium that is also highly resistant to antibiotics. Once inside the bacterium, the DNA bypassed the pathogen's defense mechanisms to assemble into virions, which sliced through the bacterium's cell to kill it.

Building on a growing interest in "phage therapies," the experimental work represents a critical step toward engineering designer viruses as new therapeutics to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It also reveals vital information about the inner workings of phages, a little-studied area of biology.

The study, "A synthetic biology approach to assemble and reboot clinically relevant Pseudomonas aeruginosa tailed phages," was published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.

Not only did the phage kill the bacteria, the bacteria also ejected billions more phages. These phages can then be used to kill other bacteria, like those causing an infection.

A synthetic biology approach to assemble and reboot clinically relevant Pseudomonas aeruginosa tailed phages, Microbiology Spectrum (2024). DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02897-23

Study finds 1 in 10 veterans diagnosed with dementia may instead have cognitive decline from cirrhosis

As many as 10% of older U.S. veterans diagnosed with dementia may suffer instead from reversible cognitive decline caused by advanced liver disease, according to an analysis from the Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine and the Richmond VA Medical Center.

It can be difficult for physicians to differentiate dementia from the cognitive decline caused by cirrhosis, called hepatic encephalopathy. If undetected, patients may not receive appropriate treatment that can reverse or halt the impairment. The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, sought to learn more about the prevalence and risk factors of undiagnosed cirrhosis and potential encephalopathy in veterans with dementia. The findings suggest that physicians treating veterans with dementia, even without a cirrhosis diagnosis, should consider assessing their patients for liver disease. Identifying cirrhosis early on may unveil reversible causes of cognitive impairment, potentially improving the lives of these patients.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a nervous system disorder brought on by cirrhosis, an advanced form of liver disease in which patients experience severe scarring of the liver. When the liver doesn't work properly, toxins build up in the blood. These toxins can travel to the brain and affect brain function, leaving patients confused or delirious. Widely available medications can readily rid the body of toxins and reverse this condition, but without treatment, patients can lapse into coma or die.

Undiagnosed Cirrhosis and Hepatic Encephalopathy in a National Cohort of Veterans With Dementia, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.53965

Surgeons' choice of skin disinfectant impacts infection risk, Canadian-American study shows

Does the type of solution used by surgeons to disinfect skin before surgery impact the risk of surgical site infection? According to new research from an international trial jointly led by McMaster University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine—yes, it does!

Researchers of the PREPARE trial, which enrolled nearly 8,500 participants at 25 hospitals in Canada and the United States, found the use of iodine povacrylex in alcohol to disinfect a patient's skin could prevent surgical site infection in thousands of patients undergoing surgery for a closed fracture each year. The findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, are poised to have many hospitals consider a policy change to the use of iodine povacrylex in alcohol for fracture surgeries.

The trial included 6,785 patients undergoing surgery to treat a closed lower extremity or pelvic fracture and 1,700 patients undergoing surgery to treat an open fracture. Closed fractures occur when the bone is broken, but the skin is intact. Open fractures have an exceptionally high risk of infection due to the open wound and bone being exposed to environmental bacteria for hours before surgery. Researchers compared the two most commonly used antiseptic products in the United States and Canada. Patients with closed fractures randomized to receive 0.7% iodine povacrylex in 74% isopropyl alcohol for skin antisepsis experienced fewer post-operative surgical site infections than those randomized to receive 2% chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% isopropyl alcohol. In patients with open fractures, the risk of infection was similar between the two different antiseptic skin preparation solutions.

These results suggest that the use of iodine povacrylex in alcohol as preoperative skin antisepsis could prevent surgical-site infection in thousands of patients with closed fractures each year.

Skin Antisepsis before Surgical Fixation of Extremity Fractures, New England Journal of Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2307679

Trees struggle to 'breathe' as climate warms, researchers find

Trees are struggling to sequester heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO₂) in warmer, drier climates, meaning that they may no longer serve as a solution for offsetting humanity's carbon footprint as the planet continues to warm, according to a new study by researchers.

They  found that trees in warmer, drier climates are essentially coughing instead of breathing. They are sending CO₂ right back into the atmosphere far more than trees in cooler, wetter conditions.

Through the process of photosynthesis, trees remove CO₂ from the atmosphere to produce new growth. Yet, under stressful conditions, trees release CO₂ back to the atmosphere, a process called photorespiration. With an analysis of a global dataset of tree tissue, the research team demonstrated that the rate of photorespiration is up to two times higher in warmer climates, especially when water is limited.

They found the threshold for this response in subtropical climates begins to be crossed when average daytime temperatures exceed roughly 68 degrees Fahrenheit and worsens as temperatures rise further.

The results complicate a widespread belief about the role of plants in helping to draw down—or use—carbon from the atmosphere, providing new insight into how plants could adapt to climate change. Importantly, the researchers noted that as the climate warms, their findings demonstrate that plants could be less able to draw CO₂ out of the atmosphere and assimilate the carbon necessary to help the planet cool down.

Max K. Lloyd et al, Isotopic clumping in wood as a proxy for photorespiration in trees, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306736120

Out of Rhythm
The occurrence of atrial fibrillation quadrupled over the past 50 years, according to recent studies. A-fib occurs when electrical signals in the upper chambers of the heart—the atria—misfire, causing an irregular heartbeat. People with the condition experience shortness of breath and tiredness. It can result in strokes if left untreated. But up to a quarter of cases go undiagnosed, according to recent research.

Cause and effect: Doctors are more on the lookout for the condition, which is partially responsible for the rising rates. Also people are living longer, and longer life comes with more health complications like heart disease and cancer. Last November leading medical groups issued new guidelines for preventing and treating A-fib, calling on doctors to encourage heart-healthy habits and early, more aggressive efforts to control heart rhythms.

 Some groups, including women and those in underserved communities, can go undiagnosed. “It's a disease that requires monitoring and detection,” says cardiologist Jared Magnani of the University of Pittsburgh. “And then it requires access to medical care, with a partner in making decisions about things like [medication], and finally more advanced therapies and treatment.”

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undiagnosed

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Antimatter Mystery
Scientists are trying to figure out why there is more regular matter than antimatter in the universe. Antimatter is a mirror version of our normal array of particles, except with an opposite electrical charge. When the universe began at the big bang, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created, but that's not what astronomers observe in today’s universe. In a new experiment, researchers searched for a minuscule property of electrons–the electric dipole moment (eEDM)--in hopes of finding evidence for extra particles or fields in the universe that could explain the antimatter mystery.

What they found: The physicists achieved the most precise measurement of the eEDM to date, and they found no evidence that this property exists for electrons. This means that if new fields explaining the matter-antimatter imbalance exist, their contribution to the eEDM may be indirect or occur at slightly higher energies than scientists thought. Future experiments could detect such fields and help physicists figure out the antimatter problem.

What the experts say: “We know there must be some reason out there for the universe of matter we live in to be the way it is—the question is how long it will take us to discover it,” writes Luke Caldwell, physicist at the University College London.
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 that's not what astronomers observe in today’s universe

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What draws the moth to the flame

Nocturnal insects appear drawn to artificial lights because they instinctively twist their backs towards bright objects. The instinct to tilt their backs towards the brightest thing available at night — the sky — allows insects to quickly figure out which way is up. Researchers who tracked insects’ flight patterns with motion-capture cameras found that this even leads the animals to flip upside down and crash into the ground when the light source is underneath them. The researchers suggest reducing upward-facing lights and ground reflections to avoid confusing flying insects at night.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44785-3