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Physicists Shatter Quantum Entanglement Distance Record With 420 Kilometers of Optical Fiber

Maintaining a long-distance relationship may be difficult for humans, but it’s even more difficult for entangled states.

The longer the fiber, the harder it becomes to keep the two quantum memories linked.

Overcoming this tyranny of distance has been one of the major challenges of quantum communication.

The impact of artificial sweeteners on bacterial physiology and the microbiome

Artificial sweeteners are non-nutritive compounds that have a profound sweetening effect with a negligible to zero calorific contribution. Global initiatives to reduce sugar consumption to tackle health conditions such as obesity have led to a significant increase in their consumption in recent decades. Artificial sweeteners have undergone extensive testing to determine whether their consumption could impact human health; however, their impact on the microbiome and microbial physiology has been comparatively overlooked. Recent work has demonstrated that artificial sweeteners (e.g., Ace-K, saccharin, and aspartame) can influence the oral and gut microbiome and that they can significantly affect bacterial behavior and growth. In this review, we will contextualize these findings and explore their relevance to human artificial sweetener consumption.

‘Only One Conclusion’: Radical Study Suggests Life on Earth Arose Twice

The fact that you, or I, or any living creature, is here at all is a series of astonishing strokes of luck stretching back more than 4 billion years.

One of the biggest hurdles was the very first one: How did life emerge from a primordial soup of stuff that very much wasn’t alive?

A radical new study, published in Science Advances, suggests that this unlikely threshold may actually have been crossed not once, but twice.

GLP-1 Drugs May Have a Hidden Effect on Your Eyes, Study Finds

GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic have transformed healthcare in recent years, dramatically altering how we treat conditions like type 2 diabetes and obesity.

But while the medications are primarily used to help lower blood sugar and reduce appetite, scientists keep finding GLP-1 effects appear to extend much further, affecting our health in ways we never expected.

Now, a new study has uncovered another unintended effect, and it shows we’re still only scratching the surface of fully understanding how GLP-1 receptor agonists impact the body.

Engineered human neurons rebuild damaged spinal cord circuits

Spinal cord injuries affect an estimated 15 to 20 million people worldwide, often causing lasting impairments in movement, sensation and independence. Such injuries can be especially devastating when they occur at the level of the neck, where damaged spinal circuits disrupt signals that control the diaphragm, the main muscle used for breathing.

Despite advances in emergency care and rehabilitation, no approved therapies exist to rebuild the neurons and connections lost after a spinal cord injury. But new research from scientists at Gladstone Institutes offers hope for a regenerative treatment in the future.

The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, shows that human stem cell-derived spinal interneurons—cells that are critical for breathing and movement— can survive after being transplanted in injured rats, connect with the animals’ own neural circuits and improve breathing-related motor function.

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