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Scientists Unlock Key to Alzheimer’s Disease Mystery
In exciting news, scientists have discovered a key breakthrough in Alzheimer's research. They have identified a crucial cellular mechanism driving the most common cause of dementia. This breakthrough offers promising possibilities for drug treatments that could slow or even reverse the disease’s progression. Researchers at CUNY ASRC found a critical link between cellular stress and neurotoxic effects in Alzheimer's, offering hope for potential new treatments to help millions of patients and their families.
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New App Matches Footprints to Dinosaurs That Made Them
It started with a bedtime story. Physicist Gregor Hartmann was reading a book on dinosaurs to his son when he had a realization: the artificial intelligence methods he used in photon science might also work for identifying dinosaur tracks. So he reached out to the book’s author, University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte, and together they built something new — DinoTracker. The tool, now available on GitHub, uses artificial intelligence to classify fossilized dinosaur footprints — a task traditionally done by hand and prone to human bias. Their findings were published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “You never find a footprint and alongside [it] the dinosaur that had made this footprint,” Hartmann told The Guardian. “So, no offense to palaeontologists and such, but most likely some of these labels are wrong.” The software’s neural network was trained on nearly 2,000 unlabeled fossil tracks. It studied eight key features, including toe spread, ground contact, and heel position. After more than a year of training, the model was able to match expert classifications around 90 percent of the time. Brusatte says the tool could have saved him a lot of time back when he started studying tracks. “It really is challenging to understand the variation among tracks that were made by different dinosaurs and preserved in different environments, and this app now makes everything more objective,” he told IFLScience. While the A.I. is powerful, it doesn’t work in isolation. Human experts still analyze track age and location to confirm results. The model only sees the footprint itself. “This app certainly isn’t the end of the story when it comes to puzzling over the mysteries of dinosaur footprints,” co-author Paige dePolo wrote in The Conversation. “It’s a useful research resource for figuring out what tracks any footprint is most similar to in terms of shape, and what features are driving that similarity.” Interestingly, the DinoTracker system backed up a longstanding hunch among paleontologists: that some three-toed Triassic-era tracks look a lot like bird tracks. The model found unbiased, shape-based similarity between them. “Our dinosaur footprint A.I. model shows that some of these mysterious, controversial three-toed Triassic tracks really do resemble those of birds,” Brusatte told IFLScience. “The humans studying them were correct. It wasn't just wishful thinking.” That finding could suggest birdlike species existed tens of millions of years earlier than previously thought — though not everyone agrees. Jens Lallensack, a geoscientist at Humboldt University of Berlin who also works with A.I. in paleontology, cautioned that tracks aren’t perfect proxies for actual feet. “Birdlike” impressions don’t mean birds were walking around back then. The shape also depends on how the animal moved and the softness of the ground. Still, the researchers believe DinoTracker is a sign of things to come. “I think A.I. has a bright future in paleontology,” Brusatte said. “It’s not that A.I. will become some all-knowing god... but what excites me most is that A.I. can become a new type of paleontologist — one that compiles and observes and filters through and classifies data, and does so in a way that is free from the usual human biases.” And in this case, it all began with a bedtime book.
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Melbourne Zoo Welcomes Adorable Newborn Giraffe
The Melbourne Zoo in Australia welcomed an adorable newborn giraffe to their sanctuary on Sunday, February 1. In a press release sent to Storyful, the zoo said they were “thrilled to announce the birth of a male giraffe calf to first-time mother five-year-old Iris and seven-year-old father Klintun.” Melbourne Zoo Ungulates Coordinator Luke Hausler said: “It has been an amazing year for the keeping staff, first welcoming our first calf in nearly 20 years, and now a second. It has just been an absolute joy to have been a part of – and lots and lots of work!” “Iris and her 84.6-kg [187-pound] calf will spend this critical early period bonding away from the rest of the herd, and will walk on habitat in the next few days. The calf is a little heavier than his older brother, Tambi, who was 75 kg [165 pounds] at birth, meaning the little brother is actually a big brother! So far, Iris is staying close to her son,” Hausler said. “The team has been waiting for quite a while for Iris’s calf to join us! In that time we have been doing a lot of preparation work, monitoring Iris and her pregnancy through health checks, including training her for voluntary ultrasounds to keep an eye on her calf,” Hausler added.
