Scientists say this type of olive oil could boost brain power

 Extra virgin olive oil has long been a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, known for supporting heart and metabolic health. Now, new research suggests it may also help protect the brain. Scientists have found that its benefits could extend beyond the body to the mind, working through the gut microbiome to support cognitive function.

A study led by researchers from the Human Nutrition Unit at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) and CIBERobn points to a meaningful link between extra virgin olive oil, gut bacteria, and brain health.

Study explores olive oil, gut microbiome, and brain health

"This is the first prospective study in humans to specifically analyze the role of olive oil in the interaction between gut microbiota and cognitive function," explains Jiaqi Ni, first author of the article and researcher at the URV's Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

The research followed 656 adults between the ages of 55 and 75 who were overweight or obese and had metabolic syndrome -- a set of risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. Over a two-year period, as part of the PREDIMED-Plus project, scientists tracked participants' diets, including their intake of virgin and refined olive oil, along with detailed analyses of their gut microbiota. They also monitored changes in cognitive performance over time.

Virgin olive oil linked to better cognition and gut diversity

The findings showed clear differences depending on the type of olive oil consumed. Participants who regularly used virgin olive oil experienced improvements in cognitive function and had a more diverse gut microbiota, which is widely considered a sign of better intestinal and metabolic health. In contrast, those who consumed refined olive oil tended to show a decline in microbiota diversity over time.

Researchers also identified a specific group of gut bacteria, known as Adlercreutzia, that may be tied to these benefits. Its presence could serve as an indicator of the positive relationship between virgin olive oil consumption and preserved cognitive function. These results suggest that part of the oil's brain-supporting effect may come from how it reshapes the gut microbiome.

Why extra virgin olive oil stands out

The difference between extra virgin and refined olive oil largely comes down to how they are produced. Extra virgin olive oil is obtained using mechanical methods, which help preserve its natural compounds. Refined olive oil, on the other hand, undergoes industrial processing to remove impurities.

While this refining process improves shelf life and taste consistency, it also reduces beneficial components such as antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and other bioactive substances. According to Jiaqi Ni, "not all olive oils have benefits for cognitive function," highlighting the importance of choosing extra virgin varieties.

Quality of dietary fats matters for brain health

These findings add to growing evidence that diet plays a key role in both cardiovascular and cognitive health through its influence on the gut microbiota. Jordi Salas-Salvadó, principal investigator of the study, emphasizes the importance of choosing high-quality fats: "This research reinforces the idea that the quality of the fat we consume is as important as the quantity; extra virgin olive oil not only protects the heart, but can also help preserve the brain during aging."

He also notes that identifying a specific microbial profile linked to these benefits "paves the way for new nutrition-based prevention strategies to preserve cognitive functions."

A simple dietary change for an aging population

Co-directors Nancy Babio and Stephanie Nishi highlight the broader implications of the findings as populations continue to age. "At a time when cases of cognitive decline and dementia are on the rise, our findings drive home the importance of improving diet quality, and in particular prioritizing extra virgin olive oil over other refined versions as an effective, simple and accessible strategy for protecting brain health."

The study was led by the Human Nutrition Unit at the URV's Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, with contributions from the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV-CERCA) and the CIBER area on the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) of the Carlos III Health Institute. Researchers from the PREDIMED-Plus consortium also participated, along with collaborators from international institutions including Wageningen (Netherlands) and Harvard (United States).

Source: ScienceDaily

Black hole jets measured for first time and rival the power of 10,000 suns

 Researchers have taken a major step toward understanding how black holes influence the universe by directly measuring the power of their jets. Using a network of radio telescopes spread across the globe, a team led by Curtin University captured detailed images that reveal just how energetic these jets can be. The findings support long-standing theories about the role black holes play in shaping the structure of galaxies.

The study, published in Nature Astronomy, focused on Cygnus X-1, a well-known system that includes the first confirmed black hole and a massive supergiant star. Scientists determined that the jets streaming from this black hole carry an energy output equal to about 10,000 Suns.

