Category: Research Discoveries

Near the equator, the Sun hurries below the horizon in a matter of minutes. Darkness seeps from the surrounding forest. Nearly 10,000 years ago, at the base of a mountain in Africa, people’s shadows stretch up the wall of a natural overhang of stone.

They’re lit by a ferocious fire that’s been burning for hours, visible even to people miles away. The wind carries the smell of burning. This fire will linger in community memory for generations − and in the archaeological record for far longer.

We are a team of bioarchaeologists, archaeologists and forensic anthropologists who, with our colleagues, recently discovered the earliest evidence of cremation – the transformation of a body from flesh to burned bone fragments and ashes – in Africa and the earliest example of an adult pyre cremation in the world.

It’s no easy task to produce, create and maintain an open fire strong enough to completely burn a human body. While the earliest cremation in the world dates to about 40,000 years ago in Australia, that body was not fully burned.

It is far more effective to use a pyre: an intentionally built structure of combustible fuel. Pyres appear in the archaeological record only about 11,500 years ago, with the earliest known example containing a cremated child under a house floor in Alaska.

Many cultures have practiced cremation, and the bones, ash and other residues from these events help archaeologists piece together past funeral rituals. Our scientific paper, published in the journal Science Advances, describes a spectacular event that happened about 9,500 years ago in Malawi in south-central Africa, challenging long-held notions about how hunter-gatherers treat their dead.

The Discovery

At first it was just a hint of ash, then more. It expanded downward and outward, becoming thicker and harder. Pockets of dark earth briefly appeared and disappeared under trowels and brushes until one of the excavators stopped. They pointed to a small bone at the base of a 1½-foot (0.5-meter) wall of archaeological ash revealed under a natural stone overhang at the Hora 1 archaeological site in northern Malawi.

The bone was the broken end of a humerus, from the upper arm of a person. And clinging to the very end of it was the matching end of the lower arm, the radius. Here was a human elbow joint, burned and fractured, preserved in sediments full of debris from the daily lives of Stone Age hunter-gatherers.

We wondered whether this could be a funeral pyre, but such structures are extremely rare in the archaeological record.

Finding a cremated person from the Stone Age also seemed impossible because cremation is not generally practiced by African foragers, either living or ancient. The earliest evidence of burned human remains from Africa date to around 7,500 years ago, but that body was incompletely burned, and there was no evidence of a pyre.

The first clear cases of cremation date to around 3,300 years ago, carried out by early pastoralists in eastern Africa. But overall the practice remained rare and is associated with food-producing societies and not hunter-gatherers.

We found more charred human remains in a small cluster, while the ash layer itself was as large as a queen bed. The blaze must have been enormous.

When we returned from fieldwork and received our first radiocarbon dates, we were shocked again: The event had happened about 9,500 years ago.

Piecing Together The Events

We built a team of specialists to piece together what had happened. By applying forensic and bioarchaeological techniques, we confirmed that all the bones belonged to a single person who was cremated shortly after her death.

This was a small adult, probably a woman, just under 5 feet (1.5 meters) in height. In life, she was physically active, with a strong upper body, but had evidence of a partially healed bone infection on her arm. Bone development and the beginnings of arthritis suggested she was probably middle-aged when she died.

Patterns of warping, cracks and discoloration caused by fire damage showed her body was burned with some flesh still on it, in a fire reaching at least 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 degrees Celsius). Under the microscope we could see tiny incisions along her arms and at muscle connections on her legs, revealing that people tending the pyre used stone tools to help the process along by removing flesh.

Within the pyre ash, we found many small pointed chips of stone that suggested people had added tools to the fire as it burned.

And the way the bones were clustered inside such a large fire showed that this was not a case of cannibalism: It was some other kind of ritual.

Perhaps most surprisingly, we found no evidence of her head. Skull bones and teeth usually preserve well in cremations because they are very dense. While we can’t know for sure, the absence of these body parts suggest her head may have been removed before or during the cremation as part of the funeral ritual.

A Communal Spectacle

We determined that the pyre must have been built and maintained by multiple people who were actively engaged in the event. During new excavations the following year, we found even more bone fragments from the same ancient woman, displaced and colored differently from in the main pyre. These additional remains suggest that the body was manipulated, attended and moved during the cremation.

Microscopic analysis of ash samples from across the pyre included blackened fungus, reddened soil from termite structures, and microscopic plant remains. These helped us estimate that people collected at least 70 pounds (30 kg) of deadwood to do the task and stoked the fire for hours to days.

We also learned that this was not the first fire at the Hora 1 site – nor its last. To our astonishment, what had seemed during fieldwork to be a single massive pile of ash was in fact a layered series of burning events. Radiocarbon dating of the ash samples showed that people began lighting fires on that spot by about 10,240 years ago. The same location was used to construct the cremation pyre several hundred years later. As the pyre smoldered, new fires were kindled on top of it, resulting in fused ashes in microscopic layers.

Within a few hundred years of the main event, another large fire was built again at the exact same place. While there is no evidence that anyone else was cremated in the subsequent fires, the fact that people repeatedly returned to the spot for this purpose suggests its significance lived on in community memory.

A New View Of Ancient Cremation

What does all of this tell us about ancient hunter-gatherers in the region?

For one, it shows that entire communities were engaged in a mortuary spectacle of extraordinary scale. An open pyre can take more than a day of constant tending and an enormous amount of fuel to fully reduce a body, and during this time the sights and smells of burning wood and other remains are impossible to hide.

This scale of mortuary effort is unexpected for this time and place. In the African record, complex multigenerational mortuary rituals tied to specific places are generally not associated with a hunting-and-gathering way of life.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/oldest-cremation-africa-mystery/

Both age and menopause appear to influence attraction – but in different ways.

Women’s preferences for masculine features in men shift as they age and transition through menopause, according to research exploring how attraction evolves throughout the female lifespan.

The small study of 122 Polish women aged 19 to 70 found distinct patterns across age groups and menopausal stages. Older women preferred men with fuller beards and lighter builds, while postmenopausal women rated feminized faces as less attractive compared to younger women.

Published in Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, the study examined how women at three different life stages evaluated photographs of men that had been digitally altered to show varying degrees of facial masculinity, beardedness, body shape, and muscle mass.

Age Shapes Preferences for Facial Hair and Build
Women’s age emerged as a significant factor in their assessments. Older women rated men with medium and full facial hair as more attractive than younger women did. This preference may reflect associations between beards and maturity, status, and resource acquisition rather than purely reproductive signals.

Light muscularity also became more attractive to older women. Well-built physiques signal genetic fitness and physical strength, traits that younger women in their reproductive years may prioritize. As women age and reproductive concerns diminish, lighter musculature suggesting health and approachability becomes more appealing than intimidating displays of strength.

Menopausal Status Shows Distinct Effects
Beyond age, menopausal status itself influenced some preferences. The research team included 45 premenopausal women, 30 perimenopausal women, and 47 postmenopausal women. Each viewed digitally modified photographs of a 22-year-old male model altered to show different facial structures, amounts of facial hair, body types, and muscle development.

Postmenopausal women rated feminized male faces as less attractive than women in other life stages. This finding is complicated, however, because age alone seemed to push preferences slightly in the opposite direction—older women across the board rated feminized faces as somewhat more attractive, but this effect was small.

Postmenopausal women also showed a trend toward rating V-shaped body silhouettes as less attractive, though this result was weaker and reached only borderline statistical significance. They perceived men with medium muscularity as more aggressive than other groups did. Age and menopausal status had no effect on how women judged social dominance.

What Might Explain These Changes
Hormonal changes during menopause may help explain these shifting preferences. Declining estrogen levels affect not just physical symptoms but potentially also how women perceive and evaluate potential partners. The study didn’t measure hormone levels directly, but the pattern fits with what researchers know about reproductive biology.

During reproductive years, women tend to prefer traits signaling genetic fitness and reproductive success, such as masculinized features, muscular bodies, and aggressive dominance. As women transition through menopause, their priorities may shift toward characteristics supporting long-term relationships and social cooperation rather than reproductive potential.

This aligns with the “grandmother hypothesis,” which explains the extended post-reproductive period in human females. After ovarian function ceases, women may redirect attention from mate selection toward caring for grandchildren and supporting family networks. A postmenopausal woman focuses on helping her daughters raise children rather than seeking partners with the best reproductive genetics.

Understanding Attraction Across the Lifespan
The findings suggest that attraction isn’t static across a woman’s life. What women find appealing in men appears to shift with different life stages in ways that may reflect changing biological priorities.

Researchers carefully modified the photographs to ensure consistent changes across all images. Women evaluated each variation on a 10-point scale for physical attractiveness, perceived aggression, and social dominance. The controlled methodology allowed the team to isolate which specific features drove different reactions across age groups.

The study focused specifically on secondary sexual characteristics—traits like facial structure, body shape, and hair distribution that distinguish males from females beyond reproductive organs. These features serve as biological signals that women may interpret differently depending on their life stage.

Whether a woman is in her reproductive years or post-menopause appears to influence what she notices and values in male appearance, though the mechanisms behind these changes require further research to fully understand.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/menopause-changes-what-women-find-attractive/

Mice given processed fats struggled to adapt to winter.

Deep beneath the surface of our planet lies the Earth’s core, a solid ball of iron under crushing pressure. Now, however, scientists conducting laboratory experiments have found evidence suggesting it may not be a uniform sphere after all.

Instead, lab tests on iron mixed with silicon and carbon show properties consistent with a layered structure, with different chemical compositions at different depths. If correct, this hidden structure would have formed as the core crystallized from the center outward, naturally sorting lightweight elements toward the outer layers while leaving the center more iron-rich.

The work addresses a puzzle that has bothered geophysicists for decades. When earthquake waves travel through the inner core, they move at different speeds depending on which direction they’re headed, a property called anisotropy. Stranger still, this effect isn’t uniform. The outer portions of the inner core show weak anisotropy while the central region shows much stronger anisotropy. A compelling explanation has been difficult to pin down – until now.

A research team at the University of Münster in Germany may have found an answer by recreating inner core conditions in their lab. They squeezed iron mixed with small amounts of silicon and carbon (proportions scientists think may match the actual core) to crushing pressures in a diamond vise while heating it to extreme temperatures. When they measured how this material would affect seismic waves, something clicked: the silicon-carbon mixture showed low anisotropy, roughly consistent with what seismologists infer for the outer portion of the inner core. Pure iron, by contrast, showed high anisotropy matching observations from the center.

The results, published in Nature Communications, suggest Earth’s core could be chemically stratified rather than uniform.

How Freezing Iron Could Have Created Layers

The core didn’t start out solid. As Earth cooled over geological time, conditions at the center eventually allowed iron to begin crystallizing despite the crushing pressure. That process continues today, with the boundary between solid inner core and liquid outer core slowly advancing outward.

Crucially, as molten iron freezes onto the growing inner core, silicon and carbon get incorporated at levels that depend on temperature and pressure. Studies of iron alloys show that cooler temperatures and lower pressures both favor more silicon and carbon dissolving into solid iron. Since pressure drops as you move from center to edge, each successive layer that crystallized could have incorporated progressively more of these lightweight elements.

Think of it like making rock candy. As sugar solution slowly crystallizes, different conditions at different times can create layers with slightly different properties. Except this is 800 miles across, made of iron instead of sugar, and formed over vast stretches of geological time. If the model is correct, the oldest, most iron-rich material sits at the center while younger, more silicon-and-carbon-rich material forms the outer layers.

Squeezing Samples to Extreme Pressures

The team couldn’t drill to the core, obviously. Instead, they brought approximations of core conditions to a lab in Germany using diamond anvil cells, which are devices that squeeze microscopic samples between two diamonds to create enormous pressures. They also heated the samples with electrical resistance.

The experiments hit pressures up to 128 gigapascals and temperatures up to 1,100 Kelvin. That’s not quite as extreme as the actual inner core, which experiences roughly three times more pressure and much higher temperatures; but close enough to help constrain models that project the behavior to true core conditions.

Powerful X-rays from a synchrotron facility revealed how the samples’ crystal structure deformed under stress. When iron is squeezed in one direction, the atomic layers can shift and align. This alignment controls how seismic waves travel through the material. By measuring the alignment in their tiny samples, the researchers could predict what earthquake waves might experience passing through a planetary volume of the same material.

Silicon and Carbon Change the Picture

The key finding: pure iron and the silicon-carbon alloy behave quite differently. Pure iron squeezed and heated to conditions approaching the core’s develops strong alignment that can make seismic waves travel several percent faster in one direction than another, often on the order of 6-7% in models. The iron-silicon-carbon mixture? Closer to 2%.

That’s consistent with what seismologists observe. The outer portion of the inner core shows roughly 2% anisotropy. The central region shows higher values, around 4-6%. If silicon and carbon concentrations increase toward the edge, as the crystallization process would predict, the seismic observations align with the laboratory findings.

The research also revealed that adding carbon strengthens the iron alloy significantly, making it more resistant to deformation. This affects how the material could develop its aligned structure over geological time as the core continues to evolve.

Why This Matters Beyond Cool Science

More broadly, because the core helps power Earth’s magnetic field through churning motions in the liquid outer core, understanding the solid inner core’s structure matters for modeling how this magnetic shield works. The field protects Earth’s surface from harmful solar radiation and has helped maintain habitable conditions over geological history.

Chemical layers in the solid inner core could influence heat flow and interactions at the boundary with the liquid outer core, potentially affecting the magnetic field’s pattern and stability. Knowing the inner core may have stratified structure helps scientists build better models of these deep Earth processes.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/earths-core-may-have-an-onion-like-structure/

 

Mold lurking behind walls and under floors can sicken families for months before anyone realizes what’s wrong. Traditional mold testing requires swabbing surfaces, sending samples to labs, and waiting three to seven days for results, all while potentially harmful spores continue circulating through living spaces. Researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have created an electronic “nose” that measures air samples in about 30 minutes and identifies toxic mold species with performance levels approaching laboratory-grade testing in controlled conditions.

The device works similarly to mold-detection dogs but eliminates the need for expensive animal training and provides something dogs cannot: precise identification of mold species. Published in Advanced Sensor Research, the study shows that sensor technology can distinguish between Stachybotrys chartarum and Chaetomium globosum, two of the most common and concerning molds found in water-damaged buildings. Both species thrive on moisture-compromised materials like drywall and wallpaper, producing metabolites linked to irritant and inflammatory responses in humans.

Indoor mold creates health and financial problems in many damp buildings. Current detection methods rely on visual inspection, air sampling, or surface swabs followed by laboratory culturing, a process that delays remediation efforts. While mold-detection dogs offer faster screening, their training is costly and time-intensive, and the animals can only signal mold presence without differentiating between species, a critical limitation when determining health risks and remediation strategies.

Electronic Nose Mold Detection Using Chemical Signatures
The innovative e-nose uses tin oxide nanowires as its sensing material. These microscopic wires change their electrical resistance when exposed to different volatile organic compounds, the chemical signatures that molds emit as metabolic byproducts. Each mold species gives off its own characteristic mix of gases that the sensor can recognize.

The device contains 16 individual sub-sensors, each coated with the same tin oxide nanowires but positioned to detect slight variations in the chemical signals. When ultraviolet light activates the nanowires, they become sensitive to gas molecules in the air. Mold compounds either directly oxidize or reduce the sensor surface, or they alter how oxygen interacts with it, changing the electrical resistance in measurable ways.

Researchers grew both mold species on two different substrates to simulate real-world variability: one substrate mixed agar with shredded gypsum board (mimicking drywall), while the other combined agar with wheat flour (representing paper and cellulose materials). Samples were incubated at 25 degrees Celsius with 60% humidity for at least 10 days until mold fully colonized the growth surface. The team conducted eight measurements for each mold species over two weeks. In their lab setup, each air sample was measured for about 30 minutes, and the system used that signal pattern to classify what it detected. The measurements generated about 324,000 data points through resampling.

Machine Learning Boosts Mold Detection Performance to 98.4%
The research team tested several approaches to classify the sensor data. Their initial method used conventional linear discriminant analysis, a statistical technique that finds patterns distinguishing different groups. This approach included seven categories: clean air, gypsum substrate alone, wheat substrate alone, and each mold species on each substrate type. Conventional analysis produced an F1-score of only 83.74%, with many samples overlapping. (Think of F1-score as a single report-card number that rewards both catching true mold signals and avoiding false alarms.)

The team then simplified the model by removing substrate dependency, merging samples into broader categories of Stachybotrys, Chaetomium, and “no mold.” When researchers created separate analysis systems for gypsum-based samples and wheat-based samples, the F1-score jumped to 92.64% for gypsum and 98.09% for wheat substrates.

The strongest results came from an ensemble approach combining multiple analysis models with a subsequent classification algorithm. This system creates numerous individual models, each trained on different subsets of the data, then synthesizes their predictions. The best-performing approach reached an average F1-score of 98.37% across all seven original categories, performance approaching laboratory-grade testing. To prevent false positives, the team implemented a majority voting system where the final prediction is only accepted if more than half of the individual models agree.

Translating Laboratory Success to Real Buildings
The study was conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, which differ substantially from occupied buildings. Real indoor environments contain numerous volatile compounds from building materials, cleaning products, cooking, and human activities that could interfere with mold detection. The researchers suggest that baseline measurements in mold-free areas of a building could allow mold detection using outlier analysis, flagging areas where chemical signatures deviate from the clean baseline.

The study focused on two mold species, but buildings commonly harbor others like Aspergillus and Penicillium. These also produce characteristic chemical signatures, suggesting the e-nose technology could expand to detect them. Additional research is needed to determine which species can be reliably identified individually versus which might be grouped into broader categories, and how well the sensors perform in actual buildings with naturally occurring mold contamination.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/electronic-nose-mold-detection/

It might seem worlds away from the Earth we know. But can Star Trek teach us anything about the economics of our own society?

Set in the mid-23rd century, the original Star Trek series told the story of the starship Enterprise. Its crew were led by the human Captain James Kirk and the half-Vulcan Mr Spock.

From post-scarcity societies to hyper-capitalist alien cultures, the now legendary sci-fi franchise the show spawned offers surprisingly rich material for economists and curious minds alike.

As we wind down for the holiday season, let’s take a light-hearted journey into one of pop culture’s most enduring sci-fi universes.

A Society Without Money?

There is macroeconomics in Star Trek, but not as we know it. Scarcity seems much less of an issue in the Star Trek world.

That’s because, within the interstellar government known as The Federation, machines called replicators generate food and other objects. Money is claimed to be no longer used.

Some scholars interpret Star Trek’s relative absence of money in Marxian terms as a step towards a classless society. There are, however, passing references to “credits”. In one episode, a villain is accused of having used counterfeit currency to purchase a ship.

In another, Kirk describes a pile of diamonds as an “incredible fortune in stones.” It seems even in the 23rd century, money still has some uses.

Logic And Emotions

In one early episode, the engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott famously tells Captain Kirk he “can’t change the laws of physics.” But the laws of economics also still operate. Despite material wealth, everyone still only has 24 hours in their day and has to make choices.

There are still what economists call “opportunity costs”: doing one thing means having less time for another. So, we can learn about economics from Star Trek, just as we can from Star Wars.

Underpinning many classical economic theories was the concept of “homo economicus” or the “economic man”. This is the idea that humans are rational and self-interested and will always make decisions that maximise their personal benefit.

Spock seems to fit this description. He is unemotional, or at least suppresses his emotions. He prides himself on always making logical decisions.

More recently, however, the field of behavioral economics has challenged this view of human beings as perfectly rational.

It argues human beings are more like Kirk – we try to make good decisions but are sometimes swayed by impatience or influenced by a wide range of emotions. Behavioral economists are trying to predict what Kirk would do, rather than Spock.

Hyper-Capitalist Aliens

Across the entire franchise, viewers are introduced to a variety of alien races. They are at different levels of technological progress – but not that different.

One of the most vivid illustrations of economic behaviour comes from the Ferengi, who feature prominently in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series. The Ferengi are a mercantile alien race whose culture revolves around the accumulation of wealth and profit. They aren’t members of the “post-money” Federation.

They live by a codified set of business maxims, the “Rules of Acquisition”. These rules reflect their deeply ingrained profit-seeking ethos. Some of the more memorable include:

These rules encapsulate the Ferengi’s relentless pursuit of profit, and their efforts to increase economic rent through various means including manipulation of market and institutional structures.

An Unscrupulous Boss

A prime example is Quark, the archetypal Ferengi who owns a popular bar and restaurant. Quark exploits his monopsony power – being the sole employer in a niche market – to underpay staff and impose harsh working conditions.

This is a practical demonstration of Rule 211: “Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don’t hesitate to step on them.”

But in one episode, Quark’s employees go on strike, prompting him to use underhanded tactics to suppress collective bargaining and maintain control.

This storyline mirrors real-world labour market dynamics and the tension between capital and labour.

Monopoly Power

In the series Star Trek: Voyager, we see how access to key technology and asymmetric information can lead to monopoly power and exploitation.

In the episode “False Profits”, two Ferengi stranded on a primitive planet use replicator technology to produce goods, presenting themselves as divine sages.

Their technological advantage allows them to extract maximum rent from the unsuspecting locals.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/can-you-live-long-and-prosper-by-learning-economics-from-star-trek-highly-illogical/

Fathers exposed to microplastics before conception may be setting their daughters up for metabolic problems later in life. A new mouse study shows when male mice consumed plastic particles before breeding, their female offspring developed insulin resistance on a high-fat diet while male offspring remained largely unaffected.

Research from the University of California, Riverside found an unusual pattern. Female descendants of microplastic-exposed fathers showed significantly impaired insulin tolerance despite maintaining normal body weight and fat mass. Their brothers had reduced fat deposits but normal insulin function.

Male mice received microplastics daily for four weeks before mating with unexposed females. The dose matched amounts humans might encounter through everyday exposure to contaminated food and water. The fathers themselves showed no health changes from the exposure.

Daughters Develop Insulin Resistance

When fed a Western-style high-fat diet after weaning, female offspring from exposed fathers failed insulin tolerance tests. Blood glucose levels dropped more slowly after insulin injection compared to controls, showing their bodies struggled to respond properly to the hormone. This condition, called insulin resistance, increases risk for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Examining liver tissue revealed why. Female offspring from microplastic-exposed fathers had elevated levels of inflammatory proteins. One protein called IKKβ acts as a central coordinator of inflammatory responses and has been directly linked to obesity-related insulin resistance in previous research. None of these changes appeared in male offspring.

Sperm RNA Carries Environmental Signals

The study, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, identifies a potential mechanism behind these sex-specific effects. Microplastic exposure substantially changed small RNA molecules in sperm. These molecular fragments act like instructions that can influence which genes turn on or off in developing embryos.

Scientists used an advanced sequencing technique that overcomes limitations of traditional methods by detecting chemically modified RNA molecules. The analysis uncovered more than 4,000 changes in small RNAs from sperm of microplastic-exposed mice.

To test whether these altered RNAs could affect development, researchers introduced three candidates into mouse embryonic stem cells. All three changed expression of genes important for metabolism and development. One RNA fragment increased expression of an inflammatory gene while decreasing a gene that helps cells respond to insulin. Two other RNA fragments decreased expression of genes involved in muscle development, gut formation, and glucose transport.

These experimental results in stem cells match some problems observed in female offspring: elevated inflammation and impaired insulin signaling.

Why Female Offspring Are More Vulnerable

The sex-specific pattern observed in this study fits with findings from other research on paternal environmental exposures. Studies have found that fathers fed high-fat diets or exposed to arsenic produced female offspring with glucose intolerance, while male offspring remained unaffected.

Scientists don’t fully understand why female offspring appear more vulnerable. Possibilities include differences in sex chromosomes, sex hormone effects, and distinct patterns in how male versus female embryos reset their gene activity patterns during early development.

Male offspring weren’t completely unaffected by paternal microplastic exposure, but their changes differed from their sisters. Males from exposed fathers had significantly reduced belly fat despite similar overall body weight. Female offspring showed the opposite pattern—reduced muscle mass with normal fat mass.

Human Microplastic Exposure

Humans face widespread exposure to microplastics through contaminated food, water, and air. Recent studies have detected plastic particles in human blood, placentas, liver, kidneys, and brain tissue. Researchers have also found them in testicular tissue, semen, and placentas.

The health consequences need more investigation, though emerging evidence links microplastics to increased cardiovascular disease risk, metabolic dysfunction, and premature aging. Most research has focused on direct exposure effects rather than potential impacts on future generations.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/microplastics-fathers-daughters-insulin-resistance/

For decades, dietary guidelines have warned against high-fat cheese because of concerns about saturated fat and heart health. Now, a Swedish study that followed 27,670 people for nearly 30 years has uncovered a surprising benefit associated with fatty cheeses. Those who ate more high-fat cheese showed lower rates of dementia.

The research found that participants consuming at least 50 grams daily of cheese with more than 20% fat content had a 13% lower risk of developing dementia compared to those eating less than 15 grams daily. Compared with non-consumers, those eating 20 grams or more per day of high-fat cream showed a 16% lower dementia risk.

Not all dairy products showed these associations. Milk, fermented milk products (like yogurt), low-fat cheese, and low-fat cream showed no clear links to dementia risk overall. Butter was more complicated. In one analysis, higher butter intake was linked to higher Alzheimer’s risk. When it comes to brain health, the type and fat content of dairy products may matter more than simply eating “more dairy” or “less dairy.”

30-Year Study Tracked Nearly 28,000 People

Researchers used data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, where participants underwent detailed dietary assessments between 1991 and 1996. The evaluation combined three methods: a seven-day food diary, a 168-item food frequency questionnaire, and a 45-60 minute dietary interview conducted by trained personnel.

The study, published in Neurology, identified 3,208 dementia cases through Swedish health registries by December 2020. Cases diagnosed through 2014 underwent additional validation by trained physicians who reviewed symptoms, cognitive test results, brain imaging, and biomarkers when available. The validated cases included 1,126 with Alzheimer’s disease and 451 with vascular dementia.

Participants were followed from their baseline examination until dementia diagnosis, death, emigration, or December 2020 (whichever came first). The median follow-up period was about 25 years.

Genetics May Influence Cheese’s Brain Benefits

Among people without the APOE e4 gene variant, a major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, eating more high-fat cheese was associated with a 13% lower risk of Alzheimer’s specifically. The gene variant had no effect on the cheese-dementia association overall, but it modified the relationship with Alzheimer’s disease itself.

About 30% of study participants carried at least one copy of the APOE e4 variant.

People who consumed the most high-fat cheese tended to be younger, have lower body mass indexes, and have higher education levels. They also had lower rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. They were less likely to use cholesterol-lowering medications. However, they were more likely to be current or past smokers and had higher alcohol consumption.

The researchers adjusted their analyses for age, sex, education level, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, family history of cardiovascular disease, marital status, living alone, diet quality, body mass index, and hypertension. Even after accounting for all these factors, the protective associations with high-fat cheese and cream remained.

Strongest Protection Against Vascular Dementia

High-fat cheese consumption showed particularly strong protective effects against vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. People eating 50 grams or more daily had a 29% lower risk of vascular dementia compared to those consuming less than 15 grams daily.

High-fat cream consumption also showed inverse associations with both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia when researchers analyzed intake as a continuous variable rather than categories.

The researchers used specific thresholds to categorize dairy products. High-fat cheese meant more than 20% fat, high-fat cream meant more than 30% fat, and high-fat milk and fermented milk meant more than 2.5% fat.

How Researchers Tried to Reduce ‘Reverse Causation’

A major concern in dementia research is reverse causation (the possibility that early cognitive decline changes eating habits years before diagnosis occurs). Dementia can have a long preclinical phase during which subtle brain changes begin but symptoms haven’t appeared yet.

The researchers addressed this by excluding dementia cases that occurred within the first 10 years of follow-up. Surprisingly, this strengthened the protective associations with high-fat cheese, suggesting the findings aren’t simply due to sick people changing their diets before diagnosis.

The study also examined people who reported no substantial diet changes during a five-year follow-up examination. Among this subset, the associations weakened and no longer reached statistical significance, though they remained in the protective direction.

Why High-Fat Cheese May Benefit Brain Health

Cheese is a whole food with protein, calcium, and other compounds packaged together in a way that may affect how the body responds to it. Previous randomized controlled trials have shown that regular-fat cheese doesn’t cause the adverse changes in blood cholesterol that researchers once feared when they issued blanket warnings about saturated fat.

Some animal studies suggest that regular-fat cheese may provide metabolic benefits by altering gut bacteria and altering fat absorption. Regular-fat cheese has been linked to increased fecal fat excretion, meaning the body may absorb less of the fat consumed. The cheese-making process and fermentation may also create beneficial compounds not found in milk.

Mendelian randomization studies, which use genetic variants to infer causal relationships, have linked cheese consumption to lower risks of diabetes and high blood pressure (both risk factors for dementia).

An unmeasured factor would need to substantially increase dementia risk to completely explain away the observed protective association with high-fat cheese. That threshold exceeds the effect sizes of several established dementia risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Butter consumption showed a different pattern. Among people consuming 40 grams or more daily, there was a 27% higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared to non-consumers. However, among participants with higher overall diet quality, butter consumption was inversely associated with dementia risk. The authors stress this finding is speculative and might relate to overall dietary fat intake (butter might be protective in an otherwise low-fat diet, but increases risk when added to a diet already high in fat).

Low-fat milk consumption showed an unexpected finding. People consuming 500 grams or more daily (about two cups) had a 24% higher risk of dementia when follow-up ended in 2014. However, this association wasn’t significant when the follow-up was extended to 2020, despite increased statistical power from more cases.

Neither high-fat nor low-fat fermented milk products showed associations with dementia risk in the overall analysis. Regular milk, regardless of fat content, showed no significant associations with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or vascular dementia.

The researchers conducted substitution analyses to estimate what might happen if people replaced 20 grams of high-fat cheese with equivalent amounts of other foods. Replacing high-fat cheese with milk, fermented milk, high-fat red meat, or processed meat was associated with increased dementia risk.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/eating-high-fat-cheese-daily-lower-dementia-risk-but-not-milk-yogurt/

 

Stuck in front of our screens all day, we often ignore our senses beyond sound and vision. And yet they are always at work. When we’re more alert we feel the rough and smooth surfaces of objects, the stiffness in our shoulders, the softness of bread.

In the morning, we may feel the tingle of toothpaste, hear and feel the running water in the shower, smell the shampoo, and later the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Aristotle told us there were five senses. But he also told us the world was made up of five elements and we no longer believe that. And modern research is showing we may actually have dozens of senses.

Almost all of our experience is multisensory. We don’t see, and hear, smell and touch in separate parcels. They occur simultaneously in a unified experience of the world around us and of ourselves.

What we feel affects what we see and what we see affects what we hear. Different odors in shampoo can affect how you perceive the texture of hair. The fragrance of rose makes hair seem silkier, for instance.

Odors in low-fat yogurts can make them feel richer and thicker on the palate without adding more emulsifiers. Perception of odors in the mouth, rising to the nasal passage, are modified by the viscosity of the liquids we consume.

My long-term collaborator, professor Charles Spence from the Crossmodal Laboratory in Oxford, told me his neuroscience colleagues believe there are anywhere between 22 and 33 senses.

These include proprioception, which enables us to know where our limbs are without looking at them. Our sense of balance draws on the vestibular system of ear canals as well as sight and proprioception.

Another example is interoception, by which we sense changes in our own bodies such as a slight increase in our heart rate and hunger. We also have a sense of agency when moving our limbs: a feeling that can go missing in stroke patients who sometimes even believe someone else is moving their arm.

There is the sense of ownership. Stroke patients sometimes feel their, for instance, arm is not their own even though they may still feel sensations in it.

Some of the traditional senses are combinations of several senses. Touch, for instance involves pain, temperature, itch and tactile sensations. When we taste something we are actually experiencing a combination of three senses: touch, smell and taste – or gustation – which combine to produce the flavors we perceive in food and drinks.

Gustation, covers sensations produced by receptors on the tongue that enable us to detect salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami (savory). What about mint, mango, melon, strawberry, raspberry?

We don’t have raspberry receptors on the tongue, nor is raspberry flavor some combination of sweet, sour and bitter. There is no taste arithmetic for fruit flavors.

We perceive them through the combined workings of the tongue and the nose. It is smell that contributes the lion’s share to what we call tasting.

This is not inhaling odors from the environment, though. Odor compounds are released as we chew or sip, traveling from the mouth to the nose though the nasal pharynx at the back of throat.

Touch plays its part too, binding tastes and smells together and fixing our preferences for runny or firm eggs, and the velvety, luxuriousness gooeyness of chocolate.

Sight is influenced by our vestibular system. When you are on board an aircraft on the ground, look down the cabin. Look again when you are in the climb.

It will “look” to you as though the front of the cabin is higher than you are, although optically, everything is in the same relation to you as it was on the ground. What you “see” is the combined effect of sight and your ear canals telling you that you are titling backwards.

The senses offer a rich seam of research and philosophers, neuroscientists and psychologists work together at the Centre for the Study of the Senses at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study.

In 2013, the centre launched its Rethinking the Senses project, directed by my colleague, the late Professor Sir Colin Blakemore. We discovered how modifying the sound of your own footsteps can make your body feel lighter or heavier.

We learned how audioguides in Tate Britain art museum that address the listener as if the model in a portrait was speaking enable visitors to remember more visual details of the painting. We discovered how aircraft noise interferes with our perception of taste and why you should always drink tomato juice on a plane.

While our perception of salt, sweet and sour is reduced in the presence of white noise, umami is not, and tomatoes, and tomato juice is rich in umami. This means the aircraft’s noise will taste enhance the savory flavor.

At our latest interactive exhibition, Senses Unwrapped at Coal Drops Yard in London’s King’s Cross, people can discover for themselves how their senses work and why they don’t work as we think they do.

For example, the size-weight illusion is illustrated by a set of small, medium and large curling stones. People can lift each one and decide which is heaviest. The smallest one feels heaviest, but people can them place them on balancing scales and discover that they are all the same weight.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/humans-33-senses/

Most people in relationships would never admit it out loud, but a surprising number are keeping their options open. One in six Americans currently in a relationship confesses there’s someone else in their life they’d actually leave their partner for if that person showed romantic interest.

That revelation comes from a new survey of 1,279 people in relationships, which uncovered some uncomfortable truths about modern commitment. While having a wandering eye is one thing, having a specific person in mind as a potential exit strategy takes it further.

The Gender Gap in Relationship Commitment

Research conducted by Talker Research as part of a lifestyle omnibus found that 16% of coupled Americans have identified someone who could pull them away from their current relationship. Men are far more likely to have this backup plan, with 19% admitting there’s someone they’d leave their partner for, compared to just 12% of women.

Perhaps even more telling: one in five Americans (20%) in relationships don’t actually consider their current partner to be their soulmate. Women are slightly more likely than men to feel this way, with 14% of women expressing doubt compared to 11% of men. The survey doesn’t prove these are the same people with backup plans, but the combination raises an obvious question. Why stay if the conviction isn’t there?

Millennials emerge as the generation most likely to believe in the soulmate concept and feel their current partner is “the one.” Maybe growing up immersed in romantic comedies set their expectations sky-high, or perhaps they’re just more willing to walk away from relationships that feel like compromises.

When Attraction Becomes Something More

Clinical psychologist Adam Horvath explained why these feelings might be more universal than people admit. “It is not uncommon to think we could leave our partner for the new, exciting, mysterious other one, but it matters how we respond to these feelings,” Horvath said. “If you often find yourself emotionally invested outside your relationship, that’s a signal to look at why your boundaries are dropping.”

Horvath emphasized that attraction to others doesn’t automatically make someone a bad partner. “We’re human. Attraction does not turn off when we say ‘I choose you.’ What matters is what we do with our feelings, and whether we’re honest with ourselves about why they’re there,” he explained. “Having a daydream about someone else isn’t rare or pathological, and it doesn’t automatically mean you are a bad partner, let alone that your relationship is doomed.”

The psychologist pointed out that noticing romantic interest in others is hardwired biology. “Developing feelings for someone is quite normal, as our brains are wired to notice a romantic interest. It’s biology, not betrayal,” he said.

The Fantasy Partner Problem

The trouble starts when people begin comparing their actual partner to a fantasy version of someone else. “Where it gets tricky is when we think these feelings are meaningful, and in fact, they are our way out. When we compare our real partner to a fantasy of someone else, and check out because ‘there’s something better,’” Horvath explained. “That’s less about the crush and more about something missing that the backup person represents: Playfulness, romance, excitement. Or sometimes simply just something new.”

For many Americans, monogamy might be more about choosing to stay than about not wanting to stray. Whether having a “what if” person in the back of your mind is normal human psychology or a red flag about your relationship depends on how each person handles it.

But the survey data tells a clear story. If these percentages hold nationally, they would translate to millions of Americans in relationships while simultaneously identifying someone they’d rather be with. That person at work who makes them laugh, the ex who got away, the friend who “gets them” in ways their partner doesn’t. These backup options aren’t just passing crushes but specific people who could theoretically change everything if they made a move.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/many-adults-have-backup-person-theyd-leave-their-partner-for/

Anyone who has beheld Luke “The Nuke” Littler’s stellar abilities on the darts circuit will have seen the exceptional talent he displays. In January, he became the youngest World Champion in history at just 17 years old. In October, he captured his first World Grand Prix title. But what does it actually take to become a professional darts player?

Many may be wondering whether darts skills are simply innate in some people, or if Littler is just an exceptionally quick learner.

Elite technique requires a combination of both physical and mental athleticism. You need to have the skills to hit very small targets when stepping up to the oche, all while maintaining the mental strength needed to stay composed under pressure – knowing that even the smallest miss can have big consequences.

1. Coordination

There are lots of different ways in which coordination – one of the critical functions of our nervous system – lends itself to success in darts. Every single throw requires a smooth and accurate trajectory.

Coordination is controlled by the cerebellum, which is located at the back of the brain. This complex region, sometimes referred to as “the little brain,” helps regulate both fine muscle control and posture. It’s a key region when it comes to darts skills.

For instance, the cerebellum helps with hand-eye coordination. To hit a perfect 180, you’re aiming for that tiny treble 20 on the inner ring, three times over. It requires the player to set that target, judge the distance from the board and calculate an appropriate angle at which to throw. It’s also critical in the learning process of how to improve your aim over time.

Stance, posture and balance are paramount too, and also coordinated by the cerebellum. Even the slightest wobble can affect the trajectory of the dart on release.

2. Arm Mechanics

A recipe for success also involves a honed and accurate throw.

The mechanics of a good throw include the transition between taking aim, the pullback move to gather energy, through to a smooth release and eliminating any jerks which might send the dart off course.

The chief muscle groups that allow for this are found in the hand, wrist and forearm. They contain multiple smaller muscles which flex and extend the wrist and fingers. These are capable of working together to enable a wide variety of precise movements in gripping, aiming and releasing the dart.

It’s generally quite difficult to target these small muscles by working out in the gym, so this is where training through repetition is key to nailing the right throw.

The throw is also governed by rhythm: the target setting, the speed of the pullback stroke and the timing of the release.

Every professional dart player has their own throw technique. For instance, Phil Taylor demonstrated a fast, yet measured throw, while Luke Littler favors a relaxed, instinctive rhythm. But the individual rhythm all goes back to those intricate nerve pathways and the small muscles which coordinate it.

3. A ‘Quiet Eye’

Obviously vision is also fundamental to darts – but it’s not as simple as just regarding the board.

This is where the concept of a “quiet eye” comes in – where the eyes lock in upon the target just before a throw is made. A quiet eye ensures the gaze remains fixed upon the target, ensuring the throw is accurate.

A quiet eye is a technique important in many sports other than darts – including clay shooting, snooker and archery. A quiet eye lends important visual information to the motor system, which allows for maximum synchronization between the brain and body.

Several studies have explored the effect the quiet eye phenomenon has on target sports and what underpins it. First, there’s evidence that shows expert players typically have a longer quiet eye phase than amateurs. Although this usually only amounts to half a second longer or so, this is still significant in coordinating between the brain and body, allowing the player to execute that perfect shot.

Second, the measured gaze of professional players appear to be more stable and unwavering – with no eye flicking or deviation from the target.

Through target fixation, critically timing their movements and repeating their shots, players can train their quiet eye.

4. The Brain And Body Connection

The connection between brain and body appears to be key – and is exemplified by players who lost their ability in darts.

There’s actually a condition referred to as “dartitis,” which is defined by an inability to throw. Dartitis is often associated with stress, fatigue or burnout.

It can even affect top players – most notably multiple World Champion Eric Bristow, who had to retrain in order to play normally again after developing dartitis. This can involve going back to basics and rebuilding the throw – sometimes even switching to the other hand.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/darts-athletic-skill-to-hit-bullseye/

Since researchers first established the link between diet, cholesterol and heart disease in the 1950s, risk for heart disease has been partly assessed based on a patient’s cholesterol levels, which can be routinely measured via blood work at the doctor’s office.

However, accumulating evidence over the past two decades demonstrates that a biomarker called C-reactive protein – which signals the presence of low-grade inflammation – is a better predictor of risk for heart disease than cholesterol.

As a result, in September 2025, the American College of Cardiology published new recommendations for universal screening of C-reactive protein levels in all patients, alongside measuring cholesterol levels.

What Is C-Reactive Protein?

C-reactive protein is created by the liver in response to infections, tissue damage, chronic inflammatory states from conditions like autoimmune diseases, and metabolic disturbances like obesity and diabetes. Essentially, it is a marker of inflammation – meaning immune system activation – in the body.

C-reactive protein can be easily measured with blood work at the doctor’s office. A low C-reactive protein level – under 1 milligram per deciliter – signifies minimal inflammation in the body, which is protective against heart disease. An elevated C-reactive protein level of greater than 3 milligrams per deciliter, signifies increased levels of inflammation and thus increased risk for heart disease. About 52% of Americans have an elevated level of C-reactive protein in their blood.

Research shows that C-reactive protein is a better predictive marker for heart attacks and strokes than “bad,” or LDL cholesterol, short for low-density lipoprotein, as well as another commonly measured genetically inherited biomarker called lipoprotein(a). One study found that C-reactive protein can predict heart disease just as well as blood pressure can.

Why Does Inflammation Matter in Heart Disease?

Inflammation plays a crucial role at every stage in the development and buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries, which causes a condition called atherosclerosis that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

From the moment a blood vessel is damaged, be it from high blood sugar or cigarette smoke, immune cells immediately infiltrate the area. Those immune cells subsequently engulf cholesterol particles that are typically floating around in the blood stream to form a fatty plaque that resides in the wall of the vessel.

This process continues for decades until eventually, one day, immune mediators rupture the cap that encloses the plaque. This triggers the formation of a blood clot that obstructs blood flow, starves the surrounding tissues of oxygen and ultimately causes a heart attack or stroke.

Hence, cholesterol is only part of the story; it is, in fact, the immune system that facilitates each step in the processes that drive heart disease.

Can Diet Influence C-Reactive Protein Levels?

Lifestyle can significantly influence the amount of C-reactive protein produced by the liver.

Numerous foods and nutrients have been shown to lower C-reactive protein levels, including dietary fiber from foods like beans, vegetables, nuts and seeds, as well as berries, olive oil, green tea, chia seeds and flaxseeds.

Weight loss and exercise can also reduce C-reactive protein levels.

Does Cholesterol Still Matter for Heart Disease Risk?

Though cholesterol may not be the most important predictor of risk for heart disease, it does remain highly relevant.

However, it’s not just the amount of cholesterol – or more specifically the amount of bad, or LDL, cholesterol – that matters. Two people with the same cholesterol level don’t necessarily have the same risk for heart disease. This is because risk is determined more so by the number of particles that the bad cholesterol is packaged into, as opposed to the total mass of bad cholesterol that’s floating around. More particles means higher risk.

