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Today:
This Common Blood Pressure Drug Boosts Lifespan And Slows Aging in Animals
NEWS | 01 January 2026
The hypertension drug rilmenidine has been found to slow aging in worms – an effect that, if it translates to humans, could one day help us live longer and stay healthier in old age. In other words, some of the changes that caloric restriction gives in animals and thought to confer certain health benefits also appear with a hypertension drug that many people already take. This particular chemical structure could be targeted in future attempts to improve lifespan and slow down aging. "We found that the lifespan-extending effects of rilmenidine were abolished when nish-1 was deleted," the researchers explain in their paper. "With a global aging population, the benefits of delaying aging, even if slightly, are immense," said Magalhães.

Top Stories:
Scientists Found a 'Yellow Brick Road' at The Bottom of The Ocean
NEWS | 01 January 2026
An expedition to a deep-sea ridge, just north of the Hawaiian Islands, revealed a surprise back in 2022: an ancient dried-up lakebed paved with what appears to be a yellow brick road. "The yellow brick road?" Related: We've Only Glimpsed 0.001% of Earth's Deep Seafloor, Study RevealsLike the deep seafloor itself, sometimes you have to see a concept to really believe it. frameborder="0″ allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen>At first glance, the yellow brick road effect at the Liliʻuokalani Ridge is easily mistaken for a path to a wonderful new world. Following the brick road is a sign we're headed in the right direction and could soon learn a whole lot more about Earth's hidden geology.

World:
Promising New Drug Reverses Mental Decline in Mice With Advanced Alzheimer's
NEWS | 01 January 2026
US researchers found a drug candidate called P7C3-A20 returned cognitive functions to mice with models of Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies in animals had found that restoring levels of NAD+ with compounds such as P7C3-A20 can improve signs of Alzheimer's disease. In this follow-up study, NAD+ levels returned to normal in mice with advanced symptoms after six months of daily injections. "Restoring the brain's energy balance achieved pathological and functional recovery in both lines of mice with advanced Alzheimer's," says Pieper. "The key takeaway is a message of hope – the effects of Alzheimer's disease may not be inevitably permanent," says Pieper.

Current Events:
Prehistoric Sea Monster Didn't Stick to The Oceans, Suggests Fossil Study
NEWS | 01 January 2026
Researchers from Sweden, the US, and the Netherlands analyzed isotopes in several mosasaur teeth from sites across North Dakota, confirming that these ancient sea monsters could also live in freshwater environments. That's why it was strange then, when in 2022 paleontologists discovered a mosasaur tooth in an inland floodplain, alongside a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth and a crocodylian jawbone. And sure enough, the signature of oxygen and strontium isotopes in the mosasaur tooth indicated that the animal was perfectly at home in the freshwater environment. "When we looked at two additional mosasaur teeth found at nearby, slightly older, sites in North Dakota, we saw similar freshwater signatures," says Melanie During, vertebrate paleontologist at Uppsala. The carbon isotope ratio backed up the story, adding a chilling new detail: this river monster wasn't averse to eating dinosaurs.

News Flash:
Flat-Headed Wild Cat, Not Seen in 30 Years, Caught on Camera in Thailand
NEWS | 01 January 2026
An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO said Friday. Flat-headed cats are among the world's rarest and most threatened wild felines. The footage included a female flat-headed cat with her cub – a rare and encouraging sign for a species that typically produces only one offspring at a time. Nocturnal and elusive, the flat-headed cat typically lives in dense wetland ecosystems such as peat swamps and freshwater mangroves, environments that are extremely difficult for researchers to access, Rattapan said. Globally, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that around 2,500 adult flat-headed cats remain in the wild, classifying the species as endangered.

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SPONSORED | 01 January 2026
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Latest:
Most People Give Up New Year's Resolutions. Here's How to Turn Failure Positive.
NEWS | 01 January 2026
Research has shown the way you word your failed resolution can affect how people view it. And understanding the reasons most resolutions don't work out can help us see it through in the future. Indeed, you can talk about your resolutions in a way that will make your failure more understandable and will sustain your motivation to keep going. A constructive way to discuss your failed resolution is to focus on the controllability of the failure. In this research, most of the failed resolutions were related to weight loss, better eating, or working out in the gym.

Breaking:
Hubble Reveals Extreme Chaos Inside 'Dracula's Sandwich'
NEWS | 01 January 2026
As a young star develops, so too does a protoplanetary disk of dust and gas around it, ready to birth new planets. Scientists have just discovered more about IRAS 23077+6707, the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed by a telescope. IRAS 23077+6707 is also known as Dracula's Chivito – named after the Transylvanian vampire and the meat-laden sandwich that is Uruguay's national dish. Further light readings, and a longer-term analysis of the system, should reveal more as this protoplanetary disk settles down. While planet formation takes millions of years, astronomers will be able to see snapshots of the process from IRAS 23077+6707 over much shorter timescales.

