Scientists uncover hidden sex differences in the human immune system or e.g. why women are more prone to autoimmune diseases

Good news!

"... Now, researchers have discovered over 1,000 genetic switches that operate differently in female and male immune cells, driving higher overall activity of inflammatory pathways in females. ...

Until recently, technological limitations meant that immune differences between the sexes were studied using bulk blood analysis, which measures the average activity across a whole mixture of cells, masking specific cell behaviours. Advances in single-cell technologies now allow researchers to study individual immune cells in great detail. This study is the first to examine immunity differences between males and females at single-cell resolution on this scale.

The team sequenced over 1.25 million peripheral blood mononuclear cells – immune cells circulating in the blood – from nearly 1,000 healthy individuals. ...

The analysis revealed distinct cellular profiles between the sexes.

Males had higher proportions of monocytes, cells that act as first immune responders, and their genetic activity was more concentrated on basic cellular maintenance and protein-building functions.

In contrast, females possessed higher levels of immune cells called B cells and regulatory T cells, with genetic activity heavily skewed towards inflammatory pathways. ...

they discovered that the vast majority of these variations reside on autosomes – the shared non-sex chromosomes – identifying over 1,000 sex-specific genetic switches in these regions.

Importantly, these genetic controls were linked directly to autoimmune conditions. The team found specific variants affecting the female-biased expression of two genes associated with systemic lupus erythematosus, potentially helping to explain why lupus is nine times higher in women compared to men. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sex has a key role in disease susceptibility (in particular, autoimmunity). Sex differences in the immune system originate from genes and their interactions with both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. However, the cellular-level factors influencing sexual dimorphism are not fully understood.

We thus examined immune sex differences at single-cell resolution to dissect the genetic impacts. Female-biased sex-differentially expressed genes (sex-DEGs) in multiple immune cells were involved in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) signaling, whereas male DEGs were enriched for ribosomal-related functions. While cis-expression trait quantitative loci (eQTLs) were less common on sex chromosomes, we identified over 1,000 sex-specific eQTLs and 51 sex-interacting eQTLs on autosomes.

When we examined the effect of genetic control on sex-DEGs, we found genetic variants affecting the female-biased expression of FCGR3A in natural killer (NK) cells (rs2099684) and ITGB2 in monocytes (rs760462), both of which are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Our work reveals biases masked in bulk analyses and highlights sexually dimorphic genes and pathways at baseline."

Scientists uncover hidden sex differences in the human immune system | Garvan Institute of Medical Research "The study maps over a million cells to help explain why women are more prone to autoimmune diseases like lupus."

The impact of sex on the immune system explored at the single-cell level (open access)

Graphical abstract

Figure 1 Overview of study

Figure 3 Sex-differential expression

Universal molecular aging clock predicts death risk across multiple mammalian species

Amazing stuff!

"... A multinational team of researchers have now given us a powerful molecular clock that, with the help of biological markers, can predict age as well as the risk of death in mammals. ...

They discovered that certain genes serve as universal markers of aging, and that these genes behave almost identically across mammals as they get older, regardless of species. By analyzing gene expression of these markers across more than 11,000 samples from mice, rats, macaques, and humans, researchers developed a universal aging clock. ..."

"... The study also separated gene expression changes associated with aging and mortality into modules that represent different biological processes, such as inflammation, energy production, and extracellular matrix organization. The authors developed individual transcriptomic clocks for each module and showed that different diseases and medical or lifestyle interventions may affect biological age through distinct primary processes. ..."

From the abstract:

"Ageing and interventions modulate health and mortality, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms of this modulation remain unclear.

Here we integrate more than 11,000 transcriptomes from more than 25 tissues across 4 mammals (mouse, rat, macaque and human) to develop accurate, interpretable rodent and multi-species biomarkers of chronological age and expected mortality, predicting lifespan-modulating interventions, time to death, chronic diseases and rejuvenation.

Ageing-related changes were conserved across species and cell types, revealing universal transcriptomic signatures of mammalian ageing and mortality, including CDKN1A and LGALS3, whose protein levels were also associated with mortality and multimorbidity in UK Biobank.

Mortality-associated features were recapitulated across in vivo and in vitro damage-accumulation models, including inflammation, replicative senescence, metabolic inhibition and γ-irradiation, and were attenuated or reversed by cell immortalization, reprogramming, heterochronic parabiosis and early embryogenesis.

Network analysis uncovered a modular architecture of ageing- and mortality-associated hallmarks, encompassing inflammation, interferon signalling, mitochondrial function, chromatin modification and extracellular matrix organization.

To quantify ageing of individual cellular components, we developed module-specific clocks, which revealed pathway-specific effects of interventions: chronic diseases primarily accelerated inflammatory-module ageing, whereas caloric restriction and Klotho (also known as Kl) deficiency targeted mitochondrial and metabolic modules.

Transcriptomic and DNA methylation clocks showed correlated age acceleration in human blood, which was strongest for the chromatin-associated module clock, highlighting mechanistic links between molecular ageing modalities. This study reveals conserved signatures and a modular architecture of mortality regulation, providing a framework for quantifying and targeting ageing of cellular subsystems across species and tissues."

