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Pluto’s Heart Glacier Shows Signs of Liquid Nitrogen

*New Horizons* data reveals evidence of liquid nitrogen recently flowing onto Pluto’s surface. [ https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30869/pluto-s-heart-…nitrogen-2](https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30869/pluto-s-heart-…nitrogen-2)

Is Pluto geologically active enough to have liquid nitrogen on its surface? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the possibility of Pluto’s geologic activity, specifically focusing on liquid nitrogen rising to the surface. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the intricate geological processes on Pluto and how they occur so far from the Sun.

For the study, the researchers used a combination of computer models and Earth-based imagery to discuss the potential upward movement of liquid nitrogen within Pluto’s Sputnik Planitia, which is the dwarf planet’s most prominent surface feature. The primary motivation for this study comes from Sputnik Planitia being primarily smooth with boundary lines and various regions of dark and light colors. The researchers note this indicates evidence of ongoing geologic activity, specifically liquid nitrogen cycling from Pluto’s interior to its surface. After careful analysis, specifically noting how similar features identified in Greenland exhibit the same dark and light features, the researchers concluded that liquid nitrogen could be cycling from Pluto’s interior to its surface.

“The surface of Sputnik Planitia is quite young, probably less than one million years based on modeling of the surface overturn, and thus these features that we are looking at must have formed since then,” said Dr. Kelsi Singer, who is a principal scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and a co-author on the study. “Pluto has many unique terrains seen nowhere else in the solar system, and this area of Sputnik Planitia is one of them. Its surface provides a different set of conditions compared to what we are used to on Earth, and exploring that allows us to better understand how materials behave in environments that are difficult to produce on Earth.”

Pediatric ependymoma in the molecular era: realworld experience with diagnostic correlation and longterm clinical outcomes NeuroOncology

Real-world longitudinal data documenting the diagnostic impact of DNA methylation array (MA) profiling in pediatric ependymoma remain sparse. We report a single-center retrospective analysis evaluating MA-driven reclassification, molecular subgroup distribution, and long-term survival outcomes in a national pediatric referral cohort.

Sixty-three pediatric patients with a histological ependymoma diagnosis treated at Motol and Homolka University Hospital (2010–2025) were included. DNA methylation profiling, RNA sequencing, copy number variation and t-SNE analysis were performed. Survival was estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method.

MA confirmed ependymoma in 48 patients (76.2%) and reclassified 15 (23.8%) as non-ependymoma entities, including newly described tumor types. The reclassification rate was 36.1% in the pre-2019 cohort versus 7.4% post-2019. Posterior fossa group A (PFA) ependymoma was the predominant subgroup (n = 26). Ten-year overall survival (OS) was 69.6% and event-free survival (EFS) 47.7%. Gross total resection was the only factor significantly associated with improved survival (OS 75% vs. 40%, p = 0.017). Chromosome 1q gain, identified exclusively in PFA patients, was associated with a high relapse rate despite standard therapy.

Powerhouses for fake meat: Muscle protein can now be grown in chloroplasts of lettuce and tobacco plants

Livestock farming requires valuable land to grow fodder, uses vast amounts of freshwater and contributes to global warming through methane and nitrous oxide emissions. And, for many consumers it is important to prevent animal suffering. For these reasons, the global market for meat alternatives is currently worth €6.7 billion to €8.1 billion per year and is projected to grow 8.1% to 12.3% each year over the next decade.

One common method for producing fake meat is microbial engineering, in which genes coding for animal proteins are inserted into the genomes of bacteria or yeast for mass production in bioreactors. But now, scientists have developed a promising alternative as a proof of principle.

“Here we show that plants can be engineered to produce the animal protein myoglobin (Mb) in their chloroplasts, the energy factories for photosynthesis. This could provide a more sustainable way to produce an important ingredient for plant-based meat products,” said Dr. Alexia Groff, a researcher at Imperial College London.

Nobel Prize in Physics 2001

The matter surrounding us consists of atoms that obey the laws of quantum mechanics. At normal temperatures these often agree with classical conceptions, and a gas under these conditions behaves rather like a swarm of billiard balls bouncing against one another and the containing walls. When the temperature is lowered and the speed of the atoms is reduced, however, their properties will be increasingly dominated by the principles of quantum mechanics. The atoms rotate round their axes – they have spin – and this movement is described by a spin quantum number, which has to be an integer – a whole number – or a half-integer. Particles that have integer spin are called bosons, while those with half-integer spin are called fermions. Bosons show strong “social” behaviour and at low temperatures strive to gather in one and the same quantum state, the one with the lowest energy. Fermions on the other hand avoid one another. They cannot appear in exactly the same quantum state, so that states of higher energy must also be used. The arrangement of the elements in the periodic system may be understood on the basis of the fact that the electrons in the atomic shells are fermions.

