Only one workout helped older adults lose fat without losing muscle

 A recent study led by researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) suggests that high intensity interval training (HIIT) could be one of the most effective ways for older adults to reduce body fat while maintaining muscle mass.

The research compared different exercise intensities in healthy older adults and found that all levels of exercise produced some fat loss. However, only HIIT helped participants preserve lean muscle.

"We found that high, medium and low intensity exercises all led to modest fat loss but only HIIT retained lean muscle," said lead author and exercise physiologist Dr. Grace Rose of the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Exercise Intensity and Body Composition

The study explored how exercise intensity affects body composition, an important factor in overall health as people age.

According to Dr. Rose, moderate intensity exercise also helped reduce body fat, but it came with a downside.

"While moderate training reduced fat mass, it also caused a small decline in lean muscle," she said.

"Both high and moderate intensities improved the composition of weight carried around the middle. Further analysis is needed of the low intensity results."

Dr. Rose noted that the findings are particularly important because changes in body composition are linked to the development and progression of many chronic diseases later in life.

Six Months of Supervised Exercise

The study included more than 120 healthy older adults from the Greater Brisbane region. Participants completed three gym based exercise sessions each week over a six month period.

On average, participants were 72 years old and had an average body mass index of 26kg/m2, which is considered normal for adults over age 65.

The findings were published in the journal Maturitas. The project involved researchers from UniSC's Healthy Ageing Research Cluster as well as The University of Queensland.

Why HIIT May Protect Muscle

UniSC Associate Professor of Physiology and study co-author Mia Schaumberg said the research arrives at a useful time, as many people focus on health and fitness goals at the start of a new year.

"With the festive season now behind most of us and New Year's resolutions in full swing, this research can help inform people's plans for healthy aging in 2026," she said.

In the study, HIIT consisted of repeated short intervals of very demanding exercise followed by easier recovery periods.

"High intensity training in this study involved repeated short bursts, or intervals, of very hard exercise -- where breathing is heavy and conversation is difficult -- alternated with easier recovery periods.

"HIIT likely works better because it puts more stress on the muscles, giving the body a stronger signal to keep muscle tissue rather than lose it."

Source: Sciencedaily

Brain activity under anesthesia challenges what we know about consciousness

 Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that the human brain can continue performing surprisingly advanced language tasks even when a person is fully unconscious under general anesthesia. The findings, published in Nature, challenge long held assumptions about the relationship between consciousness and cognition. They also offer new insights that could shape future research on memory, language, and brain-computer interfaces.

"Our findings show that the brain is far more active and capable during unconsciousness than previously thought," said Dr. Sameer Sheth, professor and Cullen Foundation Endowed chair of neurosurgery and a McNair Scholar at Baylor. "Even when patients are fully anesthetized, their brains continue to analyze the world around them."

Recording Brain Activity During Anesthesia

To investigate what the unconscious brain is capable of, Sheth and his colleagues recorded the activity of hundreds of individual neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory. The recordings were made while patients undergoing epilepsy surgery were under general anesthesia. These procedures gave researchers a rare opportunity to study this part of the brain directly.

The team used Neuropixels probes, an advanced technology that had never before been used in the hippocampus for this type of research. This allowed them to observe how the brain responded to sounds and language even when patients had no conscious awareness.

The Brain Continued Processing Language

The first experiment exposed patients to a series of repeating tones with occasional unexpected sounds mixed in. The researchers found that neurons in the hippocampus consistently detected these unusual tones. Even more interesting, the brain became better at recognizing them over time, suggesting that learning or neural plasticity was still taking place during anesthesia.

The researchers then increased the complexity of the experiment by playing short stories while continuing to record brain activity. The hippocampus showed clear evidence of processing language in real time. Patterns of neural activity revealed that the brain could distinguish different parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

The team also made another surprising discovery. Neural signals could be used to predict upcoming words before they were spoken.

"The brain appears to anticipate what comes next in a story, even without conscious awareness," said Sheth, who is also Director of The Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation Laboratories within the Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital.

"This kind of predictive coding is something we associate with being awake and attentive, yet it's happening here in an unconscious state," said Dr. Benjamin Hayden, professor of neurosurgery at Baylor.

Rethinking Consciousness

The findings suggest that important cognitive abilities, including language comprehension and prediction, may not depend on conscious awareness. Instead, consciousness itself may arise from communication across multiple brain regions rather than from activity within a single area such as the hippocampus.

The researchers also noted similarities between the brain's predictive behavior and artificial intelligence (AI). Just as large language models generate text by anticipating the next word, the hippocampus appeared to make similar predictions during language processing. Understanding these shared principles could help scientists better understand both biological and artificial intelligence.

The work may also contribute to future coammunication technologies, including speech prosthetics designed for people who have lost the ability to speak.

