science · @ntl_event
Everything we post on Instagram is here with its original source, the study behind it and, when there is one, the conference on the same topic in our catalog. Read the paper, not just the headline.
Todo lo que publicamos en Instagram, con su fuente original, el estudio y el congreso relacionado.
Oct 22, 2026 · Video
Mitchell Sun, a graduate student at the NIH, is turning baker's yeast into a cancer-fighting immunotherapy. His team uses sugar chains from the yeast to trick the immune system into attacking glioblastoma tumors — and in some mice, the tumors vanished completely.
NIH SciBites: How a Baker’s Best Friend Could Battle Brain Cancer
Oct 22, 2026 · Card
A soft robot arm covered in living microalgae bends and grasps using only light. Built at Delft University of Technology, its two hydrogel layers curl as the algae's photosynthesis shifts the gel's pH — it has already lifted a rubber ring and grasped a small metal ball, as described in Nature Communications.
The study comes from Delft University of Technology and was published in Nature Communications on Oct 22, 2026.
Related conference: 2026 XXVIII Robotics Mexican Congress · Ciudad de México, Mexico · Oct 25, 2026
Oct 22, 2026 · Video
Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Director of NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, explains how opioids rewire the brain. Over time that rewiring doesn't just drive addiction — it can make chronic pain even worse.
#NIHHEAL: Opioids and the Brain with NINDS Director Dr. Walter Koroshetz
Oct 22, 2026 · Card
NASA's Perseverance rover just broke the all-time record for distance driven on another world. Opportunity needed nearly 15 years to set that mark; Perseverance did it in five and a half, and is now heading into a region that may hold some of Mars's oldest preserved rock. The rover's AutoNav system drives much of that distance on its own, building 3D maps and picking safe routes without waiting on commands from Earth.
The news comes from NASA, reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 21, 2026.
Related conference: Space and Satellites · Washington, United States · Nov 8, 2026
Oct 22, 2026 · Card
At the University of Bonn, researchers reprogrammed immature blood cells into neural stem cells and watched their molecular age markers reset by more than 60 years. The process unfolded gradually in the lab, letting the team follow each step of the rejuvenation. Published in Aging Cell, the work could help scientists study diseases linked to aging.
The study comes from the University Hospital of Bonn and the University of Bonn and was published in the journal Aging Cell on Oct 21, 2026.
Oct 21, 2026 · Video
NASA visualization scientist Kim Arcand, from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, explains how she turns invisible telescope data into sound on the Gravity Assist podcast with NASA chief scientist Jim Green. Her idea: since no one can naturally see X-rays, sonification lets us experience the universe instead of just viewing it.
Gravity Assist: Listening to the Universe
Oct 21, 2026 · Card
In older adults with early signs of Alzheimer's, walking didn't reduce amyloid plaques. It did cut the buildup of tau protein, the marker more closely tied to memory and function loss, with benefits starting at 3,000 steps a day and peaking around 5,000 to 7,500.
The analysis comes from The Conversation and was published in Nature on Oct 19, 2026.
Oct 21, 2026 · Video
Dr. Paule Joseph, a sensory scientist and nurse at the NIH, noticed her mother-in-law's food suddenly tasting too salty and her famous cakes tasting far too sweet. That shift in taste turned out to be an early warning sign of frontotemporal dementia, a clue most doctor visits never check for.
What if the first sign of dementia isn’t memory loss, but taste?
Oct 21, 2026 · Card
A 3-meter dusky shark has been stuck in an artificial canal in Busan, South Korea, since last month. On Wednesday authorities launched a third attempt to guide it back to the sea, using nets fixed to floating pontoons as the water keeps getting colder. More than 1.6 million people have come to see it, and environmental groups say its presence points to warming seas pushing subtropical sharks north.
This account is based on reporting by Phys.org, published Oct 21, 2026.
