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Category: biological

The physics of brain development: How cells pull together to form the neural tube

In about one out of every 1,000 pregnancies, the neural tube, a key nervous system structure, fails to close properly. Georgia Tech physicists are now helping explain why this happens, having uncovered the physics that drive neural tube closure in a pregnancy’s earliest stages.

Working with collaborators at University College London (UCL), Georgia Tech researchers used computer models to reveal how, during early development, forces generated by cells physically pull the neural tube closed—like a drawstring. This discovery offers new insight into a critical process that—when disrupted—can result in severe birth defects such as spina bifida.

“Understanding a complex developmental process like neural tube closure requires a highly interdisciplinary approach,” said Shiladitya Banerjee, an associate professor in the School of Physics. “By combining advanced biological imaging with theoretical physics, we were able to uncover the mechanical rules that drive cells to close the tube. My lab builds computational models to uncover the physical rules of living systems. The neural tube is an ideal focus because its formation requires incredible mechanical coordination.”

Songbird connectome reveals tunneling of migratory neurons in the adult striatum

Despite its small size—typically only several inches, beak to tail—the zebra finch is a remarkable learner. A songbird native to Australia, it’s renowned for its ability to pick up new songs.

That talent has made it a favorite of scientists studying how animal brains imprint new skills, particularly vocal learning, or the capacity to perfect new sounds. And now researchers at Boston University have discovered another quirk to the zebra finch brain—one that could also have implications for understanding our own gray matter.

In a study that looked at the bird’s brain in unprecedented detail, they uncovered new insights into a mechanism known as neurogenesis—the birth, migration, and maturation of neurons—that may help the brain learn, add new skills, and restore and repair itself.

Observing the finch brain using a high-powered microscope, the researchers watched as new neurons bullied their way through the brain en route to bolstering existing circuits and connections. They’d expected the neurons to gingerly step around established brain structures, including more mature brain cells, to better preserve them; instead, they saw the neurons tunnel right through, squishing and shoving as they went. That may help the birds learn new things or repair damage, but it could also come with a cost to existing cells and memories.

According to the BU-led team, their findings could help explain why neurogenesis may not occur in humans beyond the womb, increasing our vulnerability to a range of brain disorders. The findings were published in Current Biology.

Abstract: Current Biology

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Ray Kurzweil: “The Biological Singularity Is Almost Here”

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Are we transcending human biology, or are we engineering our own obsolescence? The Biological Singularity is no longer science fiction. AI systems like AlphaFold 3 and ESM3 are actively rewriting the human source code, turning biology into a programmable engineering discipline. But as we approach the death of aging and the dawn of designer reality, a terrifying question emerges: what happens to the global population when the elite become mathematically and biologically superior? We explore Yuval Noah Harari’s warning of the \.

Fields as Formal Causes, with David Bentley Hart

In this conversation, Rupert Sheldrake and David Bentley Hart delve into the concept of fields in physics, discussing their nature as non-material formative causes and their historical context in scientific thought. They explore the idea that fields, such as gravitational and electromagnetic, act as top-down causes, aligning with Aristotle’s formal and final causes, and argue for a re-evaluation of these ancient concepts in modern science.

Chapter List:

00:00 — Introduction.
01:14 — Exploring Fields as Causes in Nature.
02:08 — Magnetic Fields and Formative Processes.
04:19 — Gravitational Fields and Formative Effects.
06:10 — Aristotle’s Formal and Final Causes.
07:32 — Challenges in Understanding Fields.
09:09 — Fields as Top-Down Causes.
10:34 — Morphic Fields and Formative Causation.
12:23 — Information Theory vs. Form.
14:15 — Fields and Order in Physics.
17:15 — Semantic and Syntactic Information.
18:18 — Universal Gravitational Field.
19:44 — Strong and Weak Nuclear Fields.
21:18 — History of Field Theory and Ether.
23:14 — Gilbert’s Magnetic Theory.
24:46 — Mind-like Structure in Nature.
25:39 — Combination of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Theories.
27:07 — Mechanistic Models and Their Limitations.
28:52 — Recovering Aristotelian Causality.
31:39 — Conclusion and Reflection on Fields as Modern Souls.

