Carbohydrates don’t just fuel the body—they may also influence how the brain ages. A large long-term study found that diets high in fast-acting carbs that rapidly raise blood sugar were linked to a higher risk of dementia. People who ate more low-glycemic foods like fruit, legumes, and whole grains had a noticeably lower risk of Alzheimer’s. The quality of carbs, not just the amount, appears to matter for brain health.

A large French study tracking more than 100,000 people over a decade has found that higher consumption of certain food preservatives—commonly found in processed foods and drinks—is linked to a modestly higher cancer risk. While many preservatives showed no association, several widely used ones, including potassium sorbate, sulfites, sodium nitrite, and potassium nitrate, were tied to increased risks of overall cancer and specific types such as breast and prostate cancer.

Physicists have discovered that hidden magnetic order plays a key role in the pseudogap, a puzzling state of matter that appears just before certain materials become superconductors. Using an ultra-cold quantum simulator, the team found that even when magnetism seems disrupted, subtle and universal magnetic patterns persist beneath the surface. These patterns closely track the temperature at which the pseudogap forms, suggesting magnetism may help set the stage for superconductivity.

A new genetic study suggests that obesity and high blood pressure may play a direct role in causing dementia, not just increasing the risk. By analyzing data from large populations in Denmark and the U.K., researchers found strong evidence that higher body weight can damage brain health over time, especially when it leads to elevated blood pressure. Much of the dementia risk appeared to be tied to vascular damage in the brain, which affects blood flow and cognitive function.

Webb’s latest image of the Helix Nebula reveals a dramatic close-up of a dying star shedding its outer layers. The detailed view highlights glowing knots of gas shaped by fast-moving stellar winds colliding with older material. Changes in color trace a shift from scorching hot gas near the center to cooler regions farther out. The scene captures how stellar death helps supply the building blocks for future worlds.

Researchers have demonstrated that quantum entanglement can link atoms across space to improve measurement accuracy. By splitting an entangled group of atoms into separate clouds, they were able to measure electromagnetic fields more precisely than before. The technique takes advantage of quantum connections acting at a distance. It could enhance tools such as atomic clocks and gravity sensors.

Home fireplaces and wood stoves are quietly driving a large share of winter air pollution, even though only a small number of households rely on wood heat. Researchers found that wood smoke accounts for over one-fifth of Americans’ winter exposure to dangerous fine particles linked to heart disease and early death. Much of this pollution drifts into cities, where it disproportionately harms people of color. Reducing wood burning could deliver major public health benefits.

For years, scientists noticed that magnetic fields could improve steel, but no one knew exactly why. New simulations reveal that magnetism changes how iron atoms behave, making it harder for carbon atoms to slip through the metal. This slows diffusion at the atomic level and alters steel’s internal structure. The insight could lead to more efficient, lower-energy ways to make stronger steel.

Our genome isn’t as peaceful as it looks—some DNA elements are constantly trying to disrupt it. Scientists studying fruit flies discovered that key proteins protecting chromosome ends must evolve rapidly to counter these internal threats. When these proteins fall out of sync, chromosomes fuse and cells die. The work reveals how essential biological systems survive by constantly reinventing themselves.

When materials become just one atom thick, melting no longer follows the familiar rules. Instead of jumping straight from solid to liquid, an unusual in-between state emerges, where atomic positions loosen like a liquid but still keep some solid-like order. Scientists at the University of Vienna have now captured this elusive “hexatic” phase in real time by filming an ultra-thin silver iodide crystal as it melted inside a protective graphene sandwich.

Astronomers may have finally cracked one of the universe’s biggest mysteries: how black holes grew so enormous so fast after the Big Bang. New simulations show that early, chaotic galaxies created perfect conditions for small “baby” black holes to go on extreme growth spurts, devouring gas at astonishing rates. These feeding frenzies allowed modest black holes—once thought too puny to matter—to balloon into monsters tens of thousands of times the Sun’s mass.

