The researchers found that T cell receptor sequences provided the most relevant information about lupus and type 1 diabetes while B cell receptor sequences were most informative in identifying HIV or SARS-CoV-2 infection or recent influenza vaccination. In every case, however, combining the T and B cell results increased the algorithm's ability to accurately categorize people by their disease state regardless of sex, age or race.
Although the researchers developed Mal-ID on just six immunological states, they envision the algorithm could quickly be adapted to identify immunological signatures specific to many other diseases and conditions. They are particularly interested in autoimmune diseases like lupus, which can be difficult to diagnose and treat effectively.
Mal-ID may also help researchers identify new therapeutic targets for many conditions.

Maxim E. Zaslavsky et al, Disease diagnostics using machine learning of B cell and T cell receptor sequences, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp2407

Part 3

How to trick the body's metabolism: Study reveals new path for weight-loss and diabetes treatments

Many people who have tried to lose weight by cutting calories are familiar with this frustrating reality: At some point, the body stops shedding pounds. It senses the reduced calorie intake and responds by slowing down metabolism, causing it to burn fewer calories than before the diet.

This happens because the body perceives a potential starvation threat and adapts by conserving energy while still carrying out essential functions. 

Now, a new study has identified a possible way to maintain calorie burning even when consuming fewer calories. The work appears in Cell Metabolism.

This discovery could be particularly important for patients using weight-loss or diabetes medicines like Wegovy and Ozempic. Many people taking these medications find that their weight loss plateaus after losing about 20–25% of their body weight. This stall is likely due to the body's natural response.

If we could develop a medication that helps maintain fat or sugar burning at its original high level alongside weight-loss treatments, people could continue losing weight beyond the usual plateau.

However,  the findings are currently based on mouse models, meaning human trials are still a long way off, and potential treatments even further down the line.

Part 1

The researchers' discovery was unexpected when they were investigating the function of a gene called Plvap in certain liver cells in mice. The team knew from previous studies that humans born without this gene have problems with their lipid metabolism, a connection the research team set out to investigate.

It turned out that the Plvap gene enables the body's metabolic shift from burning sugar to fat when fasting. And when Plvap is turned off—as the researchers did in their laboratory mice—the liver does not recognize that the body is fasting and continues burning sugar.
In other words, the research team has found an entirely new way in which the liver's metabolism is regulated, which may have medical applications.
Beyond the intriguing ability of Plvap knockout to "trick" the liver into thinking it is not fasting, the researchers made several other important observations in their study:

The signal that triggers metabolic changes during fasting comes from the liver's stellate cells rather than hepatocytes, the liver's most abundant cells responsible for carrying out metabolic processes. This suggests that stellate cells play a previously unknown role in controlling liver metabolism by directing other cell types, introducing a new mode of cell-to-cell communication.
Although fat was redirected to the muscles instead of the liver, the mice showed no negative effects. In fact, they experienced improved insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels.
This discovery could have far-reaching implications—not just for obesity treatments, but also for improving our understanding of how fat and sugar are processed in metabolic diseases. In the long run, it may open new avenues for treating conditions like type 2 diabetes and steatotic liver disease.

 Hepatic stellate cells regulate liver fatty acid utilization via plasmalemma vesicle2 associated protein, Cell Metabolism (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2025.01.022. www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/f … 1550-4131(25)00022-1

Part 2

Melting Antarctic ice sheets are slowing Earth's strongest ocean current, research reveals

Melting ice sheets are slowing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the world's strongest ocean current, researchers have found. This melting has implications for global climate indicators, including sea level rise, ocean warming and viability of marine ecosystems.

Researchers have shown the current slowing by around 20% by 2050 in a high carbon emissions scenario. The work is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

This influx of fresh water into the Southern Ocean is expected to change the properties, such as density (salinity), of the ocean and its circulation patterns.

The ocean is extremely complex and finely balanced. If this current 'engine' breaks down, there could be severe consequences, including more climate variability, with greater extremes in certain regions, and accelerated global warming due to a reduction in the ocean's capacity to act as a carbon sink.

 Taimoor Sohail et al, Decline of antarctic circumpolar current due to polar ocean freshening, Environmental Research Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/adb31c

Synthetic microbiome therapy suppresses bacterial infection without antibiotics

A synthetic microbiome therapy, tested in mice, protects against severe symptoms of a gut infection that is notoriously difficult-to-treat and potentially life-threatening in humans, according to a team of researchers who developed the treatment for Clostridioides difficile, or C. difficile, a bacterium that can cause severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and colon inflammation.

C. difficile can overgrow when the balance of the gut microbiome—the trillions of organisms that keep your body healthy—is disrupted. The team said their findings could lead to the development of new probiotic strategies for humans to treat C. difficile infections as an alternative to antibiotics and conventional fecal microbiota transplants.

While it draws on the idea of human fecal transplants, a medical procedure where bacteria from a healthy donor's stool is transferred to a patient's gastrointestinal tract to restore balance to the microbiome, the new approach doesn't require any fecal matter.

Instead, this microbiome therapy uses fewer but more precise bacteria strains that have been linked to C. difficile suppression. It was as effective as human fecal transplants in mice against C. difficile infection and with fewer safety concerns.

The findings were published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe and the researchers also filed a provisional application to patent the technology described in the paper.

Typically, the organisms in the microbiome keep each other in check. While many people carry C. difficile in their gut, it usually doesn't cause a problem. However, antibiotics can tip the scales, creating an environment where C. difficile can flourish by knocking out good bacteria along with harmful ones. C. difficile accounts for 15% to 25% of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Infection can often set in after a visit to the hospital or other health care setting.

Treating these infections is challenging. Antibiotics aren't effective against C. difficile because the bacteria are drug-resistant. Antibiotics also further disrupt the gut microbiome, creating a positive feedback loop that leads to recurrent infections.

Part 1

One therapy that has proven effective is a fecal microbiota transplant, which is designed to restore a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut. However, it's not without risks.

To a certain extent, a fecal transplant is almost like going to the pharmacist where they take a little bit of everything off the shelf and put it into one pill, assuming that something will probably help. But we don't know 100% what's in there.The research team set out to identify C. difficile's "friends" and "foes;" in other words, those that tend to either co-occur with C. difficile or those that may reduce the growth of C. difficile. They gathered information on the human microbiome from 12 previously published studies, which included microbiome sequencing data and clinical diagnoses of C. difficile colonization.

They then used machine learning to home in on the key features of microorganisms that were positively and negatively associated with C. difficile.

Thirty-seven strains of bacteria were found to be negatively correlated with C. difficile. In other words, when these microorganisms were present, there was no C. difficile infection. Another 25 bacteria were positively correlated with C. difficile, meaning that they were present alongside C. difficile infection.
In the lab, the researchers then combined bacteria that appeared to repress C. difficile and developed a synthetic version of a fecal transplant.

When tested in vitro and given orally to mice, the synthetic microbiome therapy significantly reduced growth of C. difficile, resisted infection and was as effective as a traditional human fecal transplant. In mice, it was also shown to protect against severe disease, delay relapse and decrease the severity of recurrent infections caused by antibiotic use.

Through experiments, the researchers determined that just one bacterial strain was critical for suppressing C. difficile. Alone, it was just as effective as a human fecal transplant in preventing infection in a mouse model.
If you have this Peptostreptococcus strain, you don't have C. difficile. It's a very potent suppressor and is actually better than all 37 strains combined.

The team's approach to microbiome science could be used to understand complex host-microbial interactions in other conditions like inflammatory bowel disease with the potential to develop novel therapies.

The goal is to develop the microbes as targeted drugs and therapies.

A designed synthetic microbiota provides insight to community function in Clostridioides difficile resistance, Cell Host & Microbe (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2025.02.007. www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe … 1931-3128(25)00055-1

Part 2

Polymers used in everyday products can degrade into toxic chemicals, study finds

The scientific community has long believed that polymers—very large molecules—are too big to migrate out of products into people and therefore pose no health risks. As a result, polymers have largely evaded regulation. For example, polymers are exempt from the major toxics acts. However, a study published recently in Nature Sustainability demonstrates that polymers used as flame retardants can break down into smaller harmful chemicals.

The study suggests polymers can act as a trojan horse for toxic chemicals.

They are added to products as inert large molecules, but over time they can degrade, exposing us to their harmful breakdown products.