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Five Paramedics Honoured in Ontario for Life-Saving Cardiac Arrest Response
Leeds Grenville Paramedic Services has recognized five of its own — Garrett, Sarah, Anna, Cassie, and Ron — with the Save Pin award for their extraordinary efforts in saving the life of a cardiac arrest patient. The Save Pin is awarded to paramedics whose quick action and advanced care result in a patient recovering well enough to be discharged from hospital. It’s one of the highest honours in pre-hospital care, highlighting the real impact of teamwork and training under pressure. Officials praised the crew for their dedication to patient care and community safety, saying their work is a testament to the vital role paramedics play across the region. The award not only marks a personal milestone for each recipient but also serves as a reminder of what’s possible when skill, speed, and calm come together on scene.
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Protein Injection Shows Promise for Treating Both Depression and Gut Disorders, Say Canadian Researchers
A single injectable protein could one day offer relief for people struggling with both depression and gut issues like “leaky gut,” according to new research from the University of Victoria. The study, published in Chronic Stress, focused on a glycoprotein called Reelin, already known to play a role in brain development. Researchers say it could also help restore the gut lining and ease symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). “Increasingly, the gut-brain axis is becoming essential to understanding many psychiatric disorders, including depression,” said Hector Caruncho, a professor of medical sciences at UVic and the study’s senior author. Reelin is found in the brain, blood, liver, and intestines. When mice were exposed to chronic stress, their intestinal levels of Reelin dropped—alongside signs of increased gut permeability. But after a single injection of 3 micrograms of Reelin, those levels returned to normal. That matters because chronic stress doesn’t just affect mental health—it also physically damages the gut. Over time, stress can weaken the intestinal barrier, allowing bacteria and toxins to pass into the bloodstream. This so-called “leaky gut” can trigger inflammation, which may worsen or even cause depressive symptoms. The new study suggests that Reelin helps repair that damage. “Under normal conditions, the cells lining the gut are replaced every four to five days,” explained first author Ciara Halvorson, a neuroscience PhD student at UVic. “If Reelin supports the renewal of the gut lining, it may help protect against the worsening of depression symptoms triggered by inflammatory immune responses.” Earlier studies had already linked low Reelin levels to depression in both humans and animals. The UVic team’s new work builds on that by connecting Reelin to gut health as well. In stressed rodents, a single injection not only restored Reelin levels in the intestine, it also produced antidepressant-like effects. While clinical trials are still a long way off, the findings hint at a future where mental health treatments could also target the gut—and vice versa. “Taken together, these results may have important implications for the management of major depressive disorder,” said Halvorson. “This is especially true for people who live with both depression and gastrointestinal conditions.” The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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This 5-Foot Mom is Set to Become the Smallest Person Ever to Row Solo Across the Atlantic
Milli Abrams isn’t tall, but her achievement looms large. The 50-year-old mother from Fife has just become the smallest person ever to complete the “World’s Toughest Row,” a grueling solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Over 46 days, 11 hours, and 44 minutes at sea, she rowed more than 4,800 kilometres from the Canary Islands to Antigua—finishing just after dark on January 30. “I was the fastest boat in the fleet at one point,” she said in a video posted to her social media. “I felt like an athlete—I felt good.” At just five feet tall, Milli has defied expectations in more ways than one. A former accountant who now runs her own small business, she took on the challenge not as a lifelong athlete, but as someone looking to prove something to herself—and inspire others. She battled wind shifts, exhaustion, and mental strain, all while raising close to £16,000 for two charities: The 2 Minute Foundation, which fights plastic pollution, and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), which supports kids with terminal illnesses. The toughest stretch came right at the end. Just 15 miles from shore, wind and currents pushed her off course. “I was thinking it was my final test from the sea,” she said. “I screamed and cried and wailed… I wasn’t present in the moment—I was focused on the finish line, which was torturous.” After fighting through seven or eight more hours in worsening conditions, Milli finally arrived in Antigua, where friends and family were waiting. “It was so nice to see the safety boat and humans,” she said. “They tell you it’ll be overwhelming—but I loved it. I was just very happy.” Her brother kept her company by phone during the final stretch, helping her stay calm as she powered through the last hour and a half in darkness. Before the row, Milli admitted she wasn’t “particularly sporty.” She’d also experienced long COVID. But after a friend completed the same crossing in 2023, something clicked. She started training and committed to the idea that someone like her—small, busy, and not a pro athlete—could do something extraordinary. “I hope I feel happy and ready to jump back into normal life,” she said before setting off. “I’m hoping to get a bit more of an understanding of who I am, and how I cope by myself in tough situations.” She also wanted to prove the experience could feel attainable for people who might not see themselves as capable of taking on extreme physical feats. “Because it didn’t feel attainable to me,” she said, “until I met someone who’d done it.” Now, she’s the one others will be looking to.
