Native to the arctic waters of the northern hemisphere, the Bowhead whale can live for centuries, and now scientists think they know why.
Popular Mechanics (www.popularmechanics.com)
Weird I didn’t get one, oh well edited with bypass link
Paywall Bypass Link https://archive.is/CHGfz
Larissa MacFarquhar writes about the recent research into the neurodiverse syndromes known as aphantasia and hyperphantasia, their effects on our experience of trauma and memory, and the sense of identity that has grown up around them.
The New Yorker (www.newyorker.com)
Another Astrum, another banger.
What to you think? Could we find another Earth-like planet within our lifetime? Or any life later at all? Maybe with in a far-off exoplanet or even within the Sol System (out solar system)? Well, we can only hope. I certainly have a feeling that we may.
A submersible revealed hidden ice structures under the Antarctic before vanishing, highlighting the complexities of ice shelf melting dynamics.
Popular Mechanics (www.popularmechanics.com)
A team of physicists led by Mir Faizal at the University of British Columbia has demonstrated that the universe cannot be a computer simulation, according to research published in October 2025[^1].
The key findings show that reality requires non-algorithmic understanding that cannot be simulated computationally. The researchers used mathematical theorems from Gödel, Tarski, and Chaitin to prove that a complete description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone[^1].
The team proposes that physics needs a “Meta Theory of Everything” (MToE) - a non-algorithmic layer above the algorithmic one to determine truth from outside the mathematical system[^1]. This would help investigate phenomena like the black hole information paradox without violating mathematical rules.
“Any simulation is inherently algorithmic – it must follow programmed rules,” said Faizal. “But since the fundamental level of reality is based on non-algorithmic understanding, the universe cannot be, and could never be, a simulation”[^1].
Lawrence Krauss, a co-author of the study, explained: “The fundamental laws of physics cannot exist inside space and time; they create it. This signifies that any simulation, which must be utilized within a computational framework, would never fully >express the true universe”[^2].
The research was published in the Journal of Holography Applications in Physics[^1].
[^1]: ScienceAlert - Physicists Just Ruled Out The Universe Being a Simulation
[^2]: The Brighter Side - The universe is not and could never be a simulation, study finds
The CMS collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has observed an unexpected excess of top quark-antiquark pairs that could indicate the existence of toponium - potentially the smallest composite particle yet discovered[^1].
The excess was first detected in 2019 but gained significance with analysis of the full 2016-2018 dataset. In April 2025, CMS reported a cross section of 8.8 picobarns with 15% uncertainty, surpassing the five-sigma threshold for discovery[^1][^2].
The ATLAS experiment has now confirmed seeing the same effect, measuring a cross section of 9.0 ± 1.3 picobarns[^3]. The excess appears right at the minimum energy needed to produce top quark pairs, with angular patterns matching predictions for a pseudoscalar particle.
While evidence points to toponium - a fleeting union between a top quark and its antimatter partner - scientists remain cautious about the interpretation. “The toponium hypothesis is very exciting as we previously did not expect to be able to see it at the LHC,” said CMS physics coordinator Andreas Meyer[^5].
If confirmed, toponium would complete the quarkonium family after charmonium (1974) and bottomonium (1977), marking the smallest hadron ever observed due to the top quark’s high mass[^1].
[^1]: CERN - CMS finds unexpected excess of top quarks [^2]: Innovation News Network - CERN top quarks discovery hints at mysterious ‘toponium’ particle [^3]: CERN - Elusive romance of top-quark pairs observed at the LHC [^5]: CERN Courier - CMS observes top–antitop excess
Scientists at CERN may have discovered toponium, the smallest known composite particle, reshaping our understanding of top quarks.
Innovation News Network (www.innovationnewsnetwork.com)
The Earth’s magnetosphere acts as a protective shield against the solar wind—a stream of charged particles from the Sun. This interaction results in a large-scale electric field in the magnetosphere, known as a dawn-dusk convection electric field, playing a crucial role in disturbances such as the storm-time ring current and substorms. We explored the quasi-steady large-scale electric fields and the role of space charge in the magnetosphere by using global magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations. When the interplanetary magnetic field is southward, a substorm growth phase begins. The large-scale electric field is in a relatively stable condition, in particular, on the dayside. In the MHD simulation, the positive space charge dominates the duskside magnetosphere, while the negative space charge dominates the dawnside. If the electric field is purely caused by the space charge deposited in the magnetosphere, the direction of the electric field will be in the dusk-dawn direction. However, the dawn-dusk electric field is established in the magnetosphere due to continued plasma motion interacting with the magnetic field. It is suggested that the magnetosphere maintains dynamic equilibrium through a balance of energy flow from the solar wind to the ionosphere. These insights improve our understanding of magnetospheric convection and the magnetospheric system.
Stark racial and ethnic disparities in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) have been documented, largely attributable to the impact of social and structural drivers of health. The structural drivers of health include the institutions, practices, cultural norms, and policies that dictate the inequitable distribution of the social determinants of health (SDoH), defined as the conditions where people live, work, play, and age, and consist of various forms of systemic oppression including structural racism. The overlapping effects of race and place on health have been studied extensively, with an increased focus on the operationalization and measurement of “place-effects” on health through neighborhood characteristics and the built environment. Previous studies have demonstrated associations of place-based SDoH with cardiometabolic health and cognition. However, research studying the relationship of place-based SDoH with ADRD-associated neuroimaging and plasma biomarkers is still limited.
Biomarkers serve as proxies for underlying pathological changes and can play a crucial role in the detection of etiology underlying cognitive decline and ADRD. More specifically, neuroimaging biomarkers of brain structure and function, assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are helpful in the early detection of disease processes and prognosis for progression. Additionally, numerous blood-based biomarkers have recently emerged as candidates for improved diagnosis and management of ADRD, along with a demonstrated need to examine varying SDoH profiles in correlation with these biomarkers due to observed differences in biomarker levels by medical comorbidities. Plasma biomarkers have been associated with brain health differences assessed with neuroimaging, most notably with lower total gray matter brain volume and higher amyloid deposition. Importantly, abnormal plasma amyloid β 42/40 ratio helps in identifying those with higher dementia risk, while phosphorylated-Tau 181 has been shown to increase with clinical severity of AD.
Chemists from the University of Warwick and Monash University have discovered a powerful new antibiotic called pre-methylenomycin C lactone, found as an intermediate compound in the production of methylenomycin A[^1]. This molecule shows remarkable potency against drug-resistant bacteria, demonstrating over 100 times greater activity against Gram-positive pathogens compared to methylenomycin A[^2].
The compound proves particularly effective against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), with no observed resistance development in Enterococcus faecium under conditions where vancomycin resistance typically emerges[^1].
“Methylenomycin A was originally discovered 50 years ago and while it has been synthesized several times, no-one appears to have tested the synthetic intermediates for antimicrobial activity!” said Professor Greg Challis[^2]. The team identified the compound by deleting specific genes in Streptomyces coelicolor, a well-studied soil bacterium[^1].
The researchers have developed a scalable synthetic route for producing pre-methylenomycin C lactone, positioning it for further development as a potential treatment against antimicrobial-resistant infections[^1].
[^1]: Medical Dialogues - Scientists discover hidden antibiotic 100 times stronger against superbugs
[^2]: University of Warwick - New antibiotic for drug-resistant bacteria found hiding in plain sight