That is why a blood test known as apolipoprotein B, which measures the number of cholesterol particles, is a better predictor of risk for heart disease than measurements of total amounts of bad cholesterol.

Like cholesterol and C-reactive protein, apolipoprotein B is also influenced by lifestyle factors like exercise, weight loss and diet. Nutrients like fiber, nuts and omega-3 fatty acids are associated with a decreased number of cholesterol particles, while increased sugar intake is associated with a larger number of cholesterol particles.

Furthermore, lipoprotein(a), a protein that lives in the wall surrounding cholesterol particles, is another marker that can predict heart disease more accurately than cholesterol levels. This is because the presence of lipoprotein(a) makes cholesterol particles sticky, so to speak, and thus more likely to get trapped in an atherosclerotic plaque.

However, unlike other risk factors, lipoprotein(a) levels are purely genetic, thus not influenced by lifestyle, and need only be measured once in a lifetime.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/c-reactive-protein-leading-heart-disease-risk-marker/

The skull had the brow of a descendant but the face of an ancestor. When researchers finished reconstructing the DAN5/P1 cranium from Ethiopia’s Afar region, dated to between 1.6 and 1.5 million years ago, they found themselves staring at an evolutionary contradiction: a single individual who appeared to belong to two different chapters of human history at once.

Homo erectus, the species that first looked recognizably like us with its large brain, prominent brow ridge, and smaller teeth, has long been considered a turning point in human evolution. The species is often described as a package of changes arriving together, but this newly reconstructed skull from the Gona research area indicates the pieces did not always move in lockstep.

The brain inside DAN5/P1 was small, just 598 cubic centimeters, closer to the earlier Homo habilis than to the larger-brained Homo erectus fossils found in Kenya from the same time period. Yet its jutting brow ridge and certain features of the braincase matched Homo erectus. Its face, meanwhile, retained the flat cheekbones and narrow nasal opening of species that should have been fading from the scene.

An international team led by Karen L. Baab of Midwestern University published their findings in Nature Communications. After years of digital reconstruction using micro-CT scans, they pieced together a mostly complete Early Pleistocene Homo cranium from the Horn of Africa, only the sixth such specimen recovered from the continent. What emerged was a fossil that defies easy classification and complicates our understanding of how Homo erectus came to be.

“The presence of such a morphological mosaic contemporaneous with or postdating the emergence of the indisputable H. erectus craniodental complex around 1.6 Ma implies an intricate evolutionary transition from early Homo to H. erectus,” the researchers wrote.

How Researchers Reconstructed the Homo Erectus Skull

The DAN5/P1 fossil was discovered at the Dana Aoule North site in Gona, part of Ethiopia’s Afar region. Initially, only the braincase had been fully studied. The face remained a puzzle, broken into fragments during fossilization and cemented together by sediment over millennia.

To reconstruct it, the team took micro-CT scans of five facial bone fragments: portions of both sides of the upper jaw, a piece of the region below the eye sockets, part of the cheekbone, and several teeth including premolars and molars. From these scans, they generated 3D surface models that could be digitally manipulated and fitted together.

Reassembly required matching each piece according to anatomical landmarks. Sutures had to align. Break lines had to correspond. The frontal process of the upper jaw, for instance, had to be angled so it would properly meet the frontal bone while simultaneously matching curvatures implied by surrounding structures. After the face was assembled, the team attached it to the previously reconstructed braincase.

To account for uncertainty in how the face connected to the braincase, the researchers also created an alternative reconstruction with slightly different positioning. Both versions produced similar results in subsequent statistical analyses, lending confidence that the findings were not artifacts of reconstruction choices.

A Face from the Past on a Skull from the Future

Comparing DAN5/P1 to other early human fossils revealed its split identity. The braincase aligned with Homo erectus in several respects: a thick, projecting brow ridge with a continuous groove behind it, circular eye sockets, and the long, low profile characteristic of the species.

But the face pointed backward in time. The area below the eye sockets was flat from side to side rather than curving outward as in typical African Homo erectus. The nasal opening lacked the pronounced widening seen in roughly contemporaneous Kenyan fossils like KNM-ER 3733 and the adolescent KNM-WT 15000. The cheekbone’s attachment point sat more toward the front of the face than expected, a trait linked to earlier Homo species.

The roof of the mouth was large relative to brain size, placing DAN5/P1 closer to early Homo and to Homo erectus fossils from Dmanisi, Georgia, than to East African Homo erectus. The teeth were also substantial. The first and third molars fell within the size range of Homo habilis and at the upper end of variation for African Homo erectus.

Statistical analyses of skull shape placed DAN5/P1 within the Homo erectus range but nearest to two specific fossils: the adolescent KNM-WT 15000 from Kenya and the subadult D2700 from Georgia. When the researchers analyzed midface shape alone, DAN5/P1 clustered with Homo habilis specimens instead. Its single closest match in overall shape was KNM-ER 1813, a classic Homo habilis skull from Kenya.

“DAN5/P1 is, to our knowledge, the first African fossil to exhibit a mixture of H. erectus and early Homo features,” the team reported.

Two Populations, Two Evolutionary Speeds

The combination of ancestral and more advanced features in a single skull from this time period complicates the conventional timeline. By 1.6 million years ago, Homo erectus was supposed to have already arrived as a coherent package. Famous Kenyan fossils from roughly the same period, including KNM-ER 3733 and KNM-WT 15000, display the full suite of Homo erectus traits: larger brains, smaller teeth, wider nasal openings, and curved architecture below the eyes.

Yet DAN5/P1 lived at essentially the same time with a brain barely larger than Homo habilis, teeth to match, and a face that looked like it belonged to an earlier era. The brow ridge announced membership in Homo erectus. Almost everything else pointed to something more primitive.

The researchers interpret this as evidence that different populations of early humans were evolving at different rates across East Africa. The rift basin landscape, combined with low population densities, may have allowed groups in the Horn of Africa and the Lake Turkana region of Kenya to diverge over time. The Horn of Africa population, represented by DAN5/P1, retained more ancestral features. The Kenyan population developed more derived characteristics.

“The evolutionary contrasts in brain size and face morphology embodied by the broadly contemporaneous DAN5/P1 and Kenyan fossils, KNM-ER 3733 and KNM-WT 15000, imply complex population structure rather than simple coexistence of two different lineages,” the researchers wrote.

This interpretation casts Homo erectus as a species showing substantial regional variation rather than uniform characteristics everywhere it lived.

Advanced Tools Found at the Same Site as Small-Brained Fossil

Both simple and advanced stone tools turned up at the DAN5 site. Mode 1 tools, basic cores and flakes, appeared alongside Mode 2 Acheulean tools, the more sophisticated hand axes associated with Homo erectus.

Acheulean technology is typically linked to larger-brained populations. The longstanding assumption has been that expanding brains drove technological innovation. But at Gona, these advanced tools appear in the same context as a fossil with a brain volume comparable to Homo habilis, the earlier species credited only with simpler tools.

Evidence from the site also points to a broadened diet and access to animal resources. A similar pattern appears at Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia, where small-brained fossils occur alongside evidence of meat consumption and varied tool use.

“The Gona evidence, along with that from Dmanisi, hints that key behavioral/technological innovations may precede major morphological transformations,” the team noted.

If accurate, the assumed connection between brain size and cognitive ability in early human evolution may have been less direct than researchers believed.

Surprising Similarities to a Much Younger Species

DAN5/P1 also shares certain features with Homo naledi, a much younger Middle Pleistocene species discovered in South African caves. Both possess small brains, flat nasal regions, forward-positioned cheekbones, and a distinct bump at the back of the skull.

The researchers caution against reading too much into these resemblances. Vast stretches of time and thousands of kilometers separate the two fossils, and shared primitive traits do not necessarily indicate a direct evolutionary link. But the parallels add to mounting evidence that small-brained Homo populations persisted in Africa long after larger-brained forms had emerged.

One Skull, Many Questions

Only six largely complete Early Pleistocene Homo skulls have been recovered from Africa. Each new discovery reshapes the narrative, and DAN5/P1 is no exception. Here was an individual whose brow announced membership in Homo erectus while whose face and teeth belonged to an earlier inheritance, found at a site that also yielded both simple and advanced stone tools.

The fossil confirms that the emergence of Homo erectus involved considerable variation across populations. Different groups existed simultaneously in East Africa, evolving at different rates and retaining different features. The transition from early Homo to Homo erectus appears to have been gradual and uneven, with different traits shifting at different speeds in different places.

DAN5/P1 does not settle the debate over where Homo erectus originated or how it spread across Africa and into Eurasia. Some researchers have proposed a Eurasian origin based on early Homo erectus-like features appearing in Georgia. The ancestral morphology preserved in DAN5/P1, however, remains compatible with local evolution of the species in East Africa.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/homo-erectus-skull-discovery-rewrites-human-evolution-timeline/

In the wake of Sunday’s tragic Bondi shooting, conspiracy theories and deliberate misinformation have spread on social media.

One thing some people have latched onto is the idea Google Trends data show a spike in searches for “Naveed Akram” – the name of one of the attackers – from Tel Aviv (or other locations) before the shooting occurred. In a surprising lateral jump, this is taken to show Akram must be an Israeli agent.

Similar stories did the rounds when US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was killed in September, and after an attack on US National Guard members in November.

So what’s going on here? Google told the ABC Google Trends may sometimes show searches when none actually happened due to “statistical noise.”

I have studied the mechanics of Google Trends extensively in my research, and I can confirm this is true – and the “noise” can lead to strange results, especially when looking at searches for unusual terms or coming from small areas.

How Does Google Trends Work?

Google Trends shows information about what users are searching for at different places and times. The data it uses are what statisticians call a “time series,” but they are unusual in a couple of ways.

First, you can very easily select different time scales, such as minute-by-minute and year-by-year.

Second is the fact the data are only a small sample of the true gigantic volume of Google searches. Time series normally contain all available data (such as these statistics on annual hospitalizations).

Statistical Noise and Rare Searches

However, my research has shown that queries related to terms that are not widely searched (such as “Naveed Akram” before the shooting) or in small geographical regions (where there are fewer people doing searches) can display a wide variation of results from one sample to the next.

Many of the misleading social media posts show Trends results from a small region (such as only the city of Tel Aviv), which exacerbates the variation. The high variation causes a very distinct pattern of zero or near-zero values with some isolated big spikes, which is very evident in the post below.

These spikes are often caused by “statistical noise” in the data – small random fluctuations that are smoothed out when we look at a larger number of events. You can see this clearly when you compare with searches that have high volume.

How Google Trends Results Change Over Time

Another misconception about the data is related to time. Some posts mention how the displayed results seem to change from one view to the next. This is, in fact, exactly what to expect with Google Trends data.

This is a combination of the time scale used and the fact Google uses only a sample of the full data. To get accurate results, one has to aggregate many samples of Google Trends data.

However, this presents a new challenge. For short-term data (such as that typically used in these social media posts), Google continually updates results in real time. For longer-term data, Google only adds one new sample per day (though we have developed methods to get around this).

What the Numbers in Google Trends Really Mean

A third misconception is that the numbers shown on Google Trends charts are the number of searches for a given term. However, the Google Trends help again explains that the values are “normalized to the time and location” and then “scaled on a range of 0 to 100.”

This means the time point in the series with the highest number of searches is set to 100, and all other points are scaled relative to that. So if the maximum number of searches was ten, it would show up as 100 – and if there were three searches at another time, this would show up as 30 (although Google does suppress very low-volume searches).

In a sense, the number for each time point represents the likelihood that a search containing the specified terms would occur in that place at that time.

So a post about search trends for the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk claiming there are “Less than 1 in 1 BILLION odds of it happening” is incorrect.

It is, in fact, highly probable: if “Tyler James Robinson” (Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer) had 30 searches, and “Lance Twiggs” (Robinson’s partner) had 40, one would see exactly this pattern (if 40 is scaled to 100; 30 is accordingly scaled to 75).

Source : https://studyfinds.org/misreading-google-trends-fueling-bondi-attack-conspiracies/

Romance and the heart have long been synonymous on a symbolic level, but modern science now indicates the connection may be literal. Researchers are calling for romantic relationships to be incorporated far more heavily in treatment programs for heart patients.

A major review published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology analyzed how including romantic partners in cardiac care affects recovery and found that while 77% of studies showed improved medication adherence, exercise habits, and smoking cessation, only three studies measured relationship quality—and none found improvements. So, it appears romantic partnerships affect heart health through powerful biological mechanisms, yet cardiac rehabilitation programs rarely address these crucial personal relationships.

Researchers analyzed 12 clinical trials involving nearly 1,500 couples to determine whether including romantic partners in cardiac rehabilitation improves outcomes. The biological rationale for partner involvement is compelling: large population studies show that relationship quality affects heart disease risk with effect sizes comparable to quitting smoking or maintaining healthy weight. Satisfied partners show better heart rate variability, lower blood pressure, and reduced inflammatory markers, while relationship distress triggers the same stress responses that damage the cardiovascular system.

The study, conducted at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, found that unmarried people are over 40% more likely to have cardiovascular disease and die from a myocardial infarction than married people. But the protection doesn’t come from a wedding ring. Studies tracking relationship quality over time show that marital satisfaction matters far more than marital status alone.

The Body Keeps Score of Relationship Stress

The body responds to relationship dynamics in measurable ways. During arguments about relationship problems, both partners experience elevated heart rates and surges in cortisol stress hormones. Women in distressed relationships face a nearly 10-fold increase in uncontrolled hypertension compared to satisfied women. Among satisfied couples, every unit increase in relationship support correlates with a 28% improvement in heart rate variability, a key marker of cardiovascular health.

Physical intimacy plays a direct role. On days when couples engage in more affectionate touch like hugging, cortisol levels drop measurably. This isn’t just emotional comfort translating to feeling better. The physical act of intimate connection triggers hormonal changes that protect the heart.

Chronic relationship distress mobilizes circulating lipids and increases inflammatory markers including interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. These same inflammatory processes contribute to atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular disease progression. In observational research, the magnitude of these effects appears comparable to traditional risk factors that doctors routinely monitor and treat.

Partners in satisfying relationships engage in better health behaviors, creating a cascade of cardiovascular benefits. Men who perceive strong partner support eat more fruits and vegetables. Both sexes consume more alcohol when experiencing marital strain. A single unit increase in relationship quality over 10 years correlates with lower weight and a 22% decrease in obesity risk.

Health behaviors sync between partners. If one spouse exercises regularly, the other has a 67% higher chance of becoming active. When one partner quits smoking, the other is 48% more likely to quit successfully. This concordance works both ways. If one partner maintains unhealthy habits, the other faces major barriers to change despite good intentions.

How Including Partners Changes Outcomes

The research team reviewed interventions designed to include partners in cardiac care. Most programs involved nurses teaching couples about medication management, exercise routines, and dietary changes over three months, typically starting right after hospital discharge.

Results showed clear benefits for health behaviors. About 77% of studies measuring exercise, medication adherence, or smoking cessation found improvements when partners participated. Patients in couples programs maintained physical activity levels while those going solo let gym routines slide. Medication adherence stayed higher, and smoking quit rates improved.

Cardiovascular outcomes showed mixed results. Some studies reported improved cholesterol levels and fewer doctor visits for patients in couples programs. Others found no differences in blood pressure, cardiac events, or functional status. The inconsistency likely reflects that most studies weren’t designed or powered to detect changes in relatively rare cardiac events.

Mental health outcomes varied widely. About 63% of studies found some improvements in anxiety or depression, but which partner benefited and when differed across programs. Some helped patients feel less depressed, others helped partners cope better with caregiving stress, and several found no mental health changes at all.

The Missing Piece: Relationship Quality Itself

Despite the well-established biological links between relationship quality and heart health, only three studies actually measured relationship quality. None of those three found improvements.

This reveals a fundamental flaw in current approaches. Most programs treat partners as helpers who can remind patients to take pills and accompany them on walks. Only two studies used actual couples therapy methods that directly addressed relationship dynamics, emotional connection, and communication patterns.

Those relationship-focused programs showed promise. Patients reported reduced concerns about the future, improved self-rated health, and better coping strategies. One program using mindfulness-based couples therapy reduced patient anxiety and depression. Another using solution-focused therapy decreased depressive symptoms and improved self-rated health scores.

The majority of programs focused almost entirely on health education and behavior change while largely not addressing the relationship itself. This approach may help couples coordinate medication schedules but does little to address relationship distress that’s actively damaging cardiovascular health through elevated cortisol, increased inflammation, and poor blood pressure control.

Researchers found that roughly 30% of people with cardiovascular disease report significant distress in their romantic relationships. For these couples, standard health education programs that don’t address relationship problems may miss the primary mechanism through which the partner could help.

The biological data makes the case clearly. Relationship distress isn’t just emotionally difficult for heart patients. It’s a physiological stressor that activates cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune responses in ways that directly worsen disease progression. Happy relationships aren’t just nice to have. They provide measurable protection through reduced stress hormones, better blood pressure control, lower inflammatory markers, and improved health behaviors.

What Cardiac Rehabilitation Should Do Differently

The researchers propose that cardiac rehabilitation programs start screening for relationship quality, much like they currently screen for depression and anxiety. Brief questionnaires taking just minutes could identify which couples need extra support. Programs would then offer different levels of intervention based on each couple’s specific needs.

All patients would receive basic education about how relationships affect heart health through biological mechanisms. Those experiencing mild to moderate relationship difficulties would join structured relationship enhancement programs. Couples facing serious, long-standing problems would get referrals to specialized therapists in the community.

This stepped care approach would use existing staff more efficiently. Nurses who currently deliver health education could expand their role with proper training. Allied health professionals like social workers or psychologists could provide relationship enhancement sessions within existing program structures.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/romantic-partnerships-affect-heart-health/

The future is now…and it’s tiny.

On average, Americans will spend close to $2 million dollars on major debt payments before their life ends. That staggering figure, according to an eye-opening study, represents every car loan, mortgage payment, student loan bill, and credit card balance between age 18 and death at 78.

A new analysis by JG Wentworth concludes that the average American will pay off $1,786,810 in debt across their lifetime. That’s money tied up in monthly obligations rather than available for savings, investing, or simply having more breathing room in the budget.

The study breaks down exactly where that $1.8 million goes over 60 years of adult life. The calculation includes four major debt categories affecting most Americans: mortgages, auto loans, student debt, and credit cards. Each follows a predictable pattern, spiking at key life stages and gradually declining through years of payments. The total includes both principal and interest, though credit card interest was excluded due to variable rates.

That $1.8 million average masks enormous regional variations. Hawaiian residents will pay off $2,570,976 over their lifetime, while West Virginians face just $1,391,240. The gap between most and least expensive states spans nearly $1.2 million, driven largely by housing costs.

Debt Peaks at Two Critical Ages

In this model, debt typically starts when someone turns 18. Between a first car loan and an initial credit card, young adults begin with $20,718 in obligations. That drops to $5,764 by age 22 as they work and make payments.

College loans often come due at 23, pushing debt back up to $42,242. For many people in the analysis, debt stays relatively manageable through their late 20s and early 30s as they buy second cars and pay down student loans.

At 38, everything changes. First-time homebuyers see their debt explode from $17,139 to $320,092 overnight. That single purchase multiplies debt nearly 20-fold.

Americans spend their 40s and 50s gradually chipping away at that first mortgage. Debt declines steadily until age 61, when the typical American buys a second home. At this peak moment, total debt hits its lifetime high: $370,259.

By retirement age 67, people have reduced their burden to $212,596. From 75 to 78, only credit card debt remains at about $6,754 per year.

Your Home Consumes $1.1 Million

Housing debt alone accounts for $1,117,860—that’s 62.6% of the $1.8 million lifetime total. The analysis assumed Americans purchase two homes: a first at age 38 with a 30-year mortgage, and a second at 61 with a 15-year term.

California homebuyers face the steepest housing costs at $1,844,069 across two homes. Hawaii follows at $1,829,064, while Washington residents pay $1,635,236.

West Virginia offers the cheapest homeownership at $784,006 for two houses. Iowa and Mississippi residents also pay less than $830,000 for two homes over their lifetimes.

The enormous variation in housing costs explains why some state residents pay nearly twice as much in lifetime debt. In Hawaii, mortgage payments consume 71.1% of lifetime debt.

Cars, Credit Cards, and College Add $670,000 More

Auto financing adds $245,297 to lifetime debt totals. The average American purchases four cars over their lifetime, with the second typically bought around age 30. Alaska residents pay the most ($290,056) due to higher vehicle prices, while New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine residents pay around $200,000.

Credit card debt costs $387,985 over 60 years. Balances start low for young adults at $3,456 annually, peak during middle age at $9,557 per year, then drop after 60. About half of credit card users carry revolving balances rather than paying in full each month. Alaskans rack up $484,620 in lifetime credit card debt, while Iowans carry just $319,740.

Student loans represent the smallest slice at $35,668 on average. The study focused on federal undergraduate borrowing, which represents the vast majority of student debt. Maryland graduates face $43,692 in student debt, while North Dakota students pay just $29,647.

One 15-Year Window of Relief

Between ages 23 and 38, many Americans experience their only sustained period of manageable debt. During these working years, they steadily pay down initial obligations without taking on massive new loans.

Then homeownership resets everything. After roughly 23 years of paying on that first 30-year mortgage, the model assumes many buyers take on a second home at age 61. That creates another 15 years of debt extending almost to death at 78.

Three decades of adult life (ages 38-67) center on paying off two houses. The $1.8 million lifetime debt total reflects how housing obligations structure finances for most Americans.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/true-cost-of-american-dream-millions-in-debt/

The ‘Hallmarks of Aging’ Framework Has A Major Problem That Nobody Talked About Until Now

Most provocatively, they suggest the field needs to confront an uncomfortable possibility: despite decades of research and thousands of papers on aging, scientists may still lack a deep mechanistic understanding of what drives age-dependent decline. They’ve catalogued correlates of aging, identified factors that extend lifespan by postponing specific diseases, and developed predictive biomarkers. But understanding the underlying process that makes organisms more vulnerable over time may remain elusive.

This matters beyond academic debates. As longevity interventions move from mice to humans, the distinction between preventing specific diseases and genuinely slowing aging determines which treatments to pursue, how to test them, and what outcomes to measure. Getting it wrong wastes resources and, more importantly, delays finding interventions that might actually work.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/nobody-dies-from-old-age-studies-reveal-what-kills-us/

Ocean temperatures warmed by human-caused climate change fed the intense rainfall that triggered deadly floods and landslides across Asia in recent weeks, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

The rapid study by World Weather Attribution focused on heavy rainfall from cyclones Senyar and Ditwah in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka starting late last month. The analysis found that warmer sea surface temperatures over the North Indian Ocean added energy to the cyclones.

Floods and landslides triggered by the storms have killed more than 1,600 people, with hundreds more still missing. The cyclones are the latest in a series of deadly weather disasters affecting Southeast Asia this year, resulting in loss of life and property damage.

“It rains a lot here but never like this. Usually, rain stops around September but this year it has been really bad. Every region of Sri Lanka has been affected, and our region has been the worst impacted,” said Shanmugavadivu Arunachalam, a 59-year-old schoolteacher in the mountain town of Hatton in Sri Lanka’s Central Province.

Warmer sea surface temperatures

Sea surface temperatures over the North Indian Ocean were 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.3 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average over the past three decades, according to the WWA researchers.

Without global warming, the sea surface temperatures would have been about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) colder than they were, according to the analysis. The warmer ocean temperatures provided heat and moisture to the storms.

When measuring overall temperatures, the world is currently 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than global average during pre-industrial times in the 19th century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“When the atmosphere warms, it can hold more moisture. As a result, it rains more in a warmer atmosphere as compared to a world without climate change,” said Mariam Zachariah, with the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and one of the report’s authors.

Using tested methods to measure climate impacts quickly

The WWA is a collection of researchers who use peer-reviewed methods to conduct rapid studies examining how extreme weather events are linked to climate change.

“Anytime we decide to do a study, we know what is the procedure that we have to follow,” said Zachariah, who added that they review the findings in house and send some of their analysis for peer review, even after an early version is made public.

The speed at which the WWA releases their analysis helps inform the general public about the impacts of climate change, according to Zachariah.

“We want people everywhere to know about why something happened in their neighborhood,” Zachariah said. “But also be aware about the reasons behind some of the events unfurling across the world.”

The WWA often estimates how much worse climate change made a disaster using specific probabilities. In this case, though, the researchers said they could not estimate the precise contribution of climate change to the storms and ensuing heavy rains because of limitations in climate models for the affected islands.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-asia-cyclones-ef733af1a6b5acf08335e672e8476c32

These amphibians are all too happy to endure a few stings for a decent meal.

Watching Dogs Lifts Mood, But There’s a Catch for Pet Owners

Most people consider the pain and permanence before getting a tattoo. Few think about the carcinogenic chemicals they’re injecting into their skin.

Swedish researchers identified 2,880 individuals diagnosed with melanoma and used questionnaires to gather detailed information about tattoo exposure, sun habits, and other risk factors. The population-based study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology found that tattooed individuals face a 29 percent increased risk of developing cutaneous melanoma compared to those without tattoos. Among the 1,598 cases who responded (56% response rate) and their matched controls, 22 percent of melanoma cases had tattoos before diagnosis, compared to 20 percent of controls.

The concern centers on what’s in tattoo ink. Black ink often contains high levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, some classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Colored inks rely heavily on azo pigments, which break down into carcinogenic aromatic amines when exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sun, tanning beds, or laser removal treatments. Heavy metals appear across all ink colors.

What’s in Tattoo Ink?

Researchers calculated the increased melanoma risk after adjusting for known factors like UV exposure, skin type, sunbed use, and sunburn history. The association held even after accounting for these traditional melanoma risk factors, suggesting tattoo exposure may represent an additional risk factor.

Tattoos containing both black and colored ink showed a 38 percent increased risk compared to non-tattooed individuals. People tattooed for 10 to 15 years faced the highest melanoma risk, with a 67 percent increase. Shorter exposure duration of under five years also showed elevated risk at 60 percent, though confidence intervals were wider.

Only 30 percent of melanomas developed at the tattoo site. This finding surprised researchers, who note that the systemic nature of the risk points to tattoo ink components potentially affecting the immune system rather than causing localized skin changes alone. Studies in firefighters and petroleum workers exposed to similar chemicals show increased melanoma risk despite systemic rather than localized exposure.

Regulation Failures and Fraudulent Labeling

The European Union implemented regulations in January 2022 limiting 4,000 chemicals in tattoo ink. European regulatory authorities have found through market surveillance that many inks still contain toxic chemicals above permitted levels. Fraudulent labeling compounds the problem, with banned pigments masked by listing legal alternatives.

Subgroup analysis revealed increased risk for both in-situ melanomas (33 percent increase) and invasive melanomas (25 percent rise). Superficial spreading melanoma risk increased 40 percent, while melanocytic nevus with severe atypia showed a 39 percent increase.

When researchers excluded cases with previous melanoma diagnoses to focus only on first-time cases, tattooed individuals still showed a 23 percent increased risk. Excluding individuals taking immunosuppressive medications raised the risk estimate to 32 percent, which researchers note aligns with the hypothesis that tattoo ink could affect immune function, though this requires further investigation.

Study Demographics and Tattoo Patterns

The study population consisted of individuals aged 20 to 60 years diagnosed with melanoma in 2017. Sweden provided an ideal setting with comprehensive national cancer registry data covering over 99 percent of skin cancers. Participants reported tattoo details including size, color, number of sessions, and duration of exposure.

Most tattooed participants received their first tattoo around age 24 or 25. Professional tattoo artists in Sweden performed 90 percent of tattoos, though 7 to 8 percent came from non-professionals. Decorative tattoos were most common, followed by cosmetic applications like permanent makeup.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/tattoos-linked-to-higher-skin-cancer-risk/

Study Reveals A ‘Friends-and-Neighbors Effect’ That Distorts Tax Preferences

A mysterious fossil foot discovered in Ethiopia more than a decade ago has now been linked to its most likely owner, and the revelation adds an important twist to the story of how our ancient relatives lived.

The foot probably belonged to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a 3.4-million-year-old human ancestor that shared the East African region with the famous “Lucy” species. But unlike Lucy’s kind, which was evolving toward more human-like walking, this species kept its tree-climbing abilities, new research reveals.

Scientists from Arizona State University’s Institute of Human Origins spent years searching for the missing pieces of this evolutionary puzzle. When they discovered the peculiar foot bones in 2012 at the Woranso-Mille site in Ethiopia, they knew they had something special. The foot had long, curved toes built for grasping branches and a flexible structure that looked very different from the rigid, arched feet of Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis.

But there was a problem. Without teeth or jaw bones from the same individual, researchers couldn’t definitively identify which species the foot belonged to. The puzzle deepened because the foot came from the same geological layers that had produced fossils of A. deyiremeda, a species named just three years earlier, but the connection couldn’t be proven.

Now, newly discovered fossils have provided strong evidence for the connection. A juvenile jawbone with nearly intact baby and adult teeth, along with several isolated teeth from different individuals, all show the distinctive dental features of A. deyiremeda. These specimens came from the exact same ancient riverbed deposits as the foot, giving scientists solid reasons to link the two.

Curved Toes and Grasping Feet Suggest Tree-Climbing Lifestyle

The findings, published in Nature, show the story of human evolution was never as simple as textbooks made it seem. While Lucy’s species was developing feet adapted for efficient walking on the ground, A. deyiremeda took a different path, keeping features that made it comfortable in the trees as well as on the ground.

The foot bones tell the story. Long toe bones curve from front to back like those of modern apes. The second metatarsal bone (one of the long bones in the middle of the foot) shows unusual twisting and curvature. Most telling of all, the big toe bone is gracile and curved in ways that would have allowed A. deyiremeda to grasp tree branches.

“The foot displays morphological features that suggest a greater ability for grasping than modern humans and most fossil hominins,” the researchers write. The foot structure shows clear adaptations for climbing that simply aren’t present in A. afarensis fossils from the same time period.

The partial foot also lacks the rigid arch structure that makes human feet efficient for walking. Instead, it retains flexibility in the midfoot region, useful for wrapping around branches but less ideal for the kind of obligate bipedality that characterized Lucy’s kind.

Ancient Teeth Solve Decade-Old Mystery

Connecting the foot to A. deyiremeda required detective work spanning more than a decade. The breakthrough came with specimen BRT-VP-2/135, a juvenile jaw discovered about 300 meters from where the foot had been found. The jaw preserves both baby teeth and adult teeth still forming inside the bone, offering a wealth of diagnostic information.

Using micro-CT scanning technology, researchers could examine teeth that weren’t visible from the outside, still tucked away in their developmental crypts within the jawbone. The scans revealed features distinctive to A. deyiremeda that don’t appear in A. afarensis.

The canine teeth lack the prominent vertical ridge on the inner surface that characterizes A. afarensis canines. The premolars have a more primitive shape with cusps positioned more centrally and oriented at different angles than those of Lucy’s species. The upper canines and first molars are smaller than any other australopith species measured, and the molars are much narrower from side to side.

The jaw itself was missing the lateral hollow (an indentation on the outer surface) that’s diagnostic of A. afarensis jaws. Every detail pointed to A. deyiremeda.

Additional isolated teeth from the same geological horizon showed the same distinctive features. With multiple specimens all displaying the diagnostic traits of A. deyiremeda and coming from the exact location and time period as the mysterious foot, researchers had strong evidence to make the connection.

Chemical Analysis Shows Forest Diet Different from Lucy’s

Chemical analysis of tooth enamel provided a window into what A. deyiremeda ate millions of years ago. The research team drilled tiny samples of enamel powder from eight fossil teeth and analyzed their carbon isotopes. Plants use different photosynthetic pathways that leave distinct chemical signatures, and these signatures get locked into tooth enamel as it forms.

The results showed A. deyiremeda ate primarily what scientists call C3 foods, which come from forests and woodlands. These include fruits, leaves, seeds, and underground storage organs like roots and tubers. The isotope values (ranging from -12.4 to -8.8 per mil) matched those of earlier human ancestors like Ardipithecus ramidus and early Australopithecus anamensis, both of which lived in wooded environments.

By contrast, A. afarensis living at nearby sites during the same time period had much more variable isotope values. Lucy’s species ate from both forest plants and grasses from more open habitats, showing dietary flexibility that A. deyiremeda apparently lacked or didn’t need.

The dietary evidence fits well with the foot anatomy. A species spending significant time in trees would naturally have better access to forest foods. The combination of climbing-adapted feet and forest-food diet creates a coherent picture of A. deyiremeda‘s lifestyle.

Early Humans Took Multiple Paths to Walking Upright

For decades, the story of Lucy’s species dominated discussions about how our ancestors transitioned from living in trees to walking upright on the ground. But A. deyiremeda shows there wasn’t just one path.

Both species walked on two legs at least some of the time. But while A. afarensis was evolving rigid feet with arches that made walking more efficient, A. deyiremeda kept feet that could do double duty, handling both ground-based walking and tree climbing.

Study authors point out that large grinding teeth evolved before obligate human-like bipedality. A. deyiremeda had big molars adapted for processing tough plant foods, but it hadn’t given up its climbing adaptations. The package of features didn’t evolve as a unit, the way simple evolutionary narratives might suggest.

This mosaic evolution, where different body parts evolve at different rates and in different directions, appears to have been common among mid-Pliocene human ancestors. Multiple species coexisted, each experimenting with different combinations of primitive and derived features.

The juvenile jaw that helped solve the mystery belonged to an individual who died around 4.5 years old, based on tooth development patterns. The child still had baby teeth in place alongside emerging permanent teeth. The developmental pattern looked more like a chimpanzee’s than a modern human child’s, with incisors delayed in their formation relative to the first molars.

The research team worked at the Woranso-Mille site in Ethiopia’s Afar region, where erosion exposes layers of ancient sediments. The fossils came from sandstone deposits above a volcanic ash layer dated to 3.469 million years ago. Twenty-five hominin specimens have been recovered from the Burtele localities so far.

The evidence joins a growing body of research showing that human evolution wasn’t a simple progression from tree-dwelling apes to ground-walking humans. Instead, the mid-Pliocene saw multiple species coexisting in East Africa, each experimenting with different strategies for moving, eating, and surviving. A. deyiremeda kept its climbing abilities while also walking on two legs, while A. afarensis went further down the path toward obligate bipedality.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/mystery-foot-tree-climbing-human-ancestor-australopithecus/

Easter Island’s famous stone heads have puzzled researchers for decades, but not for the reasons most people think. The real mystery wasn’t how ancient Polynesians carved and moved these massive sculptures across a remote Pacific island. Instead, scientists have long pondered how a society with no clear island-wide government managed to produce more than 1,000 giant statues.

Now, research using drone technology and 3D modeling has answered that question by mapping the primary quarry where these statues, called moai, were carved. Multiple small groups, likely family clans of around 15 to 25 people each, worked simultaneously in separate areas of the quarry without any boss coordinating their efforts. Each group had its own workspace, used different carving techniques, and operated independently while somehow maintaining a shared artistic vision.

The study, published in PLOS ONE, upends assumptions about what it takes to build monuments. Researchers had long debated whether Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui, was ruled by a centralized authority that controlled statue production. After all, coordinating the creation of over 1,000 multi-ton sculptures sounds like it would require serious organizational muscle.

The evidence points to something more interesting: a decentralized network of semi-autonomous communities that competed while cooperating, maintained distinct identities while sharing cultural practices, and built monuments without building a bureaucracy.

11,000 Drone Photos Reveal Hidden Patterns

Researchers from Binghamton University and the University of Arizona spent months flying drones over Rano Raraku, the volcanic crater that served as Easter Island’s primary statue factory. They captured 11,686 photographs and used software to stitch them into the first comprehensive 3D model of the quarry.

The level of detail was extraordinary. The model captured individual chisel marks, unfinished statues still attached to bedrock, and even the exact angles at which carvers approached the volcanic rock. This allowed researchers to see patterns that traditional ground surveys had missed.

The analysis revealed 426 moai in various stages of completion, 341 trenches cut to outline blocks for carving, and 133 empty spaces where statues had been successfully removed. More crucially, it showed 30 distinct workshop areas distributed across the crater, each separated by unworked bedrock or natural boundaries.

Each workshop contained the full toolkit of production features: trenches, partially carved statues, and the voids left by completed figures. This redundancy is telling. If production had been centrally organized, researchers would expect to see specialized areas, some for roughing out shapes and others for detailed work. Instead, each zone functioned as a complete, self-contained operation.

Competing Clans Used Different Carving Methods

The carvers didn’t even use standardized techniques. Researchers identified at least three distinct approaches to quarrying. The most common method, found in 143 cases, involved carving facial details first before outlining the head and body. In 120 instances, workers cut complete outlines of rectangular blocks before adding any decorative details. Five statues were carved sideways into near-vertical cliff faces, a completely different approach dictated by local geology.

The variation shows that different groups adapted to their specific locations in the quarry rather than following instructions from a central authority. Yet despite these technical differences, the statues themselves remained remarkably uniform in style. All featured the characteristic elongated heads, pronounced brows, and straight backs that define Rapa Nui’s aesthetic.

This combination of technical diversity and stylistic consistency points to information sharing between independent groups. Families or clans apparently communicated about artistic standards while maintaining autonomy over production methods.

The physical constraints of the workshops also reveal the scale of operations. Each workspace could accommodate perhaps four to six active carvers at a time, with another 10 to 20 people supporting them by making tools, preparing ropes, or providing food. These are kin-group numbers, not the massive labor forces that centralized projects would require.

Previous experiments have shown that teams of 15 to 50 people could “walk” even the largest moai across the island using ropes and coordinated rocking motions. Placing the cylindrical red stone “hats” atop finished statues required only about 15 people. The entire production chain, from quarrying to transport to final installation, operated at a scale consistent with extended family groups rather than island-wide mobilization.

How Competition Fueled Easter Island’s Monument Building

This decentralized pattern matches other recent findings about Easter Island’s social organization. Analysis of settlement patterns shows spatially discrete communities with their own ceremonial platforms and redundant architectural features. Studies of obsidian tools reveal highly localized material culture with limited sharing between communities. Road systems radiating from the quarry follow separate paths rather than forming an integrated network.

Historical accounts from the island’s first European visitors consistently described a society organized into competing mata, or clans, each with its own territory and chiefs. These clans maintained distinct identities and sometimes fought, but they also shared a common culture and language. The quarry evidence now extends this pattern to the island’s most labor-intensive and symbolically important activity.

Competition between clans could be fierce. While the spiritual and cultural significance of moai remained central, competition over status and resources likely fed into the statue building as groups sought to demonstrate their clan’s prestige through larger and more numerous monuments.

The research team notes that this decentralized system may have offered advantages beyond simply getting statues carved. Shared control over the quarry may have helped prevent any one group from monopolizing this resource or overusing the volcanic stone. Allowing multiple groups to develop their own techniques enabled flexible responses to geological challenges.

The finding has broader reach for understanding how societies build monumental architecture. The assumption that pyramids, cathedrals, or giant statues require kings, pharaohs, or centralized states turns out to be just that: an assumption. Rapa Nui demonstrates that communities can coordinate complex projects through horizontal social networks rather than vertical chains of command.

The study also provides a baseline for heritage management. The comprehensive 3D model documents the quarry’s current condition in unprecedented detail, creating a reference point for monitoring erosion, climate impacts, and tourism effects on this UNESCO World Heritage site. The publicly accessible model enables future researchers to test new hypotheses without conducting their own field surveys.

Easter Island’s statues have long symbolized both human ambition and environmental limits. The new findings add another layer. Monumentality doesn’t require monarchy, coordination can emerge from cooperation rather than coercion, and some of history’s most impressive achievements may have been bottom-up efforts rather than top-down projects.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/11000-drone-photos-solved-easter-island-mystery/

Professional Santas across America describe their work in terms that sound less like a seasonal gig and more like something they were meant to do. They talk about being “called” to the role, experiencing life-changing moments when they first don the red suit, and feeling a profound sense of purpose that extends far beyond spreading holiday cheer.

A study published in the Academy of Management Journal reveals that professional Santa work operates as a calling rather than simply a job, with Santas reporting the role provides deep personal, moral, or social significance. Researchers interviewed 53 professional Santas and drew on nearly 1,300 survey responses collected across several studies to understand how workers navigate a calling when they don’t perfectly match society’s expectations for the role.

To protect their identities, researchers assigned each Santa a pseudonym based on constellations and galaxies, reflecting both the professional Santa tradition of being addressed as “Santa” and the magical, otherworldly nature of the work.

Santa Apus, a Black professional Santa, described the moment he knew this was his path. After leaving a voicemail for a major retailer, the hiring manager gushed about his voice and presence. But when she learned he was African American, her tone shifted completely. “Are you African American? Are you Black?” she asked. When he confirmed, she told him, “We don’t hire any Black Santas or Hispanic Santas. We aren’t ready for that.”

The rejection stung, but it didn’t extinguish his sense of purpose. He saw Santa work as part of his ministry, explaining: “I want to make this part of my ministry. To help bring people closer to Christ and to help us celebrate Christ’s birthday.”

The research identified three distinct groups of professional Santas based on how closely they match the culturally embedded Santa prototype: white, male, white-haired, real-bearded, overweight, extroverted, able-bodied, heterosexual, and Christian. Those who naturally fit this mold described feeling confident about stepping into the role. Those who partially matched it struggled with feelings of inadequacy. And those who deviated significantly sometimes faced rejection or pushback from parts of the Santa community.

The Identity Struggle Behind the Beard
Santa Hercules, who identifies as introverted, described the internal tension of sitting in the chair during a mall visit. Kids would wave and call out to him, but inside he wrestled with doubt: “You’re sitting in the chair, and you’re in there. But at the same time, inside I’m going, ‘What the heck, man? You’re just Hercules, man. What the heck?’”

Santas who partially matched the prototype developed creative backstories to explain their deviations. A skinny Santa told parents he was a “healthy Santa,” joking with children about why he looked different: “What, how do you think I would look after I have been around to 4,978,296,485 homes and eaten their cookies?” A hearing-impaired Santa would point to his cochlear implant and tell children: “Well, that’s a microphone to the North Pole. Bernard, the head elf, is listening to what you’re talking about, because he doesn’t want Santa to make any mistakes.”

Another Santa who had lost 192 pounds worried about no longer fitting the part but reframed his transformation: “I’m more fit as Santa instead of fitting the part.”

These explanations helped bridge the gap between their actual characteristics and what people expected.

The Physical and Emotional Transformation
Many Santas described extensive preparation to embody the role. They bleach their beards multiple times in the weeks before their first booking, invest in expensive custom suits, and practice their “ho, ho, ho” laugh until it becomes natural. One Santa worked so hard on his laugh that it became automatic. He explained how he asked another professional Santa about his authentic-sounding laugh: “He goes, ‘I had to teach myself to laugh like that, so that it’s natural. It’s not a, “Ho, ho, ho.” That’s how I sound when I laugh.‘ So I really worked at [it]. Now that’s how I laugh.”

For some, the transformation felt almost spiritual. Santa Phoenix described the experience: “I’m not putting something fake on. It is me and I have to really become that person, or let that person become me, and let it flow through me.”

Female Santas face unique challenges in a role defined by masculinity. Santa Lynx described the physical toll of appearing male: “I actually have either a binder or I have trans-tape… I try to make the girls go into my spine, which I think I still have a bruise from January, but anyway, you have to make sure…because Santa doesn’t have them double-Ds.” She spends up to 90 minutes applying her beard and makeup, compared to the five to 10 minutes it takes naturally bearded Santas to prepare.

Despite receiving hate mail and being denied entrance to Santa school because of her gender, she persists. She recalled being told: “You can’t be in the Santa school.” When she asked why, the response was: “Well, the men and I were talking, and we figured it’d be distracting to you [to learn in a group full of men].” The organizer suggested: “We can enroll you in the Mrs. Claus school or you can have your elf come and take our elf courses.” But Santa Lynx believes Santa embodies something more universal: “Santa can embody that acceptance and joy and love and understanding.”