The researchers tested two polymeric brominated flame retardants (polyBFRs) that were developed as "non-toxic" alternatives to banned flame retardants. They found that both polyBFRs broke down into dozens of types of smaller molecules. Toxicity testing of these smaller molecules in zebrafish showed significant potential for causing mitochondrial dysfunction and developmental and cardiovascular harm.

The scientists went on to search for these polymer break-down products in the environment and, further raising alarm, detected them in soil, air, and dust. The levels were highest near electronic waste recycling facilities and lessened moving away from the facilities. These results confirm that the use of polyBFRs in electronics leads to the release of toxic breakdown products into the environment with potential for human and wildlife exposure and harm.

Widespread use of these polyBFRs in electronics may result in exposures when these products are manufactured, when they're in our homes, and when they're discarded or recycled, the researchers say.

Xiaotu Liu et al, Environmental impacts of polymeric flame retardant breakdown, Nature Sustainability (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-025-01513-z

Study links intense energy bursts to ventilator-induced lung injury

A new study  suggests that repeated collapse and reopening of tiny alveoli—air sacs in the lungs essential for breathing—during mechanical ventilation may cause microscopic tissue damage, playing a key role in ventilator-related injuries that contribute to thousands of deaths annually.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study sheds light on ventilator-induced lung injury, a complication that gained increased attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a surge in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. These devices pump oxygen-rich air into a patient's airways when they are unable to breathe adequately on their own.

The study identified that alveolar recruitment/derecruitment—when collapsed air sacs in the lungs repeatedly open and close—accounts for only 2–5% of energy dissipation during ventilation but correlates directly with lung injury in a model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

It's like a tiny explosion at the delicate lung surface. Though small in magnitude, it creates a power intensity of about 100 watts per square meter—comparable to sunlight exposure.

ARDS is a severe lung condition that affects roughly 10% of intensive care unit patients and carries a mortality rate of 30–40%, even with modern ventilation techniques. Using a pig model of ARDS, the team examined how ventilator energy is transferred and dissipated in the lungs.

The researchers found that reducing this type of energy dissipation led to rapid recovery, while patients continued to deteriorate when 5–10% of alveoli underwent repetitive recruitment/derecruitment.

The study suggests that minimizing these repetitive collapse-and-reopening cycles could significantly reduce ventilator-induced lung injury. Researchers noted that adjusting ventilation strategies to prevent such events may improve outcomes for critically ill patients.

The study's findings could also help inform the development of new ventilation protocols aimed at reducing lung injury and improving patient care in intensive care units worldwide.

Gaver, Donald P., Mechanical ventilation energy analysis: Recruitment focuses injurious power in the ventilated lung, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2419374122. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2419374122

Vesuvius volcano turned this brain to glass

Scientists observe that smartphone restriction for three days can alter brain activity

A smartphone's glow is often the first and last thing we see as we wake up in the morning and go to sleep at the end of the day. It is increasingly becoming an extension of our body that we struggle to part with. In a recent study in Computers in Human Behavior, scientists observed that staying away from smartphones can even change one's brain chemistry.

The researchers recruited young adults for a 72-hour smartphone restriction diet where they were asked to limit smartphone use to essential tasks such as work, daily activities, and communication with their family or significant others.

During these three days, the researchers conducted psychological tests and did brain scans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effects of restricting phone usage. Brain scans showed significant activity shifts in reward and craving regions of the brain, resembling patterns seen in substance or alcohol addiction.

For this study, 25 young adults aged 18 to 30 who regularly used smartphones were selected. Before the 72-hour restriction period, participants were screened for the severity of physical, psychological, and social issues related to smartphone use and computer gaming, as well as to ensure they did not have any existing mental health conditions.

To assess their mood, smartphone habits, and cravings, participants completed two questionnaires before their first brain scan. They were then instructed to limit phone use for the next 72 hours.

After the three-day restriction period, participants underwent fMRI scans while being shown different sets of images: neutral scenes (such as landscapes and boats), smartphones turned on, and smartphones turned off.

The scans revealed that limiting smartphones led to brain activity changes in areas associated with dopamine and serotonin—neurotransmitters that regulate mood, emotions and also addiction.

The researchers noted that smartphone restriction can resemble withdrawal from addictive substances or even food cravings in some ways, which was noticeable in both heavy (ESU) and regular smartphone (non-ESU) participants.

Mike M. Schmitgen et al, Effects of smartphone restriction on cue-related neural activity, Computers in Human Behavior (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2025.108610

Preclinical Alzheimer's disease: Study finds faster tau accumulation in females

An international team of researchers has conducted a meta-analysis revealing that women with high β-amyloid (Aβ) exhibit significantly faster tau accumulation in key brain regions compared to men. Findings suggest that sex differences in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology may influence treatment efficacy, prompting a need for sex-specific therapeutic strategies.

The paper is published in the journal JAMA Neurology.

Alzheimer's disease is nearly twice as prevalent in women compared to men, yet the biological mechanisms driving this disparity remain unclear. While both sexes show similar levels of Aβ burden, studies indicate that women may be more susceptible to tau pathology, a protein linked to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline.

Previous research has shown higher tau deposition in women through cross-sectional studies, but longitudinal evidence confirming whether women experience faster tau accumulation has been limited.

In the study, titled "Sex Differences in Longitudinal Tau-PET in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease: A Meta-Analysis," researchers performed a meta analysis of longitudinal data from six major aging and Alzheimer's disease cohorts. The objective was to determine whether the female sex is associated with faster tau accumulation in the presence of high Aβ levels and to examine whether sex modifies the relationship between APOEε4 carrier status and tau accumulation.

Data was sourced from 1,376 participants across the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Berkeley Aging Cohort Study (BACS), BioFINDER 1 (BF-1), Harvard Aging Brain Study (HABS), Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (MCSA), and the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer Prevention (WRAP).

Among individuals with high Aβ, women showed significantly faster tau accumulation in specific brain regions compared to men. These accelerated accumulations were detected in the inferior temporal cortex, temporal fusiform gyrus, and lateral occipital cortex.

Women who carried the APOEε4 allele also experienced faster tau accumulation in the inferior temporal region. No significant differences were observed in other brain regions.

Findings indicate that sex differences in tau accumulation rates may contribute to the increased prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in women.

Elevated tau in women with high Aβ may accelerate disease progression, warranting sex-specific considerations in future therapeutic interventions.

Gillian T. Coughlan et al, Sex Differences in Longitudinal Tau-PET in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease, JAMA Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.0013

Heat from the sun plays a role in seismic activity on Earth

Seismology has revealed much of the basics about earthquakes: Tectonic plates move, volcanic activity, causing strain energy to build up, and that energy eventually releases in the form of an earthquake.

In recent years, research has focused on a possible correlation between the sun or moon and seismic activity on Earth, with some studies pointing to tidal forces or electromagnetic effects interacting with the planet's crust, core, and mantle.

Researchers  explored the likelihood that Earth's climate, as affected by solar heat, plays a role.

The study builds on one that a pair of the researchers had published in the same journal in 2022; that study connected solar activity, particularly sunspot numbers, with seismic systems on Earth to establish a causal effect.

Solar heat drives atmospheric temperature changes, which in turn can affect things like rock properties and underground water movement.

Such fluctuations can make rocks more brittle and prone to fracturing, for example—and changes in rainfall and snowmelt can alter the pressure on tectonic plate boundaries. While these factors may not be the main drivers of earthquakes, they could still be playing a role that can help to predict seismic activity.

Using mathematical and computational methods, the researchers analyzed earthquake data alongside solar activity records and surface temperatures on Earth. Among other findings, they observed that when they included Earth surface temperatures into their model, the forecasting became more accurate, especially for shallow earthquakes. That makes sense, since heat and water mostly affect the upper layers of the Earth's crust.

The findings suggest the transfer of solar heat to the surface of the Earth does affect seismic activity, however minutely, and that incorporating solar activity predictions into detailed Earth temperature models may help issue earthquake forecasts.

