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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Wednesday

NASA experiment shows solar wind might make water on the moon

Scientists have hypothesized since the 1960s that the sun is a source of ingredients that form water on the moon. When a stream of charged particles known as the solar wind smashes into the lunar surface, the idea goes, it triggers a chemical reaction that could make water molecules.

Now, in the most realistic lab simulation of this process yet, NASA-led researchers have confirmed this prediction.

The finding, researchers wrote in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, has implications for NASA's Artemis astronaut operations at the moon's South Pole. A critical resource for exploration, much of the water on the moon is thought to be frozen in permanently shadowed regions at the poles.

Solar wind flows constantly from the sun. It's made largely of protons, which are nuclei of hydrogen atoms that have lost their electrons. Traveling at more than 1 million miles per hour, the solar wind bathes the entire solar system. We see evidence of it on Earth when it lights up our sky in auroral light shows.

Most of the solar particles don't reach the surface of Earth because our planet has a magnetic shield and an atmosphere to deflect them. But the moon has no such protection. As computer models and lab experiments have shown, when protons smash into the moon's surface, which is made of a dusty and rocky material called regolith, they collide with electrons and recombine to form hydrogen atoms.

Then, the hydrogen atoms can migrate through the lunar surface and bond with the abundant oxygen atoms already present in minerals like silica to form hydroxyl (OH) molecules, a component of water, and water (H₂O) molecules themselves.

Scientists have found evidence of both hydroxyl and water molecules in the moon's upper surface, just a few millimeters deep. These molecules leave behind a kind of chemical fingerprint—a noticeable dip in a wavy line on a graph that shows how light interacts with the regolith. With the current tools available, though, it is difficult to tell the difference between hydroxyl and water, so scientists use the term "water" to refer to either one or a mix of both molecules.

Many researchers think the solar wind is the main reason the molecules are there, though other sources like micrometeorite impacts could also help by creating heat and triggering chemical reactions.

Spacecraft measurements had already hinted that the solar wind is the primary driver of water, or its components, at the lunar surface. One key clue, confirmed by Yeo's team's experiment: the moon's water-related spectral signal changes over the course of the day.

In some regions, it's stronger in the cooler morning and fades as the surface heats up, likely because water and hydrogen molecules move around or escape to space. As the surface cools again at night, the signal peaks again. This daily cycle points to an active source—most likely the solar wind—replenishing tiny amounts of water on the moon each day.

Li Hsia Yeo et al, Hydroxylation and Hydrogen Diffusion in Lunar Samples: Spectral Measurements During Proton Irradiation, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (2025). DOI: 10.1029/2024JE008334

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Wednesday

Children exposed to brain-harming chemicals while sleeping: Scientists urge mattress manufacturers to act

Babies and young children may breathe and absorb plasticizers called phthalates, flame retardants, and other harmful chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep, according to a pair of studies published by the University of Toronto in Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters. These chemicals are linked to neurological and reproductive problems, asthma, hormone disruption, and cancer.

Sleep is vital for brain development, particularly for infants and toddlers. However, this research suggests that many mattresses contain chemicals that can harm kids' brains. 

This is a wake-up call for manufacturers and policymakers to ensure our children's beds are safe and support healthy brain development.

In the first study, researchers measured chemical concentrations in 25 bedrooms of children aged 6 months to 4 years. They detected concerning levels of more than two dozen phthalates, flame retardants, and UV-filters in bedroom air, with the highest levels lurking around the beds. In a companion study, researchers tested 16 newly purchased children's mattresses and confirmed that they are likely the major source of these chemicals in children's sleeping environments. When the researchers simulated a child's body temperature and weight on the mattresses, chemical emissions increased substantially, as much as by several times.

The phthalates and organophosphate ester flame retardants measured in this study are hormone disruptors and are linked to neurological harms, including learning disorders, reduced IQ scores, behavioral problems, and impaired memory. Some are also linked to childhood asthma and cancer. Several UV-filters are hormone disruptors.

Children are uniquely vulnerable to exposure, given that they are still developing, have hand-to-mouth behaviors, and have breathing rates ten times higher than adults. They also have more permeable skin and three times the skin surface area relative to their body weight than adults.