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Need a Mental Reset? Science Says Take a Nap
A quick nap might be the smartest move you make all day. Researchers from the University of Freiburg and the University of Geneva say that even a short afternoon nap—up to 45 minutes—can help the brain recover and prepare to learn again. Their findings, published in the journal NeuroImage, show that a brief siesta helps reorganize connections between nerve cells, making it easier to absorb new information. “Even short periods of sleep enhance the brain’s capacity to encode new information,” said Professor Christoph Nissen, who led the study. During the day, our brains are bombarded with information and constantly process new thoughts and experiences. This strengthens the connections between nerve cells—called synapses—but that also leads to saturation. Eventually, the brain can’t take in much more. That’s where sleep comes in. It resets things. Nissen explains that the brain doesn’t need a full night’s rest to do this kind of cleanup. A midday nap can reduce synaptic overload while still preserving important memories, essentially freeing up brainpower for whatever comes next. “This ‘synaptic reset’ can happen with just an afternoon nap, clearing space for new memories to form,” he said. To test the idea, the researchers recruited 20 healthy young adults and had them either nap or stay awake for two afternoons. The naps lasted about 45 minutes on average. Since it’s not possible to directly measure synaptic activity in humans, the team used non-invasive tools like EEGs and transcranial magnetic stimulation to monitor what was going on in the brain. They found that after a nap, the overall strength of synaptic connections dropped—an indicator that the brain had restored itself. More importantly, the brain’s ability to form new connections improved “significantly,” suggesting it was ready to take in new information. “The study helps us understand how important even short periods of sleep are for mental recovery,” said Dr. Kai Spiegelhalder of the University Medical Center Freiburg. “A short nap can help you think more clearly and continue working with concentration.” The research suggests that naps could be especially helpful in high-pressure fields like sports, music, or safety-critical jobs. “An afternoon nap can sustain performance under high demand,” Nissen said. That doesn’t mean occasional sleeplessness is a disaster. The team pointed out that short-term sleep problems don’t necessarily harm performance. And for those dealing with chronic insomnia, they recommend cognitive behavioural therapy over sleeping pills, which can interfere with natural brain recovery and lead to dependency. Bottom line: A nap isn’t lazy—it’s neuroscience.
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Abbey Murphy Is Hockey’s Viral Star and Could Be Hockey's Next Big Thing
Abbey Murphy isn’t just scoring goals—she’s making statements. In a January face-off between No. 3 ranked Minnesota and No. 12 Minnesota State, the senior captain pulled off a moment that felt straight out of a video game. With the puck in open ice, Murphy flipped it into the air, knocked it between a defender’s legs, and dished off a no-look pass to freshman Bella Fanale for an easy goal. The assist went viral. ESPN’s John Buccigross called it “the greatest assist of all time.” “Most people would never even think about doing that,” said Minnesota head coach Brad Frost. “Or have the courage to try.” Murphy did, and she nailed it. The trick wasn’t random either—it was inspired by a move from her summer training buddy Ryker Lee, a Nashville Predators prospect. But Murphy, now 23, isn’t new to the spotlight. She led the NCAA in goals (36 in 26 games) and also led in penalties (23) heading into the Olympics. Her game is a unique mix of elite skill, raw aggression, and unapologetic showmanship. She’s fast, physical, and unafraid to chirp. And she knows exactly what she’s doing. “To see women’s hockey get that recognition it deserves, obviously is a main reason why I try to do that kind of stuff,” Murphy said. “Just to be different and shine on a different stage.” A two-time Olympian already, Murphy skipped the 2025 PWHL draft to return to Minnesota for a final shot at a national title. She’s now among Team USA’s most dangerous forwards heading into Milan, and her teammates and coaches can’t stop talking about her. “Me being a coach here for 26 years, I don’t know of any other player like Murph,” said Frost. “I’ve kind of used the [Matthew] Tkachuk or [Brad] Marchand comparison, but I think that’s doing a disservice to Murph. She has the skill of a Connor McDavid and a chip similar to Marchand.” Murphy herself leans into the Marchand comparison. Taylor Heise, her Team USA linemate and 2024 PWHL Playoff MVP, agrees—sort of. “She calls herself the Brad Marchand of