 The role of solar heat in earthquake activity, Chaos An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science (2025). DOI: 10.1063/5.0243721

Smoking and antibiotic resistance: How cigarette waste promotes the spread of resistant germs

Antibiotic resistance is a major global health problem: it implies that vital drugs are no longer effective. A new study by researchers demonstrates that pollutants from cigarette smoke and cigarette waste can promote the growth and spread of resistant bacteria in the environment. The interdisciplinary and international research group also shows that smoking increases the spread of resistant bacteria in the human lung. The study is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Every year, millions of people die from the direct consequences of smoking. The study by the  scientists now shows that smoking also poses indirect health risks when pollutants from cigarette smoke and cigarette butts are released into the lung and the environment.

Cigarette filters contain many of the toxic substances found in cigarette smoke.  When these filters end up in waterbodies, they are increasingly colonized by potentially pathogenic bugs and bacteria displaying antibiotic resistance, as these are particularly well adapted to the adverse conditions on the filters.

The cigarette butts colonized with resistant and pathogenic bacteria can then be transported to rivers, other waterbodies, or beaches, contributing to the spread of dangerous bacteria. "This underlines the need for stricter measures against the careless discarding of cigarette butts and highlights another hidden health hazard caused by smoking.

The study also confirms the effects for the consumers of tobacco products: Smokers could promote a faster spread of resistant germs in their own lungs, resulting in a lower effectiveness of administered antibiotics in the case of future lung infections.

Different bacterial species can exchange resistance genes via so-called plasmids—small DNA molecules that bacteria pass on to each other. This enables bacteria that were previously treatable with antibiotics to acquire resistance to these antibiotics, making them no longer treatable.

In their experiments the researchers were able to show that the toxic substances that accumulate in the lung fluid due to cigarette smoke trigger a stress reaction in the bacteria, which, among other things, more than doubles the frequency with which resistance genes are passed on between bacteria via plasmids.

Peiju Fang et al, Effects of cigarette-derived compounds on the spread of antimicrobial resistance in artificial human lung sputum medium, simulated environmental media and wastewater, Environmental Health Perspectives (2025). DOI: 10.1289/EHP14704

Environmental scientists highlight role of paint in microplastic pollution

Plastic waste is recognized as a major cause of environmental harm, with products like water bottles, plastic bags and clothing fibers acknowledged as major contributors to plastic pollution—but research by  environmental scientists shows another source deserves more attention: paint.

In a study published in the journal Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry, researchers show how paint has been severely understudied when it comes to research on microplastics.

Defined as plastic particles less than five millimeters in size, microplastics are known to accumulate in air, water, food and even our bodies over time—and have been shown to have toxic effects on both marine life and human health.

The researchers say paint has been severely underestimated as a microplastic pollutant because it can be difficult to identify. Often, paint will show up as 'anthropogenic unknowns' when characterizing microplastics. Researchers have been wondering what such particles are and hypothesizing, based on computer modeling, that paint might be responsible for a large portion of them.

To investigate this further, the researchers surveyed existing literature to determine where paint pollution comes from. They found there were around 800 studies published on microplastics in 2019, but only 53 focused on paint, making for a significant research gap.

Although paint has traditionally been considered a form of plastic, on average, 37% of it is composed of synthetic resins that bind pigments together.

However, special vacuums  can prevent paint emissions from leeching into the environment during building construction.

There's paint from boats. There's also paint on buildings, on our roads. Once you walk around the city, you start to see it everywhere you look. So it's vital to devise and deploy more measures to reduce paint pollution, given the ubiquitous nature of paint, say the researchers.

 Zoie T Diana et al, Paint: a ubiquitous yet disregarded piece of the microplastics puzzle, Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (2025). DOI: 10.1093/etojnl/vgae034

Triple bond formed between boron and carbon for the first time

Boron, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen: these four elements can form chemical triple bonds with each other due to their similar electronic properties. Examples of this are the gas carbon monoxide, which consists of one carbon and one oxygen atom, or the nitrogen gas in the Earth's atmosphere with its two nitrogen atoms.

Chemistry recognizes triple bonds between all possible combinations of the four elements—but not between boron and carbon. 

There have long been stable double bonds between boron and carbon. In addition, many molecules are known in which triple bonds exist between two carbon atoms or between two boron atoms.

Chemists have now closed this gap: A team has succeeded for the first time in synthesizing a molecule with a boron-carbon triple bond, a so-called boryne, which exists as an orange solid at room temperature.

In the novel molecule, the boron atom is in a linear arrangement with carbon atoms. In combination with the triple bond, this is about as uncomfortable as it gets for boron, requiring very special conditions.

The scientists characterized the new molecule and also carried out initial reactivity studies. They present the results in the journal Nature Synthesis.

Maximilian Michel et al, The synthesis of a neutral boryne, Nature Synthesis (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44160-025-00763-1. www.nature.com/articles/s44160-025-00763-1

Scientists genetically engineer mice with thick hair like the extinct woolly mammoth

This week scientists announced that they have simultaneously edited seven genes in mice embryos to create mice with long, thick, woolly hair. They nicknamed the extra-furry rodents as the "Colossal woolly mouse.

Results were posted online, but they have not yet been published in a journal or vetted by independent scientists.

World's critical food crops at imminent risk from rising temperatures, research reveals

Global warming is already reshaping our daily lives, with storms, floods, wildfires and droughts around the world. As temperatures continue to rise, a third of global food production could be at risk. Now, a new study in Nature Food offers a more precise picture of exactly where and how warming will affect our ability to grow food.

Researchers studied how future changes in temperature, precipitation and aridity will affect growing conditions of 30 major food crop species across the globe.

They found that low-latitude regions face significantly worse consequences than mid- or high-latitudes. Depending on the level of warming, up to half of the crop production in low-latitude areas would be at risk as climate conditions become unsuitable for production. At the same time, those regions would also see a large drop in crop diversity.

The loss of diversity means that the range of food crops available for cultivation could decrease significantly in certain areas. That would reduce food security and make it more difficult to get adequate calories and protein, the scientists say.

Up to half of the world's food crop production may be affected

Warming will severely decrease the amount of global cropland available for staple crops––rice, maize, wheat, potato and soybean––which account for over two-thirds of the world's food energy intake.

In addition, "tropical root crops such as yam, which are key to food security in low-income regions, as well as cereals and pulses, are particularly vulnerable. In sub-Saharan Africa, the region which would be impacted most, almost three quarters of current production is at risk if global warming exceeds 3°C.

By contrast, mid- and high-latitude areas will probably retain their productive land overall, though zones for specific crops will change. These areas are also likely to see an increase in crop diversity. For example, the cultivation of temperate fruits, such as pears, could become more common in more northerly regions.

However, even if climatic conditions are favorable, other factors could hamper agriculture in these areas. There's climatic potential but, for example, warming might bring new pests and extreme weather events, which this model doesn't include. So the situation isn't really that black and white.

Part 1

Many of the low-latitude regions most threatened by warming are already vulnerable in numerous ways. They face problems with food sufficiency, and economic and systemic forces make them less resilient than northern countries.
But still there are ways that these regions could, at least partly, meet the challenge.
In many low latitude areas, especially in Africa, the yields are small compared to similar areas elsewhere in the world. They could get higher yields with access to fertilizers and irrigation as well as reducing food losses through the production and storage chain. However, ongoing global warming will add a lot of uncertainty to these estimates and probably even more actions are needed, such as crop selection and novel breeding, the scientists say.
While policy-makers in low-latitude countries should work to close those gaps, in mid- and high-latitude regions farmers and policy-makers need more flexibility.
Warming will likely change which crops are grown in those areas, and further changes will come from the array of pressures on the global food system. Coping with those changes will require the ability to adjust and adapt as the consequences of climate change unfold.

Climate change threatens crop diversity at low latitudes, Nature Food (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-025-01135-w. www.nature.com/articles/s43016-025-01135-w

Part 2

Diesel exhaust exposure leads to disarray in liver function in mice; could also indicate health issues for humans

Health researchers have discovered significant changes in liver function following exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) in a controlled study involving mice. The study identified disrupted activity in 658 genes and 118 metabolites. These changes led to a higher production of triglycerides, fatty acids, and sugars, largely due to problems with mitochondria, an organelle in the cell responsible for energy production.

The research is published in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology.
The researchers also exposed liver cells to diesel particles and confirmed that the particles were sufficient to activate a gene called Pck1, which led to increased glucose production. Taking it one step further, the researchers inhibited Pck1 to tease out its function. This step reduced glucose levels, confirming Pck1's role in glucose production.

