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Today:
Quantum Computers Identify Nuclear Fusion Fuel in Major First
NEWS | 17 July 2026
Most proposed fusion reactors (the donut-shaped tokamak reactors) are powered by the fusion of tritium and deuterium. This material is now being modeled with quantum computers. But so far, fusion has been floundering to take off, with technological barriers so far constraining it to laboratory settings. "Quantum computers… are key tools that accelerate the discovery and design cycles needed to produce sufficient tritium to fuel fusion reactors," Oak Ridge National Laboratory computational chemist Tom Beck explains. So far, the research is more about seeing whether quantum computers can actually be relied on to help solve this problem.

Top Stories:
Common Sleep Supplement May Also Ease Chronic Pain, Review of 23 Trials Reveals
NEWS | 17 July 2026
As a sleep aid, melatonin adds to the natural reserves in our bodies, triggering chemical changes that prepare the body for sleep. The headline finding was that melatonin can indeed relieve chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain, which affects muscles, bones, joints, and the tendons and ligaments connecting them. "What's exciting is that melatonin may also help manage chronic pain, opening the door to reducing reliance on medications that come with more risks." All the reviewed research involved people with MSK pain as either a chronic condition or a result of recent surgery. However, there were variations among the trial participants: There was no statistically significant drop in pain for those recovering from surgery; the real difference was seen among the chronic MSK pain cases.

World:
Voyager 1 Has Traveled Through Space at 38,000 Mph Since 1977 And Still Hasn't Reached 1 Light-Day
NEWS | 17 July 2026
Crazily, in all that time, the spacecraft still hasn't quite made it 1 light-day away from Earth. But NASA scientists have calculated the precise moment that will happen, and we're only a few months away. On 18 November 2026 at 2:16 AM PST, Voyager 1 will reach a distance of 25.9 billion kilometers from its home planet. Voyager 1's original mission was simply to fly past Jupiter and Saturn – goals it completed in 1979 and 1980 respectively – and then it just. Related: NASA Shuts Down Another Piece of Voyager 1 to Extend Its Interstellar MissionBut turning off won't be the end of its mission.

Current Events:
Parasites Are Surging in The US. Here's Exactly How to Wash Your Produce
NEWS | 17 July 2026
The thought of parasites in your food might make you squirm, but they are a reality we must all be wary of. In the midst of the current US Cyclospora outbreak, experts are advising the public to be wary of how they consume raw vegetables, and take appropriate measures to clean fresh produce. A new World Health Organization report published in The Lancet estimates the burden of foodborne parasites in 2021. Across the world, they estimate that infections with food-borne parasites were responsible for 4,886,427 DALYs lost in 2021. al, The Lancet, 2026)The pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) has the largest global health burden of the foodborne parasites they measured.

News Flash:
'Footprint of Death': Entirely New Way Viruses Spread Has Been Discovered
NEWS | 17 July 2026
Researchers have now identified a new 'footprint of death' that cells leave behind as they die to guide the immune system in its waste-removal role. The discoveries, published in a recent study in Nature Communications led by a team from La Trobe University in Australia, have implications for understanding how programmed cell death and renewal keep us healthy. Illustration showing how the 'footprints of death' (smaller pink blobs) are left behind by dying cells. When the researchers infected dying cells with influenza, the virus hid some of its particles inside the F-ApoEVs. As the immune system cleans up after the cell, these pathogen fragments get spread to neighboring, healthy cells.

Sponsored:
Remote Monitoring App
SPONSORED | 17 July 2026
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Latest:
International Group of Researchers Says We're Thinking About Longevity at The Wrong Stage of Life
NEWS | 17 July 2026
Now, an international team of researchers is proposing that longevity interventions and research should start at the earliest ages possible – even before birth. In a Correspondence paper published in Nature Health, the researchers make the case for a "life-course consortium for healthy longevity medicine" called PROSPER. The researchers want to see more longevity studies involving people at earlier ages. Healthy longevity medicine has primarily focused on adult populations, the researchers say. "The establishment of a life-course consortium for healthy longevity medicine should improve research and clinical practice," write the researchers.

Breaking:
Ancient DNA Finally Solves a 16th-Century Murder Mystery
NEWS | 17 July 2026
In a new study published in iScience, researchers from Yale University in the US and the University of Pisa in Italy have confirmed the real killer. "Our study is a great example of how we can use advanced ancient DNA laboratory methods to map the history of this deadly pathogen," says anthropologist Serena Tucci, from Yale University. "The study of ancient DNA offers us an opportunity not only to diagnose malaria in the remains of individuals from the past," says Yale University evolutionary biologist Alexander Ochoa. "It also offers us a window for understanding the evolution of malaria species – Plasmodium falciparum in this case, which can help scientists better understand how the pathogen adapts over time." However, the researchers note the limitations of working with ancient DNA, which is fragmented, and archaeological remains, which can be easily contaminated.