Universal aging clock predicts death risk across multiple mammalian species

Gene Expression ‘Clocks’ Reveal Shared Molecular Signatures of Aging and Mortality Across Mammals (original news release) "Mass General Brigham researchers identify conserved gene expression signatures linked to biological aging and risk of disease and mortality, offering a new framework for quantifying aging and evaluating interventions that modulate healthspan and lifespan"

Gene-expression patterns can be used to estimate mortality risk and chronological age (no public access) "Massive analyses of RNA transcripts from rodents, monkeys and humans reveal hallmarks of ageing that could expedite the development of anti-ageing interventions."

Universal transcriptomic hallmarks of mammalian ageing and mortality (open access)

Fig. 1: Rodent multi-tissue transcriptomic clocks capture molecular changes associated with ageing and mortality.

Fig. 2: Transcriptomic biomarkers of ageing and mortality are conserved across mammalian species and cell types.

U.S. President Trump endorsed the CDC’s reduced schedule of recommended childhood vaccinations

Good news! Bravo President Trump! 17 vaccinations for a child translates into how many vaccinations per year?

How much is too much! When does childhood vaccination become an obsession?

"U.S. President Trump endorsed the CDC’s reduced schedule of recommended childhood vaccinations in an executive order signed Friday, citing a commitment to “protecting religious liberty and parental authority”; the CDC announced the reduction from 17 to 11 recommended vaccines in January. ..."

"... The assessment reviewed 20 peer, developed nations and found that the U.S. is a global outlier among developed nations in both the number of diseases addressed in its routine childhood vaccination schedule and the total number of recommended doses but does not have higher vaccination rates than such countries. In fact, many peer nations that recommend fewer routine vaccines achieve strong child health outcomes and maintain high vaccination rates through public trust and education rather than mandates.

For example, in 2024, the U.S. recommended more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, and more than twice as many doses as some European nations. At the lower end is Denmark, which immunizes children against 10 diseases compared to a total number of 18 diseases for which protection was provided in 2024 in the U.S. ..."

Global Health NOW: Ebola Latest: A Kenyan Quarantine Facility for Americans?; and A Military Legacy of PFAS

CDC Acts on Presidential Memorandum to Update Childhood Immunization Schedule

A daily pill for pancreatic cancer could be a game changer even for previously treated patients

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"A daily pill for pancreatic cancer could be a game changer—doubling survival time with fewer side effects than chemotherapy; patients who took daraxonrasib lived ~13.2 months, compared with 6.6–6.7 months for those who did not, per the results of a clinical trial of 500 participants presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago this past weekend. ..."

"Chemotherapy remains the mainstay systemic treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and the disease continues to hold a dismal prognosis. Most PDACs (>90%) are driven by mutant forms of KRAS, which were historically considered ‘undruggable’; however, recent pharmacological breakthroughs in targeting this protein are providing new hope. Now, new data from a phase I/II trial demonstrate the promising efficacy of daraxonrasib — a novel non-covalent inhibitor that targets the active ‘ON’ conformations of mutant and wild-type KRAS, HRAS and NRAS — in this disease. ..."

From the abstract:

"Background

Current therapies offer limited benefit for patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC). Aberrant activation of the RAS pathway is the key driver of PDAC, with oncogenic RAS mutations present in more than 90% of cases.

Daraxonrasib is an oral RAS(ON) multiselective, tri-complex inhibitor of the active guanosine triphosphate–bound state of mutant and wild-type RAS.

Methods

In this phase 3, international, open-label, randomized trial, we randomly assigned patients with previously treated mPDAC to receive daraxonrasib or chemotherapy of the investigator’s choice. The dual primary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival in the subpopulation of patients with RAS G12 mutations (the RAS G12 population). Key secondary end points included overall survival and progression-free survival in the overall population ...

Results

A total of 500 patients, including 91.8% with RAS G12 mutations, were randomly assigned to receive daraxonrasib (248 patients) or chemotherapy (252 patients). The median overall survival in the RAS G12 population was 13.2 months with daraxonrasib and 6.6 months with chemotherapy, and the median overall survival in the overall population was 13.2 months and 6.7 months, respectively; the hazard ratio was 0.40 in both populations (P<0.001).

The median progression-free survival in the RAS G12 population was 7.3 months with daraxonrasib and 3.5 months with chemotherapy, and that in the overall population was 7.2 months and 3.6 months, respectively; the hazard ratios were 0.45 and 0.49, respectively (P<0.001 for both comparisons).

Adverse events that occurred after the start of treatment were reported in all the patients in the daraxonrasib group and in 97.7% of those in the chemotherapy group; the incidence of adverse events of grade 3 or higher was 61.8% and 69.6%, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events that led to treatment discontinuation occurred in 1.2% of the patients in the daraxonrasib group and in 11.2% of those in the chemotherapy group.

Conclusions

Among patients with previously treated mPDAC, treatment with daraxonrasib led to significantly longer overall survival and progression-free survival than chemotherapy. ..."

Global Health NOW: Ebola Latest: A Kenyan Quarantine Facility for Americans?; and A Military Legacy of PFAS

Daraxonrasib or Chemotherapy in Previously Treated Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer (no public access)

Pan-RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib shows promise in pancreatic cancer (no public access)

A new app, The Mall, is building a universal feed for online shopping

Good news!

"... a startup called “The Mall” is bringing the concept online with an app that lets users create a personalized virtual mall from their favorite brands and track sales in one place. ...

The pair founded The Mall in October 2025, with a focus on bringing together fashion brands under one digital roof.

Instead of partnering with brands or using APIs, The Mall uses technology to scrape retail websites, pulling in entire catalogs, and tracking product and pricing information within its own app. This scraping is frequent enough to keep an eye out for sales, restocks, drops, and other promotions, which it then alerts users to via push notifications.

