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Super-precise optical clocks in four nations tick in harmony
Body parts used for ancient Egyptian artworks traced to surprising source
Buried underpants and a new definition of kissing win 2026 Ig Nobel prizes
Scientists reveal the hidden instructions that build the human brain
UCLA researchers have discovered two powerful influences that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Radial glia, stem cells responsible for producing much of the cerebral cortex, change their behavior depending on how they process glucose and on physical contact with signals arriving from the thalamus. Those signals can alter which types of neurons are produced, including upper-layer neurons that are especially prominent in humans.
Massive herbarium merger rescues century-old plant collection
Duke University’s 850,000 specimens will move to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
New injectable treatment helps the brain rebuild after stroke
Duke researchers developed an injectable scaffold that helped stroke-damaged brains grow new blood vessels, support nerve regrowth, and recover movement in mice. The treatment appears to work partly by recruiting the body’s own immune cells, including neutrophils that may switch from damaging to helpful under the right conditions.
Bernie Sanders aims to ban AI ‘superintelligence.’ But experts can’t agree on what the term means
The proposed ban would come with tough penalties, but the path through Congress is uncertain
Are these killer whales out for revenge on humans—or just trying to play?
Iberian orcas have been ramming boats off the coast of Portugal and Spain. But what looks like vengeance may have a more benign explanation
Bats carry dangerous viruses without getting sick. This may be why
Scientists discovered that more than 500 species of vesper bats possess two separate sets of antibody genes, an immune arrangement never before found in mammals. The surprising system could help explain how bats tolerate so many viruses without becoming seriously ill.
New ‘connectome’ shows all 124 million contact points in the fruit fly’s nervous system
Studies cap 20-year project to map an insect’s entire nervous system—and understand how it works
One immune switch may help drive aging across the body
Aging may be partly fueled by immune cells losing their ability to clear away damaged, inflammation-promoting cells. Blocking a single receptor restored that cleanup process in mice, reducing inflammation and helping their organs, muscles, and memory remain remarkably youthful.
Diagnostic performance of plasma pTau217 in genetically admixed South American populations
Plasma pTau217 is a leading biomarker for Alzheimer's disease, but evidence from genetically admixed populations in low- and middle-income countries remains limited. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42 measured using Simoa technology in memory-clinic cohorts from Brazil (Cog-Aging-Study, n = 353) and Argentina (GeNED.ar, n = 134). Here we show that both biomarkers accurately identified cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-defined amyloid pathology in Cog-Aging-Study-Brazil...
Dilute electrolytes for suppressing metal anode corrosion during calendar aging and cycling in aqueous zinc batteries
While numerous improvements in cycling stability have been demonstrated for next-generation battery chemistries with metallic anodes, their calendar aging (e.g., capacity loss during idle periods of rest) performance painfully lags behind and remains a critical bottleneck hindering their practical deployment. In contrast to their commercial counterparts, metallic anodes exhibit substantial capacity loss during calendar aging. Despite several recent studies exploring the underlying reasons for...
Longer-lived mammals exhibit greater evolutionary conservatism and epigenetic modification at cancer-associated loci
Peto's paradox underscores the puzzling disconnect between organismal lifespan, body size, and cancer incidence. Here, we investigate this relationship by examining the evolutionary rates of human cancer-associated sites across 58 mammalian species. While overall evolutionary rates at cancer-associated loci do not differ significantly between long-lived and short-lived species, cancer-associated sites show greater evolutionary conservation relative to non-cancer sites within long-lived mammals...
Diagnostic performance of plasma pTau217 in genetically admixed South American populations
Plasma pTau217 is a leading biomarker for Alzheimer's disease, but evidence from genetically admixed populations in low- and middle-income countries remains limited. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of pTau217 and pTau217/Aβ42 measured using Simoa technology in memory-clinic cohorts from Brazil (Cog-Aging-Study, n = 353) and Argentina (GeNED.ar, n = 134). Here we show that both biomarkers accurately identified cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-defined amyloid pathology in Cog-Aging-Study-Brazil...
Redox-dependent synaptic clustering of gephyrin
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been demonstrated to play central functions as signaling molecules thus extending their role beyond oxidative stress in disease and aging. At inhibitory synapses the scaffolding protein gephyrin clusters glycine and GABA type A receptors. Postsynaptic gephyrin clustering is regulated by post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation, S-palmitoylation, and S-nitrosylation, which all critically impact its scaffolding function. Here, we show that...
Natural history and clinical impact of epilepsy in adults with Down syndrome: a multicentre clinical study
BACKGROUND: As individuals with Down syndrome age, they face high risks of Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. With symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, late-onset myoclonic epilepsy in Down syndrome (LOMEDS) often emerges. We aimed to examine how epilepsy develops in Down syndrome, its timing relative to Alzheimer's disease symptom onset, and its effect on prognosis.
Late-onset seizures as a sentinel of Alzheimer's disease progression in Down syndrome
No abstract
Home- and Community-Based Services Use Is Not Associated With Lower Elder Abuse Likelihood
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These findings suggest that HCBS as an aggregate service category is not associated with reduced elder abuse. Future research is needed to examine the role of individual services in elder abuse prevention.
Elderly Health Check-Up and Functional Disability or Death in Adults 75 to 84 Years: A Target Trial Emulation
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The evidence is uncertain about the effect of initial EHC participation on the 5-year risk of functional disability or death; the point estimate is compatible with a modest benefit, but the 95% CI included the null. These findings neither support expansion nor justify discontinuation of the EHC program for preventing entry into LTC, and call for replication in additional cohorts before policy changes are considered.