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.

Urine test could help detect lung cancer years before symptoms occur

Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!

"... The researchers created an injectable sensor that interacts with proteins released by senescent cells. When these proteins are present, the sensor triggers the release of a detectable compound that appears in urine – signalling the earliest biological signs of therapy resistance and lung cancer development. ..."

From the abstract:

"Cellular senescence is a hallmark of age-related disorders, including cancer, in which senescence contributes to tumor progression and treatment resistance. Targeting senescent cells therapeutically requires noninvasive methods to longitudinally monitor senescence burden.

Here, we present an injectable nanoprobe for noninvasive detection of therapy-induced senescence in lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis via urine testing. Using human biopsy samples, clinical transcriptomic datasets and mouse models, we identify matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) as a specific biomarker of senescence in lung cancer and bleomycin-induced fibrosis.

We develop ALBANC, a nanoprobe composed of human serum albumin linked to gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) through MMP-7-cleavable peptide linkers. MMP-7-mediated cleavage releases AuNCs that are renally excreted, enabling rapid and sensitive colorimetric urine detection via a nanoparticle growth-based assay, enabling longitudinal tracking of cisplatin-induced senescence and senolysis in mouse lung tumors and fibrosis.

This approach offers a noninvasive and sensitive precision tool for monitoring senescence burden in lung cancer."

Urine test could help detect lung cancer years before symptoms occur | University of Cambridge "Cambridge scientists hunting tell-tale killer ‘zombie’ cells that signal early lung cancer have developed a world-first urine test that could transform diagnosis and survival for thousands of patients."

Urinary detection of therapy-induced senescence and fibrosis using an injectable albumin-based nanoprobe (open access)

Fig. 2: Preparation of ALBANC nanoprobe and its colorimetric detection assays.

Fig. 5: Urinary detection of chemotherapy-induced senescence in lung cancer.

English for trippers: Scrap not scrape

Scraping for scrap metal? Don't beat the crap out of it!

A Day on Earth Is Getting Longer as the Planet’s Rotation Slows. Really!

When the Wall Street Journal publishes a popular science article! When obsessions interfere with rational thinking!

I would argue this tiny number could well be within the range of a measurement error! Plus, these are not measurements, but computer modeling results. Junk science?

"The Number ~1.33 The milliseconds added to day length per century over the past two decades, according to a new study. As temperatures warm, ice in the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica melts, and the resulting rise in sea levels slows down Earth’s rotation. A change of milliseconds seems insignificant, but it can cause problems for clocks, GPS and navigation apps, and satellites."

"Climate change is lengthening our days because rising sea levels slow Earth's rotation. Researchers from the University of Vienna and ETH Zurich now show that the current increase in day length — 1.33 milliseconds per century [???]— is unprecedented in the past 3.6 million years [???]. The team reconstructed ancient day-length fluctuations using the fossil remains of single-celled marine organisms known as benthic foraminifera. The study has just been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. ..."

From the abstract:

"Understanding the history of Earth rotation variations and its connection to mantle dynamics is one of the most important problems is global geophysics. However, our knowledge of these variations—in particular those induced by climate on geological timescales—is limited due to both modeling deficiencies and the scarcity of paleoclimate data.

In order to advance our understanding of this problem, here we first develop a new probabilistic deep learning methodology called Physics-Informed Diffusion Model (PIDM). We then use PIDM in conjunction with the recently available paleoclimate data—specifically, sea level variations since the Late Pliocene—to precisely reconstruct the history of climate-induced changes in the Earth's rotation rate (i.e., Length of Day variations: 

LOD). We reconcile LOD inferred from various climate models and paleoclimate proxies (i.e., geological records such as fossil benthic foraminifera and coral reefs). Based on our reconstructions of LOD, we unravel

(a) large-amplitude fluctuations due to Quaternary ice ages, surpassing the magnitude of the currently known processes including those of atmosphere, land hydrology, and core,

(b) a previously unrecognized secular trend due to changes in the Earth's oblateness caused by the outset of Northern Hemispheric ice sheets, and

(c) the almost unprecedented rate [???] of increase in the length of day caused by century climate change."

