India launches flood warning systems at Himalayan glacial lakes

India is setting up high-tech warning systems at nearly 200 Himalayan glacial lakes at risk of bursting their banks, a deadly threat exacerbated by climate change, disaster officials said this week. 

India's Himalayas contain at least 7,500 glacial lakes, many of which pose risks of dangerous flash floods.

Teams from India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are targeting 190 high-altitude lakes deemed to be the most dangerous in a mission slated to take three years.

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is the sudden release of water that has collected in former glacier beds. These lakes are formed by the retreat of glaciers, a naturally occurring phenomenon turbocharged by the warmer temperatures of human-caused climate change. One expedition is currently working to install early warning systems around six high-risk lakes in the northeastern state of Sikkim.

The project will also include "lowering lake levels" of accumulated water and ice slush in lakes. Teams include experts from the army and multiple government agencies, including the Indian Space Research Organization, geologists, hydrologists, computing engineers and weather specialists. India's air force is also expected to join the mission later, flying heavy equipment into remote sites.

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The mission will cover the Himalayan regions in India, from Kashmir and Ladakh in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast, many in areas bordering China.

Climate change is driving the disappearance of glaciers, with half the Earth's 215,000 glaciers projected to melt by the end of the century, even if warming can be capped at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The volume of glacial lakes has jumped by 50 percent in 30 years, according to a 2020 study based on satellite data.

A study, published in Nature Communications, found that 15 million people live within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of a glacial lake and within one kilometer of potential flooding from a breach.

The risk was greatest in the "High Mountains Asia" region across 12 countries, including India, Pakistan, China and Nepal.

That is partly because more people live closer to glacial lakes in the region than in other parts of the world, making warning times even shorter.

Last month a glacial lake outburst in neighboring Nepal's Everest region sent a devastating flood of frigid water through the village of Thame, sweeping away buildings.
Source: News agencies

Colorful, melodious birds at risk from poor urban planning

 Recent research reveals how urban areas  are losing bird species with characteristics that people find most "aesthetically pleasing."

The study found 82 different bird species across 42 different landscape types in Brisbane, but the variety of smaller, colorful, "melodious" bird species decreased in areas where there were not enough green spaces and fragmented landscapes. 

The findings are published in the journal Landscape Ecology in a paper titled "Landscape structure influences the spatial distribution of urban bird attractiveness."

These outcomes highlighted the importance of designing urban landscapes in future developments that increased opportunities to find colorful and melodious birds and favor people's connection with nature.

Beauty can be subjective, but several studies have demonstrated that traits such as color, size and shape favor positive feelings and perceptions of species as beneficial. Attractive' traits could even influence human preferences toward conserving species and support education and fundraising.

The results show that some species like the Scarlet Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta) and the Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Lichenostomus chrysops) were lost in highly urbanized environments.

When the number of species was low, landscapes could support some species that are considered "attractive" based on their traits, such as the (Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus and Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys).

However, the overall attractiveness of a variety of different species could decline, as small-bodied, colorful and melodious species were negatively affected by built infrastructure and fragmentation.

It corresponded with the loss of species with high attractiveness values, such as small-bodied forest-dependent species that tended to be more vulnerable to urbanization (White-throated Gerygone Gerygone olivace and Australian Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis).

Urban planning should consider how to bring back vibrant, colorful birdlife to our cities, enriching our daily lives and reconnecting us with nature in the very places we live and work, say the researchers.

There are relatively easy fixes like creating green corridors and adding diverse vegetation in parks and gardens. These strategies can provide key habitats for many colorful species with a high diversity of calls."

This information could help to track the success of initiatives that seek to achieve wins for both biodiversity and human well-being, and it could lead to greater support for conservation and positive human health outcomes.

Andres F. Suarez-Castro et al, Landscape structure influences the spatial distribution of urban bird attractiveness, Landscape Ecology (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10980-024-01950-9

Eye movements can create different versions of the same film in our heads

Picture two people sitting in a movie theater, both watching the screen: Are they seeing the same thing? Or is the movie playing out differently in each of their minds? Researchers from the Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) have found that it's the latter, and they've published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It turns out that viewers experience different versions of the same film in their brains, and these differences can be predicted by their unique eye movements.

Just like our bodies are made up of the same basic parts but vary from person to person, the same is true for our brains and their activity patterns. Neuroscientists use functional magnetic resonance imaging and machine learning to make these brain activity patterns comparable across individuals. For about a decade now, these techniques have allowed researchers to "translate" activation patterns among different brains.

Researchers  used this technology to explore how individual eye movements affect our perception. They examined how well one person's brain activity could predict another's while 19 volunteers watched the same movie—either freely or while passively staring at the center of the screen. Compared to passive viewing, natural eye movements led to much stronger activation in the brain's visual centers. However, these activations were also more individual, making it harder to match one person's brain activity to another's.

Recent research shows that eye movements are as unique as personality traits. Some people focus more on faces, while others are drawn to text or other elements.

These individual viewing habits might create a unique 'world' in each person's mind. Now we know that's true. We could even predict how different the brain activity patterns would be between people by measuring the similarity of their eye movements in a separate experiment conducted days apart.

It's fascinating that while eye movements lead to stronger neural activity, they also make these activity patterns less comparable between individuals. Usually, a stronger signal means clearer data, but here the signal—the brain's representation of the movie—is different for each person, like a director's cut prepared by the individual brain.

The research  team is now exploring how eye movements develop over a person's lifetime and how they affect our understanding of scenes and daily tasks.

It makes you wonder—next time you're in the cinema, you might want to ask the person next to you, 'Which movie did you see?'

Hmmm! Now I know that you are not seeing what I am really doing! 

Petra Borovska et al, Individual gaze shapes diverging neural representations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2405602121

Inflammation imprints lasting effects on intestinal stem cells 

Scientists  have discovered that inflammation in the gut leaves long-term marks on intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that reduce their ability to heal the intestine, even after inflammation has receded. This is important because it affects ISCs' response to future challenges. The study appears in Cell Stem Cell.

GVHD is an inflammatory reaction in which immune T cells from the bone marrow transplant donor attack the host gut cells, mainly ISCs.

Although many ISCs perish during GVHD, survivors remain. However, it's not known whether they are fully functional or can return to their full functionality after the resolution of GVHD, which has fundamental implications for host resilience and repair.

In the current study, researchers investigated the consequences of inflammation on ISCs in well-defined clinically relevant models of GVHD.

Using cellular and animal models, they found that exposure to inflammation drove ISCs to change their metabolism in ways that resulted in the accumulation of succinate, a product of cellular processes, which in turn reprogramed the epigenome.

The epigenome is a system of chemical marks on the DNA that regulates the genes expressed by the cell. Inflammation-led epigenome reprogramming changed the expression of genes involved in cell reproduction. Overall, reprogrammed ISCs were less capable of regenerating, a first step toward healing the intestine.

They then investigated whether ISCs would be able to recuperate their regenerative ability after inflammation had resolved.

They found that ISCs had not overcome their initial exposure to inflammation. Despite mitigating GVHD inflammation for 28 days, ISCs retained a reduced regenerative capacity that led to poor recovery and increased mortality from challenges, such as non-lethal radiation exposure, in animal models. More research is on the way to design strategies to help ISCs 'forget' their encounter with inflammation and enhance their resilience against immune attacks.

 Dongchang Zhao et al, Inflammation-induced epigenetic imprinting regulates intestinal stem cells, Cell Stem Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2024.08.006

Hot flushes are associated with cardiovascular risk: Study

Severe, lasting hot flushes during menopause are associated with atherosclerosis in the coronary artery, new research from Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reveals.

Forty percent of the women who participated in the study and who reported severe hot flushes also had atherosclerosis of the coronary artery, a condition that entails a higher risk of myocardial infarction. In the group of women who reported no or only mild discomfort, the corresponding figure was  30%.

These  findings support the hypothesis that there's an association between hot flushes and an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease.

Sigrid Nilsson et al, Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms and Subclinical Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: A Population‐Based Study, Journal of the American Heart Association (2024). DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.123.033648

Scientists use AI to unlock protein structures of hundreds of viruses for the first time

Scientists are pioneering the use of machine-learning artificial intelligence software to investigate viruses, revealing never-before-seen viral mechanisms which yield immediate fundamental insights and pave the way for vaccine development.

