Summary: Researchers observed 90 adult learners attempting to interpret object-placement instructions given in Swahili by a humanoid robot. The study revealed a clear temporal trade-off: highly detailed, personalized feedback increased cognitive load and reduced the effectiveness of immediate, task-focused hints on the very next attempt, yet produced stronger overall task performance across the session. These … Read more

Summary: Researchers found that greater Japanese horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus nippon) adjust and align the frequency of their echolocation calls when living together in colonies. Instead of spreading out frequencies to avoid overlap, these bats—especially lower-frequency individuals—shift upward to share a common, clutter-free frequency band that improves detection of Doppler-shifted echoes from fluttering insect prey. Key … Read more

Summary: New longitudinal research followed 1,066 participants from about age 12 onward, collecting annual self-reported data from 2018 through 2025. The study captures the era of short-form, algorithm-driven platforms such as TikTok and identifies gender differences: girls reported higher daily social media use and a stronger connection between heavy use and anxiety symptoms. Key Facts … Read more

Summary: Using an age-stratified allele frequency approach across adults aged 24 to 70, researchers tracked how genetic variants change in frequency across age brackets and identified 168 variants under active natural selection. Of these, 159 show evidence of purifying selection. Nearly 90% of the detected variants are extremely rare, including 71 listed as pathogenic in … Read more

Summary: A new long-term analysis of spotted hyenas reveals that reproductive inequality becomes female-biased when measured across multiple generations. Short-term measures, such as annual offspring counts, follow the classic Darwin–Bateman pattern with greater variation among males. However, pedigree analysis across generations shows that high-ranking females and their matrilines accumulate disproportionately more descendants. Within six generations, … Read more

Summary: A new study shows that lipoic acid trisulfide (LASSS) prevents age-related chemical modification of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and can convert it into a more potent form. In aged tissue, HGF is nitrated on tyrosine residues Y198 and Y250, preventing it from binding the c‑met receptor on muscle satellite cells and impairing muscle repair. … Read more

Summary: A new Cambridge study finds that drugs targeting the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR) act through two anatomically distinct brain regions. Activating GIPR in the brainstem directly suppresses appetite, while blocking GIPR in the hypothalamus removes an inhibitory “brake” that limits the brainstem’s sensitivity to satiety signals. By releasing this hypothalamic brake, GIPR antagonists … Read more

Summary: Using the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiToP) framework, researchers analyzed self-reported motor symptoms alongside psychological dimensions in nearly 3,500 people without prior formal psychiatric diagnoses. The study compared motor measures—such as dyskinesia, coordination difficulties, developmental motor delays, and levels of physical activity—with psychological domains including distress, fear, dissociation, mania, psychosis-like experiences, and substance use. … Read more

Summary: A new study from the Salk Institute shows that senescent, or “zombie,” cells produce elevated amounts of the enzyme acid ceramidase. This increase reshapes lipid metabolism and makes senescent cells much more vulnerable to ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of cell death driven by lipid peroxidation. The researchers also found that senescent cells can transmit … Read more

Summary: Researchers have developed a two-photon imaging platform called FlatMux that records electrical voltage signals from nearly 200 neurons simultaneously in living brain tissue, with millisecond precision and at depths up to 500 micrometers. FlatMux rethinks optical light delivery to address the competing challenges of laser power, tissue heating, and detection sensitivity. Using an engineered … Read more