Oct 21, 2026 · Card
Astronomers have found direct evidence of two supermassive black holes orbiting close together at the center of the galaxy Mrk 501. The team, led by Silke Britzen, tracked a second, previously unnoticed jet of particles alongside the galaxy's known jet, using radio observations collected over about 23 years. Pairs like this are expected after galaxies merge, but they have rarely been confirmed.
The study comes from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, led by Silke Britzen, and has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, reported Oct 18, 2026.
Oct 20, 2026 · Video
Olive, a graduate student at the NIH, explains how scientists are creating microscopic medicine-filled bubbles too small to see with the naked eye. By blasting these bubbles with sound waves right at the blood-brain barrier, they pop and let medication slip past the brain's defenses to treat disease.
NIH SciBites From Home: Bypassing the Brain’s Defensive Barrier
Oct 20, 2026 · Video
NIH PhD student Stephanie Miller explains how the brain's 10 billion cells talk to each other using electrical spikes. She breaks down how a delicate balance between excitatory and inhibitory cells can collapse, causing the seizures seen in epilepsy.
NIH SciBites: Balancing the Brain’s Electrical Signals
Oct 19, 2026 · Video
At the NIH, neuroscientist Dr. Valerie Darcey ran a controlled trial on how diets affect the brain's reward system. Cutting fat, not carbs, raised dopamine in a region called the striatum — and left volunteers eating more dessert the moment the diet ended.
NIH SciBites: Using Neuroscience to Reverse Obesity
Oct 19, 2026 · Video
Dr. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, Acting Director of NIDCR at the NIH, reveals how a simple, untreated toothache escalated into a fatal brain abscess in a child and a deadly bloodstream infection in an NFL player. Her message is blunt: these deaths are happening right now, and every one of them was preventable with basic dental care.
Untreated Cavities Can Become Life-Threatening | Oral Health Warning from NIH #nih #oralhealth
Oct 18, 2026 · Video
Jacob Short, a graduate student at the NIH, explains how the brain controls hormones with a precisely timed signal sent every 90 minutes. When that rhythm gets scrambled, it triggers PCOS — a disorder causing pain, weight changes, and trouble getting pregnant for millions of women.
NIH SciBites: Treating Infertility With a Neural Pacemaker
Oct 18, 2026 · Video
A NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station describes the station's bio-fabrication facility, built to grow human organs for future transplants. Microgravity removes the structural-support problem that limits artificial tissue growth on Earth, and researchers are even testing 3D-printed meat up there.
Expedition 61 In-Flight Interview with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Oct 17, 2026 · Video
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, breaks down a new NIH-funded study: older mice given semaglutide were more active, did better on memory tests and lived longer. The kicker — the benefits weren't just from eating less, the drug seems to act on the biology of aging itself.
Can Semaglutide Slow Aging? New GLP-1 Study in Older Mice
Oct 17, 2026 · Video
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, live from the International Space Station, answers NIH Director Francis Collins on what she'd tell young science students. She admits she applied to the astronaut corps while procrastinating on a grant application — and credits her extraordinary path to always chasing whatever fascinated her most.
Dr. Francis Collins chats with Astronaut Kate Rubins on the International Space Station
Oct 17, 2026 · Card
Germany's last wartime attempt at a nuclear reactor was never close to working. A new analysis in PNAS Nexus examined surviving uranium cubes from the 1945 B8 pile, built under physicist Werner Heisenberg, and found the design needed far more uranium and heavy water than Germany ever had. It settles a question historians have debated for decades: how close the Nazi program actually came to the bomb.
The study was published in PNAS Nexus on Oct 16, 2026.
Oct 16, 2026 · Video
Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director, interviews opera star Renée Fleming live at the NIH. Take 10 MRI scans of people who had serious music training before age 7 and 10 who didn't — an experienced radiologist can tell them apart: the change in the brain is permanent.
Music & the Mind: A Q&A with Renée Fleming & Francis Collins
Oct 16, 2026 · Card
A family of barn owls has nested in a water tower on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, says it is the first documented barn owl nest in Manhattan on record. New Yorkers have been gathering nightly near Central Park just to see them.
