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Ecologists are mobilizing to save threatened species and track ecosystems’ responses to record heat

Scientists have uncovered a hidden layer of organization in the brain by creating the first detailed 3D map of its lipids, the fatty molecules essential for brain structure and communication. By analyzing millions of measurements from mouse brains, researchers identified 539 distinct chemical zones, revealing patterns and boundaries that traditional brain maps have missed. Surprisingly, even white matter, once thought to be relatively uniform, contains a complex patchwork of chemically distinct regions.

Dump of 722 AI-generated papers has mathematicians wondering: Has their field been decimated or invigorated?

Huge OpenAI release contains “exciting” progress on a puzzle about prime numbers

Industry heavyweights receive first national science medals awarded by the president

Scientists have created a new coating for mitochondria that preserves their ability to produce energy, potentially opening the door to new treatments for diseases involving these tiny cellular powerhouses. The technology could one day help transfer healthy mitochondria into damaged cells, although its effectiveness in transplantation remains unproven.

Sofya Rozenfeld, an expert on Arctic waterfowl, paid the equivalent of just $27 to a proscribed organization founded by former opposition leader

The FDA has approved the first drug that directly targets Alexander disease, a devastating neurological disorder affecting fewer than one in a million people. Developed through decades of research, Zanvastro showed promising results in clinical trials, stabilizing motor function and even improving movement in some patients.

Excessive smartphone use may be taking a hidden toll on the brain and body, with heavy scrolling linked to poorer memory, reduced attention, disrupted sleep, and potential balance problems. Researchers found that weak self-control and fear of missing out, rather than personality alone, are key factors behind problematic phone use.

Scientists have developed a model showing that gut bacteria play a surprisingly important role in how many calories we absorb, meaning food labels may not tell the full story. In a controlled study, people eating a high-fiber diet absorbed about 116 fewer calories per day than those eating a typical Western diet, without feeling hungrier.

The remarkable intelligence of octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish may trace back to an ancient reshuffling of their DNA that created new connections between genes. Scientists discovered that these changes in the genome's 3D structure may have helped drive the evolution of their unusually complex nervous systems.

Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) has a polygenic architecture, with numerous associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified, the contribution of structural variants (SVs) is unclear. In this study, using long-read (n = 11) and short-read (n = 3,190) sequencing data from the Chinese population, we show that common SVs contribute to AD heritability beyond common SNPs. We identify an expanded CCG repeat in the FAM193B promoter that shows a genome-wide significant association with...

DNA methylation (DNAm) plays a critical role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous epigenome-wide association studies using 450K arrays captured limited CpG coverage and often focused on a single neuropathological measure. Here we profiled DNAm in 1,250 postmortem prefrontal cortex samples from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease cohorts using the Infinium MethylationEPIC v2 array (~930,000 CpGs) and performed epigenome-wide association studies of multiple neuropathologic measures, including AD...

Cognitive impairment affects 30%-80% of patients with heart failure, yet the mechanisms beyond reduced brain blood flow remain poorly defined. Here we show that circulating factors released during heart failure trigger senescence of brain blood-vessel endothelial cells, which in turn drives synaptic loss and cognitive decline through crosstalk between endothelial cells and microglia, the brain's immune cells. Using a pressure-overload model (transverse aortic constriction) combined with plasma...

Chronic social deficits (persistent feelings of being lonely or isolated) have been linked to premature mortality, yet the underlying physical and mental pathways remain unclear. This study used data from 4,090 older adults in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a longitudinal panel study. Using outcome-wide analyses, we assessed how the chronicity of social deficits was associated with 17 health outcomes across physical, mental, cognitive and behavioural health domains. Regression models...

The buried interface between the charge transport layer and the overlying perovskite absorber is critical yet difficult to probe in perovskite solar cells. Because light enters through the transparent substrate and is predominantly absorbed near this region, photo-induced degradation processes are partially initiated at the hidden buried interface. Here, we reveal that instability at the buried SnO(2)/perovskite interface triggers structural and chemical decomposition of the perovskite layer. To...