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Scientists discover that a feature of speech warns you of possible cognitive impairment

“Can you hand me the… you know… the thingy? It’s right there next to that other doohickey!” Struggling to find the right word happens to all of us. In fact, it even has a name; lethologica, and it tends to become more common as we get older.

Forgetting words now and then isn’t a big deal, but if it starts happening frequently, it could be an early sign of changes in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease —long before more obvious symptoms appear. But here’s the twist: A recent University of Toronto study suggests that how fast you speak might be a better clue about brain health than the occasional word mix-up.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost Landed on the Moon

First commercial lander ever just landed on the moon. Watch to see why this is so important.


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Early ancestral bottleneck could’ve spelled the end for modern humans

Humanity came close to extinction 800,000 years ago. Only 1,280 of our ancestors survived.

A recent study published in Science suggests that a catastrophic “ancestral bottleneck” reduced the global population to just 1,280 breeding individuals, wiping out 98.7% of the early human lineage.

This population crash, lasting about 117,000 years, likely resulted from extreme climate shifts, prolonged droughts, and dwindling food sources.

Using a groundbreaking genetic analysis method called FitCoal, researchers analyzed modern human genomes to trace this dramatic decline, potentially explaining a gap in the African and Eurasian fossil record.

Despite the near-extinction, this bottleneck may have played a crucial role in shaping modern humans. Scientists believe it contributed to a key evolutionary event—chromosome fusion—which may have set Homo sapiens apart from earlier hominin species, including Neanderthals and Denisovans. The study raises intriguing questions about how this small population survived, possibly through early fire use and adaptive intelligence. Understanding this ancient crisis helps scientists piece together the story of human evolution and the resilience that allowed our species to thrive against all odds.

Learn more.


Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s Return to Earth Confirmed: Know How and When NASA Astronauts Will Return After 9 Month Extended Stay in Space; Here’s Details

NASA has confirmed that Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will return to Earth in late March 2025 after spending over nine months aboard the ISS. Their return is scheduled to take place once the Crew-10 mission successfully arrives at the space station. Crew-10, carrying four new astronauts, will launch on March 12, 2025, at 7:48 PM EDT and undergo a week-long handover process before Williams and Wilmore begin their journey back. The decision to return them aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule was made due to ongoing technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner. NASA has assured that all necessary preparations are in place to facilitate a safe return. Sunita Williams Health Update: NASA Astronaut’s Mother Bonnie Pandya Dismisses Health Concerns Surrounding Her Daughter, Says ‘Space Is As Safe as Anywhere Else’ (Watch Video).

Williams and Wilmore’s return capsule, the SpaceX Crew Dragon, will follow a carefully planned re-entry trajectory before making a splashdown in designated waters. NASA has shortlisted landing sites in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, with the final decision depending on weather and oceanic conditions at the time of descent. SpaceX recovery teams will be stationed near the landing zone, ready to retrieve the capsule and transport the astronauts back to shore. After landing, Williams and Wilmore will undergo a thorough medical assessment before heading to NASA’s facilities for debriefing.

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth marks the end of an unexpectedly extended mission that was originally planned for just ten days but stretched to over nine months. The delay was primarily due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner, which faced multiple failures, including propulsion system malfunctions and propellant leaks. NASA, prioritising astronaut safety, decided to postpone their return until a reliable alternative was arranged.

Move Over Smart Rings. MIT’s New Fabric Computer Is Stitched Into Your Clothes

That’s what prompted MIT engineers to create a fabric computer that can be stitched into regular clothes. The device features sensors, processors, memory, batteries, and both optical and Bluetooth communications, allowing networks of these fibers to provide sophisticated whole-body monitoring.

“Our bodies broadcast gigabytes of data through the skin every second in the form of heat, sound, biochemicals, electrical potentials, and light, all of which carry information about our activities, emotions, and health,” MIT professor Yoel Fink, who led the research, said in a press release.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could teach clothes to capture, analyze, store, and communicate this important information in the form of valuable health and activity insights?”

Powered by renewable energy, microbes turn CO2 into protein and vitamins

It turns out acetate-fed yeast produces about the same amount of vitamin B9 as those that eat sugar. Just 6 grams, or 0.4 tablespoon, of the harvested dried yeast meets the daily vitamin B9 requirement. The vitamin levels were measured by a team led by co-author Michael Rychlik at the Technical University of Munich, Germany.

For protein, the researchers found that the levels in their yeast exceed those of beef, pork, fish, and lentils. Eighty-five grams, or 6 tablespoons, of yeast provides 61% of daily protein needs, while beef, pork, fish, and lentils meet 34%, 25%, 38%, and 38% of the need, respectively. However, the yeast should be treated to rid compounds that can increase the risk of gout if consumed excessively. Even so, treated yeast still meets 41% of the daily protein requirement, comparable to traditional protein sources.

This technology aims to address several global challenges: environmental conservation, food security, and public health. Running on clean energy and CO2, the system reduces carbon emissions in food production. It uncouples land use from farming, freeing up space for conservation. Angenent also stresses that it will not outcompete farmers. Instead, the technology will help concentrate farmers to produce vegetables and crops sustainably. The team’s yeast may also help developing nations overcome food scarcity and nutritional deficiencies by delivering protein and vitamin B9.

It seems like something out of a movie — they successfully achieve the first quantum teleportation in history

The future is coming and much faster than we think. Let’s do an exercise of imagination, imagine, for a moment, being able to send information from one point to another without the need for cables, Wi-Fi or traditional signals, more or less like something telepathic, right? Well, that is precisely what scientists have recently achieved at the University of Oxford: teleporting data between two quantum computers. Although it may seem like science fiction or just news, the world.

Although, let’s lower the hype a little, the transmission distance of this experiment was less than two meters, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is having achieved this milestone of sharing information without the need for connections.

Scientists Find Never-Before-Seen Fat Cell Types That May Hold the Key to Fighting Obesity

A groundbreaking international study, led by scientists from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, has mapped the diverse populations of fat cells across different human fat tissues. Using advanced technology, researchers identified distinct subpopulations of fat cells with more complex functions than previously understood. They also discovered variations in how fat tissues communicate at the cellular level.

Published in Nature Genetics, these findings lay the foundation for future research aimed at advancing personalized medicine for obesity.

The research team, led by Prof. Esti Yeger-Lotem and Prof. Assaf Rudich from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in collaboration with Prof. Naomi Habib from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Profs. Matthias Bluher, Antje Korner and Martin Gericke from the University of Leipzig, Germany, and Prof. Rinki Murphy from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, studied the diversity of fat cells in subcutaneous and intra-abdominal (visceral) fat tissues in humans.

NASA Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Lunar Lander Moon Landing Updates and Tracking with LIVE view from ISS

2/27/25 | 720 CT Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Lunar Lander Successfully Commissioned and En Route to the Moon:

After liftoff on February 26, Athena established a stable attitude, solar charging, and radio communications contact with our mission operations center in Houston. The lander is in excellent health, sending selfies and preparing for a series of main engine firings to refine her trajectory ahead of lunar orbit insertion, planned on March 3. Intuitive Machines is targeting a lunar landing opportunity on March 6.

Common Fungal Compound May Be the Key to Fighting Deadly Flu Infections

Preclinical trial reveals how beta-glucan, a compound found in all fungi, can ‘reprogram’ immune cells to combat lung inflammation.

A recent study suggests that a common fungal component may help protect against flu-related lung damage.

Led by Professor Maziar Divangahi from McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, the research team found that beta-glucan, when given to mice before influenza exposure, reduced lung damage, improved lung function, and lowered the risk of severe illness and death.