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Inhibitory neurons born later found to mature quicker during brain development

The human brain is made up of billions of nerve cells (neurons) that communicate with each other in vast, interconnected networks. For the brain to function reliably, there must be a fine balance between two types of signals: Excitatory neurons that pass on information and increase activity, and inhibitory neurons that limit activity and prevent other neurons from becoming too active or firing out of control. This balance between excitation and inhibition is essential for a healthy, stable brain.

Inhibitory neurons are generated during through the division of progenitor cells—immature cells not yet specialized but already on the path to becoming neurons. A new study, led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, has uncovered a surprising feature of brain development based on findings in mice: During this essential process, cells born later in development mature much more quickly than those produced earlier.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Can ChatGPT actually ‘see’ red? New study results are nuanced

ChatGPT works by analyzing vast amounts of text, identifying patterns and synthesizing them to generate responses to users’ prompts. Color metaphors like “feeling blue” and “seeing red” are commonplace throughout the English language, and therefore comprise part of the dataset on which ChatGPT is trained.

But while ChatGPT has “read” billions of words about what it might mean to feel blue or see red, it has never actually seen a blue sky or a red apple in the ways that humans have. This begs the questions: Do embodied experiences—the capacity of the human visual system to perceive color—allow people to understand colorful language beyond the textual ways ChatGPT does? Or is language alone, for both AI and humans, sufficient to understand color metaphors?

New results from a study published in Cognitive Science led by Professor Lisa Aziz-Zadeh and a team of university and industry researchers offer some insights into those questions, and raise even more.

Scientists unlock key manufacturing challenge for next-generation optical chips

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have developed a new method for assembling ultra-small, light-controlling devices, paving the way for scalable manufacturing of advanced optical systems used in quantum technologies, telecommunications and sensing.

The study, published in Nature Communications, centers on photonic crystal cavities (PhCCs), micron-scale structures that trap and manipulate light with extraordinary precision. These are essential components for high-performance technologies ranging from quantum computing to photonic artificial intelligence.

Until now, the creation of large arrays of PhCCs has been severely limited by the tiny variations introduced during fabrication. Even nanometer-scale imperfections can drastically shift each device’s optical properties, making it impossible to build arrays of identical units directly on-chip.

Microrobots shaped and steered by metal patches could aid drug delivery and pollution cleanup

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have created a new way to build and control tiny particles that can move and work like microscopic robots, offering a powerful tool with applications in biomedical and environmental research.

The study, published in Nature Communications, describes a new method of fabrication that combines high-precision 3D printing, called two-photon lithography, with a microstenciling technique. The team prints both the particle and its stencil together, then deposits a thin layer of metal—such as gold, platinum or cobalt—through the stencil’s openings. When the stencil is removed, a metal patch remains on the particle.

The particles, invisible to the naked eye, can be made in almost any shape and patterned with surface patches as small as 0.2 microns—more than 500 times thinner than a human hair. The metal patches guide how the particles move when exposed to electric or magnetic fields, or chemical gradients.

Wood-based material can improve safety and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries

For consumers worried about the risks associated with using lithium-ion batteries—which are used in everything from phones to laptops to electric vehicles—Michigan State University has discovered that a natural material found in wood can improve battery safety while also improving the battery’s life.

Chengcheng Fang, assistant professor in the College of Engineering, and Mojgan Nejad, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, collaborated to engineer , a natural ingredient of wood that provides support and rigidity, into a thin film separator that can be used inside to prevent short circuits that can cause a fire.

“We wanted to build a better battery,” said Fang. “But we also wanted it to be safe, efficient and sustainable.”

Thermodiffusion method offers greener extraction of valuable materials from brine deposits

A simple and cost-effective method developed by scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) could make the process of extracting valuable resources from brine deposits more environmentally friendly. The research is published in Nature Water.

Brine mining is important for lithium extraction—a critical component for battery manufacturing—with a significant portion of global lithium production coming from continental brine deposits.

In 2024, ANU researchers developed the world’s first thermal desalination method, where water remains in the throughout the entire process. They have now successfully applied this method to brine concentration.

Chain of magnets transports proton beams over range of energies in test of future cancer treatment

While radiation treatments designed to kill cancer cells have come a long way, scientists and doctors are always exploring new ways to zap tumors more effectively. Recent tests at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory show that a small array of magnets designed as an offshoot of the Lab’s nuclear physics research could quite literally provide a path for such future cancer treatments.

The tests revealed that an arc of meticulously designed permanent magnets can transport beams of cancer-killing protons over a broad range of energies, from 50 to 250 million electron volts (MeV). “That’s the highest energy ever for this sort of beamline,” said Brookhaven Lab physicist Stephen Brooks, designer of the fixed-field magnets, and it’s an energy range that could enable more effective cancer treatment.

Specifically, the project is a step toward a possible future accelerator built using this technology, where physicians could rapidly switch among energies to deliver very fast lethal proton doses throughout a tumor’s depth.

Quantum battery device lasts much longer than previous demonstrations

Researchers from RMIT University and CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, have unveiled a method to significantly extend the lifetime of quantum batteries—1,000 times longer than previous demonstrations.

A quantum battery is a theoretical concept that emerged from research in and technology.

Unlike traditional batteries, which rely on , quantum batteries use quantum superposition and interactions between electrons and light to achieve faster charging times and potentially enhanced storage capacity.

Parker Solar Probe uncovers direct evidence of the sun’s ‘helicity barrier’

New research utilizing data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has provided the first direct evidence of a phenomenon known as the “helicity barrier” in the solar wind. This discovery, published in Physical Review X by Queen Mary University of London researchers, offers a significant step toward understanding two long-standing mysteries: how the sun’s atmosphere is heated to millions of degrees and how the supersonic solar wind is generated.

The solar atmosphere, or corona, is far hotter than the sun’s surface, a paradox that has puzzled scientists for decades. Furthermore, the constant outflow of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun, known as the solar wind, is accelerated to incredible speeds.

Turbulent —the process by which is converted into heat—is believed to play a crucial role in both these phenomena. However, in the near-sun environment, where plasma is largely collisionless, the exact mechanisms of this dissipation have remained elusive.

Optical tweezer sectioning microscopy enables 3D imaging of floating live cells

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging is essential for investigating cellular structure and dynamics. Traditional optical methods rely on adhesive or mechanical forces to hold and scan cells, which limit their applicability to suspended cells and may induce stress responses. Developing a non-contact, all-optical 3D imaging technique for live suspended cells remains a major challenge in advancing in situ biological research.

In a study published in Science Advances, Prof. Yao Baoli from the Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (XIOPM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Olivier J. F. Martin, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, developed the optical tweezer sectioning (OTSM), enabling all-optical 3D imaging of suspended , which offers a powerful new tool for live-cell imaging, dynamic biological studies and multicellular assembly.

Researchers developed OTSM by integrating holographic optical tweezers (HOTs) with structured illumination microscopy (SIM).