Two Paths: Year-Round Santa or Seasonal Role
The researchers discovered that professional Santas split into two camps when the season ends. Some live as Santa 365 days a year, wearing red daily, driving cars with Santa-themed license plates, and carrying Santa coins to hand out to well-behaved children they encounter.

One Santa explained his year-round commitment: “That’s where my heart is. And, that’s why, eight years ago, I decided I’d live this way year-round, because that is who I am.” Another described the constant visibility: “You’re never off. You’re never not Santa. And you lose a little bit of your identity because you can’t let your hair down and be yourself and do all that because you don’t know who’s watching you.”

Santa Cygnus described how the role has merged with his identity: “And now my circle of friends know that I do Santa. So, you asked to start with, ‘Should I call you Cygnus, Santa Cygnus, whatever?’ I’m accustomed to being called Santa Cygnus now, because people just do it. It’s kind of become part of me.”

Other Santas carefully compartmentalize the role. They enjoy the work tremendously during the season but return to being themselves for most of the year. One explained his boundary: “Personally, I don’t want to be Santa 24/7, and I also just think that there’s so much about me that I want to live me. I don’t want to live a character.”

Another Santa described the seasonal nature of his work: “I can work [Santa jobs] four months out of the year…I’m more Santa when I’m at work [portraying Santa Claus]. When you put the suit on, that’s when you have to be that person.”

The study found that how much Santas identify with the role determines whether they practice continuous or episodic calling enactment. Those who strongly identify with being Santa integrate it into every aspect of their lives. Those with lower identification enjoy the seasonal nature of the work and use the off-season to honor other parts of themselves.

Breaking Traditional Santa Stereotypes
Santas who significantly deviate from the traditional prototype often reinterpret what Santa represents. They focus on higher-order values like kindness, generosity, and unconditional love rather than specific physical characteristics.

Santa Reticulum, who is gay, argued that people often view Santa through too narrow a lens: “I think you also exclude a lot of people if you are just being Santa for Christians.” He worries that treating Santa as strictly Christian leaves people out and prefers to see Santa as someone who accepts everyone without judgment.

Santa Lepus, who is Jewish, described how he views the role: “Santa is a guy who is truly accepting of the world and not judgmental.” He sees Santa as transcending religious boundaries and focuses on universal values of acceptance.

Atheist Santas in the study described staying away from religious aspects entirely. Santa Equuleus explained his perspective: “All of the things I like about Santa Claus are not religious. It’s this idea of being kind to people with no expectation of anything in return, except maybe cookies and milk, and even that is not a requirement. It’s just you’re kind to people for the sake of being kind.”

Despite facing rejection and having to downplay certain characteristics, these non-traditional Santas uniformly described living the role year-round. They found that once they connected with Santa’s core values, they could fully identify with the role even while looking different from what society expects.

Inside the Professional Santa Community
The Santa world includes training schools, professional associations, and local networks. Organizations like the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas and the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas set standards for membership, though some have begun relaxing requirements. The IBRBS now accepts fake-bearded Santas as associate members, though only real-bearded Santas can become full voting members.

These communities provide support, training, and job referrals. One Santa described the camaraderie: “We meet once a month for lunch and we all dress up as summertime Santas and we go out with our red shirts and our red tennis shoes and our full beards and we have a luncheon. We get together and we share stories, especially with the younger ones that are coming in, the newer Santas to give them insight about this.”

Several mentioned attending multiple Santa schools to improve their craft, with one Santa earning what he called a “Master’s degree at SantaClausology.”

However, the community also enforces boundaries about who counts as a legitimate Santa. Some Santas described colleagues who use scooters or wheelchairs as “bad Santas” who should retire. Female Santas reported receiving pushback from multiple directions within the community.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/thousands-of-adults-say-becoming-santa-is-their-lifes-calling/

H5N1 bird flu has infected growing numbers of people worldwide in recent years, but this week saw something new: the first recorded human case of an H5N5 avian influenza virus. What is this virus and how concerned about it should we be?

What Happened?

In early November, a resident of Grays Harbor, a county on the south-west Pacific coast of Washington state about 100 miles from Seattle, became severely unwell with flu-like symptoms including high fever, respiratory distress and confusion.

They were admitted to hospital, and on November 14 officials confirmed that tests showed infection with an H5N5 avian influenza virus. The patient, an older adult with underlying conditions, was treated in hospital, but sadly they died on November 21.

This was the first reported human infection with an H5N5 influenza virus.

What is H5N5 Influenza Virus?

H5N5 influenza viruses are a type of avian influenza (bird flu) – an influenza A virus that infects birds.

Bird flu viruses are classified as either “high pathogenicity” or “low pathogenicity” based on the severity of symptoms they cause in poultry. (Their severity also varies in other bird species.) This H5N5 strain, like the widespread and much-reported-on H5N1 strain, is one of the high pathogenicity forms.

Where Did it Come From?

This hasn’t yet been formally confirmed. However, the patient kept a flock of backyard poultry that were exposed to wild birds, which suggests how they might have caught the virus.

H5N5 is found in wild birds around the world, and it is relatively common for it to pass from them into flocks of poultry. This is, however, the first time an H5N5 influenza virus has been found to go one step further and infect a human.

What Does the Name Mean? Is it Similar to H5N1?

Influenza A viruses are one of the major branches of the influenza virus family, and are divided into subtypes based on differences in the two proteins that form spikes on the surface of virus particles: haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA).

Both proteins are good targets for the immune system’s antibodies. The proteins rapidly mutate as the virus evolves to evade these antibodies, and the different forms that result are used to categorize influenza A viruses.

The bird flu viruses H5N1 and H5N5 both have HA proteins of the same H5 subtype (though recognizably distinct from each other), but have NA proteins of different subtypes. Just as humans can be infected by different influenza A virus subtypes during the same winter season (H1N1 and H3N2), genetic studies show us this H5N5 virus is distinct from the dominant H5N1 strain that is also circulating in birds worldwide.

Should We Be Worried About What Happens Next?

H5N5 is an ecological and agricultural threat. Although bird flu vaccines exist, at the moment, political and economic factors make it hard to use them in US poultry. Instead, the virus must be controlled by surveillance, housing poultry indoors, increasing farm biosecurity and, as a last resort, by mass culling of infected poultry.

This is challenging enough, but bird flu also demands our attention because the virus is a potential cause of new pandemics.

In the long run, this risk is very significant. However, it is worth remembering that, although influenza is better at changing its host species and creating pandemics than any other virus, that is still an incredibly hard thing for the virus to do.

The vast majority of “spillover” infections of bird flu into humans are one-off events. They can vary unpredictably in their effects. Most are quite mild (for example, causing conjunctivitis), but some can be very severe, as was the case in this first recorded case of H5N5. But after infecting one human, most avian influenza viruses go no further.

Scientists will watch for several warning signs that a virus may be adapting to humans, especially any hint of person-to-person spread. There is no sign that this has happened here.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/first-human-bird-flu-death-h5n5/

Your morning coffee may help scientists better predict future volcanic eruptions.

Children with more screen time showed cortical thinning in brain regions involved in memory, planning, and impulse control.

If Europe sees another heat wave like the summer of 2003, over 30,000 people could die in the span of a single week. That’s the sobering conclusion drawn from a research project highlighting just how much hotter average temperatures have become since then.

When August 2003’s heat wave baked across Europe, it killed an estimated 70,000 people over the course of the entire summer. Now, research warns that if similar weather patterns return during the world’s recent temperature spike of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a single week could claim 17,800 lives across the continent. At 3°C of warming, that number jumps to 32,000 deaths in seven days, rivaling the deadliest weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scientists at Stanford University used machine learning to reconstruct five historic European heat waves under different levels of global warming, then calculated the death toll using mortality data from 924 regions across Europe. Their findings, published in Nature Climate Change, show that mass casualty events from extreme heat are not only possible at temperatures the world is approaching but remain plausible at near-future temperatures despite current adaptations to heat.

Historic Heat Waves Get Deadlier With Each Degree of Warming
The research team, led by Christopher Callahan, took weather patterns from five major European heat events between 1994 and 2023 and asked: How deadly would these same meteorological conditions be if they occurred during hotter years?

Using neural networks trained on climate models, the researchers predicted temperatures that would result from historical atmospheric pressure patterns and soil moisture levels at various global temperature increases. They combined these projections with empirical data linking temperature to mortality rates across hundreds of European districts from 2015 to 2019.

August 2003 emerged as the deadliest scenario. At 2°C of global warming, those weather conditions would generate roughly 24,700 excess deaths in one week. At 4°C—a level still possible under gradual decarbonization scenarios—the toll reaches 45,100 deaths.

Other events also showed high death tolls. July 1994 weather patterns, which produced only moderate temperature increases when they actually occurred, would kill around 25,000 people in a week at 3°C of warming. July 2006 conditions would claim 25,600 lives, while the more recent June 2019 and August 2023 patterns would each produce between 18,000 and 21,000 weekly deaths at the same temperature threshold.

Current Adaptation Measures Barely Make a Dent
The most concerning finding involves adaptation. European countries undertook heat action measures following previous extreme events, and the study’s mortality data from 2015-2019 captures these more recent adaptations. The researchers modeled additional future adaptation by assuming regions would continue adjusting as their climates warm.

When they incorporated this assumption, mortality dropped by only 10% on average. For the 2003-type event at 3°C, deaths would decline from 32,000 to about 28,800.

“While mitigating further global warming can reduce heat mortality, mass mortality events remain plausible at near-future temperatures despite current adaptations to heat,”study authors write.

The relationship between temperature and mortality shows why adaptation struggles. Warmer regions have higher temperature thresholds before mortality increases, suggesting successful adaptation. However, once temperatures exceed those thresholds, deaths rise even more steeply than in cooler regions. Extreme heat still kills even where people have adapted to generally hotter conditions.

Heat Events Could Overwhelm Hospitals Like COVID Did
To put these numbers in context, the researchers compared their projections to weekly COVID-19 deaths across the same European regions. During the pandemic’s worst 10% of weeks, between 27,900 and 34,100 confirmed COVID deaths occurred across Europe. A 2003-style heat wave at 3°C would land squarely in that range. At 4°C, the 1994, 2003, and 2006 weather patterns would each exceed even the single deadliest week of COVID-19 in Europe.

The comparison extends beyond raw numbers. Like COVID-19 surges, these heat events would strain hospital capacity and emergency services, but they would arrive with little warning and peak within days rather than weeks. Healthcare systems prepare for average heat impacts but may lack surge capacity for extreme events that compress thousands of deaths into a few days.

Heat mortality doesn’t distribute evenly. Under 1994-like conditions, Germany, Poland, and Eastern Europe see the highest death rates. Under 2023 conditions, Spain, Italy, and the Balkans suffer most. The spatial variation reflects both where temperatures climb highest and regional differences in vulnerability.

Climate Change Already Accounts for Most Heat Deaths
Comparing each event to a baseline without global warming or heat waves reveals climate change’s contribution. For the 2003-type event at 3°C, anthropogenic warming accounts for about 23,000 of the 32,000 peak weekly deaths, or roughly 72%. Without human-caused climate change, the same weather pattern would still produce 9,000 excess deaths, but global warming more than triples the toll.

This attribution holds across the other events as well. At higher temperature increases, 70-80% of heat deaths trace directly to climate change intensifying what the weather pattern would have produced naturally.

The work differs from typical climate impact studies. Rather than projecting how often certain conditions might occur, it asks: What happens if weather patterns that have already produced heat waves return when the world is hotter? This “storyline” approach acknowledges that the short observational record makes it difficult to assess probabilities of the rarest events.

By learning from climate models how atmospheric patterns translate into surface temperatures at different global warming levels, the machine learning system can project realistic scenarios without requiring those exact conditions to appear in lengthy model runs. Each counterfactual event uses meteorological conditions from reanalysis data, ensuring physical consistency.

The mortality calculations use a regression approach that isolates the causal effect of temperature while controlling for seasonal patterns and trends. Because the analysis uses mortality data from 2015-2019, it captures recent adaptation, including changes made after 2003.

The study acknowledges several limitations. It uses all-age mortality rather than age-stratified rates, though the researchers found nearly identical exposure-response functions for people over 65, who dominate heat deaths. Future population aging could increase vulnerability by 1-3%, a small effect relative to the temperature changes examined.

The projections also depend on whether historical weather patterns recur. If those atmospheric configurations never repeat, these events won’t happen. However, the short observational record means even more extreme patterns likely exist that haven’t yet been witnessed.

 

Source: https://studyfinds.org/one-week-of-deadly-heat-could-match-covids-worst-weeks-in-europe/

Dartmouth Study Reveals How Easily Artificial Intelligence Can Manipulate Online Polls

A single survey completion costs about five cents when powered by artificial intelligence, according to an eye-opening study from Dartmouth College. The typical payout to a real human, meanwhile, is around $1.50. That 97% profit margin has created a gold rush for fraudsters, and researcher Sean J. Westwood warns it poses a potential existential threat to the infrastructure of online research.

Westwood has shown that AI language models can produce survey responses so convincing they pass standard quality checks designed to weed out bots and inattentive humans. The consequences stretch far beyond academic integrity, reaching into public health decisions, political campaigns, and policy-making that relies on understanding what people actually think.

AI Bots Pass Every Standard Quality Check
Westwood’s autonomous system can complete entire surveys while maintaining a coherent demographic persona, remembering previous answers, and calibrating writing style to match an assigned education level. Across 6,000 trials of common attention checks, including instruction-following tasks, logic puzzles, and questions written to detect non-human actors, the AI passed 99.8% of them.

That near-perfect success rate turns survey fraud from a labor-intensive cottage industry into a scalable, automated business model. With open-weight models, the marginal operating cost approaches zero. Even paid APIs can price out to pennies per completion.

Research Defender estimates that 31% of raw survey responses contain some form of fraud, not all of it AI. A 2024 sample found that more than one third of respondents admitted using AI to help answer open-ended survey questions, though this represents human-assisted use rather than the fully autonomous bots Westwood created.

How Westwood’s AI Mimics Human Responses
The complexity of these synthetic respondents makes detection difficult using current methods. When asked directly whether it was human or artificial, Westwood’s AI chose the human response every time. Seven out of nine other models tested did the same.

The system does more than pass basic checks. It shows human-like reasoning. Housing costs in the AI-generated data scaled realistically with income and location. Time reported at children’s sporting events peaked for middle-aged personas and dropped to zero for elderly respondents whose children would be adults.

Psychology scales did not trip it up. The AI handled reverse-scored items, which are questions worded in the opposite direction to catch inattentive respondents, and it produced consistent responses across trait measures. It did show one limitation when asked to endorse socially undesirable, chaos-seeking items, which the model declined. That refusal can still look plausible for some profiles.

When presented with questions designed to catch superhuman abilities, such as solving complex calculus or writing code in obscure languages, the AI strategically declined 97.7% of the time. It imitated human limits to avoid detection while still looking like a genuine, if sometimes uncooperative, respondent.

The Economics of Survey Fraud at Scale
Westwood demonstrated that synthetic respondents can be instructed to bias results in specific directions while maintaining cover. A single instructional sentence shifted answers to a question about America’s primary military adversary, moving mentions of China from 86.3% to 11.7% in his experiments.

For actors motivated by ideology rather than profit, the return on investment is even more attractive. In Westwood’s analysis of seven major national polls from the 2024 presidential election, injecting just 10 to 52 synthetic respondents could flip which candidate appears to be leading. Pushing results outside the margin of error required only 55 to 97 fraudulent responses in those polls, which averaged about 1,600 participants each.

Westwood’s modeling also showed that contaminating half the surveys in a ten-poll average, the kind media outlets use to smooth out individual poll quirks, required fewer than 30 biased responses per targeted survey. That modest investment could erase a candidate’s lead in the polling average and create a false story about momentum.

Why Current Survey Panels Can’t Stop the Threat
Current survey panels vary in their security practices, but many use river sampling, which means open enrollment with low barriers to join. This maximizes participation and speed but makes infiltration easier.

Panel providers such as CloudResearch and Prolific deploy batteries of quality checks, yet Westwood’s AI cleared them. Questions about impossible biographies, such as visiting the moon or being elected president, caused no errors. The AI recorded zero incorrect answers on these traps across trials.

A deeper risk comes from what researchers call demand effects, where study participants alter their behavior to match what they think investigators want to find. When the AI encountered common experimental designs, it often inferred the researcher’s hypothesis and then biased its answers to confirm that hypothesis while maintaining realistic variation. That pattern can corrupt findings from within because it tells investigators exactly what they expect to see.

The breadth of vulnerable research is wide. Public health relies on self-reports of symptoms and behaviors. Economics depends on consumer surveys. Political science tracks attitudes and voting intentions. Psychology measures personality and mental health. Marketing tests product preferences. All of these fields have adopted online surveys for speed and cost. All now face the same potential vulnerability.

Unlike older forms of survey fraud that added random noise, AI-generated responses can introduce targeted bias. They can inflate treatment effects, confirm researcher expectations, or push opinion measures in chosen directions. Even careful teams may miss the problem because data that “fits” a hypothesis can look especially credible.

Westwood tested nine different large language models, including both commercial and open-weight systems. The ability to generate convincing survey responses while hiding non-human identity appears to be a general property of modern AI, not a quirk of one platform.

Westwood argues that an arms race of trick questions is the wrong fix. More clever checks may filter out legitimate human respondents, especially people with less formal education or non-native English speakers, which creates a new kind of bias.

Instead, the field needs changes in how panels operate. Researchers should ask for transparency on identity verification, limits on how many surveys a panelist can complete, quality-check histories, and location verification. Panels that cannot provide this information should be treated as high risk.

The community may also need to rethink its reliance on low-barrier online convenience samples. Address-based sampling, deeply vetted longitudinal panels, and face-to-face interviews cost more and take longer, yet they are more resistant to automated fraud. Some studies may require accepting those trade-offs.

The financial incentives behind this threat are not going away. As long as surveys pay human-level compensation for work that AI can complete for pennies, the profit motive will attract bad actors.

What is at stake is more than academic integrity. Public opinion polling informs policy choices, shapes campaign strategy, and supports democratic accountability by measuring what citizens want. If that measurement system is corrupted by synthetic responses that push specific narratives, a tool meant to understand the public becomes a tool that manipulates it.

Westwood’s findings show the capability exists today and the economic incentives are in place. While the tools to create such fraud are readily available and affordable, the extent to which autonomous bot attacks have already occurred at scale remains unknown. The question Westwood poses is whether research methods can adapt quickly enough to address this emerging threat before it becomes widespread.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/the-ai-scam-that-could-threaten-public-opinion-research/

In the ever-evolving world of beauty trends, few have sparked as much debate – and discomfort – as “menstrual masking.” This is the practice of applying menstrual blood to the skin, usually the face, as a form of DIY skincare.

Popularized on social media, hashtags such as #periodfacemask have amassed billions of views. In most videos, users apply menstrual blood for a few minutes before rinsing it off. There’s no clear agreement on how much blood to use or how long to leave it on. Some call the practice healing or empowering, describing it as a spiritual ritual that connects them to their bodies and ancestral femininity. But what does the science say?

Advocates of menstrual masking often argue that period blood contains stem cells, cytokines and proteins that could rejuvenate the skin. There is currently no clinical evidence to support using menstrual blood as a topical skincare treatment. However, its biological composition has shown potential in medical research.

A study found that plasma derived from menstrual fluid could significantly enhance wound healing. In laboratory tests, wounds treated with menstrual plasma showed 100% repair within 24 hours compared with 40% using regular blood plasma. This remarkable regeneration is thought to be linked to the unique proteins and bioactive molecules in menstrual fluid: the same substances that allow the uterus to rebuild itself every month.

Researchers are now exploring whether synthetic menstrual fluid could help treat chronic wounds.

Stem cell research has also turned attention to menstrual blood–derived stem cells, or MenSCs. These cells grow easily and can develop into many different cell types. Studies show that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from various sources can help heal skin by boosting collagen, reducing wrinkles and releasing growth factors that repair damage caused by burns, UV exposure or wounds. Because they are versatile and appear safe, MenSCs are seen as a promising option for developing medical treatments to regenerate skin and slow photoaging: the premature aging caused by long-term sun exposure.

Menstrual Masking Not The Same As A ‘Vampire Facial’
Some menstrual masking advocates liken the practice to the so-called “vampire facial”: a cosmetic procedure popularised by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian. Vampire facials use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) extracted from a patient’s own blood and injected into the face.

But experts caution against comparing PRP with menstrual blood. Menstrual fluid is a complex mixture of blood, sloughed-off endometrial tissue (the uterine lining), vaginal secretions, hormones and proteins. As it passes through the vaginal canal, it can pick up bacteria and fungi, including Staphylococcus aureus, a common microbe that normally lives on the skin but can cause infections if it enters cuts or pores. There’s also a risk that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) could be transferred to the skin.

PRP, by contrast, is prepared under sterile conditions. During PRP treatment, a small amount of blood is drawn and spun in a centrifuge to separate out the platelet-rich layer, which is then injected into the skin using fine needles. Some clinicians also add filler for faster cosmetic results. The procedure can cost thousands; unlike menstrual masking, which is free and easily accessible.

‘Body-Based’ Beauty
Menstrual masking isn’t the only unconventional beauty practice involving bodily fluids. “Urine therapy,” the application of urine to the skin, has roots in Ayurvedic medicine and was once believed to detoxify the body and cure ailments. Some modern advocates even claim benefits for acne or eczema, although these claims lack scientific support.

While urine does contain urea – a compound used in some moisturisers – the urea found in urine is far less concentrated and not the same as the purified, synthetic form used in skincare products. The idea that raw urine or menstrual blood could safely replace clinical-grade cosmetic ingredients is not supported by dermatological evidence.

Menstrual masking sits at the intersection of body positivity, cultural ritual and pseudoscience. For some, it’s a celebration of the menstrual cycle and a rejection of stigma. For others, it’s an unproven and potentially risky beauty trend.

The biological richness of menstrual blood is undeniable, but its safe and effective use belongs in controlled medical research – not in DIY skincare routines. As with many viral health trends, it’s vital to distinguish between symbolism and science. Menstrual masking may feel empowering, but from a dermatological perspective, it’s a practice best left to personal belief rather than the bathroom mirror.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/period-blood-skincare-face-menstrual-masking/

A genetically modified pig kidney has survived and functioned in a human recipient for 61 days, setting a record for this type of procedure and offering new hope to the nearly one million Americans living with end-stage kidney disease. The study, conducted at NYU Langone Health, showed that a pig organ with just a single genetic modification could sustain life-supporting kidney functions for over two months, even bouncing back from a serious rejection crisis.

Only about 3% of patients with end-stage kidney disease receive transplants each year. Many die before receiving an organ. Pig kidneys, capable of being produced on demand, represent one potential path forward.

Scientists transplanted a kidney from a 199-day-old female pig into a 57-year-old brain-dead man in July 2023. The pig had been genetically modified to remove alpha-Gal, a sugar molecule that humans lost millions of years ago during evolution. The human immune system now attacks alpha-Gal as foreign. Rather than using pigs with dozens of genetic changes, researchers opted for this simpler approach with just one gene edit.

A Month Of Success After Pig Kidney Transplant

Within hours of transplantation, the pig kidney began producing urine and filtering waste from the blood. A blood test measuring creatinine showed the organ was working very well. Creatinine is a waste product that builds up when kidneys fail. The recipient’s creatinine level dropped from 1.0 mg/dL before surgery to just 0.32 mg/dL within 12 days. For comparison, normal human kidneys maintain creatinine between 1.0 and 1.5 mg/dL.

For nearly a month, the transplanted kidney performed better than many human donor kidneys. It filtered blood at a rate of about 125 mL per minute per 1.73 m² of body surface.

Then on day 33, trouble struck. The kidney experienced antibody-mediated rejection, where the immune system mounts an attack against the foreign organ. The recipient’s kidney function declined as antibodies surged and immune cells swarmed into the organ. Microscope examination of tissue samples revealed inflammation in the tiny blood vessels and filtering structures, along with deposits of antibodies and immune proteins coating the kidney’s inner surfaces.

Doctors responded with treatments already approved for human organ transplants. They used plasma exchange, a process similar to dialysis that removes harmful antibodies from the blood. They added drugs that suppress the immune system and block complement, a component of immune defense that amplifies attacks on foreign tissue. The combination worked, and kidney function climbed back to normal levels. By day 60, the organ was filtering at well over 100 mL per minute per 1.73 m², similar to a healthy human kidney.

Tissue analysis on day 49 showed rejection had returned with immune cells now attacking blood vessel walls. Researchers added another round of plasma exchange and a powerful drug called rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin that eliminates T cells, a type of white blood cell that coordinates immune attacks. Once again, the kidney recovered. When removed at the planned end of the 61-day study, tissue samples showed no signs of rejection, no antibody deposits, and no damage to the filtering structures essential for kidney function.

T Cells Present Before Surgery Multiplied and Attacked Transplant

Researchers used sophisticated genetic sequencing to track immune cells throughout the study. They uncovered a troubling pattern: T cells capable of recognizing pig tissue as foreign were already present in the recipient’s blood before surgery. After transplantation, these cells multiplied explosively.

Before surgery, the five fastest-growing types of these pig-recognizing T cells made up just 3% of all circulating T cells. By day 49, they accounted for more than 30%. One particular T cell type ballooned from less than 0.1% to over 20% of the total population. These expanding cells transformed into activated killers, turning on genes that produce toxic proteins designed to punch holes in target cells.

When researchers examined kidney tissue samples taken during rejection, they found these activated T cells had infiltrated the organ alongside natural killer cells and other immune cells that amplify attacks. The finding suggests that simply suppressing the immune system after transplant may not be enough. Strategies to eliminate or control these pre-existing pig-reactive immune cells before surgery might be necessary.

Antibodies driving the rejection targeted an unknown pig protein found on blood vessel cells. Strangely, these antibodies attacked vessels from both minimally modified pigs and pigs with 10 genetic changes designed to eliminate foreign molecules that previous research had identified as problematic. The discovery means scientists still don’t know which pig molecules need to be modified or masked to prevent this type of immune attack.

Most Kidney Functions Worked, Some Didn’t

Beyond just surviving, the pig kidney needed to perform the complex chemical balancing act that kidneys carry out every moment. Researchers monitored whether the organ could respond to human hormones, regulate electrolytes, filter drugs, and handle the intricate calcium-phosphate system that keeps bones healthy. Most functions worked well, though not perfectly.

The pig kidney responded correctly to vasopressin, a human hormone that signals kidneys to conserve water. This was not guaranteed to work because pigs produce a slightly different version of the hormone. When researchers briefly stopped the vasopressin being used to manage the brain-dead recipient’s water balance issues, urine output shot up to over 1,000 mL per hour, sodium levels climbed, and urine became watery. Restarting the hormone quickly reversed everything, proving cross-species hormone signaling could work.

Blood levels of sodium, potassium, and magnesium stayed relatively stable throughout the study with only occasional need for supplements. The kidney filtered and cleared drugs appropriately, including the antibiotic vancomycin. Calcium and phosphate levels were managed, though the kidney held onto more phosphate than expected, requiring medications to bind excess phosphate in the digestive tract.

One hormonal system didn’t work as expected. The kidney’s part of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which regulates blood pressure and salt balance, appeared nonfunctional. No pig renin enzyme could be detected in the recipient’s blood. Previous lab studies had shown pig renin doesn’t work well on human proteins, so this mismatch was somewhat expected. Yet blood pressure remained normal for over two months with only standard care, suggesting the body found workarounds.

The pig kidney also didn’t produce erythropoietin, a hormone that tells bone marrow to make red blood cells. Blood transfusions were needed to keep red cell counts adequate, though lab tests showed the bone marrow was trying to compensate by producing immature red cells at elevated rates.

Despite these limitations, the kidney’s core filtering function remained intact. No excess protein leaked into the urine throughout the study, and microscope images showed the delicate cellular structures responsible for filtering blood stayed healthy even after two rejection episodes.

No Dangerous Pig Viruses In Patient

A major safety question about using pig organs has been whether viruses that naturally infect pigs might jump to humans and potentially spread to others. Researchers tested extensively for known pig viruses throughout the 61 days, examining blood, the transplanted kidney, and various tissues.

Porcine endogenous retroviruses, which are permanently embedded in pig DNA, showed up in some blood samples from the recipient. However, these viruses appeared only when pig mitochondrial DNA was also present, pointing to the presence of a few circulating pig cells rather than actual infection of human cells. No pig viruses were replicating in human tissues.

The heavy immunosuppression needed to prevent organ rejection did allow some human viruses to flourish. The recipient developed norovirus and showed rising antibody levels against Epstein-Barr virus. Tissue from the removed kidney showed signs of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, an abnormal immune cell proliferation that sometimes happens when transplant patients take strong immunosuppressive drugs.

Hope For Solving The Organ Shortage

Researchers included pig thymus tissue attached to the kidney as an experimental approach. In animal studies, donor thymus tissue can train the recipient’s immune system to tolerate foreign organs. Human immune cells were developing in the pig thymus when examined at study’s end, and lab tests showed recipient T cells responded less vigorously to pig cells by day 49 compared to day 28. But the explosive expansion of pre-existing pig-reactive T cells suggests more aggressive strategies will be needed to control immune responses that exist before surgery.

The success with minimal genetic modification defies earlier expectations. Primate studies had suggested more extensive changes might be necessary. The pig used here, with just one gene knocked out, lacked human genes for proteins thought important for preventing rejection. Yet it performed well for two months. Single-gene-edit pigs can be bred normally rather than cloned individually, making them more practical for producing organs at scale.

Brain-dead recipients offer both advantages and limitations as test subjects. Unlike primate studies, researchers can use the full range of treatments available for humans, including plasma exchange and sophisticated molecular monitoring difficult to perform in animals. Brain-dead individuals maintain working immune systems and normal physiology. But the model can’t show what would happen in living patients with kidney disease, who face different immune challenges and medical complications.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/pig-kidney-functions-normally-in-brain-dead-human/

Woodpeckers have adopted the same breathing technique used by professional tennis players. Both exhale through the moment of impact. Research reveals these birds forcefully breathe out with every strike of their bill against wood, using a respiratory pattern that likely stabilizes their core during forceful pecking.

Scientists at Brown University discovered that downy woodpeckers maintain airflow while drilling. They coordinate exhalation with each peck in a pattern remarkably similar to the grunting athletes use when serving a tennis ball or lifting heavy weights. This respiratory strategy increases air pressure inside the body, stiffening the torso and potentially creating a more stable platform for forceful strikes.

The finding challenges assumptions about how woodpeckers manage hammering trees. Rather than bracing against impact by closing their airways, these birds keep air flowing while contracting their abdominal muscles to spike internal pressure at precisely the right moment.

The Science Behind the Woodpecker Grunt

Nicholas Antonson, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, used electromyography to measure muscle activity in eight downy woodpeckers as they drilled wood. His team recorded changes in air-sac pressure and breathing patterns, syncing these measurements with high-speed video to capture the exact timing of each behavior.

Abdominal muscles contracted in two distinct bursts during each peck. The first occurred as the bird swung its head forward toward the wood. The second happened at the moment of contact, coordinating with a rise in expiratory pressure around impact, with a brief dip exactly at contact.

This pattern mirrors what happens when tennis players grunt during a serve. They forcefully exhale while contracting their core muscles, and studies show this technique measurably increases ball velocity without raising oxygen costs. The mechanism stiffens the spine and torso to provide a more stable base for generating power.

Woodpeckers appear to use a similar principle. By exhaling forcefully at impact while pressurizing their air sacs and contracting abdominal muscles, they likely create rigidity throughout the body precisely when the bill strikes wood.

To confirm that woodpeckers maintained airflow during drilling, researchers inserted tiny thermistor probes into the trachea of two birds. These probes detected continuous airflow during drilling, proving the airways remained open during pecking. This contrasts sharply with behaviors like defecation, where woodpeckers close their airways to pressurize the thoracic cavity, similar to the Valsalva maneuver used during heavy lifting.

Ever yelled at the TV when your team’s rival scored? That rage isn’t just in your head… well, actually, it is. And scientists have uncovered exactly what’s happening in there.

Chilean researchers put dozens of die-hard soccer fans (across a range of engagement/interest levels) in brain scanners and showed them goals from matches involving their favorite teams. What they found explains a lot about why some fans lose it when things go south, and why beating your rivals feels so damn good.

The study, published in Radiology, focused on supporters of Chile’s two biggest rival football (soccer) teams. Participants watched 63 goal sequences while researchers tracked their brain activity. Some fans were casual spectators. Others were fanatics. The differences in their brains tell a fascinating story.

When The Rival Team Scores, Your Brain’s Emergency Brake Dozes Offc

When highly engaged fans watched their rivals score, a region that normally keeps emotions in check was less active. It’s sort like an emergency brake in your brain — the thing that stops you from doing something you’ll regret. In fanatics watching rival goals, that brake wasn’t working as well as usual.

This brain region connects your emotions to your decision-making. When it dims, people struggle to control aggressive impulses. The more fanatical the fan, the quieter this control center became during rival defeats.

But something else interesting happened. Less extreme soccer fans showed more activity in brain regions used for understanding other people’s thoughts and intentions. They seemed to be working harder to process what the defeat meant, rather than just reacting emotionally.

Watching Your Favorite Sports Team Win Is Like Eating Really Good Food

When fans watched their team score against rivals (compared to scoring against random teams), their brain’s reward system lit up like a Christmas tree. Same areas that activate when eating something delicious, having sex, or taking certain drugs.

This isn’t a coincidence. Evolution wired our brains to release feel-good chemicals when our tribe wins. It made sense for survival thousands of years ago. Now that same wiring makes us lose our minds over 22 people kicking a ball around.

Brain regions tied to personal identity also fired up during rival victories. Fans weren’t just happy for the players—their brains processed these wins as personal achievements. The team’s success felt like their own success.

Not All Soccer Fans Are Created Equal

The researchers recruited 60 male fans of Chile’s two biggest rival teams and put them in brain scanners. Over 26 minutes, participants watched 63 goal clips. Some showed their team scoring, some showed rivals scoring, and some showed other random teams.

The researchers compared brain activity during rival moments versus non-rival moments. This isolated what made rivalries special versus just watching any football match.

Participants in the study were sorted into three groups: spectators (casual fans), regular fans, and fanatics. On the fanaticism scale, lower scores meant more extreme fandom.

The brain patterns matched the intensity levels. More fanatical soccer fans showed bigger drops in that control region during defeats.

Goals only triggered these intense brain responses when they involved rivals. Score against a random team? The response was weaker. Score against your mortal enemy? Fireworks.

Humans evolved as tribal creatures. Our ancestors survived by sticking with their group and competing against others. Those ancient tribal instincts are still there, and football taps right into them. Your brain treats your team like your tribe and rival teams like threats, even though nobody’s actually in danger.

Why Does The Brain React This Way?

Soccer violence around the globe is real. Riots, assaults, even deaths happen around big matches. Understanding that extreme fans experience reduced activity in brain control centers could help explain why some people cross the line from passion to violence.

Stadium security usually assumes fans make rational choices about their behavior. But if someone’s brain control center is essentially offline when their rival scores, they’re not thinking rationally. That doesn’t excuse violence, but it suggests different approaches to prevention might work better.

The strong reward response might also explain obsessive fan behavior: spending thousands to travel to games, prioritizing matches over family events, or melting down over a loss for days. If your brain treats a win like hitting the jackpot, it’s easy to keep chasing that feeling.

Why Soccer Has This Power

Argentine writer Eduardo Galeano observed that football identity is non-negotiable and deeply ingrained. The neural data support this cultural observation. The patterns of brain activation involve fundamental systems of reward, identity, and social belonging rather than superficial preferences.

Football offers something most of life doesn’t: clear winners and losers, on a predictable schedule. Matches create rhythms: weekly fixtures, seasons with beginnings and endings. Your brain’s reward system loves that clarity.

Plus, watching with other fans amplifies everything. Shared highs and lows strengthen group bonds. That collective experience is part of what makes fandom so powerful and, for some, so consuming.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/brain-scans-show-how-soccer-fans-lose-their-minds/

 

Those silver strands sprouting on your head might be doing more than announcing your age. Research from the University of Tokyo shows that gray hair in mice reflects a built-in cleanup program in which the body hunts down and eliminates damaged cells capable of becoming cancer. Importantly, there are supporting signs this same mechanism is present in human skin tissue samples.

Scientists tracked what happens to the stem cells responsible for hair color when they get damaged. This led to a surprising discovery in mice. Their bodies force these damaged cells to mature and then kick them out, leaving behind gray hair.

It’s a biological trade-off that may be happening in humans too. In other words, accept some gray hairs, or allow damaged cells to persist.

Gray Hair 101: How Follicles Clear Cells Tied To Skin Cancer

The stem cells in your hair follicles act as tiny factories that produce pigment. When everything works correctly, these cells wake up during each hair growth cycle, make copies of themselves, and send some of their offspring down the hair shaft to add color. Then they go back to sleep until the next cycle.

But what happens when radiation, sun damage, or other environmental stressors break the DNA in these stem cells? Researchers Yasuaki Mohri and Emi K. Nishimura discovered something unexpected. The damaged cells don’t just die quietly. Instead, they get forced into an unusual double state: they stop dividing forever (that’s the safety brake) while simultaneously maturing into regular pigment cells (that’s the exit strategy).

The cells essentially get a one-way ticket out of the follicle. They complete one last job making pigment, then leave the protected stem cell area and get cleared away naturally. The hair follicle loses its color-making factory, and you get a gray hair. Each silver strand represents a successful elimination of cells carrying DNA damage.

The study, published in Nature Cell Biology, confirmed this in mice by studying animals lacking p53, a protein that acts as the body’s chief DNA damage detector. These mice kept their dark fur even after radiation exposure that would normally cause graying. Sounds great, right? Not exactly. Those damaged cells stayed put, raising the risk that they could eventually transform into cancer.

When Carcinogens Hijack the System

When the researchers exposed mice to cancer-causing chemicals like DMBA (a lab carcinogen used in skin-cancer models) or strong UV radiation, those substances didn’t trigger gray hair at all. Even when the cells had the same DNA breaks that radiation causes, the carcinogens somehow convinced them to keep dividing.

The trick involves a protein called KIT ligand, or KITL. Normally, cells surrounding the stem cells produce small amounts of KITL to support the stem cell population. But carcinogens cranked up KITL production dramatically, essentially shouting “keep growing!” to cells that should be getting eliminated.

At the same time, the carcinogens turned on arachidonic acid pathways inside the damaged stem cells. When researchers gave mice a prostaglandin E2-like signal (a product of this pathway), it reproduced the effect, blocking the graying response. It’s a two-pronged attack: external survival signals from the environment combined with internal changes that favor growth over elimination.

Mice treated with just a carcinogen didn’t go gray—their damaged stem cells survived and spread into the surrounding skin, forming the pigmented spots that can progress to melanoma. When researchers gave mice both radiation and a carcinogen together, the carcinogen won, blocking the protective gray hair response.

The Skin Stem Cell Niche

To test whether KITL really controls this life-or-death decision, the team created mice with reduced KITL in the cells surrounding stem cells. These mice went gray faster, even without any radiation exposure. Their stem cells couldn’t maintain themselves without enough KITL support.

More tellingly, when these low-KITL mice received both radiation and carcinogens, the carcinogens couldn’t override the protective response anymore. The mice still went gray because their environment lacked enough KITL to keep damaged stem cells alive. The experiment proved that the surrounding niche makes the critical decision about whether damaged stem cells get eliminated or allowed to persist.

The researchers also examined human melanoma samples, specifically the type caused by cumulative sun exposure over many years. In several samples, KITL was elevated not just around hair follicles but throughout the skin surrounding tumors. The cancer had essentially expanded its own support system, creating an environment where damaged cells could thrive and spread.

The Mystery of Recovering Gray Hair

Rare case reports describe a puzzling phenomenon. Patients whose gray hair appears to “come back to life” and regain color in certain scalp areas, only to receive a melanoma diagnosis in those exact spots months later. This research offers a possible explanation.

The gray hair wasn’t actually recovering. Instead, early melanoma cells spreading through the epidermis were producing their own KITL and other growth factors, supporting any remaining stem cells and their pigment-producing offspring. The darkening hair was actually a warning sign that cancer precursor cells were colonizing that area of scalp.

This reframes what looks like rejuvenation as an early danger signal—a cancerous field spreading beneath the skin surface, creating conditions that support cell growth rather than elimination.

Aging Skin and Gray Hair: Signals That Shift Skin Cancer Defenses

When the team compared young and old mice, they found that aging naturally reduces KITL and other growth factors produced by the stem cell niche. In older mice, these support signals fall and graying speeds up. Aged skin simply doesn’t support stem cell maintenance as well as young skin does.

But this decline might not be entirely bad. By reducing the signals that promote stem cell survival and growth in mice, aging skin may be tilting the balance toward elimination rather than preservation of cells that have accumulated DNA damage over time. It’s a biological guardrail that becomes more conservative with age.

Single-cell analysis of over 60,000 skin cells from young and old mice revealed that the proportion of both stem cells and melanocyte clusters dropped significantly in aged animals. The stem cell niche itself shrinks with age in mice, not just the stem cells it supports.

When Skin Cancer Mutations Take Control

To test whether cancer-driving mutations could bypass the protective response like carcinogens do, researchers created mice carrying activated versions of NRAS or BRAF — two of the most common genetic changes in human melanoma — specifically in their hair color stem cells.

These mutant mice kept their dark fur even after doses of radiation that would normally eliminate all stem cells and cause complete graying. The mutations made cells independent of external KITL signals, allowing them to survive and multiply despite DNA damage.

The team then flipped the question. Could eliminating stem cells through the protective response prevent melanoma? They irradiated cancer-prone mice before triggering the melanoma mutations. Melanoma development dropped dramatically compared to non-irradiated controls. By depleting the stem cell population first, there were simply fewer cells available to transform into cancer when the mutations hit.

What This Means for Real People

These findings don’t suggest that radiation prevents cancer. Kt clearly doesn’t, and the doses used in research mice don’t match human exposures. But the research does reveal something important about visible aging: those gray hairs represent successful quality control, not just breakdown.

People who gray early or extensively, especially in sun-exposed areas like the temples and crown, may have particularly active protective mechanisms. Each gray hair is a follicle where the body identified damage and chose elimination over risk.

Whether anti-aging treatments aimed at preventing or reversing gray hair could affect melanoma risk remains an open question for future studies. If such treatments work by keeping damaged stem cells alive and functional longer, it’s unclear what that might mean for cancer development in people with significant sun exposure or other DNA damage sources.

The research team calls the protective process “seno-differentiation,” combining cellular aging’s permanent growth arrest with the maturation and migration that clears damaged cells from stem cell homes. It’s natural quality control that doesn’t require drugs or interventions, just the body’s built-in wisdom about when to eliminate rather than repair.

The paradox is clear. Fewer stem cells (and more gray hair) can protect against cancer by limiting the pool of cells available for transformation. Visible aging in this case reflects invisible protection.

The Bigger Picture

So, should we rethink the relationship between aging and cancer? They’re often portrayed as related processes driven by accumulated DNA damage, but this work shows the body’s response to damage matters more than the damage itself.

The stem cells studied here face a fundamental choice when they acquire DNA breaks. Either undergo the protective elimination program that causes gray hair, or bypass it through carcinogen exposure or cancer mutations and risk melanoma. Individual cells make this decision based on signals from their surrounding environment, but the cumulative effects of millions of these decisions determine whether a person develops gray hair or cancer.

