Dispute Clouds Pennsylvania Newborn Measles Death: Conflicting accounts are complicating efforts to determine whether measles contributed to the death of a Pennsylvania newborn during the state’s major outbreak. The infant died from a ruptured spleen, but Lancaster County’s coroner says the organ was neither enlarged nor inflamed and has not attributed the death to measles. Infectious-disease specialist Paul Offit argues that measles-related inflammation could still have weakened the spleen, noting that rupture can obscure enlargement after death. Pennsylvania officials maintain that maternal measles infection played a role, while the CDC says available evidence remains insufficient to classify the death as measles-caused. The dispute comes as U.S. measles cases reach 2,903 in 2026, exceeding last year’s total, with significant discrepancies between state and federal case counts. (CIDRAP)
Ebola Death Toll Nears 3,000 in Congo: The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s worsening Ebola outbreak has reached 6,041 cases and 2,911 deaths, with the crude case-fatality rate standing at 48.1%, according to the World Health Organization. The Bundibugyo strain has become established in North Kivu, while infections have now been reported across six provinces. WHO officials warn that delays in detecting cases and obtaining quality clinical care are contributing both to deaths and continued transmission in homes, communities, and healthcare facilities. Doctors Without Borders is opening a new Ebola Treatment Center in Beni to bolster the response. The organization also warns that fear and misinformation surrounding Ebola are discouraging people from seeking routine healthcare, potentially increasing deaths from malaria, pregnancy complications, and other treatable conditions. (CIDRAP)
AI Screens 69 Billion Molecules for Drugs: An AI-assisted platform could make ultra-large virtual drug screening dramatically cheaper and more accessible. Researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and collaborators developed AdaptiveFlow, an open-source system capable of screening a library containing 69 billion drug-like molecules. Instead of computationally docking every molecule, the system organizes compounds using an 18-dimensional grid of molecular properties, screens representative subsets, and uses machine learning to identify promising regions for deeper analysis. AdaptiveFlow reduced computational costs roughly 1,000-fold and scaled efficiently to 5.6 million virtual CPUs. As proof of concept, it discovered potent inhibitors targeting PARP1 and the emerging cancer target FSP1. Published today in Nature Biotechnology, the work could democratize molecular screening previously feasible mainly for organizations possessing enormous computing resources. (St. Jude)
Feynman’s Quantum Paths Finally Face Experiment: Nearly 80 years after Richard Feynman proposed his path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics, physicists have directly tested its fundamental assumptions with individual photons. Feynman’s framework calculates a particle’s behavior by considering every possible route between two points rather than assigning it one trajectory. Researchers led by Shi-Liang Zhu at South China Normal University built an optical experiment using mirrors, lenses and crystals that allowed them to reconstruct probability amplitudes associated with approximately 1.42 million possible photon paths. The results agreed closely with Feynman’s predictions: the paths contributed with equal strength, while their phases followed relationships determined by classical trajectories. Published in Science Advances, the experiment does not overthrow or modify quantum mechanics; instead, it experimentally validates assumptions underpinning one of physics’ most powerful mathematical frameworks and establishes techniques for probing path integrals in more complicated systems. (Phys.org)
Cancer Drug Strategy Stabilizes Artery Plaques: A molecular pathway targeted by cancer drugs may offer a new approach to preventing heart attacks and strokes. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine investigated why atherosclerotic plaques preferentially develop where arteries curve and branch. Disturbed blood flow in these regions activates a protein complex called PRC2, which suppresses genes that normally protect blood vessels from inflammation. Blocking PRC2 in endothelial cells reduced inflammatory signaling. In animal models, the inhibitor tazemetostat slowed plaque growth and transformed vulnerable plaques into more stable forms less likely to rupture. Tazemetostat itself has since been withdrawn because of evidence of a small secondary-cancer risk, but other PRC2 inhibitors exist. The PNAS findings identify blood-flow-induced epigenetic regulation as a potential cardiovascular treatment target, although the approach still requires human testing. (Yale School of Medicine)
Universe Has Plenty of Gas but Fewer Stars: The universe’s declining birth rate for stars apparently cannot be explained simply by running out of fuel. Astronomers combined China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with galaxy measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument to measure neutral atomic hydrogen across roughly 2.5 million galaxies spanning 4.5 billion years of cosmic history. During that period, the star-formation rate dropped by more than half. Yet the density of neutral hydrogen—the reservoir from which galaxies ultimately obtain star-forming material—declined much less dramatically. Around 4.5 billion years ago, star formation was about 2.5 times today’s rate while neutral hydrogen abundance was only about 1.4 times greater. Published today in Nature Astronomy, the discrepancy shifts the mystery: galaxies still possess raw material, but have somehow become increasingly inefficient at turning it into stars. (Phys.org)
