First ancient human herpesvirus genomes document their deep history with humans

Laboratory technician and one of the authors in the contamination-controlled ancient DNA laboratory at the University of Tartu extracting tiny amounts of DNA from centuries-old skeletons.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Tartu

For the first time, scientists have reconstructed ancient genomes of Human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from archaeological human remains more than two millennia old. The study, led by the University of Vienna and University of Tartu (Estonia) and published in Science Advances, confirms that these viruses have been evolving with and within humans since at least the Iron Age. The findings trace the long history of HHV-6 integration into human chromosomes and suggest that HHV-6A lost this ability early on. 

HHV-6B infects about 90 percent of children by the age of two and is best known as the cause of roseola infantum – or "sixth disease" – the leading cause of febrile seizures in young children. Together with its close relative HHV-6A, it belongs to a group of widespread human herpesviruses that typically establish lifelong, latent infections after an initial mild illness in early childhood. What makes them exceptional is their ability to integrate into human chromosomes – a feature that allows the virus to remain dormant and, in rare cases, to be inherited as part of the host's own genome. Such inherited viral copies occur in roughly one percent of people today. While earlier studies had hypothesized that these integrations were ancient, the new data from this study provide the first direct genomic proof. 

MicroBooNE finds no evidence for a sterile neutrino

Members of the MicroBooNE collaboration pose in front of Wilson Hall with a 3D-printed model of the MicroBooNE detector. The collaboration consists of 193 scientists from 40 institutions.
Photo Credit: Dan Svoboda, Fermilab

Scientists on the MicroBooNE experiment further ruled out the possibility of one sterile neutrino as an explanation for results from previous experiments. In the latest MicroBooNE result, the collaboration used one detector and two beams to study neutrino behavior, ruling out the single sterile neutrino model with 95% certainty.

Scientists are closing the door on one explanation for a neutrino mystery that has plagued them for decades.

An international collaboration of scientists working on the MicroBooNE experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced that they have found no evidence for a fourth type of neutrino. The paper was published today in Nature.

Scientists discover what drives California's worst fire years

Two natural resource specialists walk through an area of Redwood Mountain Grove burned in the KNP Complex Fire in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains to evaluate fire effects.
Photo Credit: National Park Service

What makes one fire season worse than another in fire-prone parts of the world like California is poorly understood, but in a new study, scientists at the University of California, Irvine reveal how clusters of lightning-ignited fires called fire complexes are the chief drivers of the most destructive fire years. It’s a finding that could help agencies better manage such fires when they occur.

“Nobody has ever looked into these kinds of fires before,” said Rebecca Scholten, a postdoctoral fellow in Earth system science and lead author of the Science Advances study. “We theorized that when two or more fires in a fire complex merge, they would just burn themselves out. But we found the opposite – the fires grow worse.”

What Is: The Anthropocene

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The Definition of a New Reality

The term "Anthropocene" has transcended its origins in the quiet corridors of stratigraphy to become the defining cultural, philosophical, and scientific concept of the twenty-first century. It proposes a fundamental rupture in Earth history; the moment when human activity ceased to be a mere biological presence on the surface of the planet and became a geological force capable of determining the trajectory of the Earth system itself. This concept suggests that the Holocene—the geological epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age and provided the stable climatic conditions necessary for the development of agriculture and human civilization—has ended. In its place, we have entered a new, volatile interval characterized by the pervasive alteration of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere by a single species.  

While the term implies a new geological "epoch" following the Holocene, its formal status remains a subject of intense scientific adjudication and controversy. In March 2024, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) officially rejected the proposal to formalize the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic unit within the Geological Time Scale. However, this rejection has not diminished the concept's utility or its permeation into global discourse; rather, it has reoriented the scientific community toward viewing the Anthropocene as a diachronous, unfolding geological "Event" rather than a strictly defined epoch with a singular start date. This distinction is profound, shifting the focus from a search for a "golden spike" on a timeline to a broader recognition of a transformation comparable to the Great Oxidation Event of deep time.  

Researchers create cells that help the brain keep its cool

Parvalbumin cells play a central role in keeping brain activity in equilibrium. They control nervcell signalling, reduce overactivity and make sure that the brain is working to a rhythm
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have created a method that makes it possible to transform the brain’s support cells into parvalbumin-positive cells. These cells act as the brain’s rapid-braking system and are significantly involved in schizophrenia, epilepsy, and other neurological conditions. 