To make this measurement, the team relied on a widely spaced array of telescopes working together as one. This setup allowed them to watch how the jets were pushed and distorted by powerful winds coming from the nearby star as the black hole traveled along its orbit. The effect is similar to how strong gusts on Earth can bend a stream of water from a fountain.

Using Stellar Winds to Reveal Jet Strength

By calculating the strength of the star's wind and tracking how much the jets were deflected, researchers were able to determine the jets' power at a specific moment. This marks the first time scientists have directly measured the instantaneous energy of black hole jets rather than relying on long-term averages.

The team also measured the jets' speed, finding that they travel at roughly half the speed of light, or about 150,000 kilometers per second. Determining this speed has been a challenge for scientists for many years.

The project was led by the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA) and the Curtin node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), with contributions from the University of Oxford.

"Dancing Jets" Offer New Insight

Lead author Dr. Steve Prabu, who worked at CIRA during the study and is now at the University of Oxford, explained that the team used a sequence of images to track what he described as "dancing jets." This term refers to the way the jets shift direction repeatedly as they are pushed by the supergiant star's strong winds while both objects orbit each other.

Dr. Prabu said these observations reveal how much of the energy generated near a black hole is transferred into its surroundings, influencing the environment around it.

"A key finding from this research is that about 10 per cent of the energy released as matter falls in towards the black hole is carried away by the jets," Dr. Prabu said.

"This is what scientists usually assume in large-scale simulated models of the Universe, but it has been hard to confirm by observation until now."

Confirming Theories About Black Hole Physics

Co-author Professor James Miller-Jones, from CIRA and the Curtin node of ICRAR, noted that earlier techniques could only estimate jet power over extremely long periods, sometimes spanning thousands or millions of years. This made it difficult to directly compare jet energy with the X-ray emissions produced as matter falls into a black hole."And because our theories suggest that the physics around black holes is very similar, we can now use this measurement to anchor our understanding of jets, whether they are from black holes 10 or 10 million times the mass of the Sun," Professor Miller-Jones said."With radio telescope projects such as the Square Kilometre Array Observatory currently under construction in Western Australia and South Africa, we expect to detect jets from black holes in millions of distant galaxies, and the anchor point provided by this new measurement will help calibrate their overall power output."Black hole jets provide an important source of feedback to the surrounding environment and are critical to understanding the evolution of galaxies."Other collaborators on the research included the University of Barcelona, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Lethbridge and the Institute of Space Science.

Source: ScienceDaily

It doesn’t matter how much you sit — walking more could lower your risk of death and disease

 For people who spend long hours at a desk, new research offers encouraging news. A study from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre (Australia) suggests that increasing your daily step count may help reduce the health risks linked to prolonged sitting.

The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, are based on data from more than 72,000 individuals. Researchers found that each increase in daily steps, up to about 10,000 steps per day, was associated with a lower risk of death (39 percent) and cardiovascular disease (21 percent). These benefits were seen regardless of how much time participants spent sitting.Why Daily Steps Matter for Health

Earlier research has already linked higher step counts with lower risks of death and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Other studies have shown that spending long periods sitting can raise those same risks. What makes this study different is that it directly examined whether walking more could help counteract the negative effects of sedentary behavior, using objective data from wearable devices.

Lead author and research fellow, Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, emphasized that walking is not a complete solution to excessive sitting. "This is by no means a get out of jail card for people who are sedentary for excessive periods of time, however, it does hold an important public health message that all movement matters and that people can and should try to offset the health consequences of unavoidable sedentary time by upping their daily step count."

Senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the Charles Perkins Centre, highlighted the broader impact of this type of research. Studies that rely on wearable devices are opening new possibilities for understanding and improving public health.

"Step count is a tangible and easily understood measure of physical activity that can help people in the community, and indeed health professionals, accurately monitor physical activity. We hope this evidence will inform the first generation of device-based physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines, which should include key recommendations on daily stepping," said Professor Stamatakis.