The research uses AI protein structure prediction to examine hundreds of species in the Flaviviridae, a large family of viruses that cause diseases such as Dengue, Zika and Hepatitis C. 

The work demonstrates a 'super-charging' of the scientific investigation into the evolution of viral proteins, uncovering the critically important entry mechanisms which explain how viruses get into the body and replicate in cells. This research not only provides various key biological insights, but also marks one of the first systematic applications of protein structure prediction in virology, creating a resource for other investigators, and establishing a new paradigm for structure-informed exploration of virus evolution.

The AI technology, AlphaFold and ESMFold (developed by Google Deep Mind and Meta), was used to discover and classify the entry proteins of all the viruses tested—something which would be impossible to do with traditional methods.

The research authors think the study to be an important step forward for future pandemic preparedness and current viral threats such as Mpox, for which scientists currently know very little about the entry proteins.

The researchers now want to use this technology to scale up their research to thousands of viruses. By doing this we can build foundational knowledge to inform our responses to existing and new viral diseases.

Mapping glycoprotein structure reveals Flaviviridae evolutionary history, Nature (2024). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07899-8

No link between cellphone use, brain cancer, major report finds

A new international review finds no link between cellphone use and brain cancer.

Commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), the review included 11 experts from 10 countries who sifted through decades of research—5,000 studies published between 1994 and 2022 to be exact. The final analysis was published in the journal Environmental International.

The researchers  were trying to determine whether greater exposure to radio frequencies commonly used by wireless electronics, including cellphones, might up the chances of a brain cancer diagnosis.

 In the 63 studies they honed in on, the risk of brain cancer did not increase, even with prolonged cellphone use (defined as 10 years or more), among those who spent a lot of time on their cellphones, or for people who made a lot of calls. They also saw no increased risks of leukemia or brain cancer in children exposed to radio or TV transmitters or cellphone towers.

The problem with some of the early research that showed a relation was that it relied on case-control studies that compared the responses of people with brain cancer against those without the disease—which can be "somewhat biased."

Not only that, but newer generation cellphone networks, including 3G and 4G networks, actually produce "substantially lower" radio frequency emissions than older networks.

There are no major studies yet of 5G networks, but there are studies of radar, which has similar high frequencies; these do not show an increased risk.

They also noted that having more cellphone towers actually reduces the amount of radiation emitted from cellphones, because they don't have to work as hard to get a signal.

Worries about the health effects of new technology are common and tend to increase when a new technology is adopted widely or adopted quickly. 

This study tries to calm these shaken nerves.

The National Cancer Institute has more on cellphones and cancer risk.

Ken Karipidis et al, The effect of exposure to radiofrequency fields on cancer risk in the general and working population: A systematic review of human observational studies – Part I: Most researched outcomes, Environment International (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108983

New research has potential to speed up forensic analysis in sexual assault cases

Most women around the world don't report sexual assaults. One of the main reasons is  that they don't have confidence in the justice system—and that lack of confidence was partly because of how long the process takes.

A new approach could mitigate one of the reasons victims are reluctant to report assaults: the perception that analysis of forensic evidence is too slow.

One of my friends, who is a forensic scientist, like others around the world , does this process very frequently:

Processing forensic evidence in sexual assault cases is a highly technical, multi-step process. Typically, DNA evidence is first collected from the victim, then sent to a well-equipped forensic laboratory for analysis by a skilled technician. Once there, the sample is first processed to isolate the assailant's DNA from the victim's; analysis of the assailant's DNA can then be conducted and used to identify a suspect.

The entire process can take days, weeks or longer. Most of that time is taken up with transporting the evidence to the lab; also, once at the lab, the speed with which the sample is analyzed depends on the number of other cases requiring analysis.

The researchers focused on the first step—that of separating the DNA of two individuals from a single sample. Currently, this can only be done manually by trained and experienced experts in a lab; i.e. there is no automated solution.

Researchers  have now developed  a process for separating two individuals' DNA employing a process called differential digestion technique using digital microfluidics. The new approach mitigates the current logistical and technical challenges.

The researchers simplified the process by reducing the number of manual steps needed to isolate the assailant's DNA from 13 to five. Also, because micro-fluidic processes tend to be faster, they expect that one of the eventual benefits will be shortening the overall time needed.

What's more, the new approach could lead to a mobile solution that doesn't require a lab. For example, testing could be done at a hospital where a victim would typically be taken in a sexual assault case—thereby eliminating the time necessary for the sample to reach the lab and circumventing the lab's queue.

The new technique is compatible with the technology known as Rapid DNA Analysis, already in use for the second step of identifying an individual from their DNA. According to the authors, the long term goal would be to integrate the two technologies to make the process even more streamlined.

Toward Analysis at the Point of Need: A Digital Microfluidic Approach to Processing Multi-Source Sexual Assault Samples, Advanced Science (2024). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202405712

Scientists use magnetic nanotech to safely rewarm frozen tissues for transplant

Every day, people die waiting for an organ transplant. Time is at a premium, not just for those awaiting organs, but also for the organs themselves, which can deteriorate rapidly during transportation.

Looking to extend the viability of human tissues, researchers report inNano Letters their efforts to facilitate completely freezing, rather than cooling and then thawing, potentially life-saving organs. They demonstrate a magnetic nanoparticle's successful rewarming of animal tissues.

Several people annually will die before receiving an organ transplant. One reason is the loss of organs in cold storage during transportation when delays cause them to warm prematurely. 

Methods have been developed to quickly freeze organs for longer-term storage without risking damage from ice crystal formation, but ice crystals can also form during warming. To address this problem, scientists advanced a technique known as nanowarming, pioneered by collaborator John Bischof, to employ magnetic nanoparticles and magnetic fields to thaw frozen tissues rapidly, evenly and safely.

They developed magnetic nanoparticles—effectively extremely tiny bar magnets—that, when exposed to alternating magnetic fields, generated heat. And that heat rapidly thawed animal tissues stored at -238 degrees Fahrenheit (-150 degrees Celsius) in a solution of the nanoparticles and a cryoprotective agent.

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The researchers worried, however, that uneven distribution of the nanoparticles within the tissues might trigger overheating where the particles congregated, which could lead to tissue damage and toxicity from the cryoprotective agent at elevated temperatures.

To reduce these risks, the researchers have continued their investigation, working on a two-stage approach that more finely controls nanowarming rates. They describe this process:

Cultured cells or animal tissues were immersed in a solution containing magnetic nanoparticles and a cryoprotective substance and then frozen with liquid nitrogen.
In the first stage of thawing, as before, an alternating magnetic field initiated rapid rewarming of animal tissues.
As the samples approached the melting temperature of the cryoprotective agent, the researchers applied a horizontal static magnetic field.
The second field realigned the nanoparticles, effectively tapping the brakes on heat production.
The heating slowed fastest in areas with more nanoparticles, which dampened concerns about problematic hotspots. Applying the method to cultured human skin fibroblasts and to pig carotid arteries, the researchers noted that cell viability remained high after rewarming over a few minutes, suggesting the thawing was both rapid and safe.

The ability to finely control tissue rewarming moves us one step closer to long-term organ cryopreservation and the hope of more life-saving transplants for patients, the researchers say.

 Sangmo Liu et al, Magnetic-Nanorod-Mediated Nanowarming with Uniform and Rate-Regulated Heating, Nano Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03081

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Nanoplastics have potential to cross blood-brain barrier, study reveals

A new study published in the journal Nano Today reveals that nanoplastics, which are tiny plastic particles less than 1 micrometer in size, may cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

The research marks a significant advancement in understanding how nanoplastics might transfer in human blood and interact with biological systems.

An  international team of scientists investigated how nanoplastics made from polystyrene (PS) and poly vinyl chloride (PVC) behave in human plasma and tested their ability to cross the BBB.

The researchers utilized a novel approach by embedding gadolinium, a rare earth metal, into the nanoplastics, allowing precise tracking and quantification of their movement and transformation within the human body.
The team found that upon exposure to human plasma, nanoplastics rapidly attract a variety of biomolecules, immediately forming a "biological corona" that affects their behavior and interactions with cells.

