Goodable

An elementary school's mascot turned out to be more than just a character. Sgt. Perry Chronister, concealed beneath the costume, delivered an emotional surprise to his son Eli on his first day of second grade. The heartwarming scene unfolded at DeWitt Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where staff orchestrated the touching reunion that marked the end of Sgt. Chronister's year-long overseas deployment.

An elementary school's mascot turned out to be more than just a character. Sgt. Perry Chronister, concealed beneath the costume, delivered an emotional surprise to his son Eli on his first day of second grade. The heartwarming scene unfolded at DeWitt Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, where staff orchestrated the touching reunion that marked the end of Sgt. Chronister's year-long overseas deployment.An elementary school's mascot turned out to be more than just a character. Sgt. Perry Chronister, concealed beneath the costume, delivered an emotional surprise to his son Eli on his first day of second grade. The heartwarming scene unfolded at DeWitt Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, where staff orchestrated the touching reunion that marked the end of Sgt. Chronister's year-long overseas deployment.

This Soldier Returned Home And Gave His Son an Incredible Surprise at School

People

Scott Muir says he remembers the crunch.

The father of two was surfing with a childhood friend off the coast of Oceanside, California, on September 28 when a wave slammed him headfirst into the ocean floor. “The wave threw me over, hit me on my head, on the sand and I just felt a crunch,” Muir told local station KFMB. “Three waves underwater, face down… I was pretty sure it was getting really close.”

The crash left Muir, 49, partially paralyzed, though his spinal cord wasn’t severed. His vertebrae had twisted on impact, leaving him unable to move underwater as waves kept pulling him down. “I was getting involuntary reflux and inhaling salt water,” Muir said. “The situation was getting grim and I slowly started fading to black.”

What saved him were three strangers in the surf.

Judah Ely, 19, had been nearby with his friend Thomas Alspaugh. Minutes earlier, the two had exchanged cheers and laughs with Muir and his friend Dan Pierson. That brief connection may have made all the difference. When Ely saw Muir’s surfboard floating alone, something clicked. “I just see his board pop up, and I’m like, ‘Where is this dude?’” Ely said.

Guided by instinct—or something deeper—Ely found Muir and pulled him from the water. Alspaugh called out for Pierson, while two lifeguards from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, who heard the screams from shore, rushed in to help. One assessed Muir’s condition; the other called 911. He was airlifted to a hospital in San Diego.

From his hospital bed, Muir later said it was the thought of his wife, Kristen, that kept him conscious underwater. “I hoped to see her face again.”

Kristen was at home drinking coffee when Pierson called with the news. “He put the phone up to his ear for roughly 10 seconds,” she said. “I could hear it was him, really him. From that moment, I felt a calm beyond my true self.”

Their children were with their grandmother. Kristen drove straight to the hospital, unsure of what she’d find. When she saw Scott on a stretcher, “we both burst into tears.” She kissed his forehead for a full minute, holding on to the fact that he was still alive.

Muir has regained movement in his shoulders, left arm, and left leg. But his right hand and right leg remain severely limited. “I don’t know where my final recovery is going to go,” he said. “There is a real possibility I am in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”

The road ahead is long. According to a GoFundMe page set up by friends, Muir—an Air Force veteran and pilot who served for 12 years—will spend the next year or more at a spinal injury rehab facility in Colorado. The campaign has already raised more than $217,000 to help the family, for whom Muir is the primary breadwinner.

A week into his hospital stay, Ely and Alspaugh visited him. “I just cried and hugged them,” Muir said. “I told them they are the reason I get to see my family again.”

Kristen, his partner of 22 years, later spoke with Ely on the phone. The teen told her that “some divine intervention beyond himself told him to look for Scott,” even as Scott was imagining Kristen’s face beneath the waves.

“Scott is the most incredible person I know,” Kristen said. “Full of grit, determination, humor, and positivity. We are all feeding off his hope for recovery.”

Despite everything, Scott Muir says his love for the ocean hasn’t changed. “I want to surf, paddle, dive, you name it,” he said. “Nothing about this event has diminished my love for the ocean. It’s honestly just increased my respect for its power.”

Heroic Young Surfers Rescue Paralyzed Dad, Reuniting Him With His Children

BBC News

Most people go for a jog around the block. Nigel Beecroft ran the entire city.

The 60-year-old from Harborne set himself a challenge in January 2024: to run every single street in Birmingham. Now, after nearly 2,500 miles and about 8,000 streets, he’s just one run away from completing the mission.