The surrounding niche acts as the critical decision-maker, integrating information about growth factor levels, damage signals, and metabolic status to instruct each stem cell about its fate. When carcinogens reprogram the niche to produce high KITL levels, they’re essentially rigging the decision in favor of survival over elimination.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/gray-hair-protects-from-cancer/

There are easier ways to cross an ocean, but few are as slick or stylish as the remora’s whale-surfing joyride.

Scientists tracking humpbacks off the coast of Australia have captured rare footage that shows clutches of the freeloading fish peeling away from their host in what looks like a high-speed game of chicken, just moments before the whale breaches.

As the humpback plunges back below the surface the remoras, also known as sucker fish, return to the whale, sticking their landings with the timing and precision of Olympic gymnasts. It’s elegant work for a hitchhiking fish that lives upside-down and survives on dead skin flakes.

Remora australis spend their lives aboard whales or other large marine mammals, which they ride like giant cruise ships, breeding and feeding their way across stretches of ocean. The species has an adhesive plate on its head that helps to create a kind of vacuum seal, allowing the fish to grab a whale and hang on for the ride.

On whale cams, clingy fish steal the show
The marine scientist who recorded the accidental close-ups of the remoras’ high-speed whale surfing had placed suction-cup cameras on humpbacks during their annual migration from Antarctica to the waters off Australia’s Queensland state. Olaf Meynecke planned to study whale behavior, but his video feeds regularly filled with dozens of photobombing remoras, which rode in groups of up to 50 as they clung to the same spots where his cameras were attached.

“Whenever the whale was breaching and doing in particular fast movements it appears that the sucker fish were responding very quickly to the movements,” said Meynecke, from the Whales and Climate Research Program at Griffith University. “They knew exactly when to let go of the body of the whale before it was breaching the surface of the water and then returned to the same spot only seconds later.”

A hitchhiker with good instincts
Remoras are harmless to the 40-metric ton (44-U.S. ton) giants of the ocean, feeding on the whales’ dead skin and sea lice in a mutually beneficial arrangement — or at least that’s what scientists say. Meynecke said his footage suggested the whales found their hangers-on annoying.

“We’ve had individuals with high numbers of these remoras and they were continually breaching and there were no other whales that they were communicating with,” he said. “It appeared that they’re trying to just get rid of some of these remoras and they were checking whether they had less after they breached.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/sucker-fish-riding-whale-remoras-humpback-australia-69db9878c42b7d11e3755ecca4132588

Scientists just built a brain implant barely visible to the naked eye. At 370 micrometers long and 70 micrometers wide, it’s about as wide as three or four human hairs. These innovative, tiny devices recorded the brain activity of a group of mice for an entire year.

The implant is so small that dozens could fit on a pinhead. Yet it stayed functional for 365 days, capturing everything from individual brain cells firing to coordinated activity across neural networks. Compare that to existing wireless brain implants, which can be hundreds of times larger.

“The long-term recording of neural activity could be used to understand complex behaviors and disorders,” the researchers wrote in Nature Electronics. The international team, led by Sunwoo Lee from Nanyang Technological University and colleagues from Cornell University, showed these microscopic devices could track brain signals without the tissue damage that plagues larger implants.

So how does something this small actually work?

Light Does All the Heavy Lifting
Instead of wires or radio waves, these implants use light for everything. An external red LED beam powers the device continuously. The implant sends data back using brief infrared pulses. Think of it like a conversation conducted entirely with flashlights.

This matters because traditional wired implants damage brain tissue as they shift around. Your brain actually moves slightly inside your skull during normal activity. When wires are tethered to external hardware, that movement creates friction and scarring. Wireless systems avoid this problem, but they’re typically too bulky.

The device uses a single component that pulls double duty. It harvests power from incoming light 93.4% of the time and transmits data for the remaining fraction. Inside this grain-of-sand-sized package, hundreds of tiny transistors amplify signals from nearby neurons, encode the information, and drive the light output. The whole system runs on 1 microwatt—about one-millionth the power of a typical LED bulb.

Building Something Smaller Than a Dust Mite
Getting electronics this small to work inside a living brain required some serious engineering gymnastics.

First, the team had to bond different materials together—silicon chips and light-sensitive semiconductors—without the usual residues that gum up the works. They used an ultra-low-pressure heating process at 300°C to clean and strengthen the connections.

Then came waterproofing. The body is essentially a corrosive salt bath, so the researchers built up ultra-thin protective layers totaling less than 1.5 micrometers thick. That’s about one-fifth the width of a red blood cell.

There was, however, a problem. Light leaking into the silicon electronics could generate unwanted electrical signals and scramble the brain readings. The solution? Wrap everything in a form-fitting platinum coating that simultaneously blocks light, records neural activity, and reinforces the structure.

From Beating Heart Cells to Mouse Brains
Before trying these devices in living brains, researchers tested them on lab-grown heart cells. The implants tracked the cells beating in sync, then recorded the changes when researchers applied drugs that sped up or slowed down the heartbeat. From 1.8 beats per second up to 2.0, then down to 0.8. The devices worked perfectly.

For the brain experiments, the team implanted eight devices in six mice, placing them in a region that processes whisker sensation. Using a tiny glass pipette, they inserted the implants 100 to 400 micrometers deep—about the thickness of a few sheets of paper stacked together.

Here’s where the size becomes an advantage. Researchers could load these devices into pipettes while suspended in rubbing alcohol, which sterilizes them and evaporates quickly without causing damage. Once in place, only light needed to pass through the skull window to power them and receive their signals back.

When researchers touched the mice’s whiskers with a motorized rod, the implants detected the resulting brain activity and transmitted it optically. A photodiode captured those infrared pulses, and software reconstructed what the neurons were doing.

A Full Year of Brain Recording
Four of the implanted devices captured coordinated activity from groups of neurons. Two others, placed on the brain surface, recorded broader electrical patterns. One ended up too deep to work reliably, and another got damaged during preparation.

The recordings showed clear responses to whisker stimulation that stayed detectable well past 100 days. Individual neurons firing appeared as sharp electrical spikes. Groups of neurons working together showed slower, wave-like patterns.

The signal strength varied somewhat over time, probably because the devices shifted 50 to 300 micrometers as post-surgical swelling went down during the first few weeks. This moved them slightly closer to or farther from active neurons. But the overall patterns remained stable.

On day 365—a full year later—one implant still responded to whisker touches. The signals had gotten weaker, requiring the researchers to average 30 to 40 recordings to see them clearly above background noise. But it was still working. When they removed the devices and tested them, both still lit up when exposed to light, meaning the circuits were fine. The recording electrodes had simply degraded slightly over time.

Why Brain Tissue Barely Noticed They Were There
When the researchers examined brain tissue under a microscope after six months, they found very little damage around the implant sites.

Neurons beneath the six-month-old implants looked healthy and normal, with their characteristic branching structures intact. Immune cells (which indicate inflammation) near the implants were at similar levels to control areas under the same skull window where no device had been inserted. The window itself seemed to trigger more immune response than the implants.

The real surprise came when they compared these six-month results to optical fibers implanted in other mice for just three months. Despite being in place for half as long, the fibers caused substantially more inflammation. Neurons beneath them showed signs of degeneration that were completely absent around the microscopic implants.

Why the difference? Volume. These implants displace less than a nanoliter of brain tissue. Even thin optical fibers occupy thousands of times more space. Less volume means less mechanical stress and less foreign surface area triggering immune reactions.

Solving Problems That Have Plagued Brain Implants for Years
This technology addresses issues that have limited brain recording for decades.

Wired implants cause ongoing damage because brains shift slightly inside skulls during normal activity. The wires create shearing forces that damage tissue and cause scarring.

Wireless systems avoid that problem but face a different constraint: they’re typically huge. Radio-frequency and ultrasound-based approaches need components scaled to their wavelengths. Some wireless systems approach 1% of total mouse brain volume per recording channel. For comparison, a mouse brain is about 400 cubic millimeters total.

These optical implants are orders of magnitude smaller. Researchers could theoretically implant thousands before reaching the volume of existing single-channel systems. That scalability could enable mapping neural circuits across entire brain regions—something impossible with current technology.

The optical approach also works deep in tissue. Red and near-infrared light penetrate biological tissue easily, and the light intensity stays well below levels that cause heat damage. Simulations suggest these devices could theoretically work at depths up to 6 millimeters in mouse brains—enough to reach most regions.

There are limitations, of course. The bandwidth captures signals up to about 10 kilohertz, which covers most brain activity but might miss some high-frequency events. Each device has two recording electrodes spaced 300 micrometers apart, so they can’t isolate signals from individual neurons as precisely as dense electrode arrays. And for now, mice need to remain head-fixed during measurements while connected to external optical hardware.

Beyond Brain Recording
The technology could work in places where existing tools can’t.

Brain organoids—tiny three-dimensional brain tissue cultures grown in labs—are too small and delicate for conventional electrodes. These microscopic implants could fit inside and measure electrical activity directly.

Fruit flies and roundworms are crucial research models, but their nervous systems are too tiny for traditional recording methods. These implants could enable direct electrical measurements without genetic modifications.

Related micro-devices from the same research group can sense chemical changes, suggesting a path toward monitoring metabolism in engineered tissues or detecting biomarkers in organ-on-chip systems.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/brain-implant-records-neural-activity/

Sharks are usually the hunters, but these killer whales have developed a surprising new way to enjoy a meal.

Off the coast of Mexico, a pod of killer whales has developed a specialized hunting technique. They flip juvenile great white sharks upside down in a way that likely triggers a trance-like paralysis, then extract their livers while discarding the rest of the carcass.

Researchers captured two attacks on video: one in August 2020 and another in August 2022, at nearly the same spot in the Gulf of California. Both times, the orcas targeted sharks about two meters long, around six and a half feet. The footage reveals a deliberate method: repeated strikes, maneuvering the young sharks belly-up in what likely induces tonic immobility, a physiological state that leaves them defenseless and unable to move.

Once the shark goes limp, the killer whales access the liver with precision. In one attack, the organ emerged intact at the surface. An adult female held it in her mouth, its distinctive two-lobed shape clearly visible. She released it to another whale. For several minutes, four pod members passed the liver between them before finally consuming it.

Researchers captured two attacks on video: one in August 2020 and another in August 2022, at nearly the same spot in the Gulf of California. Both times, the orcas targeted sharks about two meters long, around six and a half feet. The footage reveals a deliberate method: repeated strikes, maneuvering the young sharks belly-up in what likely induces tonic immobility, a physiological state that leaves them defenseless and unable to move.

Once the shark goes limp, the killer whales access the liver with precision. In one attack, the organ emerged intact at the surface. An adult female held it in her mouth, its distinctive two-lobed shape clearly visible. She released it to another whale. For several minutes, four pod members passed the liver between them before finally consuming it.

After 19 years of trying to conceive, a couple facing severe male infertility achieved their first pregnancy using an artificial intelligence system that detected sperm invisible to human examination. Reported in The Lancet, this represents, to the authors’ knowledge, the first reported clinical pregnancy resulting from AI-guided sperm recovery. It offers new hope for men whose semen appears empty on manual examination, a diagnosis where traditional methods frequently fail.

A 39-year-old man had been diagnosed with non-obstructive azoospermia, meaning sperm are absent or extremely rare in his semen. His 37-year-old partner had undergone 19 egg retrievals across four fertility centers over 11 years. Despite invasive testicular procedures and extensive manual searches, the couple had produced only one embryo suitable for transfer in nearly two decades. That attempt failed.

When doctors examined the man’s semen sample under a microscope, they found nothing. But when researchers processed the same sample through the STAR system (Sperm Tracking and Recovery), the AI identified seven sperm after analyzing 2.5 million images in about two hours.

Two of those sperm could move on their own. Both were injected directly into eggs. Both eggs became embryos. Thirteen days after transfer, the woman received her first positive pregnancy test in 19 years.

How the System Works
The STAR system combines high-speed imaging with AI trained to recognize sperm. As the sample flows through a specialized chip, a camera captures 300 frames per second, analyzing over a million images per hour.

Rather than relying on a single snapshot, the system tracks each potential sperm across roughly ten consecutive frames. It confirms detection only when the object appears as sperm in at least three frames, which helps eliminate false positives from debris or other cells.

Once confirmed, a microfluidic gate isolates the sperm for retrieval. To validate accuracy, researchers tested the system by adding known numbers of sperm to samples. The results showed excellent correlation: R²=0.99.

The system is fully enclosed to prevent contamination, and all components are single-use to ensure sterility. Both partners provided informed consent, and the research received ethical approval from Columbia University’s institutional review board.

When Standard Treatments Fall Short
Male factor infertility contributes to roughly 40 percent of all cases. Azoospermia and cryptozoospermia (extremely rare sperm) account for about 10 to 15 percent of male diagnoses.

Standard approaches include testicular sperm extraction, where surgeons remove small pieces of testicular tissue hoping to find sperm, or extended manual searches by embryologists. Both methods are invasive or time-intensive and frequently unsuccessful. Many couples are ultimately advised to consider sperm donors or adoption.

This couple had tried everything. The male partner underwent two testicular extractions with only rare sperm recovered. His partner’s hormone levels showed her egg supply was critically depleted. Her 19 egg retrievals produced consistently poor fertilization when sperm was available. Several cycles involved only egg freezing because sperm couldn’t be obtained.

The STAR system found seven sperm in a sample that appeared empty under manual examination. Small numbers, but enough for a chance.

The Results
Two of the seven sperm could move. These were injected into two eggs: one fresh, one thawed. Both became embryos.

Two additional thawed eggs were injected with non-moving sperm. Those didn’t progress. Only the motile sperm produced viable embryos.

Both embryos were transferred. Thirteen days later: positive pregnancy test. The couple’s first in nearly two decades. At eight weeks, ultrasound confirmed normal development with a heartbeat of 172 beats per minute.

While the STAR system had previously recovered sperm in other patients, this marks the first time AI-detected sperm were used immediately for fertilization and resulted in a confirmed pregnancy. That matters because it shows the system can support real-time clinical decisions, not just sperm banking.

The AI Behind the Detection
The AI model was built on the You Only Look Once architecture, trained specifically on sperm images. It divides each video frame into a grid and predicts where sperm might be in a single pass.

The model flagged sperm correctly 89 percent of the time and successfully identified 90 percent of actual sperm present. Processing at this speed required specialized computing power that would be impractical for manual examination. Even highly trained embryologists can examine only a fraction of a sample’s volume and may still miss rare sperm.

What This Means for Infertility Treatment
For men with severe male factor infertility, standard options can be uncomfortable or time-consuming without guaranteeing results. Many couples spend years cycling through repeated procedures, accumulating both financial costs and emotional exhaustion.

By automating detection and analyzing the entire sample volume, the STAR system creates opportunities where traditional methods have failed. It requires only a standard semen sample rather than surgical extraction, making it less invasive.

Larger clinical studies are underway to evaluate the system’s performance across broader patient populations. If those trials confirm consistent success, the technology could become a valuable addition to fertility clinics.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/ai-detects-invisible-sperm/

Wearable device data from about 85,000 people suggests striking sex differences that challenge current health guidelines

Women may achieve similar heart disease protection as men with about half the weekly exercise time. That’s according to research tracking approximately 85,000 people wearing wrist accelerometers measuring moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for a week.

The study, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, reports that women reached roughly a 30% lower coronary heart disease risk at about 250 minutes of weekly exercise, while men needed approximately 530 minutes for comparable protection. Among people who already had heart disease, the gap looked even wider: meeting activity guidelines was linked to about 70% lower overall death risk for women versus 19% for men.

Major health organizations currently recommend identical exercise targets for both sexes: at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week. Women already struggle more than men to hit these targets, yet this research suggests they may need less time to reap the same rewards.

Exercise And Gender By The Numbers
Researchers from Xiamen University analyzed UK Biobank data spanning nearly eight years. Rather than relying on people’s memories of how much they exercised (which tends to be overly optimistic), participants wore devices that objectively tracked their movement.

But despite doing less, the minutes were linked to larger cardiovascular benefits in women than in men.

Among people without heart disease at the start, women who hit the 150-minute weekly target showed 22% lower risk of developing heart problems during follow-up. Men meeting the same target? Just 17% lower risk.

For those already living with heart disease, the pattern held. Active women had death rates of 1.76% versus 9.15% for inactive women. Active men fared better than inactive men too (9.38% versus 15.13%), but the relative benefit was smaller.

Why Women’s Bodies Might Respond Differently
Scientists don’t have the complete answer yet, but they’ve got some educated guesses.

Estrogen could be key. Women naturally have much higher levels than men, and research shows estrogen boosts fat burning during exercise. Since using fat for fuel (rather than just sugar) appears to benefit heart health, this hormonal difference might partly explain why women see bigger returns on their exercise investment.

Muscle composition offers another clue. Men have more type II muscle fibers, built for quick, powerful movements but dependent on sugar metabolism. Women have more type I fibers, which excel at endurance and efficiently burn fat. These differences in how muscles work during sustained activity might translate to different heart benefits.

The researchers stress these are still theories requiring lab studies to confirm.

Showing Up Matters
The study also looked at consistency. Each extra day women squeezed in about 21 minutes of exercise was linked to 6% lower heart disease risk. For men, each active day is connected to about 4% lower risk.

Women who exercised daily saw their heart disease rates drop from 5.2% to 1.5%. Men who went from zero to seven active days weekly saw rates fall from 10.2% to 4.7%.

If these findings hold up in more diverse populations, they might reshape how we think about exercise recommendations. Right now, telling everyone to hit the same target may discourage women, who globally lag behind men in meeting activity guidelines (33.8% of women versus 28.7% of men fall short).

Knowing that women might achieve similar or better protection with less time could help narrow this gap. And with fitness trackers becoming ubiquitous, personalized targets based on sex, health status, and individual response patterns could become more common rather than one-size-fits-all advice.

 

Source: https://studyfinds.org/how-much-exercise-protects-heart-women-men/

Chimpanzees can weigh and rationalize conflicting information before deciding what to believe. That’s the main conclusion of research that tested whether our closest living relatives can do something scientists call “rational belief revision,” a thinking skill previously thought to set humans apart.

Researchers at UC Berkeley, the University of Portsmouth, and other institutions designed a series of clever experiments with 15 to 23 chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda. The chimps watched as food was hidden in boxes, then received different types of clues about where to find it. Sometimes they saw the food directly through a glass window. Other times they only heard it rattling around inside a box or saw traces of it left behind.

After the chimps chose a box based on one piece of evidence, researchers gave them a second, contradictory clue pointing to a different location. The question was whether the apes would stick with their first choice or change their minds, and more importantly, whether they’d make that decision in a smart, strategic way.

The chimps didn’t flip-flop randomly as one might expect. They stayed committed to their initial belief when the first evidence was strong and the contradicting evidence was weak. But when the situation reversed and weaker evidence came first, they readily changed their minds after receiving stronger proof pointing elsewhere.

Chimpanzees Use Rational Thinking, Not Random Guessing

In one experiment, chimps heard food shaking in one box, then saw food directly in another box through a clear panel. Most switched their choice to the box where they’d seen the food, recognizing that visual proof beats auditory hints. In another version, they saw food traces near one box, then heard rattling in another. Again, they favored the stronger evidence, in this case the sound of actual food over mere leftovers.

Study authors wanted to know if chimps were truly thinking about evidence or just responding to whatever seemed flashiest. So they ran a test with three boxes: one with strong evidence, one with weak evidence, and one with no evidence at all. After showing the chimps all three options, they removed the box with strong evidence. If the animals were only paying attention to the most obvious cue, they should have chosen randomly between the two remaining boxes. Instead, they consistently picked the box supported by weak evidence over the one with none, suggesting they were tracking more than one possibility all along.

The researchers point out that changing your mind based on evidence strength requires keeping track of not just what you know, but how you know it.

Telling Real Information From Noise

Perhaps most impressively, the chimps could tell the difference between genuinely new information and redundant evidence. When researchers shook a box twice, the chimps recognized this as the same piece of evidence presented again. It didn’t make them more likely to pick that box. But when researchers dropped two separate pieces of food into a box one after another, creating two distinct sounds, the chimps treated this as accumulating evidence and were more likely to revise their choice.

The animals changed behavior when their original evidence was undercut. In one test, after a chimp chose a box where it had seen food through a window, researchers revealed that the window actually showed a picture of food, not real food. This undercut the earlier visual cue; chimps treated it as weaker and were more willing to switch boxes. When researchers revealed an empty window instead of a picture, which didn’t change anything about what they’d seen, the chimps mostly stuck with their choice.

Why This Matters for Animal Intelligence

Previous research showed that great apes could figure things out based on various types of clues. A hungry chimp might locate hidden food by listening to sounds, looking at visual hints, or noticing that food is absent from other spots. But those abilities could be explained by simpler mental shortcuts that don’t require actually reasoning about how trustworthy different sources of information are.

This study, published in Science, goes further. The chimps went beyond simply responding to evidence — they took time evaluating it. When deciding whether to stick with or abandon a belief, they compared the strength of competing pieces of information.

The research team used mathematical models to predict how a perfectly rational thinker should behave when faced with conflicting evidence of different strengths. The chimps’ behavior matched these predictions remarkably well, not just overall but for nearly every individual animal tested.

These results show that the ability to weigh evidence and change your mind accordingly likely has deep evolutionary roots among great apes.

The study also addresses a longstanding debate about whether animals can truly think about their own thinking, or if they just happen to behave in ways that look smart. Critics have argued that when chimps search for more information or skip difficult tasks, they’re not really reflecting on their own knowledge—they’re just reacting to uncertainty in ways that mimic deeper thought.

But the experiments in this study make that skeptical explanation harder to accept. Recognizing when a piece of evidence has been proven wrong by later information requires understanding the relationship between evidence and belief, not just reacting to whatever’s in front of you.

Source :  https://studyfinds.org/are-chimpanzees-rational-thinkers/

Eating flavanol-rich foods like dark chocolate or berries may boost memory performance. How? By synchronizing stress hormones with the brain’s natural window for locking in new information, according to research from Japan. In mice, memory improved when flavanols were given before learning, though the timing effects in humans remain unknown.

Scientists at Shibaura Institute of Technology discovered that the bitter, astringent compounds in cocoa trigger a precisely timed release of noradrenaline in the hippocampus (the brain region that converts short-term memories into lasting ones). Mice that consumed flavanols one hour before a memory test showed a 30% improvement in recognizing new objects compared to those given plain water.

The study, published in Current Research in Food Science, offers a potential explanation for why large trials have found memory improvements in older adults who consume these compounds regularly. Rather than protecting brain cells directly, flavanols may work by hijacking the body’s stress response system at just the right moment.

The Critical Window for Memory

Lead researcher Yasuyuki Fujii and his team tested mice in a standard memory experiment. Animals explored two identical objects for 10 minutes, then returned an hour later to find one object replaced with something new. Mice given flavanols before the initial training spent significantly more time investigating the novel item, a sign they remembered the familiar one.

Mice spent more time exploring the new object, raising the discrimination index versus controls. The effect was observed when flavanols were given before the training session.

Brain imaging showed why. Noradrenaline rose quickly in the brain’s alertness network, including the locus coeruleus and nucleus accumbens, and remained elevated for about an hour. This surge coincided with the period neuroscientists call early memory consolidation, when electrical activity in the hippocampus replays recent experiences and transfers them to long-term storage.

Prior studies have shown that blocking noradrenaline receptors during this window can impair memory formation, while activating them enhances it. The flavanols appear to provide that activation naturally, through taste rather than direct drug action.

Your Brain’s Built-In Alarm System

The memory enhancement stems from how flavanols activate the locus coeruleus, a small cluster of neurons in the brainstem that acts as the brain’s alarm system. When triggered, it releases noradrenaline throughout the brain, sharpening attention and prioritizing information for storage.

Mice given flavanols showed clear signs of this activation. Urinary levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline (stress hormones secreted by the adrenal glands) increased significantly at the higher dose over 24 hours. Gene expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone, which regulates the body’s stress response, increased in the hypothalamus 30 minutes after administration.

The animals also moved more in their cages and showed increased grooming and rearing, behaviors associated with alertness. Mass spectrometry imaging revealed noradrenaline accumulation not only in the hippocampus but also in the nucleus accumbens, a region involved in motivation and reward processing.

A Sensation, Not Absorption

Flavanols barely make it into the bloodstream, a fact that has puzzled researchers for years. Studies using radioactive tracers show that only a few percent of the compounds get absorbed intact, with most breaking down in the gut or metabolized by bacteria.

The new research points to an alternative pathway. The authors propose that the astringent, mouth-puckering sensation these compounds produce activates sensory nerves in the digestive tract, which relay signals to the brainstem and then to the locus coeruleus. However, this pathway requires targeted tests to confirm.

Earlier work by the same research group showed that blocking specific sensory receptors or giving antioxidants eliminated the effects of flavanols on blood flow and nervous system activity. The reactive oxygen species that form when flavanols contact saliva or stomach acid may be what actually triggers the response.

This would explain why the effects happen so quickly. Sensory signals travel much faster than absorbed compounds, reaching the brain in seconds rather than the 30 minutes it takes for dietary substances to peak in blood. The researchers suggest the brain may be treating the astringent sensation as a signal to activate its memory-enhancement systems.

What This Means for People

The mice in the study received doses higher than typical single-serving intakes. Whether lower amounts produce the same effects remains unknown.

The experiments also only tested acute effects from a single dose. Repeated exposure to stress triggers often leads to tolerance, where the same stimulus produces a weaker response over time. Another open question involves the potential downsides of chronic stress pathway activation. Short-term stress responses can be beneficial, but prolonged elevation of stress hormones is linked to anxiety, sleep problems, and cardiovascular strain.

The research used adult male mice with small sample sizes for some brain imaging analyses (two to five animals per group), meaning the findings need replication in larger studies and eventually in humans.

However, the one-hour window offers a potential strategy for students or professionals preparing for tasks that require strong recall. Consuming flavanol-rich foods shortly before studying or attending an important meeting might enhance retention of the material.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/dark-chocolate-sharpen-memory/

The discovery is both spooky and thought-provoking, but researchers are left with more questions than answers

If you’re reading this there’s a good chance that you, like me, are a millennial. If so, you’ve probably noticed more and more cases of friends or acquaintances with diseases that you would normally associate with later adulthood – hypertension, Type 2 diabetes or perhaps even the one that we’re all scared to name: cancer.

Millennials – people born between 1981 and 1995 – are the first generation at greater risk of developing tumors than their parents. Between 1990 and 2019, cases of early-onset cancer among people under 50 increased by 79% worldwide, and mortality by 28%.

The truth is that around 80% of cancers are “sporadic,” meaning they are not caused by hereditary mutations but by external factors that damage DNA over time. This includes what we eat and breathe, as well as our level of physical activity, rest, stress and exposure to harmful substances.

In other words, the things that make the biggest difference are the lifestyle factors that surround us every day, and not the genetics we inherit. And we know that our parents’ and grandparents’ lifestyles differed greatly from our own.

Diet’s Effect On The Body
One of the main factors behind this “new epidemic” is diet. Childhood obesity began to skyrocket in the 1980s. In 2022, more than 390 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 were overweight – 160 million of these were obese, according to the WHO.

This condition is not just a question of aesthetics: it is associated with insulin resistance, low-grade chronic inflammation, and hormonal changes that increase the risk of developing colorectal, breast, or endometrial cancer.

Most importantly, the effects of childhood obesity do not disappear with age. According to the Colon Cancer Foundation, a meta-analysis involving more than 4.7 million people showed that those with a high body mass index (BMI) in early life are at greater risk of colorectal cancer in adulthood: 39% higher in men and 19% higher in women compared to those who had a healthy BMI in childhood.

Changes in diet have also altered our gut microbiota. It has been shown that diets rich in ultra-processed foods reduce bacterial diversity, and increase the proportion of strains that produce pro-inflammatory metabolites.

This contributes to gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome or SIBO, which often seem to be endemic among millennials – ask a group of thirty-somethings which of them suffers from gastrointestinal problems and you’ll find few hands are left unraised.

Alcohol’s Invisible Effects
The second major culprit is alcohol, as millennial gatherings often revolve around a table laden with food and drink. For years it was thought that a glass of wine was could “protect” you in some way, but today we know that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption: the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a Group 1 carcinogen, on the same level as tobacco. This is because the body converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, a compound that damages DNA.

Furthermore, consumption patterns differ between generations. While baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) drink more on a daily basis, millennials tend to drink less frequently but engage in more binge drinking, which carries significant risks. This is confirmed by the Spanish Ministry of Health’s 2024 EDADES survey, which explores the different levels of risk associated with different behaviors across generations.

And, as if that weren’t enough, a recent study by Environmental Science & Technology found that many beers contain perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals, also known as “forever chemicals,” are linked to higher rates of testicular and kidney cancer.

Not Enough Sleep
We sleep less and worse than previous generations. Recent surveys show that millennials and generation Z get an average of 30-45 minutes less sleep per night than baby boomers, largely due to night-time exposure to screens and social media. This artificial light disrupts the release of melatonin, an antioxidant hormone that regulates the cell cycle.

Chronic lack of sleep not only impairs DNA repair, but also reduces melatonin’s protective effects against cancer. Reduced levels of this hormone have been linked to a reduced ability to counteract oxidative DNA damage and increased cell proliferation.

Furthermore, disrupted circadian rhythms interfere with the expression of genes that are key to repairing DNA. This means mutations accumulate over time, increasing the risk of tumor-forming processes.

The Weight Of Stress
Millennials are probably the generation with the highest cortisol levels. When this “stress hormone” remains elevated for a long time, it not only promotes insulin resistance and hypertension, but also weakens the immune system.

Research reveals that chronic stress increases inflammation, hinders the body’s defenses from eliminating abnormal cells, and can even “awaken” dormant tumor cells. In fact, studies in the general population have found that people with higher stress levels are up to twice as likely to die from cancer as those who manage stress better.

The Risks Of Self-Medicating
Lastly, younger generations also resort to self-medication more than previous ones. This poses new short and long-term risks.

Frequent use of paracetamol is linked to increased liver damage and a possible increase in liver cancer. Oral contraceptives, used for very long periods due to delayed motherhood, slightly increase the risk of breast and cervical cancer, although they do protect against ovarian and endometrial cancer.

In addition, prolonged use of antacids and antibiotics has been linked to an increased risk of digestive cancer through indirect mechanisms such as carcinogenic compounds or intestinal dysbiosis (an imbalance in the gut microbiota).

What Does The Future Hold For Millennials?
The projections are worrying. It is expected that cancer cases could rise from around 20 million in 2022 to nearly 35 million in 2050 – an overall increase of almost 77%. The trend is particularly marked in digestive and gynecological tumors, which are becoming more and more common in young adults.

We are the generation of immediacy, anxiety and quick-fix pills, but all is not lost, as we can take control of many of the factors that make us ill, starting today. Adopting healthier habits can reduce risks, and improve our quality of life in a future that is not as distant as we might like to believe.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/why-are-so-many-millennials-getting-cancer/

From dancing the tango to playing video games, there are countless creative ways to promote a sharper, younger mind.

Researchers have developed a method to calculate whether someone’s brain is aging faster or slower than their chronological age suggests. The technique, called a “brain clock,” works similarly to how a fitness tracker estimates your cardiovascular age based on heart rate and activity levels. But instead of measuring steps, brain clocks analyze patterns in brain activity to predict biological age.

A study published in Nature Communications used these brain clocks to examine whether creative experiences influence brain aging. The findings suggest that people who engage in creative activities, from tango dancing to playing StarCraft II, show signs of delayed brain aging compared to those without such pursuits. The research team analyzed brain data from 1,472 participants across 13 countries, making it one of the largest investigations into creativity and brain health.

The study compared experts and non-experts in four domains: tango dancing, music performance, visual arts, and real-time strategy video gaming. Across all four areas, experts showed what researchers call negative “brain age gaps,” meaning their brains appeared younger than their actual age would predict. The differences were substantial: across domains, experts’ brains looked about four to seven years younger than matched non-experts.

How Brain Clocks Work
Brain clocks rely on machine learning algorithms trained to recognize age-related patterns in brain connectivity. As people get older, certain networks in the brain become less efficient, particularly connections between the frontal and parietal regions. These changes happen predictably enough that artificial intelligence can estimate someone’s age just by looking at their brain activity patterns.

When the predicted “brain age” matches chronological age, it suggests typical aging. When the brain age is higher, it indicates accelerated aging, a pattern seen in many neurological diseases. When brain age is lower than chronological age, it suggests the brain has been preserved better than average. The brain age gap is simply the difference between predicted and actual age—values below zero indicate younger-looking brain patterns.

The research team used electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure brain activity. These techniques track the electrical signals produced when neurons communicate. From these signals, researchers mapped how different brain regions connect and coordinate with each other. The resulting connectivity patterns served as the input for the brain age calculations.

The Creativity Connection
The researchers didn’t stop at comparing experts to non-experts. They also examined whether the degree of expertise mattered. Musicians were evaluated based on years of experience playing instruments. Gamers were assessed by their league rankings in StarCraft II, a strategy game that requires rapid decision-making and coordination. Visual artists were judged on years of university-level art education. Tango dancers reported months of formal instruction.

Across these measures, a clear pattern emerged: the more skilled someone was in their creative domain, the younger their brain appeared. This dose-response relationship suggests the brain benefits accumulate with practice rather than appearing as an all-or-nothing effect.

A separate experiment tested whether short-term learning could produce similar benefits. Non-gamers participated in 30 hours of StarCraft II training over three to four weeks. After training, their brain age gaps decreased compared to their pre-training measurements. An active control group that played a different game, Hearthstone, showed no such changes. The learners also improved on an attention task unrelated to gaming, suggesting the brain changes translated to broader cognitive benefits.

Players who showed the largest gains in actions per minute, a measure of in-game skill, also showed the greatest decreases in brain age, reinforcing the connection between skill development and brain preservation.

How Creativity Influences Brain Aging
The brain doesn’t age uniformly. Some regions decline faster than others, particularly areas in the frontal and parietal cortex that handle attention, motor control, and coordination. These age-vulnerable regions are also among the areas most affected by neurodegenerative diseases.

The study found that creative experiences particularly affected these regions. Experts showed increased connectivity in the same brain hubs that typically decline with age, suggesting creative activities may provide a protective effect precisely where the brain needs it most.

Different creative domains activated somewhat different brain networks, but all converged on similar age-vulnerable hubs. Across the expertise groups, enhanced connectivity was associated with motor control, movement, rhythm, coordination, and visual processing. The short-term learners showed different patterns, with changes primarily linked to visual perception, object recognition, and attention. Despite these variations, all groups showed enhancement in frontoparietal networks involved in executive function.

The Mechanism Behind the Benefits
The researchers didn’t just document that creative experiences correlate with younger-looking brains. They also investigated potential mechanisms using computational brain models. These models simulate how brain regions interact by incorporating both structural connections, measured through brain imaging, and functional dynamics, measured through electrical activity.

Two properties stood out. First, people with more creative experience showed higher “local efficiency” in their brain networks—tighter, faster communication among nearby regions. This suggests specialized networks have become more refined through practice, allowing quicker and more reliable information processing within expert-related circuits.

Second, long-term experts, but not short-term learners, showed changes in “global coupling,” or stronger long-range coordination across the entire brain. Increased global coupling suggests that creative expertise doesn’t just refine isolated networks but improves communication throughout the brain.

These findings align with research on neural plasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself through experience. Creative activities that involve motor skills, attention, rhythm, and coordination may strengthen both local circuits and long-distance connections. The brain becomes not just more specialized but more integrated.

Comparing Short-Term Learning to Long-Term Expertise
The effects of 30 hours of video game training were smaller than the differences between lifelong experts and non-experts. This scaling makes biological sense. Neuroplasticity requires sustained practice to produce lasting structural changes. A month of training can begin the process, but years of engagement drive more substantial reorganization.

Even the smaller effects from short-term learning, however, were accompanied by measurable cognitive improvements. Learners not only got better at StarCraft II but also responded faster on an unrelated attention task, demonstrating transfer effects beyond gaming-specific skills. The control group showed no such brain age changes.

Study Limitations and Future Directions
The research team acknowledged several constraints. The cross-sectional design for the expertise comparisons prevents definitive causal conclusions—it’s possible that people with healthier brains are more likely to pursue and excel in creative activities. While the pre-post learning experiment provides stronger causal evidence, it involved only 24 participants and focused solely on video game training.

Additionally, the research measured brain age but didn’t directly assess clinical outcomes such as dementia risk or cognitive decline over time. Future studies should track participants longitudinally to determine whether delayed brain aging translates into tangible health benefits.

The use of EEG and MEG data from different studies, with varying electrode configurations and recording protocols, introduced technical challenges. However, the consistent findings across different datasets and recording methods suggest the core results are robust rather than artifacts of any particular measurement technique.

The study also couldn’t fully control for all potential confounding factors. Unmeasured factors could still play a role in the observed associations between creative expertise and brain age.

Creativity as Brain Health Intervention
The research adds to growing evidence that lifestyle factors influence brain aging. Previous studies have linked physical exercise, education, and social engagement to healthier brain aging patterns. This study extends those findings to creative and artistic pursuits.

The results may inform public health recommendations. If creative activities genuinely slow brain aging, they represent accessible interventions that many people already enjoy. Unlike pharmaceutical treatments, creative hobbies carry minimal risks and offer additional psychological benefits including stress reduction and social connection.

The cross-cultural nature of the research, spanning 13 countries across Latin America, Europe, and North America, suggests the brain benefits of creativity transcend cultural boundaries. Whether someone practices tango in Argentina or plays video games in Poland, engagement in creative activities appears to support brain health.

The inclusion of video games alongside traditional arts challenges conventional thinking about creative pursuits. Strategy games like StarCraft II require rapid problem-solving, adaptive planning, and coordination, elements that overlap with more conventional creative activities. The findings suggest that what matters for brain health may be the cognitive demands and engagement rather than the specific medium.

 

Source: https://studyfinds.org/creative-skills-keep-brain-younger/

When Apple introduced the Retina Display in 2010, the company made a bold claim: the screen packed in so many pixels that the human eye couldn’t discern individual dots. Steve Jobs declared it had crossed a magical threshold—matching the limits of human vision itself.

Turns out, that wasn’t quite true.

A study published in Nature Communications reveals that human eyes can detect significantly more detail than tech companies have assumed. Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Meta found that eyes can perceive up to 94 pixels per degree for high-contrast content like text—roughly 50% sharper than the “Retina Display” threshold. Even Apple’s latest iPad Pro, with its Ultra Retina XDR screen, delivers only about 65 pixels per degree when held at a comfortable reading distance.

“This demonstrates that the 60-65 ppd range is not the ‘retinal resolution’ for a display,” the researchers wrote.

The gap matters. For over a decade, the display industry has operated under the assumption that 60 pixels per degree represents the ceiling of human perception. That number came from the standard eye chart test—the familiar poster with progressively smaller letters. Achieving 20/20 vision means resolving details at one arcminute of visual angle, which translates to 60 pixels per degree. But the Cambridge team discovered that younger adults with healthy vision routinely exceed this benchmark. Some participants in the study could see details as fine as 120 pixels per degree.

How Researchers Measured the True Limits of Human Vision

Measuring the true limits of vision required solving a technical puzzle. Digital displays can only reproduce images crisply at their native resolution. Trying to show intermediate resolutions demands digital resampling, which introduces artifacts that contaminate the measurements.

The research team, led by Maliha Ashraf, Alexandre Chapiro, and Rafał Mantiuk, built an inventive workaround: a 27-inch 4K monitor mounted on a motorized track. Moving the screen closer increased the pixels per degree; moving it farther decreased them. The setup was actually a high-tech remake of a 130-year-old experiment from 1894, when researcher Theodor Wertheim used wire gratings on a movable frame to study vision.

Eighteen participants sat in a dark room, watching patterns flash on the traveling display. Patterns consisted of high-contrast gratings—alternating light and dark stripes wrapped in a blurred bubble. Participants identified which of two time intervals contained the pattern, and a computer algorithm adjusted the display distance based on their answers, homing in on the threshold where they could just barely detect the stripes.

The experiment tested three types of patterns: black-and-white, red-green, and yellow-violet. Researchers also tracked how resolution limits changed when participants looked at the center of the screen versus 10 or 20 degrees to the side, simulating the difference between direct and peripheral vision. To confirm the findings applied to real content and not just test patterns, they also measured thresholds using actual text rendered in both standard and dark mode formats. Text results closely matched the pattern results.

Why Your 8K TV Might Be Overkill

Practical concerns emerge when considering display purchases. The research team built a model translating their measurements into real-world viewing scenarios, and the results challenge current industry standards.

Take 8K televisions. The International Telecommunication Union recommends viewing 8K displays from between 0.8 and 3.2 display heights away. But the Cambridge model shows those recommendations are overly conservative. According to the new data, sitting farther than 1.3 display heights from an 8K screen means most people won’t perceive any benefit from the extra resolution. For a 65-inch 8K TV, that’s about 3.5 to 4 feet. At typical couch distances of 8 to 10 feet, most viewers would not see a meaningful sharpness gain over 4K.

Desktop monitors also reveal a gap between current technology and human capability. A typical 27-inch 4K display at arm’s length hovers near 60 pixels per degree—right at the old 20/20 vision standard but well below the 94-pixel-per-degree benchmark the study identified.

Phone screens present an interesting case. At close reading distance, a modern phone like the iPhone 15 nears, but does not meet, the 94-pixel-per-degree average limit for high-contrast detail.

Virtual reality faces the biggest challenge. Most current headsets render well below the eye’s central limit, which is why vendors use foveated rendering. The new data suggests tuning color and luminance differently across the field could provide additional performance benefits.

The Hidden Problem with Video Streaming Quality

One of the study’s more technical discoveries has far-reaching consequences for video streaming and image formats. Standard practice in compression assumes human eyes are much less sensitive to color details than brightness details. Nearly every video format, from JPEG images to H.265 video, reduces color information by half based on this assumption.

The new data suggests this practice needs reconsideration, at least for red and green. The achromatic resolution limit hit 94 pixels per degree, while red-green patterns came in at 89 pixels per degree—a negligible difference. Only yellow-violet patterns showed a substantial drop to 53 pixels per degree.

Current compression algorithms typically cut resolution for all color channels equally. If the red-green channel can be perceived nearly as sharply as black-and-white, current schemes may be discarding visible information. At the same time, the yellow-violet channel could potentially be reduced more than current practice without affecting perceived quality.

Your Peripheral Vision Can’t See Color Nearly as Well

Looking straight ahead delivers the sharpest vision humans can muster. As an object moves toward the edge of the visual field, the ability to see fine details plummets. The study quantified exactly how much and revealed that the drop-off differs dramatically between brightness and color.

For black-and-white patterns, resolution declined 2.3 times between the center of vision and 10 degrees to the side. But for both red-green and yellow-violet patterns, the decline was much steeper—nearly five times at 10 degrees compared to dead center.

By 20 degrees into the periphery, participants could only detect black-and-white patterns at 21 pixels per degree, red-green at 7 pixels per degree, and yellow-violet at just 5 pixels per degree.

These measurements have practical applications for VR and AR displays, which use a technique called foveated rendering. Headsets track where users are looking and render the center of vision in high detail while reducing quality in the periphery. Most foveated rendering systems only account for brightness sensitivity. The new data shows they could save even more computing power by dialing down color resolution more aggressively away from the center of the gaze.

For consumers, the gap between current technology and perceptual limits means room remains for noticeable improvements. Displays that genuinely match human acuity would make text crisper, eliminate the faint pixel grid visible on close inspection of current screens, and remove the subtle blur that viewers might not consciously notice but that affects perceived image quality.

Whether manufacturers will invest in reaching these higher thresholds depends on costs, battery life, and whether consumers will pay for the difference. Phone makers appear closest to the target. TV manufacturers have already exceeded what most people can perceive at typical viewing distances, making 8K a solution in search of a problem for living room setups. Monitor makers and VR developers have the farthest to go.