The study demonstrated that both PS and PVC nanoplastics could cross the BBB, with PVC particles showing a higher penetration rate. However, the presence of a biological corona significantly reduced the amount of nanoplastics entering the brain.

The human blood-brain barrier (BBB) consists of a tightly packed layer of endothelial cells, surrounded by astrocytes and pericytes that restricts the passage of a variety of molecules and substances from the blood to the brain.

According to the researchers, the penetration of nanoplastics through the BBB highlights the need for further research on their potential neurotoxicity and long-term effects on human health.

 Fazel Abdolahpur Monikh et al, Biotransformation of nanoplastics in human plasma and their permeation through a model in vitro blood-brain barrier: An in-depth quantitative analysis, Nano Today (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2024.102466

Nuclear clock paves way for ultraprecise timekeeping

A new type of clock under development—a nuclear clock—could revolutionize how we measure time and probe fundamental physics.

An international research team led by scientists at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, has demonstrated key elements of a nuclear clock. A nuclear clock is a novel type of timekeeping device that uses signals from the core, or nucleus, of an atom.

The team presents the results in the Sept. 4 issue of the journal Nature as a cover story.

The team used a specially designed ultraviolet laser to precisely measure the frequency of an energy jump in thorium nuclei embedded in a solid crystal. They also employed an optical frequency comb, which acts like an extremely accurate light ruler, to count the number of ultraviolet wave cycles that create this energy jump. While this laboratory demonstration is not a fully developed nuclear clock, it contains all the core technology for one.
Nuclear clocks could be much more accurate than current atomic clocks, which provide official international time and play major roles in technologies such as GPS, internet synchronization, and financial transactions.

For the general public, this development could ultimately mean even more precise navigation systems (with or without GPS), faster internet speeds, more reliable network connections, and more secure digital communications.

Beyond everyday technology, nuclear clocks could improve tests of fundamental theories for how the universe works, potentially leading to new discoveries in physics. They could help detect dark matter or verify if the constants of nature are truly constant, allowing for verification of theories in particle physics without the need for large-scale particle accelerator facilities.

Chuankun Zhang, Frequency ratio of the 229mTh isomeric transition and the 87Sr atomic clock, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07839-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07839-6

People facing life-or-death choice put too much trust in AI

In simulated life-or-death decisions, about two-thirds of people in a  study allowed a robot to change their minds when it disagreed with them—an alarming display of excessive trust in artificial intelligence, researchers said.

Human subjects allowed robots to sway their judgment, despite being told the AI machines had limited capabilities and were giving advice that could be wrong. In reality, the advice was random.

As a society, with AI accelerating so quickly, we need to be concerned about the potential for over trust, say the researchers.

What we need instead is a consistent application of doubt.

We should have a healthy skepticism about AI, the researchers say, "especially in life-or-death decisions."

 Colin Holbrook et al, Overtrust in AI Recommendations About Whether or Not to Kill: Evidence from Two Human-Robot Interaction Studies, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69771-z

Fungal spores of the mold Aspergillus fumigatus produce an enzyme that weakens the immune system

Aspergillus fumigatus is a mold that is found all over the world. Unlike closely related species, it can cause serious, often fatal infections in humans. What makes A. fumigatus so dangerous?

A special enzyme on the surface of the fungal spores—glycosylasparaginase—apparently suppresses the release of pro-inflammatory substances by immune cells, making it easier for the pathogen to spread unhindered in the tissue. The findings are published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

Camila Figueiredo Pinzan et al, Aspergillus fumigatus conidial surface-associated proteome reveals factors for fungal evasion and host immunity modulation, Nature Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01782-y

Arctic microalgae show photosynthesis in near darkness is possible

Photosynthesis converts sunlight into biologically usable energy and thus forms the basis of all life on our planet. However, previous measurements of the amount of light required for this have always been well above the theoretically possible minimum. The study shows that the build-up of biomass can actually take place with a quantity of light that is close to this minimum.

Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of an international study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night. The measurements were carried out as part of the MOSAiC expedition at 88° northern latitude and revealed that even this far north, microalgae can build up biomass through photosynthesis as early as the end of March.

At this time, the sun is barely above the horizon, so that it is still almost completely dark in the microalgae's habitat under the snow and ice cover of the Arctic Ocean. The results of the study now published in the journal Nature Communications show that photosynthesis in the ocean is possible under much lower light conditions, and can therefore take place at much greater depths than previously assumed.

Clara J.M. Hoppe, Photosynthetic light requirement near the theoretical minimum detected in Arctic microalgae, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51636-8

Newly discovered viruses in parasitic nematodes could change our understanding of how they cause disease

New research shows that parasitic nematodes, responsible for infecting more than a billion people globally, carry viruses that may solve the puzzle of why some cause serious diseases.

A study led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) used cutting-edge bioinformatic data mining techniques to identify 91 RNA viruses in 28 species of parasitic nematodes, representing 70% of those that infect people and animals. Often these are symptomless or not serious, but some can lead to severe, life-changing disease.

Nematode worms are the most abundant animals on the planet, prevalent in all continents worldwide, with several species infecting humans as well as agriculturally and economically important animals and crops. And yet in several cases, scientists do not know how some nematodes cause certain diseases.

The new research, published in Nature Microbiology, opens the door to further study of whether these newly discovered viruses—only five of which were previously known to science—could contribute to many chronic, debilitating conditions. If a connection can be proven, it could pave the way for more effective treatments in the future.

This raises the question of whether any of the diseases that these parasites are responsible for could be driven by the virus rather than directly by the parasitic nematode.

Parasitic nematodes including hookworms and whipworms can cause severe abdominal problems and bloody diarrhea, stunted development and anemia. Infection with filarial worms can lead to disfiguring conditions such as lymphedema or "elephantiasis," and onchocerciasis, or "river blindness," that leads to blindness and skin disease.

The study authors propose that these newly identified viruses may play a role in some of these conditions. For example, onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE) that occurs in children and adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa has recently been associated with onchocerciasis, but it is not known why this causes neurological symptoms such as uncontrollable repeated head nodding, as well as severe stunting, delayed puberty and impaired mental health.

One of the viruses in the parasites that cause onchocerciasis identified in the new study is rhabdovirus—the type that causes rabies. The authors of the study suggest that if this virus is infecting or damaging human nerve or brain tissue, that could explain the symptoms of OAE.

The full extent and diversity of the viruses living in parasitic nematodes, how they impact nematode biology and whether they act as drivers of disease in people and animals now requires further study.

Quek, S., et al. Diverse RNA viruses of parasitic nematodes can elicit antibody responses in vertebrate hosts, Nature Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01796-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01796-6

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Older women more vulnerable to heat than their male peers, researchers find

As global climate change causes extreme heat waves to become more common around the world, epidemiological studies have shown that heat kills more women than men.

Now, a new study by researchers at Penn State has found that older women are physiologically more vulnerable to high heat and humidity than older men, and that women between the ages of 40 and 64 are as vulnerable as men 65 years of age or older.

This is the first study to determine that this disparity exists due to physiological differences and not because women live longer than men, which leaves a larger population of older women than older men.

 the researchers demonstrated that middle-aged and older women were affected by heat at lower temperature/humidity combinations than middle-aged and older men.

The results, published in the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, were somewhat unexpected because there are no differences in heat vulnerability based on biological sex in adults younger than 30.

In addition to demonstrating that middle-aged and older women are at greater risk from extreme heat, we also identified what levels of heat and humidity are safe for women as they age. This information is presented as a temperature/humidity curve based on a person's age, and it can be useful for setting policies designed to keep people safe during a heat wave.

 Olivia K. Leach et al, Sex differences in heat stress vulnerability among middle-aged and older adults (PSU HEAT Project), American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2024). DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00114.2024

Insulin and metformin combo aids diabetic foot ulcer healing, new study finds

People with chronic diabetic foot ulcers could soon have a new way to treat their wounds for faster healing and fewer hospital stays. Researchers from Michigan State University and South Shore Hospital have uncovered that the combination of two common diabetes drugs—injectable insulin and orally-administered metformin—increases the amount of metformin at the wound site. As metformin can accelerate wound healing, this could be welcome news for the 18.6 million people worldwide who develop a diabetic foot ulcer, or DFU, in their lifetimes.

