The first animals on Earth may have been sea sponges, study suggests

Some of the first animals on Earth were likely ancestors of the modern sea sponge, according to MIT geochemists who unearthed new evidence in very old rocks.
Image Image: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

A team of MIT geochemists has unearthed new evidence in very old rocks suggesting that some of the first animals on Earth were likely ancestors of the modern sea sponge.

In a study appearing today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that they have identified “chemical fossils” that may have been left by ancient sponges in rocks that are more than 541 million years old. A chemical fossil is a remnant of a biomolecule that originated from a living organism that has since been buried, transformed, and preserved in sediment, sometimes for hundreds of millions of years.

The newly identified chemical fossils are special types of steranes, which are the geologically stable form of sterols, such as cholesterol, that are found in the cell membranes of complex organisms. The researchers traced these special steranes to a class of sea sponges known as demosponges. Today, demosponges come in a huge variety of sizes and colors, and live throughout the oceans as soft and squishy filter feeders. Their ancient counterparts may have shared similar characteristics.

More Signs of Phase-change 'Turbulence' in Nuclear Matter

 A view from the ground up of the three-story STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).
Image Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Members of the STAR Collaboration, a group of physicists collecting and analyzing data from particle collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), have published a new high-precision analysis of data on the number of protons produced in gold-ion smashups over a range of energies. The results, published in Physical Review Letters, suggest one part of a key signature of a so-called “critical point.” That’s a unique point on the “map” of nuclear phases that marks a change in the way quarks and gluons, the building blocks of protons and neutrons, transform from one phase of matter to another.

Discovering the critical point has been a central goal of research at RHIC, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility for nuclear physics research at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. Like centuries-old efforts to map out the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of substances like water, it’s considered essential for fully understanding and describing the quark-gluon plasma. This unique form of nuclear matter is generated by RHIC’s most energetic nuclear collisions, which effectively “melt” the protons and neutrons that make up the colliding gold ions, briefly liberating their innermost building blocks to form a nearly perfect fluid state that once filled our early universe.

Moon-forming disc around massive planet

An artistic rendering of a dust and gas disc encircling the young exoplanet, CT Cha b, 625 light-years from Earth. Spectroscopic data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope suggest the disc contains the raw materials for moon formation. The planet appears at lower right, while its host star and surrounding protoplanetary disc are visible in the background. 
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, G. Cugno (University of Zürich, NCCR PlanetS), S. Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science), J, Olmsted (STScI), L. Hustak (STScI)

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disc encircling a large exoplanet. The carbon-rich disc surrounding the world called CT Cha B, which is located 625 light years away from Earth, is a possible construction yard for moons, although no moons are detected in the Webb data.

Our Solar System contains eight major planets, and more than 400 known moons orbiting six of these planets. Where did they all come from? There are multiple formation mechanisms. The case for large moons, like the four Galilean satellites around Jupiter, is that they condensed out of a dust and gas disc encircling the planet when it formed. But that would have happened over 4 billion years ago, and there is scant forensic evidence today.

Childhood overeating can be a harbinger of later mental health struggles in girls, study finds

Photo Credit: Toa Heftiba

Girls who overeat regularly in preschool years are more likely to experience anxiety, impulsivity and hyperactivity in adolescence, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill University and the Douglas Research Centre.

The study followed more than 2,000 Quebec children using provincial data, tracking eating patterns reported by caregivers in early childhood and assessing mental-health symptoms when participants turned 15. The link between overeating and later difficulties was seen in girls, but not in boys.

Researchers use nanotubes to improve blood flow in bioengineered tissues

Assistant Professors Ying Wang (Department of Biomedical Engineering) and Yingge Zhou (School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering) collaborated on research about engineered tissues.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

When biomedical researchers need to test their latest ideas, they often turn to engineered human tissue that mimics the responses in our own bodies. It’s become an important intermediary step before human clinical trials.

One limiting factor: The cells need blood circulation to survive, and achieving that can be difficult in three-dimensional cell structures. Without proper vascular systems — even primitive ones — engineered tissue faces restricted size and functionality, even developing necrotic regions of dead cells.

New research from Binghamton University’s Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science offers a possible solution to the problem. In a paper recently published in the journal Biomedical Materials, Assistant Professors Ying Wang and Yingge Zhou show how the latest nanomanufacturing techniques can create a better artificial vascular system.

Simple test can predict risk of severe liver disease

The researchers' new method can contribute to earlier detection of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI Generated

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the scientific journal The BMJ, shows how a simple blood analysis can predict the risk of developing severe liver disease. The method may already start to be applied in primary care to enable the earlier detection of cirrhosis and cancer of the liver.

