Theorists have identified a phase that could facilitate the switching of a crystal between its right-handed and left-handed versions.
Category: futurism
Autoinhibitory control of MLKL governs pseudokinase domain phosphorylation and oligomerization during necroptosis
The current model of necroptosis assumes that MLKL’s N-terminal cytotoxic domain is unleashed from autoinhibition concurrent with phosphorylation by RIPK3. Here, Pan and Abbott show that inhibition of MLKL’s N terminus abolishes phosphorylation by RIPK3 whereas removal or relieving autoinhibition between the N-terminal and intermediate domains promotes its phosphorylation.
Your brain may be as blind to reality as a grasshopper is to calculus | Michelle Thaller
In the distant future could we redesign the brain for more understanding of the universe.
Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_… What if the universe was never designed to be understood? Astronomer Michelle Thaller makes a case that the human brain, despite its complexity, may be as poorly equipped to grasp ultimate reality as a grasshopper is to.
What if the universe was never designed to be understood? Astronomer Michelle Thaller makes a case that the human brain, despite its complexity, may be as poorly equipped to grasp ultimate reality as a grasshopper is to grasp calculus.
About Michelle Thaller:
Michelle Thaller is an astronomer and Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
DGAT-driven futile lipid cycling has a pronounced, yet concealed, thermogenic function
Online now: DGAT-driven futile lipid cycling has a pronounced, yet concealed, thermogenic function: (Cell Metabolism 38, 1–18.e1–e7; April 7, 2026)
Online now: (Cell Metabolism 38, 1–18.e1–e7; April 7, 2026)
After manuscript revision, the International Indirect Calorimetry Consensus Committee (IICCC) established new guidelines for analysis of indirect calorimetry (10.1038/s42255-025–01360-4), emphasizing the use of metabolic rates and ANCOVA not normalized to body weight. In response, the authors have expanded the description of the indirect calorimetry data analysis and replaced the lean-mass-normalized VO2 graphs with non-normalized energy expenditure graphs with ANCOVA. With a few other minor edits, these changes provide further context for the analytical framework and consistent interpretation.