Neural Navigations #44

I celebrated my 35th birthday this week. As the poet says, I have walked halfway through my life. I'm more experienced and perhaps wiser than ever, but there's no doubt that I'm more curious than ever. I'm so grateful that I have never lost the child inside me. Today is also Father's Day. In the photo below, my father is younger than I am today. Around the time the photo was taken by my mom, my dad and I started to break down electronics to see what was inside. Of course, we often failed to rebuild them. But this is how we, together, learned and stayed curious about how things worked. Let's pay tribute to all the fathers who have nurtured their kids' curiosity.

Science, Technology & Space

JWST spotted an incredible number of supernovae in the early universe. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have increased the number of known supernovae in the early universe by a factor of 10 and found the most distant one ever confirmed.

Odd black holes smaller than protons may have once littered the cosmos. Minuscule black holes that formed right after the big bang could have had a strange property called colour charge, and spotting them could help unravel the mystery of dark matter.

Liquid crystals could improve quantum communication devices. Quantum light is key to futuristic quantum technologies, but researchers have been creating it in the same way for 60 years – now liquid crystals offer an easier way to produce it.

We could detect a malfunctioning warp drive on an alien starship. Faster-than-light warp drives are theoretically possible to build, and if aliens are using them, we should be able to detect the gravitational waves produced when one goes wrong.

Voyager 1 defies the odds yet again and is back online. After over six months of technical issues, the little spacecraft that could is ‘conducting normal science operations.’

Two types of fusion reactor called tokamaks and stellarators both have drawbacks – but a new design combining parts from both could offer the best of both worlds. Magnetic confinement fusion reactors use magnetic fields to squeeze a cloud of charged ions, called a plasma, into a tiny volume, which increases the chances of atoms fusing together and releasing energy.

Brain, Body & Mind

High temperatures lead to simpler language in parliamentary speeches. Analyzing seven million speeches from 28,000 politicians, researchers discovered that heat negatively impacts cognitive abilities. This effect was more pronounced in older politicians. The findings highlight the broader impacts of climate change on human performance and decision-making.

A balanced ratio of neural excitation (E) and inhibition (I) is crucial for brain development and cognitive performance. Researchers found that lower E/I ratios in children correlate with better memory and intelligence.

Researchers discovered a way to increase vitamin B6 levels in cells by inhibiting its degradation, potentially improving memory and learning. Their study found that a natural substance, 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone, inhibits the enzyme pyridoxal phosphatase, enhancing vitamin B6 in nerve cells.

A?specific brain region, the mediodorsal thalamus, may provoke feelings of paranoia. By aligning data from studies on monkeys and humans, they found that lesions in this brain region led to erratic behavior and increased perceptions of environmental volatility.

Sleep is crucial for memory formation, while sleep deprivation severely disrupts this process. Neurons in the hippocampus reactivating during sleep help to consolidate memories, but this reactivation is impaired without proper rest.

A new study identifies the Gstt1 gene as crucial for metastatic cancer cell growth. Researchers found that silencing Gstt1 in metastatic cells prevents their spread. This gene helps cancer cells modify their environment, facilitating growth in new body locations.

Our brains assign the same biases to faces seen in inanimate objects as they do to human faces. Known as face pareidolia, this phenomenon includes seeing faces in objects like the moon or toast. The study found that feminine-looking illusory faces are perceived as happy faster, while masculine-looking ones are seen as angry quicker. These findings suggest that face-like patterns activate similar socio-cognitive processes as real faces.

Influencers who disable social media comments are perceived as less persuasive and likable. The research highlights that even negative comments can boost an influencer’s credibility. Disabling comments signals a dismissiveness of audience feedback, undermining the influencer’s connection with followers. This study suggests that influencers need to balance protecting their mental health with maintaining audience engagement.

Nature & Environment

Footage of humpback whales captured by drones has revealed how the animals manoeuvre their whole bodies when they feed.

Ahead of hurricane weather, vetiver is stabilising this Caribbean island's crumbling hillsides.

Marine fungus can break down floating plastic pollution. The plastic-digesting capabilities of the fungus?Parengyodontium album?could be harnessed to degrade polyethylene, the most abundant type of plastic in the ocean.