women’s hockey, but I think she’s more than that,” Heise said. “She’s a dynamic forward who can go scrummy into corners but also can toe drag you and make you look like a fool.” Murphy’s combination of grit and flair makes her tough to contain—and sometimes tough to officiate. Bodychecking is illegal in women’s hockey, but Murphy doesn’t shy away from contact. She’s built her game on toeing that line. Not everyone appreciates it. “Other teams have at least one or two people on their team that are told that you have to rattle Abbey,” Heise said. “But if you go at her, it’s all hands on deck. You better hope that your mom, your sister, whoever she knows about you, you’re done.” USA head coach John Wroblewski remembers his early skepticism. At a 2022 tryout camp, Murphy’s intensity was off the charts. “She was so far over the line that I was like we can’t bring this,” Wroblewski said. “Her intensity was so heavy. I didn’t know if she was going to hurt one of yours or the opponent.” She didn’t make the cut that year. But when she returned for the Rivalry Series, everything clicked. “Slowly and surely you get to understand the person behind all of this,” Wroblewski said. “She is fun to be around. She’s cool yet she’s got a degree of intensity, but honestly much more, laid back and chill. So considerate. It’s unbelievable that when she puts those skates and helmet on, she’s a different person.” Off the ice, Murphy is all respect and gratitude. Her linemates describe her as kind and loyal, the first to thank a teammate, the last to brag about herself. “She will do anything for you,” Heise said. “She is from a family where family is everything.” Murphy’s edge came early. She grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, the daughter of a Marine and a trauma nurse. Her brothers played football and wrestled; no one in the house played hockey until Murphy saw a neighbor skating in their backyard. That was it. She was hooked. At 15, her dad gave her coach permission to call her out when she racked up bad penalties. “Sometimes I took it too far, absolutely,” Murphy said. “But I’d have Frosty there to yell at me or sit me if he had to.” That fire hasn’t gone away—it’s just matured. She scored five goals in Team USA’s sweep over Canada in the recent Rivalry Series, including the first American hat trick against Canada since Hilary Knight in 2023. And with the launch of the PWHL, players like Murphy are entering the Olympics sharper than ever. “The game has been elevated since four years ago,” said Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations. “And it’s going to be noticeable.” Murphy is in the mix to go first overall in the 2026 PWHL draft, but she’s not thinking about that now. She’s focused on winning. Her style? Fast, fierce, flashy—and fueled by a desire to make women’s hockey impossible to ignore. “I’m someone who likes to play with speed and a lot of tenacity and love to make plays and obviously score goals and stuff like that,” Murphy said. “But obviously you hear the other side, kind of that annoying agitator on the ice who honestly just does whatever it takes to win. That’s my game.”
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Texas Store Manager Saves Homeless Woman from Freezing on Her Birthday
As freezing rain and sleet battered Fort Worth, Texas during a recent winter storm, a homeless woman named Bobbi found herself in a life-threatening situation — cold, alone, and unable to move. But thanks to the quick thinking of a local store manager, she lived to tell the story. Faris Hussain, manager at Evans Food Mart, didn’t hesitate when a customer burst into the store and said a woman was lying outside, frozen. He rushed out to find Bobbi stiff from the cold, her body nearly frozen solid after spending the entire night outside. “She felt like a rock, as stiff as a rock,” Hussain said. “No matter which way you picked her up, her body was going to stay the same form.” Despite the difficulty, he managed to carry her inside, where she slowly began to warm up. Bobbi, barely able to speak, thanked him and the others who gathered to help. She explained she had spent the night trying to reach a warming shelter — only to find it had closed. It had also been her 50th birthday. “She tried crawling through the ice,” Hussain said, noting she had left her shoes behind because she couldn’t get them on. “It’s kind of like, ‘God was watching over you.’” Emergency crews arrived shortly after and took Bobbi to the hospital. She later reunited with Hussain, who had been captured on surveillance footage running to her aid. Bobbi expressed deep gratitude to everyone who helped her that day and hopes her story encourages others to act when someone is in need. As for Hussain, he’s not looking for praise. Helping people, he said, is just part of what he and his team try to do every day for their community.