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Dr Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University, as a Fellow of Clare College, he was Director of Studies in biochemistry and cell biology. As the Rosenheim Research Fellow of the Royal Society, he carried out research on the development of plants and the ageing of cells, and together with Philip Rubery discovered the mechanism of polar auxin transport. In India, he was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, where he helped develop new cropping systems now widely used by farmers. He is the author of more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and his research contributions have been widely recognized by the academic community, earning him a notable h-index for numerous citations. On ResearchGate his Research Interest Score puts him among the top 4% of scientists.

https://www.sheldrake.org

Physicists can’t find “now” anywhere in the universe | Jim Al-Khalili

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We would hope that the moment that we eternally live in, the “now,” would have a concrete scientific explanation. But the truth is far more complicated, says the relativity of simultaneity.

Jim Al-Khalili explains how the past and future are more fluid than we may think.

Preorder Jim Al-Khalili’s forthcoming book, On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe, here: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Physics-T?tag=lifeboatfound-20…

About Jim Al-Khalili: Jim is a multiple award-winning science communicator renowned for his public engagement around the world through writing and broadcasting and a leading academic making fundamental contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in nuclear reaction theory, quantum effects in biology, open quantum systems and the foundations of quantum mechanics. Jim is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology.

About Jim Al-Khalili:

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Fluorescent technique reveals hidden scale of microfiber pollution from our clothes

Pollution released from our textiles is smaller and more irregular in shape than previously thought, according to new research led by The University of Manchester. In a study published in Scientific Reports, Manchester researchers—in collaboration with researchers from the University of East Anglia and Manchester Metropolitan University—have developed a new fluorescence-based method that dramatically improves the detection of microfibers released from textiles during washing and wear.

The findings suggest that conventional testing methods may have been missing a large proportion of the smallest fiber fragments, the particles most likely to persist in the environment and enter living organisms.

Every time clothes are worn or washed, microscopic fibers shed from fabrics and enter water, air and soil. Until now, accurately measuring the smallest of these fibers has been extremely difficult, limiting our understanding of their true environmental impact.

Protein clusters reshape cell movement and may help cells build amino acids faster

Cells can be thought of as cities, with factories, a transport system, and lots of building activity. An international team led by scientists at the University of Groningen studied cells growing under different conditions and measured the speed of molecule transport. They found that some conditions led to changes in the mobility inside the cells, caused by the clustering of proteins that produce the building materials for growth. It could be that clustering enables the proteins to produce those building blocks more efficiently. The research is published in the journal Molecular Cell.

The research started with a seemingly simple question. How much movement is there within a cell? “We provided bacteria with different nutrients and this resulted in different growth rates,” explains Matthias Heinemann, Professor of Molecular Systems Biology. Movement was measured by inserting tiny (40 nanometers) fluorescent particles in the cells that could be tracked under the microscope. “To our surprise, we found that particle movement under different conditions could vary by a factor of three.”

The scientific literature could not explain this observation. By analyzing the cell content, the scientists found a correlation between movement of the fluorescent particles and the number of proteins that are involved in the production of amino acids. “More of these proteins meant less movement inside the cell,” says Heinemann. “This led us to the question of why this happens. Our hypothesis was that these proteins form clusters that act as obstacles to movement inside the cells.”

Math model reveals how life may have switched on from Earth’s primordial soup

Isolating the first spark of life on Earth is a matter of biology, geology, and chemistry—but it’s also an amazing math problem. At least, that’s how Varun Varanasi viewed it when he was a Yale undergraduate. The question, in a nutshell, is this: How did the primordial soup of interacting molecules on the Earth’s surface billions of years ago transform itself from complete chaos to an organized system of self-sustaining, reproducing chemicals? Did this occur gradually over millions of years, or was it abrupt?

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