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Discovery of bumblebee medicine’s simple structure makes synthetic production viable

Researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague have successfully developed a method to chemically synthesize callunene, a natural compound that protects bumblebees from a deadly gut parasite. In a recent discovery, the team also determined that the naturally occurring compound is a 50/50 mixture of its mirror-image forms, meaning the synthetic version can be used directly to safeguard vital pollinator colonies.

The study, published in the Journal of Natural Products, addresses the threat posed by the parasite Crithidia bombi. This protozoan infects bumblebees, impairing their ability to find nectar-rich flowers, which ultimately leads to starvation, reduced fitness, and death. The problem is especially acute in commercial indoor farming operations that rely on healthy pollinator colonies. Not only because of the farming effectiveness, but also because parasites might be spread from indoor pollinators to wild colonies.

Nature provides a defense in the form of callunene, a compound found in the nectar of heather (Calluna vulgaris). Bumblebees that forage on heather are prophylactically protected from Crithidia infection. However, the loss of heathland habitats and the difficulty of isolating the compound from natural sources have made this solution impractical on a large scale.

Study outlines alternative approach to detecting inelastic dark matter particles

It is now understood that all known matter, i.e., studied by science and harnessed by technology, constitutes only 5% of the content of the universe. The rest is composed of two unknown components: dark matter (about 27%) and dark energy (about 68%). This calculation, confirmed decades ago, continues to surprise both lay people and scientists alike.

In the case of dark matter (DM), there is abundant evidence that it really exists, all resulting from its with ordinary matter. This evidence comes from sources such as the rotation curves of stars in galaxies, discrepancies in the movement of galaxies in clusters, the formation of large-scale structures in the universe, and cosmic background radiation, which is distributed uniformly throughout space.

Despite knowing with a high degree of certainty that DM exists, we do not know what it is. Several models proposed thus far have failed.

AI can evolve to feel guilt—but only in certain social environments

Guilt is a highly advantageous quality for society as a whole. It might not prevent initial wrongdoings, but guilt allows humans to judge their own prior judgments as harmful and prevents them from happening again. The internal distress caused by feelings of guilt often—but not always—results in the person taking on some kind of penance to relieve themselves from internal turmoil. This might be something as simple as admitting their wrongdoing to others and taking on a slight stigma of someone who is morally corrupt. This upfront cost might be initially painful, but can relieve further guilt and lead to better cooperation for the group in the future.

As we interact more and more with and use it in almost every aspect of our modern society, finding ways to instill ethical decision-making becomes more critical. In a recent study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers used to explore how and when guilt evolves in multi-agent systems.

The researchers used the “prisoners’ dilemma”—a game where two players must choose between cooperating and defecting. Defecting provides an agent with a higher payoff, but they must betray their partner. This, in turn, makes it more likely that the partner will also defect. However, if the game is repeated over and over, results in a better payoff for both agents.

Anticipation of a virtual infectious pathogen is enough to prompt real biological defenses

Researchers led by the University of Geneva and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne report that neural anticipation of virtual infection triggers an immune response through activation of innate lymphoid cells.

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a type of immune cell crucial for early immune responses. They do not rely on antigen recognition like adaptive immune cells but respond quickly and effectively to various inflammatory signals and pathogen-associated cues, playing an essential role in early defense.

Protecting the body from pathogens typically involves a multitude of responses after actual contact. An anticipatory biological immune reaction to an infection had not been previously demonstrated.

Study finds infant anesthesia exposure accelerates visual brain activity patterns

New research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds that prolonged and/or repeated exposure to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) anesthetic agents (sevoflurane, propofol) for infants in the first two months of life resulted in an accelerated maturation of brain electrical activity patterns evoked by visual stimuli when recorded at 2–5 months of age, compared to infants who did not have early general anesthesia exposure.

These findings may suggest the use of non-GABA-active anesthetics for the newborn age-range. To address such concerns, a large multicenter clinical trial (called TREX) is currently in progress using a combination of agents in order to minimize exposure to GABA-active anesthetics.

The paper is the fourth in a series emerging from a prospective longitudinal study known as the General Anesthesia and Brain Activity (GABA) Study, led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Northeastern University.

A new open-source program for quantum physics helps researchers obtain results in record time

Scientists at the Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS) and the Paderborn Center for Parallel Computing (PC2) at Paderborn University have developed a powerful open-source software tool that allows them to simulate light behavior in quantum systems.

The unique feature of this tool, named “Phoenix,” is that researchers can use it to very quickly investigate complex effects to a level of detail that was previously unknown, and all without needing knowledge of high-performance computing. The results have now been published in Computer Physics Communications.

Phoenix solves equations that describe how light interacts with material at the , which is essential for understanding and for the design of future technologies such as quantum computers and advanced photonic devices.

Cross-country study gathers new insight about the psychology of social class

Understanding the effects of social class on people’s attitudes, thoughts, feelings and behaviors could have valuable implications, as it could help to tailor social and behavioral interventions around the unique psychological characteristics of target populations. Past studies have introduced and tested various theoretical predictions related to the psychology of social class, yielding a wide range of interesting findings.

Modular network offers fault-tolerant scaling of superconducting qubit devices

Quantum computers, devices that can perform computations relying on the principles of quantum mechanics, are expected to outperform classical computers on some types of optimization and processing tasks. While physicists and engineers have introduced various quantum computing systems over the past decades, reliably scaling these systems so that they can tackle real-world problems while correcting errors arising during computations has so far proved challenging.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently introduced a new, modular quantum architecture for scaling superconducting quantum processors in a fault-tolerant, scalable and reconfigurable way. Scaling in a fault-tolerant way is required to maintain the and conditions necessary to perform long-term quantum computations.

Their proposed system, outlined in a paper published in Nature Electronics, is comprised of several modules (i.e., superconducting devices) that can operate independently and be connected to others via a low-loss interconnect, forming a larger quantum network.

Simulations prove early Earth’s liquid core generated protective magnetic field

Earth is fortunate in having a magnetic field: it protects the planet and its life from harmful cosmic radiation. Other planets in our solar system—such as Mars—are constantly bombarded by charged particles that make life difficult.

Physicists still divided about quantum world, 100 years on

The theory of quantum mechanics has transformed daily life since being proposed a century ago, yet how it works remains a mystery—and physicists are deeply divided about what is actually going on, a survey in the journal Nature said Wednesday.

“Shut up and calculate!” is a famous quote in that illustrates the frustration of scientists struggling to unravel one of the world’s great paradoxes.

For the last century, equations based on have consistently and accurately described the behavior of extremely small objects.