Nearly Invisible Fish-Killing Pathogens Found in Brazil for the First Time

Pathogens that cause columnaris disease, previously found only in Asia and the United States, were identified in samples from São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Paraná. A nearly transparent bacterial colony can be easy to miss under a microscope. Yet identifying it matters for fish farms, where columnaris disease can damage the skin and gills of [...]

scitechdaily.com

A Single Immune Switch Could Help Drive Widespread Aging

Blocking a single inflammatory receptor protected mice from many of aging’s most damaging effects. Aging may be driven in part by a breakdown in the body’s cleanup system. New research suggests that as specialized immune cells lose their ability to remove worn-out cells, inflammatory debris begins to accumulate, damaging organs throughout the body. In experiments [...]

scitechdaily.com

Scientists Discover a Major Brain Change That Starts Around Age 50

NIH-supported findings reveal a previously unknown aspect of human brain aging that may contribute to cognitive decline and dementia risk later in life. Beginning in middle age, the immune cell population inside the hippocampus appears to undergo a major and rapid transformation. The hippocampus supports learning and memory, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [...]

scitechdaily.com

Scientists Discover What Makes Hydrogen Go Quantum

The symmetry of vanadium’s crystal structure acts as a switch for hydrogen’s quantum behavior. Inside a vanadium crystal, hydrogen can travel in two very different ways. It may move as a conventional particle that needs enough energy to jump between locations, or behave like a quantum wave that passes through barriers. Researchers have now identified [...]

scitechdaily.com

Scientists Discover Extreme Acceleration Inside a Nuclear Fireball

Simulations reveal some of the strongest accelerations ever produced on Earth, opening new avenues for QCD research. When atomic nuclei smash together at almost the speed of light, their internal matter briefly transforms into quark–gluon plasma, an extremely hot fluid in which quarks and gluons move freely. Scientists have closely examined the plasma’s intense rotation [...]

scitechdaily.com

Giant Plasma Waves May Be Stripping Away Mars’ Atmosphere

Kelvin–Helmholtz waves may help the solar wind strip atmospheric particles from Mars. Mars is continually exposed to a stream of charged particles racing outward from the Sun. Earth’s global magnetic field deflects much of this solar wind, but Mars lacks a comparable shield. The flow can therefore strike the planet’s upper atmosphere directly and gradually [...]

scitechdaily.com

A Daily Multivitamin May Help Older Adults Stay Active

A daily multivitamin may offer older adults a simple way to support everyday function and independence. Maintaining the ability to handle ordinary tasks without severe symptoms is an important part of quality of life in later years. New research suggests that taking a daily multivitamin may help older adults preserve that everyday level of functioning. [...]

scitechdaily.com

Blood Test May Reveal Alzheimer’s Risk Years Before Symptoms

A large international study suggests that very high p-tau217 levels may identify cognitively healthy adults who face a substantially greater chance of impairment years later. A person can appear cognitively healthy while carrying biological changes linked to a greater chance of future cognitive decline. An international study led by researchers at the Mass General Brigham [...]

scitechdaily.com

Scientists Thought SuperAgers Had Lucky Genes. They Were Wrong

SuperAgers may keep their memories sharp not because they dodged Alzheimer’s genes, but because their brains possess hidden defenses scientists are only beginning to uncover. Some people reach their 80s and 90s with memory abilities that rival, or even surpass, those of adults decades younger. Known as SuperAgers, these exceptional individuals are helping scientists investigate [...]

scitechdaily.com

Humans and Mice May Process Smells in Very Similar Ways

Every deliberate sniff may activate a brain system that has survived millions of years of evolution. A mouse searching for food may sniff several times each second. A person checking whether a cantaloupe is ripe usually leans in for one slow, deliberate breath. Those behaviors look completely different, but new research suggests the brain may [...]

