Science & Technology
Popular sugar substitutes linked to faster brain aging
Several popular sugar substitutes may not be as harmless as they seem. Adults who consumed the most artificial sweeteners showed substantially faster declines in memory and thinking, especially if they were under 60 or had diabetes. The highest intake …
A shattered asteroid may have bombarded Earth 800 million years ago
A catastrophic asteroid breakup may have triggered a huge wave of impacts across the inner solar system about 800 million years ago. The debris was launched from near a gravitational gateway controlled by Jupiter, sending fragments toward Earth, the Mo…
Earth’s biggest volcanic event transformed an entire oceanic plate
Seismic waves have revealed that the oceanic plate beneath the Ontong Java Plateau was dramatically transformed by the colossal volcanic activity that created it more than 100 million years ago. Researchers found a complex structure of horizontal layer…
Intermittent fasting helped people keep weight off for a year
A 12-week intermittent fasting program produced weight-loss benefits that were still visible a year later. Participants who ate within an eight-hour window maintained more weight loss than those who followed their usual longer eating schedule. Both ear…
NASA’s James Webb catches a supermassive black hole feeding
JWST has captured unusually detailed images of gas feeding the supermassive black hole at the center of NGC 4696. A vast filament appears to funnel material into an 800-light-year-wide spinning disk, where gas races around at up to 600 kilometers per s…
Mediterranean diet may activate tiny proteins that protect the heart and brain
The Mediterranean diet may influence aging through tiny proteins produced inside the cell’s mitochondria. Older adults who followed the diet most closely had higher levels of humanin and SHMOOSE, which have been linked to heart and brain protection. Ol…