Flame retardants are linked to neurological, reproductive, and hormonal harm as well as cancer, and also have no proven fire-safety benefit as used in mattresses.

Flame retardants have a long history of harming our children's cognitive function and ability to learn. It's concerning that these chemicals are still being found in children's mattresses even though we know they have no proven fire-safety benefit, and aren't needed to comply with flammability standards.

The researchers call for manufacturers to be more vigilant about the chemicals in children's mattresses through testing. Further, stronger regulations on the use of flame retardants and phthalate plasticizers in children's mattresses are needed.

Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00051

Are Sleeping Children Exposed to Plasticizers, Flame Retardants, and UV-Filters from Their Mattresses?, Environmental Science & Technology (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5c03560

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Wednesday

Heart valve abnormality is associated with malignant arrhythmias, study reveals

People with a certain heart valve abnormality are at increased risk of severe heart rhythm disorders, even after successful valve surgery. This is according to a new study, "Mitral annular disjunction and mitral valve prolapse: long-term risk of ventricular arrhythmias after surgery" , published in the European Heart Journal.

The condition is more common in women and younger patients with valve disorder and can, in the worst case, lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Mitral annular disjunction, MAD, is a heart abnormality in which the mitral valve attachment "slides." In recent years, the condition has been linked to an increased risk of severe cardiac arrhythmias. Until now, it has not been known whether the risk of arrhythmias disappears if MAD is surgically corrected.

MAD is often associated with a heart disease called mitral valve prolapse, which affects 2.5% of the population and causes one of the heart's valves to leak. This can lead to blood being pumped backward in the heart, causing heart failure and arrhythmias. The disease can cause symptoms such as shortness of breath and palpitations.

In the current study, researchers  investigated the risk of cardiac arrhythmias in 599 patients with mitral valve prolapse who underwent heart surgery at Karolinska University Hospital between 2010 and 2022. Some 16% of the patients also had the cardiac abnormality MAD.

The researchers have been able to show that people with MAD have a significantly higher risk of suffering from ventricular arrhythmias, a dangerous type of heart rhythm disorder that, in the worst case, can lead to cardiac arrest in a subset of patients.

People with MAD were more likely to be female and were on average eight years younger than those without MAD. They also had more extensive mitral valve disease. Although the surgery was successful in correcting MAD, these patients had more than three times the risk of ventricular arrhythmias during five years of follow-up compared to patients without preoperative MAD.

These results show that it is important to closely monitor patients with this condition, even after a successful operation, say the researchers.

The study has led to new hypotheses that the researchers are now investigating further. One hypothesis is that MAD causes permanent changes in the heart muscle over time. Another is that MAD is a sign of an underlying heart muscle disease.

The researchers are now continuing to study scarring in the heart using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and analyze tissue samples from the heart muscle.

Bahira Shahim et al, Mitral annular disjunction and mitral valve prolapse: long-term risk of ventricular arrhythmias after surgery, (2025). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf195

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Wednesday

Abscisic acid was applied to maize roots to chemically induce stomatal closure. Plants exposed to dust laden with PET MPs under these conditions showed significantly lower absorption in leaf tissue, confirming that open stomata are crucial for foliar uptake of airborne MPs.

Plastic particles absorbed through leaves accumulated in measurable quantities across multiple species and sites. Airborne PET and PS entered leaves through stomata and moved along internal pathways to vascular tissues and trichomes.

Concentrations increased with exposure time, environmental levels, and leaf age. Field measurements showed that plastic accumulation in aboveground plant parts exceeds what is typically absorbed through roots.

Widespread detection of plastic polymers and fragments in edible plant parts confirms atmospheric exposure as a significant route of entry into vegetation. As leaves function as a primary source in terrestrial food chains, the presence of accumulated MPs suggests the potential for exposure to multiple layers of the ecosystem.

With plastics around, even vegetarians are not safe!

