Connexin proteins found in white perch fish were used to engineer synthetic electrical synapses, enabling precision circuit editing in mammals.
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Helix-02 humanoid robot handles full 8-hour factory work shifts
Figure AI says its humanoid robots can now run full eight-hour shifts autonomously using its Helix-02 AI system, marking one of the company’s strongest claims yet around human-scale robotic labor in real-world environments.
In a post on X, the California-based robotics startup wrote: “Watch a team of humanoid robots running a full 8-hr shift at human performance levels. This is fully autonomous running Helix-02.”
Immunosenescence and Inflammaging as Drivers of Neurodegeneration: Cellular Mechanisms, Neuroimmune Crosstalk, and Therapeutic Implications
Aging is accompanied by profound alterations in immune function, termed immunosenescence, and by a chronic, low-grade inflammatory state known as inflammaging. These processes are increasingly recognized as central drivers of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis. In the central nervous system, senescent microglia and astrocytes lose their homeostatic and neuroprotective functions, while systemic immune aging and blood–brain barrier dysfunction further amplify neuroinflammation and impair protein aggregate clearance. This sustained pro-inflammatory environment promotes synaptic dysfunction, neuronal loss and cognitive decline.
Abstract: Address correspondence to: Ralph J
DeBerardinis, Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5,323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75,390, USA. Phone: 214.648.2587; Email: [email protected].
Engineered brain ‘bypass’ that rewires specific circuits could boost resilience to stress
Broken or disrupted circuits in the brain contribute to many neurological disorders. A new custom-built biological “wire” developed at Duke University School of Medicine points the way toward a new treatment approach—bypassing broken brain connections, rather than relying on long-term medication or external stimulation.
Researchers led by Kafui Dzirasa, MD, Ph.D., have developed a technology called LinCx that allows scientists to create new electrical connections between carefully chosen neurons. Unlike existing tools that often influence many cells at once, this approach enables selective, long-lasting changes in how defined brain circuits function. The study is published in Nature.
“By introducing a way to plug in new electrical connections with cellular-level precision, our study marks a major step forward in the ability to edit brain circuitry and understand how neural networks give rise to behavior,” said Dzirasa, the A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences.
Targeting systemic and tumor metabolic balances with ketogenic diets enhance efficacy of therapy in FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia
Goupille et al. describe an alternative approach targeting the host and tumoral primary metabolism in FLT3-mutant leukemia. Ketogenic diet strategies aiming to imbalance lipid homeostasis augment fatty acid and amino acid degradative activity, attenuating FLT3 signaling activation, cell proliferation, and leukemia progression upon targeted therapies.
Russia is building engines for interstellar travel while nearly two-thirds of rural households still have no indoor plumbing — and that gap says something important about how space programs actually get funded
In February 2026, Rosatom announced a prototype plasma rocket engine that its scientists claim could reduce the travel time to Mars from eight months to thirty days. The engine, built at a dedicated facility in Troitsk and tested inside a fourteen-metre vacuum chamber designed to simulate deep space, uses electromagnetic fields to ionise hydrogen into […].