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Stress is linked to many of our biggest killers, but a growing body of research suggests that certain types can sharpen the mind and strengthen the body. Here’s how to find your perfect dose

“I’m stressed” is a phrase that many of us use, but now there are ways to shed light on how stressed you actually are

Regeneration is one of the futuristic tropes of science-fiction, because it is both incredibly powerful and not theoretically impossible. Imagine the ability to regrow a lost limb, or simply to replace a diseased or worn out limb. There are about a million limb amputations worldwide every year, so it is a very common medical problem. What if we could regenerate organs? This would be a game-changer for medicine.

There are several approaches to addressing missing limbs or failing organs. One is the cyborg approach – make a mechanical version to replace the biological one. We are making progress here, with brain machine interfaces, mechanical hearts, and other advances. Or you could transplant the body part from another person, or even an animal that has been genetically modified to be compatible. You can also regrow the missing or failing body part from the intended recipient’s own tissues and then transplant that. Or you could inject stem cells programed to regrow the needed part inside the recipient. All of these options are active research programs, have shown some incredible promise, but are also years or even decades away, especially in their mature form.

Let’s now add one more technology to the list – genetic therapy that triggers natural regeneration, meaning from the person’s own tissue. This has long been a target of potential therapy, inspired by the fact that there are many animals that can already naturally do this. Most extreme is the axolotl (a type of salamander that for some reason has become very population with the young generation), which can regenerate just about any of its body parts. They form a blastoma of pluripotent stem cells at the site of injury that can quickly regrow into a missing limb, heart, spinal cord, parts of the brain, etc. in weeks. There are also zebrafish, which can regrow their tail fins. Mice can also regrow missing digits, which is important because they are mammals showing that regeneration can happen even within the mammal clade. You don’t have to be a salamander.

The amazing regenerating ability of the axolotls was first documented in 1768. Molecular and genetic studies of the regeneration process go back to the end of the 20th century. But now with modern genetics tools, like CRISPR, genetic research is really taking off. A recent study tried to find if there were any genetic similarities in the regeneration abilities of axolotls, zebrafish, and mice. If these three animals share the same genetic basis of their regeneration that this would suggest that these genetic abilities are highly conserved, all the way from fish to mammals. This would be good for the prospects of regeneration in humans, because we would likely share some of these same highly conserved genetic infrastructure. As you may have guessed, these researchers hit pay dirt (which is why I am writing about this today). They found that they shared SP6 and SP8 transcription factors. They confirmed the relevance of these factors by making knockout mice missing SP6 and SP8, which impaired their ability to regenerate lost digits. Knocking out sp8 in the axolotl also impaired their ability to regenerate – so the same factor seems critical for both species.

They then took a factor from the zebrafish which has been shown to enhance regeneration – FGF8, whose gene is normally turned on by SP8. Replacing the missing FGF8 then partially restored the regeneration ability of mice missing SP6 and SP8.

Do humans have SP6 and SP8 genes? Yes, we do. Again, these are highly conserved genes with basic biological function. They are the Specificity Protein family of genes that are involved in regulating the development of limbs, teeth, skin, and even organs. That is essentially how development works – there is a suite of genes with all the information to make, for example, a human arm (or a bird’s wing, or a the antenna of a moth). This suite of genes is turned on by a regulatory gene, that essentially says – build an arm here. Regeneration in a creature like the axolotl essentially involved going back to this developmental stage, creating a blob of stem cells, and then saying – build a limb here.

Obviously this entire process is more complicated than just tweaking one gene or replacing one missing factor. It is very complex. Humans form scar tissue to repair a wound, they do not form a blastema. This is partly driven by differences in the availability and sensing of oxygen in the tissues. Further, scar formation is driven by the immune reaction, involving macrophages, which are actively suppressed in salamanders. And finally, the reason we do not already have the ability for unlimited regeneration, is that there is a tradeoff between regenerative ability and cancer suppression. It is likely that our ancestors sacrificed regenerative abilities for cancer suppression mechanisms – this was the best evolutionary tradeoff. In other words – we simply went down a different evolutionary path than the axolotl. Gaining the ability to regenerate limbs or organs would therefore probably involve a complex coordination of multiple factors, while simultaneously preventing cancer formation.

Interestingly, at present there is nothing we know that would make it theoretically impossible to have full regeneration in humans. However, it is extremely complex. It is the perfect sci-fi technology – possible, but likely only in the distant future. I suspect it will take decades to perfect this technology.

The post The Prospect of Regenerating Limbs first appeared on NeuroLogica Blog.

I was pretty much spot on about predicting when Vashti and Armon’s brood would hatch. I guessed Saturday or Sunday and, sure enough, some time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday, a brood of eight was seen in Botany Pond.  I wasn’t there, but my colleague Peggy Mason, neuroscientist and member of Team Duck, spotted them.

