A recent study has revealed that brain volume changes, particularly in the amygdala and its subregions, correlate with social behavior variations in psychiatric disorders like autism and schizophrenia, with a focus on the effects of Tbx1 gene deletion in mice.Copy number variants (CNVs) are genetic changes where segments of chromosomes differ from the usual...
Elliptical galaxies NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 colliding. (NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/AURA/B. Whitmore et al.)It’s both humbling and inspiring to consider how much remains to be discovered about the Universe. My collaborators and I recently addressed one of astrophysics’ longstanding mysteries: how massive elliptical galaxies form.For the first time, we now have strong observational evidence to...
Credit: PixabayWhen you bake a loaf of bread or a batch of muffins, you place the dough in a pan. As it bakes, the dough expands into the pan, causing any chocolate chips or blueberries to spread farther apart.In some ways, the Universe’s expansion is similar. However, there’s a key difference: while dough expands...
Credit: PixabayAs the season of workplace Christmas parties and family gatherings kicks off, many people indulge in heavier-than-usual drinking. After such occasions, you might notice your heart racing or beating irregularly, feel a fluttering in your chest or neck, experience dizziness, or struggle to catch your breath. Concerned, you might head to the emergency...
Credit: PixabayYou’ve likely heard the advice: “Don’t go outside with wet hair or without a coat in the winter—you’ll catch a cold.” While this isn’t entirely accurate, there’s some truth behind it. Cold weather itself doesn’t cause colds, but it does create conditions that make it easier for respiratory viruses like the cold, flu,...
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/YouTube)Even in its final moments, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter continues to contribute to our understanding of Mars.The groundbreaking aircraft, designed for just five flights over 31 days, exceeded expectations by completing an astonishing 72 missions over nearly three years. Ingenuity’s extraordinary journey ended on January 18, 2024, during a routine flight in the thin Martian...
A batch of the drug-delivery microparticles – these ones are made of zinc oxide, although other materials can be usedDong Wook Kim / Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, colorization: ETH ZurichMedications, whether taken orally or intravenously, often spread throughout the body instead of targeting the specific area where they are needed. However, this...
NASA Observes Black Hole Jet Colliding with Mysterious ObjectOne of the most peculiar galaxies near the Milky Way has presented astronomers with a new and intriguing mysteryKnown as Centaurus A, this galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at its center that emits enormous jets of plasma. These jets, traveling through intergalactic space, have collided...
Scientists have accidentally discovered a strange particle that has mass when it moves in one direction, but is massless while moving in anotherDepositphotosScientists have accidentally discovered a particle that has mass when moving in one direction but lacks mass when traveling in another. Known as semi-Dirac fermions, these particles with peculiar behavior were first...
Samples of the implant material created in the lab. (University of Nottingham)When skin is injured, blood clots naturally initiate the healing process. Building on this mechanism, scientists have created a blood-based implant that accelerates and enhances tissue repair, particularly for broken bones.The research team describes this innovation as a "biocooperative regenerative" material. By incorporating synthetic...