At launch, users create their own virtual mall by adding their favorite brands upon signing up, which allows them to immediately track any changes. While The Mall’s current database includes more than 10,000 brands, consumers can add any other brand they want, simply by sharing the brand’s Instagram or TikTok account. ..."

A new app, The Mall, is building a universal feed for online shopping | TechCrunch

An AI data center construction boom in the US since about 2020

Good news!

"... AI data center construction spending, on the other hand, is soaring. Compared with a year ago, it is up 28.1 percent to $50.7 billion. It now accounts for 52 percent of private office construction and 2.3 percent of all construction spending.  On a longer timeline, the growth is truly explosive. Compared with February 2020, spending is up around 420 percent.

The shift has been remarkably fast. A year earlier, in April 2025, data centers accounted for 44.5 percent of private office construction.

Two years earlier, in April 2024, they were just 32.9 percent. 

In dollar terms, data center construction has climbed from $28.3 billion in April 2024 to $39.6 billion in April 2025 and $50.7 billion in April 2026. ..."

Breitbart Business Digest

Nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine since 2022, top UK intel chief says

Bad news!

When will the lethargic, apathetic Russian Slav(e)s/Serfs finally get rid of their last tsar, the megalomaniac, warmonger and war criminal Putin the Terrible! He is an ugly remnant of the Cold War and a former KGB agent. He is a wannabe Stalin. Please Russian people make the world a better, more peaceful place again! How many more young Russian men will be killed or maimed before you act!

"... Russia is now losing roughly 1,000 troops a day in killed and wounded along the front, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. ..."

Nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, top UK intel chief says

Norway becomes ninth country to sign up for French nuclear deterrence

Good news! About time!

"... Norway will not host nuclear weapons in peacetime ... But the new French doctrine, which was announced ... by Emmanuel Macron, the country’s president ... in March, promises to link existential threats to European allies to a French nuclear response even if the U.S. may disengage. All decision-making powers will remain in Paris, as will the control over nuclear weapons. France would, in effect, act as a protective power for Europe. ...

Others are farther along: The discussions in Poland, for example, envision a possible role for forward deployment of French nuclear-capable Rafale aircraft.

The nuclear-deterrence framework is perhaps most mature in Germany: The two countries formed a steering group on the issue earlier this year, promising first concrete steps by the end of 2026. ...

France is one of five countries permitted under international treaties to possess nuclear weapons, and one of nine that actually do. At around 290 warheads, the French nuclear arsenal is the fourth-largest in the world, after China, the U.S. and Russia, and ahead of the U.K."

Norway becomes ninth country to sign up for French nuclear deterrence as trust in US falters "President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative is gaining steam, as German officials plan to observe French nuclear operations."

US general holds rare meeting with Cuban military officials near Guantanamo Bay on Cuba

What is President Trump up to regarding Cuba?

Will Cuba libre finally happen?

"The top U.S. general overseeing forces in Latin America held a rare meeting on Friday with senior Cuban military officials at the perimeter of U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military said on Friday, confirming a Reuters story. ..."

US general holds rare meeting with Cuban military officials near Guantanamo Bay

Disclaimer

Since end of February, I  am blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.

My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.

English for trippers: Lethality & mortality for mere mortals

Mortars are mortal! What about mortar between bricks?

The Loss of Cholesterol Transport Enzymes Impedes Tumor Growth in p53-deficient cancers

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"Cancer cells have a voracious appetite, rapidly consuming nutrients to sustain unchecked growth. Many cancers carrying mutations in the tumor-suppressor gene TP53 are particularly dependent on cholesterol production, using the lipid as a key fuel source for proliferation. ..."

"Scientists have found a potential new way to tackle aggressive cancers by altering how tumour cells process cholesterol in mice.

The team created a ‘cholesterol traffic jam’ in cancer cells with a mutation in the tumour-suppressing gene TP53 by disrupting the enzymes that move the lipid around a cell — phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinases (PI5P4Ks). “When you delete these kinases, the animals are 100 percent protected and never develop a tumour,” ... Targeting PI5P4Ks could be a new treatment strategy for tumours that often have TP53 mutations, such as breast cancers."

"... The scientists conducted experiments in mouse and human cancer cells showing that PI5P4Ks influenced the movement and behavior of organelles that carry cholesterol around our cells. In cancer cells with TP53 mutations and PI5P4Ks, cholesterol-laden lysosomes were found near the exterior cell membrane. Without PI5P4Ks, lysosomes remained in the interior of the cells, near the nucleus. ...

location is critical for lysosomes transporting cholesterol. While positioned near the edge of the cell, lysosomes and their cargo are in proximity with many receptor proteins, enzymes and signaling molecules that exist around the cell membrane. This includes mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), an enzyme that governs cell growth and runs amok in cancer. ..."

From the abstract:

"In p53-deficient cancers, targeting cholesterol metabolism has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach, given that p53 loss dysregulates sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 pathways, thereby enhancing cholesterol biosynthesis. While cholesterol synthesis inhibitors such as statins have shown initial success, their efficacy is often compromised by the development of acquired resistance. Consequently, strategies are being explored to disrupt cholesterol homeostasis more comprehensively by inhibiting its synthesis and intracellular transport.