These limits reflect high-contrast content and a relatively young sample, so real-world perception will vary. But human vision has more resolving power than the industry has given it credit for. Tech companies now have a clearer target, backed by rigorous measurement rather than marketing calculations. Whether they’ll aim for it remains to be seen.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/apples-retina-display-undershoots-what-eyes-can-see/

‘It reveals that both intense radiation from around the black holes as well as the high-speed jets they emit can work together to eject gas from the centres of galaxies, potentially shutting down star formation in their central regions and regulating galactic growth.

A new study led by astronomers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) has found that black hole activities suppress the birth of new stars around it.

Supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies are known to drive outflows of gas, and astronomers have long studied how feedback processes from these outflows can in turn determine the evolution of these galaxies.

However, a key puzzle has been to understand the relative influence of this gas outflow versus radiation from the central regions on the behaviour and evolution of the host galaxy.

The astronomers have uncovered key insights into these powerful forces shaping the universe. The Department of Science and Technology said that the study reveals that both intense radiation from around the black holes as well as the high-speed jets they emit can work together to eject gas from the centres of galaxies, potentially shutting down star formation in their central regions and regulating galactic growth.

Using cutting-edge archival data from international astronomical facilities like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Telescope at optical wavelengths and the Very Large Array (VLA) at radio wavelengths, both located in the United States, the researchers studied over 500 relatively nearby galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN).

“AGN are energetic galaxy centres that emit copious radiation and gas, powered by matter falling onto their supermassive black holes, many millions of times more massive than our Sun,” the department said.

“We found that outflows of warm ionized gas are widespread in AGN, and while radiation from the black hole is the main driver, galaxies with radio jets show significantly faster and more energetic outflows,” said Payel Nandi, a Ph.D. student at IIA and the lead author of the study.

Their investigation further showed that such outflows, which are high-speed streams of gas pushed out from galactic centres, are more than twice as likely in galaxies detected in radio wavelengths (56%) compared to those without radio emission (25%).

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/black-hole-activities-suppress-the-birth-of-new-stars-around-it-study/article70208874.ece

 

Researchers were inspired by an existing process before coming up with an ingenious new method

A GROUNDBREAKING cure for baldness has been revealed by boffins – who claim it takes less than three weeks to take effect.

Researchers have created a cutting-edge serum that restores hair growth on mice in just 20 days – and it could soon be available for humans.

In breakthrough experiments, the potion stimulated fat cells in the mice’s skin that regenerated hair follicles.

Experts at National Taiwan University said their unique serum contains naturally derived fatty acids which do not cause skin irritation.

They claimed it may be available in the form of a skincare product for people to buy over the counter in the near future.

Professor Sung–Jan Lin said he used an early version of the one-of-a-kind product on his legs – and claimed his product worked wonders.

The boffin told New Scientist: “I personally applied these fatty acids, dissolved in alcohol, on my thighs for three weeks and I found it promoted hair regrowth.”

Lin’s research team were inspired by a process called hypertrichosis – when excessive hair growth is sparked by irritation or injury to skin surfaces.

Humans have lost dense hair coverage on their bodies, but evidence suggests we have kept this “important regenerative capacity”.

Bearing in mind this fact, scientists from the team induced eczema on shaved mice by applying an irritant called dodecyl sulfate to their backs.

Just 10 to 11 days later, areas of the skin which had serum added to them started to sprout new hair from follicles.

These holes are just a fraction of a millimetre wide.

In contrast, hair did not grow on the areas without the eczema induction.

And control mice which weren’t treated with the solution did not grow hair within the same period.

Researchers say this method works because the irritant causes immune cells to move into the layer of fat beneath a mouse’s skin.

This signals fat cells to release fatty acids that are absorbed by follicle stem cells – triggering hair growth.

The researchers said: “These results demonstrate that skin injury not only induces tissue inflammation but also stimulates hair regeneration.”

Taking this into account, the experts then tried to see what the effect of fatty acids would be without the use of any chemical irritant.

So they created a number of serums made from different fatty acids dissolved in alcohol, such as oleic and palmitoleic acids.

They then discovered that these potions were effective in promoting hair growth.

And crucially – they did not need to use any irritants.

They have patented their groundbreaking solution, and now plan to test its effectiveness on people’s scalps.

“Oleic acids and palmitoleic acids are naturally derived fatty acids,” Lin said.

“They are not only rich in our adipose tissues, but also in many plant oils, so they can be safely used.”

Researchers have already seen promising results when applying the serum to human hair follicles in the lab as well as Lin’s thighs.

They also claim they don’t expect it to have any severe side effects.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/tech/15398698/baldness-cure-scientists-grow-hair-on-mice/

Most dog owners don’t think twice about the carbohydrates in their pet’s food. But a study from Finland found that dogs eating high-carb kibble showed markedly different blood chemistry than those eating a carbohydrate-free raw diet after about five months. The differences appeared in markers linked to blood sugar control, cholesterol, and how dogs burn energy.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki tracked 46 Staffordshire Bull Terriers, dividing them between a high-carbohydrate kibble diet and a low-carbohydrate raw meat-based diet. Blood tests revealed distinct metabolic differences between the two groups that raise questions about how modern dog foods align with what dogs evolved to eat.

Dogs on the kibble diet, which contained 48.4% carbohydrates from rice and maize, experienced increases in long-term blood sugar markers, total cholesterol, and body weight. Dogs eating raw meat-based diets with essentially zero carbohydrates showed decreases in blood sugar, cholesterol, and markers linked to insulin sensitivity over the course of the study.

“Considering that dogs originate from carnivorous wolves and do not have a requirement for carbohydrates, it may be questioned whether high-carbohydrate diets are beneficial to their health,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published in The Veterinary Journal.

Dogs Evolved to Eat Meat, Not Grains

Domestication gave dogs extra copies of a gene called AMY2B, which produces an enzyme that helps digest starch. The number of these gene copies varies widely among breeds, similar to variations seen in human populations.

Studies also show dogs naturally prefer fat and protein over carbohydrates when given a choice. Yet the most common commercial dog foods contain significant amounts of starches from grains and potatoes, in part because starch is needed to form kibble during manufacturing and grains tend to cost less than animal proteins.

At the study’s conclusion, kibble-fed dogs had significantly higher levels of blood fats and cholesterol compared to those eating raw meat. In one kibble-fed dog, a particular cholesterol measurement could not be calculated because the dog’s blood fat levels were too high for the standard formula. This happened despite the raw diet containing much more saturated animal fat.

When glucose is abundant, dogs’ bodies can convert that excess sugar into fats and cholesterol. That may help explain why the higher-carb diet led to these shifts. Similar patterns occur in humans who consume high amounts of refined carbohydrates.

Blood Sugar Changes Over Time

One particularly notable finding involved a marker called HbA1c, which acts like a snapshot of average blood sugar levels over the preceding 2-3 months. This marker increased in kibble-fed dogs but remained stable in those eating raw meat.

Actual blood sugar levels dropped in the raw-fed group during the trial while staying unchanged in kibble eaters. Glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar when levels drop too low, decreased significantly in raw-fed dogs but remained stable in the kibble group.

Another marker combining blood sugar and blood fats decreased significantly in raw-fed dogs, suggesting improved insulin function. The authors note this marker has been used in human research but is new to canine studies, so they interpret the finding cautiously.

Blood fats called triglycerides trended lower in raw-fed dogs and were significantly higher in kibble-fed dogs at the study’s conclusion. Elevated triglycerides in dogs have been linked to insulin resistance, inflammation, obesity, diabetes, pancreatitis, and liver disease.

A Different Fuel Source

Dogs eating raw meat showed significantly elevated levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body that serves as an alternative fuel source when carbohydrates are scarce. Both diet groups saw increases in this marker, but raw-fed dogs had much higher levels by the study’s end, suggesting their bodies had shifted to burning fat for energy instead of sugar.

This metabolic state, called nutritional ketosis, takes longer to achieve in dogs than in humans. In human studies, ketogenic diets have been shown to reduce inflammation, improve cell energy production, and help manage insulin resistance, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes. Whether dogs experience similar benefits remains an open question.

Kibble-fed dogs gained an average of 0.53 kg during the trial, while raw-fed dogs maintained stable weights, though the difference between groups was not statistically significant at the study’s end.

What This Means for Dog Owners

The kibble used was Hill’s Science Plan Canine Adult Sensitive Skin with Chicken, a mainstream commercial diet. Raw diets consisted of commercial MUSH Vaisto formulas containing meat, offal, bones, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and various supplements formulated to meet complete nutritional requirements.

Previous research has reported that dogs eating raw meat-based diets have better dental, ear, and skin health compared to kibble-fed dogs. They also show lower levels of an enzyme that can indicate liver stress and higher markers suggesting improved gut health and immune function.

Raw feeding has gained popularity among dog owners but remains controversial in veterinary medicine due to potential risks from bacterial contamination and nutritional imbalances in improperly formulated homemade diets. The raw diets in this study were commercial products designed to be nutritionally complete.

This study did not evaluate cardiovascular outcomes or long-term health effects, so the clinical meaning of the cholesterol changes in dogs remains unknown.

The study also focused exclusively on Staffordshire Bull Terriers, a heavily muscled breed. Since muscle tissue plays a major role in how the body processes sugar and energy, findings may not apply equally to all breeds. Dogs ranged in age from 1 to 13 years, and all had eaten different diets before the trial began, which could have influenced results.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/low-carb-diet-dogs-health/

Study confirms long-held beliefs about one of the most common and devastating symptoms of schizophrenia.

Ever notice how certain songs from your teenage years or beyond tend to hit you harder emotionally than others? Turns out your gender plays a role in why. Scientists in Finland have discovered something fascinating about the way we form musical memories: men typically connect most deeply with songs around age 16, while women peak around 19.

This three-year gap reveals how gender shapes the very foundation of our musical identity. The study tracking nearly 2,000 people across 84 countries found that the songs that define us don’t arrive on the same timeline for everyone.

The findings add a new twist to what researchers call the “reminiscence bump,” which is that special period when certain experiences become permanently etched in our memory. It seems that the soundtrack of our lives follows different schedules for men and women.

Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä asked participants a simple question: What’s one piece of music that’s personally important or meaningful to you? Participants nominated one personally meaningful piece of music and the team derived Age at Release (the listener’s age when the song originally came out, which can be negative for pre-birth releases) using Spotify metadata. The study used advanced statistical methods and included people ranging from teenagers to those in their mid-60s, speaking 11 languages.

The findings held up across multiple analytical approaches. Even after researchers accounted for potential biases and used 10,000-iteration bootstrap and 10,000-label permutation tests, the pattern remained consistent: women form their deepest musical connections later than men. In 10,000 label shuffles, none matched the observed women–men difference.

Why Musical Memories Form Earlier in Men Than Women
So what drives this difference? The answer likely lies in how men and women use music during the process of becoming adults.

Prior work suggests men often use intense music during mid-teens for independence and peer identity, while many women report broader uses like emotion regulation and social connection. During mid-adolescence (roughly ages 14 to 17), many young men gravitate toward intense, rebellious genres like rock and metal. These musical choices serve a specific purpose: establishing independence, aligning with peer groups, and signaling autonomy from parents.

For many men, these songs become permanently embedded in their sense of self.

Women tend to engage with music in more varied and emotionally layered ways during adolescence. Rather than using music primarily for rebellion or peer alignment, young women often turn to songs for emotional expression, processing romantic relationships, exploring values, and maintaining social connections. These processes may take longer to crystallize, potentially explaining why the peak arrives around age 19 instead of 16.

How Your Brain Changes the Way You Remember Songs Over Time
The differences between men and women don’t stay constant throughout life. As people age, the patterns change dramatically.

Men show remarkably stable musical memories across their lifespan. Even men in their 60s maintain a strong emotional connection to music from their teenage years. The adolescent peak often persists. It sits alongside newer musical memories like a permanent landmark. Older men show what researchers call a “dual-peak pattern,” where music from around age 16 remains just as emotionally important as songs from more recent years.

Women follow a different path. While younger women show the expected peak around age 19, this pattern shifts as they age. By their 60s, women’s most meaningful music clusters much more tightly around recent years. The adolescent peak doesn’t vanish entirely, but it becomes far less dominant. For older women, the music that matters most often comes from later life stages rather than the teenage years.

The gender difference becomes more visible in older cohorts in the paper’s sliding-window and mixture-model views. Statistical analyses confirmed that the gender difference grows more pronounced with each passing decade. Bimodal distributions in older participants typically combine a persistent adolescent peak with a recent-life peak.

Why would this happen? One possibility is that men and women maintain different relationships with music throughout life. For men, music from adolescence may become a kind of emotional time capsule, forever associated with the intensity of becoming independent. Those early musical connections might serve as an anchor point that men return to again and again.

Women appear to use music more actively across their lifespan. Rather than treating adolescent music as a fixed reference point, women continue engaging with new songs as tools for emotional expression, social connection, and processing life experiences well into later adulthood. The music that feels most meaningful keeps evolving because the functions it serves keep evolving.

The Science Behind Gender Differences in Music and Memory
The research team identified three distinct patterns that shape which songs feel most meaningful. The “reminiscence bump” centered on adolescence and early adulthood appeared consistently across all participants, though its timing and prominence varied by gender. This is the classic peak that memory researchers have documented for decades.

The “cascading bump” showed up among younger participants, particularly those under 30. These individuals reported meaningful connections to music released roughly 25 years before they were born (essentially, their parents’ music). This cross-generational transmission was more pronounced and consistent in women than men, suggesting that young women might be more receptive to musical influences from previous generations.

The “recency bump” emerged most strongly in older adults, who showed emotional connections to music from the past 10 to 15 years. People don’t stop forming deep bonds with new music as they age, but how prominent this recent effect becomes depends heavily on gender.

Part of what makes music such a powerful memory cue is how it engages the brain. Scientific research shows that music activates regions involved in both emotion and memory, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex. These areas work together to encode experiences with high emotional intensity, creating memories that can last a lifetime.

During adolescence, these brain systems are particularly sensitive. The teenage brain is still developing, with heightened neuroplasticity and increased reward sensitivity. At the same time, cognitive control systems that would normally filter emotional responses are still maturing. This combination creates conditions for encoding intense musical memories, especially during the period when identity formation is at its peak.

The gender differences in timing might reflect different developmental schedules for boys and girls, or they might stem from how social and cultural factors interact with these neurobiological processes. Boys and girls experience puberty on slightly different timelines, face different social pressures, and often navigate different emotional landscapes during adolescence.

What This Means for Music Therapy and Personal Playlists
The gender differences documented in this study have practical applications. Music therapists working with aging populations might want to consider gender when designing playlists. These are population-level patterns; individual playlists should be personalized. For older men, emphasizing music from the mid-teenage years could trigger powerful autobiographical memories and emotional responses. For older women, a broader mix spanning more recent years might be more effective.

The research also sheds light on why men and women sometimes have such different conversations about music. When a man in his 50s insists that music from his high school years was objectively better, he’s not just being nostalgic. His brain genuinely encoded those songs with exceptional emotional intensity during a narrow developmental window, and that intensity has often persisted. When a woman the same age is more enthusiastic about a recent album, she’s not being flighty or less attached to her past. She’s continuing a lifelong pattern of forming new musical connections.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/gender-shapes-when-music-hardest/

When it comes to describing what an antioxidant is, it’s all in the name: Antioxidants counter oxidants. And that’s a good thing.

Oxidants can damage the structure and function of the chemicals in your body critical to life – like the proteins and lipids within your cells, and your DNA, which stores genetic information. A special class of oxidants, free radicals, are even more reactive and dangerous.

As an assistant professor of nutrition, I’ve studied the long-standing research showing how the imbalances in antioxidants and oxidants lead to oxidative stress, which is linked to cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, a primary cause of aging is the damage accumulated across of a lifetime of oxidative stress.

Simply put: To help prevent oxidative stress, people need to eat foods with antioxidants and limit their exposure to oxidants, particularly free radicals.

The Research: Food, Not Supplements
There’s no way for any of us to avoid some oxidative stress. Just metabolism – the processes in your body that keep you alive, such as breathing, digestion and maintaining body temperature – are a source of oxidants and free radicals. Inflammation, pollution and radiation are other sources.

As a result, everyone needs antioxidants. There are many different types: enzymes, minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals.

Two types of phytochemicals deserve special mention: carotenoids and flavonoids. Carotenoids are pigments, with the colors yellow, orange and red; they contain the antioxidants beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein. Some flavonoids, called anthocyanins, are pigments that give foods a blue, red or purple color.

Although your body produces some of these antioxidants, you can get them from the foods you eat, and they’re better for you than supplements.

In fact, researchers found that antioxidant supplements did not reduce deaths, and some supplements in excessive amounts contribute to oxidative stress, and may even increase the risk of dying.

It should be pointed out that in most of these studies, only one or two antioxidants were given, and often in amounts far greater than the recommended daily value. One study, for example, gave participants only vitamin A, and at an amount more than 60 times an adult’s recommended intake.

Foods Rich In Antioxidants
In contrast, increased antioxidant intake from whole foods is related to decreased risk of death. And although antioxidant supplementation didn’t reduce cancer rates in smokers, the antioxidants in whole foods did.

But measuring antioxidants in foods is complicated. Extensive laboratory testing is required, and too many foods exist to test them all anyway. Even individual food items that are the same exact variety of food – such as two Gala apples – can have different amounts of antioxidants. Where the food was grown and harvested, how it was processed and how it was stored during transportation and while in the supermarket are factors. The variety of the food also matters – the many different types of apples, for instance, can have different amounts of antioxidants.

Nonetheless, in 2018, researchers quantified the antioxidant content of more than 3,100 foods – the first antioxidant database. Each food’s antioxidant capacity was determined by the amount of oxidants neutralized by a given amount of food. The researchers measured this capacity in millimoles per 100 grams, or about 4 ounces.

For fruits easily found in the grocery store, the database shows blueberries have the most antioxidants – just over 9 millimoles per 4 ounces. The same serving of pomegranates and blackberries each have about 6.5 millimoles.

For common vegetables, cooked artichoke has 4.54 millimoles per 4 ounces; red kale, 4.09 millimoles; cooked red cabbage, 2.15; and orange bell pepper, 1.94.

Coffee has 2.5 millimoles per 4 ounces; green tea has 1.5; whole walnuts, just over 13; whole pecans, about 9.7; and sunflower seeds, just over 5. Herbs and spices have a lot: clove has 465 millimoles per 4 ounces; rosemary has 67; and thyme, about 64. But keep in mind that those enormous numbers are based on a quarter-pound. Still, just a normal sprinkle packs a powerful nutritional punch.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/getting-antioxidants-from-real-food-beats-supplements/

Nearly half of nursing home residents with dementia receive benzodiazepines during hospice care, and a new national study reveals these commonly prescribed sedatives are associated with a 41% increased risk of death within six months. Antipsychotics, given to about one in eight patients, showed a 16% increase in mortality risk.

The findings challenge current end-of-life prescribing practices for the 25% of hospice patients who have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Unlike cancer patients, who typically have more predictable disease trajectories, people with dementia often live for months or even years after enrolling in hospice. One in five will outlive the six-month prognosis required for hospice eligibility.

“While these medications may provide symptom relief in appropriate clinical scenarios, their use is associated with substantial risks,” the researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open. The study examined 139,103 Medicare beneficiaries with dementia who enrolled in hospice between 2014 and 2018. Researchers then created carefully matched comparison groups totaling 53,859 participants to isolate the effects of these medications. The authors note the study was not designed to estimate national prevalence.

The Link Between Hospice Sedatives and Risk Of Death

Hospice providers routinely prescribe benzodiazepines like lorazepam and antipsychotics such as haloperidol to manage agitation, anxiety, and terminal delirium. For dementia patients, these behaviors often distress not just the patient but also family members and nursing staff.

Both medication classes carry documented risks in older adults. Antipsychotics have an FDA boxed warning specifically for increased mortality in dementia patients. Benzodiazepines are linked to respiratory suppression, sedation, falls, and aspiration.

The research team, led by Dr. Lauren Gerlach, a geriatric psychiatrist from the University of Michigan Medical School, used Medicare claims data to track patients who started these medications after hospice enrollment. They compared outcomes to similar patients who didn’t receive the drugs. Most patients began taking benzodiazepines or antipsychotics within three days of entering hospice.

Among those who started benzodiazepines, 73.6% had died by 180 days. Only 58.3% of matched patients who didn’t receive the drugs died in the same timeframe. For antipsychotics, 70.7% of users died compared to 63.3% of nonusers.

The study controlled for age, cognitive function, overall health, functional status, disruptive behaviors, and baseline use of other medications affecting the central nervous system. The link between medication initiation and increased mortality held across multiple statistical approaches.

Prescribing Rates Vary Wildly Between Hospice Facilities

The lack of consistency in prescribing is striking. Previous research has shown benzodiazepine prescribing rates in hospice range from 12% to 80% across different agencies. Antipsychotic rates vary from 6% to 62%. Whether a dementia patient receives these medications appears to depend more on which hospice agency they use than on their actual symptoms or clinical needs.

Hospice clinicians themselves disagree about these medications. In one national survey, 40% of hospice physicians believed benzodiazepines were overused in their facilities. Only 8% of hospice nurses shared that view.

Gerlach and her colleagues argue for national guidelines for hospice prescribing in dementia. Standardized protocols could reduce unwarranted variation and promote safer practices.

Why Dementia Patients Face Unique Challenges in Hospice

Hospice was originally designed around a cancer care model. Cancer patients typically have weeks or a few months to live. Dementia follows a fundamentally different path. The condition involves gradual functional and cognitive decline over an extended, unpredictable timeline. Doctors struggle to determine when someone is truly at the end of life.

People with dementia have the longest hospice stays of all diagnosis groups. In this study, average hospice length of stay exceeded 130 days. For patients who aren’t actively dying, families may prioritize preserving alertness and communication during remaining months. Sedating medications could work against these priorities.

The researchers noted that patients earlier in the hospice trajectory, who may have months to live, face particular risks. Sedating effects may compromise quality of life, impair communication, and interfere with functional independence.

The study found that more frequent prescriptions compounded the mortality risk. The analysis of medication patterns during the first 30 days of hospice showed that each additional benzodiazepine prescription was associated with a 15% higher risk of death by 180 days. Each additional antipsychotic prescription was associated with a 6% higher risk. Patients typically received their last prescription about two weeks before death for benzodiazepines and three weeks before death for antipsychotics.

Medicare No Longer Tracks Hospice Medications

From 2014 to 2018, Medicare briefly required hospice agencies to report medications billed to the hospice benefit. That program has expired. Hospice medication use now goes entirely unmonitored.

The researchers called this a blind spot in oversight of end-of-life care. They urged renewed efforts to track and evaluate medication use in hospice to guide evidence-based practice and protect patient safety.

The study focused on nursing home residents with Medicare fee-for-service coverage. Findings may not apply to all hospice patients. The researchers couldn’t measure actual medication consumption, only prescriptions filled. They also lacked information about symptom severity that might have prompted prescribing decisions.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/hospice-sedatives-higher-death-risk-dementia-patients/

They were the colossal animals that roamed the Earth 166 million years ago. Now a window into their prehistoric past is being revealed in an Oxfordshire quarry.

Hidden under tonnes of rock, a dinosaur superhighway is emerging – where palaeontologists are walking in the footsteps of these giant beasts.

This summer’s excavation at this extraordinary site has uncovered one of the longest trackways found anywhere in the world.

Scientists from across the UK descended on Dewars Farm Quarry and the BBC captured them working to unearth the footprints, amongst the trucks, diggers, and tippers.

“These footprints are insanely big,” explains Emma Nicholls from Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History.

“They’re the massive footprints of a sauropod dinosaur; probably Cetiosaurus, which is a dinosaur that we know was found in this area.”

These were four-legged, long-necked, plant-eating beasts that could reach about 18m in length.

Dewars Farm Quarry has long been linked with dinosaurs. Some trackways were discovered here in the 1990s, and last year researchers found 200 huge footprints criss-crossing the quarry floor.

However this year, the team unearthed even more tracks in a different part of the quarry.

Reaching from one end of the quarry to the other, the trail extends 220m, making it one of the longest continuous trackways ever found.

“We’re uncovering something that people have never seen before,” says University of Birmingham palaeontologist Kirsty Edgar. “It’s so rare to find something this big.”

Not every dinosaur dig starts with a trowel and a brush – discoveries as enormous as this one begin with a big bang.

A controlled explosion in the quarry removes millions of years of limestone rock, allowing the palaeontologists the more delicate task of excavating each sunken footprint.

Several trackways emerge – but one, the dinosaur superhighway, just goes on and on.

A bump at the front of each print marks where the dinosaur squelched the mud forwards – this tells us which direction it was heading in.

Smaller prints have also been found at the site, made by a two-legged carnivorous dinosaur called Megalosaurus.

These creatures, which measured up to 9m-long, left a distinctive three-toed mark as they prowled across the Jurassic terrain.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-5f8c77b0-92bc-40f2-bf21-6793abbe5ffe

Researchers have achieved the first demonstration in mice of using gene therapy to reverse hallmark symptoms of SYNGAP1-related disorder, a devastating condition affecting an estimated 1 million people worldwide. The treatment reduced abnormal brain electrical activity and corrected the brain wave patterns that are linked to many of the disorder’s problems, suggesting potential for a single intervention to reduce reliance on the multiple medications patients currently need.

The study, published in Molecular Therapy, demonstrates that delivering a functional copy of the SYNGAP1 gene via a modified virus can restore key measures of brain function in mice, even when administered during stages equivalent to early childhood in humans. Unlike conventional treatments that merely manage symptoms, this approach targets the genetic root cause of the disorder.

“This is the first successful demonstration of SYNGAP1 gene supplementation for SYNGAP1-related disorders with a multifaceted rescue of both epileptiform and behavioral phenotypes,” the research team from the Allen Institute for Brain Science and BioMarin Pharmaceutical reported.

Children with SYNGAP1-related disorders face intellectual disability, severe epilepsy, motor impairments, and behavioral problems such as hyperactivity and impulsivity. The SYNGAP1 gene provides instructions for making a protein critical for proper brain synapse function (the connection points where neurons communicate). When one copy of the gene is missing or impaired, the brain develops abnormally. Current treatment involves multiple medications to control seizures and manage behaviors, but these therapies don’t fix the underlying problem and often come with substantial side effects.

Breaking Through Technical Barriers
The researchers, led by Boaz Levi, faced a significant hurdle: the SYNGAP1 gene is too large to fit inside the standard delivery vehicle used for gene therapy. Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) typically can’t package genetic material larger than 4.7 kilobases, but the full SYNGAP1 gene measures about 5.1 kilobases.

Despite exceeding size limits, the scientists successfully engineered a viral vector that could deliver the complete, functional gene to neurons throughout the brain. Analysis showed that about three-quarters of packaged genomes were full-length. The team chose to deliver the SYNGAP1-Aα1 isoform, one of several versions of the protein that plays a particularly important role in behavioral and brain activity.

Brain Waves Return to Normal Patterns In SYNGAP-1 Mice
When the researchers tested their gene therapy in mice modeling SYNGAP1-related disorder, they observed substantial improvements across multiple measures of brain function. Perhaps most striking were changes in brain wave patterns, which are profoundly disrupted in both mouse models and human patients with the condition.

The brain produces electrical oscillations at different frequencies, each associated with specific cognitive functions. Slow delta waves dominate during deep sleep, theta waves appear during memory formation, alpha waves emerge during wakeful rest, beta waves accompany active thinking, and gamma waves facilitate information processing across brain regions.

In untreated mice with SYNGAP1 deficiency, the researchers observed elevated slow-wave and theta activity along with reduced alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations. These disrupted patterns have been linked to problems with learning, memory, attention, and sensory processing (the same cognitive struggles seen in patients).

After gene therapy treatment, particularly at mid- and high doses, brain wave patterns normalized across all frequency bands. The treatment reduced excessive slow-wave and theta activity while restoring alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations to healthy levels. These changes indicate restoration of more typical brain activity patterns across brain regions.

The gene therapy also reversed behavioral abnormalities characteristic of the disorder. Untreated mice showed hyperactivity, traveling nearly twice the distance of healthy mice in open field tests. They also displayed reduced fear of heights and increased risk-taking behavior, repeatedly poking their noses over the edge of elevated platforms (behaviors that parallel the impulsivity and fearlessness seen in human patients).

Treatment administered at postnatal day 21, roughly equivalent to early childhood in humans, reduced hyperactivity in a dose-dependent manner. At the highest doses, treated mice traveled distances comparable to healthy animals. The therapy also normalized risk-taking behaviors, with mice showing more typical caution on elevated platforms. These behavioral improvements emerged even when treatment was delayed until after the early postnatal period, challenging the notion that intervention must occur extremely early to be effective.

Reducing Abnormal Brain Electrical Activity
One of the most dangerous aspects of SYNGAP1-related disorders is abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The mice experienced frequent interictal spikes (abnormal electrical discharges between seizures), averaging 112 spikes per hour in the parietal region. After gene therapy, this number dropped to just 8 spikes per hour at effective doses, representing about a 93 percent reduction.

These interictal spikes are known to disrupt normal brain activity and have been linked to cognitive impairment in epilepsy patients, making their reduction particularly meaningful. However, the treatment did not completely prevent spontaneous generalized tonic-clonic seizures in all animals. Some mice in each treatment group still experienced seizures, though the study had too few animals to determine whether treatment changed seizure frequency.

The research team tested two different administration approaches: delivery to newborn mice at postnatal day 2 and to juvenile mice at day 21. Neonatal treatment showed only partial effectiveness, increasing SynGAP protein levels from 0.55 to 0.69 (normalized to healthy mice at 1.0) but failing to significantly improve behavioral symptoms.

Juvenile treatment proved more successful, particularly at higher doses that fully restored SynGAP protein levels to wild-type. This timing corresponds to the typical age of diagnosis in human patients, approximately 1 to 3 years old, making the findings especially relevant for clinical translation. The improved outcomes with juvenile treatment likely stem from brain-wide distribution of the therapeutic gene achieved through intravenous delivery and protein levels reaching normal amounts.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/single-gene-therapy-treatment-reverses-syngap-1-symptoms-brain-disorder/

Exercise is good for the body and the mind. A good workout can leave you feeling energized, recharged and ready to take on the rest of the day.

But for some, the aftereffects of a good workout can be slightly more bizarre. From bloody noses to “coregasms,” here are some of the strangest things that can happen to your body as a result of exercise:

1. Metallic Taste

Some people find that when exercising, they get a metallic taste in their mouth.

This is caused by the increases in heart rate and blood pressure that occur when we exercise. Over prolonged periods, this increased pressure can cause the small, delicate blood vessels in our nose to rupture.

This can either result in a nosebleed, or it can run backwards into your throat, where you’ll taste the blood. The iron in blood is what causes the metallic taste.

Some evidence suggests that this metallic taste can also result from small blood vessels in the lungs rupturing. This phenomenon is most commonly seen in elite cyclists and ultra-marathon runners, likely due to lengthy strain their lungs are placed under.

2. Bleeding From The Anus And Nipples

Exercise can also cause bleeding from other unexpected places.

For instance, long-distance running can induce bleeding from the anus. This is caused by changes to how blood flow is distributed in the body during exercise.

At rest, the gastrointestinal tract receives about 25% of blood from the heart. But during exercise this drops by about 80% as more blood is delivered to the muscles, heart and lungs. This causes a short-term lack of oxygen to the gastrointestinal tissues.

But when blood flow returns to normal after a run, the increased flow can damage the gastrointestinal tract’s tiny blood vessels. This causes bleeding from the anus – which, in some cases, it can be life-threatening.

Nipples are another sore spot that can bleed after a run due to chafing from clothes. The more you run per week, the more likely you are to experience this. Almost 40% of people who run more than 65km a week report having had “jogger’s nipple.”

Cold weather will make this worse as the nipples become erect, causing greater irritation and a focused point of contact. Sweat can worsen it, too, as it reduces the protective barrier on the skin’s surface.

Luckily, this can easily be prevented. A bit of petroleum jelly, for instance, can help you avoid irritation on your runs.

3. Rashes

When we exercise, we sweat. This is our body’s natural way of cooling off.

But dead skin cells, dirt and microbes can all cause this sweat to become trapped in the pores beneath the skin’s surface. This can lead to heat rash – an itchy, prickly or stinging sensation in the skin.

This rash typically disappears on its own. It can be prevented by wearing looser clothing during workouts, exercising in a cooler environment or applying cool compresses to the skin after a workout.

Urticaria is another rash that may appear – also triggered by heat or exercise. Urticaria is typically more painful and itchy than a heat rash and often requires antihistamines to reduce the symptoms. It’s caused by the release of histamine (an immune chemical) when the body is exposed to the trigger.

4. Blackened Toenails

Although this condition is commonly called “runner’s toenail,” it isn’t exclusive to these athletes. Any sport – including tennis and dancing – where there’s repetitive impact and pressure on the toes can cause toenails to blacken and even fall off.

Wearing proper fitting footwear that prevents the toes from rubbing and being squished in the shoe will reduce risk of this.

5. Runny Nose

The rapid breathing we do during a workout can increase the number of irritants, debris and microbes that enter the body through the nose.

In response, the body begins producing more nasal fluids to wash them out – and prevent drying out. This results in a runny nose – a sign the body’s protective mechanisms are on the offensive.

Exercise-induced rhinitis is extremely common in swimmers and those who exercise in cold air – such as cross-country skiers. This is because these environments are very punishing on the mucous membranes.

6. Red Eyes

Heavy lifting or straining during a workout can potentially cause structural damage to the eyes.

When we strain, it spikes our blood pressure – and this pressure can cause the small vessels in the white of the eyes to rupture. This is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage,

The result is a small spot of blood on the white of the eye. Thankfully, the condition is not painful and typically does not affect vision. It usually heals in a couple of weeks.

7. Coregasms

For some people, exercise can induce sexual pleasure – an exercise-induced orgasm or “coregasm.” While abdominal and core muscle exercises are common triggers, they aren’t the only exercises that can induce one. Some people have reported experiencing them while cycling, weight lifting, running, doing yoga or even walking.

Women tend to experience them more than men, but it isn’t known how much more common it is as studies are limited.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/7-weird-ailments-that-exercise-can-trigger/

 

Athletes have long obsessed over what to eat, but emerging science points to a different question: when should they eat? A systematic review of 18 studies examining time-restricted eating (TRE) in athletic and active populations reveals early promise that limiting daily food intake to specific windows may trigger beneficial metabolic changes. However, the team of Spanish researchers emphasizes that the evidence remains scarce and that more studies are needed.

Time-restricted eating, also well-known as intermittent fasting, involves condensing all daily meals into a defined period, typically between four and 12 hours, with the remaining hours spent fasting. The review, published in Revista Española de Nutrición Comunitaria, found the most commonly studied approach was the 16:8 protocol, where eating occurs within an eight-hour window and fasting extends for 16 hours. While most TRE research has focused on weight loss, some studies suggest that there may be deeper cellular effects.

One small study of 11 non-athletes following early TRE (eat early, finish by mid-afternoon) for just four to five days found increased expression of molecular markers involved in cellular maintenance and aging regulation. Researchers observed elevated levels of SIRT1, a gene involved in regulating aging processes, and LC3A, a protein that helps form autophagosomes. These microscopic structures capture and remove aged or damaged cellular components in a process called autophagy, the body’s internal recycling system.

The same short-term study found increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor during the night, a molecule that promotes neuronal growth and survival. These signals are consistent with autophagy pathways but are not direct measures of biological age or lifespan, and were observed after just 4–5 days in non-athletes. Whether similar effects occur in athletes during longer-term eating patterns remains unknown.

Among elite cyclists in a four-week randomized controlled trial, time-restricted eating showed short-term benefits. Athletes lost approximately 2% of body weight and showed an 11% decrease in resting energy expenditure, alongside a roughly 4% improvement in maximum power output relative to body mass. Fat mass dropped while lean muscle remained stable, with a notable reduction in inflammatory markers. During winter preseason training, when intense exercise typically suppresses immune function and leaves athletes vulnerable to illness, this protective effect becomes particularly valuable. Both TRE and normal eating groups showed equal preservation of fat-free mass and athletic performance.

Athletic Performance Stays Intact

Athletes and coaches might reasonably worry that restricting eating times would hamper training or competition results. Across multiple studies lasting three to 98 days and spanning 11 to 271 participants, TRE either maintained or improved athletic performance measures, though most evidence comes from recreational athletes rather than elite competitors.

Research on physically active women combining high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with TRE showed a 1% reduction in body fat alongside improvements in jump performance. Another study of 12 physically active individuals found that after four weeks, participants increased their total work output and fat-free mass while reducing waist circumference. The researchers noted this improvement represented roughly a one-second difference that could influence competitive outcomes.

A study examining eating within just two hours daily in 11 individuals over a short crossover period found no decline in strength, maximum power output, or aerobic capacity. When combined with simultaneous strength and endurance training in people with overweight or obesity, the 16:8 protocol reduced body mass and decreased fat mass by 9% while increasing lean muscle and muscular strength in knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion.

Metabolic Benefits Beyond the Scale

Beyond performance metrics, intermittent fasting appears to shift metabolic patterns and daily glucose control in ways that could protect long-term health, though most of this evidence comes from non-athletic populations. Studies in people with overweight, obesity, or Type 2 diabetes consistently showed improved glucose control throughout 24-hour periods, with reduced nighttime glucose levels and decreased post-meal blood sugar and insulin spikes.

One experiment in non-athletes compared eating dinner at 6 p.m. versus 9 p.m. Earlier dinner timing reduced blood sugar response following the evening meal and lowered glucose levels from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning. Benefits extended into the following day, with increased fat burning after breakfast when dinner had been consumed earlier.

In individuals with Type 2 diabetes, three weeks of eating within a 10-hour window improved glucose balance without changing insulin sensitivity. While 24-hour energy expenditure remained stable, the shift in fuel use was notable: carbohydrate burning decreased while fat burning increased. Participants spent more time in normal glucose ranges and less time with elevated blood sugar, without significant increases in low blood sugar episodes.

Studies in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease also documented favorable changes in blood lipids. A 5:2 intermittent fasting protocol, where participants severely restricted calories two non-consecutive days per week, led to reductions in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, with particularly pronounced decreases compared to continuous calorie restriction. In one trial, HDL cholesterol decreased only in women. Some time-restricted eating studies showed increases in both LDL and HDL cholesterol in morning measurements, though without corresponding rises in triglycerides or free fatty acids.

Fat Loss in Athletes and Non-Athletes

Weight loss wasn’t universal across studies, but fat mass reduction was a consistent theme. Six studies documented significant decreases in fat mass among both athletes and non-athletes following various time-restricted eating protocols. Lean muscle mass either remained stable or increased in most cases.

Research comparing 16:8 time-restricted eating to continuous calorie restriction in 65 individuals with metabolic syndrome found greater fat mass loss in the time-restricted group without negative impacts on nutritional adequacy or dietary balance. Both groups improved body fat percentage, lean mass, BMI, and waist-to-hip ratio.

Time-restricted eating by itself reduced energy intake by 10-20% in physically active women without explicit calorie counting. This spontaneous reduction in consumption may partially explain the body composition changes, though metabolic shifts in fat burning likely play a role as well.

Hormonal Changes and Hunger Patterns

Time-restricted eating appears to recalibrate hormonal signaling related to hunger and fullness, based largely on research in non-athletic populations. Following Ramadan fasting (approximately 14 hours daily for 30 days), men with obesity showed increased leptin levels, the hormone signaling fullness, with no significant change in ghrelin, the hunger hormone. However, levels of certain gut hormones decreased after the fasting period, including glucagon-like peptide-1, peptide YY, and cholecystokinin.

In elite cyclists, TRE increased adiponectin levels, a hormone that facilitates fat loss and improves insulin sensitivity. The protocol also reduced anabolic hormones without affecting fat-free mass or endurance performance.

Cortisol patterns shifted with eating time restrictions as well. One study in people with overweight showed increased morning cortisol and reduced evening cortisol with time-restricted eating, though meal timing itself didn’t affect melatonin levels or overall circadian phase.

Across studies, participants reported lower hunger ratings, reduced food consumption from lunchtime onward, and decreased nighttime snacking. Participants described better feelings of well-being and positive attitudes toward time-restricted eating approaches.

Real-World Feasibility

Dietary interventions like intermittent fasting only work if people can stick with them. Time-restricted eating showed variable adherence rates across studies. While one 12-week study in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease reported 97.5% adherence, another 14-week trial in physically active individuals found adherence rates below 70%. Among the high-adherence group, 90% of participants felt the intervention was worthwhile and 95% would recommend it to others, with only 15% reporting barriers to implementation.

While some studies reported minor undesirable side effects, these were generally infrequent. Most participants tolerated the eating patterns well, though the wide range in adherence rates suggests individual responses vary considerably.

What the Evidence Can and Cannot Tell Us

The review encompassed studies with 11 to 271 participants and intervention periods ranging from just three days to 98 days. Only four of the 18 studies examined athletic populations specifically, with the remainder involving healthy individuals or those with overweight, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, metabolic syndrome, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

The heterogeneity in study populations, exercise protocols, and fasting approaches makes definitive conclusions challenging. Short follow-up periods mean long-term effects remain unknown. Small sample sizes in many trials limit statistical power.

Only one study directly measured markers of autophagy and aging processes, and that study lasted just four to five days in non-athletes. The authors conclude that evidence for anti-aging effects remains scarce and requires substantially more research. Most metabolic and hormonal data comes from non-athletic populations, raising questions about whether the same benefits extend to highly trained individuals with different metabolic baselines.

Despite these limitations, the pattern emerging across diverse study designs points to time-restricted eating as a feasible approach for improving health markers and body composition without compromising physical performance. For strength and power athletes, who research shows may face increased risk of obesity and diabetes in post-competitive life compared to endurance athletes, time-restricted eating might offer preventive value worth exploring.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/can-intermittent-fasting-help-athletes-age-better/

It’s a quiet autumn evening. You’re enjoying some TV, when an unscripted movement catches your eye. A large house spider (Tegenaria domestica) is striding across the rug towards you. You make a sudden movement. The spider freezes. You reach for a paper to shoo it away, look back and it’s gone. What did the spider see? Was it afraid of you?

To a house spider we appear as a potential predator. Yet, despite having more eyes than us, most spiders don’t actually see much detail. Their world is sensed mainly by vibration, air currents, touch and taste.

Spiders usually have four pairs of eyes and there are two types: principal and secondary. Principal or direct eyes help the spider see detail; the photo receptor cells of their retinas are at the front. As in other animals they detect light and turn it into signals for the brain. In secondary or indirect eyes the photo receptor cells are inverted. These eyes are sensitive to movement, rather than detail and can give spiders an early warning of potential prey or predators.

About half of Britain’s 37 spider families spin webs to catch prey. Their eyes are usually arranged in two rows and of roughly similar size. They have poor eyesight and use vibration to sense where their food is.

However, in some spider families, vision is important. These are the spiders which hunt or ambush prey and they have much better vision than their web spinning cousins. In the UK, this includes crab spiders (with about 30 species), wolf spiders and jumping spiders (both have about 40 UK species). Wolf and jumping spiders have one pair of eyes much larger than the others. These principal eyes focus on prey and the smaller secondary ones detect movement. Many jumping spiders can wavelengths of light we can’t, such as ultraviolet. They use it to locate prey and in mating displays.

Crab spiders (Thomisidae), named for their flattened bodies and tendency to move sideways, live in meadows and gardens. They can detect movement with their principal eyes from a distance of up to 20 cm. They are ambush predators that use camouflage to blend into flower heads and catch unwary insects with their long front legs. Misumena vatia, another crab spider, takes this strategy further. Its base color is white, but it can gradually change to yellow. This broadens the number of flower species it can use to trap prey, and hides it from predators.

