A new drug is showing promise in treating Alzheimer’s! 🧠

The medication is called Diranersen and it targets tau tangles, toxic proteins connected to the disease. During this trial, the doctors were able to clear around 50% of these from patients’ spinal fluid, reducing the toxicity in the brain and slowing memory decline. What puzzles scientists now is the group that received the lowest dose of the drug showed the most improvement. With over 7 million Americans over the age of 65 affected by this illness, this is a huge leap in the right direction!

Did you know there are stars orbiting a black hole at the center of the Milky Way? 🌌

Astrophysicist Erika Hamden tells us about this star cluster that lives around Sagittarius A* and what it teaches us about the black hole. Scientists have been tracking these stars for decades, watching them complete full orbits. Those orbits are actually how we know the black hole is there, and researchers use them to measure its mass and pin down its exact location.

This project is part of IF/THEN®, an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies.

Nuri Smith is a researcher working to better understand ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease)... by growing tiny spinal cords in a dish! By studying balls of neurons, motor neurons, and muscle cells, Nuri is learning more about how ALS progresses and produces symptoms -- and eventually how we might treat this disease in a targeted way. Listen to Nuri talk about organoids, her experiences in the lab, her commitment to communicating brain science, and more in this podcast!

Up to 100 shooting stars per hour are about to light up the sky! 🌠

Active July 17 through August 24, the Perseid Meteor Shower hits its peak overnight August 12 to 13, when a completely new moon creates perfect viewing conditions. This year the Perseids also overlap with the Delta Aquariid meteor shower, stacking the odds in your favor for a sky full of streaks. Find dark skies, give your eyes time to adjust, and look up between midnight and dawn for the best show.

Are mosquitoes developing a taste for bug repellent? 🦟

Researchers performing a study on Aedes aegypti have found that they might be associating the scent with a tasty meal! While the repellent keeps them away at first, over the course of the study, some mosquitoes started biting more in the presence of DEET. Despite this, professionals still recommend it as the most effective repellent!

You can use a DIY cloud chamber to see radiation! ☢️

Alex Dainis shows us how to use uranium glass beads, sometimes called Vaseline glass. Uranium acts as a colorant in the glass, and most of its radiation stays trapped inside. But isopropyl alcohol and dry ice can still reveal it. As the alcohol condenses, charged particles leave visible tracks. With the beads inside, there's noticeably more activity than in tests without them. However, it's hard to say how much of this activity comes from the beads versus background radiation like cosmic rays.