Trending:
Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head? A Psychologist Explains Earworms
NEWS | 01 January 2026
However, research is mixed on whether people with OCD experience more earworms than other people as a result of their condition. Other research does find they experience earworms more often. Or try listening to something else, as people tend not to experience earworms when listening to other music. That can work for getting the song out of your head right now – but then you might get earworms of all the other songs. Research suggests that listening to the song increases the likelihood the song will then get stuck in your head.

This Just In:
'Mini-Brains' Reveal Hidden Signals of Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder
NEWS | 01 January 2026
'Mini-brains' grown in the lab allow scientists to study brain wiring without interfering with brains in living people, and now a new study has used these scaled-down models to identify neural signatures associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are currently diagnosed based on a person's clinical symptoms rather than biological markers. The brain organoids were engineered using blood and skin cells from people diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and from people not diagnosed with any psychiatric conditions. With the help of machine-learning algorithms trained to detect patterns in neural communication, the team identified neuron activity unique to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Related: Scientists Pinpoint Where Extreme Moods of Bipolar Disorder Exist in the BrainHowever, these are valuable indicators in understanding how the brains of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder might function differently.

Today:
DNA Study of 117-Year-Old Woman Reveals Clues to Long Life
NEWS | 01 January 2026
Scientists in Spain say they are now using these findings to "provide a fresh look at human aging biology, suggesting biomarkers for healthy aging, and potential strategies to increase life expectancy." She exceeded the average life expectancy of women in her home of Catalonia by more than 30 years. Branyas lived a mentally, socially, and physically active life, but she also lucked out on genetics. Related: 117-Year-Old Woman's Diet Could Help Us All Live LongerInterestingly, scientists noticed a "huge erosion" in Branyas' telomeres – the caps at the ends of her chromosomes. "These findings provide a fresh look at human aging biology," the team concludes, "suggesting biomarkers for healthy aging, and potential strategies to increase life expectancy."

Top Stories:
Feeling The Post-Christmas Blues? These Simple Actions Can Help
NEWS | 01 January 2026
Understanding why this happens can help make that emotional dip easier to manage. The post-Christmas blues are closely linked to the brain's reward system. Related: Why Holiday 'Rest' Doesn't Actually Restore Us, And What Works BetterDuring the festive period, dopamine levels tend to rise. When sleep is disturbed, people are more vulnerable to low mood, making the post-Christmas period feel even harder. It is your brain and body responding to the emotional, social, and sensory intensity of the season.

World:
Three Supermassive Black Holes Discovered on Collision Course in a Cosmic First
NEWS | 01 January 2026
There, not two, but three galaxies are gradually coming together in a giant, triple collision named J1218/1219+1035. Each of the three supermassive black holes lurking at the cores of their respective galaxies is actively guzzling down material, blazing with radio light as it does so. "By observing that all three black holes in this system are radio-bright and actively launching jets, we've moved triple radio active galactic nuclei (AGN) from theory into reality and opened a new window into the life cycle of supermassive black holes. "​Related: Extraordinary 'Trinary' Black Hole System Is The First of Its Kind Ever FoundGalaxy mergers are not uncommon throughout the Universe; in fact, they're thought to be one of the major mechanisms whereby galaxies, and their incumbent supermassive black holes, grow. A tail of gas that appears to be flowing from this galaxy to the other two confirms its place in this rare triple.

Current Events:
Gestational Diabetes in US Surges by 36 Percent Over Last Decade
NEWS | 01 January 2026
"Gestational diabetes has been persistently increasing for more than 10 years, which means whatever we have been trying to do to address diabetes in pregnancy has not been working," says cardiologist Nilay Shah. During the combined nine years from 2016 to 2024, gestational diabetes rates increased by a total of 36 percent. In 2024, 137 out of every thousand American Indian/Alaska Native mothers giving birth had gestational diabetes; for Asian mothers, this rate was 131 for every thousand births; and 126 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander mothers had gestational diabetes for every thousand births. "The reasons for the differences in gestational diabetes rates across individual groups are an important area for further research," Shah says. However, Asian Indian individuals had the highest rates of gestational diabetes in that study, despite lower BMI levels and higher educational attainment.

News Flash:
Mathematician Shares Solutions For 10 Festive Brain Teasers
NEWS | 01 January 2026
One contains two small presents, one contains two pieces of coal, and one contains a small present and a piece of coal. Puzzle 9: There is a one-litre bottle of orange juice and a one-litre bottle of apple juice in the kitchen. Now Jill takes a tablespoon of liquid from that apple juice bottle and puts it back in the bottle of orange juice. Is there now more orange juice in the bottle of apple juice, or more apple juice in the bottle of orange juice? But the older elf only says "if Santa, then present", which doesn't imply "if present, then Santa".