This was reported by Phys.org on Oct. 16, 2026.
Oct 16, 2026 · Video
Gabriel John Bulacan, a postbaccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health, explains that the JC virus quietly lives in the kidneys of about three out of four people by age 70. If your immune system ever weakens, that harmless passenger can mutate, travel to your brain, and damage the cells that let you move, speak, and think.
NIH SciBites: How a Kidney Virus Invades the Brain
Oct 16, 2026 · Card
Patients under general anesthesia show no signs of awareness, yet their brains keep working. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine recorded hundreds of neurons in the hippocampus during epilepsy surgery and found the unconscious brain still processes information from the outside world, a result published in Nature. The finding challenges long-held assumptions about what consciousness requires.
The study comes from Baylor College of Medicine and was published in the journal Nature on Oct 15, 2026.
Oct 16, 2026 · Video
A farmer tilling his land in Behbeit El Hagar, Egypt, uncovered the remains of two statues of Ramesses II. The larger one originally stood nearly 28 feet tall; what survives is its head, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, now studied by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. A hieroglyphic inscription names the pharaoh's Horus title: Strong Bull, Beloved of Right, Truth.
The find was reported by Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and covered by Live Science on Oct 15, 2026.
Oct 15, 2026 · Video
Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of NIDA at the NIH, explains on The Director's Desk why opioids are both so addictive and so deadly. The same brain receptors that drive reward also control your breathing, and a single dose of naloxone can flip that switch back on in seconds, reversing a fatal overdose almost instantly.
Director's Desk: Addiction, Opioids & Public Health | Dr. Nora Volkow on the Science of Drug Abuse
Oct 15, 2026 · Card
Gary and Shaggy, two brothers with unusually long legs, are the first documented cats with Marfan syndrome, a disorder that affects about 1 in 4,000 people. Cornell University researchers found each cat carried two altered copies of the FBN1 gene, the same gene behind the condition in humans. Published in Scientific Reports, the work helps veterinarians recognize similar cases and may lead to genetic tests for cats.
The study comes from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the Baker Institute for Animal Health and was published in Scientific Reports on Oct 14, 2026.
Oct 15, 2026 · Video
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, explains that free will isn't something spontaneous — it's produced by specific brain circuits. She reveals that drugs disrupt those exact circuits, which is why someone can know they shouldn't use and still be unable to stop.
NIDA: Understanding Addiction and How the Human Brain Works
Oct 15, 2026 · Card
Digestion is not just a human process: it is a collaboration with trillions of microbes. Researchers at Arizona State University built DAMM, a mathematical model that tracks how much energy the body absorbs and what gut bacteria do with the rest. Published in PLOS One, the work aims to improve understanding of obesity and diabetes, and could one day help doctors design diets tailored to each patient.
The study comes from Arizona State University and was published in PLOS One on Oct. 12, 2026.
Oct 15, 2026 · Video
A dinosaur that sat in the Natural History Museum since 1924 finally has a name. Researchers led by University College London identified the Isle of Wight skull fragment as Invictibellatrix amberina, the first known European megaraptoran, in Royal Society Open Science. It matters because this group, kin of T. rex, hunted with huge curved claws and powerful arms instead of massive jaws.
The study comes from University College London and was published in Royal Society Open Science on Oct 14, 2026.
Oct 15, 2026 · Card
Karolinska Institutet tracked 427 people for 47 years, from age 16 to 63, measuring the same individuals as they aged. The work, published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, shows exercise cannot fully prevent the physical changes of aging. But becoming more active in adulthood still produces meaningful gains in fitness and strength.
The study comes from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and was published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle on Oct 14, 2026.
Oct 14, 2026 · Video
Alec Nickolls, a postdoctoral researcher at the NIH, studies people with an extremely rare disorder that erases their sense of body position and touch. Without it, some patients have to watch their own feet while walking just to keep their balance.