How Researchers Measured Steps and Sitting Time

To conduct the study, researchers analyzed information from 72,174 participants (average age 61; 58% female) in the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database. Each participant wore an accelerometer on their wrist for seven days, allowing researchers to track both step count and sedentary time, defined as time spent sitting or lying down while awake.

The team then monitored participants' health over time by linking their data to hospital records and death registries.

Source:ScienceDaily

Common cleaning sponge found to release trillions of microplastic fibers

 If you have ever used a "magic eraser" sponge to scrub away scuffs on white shoes or crayon marks on a wall, you have seen how powerful these cleaners can be. Melamine sponges are known for removing stubborn stains without the need for extra chemicals. But scientists are now raising concerns about an unexpected side effect. As these sponges wear down, they can release tiny plastic particles into the environment.

A study published in ACS Environmental Science & Technology suggests that melamine sponges could be a surprisingly large source of microplastic pollution. Researchers estimate that more than a trillion microplastic fibers may be released worldwide every month as people use and discard these everyday cleaning tools.

What Makes Melamine Sponges So Effective

Melamine sponges are made from a material called poly(melamine-formaldehyde) polymer. This substance forms a rigid, web-like structure of plastic strands that are arranged into a lightweight foam. Even though the sponge feels soft, its internal structure acts like extremely fine sandpaper.

This abrasive quality is what allows the sponge to "erase" stains. Instead of using soap or chemicals, it physically scrapes away dirt and marks from surfaces. Over time, however, that same scraping action causes the sponge itself to break apart.

How Microplastics Are Released

As the sponge is used, small pieces of the foam gradually wear away. These fragments can break down further into microplastic fibers, which are tiny strands of plastic often too small to see. Microplastics are typically defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters.

Once rinsed down the drain, these fibers can enter wastewater systems. From there, they may pass through treatment plants and end up in rivers, lakes, or oceans. In the environment, microplastics can be ingested by fish and other wildlife, potentially moving up the food chain and eventually reaching humans.

Inside the Study

To better understand how much plastic these sponges release, researchers Yu Su, Baoshan Xing, Rong Ji, and their colleagues tested several products from three well-known brands. They simulated real-world use by repeatedly scrubbing the sponges against rough metal surfaces.

The results showed that sponge density plays an important role. Denser sponges held up better over time and released fewer microplastic fibers, while less dense versions broke down more quickly.

The team also estimated how many fibers are produced as a sponge wears out. They found that a single sponge can release about 6.5 million fibers per gram of material lost. Assuming that the average sponge is worn down by about 10% during use, the researchers combined this figure with sales data to estimate the global impact.

Using Amazon sales from August 2023 as a reference point, they calculated that approximately 1.55 trillion microplastic fibers could be released each month. Because this estimate is based on just one retailer, the true number could be significantly higher.

Reducing Microplastic Pollution From Sponges

The findings suggest several ways to limit the environmental impact of these popular cleaning tools. One option is for manufacturers to design sponges that are denser and more durable, which would slow down wear and reduce the number of fibers released.

Consumers can also make choices that help reduce pollution. Switching to natural cleaning materials that do not contain plastic is one approach. Another is improving filtration, either at home or in wastewater treatment systems, to capture microplastics before they reach the environment.

A Hidden Source of Everyday Pollution

Melamine sponges remain highly effective cleaning tools, but their widespread use may come with an environmental cost that many people have never considered. What seems like a simple household product could be contributing to a much larger global issue.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province.

Source: ScienceDaily

What caffeine does to ants could change pest control

 Ants that consume a sugary treat mixed with caffeine become noticeably better at finding their way back to it. A new study published in iScience shows that these ants take more direct routes to the reward, even though they do not move any faster. This suggests caffeine improves their ability to learn and remember locations. The research focused on Argentine ants (Linepithema humile), a widespread invasive species, and the findings point to a possible new way to improve pest control by making bait more appealing and effective.