In this study, we investigate a previously underexplored function of PI5P4Ks, which catalyzes the conversion of PI(5)P to PI(4,5)P2 at intracellular membranes. Our findings reveal that PI5P4Ks play a key role in facilitating lysosomal cholesterol transport, regulating lysosome positioning, and sustaining growth signaling via the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. While PI5P4Ks have previously been implicated in mTOR signaling and tumor proliferation in p53-deficient contexts, this work elucidates an upstream mechanism that unifies these earlier observations."

Nature Briefing: Cancer

The Loss of Cholesterol Transport Enzymes Impedes Tumor Growth "Kinases that shuttle cholesterol within tumor cells help fuel growth. Blocking these enzymes may starve cancer cells, suggesting a promising therapeutic target."

Cholesterol-craving cancers need lipid enzymes to use metabolites for growth (original news release) "Study finds kinases move cholesterol in the cell to where it can activate a growth pathway in many aggressive cancers"

Noncanonical PI(4,5)P2 coordinates lysosome positioning through cholesterol trafficking (open access)

Fig. 1. PI5P4Ks are crucial for support of tumor maintenance and are rarely mutated in human cancer.

Fig. 4. Breast cancer cells require PI5P4Ks for survival and cholesterol sensing.

On Measuring Progress Toward AGI: A Cognitive Framework

This could be an interesting research paper by Google ML & AI researchers!

"... To understand AI capabilities across these cognitive abilities, we propose a three-stage evaluation protocol that benchmarks system performance in relation to human capabilities:

• Evaluate AI systems across a broad suite of cognitive tasks covering each ability, using held-out test sets to prevent data contamination
• Collect human baselines for the same tasks from a demographically representative sample of adults
• Map each AI system’s performance relative to the distribution of human performance in each ability

..."

From the abstract:

"Despite widespread discussion of AGI, there is no clear framework for measuring progress toward it. This ambiguity fuels subjective claims, makes it difficult to track progress, and risks hindering responsible governance.

As a starting point to address this gap, we present a framework for understanding system capabilities in relation to human cognitive abilities. Drawing from decades of research in psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science, we introduce a Cognitive Taxonomy that deconstructs general intelligence into 10 key cognitive faculties.

We then propose a rigorous evaluation protocol in which a system's performance is measured across a suite of targeted, held-out cognitive tasks, generating a 'cognitive profile' that can be used to understand a system's strengths and weaknesses. We hope this framework will provide a practical roadmap and an initial step toward more rigorous, empirical evaluation of AGI."

Measuring progress toward AGI: A cognitive framework (blog post) "We’re introducing a framework to measure progress toward AGI, and launching a Kaggle hackathon to build the relevant evaluations."

[2605.28405] Measuring Progress Toward AGI: A Cognitive Framework (open access)

AI maps brain waste-clearing flow, revealing two speeds tied to deep sleep

Amazing stuff!

"When a person goes into deep sleep, water like fluid circulates around the brain, washing away metabolic waste that is linked to diseases such as Alzheimer's. This process, known as the glymphatic system, was first described in 2012  ...

In a new study ... they outline how they used physics-informed artificial intelligence to determine fluid flow velocities from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Using videos of dye spreading across brain tissue over time, the neural networks the researchers built were able to deduce how fast the fluid flows and how permeable the brain tissue is.

The results showed that there are two main ways that the glymphatic system washes away particles in the brain, such as the amyloid beta proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease, and one of these ways is much faster than the other.

The fast flow of the glymphatic system's waterlike fluid moves at a few microns per second around the brain's open regions such as the surface between the skull and the brain, while

the slower flow of the waterlike fluid trickles through the brain's deep tissue at a rate about 50 times slower. ..."

"... they outline how they used physics-informed AI to determine fluid flow velocities from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Using videos of dye spreading across brain tissue over time, the neural networks the researchers built were able to deduce how fast the fluid flows and how permeable the brain tissue is. ..."

From the abstract:

"The circulation of cerebrospinal and interstitial fluid plays a vital role in clearing metabolic waste from the brain, and its disruption has been linked to neurological disorders.

However, directly measuring brain-wide fluid transport, especially in the deep brain, has remained elusive.

Here, we introduce magnetic resonance artificial intelligence velocimetry (MR-AIV), a framework featuring a specialized physics-informed architecture and optimization method that reconstructs three-dimensional fluid velocity fields from dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI).

MR-AIV unveils brain-wide velocity maps while providing estimates of tissue permeability and pressure fields, quantities inaccessible to other methods.

Applied to the brain, MR-AIV reveals a functional landscape of interstitial and perivascular flow, quantitatively distinguishing slow diffusion-driven transport [∼0.1 micrometers per second (μm/s)] from rapid advective flow (∼3 μm/s).

This approach enables new investigations into brain clearance mechanisms and fluid dynamics in health and disease, with broad potential applications to other porous medium systems, from geophysics to tissue mechanics."

AI maps brain waste-clearing flow, revealing two speeds tied to deep sleep

AI reveals how the brain clears harmful waste (original news release) "The new approach combines MRI scans and AI tools to measure fluid flow linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s."

MR-AIV reveals in vivo brain-wide fluid flow with physics-informed AI (open access)

Fig. 1. The MR-AIV inferred velocity magnitude is similar across mice.

Fig. 4. MR-AIV reveals anatomically distinct flow regimes and permeability distributions.

Single-molecule tracker illuminates workings of cancer-related proteins

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"Using a powerful single-molecule imaging method they developed, a research team ... unveiled a dynamic view of how some cancer-related proteins interact in living cells.