NIH SciBites: The Body's Sixth Sense
Oct 14, 2026 · Card
Researchers at Semmelweis University studied students aged 18 to 35 and found that problematic smartphone use tracks with poor self-control and fear of missing out, not personality alone. Heavy scrolling was linked to poorer memory, weaker concentration and disrupted sleep. Published in Acta Psychologica, the study suggests that how we use the phone matters as much as how long we use it.
The study comes from Semmelweis University and was published in Acta Psychologica on Oct 12, 2026.
Oct 14, 2026 · Card
The Moon turns one face toward Earth and keeps a very different one hidden. Comparing Chang'e-6 far side rocks with Apollo and Chang'e-5 samples, a study in the National Science Review traces the asymmetry to heat-driven circulation in the ancient lunar magma ocean, after the Moon became tidally locked. It matters because the contrast between the dark near side plains and the thick, cratered far side crust has divided scientists for decades.
The study comes from Science China Press and was published in the National Science Review on Oct 14, 2026.
Oct 14, 2026 · Card
Nail problems appear far more common in people taking GLP-1 weight loss drugs. In the first controlled study of the link, published in JAMA Network Open and presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress 2026, 39% of users had nail detachment, compared with 9% of people who never took the medications, and two in three reported at least one nail disorder. The finding matters as these drugs become an increasingly common tool for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The study comes from Beyond and was published in JAMA Network Open on October 12, 2026.
Related conference: Dermatology and Plastic Surgery World Conference · Bangkok, Thailand · Oct 17, 2026
Oct 14, 2026 · Video
Researchers estimate Vasuki indicus measured between 10.9 and 15.2 meters, up to 50 feet. Paleontologists Debajit Datta and Sunil Bajpai of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee described it in Scientific Reports from 27 fossilized vertebrae found in a mine in Gujarat. It opens a window onto a warmer India, 47 million years back.
The study comes from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and was published in Scientific Reports in 2024, reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 14, 2026.
Oct 14, 2026 · Video
NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari explain how spacewalkers check on each other without saying a word. A simple hand sign means 'are you okay?' and a single glance through a space helmet can say everything else.
How do NASA Astronauts Communicate Nonverbally in Space?
Related conference: KIFA International Space Conference · Seoul, Republic of Korea · Oct 29, 2026
Oct 13, 2026 · Video
NASA astronaut Dr. Kate Rubins describes her favorite moment aboard the International Space Station: watching the coast of North Africa during a spacewalk. She says only her helmet visor stood between her and the vacuum of space outside.
An Afternoon with NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins
Oct 13, 2026 · Card
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin tracked Fitbit data from students over several months. What mattered for deep, restorative sleep wasn't how long people exercised, but how often, even short daily sessions. That deep sleep stage, concentrated early in the night, is when the body does much of its physical and mental recovery.
The study comes from the University of Texas at Austin and was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 11, 2026.
Oct 13, 2026 · Video
A NASA scientist breaks down the three things life actually needs to exist — and why Jupiter's icy moon Europa might check every box. Tidal heating from Jupiter's gravity could power hydrothermal vents in Europa's hidden ocean, the same kind of vents that teem with life here on Earth.
Is There Potential for Life on Europa?
Oct 13, 2026 · Card
A seed-sized device, injected rather than surgically implanted, sits near a nerve and sends programmable electrical signals to change its activity. Power comes wirelessly from outside the body, so doctors or patients can adjust the stimulation in real time. New York University, publishing in Science Advances, presents it as a less invasive option for treating nerve-related conditions such as chronic pain.
The study comes from New York University and was published in Science Advances on Oct 10, 2026.
Oct 13, 2026 · Video
CBL-514 triggers apoptosis in fat cells, making them break down naturally. In a phase 2 trial, 69.6% of people who received it lost at least 150 mL of subcutaneous fat in eight weeks, versus none on placebo. Researchers are also exploring whether it could help prevent weight regain after stopping drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy, a benefit so far only shown in animals.
The findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting in Milan, Italy, as reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 11, 2026.
Oct 13, 2026 · Card
NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captured the Murchison region of Western Australia turning from dry shrubland into a sea of wildflowers between August 2025 and August 2026. Local experts say unusually wet conditions produced the most impressive bloom the area has seen in nearly 20 years. The region, normally dominated by hardy grasses, saltbush and mulga, is used for grazing sheep and cattle.
The images were released by NASA Earth Observatory and reported by ScienceDaily on October 12, 2026.
Oct 12, 2026 · Video
Sharif Kronemer, a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH, studies afterimages, the images your brain keeps showing you after the real one is gone. His team found these self-made illusions light up the same broad brain networks as real sights, blurring the line between seeing and imagining.
NIH SciBites: Using Illusions to Probe the Origins of Consciousness
Oct 12, 2026 · Card
Estimates for the pre-1492 population of the Americas have swung from 1 million to 112 million people. Anthropologist George Milner of Penn State and archaeologist Robert Kelly of the University of Wyoming point to newer methods, like radiocarbon-dating charcoal from ancient hearths, as the way to narrow that gap. A 2019 study put the hemisphere-wide total near 60.5 million, a number that collapsed fast after European contact.
This comes from reporting by Live Science, published Oct. 12, 2026.
Oct 12, 2026 · Card
Loneliness and social isolation are linked to nearly six years of life lost to depression and anxiety, a new Tulane University study found. The toll on physical health was smaller, but still real. The findings add to growing evidence that disconnection carries a measurable cost to health.
The study comes from Tulane University's Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public and Tropical Medicine and was published in Nature Communications on Oct 10, 2026.
Related conference: Psychology and Research Methods Conference · New York, New York, United States · Oct 14, 2026
Oct 12, 2026 · Video
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir describes her first spacewalk outside the International Space Station. She explains that spacewalkers orbit Earth every 90 minutes, moving at 17,500 miles per hour with nothing but her suit between her and the planet below.
#AskNASA┃ HOW DO ASTRONAUTS USE THE POTTY IN SPACE?
Related conference: Space and Satellites · Washington, United States · Nov 8, 2026
Oct 12, 2026 · Video
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station photographed a bright, circular rock formation in southern Madagascar on August 28, 2026. The rock, anorthosite, is the same material that makes up the Moon's bright highlands, and it also turns up in Canada, Scandinavia, and India. NASA Earth Observatory shared the image, as reported by ScienceDaily.
The observation comes from NASA Earth Observatory and was reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 11, 2026.
Oct 12, 2026 · Card
Researchers built a tattoo ink that activates under ultraviolet light and fades away in sunlight, no removal needed. Called PhotoTat, it uses photochromic dyes in medical-grade plastic nanoparticles, and comes in three colors that can be mixed for custom designs. One version is already sold for $100 a bottle.
The work comes from the University of Colorado Boulder and was published in the journal Matter & Light on Oct. 9, 2026.
Related conference: XLIX Congreso Nacional de Ingeniería Biomédica · Oaxaca, Mexico · Oct 14, 2026
Oct 11, 2026 · Card
NASA's Artemis II crew orbited the moon this April, just 4,000 miles from its surface. They described yellow, green, brown and tan hues across lava plains and craters, now detailed in NASA's Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report. Those colors mark distinct volcanic minerals, information that could help choose landing sites for future missions.
The findings were published this week by NASA in the Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report, covering the crew's April 6, 2026 flyby, as reported by Live Science on Oct 11, 2026.
Oct 10, 2026 · Card
A four-legged robot ran a full marathon, 26.2 miles over hilly public roads in South Korea, without stopping to recharge. RAIBO2 finished in just over four hours, using less energy per distance than a human runner. Its developers say the range could open the door to robots working in disaster zones and mountain terrain.