"Can we use these signals to deploy and run a speech prosthetic for some of the parts of the brain that are damaged by stroke or injury? These are questions that we can now consider in relation to this part of the brain," said Dr. Vigi Katlowitz, first author and a neurosurgery resident with Baylor.

More Research Is Needed

The researchers caution that the findings should be interpreted carefully. The study examined only one type of general anesthesia, so the results may not apply to other unconscious states such as sleep or coma. In addition, the research focused on a single brain region, and it remains unclear how broadly these processes occur throughout the brain.

"This work pushes us to rethink what it means to be conscious," said Sheth. "The brain is doing much more behind the scenes than we fully understand."

Source: ScienceDaily

These tiny soil microbes could rescue crops from salty farmland

 Researchers have uncovered an unexpected natural ally that could help farmers tackle one of agriculture's fastest growing challenges: salty soil.

A team including scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), led by Chinese researcher Dr. Yanfen Zheng, found that naturally occurring soil bacteria can significantly improve plants' ability to survive in saline conditions.

The study also uncovered a previously unknown way these microbes protect crops such as maize, tomato, and rapeseed from salt stress. The discovery could eventually help farmers grow food on land that has become too salty for conventional agriculture.

Soil salinity threatens global agriculture

Salt buildup in farmland is becoming an increasingly serious problem because of climate change, irrigation practices, and rising sea levels. As salt accumulates in soil, it stunts plant growth, damages roots, and can sharply reduce crop yields.

Prof Jonathan Todd, from UEA's School of Biological Sciences and the Quadram Institute on the Norwich Research Park, said: "The build-up of salt in farmland is a major and worsening problem -- driven by climate change, irrigation and rising sea levels.

"Salt chokes plant growth, damages roots and severely impact entire harvests -- putting global food supplies at risk.

"We know that plants rely on communities of microbes around their roots, called the root microbiome, to help them cope with environmental stress. But exactly how these relationships work, and whether they are consistent across crops and soils, has remained largely unclear.

"We found that plants appear to recruit beneficial bacteria in salty soil conditions, which in turn trigger internal changes that strengthen their physical structure and resilience.

"If scientists can harness this natural process, it could mark the beginning of a new era in climate-resilient agriculture."

Root microbes drawn to salt stressed plants

To better understand these plant and microbe partnerships, the researchers examined root microbiomes from multiple crop species grown in different soil types.

They discovered that a group of naturally occurring bacteria known as pseudomonads consistently gathered around plant roots exposed to salt stress. The same pattern appeared across several crops, including maize, tomato, and rapeseed, suggesting this is a widespread biological response rather than something unique to a single plant.

Source: ScienceDaily

These fat-filled brain cells may be making multiple sclerosis worse

 Researchers led by Daan van der Vliet, working with teams from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Leiden University, and Utrecht University, have identified a biological process that may help explain why multiple sclerosis (MS) becomes especially severe in some patients. Examining brain tissue from people with rapidly progressing MS, they found large numbers of unusual immune cells packed with fat droplets. The findings could point to new treatment strategies and future biomarkers that help predict how quickly the disease will worsen.

MS damages myelin, the fatty protective coating that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. As this insulation breaks down, patients can develop neurological problems such as difficulty walking or vision impairment.

The disease does not follow the same path in everyone. Some individuals experience relatively mild symptoms for many years, while others develop serious disability and paralysis at a young age. Understanding why these outcomes differ has been a longstanding goal for researchers.

To investigate, the team focused on microglia, specialized immune cells in the brain that remove debris and support tissue repair. In patients with MS, however, these cells can undergo dramatic changes. They become filled with fat droplets, giving them a distinctive foamy appearance. Scientists refer to them as "foamy microglia."

"We found that patients with large numbers of these foamy microglia had a more severe disease course more frequently," says researcher Daan van der Vliet.

When Brain Cleanup Cells Become Overloaded

Normally, microglia help maintain brain health by clearing away damaged material. In MS, researchers believe that these cells may take in so much damaged myelin that they eventually exceed their capacity to process it.

"These cells are probably trying to do something good: clearing up damage," Van der Vliet explains. "But they become overloaded, so to speak. As a result, they can no longer effectively contribute to repair."

The study also revealed important molecular differences between MS lesions containing foamy microglia and those without them. Areas containing these cells were enriched with specific fats linked to long lasting inflammatory activity.

A More Complex View of Multiple Sclerosis

Inflammation has long been considered a major force driving MS progression. However, the new findings suggest the disease may involve a more complicated chain of events.

"It does not appear to be simply about the inflammatory response alone," says Van der Vliet. "These cells are probably attempting to clear damage and promote repair, but that process fails, worsens inflammation, and counteracts recovery."

According to the researchers, the results highlight how a mechanism that initially aims to protect the brain may eventually contribute to ongoing damage when it stops functioning properly.

