Health News: Can pollution cause it? What about inflammation? And how do tumours spread? Here’s what scientists are learning about this complex disease.

Loneliness isn’t just about being alone—it can happen even in relationships. People in unhappy marriages or toxic relationships can suffer from emotional loneliness despite having a social network, showing that quality of relationships matters more than quantity.
Understanding loneliness as multidimensional has significant implications for clinical practice. EL is more strongly associated with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. In contrast, SL is less directly linked to psychological distress but remains an indicator of social disconnection. Meta-analyses of loneliness interventions have shown that generic approaches often fail because they do not differentiate between EL and SL, leading to inconsistent results. Cross-sectional studies indicate that EL contributes to depressive symptoms more than SL, and longitudinal research suggests that EL has a stronger predictive value for long-term mental health deterioration. In contrast, SL can often be addressed through social interventions that encourage group participation and community engagement.
Loneliness has profound implications for physical health and mortality risk. Longitudinal studies show that EL, in particular, is associated with increased mortality rates, even after controlling for medical conditions and demographic factors. One explanation is that EL triggers chronic stress responses, leading to adverse physiological effects such as inflammation and weakened immune function. For example, a five-year study of nursing home residents found that EL, but not SL, was a significant predictor of earlier mortality, reinforcing its unique impact on health. While SL also presents health risks, its impact on mortality appears to be less severe than that of EL.
Osteoporosis is typically treated with orally administered drugs, which may take up to a year to have a noticeable effect. A new injectable hydrogel, however, is claimed to drastically boost bone density in as little as two weeks.
The disease occurs when there’s an imbalance between a person’s osteoblasts – which are bone-building cells – and their osteoclasts, which are bone-degrading cells.
Ordinarily, osteoclasts serve a beneficial function by reshaping bones so they become stronger over time. When those cells outnumber the osteoblasts, though, there’s an overall loss of bone tissue, resulting in weaker, more fragile bones.
As long as you have problems posting, I would recommend using a “throwaway” account to do your posting so you never lose your main account. A few months ago, I actually got 2 of my “throwaway” accounts UNBANNED. It is cool when you end up gaining accounts instead of losing them.
S timeline but they almost never complain recently.
The weekend release of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report favouring a laboratory leak as the likely origin of COVID-19 – albeit with “low confidence” – has reignited a vitriolic debate.
On the one side of the divide are those who argue that SARS-CoV2, the virus causing COVID-19, originated from a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) that was studying coronaviruses in bats.
Some researchers who favour the lab-leak thesis argue that the virus contains unusual features that indicate it may have been genetically modified by humans. These focus on the virus’s furin cleavage site, a strange feature on the spike protein of the virus that is not present in other coronaviruses, that cast doubt on whether the virus had evolved naturally.
The immune system is a marathon, not a sprint.
New research reveals stem-like T cells that help fight disease longer—a breakthrough for cancer treatments and vaccines. Discover more via Pursuit → unimelb.me/3EnoujK
It’s a reminder that, much like training for a race, scientific discovery demands persistence, teamwork and a clear goal.
While more work is needed to translate these findings into real-world applications, harnessing the unique strengths of stem-like T cells and their regulation paves the way for innovative treatments that could redefine how we tackle chronic diseases and cancer.
This study is a collaborative effort between the Doherty Institute, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, La Trobe University, Northwestern University (USA), the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, the University of Birmingham (UK) and the University of Melbourne.
Biopunk androids replicants.
What happens when humans begin combining biology with technology, harnessing the power to recode life itself.
What does the future of biotechnology and genetic engineering look like? How will humans program biology to create organ farm technology and bio-robots. And what happens when companies begin investing in advanced bio-printing, artificial wombs, and cybernetic prosthetic limbs.
Other topic include: bioengineered food and farming, bio-printing in space, new age living bioarchitecture (eco concrete inspired by coral reefs), bioengineered bioluminescence, cyberpunks and biopunks who experiment underground — creating new age food and pets, the future of bionics, corporations owning bionic limbs, the multi-trillion dollar industry of bio-robots, and bioengineered humans with super powers (Neo-Humans).
As well as the future of biomedical engineering, biochemistry, and biodiversity.
Thymic injury leads to reduced T cell production and makes patients more vulnerable to infections and cancers. Lemarquis et al. identify a population of recirculating regulatory T (Treg) cells that mediate regeneration in the injured thymus, partially through amphiregulin. An analogous population of Treg cells expressing CD39 and ICOS is found in humans, suggesting therapeutic avenues for boosting thymic regeneration to address aging-and treatment-induced immunosuppression.
Neuralink’s video shows a patient using its brain chip to control a robotic arm, showcasing progress in assistive robotics and BCI technology.