Net-casting spiders (Deinopidae) are called “ogre-faced” spiders because of their enormous eyes and angry looking appearance. They live in dark tropical habitats. Deinopis species have huge principal eyes whose lenses have a wide field of view. They can concentrate light more efficiently than a cat or an owl. Each night a light sensitive membrane is produced inside the eyes but destroyed at dawn as it is too sensitive to use in daylight.

Deinopus spinosa catches prey by making an expandable silken net. It deposits white faecal droppings onto a leaf as aiming points then waits above the net, head down. When an insect walks across the target area the spider opens the net and thrusts it down to enclose its prey.

Wolf spiders (Lycosidae) are ambush predators, also with enlarged principal eyes. Pardosa amentata scans its surroundings for movement with its secondary eyes, though it can only focus on prey up to a few centimeters away. As its target moves closer, a row of secondary eyes, which detect movement, is used to gauge distance. Wolf spiders also use vision for courtship. On encountering a female, a male stands on its back legs, waves its palps, and vibrates its front legs in time with them. A spider’s palps are appendages in front of its mouth. They can sense touch and taste and are also used in mating. Pardosa dances differ from species to species, enabling females to recognize males they can mate with.

Wolf spiders often hunt at night and their posterior median eyes shine in torchlight because they have a reflective membrane. This membrane acts as a mirror, so light passes their photo receptors twice which enhances low light vision. This structure is an example of parallel evolution as it is seen in nocturnal animals as diverse as cats and crocodiles.

Jumping spiders (Salticidae) are among the few invertebrates with large camera-like eyes like those seen in most vertebrates (including us). Their eyesight is sharper than any other spider and is comparable to that of pigeons or cats. Portia africanus can image up to about 75 cm, relying on shape and color to identify prey. Jumping spiders detect movement with their secondary eyes, which give a blurry image. The spider then turns and focuses its primary eyes onto the object. These give a sharp image. The spider then uses its lateral eyes to judge distance, and when close enough (2-3 cm) it jumps.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/how-does-the-world-look-through-spiders-eyes/

The price of lobster rolls and whole Maine lobsters could climb even higher as warming oceans create an unexpected problem for America’s most valuable fishery. New research reveals that rising temperatures produce smaller baby lobsters, threatening the sustainability of an industry that generated over $2 billion in 2021.

Scientists from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and University of New Hampshire discovered this troubling trend after exposing pregnant lobsters to ocean conditions expected by century’s end. While the industry has weathered challenges before, this biological change strikes at the heart of lobster reproduction, potentially affecting how many juveniles survive to reach dinner plates.

Fast Growth Comes at a Price
Lead researcher Brittany Jellison and her team spent five months monitoring how lobster embryos developed under different climate scenarios. Eggs exposed to temperatures 4°C warmer than current averages produced larvae measuring 0.1 millimeters smaller at hatching. That might sound insignificant, but in the lobster world, size determines survival from day one.

Larger larvae have better survival odds, a serious concern for an industry already grappling with geographic shifts and declining catches in southern New England. The Gulf of Maine lobster fishery has thrived in recent years thanks to warming temperatures, but this latest finding suggests those benefits may be short-lived.

Temperature drove every major change researchers observed. Warmer conditions sped up embryo development, increased heart rates by 17%, and ramped up metabolic activity by 38%. Eggs developed faster but hatched smaller, a well-known biological trend where animals grow more quickly but reach smaller sizes in warmer conditions.

Acidification Proves Less Concerning
One bright spot emerged from the research: American lobster embryos showed remarkable tolerance to ocean acidification. Even at pH levels 0.4 units lower than today, roughly what oceans may experience by 2100, developing eggs maintained normal growth and metabolism.

This resilience likely stems from their natural environment. Pregnant lobsters migrate through diverse habitats during the nine- to 12-month egg development period, encountering everything from acidic estuarine waters to deeper ocean zones. Some females in New Hampshire’s Great Bay Estuary regularly experience pH levels as low as 7.7.

Embryos also pack tightly under their mother’s tail, where oxygen levels drop and carbon dioxide builds up between grooming sessions. This exposure to naturally variable conditions may have equipped them to handle acidification better than scientists initially expected.

Jellison noted that enzyme activity and oxygen consumption tracked seasonal temperature patterns throughout the experiment, reinforcing temperature’s dominant role. The physiology of American lobster embryos appears robust to ocean acidification but sensitive to warming, particularly for metabolic traits.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/maines-warming-waters-shrinking-baby-lobsters-prices-could-soar/

A new study suggests a habitable past and signs of ancient microbial processes on Mars — and Imperial scientists provided crucial context.

Led by NASA and featuring key analysis from Imperial College London, the work has uncovered a range of minerals and organic matter in Martian rocks that point to an ancient history of habitable conditions and potential biological processes on the Red Planet.

An international team, including researchers from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering (ESE) at Imperial, propose that these geological features within the so-called Bright Angel formation in Mars’s Jezero Crater are closely connected to organic carbon, and could be a compelling potential biosignature of past life.

Professor Sanjeev Gupta, Professor of Earth Science in ESE, and Academic Co-director of Imperial Global India, said: “This is a very exciting discovery of a potential biosignature, but it does not mean we have discovered life on Mars. We now need to analyse this rock sample on Earth to truly confirm if biological processes were involved or not.”

A core component of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, the Perseverance Rover has been exploring the 45-kilometre-wide Jezero Crater since 2021, a site chosen because it once held a huge lake and a river delta – environments that are considered prime targets in the search for signs of past life.

Its key goal is to collect and store the first set of selected rock and soil samples that will be brought back to Earth for detailed analysis.

The new study, published in Nature, focuses on a distinctly light-toned outcrop in the crater, dubbed ‘Bright Angel’, located within an ancient river valley which provided water to the Jezero lake.

While driving through the valley, called Neretva Vallis, Perseverance came across a thick succession of fine-grained mudstones and muddy conglomerates.

Here, it conducted a detailed analysis of these rocks, using instruments such as the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) and Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC).

By mapping the types and distributions of different sedimentary rocks at Bright Angel, ESE researchers (including Professor Gupta and Dr Robert Barnes, a Research Associate in ESE, who were both funded by the UK Space Agency), were able to reconstruct the environment in which these mudstones were deposited.

Their analysis revealed a range of sedimentary structures and textures indicative of lake margin and lake bed environments, including a composition rich in minerals like silica and clays – the opposite to a river scenario, where fast-moving water would carry these tiny particles away.

Source : https://www.awazthevoice.in/gadgets-news/scientists-just-found-strongest-signs-of-life-on-mars-yet-42222.html

Hot yoga may not live up to its hype for heart health after all. A new systematic review comparing yoga and conventional exercise found that structured exercise programs consistently improved blood vessel function, while yoga showed mixed and inconsistent results.

Researchers at the University of Sharjah in the UAE and Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India analyzed 10 studies examining the impact of various physical activities on vascular health in inactive adults. Conventional exercise interventions, including Tai Chi, Pilates, and high-intensity interval training, reliably enhanced measures like endothelial function and arterial stiffness. Yoga programs yielded variable outcomes, with some studies demonstrating modest improvements in specific populations, while others found no significant changes.

The review, published in Advances in Integrative Medicine, challenges popular assumptions about yoga as a cardiovascular intervention, particularly heated varieties like Bikram yoga. While some middle-aged practitioners experienced improved blood vessel dilation after 12 weeks of heated yoga, the practice showed no improvements in arterial stiffness. Moreover, practicing in a 105-degree room provided no additional cardiovascular benefit compared to room temperature.

Exercise Produces More Reliable Results

Among the exercise interventions examined, Tai Chi demonstrated significant improvements in endothelial function, the inner lining of blood vessels that regulates blood flow, in postmenopausal women after 24 weeks of practice. Reformer Pilates produced measurable improvements in flow-mediated dilation, a measure of how well arteries expand in response to increased blood flow, even after a single 60-minute session in older adults aged 60 to 69.

High-intensity interval training showed particularly strong effects. One study tested four four-minute running intervals with four-minute rests, repeated twice daily for a week in sedentary young women. This routine reduced arterial stiffness by 11 percent, though researchers noted the training occurred in a cold environment (14 degrees Celsius), which may have enhanced the vascular response. The finding comes from a small, specific population and may not apply broadly.

Activity micro-breaks during prolonged sitting, a popular workplace wellness strategy, produced minimal vascular benefits. Having sedentary workers take three-minute walking breaks or climb stairs every hour for four hours didn’t significantly improve carotid or femoral artery function. Brief, gentle movement interruptions appear insufficient to compensate for prolonged inactivity.

Yoga’s Age-Dependent Effects

The review identified one population where yoga showed some promise: middle-aged and older adults. Practitioners over 40 experienced modest improvements in endothelial function after eight weeks of Bikram yoga, though younger adults in the same study saw no changes. The evidence remains limited given small sample sizes ranging from 13 to 80 participants across studies.

Researchers speculate this age-dependent response relates to baseline vascular function. Older adults typically have more impaired blood vessel health, providing greater room for improvement. Younger sedentary people may have sufficiently healthy arteries that gentle yoga practice can’t meaningfully enhance.

However, even among older practitioners, yoga’s benefits were inconsistent. Some studies showed improved blood vessel function while others found no significant changes in arterial stiffness or compliance, despite two to three yoga sessions weekly for 12 to 24 weeks. Different yoga styles, including Hatha, Bikram, and Vinyasa, produced varying results across studies.

The Hot Yoga Question

One specific finding challenges marketing claims about heated yoga classes. Researchers directly compared Bikram yoga practiced at 105 degrees Fahrenheit versus the same routine at room temperature (73 degrees). After 12 weeks, 54 sedentary adults aged 40 to 60 showed similar outcomes regardless of temperature. Neither group demonstrated significant changes in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, which measures how fast blood pressure waves travel through arteries.

Studios often promote heated classes as superior for circulation, claiming warmth helps blood vessels dilate and improves flexibility. The evidence doesn’t support these claims. One study did find that 12 weeks of heated Bikram yoga “improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation in sedentary, middle-aged adults,” but noted “the heated environment did not enhance these vascular adaptations significantly.”

Translation: some vascular improvements occurred with Bikram yoga, but the heat itself provided no additional benefit. And importantly, improvements in vasodilation, a measure of how well blood vessels widen, didn’t correspond to changes in arterial stiffness, another key cardiovascular marker.

Why Intensity Matters

The pattern across studies points to intensity as a critical factor. Conventional exercise creates greater mechanical stress on blood vessel walls through elevated heart rate and blood flow, triggering beneficial adaptations. Yoga’s gentler movements may simply not provide enough stimulus to remodel arterial function, particularly in younger, sedentary adults.

This doesn’t mean yoga lacks value. Middle-aged and older practitioners may see modest vascular benefits, and yoga offers other documented advantages including improved balance, flexibility, and stress reduction. But for sedentary individuals primarily concerned with cardiovascular health, structured exercise programs appear more effective.

Tai Chi, which combines slow, flowing movements with mindfulness elements similar to yoga, produced more consistent vascular improvements than yoga in the studies examined. This suggests that movement quality, intensity, and duration all contribute to cardiovascular adaptations beyond any meditative or stress-reduction components.

What This Means for Sedentary Adults

For inactive adults genuinely interested in improving cardiovascular health through movement, this review offers clear guidance. Conventional exercise, particularly supervised aerobic or resistance training, produces more consistent and reliable vascular improvements than yoga. Tai Chi and Pilates also show promise, especially for older adults who may find high-intensity workouts challenging or inaccessible.

The review’s authors acknowledge several limitations. Most included studies had small sample sizes, and intervention durations varied widely from single sessions to six-month programs, making direct comparisons difficult. Few studies included long-term follow-up to determine whether vascular improvements persisted after interventions ended. Some studies showed critical or moderate risk of bias in domains including randomization, missing data, and selective reporting.

Additionally, no studies directly compared different yoga styles and exercise modalities within the same population. Future research with larger samples and standardized protocols would help clarify which interventions work best for specific populations.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/hot-yoga-heart-health/

 

Waiting can be boring, which is why we typically do anything we can to avoid it. We fill moments where we have to wait with something to keep our minds busy – such as scrolling on social media, reading the news or listening to a podcast.

But waiting isn’t always bad. Research shows that it can be beneficial as it improves self-control – an ability important for many social, cognitive and mental health outcomes.

Self-control refers to a person’s ability to regulate their thoughts, emotions and behavior when long-term goals conflict with short-term temptations.

Self-control has broad importance – whether that’s in school or the workplace – because of its implications for learning, decision-making, performance, social relationships and well being. The skill is key in resisting temptation in these settings.

Our ability to wait is a key way self-control is put to the test.

This might include pausing for a moment before writing a response to an email that has annoyed us. Or maybe it’s resisting the temptation of an unhealthy food when you’re trying to eat healthier. Both of these are examples of exerting self-control and creating space between impulse and action.

Research shows that even short delays or pauses – such as ordering food ahead of time or waiting before making a purchase – can cool-off impulses and help us prioritize long-term goals.

Despite the attention given to self-control in different fields of psychological research, waiting as a standalone construct has not received as much attention. Still, what research there is on the topic shows us that waiting can have similar benefits.

For instance, research has looked at what effect silence has in coaching conversations – with silence acting as a form of waiting. When the person who has been asked a question pauses before answering, it gives them the space to process their thoughts. This can help them better understand how they’re feeling, uncover memories or even shed a light on things that are confusing them. In this way, silence serves a distinct purpose in communication – be it a pause for better listening, a defense or a chance for reflection.

Moments of waiting can create space for reflection. Having the opportunity to reflect on our actions, emotions and experiences can spark ideas, deeper focus and creativity.

There are many personal and cultural differences in terms of how we perceive time in waiting. Waiting can also be uncomfortable or frustrating for those brains that crave stimulation. And, in some cultures, it can be framed as passive or inefficient – while in others, waiting is deemed powerful and transformative.

These differences mean that waiting can be perceived and practiced differently – and so benefits will appear in different forms.

The Value Of Waiting

To reap the benefits that can come from learning self-control, resisting urges and appreciating the moments when we’re waiting, we need to recognize the value of waiting.

Here are some evidence-based tips from positive psychology for practicing it more intentionally for our own well being:

1. Savoring

Have you ever bought a ticket for an event and ended up enjoying the anticipation more than the event itself? Or felt the excitement of counting down to a summer holiday with friends?

When we anticipate something exciting, part of the joy lies in the wait itself. Research shows that savoring what we look forward to helps us prolong pleasure.

Every time we think about it, we get small bursts of joy. Visualizing the concert, the trip or any event that you long for makes waiting less of an obstacle and more of an extension of the experience.

2. Gratitude

There are many moments in life where we have no option but to wait – for instance, while waiting to hear from your doctor about test results. But these moments can also give us an opportunity to feel gratitude.

Pausing to reflect on what you’re grateful for can make waiting less about the frustration or worry you’re feeling and more about appreciation.

3. Meaning making

Instead of seeing waiting as an inconvenience, try re-framing the way you think about it.

The next time you’re stuck in traffic or standing in a long line, instead of seeing it as an inconvenience, re-frame it and see the moment as a chance to rest, pause or reflect. Re-framing how you think about the situation can change the experience.

When we connect waiting to a sense of purpose, waiting gains direction and meaning.

4. Mindfulness

Irritable waiting moments can be cues to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness involves paying full attention to the present moment, and looking at it with curiosity and acceptance.

Intentionally noticing what’s going on in you and around you can turn an annoying circumstance into a mini check-in and chance to re-charge. This small practice may even help to improve your well being by helping you to relax and regulate emotions.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/waiting-isnt-bad-can-actually-boost-your-well-being/

Is a constantly aching back a sign of declining health? A major study of Brazilian adults reveals that nearly two-thirds of people with chronic back pain battle multiple serious health conditions, challenging the idea that chronic back pain exists in isolation.

Research published in the Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy examined health data from 87,678 adults who participated in Brazil’s 2019 National Health Survey. Of participants, 21.6% reported having chronic back pain. Yet among those dealing with persistent back problems, a stunning 62.1% also had at least one other chronic health condition.

Scientists at the University of Technology Sydney say these patients are managing serious conditions including heart disease, depression, arthritis, diabetes, and other serious ailments that make daily activities exponentially more difficult.

Heart disease affected 40.5% of people with chronic back pain versus 22.8% of those without back problems. Arthritis or rheumatism struck 19.3% of back pain sufferers compared to only 4.3% of others. Depression rates nearly tripled, jumping from 7.7% in people without back pain to 19.3% in those with chronic back issues.

Rather than viewing back pain as an isolated musculoskeletal problem, the research points to chronic back pain as part of a broader health crisis affecting millions of people.

Women and Older Adults Hit Hardest

Women made up a significantly larger portion of those dealing with back pain plus additional health problems. People with multiple conditions tended to be older, with lower education levels, and higher body mass index readings.

Of those with chronic back pain and depression, women represented 81.1% of cases. For arthritis combined with back pain, women made up 79.3% of sufferers. The average age difference between those with back pain alone versus those with multiple conditions was 12.1 years.

Certain Disease Combinations Worsen Activity Limitations

Having multiple conditions alongside chronic back pain severely impacts daily functioning. The research found that certain combinations proved particularly challenging for maintaining normal activities.

People with chronic back pain plus arthritis or rheumatism were more than twice as likely to report higher levels of activity limitations compared to those without this combination. Depression paired with back pain made people 60% more likely to report worse activity limitations, while cardiovascular disease increased those odds by 50%. Other lung diseases also showed a strong association, with nearly double the likelihood of activity limitations.

Of people with back pain alone, 41.5% reported no activity limitations, but only 25.9% of those with multiple health conditions reported no limitations — a difference of more than 15 percentage points.

Medical Treatment Falls Short for Most Back Pain Patients

Most clinical guidelines focus on back pain as a standalone condition, but this research shows that approach may overlook the reality that most patients face multiple interconnected health issues.

The interconnected nature of these conditions could explain why some back pain treatments succeed while others fail. A person dealing with depression, heart disease, and arthritis alongside their back pain may require a fundamentally different treatment strategy than someone with back pain alone.

While this study focused on Brazil, the patterns mirror findings from wealthier countries. The connection between chronic back pain and other health conditions crosses economic boundaries. Previous research from Germany, Australia, and the United States has documented similar clustering of chronic diseases with back pain.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/just-back-pain-other-health-problems/

For centuries, women have whispered about the mysterious link between their monthly cycles and the moon’s phases. New research shows that the connection was real, and, believe it or not, smartphones may have disrupted it.

An analysis of 176 women’s menstrual records spanning nearly a century shows that female reproductive cycles synchronized with lunar phases until around 2010. That’s precisely when LED lights flooded the market and smartphones became ubiquitous, bathing modern life in artificial blue light around the clock.

“Women’s menstrual cycles recorded before the introduction of light-emitting diodes in 2010 and the extensive use of smartphones significantly synchronized with the Moon, while those after 2010 coupled to the Moon mostly in January,” the researchers report in their Science Advances paper.

When Technology Rewrote Biology

Led by Charlotte Helfrich-Förster at the Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg, researchers tracked menstrual data from women across multiple generations, comparing records kept on paper calendars from the mid-20th century with smartphone app data from recent years. The contrast was dramatic.

Before 2010, women’s periods clustered around full and new moons in a pattern too consistent to be random, though this synchronization was always temporary, lasting only months or a few years before shifting. After 2010, that synchronization largely disappeared (except during January, when the combined gravitational pull of the sun, moon, and Earth reaches its annual peak).

Artificial light exposure, particularly from LED screens and bulbs, may disrupt the body’s ability to detect natural lunar light cycles. Unlike older incandescent bulbs, LEDs emit high levels of blue light that interferes with circadian rhythms and could mask the subtle environmental cues that once guided reproductive timing.

Hidden Forces Shape Cycles

The study shows something even more intriguing: menstrual cycles appear to respond not just to moonlight, but to the moon’s gravitational forces. Women’s periods synchronized with three different lunar cycles (the familiar 29.5-day pattern of moon phases, plus two gravitational cycles lasting about 27 days each).

This gravitational influence explains why synchronization persists in January, when Earth reaches its closest point to the sun. During this period, the combined gravitational forces of the sun and moon create the strongest tidal effects of the year, powerful enough to override the interference from artificial light.

Researchers examined records from 176 women across 24 years, creating one of the largest long-term studies of menstrual patterns ever conducted. Most participants were European women who tracked their cycles for an average of six years, with some records spanning nearly four decades from menarche to menopause.

When Screens Changed Everything

The smartphone revolution transformed how humans experience light and darkness. Before 2010, most people encountered artificial light primarily from incandescent bulbs that emit warm, yellowish light similar to firelight. LED screens and bulbs produce blue light that closely mimics daylight, confusing the body’s internal clock.

Satellite measurements show global light pollution increased dramatically after 2010, matching the timeline when lunar-menstrual synchronization weakened. Countries with higher light pollution, like northern Italy, showed less menstrual-lunar correlation than areas with darker night skies.

Google search data supports this connection. Queries for “period pain” spike consistently in January across multiple countries, indicating women worldwide experience stronger menstrual effects during the month when lunar gravitational forces peak.

Research shows human reproductive cycles operate like a “circalunar clock,” similar to the circadian clock that governs daily rhythms, but tuned to monthly lunar patterns.

Like other biological clocks, this lunar timekeeper has a limited range. Menstrual cycles can only synchronize with lunar phases when a woman’s natural cycle length falls within specific windows: roughly 26 to 36 days for moon phases, with narrower ranges for the gravitational cycles. Even before 2010, this synchronization was intermittent, lasting only months or a few years at a time before shifting out of phase.

As women age and their cycles typically shorten, they fall outside these synchronization ranges, explaining why lunar connections weaken over time. Modern lifestyle factors that shorten cycles (including artificial light exposure) make menstrual synchronization even less likely.

If artificial light can disrupt fundamental reproductive rhythms that evolved over millennia, this raises questions about whether other biological processes could also be influenced. The research adds to evidence that light pollution extends beyond cosmetics; it’s an environmental factor reshaping human physiology in ways scientists are beginning to understand.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/womens-periods-synced-with-moon-smartphones-zapped-connection/

If you believe that the end of the world is at hand, then you really need to know what the rapture is. Simply put, the rapture is the belief that, at any moment, Jesus Christ will descend from heaven to the sky and “rapture” all those who truly believe in Him into heaven. Those among the faithful who have already died will rise from the dead and also be translated into heaven.

Evangelical Christians on TikTok have been predicting the rapture will come this week. When the rapture happens, believers think the rest of us will be left behind, not knowing where many of those we know have gone. For this reason, it is often known as “Left Behind theology.”

For the followers of Left Behind theology within conservative Evangelical Protestantism, significant parts of the Bible – the books of Revelation and Daniel in particular – refer to events that are yet to happen at the end of the world. These are the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and God’s final judgment of all humanity into the saved and the damned.

But for the rapture in particular, the First Book of Thessalonians (4.16–17) in the New Testament is the crucial text: “For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up [raptured] in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Tribulation

The rapture is the first of two ideas that Left Behind theology has added to the traditional Christian story of the end of the world. The second is the Tribulation.

According to most Left Behind theologians, the rapture will be followed by a period of seven years of Tribulation on earth, based on some complicated calculations around the text of Daniel 9.24–27.

This is the age of the Antichrist, the son of Satan – a human figure soon to reveal himself.

He will be a global earthly ruler opposed to Christ and pretending to be him. He it is who is called in the Bible “the beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads” (Revelation 13.1), “the little horn” (Daniel 7.8), and “the lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2.3) whose number is 666 (Revelation 13.18).

Christians who have been raptured into heaven are immune from these seven years of natural disasters, wars, famine and the persecutions of the Antichrist.

The Kingdom Upon Earth

After the seven years of the Tribulation, Christ will return with his saints to fight and defeat Satan, the Antichrist, and his forces at the battle of Armageddon.

Most followers of Left Behind theology believe that Christ will then set up his kingdom upon earth and reign from Jerusalem for a millennium or a thousand years. He will govern the earth with his Christian followers, along with those Jews who have recognized Christ as the Messiah during the time of the Tribulation.

The eventual conversion of the Jews during this time explains, in part at least, the commitment to and support of many Evangelical Protestant Christians to the continuation of the State of Israel until the time of Tribulation when the Jews convert to Christianity.

At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released and there will be a final but short rebellion against God, after which Satan will be defeated. Then God will judge everyone for eternal happiness in heaven or eternal misery in hell.

A Relatively Recent Innovation

In the history of Christian thought, the idea of the rapture before the Tribulation is a relatively recent innovation.

We can date it to the 1830s and the theology of the Anglican John Nelson Darby (1800–82), a member of the Protestant Plymouth Brethren, and the founder of the group still known as the Exclusive Brethren. But it was popularized in Protestant circles in the United States by its inclusion in the notes of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909.

The Bible of C.I. Scofield (1843–1921) was the main source for the idea of the rapture until The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey (1929–2024) in 1970, a work that has sold over 28 million copies and has been translated into 54 languages. “Someday,” declared Lindsey, “a day that only God knows is coming to take away all those who believe in Him. He is coming to meet all true believers in the air. Without benefit of science, space suits, or interplanetary rockets, there will be those who will be transported into a glorious place more beautiful, more awesome, than we can possibly comprehend.”

Source : https://studyfinds.org/what-is-the-rapture-why-does-tiktok-believe-end-coming-soon/

 

New research suggests that mammograms may continue to benefit women in their eighties, a group often excluded from cancer screening guidelines. A UCLA study found that women over 80 who had a mammogram within two years of their breast cancer diagnosis lived longer and were less likely to see their cancer return compared with women of the same age who were not screened.

Researchers reviewed 174 women, ages 80 to 98, diagnosed between 2013 and 2020. Of these, 98 had undergone a mammogram before diagnosis, while 76 had not. Women in the screening group had a 74 percent lower risk of death and a 55 percent lower risk of recurrence, based on hazard ratios. These benefits remained even after adjusting for age, tumor type, and whether surgery was performed.

Early Detection in the 80+ Group

How cancer was discovered differed sharply between groups. Nearly 80 percent of unscreened women found their cancer by feeling a lump, compared to just 25 percent of screened women.

Unscreened women were more likely to be diagnosed with larger tumors (3.1 cm versus 1.7 cm), higher-grade cancers, and more advanced disease. They were also more likely to require mastectomy or to forgo surgery entirely.

Why Screening May Work Better With Age

Concerns have long existed that mammograms may not help elderly women. The opposite appears to be true. The UCLA team noted that mammography often performs better in older women because breast tissue becomes less dense, making it easier to detect abnormalities.

Other large studies confirm this trend. A 2017 National Mammography Database analysis showed that accuracy improves with age, with fewer false alarms and better cancer detection.

Treatment Paths Differ With Screening

Screening also influenced treatment choices. Women who were screened were more likely to have breast-conserving surgery (82 percent versus 61 percent) and radiation therapy. Unscreened women more often had mastectomy or no surgery at all.

Over a median follow-up of 55 months, survival differences became clear. Screened women not only lived longer overall but also had longer disease-free intervals. These advantages held up even after accounting for factors such as age, tumor biology, and surgery.

What Guidelines Say About Mammograms After 75

Guidelines remain mixed for older women. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force does not issue recommendations for women 75 or older, citing insufficient evidence. The American Cancer Society suggests continuing screening only if a woman is in good health with an expected lifespan of at least 10 years. The American College of Radiology advises continuing as long as a woman is healthy and willing to undergo follow-up tests if needed.

With no clear consensus, decisions often rest with patients and their doctors. Surveys of older women have found that physician recommendations strongly influence whether patients continue mammograms.

Study Boundaries

The UCLA team emphasized limits to their study. It was retrospective, relatively small, and based mostly on White, non-Hispanic patients. It included only women already diagnosed with breast cancer, so it does not address how screening affects those who never develop the disease.

Potential downsides of continued screening also remain. Earlier research has shown that about 11 percent of women over 80 receive a false-positive mammogram, which can lead to additional tests or procedures without a cancer diagnosis. Such experiences can create stress and financial strain for patients and their families.

A Question for an Aging Population

The number of older adults in the U.S. is climbing rapidly. Between 2010 and 2020, the share of adults 65 and older grew faster than any other age group, reaching nearly 17 percent of the population. With more women living into their eighties and nineties, decisions about when to stop cancer screening will only grow more important.

The UCLA findings, published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology, suggest that healthy women over 80 may still benefit from mammograms, both in detecting cancer earlier and in improving survival. Rather than stopping at a fixed age, the study supports individualized decisions made between patients and their healthcare providers.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/mammograms-after-80-longer-breast-cancer-survival/

Scientists have spotted a major blind spot in how we watch for dangerous asteroids. New research shows that space rocks orbiting near Venus stay hidden from Earth’s telescopes, and some could pack enough punch to level an entire city.

Models suggest a still-undetected population of Venus asteroids exists, with some potentially measuring 300 to 390 meters across. These could release 150 to 410 megatons of TNT, enough to destroy a large city if one were to strike Earth.

Published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the study shows these space rocks could carve craters up to 3.4 kilometers wide and cause destruction at a city-wide scale if one hit our planet.

“These objects could form craters with diameters from 2.2 to 3.4 km, and release energies at impacts ranging from 1.5 to 4.1 × 10² Megatons TNT, which is more than enough to destroy large cities,” the study states. That level of destruction ranks as level 8 on the Torino scale, meaning collisions capable of causing localized destruction.

Why These Space Rocks Stay Hidden

The problem asteroids are called Venus co-orbitals. They follow the same path around the Sun as Venus, cycling through different patterns over about 12,000 years. While Venus protects them from crashing into that planet, Earth gets no such protection.

Current telescopes struggle to spot these rocks for a simple reason: they only show up for short periods right after sunset or before sunrise, high up in the sky. The asteroids that do come closer to Earth appear brighter and easier to find, which means we’re missing the ones that stay farther away but could still hit us.

Most of the 20 known Venus asteroids have stretched-out orbits that bring them near Earth sometimes. But scientists now know many more exist in rounder orbits that keep them hidden while still posing a threat to our planet.

Computer Models Show the Hidden Danger

Advanced computer simulations reveal just how big this blind spot might be. Only 20 Venus asteroids are known today, but simulations suggest many more Venus co-orbital asteroids may exist than are currently cataloged.

The models show no preference for creating asteroids with stretched-out orbits. Instead, space rocks should be spread fairly evenly across different orbit shapes, meaning lots of hidden ones likely exist in the danger zone.

Scientists ran computer simulations tracking fake asteroids for 36,000 years and found specific areas where simulated asteroids could get uncomfortably close to Earth multiple times. In their computer models, five test particles came within extremely close distances of our planet.

Separately, previous research by the same team found six real Venus asteroids that could become potentially hazardous within the next 12,000 years, including three objects with very close minimum distances to Earth’s orbit.

Space Telescopes Offer the Best Solution

Ground-based telescopes face serious limitations, but missions in space could change everything. The upcoming Rubin Observatory might spot some of these objects when conditions are just right, but it still deals with the same problem of looking too close to the Sun.

Better options involve putting telescopes near Venus or at special points between the Sun and Venus where gravity balances out. These spots would let telescopes watch the inner solar system continuously without the Sun’s glare getting in the way.

NASA’s NEO Surveyor mission, planned for launch after 2027, will work from a position between Earth and the Sun. Even more ambitious ideas include the CROWN mission, with seven telescopes positioned near Venus that could spot more than 94% of potentially dangerous inner solar system objects.

“Space missions based on Venus’ orbits could be instrumental in detecting Venus’ co-orbitals at low eccentricities,” the researchers conclude.

Recent discoveries of asteroids inside Venus’s orbit highlight how many remain hidden until they pass close to Earth. Current surveys have made progress finding inner solar system objects, including asteroids with orbits completely inside Venus’s path.

Ground-based programs like the “low-SE twilight survey” planned by the Rubin Observatory represent one of the few Earth-based efforts designed to search closer to the Sun for objects that regular telescopes can’t detect.

“Low-e Venus co-orbitals pose a unique challenge, because of the difficulties in detecting and following such objects from Earth,” the study notes. The authors believe only dedicated space missions near Venus could map and find all the remaining potentially hazardous asteroids among Venus populations.

The research examines a broader challenge in planetary defense: potentially dangerous asteroids often remain hidden in the most difficult places to observe, creating ongoing detection challenges for astronomers worldwide.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/undiscovered-venus-asteroids-city-destroying-threat-earth/

Recognising and treating psychological distress with strategies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, antidepressants and stress reduction techniques could help improve mental health.

Persistent psychological distress following a heart attack event and lasting up to 12 months could increase the risk of another cardiac event by nearly 1.3 times, according to a study.

Recognising and treating psychological distress with strategies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, antidepressants and stress reduction techniques could help improve mental health, emotional well-being and quality of life for survivors, researchers said.

The team from the American Heart Association said about 33-50 per cent of heart attack survivors are estimated to suffer psychological symptoms, including depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), all of which can affect physical recovery and long-term health.

The researchers reviewed previously published research on myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD, among others.

“After a mean of 4.7 years of follow-up, moderate psychological distress was associated with a 28 per cent increased risk of future (myocardial infarction) and high (or) very high distress was associated with a 60 per cent increased risk compared with low distress,” the authors wrote in the review published in the journal Circulation.

Author and chair of the group writing the article, Glenn N Levine, said, “Psychological distress after a heart attack is quite common but often goes unrecognised.” “We often focus on the physical aspects of heart disease, yet psychological health is linked to physical health, so when a major cardiac event like a heart attack occurs, emotional recovery is just as important,” Levine, a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, USA, said.

The researchers explained that damage to heart muscle due to a heart attack can trigger inflammation, causing hormonal shifts and chemical changes in the brain that may contribute towards symptoms of depression, anxiety or PTSD.

Acute psychological stress can narrow the heart’s arteries (coronary vasoconstriction), reduce blood flow to the heart (ischaemia) and cause irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmia), even in people without previous heart issues, the team said.

They added that factors through which psychological distress can increase risk of a recurrence of cardiac attack include lesser physical activity, smoking and alcohol, poor diet and sleep, inadequate social support and a lower medication adherence.

Having a history of mental health conditions or chronic illness too can add to the risk, the team said.

Anxiety and stress may affect up to 50 per cent of heart attack survivors during hospitalisation and persist in 20-30 per cent of people for several months or more after hospital discharge, they added.

The authors said that more research is needed to confirm a direct cause-and-effect relationship between psychological distress following a cardiac event and a recurrence of a heart attack.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/health/mental-distress-following-heart-attack-can-increase-risk-of-another-cardiac-event-study-9322850

Dog owners curious about vegan diets for their pets can breathe easier: new research from the University of Nottingham shows that plant-based dog foods compare closely to traditional meat diets across most nutrients. Research challenges long-held beliefs that dogs must eat meat to stay healthy.

Scientists analyzed 31 complete dry dog foods sold in the United Kingdom: 19 meat-based, 6 plant-based, and 6 veterinary “renal” diets formulated for dogs with kidney disease. Using advanced laboratory methods, they measured protein, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins. Results were compared against European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) nutritional guidelines for adult dogs.

Plant-based foods matched meat diets in protein and amino acid quality, offered healthier fat profiles, and only showed consistent shortfalls in iodine and some B-vitamins.

Plant-Based Dog Food Protein Quality Exceeds Expectations

Protein quality is the top concern for dog owners considering plant-based diets. Many assume plant proteins cannot supply the essential amino acids dogs need.

Research data tells a different story. Measured directly, plant-based foods had almost the same crude protein content as meat-based diets. Importantly, four of six plant-based foods met essential amino acid requirements. For comparison, 11 of 19 meat-based foods and two of six veterinary foods also met the same standards.

Data revealed something unexpected about branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Scientists expected vegan diets to fall short, since these nutrients usually come from meat and dairy. Instead, plant-based foods contained equal or higher average amounts compared to beef or lamb-based diets.

Veterinary diets, which are purposely low in protein to reduce strain on the kidneys, performed worst overall. Two-thirds failed to meet essential amino acid guidelines, and one fell short in six of the nine essential amino acids measured.

Vegan Dog Foods Provide Superior Fat Composition

Fat quality was another area where differences emerged. Meat-based diets contained more saturated fats such as palmitic and stearic acid. Plant-based foods, by contrast, had higher levels of unsaturated fats, including oleic and linolenic acid.

All foods contained adequate amounts of linoleic acid, an essential omega-6 fatty acid. Vegan foods stood out, averaging about 2.8 times more linoleic acid than meat-based diets. This advantage reflects the inclusion of plant oils and seeds such as flax, chia, and hemp.

Although vegan diets lack fish oil, all six still met essential fatty acid requirements. Their fat composition resembled the heart-healthy profiles seen in human nutrition, though long-term effects in dogs remain to be studied.

Vegan Dog Food Nutritional Gaps: Iodine and B-Vitamin Deficiencies

Plant-based diets did show consistent weaknesses in two areas: iodine and certain B-vitamins. Five of six vegan foods fell below iodine requirements, and all contained less vitamin B3, B9, and B12 compared to meat-based diets. These nutrients support metabolism, nerve function, and DNA synthesis.

Both gaps are relatively easy to solve. The one vegan food that did meet iodine standards used seaweed and algae ingredients. Similarly, B-vitamins can be added through fortification or provided as supplements. Scientists concluded that both nutrients “could easily be supplemented” in plant-based formulations.

Dog Food Industry Compliance Rates Reveal Widespread Shortfalls

When judged against official nutritional guidelines:

• 55% of foods met amino acid targets
• 16% satisfied mineral requirements
• 24% achieved B-vitamin standards
• 100% contained adequate vitamin D
• 100% met essential fatty acid requirements

No food passed every test across all nutrients. Plant-based diets performed comparably to meat-based ones and, in some cases, better than veterinary diets designed for medical use.

Mineral content was largely within safe ranges. Across all foods tested, 87% of individual mineral measurements fell inside FEDIAF standards. Still, only 16% of foods satisfied all mineral requirements. Iodine and selenium were the most common shortfalls, appearing in both plant and meat-based diets.

Plant-based foods contained higher potassium and magnesium than meat-based options, consistent with typical plant nutrition. Calcium and phosphorus remained within safe ranges, supporting bone health and metabolism.

Energy density was nearly identical between plant and meat diets: 328 vs. 332 calories per 100 grams. This means dogs would eat similar amounts regardless of protein source. Veterinary diets contained more calories because they were higher in fat.

For owners motivated by environmental or ethical reasons, this research shows that plant-based feeding can be a viable choice. Dogs evolved as omnivores and appear capable of thriving on well-balanced vegan diets.

No food tested, be it plant, meat, or veterinary, was perfect. Owners choosing vegan foods should look for products fortified with iodine and B-vitamins, or provide these through supplements.

Analysis only covered adult maintenance diets. Puppies, pregnant dogs, and pets with health conditions may require different formulations and should be managed with veterinary guidance.

This was the first independent nutritional comparison of UK plant-based and meat-based dog foods. While no diet type was flawless, the results show that with proper formulation, vegan diets can support healthy adult dogs just as well as meat-based ones.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/plant-based-dog-foods-nutrition/

That afternoon Coke or morning orange juice may do more than add calories. A new study suggests sugary beverages can directly boost cancer’s ability to spread.

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and partner institutions found that the combination of glucose and fructose, typically found in soda, fruit juice, or sports drinks, activates a pathway that makes colorectal cancer cells more mobile. Published in Nature Metabolism, the findings show this process happens without changes in body weight or tumor size.

Led by Jihye Yun, an assistant professor of genetics, the study suggests that colorectal cancer cells are using the sugars as fuel to enhance their ability to migrate and invade.

How Sugary Drinks Fuel Cancer Spread
In mouse models, researchers tested sugar solutions similar to those found in high-fructose corn syrup or table sugar, which both contain glucose and fructose in roughly equal parts. Mice with colorectal cancer tumors that drank these mixtures developed more liver metastases than mice drinking plain water or glucose alone.

The critical player is an enzyme called sorbitol dehydrogenase (SORD). When glucose and fructose are consumed together, SORD triggers a chemical shift that raises the NAD⁺/NADH ratio in cells. This ratio is like a cellular “fuel gauge” that tracks how efficiently cells can make and use energy. By tilting the balance, the cancer cells gain a surplus of usable energy that powers glycolysis (sugar breakdown) and activates the pathway that boosts their ability to move and spread.

In simple terms, the cancer cells not only get extra fuel but also a stronger engine for spreading from the original tumor to other organs.

Why Both Sugars Together Spell Trouble
Most earlier studies looked at glucose or fructose in isolation. But in real diets, these sugars almost always arrive together in popular sweetened drinks. The new research shows that only the combination produces the metastasis-boosting effect.

The team tested 13 different colorectal cancer cell lines. Growth did not increase when glucose and fructose were combined, but migration and invasion did. That means the sugars did not make tumors grow bigger; they made them better at spreading.

Colorectal cancer rates have been increasing among younger adults since the 1980s. At the same time, sugary drink consumption has surged. In the U.S., more than half of adults and nearly two-thirds of young people consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily.

One large study of nearly 100,000 women found that drinking two or more sugary drinks per week doubled the risk of developing colorectal cancer before age 50. This aligns with the mechanistic findings in the new animal research.

The study also highlights a clinical gap: many people continue drinking sugary beverages after diagnosis. Some patients even receive recommendations to consume fruit juice or energy drinks during treatment to maintain calorie intake.

But these drinks contain the same glucose/fructose mix that was shown to drive metastasis in lab models. According to the authors, dietary changes may need to become part of cancer care discussions.

Possible Treatment Avenues
The research also points to new strategies for slowing metastasis. SORD levels were found to be higher in human colorectal tumors compared to healthy tissue. In some patient data, metastatic tumors showed even greater expression than primary ones.

Blocking the SORD pathway in mice stopped the spread-enhancing effects of sugary drinks. Statins, common cholesterol-lowering drugs, also reduced metastasis in animal experiments by disrupting the same downstream pathway.

While these results are preliminary and limited to lab and animal studies, they suggest SORD could be a promising target for future therapies. Most cancer deaths result from metastasis, not primary tumors. Strategies that prevent spread—even without shrinking the original tumor—could save lives.

What Comes Next
The researchers are now studying whether the glucose/fructose pathway plays a role in other cancer types. They are also exploring whether dietary interventions could complement standard treatments.

For now, the simplest takeaway is that cutting back on sugary beverages may lower not only the risk of developing colorectal cancer, but also its ability to spread once present.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Patients should consult their healthcare providers before making dietary or treatment changes.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/sugary-drinks-colorectal-cancer-spread/

Humans may be experiencing one of the most unusual evolutionary changes in our species’ history, and it may have little to do with DNA. A new study from the University of Maine suggests that culture has become such a powerful force that it may be overtaking biology as the main driver of human evolution. If true, this shift could eventually make cultural groups, not just individuals, the key players in shaping our future.

Published in BioScience, the research introduces the idea of an “evolutionary transition in inheritance and individuality,” or ETII. The theory proposes that humans may be moving toward a stage where cultural inheritance — the passing on of knowledge, technology, and institutions — becomes more important than genetic inheritance. Unlike past evolutionary changes that unfolded over millions of years, this cultural shift may be progressing at a pace fast enough to notice within historical timeframes, though the authors stress the process is still incomplete and largely theoretical.

How Culture Can Outpace Genetic Evolution
Researchers Timothy Waring and Zachary Wood argue that cultural evolution is faster and more flexible than genetic evolution in almost every measurable way. Cultural information can move instantly through conversation, teaching, or digital media, while genetic changes are stuck on the slow timetable of generations. People also actively choose which cultural traits to adopt, often from those who seem most successful, whereas genetic inheritance is random and passive.