“It’s a bit quirky but I do like exploring,” said Beecroft. “There aren’t many people who can say they’ve seen every single street in Birmingham.”

The associate director and part-time brewer has been logging his journey through the website CityStrides, which syncs with GPS apps like Strava to track completed roads. What started as a casual interest quickly turned into an obsession. “Once I started it, it was like a bug to me and I thought, yes, I’m going to do this.”

Beecroft has completed around 350 runs so far, often planning early morning routes to fit around work and life. The biggest logistical challenge? Traffic—though not during the runs themselves, but on the drives to different starting points.

Along the way, he’s kept a diary of the people he’s met and the quirky things he’s discovered: a front garden in Handsworth with six ice cream vans, an astronomical mural near his home that he’d never noticed before, and dozens of unexpectedly vibrant corners of the city.

He’s even created his own “best cul-de-sac” competition. “When you’re running up and down a cul-de-sac or very close to someone’s drive it does bat a few eyelids,” he said. But for Beecroft, those side streets often led to the most memorable interactions.

One of his favourites was meeting Joss Bygrave, a resident of Balsall Heath who grows vegetables in her front garden for the community. “When I first saw him running along my street, I assumed he was lost,” Bygrave said. “But we struck up a conversation and we had a chance to swap our stories which was lovely.”

Beecroft agreed. “What she does is different and unique,” he said, adding that the social side of the challenge was one of the most rewarding parts.

On Thursday, he’ll complete his final run and celebrate with a pint at The White Swan—his local pub, where he also helps out brewing beer.

He’s also raised £500 for the Mace Foundation, a charity run by the construction firm he works for, which supports young people who’ve grown up in care.

“It’s a weird thing to do but I would encourage others to do it,” said Beecroft. “I’m really happy that I’ve done it.”

Man Nears Completion Of 2,500-Mile Run On Every Birmingham Street

Adron may not remember walking onto the pitch at Wembley last week, but his family will never forget it.

The 81-year-old lifelong football fan was one of 22 people living with dementia who led out the England and Wales teams ahead of their Alzheimer’s Society International friendly match. The event was part of an ongoing partnership between the Football Association and the Alzheimer’s Society to raise awareness and support for those affected by the condition.

Adron’s son Darren said the moment was powerful but bittersweet. “He forgot the Wembley experience pretty much straight away,” Darren said. “It’s emotional, but unfortunately that is one of the main effects of dementia.”

The memory loss has left Adron feeling confused and afraid. After seeing photos of himself walking out with the players, he asked, “Did it really happen?”

But for his family, the moment was unforgettable. “Seeing his face watching the match” was something they say they’ll hold on to, even if he can’t.

A devoted Bristol City supporter, Adron grew up playing league football and has supported the game his entire life. One of his most treasured memories is being in the stands at Wembley in 1966, when England won the World Cup. He still keeps the original ticket stubs from that historic match.

Earlier this year, Adron received a personal video message from Sir Geoff Hurst, one of the heroes of that 1966 final. Hurst invited him to return to Wembley, this time not as a fan, but as a mascot.

The Alzheimer’s Society International match, now in its fourth year, is one of the ways football is helping shine a light on dementia. Since 2021, the FA’s partnership with the charity has raised over £1.2 million.

Matt Hughes-Short of the Alzheimer’s Society said the collaboration has made a real difference. “Thousands of fans, players, and staff now know where to go to access vital support,” he said.

In southwest England alone, more than 101,500 people are living with dementia, including about 4,600 in Bristol.

For Adron, the disease has taken many memories. But it hasn’t taken away his love for the game, or the joy he felt—if only for a moment—stepping onto the pitch at Wembley.

Dementia-Stricken Fan Leads England Team at Wembley, Family Cherishes Unforgettable Moment

A high school quarterback from Roswell, Georgia, warmed people’s hearts during homecoming recently, when he gifted his crown to the team’s top fan.

After being announced as homecoming king, Roswell High School QB Trey Smith immediately gave his crown and sash to Jake Jeffries, a fellow senior with Down syndrome who has never missed a game.

Footage shared by Roswell High School’s Community Based Instruction (CBI) program shows Smith taking off his homecoming king sash and placing it on Jeffries as the crowd erupted in cheers.

“Moments like these remind us what true kindness looks like,” they wrote in an X post, calling it a “gesture that made everyone’s night.”