“These are diseases that are growing increasingly common and that have a poor prognosis if detected late,” says Rickard Strandberg, affiliated researcher at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medicine, Huddinge, who has developed the test with his departmental colleague Hannes Hagström. “Our method can predict the risk of severe liver disease within 10 years and is based on three simple routine blood tests.” 

For the study, the researchers at Karolinska Institutet and their colleagues in Finland evaluated how well the method can estimate the risk of severe liver disease. The model, which is called CORE, was produced with advanced statistical methods and is based on five factors: age, sex and levels of three common liver enzymes (AST, ALT and GGT), which are commonly measured during regular health checks. 

Cell death in microalgae resembles that in humans

Under the microscope, it is possible to see for the first time how microalgae undergo the same type of programmed cell death as animal cells. (Microalgae in purple and apoptotic bodies as small dots.)
 Image Credit: Luisa Fernanda Corredor Arias

For the first time, researchers at Umeå University have observed the same type of programmed cell death in microalgae as in humans. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, shows that this central biological process is older than previously thought.

“This is the first photosynthetic organism, and the first single-cell organism, shown to produce so called apoptotic bodies during cell death. This proves that apoptosis, a pathway of programmed cell death which was thought to be unique to animals, is more ancient and widespread than previously believed,” says Christiane Funk, Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Umeå University.

Cells can die naturally from age or disease, but organisms can also actively trigger the death of certain cells when needed. This is known as programmed cell death (PCD), a central biological system that allows the development of organs in our bodies and provides advantage during an organism’s life cycle. One example is the differentiation of fingers in a developing human embryo; others are the control of cell numbers or the elimination of non-functional cells.

Zorin OS and Linux Mint: A Comparative Report

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

Summary and Core Philosophies

In the expansive landscape of Linux distributions, Zorin OS and Linux Mint have distinguished themselves as premier choices, particularly for users seeking a refined and accessible desktop experience. Both are built upon the stable foundation of Ubuntu's Long-Term Support (LTS) releases, yet they diverge significantly in their core philosophies, development models, and ultimate value propositions. This report provides an exhaustive comparison of these two leading operating systems, designed to equip prospective users with the nuanced understanding required to make an informed decision.

Zorin OS is engineered as a polished on-ramp to the Linux world, explicitly targeting users transitioning from proprietary operating systems like Windows and macOS. Its development, led by the independent company Zorin Group, is commercially driven, funded primarily through the sale of a feature-rich "Pro" edition. This model dictates a strategic focus on immediate familiarity, aesthetic perfection, and the elimination of technical barriers.

What Is: Schizophrenia

 

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

Beyond the Misconceptions

Schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood mental health conditions. It is not, as commonly portrayed, a "split personality" (that is a separate, rare condition called dissociative identity disorder). Rather, schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. At its core, it is a disorder of cognition and reality testing, characterized by a "fracturing" of the mind's essential functions, leading to a disconnect from reality for the individual experiencing it.

Globally, schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people, or 1 in 300 worldwide. It is a universal human illness that does not discriminate based on race, culture, or socioeconomic status.

Capturing 100 years of antibiotic resistance evolution

The team analysed the DNA from bacterial samples as far back as 1917, before antibiotics were discovered, to see how they had evolved since.
Photo Credit: Edward Jenner

Researchers have dived into the pre-antibiotic history of plasmids — one of bacteria’s tools of antimicrobial resistance — to understand how they have facilitated the spread of treatment-resistant infections worldwide.

Experts at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Bath, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and their collaborators, analyzed over 40,000 plasmids from historical and present-day bacterial samples taken across six continents, the largest dataset of its kind.

Plasmids are transferable structures in bacteria that allow different strains to share genetic information. In this study, published in Science, researchers found that a minority of plasmids causes most of the multidrug resistance in the world. In the future, developing ways to target these could lead to new therapies to combat treatment-resistant infections worldwide.

Currently, treatment-resistant infections cause at least one million deaths worldwide every year, with this number expected to rise. While some bacteria and fungi carry antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes naturally, the emergence and spread of MDR and AMR genes has been consistently linked to the use of antibiotics.

Study reveals how a single protein rewires leukemia cells to fuel their growth

IGF2BP3 IHC performed on a B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) case; blasts are positive while normal hematopoietic cells are negative.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Rao Lab.