The study was published in the journal Nature on Sept. 23, 2026.
Oct 9, 2026 · Card
Off Costa Rica's Pacific coast, a bright yellow coral rises more than a meter from the seafloor, surrounded by brittle stars like a glowing tree in a night sky. Researchers named it Laurinque elenya, 'golden tree' and 'of the stars' in Quenya, the Elvish language J.R.R. Tolkien created. When they sequenced three standard coral genes, each pointed to a different family, a reminder of how much deep-sea life still has no place on the tree of life.
The study comes from Pensoft Publishers and was published in ZooKeys on Oct 8, 2026.
Oct 9, 2026 · Card
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is watching young star systems where Mars-sized worlds appear to be smashing together. A team led by Kate Su of the Space Science Institute took a closer look at extreme debris disks, systems packed with warm dust near their stars, first spotted by the retired Spitzer telescope. Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the work estimates how violent these collisions are and how rocky planets like Earth form and evolve.
The study comes from NASA, led by Kate Su of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, using the James Webb Space Telescope, and was published in The Astrophysical Journal on Oct 1, 2026.
Oct 9, 2026 · Video
Wild lions feast and fast; zoo lions eat on a schedule. When Adelaide University researchers added whole carcasses every nine days at Monarto Safari Park, three male lions began eating longer, resting more, and getting active again as the fast went on, a cycle closer to the wild. Published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, the work shows how feeding routines can shape the behavior of carnivores in human care.
The study comes from Adelaide University with Monarto Safari Park and was published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science on Oct 7, 2026.
Oct 9, 2026 · Card
A single-celled protist from an Oxford pond reassigned two genetic stop signals to two different amino acids. Dr. Jamie McGowan found it at the Earlham Institute while testing a method to sequence tiny amounts of DNA, not while studying code evolution. Published in PLOS Genetics, it shows the genetic code is more flexible than scientists assumed.
The study comes from the Earlham Institute, with a team led by Professor Thomas Richards at the University of Oxford, and was published in PLOS Genetics on Oct 8, 2026.
Oct 8, 2026 · Card
The keto diet does not act the same way everywhere in the body. In early research, MIT scientists found it may protect against colon cancer while increasing cancer risk in the small intestine. What benefits one tissue, they caution, may harm another.
The study comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was published in Nature on Oct 5, 2026.
Oct 8, 2026 · Video
Astronaut Don Pettit, live from the International Space Station in a chat with Neil deGrasse Tyson, is about to turn 70 in orbit. Inspired by his childhood hero John Glenn, he says he'll keep flying as long as NASA lets him 'escape from flying a desk.'
NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Talks with Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Star Talk” – Thursday, April 3, 2025
Related conference: Space and Satellites · Washington, United States · Nov 8, 2026
Oct 8, 2026 · Card
Astronomers have found a planet that appears to have been born from the remains of its own star. The Jupiter-sized world orbits the young white dwarf HS 0209+0832, about 270 light-years from Earth, every 4.4 days, and its chemical signature points to material forged as the star died. It is the first second-generation planet seen around a white dwarf, and a glimpse of what may await our own solar system.
The discovery was led by researchers at the University of Warwick, with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was published in Nature Astronomy on Oct 5, 2026.
Oct 8, 2026 · Video
Stanford Medicine turned a cancer driver into a kill switch. In many cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the disease is driven by a protein called BCL6. Instead of silencing it, their small molecule connects BCL6 to another protein that activates the cell's built-in death program. Published in the journal Cell, the work is still early research, but the team believes it could eventually reach other cancers and some autoimmune diseases.
The study comes from Stanford Medicine and was published in Cell on Oct 7, 2026.