DE emissions play a large role in air pollution and its links to type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Previous research by the same investigators had shown that diesel particles cause mitochondrial dysfunction in liver tissue cells, but the researchers wanted to study the effects in mice. This is the first study to demonstrate the ability of DE exposure to induce mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo.
While there is emerging evidence of a connection between air pollution exposure and metabolic diseases, the exact mechanisms and genes involved are unknown. The researchers say these findings may indicate some of the factors that cause humans to get fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes after being exposed to DE. 

Gajalakshmi Ramanathan et al, Integrated hepatic transcriptomics and metabolomics identify Pck1 as a key factor in the broad dysregulation induced by vehicle pollutants, Particle and Fibre Toxicology (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12989-024-00605-6

Current antivenom ineffective against a saw-scaled viper bite finds study

The ‘big four’ - Russell’s viper, saw-scaled viper, krait, and Indian cobra, are responsible for most of the snakebite incidents in India.

A new study has now shed light on a concerning issue: the antivenom used to treat bites from the saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus sochureki) isn't as effective as it should be in certain regions. A team from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) studied data from a centre treating snakebite victims in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. They found that many patients bitten by the saw-scaled viper weren't responding well to the standard Indian polyvalent antivenom.

Antivenom is a unique mixture made from the antibodies of animals (usually horses) that have been exposed to snake venom. The polyvalent antivenom is designed to work against the venom of the big four snakes, including the saw-scaled viper. When a person is bitten by a venomous snake, the venom can cause a range of problems, from tissue damage and bleeding disorders to paralysis and even death. Antivenom works by binding to the venom in the body and neutralising its harmful effects. Ideally, it should quickly reverse the effects of the venom, allowing the person to recover fully.

The study found that over two-thirds (68.4%) of the patients who received antivenom didn't respond as expected. 103 of the 105 patients experienced venom-induced consumption coagulopathy (VICC), where the venom caused their blood to clot abnormally, leading to bleeding. Around 35% of patients also experienced local and specialised bleeding at the bite site and in other parts of their bodies. Meanwhile, 3 out of 4 patients  (75.7%) also experienced delayed Hypofibrinogenaemia, where their body wasn’t producing enough fibrinogen, a protein essential for blood clotting, even days after the bite. The researchers also found that patients who were bitten in certain areas (the ‘West zone’ of Rajasthan) and those who received higher doses of antivenom were more likely to be unresponsive.

The researchers think the most likely reason for the antivenom's ineffectiveness is that the venom of saw-scaled viper in Rajasthan is different from the venom used to produce the antivenom. Most of the venom used to make India’s polyvalent antivenom comes from saw-scaled vipers in South India. Snakes from different regions can have variations in their venom composition. This means that the antibodies in the antivenom may not bind as effectively to the venom of the vipers in Rajasthan, leaving the venom free to cause damage.

The researchers suggest that the most urgent need is to develop a region-specific antivenom tailored to the venom of Echis carinatus sochureki, the saw-scaled viper in Rajasthan and other regions. This would involve collecting venom from vipers in the region and using it to produce antivenom.

The research highlights a critical gap in our understanding of antivenom and our methods of administering it. The ineffectiveness of the current antivenom against saw-scaled viper venom is a serious concern that begs the question: Does the antivenom work in other regions? Does it work for other venomous snakebites? A comprehensive analysis is the need of the hour to know how we are fair in combating snakebites 

https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd....

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39749523/#:~:text=Conclusions%3A%20....

Lightning and Landscapes: How Land and Weather Shape Lightning in India

Lightning is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena, having captivated humans for centuries, sparking both awe and fear.

Today, scientists know exactly why lightning strikes, but predicting where it will strike is much more difficult due to all the factors at play. In fact, the word has become synonymous with unpredictability. But scientists all over the world are trying to uncover these mysteries.

In a new study, researchers have studied how the landscape affects lightning strikes. They have delved into understanding the frequency of lightning in North India (NI) and North-East India (NEI), discovering how land use and topography might predict when and where these electrical bursts will occur.

For their study, the researchers poured thorough data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, recording the location and frequency of lightning strikes between 2001 and 2014. They then combined this lightning data with information about the different types of land in the area - forests, farms, cities, and so on -  obtained from another satellite, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). For topographical details, they consulted the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission or SRTM—a source of detailed 3D maps of Earth's surface.

They also looked at weather-related factors like temperature, humidity, and something called Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE). CAPE measures how unstable the atmosphere is and how likely it is to produce thunderstorms. They also analysed total cloud cover liquid water (TCCLW) and total cloud cover ice water (TCCIW) along with lightning flash rate density (LFRD) to determine the local temperatures and amount of moisture in the air. They then used computer programs to classify each strike, overlaying their locations on MODIS images to see which land types were struck by lightning. By examining topographical elevations, they categorised these lightning locations by height, revealing patterns at different altitudes.

Part 1. 

The study found that the type of land plays a significant role in the density of lightning strikes. Firstly, North India (NI) generally experienced more lightning than Northeast India (NEI). However, the timing differs: NI sees a peak in lightning during the monsoon season (June to September), while NEI is more prone to lightning strikes during the pre-monsoon months (March to May).

Areas with lots of human activity, like farmland and cities, were also shown to have more lightning strikes. Without vegetation covering it around the year, the ground over farmlands heats up quickly, creating the perfect conditions for thunderstorms. Natural landscapes, like forests and grasslands, were shown to have moderate lightning activity, showing us that vegetation, which helps maintain high soil moisture, plays a role in lightning occurrences. Some natural areas, like savannas (grasslands with scattered trees) and wetlands, can also be lightning hotspots.

The mountains also matter. The research revealed that lightning is more common in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is likely caused by surface heating, where moisture-filled air gets pushed upwards, and orographic lifting (mountain formations) in Meghalaya. The height above sea level is also important. Most lightning happens at lower altitudes (below 1600 feet), and the frequency decreases as you go higher up the mountains, especially in North India. Finally, the study found that as farmland and cities expand, lightning activity tends to increase in those areas.

The study shows us that lightning isn't just a random event, instead, it's shaped by the landscape, the vegetation, and even human activities. Understanding these connections can guide safety measures and help farmers and city planners make informed decisions.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S136468262500...

part2

Packets of freeze-dried bacteria can grow bio-cement on demand

Cement manufacturing and repair could be significantly improved by using biocement-producing bacteria, but growing the microbes at construction sites remains a challenge. Now, researchers report a freeze-drying approach in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces that preserves the bacteria, potentially allowing construction workers to ultimately use powder out of a packet to quickly make tiles, repair oil wells or strengthen the ground for makeshift roads or camps.

Soil stabilization and concrete repair are major challenges facing civil engineers. Recently, researchers have shifted their attention to a tiny bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii that can produce a form of calcium mineral called biocement. The microbes break down urea and form ammonium and carbonate. Then, with the addition of calcium, the result is calcium carbonate, which glues sand and soil particles together or repairs cracks in existing concrete structures.

To make biocement for construction projects, the bacteria currently must be grown onsite with special equipment and technical know-how. So, researchers wanted to develop a way to preserve S. pasteurii in a shelf-stable format that would be easy for construction workers to use.

They were  inspired by manufacturers who freeze-dry biological components and add them to fertilizers. The researchers suspended the bacteria in different solutions and tested how well the microbes survived freezing. They found that sucrose protected the microbes best compared to other types of protectants. After freezing, the bacteria were dried and then stored in resealable plastic bags. Sucrose-treated S. pasteurii remained viable for at least three months.

Further laboratory testing showed that the sucrose-preserved, freeze-dried bacteria could be used to cement sand in 3D-printed cylindrical molds. The researchers prepared separate columns with play sand, like that used in children's sandboxes, and natural sandy soil taken from the ground. Then, when the columns were sprayed several times with calcium chloride and urea, the bacteria produced biocement. The biocement in the columns made with play sand was stronger than the biocement formed with soil, and most of the biocement samples could be removed from the play sand molds.

Matthew J. Tuttle et al, Shelf-Stable Sporosarcina pasteurii Formulation for Scalable Laboratory and Field-Based Production of Biocement, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c15381

Bacteria use nano-spearguns to retaliate against attacks

Some bacteria deploy tiny spearguns to retaliate against rival attacks. Researchers  have mimicked attacks by poking bacteria with an ultra-sharp tip. Using this approach, they have uncovered that bacteria assemble their nanoweapons in response to cell envelope damage and rapidly strike back with high precision.

