Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine and collaborating institutions report in the journal Cell the discovery of BHB-Phe, a novel compound produced by the body that regulates appetite and body weight through interactions with neurons in the brain.

Until now, BHB has been known as a compound produced by the liver to be used as fuel. However, in recent years, scientists have found that BHB increases in the body after fasting or exercise, prompting interest in investigating potential beneficial applications in obesity and diabetes.

In the current study, the team at Stanford University led by co-corresponding author Dr. Jonathan Z. Long, associate professor of pathology, discovered that BHB also participates in another metabolic pathway...

An international research team has for the first time designed realistic photonic time crystals–exotic materials that exponentially amplify light. The breakthrough opens up exciting possibilities across fields such as communication, imaging and sensing by laying the foundations for faster and more compact lasers, sensors and other optical devices.

“This work could lead to the first experimental realization of photonic time crystals, propelling them into practical applications and potentially transforming industr...

The chances of intelligent life emerging in our universe—and in any hypothetical ones beyond it—can be estimated by a new theoretical model which has echoes of the famous Drake Equation.

This was the formula that American astronomer Dr. Frank Drake came up with in the 1960s to calculate the number of detectable extraterrestrial civilizations in our Milky Way galaxy.

More than 60 years on, astrophysicists led by Durham Uni...

One of the most powerful assets of the brain is that it can store information as memories, allowing us to learn from our mistakes. However, some memories remain vivid while others become forgotten. Unlike computers, our brains appear to filter which memories are salient enough to store.

Researchers from Tohoku University have discovered that part of the memory selection process depends on the function of astrocytes, a special type of cell that surrounds neurons in the brain. They showed that artificially acidifying the astrocytes did not affect short-term memory but prevented memories from being remembered long-term.

The findings are published in the journal Glia.

The researchers implemented a technique called “optogenetics” to manipulate the astrocytes by shining light onto ...