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JWST has captured unusually detailed images of gas feeding the supermassive black hole at the center of NGC 4696. A vast filament appears to funnel material into an 800-light-year-wide spinning disk, where gas races around at up to 600 kilometers per second. The findings suggest black holes may recycle their own fuel by heating gas with jets and later drawing the cooled material back in.
The Mediterranean diet may influence aging through tiny proteins produced inside the cell’s mitochondria. Older adults who followed the diet most closely had higher levels of humanin and SHMOOSE, which have been linked to heart and brain protection. Olive oil, fish, legumes, and fewer refined carbohydrates appeared especially important. The findings could eventually help scientists develop more personalized nutrition plans for healthy aging.
Scientists say new technologies have reopened the debate over whether Mars could someday be terraformed, turning a once impossible idea into a serious research topic. Before anyone tries to reshape the Red Planet, though, researchers say we must understand the risks, including what might be lost if Mars already harbors its own forms of life.
A team of mathematicians used whimsical "silly sprinklers" to solve a physics mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades. Their experiments showed that the rotation of both normal and reverse sprinklers is driven by the momentum of flowing water, not by the outside water flow or other long-standing theories. The results finally provide a clear answer to Feynman’s famous sprinkler problem. They could also help engineers design more efficient fluid-powered machines.
Tiny plastic particles in drinking water may be doing more than contaminating the environment. New research suggests nanoplastics can actually help harmful bacteria survive by strengthening the slimy biofilms they form inside water systems. These tougher biofilms become more resistant to disinfectants, making them harder to remove and potentially increasing public health risks.
A study of 225 newborns suggests prenatal estrogen may have played a role in the evolution of larger human brains. Boys with finger-length patterns linked to higher estrogen exposure before birth tended to have larger head circumferences, which are strongly associated with brain size. The same connection was not seen in girls.
A major DNA study has rewritten the koala's evolutionary story, revealing that the species suffered a dramatic population collapse about 100,000 years ago, long before humans arrived in Australia. By calculating the koala's mutation rate for the first time and analyzing hundreds of genomes, researchers discovered that every living koala traces back to a small group that survived extreme climate shifts and later repopulated eastern Australia.
A large laboratory study found that many commonly used sweeteners can directly change the growth of gut bacteria. Researchers identified more than 100 cases in which sweeteners behaved differently when combined with medications, caffeine, or flavorings. The combination of isosteviol and the antidepressant duloxetine was especially disruptive, reducing beneficial bacteria and overall microbial diversity.
A new particle detector called PLATON could replace millions of tiny detector components with a single block of light-producing material. Using a light-field camera, highly sensitive photon sensors, and AI, it reconstructs particle paths in fast, detailed 3D. Simulations suggest it could match or surpass today’s best detectors while being far easier to scale. The technology may also lead to sharper PET medical scans.
Researchers have created self-destructing living plastic that uses engineered bacteria to completely break itself down when activated. The material degrades in just six days without creating microplastics, offering a potential new solution for single-use plastic waste.
A new experimental treatment may have found a way to outsmart glioblastoma’s toughest defense: the blood-brain barrier. Researchers used sugar-coated nanoparticles to ferry genetic instructions that restore a key tumor-suppressing protein directly into brain cancer cells. In mouse studies, the therapy increased median survival by 50% while shrinking tumors without noticeable damage to other organs.
An ancient sea worm may hold the secret to a whole new category of natural materials. Its jaws combine proteins and metal ions in a way that gives them metal-like strength and unusual mechanical behavior, yet they still differ from traditional metals. Researchers believe these "bio-metals" could open new directions in materials science while revealing just how sophisticated nature's designs can be.
Hacker News
“GPT-5.5's API pricing is reshaping how startups build AI products”