The technique relies on highly stable nanoparticle probes that brightly illuminate individual molecules for long periods of time. The researchers used their method to observe, for the first time, individual receptors as they move around the cell membrane, attaching to and then letting go of other receptors to alter signaling within the cell. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• Multicolor UCNPs enable specific ErbB labeling for long-term tracking (UCNP-SPT)

• Bayesian diffusion analysis and dimer lifetimes quantify ErbB receptor mutant dynamics

• UCNP-SPT shows HER2/HER3 homodimerization and how mutations affect dimer stability

• UCNP-SPT reveals EGFR/HER2/HER3 heterodimers and ligand effects on dimer stability

Summary

Dimerization is crucial for the activation of ErbB family receptors, yet the real-time dynamics and effects of oncogenic mutations remain unclear.

Here, we performed long-term, multicolor single-particle tracking (SPT) of EGFR, HER2, and HER3 in living cells using upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs), which do not photobleach.

Our technique enables continuous observation of receptor interactions, revealing details of their dimerization dynamics.

Oncogenic EGFR mutations promote stable, ligand-independent dimerization. Unexpectedly, both HER2 and HER3 exhibit constitutive homodimerization, prompting a revised model for their activation mechanisms.

HER2 mutations modestly enhance homodimer stability compared with EGFR mutations, while HER3 mutations destabilize homodimers, suggesting that HER3 homodimerization sequesters HER3 and limits heterodimerization with other receptors.

We also identified stable, ligand-independent heterodimers among all three receptors, further stabilized by ligand stimulation. These insights offer a comprehensive ErbB interaction network, elucidating diverse dimerization mechanisms and implications for oncogenic signaling."

Single-molecule tracker illuminates workings of cancer-related proteins | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Researchers can now use custom-built microscopy and nanotechnology to tag and follow the activity of individual proteins in real-time."

ErbB family receptor dimerization dynamics and dysregulation via long-term single-molecule imaging

Graphical abstract

The Ocean Census identified 1,121 likely new marine species in a single year

Amazing stuff!

What little we still know about our oceans!

"The Ocean Census, an international research project dedicated to accelerating the discovery of marine life, claims to have identified 1,121 likely new marine species in a single year, well above the usual pace of discovery. Much of the acceleration seems to have come from better coordination;

728 of the species were identified by researchers analyzing existing collections, and the Ocean Census also credits a new database that centralizes records of potential new species while they await formal scientific description, a process that typically takes over a decade."

"

• Scientists have found 1,121 previously unknown species, fast-tracking discovery and marking a 54% jump in annual identification.
• Discoveries from depths of up to 6,575m include a new species of deep-sea ghost shark, a symbiotic bristle worm living within a ‘glass castle’, as well as corals, crabs, shrimps, sea urchins, and anemones.
• Led by The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, this global effort included 13 expeditions and 9 species discovery workshops with leading scientists across the world.

...

With up to 90% of ocean species still undiscovered, the findings highlight both the sheer scale of life yet to be documented and the importance of building scientific data that policymakers and marine managers need to protect the ocean. ..."

Doomslayer: Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran

Photos Reveal Strange Unknown Sea Creatures

PRESS RELEASE: Scientists discover over 1,100 new marine species in landmark Ocean Census (original news release)

The ‘Ghost Shark’ Chimaera

Did humans evolve from knuckle-walking ancestors?

Knuckle walking for knuckleheads? Just kidding!

"Humans are the only primates that walk upright all the time, an adaptation that has freed up our hands to more nimbly build tools, lug around food, and carry out other dexterous tasks. Hidden in the eight small bones of the wrist is an anatomical hint to where that gift of grab originated.

Now, the most comprehensive analysis of primate wrist bones to date ... concludes that our wrists more closely resemble those of gorillas and chimpanzees than any other primate group, a similarity the authors link to a possible knuckle-walking past.

Scientists have long looked to wrist anatomy for clues to our evolutionary past, comparing our wrists to those of other living primates such as chimps and gorillas (which knuckle-walk) or capuchins and macaques (which flat-palm walk). Studying fossil hominins’ wrists for signs of these adaptations has proven tricky, as the wrist is a complex puzzle of eight or nine interlocking bones. So, researchers digitally reconstructed and quantified the exteriors of 2037 wrist bones across multiple living and extinct species, including monkeys and apes.

For nearly every bone examined, human wrist bones resembled the equivalents in knuckle-walking African apes far more than those of any other primate group. Human wrists also feature traits that help stabilize other primates’ wrists during knuckle walking—a sign of evolution’s opportunism. Features that once steadied the wrist in our distant ancestors laid the foundation for adaptations that yielded our dexterous wrists. ..."

"... The study also finds that bone structures tied to sophisticated tool use emerged surprisingly late in human evolution, within the past few hundred thousand years. ..."

From the abstract:

"Hominin forelimbs have evolved from primarily locomotive to manipulative appendages over approximately 6 million years. As such, hand functions in fossil hominins and the Pan–Homo last common ancestor (LCA) are intensely debated, with carpal morphology central to this debate. However, owing to their irregular and challenging shapes, few studies have comprehensively quantified carpal morphology.

We analyse the overall carpal morphology of anthropoids, including fossil hominins, using spherical harmonics and use classification methods to characterize fossil hominins within the context of extant taxa.

