A new study has revealed compelling evidence that brain criticality—a dynamic balance between neural excitation and inhibition—has a strong genetic foundation and is associated with cognitive performance. The research was published on June 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Led by Prof. Liu Ning from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Yu Shan from the Institute of Automation of CAS, the team analyzed resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project S1200 release. The dataset included 250 monozygotic twins, 142 dizygotic twins, and 437 unrelated individuals, providing a robust framework for examining the heritability of critical brain dynamics.
The results showed that brain criticality is significantly influenced by genetic factors, with stronger genetic effects observed in primary sensory cortices compared to higher-order association regions. These findings suggest that the capacity of the brain to maintain near-critical dynamics—previously associated with optimal information processing and cognitive flexibility—is, to a substantial degree, inherited.
Greg Egan’s Diaspora is one of the most ambitious and mind-bending science fiction novels ever published. It came out in 1997 and originally started as a short story called “Wang’s Carpets.” That story ended up as a chapter in the novel. Diaspora is: dense, smart, and way ahead of its time. This is hard science fiction to the core. Egan invents entire new branches of physics. He reimagines life, consciousness, time, space — even what it means to be human. The book doesn’t ease you in. There’s a glossary, invented physics theories like Kozuch Theory, and characters that don’t even have genders. But if you stick with it, what you get isn’t just a story, it’s a look at what the future might actually become. By the year 2,975, humanity isn’t one species anymore. It’s split into three groups: Fleshers: The biological humans, including the “statics” (unchanged baseline humans) and all sorts of heavily modified versions — underwater people, gene-hacked thinkers, even “dream apes” who gave up speech to live closer to nature. Gleisners: AIs in robotic bodies that live in space. They care about the physical world and experience time like regular humans. They’re kind of old-school — still sending ships to the stars, trying to build things in real space. Citizens: These are digital minds that live entirely in simulated worlds called polises.
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IN A NUTSHELL 🔬 MIT researchers have developed a superconducting diode-based rectifier that converts AC to DC on a single chip. 💡 This innovation could streamline power delivery in ultra-cold quantum systems, reducing electromagnetic noise and interference. 🔍 The technology is crucial for enhancing qubit stability and could significantly impact dark matter detection circuits at
A rare genetic mutation known as APOE3-R136S, or the “Christchurch mutation,” appears to protect against Alzheimer’s disease by suppressing inflammatory signaling in the brain’s immune cells.
Today, at the Living Planet Symposium, ESA revealed the first stunning images from its Biomass satellite mission—marking a major leap forward in our ability to understand how Earth’s forests are changing and exactly how they contribute to the global carbon cycle. But these inaugural glimpses go beyond forests. Remarkably, the satellite is already showing potential to unlock new insights into some of Earth’s most extreme environments.
From novels and movies about galactic empires and super-agent shenanigans to real life, here are some modern-day inventions that were inspired by science fiction.
