Toggle light / dark theme

Researchers hypothesize a fifth force of nature that could explain the intricate relationship between dark matter and dark energy, suggesting a revolutionary expansion of the Standard Model of physics.

Could a new, fifth force of nature help answer some of the biggest mysteries about dark matter and dark energy? Scientists are actively exploring the possibility.

The Standard Model of physics is widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements in modern science. It describes the universe’s four known forces — gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces — as well as a diverse array of fundamental particles and their interactions. By many measures, it stands as one of the most successful scientific theories in history.

SMC proteins can reverse direction, reshaping DNA

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

Examples of endosymbiosis are everywhere. Mitochondria, the energy factories in your cells, were once free-living bacteria. Photosynthetic plants owe their sun-spun sugars to the chloroplast, which was also originally an independent organism. Many insects get essential nutrients from bacteria that live inside them. And last year researchers discovered the “nitroplast,” an endosymbiont that helps some algae process nitrogen.

So much of life relies on endosymbiotic relationships, but scientists have struggled to understand how they happen. How does an internalized cell evade digestion? How does it learn to reproduce inside its host? What makes a random merger of two independent organisms into a stable, lasting partnership?

Now, for the first time, researchers have watched the opening choreography of this microscopic dance by inducing endosymbiosis in the lab. After injecting bacteria into a fungus—a process that required creative problem-solving (and a bicycle pump)—the researchers managed to spark cooperation without killing the bacteria or the host. Their observations offer a glimpse into the conditions that make it possible for the same thing to happen in the microbial wild.

We report the use of a multiagent generative artificial intelligence framework, the X-LoRA-Gemma large language model (LLM), to analyze, design and test molecular design. The X-LoRA-Gemma model, inspired by biological principles and featuring ~7 billion parameters, dynamically reconfigures its structure through a dual-pass inference strategy to enhance its problem-solving abilities across diverse scientific domains. The model is used to first identify molecular engineering targets through a systematic human-AI and AI-AI self-driving multi-agent approach to elucidate key targets for molecular optimization to improve interactions between molecules. Next, a multi-agent generative design process is used that includes rational steps, reasoning and autonomous knowledge extraction. Target properties of the molecule are identified either using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of key molecular properties or sampling from the distribution of known molecular properties. The model is then used to generate a large set of candidate molecules, which are analyzed via their molecular structure, charge distribution, and other features. We validate that as predicted, increased dipole moment and polarizability is indeed achieved in the designed molecules. We anticipate an increasing integration of these techniques into the molecular engineering workflow, ultimately enabling the development of innovative solutions to address a wide range of societal challenges. We conclude with a critical discussion of challenges and opportunities of the use of multi-agent generative AI for molecular engineering, analysis and design.

Cosmic Filaments: Spinning Giants in the Universe

Cosmic filaments, the universe’s largest known structures, have been discovered to rotate, challenging existing cosmological theories. Stretching hundreds of millions of light-years, these tendrils of dark matter and galaxies connect the cosmic web, funneling matter into galaxy clusters at their intersections. This groundbreaking observation reveals rotational motion on an enormous scale, previously thought impossible.

New Science Advances research in mice reveals that immune cells in the brain engulf microplastics, forming clusters that can cause cerebral clots.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) and MIT

MIT is an acronym for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a prestigious private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts that was founded in 1861. It is organized into five Schools: architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts, and social sciences; management; and science. MIT’s impact includes many scientific breakthroughs and technological advances. Their stated goal is to make a better world through education, research, and innovation.

The Einstein Probe is revolutionizing our view of the distant X-ray universe, offering an unprecedented look at some of the most powerful explosions in space.

Just under three months after its launch, the spacecraft has already made a groundbreaking discovery — an enigmatic burst of X-rays that could challenge what we thought we knew about gamma-ray bursts. This unexpected find hints at the possibility of reshaping our understanding of these extraordinary cosmic events and unlocking new secrets of the universe.

Unveiling a Cosmic Phenomenon.