scitechdaily.com

World’s First Photonic Time Crystal Can Reshape Light in Trillionths of a Second

A world-first photonic time crystal can reshape light almost instantly, opening a path toward ultrafast optical technology. An international research team has created the first experimentally demonstrated all-optical photonic time crystal (PTC), a material whose optical behavior can be altered strongly and repeatedly over extremely short periods of time. The work, carried out by scientists [...]

scitechdaily.com

Meteorite That Smashed Through a New Jersey Roof Hid an Ancient Chemical Secret

A meteorite that blasted through a New Jersey roof carried a startling secret: evidence of ancient salty fluids and complex organic chemistry inside a primitive asteroid. A space rock that tore through a New Jersey roof has turned out to be far more than an astronomical curiosity. Sealed inside were traces of ancient salty fluids [...]

scitechdaily.com

Astronomers Find Ancient Black Holes Shining With the Power of a Trillion Suns

Euclid’s expanding quasar census is revealing how enormous black holes emerged during the Universe’s infancy. More than 13 billion years ago, two brilliant objects blazed from galaxies that had barely begun to take shape. Their light, produced when the Universe was only 670 million years old, has now reached the European Space Agency’s Euclid space [...]

scitechdaily.com

These “Good” Immune Cells Could Hold the Key to Spinal Cord Regeneration

An Il-4 signal from neutrophils helps zebrafish control inflammation and regenerate damaged spinal cords. A damaged human spinal cord rarely repairs itself. The immune response that follows an injury can become excessive, producing lasting scar tissue that prevents nerve cells and their connections from growing back. Zebrafish respond very differently, controlling inflammation well enough to [...]

scitechdaily.com

New Research Questions Decades of Low-Fat Dairy Advice

Researchers found that people can consume three daily servings of full-fat dairy without adversely affecting body weight, body composition, energy metabolism, or blood lipid levels. For years, people scanning the dairy aisle have often been steered toward skim milk and reduced-fat products, largely because full-fat dairy contains saturated fat. Yet the health effects of dairy [...]

scitechdaily.com

Researchers Solve Mystery Behind Contradictory Weight-Loss Drug Paradox

Opposite actions on the same receptor can promote weight loss by targeting different brain circuits. Two obesity drugs can push the same brain receptor in opposite directions and still lead to weight loss. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have now traced that apparent contradiction to two separate regions of the brain. The mouse study, [...]

scitechdaily.com

Forgotten Autobiography Rewrites the Story of a War of 1812 Soldier

A rediscovered memoir reveals the harsh realities faced by a disabled veteran in nineteenth-century Britain. After a musket ball destroyed his left forearm during the War of 1812, Shadrack Byfield retrieved the amputated limb from a refuse pile and buried it himself. He later designed a prosthetic device that helped him return to weaving, but [...]

scitechdaily.com

Ancient Egyptian Princesses Were Trained Warriors, Their Bones Reveal

Strong muscle attachments and healed fractures suggest that royal women could use the weapons buried with them, while also showing that high status did not protect them from hardship. Six royal mummies once considered lost resurfaced in 2020, giving researchers a new opportunity to examine five ancient Egyptian princesses and King Hor. The women included [...]

scitechdaily.com

Long-Lost Megalodon Fossils Found Hiding on a Museum Shelf

Long-lost Otodus megalodon vertebrae have reopened questions about the giant shark while exposing the vulnerability of museum collections. For decades, several enormous shark vertebrae sat unnoticed on a museum shelf. Once recognized, the long-missing fossils reopened a rare window into the life of Megalodon (now properly Otodus megalodon), one of the largest predators ever to [...]

scitechdaily.com

Two-Year Lifestyle Program Boosts Cognition 55% More in Older Adults

A culturally tailored lifestyle program with ongoing support produced greater cognitive improvement than flexible health guidance alone. Across 11 Latin American countries, older adults at risk of dementia improved their memory and thinking through lifestyle programs adapted to local cultures. The greatest gains appeared among those who received regular coaching, supervised activities and structured social [...]

