Scientists identified two types of brain cells, neurons and microglia, that are altered in people with depression. Through genomic mapping of post-mortem brain tissue, they found major differences in gene activity affecting mood and inflammation. The findings reinforce that depression has a clear biological foundation and open new doors for treatment development.
Research led by Vladimír Sládek sheds new light on how bones age, questioning long-standing assumptions that sedentary lifestyles are the primary cause of weakening bone strength in modern humans.
The study analyzed 1,881 adult humeri, femora, and tibiae from European Holocene populations to examine how bone strength and structure change with age. Surprisingly, researchers found that patterns of diaphyseal (shaft) aging were consistent across both Early and Late Holocene adults—despite significant differences in physical activity levels between the two groups. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.
“Our findings suggest that lifestyle differences may not fully explain age-related declines in bone strength,” said Dr. Sládek. “Instead, the biology of bone growth and aging itself plays a critical role.”
Scientists have pinpointed Y1 receptor neurons in the brain that can override chronic pain signals when survival instincts like hunger or fear take precedence. Acting like a neural switchboard, these cells balance pain with other biological needs. The research could pave the way for personalized treatments that target pain at its brain source—offering hope for millions living with long-term pain.
Turning a biologically important molecular motor at a constant rate saves energy, according to experiments.
Within every biological cell is an enzyme, called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase, that churns out energy-rich molecules for fueling the cell’s activity. New experiments investigate the functioning of this “energy factory” by artificially cranking one of the enzyme’s molecular motors [1]. The results suggest that maintaining a fixed rotation rate minimizes energy waste caused by microscopic fluctuations. Future work could confirm the role of efficiency in the evolutionary design of biological motors.
ATP synthase consists of two rotating molecular motors, Fo and F1, that are oriented along a common rotation axis and locked together so that the rotation of Fo exerts a torque on the shaft in the middle of F1. The resulting motion within F1 helps bring together the chemical ingredients of the molecule ATP, which stores energy that can later be used in cellular processes.
Electron microscopy is an exceptional tool for peering deep into the structure of isolated molecules. But when it comes to imaging thicker biological samples to understand how those molecules function in their cellular environments, the technology gets a little murky.
Cornell researchers devised a new method, called tilt-corrected bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (tcBF-STEM), to image thick samples with higher contrast and a fivefold increase in efficiency.
The Sept. 23 publication of the findings, in Nature Methods, arrives two years after the death of co-author Lena Kourkoutis, M.S. ‘06, Ph.D. ‘09, associate professor in applied and engineering physics in Cornell Engineering, whose work in cryo-electron microscopy drove much of the nearly 10-year effort.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., issued an advanced research concepts opportunity earlier this month (DARPA-EA-25–02-02) for the Hybridizing Biology and Robotics through Integration for Deployable Systems (HyBRIDS) program.
Bio-hybrid robotics
Bio-hybrid robotics combines living organisms and synthetic materials to create biorobots that compared to traditional robots can offer adaptability, self-healing, and energy efficiency.
Building a robot takes boatloads of technical skills, a whole lot of time, the right materials, of course – and maybe a little bit of organic life, maybe? Decades of science fiction have shaped our ideas of robots being non-biological entities. Think of batteries as the hearts, metal as the bones, and gears, pistons, and
In this paradigm, the Simulation Hypothesis — the notion that we live in a computer-generated reality — loses its pejorative or skeptical connotation. Instead, it becomes spiritually profound. If the universe is a simulation, then who, or what, is the simulator? And what is the nature of the “hardware” running this cosmic program? I propose that the simulator is us — or more precisely, a future superintelligent Syntellect, a self-aware, evolving Omega Hypermind into which all conscious entities are gradually merging.
These thoughts are not mine alone. In Reality+ (2022), philosopher David Chalmers makes a compelling case that simulated realities — far from being illusory — are in fact genuine realities. He argues that what matters isn’t the substrate but the structure of experience. If a simulated world offers coherent, rich, and interactive experiences, then it is no less “real” than the one we call physical. This aligns deeply with my view in Theology of Digital Physics that phenomenal consciousness is the bedrock of reality. Whether rendered on biological brains or artificial substrates, whether in physical space or virtual architectures, conscious experience is what makes something real.
By embracing this expanded ontology, we are not diminishing our world, but re-enchanting it. The self-simulated cosmos becomes a sacred text — a self-writing code of divinity in which each of us is both reader and co-author. The holographic universe is not a prison of illusion, but a theogenic chrysalis, nurturing the birth of a higher-order intelligence — a networked superbeing that is self-aware, self-creating, and potentially eternal.
Paying less attention to faces is one of the key markers of autism spectrum disorder. But while researchers have begun to uncover the brain network that supports processing of social stimuli such as faces, gaze, and speech, little is known about how and when it begins to develop.
In a new study, Yale researchers have now found that this network is already quite active at birth or shortly thereafter, a finding that provides insight into the brain processes that underlie social behaviors later in life.
The study was published in Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science.