Sadly, one duckling was “off,” and couldn’t swim or hold its head up. It got stuck in the drain, and then in the rocks, and finally expired. Peggy removed the little carcass from the pond and we were all very sad.

The good news is that we’re left with seven healthy ducklings, whose first job was a swimming tour of the pond behind Vashti to get their bearings (they do learn the layout of Botany Pond within a day, as they’re smart as well as cute).

Vashti is a good mom, even trying to help the “off” duckling by nudging it, but she couldn’t help it.  She’s very solicitous towards the ducklings, and Armon stays nearby but doesn’t bother them.

Two members of Team Duck will be feeding them and looking out for them until my return. Everybody got fed yesterday (tiny pellets for the ducklings), though it’s not clear that the ducklings ate, as they survive on the remaining yolk in their bellies during their first day on the water. They will be fed twice a day.

And so, here are Vashti and her hard-won brood of seven; all photos by Peggy Mason. I am jealous as I was not there to see Hatch Day.

Vashti and the Magnificent Seven:

They are of course heavily imprinted on Mom and stay very close to her.

I was glad to see that they all made it onto the rocks and then from the rocks to the ground, where they huddled under Vashti to get warm as well as to get coated in her feather oil, which waterproofs them until they’re old enough to produce their own

Huddling under Mom.  I hope they all make it to fledging!  But Vashti has proven to be a good mom.

Pushing against years of scepticism, an analysis suggests quantum computers may offer real advantages for running machine learning and similar algorithms in the near future

AI-powered personas are becoming so realistic that they can infiltrate online communities and subtly steer public opinion. Unlike traditional bots, they adapt, coordinate, and refine their messaging at a massive scale, creating a false sense of consensus. Early warning signs—like deepfakes and fake news networks—have already appeared in global elections. Researchers warn that the next election could be the true test of this technology’s power.

Although some of the criticisms of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA movement are spot on, why did KevinMD platform a functional medicine quack to make them?

The post KevinMD platforms criticism of MAHA by a “functional medicine” practitioner first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

After two centuries of failed attempts, scientists have finally grown dolomite in the lab, cracking a long-standing geological puzzle. They discovered that the mineral’s growth stalls because of tiny defects—but in nature, those flaws get washed away over time. By mimicking this process with precise simulations and electron beam pulses, the team achieved record-breaking crystal growth. The finding could reshape how high-tech materials are made.

After two centuries of failed attempts, scientists have finally grown dolomite in the lab, cracking a long-standing geological puzzle. They discovered that the mineral’s growth stalls because of tiny defects—but in nature, those flaws get washed away over time. By mimicking this process with precise simulations and electron beam pulses, the team achieved record-breaking crystal growth. The finding could reshape how high-tech materials are made.

Most hospital patients don't brush their teeth regularly, but doing so could cut their risk of developing pneumonia during their stay

Most hospital patients don't brush their teeth regularly, but doing so could cut their risk of developing pneumonia during their stay

Rubin’s largest asteroid haul yet, gathered before the Legacy Survey of Space and Time even begins, is just the “tip of the iceberg”

Well, I got my tuches to Savannah at about noon yesterday, and it was already steaming hot.  Since our Air B&B didn’t open until 4 pm (why so late?), I had to cool my heels somewhere for a few hours, so I decided to visit the Telfair Museum (a trio of museums downtown), buy a pass, check my bags, get some food, and return for some art-gawking before making my way to the apartment (conveniently located in downtown Savannah).

I parked my luggage at the Jespson Museum, got a recommendation for lunch, and slowly ambled through the famous squares of downtown Savannah to the Little Duck Diner (!), which looks exactly like the picture at the link. It’s duck-themed and serves duck in various guises, but of course I eschewed the waterfowl dishes. Here’s how it looks from the outside:

A logo from the menu (artist unidentified).

The menu is here, and I asked the waiter for recommendations, which is how I came up with the avocado grilled cheese sandwich, with two types of cheese, bacon, avocado, and tomato.  I ordered iced tea, and was asked “plain or sweet?”. You know you’re in the South when they ask you that, and of course I got the sweet tea, which, as usual, was so sweet it was almost like liquid dessert. That’s how the “table wine of the South” is served. Lunch:

On my walk to the restaurant, I noticed a small hole-in-the-wall store that sold only cobblers and variations on banana pudding—two dessert specialities of the South—and stopped in to plug the dessert-shaped hole in my being.  Again, the place had a duck motif!

