Issue 251  August 8th 2025

Einstein was wrong (slightly) about quantum physics, new version of the famous double-slit experiment reveals

For over 100 years, quantum physics has taught us that light is both a wave and a particle. Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have performed a daring experiment using single atoms that confirms that, while light can behave as either a particle or a photon, it cannot be seen to behave as both at the same time.

Nanoparticles could slow rheumatoid arthritis progression and reduce flare severity

As a chronic condition, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can't be cured, so treatment focuses on managing the disease and controlling its progression. Although current treatments help control RA symptoms in most people, they cannot prevent the onset of RA or painful flare-ups. Now, researchers publishing in ACS Central Science have developed nanoparticles that could slow disease progression and reduce flare severity, based on results from tests with human blood and mice models with RA-like disease.

Nanoneedle patch offers painless alternative to traditional cancer biopsies

A patch containing tens of millions of microscopic nanoneedles could soon replace traditional biopsies, scientists have found. The patch offers a painless and less invasive alternative for millions of patients worldwide who undergo biopsies each year to detect and monitor diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.

Heart cells adapt and stretch to shape a healthy beating heart

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have discovered that the heart's own contractions trigger biological signals that guide the formation of a functional beating heart.

Researchers Develop Blood Test That Detects Cancer Years before Symptoms Occur

The results demonstrate that it is possible to detect ctDNA more than 3 years prior to clinical diagnosis and provide benchmark sensitivities required for this purpose.

Gut microbiota and short chain fatty acids influence bone health in postmenopausal osteoporosis

Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) is framed as a systemic bone disease driven by estrogen withdrawal, but emerging evidence positions gut dysbiosis and its fermentation products—short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)—as equally influential regulators of skeletal fate.

Study to test if mothers’ diet prevents early sign of food allergy in babies

A clinical trial testing whether maternal consumption of peanuts and eggs during pregnancy and breastfeeding prevents babies from developing an early sign of allergies to these foods is underway. Food allergy affects about 8% of children in the United States and sometimes causes severe or life-threatening reactions. Peanut and egg are two of the most common early-childhood food allergens. The study will enroll pregnant mothers who are not allergic to peanut or egg but whose babies are at high risk for food allergy because the mother has a parent, sibling or child with allergic disease

Apple snail eye regeneration offers new insights into human sight restoration

The eye of the apple snail is unusually similar to a human eye-but, unlike human eyes, it can regrow itself if injured or even amputated. New research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has established the apple snail as a novel research organism to study eye regeneration, with the potential to better understand and find treatments for eye conditions in humans like macular degeneration.

How Ancestral Plant Knowledge Could Shape Modern Medicine

A researcher behind a study that catalogued 175 medicinal plants used by the Pataxó Hãhãhãi people from southern Bahia, Brazil. Of these plants, 43 are specifically used to treat the three most common health issues at the community’s health center: diabetes, hypertension, and intestinal worms.

Published in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, the study bridges traditional knowledge with contemporary scientific evidence. Notably, the work was led entirely by an Indigenous ethnobotanist — from planning to data collection in the field — with the goal of recovering and documenting his people's medicinal knowledge.

Nighttime caffeine linked to increased impulsivity

Researchers designed a series of experiments introducing caffeine into fruit flies' diets under various conditions, including different caffeine doses, nighttime versus daytime consumption and in combination with sleep deprivation. The team then assessed impulsivity by measuring the flies' ability to suppress movement in response to strong airflow, a naturally unpleasant stimulus.