Neural Navigations #12

We are in the final two months of the year, having changed our clocks to wintertime and eagerly awaiting the Christmas spirit. It's almost time to enjoy the Christmas markets with friends and family, sipping on mulled wine. However, the news feed never slows down. Every day, we are captivated by new advancements.

Let's explore the latest ones of the week!

Brain & Mind

• Most people who have pulled an all-nighter are familiar with the 'tired and wired' feeling. Despite physical exhaustion, the brain feels euphoric, loopy, and almost giddy. Neurobiologists have now discovered the cause of this punch-drunk effect. In a recent study, researchers subjected mice to mild, acute sleep deprivation and observed their behaviors and brain activity. They found that dopamine release increased during the period of sleep loss, and synaptic plasticity was enhanced, effectively rewiring the brain and sustaining the cheerful mood for the following days.

• Researchers have found that animals also possess an imagination. A team from the Lee and Harris labs at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus developed a novel system combining virtual reality and a brain-machine interface to probe the rat's inner thoughts. They found that, like humans, animals can think about places and objects that aren't right in front of them, using their thoughts to imagine walking to a location or moving a remote object to a specific spot.
• Nanowire 'brain' network learns and remembers 'on the fly.' Critical step passed for developing agile, low-energy machine intelligence for more complex, real-world learning and memory tasks.

• A new study substantiates previous groundbreaking research that rumination (overthinking) can be reduced through an intervention called Rumination-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT). In addition, the use of fMRI technology allowed researchers to observe correlated shifts in the brain connectivity associated with overthinking.
• A new study from Carnegie Mellon University, Bayes Business School, and Bocconi University has found that men are less eager and likely to share negative information than women, while there was little difference when it comes to positive news.

Science & Technology

• NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which became the first craft to achieve powered and controlled flight on another planet, recently completed its remarkable 64th flight. Originally designed for just a few flights, Ingenuity exceeded expectations as it soared across the Martian desert, covering a distance of 411 meters. With its four-foot-long rotor blades spinning at an impressive rate of 2,400 revolutions per minute, the helicopter captured mesmerizing footage of its flight, casting surreal shadows on the extraterrestrial landscape under the bright Martian sun.

• NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gazed at the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Since the recording of this energetic event in 1054 CE by 11th-century astronomers, the Crab Nebula has continued to draw attention and additional study as scientists seek to understand the conditions, behavior, and after-effects of supernovae through thorough study of the Crab, a relatively nearby example.

• The Beatles’ final song is now streaming thanks to AI. Machine learning helped Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr turn an old John Lennon demo into what’s likely the band’s last collaborative effort.

• Evaporation is happening all around us all the time, from the sweat cooling our bodies to the dew burning off in the morning sun. But science's understanding of this ubiquitous process may have been missing a piece all this time. At the interface of water and air, light can, in certain conditions, bring about evaporation without the need for heat.
• There are many creatures on our planet with more advanced senses than humans. Turtles can sense Earth's magnetic field. Mantis shrimp can detect polarized light. Elephants can hear much lower frequencies than humans can. Butterflies can perceive a broader range of colors, including ultraviolet (UV) light. Inspired by the enhanced visual system of the?Papilio xuthus?butterfly, a team of researchers have developed an imaging sensor capable of "seeing" into the UV range inaccessible to human eyes. Using the spectral signatures of biomedical markers, such as amino acids, this new imaging technology is even capable of differentiating between cancer cells and normal cells with 99% confidence.
• Sunflowers track the sun during the day and reorient at night to face east in the morning, a behavior known as heliotropism. University of California compared gene expression patterns in plants undergoing heliotropism in the field and phototropism in a controlled environment. Their findings revealed differences in gene expression patterns between heliotropic and phototropic plants. Some genes that are rapidly induced during phototropism and involved in growth responses to shade are also rapidly induced on the west sides of stems during heliotropism. This suggests a potential role for red light photoreceptors in solar tracking.

• Giant gas planets can be agents of chaos, ensuring nothing lives on their Earth-like neighbors around other stars. New studies show, in some planetary systems, the giants tend to kick smaller planets out of orbit and wreak havoc on their climates.
• Two former Google engineers have developed a product and a plan to improve robot vacuums. The Matic is a fully autonomous robot vacuum. Its founders claim that it can clean your floors without getting stuck on cables or toys, and without sending a map of your home to the cloud.
• The next Apple Watch is rumored to receive further health monitoring capabilities in 2024. Reports suggest that the devices will include three additional sensors, which can notify users if they are prediabetic, detect increasing blood pressure, and alert individuals to the possibility of sleep apnea.

Health & Environment

• Chimpanzees use hilltops to conduct reconnaissance on rival groups. Research on neighboring chimpanzee communities in the forests of West Africa suggests a warfare tactic not previously seen beyond humans is regularly used by our closest evolutionary relatives.
• Researchers at the University of Basel studied muscle adaptations in mice and discovered that endurance training causes significant muscle remodeling, evident in how muscles express genes differently based on their training state. Epigenetic changes, which alter gene activation patterns, play a crucial role in these adaptations, making trained muscles more efficient and resilient to prolonged workouts.

• Where is a sea star's head? Perhaps it can be found just about everywhere... A recent study that combines genetic and molecular techniques sheds light on the mystery of sea star (commonly known as starfish) body plans. It explains how sea stars begin their lives with bilateral body symmetry, similar to humans, but ultimately develop into adults with fivefold 'pentaradial' symmetry.
• A Swiss study on 2,886 men found frequent mobile phone use linked to lower sperm concentration and count, but not motility or morphology, with earlier 2G technology showing a stronger association than newer generations. Position of phone storage (like pockets) was not linked to lower semen parameters, and more research is planned to directly measure electromagnetic exposure and understand mechanisms.
• Lab-made ‘super melanin’ speeds up healing and boosts sun protection. The synthetic pigment could be used in everything from military uniforms to cancer treatments.

• A new paper revealed that human activities are making Earth's air, soil and freshwater saltier, which could pose an 'existential threat' if current trends continue. Geologic and hydrologic processes bring salts to Earth's surface over time, but human activities such as mining and land development are rapidly accelerating this natural 'salt cycle.’
• Poop transplants could potentially protect vulnerable patients from superbug infections. According to a small clinical trial, a dose of fecal material might aid in flushing out harmful bacteria.

• American bison were hunted almost to extinction by European settlers. Now making a comeback, they could help reverse damage to prairies from decades of poor management.

Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I look forward to bringing you more exciting content next week.