Until now, pharmacological studies had not found an interaction between insulin and metformin. This new study shows that there could be at least an indirect role of consuming both insulin and metformin in a way that metformin can end up in a wound area where it enhances the body's capacity to heal.

 Lisa Gould et al, Analysis of Biogenic Amines and Small Molecule Metabolites in Human Diabetic Wound Ulcer Exudate, ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.4c00418

Individuals with memory-related mild cognitive impairment talked less and used fewer but more general nouns.

https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dad2.12588

Will humans accept robots that can lie? Scientists find it depends on the lie

Honesty is the best policy… most of the time. Social norms help humans understand when we need to tell the truth and when we shouldn't, to spare someone's feelings or avoid harm. But how do these norms apply to robots, which are increasingly working with humans? To understand whether humans can accept robots telling lies, scientists asked almost 500 participants to rate and justify different types of robot deception.

The scientists selected three scenarios reflecting situations where robots already work—medical, cleaning, and retail work—and three different deception behaviors. These were external state deceptions, which lie about the world beyond the robot, hidden state deceptions, where a robot's design hides its capabilities, and superficial state deceptions, where a robot's design overstates its capabilities.

In the external state deception scenario, a robot working as a caretaker for a woman with Alzheimer's lies that her late husband will be home soon. In the hidden state deception scenario, a woman visits a house where a robot housekeeper is cleaning, unaware that the robot is also filming. Finally, in the superficial state deception scenario, a robot working in a shop as part of a study on human–robot relations untruthfully complains of feeling pain while moving furniture, causing a human to ask someone else to take the robot's place. Hmmm!

The scientists recruited 498 participants and asked them to read one of the scenarios and then answer a questionnaire. This asked participants whether they approved of the robot's behavior, how deceptive it was, if it could be justified, and if anyone else was responsible for the deception. These responses were coded by the researchers to identify common themes and analyzed.

The participants disapproved most of the hidden state deception, the housecleaning robot with the undisclosed camera, which they considered the most deceptive. While they considered the external state deception and the superficial state deception to be moderately deceptive, they disapproved more of superficial state deception, where a robot pretended it felt pain. This may have been perceived as manipulative.

Participants approved most of the external state deception, where the robot lied to a patient. They justified the robot's behavior by saying that it protected the patient from unnecessary pain—prioritizing the norm of sparing someone's feelings over honesty.

Andres Rosero et al, Exploratory Analysis of Human Perceptions of Social Robot Deception Behaviors, Frontiers in Robotics and AI (2024). DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2024.1409712. www.frontiersin.org/journals/r … 9/frobt.2024.1409712

Human brain cancers fire electrical impulses: Researchers reveal unexpected hybrid cell spiking the signals

Researchers  have uncovered a new cell type in the human brain.

The study published in Cancer Cell reveals that a third of the cells in glioma, a type of brain tumor, fire electrical impulses. Interestingly, the impulses, also called action potentials, originate from tumor cells that are part neuron and part glia, supporting the groundbreaking idea that neurons are not the only cells that can generate electric signals in the brain.

The scientists also discovered that cells with hybrid neuron-glia characteristics are present in the non-tumor human brain. The findings highlight the importance of further studying the role of these newly identified cells in both glioma and normal brain function.   

Gliomas are the most common tumors of the central nervous system with an estimated 12,000 cases diagnosed each year. These tumors are universally lethal and have devastating effects on neurological and cognitive functions. Previous studies have shown that patient survival outcomes are associated with tumor proliferation and invasiveness, which are influenced by tumor intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including communication between tumor cells and neurons that reside in the brain.

Researchers have previously described that glioma and surrounding healthy neurons connect with each other and that neurons communicate with tumors in ways that drive tumor growth and invasiveness.

Scientists have known for some time now that tumor cells and neurons interact directly.

To study the ability of glioma cells to spike electrical signals and identify the cells that produce the signals, the team used Patch-sequencing, a combination of techniques that integrates whole-cell electrophysiological recordings to measure spiking signals with single-cell RNA-sequencing and analysis of the cellular structure to identify the type of cells.

The electrophysiology experiments were conducted by the researchers. 

This innovative approach has not been used before to study human brain tumor cells.

The researchers were truly surprised to find these tumor cells had a unique combination of morphological and electrophysiological properties. They had never seen anything like this in the mammalian brain before.

Finding that so many glioma cells are electrically active was a surprise because it goes against a strongly held concept in neuroscience that states that, of all the different types of cells in the brain, neurons are the only ones that fire electric impulses.

These findings show that human cells other than neurons can fire electrical impulses. Since there is an estimated 100 million of these OPCs in the adult brain, the electrical contributions of these cells should be further studied.

Moreover, the comprehensive data analyses revealed that the spiking hybrid cells in glioma tumors had properties of both neurons and OPC cells. Interestingly, they found non-tumor cells that are neuron-glia hybrids, suggesting that this hybrid population not only plays a role in glioma growth but also contributes to healthy brain function. The findings also suggest that the proportion of spiking hybrid cells in glioma may have a prognostic value.

Part1

The data shows that the more of these spiking hybrid glioma cells a patient has, the better the survival outcome. This information is of great value to patients and their doctors.

 Integrated electrophysiological and genomic profiles of single cells reveal spiking tumor cells in human glioma, Cancer Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.08.009. www.cell.com/cancer-cell/fullt … 1535-6108(24)00308-8

Part 2

Neuroscientists uncover serotonin's role in resilience

The simple act of observing others cope with a traumatic experience can increase our capacity for resilience and prevent the pathological states that can result from it, notably depression. Neuroscientists  have demonstrated the presence of this "emotional contagion" in mice, and successfully deciphered its mechanism.

The neurotransmitter serotonin, released in a brain structure called the habenula, has been shown to be the key to resilience.

This discovery, published in Science, revisits the role of serotonin and opens up new perspectives, notably for understanding depression and its treatment.

Human beings have the ability to cope with aversive experiences while continuing to live a normal life. This ability is known as resilience. However, some individuals are more vulnerable to traumatic events. They develop a loss of motivation and drive, which are hallmarks of depression.

Promoting resilience in such people at risk could counter their vulnerability and function as a preventive practice against the possible emergence of a pathological state. But there are still too many unknowns for resilience to be used as a preventive practice.

There is a lack of clinical tools or underlying mechanisms to promote this type of conditioning capable of fostering a resilient reaction as in healthy people. To achieve this, we need to understand the brain function behind adversity.

To explore the underlying brain mechanisms, the neuroscientists first designed an experimental model capable of promoting resilience and measuring its consequences on the appearance of pathological traits following trauma.

They started from the recognized fact that simply observing the emotional experiences of others helps us to learn from them. It's a phenomenon known as emotional contagion, and it engages resilience.

To achieve this, an "observer" mouse was placed close to a mouse subjected to small electric shocks to the paws. This simple task protected the majority of the observer mice from developing pathological states of depression when they were subsequently exposed to this unpleasant experience themselves.

This was not the case for mice who had not witnessed the traumatic experiences of their fellow companions. The scientists concluded that the simple act of observing others cope with a traumatic experience increases one's own capacity for resilience and helps guard against possible pathological consequences.

Part 1

Following the discovery of this behavioral principle, the neuroscientists successfully identified the brain mechanism mediating it. They focused on the habenula, a tiny cerebral structure located at the heart of the brain, known to participate in emotional and sensory processing, and to regulate neurotransmitters associated with depression, notably serotonin.

To achieve this, they specifically developed imaging tools to track this molecule in mice.
It is very difficult to measure the variation of serotonin in the brain. Thanks to a biosensor developed by some of the team members, the scientists were able to identify the key mechanism.
Recordings made during behavioral experiments revealed that emotional contagion coincided with a lasting change in the functioning of neurons in the habenula, together with an increase in serotonin release in this region.
By artificially altering the dynamics of serotonin levels, the research team was able to demonstrate that its non-increase not only undermines the long-lasting neuronal activity change in the habenula, but also the ability of mice to foster resilience following adversity.

A common denominator between the mechanism of resilience after adversity discovered in this study and that of depression is serotonin. Many antidepressants target serotonin to increase its concentration in the brain. Here, neuroscientists show that a transient, localized increase in the habenula can prevent the onset of apathetic behavior following a traumatic experience.