Wall Street Journal What's news

A Day on Earth Is Getting Longer as the Planet’s Rotation Slows - WSJ "A change of milliseconds seems insignificant, but it can cause problems for our clocks, GPS and navigation apps, and satellites"

Climate change slows Earth's spin: Day lengthening unprecedented in 3.6 million years (original news release from March 2026) "Comparing fossil archives with modern measurements – Today's increase in day length stands out clearly in climate history"

Climate-Induced Length of Day Variations Since the Late Pliocene

The UAE’s secret role in the war involved dozens of strikes on Iran

Wow! What are the other Arab countries waiting for?

"the U.A.E. was more involved in the Iran war than previously known"

"The attacks were conducted in coordination with the U.S. and Israel and went on for weeks—a deeper involvement than was previously known. It’s further evidence of the U.A.E.’s growing willingness to protect what it sees as its strategic interests, setting it apart from some of its neighbors, which have taken a far more cautious approach to the threat from Iran."

Wall Street Journal What's news

How bean plants use chemicals to attract wasps for help when hungry caterpillars attack

Amazing stuff!

"... The plant sends out a chemical distress signal that summons predatory wasps to its aid. ..."

"... When caterpillars chomp the leaves of bean plants, these plants release gases that lure predatory wasps. The wasps prey on the caterpillars, saving the plants from further destruction. ...

This result helps explain a previous study by this team that first identified the biochemical pathway behind this defense mechanism. These results also showcase how the tiny actions of a single protein can affect the behavior of wasps and caterpillars, and in turn, protect the health of the plant. ..."

From the abstract:

"Plants deploy direct and indirect defenses in response to insect herbivory. The specific antiherbivore responses involve cell surface immune receptors that recognize herbivore-associated molecular patterns (HAMPs), yet the ecological relevance of this molecular interplay in natural settings remains unexplored.

Here, we demonstrate with laboratory and field experimentation in Mexico that the inceptin receptor (INR) in the leaves of common bean orchestrates a tritrophic interaction upon recognition of inceptin, a HAMP in caterpillar oral secretions. Near-isogenic lines with a naturally occurring null mutation in INR revealed that inceptin recognition does not only amplify the wound response but activates an herbivore-specific immune pathway to trigger the emission of a distinctive volatile blend that recruits predatory wasps to effectively remove caterpillars from the plants.

These findings provide a definitive molecular-to-ecological link, revealing how a single immune receptor mediates ecologically relevant plant-insect-predator interactions in nature."

How bean plants call on wasps for help when hungry caterpillars attack

How bean plants sense very hungry caterpillars and call for backup (original news release)

A plant immune receptor mediates tritrophic interactions by linking caterpillar detection to predator recruitment (open access)

Unprecedented view inside live stem cells reveals aging process and loss of regenerative capacity

Amazing stuff!

"Scientists have developed a powerful new technique that allows them to observe how individual cells manufacture proteins during aging, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the hidden molecular activity of stem cells in living tissue. ...

What scientists saw was the intricate choreography within stem cells and how those molecular dance steps slow and change with age. The team of Swiss scientists has concluded that the process of aging reshapes how skin stem cells manufacture proteins. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• In vivo single-cell ribosome profiling monitors tissue-wide translational landscapes

• RNase I-generated footprints reveal robust triplet periodicity in vivo

• Tissue-wide mapping of translational efficiencies across epidermal cell types

• Aging drives selective translational induction of AP-1 subunits in stem cells

Summary

Somatic stem cells are characterized by their low overall protein-synthesis rates, a feature implicated in driving their stemness. However, how aging reshapes the translational landscape of stem cells remains poorly understood.