Parvalbumin cells play a central role in keeping brain activity in equilibrium. They control nerve cell signaling, reduce overactivity and make sure that the brain is working to a rhythm. Researchers sometimes describe them as the cells that “make the brain sound right”. 

When these cells malfunction or decrease in number, the balance of the brain is disrupted. Previous studies suggest that damaged parvalbumin cells may contribute to disorders such as schizophrenia and epilepsy.  

What Is: Psychedelic Renaissance

The current "Psychedelic Renaissance" is not a new discovery but a recovery of lost knowledge.
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

The Fourth Wave of Psychiatry

The field of psychiatry is currently undergoing its most significant paradigm shift since the introduction of the first psychopharmaceuticals in the mid-20th century. For decades, the standard of care for mental health disorders has been dominated by the monoamine hypothesis—the idea that regulating neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine through daily maintenance medication can rectify chemical imbalances. However, a growing body of evidence, accumulated largely over the last two decades and culminating in the pivotal events of 2024 and 2025, suggests that this model is incomplete. We are witnessing the rise of a "fourth wave" of psychiatry, characterized by the use of psychedelics: compounds that do not merely suppress symptoms but appear to catalyze profound, rapid, and durable healing through mechanisms of neuroplasticity and network reorganization.

This report serves as an exhaustive analysis of the current state of psychedelic medicine as of late 2025. It moves beyond the simplistic "shroom boom" narratives to dissect the complex neurobiology, the rigorous clinical trials, and the volatile regulatory landscape that defines this sector. The subject matter encompasses "classic" psychedelics like psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which primarily target the serotonin 2A receptor, as well as "atypical" psychedelics or entactogens like 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

Researchers find breast cancer drug boosts leukemia treatment

Jeffrey Tyner, Ph.D., and Melissa Stewart, Ph.D., led a team at OHSU that discovered a new drug combination that may help people with acute myeloid leukemia.
Photo Credit: OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks

A research team at Oregon Health & Science University has discovered a promising new drug combination that may help people with acute myeloid leukemia overcome resistance to one of the most common frontline therapies.

In a study published in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers analyzed more than 300 acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, patient samples and found that pairing venetoclax, a standard AML drug, with palbociclib, a cell-cycle inhibitor currently approved for breast cancer, produced significantly stronger and more durable anti-leukemia activity than venetoclax alone. The findings were confirmed in human tissue samples as well as in mouse models carrying human leukemia cells.

“Of the 25 drug combinations tested, venetoclax plus palbociclib was the most effective. That really motivated us to dig deeper into why it works so well, and why it appears to overcome resistance seen with current therapy,” said Melissa Stewart, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the OHSU School of Medicine and Knight Cancer Institute and lead author of the study.

More than 20,000 Americans are diagnosed with AML each year, making it one of the most common types of leukemia — and one of the most aggressive.

How doubting your doubts may increase commitment to goals

Research explores what happens when people face goal obstacles
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

When it comes to our most important long-term goals in life, it is not uncommon to face obstacles that may lead us to doubt whether we can achieve our ambitions.

But when life hands you doubts, the answer may be to question your doubts, a new study suggests.

A psychology professor found that when people who were worried about achieving an identity goal were induced to experience what is called meta-cognitive doubt, they actually became more committed to achieving their goal.

“What this study found is that inducing doubts in one’s doubts can provide a formula for confidence,” said Patrick Carroll, author of the study and professor of psychology at The Ohio State University at Lima.

Water’s Age and What It Can Tell Us

PhD student Joshua Snarski is using stable water isotopes to study how water is stored and released from soil in agricultural settings.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of Connecticut

When it rains, what happens to the water once it enters the soil? Does the new precipitation mix with all of the water that was already there? In their recent paper in Water Resources Research, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Ph.D. student Joshua Snarski and assistant professor James Knighton show the answer is more complicated than previously assumed, but knowing the age of water gives a more accurate picture.

Hydrologists use models to simulate what is happening in natural systems. Since hydrologic processes are complex, researchers need to make assumptions about some aspects, such as how water mixes within the soil profile. Though previous hydrologic research is focused on the amount and timing of precipitation, Snarski says shifting the focus to the age of water within the soil profile can reveal more about what is happening beneath the surface.

Zoology: In-Depth Description

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI generated (Gemini)

Zoology is the branch of biology dedicated to the scientific study of the animal kingdom, encompassing the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all living and extinct animals. As a discipline, it seeks to understand how animals interact with their ecosystems, how they function physiologically, and how they have adapted to diverse environments over millions of years.