Cancer cells are relentless in their quest to grow and divide, often rewiring their metabolism and modifying RNA to stay one step ahead. Now, researchers at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a single protein, IGF2BP3, that links these two processes together in leukemia cells. The protein shifts how cells break down sugar, favoring a fast but inefficient energy pathway, while also altering RNA modifications that help produce the proteins leukemia cells need to survive and multiply.

The discovery published in Cell Reports, positions IGF2BP3 as a “master switch” in leukemia, linking metabolism and RNA regulation, processes long thought to operate independently. Understanding this connection could pave the way for new therapies aimed at cutting off the energy and survival pathways that cancer cells depend on.

Brain inflammation treatment could be ally in fight against dementia

Samira Aghlara-Fotovat
Photo Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Scientists from Rice University and Houston Methodist have developed a new way to reduce inflammation in the brain, a discovery that could help fight diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The team created “AstroCapsules,” small hydrogel capsules that enclose human astrocytes ⎯ star-shaped brain cells that support healthy nervous system function. Inside the capsules, the cells were engineered to release interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, an anti-inflammatory protein. Tests in human brain organoids and mouse models showed the treatment lowered neuroinflammation and resisted immune rejection.

Rice bioengineer Omid Veiseh, whose lab studies how to design biomaterials that work with the immune system, is co-corresponding author on the paper published in Biomaterials.

“Encapsulating cells in a way that shields them from immune attack has been a central challenge in the field,” said Veiseh, professor of bioengineering at Rice, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar and director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad. “In our lab, we have been working on biomaterials for many years, and this project was an opportunity to draw from that experience to address the uniquely complex immune environment of the brain. Our hope is that this work will help move cell therapies closer to becoming real treatment options for patients with neurodegenerative disease.”

Lung-on-a-Chip Defends Itself

Ankur Singh and Rachel Ringquist point to the microscopic lung-on-a-chip that has a built-in immune system.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology

On a clear polymer chip, soft and pliable like a gummy bear, a microscopic lung comes alive — expanding, circulating, and, for the first time, protecting itself like a living organ. 

For Ankur Singh, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Immunoengineering, watching immune cells rush through the chip took his breath away. Singh co-directed the study with longtime collaborator Krishnendu “Krish” Roy, former Regents Professor and director of the NSF Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies at Tech and now the Bruce and Bridgitt Evans dean of engineering and University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University. Rachel Ringquist, Roy’s graduate student, and now a postdoctoral fellow with Singh, led the work as part of her doctoral dissertation. 

“That was the ‘wow’ moment,” Singh said. “It was the first time we felt we had something close to a real human lung.”

Lung-on-a-chip platforms provide researchers a window into organ behavior. They are about the size of a postage stamp, etched with tiny channels and lined with living human cells. Roy and Singh’s innovation was adding a working immune system — the missing piece that turns a chip into a true model of how the lung fights disease.

Now, researchers can watch how lungs respond to threats, how inflammation spreads, and how healing begins.

Captivity makes salmon less symmetrical

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Cardiff University

The stress of captivity is likely to be causing reared salmon to be less symmetrical in appearance, according to a new study.

Research by the University of Eastern Finland, Natural Resources Institute Finland, and Cardiff University has found that salmon reared in captivity are more asymmetrical in appearance compared to wild salmon, suggesting that captive fish are more stressed, and their appearance might have impacts on salmon in the wild.

Currently, hatcheries are used in some countries to help boost wild populations with captive reared salmon. Global sales of aquatic species reared in captivity for food are also worth over $300 billion annually, with the Atlantic salmon being the most valuable of these species.

Climate change is supercharging Europe’s biggest hail

Climate experts from Newcastle University, the Met Office and the University of Bristol used European-wide km-scale simulations to model future changes to hail with global warming. Published in the journal Nature Communications, the findings show that, under a high-emissions scenario (RCP8.5), severe hail is likely to become less common, except potentially for very large hail.

Severe hail has a diameter of 2 cm, while a diameter of 5 cm or more is considered very large. Bigger hailstones cause more damage than smaller ones, and even a small increase in their size could outweigh any benefits from having fewer hailstorms overall.  

The researchers attribute this decrease to more than one factor. Hail forms higher in the atmosphere as it warms, where storm updrafts could be weaker, and this gives hail more time to melt before reaching the ground. Another factor is the weakening large scale circulation, affecting the vertical profile of winds and leading to environments not beneficial for thunderstorm organization.

Importantly, the authors found that future warm seasons feature a warmer thunderstorm type similar to hail-producing storms found in the tropics, where the largest hailstones can still reach the surface. The findings suggest that, in the future, these storms will become most frequent over southern Europe, leading to regional increases in severe hail frequency.