"The idea with this project was to find some cognitive way of getting the ants to consume more of the poisonous baits we put in the field," says the first author and doctoral researcher Henrique Galante, a computational biologist at the University of Regensburg. "We found that intermediate doses of caffeine actually boost learning -- when you give them a bit of caffeine, it pushes them into having straighter paths and being able to reach the reward faster."

Argentine ants are among the most damaging and expensive invasive species worldwide. Efforts to control them typically rely on poisoned bait, but these strategies often fall short. Colonies may ignore the bait or abandon it before it spreads widely. The research team explored whether caffeine, which is already known to enhance learning in bees, could help ants better remember bait locations and lead more nestmates to them.

"We're trying to make them better at finding these baits, because the faster they go and come back to them, the more pheromone trails they lay, the more ants will come, and, therefore, the faster they will spread the poison in the colony before they realize it's poison," says Galante.

Testing Caffeine's Effects in the Lab

To investigate this idea, the scientists designed a controlled experiment using different caffeine levels. Ants crossed a small Lego drawbridge onto a test surface, which consisted of an A4 sheet placed over acrylic. There, they encountered a drop of sugar solution containing 0, 25 ppm, 250 ppm, or 2,000 ppm of caffeine.

"The lowest dose we used is what you find in natural plants, the intermediate dose is similar to what you would find in some energy drinks, and the highest amount is set to be the LD50 of bees -- where half the bees fed this dose die -- so it's likely to be quite toxic for them," says Galante.

The team tracked each ant's movement with an automated system, measuring both travel time and how direct their paths were. In total, 142 ants took part, and each one completed four trials. Between trials, the ants could unload their collected food, and the testing surface was replaced to prevent them from following their own pheromone trails.

Straighter Paths, Faster Learning

Ants that received only sugar showed little improvement over time, indicating they were not learning the reward's location effectively. In contrast, ants given low or moderate amounts of caffeine quickly became more efficient.

For ants exposed to 25 ppm of caffeine, foraging time decreased by 28 percent with each visit. At 250 ppm, the improvement reached 38 percent. For example, an ant that initially took 300 seconds to reach the reward could cut that time to 113 seconds at the lower dose and just 54 seconds at the intermediate dose by the final trial. The highest caffeine level did not produce the same benefit.

Focus Over Speed

The improvement was not due to increased speed. Instead, caffeinated ants followed more direct routes, suggesting stronger focus and better spatial memory. Their pace remained unchanged across all doses, but their paths became less winding at the lower and intermediate levels of caffeine.

"What we see is that they're not moving faster, they're just being more focused on where they're going," says Galante. "This suggests that they know where they want to go, therefore, they have learned the locations of the reward."

Caffeine did not affect how efficiently ants returned to their nest (how efficiently they traveled back to the nest), although all ants improved slightly over time regardless of caffeine.

A Potential New Tool for Pest Control

The findings suggest that caffeine could play a role in improving pest control strategies for Argentine ants. By helping ants learn bait locations more quickly and recruit more nestmates, caffeine could increase how effectively poison spreads through a colony before the ants detect it.

The researchers caution that more work is needed before applying this approach in real-world settings. Ongoing studies are testing caffeine-enhanced bait in outdoor environments in Spain and examining how caffeine interacts with the poison itself.

This research was supported by the European Research Council, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the University of Regensburg.

Source: Sciencedaily

Scientists discover bacteria can “explode” to spread antibiotic resistance

 Scientists have uncovered new details about how bacteria share genes, including those that drive antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a growing global health threat. The findings come from researchers at the John Innes Centre, who studied unusual particles known as gene transfer agents (GTAs).

GTAs resemble bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria), but they are no longer harmful invaders. Instead, they are derived from ancient viruses that bacteria have adapted and brought under their own control.