A high school quarterback from Roswell, Georgia, warmed people’s hearts during homecoming recently, when he gifted his crown to the team’s top fan.After being announced as homecoming king, Roswell High School QB Trey Smith immediately gave his crown and sash to Jake Jeffries, a fellow senior with Down syndrome who has never missed a game.Footage shared by Roswell High School’s Community Based Instruction (CBI) program shows Smith taking off his homecoming king sash and placing it on Jeffries as the crowd erupted in cheers.“Moments like these remind us what true kindness looks like,” they wrote in an X post, calling it a “gesture that made everyone’s night.”

Georgia Homecoming King Gives Crown to Fellow Student in Heartwarming Gesture

Two years ago, Ellie Steel couldn’t walk without pain. Today, she’s a world champion in powerlifting.

The 34-year-old from Landford, Wiltshire, gave birth to her son by emergency C-section in June 2023. The surgery left her with painful scars and sepsis, and for four months, she couldn’t train. “I felt physically and mentally unable to get back to it,” she said.

Now, just over a year later, she’s claimed both the world and European titles in the 57kg bench press category—proving, she says, that becoming a mum doesn’t mean losing your identity.

“Just because you’re a mum, that’s not your whole identity,” said Steel. “It’s still important to do things that are good for you.”

Her journey back wasn’t easy. Like many new parents, she battled toddler tantrums, childcare struggles, and relentless sleep deprivation. “Trying to eat healthy when you’re sleep deprived is really, really tough,” she said. “It’s been a struggle trying to get in the gym and still focus on your goals... whilst having to battle five, six, seven times a night getting up and seeing to him.”

The first few months, she admitted, were “all a bit of a blur.” And even when she started training again—three months after giving birth—she wasn’t sure if she could ever return to her former strength.

But she did more than return. She surpassed it.

In January 2024, just a few months after resuming training, she won a British title. By September, she was on the podium in Malta, claiming an international championship.

Steel said the support of her husband, mother, and friends was crucial, especially in the lead-up to her victory in Malta. To make training more accessible, she and her husband built a home gym in their garden earlier this year. That change, she said, “was like a game-changer for me.”

“Knowing that I can just nip out and get a quick hour done while my son is asleep makes a huge difference,” she said.

Now, Steel hopes her story will encourage other women who are trying to find themselves again after giving birth. “I don’t think mums should feel guilty for just taking that time to do what they want to do,” she said. “And if that involves inspiring their children, then so much the better.”

She’s also honest about the reality of training at an elite level while raising a toddler: “There’s definitely an unglamorous side to it.”

But if there’s one thing she’s proven, it’s that motherhood doesn’t mean giving up your goals. In her case, it made her fight for them even harder.

This Powerlifting Mom Won World And European Titles — Now, She's Inspiring Others After Childbirth

**At 80, She Swam, Biked, and Ran Into the History Books**

Natalie Grabow didn’t know how to swim until she was 59. Now, at 80, she’s the oldest woman ever to finish the Ironman World Championship — a race so brutal that more than 60 athletes failed to cross the finish line this year.

On a scorching Saturday in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Grabow swam 2.4 miles in the open ocean, biked 112 miles through wind-swept lava fields, and ran a full marathon — 26.2 miles — to complete one of the most demanding endurance tests in the world. Her time: 16 hours, 45 minutes, and 26 seconds, well within the 17-hour cutoff.

“Absolutely incredible,” the race announcer said, as cheers erupted and the crowd chanted her name.

“I am so happy and grateful that I can still race in this sport at my age,” Grabow told NPR. “Triathlon allows me to feel strong both mentally and physically, and it satisfies my competitive spirit.”

She was the only entrant in the women’s 80–84 age group, and as she crossed the finish line, she was greeted by the very woman whose record she broke: 78-year-old Cherie Gruenfeld, who set the previous mark in 2022.

The oldest person to ever finish Kona remains Hiromu Inada of Japan, who completed the race at 85 in 2018.

Grabow’s road to the Ironman wasn’t a straight one. Raised in an era with limited opportunities for girls in sports, she found running later in life, even while working full-time as a software engineer. But running brought injuries, and she turned to triathlon as a way to keep moving — and stay healthier.

“The cross-training aspect of triathlon appealed to me, and this type of training reduced getting injured,” she said.

It also meant learning to swim from scratch. “It was a big hurdle I had to overcome,” she said, “in order to do a triathlon.”

She learned at her local YMCA in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, where she still swims. She bikes indoors and often runs laps at a local high school track.