scitechdaily.com

Coffee’s Most Destructive Pest Is Accidentally Helping the Ants That Hunt It

A tiny coffee pest may be building the perfect hideout for its own predators. Coffee berry borers tunnel deep into coffee fruit, where they feed and reproduce beyond the reach of many predators. But after tiny ants force the beetles out, some species appear to claim the abandoned chambers as nurseries for their young. Jonathan [...]

scitechdaily.com

Cells Join Forces To Survive Prolonged Mechanical Strain

When tissues are stretched for hours, their cells rebuild their internal support system. A cell’s nucleus is usually anchored inside a protective web of protein fibers. But when tissue remains stretched for hours, that arrangement can break apart. Researchers have discovered that epithelial cells respond to prolonged strain by rebuilding their internal skeleton across entire [...]

scitechdaily.com

When Gut Bacteria Run Out of Fiber, They May Start Eating You

When plant nutrients run low, some gut bacteria may turn on their host and begin consuming the intestines’ protective lining. The health effects of a plant-based diet may depend not only on what gut bacteria eat but also on whether they begin feeding on the gut itself. New research suggests that fiber and previously overlooked [...]

scitechdaily.com

Scientists Discover the Brain May Enter a New Biological Phase Between 50 and 75

A single-cell study reveals major changes in immune cells, genome organization, and gene regulation within the aging human hippocampus, offering important insights into brain aging and dementias associated with age. Between roughly ages 50 and 75, the cellular landscape of the human hippocampus begins to shift. Immune cells change, the genome’s physical organization weakens, and [...]

scitechdaily.com

New Research Reveals Autistic Brains Process Faces Differently

Autistic children showed earlier and less age-related refinement in the brain signals involved in processing faces. A child looks at a face, and within milliseconds the brain begins sorting its features, expression, and identity. Researchers have now traced that process across the entire scalp in one of the most comprehensive studies of face perception in [...]

scitechdaily.com

Is Sparkling Water Bad for Your Teeth? A New Study Has Answers

A study found that unsweetened sparkling water lowers oral pH less than soda sweetened with sugar. A sip of sparkling water briefly makes the mouth more acidic, but not nearly as much as sugar-sweetened soda, according to a comparison of several common beverages. The findings suggest that choosing an unsweetened carbonated drink instead of soda [...]

scitechdaily.com

Scientists Discover an Odd Genetic Trait in an Ancient Aboriginal Food Plant

A native Australian millet may carry the genetic fingerprints of thousands of years of Aboriginal harvesting, storage, and plant management. Seen from the air, Channel Country resembles a vibrant and vast tapestry, with a network of waterways crisscrossing the land. Spread across more than 280,000 square kilometers in outback Australia, it is one of the [...]

scitechdaily.com

Marine Heatwaves Are Hiding Far More Heat Than Scientists Realized

The first study of its kind shows that ecosystems experience far more cumulative heat than standard measurements reveal. A marine heatwave may have an official beginning and end, but the warm water affecting an ecosystem often does not. Like a pot that continues absorbing heat over time, coastal waters can remain unusually warm for weeks [...]

scitechdaily.com

1.4-Million-Year-Old Footprints Reveal a Giant Human Relative

A 1.4-million-year-old trail of footprints reveals that a powerful human relative grew nearly as large as us and may have traveled in all-male groups. Eight individuals walked across the wet ground beside an ancient Kenyan lake. Within a short time, sediment buried their footprints and preserved a scene that would remain hidden for roughly 1.4 [...]

scitechdaily.com

Rocks From the Moon’s Far Side Are Rewriting Lunar History

The Moon’s far side is overturning a long-held theory, revealing that the early Solar System’s asteroid assault may have faded slowly instead of exploding in one catastrophic burst. For decades, scientists have debated whether the early Solar System endured one sudden, catastrophic wave of asteroid strikes or a much longer period of gradually fading violence. [...]

scitechdaily.com