Lifeboat Foundation

USA: A cross-sectional study comprising 2,822 US adults revealed that worse examination-based and self-reported vision impairment is associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and worse examination-based vision impairment is linked with severe social isolation.

These findings, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, provide evidence to support prioritizing research aimed at enhancing the health and inclusion of people with vision impairment.

Vision impairment and psychosocial function, including symptoms of anxiety, depression and social isolation, are a major cause of morbidity in the US. However, there is a lack of nationally representative studies evaluating associations between subjective and objective vision impairment with psychosocial function following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlighting gaps in communication near the end of life, this podcast episode explores a new approach to preparing patients with serious illness and their families for all possible outcomes.

A full transcript of this episode is available at nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2314001.

Blood–brain barrier: A physical and biochemical boundary between the bloodstream and the parenchyma of the central nervous system (CNS).

Editorial from The New England Journal of Medicine — Sounding Out the Blood–Brain Barrier.

Experiment records minuscule gravitational pull as a step to understanding how force operates at subatomic level.

Our knowledge of the role of genetics in epilepsy is rapidly expanding, and this is enhancing epilepsy diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Julie Ziobro, MD, PhD is a pediatric epileptologist and research scientist at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. She and genetic counselor, Mallory Wagner, MS, LCGC, discuss some basic principles of genetics, currently available genetic tests, examples of genetic epilepsies, and how genetic test results can impact treatment decisions and prognosis. They also explore the role of genetics in developing precision therapies for epilepsy.

The current AI revolution appears to be having a ‘1995 moment’ like the early days of the internet — and Nvidia is leading that charge, analyst says.

Exciting breakthrough at CERN’s AEgIS experiment! Scientists have successfully slowed down positronium using groundbreaking laser technology.

Explore the fascinating world of positronium research. Scientists at CERN have made an incredible breakthrough by slowing down positronium using broadband lasers. %.

For ‘deeper reading’ among children aged 10–12, paper trumps screens. What does it mean when schools are going digital?

Rocky89 / E+ via getty images.

The Department of Education’s most recent study, declared in June, was surely sensational: it found that text comprehension skills of 13-year-olds had denied an average of four points since the Covid-affected schools in the academic year 2019–2020, and more alarmingly that the average drop was seven points compared with the 2012 figure. The results for the worst-performing students fell below the reading skill level recorded in 1971, when the first national study was conducted.

Hunting for a neutron star

To discover what lies at the center of SN 1987A, astronomers needed a telescope big enough and advanced enough to detect evidence of radiation from a hidden neutron star.

Enter the James Webb Space Telescope: the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space that is already revolutionizing our understanding of the universe within its first two years of operation.