Neural Navigations #40

This week's edition begins with a quote from Guardian's Bill McKibben: "The 1.5C global heating target was always a dream, but its demise doesn’t signal doom for climate action." Over the past two weeks, floods in Afghanistan have claimed the lives of more than 350 people. Similar news from different regions reaches us weekly. Urgent action is needed. Let's delve into this week's news.

Science, Technology & Space

A massive cotton candy-like exoplanet stumps astronomers. The planet is basically super fluffy.

AI noise-cancelling headphones let you focus on just one voice. You can blank out certain types of background noise and focus on just one conversation using prototype noise-cancelling headphones.

Cameras inspired by insect eyes could give robots a wider view. Artificial compound eyes made without the need for expensive and precise lenses could provide cheap visual sensors for robots and driverless cars.

Sunlight-trapping device can generate temperatures over 1000°C. A solar energy absorber that uses quartz to trap heat reached 1050°C in tests and could offer a way to decarbonise the production of steel and cement.

Buildings that include weak points on purpose withstand more damage. If a building is hit with an earthquake or explosives, the entire thing can collapse – but a design balancing strong and weak structural connections lets part of it fall while preserving the rest.

Underwater data centres could be destroyed by loud noises. Underwater data centres being installed off the coasts of China, the US and Europe could be disrupted by sounds from military-grade sonar on ships and submarines, or even whales.

When light strikes a soft robot made from a twisted strip of hydrogel sheets, it moves in a predictable way and can climb a vertical rod or haul up a load.

Brain, Body & Mind

DEPLOY, an AI tool, can classify brain tumors into 10 major subtypes with 95% accuracy. It analyzes microscopic images of tumor tissue, providing a faster and more accessible alternative to DNA methylation-based profiling. DEPLOY could potentially be used to classify other cancers as well.

Researchers developed a protein gel that effectively breaks down alcohol in the gut, preventing it from entering the bloodstream. This innovative gel, made from whey protein, iron, and gold, converts alcohol into harmless acetic acid, potentially reducing the harmful effects of alcohol consumption.

Distractions during meals, such as watching videos or playing games, can lead to decreased enjoyment and satisfaction, triggering compensatory overconsumption of pleasurable activities later. This phenomenon, termed "hedonic compensation," suggests that individuals seek to fulfill their unmet enjoyment quota by indulging in other pleasurable activities.

A study following 2600 participants over 20 years revealed a correlation between loneliness in adolescence and an increased risk of developing mental health problems like psychosis, bipolar disorder, and depression in adulthood. While causality cannot be definitively determined, the association is strong, highlighting the importance of monitoring and addressing loneliness in young people.

Climate change poses a significant threat to individuals with brain conditions. Extreme temperatures, poor sleep due to warmer nights, and adverse weather events can worsen neurological and psychiatric disorders, increasing hospitalizations and mortality.

Keto diet may accelerate organ ageing. In mice, a ketogenic diet increases the build-up of zombie-like cells in the heart, kidney, lungs and brain, which can accelerate organ ageing and lead to health problems.

A new study finds that manipulating gut bacteria through probiotic and prebiotic supplements can increase altruistic punishment behavior in humans. Participants receiving supplements were more likely to reject unfair offers in a money-sharing game, suggesting a link between gut microbiota composition and social decision-making.

People perceive time as moving slower when they are exercising compared to resting or post-exercise. The research involved participants undergoing a time perception task during different cycling conditions, including solo and competitive scenarios.

Frozen human brain tissue can now be revived without damage. Using a new approach, scientists have successfully frozen and thawed brain organoids and cubes of brain tissue from someone with epilepsy, which could enable better research into neurological conditions.

Nature & Environment

Eurasian jays exhibit episodic-like memory, a type of memory previously thought to be unique to humans. The birds were able to remember incidental details of past events, such as the visual characteristics of cups used in a food-hiding experiment.

We all know that having kids is expensive, but that truth is more universal than you might think. Across animal species, bearing offspring may be as much as 10 times as energetically costly as previously assumed.

Hungry sea otters have figured out a workaround when they want to open up a crustacean’s shell without hurting their teeth: by using tools. The furry marine mammals are vital to California’s kelp forests and can eat 25 percent of their own body weight per day. “We found that females that used tools consumed prey items that were 21 to 35% harder compared with male tool users and non–tool users despite their smaller heads and weaker biting ability compared with that of males.”

Snails are teeming with parasites. In some populations, 100 percent of them are infected, and 50 percent of their biomass is parasite.

Orangutans’ distinct yells decoded with help from AI. These long and booming vocalizations are very individualized.

Yeast not only causes fermentation—in some cases, the microorganisms can actually purify water. Even if MIT researchers didn’t know exactly how the process worked, the results were plain to see. Thanks to biosorption,?yeast cells?bind and absorb?heavy metal ions like lead, even at concentrations below 1 part per million. And according to their calculations, a single brewery in Boston could produce enough waste yeast to treat the entire city’s water supply.

The wasps that turned viruses into tiny biological weapons. To protect and rear their young, some insects have tamed viruses.

Kind Design is a climate technology company on a mission to create 3D printed sea walls with environmental benefits. Traditionally, US cities have countered rising sea levels by constructing concrete sea walls, which can harm marine life. The challenge for the company was to devise an alternative that is cost-effective for communities and boosts the underwater ecosystem.

Orchids feed their young through underground fungal connections. A common species of orchid seems to pass food packages to nearby seedlings, in a kind of plant parental care.

Genetic mutation gives cats a 'salty liquorice' coat colour. Researchers have discovered the gene variant responsible for a distinctive colour pattern seen in cats in Finland, named salmiak after a variety of liquorice.