The place was The Peach Cobbler Factory, of which there are several branches After ascertaining that the Peach Cobbler was made from canned peaches (fresh fruits are out of season), I had the banana pudding instead. It was a generous portion of that Southern treat, embedded in which were two vanilla wafers (obligatory) and a huge hunk of red velvet cake. It was excellent, and filled the remaining lacuna in my stomach:

I passed this restaurant after lunch, which had a truly Southern seafood menu (click to enlarge). I must get shrimp and grits on this trip. And I would die for some boiled (green) peanuts, which are delicious and which I’ve had only in Georgia

Oy, was it hot! I ambled back to the Jepson Center (one of the trio of museums), where they featured the art of Ossabaw Island, one of the 100 or so Sea Islands near the coast of Georgia (Savannah’s on the ocean). Like most of these, Ossabaw is accessible only by ferry and guided tour.  I’m keen to visit Sapelo Island, the home of the last community of Gullah people, a group of black Southerners with their own language and distinctive culture.  (They were, of course, enslaved before and during the Civil War.) Here’s an example of the Gullah language, also called Geechee, a creole language that mixes English and African words:

The art was local, but I was most interested in two paintings by Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese emigrant whom most of us geezers know as a mystic and author of The Prophet (1923), a collection of quasi-mystical fables that many hippies and New Agers revered as “wisdom”. It was immensely popular and has been translated into many languages, but I wouldn’t recommend reading it.

I was surprised to learn that Gibran actually regarded himself more as an artist than a writer, and two of his paintings were at the museum. The first is a self portrait, which I photographed. The details of the painting are in the second photo below:

And a portrait of Gibran’s mother. The guy was a pretty good painter!

An artist from Ossabaw island painting in the Museum and photographed from above:

I might as well put up some photos from Botany Pond, as the ducklings will have hatched when I return (I timed this trip badly, but had no idea that Vashti would be nesting now).  The eggs should hatch today or tomorrow, and apparently one was rejected from the nest, as it was found below it but some distance from the ledge.

First, turtles. I’ve now seen all five, so they survived the winter, and they love to bask on the rocks. I believe that there is one yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) and two red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans; they are subspecies) in the photo below.

We call this “turtle yoga”:

Nuzzling:

The pair of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) are there nearly every day, but they really should be mating and nesting. We have no tree holes at the pond (a sine qua non for this species to breed), so I have no idea what they’re doing. They are gorgeous, though.

The male (I haven’t named either one):

And the female:

Finally, Vashti on her nest. I’m worried that when the ducklings hatch, they and Vashti will be assaulted by the undocumented drakes who visit the pond. It’s probably good that I’m gone, as I’d be beside myself with anxiety. I have two very reliable associates who are taking care of the waterfowl in my absence.

Note that the nest is lined with soft feathers that she plucked from her breast.

(Armon is still here, ineffectually trying to drive away interloper drakes.)

A close up. Vashti is immobile when on the nest, so I can get quite close to her, but do so only to ensure that she’s still there (she’s hard to see):

On to more adventures in Savannah. Stay tuned.

Scientists have developed a fuel cell that uses microbes in soil to produce electricity. The device can power underground sensors for tasks like monitoring moisture or detecting touch, without needing batteries or solar panels. It works in both dry and wet conditions and even lasts longer than similar technologies. This could pave the way for sustainable, low-maintenance sensors in farming and environmental monitoring.

A surprising breakthrough in physics could reshape the future of computing by tapping into a strange, previously untapped property of matter. Scientists have shown that tiny atomic vibrations—called chiral phonons—can directly transfer motion to electrons, allowing them to carry information without magnets, batteries, or even electricity. This opens the door to a new field known as orbitronics, where data is processed using the orbital motion of electrons instead of traditional charge or spin.

A surprising breakthrough in physics could reshape the future of computing by tapping into a strange, previously untapped property of matter. Scientists have shown that tiny atomic vibrations—called chiral phonons—can directly transfer motion to electrons, allowing them to carry information without magnets, batteries, or even electricity. This opens the door to a new field known as orbitronics, where data is processed using the orbital motion of electrons instead of traditional charge or spin.

Astronomers have long been puzzled by a cosmic mystery: planets orbiting two stars—like Star Wars’ Tatooine—are surprisingly rare, even though they should be common. New research suggests the culprit is none other than Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Calling AI things like “smart” or saying it “knows” something might sound harmless, but it can quietly mislead people about what AI actually does. A new study shows that news writers are more careful than expected, rarely using strongly human-like language. When they do, it often falls on a spectrum—sometimes describing simple requirements, other times hinting at human traits.

Cherenkov radiation isn't just a beautiful phenomenon. It turns up in nuclear reactors, in the upper atmosphere, in gamma ray telescopes on three continents, in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, and in hospital imaging suites. Here's what a light boom is actually good for.

Using lunar regolith simulant, a team of researchers demonstrated that "immature" regolith similar to what is expected around the Moon's southern polar region is suitable for rovers to drive on.