2+ hour, 54+ min ago (686+ words) People are living longer than ever around the world. Longer lives bring new opportunities, but they also introduce challenges, especially the risk of age-related decline. Alongside physical changes such as reduced strength or slower movement, many older adults struggle with memory, attention and everyday tasks. Researchers have spent years trying to understand why some people stay mentally sharp while others deteriorate more quickly. One idea attracting growing interest is multilingualism, the ability to speak more than one language. Related: Neuroscientists Have Finally Tracked Down The Bilingual Language Switch in The Brain When someone knows two or more languages, all those languages remain active in the brain. Each time a multilingual person wants to speak, the brain must select the right language while keeping others from interfering. This constant mental exercise acts a bit like daily "brain training". Choosing one language,…...

4+ hour, 54+ min ago (756+ words) Game hunters have found startlingly 'neon blue' flesh inside of wild pigs in California, triggering advisory statements on potential contamination. "I'm not talking about a little blue," Dan Burton, owner of a wildlife control company, told Salvador Hernandez at The Los Angeles Times. "I'm talking about neon blue, blueberry blue." An investigation by local authorities found the dramatic color change was caused by rodenticide poisoning, prompting them to issue a warning throughout the Monterey County area. Rat poisons containing the chemical compound diphacinone are often sold dyed blue for identification. The compound's use has been highly restricted in California since 2024. Watch the video below for a summary: "Hunters should be aware that the meat of game animals, such as wild pig, deer, bear, and geese, might be contaminated if that game animal has been exposed to rodenticides," says pesticide investigations…...

5+ hour, 55+ min ago (804+ words) The Chernobyl exclusion zone may be off-limits to humans, but ever since the Unit Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded nearly 40 years ago, other forms of life have not only moved in but survived, adapted, and appeared to thrive. Part of that may be the lack of humans" but for one organism, at least, the ionizing radiation lingering inside the reactor's surrounding structures may be an advantage. There, clinging to the interior walls of one of the most radioactive buildings on Earth, scientists have found a strange black fungus curiously living its best life. Related: Worms at Chernobyl Appear Mysteriously Unscathed by Radiation But here's the really funky thing about C. sphaerospermum: Although scientists have shown that the fungus flourishes in the presence of ionizing radiation, no one has been able to pin down how or why. Radiosynthesis…...

15+ hour, 55+ min ago (707+ words) Most of us think of orange juice as a simple breakfast habit, something you pour without much thought. Yet scientists are discovering that this everyday drink may be doing far more in the body than quenching thirst. A recent study has shown that regular orange juice consumption can influence the activity of thousands of genes inside our immune cells. Many of these genes help control blood pressure, calm inflammation, and manage the way the body processes sugar, all of which play an important role in long-term heart health. The study followed adults who drank 500ml of pure pasteurised orange juice every day for two months. After 60 days, many genes associated with inflammation and higher blood pressure had become less active. Related: 'Cortisol Cocktails' Are The Latest Stress-Busting Trend. Here's The Science. These included NAMPT, IL6, IL1B and NLRP3, which usually switch on when the…...

19+ hour, 55+ min ago (538+ words) A discovery by researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine in the US could lead to treatments that clear the troublesome aggregations of protein thought to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease. Using mice bred to have a condition similar to the neurodegenerative disorder, the team found that elevated levels of a protein called Sox9 triggered specialized brain cells to go into clean-up overdrive, 'vacuuming' up plaques with increased efficiency. In behavioral and memory tests, the treated mice also performed better, suggesting that the intervention can help protect the brain and reverse cognitive decline " a process that typically occurs in Alzheimer's disease as neurons are damaged and destroyed. Related: There's One Critical Thing You Can Do to Keep Alzheimer's Symptoms at Bay The researchers found that the benefits of Sox9 stemmed from increased expression of a receptor called MEGF10, exclusively expressed in…...

22+ hour, 54+ min ago (833+ words) Humans have probably shared their homes with dogs ever since they first settled. So it could be argued that there is no such thing as "human society" without including animals as part of it. Our long shared history with dogs has even been described as a form of co-evolution. And a new study my colleagues at Cambridge and I published shows golden retrievers and humans seem to share a genetic basis for at least some behaviour. Related: We May Have Bred Neurodiversity Into Our Pets, Expert Suggests Dogs show many adaptations that might help them live and cooperate with people. Ancient humans may even have selected dogs' ancestors for an ability to eat a more human diet than wolves. At a psychological level, there are many adaptations that aid communication between the two species, like an ability to follow human…...

1+ day, 2+ hour ago (895+ words) The waste left over from spent fossil fuel may contain a treasure trove of rare-earth elements worth billions of dollars. In a 2024 paper, geologists calculated that the waste ash from coal burnt in fossil fuel power plants may contain as much as US$165 billion worth of rare earth elements " and up to $97 billion may be feasibly extractable. Working to recover these elements, says a team led by geoscientists at the University of Texas at Austin, could provide the US with a homegrown source of these critical elements without the hard work of mining or dependence on imports, which currently supply the majority of the country's rare-earth materials. "This really exemplifies the 'trash to treasure' mantra," says geologist Bridget Scanlon of the Jackson School of Geosciences. "We're basically trying to close the cycle and use waste and recover resources in the…...

1+ day, 4+ hour ago (786+ words) "How often do you poop?" might sound like a very personal question, but your answer could reveal quite a lot about your overall health. A study published in July 2024 investigated how often 1,425 people went number two, and compared those stats to their demographic, genetic, and health data. The healthiest participants reported pooping once or twice a day " a 'Goldilocks zone' of bowel movement frequency. Pooping too often or too rarely were both associated with different underlying health issues, the team led by researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) found. Related: Something in Your Poop May Predict an Imminent Death "This study shows how bowel movement frequency can influence all body systems, and how aberrant bowel movement frequency may be an important risk factor in the development of chronic diseases," says ISB microbiologist Sean Gibbons, the corresponding author of…...

1+ day, 5+ hour ago (385+ words) This week in science: researchers functionally cure type 1 diabetes in mice; a strange new organism could represent a completely unknown branch of the tree of life; a physicist ponders the damage a tiny black hole would cause shooting through the human body; and much more! The treated mice had their diabetes prevented or reversed, and none of them developed the graft-versus-host disease that often occurs in humans when cells are transplanted between people. Moon rocks collected 50 years ago by the Apollo missions have now been cracked open, revealing unusual, 4.5-billion-year-old sulfur isotopes. "My first thought was, 'Holy shmolies, that can't be right,'" says planetary scientist James Dottin of Brown University in the US. "So we went back to make sure we had done everything properly, and we had. These are just very surprising results." A new stem cell treatment for…...

1+ day, 15+ hour ago (788+ words) Millions of people around the world live with wounds that simply won't heal. These long-lasting wounds, often caused by diabetes, poor circulation or pressure, can be painful, prone to infection and can seriously affect quality of life. In severe cases, they can lead to amputation. Current treatments help manage symptoms, but they don't always address the underlying problem. That means dressings, antibiotics and repeated clinic visits, often for months or years. For many people, that cycle never truly ends. But the latest research published by my colleagues and myself offers a new perspective on why some wounds just won't heal " and points to a potential new way of treating them. Related: Injured Cells Can 'Vomit' Waste to Boost Healing, Study Finds By studying both human tissue and experimental models, we found that a molecule in the skin called MC1R is consistently…...