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Science: Research suggest that dinosaurs 🩕 🩖 may have influenced how humans age today.

Human aging may have been influenced by millions of years of dinosaur domination according to a new theory from a leading aging expert. The ‘longevity bottleneck’ hypothesis has been proposed by Professor Joao Pedro de Magalhaes from the University of Birmingham in a new study published in BioEssays. The hypothesis connects the role that dinosaurs played over 100 million years with the aging process in mammals.

While some reptiles and amphibians show no significant signs of aging, all mammals—including humans—show a marked .

Professor de Magalhaes’ hypothesis suggests that during the Mesozoic Era, mammals faced persistent pressure for rapid reproduction during the reign of dinosaurs, which over 100 million years led to the loss or inactivation of genes associated with , such as processes associated with tissue regeneration and DNA repair.

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In a new study using brain scans of former NFL athletes, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they found high levels of a repair protein present long after a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion takes place. The repair protein, known as 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), is known to be present in the brain at high levels in the immediate aftermath of brain injury as part of the inflammatory response and to facilitate repair. The new findings, published Oct. 30 in JAMA Network Open, suggest that brain injury and repair processes persist for years after players end collision sports careers, and lead to long-term cognitive problems such as memory loss.

“The findings show that participating in repeated collision sports like football may have a direct link to long-term inflammation in the brain,” says Jennifer Coughlin, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Ongoing studies like the current one, she says, add details about how the brain heals — or doesn’t — and how repeated brain injuries, even mild ones that players routinely shake off, may over time affect cognitive abilities.

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Learn more about Clinical Trials and Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer. Featuring speakers: Dan Paul Zandberg, MD (Director, Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancer Disease Sections, Division of Hematology and Oncology, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center), Ricardo Zwirtes, MD (VP, Clinical Development, SQZ Biotechnologies), Jeffery Shoop (Two-Time Head and Neck Cancer Survivor. (Presented by SQZ Biotechnologies, SPOHNC and Head and Neck Cancer Alliance)

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Firefly Aerospace conducted the first hot fire test of its new Miranda rocket engine, producing a massive plume of green flames.

Firefly’s Miranda engine is slated to be used on the first stage of Northrop Grumman’s Antares 330 rocket as well as the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) the two companies are developing together. The Antares 330 rocket is designed to carry more than 22,000 lbs of cargo to the International Space Station (10,000 kg), while the MLV will be able to loft 35,000 lbs (16,000 kg) of payload to low Earth orbit.

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SpaceX is known for its vertical integration, but one component it’s been outsourcing is parachutes — until earlier this month, when the company quietly acquired parachute vendor Pioneer Aerospace after its parent company went bankrupt. The Information first reported the news.

This is the second known acquisition for SpaceX, which acquired small satellite startup Swarm in 2021 for a $524 million mostly-stock deal. Pioneer is coming much more cheaply: SpaceX has snapped it up for just $2.2 million, according to a bankruptcy filing by Pioneer’s parent company in Florida.

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Scientists have revealed how lattice vibrations and spins talk to each other in a hybrid excitation known as an electromagnon. To achieve this, they used a unique combination of experiments at the X-ray free electron laser SwissFEL. Understanding this fundamental process at the atomic level opens the door to ultrafast control of magnetism with light.

Within the of a solid, particles and their various properties cooperate in wave-like motions known as collective excitations. When atoms in a lattice jiggle together, the collective excitation is known as a phonon. Similarly, when the atomic spins—the magnetization of the atoms-move together, it’s known as a magnon.

The situation gets more complex. Some of these collective excitations talk to each other in so-called hybrid excitations. One such hybrid excitation is an electromagnon. Electromagnons get their name because of the ability to excite the atomic spins using the of light, in contrast to conventional magnons: an exciting prospect for numerous technical applications. Yet their secret life at an is not well understood.

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