The research is published in the journal Science Advances.

In the world of microbes, peaceful coexistence goes hand in hand with fierce competition for nutrients and space. Certain bacteria outcompete rivals and fend off attackers by injecting them with a lethal cocktail using tiny, nano-sized spearguns, known as type VI secretion systems (T6SS).

Bacteria respond to cell envelope damage. 

Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), researchers have been able to mimic a bacterial T6SS attack. With the needle-like, ultra-sharp AFM tip, they could touch the bacterial surface, and by gradually increasing the pressure, puncture the outer and the inner membranes in a controlled manner.

In combination with fluorescence microscopy, the researchers revealed that the bacteria responded to outer membrane damage.

Within ten seconds the bacteria assembled their T6SS, often repeatedly, at the site of damage and fired back with pinpoint accuracy.

In the microbial ecosystem, survival is all about strategy, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa has certainly mastered the art of defense. Their targeted and swift retaliation against local attacks minimizes misfiring and optimizes the cost-benefit ratio.

This clever tactic gives Pseudomonas a survival advantage, enabling it to incapacitate attackers and thrive in diverse and often challenging environments.

Mitchell Brüderlin et al, Pseudomonas aeruginosa assembles H1-T6SS in response to physical and chemical damage of the outer membrane, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr1713

Room-temperature superconductors: Fundamental constants suggest they could exist within our universe

In a new development that could help redefine the future of technology, a team of physicists has uncovered a fundamental insight into the upper limit of superconducting temperature.

This research, accepted for publication in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, suggests that room-temperature superconductivity—long considered the "holy grail" of condensed matter physics—may indeed be possible within the laws of our universe.

Superconductors, materials that can conduct electricity without resistance, have the potential to revolutionize energy transmission, medical imaging, and quantum computing. However, until now, they have only functioned at extremely low temperatures, making them impractical for widespread use. The race to find a superconductor that works at ambient conditions has been one of the most intense and elusive pursuits in modern science.

The researchers  reveal that the upper limit of superconducting temperature TC is intrinsically linked to the fundamental constants of nature—the electron mass, electron charge, and the Planck constant.

Constants such as these govern everything from the stability of atoms to the formation of stars and synthesis of carbon and other elements essential to life. The team's finding shows that the upper limit ranges from hundreds to a thousand Kelvin—a range that comfortably includes room temperature.

This discovery tells us that room-temperature superconductivity is not ruled out by fundamental constants.

The results have already been independently confirmed in a separate study, adding weight to the team's conclusions. But the implications go even further. By exploring how different values of these fundamental constants could alter the limits of superconductivity, the researchers have opened a fascinating window into the nature of our universe.

Part 1

Imagine a world where the fundamental constants are different and set the upper limit for TC at a mere millionth of a Kelvin. In such a universe, superconductivity would be undetectable, and we would never have discovered it. Conversely, in a universe where the limit is a million Kelvin, superconductors would be common—even in your electric kettle.

The wire would superconduct instead of heating up. Boiling water for tea would be a very different challenge. It therefore appears that the very reason the community is busy chasing up a room-temperature superconductor is that our fundamental constants set the upper limit of TC in the range 100–1000 K (the range of planetary conditions) where our "room" temperature is.
This research not only advances our understanding of superconductivity but also highlights the delicate balance of the constants that make our universe—and life within it—possible. For scientists and engineers, this work also provides a renewed sense of direction.

 Kostya Trachenko et al, Upper bounds on the highest phonon frequency and superconducting temperature from fundamental physical constants, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (2025). DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/adbc39. On arXiv: DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2406.08129

Part 2

Microscopic particles of 'active matter' dance to the tune of electrochemical reactions

A new study has revealed a coordinated dance of microscopic particles—breaking up and clustering back together in just seconds—after receiving electrical and chemical stimuli. This work represents a new class of materials that mimic the behaviors of living organisms, known as "active matter."

Like the skins of chameleons and octopuses, which respond to external stimuli by changing colors, active matter can display dynamic and autonomous behavior including motility, assembly and swarming. The study published in Nature Communications, revealed a new mechanism to activate these properties within seconds.

 Medha Rath et al, Transient colloidal crystals fueled by electrochemical reaction products, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57333-4

Scientists discover how aspirin could prevent some cancers from spreading

Scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind how aspirin could reduce the metastasis of some cancers by stimulating the immune system. In the study, published in Nature, the scientists say that discovering the mechanism will support ongoing clinical trials, and could lead to the targeted use of aspirin to prevent the spread of susceptible types of cancer, and to the development of more effective drugs to prevent cancer metastasis.

The scientists caution that, in some people, aspirin can have serious side effects and clinical trials are underway to determine how to use it safely and effectively to prevent cancer spread, so people should consult their doctor before starting to take it.

Studies of people with cancer have previously observed that those taking daily low-dose aspirin have a reduction in the spread of some cancers, such as breast, bowel, and prostate cancers, leading to ongoing clinical trials. However, until now it wasn't known exactly how aspirin could prevent metastases.

Scientists  were investigating the process of metastasis, because, while cancer starts out in one location, 90% of cancer deaths occur when cancer spreads to other parts of the body.

The scientists wanted to better understand how the immune system responds to metastasis, because when individual cancer cells break away from their originating tumor and spread to another part of the body they are particularly vulnerable to immune attack.

The immune system can recognize and kill these lone cancer cells more effectively than cancer cells within larger originating tumors, which have often developed an environment that suppresses the immune system.

Part 1

The researchers previously screened 810 genes in mice and found 15 that had an effect on cancer metastasis. In particular, they found that mice lacking a gene which produces a protein called ARHGEF1 had less metastasis of various primary cancers to the lungs and liver.

The researchers determined that ARHGEF1 suppresses a type of immune cell called a T cell, which can recognize and kill metastatic cancer cells.

To develop treatments to take advantage of this discovery, they needed to find a way for drugs to target it. The scientists traced signals in the cell to determine that ARHGEF1 is switched on when T cells are exposed to a clotting factor called thromboxane A2 (TXA2).

This was an unexpected revelation for the scientists, because TXA2 is already well-known and linked to how aspirin works.

TXA2 is produced by platelets—a cell in the blood stream that helps blood clot, preventing wounds from bleeding, but occasionally causing heart attacks and strokes. Aspirin reduces the production of TXA2, leading to the anti-clotting effects which underlie its ability to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

This new research found that aspirin prevents cancers from spreading by decreasing TXA2 and releasing T cells from suppression. They used a mouse model of melanoma to show that in mice given aspirin, the frequency of metastases was reduced compared to control mice, and this was dependent on releasing T cells from suppression by TXA2.
Aspirin, or other drugs that could target this pathway, have the potential to be less expensive than antibody-based therapies, and therefore more accessible globally.
In a small proportion of people, aspirin can cause serious side effects, including bleeding or stomach ulcers. Therefore, it is important to understand which people with cancer are likely to benefit and always talk to your doctor before starting aspirin, the researchers say.

Rahul Roychoudhuri, Aspirin prevents metastasis by limiting platelet TXA2 suppression of T cell immunity, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08626-7. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08626-7

Part 2

When you get hurt matters: Circadian rhythms shown to play a role in muscle repair

The body's internal clock doesn't just dictate when we sleep—it also determines how quickly our muscles heal. A new study in mice, published today in Science Advances, suggests that muscle injuries heal faster when they occur during the body's natural waking hours.

The findings could have implications for shift workers and may also prove useful in understanding the effects of aging and obesity. 

The study also may help explain how disruptions like jetlag and daylight saving time changes impact circadian rhythms and muscle recovery.

"In each of our cells, we have genes that form the molecular circadian clock. These clock genes encode a set of transcription factors that regulate many processes throughout the body and align them with the appropriate time of day. Things like sleep/wake behaviour, metabolism, body temperature and hormones—all these are circadian.

Earlier it was found that mice regenerated muscle tissues faster when the damage occurred during their normal waking hours. When mice experienced muscle damage during their usual sleeping hours, healing was slowed.

In the current study, the researchers sought to better understand how circadian clocks within muscle stem cells govern regeneration depending on the time of day.

They found that the time of day influenced inflammatory response levels in stem cells, which signal to neutrophils—the "first responder" innate immune cells in muscle regeneration.

