Vaults are mysterious cellular structures that can be genetically engineered to store information about a cell’s history.
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Signs of Sir Terry Pratchett’s dementia may have been hidden in his books
Signs of Sir Terry Pratchett’s dementia may have been present in his writing a decade before his official diagnosis, new research has found. Researchers have examined the lexical diversity—a measure of how varied an author’s word choices are—of 33 books from Pratchett’s Discworld series, focusing specifically on his use of nouns and adjectives.
The study found that Pratchett’s language in “The Lost Continent,” written almost 10 years before his diagnosis of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare form of Alzheimer’s, showed a significant decline in the complexity of the language used compared to his previous works.
The research team hopes that the study may aid in the early detection of dementia, for which there is currently no cure. The work is published in the journal Brain Sciences.
The Future of Warfare Revealed | Special | Full Episode
This two-hour special takes viewers inside the new world of futuristic conventional warfare. It’s an explosive, escalating journey through the modern develop…
New study reveals how stress alters brain gene activity through RNA “switches”
The study, published in Genomic Psychiatry, identified how stress hormones activate specific RNA molecules called long noncoding RNAs, or IncRNAs, that interact with the gene-silencing complex PRC2, turning off genes that are vital to communication between neurons. In essence, these IncRNAs act like “switches,” turning off functionality for more than 3,000 genes, many of which support neurotransmitter signaling and other processes that are essential for healthy brain functioning. The study specifically discovered 79 IncRNAs that were significantly altered under stress conditions.
While scientists have long understood that stress hormones send signals to the brain that affect gene functionality, it was previously unknown as to exactly how these signals create long-lasting changes inside cells. The study, led by Yogesh Dwivedi, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Elesabeth Ridgely Shook Endowed Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, and co-director of UAB Depression and Suicide Center, uncovers how lncRNAs associate with a molecule called polycomb repressive complex 2, or PRC2, to modify chromatin following activation of the glucocorticoid receptor, or GR — the cell’s master regulator of stress response. Chromatin is important in relaying messages from the external environment, including stressful conditions, to alter the genetic composition, a process known as epigenetics.
“As chronic stress is a major risk factor for conditions like major depressive disorder, this newly uncovered link between stress hormones and IncRNA gene silencing could potentially lead to more targeted mental health treatments,” Dwivedi said. “In fact, stress-induced changes in chromatin structure have been implicated in a range of psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.”
IncRNAs act like “switches,” turning off functionality for more than 3,000 genes that are essential for healthy brain functioning. A recent groundbreaking study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham highlights the discovery of a molecular link between stress hormones and changes in brain cell communication, which could open the door for new treatments to address depression and other psychiatric conditions.
The Physics of Belief: Placebo Effects as Quantum Psychosomatics and the Material Reality of Meaning
Read “” by Myk Eff on Medium.
When a patient in a clinical trial experiences genuine pain relief from an inert sugar pill, something remarkable occurs that contemporary medicine awkwardly labels the placebo effect — a term that simultaneously acknowledges the phenomenon while dismissing it as mere illusion. Yet what if this dismissal represents not scientific rigor but ontological timidity? What if the placebo effect, rather than being a confounding variable to be controlled away, is actually nature’s clearest demonstration of a quantum interface between consciousness and physiology, hiding in plain sight within the very architecture of our clinical trials? The question is not whether belief heals, but what belief actually is when we take seriously the contemporary understanding that information itself possesses physical reality.
The empirical robustness of placebo effects has become impossible to ignore. In their comprehensive meta-analysis published in The Lancet, Hróbjartsson and Gøtzsche (2001) examined 114 clinical trials and found that while placebo effects vary considerably across conditions, they demonstrate genuine clinical significance in pain reduction, with effect sizes rivaling those of established pharmaceutical interventions. More provocatively, Benedetti’s research on placebo analgesia has revealed that the effect operates through identifiable neurochemical pathways — placebo-induced pain relief can be blocked by naloxone, an opioid antagonist, demonstrating that the patient’s belief literally triggers the release of endogenous opioids (Benedetti, Mayberg, Wager, Stohler, & Zubieta, 2005). This is not imagination overriding reality; this is imagination as a physical force, translating expectation into molecular cascade.
Yet the standard neurobiological explanation, while accurate, remains curiously incomplete. Yes, belief activates specific neural circuits; yes, these circuits trigger biochemical responses; yes, measurable physiological changes occur. But this mechanistic account merely pushes the mystery one level deeper. How does the abstract informational content of a belief — the semantic meaning this pill will relieve my pain — couple to the physical substrate of neurons and neurotransmitters? The conventional answer invokes learning, conditioning, and expectation, but these terms describe the phenomenon without explaining the fundamental ontological transition from meaning to matter, from information to effect.
A world-first mouse that makes gene activity visible
DNA can be thought of as a vast library that stores all genetic information. Cells do not use this information all at once. Instead, they copy only the necessary parts into RNA, which is then used to produce proteins—the essential building blocks of life. This copying process is called transcription, and it is carried out by a molecule known as RNA polymerase II.
When RNA polymerase II begins actively transcribing DNA, a specific site called Ser2 on its tail region is marked with a small chemical group known as a phosphate. This phosphate acts as a sign that transcription is in progress. Until now, observing this sign required stopping cellular activity and chemically treating the cells to visualize the phosphate. As a result, it was impossible to see how transcription changes dynamically in living cells.
To overcome this limitation, a research team led by Professor Hiroshi Kimura at Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) chose a different approach. Instead of freezing cells at a single moment, they aimed to track transcription continuously without stopping cellular activity.
Unlocking defect-free graphene electrodes for transparent electronics
Transparent electrodes transmit light while conducting electricity and are increasingly important in bioelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Their combination of high optical transparency, low electrical resistance, and mechanical flexibility makes them well suited for applications such as displays, solar cells, and wearable or implantable technologies.
In a significant advancement, researchers led by Professor Wonsuk Jung at Chungnam National University in the Republic of Korea have introduced a new fabrication technique called one-step free patterning of graphene, or OFP-G, which enables high-resolution patterning of large-area monolayer graphene with feature sizes smaller than 5 micrometers, without the use of photoresists or chemical etching.
Published Microsystems & Nanoengineering, the method addresses a key limitation of conventional microelectrode fabrication, where lithographic processes often damage graphene and degrade its electrical performance.