Medicine shows this dynamic clearly. Procedures like Cesarean sections allow people with narrower pelvises to survive childbirth and pass on that trait. Glasses correct poor eyesight, which would once have been a disadvantage in survival. Surrogacy and assisted reproductive technologies allow people to reproduce where it would otherwise not be possible. Each cultural solution reduces the role of natural selection, leaving culture — not genes — as the stronger link to survival.

Cities and languages also illustrate the advantages of culture at scale. Larger populations tend to produce more patents and innovations per person. Languages with more speakers often evolve toward efficiency. When groups pool knowledge, they can solve problems faster than any individual could manage alone.

The Three Stages of Human–Culture Coevolution
The study outlines three broad stages in the relationship between genetic and cultural evolution:

Stage 1: Early cultural capacity. Human ancestors evolved bigger brains and longer lifespans, allowing us to store and transmit cultural information through language, tools, and cooperation.

Stage 2: Gene–culture balance. For a time, culture and genetics reinforced each other. A classic example is the rise of dairy farming alongside genetic changes that enabled lactose tolerance.

Stage 3: Cultural dominance. Today, cultural solutions often appear before genetic evolution can respond. Medical systems reduce natural selection pressures. Schools and institutions, rather than inherited traits, increasingly shape opportunities. Laws and norms influence reproductive decisions as much as biology does.

One puzzling trend the researchers discuss is the dramatic decline in fertility rates in advanced societies. They note that traditional evolutionary theory struggles to explain this pattern. One possibility is that cultural reproduction — passing on knowledge, skills, and group membership — is becoming more important than biological reproduction. Other theories, such as the transfer of wealth across generations and the widening of social networks, may also contribute. The decline likely results from a mix of these cultural dynamics.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/culture-replacing-dna-driver-human-evolution/

Cancer patients often face a painful trade-off: accept the harsh side effects of chemotherapy or risk letting tumors grow unchecked. The root of the problem is that most cancer drugs can’t tell healthy tissue from cancerous tissue. They spread through the body indiscriminately, attacking both good and bad cells.

A new approach from scientists at the University of Cambridge may change how this problem is tackled. Their experimental drug system remains largely inactive until two separate pieces of the drug meet each other inside tumor tissue. Only there do they snap together to form a potent compound that awakens the immune system against cancer.

The idea is simple but powerful: instead of carrying an active drug throughout the body, carry harmless fragments that only come alive where cancer is hiding.

Why the STING Pathway Is a Key Cancer Target
The treatment works by activating a cellular alarm system known as STING, short for “stimulator of interferon genes.” When triggered, STING launches waves of immune activity designed to destroy infected or damaged cells. Cancer researchers have long wanted to harness this pathway because it can turn so-called “cold” tumors, which evade immune detection, into “hot” tumors that the immune system can attack.

The challenge is that stimulating STING across the whole body can be dangerous. Earlier experimental drugs caused autoimmune reactions, where the immune system mistakenly attacked healthy tissues along with tumors. The Cambridge team set out to make a STING-targeting drug that activates only where cancer enzymes are abundant.

A Two-Part Cancer Drug That Locks Together Inside Tumors
Their solution builds on a compound called MSA2. On its own, MSA2 molecules must naturally pair up to activate STING. The researchers modified versions of MSA2 so that two different pieces, one carrying a bond-seeking group and the other a bond-accepting group, would form a permanent chemical link when they met.

These modified fragments, called N1 and E4, seek each other out and lock together much faster than typical biomedical reactions, likely because MSA2 already tends to form pairs. Once linked, they create a new compound (named SC2S) that proved about 20 times more potent than MSA2 in laboratory tests.

The clever twist is that only one piece of the drug can roam freely. The other is “caged” with a molecular cap that keeps it inactive. This cap can only be removed by an enzyme called β-glucuronidase. Tumors often produce this enzyme at higher levels than normal tissue, especially in oxygen-starved or necrotic regions. In theory, this means the drug should only activate where tumors are present.

Tests in Cells and Early Animal Models
In cultured human cells, the two-part system performed as hoped. Neither fragment alone did anything. But when β-glucuronidase was added, the cage was removed and the two fragments combined into the active drug, triggering strong immune signals even at low concentrations.

The next test was in animals. In zebrafish implanted with human breast cancer cells, the prodrug fragments on their own had little effect. Only when researchers added extra enzyme to the system did tumors shrink and cancer cells undergo programmed death. The enzyme boost also shifted immune cells called macrophages from a tumor-supporting state to a tumor-fighting state. Without the added enzyme, the zebrafish tumors didn’t produce enough β-glucuronidase on their own to activate the drug.

In mice, the story was similar. In standard mouse tumors, the treatment showed little activity, likely because enzyme levels were too low. To test the concept, the scientists engineered a mouse tumor line to overproduce β-glucuronidase. In this special model, the two-part drug successfully assembled inside tumors and accumulated there for hours while remaining nearly undetectable in healthy organs such as the liver, lungs, spleen, and kidneys.

Mice in this engineered model lived longer when given the treatment. Importantly, they also showed fewer side effects compared with a benchmark STING drug, which in this experiment caused modest decreases in red blood cells and related measures.

Limits, Challenges, and Future Cancer Drug Potential
These results, published in Nature Chemistry, are encouraging; however, there are important limitations. The zebrafish and unmodified mouse tumors did not generate enough enzyme for the prodrug to work without outside help. This means that in its current form, the system only functions reliably in tumors with very high β-glucuronidase activity. Not all cancers fall into this category.

Another practical consideration is delivery. In the mouse experiments, one drug component was injected directly into the tumor, while the other was given systemically. That works for accessible tumors, but not for cancers deep inside the body.

The authors emphasize that the true innovation is not this one drug, but the broader strategy: using two harmless fragments that only become active when combined under tumor-specific conditions. With further research, other enzymes or tumor markers could be used as triggers, potentially expanding the approach to a wider range of cancers.

If future studies confirm and extend these results, the two-part system could change how researchers think about cancer drugs. Instead of trying to design inherently “gentle” medicines, scientists might design medicines that stay inert until they reach the right environment.

This tactic could reduce side effects while maintaining or even improving effectiveness. Beyond immune-activating drugs like STING agonists, the same concept could apply to chemotherapy, targeted therapies, or other immune stimulators.

For now, though, the work remains at the proof-of-concept stage. The study involved cell cultures, zebrafish embryos, and small groups of mice — all important steps, but far from clinical use. Much larger studies, long-term safety evaluations, and eventually human trials would be needed before such a drug could ever be prescribed.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/tumor-activated-cancer-drug-shows-promise/

Women in India are more likely to get cancer. Men are more likely to die from it.

The paradox, revealed in a study of the country’s latest cancer registry, tells a story at once simple and confounding.

Women account for just over half of all new cases, but men make up the majority of deaths.

India appears to be an outlier. In 2022, for every 100,000 people worldwide, on average about 197 were diagnosed with cancer that year. Men fared worse, at 212, compared to 186 for women, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.

Nearly 20 million cancer cases were diagnosed globally in 2022 – about 10.3 million in men and 9.7 million in women. In the US, the estimated lifetime risk of cancer is nearly equal for men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.

In India, the most common cancers among women are breast, cervical, and ovarian. Breast and cervical cancers make up 40% of female cases.

While cervical cancer is largely linked to infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV), breast and ovarian cancers are often influenced by hormonal factors. Rising cases of these hormone-related cancers are also associated with lifestyle shifts – including later pregnancies, reduced breastfeeding, obesity, and sedentary habits.

For men, oral, lung, and prostate cancers dominate. Tobacco drives 40% of preventable cancers, mainly oral and lung.

So what is going on in India? Is it an earlier diagnosis for women? Are men’s cancers more aggressive, or is it that habits such as smoking and chewing tobacco drag down their outcomes? Or does the answer lie in differences in access, awareness and treatment between genders?

Awareness campaigns and improved facilities mean cancers common among women are often detected earlier.

With their long latency periods – time between exposure to a cancer-causing factor and the appearance of detectable cancer – treatment outcomes are relatively good.

Mortality rates among women are therefore lower.

Men fare worse. Their cancers are more often tied to lifestyle – tobacco and alcohol drive lung and oral cancers, both aggressive and less responsive to treatment.

Men are also less likely to go for preventive check-ups or seek medical help early. The result: higher mortality and poorer outcomes, even when incidence is lower than among women.

“Women’s health has become a bigger focus in public health campaigns, and that’s a double-edged sword. Greater awareness and screening mean more cancers are detected early. For men, the conversation rarely goes beyond tobacco and oral cancer,” Ravi Mehrotra, a cancer specialist and head of the non-profit Centre for Health Innovation and Policy (CHIP) Foundation, told me.

“Women, through reproductive health checks, are more likely to see a doctor at some stage. Many men, by contrast, may go their whole lives without ever seeing one,” Dr Mehrotra said.

But the real story emerges when the numbers are broken down: India’s cancer burden is unevenly spread across regions, and across the types of cancer people face.

Data from 43 registries show that 11 out of every 100 people in India run the risk of developing cancer at some point during their life. An estimated 1.56 million cases and 874,000 deaths are projected for 2024.

The hilly and relatively remote northeast region remains India’s cancer hotspot, with Mizoram’s Aizawl district recording lifetime risks twice the national average.

Doctors say much of this is down to lifestyle.

“For most cancers in the north-eastern state, I’m convinced lifestyle is the key factor. Tobacco use is rampant here – much higher than elsewhere,” R Ravi Kannan, head of Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Assam, told me.

“In Barak Valley in Assam, it’s mostly chewing tobacco; just 25km away in Mizoram, smoking dominates. Add to that alcohol, areca nuts, and even how meat is prepared. Food choices and preparation drive cancer risk. There’s no special cancer-causing gene at play – hereditary cancers aren’t more common here than in other parts of India,” Dr Kannan said.

But the pattern isn’t confined to the northeast. Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir tops the charts for lung cancer in men, while southern Hyderabad city leads in breast cancer. Men in the capital, Delhi, are being diagnosed with all cancers put together at a higher rate than men in other regions, even after correcting for age differences.

Oral cancer is also rising: 14 population registries report increases among men and four among women.

India’s patchwork of risks is part of a larger truth: cancer is at once the most universal and the most uneven of diseases. The disparities seen across Indian states mirror a global divide shaped by geography, income, and access to care.

In wealthy nations, one in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime, but only one in 71 will die from it, according to WHO.

In poorer countries, the picture is reversed: just one in 27 women will ever receive a diagnosis, yet as many as one in 48 will die of the disease.

“Women in lower Human Development Index (HDI) countries are 50% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than women in high HDI countries, yet they are at a much higher risk of dying of the disease due to late diagnosis and inadequate access to quality treatment,” says Isabelle Soerjomataram, Deputy Head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch at International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04q9v49ndgo

Astronomers studying mysterious objects called “little red dots” have made a startling discovery about one particularly bizarre specimen. What initially appeared to be a galaxy so jam-packed with stars that they would smash into each other about once a month turned out to be something else entirely: a “black hole star,” where a massive black hole wrapped in super-thick gas clouds creates an elaborate cosmic disguise.

The object, nicknamed “The Cliff,” sits so far away that its light has been traveling toward us for 12 billion years. That means we’re seeing it as it was when the universe was just a toddler. To understand how unusual this would be if it were really a star-packed galaxy, consider that stars in our own galaxy essentially never collide. Space is just too big and empty for such cosmic traffic jams.

But after months of analysis using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers concluded that The Cliff isn’t actually a galaxy full of stars at all. Instead, their study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, proposes represents an entirely new type of cosmic object that has been fooling astronomers by mimicking the light signature of an ancient galaxy.

An Object That Breaks the Rules

Anna de Graaff, who led the research team from Germany’s Max Planck Institute, first encountered The Cliff while studying these puzzling little red dots that don’t fit any category astronomers had seen before. Through telescopes, they look exactly like their nickname suggests: tiny red specks scattered across images of the early universe.

The Cliff stood out even among these oddities. Despite appearing incredibly small, it shines with the brightness of billions of suns. To get a sense of the scale, astronomers calculated that all the stars within 130 light-years of our sun would need to be crammed into a space the size of our immediate solar neighborhood to match what they were seeing.

Little red dots like The Cliff could be one of two things: either really old galaxies packed with ancient stars, or black holes actively feeding on surrounding material. De Graaff’s decided to test the first possibility: could The Cliff really be a galaxy stuffed with more stars than should be physically possible?

Why The Cliff Can’t Be Just a Galaxy

In a stellar system that dense, stars would collide at a rate of about once per month, an extraordinary frequency compared to our own galaxy, where stellar collisions essentially never happen. These stellar crashes would heat up gas to millions of degrees, creating powerful X-ray signals that space telescopes can detect. The researchers note, however, it’s uncertain how much of this energy would actually be radiated versus absorbed or dispersed.

So the team pointed the Chandra X-ray telescope at The Cliff, expecting to see these telltale signs of stellar mayhem. The researchers also tested whether The Cliff might contain unusual types of stars, such as rare giants or supernovas, that could explain its strange properties. They ran the numbers on thousands of different stellar combinations.

They found nothing. No X-ray emissions, no signs of stellar collisions, no evidence that The Cliff contained the mind-boggling number of stars its brightness suggested. The absence of this telltale radiation strongly suggested that the ultra-dense stellar scenario was incorrect.

A New Type of Cosmic Object

After concluding the object couldn’t be a galaxy, the research team proposed it represents something entirely different: a “black hole star.” In this model, a massive black hole sits at the center, surrounded by extraordinarily dense clouds of gas 100 billion times thicker than what exists between stars normally.

This dense gas envelope would absorb and re-emit light from the central black hole in ways that mimic the signatures of old stars. The process creates what scientists call a “Balmer break, “a specific pattern in the light spectrum that was twice as strong in The Cliff as in any previously observed distant object.

“We argue that the Balmer break, emission lines, and absorption line are instead most plausibly explained by a black hole star scenario, in which dense gas surrounds a powerful ionising source,” the researchers wrote.

The black hole at the center would have to be feeding like there’s no tomorrow, gobbling up matter faster than physics textbooks say should be possible. This could explain both the object’s unusual light signature and its lack of X-ray emissions, since the dense gas would absorb most high-energy radiation.

How The Cliff Could Change Our View of the Early Universe

This discovery matters for more than just one strange object. Little red dots like The Cliff are surprisingly common in the early universe. Space telescopes find about one for every thousand galaxies they look at. If most of these aren’t actually galaxies but black hole stars instead, it would completely change how scientists think the universe grew up.

Right now, astronomers struggle to explain how black holes millions or billions of times heavier than our sun could have grown so large so quickly after the Big Bang. Black hole stars might be the missing piece of that puzzle, a phase of cosmic evolution that nobody knew existed.

The team admits their black hole star idea isn’t perfect. It still can’t explain everything about The Cliff’s light signature, especially in certain wavelengths. The real answer might involve additional pieces they haven’t thought of yet: maybe massive stars mixed in with the dense gas, or physics around black holes that scientists don’t fully understand.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/little-red-dot-black-hole-star-webb-space-telescope/

When teenagers stumble out of bed looking exhausted, many parents point fingers at late-night phone scrolling or video games. But a study following over 3,400 children for four years reveals something different: family conflict and parents’ mental health struggles show connections to teen sleep problems that extend beyond screen use alone.

Scientists found associations between parents experiencing psychological difficulties and teenagers who went to bed later, woke up later, and had poorer sleep quality overall. Family arguments and tension showed similar patterns, while appropriate parental monitoring was linked to better sleep quality.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, also uncovered a gender difference: girls whose parents showed more warmth tended to develop earlier sleep schedules, while boys showed no such pattern. However, this finding did not remain statistically significant when researchers used different analytical methods, suggesting caution in interpretation.

Family Environment Plays Key Role in Teen Sleep Patterns

Researchers from the University of Melbourne analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, tracking children from elementary school (ages 9-11) through middle school (ages 13-14). They measured family relationships in the earlier years and sleep patterns in the later ones.

The study used actigraphy (Fitbit devices worn for three weeks) to collect objective sleep data, though only participants with at least seven valid nights were included in analyses. This meant sleep timing and duration data were available for 1,161 participants, while sleep quality data came from parent questionnaires completed for the full sample of 3,419 participants.

The associations were consistent across measures, though the effect sizes were small. Parents dealing with mental health symptoms were linked to teens who went to bed and woke up later. These same teens also showed poorer overall sleep quality according to parent reports.

Households with frequent conflict showed similar patterns. These associations remained even after researchers accounted for age, socioeconomic status, pubertal development, and sex.

“Higher parental monitoring showed a positive association with sleep quality,” the researchers wrote in their paper.”Parental psychopathology was associated with later sleep timing, later chronotype, and poorer sleep quality.”

Screen Time Explains Part of the Family–Sleep Connection

The study found potential pathways linking family difficulties to sleep problems. Children from high-conflict homes or those with parents experiencing mental health challenges spent more time on screens. This increased screen use then partially explained some of the associations between family factors and sleep outcomes.

The researchers calculated what proportion of each association could be explained by screen use. For example, screen use accounted for about 25% of the link between family conflict and later chronotype (evening preference), and about 20% of the link between parental mental health problems and later chronotype.

Emotional regulation skills also played a role as a potential mediator. Teens with weaker emotional regulation showed poorer sleep quality, particularly in families with conflict or parental mental health issues.

“Adolescents in high-conflict households might turn to screens to escape family stress or manage negative emotions,” the researchers explained. While screens may provide temporary relief, excessive use can delay bedtime and increase mental stimulation before sleep.

Girls and Boys Show Different Responses to Parental Warmth

The research revealed what appeared to be a gender-specific pattern. Girls who experienced more parental warmth and acceptance developed earlier chronotypes (preferring to go to bed and wake up earlier). Boys showed no similar response to parental warmth.

“Sex moderated the association between parental warmth and earlier chronotype in girls” but not in boys, the study found.

However, when researchers re-analyzed the data using multiple imputation methods to handle missing data, this gender difference lost statistical significance. The authors noted this finding “warrants cautious interpretation” and requires further research to confirm.

Why Family Dynamics Matter for Teen Sleep Health

These findings add to existing approaches for adolescent sleep difficulties. Most current strategies focus on individual behaviors like enforcing bedtime routines and limiting device use. The research suggests that considering family-level factors could also play a role in comprehensive approaches.

For families, this means recognizing that household emotional climate and parental mental health may connect to teenage sleep patterns. Addressing family conflict and seeking support for parental mental health concerns could complement traditional sleep hygiene approaches.

Healthcare providers might consider broadening their assessment of teen sleep problems to include family dynamics and parental well-being alongside individual sleep behaviors.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/parents-who-regularly-fight-fuel-sleeping-problems-among-teens/

The merger of two black holes is a momentous event, revealing the wildest and most extreme configurations of space, time and gravity known to science.

Researchers have now gotten their best look yet at such an event based on the detection of ripples in space-time called gravitational waves in an observation that lends strong support to hypotheses from eminent physicists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

The collision occurred 1.3 billion light-years from Earth in a galaxy beyond our Milky Way, and involved two black holes – one about 34 times the mass of the sun and the other about 32 times the sun’s mass. They merged in a fraction of a second after orbiting each other at nearly the speed of light, and left behind a single black hole around 63 times the mass of the sun that was spinning at approximately 100 revolutions per second.
A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with a gravitational pull so strong not even light can escape.

The merger unleashed a tremendous amount of energy that radiated outward as gravitational waves, an amount equivalent to pulverizing three sun-sized stars. These waves were detected on January 14 at research sites in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana that are part of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO.

These observations came about a decade after the groundbreaking first detection of gravitational waves, which were produced by a similar merger. Technological improvements since 2015 meant this merger was observed with four times better resolution than the prior one.

Gravitational waves propagate outward from a source like ripples in a pond. In this case, the pond is space-time, the four-dimensional fabric that combines the three dimensions of space – height, width and length – with the dimension of time.

“Thanks to Albert Einstein, we know that space and time are intertwined and are best thought of as facets of a single entity, space-time,” said astrophysicist Maximiliano Isi of Columbia University and the Flatiron Institute, one of the leaders of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Physical Review Letters

“This manifests, for example, in that time flows at different rates depending on where you are: close to a heavy object, like a black hole, time flows more slowly compared to someone farther away, so that someone close to a black hole would age more slowly,” Isi said.

The researchers analyzed the frequencies of the detected gravitational waves to discern fundamental qualities of the black holes immediately before and after the merger. While these frequencies were not sound waves, the researchers compared them to the ringing of a bell.

“This is just like trying to figure out what a bell is made out of from the ringing sound it makes when struck,” Isi said.

A large iron bell, for instance, makes a different sound than a small aluminum bell.

What the researchers learned based on the frequency of gravitational waves offered validation for a basic tenet of scientific understanding of black holes advanced by Hawking, who died in 2018.

Hawking hypothesized that the total surface area of black holes – specifically the surface area of the event horizon, the boundary beyond which nothing can escape – should never decrease. His hypothesis implies that the surface area of the single black hole produced in a merger should exceed the combined surface areas of the two black holes that merged.

This merger met that expectation. Before colliding, the black holes together had a total surface area of about 93,000 square miles (240,000 square km). The single black hole produced by the merger had a surface area of about 155,000 square miles (400,000 square km).

“This is the first time that we have been able to make this measurement so precisely, and it’s exciting to have direct experimental confirmation of such an important idea about the behavior of black holes,” said astrophysicist Will Farr of Stony Brook University and the Flatiron Institute, one of the study leaders.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/science/astronomers-get-best-view-yet-two-merging-black-holes-2025-09-10/

 

Two massive black holes crashed into each other 1.3 billion years ago, and the ripples from that cosmic collision just gave scientists the clearest look ever at how the universe really works. The signal, picked up on January 14, 2025, was so strong and clear that researchers could finally test some of the most ambitious predictions ever made about black holes.

The collision involved black holes each weighing about 30 times more than our sun. When they merged, the crash sent gravitational waves through space itself. These waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime that travel at the speed of light, and when they finally reached Earth after their 1.3-billion-year journey, they were detected by LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), a pair of incredibly sensitive instruments in Washington and Louisiana.

The signal registered three times stronger than anything scientists had detected before, achieving a network signal-to-noise ratio of 80 compared to just 26 for the first gravitational wave detection in 2015. LIGO works by using laser beams to measure tiny changes in distance caused by passing gravitational waves – changes so small they’re less than 1/10,000th the width of a proton.

Testing Einstein’s Bold Prediction About Black Holes

More than a century ago, Albert Einstein made a startling claim about black holes: no matter how chaotic and complicated the original stars were before they collapsed, the black holes they become are surprisingly simple. According to Einstein’s general relativity theory, you only need three properties to completely describe any black hole (mass, spin, and electric charge).

After the two black holes merged, the newly formed black hole had to settle down through a process called “ringdown,” similar to how a bell vibrates after being struck. Scientists analyzed these vibrations with extraordinary precision and found that the black hole’s frequencies behaved in line with Einstein’s equations, within about 30% of the predictions.

The team detected at least two distinct vibration patterns in the aftermath and confirmed that the frequencies matched Einstein’s century-old predictions to within about 30%. This marks the first time scientists had a signal clear enough to show that these cosmic monsters follow the rules of general relativity, even under the most extreme conditions the universe can produce.

Testing Hawking’s Area Law for Black Holes

The scientists also tested one of Stephen Hawking’s most famous theoretical contributions: the area law, which states that the total surface area of black hole event horizons can never decrease over time. The event horizon represents the boundary beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.

This principle connects black holes to fundamental thermodynamic laws that govern energy and entropy in physical systems. Hawking proposed that black holes have temperature and entropy like any other thermodynamic system, making them far more sophisticated than simple cosmic vacuum cleaners.

To test this law, researchers measured the surface areas of the two original black holes and compared them to the area of the final merged black hole. Using different portions of the gravitational wave signal, they confirmed that the final black hole’s area exceeded the sum of the original areas with extremely high confidence. As the research paper states: “In all cases, the remnant’s event horizon area exceeds the total initial area at high credibility, in agreement with Hawking’s law.”

Why This Detection Breaks New Ground

When the LIGO first detected gravitational waves in 2015, that historic discovery involved similar-sized black holes but produced a relatively weak signal that limited the types of scientific tests researchers could perform. The dramatic improvement in this latest detection stems from years of technological upgrades to the LIGO instruments.

The detectors now operate near their design sensitivity and incorporate advanced quantum technologies that reduce noise from the measurement process itself. This leap in precision allows scientists to extract far more information from each detection.

Rather than just confirming that gravitational waves exist, scientists can now use these cosmic messengers to probe fundamental physics in ways impossible to recreate on Earth. Each new detection adds to humanity’s growing catalog of cosmic mergers and helps researchers understand how black holes form and evolve throughout the universe’s history.

Future detector networks and next-generation observatories promise even greater insights into the cosmos. After billions of years of black hole collisions occurring throughout the universe, humans have finally developed instruments sensitive enough to detect these gravitational waves and test Einstein’s predictions under the most extreme conditions nature provides.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/black-hole-collision-loudest-space-signal-ever/

Cancer patients who regularly consumed sucralose, the artificial sweetener found in Splenda and many diet products, were less likely to benefit from immunotherapy and experienced shorter survival, according to new research. The study reveals a surprising connection between everyday food choices and how well cutting-edge cancer treatments work.

Scientists analyzed dietary data from 91 patients with advanced melanoma and another 41 patients with lung cancer before they began immunotherapy treatment. An additional 25 patients with high-risk melanoma were studied in a separate preventive treatment group. Those consuming more than 0.16 milligrams of sucralose per kilogram of body weight daily (about 0.07 milligrams per pound) had significantly lower response rates and shorter progression-free survival.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center then turned to laboratory experiments to understand why. The study, published in Cancer Discovery, concludes that sucralose alters gut bacteria in ways that deprive immune cells of the nutrients they need to fight cancer.

How Sucralose May Disrupt Cancer Treatment

Laboratory experiments with cancer-bearing mice revealed the likely mechanism behind these poorer outcomes. When researchers gave mice sucralose-laced water, tumors grew larger and fewer animals survived compared to those drinking regular water. Mice given sugar water did not show these problems, suggesting the effect was specific to sucralose rather than sweetness in general.

Analysis of immune cells showed that sucralose consumption left T cells, which are immune cells that cancer immunotherapy drugs are designed to activate, exhausted and less functional. These weakened T cells produced fewer cancer-fighting molecules and had lower energy reserves.

Direct effects of sucralose on T cells in lab dishes were modest. Instead, the bigger impact came from changes in gut bacteria. Sucralose shifted the balance of microbes, encouraging strains that break down arginine, an amino acid that fuels T cells. Blood and tumor tissue from sucralose-consuming mice showed depleted arginine levels.

To confirm that gut bacteria were responsible, researchers transferred stool samples from sucralose-consuming mice to healthy animals. The recipient mice developed the same resistance to immunotherapy, strongly supporting the idea that bacterial changes were driving the effect.

Reversing the Damage

Scientists also found a way to restore treatment response in mice. When they added citrulline, an amino acid the body converts into arginine, to water, the negative effects of sucralose were reversed. Mice consuming both sucralose and citrulline responded normally to immunotherapy, showing tumor shrinkage and improved survival.

Similarly, transferring gut bacteria from mice that responded well to immunotherapy helped restore treatment effectiveness in sucralose-consuming animals, particularly when combined with antibiotics beforehand.

What This Means for Patients

Sucralose is common in tabletop sweeteners, processed foods, beverages, medications, and supplements throughout the American diet. In this study, patients who consumed more than 0.16 mg/kg/day (about 0.07 milligrams per pound of body weight per day) faced higher risk of poor outcomes. The researchers note, however, that their dietary questionnaire did not provide enough detail to calculate exact intake from specific foods or drinks, so this figure cannot be directly translated into cans of soda or packets of sweetener.

Cancer immunotherapy costs over $100,000 annually and works for fewer than half of patients. These treatments have transformed care for previously untreatable diseases. If diet factors like sucralose undermine treatment effectiveness, addressing them could be a simple way to improve outcomes and reduce costs.

The research also raises broader questions about the safety of artificial sweeteners. While regulatory agencies have long considered sucralose safe based on toxicity studies, this study shows it may have immune system and gut bacteria effects at consumption levels once thought harmless.

Earlier studies found sucralose can alter gut bacteria and glucose metabolism in healthy people. This new work is the first to connect those changes directly to cancer treatment response, suggesting that what patients eat and drink could have life-and-death consequences during therapy.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/sweetener-sucralos-cancer-treatment-effectiveness/

 

Study Shows Quick Fixes For Ice Loss Are Too Costly and Risky

Playing specially designed video games might do more than entertain older adults with memory problems. A new study suggests these games could potentially help protect brain regions vulnerable to early Alzheimer’s disease, though the research is still exploratory.

Scientists found that people with mild cognitive impairment who played exergames (video games that combine physical movement with thinking tasks) showed increases in brain volume in areas crucial for memory. Some of these brain changes were also weakly linked with better performance on memory tests.

How Doctors Turned Games Into Medicine

Researchers studied 30 older adults with an average age of 72 who had mild neurocognitive disorder, the medical term for mild cognitive impairment. Most participants (87%) had laboratory evidence pointing to the cause of their memory problems, with 62% showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Half the group received their usual medical care. The other half also used a gaming system called Brain-IT at home. Players stood on a pressure-sensitive platform and controlled games by moving their bodies while solving puzzles. The system also included breathing exercises designed to help with stress and focus.

Each participant was instructed to train at least five times a week for 12 weeks, with each session lasting at least 24 minutes. On average, participants completed about 71 sessions, or nearly six per week. The games adjusted automatically depending on each person’s performance, creating a personalized workout for both body and brain.

Brain Scans Show Volume Increases in Memory-Linked Regions

After three months, brain scans revealed differences between the groups. People who used the gaming system showed increases in gray matter volume in several brain regions, including the hippocampus (the brain’s main memory center), thalamus, and anterior cingulate cortex.

The hippocampus findings are especially notable. In Alzheimer’s disease, this region typically shrinks as memory declines. Seeing increases in hippocampal volume runs counter to what doctors usually expect.

The study, published in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, also found signals of a protective effect on the brain’s white matter, the internal wiring that helps different regions communicate. Advanced imaging showed higher integrity measures in the intervention group compared to controls, suggesting preserved connectivity.

Importantly, increases in hippocampal and thalamic volume were weakly correlated with better scores on delayed memory tasks. The authors stress these were modest links, not proof that every brain change led to a memory gain.

More Engaging Than Exercise Alone

Previous research has shown that physical exercise benefits brain health. However, this study suggests that combining movement with thinking challenges and technology may offer additional benefits.

The training delivered multiple forms of stimulation — visual, auditory, and tactile feedback — that required players to coordinate their movements while solving problems. This multisensory approach may help the brain form new connections more effectively than traditional exercise programs.

Participants stuck with the program. Across 12 weeks, they logged nearly 1,700 minutes of training, showing they found the games engaging rather than tedious.

The study does have limitations. With only 30 people, the results need confirmation in larger trials. The three-month timeframe doesn’t show whether benefits last long-term or require ongoing training. The group was predominantly male, and the small sample size means that the results may not be applicable to everyone.

Researchers also couldn’t tease apart which component was most helpful: the physical activity, the mental challenges, the breathing exercises, or the combination.

A Promising Step Forward

Despite these limitations, the findings are encouraging. Hippocampal shrinkage has long been considered an inevitable part of Alzheimer’s progression. Finding an intervention that may help counteract this shrinkage represents a novel approach to treating memory problems.

The technology-based approach also has practical advantages. Unlike many medical treatments, gaming can happen at home, making it potentially more accessible. The system automatically adjusts difficulty and tracks progress, allowing it to be standardized while still tailored to individuals.

Right now, treatments for mild cognitive impairment mainly focus on slowing decline rather than improving function. This exploratory research suggests that with the right approach, partial recovery of memory and brain structure might be possible.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/video-games-tackle-early-alzheimers-signs/

 

Pregnancy loss brings grief, no matter how early it happens. Experts share advice for recovery, knowing when you’re ready to try again, and how to prepare both mind and body for getting pregnant again after a miscarriage.

You were elated when the pregnancy test showed two pink lines. Now, your dreams of becoming a mother are shattered, leaving nothing but grief and a sense of emptiness.

A miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of pregnancy before the 20th week. Occurring in about one in five pregnancies, the risk increases with age. In women over 40, miscarriage occurs in more than one in two pregnancies, said Dr Nur Azleen Sidek, associate consultant with the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at National University Hospital (NUH).

Beyond the physical recovery, the emotional weight of a miscarriage – the lingering sense of pain, isolation, anxiety and grief – can feel overwhelming for the woman.

Dr Sanveen Kang, clinical psychologist and founder of Psych Connect, noted that such feelings often stem from a sense of shame, loss of purpose or a belief that their bodies have somehow let them down. There is also a sense of guilt that the loss is their fault, even when that is not the case, she said.

“Trying again after a miscarriage can both be a hopeful and terrifying decision. For many women, the desire to grow their family co-exists with deep anxiety, grief and fear of another loss,” Dr Kang explained.

Understanding what happens after a miscarriage can help women prepare physically and mentally for the next chapter of their fertility journey.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BODY AFTER A MISCARRIAGE?

During a miscarriage, some women may notice a drop in nausea due to a drop in the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) pregnancy hormone, said Dr Jessie Phoon, obstetrician and gynaecologist, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinician at STO+G Practice.

“Physically, there may be more cramps and vaginal bleeding, though some women may not experience any changes,” Dr Phoon said.

After the pregnancy loss, HCG levels will gradually decline. “Women should expect their menses to return by around four to six weeks later, or even slightly longer, depending on how far along the pregnancy was,” said Dr Azleen.

 

Invisible bursts of radiation that happen inside thunderstorms may hold the key to one of nature’s most spectacular mysteries: how lightning actually begins. Scientists have found that these high-energy flashes, known as terrestrial gamma ray flashes, don’t just accompany lightning strikes—they may help set the stage for them.

For decades, researchers struggled to explain lightning’s first step. Storm clouds build up electrical charge, but the measured electric fields often seemed too weak to spark such enormous discharges. Now, a team led by Victor Pasko at Penn State University suggests the missing piece is a process called photoelectric feedback, in which radiation inside the storm sets off a chain reaction of particles.

Scientists Close In on a 30-Year Mystery

Gamma ray flashes were first spotted by satellites in 1994, coming from thunderstorms. They puzzled scientists because they originated from small, dim regions of storms rather than the bright, crackling areas where lightning is usually seen. The flashes lasted just millionths of a second but carried surprising amounts of energy.

The hype around protein intake doesn’t seem to be going away. Social media is full of people urging you to eat more protein, including via supplements such as protein shakes. Food companies have also started highlighting protein content on food packages to promote sales.

But is all the extra protein giving us any benefit – and can you have too much protein?

Animal protein isn’t linked to a shorter life — and may even offer some protection against cancer.

A large new analysis of nearly 16,000 U.S. adults followed for up to 18 years found no evidence that eating animal protein raises the risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, or any other cause. More surprising still: animal protein appeared to offer modest protection against cancer death.

Meanwhile, plant protein showed no clear survival benefit in this dataset, contrasting with some earlier studies that suggested advantages for vegetarian diets.

Published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, this analysis challenges a controversial 2014 study that claimed high animal protein intake increased cancer risk by more than four times in middle-aged adults. That earlier research helped fuel the plant-based movement and convinced millions of Americans to swap their steaks for salads.

“Our data do not support the thesis that source-specific protein intake is associated with greater mortality risk; however, animal protein may be mildly protective for cancer mortality,” the researchers concluded in their paper. It’s also worth noting that the study was funded by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; however, the authors stated that the sponsor had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.

Large-Scale Study Finds No Link Between Animal Protein and Death Risk

Led by Stuart Phillips, a professor at McMaster University, the study followed 15,937 adults aged 19 and older, tracking nearly 4,000 deaths between 1988 and 2006. Unlike many earlier studies that relied on people’s memories of what they ate, this analysis used more sophisticated methods to estimate what people typically consumed over time.

The results were reassuring for meat eaters. People who ate more animal protein weren’t any more likely to die early than people who ate less. That was true for deaths from all causes combined, as well as deaths specifically from heart disease. Plant protein showed the same pattern: no sign that it extended life, but also no sign of harm.

But when the researchers zeroed in on cancer deaths, they noticed something unexpected. People who ate more animal protein were actually less likely to die of cancer. The effect wasn’t huge, but it was clear: eating a little more animal protein each day was tied to a small reduction in cancer deaths.

And when researchers looked at bigger differences in intake, the numbers became more striking. People who ate the equivalent of about half an ounce more animal protein a day had roughly a 20% lower risk of dying from cancer. Those who ate about an ounce more had close to a 40% lower risk.

Plant protein, on the other hand, didn’t seem to affect cancer deaths in either direction.

Why These Results Differ From Previous Cancer Studies

So why did this study come to such different conclusions than the famous 2014 paper that warned against meat? It comes down to how the studies were designed.

Earlier studies often divided people into uneven groups — for example, “low protein” eaters versus “high protein” eaters — and then compared outcomes between them. That can lead to skewed results, especially if the groups are small or imbalanced.

The new study, however, looked across the entire spectrum of protein intake and used more advanced modeling to account for errors in how diets are typically measured. It even used the same government dataset as the controversial 2014 study but reanalyzed it in a more rigorous way.

The 2014 study claimed that people aged 50 to 65 who ate the most protein were four times more likely to die of cancer than those who ate the least. But in this new analysis, no such spike in risk was seen for that age group. In fact, the opposite pattern emerged: animal protein was linked to a modest protective effect against cancer.

The researchers also investigated a hormone called IGF-1, which rises when people eat protein and has been suggested as a possible cancer promoter. But here again, the data didn’t support the fear. People with higher or lower IGF-1 levels were no more likely to die of cancer, heart disease, or any other cause.

What These Findings Mean for American Diets

With nearly 16,000 participants and close to 4,000 deaths, this study had substantial statistical power to detect meaningful associations. The demographic makeup broadly represented the American population across different age ranges.

Researchers controlled for factors that could affect results: age, sex, physical activity level, smoking status, and total calorie intake. When they included both animal and plant protein in their statistical models simultaneously, animal protein retained its protective association while plant protein showed no effect.

The protective effect remained even after accounting for plant protein intake, suggesting the link wasn’t simply due to people eating less of something else. Still, the study can’t prove cause and effect.

These results don’t mean people should abandon plant-based diets or consume unlimited meat. The study examined protein sources in isolation, not overall eating patterns. Plant foods provide fiber, antioxidants, and other beneficial compounds that weren’t measured here. The research also didn’t distinguish between different types of animal protein such as processed versus unprocessed meats.

However, the results do suggest that widespread fears about animal protein’s effects on longevity may be misplaced. For millions of Americans who enjoy meat, eggs, and dairy products, this research provides reassurance that these foods aren’t shortening their lives.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/animal-protein-linked-to-lower-cancer-death-risk/

Researchers at New York University have built a wireless capsule the size of a large vitamin that rats can swallow, giving scientists a unique way to shine light into their digestive systems without surgery. The device opens new doors for studying the enteric nervous system, a network of neurons in the gut often nicknamed the “second brain” in popular science. In the study itself, the researchers describe it as the body’s second-largest collection of neurons after the brain.

Scientists have long struggled to study gut neurons because traditional methods require cutting animals open, which damages tissue and disrupts normal gut function. The new capsule, called ICOPS (Ingestible Capsule for Optical Stimulation), travels naturally through the digestive tract while delivering light to specially engineered neurons.

Not only is it the first swallowable optical stimulation device designed for rodents, but it’s manufactured entirely through 3D printing without needing expensive chip-making facilities.

Wireless Power Makes the Magic Happen

The capsule is designed for use with optogenetics, a method that engineers neurons to act like light switches. When equipped with special proteins, neurons can be turned on or off with flashes of light. ICOPS uses a micro-LED that operates at about 470 nanometers, emitting predominantly at 460 nanometers, a wavelength known to trigger common optogenetic proteins.

Traditional electrical stimulation can’t match this precision because it activates all nearby nerve cells at once, like flipping every switch in a house instead of just one.

At 2.7 millimeters wide and 18 millimeters long, the capsule weighs just 0.22 grams and passes through rat digestive systems naturally within 20 hours. The device doesn’t need batteries, which would make it too large and potentially dangerous. Instead, it receives energy through magnetic fields generated by external coils.

Scientists place test animals inside a specially designed cage equipped with four spiral coils. These coils create magnetic fields that power the device as rats move freely around their cage. The system works at distances up to 14 centimeters (about the length of a dollar bill) and even when the capsule rotates 75 degrees. The coils operate at low frequencies of 45–63 kHz to minimize tissue heating and stay within international safety limits.

Engineering Challenges Solved with Tiny Components

Building sufficient power into such a tiny device required some serious engineering creativity. The research team at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering packed a receiver coil with 460 turns of copper wire around a ferrite core, paired with a micro-LED and capacitor to optimize power transfer. Picture wrapping thread around a toothpick 460 times, but much more precisely, and you get the idea of the coil complexity.

The transparent plastic housing allows about 80% of blue light to pass through while protecting the guts of the device. Lab tests confirmed durability by soaking three devices in simulated gastric fluid for two days. All kept working perfectly, showing the capsule can handle the harsh conditions inside a digestive system.

When researchers checked how hot the device gets during operation, they found only a 2-degree Celsius increase during extended use, well within safe limits for living tissue. The modest heating happens because the blue LED generates some heat, but the capsule’s surface area lets it cool efficiently.

Safety analysis confirmed the magnetic fields stay within occupational exposure limits set by international radiation protection guidelines. The team measured specific absorption rates, which track how much electromagnetic energy tissues absorb, and found levels well below established safety thresholds.

From Idea to Working Gadget

Scientists built their device entirely through high-precision 3D printing that builds objects layer by layer using light. This approach avoids expensive semiconductor fabrication facilities typically needed for such precision electronics, making the technology accessible to research institutions worldwide and allowing rapid tweaking of design variations.

Researchers successfully printed hundreds of device housings at once, supporting high-volume production at relatively low cost. The simple circuit design contains only three main parts (receiver coil, capacitor, and LED), keeping complexity and expenses manageable.

In live rat studies, scientists successfully tracked the capsule’s journey using micro-CT imaging, which easily spots the metal coil components against surrounding tissue. The device maintained consistent power delivery regardless of where animals positioned themselves or how active they got, proving it functions during normal digestive transit.

Testing revealed the capsule works effectively up to 14 centimeters lengthwise and 9 centimeters sideways from the power source. The device even keeps functioning when rotated 75 degrees relative to the magnetic field, ensuring reliable operation as it moves through the curved digestive tract.

What This Enables and Current Roadblocks

The device lets researchers study gut neurons without the headaches of surgical implants, including tissue damage, infection risk, and behavioral changes that can throw off experimental results. Animals stay in their natural state while scientists deliver light at specific locations along the digestive tract.

Several limitations currently restrict what the technology can do. The study only tested rats using a small sample size. The device only works on specially engineered lab rats whose gut cells have been modified to respond to light, like installing biological light switches. Current designs work only once and operate exclusively with blue light wavelengths.

The technology also depends on external power systems that keep animal mobility limited to specially equipped cages. While rats can move freely within the cage, they can’t venture outside the magnetic field range generated by the coil system.

Researchers note that no actual light-controlled neuron experiments happened in this initial study. The work focused on proving the device concept and showing wireless power delivery actually works. Future research will need to demonstrate whether the light output can effectively control genetically modified gut neurons in living animals.

Manufacturing Innovation Opens New Doors

The 3D printing approach breaks away from traditional microelectronics manufacturing. Instead of relying on clean room facilities and semiconductor fabrication techniques, researchers used readily available printing technology to create precision components.

This manufacturing strategy enables rapid iteration and customization. The team designed custom molds with built-in channels for threading tiny wires and anchoring points for soldering, eliminating many traditional assembly headaches. The modular approach lets researchers easily swap different LED types or modify circuit components.