Skull Bone Marrow Acts Like Brain Immune Hub: The skull may contain specialized immune centers serving as first responders for the brain. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified lymph-node-like structures inside mouse skull bone marrow where T cells assist B cells in producing antibodies. Proteins originating in the brain traveled through microscopic channels connecting the brain, dura and skull marrow, reaching these immune hubs before more distant lymph nodes responded. In mice with glioblastoma, disabling the structures accelerated tumor growth and reduced survival. Conversely, stimulating skull-marrow immunity improved tumor rejection. Researchers also found evidence of similar immune cells in human skull marrow. Published in Nature, the findings add to a growing revision of the once-dominant view that the brain is immunologically isolated and suggest skull-based immune pathways might eventually become therapeutic targets. (SciTechDaily)
Migraine Prevention Gets First Guidelines Since 2012: For the first time in 14 years, neurologists have updated U.S. guidelines for preventing migraine, incorporating a generation of treatments specifically designed around migraine biology. Recommendations published August 31 by the American Academy of Neurology and American Headache Society include drugs targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP, whose levels rise during migraine attacks. Some patients taking these drugs experience reductions in migraines approaching 70 percent, and their relatively favorable tolerability has transformed preventive care. Older treatments—including beta-blockers and certain antiseizure medications—remain useful, particularly when cost or other medical conditions matter. Yet precision remains incomplete: doctors still cannot reliably predict which therapy will work for an individual because migraine involves more than 100 genes, hundreds of variants and multiple biological pathways. Researchers are now investigating additional targets, including the signaling molecule PACAP. (Science News)
Kelp Collapse Rewires Entire Microbial Ecosystems: The disappearance of Maine’s kelp forests is transforming coastal ecosystems at a scale invisible to the naked eye. Researchers compared reefs dominated by healthy kelp with locations where warming waters have allowed carpet-like turf algae to take over. Combining diving surveys, metagenomics and metabolomics, they found that the ecological transition changes not only large organisms but also the composition and biochemical activity of microbial communities living across the reef. Different microbes dominate turf-covered reefs, and the chemical compounds they consume and produce differ fundamentally from those associated with kelp forests. Published in PNAS, the work demonstrates how losing a foundational species can cascade downward through virtually every biological scale. Because microbes influence nutrient cycling, chemistry and relationships among larger organisms, these hidden changes could help determine whether degraded reefs eventually recover or settle into persistent alternative ecosystems. (Phys.org)
Snake-Headed Vessel Reveals Roman Mystery Cult: Fragments of an unusual ceramic vessel found at a Roman villa in northeastern Spain suggest worship of the eastern deity Sabazios reached surprisingly deep into the empire’s rural countryside. Archaeologists discovered part of the vessel’s rim and a handle shaped like a two-headed serpent at the Collet villa. Stratigraphy and surrounding pottery indicate the object was broken and buried during or shortly before the reign of Augustus, between 27 B.C. and A.D. 14. Snakes were characteristic symbols associated with Sabazios, a deity originating in Thrace and Phrygia. A related Sabazios object previously found at nearby ancient Emporiae strengthens the interpretation. Researchers writing in Antiquity suggest itinerant priests may have carried the cult outward from cities. The discovery shows that supposedly minor mystery religions could form extensive networks across Roman society. (Phys.org)
Roman Telescope Begins Million-Mile Journey: Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope successfully launched August 30 aboard a Falcon Heavy, beginning its journey toward the Sun-Earth L2 point roughly one million miles from Earth. Roman carries a primary mirror comparable in diameter to Hubble’s but can photograph roughly 100 times more sky in each snapshot, giving astronomers an unprecedented combination of resolution and survey speed. The observatory will map huge numbers of galaxies and supernovae to investigate dark energy and cosmic expansion while using gravitational microlensing to discover planets orbiting distant stars. An experimental coronagraph will also test technology for directly imaging planets beside bright host stars. NASA reported August 31 that Roman successfully completed its first approximately three-minute mid-course correction burn, adjusting its trajectory toward L2. The observatory now begins the commissioning journey toward one of astronomy’s most ambitious survey programs. (NASA Science)