Neural Navigations #45

It seems like we've just experienced some cool and rainy days before the heat dome hits Berlin. I was both unlucky and lucky to get caught in the downpours, feeling fortunate compared to those struggling with extreme heat around the globe. Due to wars, tensions, and economic and political conflicts, we've recently neglected our environment once again. Therefore, I've put together an edition featuring a balanced mix of science, health, and environmental news.

Science, Technology & Space

Moon rovers are evolving to survive the harsh lunar night. The system is part refrigerator, part vent.

Traveling to Mars could destroy your kidneys. New research suggests that a Mars-bound astronaut may need dialysis on the way home.

After detouring through a dune field to avoid wheel-rattling boulders, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover reached its latest area of scientific interest on June 9. The route change not only shortened the estimated drive time to reach that area — nicknamed “Bright Angel” — by several weeks, but also gave the science team an opportunity to find exciting geologic features in an ancient river channel.

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, set to launch in 2024, will journey 1.8 billion miles to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa to study its potential for supporting life. The mission will utilize a high-gain antenna to communicate data back to Earth, exploring the moon’s atmosphere, ice crust, and subterranean ocean during approximately 50 flybys.

Finnish researchers have developed a technology that enables computers to understand human emotions to improve AI interactions, potentially allowing machines to adjust their behavior to enhance user experiences.

Scientists forge the world’s thinnest metallic wire from copper and carbon atoms.

Stanford scientists are enhancing liquid fuel storage methods by developing new catalytic systems for isopropanol production to optimize energy retention and release.

Brain, Body & Mind

A synthetic peptide, PHDP5, reversed Alzheimer's symptoms in mice. It can cross the blood-brain barrier and restore memory by improving synaptic function. The treatment could delay cognitive decline if administered early.

Habitual entrepreneurs exhibit greater cognitive flexibility and increased gray matter volume in the left insula, compared to managers. This brain region is associated with divergent thinking, crucial for entrepreneurial success. The research suggests that understanding the neural basis of cognitive flexibility can improve entrepreneurial training and education.

People can infer hidden social preferences by observing how quickly others make decisions. The study used the Dictator Game to show that decision speed, even without knowing the actual choices, can predict preferences. This finding challenges the notion that only choices reveal social preferences. Incorporating response times into predictive models offers a more nuanced understanding of human behavior.

A high-fat diet can disrupt gut bacteria, alter behavior, and influence brain chemicals in ways that increase anxiety. The study found that rats fed a high-fat diet showed less diversity in gut bacteria and higher expression of genes associated with stress and anxiety.

Women who undergo ovary removal before menopause, especially before age 40, show reduced white matter integrity in their brains later in life. The research analyzed data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, finding significant white matter reduction in women with premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy (PBO) before 40.

New research reveals that "time cells" in the brain, crucial for learning complex behaviors requiring precise timing, are not just simple timekeepers. These cells adapt their firing patterns as mice learn to distinguish between differently timed events, suggesting a more complex role in processing temporal information. This discovery could aid in early detection of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Researchers developed an AI model that can identify emotional states of tennis players with high accuracy by analyzing their body language during matches. The AI, trained on real-life footage, can detect positive and negative emotions, although it's more adept at recognizing negative ones.

A new study reveals how a ketogenic diet, high in fat and low in carbohydrates, improves memory in aging mice. Researchers found that the diet triggers a molecular signaling pathway that enhances synapse function, leading to improved memory.

Humans may have evolved complex facial expressions to enhance social bonding. By analyzing over 1,500 natural conversations, the study found that expressive individuals were more liked and better at achieving social goals. Expressive participants were easier to read and more successful in conflict negotiations.?

Nature & Environment

Researchers deciphered the unique odor coding system in the brain of migratory locusts. Using transgenic locusts and advanced imaging, they discovered a ring-shaped representation of odors in the antennal lobe, the locust's olfactory center.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD), which slowly destroys the brains of deer and elk, is hard to detect, impossible to treat, and spreading across North America. Researchers are mounting new efforts to understand the deadly disease, amid concerns it could someday spill over to humans.

Although wine dates back to the earliest human societies, actual samples from ancient cultures are rare to find. Thanks to a well-preserved tomb and a little luck, however, a team of archeologists and chemists from Spain’s University of Cordoba recently announced what they believe to be the oldest known wine ever discovered. At over 2,000-years-old, the vintage libation also contains a macabre additive—the skeletal remains of a Roman aristocrat.

Interring bones inside an urn with wine was a popular burial ritual among the Roman elite, but the custom was largely reserved for men due to societal prohibitions on women drinking alcohol. Just how rigidly women upheld this standard is likely up for debate, but when it came to a final resting place, Roman men were solely those receiving a boozy trip to the afterlife. Women—such as Hispana, who occupied the tomb’s other glass urn—were traditionally accompanied by jewels, perfumes, and fabrics like silk.

When internet-providing satellites — now being launched by the thousands — reach the end of their service life, the remnants from their incineration in Earth’s atmosphere will initiate chemical reactions that deplete stratospheric ozone.

The huge growth in renewable energy across Europe means electricity plants are generating more power than is needed, forcing them to pay energy firms to discharge it – effectively, selling at a negative price. On the face of it, this might seem like a good thing for cash-strapped households, but negative prices don’t necessarily bring down people’s electricity bills, and can also bring a host of downsides, including disrupting the business case for building more renewables.

Chimpanzees with wounds or gut infections seem to add unusual plants to their diet, and tests show that many of these plants have antibacterial or anti-inflammatory effects.?