Artificial intelligence can now produce acclaimed essays and support medical diagnoses with impressive precision, yet biological brains still outperform machines in one essential area: flexibility. Humans can absorb new information and adapt to unfamiliar situations with very little effort. People can jump into new software, follow a recipe they have never tried before, or learn the rules of a game they have just discovered, while AI systems often struggle to adjust in real time and to learn effectively “on the fly.”

A new study from Princeton neuroscientists offers insight into why the brain excels at this kind of rapid adjustment. The researchers found that the brain repeatedly draws on the same cognitive “blocks” when performing different types of tasks. By recombining these blocks in new ways, the brain can quickly generate fresh behaviors.

From claims that vaccines don't work to manipulated images and deliberately misrepresenting what politicians say, social media is often rife with misinformation. But far from being a recent phenomenon, there is nothing new about so-called "fake news," according to a new paper published in the journal Interface. Researchers argue that misinformation is an inherent and inevitable property of biological systems, from bacteria to birds and human societies.

Misinformation is everywhere
Social communication is a key part of social evolution and collective behavior. It is how an organism learns about its immediate environment without having to rely on risky, trial-and-error or how a bacterium coordinates its behavior with its neighbors to launch a collective defense. However, these social connections can also act as channels for misinformation. While there are many studies on the spread of misinformation in human societies, our understanding of its biological origins is limited.

So the team reviewed decades of empirical and theoretical studies of misinformation in biological systems to see where and how it happens in nature. They found plenty of examples, such as a bird giving a false alarm call, causing the entire flock to flee, an animal population copying outdated migratory paths and even deceptive signaling in bacteria.

This finding supports a groundbreaking view that sleep arises from the interplay between the brain and the microbiome — a partnership that could reshape how we understand consciousness, evolution, and health. The work opens a new frontier in sleep science, suggesting that the key to our rest may lie as much in our gut as in our heads.

What Drives Sleep? A New Look at the Gut-Brain Connection
What causes us to sleep? The answer may lie not only in the brain itself, but also in how it interacts with the microorganisms that develop in the gut.

New research from Washington State University points to a shift in how scientists think about sleep. The study found that peptidoglycan, a material that forms part of bacterial cell walls, appears naturally in the brains of mice and aligns closely with their sleep patterns.

These results build on a long-running scientific idea at WSU that suggests sleep may emerge from communication between the body’s systems that regulate rest and the large community of microbes that live inside us.

Researchers have achieved an important step forward in quantum computing by developing a device so small that it is almost 100 times thinner than a human hair.

The advance, reported in the journal Nature Communications, centers on a new type of optical phase modulator designed to precisely control lasers. This capability is critical for future quantum computers, which will rely on thousands or even millions of qubits—the basic units of quantum information—to perform complex calculations.

A key part of the achievement is how the devices are made. Instead of relying on specialized, hand-built components, the researchers used scalable manufacturing methods similar to those behind the processors found in computers, phones, vehicles, and home appliances—virtually everything powered by electricity (even toasters).

The work was led by Jake Freedman, an incoming PhD student in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, alongside Matt Eichenfield, a professor and the Karl Gustafson Endowed Chair in Quantum Engineering. They collaborated with researchers from Sandia National Laboratories, including co-senior author Nils Otterstrom, to create a device that combines an extremely small footprint with strong performance while remaining affordable to produce at large scale.

The chip operates by generating microwave-frequency vibrations that oscillate billions of times per second, which are used to control laser light with exceptional accuracy.

By harnessing these rapid vibrations, the device can precisely adjust the phase of a laser beam and generate new laser frequencies with high stability and efficiency. These capabilities are considered essential for advancing quantum computing, as well as emerging applications in quantum sensing and quantum networking.