 Ye Li et al, Leaf absorption contributes to accumulation of microplastics in plants, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08831-4

Willie Peijnenburg, Airborne microplastics enter plant leaves and end up in our food, Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/d41586-025-00909-3

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Wednesday

Airborne microplastics infiltrate plant leaves, raising environmental concerns

Researchers have found that plant leaves can directly absorb microplastics (MPs) from the atmosphere, leading to a widespread presence of plastic polymers in vegetation. Concentrations of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS) were detected in leaves collected from multiple environments, including urban areas and agricultural sites. The study is published in the journal Nature.

Researchers performed field investigations and laboratory simulation experiments to quantify plastic accumulation in plant leaves. Leaf absorption was confirmed as a significant pathway for plastic accumulation in plants, with evidence of translocation into vascular tissue and retention in specialized structures like trichomes.

MPs have been detected throughout terrestrial environments, including soil, water, and air. Laboratory studies have shown that plant roots can absorb MPs, with submicrometer and nanometer-sized particles of PS and polymethylmethacrylate transported upward from the roots of Triticum aestivum, Lactuca sativa, and Arabidopsis thaliana. Root uptake through the apoplastic pathway has been observed, yet translocation to shoots occurs slowly.

Airborne MPs have been measured at concentrations between 0.4 and 2,502 items per cubic meter in urban settings such as Paris, Shanghai, Southern California, and London. Laboratory experiments demonstrated the foliar absorption of nanoparticles including Ag, CuO, TiO₂, and CeO₂.

Plastic particles have been shown to deposit on plant surfaces, and some studies reported internal accumulation following exposure to high levels of commercial PS models.

At the most polluted sites, concentrations of PET reached tens of thousands of nanograms per gram of dry leaf weight. PS levels followed a similar pattern, with the highest values detected in leaves from the landfill site.

PET and PS were also found in nine leafy vegetables, with open-air crops exhibiting higher levels than greenhouse-grown counterparts. Nano-sized PET and PS were visually confirmed in plant tissue.

Older leaves and outer leaves of vegetables accumulated more plastic than newly grown or inner leaves, suggesting an accumulation over time.

Laboratory exposure of maize to plastic-laden dust resulted in measurable PET absorption in leaf tissue after just one day. PET was not detected in roots or stems under similar root-exposure conditions. Fluorescent and europium-labeled particles enabled visualization of stomatal entry and subsequent migration through the apoplastic pathway.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

Repeated treatment with malaria medication can decrease its effect

In a recently published article in the journal Nature Communications, researchers present results indicating that repeated treatment with piperaquine, an antimalarial drug, can lead to the parasites developing decreased sensitivity to this drug. These findings may impact the use of piperaquine in the future.

Piperaquine is an important antimalarial drug characterized by a long half-life, meaning it remains in the body for several weeks and protects against new infections. This is a key asset of this drug. However, the researchers behind the study have discovered that this advantage can disappear with repeated treatment in areas with high malaria transmission.

The study shows that repeated treatment with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine can lead to parasites developing drug tolerance by duplicating the plasmepsin 3 (pm3) gene. This allows them to reinfect patients earlier than expected during the expected protective period, reducing piperaquine's effectiveness as a prophylactic medicine.

 Leyre Pernaute-Lau et al, Decreased dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine protection against recurrent malaria associated with Plasmodium falciparum plasmepsin 3 copy number variation in Africa, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57726-5

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

Modified antibody fragment blocks fertilization, paving way for nonhormonal contraceptive

Current methods of contraception rely on hormones, which can cause side effects such as mood changes, headaches or increased risk of blood clots. Blocking fertilization on the surface of the egg has been proposed as an alternative, but antibodies were deemed unsuitable due to possible immune responses triggered by their Fc region.

A new study  shows how a small antibody fragment can block fertilization by targeting a key protein on the surface of the egg. This discovery brings a nonhormonal contraceptive one step closer to reality. The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the study, the researchers describe how a modified antibody fragment can block fertilization by targeting the protein ZP2 on the surface of the egg. 

This small antibody fragment can block fertilization by targeting ZP2, a key protein in the outer layer of the egg that is involved in both sperm binding and blocking polyspermy.