They  discovered that the cells' signaling to each other was much stronger right after injury when mice were injured during their wake period. This finding  is further evidence that the circadian regulation of muscle regeneration is dictated by this stem cell-immune cell crosstalk.

The scientists found that the muscle stem cell clock also affected the post-injury production of NAD+, a coenzyme found in all cells that is essential to creating energy in the body and is involved in hundreds of metabolic processes.

Next, using a genetically manipulated mouse model, which boosted NAD+ production specifically in muscle stem cells, the team of scientists found that NAD+ induces inflammatory responses and neutrophil recruitment, promoting muscle regeneration.

The findings may be especially relevant to understanding the circadian rhythm disruptions that occur in aging and obesity.

Circadian disruptions linked to aging and metabolic syndromes like obesity and diabetes are also associated with diminished muscle regeneration.

 Pei Zhu et al, Immunomodulatory role of the stem cell circadian clock in muscle repair, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq8538

When outplayed, AI models resort to cheating to win chess matches

A team of AI researchers  has found that several leading AI models will resort to cheating at chess to win when playing against a superior opponent. They have published a paper on the arXiv preprint server describing experiments they conducted with several well-known AI models playing against an open-source chess engine.

As AI models continue to mature, researchers and users have begun considering risks. For example, chatbots not only accept wrong answers as fact, but fabricate false responses when they are incapable of finding a reasonable reply. Also, as AI models have been put to use in real-world business applications such as filtering resumes and estimating stock trends, users have begun to wonder what sorts of actions they will take when they become uncertain, or confused.

In this new study, the team in California found that many of the most recognized AI models will intentionally cheat to give themselves an advantage if they determine they are not winning.

The work involved pitting OpenAI's o1-preview model, DeepSeek's current R1 model and several other well-known AI models against the open-source chess engine Stockfish. Each of the models played hundreds of matches with Stockfish as the researchers monitored the action.

The research team found that when being outplayed, the AI models resorted to obvious cheating strategies, such as running a separate copy of Stockfish to learn how it made its moves, replacing its engine or simply overwriting the chessboard with pieces removed or in more favorable positions.

Those models with the most recent updates tended to be more likely to cheat when cornered. This, they reason, was because of programming trends that have pushed AI models to try harder to find solutions to problems they encounter.

It also introduces a worrying aspect of AI engines in general, they claim. If they cheat at chess, will they cheat in other ways when asked to carry out other tasks? 

Alexander Bondarenko et al, Demonstrating specification gaming in reasoning models, arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2502.13295

Bacterial 'jumping genes' can target and control chromosome ends

Transposons, or "jumping genes"—DNA segments that can move from one part of the genome to another—are key to bacterial evolution and the development of antibiotic resistance.

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism these genes use to survive and propagate in bacteria with linear DNA, with applications in biotechnology and drug development.

In a paper published in Science, researchers show that transposons can target and insert themselves at the ends of linear chromosomes, called telomeres, within their bacterial host. In Streptomyces—historically one of the most significant bacteria for antibiotic development—they found that transposons controlled the telomeres in nearly a third of the chromosomes. 

Bacteria are like these little tinkerers. They're always collecting these mobile DNA pieces, and they're making new functions all the time—everything in antibiotic resistance is really about mobile genetic elements and almost always transposons that can move between bacteria.

The researchers identified several families of transposons in cyanobacteria and Streptomyces that, using different mechanisms, can find and insert themselves at the telomere, with benefits for the transposon and their bacterial host.

For one, inserting at the end of the chromosome helps the transposon avoid genes for the cell's core functioning, which reside in the middle of the chromosomes; transposons that can target the ends are less likely to disrupt an essential function or cause cell death.

For any element to survive—a transposon, bacteria—they really need to be able to do those two things: they need to not cause too much damage, and they need a way to move to new hosts. By inserting into the telomeres, they're able to do both.

Transposons have been found clustered at the chromosome ends in eukaryotic cells, but this is the first time it's been documented in bacteria with linear chromosomes, and the researchers found that bacterial transposons (versus eukaryotes) use unique mechanisms to control the telomeres.

Shan-Chi Hsieh et al, Telomeric transposons are pervasive in linear bacterial genomes, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adp1973. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp1973

Antimicrobial resistance in soil bacteria without the use of antibiotics: Predatory interactions drive development

Overuse of antibiotics is currently the primary reason for the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Researchers,  however, have shown that AMR can surprisingly be found in soil bacterial communities due to microbial interactions too, driven by a species of predatory bacteria.

Published in Current Biology, the study looked at how the presence of the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus affects the number of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in soil samples. M. xanthus is a predatory species which is known to release antimicrobials and other molecules to kill its prey.

The researchers found that the death of M. xanthus in soil bacterial communities increased the frequency of resistant isolates—bacterial cells resistant to antibiotics—in many different species of soil bacteria. These cells also showed resistance to certain antibiotics even without exposure to these drugs. 

When faced with starvation, populations of M. xanthus die en masse. In famine-like conditions, which are very common in soil environments, these bacterial cells form stress-resistant structures called fruiting bodies that are filled with spores.

During the development of fruiting bodies, only a minority of cells succeed in becoming spores, whereas the majority of the bacterial cells undergo lysis (rupture) and release growth-inhibitory substances into the environment.

The researchers think that exposure to these growth inhibitory molecules is the reason behind the increased frequency of resistant isolates in the soil bacterial community. Interestingly, not all strains of M. xanthus triggered enrichment of resistance; it was the ones with higher diversity of biosynthetic clusters that seem to drive it.

When analyzing these inhibitory molecules, the researchers found something even more interesting. They identified multiple different molecules and did a very crude classification. Individually, these molecules might not do anything, but when you put them together, they suddenly do this strange thing where they can enrich other resistant isolates.

The researchers found that resistance was enriched against several antibiotics, which include commonly used drugs such as tetracycline and rifampicin.

It is important to test whether the observations derived from culturable bacteria are also applicable for unculturable microbes, say the researchers.

They found that AMR enriched through this phenomenon could be extended to unculturable bacterial species via similar exposure to growth inhibitory molecules.

The fact that AMR can be maintained by microbial antagonism even in the absence of human-driven contamination of antibiotics is a new and unexpected discovery, the researchers say.

Saheli Saha et al, Mass lysis of predatory bacteria drives the enrichment of antibiotic resistance in soil microbial communities, Current Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.068

Alzheimer's treatment may lie in the brain's own cleanup crew: Harnessing microglia to clear plaques

For more than three decades, scientists have been racing to stop Alzheimer's disease by removing amyloid beta plaques—sticky clumps of toxic protein that accumulate in the brain.

Now, a new Northwestern Medicine study suggests a promising alternative: enhancing the brain's own immune cells to clear these plaques more effectively. The paper was published in Nature Medicine.

The findings could reshape the future of Alzheimer's treatments, shifting the focus from simply removing plaques to harnessing the brain's natural defenses.

The study is the first to use a cutting-edge technique called spatial transcriptomics on human clinical-trial brains with Alzheimer's disease. The technique allows scientists to pinpoint the specific spatial location of gene activity inside a tissue sample.

By analyzing donated brain tissue from deceased people with Alzheimer's disease who received amyloid-beta immunization and comparing it to those who did not, the scientists found that when these treatments work, the brain's immune cells (called microglia) don't just clear plaques—they also help restore a healthier brain environment.

But not all microglia are created equal. Some are quite effective at removing plaques, while others struggle, the study found. Also, microglia in treated brains adopt distinct states depending on the brain region and type of immunization. Lastly, certain genes, like TREM2 and APOE, are more active in microglia in response to treatment, helping these cells remove amyloid beta plaques, according to the findings.

Microglial mechanisms drive amyloid-β clearance in immunized Alzheimer's disease patients, Nature Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-025-03574-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03574-1

Wireless pacifier could monitor babies' vitals in the NICU, eliminating the need for painful blood draws

A small but powerful invention could soon make life in the NICU easier for the tiniest patients. Newborns must have their vitals checked frequently, and one of the most critical measures of newborn health is electrolyte levels. Right now, the only way to monitor electrolytes is to draw their blood multiple times a day. This can be painful and frightening for babies, and challenging to perform for medical staff, who can have trouble drawing blood from tiny, underdeveloped blood vessels.

