NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has been searching for exoplanets since its launch in 2018, and it turns out it may have found plenty more of them than we had thought
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VirtuCamera 2 Has Arrived
It’s been a very long time, but the wait is finally over. If you’re not familiar with it, VirtuCamera by The Weird Byte is a real-time camera motion capture mobile app, originally released in 2021. It now returns with its biggest update yet, featuring a full-screen viewport, a redesigned user interface, and, most importantly, support for Android, as well as compatibility with newer versions of Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, 3ds Max, and Houdini.
You can now use it with Blender 5.1, 5.0, and LTS 4.5, Maya and 3ds Max 2026 and 2027, Houdini 21, and Cinema 4D 2026. On top of that, you can also build your own integration using the PyVirtuCamera Python API.
More features are also planned for the near future, including joystick support, custom script handling, and slider presets for commonly used values. Support for Unreal and Unity is “definitely possible”, according to the developers, “it depends on demand, how the app evolves, and where we focus next”
Oxidative stress-induced astrocytic collagen biosynthesis drives glial barrier formation and neuronal death in ischemic stroke
Online now: Lee et al. demonstrate that oxidative stress reprograms astrocytes to produce collagen through glycosylation-dependent mechanisms, driving glial barrier formation and progressive neuronal death after stroke. Targeting this pathway disrupts the glial barrier, prevents neurodegeneration, and improves functional recovery. A drug candidate, KDS12025, shows a potent effect in a non-human primate stroke model.
Why newborn memory circuits start crowded, then slim down as brains mature
The hippocampus is a key brain region involved in memory formation and spatial orientation. It transforms short-term memories into long-term ones, helping us retain and build upon our experiences. Researchers led by Magdalena Walz Professor for Life Sciences Peter Jonas at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) focus precisely on this area of the brain.
Their latest study, published in Nature Communications, reveals how the central neural network in the hippocampus develops after birth.
Imagine a blank sheet of paper in front of you. There’s nothing on it so you start writing, adding more and more information. This is the principle of tabula rasa—the “blank slate.”
Group averages obscure how an individual’s brain controls behavior, study finds
Studying cognition by averaging data from many people’s brain scans hides how individuals use their brains, new Stanford Medicine research has shown. In particular, children who struggle with goal-oriented tasks show distinct patterns of brain activity when their data is analyzed individually, rather than as part of a group of kids with mixed abilities. The findings, which have implications for understanding how the brain works in such conditions as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, will be published April 27 in Nature Communications.
“Investigating how dynamics unfold within individual brains can provide significant insights into the neuroscience of individual differences and help us tackle questions that cannot be answered using conventional approaches,” said Percy Mistry, Ph.D., a research scholar in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and a lead author of the study.
Mistry shares lead authorship with Nicholas Branigan, MS, a research data analyst in psychiatry and behavioral sciences. The senior author is Vinod Menon, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the Rachael L. and Walter F. Nichols, MD, Professor.
AI tool may spot ADHD years before children are diagnosed
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects millions of children, yet many go years without a diagnosis, missing the chance for early support that can change long-term outcomes even when early signs are present. In a new study, Duke Health researchers found that artificial intelligence tools can analyze routine electronic health records to accurately estimate a child’s risk of developing ADHD years before a typical diagnosis. By reviewing patterns in everyday medical data, the approach could help flag children who may benefit from earlier evaluation and follow-up.
The research, published in Nature Mental Health, highlights how powerful insights can come from information already collected during regular health care visits to help support early decision making by primary care providers.
“We have this incredibly rich source of information sitting in electronic health records,” said Elliot Hill, lead author of the study and data scientist in the Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics at Duke University School of Medicine.
The Ear as a Therapeutic Gateway to the Vagus Nerve
B cell-intrinsic type I interferon signaling contributes to defective antibody responses to a model antigen during persistent LCMV infection.
During persistent LCMV infection, Laulhé et al. reveal that B cell-intrinsic type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling drives defective affinity maturation. Although IFN-I acts directly within B cells, its absence alone fails to restore normal humoral responses, indicating that additional extrinsic mechanisms cooperate to sustain dysfunction.
Oncostatin-M ligand-based CAR-T therapy displays robust anti-tumor activity against osteosarcoma
CAR-T therapy has revolutionized treatments for many hematologic malignancies, but it has shown far less efficacy against solid tumors. One reason for this lower efficacy in solid tumors is increased antigen heterogeneity. This study utilizes a ligand-based CAR-T approach, which allows targeting of multiple receptors by a single ligand. A high expression of the ligand oncostatin M’s (OSM) receptors, oncostatin M receptor (OSMR), and/or leukemic inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) were noted in osteosarcoma cell lines and patient samples. Osteosarcoma is a bone cancer where treatment options have been stagnant for close to 40 years. Thus, this study explores the therapeutic potential of OSM ligand-based CAR-T cells against osteosarcoma.
Third-generation CAR-T cells expressing human OSM on their surface were created, with the surface expression of OSM confirmed by flow cytometry. Co-incubation of OSM CARs and osteosarcoma in vitro was performed, with cell death assessed via Incucyte and PI detection by flow cytometry. CAR-Ts were injected i.v. into mice with osteosarcoma cell line xenografts, and metastatic osteosarcoma. New patient-derived samples were tested for OSMR and LIFR expression and vulnerability to OSM CAR T cells. A new PDX model (named KKOS) from a patient with metastatic treatment-resistant osteosarcoma was characterized and tested for its susceptibility to OSM CAR T cells. All cytotoxic in vivo experiments were performed with n =3–6 mice per group per experiment.
OSM-CAR-T cells displayed cytotoxicity against osteosarcoma cell lines and patient samples expressing either one of OSM’s receptors in vitro and in vivo. Large increases in cytokine release, specifically IFNγ, were noted in a target-specific manner. One injection of OSM-CAR-T cells intravenously reduced tumor burden in two different mouse xenograft models. A similar anti-tumor effect was also noted in a metastatic model and a mouse model with multiple implanted KKOS tumors.