Virus-Like Particles Deliver DNA Between Cells

These particles act like tiny delivery vehicles. They pick up fragments of DNA from one bacterial cell and carry them to others nearby. This process, called horizontal gene transfer, allows bacteria to quickly share useful traits, including genes that help them survive antibiotic treatments.

A key step in this process is host cell lysis, the breaking open of a bacterial cell so that GTA particles can be released. Until now, scientists did not fully understand how these particles escaped from their host cells.

Key Gene Cluster Controls Cell Lysis

In research published in Nature Microbiology, the team used a deep sequencing-based screening method to pinpoint the genes involved in GTA activity in the model bacterium Caulobacter crescentus.

They identified a three-gene system called LypABC, which produces bacterial proteins. When the lypABC genes were removed, cells could no longer break open to release GTA particles. When the system was overactivated, many cells underwent lysis. These results show that LypABC acts as a central control hub for this process.

An Immune System Repurposed for Gene Transfer

One of the most surprising findings is that LypABC closely resembles a bacterial anti-phage immune system. It contains protein components usually associated with defense against viruses. However, in this case, the system appears to have been repurposed to help release GTA particles and promote gene transfer.

This work, carried out in collaboration with the University of York and the Rowland Institute at Harvard, highlights how bacteria can reuse existing biological systems in unexpected ways.

Tight Regulation Is Essential for Survival

The researchers also discovered a regulatory protein that helps keep GTA activity under strict control. This regulation is critical because improper activation of LypABC can be highly toxic to bacterial cells.

By revealing how flexible bacterial systems can be, the study provides deeper insight into how genes move between cells. This process plays a major role in the spread of antibiotic resistance.

New Clues in the Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance

First author of the study Dr. Emma Banks, a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow, said: "What's particularly interesting is that LypABC looks like an immune system, yet bacteria are using it to release GTA particles. It suggests that immune systems can be repurposed to help bacteria share DNA with each other -- a process that can contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance."

The next step is to understand how the LypABC system is activated and how it controls the rupture of bacterial cells to release GTA particles.

Research has shed important new light on the enemies-turned-allies that allow bacteria to exchange genes, including those linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The insights, which expand our understanding of the major global health threat of AMR, came as John Innes Centre researchers investigated the curious phenomena of gene transfer agents (GTAs).

These gene-carrying particles look like bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria), but they have been domesticated from ancient viruses and put to beneficial use under the control of the bacterial host cell.

Acting as couriers, they take up parcels of host bacterial DNA and deliver them to neighbouring bacteria. This "selfless" sharing, known as horizontal gene transfer, can rapidly spread useful traits including genes that confer resistance to antibiotic drugs used to treat infections.

A crucial GTA life stage is host cell lysis: the breaking down of a host cell to release DNA-packed GTA particles. Previously, it was unclear how GTA particles escape their host bacterial cells.

In this study, which appears in Nature Microbiology, the team used a deep sequencing-based screening method to identify genes critical for GTA function in the model bacterium Caulobacter crescentus.

This identified a three-gene control hub, LypABC, encoding bacterial proteins. When these lypABC genes were deleted, bacteria could no longer lyse to release GTA particles. In contrast, by overexpressing the lypABC hub they obtained a very high proportion of lysing cells. Together, these experiments identified LypABC as a control mechanism for GTA-mediated cell lysis.

Surprisingly, LypABC resembles a bacterial anti-phage immune system since it contains protein domains which are typically required for defence against viruses. However, this collaborative effort between the John Innes Centre, the University of York, and the Rowland Institute at Harvard, suggests it has been repurposed to release GTA particles for gene transfer.

They also identified a regulatory protein which is required for strict control of both GTA activation and GTA-mediated lysis. This control is important as misregulation of LypABC is highly toxic to bacterial cells.

In highlighting the plasticity of bacterial domains, the study advances fundamental knowledge of how gene transfer occurs between bacterial cells and offers an important clue to understanding how AMR occurs.