Here, we present an in vivo single-cell ribosome profiling strategy to monitor tissue-wide translational landscapes of the epidermis during aging.

By implementing ribosomal elongation-inhibited cell isolation and switching to RNase I, we expand the applicability of single-cell ribosome profiling to in vivo systems and facilitate the evaluation of triplet periodicity, a hallmark of high-quality data.

Leveraging this strategy, we document the in vivo translational landscapes of the major epidermal cell types, outline cell-type-specific translational efficiencies, and identify a pronounced translational reprogramming of AP-1 subunits specifically in aged epidermal stem cells. Our study illustrates the power of in vivo single-cell ribosome profiling to map cell-type-specific translational programs and offers a scalable strategy for tissue-wide interrogation of translational landscapes."

Unprecedented view inside live stem cells reveals aging process and loss of regenerative capacity

In vivo single-cell ribosome profiling reveals cell-type-specific translational programs during aging (open access)

Graphical abstract

Schizophrenia linked to body’s most prevalent white blood cell

Good news!

"In brief

• Stanford researchers discovered that neutrophils, a type of white blood cell, can produce the schizophrenia-associated protein C4A.
• This finding links the increased neutrophil count seen in schizophrenia patients to the disease’s underlying mechanisms.
• The research could lead to novel diagnostic methods and treatments by targeting neutrophil activity and protein production in schizophrenia.

The most common white blood cells in your body – immune cells called neutrophils – can make a protein nobody knew they were making ... That unexpected sighting joins a growing list of hints tying schizophrenia, a disorder of the brain, to events occurring elsewhere in our bodies. ...

Current treatments for schizophrenia are palliatives, Kalinowski said. They don’t stop disease progression or restore motivation or cognitive sharpness. ..."

From the significance and abstract:

"Significance

The number of C4A gene copies is associated with the risk of schizophrenia in genome-wide association studies of individuals with European ancestry.

Higher C4A gene expression is associated with higher levels of synaptic pruning in the brain.

We found that neutrophils from people with schizophrenia show C4 protein amounts that are positively correlated with the number of C4A gene copies.

Neutrophils may gain access to the central nervous system, during some critical periods in the development of schizophrenia. The role of neutrophils both outside the brain in the peripheral circulation and within the brain invites further exploration, potentially leading to new therapeutics.

Abstract

The lack of highly effective disease-modifying treatments for schizophrenia necessitates exploration of novel aspects of its pathophysiology, including attention to innate immune mechanisms outside the brain. 

C4 protein activation, associated with the complement cascade of innate immunity, associates with symptoms and predicts outcomes in schizophrenia. However, C4 protein activation does not coincide with expected changes to other proteins in the complement cascade, suggesting another source of C4 protein activation.

Studying a combination of fresh whole blood from 10 anonymous donors and a large set of publicly available microarray data, we show that C4 protein is found and expressed primarily in neutrophils and monocytes.

Then, we compared the correlation between C4 protein in neutrophils, classical monocytes, plasma, and the number of C4A gene copies. We determined the number of C4A genes using digital droplet PCR, C4 protein in neutrophils (15 patients/21 controls) and plasma (30 patients/38 controls) using Western blotting, and classical monocytes (30 patients/38 controls) using flow cytometry.

We found a large positive correlation between the number of C4A gene copies and the amount of C4 protein only in neutrophils and only in the schizophrenia group (Spearman’s rho = 0.63, 95% BCa CI: 0.12 to 0.89, P = 0.012).

Our results indicate a convergence of innate immunity mechanisms associated with schizophrenia. The involvement of innate immunity deserves further attention to determine whether it could be a target for therapy in schizophrenia."

Schizophrenia linked to body’s most prevalent white blood cell | Stanford Report

Peripheral complement C4 protein in schizophrenia: Association with gene copy number and immune cell subtypes (open access)

Fig. 2 Neutrophil C4 protein is positively correlated with the number of C4A gene copies in SZ.