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Meta agrees to $18 billion settlement over teen social media harms

Meta has reached a proposed settlement worth up to approximately $18 billion with a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys generals over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to encourage compulsive use by children and teenagers.

The settlement, which is awaiting court approval, resolves a lawsuit filed in 2023 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general.

The lawsuit accused Meta of designing features that drove compulsive use among young users while misleading users, families, and the public about the risks of its platforms.

How much the immune system sees may shape how well we fight infections

Why does the same infection cause only mild symptoms in one person but more serious disease in another? A new study led by the HUN-REN BRC Szeged Momentum Systems Immunology Research Group, together with several international collaborators, suggests that part of the answer lies in how broadly the immune system can present fragments of pathogens to its own immune cells.

Defense against infections does not begin with the immune system attacking the pathogen. The immune system first has to recognize what it is facing. At the center of this recognition process are HLA class II molecules. These molecules present small protein fragments, called peptides, to immune cells. This step is essential for activating helper T cells, which in turn support B cells in producing targeted antibodies.

However, not all HLA-II molecules present the same range of peptides. These molecules have exceptional genetic variability. Consequently, it is likely that two individuals carry different variants. Some variants can bind and present a broad diversity of pathogen-derived peptides, while others are more selective. This property is known as HLA-II peptide-binding promiscuity, or more simply, peptide-binding diversity.

Reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s disease through NanoERASERbased adult neuroregeneration

Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease outpaces the brain’s ability to regenerate neurons. Wang et al. develop a Nano-ERASER platform that delivers anti-PTBP1 antibodies into astrocytes, enabling proteasome-mediated PTBP1 degradation and activating neuronal reprogramming. This nanotechnology-based Trim-Away system induces functional neurogenesis in vitro, in human brain organoids, and in AD mouse brains, thereby improving learning and memory. The study introduces a regenerative therapeutic paradigm in which biomaterials and endogenous glia collaborate to rebuild neural circuits in Alzheimer’s disease.

Columbia engineers built a pigmentfree polymer coating filled with microscopic air pores; under Arizona desert sun, the coated surface stayed about 6°C below ambient air

As temperatures rise during hot weather, keeping buildings and other structures cool can require large amounts of energy. Air conditioners are a common way to deal with the heat, but they consume electricity and need access to cooling systems and, in some cases, coolants that can affect the environment.

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