The researchers have used X-ray crystallography to map the interaction between the antibody IE-3, which is known to prevent fertilization in mice, and ZP2 at the atomic level. A modified, smaller version of the antibody (scFV) was found to be equally effective, blocking fertilization in 100% of IVF tests with mouse eggs. Because it lacks the immune-triggering Fc region of the full antibody, scFV minimizes potential side effects.

Elisa Dioguardi et al, Structural basis of ZP2-targeted female nonhormonal contraception, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2426057122

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

Radiation from CT scans could account for 5% of all cancer cases a year, study suggests

CT can save lives, but its potential harms are often overlooked. CTs expose patients to ionizing radiation—a carcinogen—and it's long been known that the technology carries a higher risk of cancer.

Radiation from CT scans may account for 5% of all cancers annually, according to a new study  that cautions against overusing and overdosing CTs.

The danger is greatest for infants, followed by children and adolescents. But adults are also at risk, since they are the most likely to get scans.

Nearly 103,000 cancers are predicted to result from the 93 million CTs that were performed in 2023 alone. This is three to four times more than previous assessments, the researchers say.

The researchers said some CT scans are unlikely to help patients and are overused, such as those for upper respiratory infections or for headaches without concerning signs or symptoms. They said patients could lower their risk by getting fewer of these scans, or by getting lower-dose scans.

There is currently unacceptable variation in the doses used for CT, with some patients receiving excessive doses. 

JAMA Internal Medicine (2025). jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai … ainternmed.2025.0505

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

Drug pollution in water

The drugs we take, from anxiety medications to antibiotics, don't simply vanish after leaving our bodies. Many are not fully removed by wastewater treatment systems and end up in rivers, lakes, and streams, where they can linger and affect wildlife in unexpected ways.

The new  findings suggest that even tiny traces of drugs in the environment can alter animal behavior in ways that may shape their survival and success in the wild.

A recent global survey of the world's rivers found drugs were contaminating waterways on every continent—even Antarctica. These substances enter aquatic ecosystems not only through our everyday use, as active compounds pass through our bodies and into sewage systems, but also due to improper disposal and industrial effluents.

To date, almost 1,000 different active pharmaceutical substances have been detected in environments worldwide.

Particularly worrying is the fact that the biological targets of many of these drugs, such as receptors in the human brain, are also present in a wide variety of other species. That means animals in the wild can also be affected.

In fact, research over the last several decades has demonstrated that pharmaceutical pollutants can disrupt a wide range of traits in animals, including their physiology, development, and reproduction.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp7174

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on Tuesday

An alternative to artificial fertilizers: Small peptides enhance symbiosis between plants and fungi

Industrial farming practices often deplete the soil of important nutrients and minerals, leaving farmers to rely on artificial fertilizers to support plant growth. In fact, fertilizer use has more than quadrupled since the 1960s, but this comes with serious consequences. Fertilizer production consumes massive amounts of energy, and its use pollutes the water, air, and land.

Plant biologists  are now proposing a new solution to help kick this unsustainable fertilizer habit. 

In a new study, the researchers identified a key molecule produced by plant roots, a small peptide called CLE16, that encourages plants and beneficial soil fungi to interact with each other. They say boosting this symbiotic relationship, in which the fungi provide mineral nutrients to the plants through CLE16 supplementation, could be a more natural and sustainable way to encourage crop growth without the use of harmful artificial fertilizers.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

By restoring the natural symbiosis between plant roots and fungi, we could help crops get the nutrients they need without the use of harmful fertilizers.

In this mutually beneficial relationship, soil-borne arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi supply plants with water and phosphorus, which the plants accept in exchange for carbon molecules. These exchanges occur by specialized symbiotic fungal tendrils, called arbuscules, burying themselves into plant root cells.

Around 80% of plants can trade resources with fungi in this way. However, the traits that support this symbiosis have been weakened over centuries of agricultural plant breeding that prioritized creating crops with the biggest yields.

Scientists say new crop varieties could be bred to strengthen these traits again—an opportunity they intend to explore through the Institute's Harnessing Plants Initiative.

 Müller, Lena Maria, A plant CLE peptide and its fungal mimic promote arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis via CRN-mediated ROS suppression, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422215122

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