Greetings, Nautilus members! Here's a bit of what the science world is up to: developing anti-obesity pills, researching proteins that clear brain plaque "like a vacuum," and monitoring a spacecraft now nearly one light-day from Earth.
Plus, the science picks for the day:
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The five life stages of your brain |
Life rolls out in reasonably clear tiers: naïve childhood, the feral teen years, exuberant young adulthood, pragmatic middle-age, sage elderhood, and the superager summit. But apparently, the brain keeps its own calendar, moving through five stages marked by dramatic turning points.
Scientists compared MRI diffusion scans of more than 3,800 people, ranging from newborns to 90-year-olds. The findings reveal central nervous system hubs that grow and reorganize on a timeline that doesn’t map neatly onto the milestones we celebrate. At ages 9, 32, 66, and 83, our brains change costumes.
- The first chapter is brief but intense, lasting from infancy through age 9, when our brains are generally in a phase of consolidation, pairing away excess synapses developed in the brains of babies. Meanwhile, grey and white matter grow rapidly, and the brain’s distinctive folds begin to stabilize.
- By around the end of the first decade on Earth, our cognitive capacity has leapt forward—and it arrives with increased risk of mental health disorders. The lights get brighter but so do the shadows. Through our 20s and early 30s, white matter continues to grow and the connections across brain regions become more selective, enhancing cognitive performance.
- According to the researchers, age 32 is the “strongest topological turning point” of the lifespan. This is when the brain stops rearranging the furniture and settles in for a while.
Further reading:
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> Voyager 1, the NASA spacecraft launched in 1977, will soon be one light-day from Earth. (Read on Popular Science)
> What would happen if a black hole ripped through your body? (Read on Nautilus)
> The largest black hole merger recorded seemed impossible—until astrophysicists considered the impact of magnetic fields. (Read on Smithsonian) |
> This protein, which plays a critical role in male sexual development, may clear dementia-linked plaque "like a vacuum." (Read on HuffPost)
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> Thus far semaglutides, which regulate blood sugar and promote weight loss, has been primarily available by injection. Here's what to know about the obesity pills in development. (Read on NPR)
> Pfizer's mRNA flu shot was 34.5 percent more effective than the standard vaccine. (Read on NBC News) |
🧐 Roughly what percentage of moss spores survived on the outside of the International Space Station for nine months? |
A) around 40 percent
B) around 60 percent
C) more than 80 percent
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⭐️ What Else We're Reading |
Does smelling a fresh pine tree feel amazing (or, for that matter, horrible)? Here's why.
It seems like everybody's interested in the pelvic floor. Could it be behind many of contemporary life's most common pains?
Food that people toss out is responsible for some 170 million metric tons of emissions every year in the U.S. alone. Here are 46 simple, doable ways to waste less food at home.
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