Results show that hominins share with African apes derived carpal morphology possibly related to knuckle walking. Furthermore, unique modern human carpal morphology appears to have evolved from these possible knuckle-walking features and in a piecemeal manner, causing some hominin capitates to resemble those of palmigrade monkeys. Striking variation in biomechanically relevant carpal morphology and retention of potentially ancestral features persists as late as Homo naledi, suggesting that most hominins probably neither knuckle walked nor extensively used stone tools. 

These results indicate that the hominin carpus evolved from an African ape-like wrist, with radial-side reorganization related to manipulation occurring only recently. Although it remains unclear whether the LCA knuckle walked, our results suggest that this is the most likely existing hypothesis."

ScienceAdviser

New study strengthens idea that humans evolved from knuckle-walking ancestors

Did modern human carpal morphology evolve from knuckle walking traits? (open access)

Figure 2. Scatterplots of PC1 and PC2 for all examined carpals. Lunate and triquetrum are similar in humans and African apes, with fossil hominins largely within the range of these two groups. Capitate, scaphoid, trapezium and trapezoid of humans appear distinct from those of other taxa, with early fossil hominins largely intermediate between humans and African apes. For extant taxa, symbols represent species averages.

English for trippers: Comprise is not compromise

A compromise is comprised of ...

Electric car sales topped 20 million or almost one in four new cars globally in 2025

I suppose good news! However, keep in mind the heavy government subsidies in many countries for EVs!

"Approximately 71 million gas-powered, pure internal combustion engine (ICE) and standard hybrid cars were sold globally in 2025.Total global auto sales reached roughly 91.7 million units. Meanwhile, electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids reached an all-time high of about 20.7 million units, making up roughly 22.6% to 25% of the global market." (Google)

"One in four new cars sold worldwide was electric in 2025

The electric car market reached new highs in 2025, growing by 20% from 2024 to exceed 20 million sales ... The sales share of electric cars in the overall car market increased to 25%. This marked the fifth consecutive year in which annual electric car sales increased by about 3.5 million, a trend that began in 2021 after the Covid‑19 pandemic. As a result, about 5% of the global car stock is now electrified ...

Close to 55% of new cars sold in China were electric in 2025

More than 13 million electric cars were sold in China in 2025, maintaining its position as the world’s largest electric car market, accounting for six out of ten electric cars sold globally. ...

In 2025, government [subsidies] accounted for ... 7% of total spending on electric cars globally, compared to over 12% in 201910. Despite lower per-vehicle support, growth in electric car sales globally resulted in public finance increasing in absolute terms in 2025, to reach about USD 60 billion – a roughly 20% rise from the previous year. ..."

Trends in electric cars – Global EV Outlook 2026 – Analysis - IEA

Global electric car sales, 2020-2026

A new approach to cancer vaccination yields more powerful T cells to fight multiple different cancers

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"... have developed a new way to amplify the T-cell response to mRNA vaccines — an advance that could lead to much more powerful cancer vaccines and stronger protection against infectious diseases.

Most vaccines generate both antibodies and T cells that can target the vaccine antigen by activating antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells. 

In this study, the researchers boosted the T-cell response with a new type of vaccine adjuvant (a material that can help stimulate the immune system). The new adjuvant consists of mRNA molecules encoding genes that turn on immune signaling pathways and promote a supercharged T-cell response. 

In studies in mice, this mRNA-encoded adjuvant enabled the immune system to completely eradicate most tumors, either on its own or delivered along with a tumor antigen. ..."

From the abstract:

"Although immunotherapy has benefited a subset of persons with cancer, its broader efficacy remains limited, primarily because of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment characterized by insufficient numbers of functional tumor-specific T cells, antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Here we engineer immune cells in the tumor microenvironment using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver immune-remodeling mRNAs (IR-mRNAs) encoding NF-κB-inducing kinase or interferon regulatory factor 8.

These IR-mRNAs activate APCs in tumors, significantly increasing activated type 1 conventional dendritic cells, immunostimulatory cytokines and priming antitumor CD8+ T cells.

IR-mRNAs encapsulated in LNPs elicited durable antitumor responses in multiple syngeneic mouse tumor models through both intratumoral and intravenous delivery.

Coadministration of IR-mRNA and ovalbumin mRNA elicited a ~10-fold increase in antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses, sustained long-term memory and effectively prevented tumor growth in vaccinated mice.

Additionally, coadministration of IR-mRNA and hemagglutinin mRNA enhanced the humoral response ~5-fold and the cellular response ~15-fold, underscoring their potential as adjuvants for boosting adaptive immunity."

A new approach to cancer vaccination yields more powerful T cells | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Using immune-remodeling mRNA molecules, researchers generated T cells that can slow tumor growth and, in some cases, eradicate tumors."

Immune-remodeling mRNAs expressing IRF8 or NIK generate durable antitumor immunity in multiple cancer models (no public access)

Inside the cerebellum, unique neurons predict the timing of future events

Amazing stuff!

"... Their findings ... suggest that the probability distributions of temporal events are learned by circuits in the cerebellum. They also show that statistical information about the expected timing of future events is encoded by large, unique neurons in the cerebellum, called Purkinje cells. ...

carried out experiments involving adult mice, which were trained to expect a specific event (i.e., a puff of air on one of their eyes) at specific times after seeing a flash of light.

They specifically looked at how expectations about future air puffs were represented in the cerebellum, a structure at the back of the brain that plays a role in coordination, motor learning, balance and posture. ...

