New evidence of Organic Material identified on Ceres, the Inner Solar System’s most Water-rich Object after Earth

Six years ago, NASA’s Dawn mission communicated with Earth for the last time, ending its exploration of Ceres and Vesta, the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt. Since then, Ceres —a water-rich dwarf planet showing signs of geological activity— has been at the center of intense debates about its origin and evolution.

Now, a study led by IAA-CSIC, using Dawn data and an innovative methodology, has identified 11 new regions suggesting the existence of an internal reservoir of organic materials in the dwarf planet. The results, published in The Planetary Science Journal, provide critical insights into the potential nature of this celestial body.

In 2017, the Dawn spacecraft detected organic compounds near the Ernutet crater in Ceres’ northern hemisphere, sparking discussion...

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Immune T cells become Exhausted in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients

Immune T cells become exhausted in chronic fatigue syndrome patients
scRNA-seq analysis of T cells in ME. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415119121

Chronic fatigue syndrome creates conditions where pathogen-killing immune T cells become exhausted, according to a new Cornell University study.

The study’s authors knew the immune system was dysregulated in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) but wondered which parts shift with the condition.

A systematic exploration revealed that key CD8+ T cells displayed one of the most pronounced signatures of dysregulation, with signs of constant stimulation that lead to an exhausted state, a condition that is well-studied in cancer.

“This is an important finding for ME/CFS because now we can examine the T cells more car...

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Platform allows AI to Learn from Constant, Nuanced Human Feedback Rather than Large Datasets

During your first driving class, the instructor probably sat next to you, offering immediate advice on every turn, stop and minor adjustment. If it was a parent, they might have even grabbed the wheel a few times and shouted “Brake!” Over time, those corrections and insights developed experience and intuition, turning you into an independent, capable driver.

Although advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have made self-driving cars a reality, the teaching methods used to train them remain a far cry from even the most nervous side-seat driver. Rather than nuance and real-time instruction, AI learns primarily through massive datasets and extensive simulations, regardless of the application.

Now, researchers from Duke University and the Army Research Laboratory have develope...

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New Planet in Kepler-51 System discovered using James Webb Space Telescope, JWST

illustration of star with three planets
A fourth planet has been discovered in the Kepler-51 system using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The three previously known planets in the system, illustrated here,  are unusual ultra-low density “super-puff” planets. Credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player and F. Summers (STScI). All Rights Reserved.

The unusual system of three ‘super puff’ planets has at least one more planet, revealed by its gravitational tug on other planets. An unusual planetary system with three known ultra-low density “super-puff” planets has at least one more planet, according to new research led by researchers from Penn State and Osaka University...

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