Grabow first competed in a sprint triathlon — the shortest race distance — in 2005, the same year she turned 60. By 2006, she was taking on the full Ironman in Kona. This year marked her *11th* time competing in the Ironman World Championship.

Her coach, Michelle Lake of Fiv3 Racing, called her “the definition of grit and gratitude.”

“Grateful to make it to the start line, grateful to get to do something she loves every day and grateful to inspire so many others,” Lake said. “And she’s truly gritty.”

Grabow’s daughter, Amy, was also in Hawaii to cheer her on.

More than two decades after first dipping her toes into triathlon, Grabow has no plans to slow down. She’s already signed up for two half Ironman races in 2026 — Eagleman in June and Musselman in July — and she’s looking to add at least one more.

Asked for advice for others, she keeps it simple: “Listen to your body, take time off when you need to and, most importantly, just enjoy the journey. The day-to-day training is what I love the most.”

Her journey is still going. And at 80, she’s racing ahead.

This 80-Year-Old Grandmother Just Became the Oldest Woman To Finish the Ironman World Championship

A charity that breeds and trains guide dogs in the UK is celebrating its largest litter in three years — a bumper batch of 13 puppies, affectionately dubbed “the Baker’s Dozen.”

Born at Guide Dogs HQ in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the new arrivals have been given bakery-inspired names in honour of their sizeable squad. Among the boys are Biscuit, Crumble, Bagel, Crumpet, Rye, Tiger, and Pretzel. The girls are named Apple, Eccles, Cocoa, Chelsea, Custard, and Ginger.

It’s a sweet theme for a very serious mission: turning these pups into life-changing companions for people with visual impairments.

The cost of breeding, raising, and training a single guide dog can reach £77,000, according to the charity. That means the Baker’s Dozen will eventually require over £1 million in total to reach graduation.

“We breed 1,300 [dogs] a year so we obviously need lots of dedicated volunteers with that,” said breeding advisor Katy Wild-O'Neil. “And we do have some amazing volunteers who will continue to puppy raise for us.”

That next phase is now underway. Each of the 13 puppies will soon head to homes across the UK, where trained puppy raisers will spend about a year helping them learn basic skills, build confidence, and adapt to the everyday world.

One of those volunteers is Morna Farquhar, who has already helped raise 11 puppies for the charity. She admits saying goodbye never gets easier.

“It is difficult,” she said. “But you do it because you know someone else can have a guide dog. So if you give one year of your time, someone can have eight years of a dog to guide them.”

The new arrivals are the biggest litter since 2022, when German shepherd Unity stunned the charity by delivering a record-breaking 16 puppies.

If all goes to plan, the bakery-themed pups will complete their training and begin working as guide dogs by 2027 — offering mobility, freedom, and independence to those who need it most.

Guide Dog Charity Celebrates Arrival Of Largest Litter In Years

The Cool Down

In Bend, Oregon, getting around town just got easier for many residents thanks to a new electric bike rebate program. Commute Options, a nonprofit organization focused on sustainable transportation, has been making waves by offering vouchers worth 1,800 dollars to eligible locals. This initiative aims to boost accessibility and provide an eco-friendly commuting option.

As reported by Central Oregon Daily, nearly 70 income-eligible residents of Bend claimed the vouchers in mid-September. This marks the second time since 2023 that such rebates have been available through Commute Options. To qualify for the program, applicants needed to meet two criteria: their income had to be at least 80 percent below the area's median, and they had to be customers of Pacific Power, which funded the program.

Those who received vouchers could choose their new e-bikes from either BendR Cyclery or Bend Electric Bikes. Before setting off on their new rides, participants were required to complete a safety course provided by Commute Options.

Bend is known as a bike-friendly city with numerous lanes that make cycling both safe and efficient. E-bike rebate programs aren't unique to Oregon; states like New York, California, and Minnesota have also rolled out similar initiatives. The goal is to make affordable and sustainable transportation more accessible. For many individuals, this can be life-changing.

Beyond financial savings compared to driving gas-powered cars or taking public transit, e-bikes offer health benefits too. Plus, reducing vehicle emissions helps improve air quality for everyone.

If you're considering buying an e-bike yourself, Upway is an online platform with a wide selection of both new and certified pre-owned options—some discounted up to 60 percent off retail prices. You can even sell your old e-bike there for cash or store credit.

Charging your e-bike using home solar energy offers additional savings on transport costs. EnergySage can assist you in finding suitable installers and systems tailored to your needs.