Source: ScienceDaily

This simple twist could bring quantum computers closer to reality

 Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney have demonstrated a new way to control tiny sources of quantum light by twisting atomically thin layers of hexagonal boron nitride.

The advance provides scientists with a new method for tuning quantum emitters, which are microscopic light sources that could play an important role in future technologies such as quantum computing, secure communications, and ultra-sensitive sensors.

Lead author Dr. Angus Gale said the work offers researchers a valuable new tool for making these quantum systems more practical.

"You can measure these quantum emitters and see that they exist, but it's hard to make them work in practice. This gives us a lever to get closer to that -- a step towards the realization of quantum technologies," said Dr. Gale.

Twisting Layers Changes Quantum Light

During the experiments, Gale and his team found that twisting the material could significantly alter both the color and wavelength of the light emitted by the quantum emitters. The magnitude of the change was especially noteworthy.

Most studies create a device at a specific twist angle and leave it unchanged. In contrast, the researchers were able to repeatedly lift, rotate, and restack the material, allowing them to continuously modify its properties.

"We're leveraging the fact that this material, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is layered. We can pick it up, stack it, twist it, and use that twist to modify the emitters. You can't really do that with traditional materials like diamond or silicon carbide."

"The benefit is that we used this twistable platform to shift the emission by a very significant amount," said Gale. "Often when you control these systems, the amount of manipulation is very limited, but in this case the shift was much larger than expected.

"Rather than trying to make hBN defects behave like a traditional solid-state hosts, we took advantage of hBN's own strength: its thin, layered, twistable structure."

Why Hexagonal Boron Nitride Is Different

Gale compared the material's structure to slices of cheese rather than a solid block.

"With a block of cheese, you can't really get to the flavor in the middle. But with slices, you can peel away layers, put them back together and change how they interact," he said.

Because hBN is made of extremely thin layers, researchers can separate and reassemble those layers in ways that are not possible with more conventional quantum materials.

New Possibilities for Quantum Technologies

Supervising author Professor Igor Aharonovich said the ability to twist layered materials is particularly exciting because it can reveal entirely new physical behavior.

"You can take two layers that don't do much on their own, put them together at a specific angle, and suddenly you have a completely different system," said Professor Aharonovich.

According to Aharonovich, the findings could help advance several emerging quantum technologies.

"These materials could eventually be used for quantum computing communications and quantum sensing, which would help for applications such as healthcare, cybersecurity and improved GPS; and gives us more control over the building blocks needed to get there."

Source: ScienceDaily

Major review finds vaping likely causes lung and oral cancer

 A comprehensive new review led by UNSW Sydney has concluded that nicotine-based e-cigarettes are likely to cause cancers of the lungs and oral cavity.

Published in the journal Carcinogenesis, the study evaluated a broad range of international research and brought together experts from several institutions, including The University of Queensland, Flinders University, The University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, The Prince Charles Hospital, and Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

The research team included specialists from multiple fields such as pharmacy, epidemiology, thoracic surgery, and public health. By examining evidence from a variety of scientific disciplines, they sought to determine whether vaping itself may contribute to cancer development.

"To our knowledge, this review is the most definitive determination that those who vape are at increased risk of cancer compared to those who don't," Prof. Stewart says.

The review focused on carcinogenicity, or cancer causation, and argues that while vaping has often been studied as a pathway to cigarette smoking, far less attention has been paid to the possibility that e-cigarettes could directly cause cancer on their own.

Researchers describe the work as one of the most extensive evaluations yet of whether vaping can increase cancer risk independently of traditional tobacco smoking. The analysis combined findings from clinical research, animal studies, and laboratory investigations involving chemicals generated by e-cigarettes.

"Considering all the findings -- from clinical monitoring, animal studies and mechanistic data -- e-cigarettes are likely to cause lung cancer and oral cancer," Prof. Stewart says.

Although the results were highly consistent across different areas of research, Prof. Stewart notes that the exact number of cancer cases attributable to vaping remains unknown.

"Our assessment is qualitative and does not involve a numerical estimate of cancer risk or burden. We'll only be able to determine the precise risk once longer-term studies are available."

Growing Concerns About Vaping and Public Health

E-cigarettes first entered the market in the early 2000s and became available in Australia around 2008. They were initially promoted as a potentially safer alternative to conventional cigarettes and as a tool to help people quit smoking.

Since then, brightly colored and flavored vaping products have become increasingly popular, especially among younger users. Despite tighter regulations introduced by the Australian Government in 2023, vaping remains common outside schools, bars, and train stations throughout the country. Current rules prohibit disposable and non-therapeutic vapes, while therapeutic vaping products can only be sold through pharmacies and only for smoking cessation purposes.

"E-cigarettes are known to be a gateway to smoking and hence cancer," says co-author UNSW Associate Professor Freddy Sitas.

"But the extent to which they may cause cancer in their own right has not received as much attention in research," he says.