A 5,500-year-old skeleton from Colombia has revealed the oldest known genome of the bacterium linked to syphilis and related diseases. The ancient strain doesn’t fit neatly into modern categories, hinting at a forgotten form that split off early in the pathogen’s evolution. This pushes the history of treponemal diseases in the Americas back by millennia and shows they were already diversifying long before written records.

Cancer doesn’t evolve by pure chaos. Scientists have developed a powerful new method that reveals the hidden rules guiding how cancer cells gain and lose whole chromosomes—massive genetic shifts that help tumors grow, adapt, and survive treatment. By tracking thousands of individual cells over time, the approach shows which chromosome combinations give cancer an edge and why some tumors become especially resilient.

David’s Notes

1. 🧊 It feels odd to be going about normal daily life and doing normal work while a fascist federal government dismantles the post-war liberal order and masked federal thugs terrorize and kill people in the streets of US cities. I hope that everyone out there is, in whatever way they can, raising their voice in protest to all of this.

If you would like to help the people in Minnesota who are under federal occupation, you can find a directory of ways to do so here.

2. 🗳️ Followup on November’s balcony solar episode: California Sen. Scott Wiener (of YIMBY fame) just introduced legislation in support of balcony solar (as well as heat pumps), and according to Canary Media, there’s another dozen states with balcony solar on the docket:

Besides Utah and now California, legislatures in more than a dozen states want to unleash the tech: Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington have all introduced bills, according to Cora Stryker, co-founder of plug-in solar nonprofit Bright Saver, which has been advising some states on their proposals. Based on conversations the organization has had with state representatives, Stryker said she expects a whopping half of U.S. states to introduce bills this year.

Pretty cool!

Still, while all of the movement on plug-in solar is welcome, it is no substitute for the more thorough permitting and interconnection reform that we discuss in an episode this coming Wednesday.

3. 🧀 The more things change …

4. 🎁 Hat tip to Jerry W for bringing PG&E's dynamic line rating pilot to my attention.

My episode on grid-enhancing technologies came out two and a half years ago. This stuff has been used in other places for more than a decade. This is better than nothing, but … it’s time to move past pilots!

5. ✅ Community comment(s) of the month:

Making the electricity grid work like the internet — Lots of great chatter on this episode. Martin pointed out California’s over-the-fence exception:

It looks like New York also has private wire allowances, along with Minnesota, New Jersey, and Illinois. Still pretty restrictive, though.

Sen. Brian Schatz wants permitting reform, but not like this — Robert said it, not me:

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Between January 1, 2026, and January 21, 2026, nuclear power plant outages averaged 2.0 gigawatts (GW), 20% less than in the same period in 2025 and below the previous five-year range (2021–25) for 7 out of 21 days.

A Roman-era skeleton discovered in southern England has finally given up her secrets after more than a decade of debate. Known as the Beachy Head Woman, she was once thought to have roots in sub-Saharan Africa or the Mediterranean—an idea that sparked global attention. But new, high-quality DNA analysis paints a different picture: she was most likely a local woman from Roman Britain.

Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the same receptor, triggering synapse loss. Surprisingly, neurons aren’t passive victims—they actively respond to these signals. Targeting this receptor could offer a new way to protect memory beyond current amyloid-focused drugs.

A newly uncovered immune chain reaction in the gut may explain why people with inflammatory bowel disease face a much higher risk of colorectal cancer. Researchers found that a powerful inflammatory signal flips on specialized gut immune cells, which then call in waves of white blood cells from the bone marrow and rewire them in ways that help tumors grow. This process appears to damage DNA in the gut lining and create a tumor-friendly environment.

A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. Models like GPT-4 showed strong performance on tasks designed to measure original thinking and idea generation, sometimes outperforming typical human responses. But there’s a clear ceiling. The most creative humans — especially the top 10% — still leave AI well behind, particularly on richer creative work like poetry and storytelling.

Long before farming took hold, ancient Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest were already shaping the future of a wild potato. New evidence shows that this small, hardy plant was deliberately carried across the Four Corners region more than 10,000 years ago, helping it spread far beyond its natural range.