Will Priest from BendR Cyclery shared his thoughts with Central Oregon Daily about the positive impact of the voucher program: "To see the real value of someone who couldn't even get to work unless they took a couple buses or something like that suddenly now they have a means to get there."

Commute Options' executive director Brian Potwin emphasized how important this program is for cities like Bend: "This program is good for a city like Bend to increase access to transportation options."

Commuters in Oregon are Celebrating, Receive $1,800 Vouchers for New E-Bikes

MIT Technology Review

Marcin Jakubowski lives in a home he built himself, powers it with solar panels, and heats it with a woodstove. He farms his own vegetables and fish. It’s 2025, and he’s trying to show the rest of us how to do the same.

Jakubowski, 53, is the founder of Open Source Ecology, an open collaborative that’s spent the past two decades designing what they call the Global Village Construction Set—50 modular, open-source machines capable of building a self-sustaining society from the ground up.

Tractor, sawmill, oven, 3D printer, compressed earth brick press—each machine is documented online, designed to be disassembled, reconfigured, and built using off-the-shelf parts and reclaimed materials. The goal: local, affordable, and repairable tools that don’t depend on global supply chains or corporate lock-in.

“If you’ve got a wrench, you’ve got a tractor,” his manual reads.

Jakubowski’s drive for self-sufficiency started early. He immigrated to the United States from Slupca, Poland, and recalls being awestruck by the abundance of a typical American grocery store. He studied physics, earning degrees from Princeton and the University of Wisconsin, but left academia behind in 2003 to start a farm in rural Missouri.

Then his tractor broke—and so did the dream.

Despite knowing how to fix it, Jakubowski couldn’t do the repairs himself without voiding the warranty. That’s still the case for most commercial tractors today, where manufacturers like John Deere prohibit farmers from fixing their own equipment. In 2023, Colorado became the first state to guarantee a “right to repair” for farmers, but elsewhere, class-action lawsuits are still ongoing. Farmers spend an estimated $1.2 billion annually on repairs and lose another $3 billion to downtime, all due to restricted access to tools and parts.

“The machines own farmers,” Jakubowski says. “The farmers don’t own [the machines].”

That realization pushed him to apply open-source principles—typically reserved for software—to hardware. He built his own tractor, published the plans online, and started assembling a network of tools to create what he calls “a thriving economy… from scratch.”

The Global Village Construction Set now includes dozens of modular machines, from hydraulic power cubes to bioplastic extruders. Each is designed like a Lego block, built to be reused, adapted, and improved by a community of makers around the world.

And people are building them.

In France, a man used Jakubowski’s compressed earth brick press, dubbed “The Liberator,” to build a home for his family. In Texas, a man with no engineering background started a business making bricks after downloading the plans. Others have built tractors, sawmills, and homes from the schematics. Over 110 machines have been replicated in countries including India, Guatemala, China, and Italy.

Jakubowski’s work draws clear inspiration from the countercultural spirit of the 1960s and ’70s—especially the Whole Earth Catalog, a DIY manual-slash-manifesto edited by Stewart Brand. It’s a comparison he welcomes, but with one key critique: the original movement lacked the collaborative infrastructure to scale.

“The failure of the techno-utopians to organize into a larger movement of collaborative, open, distributed production resulted in a miscarriage of techno-utopia,” he says.

Where others stopped at philosophy, Jakubowski insists on practical execution. The machines in the GVCS aren’t theoretical. They’re tested and refined at his workshop in Maysville, Missouri, a plot of land he’s named Factor e Farm. The machines are modular, the plans are public, and the community is hands-on.

But hardware is harder than code. While open-source software like Linux can be endlessly duplicated and improved, open-source hardware hits physical limits. You need materials, tools, and time. You can’t debug a tractor with a keystroke.

That’s why Jakubowski is now focused on building a school.

The Future Builders Academy, his latest initiative, is a hands-on apprenticeship where students learn to build Seed Eco Homes—modular, energy-independent houses constructed in five days for about $40,000. Each home comes with solar electricity, a geothermal cooling system, and a thermal battery. So far, eight have been built across the United States.

“Housing [is the] single largest cost in one’s life—and a key to so much more,” Jakubowski says.

These homes, like everything else in the GVCS, are designed to be appropriate—that is, tailored for local contexts, built with local materials, and maintainable by local communities. The idea comes from economist E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 book Small Is Beautiful, which championed “intermediate technology”: small-scale, affordable, and human-centered.

