Daily Science Brief

An announcement explaining why I'm cancelling the podcast. If you want more information about it, I wrote a public blog post over on the Patreon page. Check it out. https://www.patreon.com/c/DailyScienceBrief

Penguins with dagger-like beaks, a collapsing Atlantic current, a brain map of 600,000 cells, and a bear skull that proves gladiators fought wild animals.SOURCESEarly penguins may have used dagger-like beaks to skewer prey | New Scientist Key Atlantic current could start collapsing as early as 2055, new study finds | Live Science Map of 600,000 brain cells rewrites the textbook on how the brain makes decisions | Live Science Skull of bear held captive to fight Roman gladiators discovered near ancient amphitheater in Serbia | Live Science

Why scrolling on the toilet could be bad for your health, why we may have way less carbon storage underground than we thought, whether plant-based dog food really works, and how humans and AIs fall for the same persuasion tricks.SOURCESSmartphone scrolling on the toilet could increase risk of haemorrhoids | New Scientist We may have 10 times less carbon storage capacity than we thought | New Scientist Plant-based dog foods provide almost all the nutrients pets need | New Scientist These psychological tricks can get LLMs to respond to “forbidden” prompts | Ars Technica

Blobs from failed planets hiding in Mars, a possible anti-aging drug, a surprising benefit of the hepatitis B vaccine, and recycling old cars into new ones.SOURCESDozens of mysterious blobs discovered inside Mars may be the remnants of 'failed planets' | Live Science Rapamycin may extend lifespans by protecting against DNA damage | New Scientist Hepatitis B vaccine linked with a lower risk of developing diabetes | New Scientist Can we finally recycle all of the metal in scrap cars? | New Scientist

Volcanoes can lead to revolutions, onions powering solar panels, a spacecraft predicting solar storms, and computers you can throw in the wash.SOURCESVolcanic eruptions may have helped spark the French Revolution | New Scientist Scientists turned to a red onion to improve solar cells — and it could make solar power more sustainable | Live Science Spacecraft used to forecast solar storm 15 hours before it hit Earth | New Scientist Scientists cram an entire computer into a single fiber of clothing — and you can even put it through your washing machine | Live ScienceFibre computer enables more accurate recognition of human activity | EurekAlert! - AAAS

A brain-inspired AI outsmarts ChatGPT, a new zap for your eyeballs could replace LASIK, middle age isn’t the low point it used to be, and CPR in space gets a boost from machines.SOURCESScientists just developed a new AI modeled on the human brain — it's outperforming LLMs like ChatGPT at reasoning tasks | Live Science Early test of new laser-free eye treatment shows promise | Live Science We're no longer at our unhappiest during middle age | New Scientist CPR in space could be made easier by chest compression machines | New Scientist

Screwworms have invaded the US, AI is predicting hurricanes, U.S. power is slowly shifting to solar, and scientists crack the mystery of beer foam.SOURCESUS reports its first New World parasitic screwworm infection in decades | Live Science Google’s AI model just nailed the forecast for the strongest Atlantic storm this year | Ars Technica US‘s spike in electricity use is slowing down a bit | Ars TechnicaElectric Power Monthly | U.S. Energy Information AdministrationScientists unlock secret to thick, stable beer foams | Ars Technica

A pig lung transplanted into a human body, why half our farmed calories never reach our plates, microbes that shrug off 100,000 years of ice, and asteroid dust older than the solar system itself.SOURCESFirst-ever pig-to-human lung transplant attempted in brain-dead person in China | Live Science Fewer than half the calories grown on farms now reach our plates | New Scientist We are unlocking how frozen microbes stay alive for 100,000 years | New Scientist 'Potentially hazardous' asteroid Bennu contains dust older than the solar system itself — and traces of interstellar space | Live Science