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A rare supernova peeled back a star’s layers and revealed a hidden secret

Astronomers studying the rare supernova SN 2021yfj discovered material from one of the deepest layers of a dying star, providing a rare look at its hidden interior. The finding confirms key theories about how massive stars forge the elements that help build planets, worlds, and life.

Astronomers have glimpsed the inner structure of a dying star in a rare kind of cosmic explosion called an “extremely stripped supernova.”

In a paper published in Nature, Steve Schulze of Northwestern University in the United States and colleagues describe the supernova 2021yfj and a thick shell of gas surrounding it.

When back pain won’t quit: A large clinical trial points to the power of self-management

Almost everyone will deal with back pain at some point in their lives. Most recover quickly—but for about 20% of people, acute pain becomes a chronic condition that interferes with daily life and keeps them out of the workforce.

Low back pain is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, and more money is spent managing it in the United States than any other health condition. Despite that, the most effective way to prevent a short-term episode from becoming a long-term problem has not been clear—especially for people who are most at risk.

“Chronic low back pain prevention is a public health issue,” said Michael Schneider, D.C., Ph.D., professor in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and co-principal investigator of the Pitt arm of the study. “The 20% of patients who turn chronic account for 80% of the costs and the suffering. This paper shows that helping people self-manage their pain through a properly trained physical therapist or chiropractor is a great way to mitigate this public health problem.”

Experimental drug reverses severe fatty liver disease by repairing the gut

An experimental drug developed at Michigan Medicine has shown the ability to reverse severe fatty liver disease in animal studies by restoring gut health. The findings, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that targeting the connection between the gut and liver could offer a promising new approach for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

MASH is a serious form of fatty liver disease that affects about 7% of people worldwide. It can progress to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure, yet effective treatment options remain limited.

The investigational compound, known as DT-109, is a glycine-based tripeptide. Researchers found that it reversed MASH in animal models by interrupting a harmful biological process linking the gut and liver.

Synthetic rotation brings black hole energy theory into lab, amplifying waves

More than half a century ago, Sir Roger Penrose envisioned a scenario in which energy could be extracted from a black hole spinning at extreme speeds. He proposed that a particle entering its ergosphere—a region of space dragged around by a rotating black hole—could split into two. One part could fall into the black hole while the other escaped carrying more energy than the original particle. Building on this theory, physicist Yakov Zel’dovich later predicted that a wave interacting with a sufficiently fast, rotating object could extract energy from it and become amplified.

Inspired by this theoretical construct, researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have published a paper in Nature demonstrating a new approach to wave amplification through interaction with rotating bodies. Rather than mechanically rotating matter, however, the team engineered a radio-frequency device with properties modulated in space and time to mimic spinning. The device creates a synthetic form of ultrafast rotation that enables access to rotational speeds far beyond what can be achieved mechanically, allowing researchers to overcome limitations that have long hindered experimental studies of ultrafast rotational dynamics.

“Our approach facilitates a new method of wave–matter interaction in which waves with selected rotational properties extract energy from synthetic time-engineered rotation, producing a form of broadband selective amplification,” said principal investigator Andrea Alù, distinguished professor and Einstein Professor of Physics at the CUNY Graduate Center and founding director of the CUNY ASRC’s Photonics Initiative.

How studying oral inflammatory diseases can help researchers understand other human diseases

A team of researchers from VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, the VCU School of Dentistry and the University of Pennsylvania recently published a study in Nature Communications examining why some oral inflammatory diseases progress much more rapidly than others.

The study was co-led by Kang I. Ko, D.D.S., Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania; Jinze Liu, Ph.D., of VCU; and Kevin Matthew Byrd, D.D.S., Ph.D., of VCU, with co-first authors Quinn T. Easter, Ph.D., and Khoa L.A. Huynh, Ph.D. The findings identified previously unrecognized changes in blood vessels that may help researchers better understand tissue destruction in oral disease and provide insights relevant to other inflammatory conditions, including cancer.

To conduct this study, the research team used and expanded a tool they created, the Human Periodontal Atlas—the leading periodontal atlas in the world—as part of the wider Human Cell Atlas, a single-cell atlas built from existing publicly available data sets, to examine RNA patterns across different cell types.

Dr. David Sinclair: The First Human Trial of an Age-Reversal Therapy #podcast #lifespan #longevity

Harvard geneticist David Sinclair returns to explain how his lab’s age-reversal technology has moved from mice and primates into FDA-cleared human trials — starting with an attempt to reverse vision loss from glaucoma, a condition considered permanent. Sinclair breaks down the science of Yamanaka factors, why using three genes instead of four sidesteps the cancer risk, and his core thesis: make the body young enough and it can cure its own diseases.

He and James also go deep on the practical longevity playbook: NMN, NAD and Sirtuins, metformin and berberine, testosterone and muscle mass, sleep, diet, and how to separate real science from longevity misinformation. Sinclair shares his own protocol at 56, his 86-year-old father’s results, and teases a next-generation \.

Combining Senolytics and Stem Cells Shows Promise in Mice

A new study associated with Immorta Bio suggests that combining a senolytic vaccine with mesenchymal stem cells might create a synergistic impact. However, the findings rest on acute, artificially induced injury models rather than natural aging [1].

Clearing out senescent cells to help stem cells work

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies have largely underperformed in the clinic. MSCs are connective-tissue stem cells that help mostly not by becoming new tissue but by secreting repair-promoting factors. Despite strong preclinical promise, clinical MSC trials in fibrosis, inflammation, and organ failure have shown only modest benefits [2].

Physicists finally build a quantum material predicted more than a decade ago

Researchers have achieved a major milestone by creating a long-sought two-dimensional quantum material and confirming its unusual conducting edge states. The ability to control these states through strain could make the material a promising platform for future room-temperature quantum electronics.

AIE Webinar — Making Horsegirls

Go behind the scenes of the acclaimed independent film Horsegirls with the creative team that brought this remarkable story to life. Join moderator, Devin Morrissey as he is joined by writer and director Lauren Meyering, lead actress Lillian Carrier, producers Michael Sherman, Mackenzie Breeden, and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Autism Sensitivity Coordinator Chloe Estelle for an engaging conversation about the filmmaking process—from developing the story and creating authentic performances to producing, promoting, and ensuring an inclusive production environment.

Whether you’re interested in filmmaking, storytelling, or advancing authentic representation of neurodivergent individuals in entertainment, this webinar offers a unique opportunity to hear directly from the talented team behind Horsegirls.

The Godfather of AI: A New Species Is Emerging — And We Can’t Stop It | Geoffrey Hinton (Nobel)

In this exclusive, long-form interview, Turing Award laureate Geoffrey Hinton—often called the “Godfather of Deep Learning”—opens up about the promise and peril of advanced AI. Hinton explains why he left Google, how close we really are to artificial general intelligence (AGI), and what guard-rails governments, researchers, and ordinary citizens can put in place today to keep powerful neural networks from going off the rails.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and turn on notifications so you won’t miss any of our future episodes ► / @thisistheworldofficial.

Watch the interview with Yann LeCun on AI and machine learning: • Father of AI: AI Needs PHYSICS to EVOLVE |…

Geoffrey Hinton is a British-Canadian cognitive psychologist and computer scientist best known as the “godfather of deep learning.” As a professor at the University of Toronto and co-founder of Google Brain, he pioneered modern neural networks—work that earned him the 2018 Turing Award alongside Yann LeCun and Yoshua Bengio. Since leaving Google in 2023, Hinton has focused on warning about the societal and existential risks of increasingly powerful AI systems.

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