As early as 1924 the Indian physicist S. N. Bose carried out a statistical calculation for the kind of particles which have since come to bear his name, bosons, and more specifically light particles later termed photons. Bose presented an alternative derivation for the radiation law earlier found by Planck. Bose sent his work to A. Einstein, who realised its importance. He translated it to German and had it published. Einstein rapidly extended the theory to cover Bose particles with mass and he himself published two articles in quick succession, predicting that when a given number of particles approach each other sufficiently closely and move sufficiently slowly they will together convert to the lowest energy state: what we now term Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) occurs.

Ever since publication of this pioneering work, physicists have wished to be able to achieve this new fundamental state of matter, which was expected to have many interesting and useful properties. Seventy years were to pass before this year’s laureates, Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle and Carl E. Wieman, using very advanced methods, finally managed to do this in 1995. The state was achieved in alkali atom gases, in which the phenomenon can be studied in a very pure manner. Nowhere else in the universe can one find the extreme conditions which BEC in dilute gases represents. Manifestations of Bose-Einstein condensation have earlier been observed in more complicated systems: condensation of paired electrons in superconductors (loss of all electrical resistance) and suprafluidity (loss of internal friction in fluids). Here, too, low temperatures are required. Research in these areas has been rewarded with several Nobel Prizes. As opposed to alkali-atom vapours these quantum-mechanical systems are not simple since the condensation phenomenon concerns only a part of the systems and the strong interactions involved tend to hide the BEC phenomenon.

Novel insights into the ROCKJAKSTAT signaling pathway in upper respiratory tract infections and neurodegenerative diseases

This comprehensive review of the relationship between uncontrolled inflammation in upper respiratory tract viral infections and the development of neurodegenerative diseases reveals the importance and possibility of the JAK-STAT-ROCK2 signaling pathway in the treatment of both.

Frequency and Causes of Hospital ReAdmissions among PostKidney Transplant Recipients at Specialized Centers in Khartoum, Sudan A CrossSectional Study

Abstract

Background: Hospital readmissions after kidney transplantation are common and may predict future adverse outcomes. Previous studies using claims data have been limited. A better understanding of the risk factors associated with readmissions is necessary to develop accurate predictive models. Objective and Rationale: To determine the frequency, causes, and duration of hospital readmissions among post-kidney transplant recipients in specialized centers in Khartoum State, Sudan. Study Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting and Participants: Three hundred post-kidney transplant recipients at Ahmed Gasim and Ibn Sina centers were enrolled in this study. Data on recipient, donor, and transplantation characteristics were collected. Readmission frequency, duration, causes, sites, and length of hospital stay were recorded using structured questionnaires and medical record reviews. Results: The hospital readmission rate was 39% (n = 117). Of these, 72.6% (n = 85) were readmitted only once, and infection was the leading cause of readmissions. Recipient male gender (P-value = 0.031), high body mass index (P-value = 0.014), chronic lung diseases and diabetes mellitus among comorbidities (P-value = 0.000), prior dialysis before kidney transplantation, especially peritoneal dialysis and peritoneal combined hemodialysis (P-value = 0.003), missed post-transplantation follow-up (P-value = 0.000), older-aged donor above 60 years (P-value = 0.003), kidney transplantation from second-degree related donors (P-value = 0.034), and intermediate & high immunological risks (P-value = 0.000) were major predisposing factors for hospital readmission post kidney transplantation. Conclusion: The hospital readmission rate after kidney transplantation among Sudanese recipients was high and mainly due to infection; a specific preventive program based on infection prevention and graft function monitoring should be established.

Post-Kidney Transplant Recipients, Hospital Readmission, Sudan

Iron or Multiple Micronutrient Powder Supplements With Malaria Chemoprevention in Rural Malawian Children: Research Summary

This study evaluated whether universal iron supplementation, provided with malaria chemoprevention (MC), improves child cognitive outcomes and is safe regarding infection risk in rural Malawi.

Discovery reveals aging human brains receive immune cell reinforcements from blood

The brain’s immune system has long been thought to exist independently from the rest of the body, complete with its own specialized immune cells and a blood-brain barrier that limits what can travel into the brain.

Now, Stanford researchers have found that aging brings with it a large influx of immune cells into the brain, a discovery that not only upends current thinking but could also open new avenues for treating neurological disease. The researchers describe their results in the journal Nature.

“We usually think of the brain as a closed system,” said Julia Belk, a postdoctoral scholar in pathology at Stanford Medicine and first author on the new study. “What we found is that actually a lot of immune cells enter the human brain during aging.”

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