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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 39 minutes ago

Chemists discover clean and green way to recycle Teflon

New research demonstrates a simple, eco-friendly method to break down Teflon—one of the world's most durable plastics—into useful chemical building blocks.

Scientists have developed a clean and energy-efficient way to recycle Teflon (PTFE), a material best known for its use in non-stick coatings and other applications that demand high chemical and thermal stability.

The researchers discovered that Teflon waste can be broken down and repurposed using only sodium metal and mechanical energy—movement by shaking—at room temperature and without toxic solvents.

Publishing their findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers reveal a low-energy, waste-free alternative to conventional fluorine recycling.

The process they discovered breaks the strong carbon–fluorine bonds in Teflon, converting it into sodium fluoride, which is used in fluoride toothpastes and added to drinking water.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), best known by the brand name Teflon, is prized for its resistance to heat and chemicals, making it ideal for cookware, electronics, and laboratory equipment, but those same properties make it almost impossible to recycle.
When burned or incinerated, PTFE releases persistent pollutants known as "forever chemicals" (PFAS), which remain in the environment for decades. Traditional disposal methods therefore raise major environmental and health concerns.
The research team tackled this challenge using mechanochemistry—a green approach that drives chemical reactions by applying mechanical energy instead of heat.
Inside a sealed steel container known as a ball mill, sodium metal fragments are ground with Teflon which causes them to react at room temperature. The process breaks the strong carbon–fluorine bonds in Teflon, converting it into harmless carbon and sodium fluoride, a stable inorganic salt.
The researchers then showed that the sodium fluoride recovered in this way can also be used directly, without purification, to create other valuable fluorine-containing molecules. These include compounds used in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and other fine chemicals.

A Reductive Mechanochemical Approach Enabling Direct Upcycling of Fluoride from Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) into Fine Chemicals, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2025). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c14052

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 43 minutes ago

Why the universe exists

In 1867, Lord Kelvin imagined atoms as knots in the aether. The idea was soon disproven. Atoms turned out to be something else entirely. But his discarded vision may yet hold the key to why the universe exists.

Now, for the first time, physicists have shown that knots can arise in a realistic particle physics framework, one that also tackles deep puzzles such as neutrino masses, dark matter, and the strong CP problem.

Their findings, in Physical Review Letters, suggest these "cosmic knots" could have formed and briefly dominated in the turbulent newborn universe, collapsing in ways that favored matter over antimatter and leaving behind a unique hum in spacetime that future detectors could listen for—a rarity for a physics mystery that's notoriously hard to probe.

This study addresses one of the most fundamental mysteries in physics: why our universe is made of matter and not antimatter.

This question is important because it touches directly on why stars, galaxies, and we ourselves exist at all.

The universe's missing antimatter

The Big Bang should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter, each particle destroying its twin until only radiation remained. Yet the universe is overwhelmingly made of matter, with almost no antimatter in sight. Calculations show that everything we see today, from atoms to galaxies, exists because just one extra particle of matter survived for every billion matter–antimatter pairs.

The Standard Model of particle physics, despite its extraordinary success, cannot account for that discrepancy. Its predictions fall many orders of magnitude short. Explaining the origin of that tiny excess of matter, known as baryogenesis, is one of physics' greatest unsolved puzzles.

In the present study, by combining a gauged Baryon Number Minus Lepton Number (B-L) symmetry, with the Peccei–Quinn (PQ) symmetry, the team showed that knots could naturally form in the early universe and generate the observed surplus.

These two long-studied extensions of the Standard Model patch some of its most puzzling gaps. The PQ symmetry solves the strong CP problem, the conundrum of why experiments don't detect the tiny electric dipole moment that theory predicts for the neutron, and in the process, introduces the axion, a leading dark matter candidate. Meanwhile, the B–L symmetry explains why neutrinos, ghostlike particles that can slip through entire planets unnoticed, have mass.

Minoru Eto et al, Tying Knots in Particle Physics, Physical Review Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1103/s3vd-brsn

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 58 minutes ago

People exposed to rationing in utero and during early life also showed progressively longer delays (up to two and a half years) in the age of onset of cardiovascular outcomes compared with those not exposed to rationing.

Sugar rationing was also associated with small yet meaningful increases in healthy heart function compared with those never rationed.

The authors point out that during the rationing period, sugar allowances for everyone, including pregnanat women and children, were limited to under 40 g per day—and no added sugars were permitted for infants under 2 years old—restrictions consistent with modern dietary recommendations.

Reminder: This is just an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect.

Exposure to sugar rationing in first 1000 days after conception and long term cardiovascular outcomes: natural experiment study, The BMJ (2025). DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2024-083890

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 59 minutes ago

Early life sugar restriction linked to lasting heart benefits in adulthood

Restricted sugar intake during early life is linked to lower risks of several heart conditions in adulthood, including heart attack, heart failure, and stroke, finds a study published by The BMJ using data from the end of UK sugar rationing in 1953.