While the mice were completing the eyeblink conditioning task, ... also recorded the activity of a type of cell in the cerebellum, called Purkinje cells. Interestingly, they found that these cells changed their activity patterns over time, as the mice learned new timing statistics (i.e., how long after the bright light the eye puff took place). ..."

From the abstract:

"The brain must infer the state of the external world despite the inherent uncertainty of its sensory inputs and internal processes. Under conditions of heightened uncertainty, it increasingly relies on prior knowledge, derived from accumulated experience with the regularities and statistical structures of the environment. This principle has been formalized by Bayesian inference theories, which are supported by substantial evidence from both behavioral and neuroscience studies.

However, direct evidence for the existence of prior knowledge in the brain, and for the encoding of environmental statistics by neural circuits, remains limited.

Here we show that cerebellar circuits learn the prior probability distribution of temporal variables during eyeblink conditioning in mice and encode these representations in Purkinje cell simple and complex spike signaling.

We further demonstrate that Purkinje cells are involved in eliciting predictive motor behaviors, such as the conditioned eyeblink response, that also reflect the statistics of the experimentally imposed prior distribution of the stimulus. Computational modeling of these results indicates the juxtaposition of counteracting long-term plasticity mechanisms by which cerebellar Purkinje cells could acquire prior knowledge that is shaped by the statistics of different probability distributions.

Our results suggest that the cerebellar circuitry may be uniquely poised to learn the probability of events in the world and internalize these as prior knowledge. These findings advance understanding of how neural computations could implement Bayesian inference."

Inside the cerebellum, unique neurons predict the timing of future events

Neural circuits encode prior knowledge of temporal statistics (open access)

Fig. 1: Prior probability distributions shape predictive eyeblink traces.

Fig. 2: Cerebellar cortical activity encodes temporal statistics of prior distributions.

The mental cost of skipping meals

Amazing stuff!

"... Research, however, shows that these habits are far from being harmless. A recent large-scale study tracked the eating habits of more than 20,000 Korean adults, focusing on how regularly they ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner—including skipped and late-night meals.

The researchers found that people with irregular eating patterns were 1.55 times more likely to experience depression compared to those who were regular with their main-meal routines. This connection was stronger for men, smokers and late-night eaters. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• Nationwide sample of 21,568 Korean adults from KNHANES 2014–2022.

• Irregular meal consumption frequency linked to higher odds of depressive symptoms.

• Dietary diversity buffered, while breakfast skipping exacerbated the risk.

• Stronger associations observed in men, smokers, and late-night eaters.

• Meal pattern regularity identified as a modifiable nutritional target for prevention.

Abstract

Background

Irregular main-meal consumption frequency may disrupt metabolic and behavioral regulation, factors increasingly linked to affective disorders. However, evidence from nationally representative populations is limited.

Methods

We analyzed data from 21,568 adults in the 2014–2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the PHQ-9. Multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analyses were conducted, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and nutritional factors. Moderation and subgroup analyses examined dietary diversity, breakfast skipping, and lifestyle variables.

Results

Irregular main-meal consumption frequency was associated with higher odds of depressive symptoms (adjusted OR for highest vs. lowest irregularity = 1.55, 95% CI 1.42–1.69, p < 0.001).

The association was strongest in those with the lowest dietary diversity, while greater variety buffered adverse effects. Frequent breakfast skipping heightened susceptibility. No higher-order interactions were observed. Subgroup analyses showed stronger associations in men, smokers, and late-night eaters, though these require cautious interpretation.

Limitations

Cross-sectional design, self-reported diet, and unmeasured confounders (stress, medication, sleep) may limit causal inference.

Conclusions

Irregular main-meal consumption frequency was associated with depressive symptoms, moderated by dietary diversity and breakfast habits, highlighting meal pattern regularity as a modifiable nutritional target for prevention."

The mental cost of skipping meals may run higher than most people realize

Irregular meal frequency and depressive symptoms: Moderating roles of dietary diversity and breakfast skipping

The FPGA Chip became an IEEE Milestone

Good news! First developed in the 1980s.

"Many of the world’s most advanced electronic systems—including Internet routers, wireless base stations, medical imaging scanners, and some artificial intelligence tools—depend on field-programmable gate arrays. Computer chips with internal hardware circuits, the FPGAs can be reconfigured after manufacturing.

On 12 March, an IEEE Milestone plaque recognizing the first FPGA was dedicated at the Advanced Micro Devices campus in San Jose, Calif., the former Xilinx headquarters and the birthplace of the technology. ...

The FPGA architecture originated in the mid-1980s at Xilinx, a Silicon Valley company founded in 1984. The invention is widely credited to Freeman, a Xilinx cofounder and the startup’s CTO. He envisioned a chip with circuitry that could be configured after fabrication rather than fixed permanently during creation. ..."

The FPGA Chip Is an IEEE Milestone - IEEE Spectrum

On AutoResearch AI: Towards AI-Powered Research Automation for Scientific Discovery

The future of scientific research? A paper by Jianfeng Gao & Caiming Xiong and their team. 

From the abstract:

"Scientific research is being reshaped by AI systems that move beyond isolated assistance toward longer-horizon workflows spanning literature grounding, hypothesis generation, experimentation, validation, reporting, and revision.

This shift marks a transition from task-level AI for science to workflow-level research automation.

Yet current systems remain fragmented, differing in autonomy, domain scope, execution environment, validation mechanism, and human oversight, while still struggling with evidence preservation, reproducibility, weak-direction rejection, provenance tracking, cross-domain robustness, and accountable scientific closure. This survey examines these developments through

AutoResearch, defined as the developmental spectrum of AI-powered scientific workflow automation. 

