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Study Reveals How Brain Function Changes When We Learn Something New

A beginner’s violin lesson may seem worlds apart from dementia research, yet wearable brain scans are revealing signals that could help scientists understand both learning and neurological disease.

Playing a familiar tune on a violin is no simple task for someone who has never held the instrument. Each movement must produce the intended sound, and the brain has to learn how to coordinate those movements. Researchers at the University of Nottingham have now captured changes in brain activity as beginners learned to play, revealing measurable differences after just one violin lesson.

The study, published in the journal Imaging Neuroscience, involved 22 novice violin players. Using a wearable brain scanner, the scientists tracked patterns of neural activity while participants attempted to play “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” They found that those who improved the most also showed the greatest changes in certain brain signals associated with movement and learning.

A New Era of Bionic Vision? AI Helps Scientists Unlock the Brain’s Visual Cortex

Researchers have used artificial intelligence to improve how a brain implant stimulates the visual cortex of a blind person, potentially advancing the development of bionic eyes.

Artificial intelligence could make future bionic eyes more precise and responsive by improving how electrical signals communicate with the brain. In a study published in Neuron, researchers used deep learning to control brain stimulation in a blind man, producing more accurate neural responses with less electrical current.

The findings could advance visual prostheses that bypass damaged eyes and optic nerves, stimulating the visual cortex directly to generate perceptions of light.

Scientists Unlock a Hidden Superconducting Power Inside a Strange Quantum Material

Researchers have discovered how pressure can unlock hidden superconducting properties in a complex quantum material.

Applying intense pressure to an unusual quantum material can transform how it conducts electricity, allowing superconductivity to spread throughout its three-dimensional structure at temperatures roughly three times higher than normal. Researchers also found a sevenfold increase in the number of electrons participating in superconductivity.

The discovery comes from a team led by Zurab Guguchia at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, provide new insight into how superconductivity might be strengthened and eventually achieved under more practical conditions.

A Hidden Star May Be Plowing Through Betelgeuse’s Giant Atmosphere

Radio images suggest a link between Betelgeuse’s changing outline and its companion’s expected orbit, offering clues to how a smaller star may influence a giant’s later life.

Betelgeuse, the bright red supergiant marking Orion’s shoulder, may have another star stirring its atmosphere from within. Its recently identified companion, Siwarha, is thought to orbit at a distance of only about twice the giant’s radius. New radio observations suggest that this close neighbor is leaving a visible mark on the shape of Betelgeuse’s outer gas, even though the companion itself is too faint to appear in those observations.

Researchers proposed Siwarha’s existence in 2024 to explain Betelgeuse’s mysterious 2,100-day brightness cycle. Direct imaging and spectroscopic studies of the star’s light have since supported its existence. The companion’s name means “her bracelet,” a reference to Betelgeuse’s Arabic meaning, “the hand of al-Jawza.”

OpenSSH flaw lets attackers log into password-disabled Linux accounts

A newly disclosed flaw involving OpenSSH and musl, dubbed “*sshole,” allows attackers to log in to certain Alpine Linux and other musl-based Linux accounts configured to block password authentication simply by entering an oversized password.

The flaw only affects OpenSSH servers running on Linux distributions that use the musl C library, including Alpine Linux, OpenWrt, Buildroot, and Yocto, under certain authentication configurations.

Security researcher Ozgun Kultekin, who discovered and released details on the vulnerability today, says the flaw has existed since 2016 and stems from how OpenSSH handles password verification errors on systems using the musl C library.

Fake OpenAI, SpaceX events used to steal Microsoft, Google accounts

Hackers are using fake OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic event invitations to lure employees into phishing attacks, using two different phishing-as-a-service platforms to steal Microsoft and Google account credentials and authentication sessions.

According to a new report from Push Security, the attackers use convincing event registration pages offering free access to premium AI services and other rewards to trick victims into signing in with their corporate accounts.

What makes the attacks interesting is that the same phishing pages integrate two separate phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms, Kali365 and VoidProxy, to target Microsoft and Google accounts using different authentication attacks.