The greatest protection against the risk of developing heart problems—and the longest delay in disease onset—was seen in people whose sugar intake was restricted from conception (in utero) to around 2 years of age.

Evidence suggests that the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to around 2 years of age) is a period when diet can have lasting health effects and leading health organizations recommend avoiding sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods (which often contain high amounts of sugar) as babies and toddlers are introduced to solids.

Researchers therefore wanted to examine whether restricting sugar during this time is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular outcomes in adulthood.

Using the end of UK sugar rationing in September 1953 as a natural experiment, they drew on data from 63,433 UK Biobank participants (average age 55 years) born between October 1951 and March 1956 with no history of heart disease.

In total, the study included 40,063 participants exposed to sugar rationing and 23,370 who were not.

Linked health records were then used to track rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart attack, heart failure, irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation), stroke, and cardiovascular death, adjusting for a range of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

An external control group of non-UK born adults who did not experience sugar rationing or similar policy changes around 1953 were also assessed for more reliable comparisons.

The results show that longer exposure to sugar rationing was associated with progressively lower cardiovascular risks in adulthood, partly due to reduced risks of diabetes and high blood pressure.

Compared with people never exposed to rationing, those exposed in utero plus one to two years had a 20% reduced risk of CVD, as well as reduced risks of heart attack (25%), heart failure (26%), atrial fibrillation (24%), stroke (31%), and cardiovascular death (27%).

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Blood test for more than 50 cancers brings 'exciting' results

A blood test that screens for more than 50 cancers is correct in 62% of cases where it thinks people may have the disease, a study has found.

The Galleri test, which can be given annually and is undergoing trial in the U.K.'s health system, looks for the "fingerprint" of dozens of deadly cancers, often picking up signs before symptoms even appear.

It works by identifying DNA in the bloodstream that has been shed by cancer cells, giving the earliest signs somebody may have the disease.

Now, a key U.S. trial on the test has shown that Galleri is highly accurate in ruling out cancer in people without the disease, while also picking up cancer cases at an early stage, when the disease is more treatable.

Of those people found to have a "cancer signal" detected in their blood, 61.6% went on to be diagnosed with cancer, the findings of the Pathfinder 2 study showed.

And in 92% of cases, the test could pinpoint in which organ or tissue the cancer arose, meaning time and money could be saved on other scans and other tests.

More than half (53.5%) of the new cancers detected by Galleri in the study were the earliest stage I or II, while more than two-thirds (69.3%) were detected at stages I-III.

Galleri, which has been dubbed the holy grail of cancer tests, also correctly ruled out cancer in 99.6% of people who did not have the disease.

The findings are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology, or ESMO, Congress in Berlin.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e086648

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Female bodybuilders at risk of sudden cardiac death, research indicates

Sudden cardiac death is responsible for an unusually high proportion of deaths in female bodybuilders worldwide, according to research published in the European Heart Journal.

Sudden cardiac death is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly due to a problem with their heart. It is generally rare in young and seemingly healthy individuals.

The study found the greatest risk among women competing professionally. It also revealed a high proportion of deaths from suicide and homicide among female bodybuilders.

Bodybuilders, both female and male, often engage in extreme training, and use fasting and dehydration strategies to achieve extreme physiques. Some also take performance-enhancing substances. These strategies can take a serious toll on the heart and blood vessels.

Over recent years, more and more women have taken up strength training and competitive bodybuilding. Despite this growing participation, most of the available research and media attention has focused exclusively on male athletes. This work counters that.

The researchers gathered the names of 9,447 female bodybuilders from the official competition records and from an unofficial online database. All the women had participated in at least one International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation event between 2005 and 2020.

The researchers then searched for reports of deaths of any of these named competitors in five different languages across different web sources, including official media reports, social media, bodybuilding forums and blogs. Any reported deaths were then cross-referenced using multiple sources and these reports were verified and analyzed by two clinicians to establish, as far as possible, the cause of death.

The researchers found 32 deaths among the women, with an average age at death of around 42 years. Sudden cardiac death was the most common cause of death, accounting for 31% of deaths. The risk of sudden cardiac death was more than 20 times higher among professional bodybuilders, compared to amateurs.

These results indicate that the risk of sudden cardiac death seems much higher for women bodybuilders compared to other professional athletes, although it is lower than the risk for male bodybuilders.

The researchers acknowledge that the study is based on a web-based search strategy, which could have influenced their findings. For example, some deaths, especially among less-known athletes, may have gone unreported. They also found that autopsy data were available for only a small proportion of cases, meaning that sudden deaths had to be classified based on clinical interpretation rather than confirmed forensic findings.

