ScienceDaily

A new brain imaging study has found no evidence of widespread brain inflammation in patients suffering from prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection. Instead, the most severe long COVID symptoms were associated with increased brain activity in regions involved in mood and emotion.

A surprising new approach to depression treatment is showing early promise — not by targeting brain chemicals, but by calming the immune system. In a small clinical trial, researchers found that an anti-inflammatory drug normally used for rheumatoid arthritis appeared to ease symptoms in people with hard-to-treat depression, while also reducing fatigue and anxiety and improving quality of life.

When the body runs low on protein, the gut sends powerful signals to the brain that reshape cravings and push animals to seek essential amino acids instead of sugar. Researchers say this newly discovered gut-brain network could transform our understanding of appetite, nutrition, and obesity.

Scientists at the University of Houston have shattered a long-standing superconductivity record, creating a material that can conduct electricity with zero resistance at the highest temperature ever achieved under normal pressure conditions. Their breakthrough pushes superconductivity to 151 Kelvin (minus 122°C), beating a record that stood for more than 30 years.

A giant planet nearly 700 light-years away has a bizarre daily weather cycle where mineral clouds appear every morning and vanish by nightfall. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers discovered that WASP-94A b’s mornings are filled with clouds made of rock-like minerals, while its evenings are surprisingly clear. The finding gave scientists their clearest look yet into the planet’s atm…

Scientists at UC San Diego have unveiled a potentially game-changing treatment for MASH, a severe fatty liver disease affecting millions worldwide. The experimental drug, ION224, blocks a liver enzyme that drives fat buildup and inflammation, two key forces behind liver damage. In clinical trials, patients showed striking improvements in liver health, even without losing weight.

A new experimental treatment could finally offer hope for millions of people with dry age-related macular degeneration — one of the leading causes of blindness in older adults. Researchers at Aalto University discovered a way to gently heat tissue at the back of the eye using near-infrared light, triggering the cells’ natural “cleanup and repair” systems before major damage occurs.

A drug combo widely explored for anti-aging may actually damage the brain, according to new mouse research showing severe loss of myelin and changes linked to “chemo brain.” Surprisingly, the damaged cells resembled those seen in multiple sclerosis, giving scientists a new lead in understanding—and potentially repairing—the disease.

A sea slug smaller than a sesame seed has turned up in Taiwan’s coastal waters — and it’s so tiny and unusual that scientists realized they had discovered a completely new species. Named Thecacera sesama after its black-and-yellow “sesame-like” appearance, the translucent nudibranch was first spotted during a casual dive and later identified with help from a sea slug expert on Facebook.

NASA’s Fermi telescope has detected what may be the first confirmed gamma-ray signal from a superluminous supernova — one of the most extreme explosions in the universe. Scientists believe the blast was powered by a rapidly spinning magnetar, an exotic neutron star with unbelievably strong magnetic fields. The event, called SN 2017egm, erupted 440 million light-years away and may help explain why…

Researchers found that drinking guava juice may significantly improve anemia by helping the body absorb iron more efficiently. In a review of 17 studies, women and teenage girls who consumed guava juice — especially with iron supplements — experienced noticeable increases in hemoglobin levels. Since guava contains far more vitamin C than oranges, scientists believe it could become a simple, affor…

Scientists in Japan have created powerful new vitamin K-based compounds that may help the brain regenerate lost neurons — a breakthrough that could one day change how diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are treated. By combining vitamin K with components related to vitamin A, the researchers developed compounds that were about three times more effective at turning neural stem cells into neu…

Humanity may already be living far beyond what Earth can sustainably support, according to a sweeping new study analyzing more than 200 years of population and environmental data. Researchers found that while population growth once fueled innovation and expansion, the trend shifted decades ago as the planet’s resources became increasingly strained.

Researchers at Texas A&M have developed a nasal spray that appears to reverse brain aging by calming inflammation and restoring the brain’s energy systems. After just two doses, memory and cognitive function improved for months, raising hopes for future treatments targeting dementia and brain fog.

Scientists working at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider may be seeing the strongest hints yet of physics beyond the Standard Model — the decades-old theory that explains the fundamental particles and forces of the universe. By studying incredibly rare particle transformations called “penguin decays,” researchers found behavior that doesn’t fully match theoretical predictions, raising the possibility t…