CloudScope Breaks Brain Imaging Time Barrier: Johns Hopkins researchers have developed CloudScope, a miniaturized, cloud-connected microscope capable of continuously monitoring brain activity and disease-related changes for more than 24 hours in freely moving mice. The platform lets scientists remotely observe neuronal activity, blood flow, oxygenation, blood-vessel remodeling and cellular behavior over periods far longer than conventional imaging allows. In experiments, CloudScope captured delayed spontaneous seizures that shorter observations would have missed and tracked individual brain-cancer cells as tumors evolved. Researchers call the approach “neurosurveillance,” arguing that it could reveal critical events occurring across hours or days during neurological disease. The team also combined 24-hour brain recordings with behavioral video to train AI to predict animals’ activity from neuronal signals alone. Future applications could include research into stroke, Parkinson’s disease and brain cancer. (hopkinsmedicine.org)

Scientists Capture DNA Molecules Zipping Together: Researchers at the Universities of York and Sheffield have directly observed two DNA double helices “zipping” together, resolving a biological puzzle that has persisted for decades. Because DNA molecules carry negative electrical charges, they normally repel one another, yet matching strands must sometimes come together during processes including genetic recombination and gene regulation. Using atomic force microscopy, scientists watched short DNA fragments align precisely, groove for groove. Computer simulations showed that positively charged metal ions bridge the negatively charged molecules, helping lock them together. The findings support a 20-year-old “DNA zipper” model proposing that ions allow complementary charge patterns to form around DNA. Researchers also found that some DNA sequences pair more strongly than others, potentially revealing genomic hotspots relevant to cancer and future DNA-based biotechnology. (york.ac.uk)

WHO Clears Multi-Dose Maternal RSV Vaccine: The World Health Organization has prequalified a multi-dose version of Pfizer’s maternal RSV vaccine Abrysvo, a step expected to expand access in lower-income countries. Pregnant women vaccinated during the third trimester pass protective antibodies to their babies, reducing an infant’s risk of RSV hospitalization by more than 80%. WHO prequalification is required before agencies such as UNICEF can purchase vaccines for international distribution. Although single-dose vials were approved in 2025, Gavi’s planned maternal RSV rollout depended on clearance of the multi-dose format, which lowers costs, saves storage space and simplifies refrigerated transport. RSV remains a major global threat, hospitalizing an estimated 3.6 million children under five and killing about 100,000 annually. Newborns are particularly vulnerable to severe disease. (cidrap.umn.edu)

AI Model Turns Lunar Data Into Moon Maps: NASA and IBM have released an open-source AI foundation model designed specifically for lunar science. Trained primarily on roughly two million image tiles from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, along with data from several other missions, the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model can be adapted to identify craters, unusual volcanic features and regions where ice may remain stable near the lunar poles. In testing, it matched or exceeded strong existing models across several tasks and showed a particular advantage in estimating polar ice stability. Because researchers can fine-tune the pretrained system using relatively small amounts of labeled data, NASA hopes it will accelerate analysis of enormous lunar datasets. The model could ultimately help reconstruct lunar history while informing landing-site and resource assessments for future exploration. (NASA Science)

First Adult T. Rex Trackway Discovered: Paleontologists have discovered the first known sequence of footprints made by an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, providing a rare snapshot of the predator actually moving through its environment. The roughly 66.5-million-year-old trackway, found in North Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation, contains four enormous three-toed footprints extending along a 23-foot path. Researchers estimate the animal took approximately 13-foot strides while walking around 3.5 to 4.5 miles per hour—roughly a brisk human walking pace. Adult T. rex footprints are extraordinarily uncommon, and previously confirmed examples were isolated prints that could reveal little about locomotion. Researchers used high-resolution 3D scanning to document the trackway and attributed it to T. rex based on its size, toe morphology and nearby tyrannosaur fossils. Three footprints are expected to be removed for further study. (CBS News)

Brain Recorder Takes Neuroscience Into the Wild: A miniature wireless device weighing less than a U.S. dime could allow neuroscientists to record brain activity while animals behave freely in natural environments. Researchers developed WILD—the Wireless, Interactive, Lightweight Datalogger—which incorporates flexible probes capable of monitoring populations of neurons for months. Modular components can simultaneously track locomotion and orientation, vocalizations and eye movements, while other modules can manipulate neural activity experimentally. Published in Nature Methods, the proof-of-concept technology addresses an important limitation of neuroscience: much of what researchers know about neural activity comes from animals performing simplified tasks under highly controlled laboratory conditions. WILD could instead reveal how brains operate during complex social interactions, navigation and responses to changing real-world environments. Researchers say the system should enable experiments addressing questions about natural behavior that previously could not practically be investigated neurologically. (EBS Public Now)

Ancient Teeth Reveal 25,000-Year-Old Drug Use: Chemical traces preserved in prehistoric teeth suggest humans were habitually consuming psychoactive betel nut in Sulawesi, Indonesia, around 25,000 years ago—potentially the earliest evidence yet of sustained human drug use. Researchers detected arecoline, the psychoactive compound produced by areca nuts, in dental calculus and examined distinctive tooth wear associated with chewing the plant. The evidence came from hunter-gatherer remains recovered from Leang Panninge cave. Researchers suggest betel use may initially have provided medicinal benefits, including pain relief from serious dental problems, before developing broader social or psychoactive functions. Heavy consumption, however, appears to have inflicted substantial damage on the individuals’ teeth. The discovery pushes the archaeological history of betel chewing thousands of years deeper into the past and suggests humans’ deliberate use of mind-altering plant substances began far earlier than previously documented. (ScienceDaily)

Climate Feedbacks Could Add 30 Percent More Warming: Natural systems destabilized by human-caused warming could amplify global heating by 20% to 30% by 2100, according to research published in Environmental Research Letters. Scientists examined four major feedback sources: thawing permafrost, intensifying wildfires, warming wetlands and freshwater systems. Each can release additional carbon dioxide or methane as temperatures rise, creating a cycle in which human-driven warming triggers natural emissions that produce still more warming. Researchers estimate these feedbacks could add approximately 0.2°C under an aggressive emissions-reduction scenario and around 0.4°C under higher emissions. Crucially, the authors argue that many climate-policy calculations inadequately incorporate these natural emissions, potentially making remaining carbon budgets appear larger than they really are. The findings do not imply runaway warming is inevitable: rapidly reducing fossil-fuel emissions would also limit the magnitude of the feedbacks. (The Guardian)

IMAGE CREDIT: NASA.