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Researchers uncover chemical origins of the Perseus cluster of galaxies

An international team of researchers has developed new stellar and supernova models to explain the mysterious elemental abundance patterns left by billions of supernova explosions around the Perseus constellation, which have been difficult to explain with conventional theoretical models, reports three recent studies published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Deep within the Perseus constellation lies one of the most massive structures known to science: the Perseus Cluster. A titan of the cosmos, it anchors over a thousand galaxies within a sea of superheated gas known as the Intracluster Medium (ICM). This gas, glowing fiercely in X-rays, acts as a celestial ledger, recording the chemical “fingerprints” left behind by billions of supernova explosions over billions of years.

However, data from the HITOMI (Astro-H) space telescope revealed a profound mystery. Long-standing theoretical models by researchers need important corrections.

Silk made into strong plastic-like materials with 6G potential

Silk threads can be fused into transparent, plastic-like materials that twist terahertz frequencies of light, according to research led by Imperial College London, University of Michigan Engineering and Tufts University. The findings could enable components of 6G networks to be made from upcycled silk.

The new materials are also lightweight, yet stronger than many metal alloys and conventional plastics produced from fossil fuels. Their mechanical properties could make them useful in sports gear, shipping containers and certain kinds of packaging. In ballistics tests, the new materials were about as puncture-resistant as carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers, which are used in the bodies of airplanes and the chassis of automobiles. And, because the materials slowly degraded when implanted into mice, they could prove useful in temporary medical implants.

The researchers are particularly interested in the material’s ability to twist, or polarize, terahertz frequencies of light. The 6G band, which could transmit data up to hundreds of times faster than 5G networks and is particularly appealing for rural high-speed internet, extends into terahertz frequencies.

Prickly pear cacti show promise as the building materials of tomorrow

Researchers from the University of Bath’s Department of Mechanical Engineering have shown that agricultural waste from prickly pear cactus plants could be used as a low-cost, low-carbon reinforcement for construction materials, offering a more sustainable alternative to conventional composites. The research is published in the Journal of Natural Fibers.

Composite materials combine strong reinforcing fibers with a lightweight base material, known as a matrix. Widely used composites like carbon fiber, fiberglass or Kevlar rely on synthetic fibers and energy-intensive manufacturing processes. Their durability also makes them difficult to reuse or recycle at the end of their lifespan. Swapping synthetic fibers with natural alternatives offers a renewable and biodegradable solution.

Matt Hutchins, a researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and lead author of the study, said, “Inside the flat cactus pads is a naturally occurring fiber network. These fibers form a honeycomb-like structure that helps the plant support its own weight and resists bending in strong winds. We’re exploring how to extract these structures and keep them intact, borrowing their natural properties to reinforce bio-based composites.”

How the brain switches between older and newer memories

As humans and other animals experience new things, their brains continuously update their memory of past events. These updates allow them to adapt to changing environments, all while preserving older memories that could still help them to make decisions in some situations.

Many past neuroscience studies have investigated the neural circuits involved in the encoding and retrieval of memories. However, the mechanisms via which it decides whether to retrieve older or newly updated memories remain poorly understood.

Researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently carried out a study involving mice that was aimed at better understanding how the brain switches between older and newer memories.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Auth Bypass Actively Exploited to Gain Admin Access

According to Rapid7, which discovered CVE-2026–20182, the shortcoming has its echoes in CVE-2026–20127 (CVSS score: 10.0), another critical authentication bypass impacting the same component. The latter is said to have been exploited by a threat actor called UAT-8616 since at least 2023.

“This new authentication bypass vulnerability affects the ‘vdaemon’ service over DTLS (UDP port 12346), which is the same service that was vulnerable to CVE-2026–20127,” Rapid7 researchers Jonah Burgess and Stephen Fewer said. “The new vulnerability is not a patch bypass of CVE-2026–20127. It is a different issue located in a similar part of the ‘vdaemon’ networking stack.”

That said, the end result is the same: a remote unauthenticated attacker can abuse CVE-2026–20182 to become an authenticated peer of the target appliance and carry out privileged operations.

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