The ubiquitous Epstein-Barr virus is increasingly being linked to conditions like multiple sclerosis and lupus. But why do only some people who catch it develop these complications? The answer may lie in our genetics
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Real-time imaging reveals new mechanisms for pancreatic ductal establishment and remodeling
Abigail Laura Jackson, Silja Heilmann, Pia Nyeng (Roskilde Universitet – RUC) and colleagues use a new apical polarity reporter mouse & high-resolution live imaging to demonstrate that pancreatic tubulogenesis is driven by dynamic transformations of existing lumens, which establish and remodel the pancreatic duct.
Jackson and Heilmann et al. use a new apical polarity reporter mouse and high-resolution live imaging to demonstrate that pancreatic tubulogenesis is drive.
Highly stable Cu₄₅ superatom could transform carbon recycling
After years of trying, scientists have finally created a stable superatom of copper, a long-sought-after chemical breakthrough that could revolutionize how we deal with carbon emissions.
Copper is a cheap and common metal, and because of its ability to bind carbon atoms together (C-C coupling), scientists have wanted to use it to turn carbon dioxide into products like ethylene for plastics and fuels. However, it corrodes or falls apart almost immediately when exposed to air or harsh industrial conditions.
A superatom is a cluster of atoms that behaves like a single atom, but with greater stability. In this new study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, scientists from Tsinghua University in Beijing built a nanocluster made from 45 copper atoms (Cu45).
Capturing the moment of organelle handoff inside living cells
For the first time, researchers have directly visualized how newly formed cellular organelles leave the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and transition onto microtubule tracks inside living cells. This new finding reveals that the ER plays an active and dynamic role in steering intracellular traffic rather than serving as a passive factory. The study is published in the journal ACS Nano.
For the study led by Director Cho Minhaeng at the Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics within the Institute for Basic Science and Professor Hong Seok-Cheol at Korea University, the research team captured in real time the moment an autophagosome—an organelle responsible for cellular recycling—moves from the ER onto a neighboring microtubule. This long-sought observation provides direct experimental evidence for how intracellular transport is coordinated at nanoscopic contact sites within the crowded environment of living cells.
Autophagy is an essential cellular process in which damaged proteins and aged organelles are enclosed by double-membrane structures and delivered for degradation and recycling. The importance of autophagy was recognized by the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi. Although scientists have long proposed that autophagosomes are transferred from the ER to microtubules at specialized contact sites, direct real-time experimental evidence of this cellular “handoff” had remained out of reach—until now.
Lieutenant Colonel Erin Maurer — Surviving The Unthinkable: NATO’s Frontline CBRN Defense
Surviving the unthinkable: nato’s frontline CBRN defense — lieutenant colonel erin maurer, CBRN defense lead, J3 force protection directorate, allied joint force command brunssum, NATO.
Lieutenant Colonel Erin Maurer is the CBRN Defense Lead, J3 Force Protection Directorate, at NATO Joint Force Command Brunssum, The Netherlands (https://jfcbs.nato.int/), a position she has held since July 2024.
LTC Maurer enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in 2004, and upon graduating from Penn State University in 2008, commissioned as a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), branched Chemical Corps. Her assignments have included:
Brigade chemical officer, company executive officer, and forward operating base operations officer, for 4th infantry brigade combat team, 3rd infantry division, fort stewart, georgia;
Headquarters Company Commander, Support Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne);
SpaceX Starship V3 gets launch date update from Elon Musk
Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s next Starship launch, Flight 12, is expected in about six weeks. This suggests that the first flight of Starship Version 3 and its new Raptor V3 engines could happen as early as March.
In a post on X, Elon Musk stated that the next Starship launch is in six weeks. He accompanied his announcement with a photo that seemed to have been taken when Starship’s upper stage was just about to separate from the Super Heavy Booster. Musk did not state whether SpaceX will attempt to catch the Super Heavy Booster during the upcoming flight.
The upcoming flight will mark the debut of Starship V3. The upgraded design includes the new Raptor V3 engine, which is expected to have nearly twice the thrust of the original Raptor 1, at a fraction of the cost and with significantly reduced weight. The Starship V3 platform is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability.