(AKG), a key tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate, is widely consumed as a dietary supplement by healthy individuals for its perceived anti-aging and performance-enhancing benefits. While its antidiabetic and anti-obesity effects have been reported under pathological conditions, the safety profile and mechanisms of long-term AKG intake in healthy animals remain largely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that long-term AKG intake via food or drinking water markedly elevates hepatic triglyceride levels and induces steatosis in healthy mice by suppressing adipose triglyceride lipase (Atgl) activity. The lipid-droplet-associated protein, cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor 45-like effector C (Cidec), is an inhibitor of Atgl. We find that AKG stabilizes Cidec by attenuating tripartite-motif protein 21-mediated ubiquitination.
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Magnetic fields can revive intracellular transport in ALS
A study led by cell biologist Dr. Arun Pal at the HZDR, in collaboration with research partners in Dresden and Rostock, has found that electromagnetic alternating fields can partially reverse key pathological changes in human nerve cells. The finding has been published in the journal Cells.
In cell cultures of human motor neurons derived from ALS patients, electromagnetic stimulation improved the transport of mitochondria and lysosomes along axons and reactivated processes involved in repairing DNA damage. At the same time, the activity of thousands of genes changed. This research opens up new perspectives for nonpharmacological therapeutic approaches.
In healthy individuals, so-called motor neurons—specialized nerve cells located in the cerebral cortex, brainstem and spinal cord—send signals to skeletal muscles, thereby triggering and controlling movement. In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), these neurons become severely damaged and progressively lose their ability to transmit signals. As a result, muscles no longer receive the instructions they need to function and gradually waste away. Problems affecting the arms and legs are often among the first symptoms, although some patients initially develop speech or swallowing difficulties.
How Cancer Cells Enter Senescence After Chemotherapy
Researchers identified molecular switches that push cancer cells into senescence and evade chemotherapy, offering potential targets to improve cancer treatment.
Vasomechanic treatment is associated with increased efflux of human brain proteins
et al. demonstrate a vasomechanic intervention to increase the efflux of soluble human brain proteins, including Aβ, into venous sinuses. The study shows how standard neuroimaging can monitor brain fluid dynamics during preventive efforts targeting proteinopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease.
FLEX approach helps robots reason beyond literal commands
Humans are intuitive by nature. We can sense meaning beyond the literal words that we encounter. Now, a new artificial intelligence–assisted learning platform developed by MIT engineers is enabling robots to read larger meaning into a human’s natural language commands.
In a study to be presented at the annual Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL 2026), held in Austin, Texas, Nov. 9–12, researchers from MIT and New York University introduce FLEX, a flexible feature-editing pipeline for robot motion planning.
With FLEX, humans can interact with a robot by giving it instructions in natural, conversational language. The robot can not only follow the instructions literally but also read into the words to draw larger generalizations that help to improve its motion-planning task.
Where Will The World Store Its Fast Growing Volume Of Data?
Governments contribute too. NIST and other standards organizations will help develop security, interoperability, cryptography, and resilience frameworks. As data infrastructure expands into space and international waters, we will need international cooperation.
The emerging storage ecosystem will create new markets and investment opportunities in advanced materials, photonics, biotechnology, satellite infrastructure, energy, cooling, cybersecurity, and data management.
The AI revolution is transforming information consumption. Data is no longer a business and technology byproduct. It powers artificial intelligence, economic competitiveness, and national security. The colloquial phrase “data is the new gold ring” is true.
Mutant KRAS vaccination for pancreatic cancer interception: the G12D immunogenicity paradox
Holmström, M.O., Hübbe, M.L., Chen, I.M. et al. Mutant KRAS vaccination for pancreatic cancer interception: the G12D immunogenicity paradox. Sig Transduct Target Ther 11, 486 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-026-03088-3
Two genes, two harvests: Adapting barley for double cropping
Growing two crops in succession on the same land requires a tight schedule. In parts of central and eastern China, farmers sow barley in autumn and harvest it in late spring. It is then followed by a summer crop, such as rice. For this cropping sequence to succeed, the barley must mature in time. An early harvest also helps the crop avoid heat and rain toward the end of the growing season.
A research team led by Ping Yang at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, working with researchers at the IPK Leibniz Institute, investigated the genetic changes that enable this adaptation. The team combined historical data spanning eight decades with field trials and molecular genetic studies. IPK researchers contributed genomic analyses and expertise in barley’s genetic diversity and evolutionary history to the international collaboration.
The study examined 505 representative Chinese barley varieties and 27 introduced reference lines. Their genetic data reveal how the genetic makeup of Chinese barley varieties has changed since the 1940s. Introduced varieties, particularly those from Europe, brought valuable yield and quality traits. However, their longer development period poses a challenge for established cropping systems in which barley is followed by another crop.
Chirality of ‘trions’ illuminates new paths for quantum optics
Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered that charged states made of two electrons and a positively charged hole (or vice versa) on atomically thin rolls of carbon atoms have a structure-derived “handedness” in how they interact with light. While electron-hole pairs, or “excitons,” were known to keep the chirality of the underlying nanotube, the team showed that adding a charge to create “trions” does not change this property.
Their work, published in the journal Nature Communications, highlights new ways in which carbon nanotubes might be used in next-gen optoelectronic devices.
Chirality is a fascinating feature of the material world. Whether it be a circular staircase, a wrung towel, double-stranded DNA or pharmaceutical molecules, an object can often have a “handedness” which means that its mirror image can never be matched to the original.