This  discovery could also pave the way for new therapeutic applications relevant to depression.

Sarah Mondoloni et al, Serotonin release in habenula during emotional contagion promotes resilience, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp3897. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp3897

Part 2

100-fold improvement in sight seen after gene therapy trial

The vision of people with a rare inherited condition that causes them to lose much of their sight early in childhood was 100 times better after they received gene therapy to address the genetic mutation causing it. Some patients even experienced a 10,000-fold improvement in their vision after receiving the highest dose of the therapy, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who co-led the clinical trial published in The Lancet.

That 10,000-fold improvement is the same as a patient being able to see their surroundings on a moonlit night outdoors as opposed to requiring bright indoor lighting before treatment.

One patient reported for the first time being able to navigate at midnight outdoors only with the light of a bonfire.

A total of 15 people participated in the Phase I/II trial, including three pediatric patients. Each patient had Leber congenital amaurosis as the result of mutations in the GUCY2D gene, which is essential to producing proteins critical for vision. This specific condition, which affects less than 100,000 people worldwide and is abbreviated as LCA1, causes a significant amount of vision loss as early as infancy.

All subjects had severe vision loss with their best measure of vision being equal or worse than 20/80—meaning if a typically-sighted person could see an object clearly at 80 feet, these patients would have to move up to at least 20 feet to see it.

Glasses provide limited benefit to these patients because they correct abnormalities in the optical focusing ability of the eye, and are unable to address medical causes of vision loss, such as genetic retinal diseases like LCA1.

Part 1

The trial tested different dosage levels of the gene therapy, ATSN-101, which was adapted from the AAV5 microorganism and was surgically injected under the retina.

For the first part of the study, cohorts of three adults each received one of the three different dosages: Low, mid, and high. Evaluations were held between each level of dosage to ensure that they were safe before upping the dosage for the next cohort.

A second phase of the study involved only administering the high dosage levels to both an adult cohort of three and a pediatric cohort of three, again after safety reviews of the previous cohorts.

Improvements were noticed quickly, often within the first month, after the therapy was applied and lasted for at least 12 months. Observations of participating patients are also ongoing. Three of six high-dosage patients who were tested to navigate a mobility course in varying levels of light achieved the maximum-possible score. Other tests used eye charts or measured the dimmest flashes of light patients perceived in a dark environment.

Of the nine patients who received the maximum dosage, two had a 10,000-fold improvement in vision.
Primarily, the study sought to determine the safety of the gene therapy and its varying dosage levels. Researchers did find some patients had side effects, but the overwhelming majority were related to the surgical procedure itself.
The most common side effect was conjunctival hemorrhage, the breakage of small blood vessels underneath the clear surface of the eye, which healed. Two patients had eye inflammation that was reversed with a course of steroids. No serious side effects were related to the study drug.
Approval of this experimental medicine for clinical use requires another trial, where participants are randomized to a treatment dose and both patients and those investigating the trial not knowing who gets what. Through that, any possible bias in results could be avoided.

Safety and efficacy of ATSN-101 in patients with Leber congenital amaurosis caused by biallelic mutations in GUCY2D: a phase 1/2, multicentre, open-label, unilateral dose escalation study, The Lancet (2024). www.thelancet.com/journals/lan … (24)01447-8/fulltext

Part 2

How aging immune system fuels cancer growth

Why is aging the biggest risk factor for cancer? A new study reveals how an aging immune system spurs tumor growth, offering new insights into cancer prevention and treatment, especially for older adults.

Details on the findings are reported in the September 5 Online First Release of Science.

Cancer is a disease that becomes increasingly common as we age, with the risk rising sharply after the age of 60. Many theories have been proposed, including the cumulative effects of environmentally-induced damage and genetic mutations, but there has been little concrete data explaining why aging drives cancer.

In preclinical models,  a research team found that anakinra, a drug typically used for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, can be repurposed to block harmful signals between early lung cancer lesions and the bone marrow. This is critical, say the investigators, because as the immune system ages, it creates harmful inflammation that can drive cancer development.

As the immune system ages, it triggers harmful inflammation that can drive cancer growth––by promoting the accumulation of pro-tumor macrophages, a type of immune cell that suppresses the immune effector cells that normally kill tumor cells. This weakens the body's ability to fight cancer.

The researchers found that by blocking specific inflammatory pathways, especially those involving molecules called interleukin-1⍺ (IL-1⍺) and IL-1β, this damaging process could be reversed in mouse models, offering a potential new approach to preventing cancer development in humans.

 

As part of the study, the research team used mouse models to investigate how aging affects cancer progression. They injected tumor cells into mice and observed that lung, pancreatic, and colonic cancer grew more rapidly in older mice compared to younger ones. Using bone marrow transplants from either young or old mice, the investigators simulated the effects of the immune system's aging. The team found that an aged immune system accelerates cancer growth, even in young mice. More strikingly, they found that rejuvenating the immune system significantly reduced cancer growth in older mice.

Using high-dimensional analysis of murine and human cancer tissues, the team identified specific cells and immune-related factors that accelerate cancer growth in the elderly. They then successfully blocked these factors, specifically IL-1⍺/β, demonstrating that inhibiting these molecules can reduce cancer growth in aged mice.

This study shows that an aged immune system promotes cancer progression, independent of the age of the cancer cells or the surrounding tissue. We've long suspected that inflammation can suppress anti-tumor immunity, particularly in older individuals and cancer patients. However, this is the first robust evidence proving that chronic inflammation from an aging immune system predisposes to cancer. 

This study reveals that targeting the aging immune system could significantly reduce cancer risk in older adults. It suggests that enhancing the immune response through immunotherapy might be more effective than directly targeting tumors. 

Part1

The ongoing trials are investigating whether targeting the immune system can prevent cancer progression, while the researchers continue to explore additional therapeutic targets.

 Matthew D. Park et al, Hematopoietic aging promotes cancer by fueling IL-1⍺-driven emergency myelopoiesis, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adn0327. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn0327

Part 2

A new technique makes skin invisible

Researchers have developed a new way to see organs within a body by rendering overlying tissues transparent to visible light. The counterintuitive process—a topical application of food-safe dye—was reversible in tests with animal subjects, and may ultimately apply to a wide range of medical diagnostics, from locating injuries to monitoring digestive disorders to identifying cancers.

The  researchers published the research, titled "Achieving optical transparency in live animals with absorbing molecules," in the Sept. 6, 2024, issue of Science.

Animation depicting the tissue transparency effect and how it might appear if tested with humans in the future. The latter part of the animation shows how photons interact with tissues at the cellular level, both with and without FD & C Yellow 5 saturation. Credit: Keyi "Onyx" Li/U.S. National Science Foundation

Part 1

To master the new technique, the researchers developed a way to predict how light interacts with dyed biological tissues.

Those predictions required a deep understanding of light scattering, as well as the process of refraction, where light changes speed and bends as it travels from one material into another.

Scattering is the reason we cannot see through our body: Fats, fluids within cells, proteins, and other materials each have a different refractive index, a property that dictates how significantly an incoming light wave will bend.

In most tissues, those materials are closely compacted together, so the varied refractive indices cause light to scatter as it passes through. It is the scattering effect that our eyes interpret as opaque, colored, biological materials.

The researchers realized if they wanted to make biological material transparent, they had to find a way to match the different refractive indices so light could travel through unimpeded.

Building upon fundamental insights from the field of optics, the researchers realized dyes that are the most effective at absorbing light can also be highly effective at directing light uniformly through a wide range of refractive indices.

One dye the researchers predicted would be particularly effective was tartrazine, the food dye more commonly known as FD & C Yellow 5. It turns out, they were correct: when dissolved into water and absorbed into tissues, tartrazine molecules are perfectly structured to match refractive indices and prevent light from scattering, resulting in transparency.

The researchers first tested their predictions with thin slices of chicken breast. As tartrazine concentrations increased, the refractive index of the fluid within the muscle cells rose until it matched the refractive index of the muscle proteins—the slice became transparent.