"The evidence was remarkably consistent across fields," he says. "It dictated an unequivocal finding now, though human studies that estimate the risk will take decades to accumulate."

Evidence Points in the Same Direction

Scientists have spent more than a century studying the health effects of smoking. Although e-cigarettes are much newer, exposure to nicotine containing aerosols has already been associated with addiction, poisoning, inhalation injuries, and burns.

Because long-term population studies are still underway, researchers must currently rely on other forms of evidence to assess potential cancer risks from vaping.

The review identified multiple cancer-causing substances in e-cigarette aerosols, including volatile organic compounds and metals released by heating coils.

Researchers also examined several other lines of evidence. These included biomarkers in people that indicate DNA damage, oxidative stress, and inflammation in tissues; mouse studies that resulted in lung tumors; and laboratory experiments showing cellular injury and disruptions to biological processes linked to cancer development.

According to the authors, the collective findings consistently point toward the same conclusion.

Dual Use May Increase Lung Cancer Risk

The researchers also highlight growing evidence that many smokers who switch to vaping continue using conventional cigarettes as well.

"Most of those who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking end up in 'dual-use-limbo', unable to shake off either habit," says A/Prof. Sitas.

"What we do know from recent epidemiological evidence from the USA is that those who both vape and smoke are at an additional four-fold increased risk of developing lung cancer."

Source: ScienceDaily

Scientists discover neurons must break their DNA to build the brain

 As the brain develops, newly formed neurons must travel through tightly packed tissue to reach their final destinations in the cerebral cortex, where they become part of the brain's communication network. This journey forces the cells through narrow gaps between fibers and neighboring cells.

A new study published in Nature has revealed an unexpected consequence of that process. Researchers from Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS) and collaborating institutions found that migrating neurons routinely experience significant DNA damage. Specifically, the cells develop double-strand breaks, a severe form of DNA damage in which both strands of the DNA double helix are cut.

Although double-strand breaks are typically associated with mutations, cell dysfunction, and even cell death, the researchers discovered that they are a normal part of brain cortex development. In healthy brains, the damage is rapidly repaired before it can cause lasting problems.

"The developing brain appears to have evolved to tolerate and repair the neuronal damage efficiently," says Professor Mineko Kengaku, of WPI-iCeMS, who led the study. "But understanding the limits of that tolerance -- and what happens when repair is incomplete -- brings us closer to understanding a range of neurological conditions."

DNA Damage During Neuronal Migration

To investigate how this damage occurs, the researchers recreated the physical challenges faced by developing neurons. They guided neurons through tiny microchannels designed to mimic the confined spaces found in growing brain tissue.

Using fluorescent markers, the team observed double-strand DNA breaks appearing as neurons moved through the channels. Once the cells emerged from the other side, the damage gradually disappeared. Most of the breaks were repaired within 24 hours, and the neurons continued functioning normally.

The researchers identified the source of the damage as Topoisomerase IIβ, an enzyme that normally helps cells manage stress within DNA. Under ordinary conditions, the enzyme temporarily cuts DNA strands to relieve twisting and tension generated by routine cellular activity before reconnecting them.

The process can be compared to cutting a tangled cable to remove twists and then reconnecting it. However, when neurons are subjected to mechanical stress while squeezing through tight spaces, the enzyme can become trapped midway through the process, leaving sections of DNA broken. The cell then relies on a repair mechanism called non-homologous end joining to reconnect the damaged DNA ends.

Why Neurons Recover While Other Cells Do Not

The team found that neuronal DNA damage differs from the damage seen in certain cancer cells moving through the same microchannels. In cancer cells, DNA damage tends to occur more randomly and can disrupt normal cellular activity or trigger cell death.

In contrast, the DNA breaks in neurons were concentrated mainly in regions of the genome that are not actively involved in critical gene functions. Because essential genes are largely spared, the cells are able to maintain normal function despite the temporary damage.

When DNA Repair Falls Short

To explore the consequences of failed repair, the researchers engineered mice whose newly formed cerebellar neurons lacked Ligase 4, an enzyme required for repairing DNA breaks.

The mice developed normally and showed no obvious early abnormalities. However, as they reached adulthood, they began to experience mild but gradually worsening balance problems. These symptoms resemble those seen in certain human disorders linked to genome instability that affect the cerebellum.

Clues to Brain Diversity and Disease

The findings suggest that DNA breakage and repair may play a larger role in brain biology than previously recognized. Researchers now want to understand whether these early DNA changes contribute to differences between individual neurons and whether they influence neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative diseases later in life.

"It shifts how we think about the neuronal genome," says Professor Kengaku. "All neurons originate from the same DNA, but DNA damage and repair can introduce small genetic differences between individual neurons through a small mechanical journey. Some of that history may be written into the genome itself."

Source: ScienceDaily