Now, researchers have developed a pacifier that can constantly monitor a baby's electrolyte levels in real time, eliminating the need for repeated invasive blood draws.

https://research.gatech.edu/feature/pacifier

Diet-related brain inflammation: Three days of high-fat eating impair memory in aged rats

Just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat could be enough to cause memory problems and related brain inflammation in older adults, a new study in rats suggests.

Researchers fed separate groups of young and old rats the high-fat diet for three days or for three months to compare how quickly changes happen in the brain versus the rest of the body when eating an unhealthy diet.

As expected based on previous diabetes and obesity research, eating fatty foods for three months led to metabolic problems, gut inflammation and dramatic shifts in gut bacteria in all rats compared to those that ate normal chow, while just three days of high fat caused no major metabolic or gut changes.

When it came to changes in the brain, however, researchers found that only older rats—whether they were on the high-fat diet for three months or only three days—performed poorly on memory tests and showed negative inflammatory changes in the brain.

The results dispel the idea that diet-related inflammation in the aging brain is driven by obesity. Unhealthy diets and obesity are linked, but they are not inseparable. 

The researchers now showed that within three days, long before obesity sets in, tremendous neuroinflammatory shifts are occurring.

Changes in the body in all animals are happening more slowly and aren't actually necessary to cause the memory impairments and changes in the brain. We never would have known that brain inflammation is the primary cause of high-fat diet-induced memory impairments without comparing the two timelines.

The research was published recently in the journal Immunity & Ageing.

Michael J. Butler et al, Obesity-associated memory impairment and neuroinflammation precede widespread peripheral perturbations in aged rats, Immunity & Ageing (2025). DOI: 10.1186/s12979-024-00496-3

High temperatures could affect brain function in preadolescents

Exposure to high ambient temperatures is associated with lower connectivity in three brain networks in preadolescents, suggesting that heat may impact brain function. This is the conclusion of a study whose results have been published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

The same research team found that exposure to cold and heat can affect psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression and attention problems. In addition, other studies have linked lower connectivity within the brain's salience network to suicidal ideation and self-harming behaviors in adolescents with depression, as well as to anxiety disorders.

A new hypothesis: high temperatures could decrease the functional connectivity of brain network, indirectly contributing to a higher risk of suicide in individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions.

The researchers, however, do not propose that these connectivity changes, triggered by heat exposure, directly induce suicidal behaviors, they could act as a trigger in vulnerable individuals.

 Laura Granés et al, Exposure to Ambient Temperature and Functional Connectivity of Brain Resting-State Networks in Preadolescents, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.11.023

Brain cells compete to shape our minds from development to aging

In a recently published review, researchers explored the ongoing process of neural cell competition (NCC), a fundamental mechanism that shapes the brain across the lifespan.

The review is published in National Science Review, and provides fresh insights into how brain cells continuously "compete" for survival and how this competition impacts brain development, wiring, function, and aging.

Although neural cell competition is widely recognized for its role during early brain development,  the new work demonstrated that this process continues to be vital throughout life. The researchers  revealed that NCC not only helps maintain healthy brain function but also contributes to age-related cognitive decline when disrupted.

The researchers discussed how NCC regulates the balance between different types of brain cells, such as neural progenitors, neurons, and glial cells, ensuring the proper structure and function of neural networks. As we age, this balance can become skewed, potentially leading to cognitive decline and diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease. Disruptions in cellular competition, such as neuronal loss or excessive glial cell growth, have been linked to neurodegenerative diseases.

Additionally, they highlighted how NCC extends beyond neurons, affecting other brain cell types. For example, in the aging brain, oligodendrocyte precursor cells compete to mature into oligodendrocytes. Dysregulation of this process can impair the brain's ability to process information efficiently, contributing to conditions like multiple sclerosis and other white matter diseases.

By understanding NCC's influence across various cell types, the research opens the door to potential strategies for protecting brain cells and slowing the aging process.

One of the most exciting prospects from this research is the possibility of targeting NCC in future therapies to promote brain health in older adults. The review suggests that manipulating the signaling pathways involved in NCC could help protect neurons, enhance cognitive function, and even combat age-related neurodegenerative diseases. This review highlights the dynamic and ongoing battle that occurs inside our brains every day, one that involves complex interactions between different cell types that impact everything from our ability to learn as children to how we remember things as adults. It's a critical step forward in understanding how we can better protect our brains as we age.

 Yu Zheng Li et al, Neural Cell Competition Sculpting Brain from Cradle to Grave, National Science Review (2025). DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwaf057

How the brain turns sound into conversation: Study uncovers the neural pathways of communication

A new study has uncovered how the brain seamlessly transforms sounds, speech patterns, and words into the flow of everyday conversations. Using advanced technology to analyze over 100 hours of brain activity during real-life discussions, researchers revealed the intricate pathways that allow us to effortlessly speak and understand.

These insights not only deepen our understanding of human connection but also pave the way for transformative advancements in speech technology and communication tools.

The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, recorded brain activity over 100 hours of natural, open-ended conversations using a technique called electrocorticography (ECoG).

To analyze this data, researchers used a speech-to-text model called Whisper, which helps break down language into three levels: simple sounds, speech patterns, and the meaning of words. These layers were then compared to brain activity using advanced computer models.

The results showed that the framework could predict brain activity with great accuracy. Even when applied to conversations that were not part of the original data, the model correctly matched different parts of the brain to specific language functions. For example, regions involved in hearing and speaking aligned with sound and speech patterns, while areas involved in higher-level understanding aligned with the meanings of words.

The study also found that the brain processes language in a sequence. Before we speak, our brain moves from thinking about words to forming sounds, while after we listen, it works backwards to make sense of what was said. 

This research has potential practical applications, from improving speech recognition technology to developing better tools for people with communication challenges. It also offers new insights into how the brain makes conversation feel so effortless, whether it's chatting with a friend or engaging in a debate.

A unified acoustic-to-speech-to-language embedding space captures the neural basis of natural language processing in everyday conversations, Nature Human Behaviour (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02105-9

Could a Tattoo Raise Your Risk of Skin Cancer? Twin Studies Suggest a Link

A twin study suggests the consequences of getting a tattoo could be worse than potential regret, finding tattooed twins more likely to develop skin cancer or lymphoma than their tattoo-free siblings.

A cohort study of 2,367 randomly selected twins compared individuals who had a form of skin cancer with those who didn't, revealing those who had tattoos had nearly four times the risk of skin cancer.

Their case-control study compared 316 individuals with their twin siblings, finding between 33 and 62 percent greater risk of a tattooed twin going on to develop cancer.

This was more pronounced for those with tattoos larger than their palm – a risk three times higher than those without tattoos.

It's important to note, firstly, that cancers like lymphoma are quite rare, so this increase is from a low baseline.

What's more, this is not evidence that tattoos cause cancer. It may be those who get tattoos are more at risk of cancer thanks to factors related to a decision to get tattoos.

But previous research has also found higher risks of lymphoma in people with tattoos than in those without, so these findings call for further investigation.

 Other studies showed that ink can contain potentially harmful substances, and for example, red ink more often causes allergic reactions. This is an area we would like to explore further.

Ink particles accumulate in the lymph nodes, and scientists suspect that the body perceives them as foreign substances. 

This may mean that the immune system is constantly trying to respond to the ink, and we do not yet know whether this persistent strain could weaken the function of the lymph nodes or have other health consequences.

Part 1

A 2016 report for the European Commission found the majority of inks used in tattooing are not even approved for use in cosmetics, and some are known to be carcinogenic during degradation.

If you are considering getting inked, it is worth carefully considering ink types and checking if you are clear of other health conditions, such as psoriasis, that tattooing may exacerbate.
Research like this can be a powerful tool to inform us of potential risks

Tattoo ink exposure is associated with lymphoma and skin cancers – a Danish study of twins

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-0...

Part 2

3D-printed tissue restores erectile function and aids reproduction in animal study

Erectile dysfunction affects over 40% of men over 40, yet our understanding of the condition remains limited. Research on this issue has mostly relied on real organs, making it difficult to study the detailed interaction between blood flow and tissue during an erection.

In a recent study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, a team of scientists from China, Japan and the U.S. presented a 3D printed hydrogel-based penile model complete with essential blood vessels to mimic the natural function of a penis.

