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COVID-19 pandemic may have aged your brain, even if you weren't infected, finds UK study
According to the researchers, however, these changes could be 'partially reversible' but the most significant aspect highlighted in the study was how much simply living through the uncertainty and isolation of the pandemic affected brain health.
Using brain scans from nearly 1,000 healthy adults from before and after the pandemic, researchers found signs of faster brain ageing, especially in older adults, men, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Of these samples, those who were infected with COVID-19 also showed some decline in thinking speed and flexibility. But overall, the pandemic's stress alone did shift brain structure in all individuals whose scans were reviewed.
New Delhi: A new study from the University of Nottingham has found that just living through the COVID-19 pandemic may have aged people's brains faster, even if they never got infected with the virus itself. The peer-reviewed study was published on 22 July in the journal Nature Communications and is based on data from the UK Biobank Study.
It's a powerful reminder that our environment matters for our brain's growth. Read more here.
Also Read: A UK health study has collected a whopping 100,000 full-body scans, and Neanderthals had 'family recipes'
Spiders originally came from the sea?
Next, we might have evidence that spiders could have originally been sea creatures. At least that is what a new peer-reviewed study published in the journal Current Biology on 22 July suggests, after researchers closely examined a preserved fossil from half a billion years ago.
The fossil is called Mollisonia symmetrica, and it has a nervous system very similar to that of modern-day arachnids like spiders and scorpions. Until now, scientists thought these creatures only evolved once their ancestors moved onto land 400 million years ago and have remained the same ever since.
But this new study flips that theory on its head, quite literally. It cites evidence of the brain of the fossil Mollisonia, which shows a reversed organisation—a signature trait seen in today's arachnids. This arrangement may have given them faster reflexes, better control, and precision, which are all traits modern-day spiders use to hunt and weave webs.
The fossil places Mollisonia as a close relative of modern arachnids, meaning these creatures might have started evolving in the ocean long before they crept onto land. Read more here.
Scientists genome sequence 100-yr-old Spanish Flu virus
A 100-year-old lung sample from Switzerland helped scientists decode the deadliest flu in human history. A new peer-reviewed study by researchers from the Universities of Basel and Zurich published in BMC Biology Journal on 1 July sequenced the genome of the 1918 'Spanish flu' virus. They used preserved tissue from a young patient who died during the pandemic's first wave in Switzerland. The Spanish flu that spread across Europe and Asia in the 1910s is said to have killed between 20-100 million people.
By decoding the genome, scientists now have insights into how this flu had already adapted to humans early on. They found three key mutations in the genome—two which helped the virus evade the human immune system, and one which boosted its ability to infect human cells.
What makes this study stand out is also how they conducted the study.
In viral flus, the genetic information rests in the RNA, not the DNA. The RNA is very quick to degrade but these scientists developed a method to recover ancient viral RNA. This technique could open the door to learning more from historic outbreaks. Read more here.
Arctic winter is melting, and researchers have noticed it
A group of scientists led by Dr James Bradley from Queen Mary University, London, published a commentary in Nature Communications on 21 July talking about the 'shockingly warm' winter conditions in the Arctic. The team described how they had geared up for winter Arctic fieldwork in Svalbard, wearing layers of thermal clothing, only to find themselves drenched in rain, standing on bare grass, and working without even needing gloves in what is supposed to be the middle of winter in February 2025.
Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago located where the Arctic Ocean converges with the Atlantic Ocean.
In the commentary, they raised alarms about melted snow pools, blooming vegetation, and rain replacing snow in the Arctic Circle during winters. Svalbard is heating up six to seven times faster than the global average, and the Arctic winter is no longer reliably frozen, said the team.
These conditions not only disrupted their research but also raised safety concerns, like how to retreat from polar bears without their snowmobiles working. The team warns that winter warming in the Arctic is not a fluke but rather the new norm. The message sent by the commentary is clear: climate policy needs to catch up, and fast. Read more here.
Also Read: A fiery side-effect of melting glaciers & paging Dr Droid for gallbladder surgery