Mortality in female bodybuilding athletes, European Heart Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf789

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

To create the film, the researchers first blended T. versicolor mycelia with a nutrient-rich solution of cellulose nanofibrils. They applied thin layers of the mixture to denim, polyester felt, birch wood veneer and two types of paper, letting the fungus grow in a warm environment. Placing the samples in an oven for one day inactivated the fungus and allowed the coating to dry.

It took at least three days of fungal growth for an effective water barrier to develop. And after four days, the newly grown layer didn't add much thickness to the materials (about the same as a coat of paint), but it did change their colors, forming mottled yellow, orange or tan patterns.

Water droplets placed on the fungus-treated textiles and paper formed bead-like spheres, whereas similar droplets on untreated materials either flattened out or soaked in completely. In addition, the fungal coating prevented other liquids from absorbing, including n-heptane, toluene and castor oil, suggesting that it could be a barrier to many liquids. The researchers say this work is a successful demonstration of a food-safe fungal coating and shows this technology's potential to replace single-use plastic products.

Sandro Zier et al, Growing Sustainable Barrier Coatings from Edible Fungal Mycelia, Langmuir (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c03185

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

An edible fungus could make paper and fabric liquid-proof

As an alternative to single-use plastic wrap and paper cup coatings, researchers in Langmuir report a way to waterproof materials using edible fungus. Along with fibers made from wood, the fungus produced a layer that blocks water, oil and grease absorption. In a proof-of-concept study, the impervious film grew on common materials such as paper, denim, polyester felt and thin wood, revealing its potential to replace plastic coatings with sustainable, natural materials.

By providing more ways to potentially reduce our reliance on single-use plastics, we can help lessen the waste that ends up in landfills and the ocean; nature offers elegant, sustainable solutions to help us get there.

Fungi are more than their mushroom caps; underground they form an extensive, interwoven network of feathery filaments called mycelium. Recently, researchers have been inventing water-resistant materials made from these fibrous networks, including leather-like, electrically conductive gauze and spun yarn, because the surface of mycelium naturally repels water.

Additionally, films made from the fluffy wood fibers used in paper-making—specifically, a microscopic form called cellulose nanofibrils—can create barriers for oxygen, oil and grease.

The edible "turkey tail" fungus (Trametes versicolor) can grow with cellulose fibrils into a protective coating on various materials.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

In the experiments conducted, in the healthy participants, when the sound that played in the headphones matched the syllable they imagined saying in their minds, the EEG showed reduced activity in the auditory cortex—the part of the brain that processes sound and speech. This suggests the brain was predicting the sound and dampening its response—similar to what happens when we speak out loud.

However, in the group of participants who had recently experienced AVH, the results were the reverse. In these individuals, instead of the expected suppression of brain activity when the imagined speech matched the sound heard, the EEG showed an enhanced response.
Their brains reacted more strongly to inner speech that matched the external sound, which was the exact opposite of what the researchers found in the healthy participants.
This reversal of the normal suppression effect suggests that the brain's prediction mechanism may be disrupted in people currently experiencing auditory hallucinations, which may cause their own inner voice to be misinterpreted as external speech.
Participants in the second group—people with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder who hadn't experienced AVH recently or at all—showed a pattern that was intermediate between the healthy participants and the hallucinating participants.
The researchers say this is the strongest confirmation to date that the brains of people living with schizophrenia are misperceiving imagined speech as speech that is produced externally.

Thomas Whitford et al, Corollary discharge dysfunction to inner speech and its relationship to auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, Schizophrenia Bulletin (2025). DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaf167

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Brainwave study sheds light on cause of 'hearing voices'

A new study led by psychologists  has provided the strongest evidence yet that auditory verbal hallucinations—or hearing voices—in schizophrenia may stem from a disruption in the brain's ability to recognize its own inner voice.

In a paper published today in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, the researchers say the finding could also be an important step toward finding biological indicators that point to the presence of schizophrenia. This is significant, as there are currently no blood tests, brain scans, or lab-based biomarkers—signs in the body that can tell us something about our health—that are uniquely characteristic of schizophrenia.

Inner speech is the voice in your head that silently narrates your thoughts—what you're doing, planning, or noticing. Most people experience inner speech regularly, often without realizing it, though there are some who don't experience it at all.

The research shows that when we speak—even just in our heads—the part of the brain that processes sounds from the outside world becomes less active. This is because the brain predicts the sound of our own voice. But in people who hear voices, this prediction seems to go wrong, and the brain reacts as if the voice is coming from someone else.

This confirms what mental health researchers have long theorized: that auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia may be due to the person's own inner speech being misattributed as external speech.

And how do you measure it? One way is by using an EEG, which records the brain's electrical activity. Even though we can't hear inner speech, the brain still reacts to it—and in healthy people, using inner speech produces the same kind of reduction in brain activity as when they speak out loud.

But in people who hear voices, that reduction of activity doesn't happen. In fact, their brains react even more strongly to inner speech, as if it's coming from someone else. That might help explain why the voices feel so real.

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