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From molecules to networks, siibra integrates brain data into a unified atlas

In the current issue of the journal Nature Methods, siibra is introduced as a software suite that integrates data from different multimodal sources into a comprehensive atlas of the human brain and makes the data easily accessible—for interactive exploration and automated, reproducible data analyses, simulations and AI applications. siibra is developed by an international team of scientists led by the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1) at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

To better understand the human brain, information from various levels must be integrated, from molecules and cells to their organization and entire networks. A central challenge is that these data are often scattered across sources and organized differently. They originate from methods such as microscopy, MRI and connectivity analysis; exist in formats ranging from images to tables; and rely on different spatial reference systems and conceptual taxonomies.

“Using siibra, we are now able to access and analyze brain data in a structured way from micro-to macrolevels—for more precise neuroscience studies, bio-inspired AI and clinical applications such as deep brain stimulation,” says Dr. Timo Dickscheid, working group leader for “Big Data Analytics.”

Mysterious gas ‘bullets’ race from Milky Way’s only known helium nova at up to 20 million mph

Mysterious high-speed “bullets”—clumps of possibly oxygen-rich gas traveling at up to 20 million miles per hour—have been discovered shooting out of the rarest stellar explosion in our galaxy.

They were spotted after a cloud of debris surrounding the Milky Way’s only known helium nova finally cleared after more than 20 years, revealing that an unusual stellar system was to blame for the extraordinary explosion.

But the origin of the “bullets” is an enigma that has left astronomers puzzled—nothing of their kind has ever been observed in other novae throughout the universe.

High-speed 3D imaging reveals how seizures move through the brain

Seizures can race through the brain in seconds, making them difficult to capture in detail. To overcome this challenge, researchers have developed a new high-resolution light-sheet imaging system that is fast enough to image seizure propagation in the brain of a larval zebrafish in 3D.

“We developed a light-sheet microscope that allows rapid volumetric imaging with real-time correction of aberrations—imperfections in the way a microscope forms an image,” said research team leader Peter Kner from the University of Georgia. “Most imaging of seizure events in zebrafish has only captured 2D images, but our system allows 3D high-resolution imaging over a larger volume than was previously possible.”

In their article published in the journal Biomedical Optics Express, the researchers show that their new microscopy system can capture volumes up to 499 × 499 × 150 microns3 at a rate of four volumes per second with near-diffraction-limited resolution. They used the system to observe how seizures spread through the nervous system in zebrafish larvae, which are commonly used in neuroscience research.

Druggable target that makes metastatic cancer cells easier to kill identified

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have identified a molecular switch that helps determine whether cancer cells remain soft and difficult to destroy or become stiff enough for the immune system to attack.

The study, led by researchers in the College of Medicine and published in the journal Developmental Cell, sheds new light on how the physical properties of cancer cells influence metastasis—the spread of cancer—and points to a promising new therapeutic target.

“The physics of cancer are very counterintuitive. The outer shell of a tumor is very rigid: Even patients can feel the hardness of a growing tumor lump,” said Ekrem Emrah Er, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics and senior author of the study. “But the individual cells inside the tumor are very soft and flexible and gooey, which allows them to kind of leak out. Then they disseminate and metastasize to different organs.”

A New Compact Instrument Enables High-Fidelity Measurements of Energetic Particles on CubeSats

Successfully launched on July 23, 2025, the REAL instrument can distinguish between these potential modes, making it possible to investigate their relative importance and determine which, if any, waves are responsible for electron fallout. Leveraging recent advancements in sensor miniaturization, the instrument includes three sensor heads — a low-, medium-, and high-energy head with two, five, and four simultaneous look directions, respectively — integrated with four electronic boards. Together, they occupy only about half of the REAL CubeSat and use a time resolution sufficient to resolve microbursts of electrons with energies ranging from 40 keV up to 2 MeV. As its parent 3U CubeSat flies in LEO, REAL points along Earth’s magnetic field and can simultaneously measure the quantity, energy, and angle of the particles as they fall into the atmosphere — a first-of-its-kind capability.

“Most CubeSats can observe particles from only a single direction, so they have to spin in order to build up a full picture — and that takes a few seconds, too slow to capture microbursts,” said space physicist Robyn Millan of Dartmouth College, who serves as the REAL mission principal investigator. “With REAL, we’ve managed to squeeze three sensors, each with multiple look directions, into the top of this 100-by-100-millimeter head, allowing us to capture those measurements all at once. We’re really proud of that.”

The high-energy head consists of a 30-millimeter-thick aluminum collimator with four apertures, each spanning 20 degrees of pitch angle. Each aperture connects to an active area on a solid-state detector (SSD) at the base. The medium-energy head similarly uses an SSD base but instead employs five active areas that connect to a 22-millimeter-thick aluminum collimator with five apertures, each spanning 20 degrees of pitch angle. The low-energy head, on the other hand, is a miniature electrostatic analyzer (ESA) consisting of titanium electrodes sandwiched between etched silicon selector slits. These lie on top of a microchannel plate (MCP). The low-energy head uses 36 apertures, two look directions (±40 degrees), and 15 channels to measure electrons with lower energies, from 1 keV to 40 keV.

Gas vapors trigger reversible phase, color change in advanced fluids

Researchers have developed a reversible, vapor-controlled system capable of toggling the physical and optical traits of advanced fluids on demand.

Led by Nagoya University and Kyoto University in Japan, the study demonstrates a method to control the optical and physical properties of materials from the molecular level to the macroscopic scale.

At the core of the development is host–guest chemistry. It is a process where two distinct molecules lock together purely through physical forces, completely avoiding permanent chemical bonds.

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