Then, the researchers gently rubbed a temporary tartrazine solution on mice. First, they applied the solution to the scalp, rendering the skin transparent to reveal blood vessels crisscrossing the brain. Next, they applied the solution to the abdomen, which faded within minutes to show contractions of the intestine and movements caused by heartbeats and breathing.

The technique resolved features at the scale of microns, and even enhanced microscope observations. When the dye was rinsed off, the tissues quickly returned to normal opacity. The tartrazine did not appear to have long-term effects, and any excess was excreted in waste within 48 hours.

The researchers suspect that injecting the dye should lead to even deeper views within organisms, with implications for both biology and medicine.

 Zihao Ou et al, Achieving optical transparency in live animals with absorbing molecules, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adm6869. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm6869

The flaming carcasses of electrocuted birds keep starting wildfires

In the past two months alone, the flaming carcasses of electrocuted birds have ignited at least three wildfires in Colorado.

While the phenomenon sounds straight out of a cartoon, it's actually more common than you'd think, experts said. It's a big enough problem that electric utility companies brainstorm efforts to mitigate bird electrocution.

Researchers found no coordinated records or data illustrating how frequently electrocuted birds dropping off power lines spark wildfires, so they sifted through Google searches of avian-induced fires in the United States from 2014 to 2018 and found 44 reported cases.

California had the highest number of incidents at 15. Colorado had two in 2016—one in Littleton and one in Berthoud, the study found.

However, in July and August of this year, Colorado's Front Range has been the scene of at least three reported bird combustions resulting in wildfires.

Cities'   infrastructure can be attractive to birds for roosting and building nests and can post a collision or electrocution hazard to birds.

There are a couple of reasons why birds are increasingly meeting an end better suited for the "Final Destination" films.

It's partially because of climate change. An electrocuted bird is more likely to ignite a fire if conditions are dry and the regions face drought like conditions. 

In addition to climate, there is the human introduction of electrical utility equipment into the environment. 

Part 1

Birds can sit on one wire, no problem. But if a bird touches a second wire, it opens a path of electricity right through the bird's body, with a resulting zap that can be potent enough to send the bird up in flames.

Larger birds like hawks and eagles can be more at risk of electrocution because their wider wingspans put them at greater risk of touching two different wires simultaneously.
Sometimes smaller birds on the hunt for bugs will drive their beaks under insulated coverings in hopes of a snack, only to find an electrical jolt instead.
Source: MediaNews Group, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Part 2
There are ways to design power poles and their accompanying structures to make them less susceptible to bird electrocution.
For new electrical poles designers can ensure enough space between "energized components" to allow birds to exist without touching two electrical components at once.

Outer solar system is more populated than previously thought
Survey observations using the Subaru Telescope's ultra-widefield prime focus camera have revealed that there may be a population of small bodies further out in the Kuiper Belt waiting to be discovered.
The results, which are important for an understanding of the formation of the solar system, were obtained through an international collaboration between the Subaru Telescope and the New Horizons spacecraft traveling through the outer solar system.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was launched in 2006 with the critical mission of observing the surfaces of outer solar system bodies up close for the first time in human history; it successfully completed a flyby of the Pluto system in 2015, and in 2019 it made a flyby of one of the Kuiper Belt objects, (486958) Arrokoth.

There have been five spacecraft that have flown to the outer solar system (including New Horizons), but New Horizons is the only spacecraft that has flown through the Kuiper Belt while observing Kuiper Belt objects.

When observing Kuiper Belt objects from the ground, we can only observe them at small solar phase angles (the angle between the sun, the object, and the observer). On the other hand, when observing a Kuiper Belt object from a spacecraft in the Kuiper Belt, the same object can be observed at various phase angles and its reflection characteristics can be used to estimate the surface properties of the object. This is something only New Horizons can do.

However, the camera on the spacecraft has a narrow field-of-view and cannot discover Kuiper Belt objects on its own. This is where the Subaru Telescope comes in. The Subaru Telescope uses its wide-field camera to find many Kuiper Belt objects and then narrow down the list of objects that the spacecraft can fly by and observe. This collaboration between New Horizons and the Subaru Telescope began in 2004.
Part 1

For observations conducted during 2004–2005 with Subaru Telescope's prime focus camera (Suprime-Cam), due to the orbital relationship between Pluto and the spacecraft, an area near the center of the Milky Way galaxy got caught in the background of the search area for Kuiper Belt objects.

Although it was extremely difficult to search for solar system objects with many background stars, the research team was able to find 24 Kuiper Belt objects.

Unfortunately, the Kuiper belt objects so far found during this observation require too much fuel for the spacecraft to flyby, but new ones at great distance may fall within the available fuel reach of New Horizons. In 2020, deeper observations began with Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the Subaru Telescope, and by 2023, there had been 239 Kuiper Belt objects discovered.

"The most exciting part of the HSC observations was the discovery of 11 objects at distances beyond the known Kuiper Belt.
Many of the objects discovered with HSC are located at distances of 30–55 astronomical units (au) from the sun (1 au corresponds to the distance between the sun and Earth) and are thought to be within the known Kuiper Belt.

Marc W. Buie et al, The New Horizons Extended Mission Target: Arrokoth Search and Discovery, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2403.04927

Wesley C. Fraser et al, Candidate Distant Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by the New Horizons Subaru TNO Survey, arXiv (2024). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2407.21142

Part 2

Excessive light pollution may increase risk of Alzheimer's, especially in younger people

In some places around the globe, the lights never go off. Streetlights, roadway lighting, and illuminated signs can deter crime, make roads safer, and enhance landscaping. Undisrupted light, however, comes with ecological, behavioral, and health consequences. 

Researchers now  have investigated correlations between outside nightly light pollution and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

There is a positive association between AD prevalence and exposure to light at night, particularly in those under the age of 65, the researchers showed. Nightly light pollution—a modifiable environmental factor—may be an important risk factor for AD, they say.

The researchers studied light pollution maps of the lower 48 US states and incorporated medical data about variables known or believed to be risk factors for AD in their analysis. They generated nighttime intensity data for every state and divided them into five groups, from lowest to highest nighttime light intensity.
Their results showed that for people aged 65 and older, AD prevalence was more strongly correlated with nightly light pollution than some other disease factors, including alcohol abuse, chronic kidney disease, depression, and obesity. Other risk factors, like diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke were more strongly associated with AD than light pollution.
For people aged under 65, however, the researchers found that higher nighttime light intensity was associated with a greater AD prevalence than any other risk factor examined in the study. This could suggest that younger people may be particularly sensitive to the effects of light exposure at night, the researchers said.

It is unclear why younger people could be more vulnerable, but it could be due to individual differences in light sensitivity. Certain genotypes, which influence early-onset AD, impact the response to biological stressors which could account for increased vulnerability to the effects of nighttime light exposure. Additionally, younger people are more likely to live in urban areas and have lifestyles that may increase exposure to light at night.

The researchers hope that their findings can help educate people about the potential risks of light at night.

Robin M. Voigt et all, Outdoor Nighttime Light Exposure (Light Pollution) is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease, Frontiers in Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1378498

Hijacking the command center of the cell: Nuclear parasites

Most animals live in intimate relationships with bacteria. Some of these bacteria live inside the cells of their hosts, but only very few are able to live inside cell organelles (structures inside the cell, like organs in the body). One group of bacteria have figured out how to colonize the nuclei of their hosts, a remarkable feat given that the nucleus is the control center of the cell.

To date, nothing is known about the molecular and cellular processes that these intranuclear bacteria use to infect and reproduce in animal hosts. A group of scientists now presents the first in-depth analysis of an intranuclear parasite of animals in a study published in Nature Microbiology.

This intranuclear parasite, Candidatus endonucleobacter, infects the nuclei of deep-sea mussels from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps around the world. A single bacterial cell penetrates into the mussels' nucleus and then reproduces to over 80,000 cells, causing the nucleus to swell to 50 times its original size.

Using a suite of molecular and imaging methods, the scientists revealed that Ca. endonucleobacter lives on sugars, lipids and other cell components from its host. It does not digest its host nucleic acids, like many other intranuclear bacteria. This feeding strategy ensures that the host cell functions long enough to provide Ca. endonucleobacter with the nutrients it needs to reproduce in such massive numbers.