Jakubowski wants to bring that philosophy to cities and suburbs too. Even in places with Amazon deliveries and Home Depots, he argues, there’s a need for local, transparent, repairable tools.

“If technology is designed specifically for these contexts,” he says, “end-to-end reproduction will be possible, making more space for collaboration and innovation.”

It’s a bold vision. And it’s still a work in progress.

Most of the machines on the platform have been built by Jakubowski himself. Only a handful of outside contributors have added new tools to the GVCS, many of whom spent weeks or months working alongside him at Factor e Farm. One of them, James Wise, remembers sleeping in a car and brainstorming late into the night. “Most of [my] knowledge came from [my] peers,” he said.

But that peer-to-peer exchange is part of the plan. Jakubowski’s long game is about building hardware literacy—not just tools, but the knowledge to use, adapt, and improve them.

The end goal? A “zero marginal cost” society, where the cost of producing an extra unit—of food, housing, energy—is virtually nothing. He borrows the phrase from economist Jeremy Rifkin but gives it a local, physical twist: no licensing fees, no proprietary parts, just blueprints, wrenches, and collaboration.

“We’re becoming gods with technology,” Jakubowski says. “Yet technology has badly failed us.”

What would it mean to flip that equation? To build not more technology, but better, more equitable technology?

“We don’t need more technology,” he says. “We just need to collaborate with what we have now.”

Meet The Man Who Wants You to Build Your Own Civilization

Science Alert

A new brain imaging technique is giving scientists their clearest view yet of how tiny blood vessels pulse deep inside the human brain—and it could offer fresh insights into aging, hypertension, and even dementia.

Developed by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC), in partnership with Siemens Healthcare US, the method is the first noninvasive way to map the expansion and contraction of microscopic arteries and capillaries in living humans.

“Arterial pulsation is like the brain’s natural pump, helping to move fluids and clear waste,” said Danny Wang, a neurologist at USC and senior author of the study. “Our new method allows us to see, for the first time in people, how the volumes of those tiny blood vessels change with aging and vascular risk factors. This opens new avenues for studying brain health, dementia, and small vessel disease.”

The study was published in Nature Cardiovascular Research.

Researchers combined two existing MRI techniques—vascular space occupancy (VASO) and arterial spin labeling (ASL)—to measure subtle volume changes in the brain’s vasculature. These pulses, barely detectable until now, move through the cerebrovascular system like rhythmic waves, helping to circulate cerebrospinal fluid and clear metabolic waste.

And they may also hold vital clues about cognitive decline.

Previous research has linked abnormal pulsations in cerebral arteries to a higher risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, but until now, scientists haven’t had the tools to measure those changes in real time in living people. Most existing data comes from animal studies or indirect evidence from imaging large brain vessels.

“This is a missing link,” said Fanhua Guo, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Wang’s lab. “Our method shows strong potential for both research and clinical use, enabling accurate imaging of the cerebral microvascular system and capturing volumetric pulsatility in gray matter and white matter.”

To test the tool, the team scanned the brains of 23 participants—11 younger adults in their 20s and 30s, and 12 older adults in their 50s and 60s. What they found was striking.

Pulsations in deep white matter increased with age, and older participants with high blood pressure showed even more pronounced changes. The findings match what scientists have seen in animal models, where vascular stiffness and age-related damage cause altered blood flow deep in the brain’s white matter, the region packed with nerve fibers that relay signals across the brain.

Researchers don’t yet know why pulsations increase with age, but one theory points to changes in the density and flexibility of the microvascular network. As people age, the number and complexity of tiny blood vessels may decline, reducing the system’s ability to absorb the pressure of each heartbeat. That extra pressure could then be transferred to smaller outer arteries, causing them to expand more with each pulse.

If those changes disrupt the movement of cerebrospinal fluid—which cushions and cleanses the brain—it could set the stage for cognitive decline or neurodegenerative diseases.

“These findings provide a missing link between what we see in large vessel imaging and the microvascular damage we observe in aging and Alzheimer’s disease,” Guo said.

Researchers say the next step is to study people with diagnosed cognitive impairment and track whether these vascular changes can predict disease progression.

It’s still early days, but the team believes this imaging breakthrough could eventually lead to earlier detection of brain disorders—and even inform new ways to prevent or slow them.

For now, the tool is opening up a previously hidden frontier of brain research, and offering a new window into how something as simple as a heartbeat may shape the aging mind.

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