First author of the study Dr. Emma Banks, a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow, said: "What's particularly interesting is that LypABC looks like an immune system, yet bacteria are using it to release GTA particles. It suggests that immune systems can be repurposed to help bacteria share DNA with each other -- a process that can contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance."

The next step for the research is to discover how the LypABC control hub is activated and how it functions to control the rupture of bacterial cells and release of GTA particles.

Source: ScienceDaily

Artificial neurons successfully communicate with living brain cells

 Engineers at Northwestern University have created printed artificial neurons that go beyond imitation and can directly interact with real brain cells. These flexible, low-cost devices produce electrical signals that closely resemble those generated by living neurons, allowing them to activate biological brain tissue.

In experiments using slices of mouse brain, the artificial neurons successfully triggered responses in real neurons. This result shows a new level of compatibility between electronic devices and living neural systems.

Toward Brain Interfaces and Energy-Efficient AI

This advance moves researchers closer to electronics that can directly interface with the nervous system. Potential uses include brain-machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics, such as implants that could help restore hearing, vision, or movement.

The technology also points toward a new generation of computing systems inspired by the brain. By replicating how neurons communicate, future hardware could perform complex tasks using far less energy. The brain remains the most energy-efficient computing system known, and scientists hope to apply its principles to modern technology.

The study will be published on April 15 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

"The world we live in today is dominated by artificial intelligence (AI)," said Northwestern's Mark C. Hersam, who led the study. "The way you make AI smarter is by training it on more and more data. This data-intensive training leads to a massive power-consumption problem. Therefore, we have to come up with more efficient hardware to handle big data and AI. Because the brain is five orders of magnitude more energy efficient than a digital computer, it makes sense to look to the brain for inspiration for next-generation computing."

Hersam is an expert in brain-inspired computing and holds multiple roles at Northwestern University, including the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering. He also is a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a professor of chemistry at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, he serves as chair of the department of materials science and engineering, director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and a member of the International Institute for Nanotechnology. He co-led the study with Vinod K. Sangwan, a research associate professor at McCormick.

Why the Brain Outperforms Traditional Silicon

Modern computers handle increasing workloads by packing billions of identical transistors onto rigid, two-dimensional silicon chips. Each component behaves the same way, and once manufactured, the system remains fixed.

The brain works very differently. It consists of many types of neurons, each with specialized roles, arranged in soft, three-dimensional networks. These networks are constantly changing, forming and adjusting connections as learning occurs.

"Silicon achieves complexity by having billions of identical devices," Hersam said. "Everything is the same, rigid and fixed once it's fabricated. The brain is the opposite. It's heterogeneous, dynamic and three-dimensional. To move in that direction, we need new materials and new ways to build electronics."

Although artificial neurons have been developed before, most produce overly simple signals. To achieve more complex behavior, engineers typically need large networks of devices, which increases energy use.

Printable Materials Enable Brain-Like Behavior

To better replicate real neural activity, Hersam's team built artificial neurons using soft, printable materials that more closely match the brain's structure. Their approach relies on electronic inks made from nanoscale flakes of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which acts as a semiconductor, and graphene, which serves as an electrical conductor. These materials were deposited onto flexible polymer surfaces using aerosol jet printing.

Previously, researchers treated the polymer in these inks as a flaw because it interfered with electrical performance. As a result, they removed it after printing. In this work, the team used that same feature to enhance the device.

"Instead of fully removing the polymer, we partially decompose it," he said. "Then, when we pass current through the device, we drive further decomposition of the polymer. This decomposition occurs in a spatially inhomogeneous manner, leading to formation of a conductive filament, such that all the current is constricted into a narrow region in space."

That narrow conductive path produces a sudden electrical response similar to a neuron firing. The resulting device can generate a wide variety of signals, including single spikes, continuous firing, and bursting patterns, closely resembling real neural communication.

Source: ScienceDaily