Related conference: Lymphoma, Leukemia and Myeloma Congress · New York, United States · Oct 12, 2026
Oct 8, 2026 · Card
Jonathan, the Aldabra giant tortoise of St. Helena, is 194 years old, about a century beyond his species' expected lifespan. Scientists including Stephen Clark of the Kallel Foundation sequenced DNA from his cheek cells and found 287 variants in aging-related genes, from DNA repair to telomere function, plus unusually organized methylation on his mitochondrial genes; the work appears in Science Advances. The team could not prove causation, but these are the same aging pathways at work in humans.
The study comes from researchers including the Kallel Foundation in Nashville and was published in Science Advances on Oct 7, 2026.
Oct 7, 2026 · Card
A week without food changes the human body well beyond weight loss. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London and the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences mapped these molecular shifts in a study published in Nature Metabolism. The work could help build treatments that mimic fasting's effects for people who cannot safely fast themselves.
The study comes from Queen Mary University of London's Precision Healthcare University Research Institute and the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, and was published in Nature Metabolism, as reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 5, 2026.
Related conference: Scripps Updates in Diabetes Management CME Conference · San Diego, United States · Oct 9, 2026
Oct 7, 2026 · Card
Osteoarthritis wears down cartilage in about one in five US adults, and no drug exists to slow or reverse it. Stanford Medicine researchers targeted a protein called 15-PGDH and got human cartilage samples from knee replacement surgeries to start producing new, functional tissue. It hasn't been tested in people yet, but it points toward a future pill or injection instead of joint replacement surgery.
The study comes from Stanford Medicine and was published in Science on Oct 6, 2026.
Related conference: World ADC · San Diego, United States · Oct 11, 2026
Oct 7, 2026 · Video
Researchers at the University of Michigan and UCLA built a palm-sized robot that jumps using bent rods twisted until they snap, releasing stored energy in an instant. Published in Science Advances, the work shows the same mechanism lets the robot hop over wood, sand, and grass, climb steps, and even swim. Small, low-power robots could use it to cross rough or wet terrain without needing bigger motors.
The study comes from the University of Michigan and UCLA and was published in the journal Science Advances on Sept. 18, 2026.
Oct 7, 2026 · Card
NASA selected a mission to study the Marius Hill Pit, a large opening on the Moon that may lead into a lava tube. The project, called GIMLI, is led by the Planetary Science Institute with Honeybee Robotics and the Norwegian Space Agency, and will carry instruments to the lunar surface aboard a commercial lander and rover. Orbital data already hinted at hidden caves on the Moon; this mission checks from the ground.
The project is led by the Planetary Science Institute and funded through NASA's PRISM program, as reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 5, 2026.
Related conference: Space and Satellites · Washington, United States · Nov 8, 2026
Oct 5, 2026 · Card
Animals probably don't feel schadenfreude, the pleasure of seeing someone else suffer. Researchers at Occidental College and the University of Mary Washington say that emotion requires theory of mind, something only a few highly social species may have in a limited way. Live Science notes the question has barely been studied.
The analysis draws on researchers at Occidental College and the University of Mary Washington, reported by Live Science on Oct 4, 2026.
Oct 5, 2026 · Card
Beneath Ames, Oklahoma, sits a meteor crater once linked to a wave of impacts from 467 million years ago. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin dated zircon crystals in the crater's granite and found it actually formed about 370 million years ago, in the Late Devonian, nearly 100 million years later than believed. That removes Ames from the evidence behind the idea that Earth once wore a ring of asteroid debris.
The study comes from the University of Texas at Austin and was published in the journal Meteoritics, as reported by ScienceDaily on Oct 4, 2026.
Oct 5, 2026 · Video
A two-headed diamondback terrapin hatchling is being cared for at the Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Massachusetts. It weighed just 5.2 grams when it was found at a protected nesting site in Wellfleet, and it's the third two-headed turtle discovered on Cape Cod in five years. Veterinarians are monitoring it closely to learn more about the rare condition.
This was reported by Live Science on Oct 2, 2026.
