In healthy adults, a subanesthetic dose of nitrous oxide changed how large brain networks were organized during a visual task. Weaker connections involving the insula, a region involved in integrating bodily and emotional signals, were associated with more unpleasant visual experiences.
Researchers have proposed a way to reconstruct a possible bound state made of a top quark and its antimatter partner near the production threshold at the Large Hadron Collider. Preliminary results suggest the method could improve sensitivity by as much as 12 percent over the current strategy planned for the collider’s Run 3.
A Zenodo article proposes that DNA carries three overlapping information layers: one that specifies amino acids, another that affects how quickly proteins are made and folded, and a third linked to molecular stability and helix shape. An analysis of five human genes found broad compositional patterns at sites where the code allows multiple DNA sequences, with BRCA1 as a reported exception.
Researchers developed a compact neural-network system that replaces costly fine-scale calculations in simulations of plastic composite materials. In a two-dimensional, macroscopically isotropic test case, it reproduced the reference response and reduced per-analysis costs from hours to seconds, with speed-ups of up to 30,000.
The article examines what happens when expanded marriage rights for same-sex couples meet increasingly restrictive rules for moving across borders with family members. It argues that studying these cases together can reveal limits in both family migration research and research on LGBTQI+ migration.
Monkeys learned to link arbitrary visual patterns with movements of the left or right hand. As learning progressed, Purkinje cells in two cerebellar regions increasingly distinguished specific visual cue–hand combinations, with the visual cue becoming identifiable before the choice.
Richmond’s Peacemaker Fellowship was associated with a 61.47% reduction in fatal and nonfatal firearm assaults over 14 years, compared with a weighted group of similar US cities. The reduction appeared to grow after the program expanded, but the study cannot establish that the program alone caused the decline.
Researchers tested an autonomous drone system that drops biochar-coated native seed balls at planned locations. In a representative 27-waypoint mission in Northern Thailand, 24 drops were confirmed by both the drone and ground observations, while a controlled test found 95% of drops landed within 0.66 metres of their targets.
A qualitative study of queer Ukrainian refugees in four EU countries found that legal recognition of same-sex relationships rarely determined where people first went. It became more important later, affecting family security, institutional recognition and whether people felt able to live openly.
England’s new market for biodiversity offsets is directing planned work toward a small number of habitat types, with neutral grassland making up 44% of planned habitat. But only about 2% of the registered offset area had been sold after 16 months.
A whole-brain model of 90 anatomically connected regions produced a wider range of activity patterns when each region included interacting excitatory and inhibitory cell populations. The researchers also found that the brain’s modeled wiring helped produce fast gamma rhythms whose amplitude changed with slower rhythms.
A study of East European queer migrants in Scotland before Brexit examined how migration status and social class shaped couples’ access to LGBTQIA+ family rights. Mixed-status couples faced difficult borders and had to work toward legal recognition, while EU migrant couples generally benefited from greater mobility rights.
A meta-analysis found that fine-particle concentrations around cement plants had a weighted average of 20.76 micrograms per cubic metre, above the World Health Organization’s annual guideline of 5 micrograms per cubic metre. The researchers cautioned that the studies differed substantially, including in how long they sampled the air.
A machine-learning study predicts that 15% to 23% of uncultivated microbes may have symbiotic lifestyles. These predicted symbionts appear across half of all known bacterial and archaeal groups, according to a new genomic catalog.
A study mapped where gillnet fisheries and 13 cetacean species occur in Brazil’s Santos Basin. Guiana dolphins, franciscanas and bottlenose dolphins showed the greatest spatial overlap with the fisheries, highlighting areas for bycatch monitoring and management.