A research team from the Faculty of Physics and the Centre for Quantum Optical Technologies at the Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw has introduced a new way to measure hard-to-detect terahertz signals using a "quantum antenna." In their work, the scientists applied an innovative radio wave detection setup based on Rydberg atoms that not only senses terahertz radiation, but also accurately calibrates a so-called frequency comb in this part of the spectrum. Until recently, the terahertz range was considered a blank area in the electromagnetic spectrum, and the method reported in the journal Optica opens the door to extremely sensitive spectroscopy and a new class of room-temperature quantum sensors.

Terahertz (THz) radiation, being part of the electromagnetic spectrum, lies at the boundary of electronics and optics, positioned between microwaves (used, for example, in Wi-Fi) and infrared. Although it holds immense potential for applications that include inspecting packages without harmful X-rays, superspeed 6G communication, and spectroscopy and imaging of organic compounds, turning this potential into precise and sensitive measurements has been technically very difficult. In the past few years, scientists have made major strides in both generating and detecting terahertz radiation, yet until now they had not been able to measure a frequency comb in this region with the required precision.

Italians are known for their food, architecture, and longevity (among other things), with the Mediterranean diet often cited as a major contributor to an extensive lifespan. Yet new genetic research reveals that Italians who reach the age of 100 may in fact have their ancient hunter-gatherer DNA to thank.

As in other southern European nations, the Italian population harbors genetic ancestry from multiple prehistoric groups, including Bronze Age herders from the Pontic-Caspian Steppes, Middle Eastern Neolithic farmers, and Mesolithic Western European Hunter-Gatherers (WHG). The latter of these replaced older European human populations following the Last Glacial Maximum, and is famously represented by a 14,000-year-old skeleton from Villabruna in Northern Italy.

To find out how these ancient genetic influences shape longevity, researchers analyzed the genomes of 333 Italian centenarians and 690 healthy controls from around the country. They then compared these with 103 ancient genomes encapsulating the last 20,000 years of European genetic ancestry.

Reporting their findings, the study authors write that their analyses “revealed a significant positive association between WHG ancestry and the centenarian status,” and that “centenarians [consistently] exhibited significantly higher WHG ancestry proportions compared to the baseline expectation.”

Tellingly, no other ancient genetic ancestries displayed any associated with long life, and those over the age of 100 were found to carry a significantly higher number of WHG-related mutations than less durable individuals.

Exactly what all this means, however, is open to interpretation, as lifespan is known to be shaped by a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors. Clearly, though, Western Hunter-Gatherer DNA appears to play a role in enabling some Italians to celebrate their 100th birthday.

In the rainforests of the Congo Basin, elephants push through the brush, forming a network of trails that lead them to vital food and water sources.

Today is the December solstice at 15:03 GMT/16:03 CET.

This eumetsat MTG‑I1 image from 19 Dec 2025, 06:00 GMT, shows Earth’s day–night terminator tilted near its annual maximum of about 23.5°.

A new international study reports that adults with ADHD who are aware of their personal strengths and use them regularly tend to experience higher well-being, better quality of life, and fewer mental health problems.

Scientists from the University of Bath, King’s College London, and Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands conducted the first large-scale investigation designed to measure psychological strengths in adults with ADHD.

Published in Psychological Medicine, the study compared 200 adults with ADHD and 200 adults without ADHD, examining how strongly participants identified with 25 positive characteristics. These traits included creativity, humor, spontaneity, and hyperfocus, which researchers described as “things [they] do well or best.”

Although ADHD is commonly linked to difficulties such as impulsivity, forgetfulness, and inattention, the findings point to a different perspective by emphasizing the importance of recognizing and making use of individual strengths.

Luca Hargitai, lead researcher from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, said: “These exciting findings give us an indication of which positive qualities may be tied to ADHD and thus can be considered ADHD-related strengths. It can be really empowering to recognize that, while ADHD is associated with various difficulties, it does have several positive aspects.”

2025 Rewind ⏪
A year of new Earth observation missions, ensuring continuity for existing ones, and celebrating 50 years of esa.