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Ultrastructural preservation of a whole large mammal brain with a protocol compatible with human physician-assisted death

Ultrastructural Preservation of a Whole Large Mammal Brain (bioRxiv, 2026) ⚠️ Preprint – not yet peer-reviewed.

A 2026 preprint builds on over a decade of brain preservation research, demonstrating that whole mammalian brains (pigs) can be preserved with remarkable structural fidelity under near–real-world, end-of-life conditions.

The study refines aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation (ASC)—a technique previously recognized by the Brain Preservation Foundation. This method combines chemical fixation (aldehydes), cryoprotectants, and controlled cooling to prevent ice damage and preserve neural structure at the nanoscale. — What the study shows.

Whole pig brains preserved with intact cellular and synaptic architecture.

Preservation remains viable even with delayed postmortem intervals (~10 minutes)

Tissue remains perfusable and structurally stable after fixation.

Protocol moves toward clinically realistic implementation, not just lab conditions.

Continue reading “Ultrastructural preservation of a whole large mammal brain with a protocol compatible with human physician-assisted death” | >

The Jellies That Evolved a Different Way To Keep Time

Developmental biologist Tsuyoshi Momose cultures a newly discovered species of jellyfish in a tank of circulating water. Scientists want to understand how these unusual jellies keep time.

The passage of the sun across the sky — dawn, day, dusk, night — drives the clock of life. Some species wake with the sun and sleep with the moon. Others do the opposite, and a few keep odd hours. These naturally driven, 24-hour biological cycles are known as circadian rhythms, and they do more than cue bedtime: They regulate hormones, metabolism, DNA repair, and more. When life falls out of sync, there can be dire consequences for health, reproduction, and survival.

Lacking watches, many species keep time using an internal system — a set of interacting genes and their protein products that effectively keeps track of a 24-hour period — that is calibrated by sunlight. This kind of circadian clock is widespread, found even in single-celled algae, which suggests that biological timekeeping evolved billions of years ago. Across animals, most species have the same genetic system, using genes known as CLOCK, BMAL1, and CRY, or recognizable homologues. This form of biological clock mechanism appears even in ancient lineages, including sponges and some jellyfish.

But is this the only way to do it? In a pea-size jelly off the coast of Japan, biologists are examining a different kind of timekeeping.

NVIDIA CEO Doesn’t Believe in “Succession Plans,” Says He Operates in a Way That Doesn’t Make His Company a One-Man Show

On the Lex Fridman podcast, NVIDIA’s CEO was asked about his mortality and whether he fears dying in his current state. Jensen offered a rather interesting response, saying that his company is currently in the midst of a technological revolution and that, if he died in the meantime, it might not be the best-case scenario for him.

“The most important thing you should do today, if you care about the future of your company, post you, is to pass on knowledge, information, insight, skills, experience as often and continuously as you can. Which is the reason why I continuously reason about everything in front of my team.”

NVIDIA has become the largest business entity and the driving force in the AI world, yet CEO Jensen Huang has no succession plans in sight.

The many pathways driving liver inflammation in MASH

Online now: Intra-and extrahepatic inflammation in MASH is driven by various hits such as lipotoxicity, the gut microbiome, and proinflammatory diets. Inflammation contributes to hepatic and systemic complications, including cardiovascular diseases. Beneficial drugs in MASH might target metabolic and inflammatory pathways.

Inflammation is a key driver of this disease, and effective future therapies might have to target metabolic and inflammatory pathways.

Assessment of inflammation, i.e., MASH in humans, is still challenging as it might appear intermittently during the clinical course and could be missed by liver biopsy. Future non-invasive strategies assessing the liver’s inflammatory burden are eagerly awaited.

Recent Scientific findings that support the Phantom Primal Eye as a comprehensive Biological Solution to the Mind-Body Problem

The Primal Eye (the pineal/ parietal eyes predates the paired lateral eyes, so “third eye” is technically a misnomer) theory breaks this deadlock by moving the goalposts from philosophy to evolutionary physiology. It suggests that consciousness is

Physicists just turned glass into a powerful quantum security device

Scientists have turned simple glass into a powerful quantum communication device that could safeguard data against future quantum attacks. The chip combines stability, speed, and versatility—handling both ultra-secure encryption and record-breaking random number generation in one compact system.

A safer, more effective atrial fibrillation treatment method using magnetic gel may be on the way

Atrial fibrillation is a common heart condition characterized by a rapid, irregular heartbeat stemming from the heart’s upper chamber. It is a leading cause of stroke from clots that form in a small pouch of the heart called the left atrial appendage (LAA). While several treatment options exist, they have many drawbacks, and risks often remain. But now, researchers have developed a promising new treatment involving magnetic fluids. Their study, published in Nature, describes the new procedure and results from rat and pig studies.

Atrial fibrillation treatment options Blood thinners are a common treatment for atrial fibrillation. However, some patients cannot take them due to an increased risk of bleeding. Another option is closing off the LAA with a device. This is referred to as left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). While the devices that are currently available reduce stroke risk, they can leave small leaks and attract clots on or around the device itself. One of these devices is the Watchman occluder—a metallic transcatheter LAAO device.

One reason blocking off the LAA is difficult is that its shape varies from patient to patient, and is often rather odd. Names of these strange and difficult-to-fill shapes include cauliflower, cactus, chicken wing and the most challenging type—the windsock. Some improvements have been made to attempt to fit these shapes better, but issues remain.

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