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Early signs of Parkinson’s can be identified in the blood

A team led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has succeeded in identifying biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease in its earliest stages, before extensive brain damage has occurred. The biological processes leave measurable traces in the blood, but only for a limited period.

The discovery thus reveals a window of opportunity that could be crucial for future treatment, but also for early diagnosis via blood tests, which could begin to be tested in health care within five years.

Parkinson’s is an endemic disease with over 10 million people affected globally. As the world’s population grows older, this number is expected to more than double by 2050. At present, there is neither an effective cure nor an established screening method for detecting this chronic neurological disorder at an early stage before it has caused significant damage to the brain.

A possible ice-cold Earth discovered in the archives of the retired Kepler Space Telescope

Scientists continue to mine data gathered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, retired in 2018, and continue to turn up surprises. A new paper reveals the latest: a possible rocky planet slightly larger than Earth, orbiting a sun-like star about 146 light-years away. The candidate planet, HD 137010b, might be remarkably similar to Earth, but it has one potentially big difference: It could be colder than perpetually frozen Mars.

A promising Earth-sized exoplanet emerges An international science team published a paper on the discovery, “A Cool Earth-sized Planet Candidate Transiting a Tenth Magnitude K-dwarf From K2,” in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Jan. 27, 2026. The team was led by astrophysics Ph.D. student Alexander Venner of the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia, now a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany.

The orbital period of the planet—listed as a “candidate” pending further confirmation—is likely to be similar to Earth’s, around one year. Planet HD 137,010 b also might fall just within the outer edge of its star’s “habitable zone,” the orbital distance that could allow liquid water to form on the planet’s surface under a suitable atmosphere.

Q-Day: Catastrophic For Businesses Ignoring Quantum-Resistant Encryption

#Quantum #CyberSecurity

Quantum computing is not merely a frontier of innovation; it is a countdown. Q-Day is the pivotal moment when scalable quantum computers undermine the cryptographic underpinnings of our digital realm. It is approaching more rapidly than many comprehend.

For corporations and governmental entities reliant on outdated encryption methods, Q-Day will not herald a smooth transition; it may signify a digital catastrophe.

Comprehending Q-Day: The Quantum Reckoning

Q-Day arrives when quantum machines using Shor’s algorithm can dismantle public-key encryption within minutes—a task that classical supercomputers would require billions of years to accomplish.

A large language model for complex cardiology care

In a randomized study involving 9 general cardiologists and 107 real-world patient cases, assistance from a specifically tailored large language model resulted in preferable responses on complex case management compared to physicians alone, as rated by specialist cardiologists using a multidimensional scoring rubric.

New clue to treating hypertension: Blocking a brain receptor may calm blood pressure signals

The human body is often described in parts—different limbs, systems, and organs—rather than something fully interconnected and whole. Yet many bodily processes interact in ways we may not always recognize. For example, researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine may have found a link between high blood pressure and an overactive nervous system.

The paper is published in the journal Cardiovascular Research.

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a common cardiovascular condition and a risk factor for multiple diseases and sudden health concerns like stroke or heart attack.

Strong correlations and superconductivity observed in a supermoiré lattice

Two or more graphene layers that are stacked with a small twist angle in relation to each other form a so-called moiré lattice. This characteristic pattern influences the movement of electrons inside materials, which can give rise to strongly correlated states, such as superconductivity.

Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Freie Universität Berlin and other institutes recently uncovered a strong superconductivity in a supermoiré lattice, a twisted trilayer graphene structure with broken symmetry in which several moiré patterns overlap. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, could open new possibilities for the design of quantum materials for various applications.

“Fabricating a twisted trilayer graphene device with two distinct twist angles was not our original intention,” Mitali Banerjee, senior author of the paper, told Phys.org. “Instead, we aimed to make a device in which the two twist angles are identical in magnitude (magic-angle twisted trilayer). During our measurements, however, my student Zekang Zhou found that the phase diagram of this device differs fundamentally from that of magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene.”

Dual brakes on T-cells: New targets found to boost immunity in chronic infections

Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified the cellular mechanisms that cause immune cells to differentiate and ultimately lose function during viral infection, findings that could improve treatments to control chronic infections, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

During viral infection and in the case of cancer, CD4+ helper T-cells release cytokines, or small signaling proteins, that activate and “give permission” to other immune cells to control and clear viral pathogens.

In certain viral infections, such as lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), which is spread by infected rodents, CD4+ T-cells differentiate into different subpopulations, including one subset of progenitor CD4+ T-cells that replenish type 1 helper (Th1) and follicular helper (Tfh) T-cells.

AI model flags insulin resistance as a risk factor for 12 cancers

Insulin resistance—when the body doesn’t properly respond to insulin, a hormone that helps control blood glucose levels—is one of the fundamental causes of diabetes. In addition to diabetes, it is widely known that insulin resistance can lead to cardiovascular, kidney and liver diseases. While insulin resistance is tightly associated with obesity, it has been difficult to evaluate insulin resistance itself in the clinic. For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, applied a machine learning-based prediction model of insulin resistance to half a million participants from the UK Biobank and demonstrated that insulin resistance is a risk factor for 12 types of cancer.

The research is published in Nature Communications.

Diabetes is a common cause for concern around the world. Its connection to insulin resistance is a familiar concept to many, but what is less well known is that resistance to insulin is also suggested to be a risk factor for several cancers. However, the human body is a complex thing, and ascertaining causal connections between diseases and issues within the body is far from easy.

How cyberattacks on grocery stores could threaten food security

Grocery store shoppers at many chains recently ran into an unwelcome surprise: empty shelves and delayed prescriptions. In early November, Ahold Delhaize USA was the victim of a cyberattack that significantly disrupted operations at more than 2,000 stores, including Hannaford, Food Lion and Stop and Shop. Specific details of the nature of the attack have not yet been publicly released.

Because the attack affected many digital systems, some stores were not able to accept credit/debit cards, while others had to shut down online ordering. Additionally, Hannaford’s website was offline for several days. Food supply issues have lasted several weeks in some cases, especially in the New England area, illustrating the impact cyberattacks have on people’s everyday lives.

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