A new model suggests Yellowstone’s underground magma is driven by tectonic forces that shape Earth’s crust.
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Alzheimer’s Risk Gene Alters Brain Activity Early — But It May Be Reversible
Carrying one or two copies of the APOE4 gene variant significantly increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and a new study reveals how APOE4 can change neuron activity – potentially many years before symptoms such as memory loss start showing.
In young mice bred to have the APOE4 gene, researchers found specific neurons were smaller and more hyperactive in parts of the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus.
What’s more, they were able to identify a protein, Nell2, contributing to the disruption – and a potential pathway to reverse the damage in advanced cases.
Living buildings are now a reality. Swiss scientists unveil a self-healing material that breathes
Can a wall get stronger the more it breaks, and greener the more it stands? Swiss scientists say buildings are about to start breathing and devouring carbon, and the concrete status quo will not like the math.
From a Zurich lab comes a building skin that inhales carbon, knits its own cracks and grows sturdier with time. Researchers at ETH Zurich embedded photosynthetic cyanobacteria in a 3D printed hydrogel, creating a living material that draws down CO₂ and strengthens over time, its chlorophyll tinting it green. Across 400 days of testing, a prototype matched the yearly uptake of a 20-year-old pine, pulling in up to 18 kilograms of CO₂, while each gram of the base material fixes about 26 milligrams. Detailed in Nature Communications on April 6, 2026 and co-authored by Mark Tibbitt, the work points to facades that do carbon duty as part of everyday architecture.
Some breakthroughs feel both surprising and oddly familiar, like rediscovering a tool nature kept in plain sight. Swiss scientists have blended biology with architecture to shape a new kind of material that lives with its surroundings. It repairs small cracks, it sips CO2 from the air, and it quietly strengthens with time. The promise is simple, and bold: buildings that help clean the sky.
Aging human breast atlas reveals cancer susceptibility
The team used advanced imagining techniques to analyse breast tissue from more than 500 women aged 15 to 86 years old. The tissue included biopsies taken from women for non-cancer-related reasons.
Combining these images with details of the hormone receptors and immune cells present, as well as the tissue architecture, the researchers were able to map how breast tissue changes over time in unprecedented detail. Their findings point to reasons why breast cancer risk increases with age and why tumors in younger women differ biologically.
The author added: “Our map revealed that as women age, their breast tissue goes through major changes, with the most dramatic changes occurring at menopause. There are changes, too, during their twenties, possibly linked to pregnancy and childbirth, but these are far less pronounced.”
The map revealed that all types of cells become fewer in number and divide far less often. Milk-producing structures known as lobules shrink or disappear, while the ducts that that carry milk become relatively more common, with the supporting layer around them becoming thicker. Fat cells increase while blood vessels decrease.
Meanwhile, changes occur in the immune environment. Younger breasts have more B cells and active T cells, which helps them identify and kill cancer cells. As tissue ages, these types of cells decline in number, replaced by other types of immune cell that indicate a more inflammatory and potentially less protective immune environment. ScienceMission sciencenewshighlights.
Scientists have created the most detailed map to date, comprised of over 3 million cells, showing how breast tissue changes as women age – including dramatic changes during menopause.