Oct 5, 2026 · Card
A University of Oxford study found that 37 percent of adults in the UK's Our Future Health program have high blood pressure. Nearly six in ten of them did not know it. Undiagnosed hypertension remains a major driver of stroke and heart disease.
The study comes from the University of Oxford and was published in BMJ Public Health on Oct 2, 2026.
Related conference: New York Society for Vascular Surgery Fall Meeting · New York, United States · Oct 7, 2026
Oct 4, 2026 · Card
The joint ESA-China Smile satellite has begun its science operations, and its first ultraviolet images show auroras rippling over the North Pole in broad daylight. The shot was taken in July 2026 from about 75,000 miles above Earth, a distance that lets Smile watch the pole for up to 45 hours straight. The mission will keep tracking solar activity there for the next three years.
This comes from Live Science, reported on Oct 4, 2026.
Oct 3, 2026 · Card
In a 12-week study, adults aged 45 to 65 taking creatine gained lean tissue and strength without a structured workout plan. Combined with exercise, the gains were larger. One supplement, a lot of evidence behind it.
Study from Texas A&M University (Richard Kreider's group), published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, September 2026.
Oct 3, 2026 · Card
Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a surprisingly simple way to turn polyethylene, the plastic in shopping bags and cutting boards, into gasoline and diesel-like fuels. Polyethylene is the most produced plastic on Earth.
Published by the ORNL team (Sheng Dai and colleagues) in September 2026: the plastic is mixed with molten salts containing aluminum chloride, which act as both reaction medium and catalyst.
Oct 3, 2026 · Video
Scientists reconstructed antimicrobial molecules from mammals that lived up to 160 million years ago and rebuilt them in the lab. Some were more potent against drug-resistant bacteria than the versions our bodies make today.
The work comes from Matthew Barber's lab at the University of Oregon and was published in PLOS Biology (Aug 25, 2026): the team traced a hidden peptide inside lactoferrin back to the earliest placental mammals and tested the ancient versions against bacteria in the lab.
Related conference: 20th International Conference on Practical Applications of Computational Biology & Bioinformatics · Naples, Italy · Oct 20, 2026
Oct 2, 2026 · Video
Where does the water for coffee on the Space Station come from? Astronaut Don Pettit explains it to Neil deGrasse Tyson in one line: the regenerative life support system is a coffee machine. It takes yesterday's coffee and turns it into today's.
In-flight interview from the International Space Station (Expedition 72) for StarTalk, recorded by NASA on April 3, 2025. The water recovery system on the station recycles about 98% of the crew's water.
Oct 2, 2026 · Carousel
Sound, like light, comes in particles: phonons. Stanford researchers recorded, for the first time, single phonons jumping between energy states in real time. Swipe for the 4-slide version.
Oct 2, 2026 · Card
Researchers are developing an alternative to LASIK: a mild electric current passed through a platinum contact lens reshapes the cornea, with no cutting and no laser. Early stage, but cheaper and safer on paper.
Oct 2, 2026 · Video
Figure's Helix 2.5 was tested in 30 real homes it had never seen: tidying toys, folding towels, making beds. Whole-task success went from 9% to 56% with no fine-tuning for those homes. The number that matters for home robots is how they do somewhere new.
Oct 1, 2026 · Card
Project Suncatcher: today Google launched a prototype satellite carrying four of its AI chips (TPUs) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg. The goal is to test whether AI can run in orbit, where solar power is free and constant.
Oct 1, 2026 · Card
Urolithin A, a compound your body makes after eating pomegranates, walnuts and some berries, improved heart function by up to 80% in animal models of a hard-to-treat kind of heart failure. Human trials are the next step.
Oct 1, 2026 · Video
Three kinds of water in one Martian crater: a lake, groundwater and hot fluids. NASA's Perseverance rover just confirmed all three at Jezero. Every one of them is a place where life could have started.
Footage and photos: NASA (public domain) and Pexels, credited on each piece. Headlines summarize the linked source; when a result was only shown in animals or in the lab, the piece says so.