Future versions could pack in multiple LEDs emitting different wavelengths, letting researchers target various light-sensitive proteins at the same time. Such upgrades could allow scientists to activate some neurons while silencing others within the same experiment, providing more sophisticated control over gut neural circuits.

The research team also envisions scaling the technology for different animal models, though human applications remain distant and would require extensive additional development to meet medical device standards and safety requirements.

This swallowable light source represents an early but important step toward better tools for studying gut neuroscience. While current applications focus on basic research in laboratory animals, the underlying wireless power and miniaturization technologies could eventually inform development of therapeutic devices for human digestive disorders.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/first-swallowable-light-capsule-for-rats-could-transform-gut-research/

In A Nutshell

• Most of food chemistry is still unknown: Beyond calories and nutrients, our diet contains 26,000+ compounds — most unstudied “nutritional dark matter.”
• Hidden compounds may drive health or harm: Molecules like TMAO (from red meat/eggs) raise heart risk, while garlic can block its production; gut microbes turn fruit compounds into health-boosting urolithins.
• Food affects genes and generations: Diet can switch genes on/off through epigenetics, shaping disease risk even in children of malnourished mothers.
• Foodomics is mapping the ‘food universe’: Projects like the Foodome are cataloguing 130,000+ food molecules to uncover how diet truly impacts health and disease.

When scientists cracked the human genome in 2003 – sequencing the entire genetic code of a human being – many expected it would unlock the secrets of disease. But genetics explained only about 10% of the risk. The other 90% lies in the environment – and diet plays a huge part.

Worldwide, poor diet is linked to around one in five deaths among adults aged 25 years or older. In Europe, it accounts for nearly half of all cardiovascular deaths. But despite decades of advice about cutting fat, salt or sugar, obesity and diet-related illness have continued to rise. Clearly, something is missing from the way we think about food.

For years, nutrition has often been framed in fairly simple terms: food as fuel and nutrients as the body’s building blocks. Proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins – about 150 known chemicals in total – have dominated the picture. But scientists now estimate our diet actually delivers more than 26,000 compounds, with most of them still uncharted.

Here is where astronomy provides a useful comparison. Astronomers know that dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe. It doesn’t emit or reflect light, and so it cannot be seen directly but its gravitational effects reveal that it must exist.

Nutrition science faces something similar. The vast majority of chemicals in food are invisible to us in terms of research. We consume them every day, but we have little idea what they do.

Some experts refer to these unknown molecules as “nutritional dark matter.” It’s a reminder that just as the cosmos is filled with hidden forces, our diet is packed with hidden chemistry.

When researchers analyze disease, they look at a vast array of foods, although any association often cannot be matched to known molecules. This is the dark matter of nutrition – the compounds we ingest daily but haven’t been mapped or studied. Some may encourage health, but others may increase the risk of disease. The challenge is finding out which do what.

Foodomics

The field of foodomics aims to do exactly that. It brings together genomics (the role of genes), proteomics (proteins), metabolomics (cell activity) and nutrigenomics (the interaction of genes and diet).

These approaches are starting to reveal how diet interacts with the body in ways far beyond calories and vitamins.

Take the Mediterranean diet (filled with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, olive oil and fish, with limited red meat and sweets), for example, which is known to reduce the risk of heart disease.

But why does it work? One clue lies in a molecule called TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide), produced when gut bacteria metabolize compounds in red meat and eggs. High levels of TMAO increase the risk of heart disease. But garlic, for example, contains substances that block its production. This is one example of how diet can tip the balance between health and harm.

Gut bacteria also play a major role. When compounds reach the colon, microbes transform them into new chemicals that can affect inflammation, immunity and metabolism.

For example, ellagic acid – found in various fruits and nuts – is converted by gut bacteria into urolithins. These are a group of natural compounds that help keep our mitochondria (the body’s energy factories) healthy.

This shows how food is a complex web of interacting chemicals. One compound can influence many biological mechanisms, which in turn can affect many others. Diet can even switch genes on or off through epigenetics – changes in gene activity that don’t alter DNA itself.

History has provided stark examples of this. For example, children born to mothers who endured famine in the Netherlands during the Second World War were more likely to develop heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and schizophrenia later in life. Decades on, scientists found their gene activity had been altered by what their mothers ate – or didn’t eat – while pregnant.

Mapping The Food Universe

Projects such as the Foodome Project are now attempting to catalogue this hidden chemical universe. More than 130,000 molecules have already been listed, linking food compounds to human proteins, gut microbes and disease processes. The aim is to build an atlas of how diet interacts with the body, and to pinpoint which molecules really matter for health.

The hope is that by understanding nutritional dark matter, we can answer questions that have long frustrated nutrition science. Why do certain diets work for some people but not others? Why do foods sometimes prevent, and sometimes promote, disease? Which food molecules could be harnessed to develop new drugs, or new foods?

Source : https://studyfinds.org/what-exactly-are-you-eating-nutritional-dark-matter-your-food

 

A class of drugs called beta-blockers — used for decades as a first-line treatment after a heart attack— doesn’t benefit the vast majority of patients and may contribute to a higher risk of hospitalization and death in some women but not in men, according to groundbreaking new research.

“These findings will reshape all international clinical guidelines on the use of beta-blockers in men and women and should spark a long-needed, sex-specific approach to treatment for cardiovascular disease,” said senior study author Dr. Valentin Fuster, president of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York City and general director of the National Center for Cardiovascular Investigation in Madrid.

Women with little heart damage after their heart attacks who were treated with beta-blockers were significantly more likely to have another heart attack or be hospitalized for heart failure — and nearly three times more likely to die — compared with women not given the drug, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal and also scheduled to be presented Saturday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid.

“This was especially true for women receiving high doses of beta-blockers,” said lead study author Dr. Borja Ibáñez, scientific director for Madrid’s National Center for Cardiovascular Investigation.

“The total number of women in the clinical trial was the largest ever included in a study testing beta-blockers after myocardial infarction (heart attack), so this is a significant finding,” said Ibáñez, a cardiologist at Madrid’s Jiménez Díaz Foundation University Hospital.

The findings, however, only applied to women with a left ventricular ejection fraction above 50%, which is considered normal function, the study said. Ejection fraction is a way of measuring how well the left side of the heart is pumping oxygenated blood throughout the body. For anyone with a score below 40% after a heart attack, beta-blockers continue to be the standard of care due to their ability to calm heart arrhythmias that may trigger a second event.

Still, the drug can have unpleasant side effects, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver.

“The drugs can lead to low blood pressure, low heart rate, erectile dysfunction, fatigue and mood swings,” said Freeman, who was not involved in the research. “Anytime we use these drugs, we always have to balance risk versus benefit.”

Why would women be more susceptible to harm from beta-blockers than men?

“That’s actually not surprising,” Freeman said. “Gender has a lot to do with how people respond to medication. In many cases, women have smaller hearts. They’re more sensitive to blood pressure medications. Some of that may have to do with size, and some may have to do with other factors we have yet to fully understand.”

In fact, because early research on the heart focused on men, it took medical science years to discover that heart disease presents differently in women. Men typically have plaque buildup in their major arteries and experience more traditional signs of a heart attack such as chest pain. Women are more likely to have plaque in the heart’s smaller blood vessels and can have more unusual symptoms of a heart attack such as back pain, indigestion and shortness of breath.

Advances in treatment lessen need for beta-blockers

The analysis on women was part of a much larger clinical trial called REBOOT — Treatment with Beta-Blockers after Myocardial Infarction without Reduced Ejection Fraction — which followed 8,505 men and women treated for heart attacks at 109 hospitals in Spain and Italy for nearly four years.

Results of the study were published in The New England Journal of Medicine and also presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

None of the patients in the trial had a left ventricular ejection fraction below 40%, a sign of potential heart failure.

“We found no benefit in using beta-blockers for men or women with preserved heart function after heart attack despite this being the standard of care for some 40 years,” said Fuster, former editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and past president of the American Heart Association and the World Health Federation.

That’s likely due to advances in medication treatment such as the immediate use of stents and blood thinners after patients arrive at the hospital. In fact, most men and women who survive heart attacks today have ejection fractions above 50%, Ibáñez said.

“Yet at this time, some 80% of patients in the US, Europe and Asia are treated with beta-blockers because medical guidelines still recommend them,” he said. “While we often test new drugs, it’s much less common to rigorously question the continued need for older treatments.”

While the study did not find any need to use beta-blockers for people with a left ventricular ejection fraction above 50% after a heart attack, a separate meta-analysis of 1,885 patients published Saturday in The Lancet did find benefits for those with scores between 40% and 50%, in which the heart may be mildly damaged.

Source : https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/30/health/heart-attack-beta-blockers-wellness

How can we live longer? The eternal question, and one that scientists have long been trying to answer.

We know that diet, exercise, and genes play a big role in the aging process and how long each of us might be alive for. We also know that certain drugs or medicines have the potential to increase our lifespan. Though there’s still a lot we don’t know about what makes one person live to 102 and another only make it to 72.

But one new study seems to suggest that psilocybin, found in so-called “magic mushrooms,” could have potential as a longevity drug. In a new study, researchers found that psilocin – the compound your body makes after ingesting psilocybin – helped human cells live longer in the lab and that psilocybin boosted survival rates in older mice.

The study has led to numerous headlines claiming that magic mushrooms could be the secret to living longer. But as someone who’s been studying psychedelic compounds like psilocybin, for the past 20 years – with a specific focus on human and rodent psychedelic dosing – I think the claims have been massively overhyped and that applying the findings to humans is deeply problematic.

A Closer Look At The Magic Mushroom Study

The research took place in two stages. The first part was a simple experiment, where researchers treated human lung cells with psilocin. They found that over time, these cells grew slightly faster than the cells that didn’t receive psilocin and survived longer – on average, the psilocybin treated cells lived 28.5% longer.

They also examined markers of cellular health, specifically looking at how many cells showed signs of aging, and found fewer age-related markers in the psilocin-treated cells.

Next, the researchers carried out a study using older mice that received either a placebo or psilocybin. The mice receiving the psilocybin were first given a dose of five milligrams for every kilogram they weighed to help them acclimatize to the drug, then for the following nine months, they received a higher dose of 15 milligrams (for every kilogram) once a month. The mice were then monitored until they died.

Psilocybin was found to extend the lifespan in mice, with treated animals beginning to die around 25 months of age compared with 21 months for those who didn’t receive it.

After ten months of treatment, 80% of the psilocybin group was still alive, while only half of the untreated mice had survived. The treated mice also appeared younger, with healthier fur showing less graying and more new growth, suggesting the drug may have slowed some aspects of aging.

High Doses, High Risk

So why is this happening? Well, scientists already know that psilocin activates many serotonin receptors in the brain and acts as an antioxidant (a substance that can prevent or slow down cell damage), both of which promote cell survival and growth. So this could be playing a part.

Another thing to consider is that one of these brain receptors – the 2C receptor – which isn’t linked to psychedelic effects, controls appetite and metabolism.

And here’s the thing: we already know that eating less can reliably extend lifespan. So, at the very least, the study should have told us how much the mice were eating and how their weight changed throughout the study – just to make sure their longer lives weren’t simply because they were eating less.

But here’s the real issue, a dose of 15 milligrams per kilogram in mice reflects an extremely high psychedelic dose. Administering this dose monthly for up to nine months has never been done in human studies. In fact, rodents exposed to repeated high doses of psychedelics have, in previous studies, displayed signs of schizophrenia.

It´s worth adding that in terms of animal to human dosage, it’s not quite as straightforward as adjusting for weight, as smaller animals have a faster heart rate and metabolize drugs faster. But even taking these things into account, the amount of psilocybin given to the mice would be equal to a human taking more than seven grams of mushrooms. For context, that’s more than double what’s considered a strong or “heroic” dose for most people – a typical dose is between one and three grams.

Psychedelic Boom

So where does this leave us? Well, psilocybin and other psychedelics have received a lot of attention over the past few years, particularly so in the world of mental health research, with numerous studies (and individuals) reporting positive effects.

Some U.S. states, like Oregon and Colorado have eased access to recreational psilocybin and other countries like Germany, the Czech Republic and Australia have bypassed regulatory systems altogether to provide psilocybin in cases of severe depression.

This is concerning though, because when misused or taken in very high doses, magic mushrooms, or psilocybin, can sometimes lead to long-term psychological issues, such as persistent anxiety and paranoia and in rare cases, visual disturbances can continue long after the drug has worn off. Indeed, during the 1960s and 1970s, some studies were carried out on patients in dubious settings and with high doses that led to bad experiences.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/longevity-drug-magic-mushrooms-not-key/

Doctors have long relied on measurements like body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratios to assess health risks. However, researchers are increasingly focusing their attention on an unexpected indicator: neck circumference.

A thick neck might project strength, like that of heavyweight boxers or rugby players, but studies suggest it could signal a concerning health issue.

BMI, which divides weight by height to estimate body fat, doesn’t always tell the complete story. A competitive bodybuilder might have a high BMI, but clearly isn’t obese. This is where neck circumference offers additional insight.

Research shows that people with larger necks relative to their body size face increased risks of several serious health conditions. The connection lies in what neck size reveals about fat distribution, particularly in the upper body.

This fat around your upper body releases fatty acids into your blood, which can interfere with how your body manages cholesterol, blood sugar and heart rhythm. Essentially, neck circumference serves as a proxy for visceral fat – the harmful fat that wraps around your organs.

The evidence linking neck size to health problems is striking. People with thicker necks show increased rates of several cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, atrial fibrillation and heart failure.

Atrial fibrillation is particularly concerning. This condition causes irregular heartbeat and blood flow, potentially leading to blood clots and stroke. The electrical imbalance in the heart can eventually progress to heart failure.

Neck circumference also correlates with coronary heart disease, where the main arteries to the heart narrow and restrict oxygen-rich blood flow.

But cardiovascular problems aren’t the only concern. Larger neck circumference increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. Diabetes can lead to serious long-term complications, including vision loss and limb amputations.

There’s also a connection to sleep disorders. Thick necks have been linked to obstructive sleep apnea, where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. This condition causes extreme daytime fatigue and strains the cardiovascular system. People with sleep apnea face higher risks of car accidents due to their exhaustion.

So what constitutes a risky neck size? For men, 17 inches (43cm) or greater increases health risks. For women, the threshold is 14 inches (35.5cm) or greater.

Perhaps most surprisingly, these risks persist even in people with normal BMI. You could have a healthy weight according to traditional measures, but still face elevated health risks due to neck circumference.

And for each additional centimeter of neck circumference beyond these thresholds, death rates and hospitalization rates increase.

What This Means For You

If your neck measures above these thresholds, it’s not cause for panic – but it is worth taking seriously. Neck size represents just one piece of your overall health picture, but it’s an important one that’s often overlooked.

The good news is that neck circumference can change with lifestyle modifications. Cardiovascular exercise and weight training can help reduce upper-body fat. Quality sleep supports metabolic regulation and recovery. A balanced diet rich in pulses, fruits, and vegetables provides essential nutrients without excess calories.

Measuring your neck takes seconds with a tape measure. Simply wrap it around the narrowest part of your neck, ensuring the tape is snug but not tight.

This simple measurement could provide valuable insight into health risks that traditional metrics might miss. While neck circumference shouldn’t replace other health assessments, it offers another tool for understanding your cardiovascular and metabolic health.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/what-your-neck-size-reveals-about-your-health/

Your brother covers your rent. Mom helps with groceries. Dad lends money for car repairs. These everyday exchanges add up to a hidden economy worth about $52 billion, and many families say it’s hurting their relationships.

More than half of respondents have borrowed money from friends or family, according to a new JG Wentworth survey of 1,267 people. While these informal loans can help during a crunch, they often come with a cost: nearly half say the arrangement caused serious conflicts, and three-quarters say they weren’t as close afterward.

With research showing U.S. credit-card balances at roughly $1.18 trillion in early 2025, it’s no surprise people look to loved ones for help. But mixing money and relationships can create problems that outlast the debt.

Who Respondents Ask for Money, and How Much They Borrow

When money gets tight, people most commonly turn to their family. In this survey, parents (77.7%), siblings (75.8%), and grandparents (75.7%) were the top sources; cousins (75.5%), aunts (73.7%), and uncles (73.4%) followed.

Friends barely registered at 2.8%, and romantic partners at 2.0%, underscoring how rarely people lean on non-family for cash.

Nearly half (48.3%) said they would be most likely to ask a family member for money with no expectation of repayment, but only 1.1% said they’d do the same with a friend. By contrast, 45.5% said they’d rather take out a formal loan or use credit than borrow from personal relationships.

On average, respondents reported borrowing $297 from friends or family, and still owing $237. About half (50.3%) of those with outstanding balances worry they won’t be able to repay in full.

When good intentions go wrong

The informal nature of many family loans leads to friction. Just over half of lenders (54.5%) reported having to ask more than once to be repaid. Nearly half (49.5%) never set a repayment timeline, and 49.9% never put the agreement in writing.

Without clear terms, many lenders lose money: 50.4% said they ended up out cash due to unpaid loans, whether partially or in full. The survey also suggests women may be slightly more inclined to forgive debts to preserve a relationship (57.7% vs 50.3% of men).

Some frustration ran so deep that 48.1% of lenders considered taking legal action, but ultimately decided against it.

The Relationship Damage Is Lasting

Among people who had borrowed or lent money, 46.6% said the experience caused serious arguments or conflicts; only 4.1% reported no problems.

Longer-term fallout was common:

• 75.1% said they were no longer as close as before,
• 71.3% said communication broke down for a while,
• 71.0% said the strain led to estrangement,
• 69.9% said it harmed their own financial well-being, and
• 69.1% said the relationship ended altogether.

When interest was discussed or charged, it averaged 3.21%, below typical credit-card rates but still an added stressor for already delicate situations.

For years, doctors have repeated a familiar message: if you’re heading into surgery, shedding pounds could improve your odds of a smooth recovery. Hospitals often encourage patients to slim down before elective procedures, citing risks like infection, heart strain, and breathing difficulties in heavier individuals. But a study from UCLA suggests that this advice may not apply equally to everyone. For older adults, carrying a little extra weight may actually improve the chances of surviving surgery.

The study followed more than 400 adults over age 65 who underwent major operations at a Los Angeles hospital. When the researchers compared outcomes across weight categories, they found something surprising. Seniors in the “overweight” range (a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9) had the lowest risk of dying within 30 days of their procedures. In fact, only one out of 128 overweight patients died in the month after surgery. By contrast, 25 out of 133 patients with a “normal” BMI did not survive, a rate nearly 20 times higher.

“Our study findings challenge the traditional belief that attaining a normal BMI (18.5–24.9) is ideal before major elective surgery for older adults,” the authors wrote in their paper, published in JAMA Network Open. Instead, the results suggest that for seniors, a little extra weight may sometimes be protective.

Rethinking the ‘Normal’ Weight for Seniors
BMI is a simple ratio of weight to height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered “normal,” 25 to 29.9 is “overweight,” and anything above 30 is “obese.” Health campaigns often frame “normal” weight as the gold standard. But this study suggests that for seniors, those categories may not tell the full story.

At the other end of the scale, the results were grim. Patients who were underweight (BMI below 18.5) fared the worst of all. Fifteen out of 20 underweight patients died within a month, giving this group the highest mortality rate by far. By comparison, the overweight group had the best outcomes.

The findings highlight a critical point: the meaning of “healthy weight” changes with age. Older adults lose muscle mass, often shrink in stature, and experience shifts in fat distribution. A thin body at 70 or 80 may not reflect youthful fitness but rather declining reserves that make it harder to withstand stress.

Why Might Extra Pounds Be Protective?
The researchers, led by Dr. Cecilia Canales, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, can’t say for certain why overweight patients survived at higher rates, but several theories make sense. Surgery places enormous stress on the body. Blood loss, anesthesia, and healing demands drain energy reserves. Having extra fat and muscle may give seniors more of a cushion, literally buying them time to recover.

Nutrition also plays a role. Older adults with slightly higher weight may have better stores of protein and vitamins that the body can draw on to repair tissues and fight off infection. In contrast, thinness in older adults is often a warning sign of hidden illness. Conditions like cancer or heart disease can cause unintentional weight loss, leaving patients weaker and less able to recover after an operation.

The authors explain: “Older adults, particularly frail individuals, may benefit from being in the overweight category.” That idea, often called the “obesity paradox,” refers to the counterintuitive observation that carrying some extra weight can sometimes protect rather than harm, depending on the situation.

Where Extra Weight Stops Helping
The study doesn’t suggest that heavier is always better. At the highest end of the scale, problems piled up. Seniors with morbid obesity (BMI 40 or above) didn’t necessarily die at higher rates, but nearly eight in ten developed complications. Lung issues like pneumonia and breathing trouble were especially common, along with blood clots and strokes.

So, while being moderately overweight seemed protective, extreme obesity still posed major risks. The “sweet spot” in this study was firmly in the overweight category, not in obesity’s upper ranges.

Frailty Adds Another Layer
The UCLA team also looked at frailty — a measure of overall resilience that considers factors like strength, energy, and chronic illness. About a quarter of the patients were classified as frail, while more than a third were “pre-frail.”

Source: https://studyfinds.org/why-extra-weight-may-help-seniors-survive-surgery/

Four in ten American parents say they don’t believe, or aren’t sure, their children will be able to afford to live in the same neighborhood where they grew up, according to a sobering new poll. In fact, the survey suggests that more than half of all Americans think they’re already paying too much for housing, with the average person reporting that 42% of their annual income goes toward housing costs.

The study of 1,000 Americans, conducted by Talker Research and commissioned by construction finance platform Built, highlights how concerns about housing affordability have become widespread. What was once viewed as a problem mainly affecting the poorest households is now seen as an issue facing a much broader slice of the population.

Housing Costs Are Straining Families Everywhere

Survey respondents pointed to their surroundings as part of the problem. Nearly half (45%) said their neighborhood’s cost of living is higher than average, while another third (33%) described their area as “notorious” for high housing costs.

Parents in particular worry about the long-term impact. When 42% say their kids won’t be able to afford their childhood neighborhoods, it signals a shift in expectations about whether the next generation will be able to maintain the same standard of living.

Americans Warm to Affordable Housing

The study shows perceptions of affordable housing are changing. Overall, 83% of respondents view affordable housing positively, more than for townhomes (76%), apartments (70%), or mobile and pre-fabricated homes (64%).

Still, many misunderstand what “affordable housing” means. Some believe it refers to extremely low-cost homes (38%), public housing (33%), or places meant only for people living in poverty (23%). A third, however, correctly recognized that affordable housing is designed for a wider range of incomes.

When asked who needs affordable housing most, people named low-income families (44%), retirees and seniors (29%), veterans (22%), and first-time buyers or renters (19%). Acceptance has also grown: two-thirds said they would willingly live near affordable housing, and more than half (53%) would react positively if a nearby property was converted into affordable units.

“Affordability challenges have gone mainstream,” said Chase Gilbert, CEO of Built. “More people are realizing affordable housing isn’t about charity — it’s about keeping the American dream within reach. Homeownership has always been a cornerstone of that dream, and for too many, that path is getting harder to find.”

Policy Ideas Gain Support

Americans also want action from policymakers. Survey respondents pointed to state governments (45%), local governments (44%), and the federal government (36%) as having responsibility for addressing housing shortages.

Among specific policies, the most popular idea was converting surplus buildings like offices or warehouses into housing (45%). Others supported requiring new developments to include affordable units (42%) and offering tax incentives for neighborhoods that add more housing (34%). Two in three (65%) said they would back the construction of new housing in their own neighborhoods.

Broadly, 73% of Americans believe it’s important to have plenty of housing options where they live, and 74% think housing costs should be stabilized. Yet 41% say their cities don’t currently have enough housing to meet demand.

From Policy to Practice

Industry leaders caution that policy support alone won’t be enough. “Policy decisions are definitely a part of the equation, but there’s more to it than that,” Gilbert explained. “Even if funding for new buildings is unlocked, it must flow into real projects for construction to begin. Capital that doesn’t move is no different than capital that was never there”.

Experts often point to additional hurdles such as financing, labor shortages, and local regulations that can delay projects, even when communities are ready to support them. These challenges underline the gap between good intentions and real construction on the ground.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/your-kids-might-not-afford-your-neighborhood-housing-market-income/

With burgers sizzling and classic rock thumping, many Americans revel in summer cookouts, at least until that wayward cousin asks for a “pop” in soda country, or even worse, a “coke” when they actually want a Sprite. Few American linguistic debates have bubbled quite as long and effervescently as the one over whether a generic soft drink should be called a soda, pop or coke.

The word you use generally boils down to where you’re from: Midwesterners enjoy a good pop, while soda is tops in the North and far West. Southerners, long the cultural mavericks, don’t bat an eyelash asking for coke – lowercase – before homing in on exactly the type they want: Perhaps a root beer or a Coke, uppercase.

As a linguist who studies American dialects, I’m less interested in this regional divide and far more fascinated by the unexpected history behind how a fizzy “health” drink from the early 1800s spawned the modern soft drink’s many names and iterations.

Bubbles, Anyone?

Foods and drinks with wellness benefits might seem like a modern phenomenon, but the urge to create drinks with medicinal properties inspired what might be called a soda revolution in the 1800s.

The process of carbonating water was first discovered in the late 1700s. By the early 1800s, this carbonated water had become popular as a health drink and was often referred to as “soda water.” The word “soda” likely came from “sodium,” since these drinks often contained salts, which were then believed to have healing properties.

Given its alleged curative effects for health issues such as indigestion, pharmacists sold soda water at soda fountains, innovative devices that created carbonated water to be sold by the glass. A chemistry professor, Benjamin Stillman, set up the first such device in a drugstore in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1806. Its eventual success inspired a boom of soda fountains in drugstores and health spas.

By the mid-1800s, pharmacists were creating unique root-, fruit- and herb-infused concoctions, such as sassafras-based root beer, at their soda fountains, often marketing them as cures for everything from fatigue to foul moods.

These flavored, sweetened versions gave rise to the linking of the word “soda” with a sweetened carbonated beverage, as opposed to simple, carbonated water.

Seltzer – today’s popular term for such sparkling water – was around, too. But it was used only for the naturally carbonated mineral water from the German town Nieder-Selters. Unlike Perrier, sourced similarly from a specific spring in France, seltzer made the leap to becoming a generic term for fizzy water.

Regional Naming Patterns

So how did “soda” come to be called so many different things in different places? It all stems from a mix of economic enterprise and linguistic ingenuity.

The popularity of “soda” in the Northeast likely reflects the soda fountain’s longer history in the region. Since a lot of Americans living in the Northeast migrated to California in the mid-to-late 1800s, the name likely traveled west with them.

As for the Midwestern preference for “pop” – well, the earliest American use of the term to refer to a sparkling beverage appeared in the 1840s in the name of a flavored version called “ginger pop.” Such ginger-flavored pop, though, was around in Britain by 1816, since a Newcastle songbook is where you can first see it used in text. The “pop” seems to be onomatopoeic for the noise made when the cork was released from the bottle before drinking.

Linguists don’t fully know why “pop” became so popular in the Midwest. But one theory links it to a Michigan bottling company, Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works – today known as Faygo Beverages – that used “pop” in the name of the sodas they marketed and sold. Another theory suggests that because bottles were more common in the region, soda drinkers were more likely to hear the “pop” sound than in the Northeast, where soda fountains reigned.

As for using coke generically, the first Coca-Cola was served in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in Atlanta and the founder of the company. In the 1900s, the Coca-Cola company tried to stamp out the use of “Coke” for “Coca-Cola.” But that ship had already sailed. Since Coca-Cola originated and was overwhelmingly popular in the South, its generic use grew out of the fact that people almost always asked for “Coke.”

As with Jell-O, Kleenex, Band-Aids and seltzer, it became a generic term.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/pop-soda-coke-fizzy-history-behind-americas-favorite-linguistic-debate/

On average, Americans say $74,000 a year would make them happy, according to new survey from Talker Research. But there’s a disconnect: half of respondents say their current paychecks don’t support the lifestyle they want.

The survey of 2,000 adults, commissioned by SurePayroll By Paychex, describes how traditional employment and evolving goals are pushing people to look for alternatives that boost income and meaning at work.

What Americans Consider the Perfect Salary Range

While $74,000 represents the average “perfect salary,” not everyone agrees on what would make them financially happy. One in five (19%) say they’d need six-figure income to enjoy their lifestyle.

The numbers paint a clear picture: 24% of employed Americans are unhappy with their income, and 50% of respondents say their current earnings don’t support their desired lifestyle. That dissatisfaction appears to be influencing how people approach work and money.

Job-market activity reflects this mood. 26% have searched for new jobs in the past three months, 35% are currently looking, and among those navigating the market in the past year, 39% say finding work is harder than before.

Today’s job seekers want more than bigger paychecks. Beyond salary, 28% want better benefits, 20% want improved work-life balance, and 20% want more flexibility, a reminder that total compensation and quality of life matter.

How Americans Are Starting Side Hustles for Extra Income

Economic uncertainty is sparking entrepreneurial interest. The current economy has made 32% of non-business owners more interested in starting a side business, and 69% of all respondents are looking for ways to earn extra money.

Entrepreneurship’s appeal now rivals traditional employment: 52% say starting a small business or side hustle is just as or more viable than pursuing a conventional full-time job.

Nearly 29% already run a side business. Among these entrepreneurs, 40% say their ventures are driven equally or more by passion than by money. And among potential side-hustlers, 47% say they’d be driven equally (or primarily) by earning from something they love.

Americans also see specific opportunities to get paid for their interests: 47% believe they could monetize an activity or idea they’re passionate about, and 59% of non-business owners wish they could start a passion-based business—examples ranged from “quilting” and “doing voice-overs” to “help[ing] people release their emotional baggage.” For those with a clear passion, 57% say the dream is to make it their only source of income.

Given extra income, Americans say they’d prioritize stability: 46% would add to savings or investments, 42% would pay bills, 35% would cover groceries, and 23% would fund travel—suggesting many see extra earnings as a way to strengthen their financial foundation.

Why Workers Prefer Small Companies Over Large Corporations

Worker preferences are also tilting toward smaller employers. About a quarter (24%) of respondents say it’s more beneficial to work for a small business. Respondents view small businesses as more gratifying to work for (40% vs 12% for large companies), with better relationships with customers (59% vs 7%) and employees (58% vs 9%).

“The data shows that more Americans are hoping to turn their passions into paychecks,” said Glenn Ferretti, director of digital sales at SurePayroll. “Whether it’s a side hustle or a full leap into launching a small business, it’s clear people want more control, more meaning and more freedom in how they work. This highlights the need for affordable solutions that can help Americans turn their small business dreams into reality.”

The research points to an American workforce in transition. While $74,000 represents the average “perfect salary” reported in this survey, the larger story is how many people are actively reshaping work and income to better match their goals.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/perfect-salary-for-americans-survey/

Do you like AI models? Well, chances are, they sure don’t like you back.

Eighty years have passed since Japan’s surrender ended World War II. But the way Japan thinks about its wartime history is changing at pace. This is coinciding with a political shift that risks renewed Japanese militarism, an outcome that would complicate politics across east Asia.

Japan’s traditional narrative of the war originated in the post-war occupation, a period in which the U.S. oversaw the demilitarization of Japanese society. These efforts included the establishment and adoption of Japan’s current constitution in 1947.

Article 9 of the constitution renounces the use of force as a means of settling international disputes, thus limiting the Japanese military to being a purely defensive organization. Japan has upheld Article 9 since its inception, transforming itself into a pacifist nation and pursuing a humanitarian and diplomatic foreign policy.

Tokyo refused to send personnel even for UN peacekeeping missions until the 1990s, when a Japanese military contingent arrived in Cambodia following its civil war. When its troops have been involved, they have only served in supporting rather than combat roles.

The U.S. occupying force also developed a peace education program for Japanese schools. This program established the core themes and ideas surrounding Japan’s traditional narrative of the war.

The narrative renounces militarism and points to the WWII as a cautionary tale of the excesses of nationalism and aggression. It explains that Japan was misled by militaristic social elites and that the war was not in the best interests of the Japanese people.

Remembering War Crimes

Japan’s traditional narrative also encourages introspective contemplation of Japanese war crimes, such as the massacre of Chinese civilians in the captured city of Nanjing between December 1937 and January 1938. These atrocities are considered shameful and are not usually discussed in public by traditionalists.

When support for militarism grows, however, survivors of the war share stories of the atrocities they witnessed or – indeed – participated in. One instance of this occurred in 2007, when references to some of Japan’s wartime atrocities were removed from school textbooks.

Prominent traditionalists spoke out against this, with Rev. Kinjo Shigeaki giving interviews warning against militarism. He shared the story of how, brainwashed by Japanese Imperial Army soldiers into believing American troops would rape all the local women and run over the men with their tanks, he murdered his mother and siblings in 1945.

Nowadays, the traditional narrative is most popular among older Japanese people who lived through the war or the immediate post-war period. By holding true a historical narrative that renounces militarism, traditionalists are in favor of Article 9 and Japan’s pacifistic foreign policy.

The revisionist narrative emerged in the 1950s. Since then, it has grown to challenge the traditional narrative in popularity. It seeks to explain that the war was morally justified as an effort to liberate east Asia from western imperialists.

At the same time, the revisionist narrative also explains that the war was misguided. Its proponents argue that, by attacking and subjugating neighboring countries, Japan was merely mimicking western-style imperialism.

Accusing the west of corrupting Japan predates the revisionist narrative. An instance of it can be found as early as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, which took place between 1946 and 1948. General Ishiwara Kanji, the wartime leader of the Imperial Japanese Army, argued that Japan was forced to open up by the west and to behave as a western power.

Ishiwara told the tribunal: “When Japan did open its doors and tried dealing with other countries, it learned that all those countries were a fearfully aggressive lot. And so for its own defense it took your own country as its teacher and set about learning how to be aggressive. You might say we became your disciples.”

This perspective underpins the revisionist narrative’s framing of the Japanese people as a primary victim of the war. That an otherwise peaceful people with good intentions made the error of mimicking the west, resulting in a war in which they suffered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

By failing to condemn militarism, the revisionist narrative makes Japanese rearmament permissible. As a result, revisionists tend to oppose Article 9 and call for Japan to restore its military.

Why Does This Matter?

Historical narratives change. It is at the Japanese nation’s discretion which narrative it favors, with both probably capturing some aspect of Japan’s complex wartime history. What is concerning, though, is that the current shift in how Japan remembers its wartime history may contribute to militaristic backsliding.

Japan held elections for its upper house, the House of Councillors, in July. The rightwing populist Sanseitō party secured over 12% of the national vote, up from 3.33% in 2022. Sanseitō is an ultranationalist and pro-revisionist party that glorifies Japan’s imperial past and promises to revoke Article 9.

Alongside other pro-revisionist parties, it draws significant support from young voters. Young people in Japan nowadays consume significantly more revisionist media than older generations, alluding to the popularity of this narrative among young voters.

Japan’s neighbors view Sanseitō and other revisionist parties with suspicion. China, which lost more than 20 million people following Japan’s wartime invasion, has condemned calls for Article 9 reform. Past efforts to reform Article 9 – or even just pursue a more assertive foreign policy – have triggered large anti-Japanese protests in cities throughout China.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/japans-shifting-memory-wwii-raising-fears-renewed-militarism/

More than half of Earth’s land surface has pushed past what scientists call local ecological boundaries, or limits that help keep our planet’s life-support systems stable. These boundaries are part of a scientific framework known as planetary boundaries, which identifies the safe environmental conditions that have allowed human civilization to flourish for thousands of years.

According to a new study led by researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 60% of global land has already crossed these limits, and 38% has entered a high-risk zone. Once an area is in that zone, it faces a much greater likelihood of ecological breakdown. This happens not necessarily overnight, but over time, as the capacity of ecosystems to regulate climate, support biodiversity, and provide essential services declines.

The findings, published in One Earth, aren’t meant to declare the planet doomed, but they are a warning light that’s difficult to ignore.

A Global Checkup for the Planet

If the Earth were a patient, this study is like a comprehensive medical exam. It doesn’t just check temperature and pulse, but runs a detailed scan of the whole system. Scientists wanted to answer a deceptively simple question: How much of the world’s land is still operating within safe environmental limits?

The “planetary boundaries” concept divides Earth’s environmental systems into nine critical categories, from climate stability to biodiversity, ocean health, nutrient cycles, and freshwater availability. Two of these — climate change and biosphere integrity — are considered “core” boundaries because they underpin all the others.

Biosphere integrity is essentially the health of the planet’s living systems: forests, grasslands, wetlands, and the countless plants, animals, and microorganisms that keep them functioning. Unlike climate change, which can be measured with one global metric like carbon dioxide concentration, biosphere integrity varies enormously from place to place. That makes it harder to track and harder to manage.

How Do You Measure Nature’s Health?

To solve this, the research team used two indicators:

1. HANPPHol: Short for Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (Holocene baseline). This measures the share of nature’s productivity (the plant growth that forms the base of all food webs) that humans take for themselves through farming, logging, and other uses.
2. EcoRisk: A measure of how far an ecosystem has shifted from its natural state, based on changes in vegetation structure and the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and water.

Both indicators can be calculated anywhere on Earth and compared against a preindustrial baseline representing conditions before large-scale human disruption.

The researchers used a global vegetation model to map these indicators for every year since 1600, across a grid where each square represents 0.5° × 0.5° of latitude and longitude. That’s about 34 miles north-to-south everywhere, but the east-to-west distance varies with latitude.

A Timeline of Change: 1600 to Today

The historical maps tell a striking story. In 1600, much of the planet was still within safe limits, though certain regions in Europe, India, China, and the eastern United States already showed signs of stress due to long-established agriculture.

Things changed rapidly after 1900. For one key global indicator, the proportion of nature’s productivity appropriated by humans, the “safe” threshold was crossed around this time. This was the era of major agricultural expansion in North America and Central Eurasia, when forests and grasslands were converted into cropland at an unprecedented pace.

By 1900, about 37% of the world’s land had already crossed local ecological thresholds. By today, that number has risen to 60%, with 38% in high-risk territory.

It’s Not Just Farming Anymore

Agriculture remains a major driver of ecological change, especially in Europe, Asia, and North America, where intensive land use has left few ecosystems untouched. But the study also found that remote areas without heavy farming are now under increasing stress.

High-latitude regions like the Arctic and high-altitude regions like the Tibetan Plateau are showing elevated EcoRisk scores. This is not because of plows or bulldozers, but due to climate change. Warming temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns, and nitrogen deposition from fossil fuel use are altering ecosystems in ways that can ripple far beyond their borders.

Why This Matters to People Everywhere

When ecosystems cross these boundaries, it’s not just wildlife that suffers. Humans depend on healthy ecosystems for services we often take for granted:

• Pollination of crops by insects and other animals.
• Water purification through wetlands and forested watersheds.
• Carbon storage in soils and vegetation, which helps stabilize the climate.
• Flood and drought regulation by healthy landscapes.

Lose these services, and we face higher costs, greater risks, and more frequent crises.

Temperate grasslands and forests, which include much of Europe and eastern North America, have some of the highest levels of boundary transgression. In contrast, tropical rainforests and boreal forests in less populated areas are closer to their natural state, though they’re increasingly pressured by logging, agriculture, and climate change.

Maps That Point the Way

One of the most valuable parts of this research is its specificity. Instead of a single global average, the study provides detailed maps showing exactly where ecosystems are most at risk. This kind of spatial information can guide governments, conservation groups, and communities in deciding where to focus their efforts.

For example, if a region’s HANPPHol score is high, that may point to the need for more sustainable farming practices. If its EcoRisk score is high despite low human land use, that suggests climate impacts or other diffuse pressures that need a different kind of response.

A Narrowing Safe Space

The takeaway is sobering: The “safe operating space” for Earth’s land ecosystems is shrinking. We haven’t yet reached the point where every ecosystem is in crisis, but the trend is moving in that direction — and fast.

The study’s authors stress that this is not just a scientific curiosity. It’s a call for urgent, targeted action to protect what remains intact and restore what has been degraded. That means investing in sustainable agriculture, protecting and reconnecting natural habitats, and tackling climate change head-on.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/global-study-land-beyond-local-ecological-limits/

Writing, reading, math and mindfulness? That last subject is increasingly joining the three classic courses, as more young students in the United States are practicing mindfulness, meaning focusing on paying attention to the present moment without judgment.

In the past 20 years in the U.S., mindfulness transitioned from being a new-age curiosity to becoming a more mainstream part of American culture, as people learned more about how mindfulness can reduce their stress and improve their well-being.

Researchers estimate that over 1 million children in the U.S. have been exposed to mindfulness in their schools, mostly at the elementary level, often taught by classroom teachers or school counselors.

I have been researching mindfulness in K-12 American schools for 15 years. I have investigated the impact of mindfulness on students, explored the experiences of teachers who teach mindfulness in K-12 schools, and examined the challenges and benefits of implementing mindfulness in these settings.

I have noticed that mindfulness programs vary in what particular mindfulness skills are taught and what lesson objectives are. This makes it difficult to compare across studies and draw conclusions about how mindfulness helps students in schools.

What Is Mindfulness?

Different definitions of mindfulness exist. Some people might think mindfulness means simply practicing breathing, for example.

A common definition from Jon Kabat-Zinn, a mindfulness expert who helped popularize mindfulness in Western countries, says mindfulness is about “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, nonjudgmentally, in the present moment.”

Essentially, mindfulness is a way of being. It is a person’s approach to each moment and their orientation to both inner and outer experience, the pleasant and the unpleasant. Fundamental to mindfulness is how a person chooses to direct their attention.

In practice, mindfulness can involve different practices, including guided meditations, mindful movement and breathing. Mindfulness programs can also help people develop a variety of skills, including openness to experiences and more focused attention.

Practicing Mindfulness At Schools

A few years ago, I decided to investigate school mindfulness programs themselves and consider what it means for children to learn mindfulness at schools. What do the programs actually teach?

I believe that understanding this information can help educators, parents and policymakers make more informed decisions about whether mindfulness belongs in their schools.

In 2023, my colleagues and I conducted a deep dive into 12 readily available mindfulness curricula for K-12 students to investigate what the programs contained. Across programs, we found no consistency of content, teaching practices or time commitment.

For example, some mindfulness programs in K-12 schools incorporate a lot of movement, with some specifically teaching yoga poses. Others emphasize interpersonal skills such as practicing acts of kindness, while others focus mostly on self-oriented skills such as focused attention, which may occur by focusing on one’s breath.

We also found that some programs have students do a lot of mindfulness practices, such as mindful movement or mindful listening, while others teach about mindfulness, such as learning how the brain functions.

Finally, the number of lessons in a curriculum ranged from five to 44, meaning some programs occurred over just a few weeks and some required an entire school year. Despite indications that mindfulness has some positive impacts for school-age children, the evidence is also not consistent, as shown by other research.

One of the largest recent studies of mindfulness in schools found in 2022 no change in students who received mindfulness instruction.

Some experts believe, though, that the lack of results in this 2022 study on mindfulness was partially due to a curriculum that might have been too advanced for middle school-age children.

The Connection Between Mindfulness And Education

Since attention is critical for students’ success in school, it is not surprising that mindfulness appeals to many educators.

Research on student engagement and executive functioning supports the claim that any student’s ability to filter out distractions and prioritize the objects of their thoughts improves their academic success.

Mindfulness programs have been shown to improve students’ mental health and decrease students’ and teachers’ stress levels.

Mindfulness has also been shown to help children emotionally regulate.

Even before social media, teachers perennially struggled to get students to pay attention. Reviews of multiple studies have shown some positive effects of mindfulness on outcomes, including improvements in academic achievement and school adjustment.

A 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites mindfulness as one of six evidence-based strategies K-12 schools should use to promote students’ mental health and well-being.

Source : https://studyfinds.org/mindfulness-in-american-schools/