Researchers shot lasers into brain cells and triggered illusions on demand—a breakthrough that’s rewriting how we see the world.

Watch the brand-new trailer for Tron: Ares and experience it in theaters, filmed for IMAX, October 10.
Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings. The feature film is directed by Joachim Rønning and stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges. Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Jared Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger are the producers, with Russell Allen serving as executive producer.
Grammy®-award winning rock band Nine Inch Nails composed the score for “Tron: Ares,” and today, the band dropped \.
Liz Parrish, founder and CEO of BioViva, delivers a compelling keynote on the revolutionary potential of gene therapy for human longevity and rejuvenation.
As one of the boldest voices in the longevity field and the first person to undergo experimental gene therapy for aging, Parrish shares her insights into how genetic interventions are ready to extend human healthspan.
Parrish challenges the status quo of medical research and advocates for faster translations of scientific advances, arguing that delayed access is costing millions of lives.
Electrons in two-dimensional (2D) systems placed under strong magnetic fields often behave in unique ways, prompting the emergence of so-called fractional quantum Hall liquids. These are exotic states of matter in which electrons behave collectively and form new quasiparticles carrying only a fraction of an electron’s charge and obeying unusual quantum statistics.
In the 1990s, physicists introduced a theory known as the chiral Luttinger liquid theory, which describes the collective movements of these fractional excitations moving in 1D channels along the boundary of 2D fractional quantum Hall states. Nonetheless, past experimental findings were not always aligned with theoretical predictions.
Researchers at Purdue University recently carried out a study aimed at further testing some of the predictions of chiral Luttinger liquid theory by measuring tunneling between 1D edge modes in a device in which a fractional quantum Hall liquid state emerges. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, offers direct experimental evidence of universal anyon tunneling for the n=1/3 fractional quantum Hall state, confirming theoretical predictions made by X.-G. Wen and collaborators in the early 1990s.
A recent breakthrough from Mayo Clinic researchers offers new hope. Using the world’s largest imaging dataset, Mayo Clinic’s team has developed a cutting-edge AI model capable of detecting pancreatic cancer on standard CT scans—when surgery is still an option. This breakthrough represents a leap forward in the fight against pancreatic cancer, with the potential to save lives. Learn more about this life-changing innovation in early cancer detection. Featured experts include Ajit Goenka, M.D., radiologist and professor of radiology at Mayo Clinic’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and Suresh Chari, M.D., professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition in the Division of Internal Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Subscribe to Tomorrow’s Cure wherever you get your podcasts. Visit tomorrowscure.com for more information.
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Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have discovered extremely rare remnants of “proto Earth,” which formed about 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly altered the primitive planet’s composition and produced Earth as we know today. Their findings, reported today in the journal Nature Geosciences, will help scientists piece together the primordial starting ingredients that forged early Earth and the rest of the solar system.
Billions of years ago, the early solar system was a swirling disk of gas and dust that eventually clumped and accumulated to form the earliest meteorites, which in turn merged to form proto Earth and its neighboring planets.
In this earliest phase, Earth was likely rocky and bubbling with lava. Then, less than 100 million years later, a Mars-sized meteorite slammed into the infant planet in a singular “giant impact” event that completely scrambled and melted the planet’s interior, effectively resetting its chemistry. Whatever original material proto Earth was made from was thought to have been altogether transformed.
Using CO (J=1–0) molecular line data obtained from the 13.7-meter millimeter-wave telescope at the Purple Mountain Observatory’s Delingha Observatory, Sun Mingke, a Ph.D. student from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his collaborators conducted a systematic study of the galactic molecular cloud G34. They revealed the collisional signatures and dynamical mechanisms of filamentary structures in this region. The results are published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Star formation is one of the key processes that drive the evolution of galaxies and the interstellar medium. Recent observations and theoretical studies suggest that interactions and collisions between large-scale filamentary structures may play an important role in triggering high-mass star formation.
In this study, the researchers identified two giant filaments, designated F1 and F2, in the G34 region. By analyzing their spatial distribution and velocity field, the researchers found clear evidence of ongoing collisions between the filaments.
Humanity stands at a crossroads. Our beautiful Earth, cradle of all we know, is straining under the weight of nearly 8.5 billion people. Environmental degradation, social inequity, and resource scarcity deepen by the day. We are reaching the limits of a single-planet civilization. We can face this challenge in two ways. Some will cling to the old patterns—fighting over dwindling resources and defending narrow borders. Others will rise above, expanding into space not to escape Earth, but to renew and sustain it. These pioneers—the Space Settlers —will carry the next chapter of civilization beyond our home planet.
The Humanist Path: Living in Free Space. When people imagine living beyond Earth, they often picture Lunar or Martian colonies. Yet, from a humanist perspective, a better path exists: rotating free space habitats, as envisioned by Gerard K. O’Neill. These are vast, spinning structures orbiting Earth or the Moon, or standing at Lagrange Libration Points, designed to simulate Earth’s gravity and sustain full, flourishing communities. Unlike planetary colonies bound to weak gravity, dust, or darkness, O’Neill habitats offer: 1g simulated gravity to preserve human health; continuous sunlight and abundant solar energy; freedom of movement, as habitats can orbit safely or relocate if needed. More than technical achievements, these habitats embody the Enlightenment spirit—the belief that reason, ethics, and creativity can design environments of dignity, beauty, and freedom.
Freedom and Human Dignity in Space. Freedom is at the heart of humanity’s destiny. Consider a lunar settler who finds his bones too fragile to withstand Earth’s gravity—trapped by biology, after a few years living on the Moon. In contrast, inhabitants of a rotating habitat retain the freedom to return on Earth, at will. Simulated gravity safeguards their health, ensuring that space settlement remains reversible and voluntary. Freedom of movement leads naturally to freedom of culture. In a habitat like “New Gaia”, thousands of people from all nations live together: Russians celebrating Maslenitsa, Indians lighting Diwali lamps, and space-born storytellers sharing ancient myths. New traditions also emerge—festivals, music, and art inspired by life between worlds. These habitats can become beacons of a new Renaissance —a rebirth of cultural and creative freedom beyond the constraints of geography and politics.