Once implanted into rabbits and pigs with penile deformities, the bioengineered organ enabled them to mate and reproduce within weeks.
Apart from transporting oxygen and essential nutrients throughout the body, the vascular system also plays a crucial role in penile erection. This is especially true of the corpora cavernosa with its numerous cavernous spaces, with the cavernous artery running through the center of the penis.

During an erection, these spaces get filled with blood and press against nearby veins that block the blood from flowing out, causing the penis to swell and stay firm. Damage to this intricate system of vessels can lead to erectile dysfunction (difficulty achieving an erection) and Peyronie's disease (penile curvature and deformation).

Scientists created a detailed penile system which included the glans (tip of the penis), corpus spongiosum (the tissue surrounding the urethra) with urethral structures and an implantable model of the corpus cavernosum, the sponge-like vascular tissue responsible for erections. This biomimetic corpus cavernosum (BCC) model helped them visualize how different structures and fluids interact during both normal and dysfunctional erections.

The study also explored repairing penile tissue damage in rabbits and pigs. The process began with introducing endothelial cells (lining of blood vessels) derived from the corpus cavernosum of said animals in the BCC model. After 14 days of in-vitro culture, the implantable 3D-printed organ was ready with a fused endothelial layer.

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Within a few weeks of implantation, the BCC model helped the animals regain normal erectile function both spontaneously and in response to electrical stimulation, allowing them to mate and reproduce successfully.
These results open exciting possibilities for treating penile tissue damage and even making penis transplants a reality using the 3D-printed BCC model. The researchers also think that the findings of this study will support the further development of 3D-printed blood-vessel-rich functional organs for transplantation.

 Zhenxing Wang et al, 3D-printed perfused models of the penis for the study of penile physiology and for restoring erectile function in rabbits and pigs, Nature Biomedical Engineering (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01367-y

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Optimal brain processing requires balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons, study suggests

The brain's ability to process information is known to be supported by intricate connections between different neuron populations. A key objective of neuroscience research has been to delineate the processes via which these connections influence information processing.

Researchers recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding the contribution of excitatory and inhibitory neuron populations to the brain's encoding of information. Their findings, published in Physical Review Letters, show that information processing is maximized when the activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons is balanced.

The brain continuously receives and integrates sensory inputs, and neurons do not act in isolation—they are part of complex, recurrent networks. One particularly intriguing feature of these networks is the balance between the activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, which has been observed across different brain regions.

Researchers wanted to determine whether the balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons does more than stabilize neural activity. Specifically, the team explored the possibility that this balance also optimizes information processing.

They analyzed a model that captures the interactions between these two populations and investigated—both analytically and numerically—their response to external signals.

Specifically, by employing tools of information theory, they revealed a fundamental trade-off:  neural networks optimized for accurate encoding over long timescales may be less responsive to rapid changes in the input.

Employing mathematical and theoretical approaches for studying information processing, the researchers showed that information processing is most effective at the edge of stability, a critical state in which the activity of excitatory and inhibitory neurons is balanced. Their results suggest that the fine-tuning of this excitation-inhibition balance could not only stabilize the brain's activity, but could also play a crucial role in its ability to optimally encode information.

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Moreover, in real neural networks, connectivity is not static—it evolves over time, influenced by both external stimuli and internal network activity. This dynamic nature of connectivity might play a crucial role in shaping how neural populations process and encode information, potentially offering insights into how learning and adaptive properties affect information encoding in neural systems.

 Giacomo Barzon et al, Excitation-Inhibition Balance Controls Information Encoding in Neural Populations, Physical Review Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.068403.

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Mysterious phenomenon at center of galaxy could reveal new kind of dark matter

A mysterious phenomenon at the center of our galaxy could be the result of a different type of dark matter.

Dark matter, the mysterious form of unobserved matter which could make up 85% of the mass of the known universe, is one of science's biggest manhunts.

In this first of its kind study, scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the elusive mystery matter. They think a reimagined candidate for dark matter could be behind unexplained chemical reactions taking place in the Milky Way.

At the center of our galaxy sit huge clouds of positively charged hydrogen, a mystery to scientists for decades because normally the gas is neutral. So, what is supplying enough energy to knock the negatively charged electrons out of them?

The energy signatures radiating from this part of our galaxy suggest that there is a constant, roiling source of energy doing just that, and our data says it might come from a much lighter form of dark matter than current models consider.

The most established theory for dark matter is that it is likely a group of particles known as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which pass through regular matter without much interaction—making them extremely hard to detect.

However, this study, published recently in Physical Review Letters, has potentially revived another type of dark matter with much lower mass than a WIMP.

The researchers think that these tiny dark matter particles are crashing into each other and producing new charged particles in a process called "annihilation." These newly produced charged particles can subsequently ionize the hydrogen gas.
Previous attempts to explain this ionization process had relied on cosmic rays, fast and energetic particles that travel throughout the universe. However, this explanation has faced some difficulties, as energy signatures recorded from observations of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) where this is happening, don't seem to be large enough to be attributed to cosmic rays. Such a process doesn't seem to be possible with WIMPs either.

The research team were left with the explanation that the energy source causing the annihilation is slower than a cosmic ray and less massive than a WIMP.

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This finding may simultaneously explain wider mysteries of our galaxy, such as a specific type of X-ray observation found at the center of the Milky Way—known as the "511-keV emission line." This specific energy signature could also be due to the same low-mass dark matter colliding and producing charged particles.

Pedro De la Torre Luque et al, Anomalous Ionization in the Central Molecular Zone by Sub-GeV Dark Matter, Physical Review Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.101001

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Climate change may reduce the number of satellites that can safely orbit in space

Aerospace engineers have found that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the environment of near-Earth space in ways that, over time, will reduce the number of satellites that can sustainably operate there.

In a study appearing in Nature Sustainability, the researchers report that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases can cause the upper atmosphere to shrink. An atmospheric layer of special interest is the thermosphere, where the International Space Station and most satellites orbit today.

When the thermosphere contracts, the decreasing density reduces atmospheric drag— a force that pulls old satellites and other debris down to altitudes where they will encounter air molecules and burn up.

Less drag therefore means extended lifetimes for space junk, which will litter sought-after regions for decades and increase the potential for collisions in orbit.

The team carried out simulations of how carbon emissions affect the upper atmosphere and orbital dynamics, in order to estimate the "satellite carrying capacity" of low-Earth orbit. These simulations predict that by the year 2100, the carrying capacity of the most popular regions could be reduced by 50–66% due to the effects of greenhouse gases.

There's been a massive increase in the number of satellites launched, especially for delivering broadband internet from space. If we don't manage this activity carefully and work to reduce our emissions, space could become too crowded, leading to more collisions and debris, the experts warn.

William Parker, Greenhouse gases reduce the satellite carrying capacity of low Earth orbit, Nature Sustainability (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-025-01512-0. www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01512-0

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Clothes dryers and the bottom line: Switching to air drying can save hundreds

Researchers are hoping their new study will inspire some people to rethink their relationship with laundry. Because, no matter how you spin it, clothes dryers use a lot of comparatively costly energy when air works for free.

Household dryers in the U.S. consume about 3% of our residential energy budget, about six times that used by washing machines. Collectively, dryers cost more than $7 billion to power each year in this country, and generating that energy emits the equivalent of more than 27 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The U.S. also leads the world in dryer ownership, with more than 80% of homes having one, compared with less than 30% in South Korea, just over 40% in Germany and just under 60% in the United Kingdom.

That got researchers in the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, or SEAS, wondering what it would mean for the average American household if we warmed up to air drying.

In most other places in the world, it's hard to find a clothes dryer. 

 Dryers consume a lot of energy, so what if you used line drying instead? How much could you save? How many CO₂ emissions could you avoid?

Researchers   investigated the costs and emissions associated with different drying technology behaviors in the U.S.

Over the lifetime of a dryer, 100% line drying could save a household upwards of $2,100. That would also cut back CO₂ emissions by more than 3 tons per household over the same time. Though the contrast between dryers and line drying is stark, it's not surprising, the researchers said.

The researchers did find some striking results in its analysis, published in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

For example, a mixture of line drying and dryer use proved to be the second most economical and eco-friendly option, over changes like upgrading to more efficient dryers. And, in some cases, households that invested in more energy-efficient dryers wouldn't end up saving money in the long run.

"We tend to focus on technological improvements, but a lot of the time, behavioral changes can have larger impacts.
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