profound

How Pregnancy Changes the BrainA study of more than 100 birthing parents showed that pregnancy and birth cause changes in brain circuits that may be involved in empathy and bonding with the childBy Gina Jiménez Credit: Cavan Images/Getty ImagesBeing pregnant and giving birth changes a person’s brain, but the brain looks different depending on whether it’s examined during pregnancy or after a person gives birth, a recent study found. The research is helping disentangle some of the mysteries in the long-ignored field of…

Intervals is an exceptional book, for which every deserved superlative seems cliched, in part because the language of illness, death and bereavement often feels too hollowed out by use to accommodate the magnitude of those experiences. Frequently repeated words may gain a carapace that resists our scrutiny: take “dignity”, for example, which Marianne Brooker regards with “mild suspicion” as “too clean-cut and classed”, with “none of the chaos that makes us human”.Brooker’s mother, Jane, had experienced a certain amount of…

Brianne Kane: Have you ever thought about how strange everything is? Ha, no—but really, something happens in January, when it still feels like last year, but it’s suddenly this year, and it always makes me ask: What are we transitioning into? What have we transitioned from? I’m Bri Kane, a member of Scientific American’s editorial team and resident reader. Today I’m sharing a conversation with Nell Greenfieldboyce, author of Transient and Strange. I asked her about this new intimate collection of essays she’s written…

New research suggests cosmic fission may play a role in the formation of heavy elements. Analysis of old stars revealed a correlation between light metals and rare earth nuclei, indicating the production of superheavy nuclei beyond the known periodic table. This finding confirms theories of cosmic fission and suggests the existence of elements with an atomic mass of 260, expanding our understanding of the cosmos. Fission models find clear fingerprints of nuclear process never before directly observed in stars. The…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain No event in Australian history has captured the country's imagination like the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. From coast to coast, Australians tuned in to witness the Matilda's historic tournament run, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the team's history. But prior to the Matilda's…

Recent research has redefined the primary role of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) from controlling developmental genes to protecting the genome against transposon invasion. This ancestral function, consistent across various eukaryotes, evolved over time, leading to PRC2’s current role in silencing protein-coding genes, particularly in flowering plants like Arabidopsis.The Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), initially identified in Drosophila several decades ago, was found to be a key controller of developmental…

Dutch-born Christiaan Huygens is probably one of the most famous physicists you've never heard of. His work in the late 17th century straddled both the intangible and tangible realms of our Universe: the nature of light, and the mechanics of moving objects.Among his many contributions, Huygens proposed a wave theory of light that would give rise to physical optics, which deals with the interference, diffraction, and polarization of light. He also invented the first pendulum clock; the most accurate timekeeper for almost…

Film: Past LivesCast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John MagaroDirector: Celine SongRating: 3.5/5Runtime: 105 mins Celine Song’s poignant directorial debut follows Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), two childhood friends who are reunited 20 years after they were separated by Nora`s emigration from South Korea. The two old friends reconnect and begin reminiscing about their past bonding as children, and subsequent social media connect as teens, and this brings forth a churning of longing and yearning that only good…

Researchers have discovered that a cell’s nucleus is metabolically active, with cellular enzymes moving to protect DNA integrity upon damage. This shift in understanding of cellular metabolism can inform new strategies in cancer treatment, as cancer cells often hijack metabolic processes for their growth.In crisis, the nucleus calls antioxidant enzymes to the rescue. The nucleus being metabolically active is a profound paradigm shift with implications for cancer research.The human nucleus is metabolically active,…

Research from the Complexity Science Hub reveals that disruptions in the food supply chain due to local shocks, like the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have both direct and indirect effects that can ripple globally. Their study found that indirect effects often exceed direct effects, demonstrating the interconnectedness and vulnerability of the global food supply system.192 countries and 125 different foods: A recent study by the Complexity Science Hub reveals interdependencies in the global food supply. Here, the researchers…