A common response of animal cells to infection is apoptosis—a suicide program that cells initiate when they are damaged or infected by bacteria or viruses.

Interestingly, these bacteria have come up with a sophisticated strategy to keep their host cells from killing themselves. They produce proteins that suppress apoptosis called inhibitors of apoptosis (IAPs).

An arms race for the control of cell death then ensues: As the bacteria produce more and more IAPs, the host cell ramps up its production of proteins that induce apoptosis. Eventually, after the parasite has had enough time to multiply in masses, the host cell ruptures, releasing the bacteria and allowing them to infect new host cells.

This discovery expands our understanding of host-microbe interactions and highlights the complex strategies parasites have evolved to thrive in their hosts.

These findings could have broader implications for studying parasitic infections and immune evasion strategies in other organisms.

 An intranuclear bacterial parasite of deep-sea mussels expresses apoptosis inhibitors acquired from its host, Nature Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01808-5

AI helps distinguish dark matter from cosmic noise

Dark matter is the invisible force holding the universe together—or so we think. It makes up about 85% of all matter and around 27% of the universe's contents, but since we can't see it directly, we have to study its gravitational effects on galaxies and other cosmic structures. Despite decades of research, the true nature of dark matter remains one of science's most elusive questions.

According to a leading theory, dark matter might be a type of particle that barely interacts with anything else, except through gravity. But some scientists think these particles could occasionally interact with each other, a phenomenon known as self-interaction. Detecting such interactions would offer crucial clues about dark matter's properties.

However, distinguishing the subtle signs of dark matter self-interactions from other cosmic effects, like those caused by active galactic nuclei (AGN)—the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies—has been a major challenge. AGN feedback can push matter around in ways that are similar to the effects of dark matter, making it difficult to tell the two apart.

In a significant step forward, astronomers   have developed a deep-learning algorithm that can untangle these complex signals. The research is published in Nature Astronomy.

Their AI-based method is designed to differentiate between the effects of dark matter self-interactions and those of AGN feedback by analyzing images of galaxy clusters—vast collections of galaxies bound together by gravity. The innovation promises to greatly enhance the precision of dark matter studies.

A deep-learning algorithm to disentangle self-interacting dark matter and AGN feedback models, Nature Astronomy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02322-8

Tiny magnetic robots could treat bleeds in the brain

Researchers have created nanoscale robots which could be used to manage bleeds in the brain caused by aneurysms. The development could enable precise, relatively low-risk treatment of brain aneurysms, which cause around 500,000 deaths globally each year. The medical condition—a blood-filled bulge on a brain artery that can rupture and cause fatal bleeds—can also lead to stroke and disability.

The study points to a future where tiny robots could be remotely controlled to carry out complex tasks inside the human body—such as targeted drug delivery and organ repair—in a minimally invasive way, researchers say.

The researchers engineered magnetic nanorobots—about a twentieth the size of a human red blood cell—comprising blood-clotting drugs encased in a protective coating, designed to melt at precise temperatures. The work is published in the journal Small.

In lab tests, several hundred billion such bots were injected into an artery and then remotely guided as a swarm, using magnets and medical imaging, to the site of an aneurysm.

Magnetic sources outside the body then cause the robots to cluster together inside the aneurysm and be heated to their melting point, releasing a naturally occurring blood-clotting protein, which blocks the aneurysm to prevent or stem bleeding into the brain.

The international team of researchers successfully tested their devices in model aneurysms in the lab and in a small number of rabbits.

The team says that nanorobots show potential for transporting and releasing drug molecules to precise locations in the body without risk of leaking into the bloodstream—a key test of the technology's safety and efficacy.

The study could pave the way for further developments towards trials in people.

Jienan Wang et al, Nanoarchitectonic Engineering of Thermal‐Responsive Magnetic Nanorobot Collectives for Intracranial Aneurysm Therapy, Small (2024). DOI: 10.1002/smll.202400408

Low-cost nanomaterial technology can detect cancer genes with ultra-high sensitivity

A research team has  developed a technology that can detect cancer mutant genes in blood with the world's highest sensitivity of 0.000000001% based on plasmonic nanomaterials for optical signal amplification. The team tested blood samples from lung cancer patients (stages 1-4) and healthy individuals for EGFR mutations and achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 96%.

The work is published in the journal Small Science.

Previously utilized genetic analysis technologies had low analytical sensitivity to detect mutated genes compared to normal genes, making it difficult to accurately diagnose early-stage cancer patients. In addition, it was difficult to establish a quick treatment strategy and apply it to screening tests due to the high cost and long time required for analysis and the need for special equipment.

To overcome these challenges, the research team developed a low-cost analysis technology that can analyze various cancer mutations within the target gene region within one hour with an ultra-high sensitivity of 0.000000001%. This technology boasts the world's highest level of sensitivity, which is 100,000 times better than the highest level of 0.0001% among reported technologies, and through this, the possibility of early diagnosis was confirmed using the blood of lung cancer patients.

This technology combines nanomaterial technology that significantly improves the fluorescence signal, and primer/probe design that suppresses the fluorescence signal of normal genes, amplifying only the fluorescence signal of cancer mutant genes. This is because the accurate detection of even very small amounts of cancer mutated genes requires not only strong fluorescent signal expression technology but also precise discrimination of fine fluorescent signals.

The team fabricated a biochip in the form of a microarray capable of simultaneously detecting three mutant genes of EGFR (deletion, insertion, and point mutations) on a plasmonic substrate made of three-dimensional, high-density gold nanostructures. After evaluating the clinical performance of 43 domestic lung cancer patients (stages 1 to 4) and 40 normal groups, a clinical sensitivity of 93% for lung cancer patients and a clinical specificity of 100% for the normal group were confirmed.

This technology can play an important role in not only early diagnosis and detection of recurrence of cancer, but also in monitoring treatment effectiveness and establishing personalized treatment plans. In addition, liquid biopsy using blood is possible as an alternative to surgical tissue biopsy, reducing the burden on patients and simplifying the examination process. It can also serve as a regular screening test, ultimately improving the quality of cancer management and treatment.

Ji Young Lee et al, Highly Sensitive 3D‐Nanoplasmonic‐Based Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation Multiplex Assay Chip for Liquid Biopsy, Small Science (2024). DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202400101

Researchers make sound waves travel in one direction only, with implications for electromagnetic wave technology

Researchers at ETH Zurich have managed to make sound waves travel only in one direction. In the future, this method could also be used in technical applications with electromagnetic waves.

Water, light and sound waves usually propagate in the same way forward as in a backward direction. As a consequence, when we are speaking to someone standing some distance away from us, that person can hear us as well as we can hear them. This is useful when having a conversation, but in some technical applications one would prefer the waves to be able to travel only in one direction—for instance, in order to avoid unwanted reflections of light or microwaves.

Ten years ago, researchers succeeded in suppressing sound wave propagation in the backward direction; however, this also attenuated the waves traveling forwards.

A team of researchers has now developed a method for preventing sound waves from traveling backward without deteriorating their propagation in the forward direction.

The basis of this one-way street for sound waves are self-oscillations, in which a dynamical system periodically repeats its behavior.

In the future, this method, which has recently been published in Nature Communications, could also be applied to electromagnetic waves.

Tiemo Pedergnana et al, Loss-compensated non-reciprocal scattering based on synchronization, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51373-y

Part 2

1.8 Billion Years of Plate Tectonics

Using information from inside the rocks on Earth's surface, researchers have reconstructed the plate tectonics of the planet over the last 1.8 billion years.

It is the first time Earth's geological record has been used like this, looking so far back in time. This has enabled us to make an attempt at mapping the planet over the last 40% of its history, which you can see in the animation below.

The work is now published in the open-access journal Geoscience Frontiers.

Mapping our planet through its long history creates a beautiful continental dance—mesmerizing in itself and a work of natural art.

It starts with the map of the world familiar to everyone. Then India rapidly moves south, followed by parts of Southeast Asia as the past continent of Gondwana forms in the Southern Hemisphere.

Around 200 million years ago (Ma or mega-annum in the reconstruction), when the dinosaurs walked the earth, Gondwana linked with North America, Europe and northern Asia to form a large supercontinent called Pangea.