Within it, Vibe Research denotes the human-steered region of prompt-based assistance and human-verified execution, whereas emerging AI-led systems coordinate larger portions of the discovery loop without achieving robust autonomy.

We analyze how research systems redistribute control, evidence, execution, validation, and accountability across workflows and organize the field around five workflow conditions: literature and research grounding; hypothesis formation and planning; experimentation and tool use; feedback, validation, and review; and reporting and knowledge communication.

We further synthesize AI scientist systems, mixed-initiative co-research frameworks, benchmarks, domain deployments, and open-source infrastructures.

Finally, we propose five evaluation dimensions--novelty, validity, impact, reliability, and provenance--and show that AutoResearch autonomy is domain-conditioned, being more credible in structured, executable, and rapidly verifiable settings but limited in embodied, delayed, heterogeneous, ethical, or institutionally accountable contexts."

[2605.23204] AutoResearch AI: Towards AI-Powered Research Automation for Scientific Discovery

Ancient Chinese anesthetic reveals Ming dynasty's sophisticated medicine

Amazing stuff!

"Microscopic analysis of residues on surgical scissors and tweezers from a 1348–1411 CE tomb in Jiangyin, China, finds the first evidence for the controlled application of a highly toxic chemical as anesthetic, highlighting the sophisticated medicine of the Ming dynasty. ...

However, conventional techniques are difficult to apply to ancient Chinese medical residues, which are rarely preserved and often fail to meet minimum sample requirements for identification. ...

To tackle this, archaeologists used a novel, non-destructive microscopic technique to analyze residues on a pair of surgical scissors and tweezers from the tomb of early Ming dynasty physician Xia Quan. ...

The researchers found evidence for residue of aconitine: an alkaloid derived from the plant Aconitum. Also known as wolfsbane or monkshood, Aconitum is extremely toxic.

This toxicity was recognized and several methods to mitigate it had been developed by the time of the Ming dynasty, from vinegar-boiling to detoxifying with mung beans. The resulting powder acted as an anesthetic, enabling pain-free surgery. ..."

From the abstract:

"The analysis of archaeological trace residues is offering expanding insights into various aspects of human (pre)history, including developments in medical knowledge.

Here, the authors present results from the analysis of two medical instruments (scissors and tweezers) found in a Ming Dynasty (c. 1368–1644 CE) tomb in Jiangyin, China. While the form and composition of the instruments themselves indicate developed understandings of tool production and use, novel application of stimulated Raman scattering microscopy reveals probable traces of aconitine, likely providing direct evidence for the use of this highly toxic substance, possibly administered as a topical anaesthetic, in ancient Chinese surgery."

Ancient anesthetic reveals Ming China's sophisticated medicine

Surgical anaesthesia in Ming China: scientific analysis of aconitine residues on medical instruments (open access)

Fig. 1 The sampled instruments and the residues analysed on each one. 

English for trippers: Lips joined at the hips

Is this like hip hop! Or like conjoined twins?

A severed piece of sea cucumber lives on

Amazing stuff!

"... In a new study, researchers documented the continued viability of amputated tissue from a sea cucumber for over three years in natural seawater. It’s the first known report of the long-term survival — and continued growth — of discarded tissue outside of a highly controlled, sterilized environment. ...

Since the mid-20th century, scientists have made significant breakthroughs with “immortal” cell lines, like the famous HeLa cells, that can be grown in a lab and proliferate indefinitely for long-term research.

In earlier studies, though, tissue cultures have only been maintained under “axenic” conditions that are tightly controlled, rigorously maintained, and lack any bacteria or other organisms. Even then, they have not demonstrated signs of actual healing and growth, nor retained the ability to independently move.

Many echinoderms, the phylum that includes sea cucumbers, are known to display impressive regeneration capacity and negligible cell aging. Lost tissue, though, was always assumed to eventually decay or die. ... the researchers noticed that some discarded tissue from a tube foot of a sea cucumber hadn’t decayed after a number of weeks. In fact, it seemed to be growing. ..."

From the abstract:

"Senescence and immortality are central biological paradigms. While regenerative capabilities in Deuterostomia are known, the fate of lost and discarded tissues has been presumed terminal.

Here, we demonstrate that explanted epidermal, connective, neural, and muscle tissue from the sea cucumber Psolus fabricii (Holothuroidea: Echinodermata) healed and continued to grow in natural, nonaxenic seawater without supplementation for more than 3 years.

In experimental trials, these explants, termed LiPfe (living immortal P. fabricii explants) displayed immune activity, cell cycling, tissue reorganization, and absorption of dissolved amino acids, underscoring their active living state. Comparative experiments conducted on explanted tissues from related species demonstrated no equivalent tissue survival, highlighting the unique properties of P. fabricii, which do not have parallels in the current literature.

Our findings challenge conventional perceptions of tissue immortality and present a new class of experimental model, free from ethical concerns, with substantial implications for regenerative biology, biomedical research, and tissue engineering."

A severed piece of sea cucumber refused to die, and what happened next could transform medicine

Scientists Find Groundbreaking Potential for Tissue Regrowth and Immortality in the Ocean (original news release)

Natural tissue immortality: Indefinite survival of sea cucumber explants (open access)

Fig. 1. Outline of questions, processes, and analyses that helped develop the initial framework of this study.