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This UK Engineer Just Broke a World Record with His 234 mph Remote Control Car
A part-time engineer from Rugby has smashed the world speed record for remote control cars, hitting an astonishing 234.71 mph (377.7 km/h) with a custom-built machine he calls The Beast. Stephen Wallis, who works for Royal Enfield Motorcycles in Leicestershire, spent over a year designing the 1-meter-long car, built from 3D-printed parts and powered by four high-performance drone motors. "It goes back to when I was eight years old and got my first radio-controlled car," Wallis said, crediting a childhood obsession for the project’s origin. While he had publicly aimed for 200 mph (321.8 km/h), Wallis privately hoped to break 240 mph. He didn’t quite reach that mark, but his record-breaking run still eclipsed the previous top speed by over 16 mph. To put the feat in perspective, The Beast is faster than a McLaren F1 supercar. “The motors are bolted directly to the wheels, which are in turn bolted directly to the chassis,” Wallis explained. “That kept things simple mechanically, but the electronics were a real challenge.” He initially struggled to push the vehicle’s performance, so he went back to the drawing board to study brushless motor systems and unlock more speed. The breakthrough came just in time for a September meeting of the Radio Operated Scale Speed Association (ROSSA) at Llanbedr Airfield in North Wales, where the record was officially set. Along with a Guinness World Record certificate, Wallis earned another prize: a custom cap from ROSSA. As the new record holder, he got to pick the color scheme — neon green with black writing — inspired by his son's suggestion. “The car’s white, neon green, and pink so it’s visible at a distance,” Wallis said. “My son suggested neon green with neon pink writing, but that was a bit too garish.” With The Beast now in the record books, Wallis hasn’t said whether he’ll take another shot at 240. But he’s already proven one thing: childhood dreams, plus a bit of engineering know-how, can move at over 230 miles per hour.
Score (98)
This Pennsylvania Teacher Just Turned Grief Into a Classroom Movement for Kindness
Kristina Ulmer never expected a stack of waitress tips to change her life — or the lives of hundreds of her students. In 2014, Ulmer lost her sister in a tragic car accident. When her family visited the crash site, they gathered her belongings. Among them: a wallet full of small bills, tips from a side job at a local diner. Ulmer didn’t know what to do with the cash at the time, so she tucked it away in a drawer. It sat there for four years. Then, in 2018, something clicked. Ulmer, an English teacher at Hatboro-Horsham High School near Philadelphia, was teaching Fahrenheit 451, the classic dystopian novel. She wanted her ninth-grade students to think more deeply about its themes — especially how to build a better society. That’s when she remembered the money. “My sister was always, always concerned with other people,” Ulmer said. “I wanted to do something with the money, and I realized I could use it to help students understand the power of kindness.” And so the $20 Kindness Challenge was born. Every semester since, Ulmer has given each student in her class $20 and asked them to use it to make the world better in whatever way they choose. Some students add their own money or pool it with classmates. Afterwards, they create a video explaining their project and what they learned. The results have been moving, creative, and deeply personal. Ninth-grader Ellie Goldsman used her share to make handmade bracelets for every student at a local elementary school, organizing them by grade. Victoria Kanoff donated to the nonprofit Glad Dogs Nation. Charlie Boyd, a tenth-grader, gave to Parkinson’s research in honor of his dad, who’s been battling the disease for over a decade. “It made us feel like we had a bigger impact than just our budget,” said sophomore Peter Linn. The project has had ripple effects far beyond Ulmer’s classroom. As word spread, donations began pouring in to keep the challenge going. Hundreds of students have now taken part, spreading small acts of kindness across their communities. Other teachers — like Amy Smith in Delaware — have reached out to learn how to start similar programs in their own schools. “One of the best takeaways for me was the way that the students described how they felt,” Smith said. “It made them light up.” For Ulmer’s students, the experience is more than just a school project. It’s a source of connection and meaning. “Being part of this community and this class that performed such a good thing for the world made her class a really welcoming space for me,” said tenth-grader Myah Morales Jones. As for Ulmer, the challenge has helped transform her grief into something hopeful. “Every time the kids are doing something, I see her being like, ‘yeah, that’s awesome,’” she said of her sister. “For the first time, I felt better. And every time the kids would share what they did, I felt a little better.” She still keeps a photo of her sister nearby. But now, she also has a growing collection of student videos, notes, and memories — proof that kindness can come from even the deepest heartbreak. “This next generation,” Ulmer said, “I don’t know, to me they’re gonna save the world.”