Then, the reconstruction carries on back through time. Pangea and Gondwana were themselves formed from older plate collisions. As time rolls back, an earlier supercontinent called Rodinia appears. It doesn't stop here. Rodinia, in turn, is formed by the break-up of an even older supercontinent called Nuna about 1.35 billion years ago.

Part 1

Among the planets in the solar system, Earth is unique for having plate tectonics. Its rocky surface is split into fragments (plates) that grind into each other and create mountains, or split away and form chasms that are then filled with oceans.

Apart from causing earthquakes and volcanoes, plate tectonics also pushes up rocks from the deep earth into the heights of mountain ranges. This way, elements which were far underground can erode from the rocks and end up washing into rivers and oceans. From there, living things can make use of these elements.

Among these essential elements is phosphorus, which forms the framework of DNA molecules, and molybdenum, which is used by organisms to strip nitrogen out of the atmosphere and make proteins and amino acids—building blocks of life.

Plate tectonics also exposes rocks that react with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Rocks locking up carbon dioxide is the main control on Earth's climate over long time scales—much, much longer than the tumultuous climate change we are responsible for today.

Mapping the past plate tectonics of the planet is the first stage in being able to build a complete digital model of Earth through its history.

Xianzhi Cao et al, Earth's tectonic and plate boundary evolution over 1.8 billion years, Geoscience Frontiers (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.gsf.2024.101922

Researchers discover an effective and environment-friendly disinfectant

A widely used disinfectant worldwide, chloroxylenol, has been associated with eco-toxicological threats in water environments due to its relatively high chemical stability and massive consumption. Researchers at the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have discovered a promising alternative known as 2,6-dichlorobenzoquinone (2,6-DCQ), which works more effectively in combating certain common bacteria, fungi and viruses, and can be rapidly degraded and detoxified in receiving waters.

Their findings have been published in Nature Communications.

Jiarui Han et al, An effective and rapidly degradable disinfectant from disinfection byproducts, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48752-w

Study of older patients suggests 1 in 5 cases of dementia may be attributable to vision impairment

Prior research has found that there may be a connection between hearing loss in aging people and the onset of dementia. In a new study, a team of health care researchers and geriatric specialists  surveyed patient health care records and reported that approximately 1 in 5 cases of dementia could also be attributable to vision impairment in community-dwelling  adults aged 71 years or older.

The paper is published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

Scientists still do not know what causes dementia, but they strongly suspect that it might be tied to several factors, one of which might be sensory degradation. As the senses lose their sharpness, the hypothesis proposes, the brain must work harder to make sense of the external environment, all while undergoing its own aging process.

The result could be loss of cognitive and memory abilities. In this new effort, the researchers looked for such evidence in people over the age of 71 who have experienced at least one of three main types of vision impairment: near or distance acuity, or contrast sensitivity.

They found that approximately 19% of dementia cases could be attributable to one or more types of vision loss. This, they note, suggests that dementia could have been prevented in nearly 20% of cases if loss of vision had been addressed. They note that prior studies have shown that approximately 90% of vision problems in older people are correctable through glasses or surgery.

The research team acknowledges that their results are based on associations rather than proof because there is no way to prove any single cause of dementia. But they also suggest that the associations they found make a strong case for it.

Tidal Locking | Why Do We Only See One Side of the Moon?

Bat loss linked to death of human babies
When insect-eating bats are wiped out by ‘white nose syndrome’, farmers turn to pesticides for pest control — possibly leading to knock-on effects for human health. Researchers compared counties in the northeastern United States where the white nose fungus had killed most bats to those areas where the disease hadn’t yet spread. In places where bat populations had crashed, farmers used 31% more insecticides and infant deaths not due to accidents or homicides rose by 8% — numbers that the authors suggest might be linked. Where bats remained, there was no change in pesticide use or infant mortality.

The study is the “most convincing evidence to date” linking economic and health impacts with dramatic losses of a wild species.

Bats are good to have around a farm. They provide free pest control, with some species consuming 40% of their body weight each night in insects. The value of this service has been estimated at between $4 billion and $53 billion per year. So, it’s logical to assume farmers might compensate for a loss of bats by spraying more insecticides.

Infant mortality in all the counties: In places where the bat populations had crashed, deaths due to accident or homicides stayed the same. But other deaths, such as those caused by disease or birth defects, rose 8%. In counties with healthy bat populations, the numbers didn’t shift one way or another.

Several lines of evidence connect pesticides and other agrochemicals to human health risks.

That is why we say we - all living beings - are all dependent on one another for our survival.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg0344

https://www.science.org/content/article/my-jaw-dropped-bat-loss-lin...

Bacteria in your mouth Reproduce in a rare way

The microbial ecosystem nesting in your mouth is giving scientists a rare tool to learn about how bacteria multiply. One of the most common bacteria living in your dental plaque, a filamentous bacterium called Corynebacterium matruchotii, divides not into two daughter cells like most cell divisions but multiple new microbes in a rarer process called multiple fission.

A team of scientists observed single C. matruchotii cells dividing up into up to 14 new cells – a feat that can tell us how these organisms form the scaffolding that supports the hosts of other microbes that are dwelling in your mouth.

The Corynebacterium cells in dental plaque are like a big, bushy tree in the forest; they create a spatial structure that provides the habitat for many other species of bacteria around them.

Most bacteria and archaea reproduce via an asexual process called binary fission. The genetic material divides, and the cell itself then divides, resulting in two organisms where there was one.

Researchers saw the unusual cell division of C. matruchotii was not the normal binary kind, but much more prolific. And it does so in a very strange way.

First, the filament elongates at just one end, growing much longer than the usual size of the cell. It does so at a rate five times faster than other, closely related Corynebacterium species that live in the nose or on the skin.

Then, a number of dividing walls called septa form simultaneously, before the cell breaks apart into between 3 and 14 complete daughter cells.

Thanks to this strange process, a colony of C. matruchotii can grow very fast indeed, up to half a millimeter per day – which might help explain why plaque starts to return to your teeth within hours, no matter how strenuously you clean them.

Another interesting thing about C. matruchotii that might drive its strange growth and division is that it lacks a flagellum; the whip-like appendage other bacteria use to get around. Because it is fixed in place, its fast growth could be a means of exploring its environment and looking for sources of food, the researchers say.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2408654121

Scientists Discover Mosquitoes Are Using Infrared to Track Humans Down

There's something about us that mosquitoes just love. In addition to our smell, and our breath, our exposed skin acts as a kind of neon sign advertising that this blood bar is open for business.

That's because mosquitoes use infrared sensing in their antennae to track down their prey, a new study has found.
In many parts of the world, mosquito bites are more than an irritation, capable of spreading pathogens like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika virus. Malaria, spread by the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, caused more than 600,000 deaths in 2022, according to World Health Organization statistics.

To avoid serious disease, or even just a case of maddening itchiness, we humans are pretty keen to find ways to prevent mosquito bites.

Research found that mosquitoes use infrared detection – along with other cues we already knew about, like a nose for the CO2 in our breath, and certain body odours, to seek out hosts.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07848-5

A person's intelligence limits their computer proficiency more than previously thought, say researchers

A new study has found that intelligence, in the form of general cognitive abilities such as perception, thinking and remembering, is more important than hitherto thought at predicting a person's ability to complete common tasks with a PC. The study was published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies in August 2024.

This research findings are the first clear proof that cognitive abilities have a significant, independent and wide-ranging effect on people's ability to use a computer. Contrary to what was previously thought, cognitive abilities are as important as previous experience of computer use.

The findings have implications for digital equality, say the researchers, because everyday user interfaces have simply become too complex to use. Practice alone is no longer enough, with intelligence becoming an equally critical factor in predicting performance in computer tasks.

"It is clear that differences between individuals cannot be eliminated simply by means of training; in the future, user interfaces need to be streamlined for simpler use. This age-old goal has been forgotten at some point, and awkwardly designed interfaces have become a driver for the digital divide. We cannot promote a deeper and more equal use of computers in society unless we solve this basic problem, say the researchers. 

However, the research findings also show that age remains the most important factor in how well an individual can use applications. Older people clearly took more time to complete their tasks, and they also felt that the assignments were more burdensome.

 Erik Lintunen et al, Cognitive abilities predict performance in everyday computer tasks, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103354