Helping others linked to younger-looking adult brains, even after accounting for health and lifestyle

Study links helping others to younger-looking adult brains
Credit: Generated with ChatGPT

Population surveys and research studies suggest that meaningful social connections are strong predictors of health and longevity. In other words, a sense of belonging to a social group and strong social bonds appear to be linked with better health and a longer lifespan.

Most earlier studies, however, primarily focused on the possible health-related benefits of receiving social support or interacting with others regularly. In contrast, the potential benefits of supporting and helping others remain largely unexplored.

Researchers at Georgetown University, Emory University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently carried out a study investigating the possibility that time spent supporting others is associated with brain health...

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Undergraduate student may have solved puzzle regarding isolated galaxies that have stopped producing stars

Julian Shapiro poses in front of the Richard Treffers Telescope on the rooftop of UC Berkeley’s Campbell Hall.
Photo courtesy of Shannon Kelli

An undergraduate astrophysics student at UC Berkeley has found three unusual galaxies—cataloged as Shapiro Dwarf Galaxies I, II and III. Each galaxy is far from other galaxies and has stopped making stars, a combination that is extremely rare. The discovery, published in The Astrophysical Journal, provides compelling observational evidence of a long-held astronomical theory.

“Dwarf galaxies exist both in isolation and as satellites around larger galaxies like our own Milky Way,” said Julian Shapiro, the study’s sole author, who conducted his research while still in high school...

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Levitating glass sphere becomes entangled with light at room temperature

Levitating glass sphere becomes entangled with light at room temperature
Inducing entanglement between a light field and a levitated nanosphere in an optical trap. Credit: Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aeh1375

Today, many physicists are actively exploring how light could be used to link objects through quantum entanglement. By fully harnessing the effect, they hope to unlock a wide array of applications, from secure communication networks spanning vast distances to sensitive new tests of the fundamental laws of physics.

Through new research published in Science, a team led by Francesco Marin at the University of Florence has taken an important step toward this goal by entangling the motion of a tiny levitating glass sphere with light, without needing to cool their experiment to ultralow temperatures.

Entangling light and mechanical oscillators
W...

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Alcohol in space: Exotic methanol discovered in planet-building zones

Cosmic Cocktail: Exotic Methanol Discovered in Planet-Building Zones
COMPASS MPIfR. This composite image shows the Perseus molecular cloud, which is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth. A rare form of the organic alcohol methanol has been observed around at least one of the very young stars still embedded within it. This is the first time this molecule has been detected in space. Credit: Ekaterina Moerova / MPIfR; Background: NASA, CXC, SSC, NOAO, DSS; and 3D image of methanol from PubChem [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; 2004-. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 887, Methanol; [cited 2026 July 16]

An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S...

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