Biological Science

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Curiosity has found a vast sea of Martian polygons that may reveal how water and climate once reshaped the Red Planet. NASA’s Curiosity rover has encountered an enormous field of honeycomb-shaped fractures while climbing through a Martian valley known as “Valle Grande.” Each geometric feature measures roughly 1.5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 centimeters) [...]

A Jupiter-mass object orbiting a brown dwarf could become the first confirmed moon beyond our Solar System. A massive object appears to be circling a brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 system, but calling it a moon is not straightforward. Unlike moons in our Solar System, it does not orbit a planet. Instead, it travels [...]

Whale sharks use a wider range of feeding strategies and depths than surface observations previously revealed. A whale shark can vanish beneath the surface in seconds, leaving researchers with little idea of what the world’s largest fish does once it disappears from view. Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are among the ocean’s most recognizable animals, inspiring [...]

A single neuron may help the brain recognize what it sees, track what the body is doing, and guide a decision, all at the same time. Most neurons may be far more versatile than scientists once thought. In a major study published in Nature, researchers analyzed more than 14,000 individual neurons across 43 regions of [...]

The dreaming brain surges with energy, yet its neurons may consume it faster than they can replenish it. A new mouse study from Tohoku University has uncovered a surprising energy imbalance during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. As the brain entered this dream-rich stage, blood volume increased across the cortex, and astrocytes accumulated more metabolic [...]

Ant parenting may have evolved from the same brain systems that once controlled hunger. Researchers found that two chemical signals push clonal raider ants toward either caring for larvae or leaving to forage, with the balance changing as the ants grow older. Similar signals are involved in mammalian caregiving, suggesting that evolution may have followed the same basic blueprint across very different animals.

Researchers achieved the first real-world demonstration of quantum entanglement over a busy telecommunications fiber network. A single photon carrying quantum information had to travel more than 24 kilometers through an optical fiber already crowded with powerful internet signals. Despite the noise, it reached downtown Chicago still entangled with its partner at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. [...]

Researchers demonstrated that braiding and fusing particles known as non-Abelian anyons can perform every operation required by a quantum computer. A quantum computer becomes broadly useful only when it can perform any computation rather than a limited set of specialized tasks. Physicists have now demonstrated that unusual quantum objects called non-Abelian anyons can provide that [...]

All four major LHC experiments have found new evidence that collisions between oxygen and neon may produce the extreme state of matter that existed during the first microseconds after the Big Bang. Inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), collisions between relatively light oxygen and neon nuclei may be producing matter from the earliest moments of [...]

A protein known for circulating in the blood to fight infection plays a very different role when produced by cells inside tumors. A protein that emerged long before animals developed circulatory systems may influence whether cancer immunotherapy succeeds. Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan found that complement C3 helps keep immunosuppressive cells out of tumors, [...]

Certain gut bacteria were linked to slower or faster biological aging. The communities of bacteria living in the gut may carry clues about how rapidly the body is aging. Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found that certain microbial patterns were associated with faster or slower biological aging, adding to evidence that gut [...]

Frequent cannabis use was associated with higher cortisol upon waking, suggesting a possible disruption of daily stress rhythms. The body’s stress system follows a daily rhythm, and frequent cannabis users may begin that cycle differently. Research from Oregon State University found that people who use cannabis often wake with higher cortisol levels than nonusers, pointing [...]

An AI-assisted counterexample disproves the Jacobian conjecture above two dimensions while leaving its original two-dimensional form open. A formula short enough to fit inside a single post on X has sent a surge of excitement through the mathematical community, just as millions of people were settling down after the FIFA World Cup Final. Levent Alpöge, [...]

By studying a gene associated with congenital heart defects, scientists uncovered a mechanism showing how small reductions in protein levels can disrupt DNA’s three-dimensional structure and lead to disease. A baby can inherit one healthy copy of TBX5 and still develop serious heart defects if the other copy does not work. That genetic imbalance is [...]

New research has revealed the complex biological history preserved in DNA traces on the Shroud of Turin. Fibers taken from the Shroud of Turin nearly five decades ago still contain a complex record of biological material accumulated over centuries. In research published in Scientific Reports, scientists applied advanced genomic sequencing (rigorous PCR-free next-generation metagenomic sequencing) [...]

Modern humans carry DNA from two mysterious extinct lineages in addition to Neanderthals and Denisovans. Their hidden genetic legacy shows that our evolutionary past was shaped by repeated mixing among many different human groups.

A protein and signaling pathway may help overcome the developmental block that keeps some leukemia cells immature. Inside the bone marrow, immature blood cells normally pass through a tightly controlled sequence of development before taking on specialized roles. In aggressive forms of leukemia, some of these precursor cells become trapped partway through that process. Instead [...]

Engineered gut bacteria helped activate immune attacks against pancreatic tumors in animal models. Pancreatic tumors are notoriously difficult for the immune system to attack. They often create a “cold” tumor microenvironment that keeps immune cells from building an effective response, limiting the benefits of immunotherapies that have transformed treatment for several other cancers. Researchers at [...]

Heavy television viewing in middle age was linked to a troubling brain signature more than 20 years later. Television may be doing more than filling quiet hours. A long-term study suggests that people who watched it most frequently in middle age later showed structural brain differences linked to memory loss, vascular damage, and dementia. The [...]

A new smart ring could reveal far more than how well someone slept or how fast their heart is beating. Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have developed an experimental smart ring that continuously analyzes sweat from the finger to monitor several molecules associated with metabolism, nutrition, exercise, and alcohol consumption. The prototype [...]

Distinct marks on cave bones can reveal how underwater fossil deposits formed and changed over time. Deep inside flooded caves, animal bones can remain remarkably intact for decades or even centuries. Yet researchers have lacked a reliable way to determine how the remains of extinct megafauna and other animals accumulated in these submerged sites or [...]

New research helps scientists determine whether marks on fossils are genuine bite marks. Deep grooves and punctures scar a small collection of dinosaur bones unearthed in Wyoming. They resemble the aftermath of a powerful predator’s bite—but fossil damage can be deceptive. Disease, erosion, insects, and exposure after death can all leave impressions that mimic tooth [...]