Trending:
For The First Time Ever, an Atmosphere Has Been Detected Around A Rocky 'Habitable Zone' Planet
NEWS | 17 July 2026
Garlick)But now, astronomers have finally detected an atmosphere on an extensively studied, potentially habitable 'super-Earth' named LHS 1140 b. LHS 1140 b is measured to be more than five times the Earth's mass and 1.7 times its radius. An illustration of LHS 1140 b, along with its sibling planet LHS 1140 c, orbiting their parental red dwarf star. Previously, Cherubim had predicted the existence of LHS 1140 b's helium atmosphere, using a from-scratch computer model of a process known as mass fractionation. Surprisingly, the LHS 1140 b has held onto this atmosphere for more than 3 billion years, despite the violent reputations of red dwarfs.

This Just In:
Endangered Australian Frog Shimmers Like an Opal (in an Unusual Place)
NEWS | 17 July 2026
At first glance, Australia's endangered green and golden bell frog (Ranoidea aurea) looks pretty much like any normal frog – a little more patterned than the usual Australian tree frog, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. Xanthophores, for example, are cells found in many cold-blooded vertebrates that contain yellow pigments that absorb blue light, leaving the tissue looking yellow. (Bernard Spragg/Wikimedia Commons, public domain)In fact, that's what makes the frog green. "The presence of iridescence in this frog shows the blue color isn't being produced through random scattering alone. Instead, it indicates that ordered reflective platelets are responsible for creating the structural blue color."

Today:
Scientists Used Sugar to 'Trojan Horse' a Cancer Killer Into The Brain
NEWS | 17 July 2026
Cancers don't come much worse than the brain cancer glioblastoma, and it is notoriously difficult to treat. Both glucose and mannose get permission to pass through the blood-brain barrier as energy sources, via a transporter molecule called GLUT1. This meant that much more sugar could be loaded into each packet, making them more appealing to GLUT1 and the blood-brain barrier. The sugar coating helped the nanoparticles pass from the bloodstream (pictured center) through the blood-brain barrier and into the brain tumor tissue. Release., 2026)In mouse model experiments, sugar-coated nanoparticles reached the brain 9.9 times more effectively than uncoated nanoparticles.

Top Stories:
Entirely New Monkey Species Discovered in The Congo Rainforest, And It Doesn't Look Impressed
NEWS | 17 July 2026
And yet primatologists have just confirmed the existence of a monkey species that had, until now, evaded the scientific record. Meet Colobus congoensis, a monkey that has long been hiding in the rainforest between the Lomami and Congo (Lualaba) rivers in the east-central region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). frameborder="0″ allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen>Even people who live within the monkey's range had rarely sighted it. "I was honored to name the species 'Colobus congoensis', recognizing the Congo Basin's remarkable natural heritage and, we believe, marking the first primate named after the Democratic Republic of Congo itself – underscoring both its global importance and local pride." "The discovery of Colobus congoensis is reshaping our understanding of African monkey evolution," says anthropologist Kate Detwiler, also from Florida Atlantic University.

World:
Behold, The World's Oldest Amber – a Record of a World 385 Million Years Ago
NEWS | 17 July 2026
(Luo et al., Sci. (Luo et al., Sci. (Luo et al., Sci. (Luo et al., Sci. These tiny amber particles formed during that major ecological transition."

Current Events:
Scientists Fed Mice a Keto Diet – And Got Completely Contrasting Cancer Results in The Same Animal
NEWS | 17 July 2026
The ketogenic diet has become one of the world's most popular eating plans. To find out, the researchers fed mice genetically predisposed to developing intestinal tumors one of three diets: a ketogenic diet, a standard control diet, or a high-fat, high-calorie diet commonly used to induce obesity. Mice fed a keto diet (KD) had more intestinal tumors (circled in red in these images) and died more quickly than animals on the control diet (CD). As intestinal cells broke down dietary fat for energy – a process known as fatty acid oxidation – they activated proteins called PPARs. A 2022 Nature study suggested that ketogenic diets help protect against colon cancer because of ketone bodies such as BHB.

News Flash:
Astronomers Accidentally Photographed The Faintest Planet Ever Imaged From Earth
NEWS | 17 July 2026
This also proves true in astronomy, as scientists have just discovered the faintest planet ever directly imaged from Earth – without even looking for it. Orbiting the nearby star Beta Pictoris, the planet dubbed Beta Pictoris d was overtly discovered in 2025 but confirmed by observations dating back more than a decade. "We initially wanted to look more at a known planet in the system, Beta Pictoris b, to see how it changed over time." The star Beta Pictoris. More than a decade's worth of observations, revealing the planet Beta Pictoris d. (ESO/B.