Today’s What We’re Enjoying features a review from Science Careers Global Marketing Manager Allison Prichard. But first, catch up on the latest science news, including how scientists could beef up the brain’s trash collection and why cockroaches could be our allies in protecting the environment.
Materials Science | Science Advances
Quantum fakeout
Quantum materials are keen targets for transmitting energy, storing information, and sensing subtle changes in systems. But while scientists are always on the lookout for more, some materials can be deceptive.
Researchers had been excited about a material called cerium magnesium hexaaluminate (CeMgAl11O19), which seemed to exhibit quantum properties in its liquid form. Many magnetic materials tend to exist in one of two states: ferromagnetic, where the magnetic moment, a quantum property of atoms, is aligned parallel and the substance is strongly magnetized, or antiferromagnetic, where the atoms are aligned oppositely and the substance is not magnetized. Scientists can determine which state a material exhibits when they bring it to near-absolute zero temperatures.
When researchers first looked at the elusive liquid CeMgAl11O19, it displayed a continuum of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic behavior: a sign the material exhibited both states in a way only quantum mechanics could describe. But additional tests showed scientists that they had been fooled.
Bombarding CeMgAl11O19 with neutrons revealed that the material didn’t exhibit a true continuum, but was “choosing” between different magnetic states. The team thinks the material’s boundary between its ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic states is weaker than in other traditional materials, giving it a near-quantum look. “This is a new state of matter that, to our knowledge, we are the first to describe ,” said author Pengcheng Dai in a statement.
Biodegradation | ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ECOTECHNOLOGY
A creepy-crawly solution to plastic waste
Roaches like this little guy could be allies in the war against plastic pollution. Sebastián Gómez Barboza Silveira via iNaturalist | CC0
Cockroaches are traditionally viewed as disgusting pests—a reputation they frequently deserve, as infestations can pose serious health risks by spreading disease and triggering allergic reactions. According to new research, however, these undesirable insects could help solve a different kind of hazard: plastic pollution.
Polystyrene, one of the most widely used plastic polymers, is also one of the hardest to break down. Some insect species, such as mealworms, can digest small amounts of this material, but they aren’t particularly efficient. In a new study, scientists wanted to find out if the cockroach Blaptica dubia could do better. In controlled feeding experiments, each cockroach consumed an average of six milligrams of polystyrene per day. Over 42 days, the critters managed to degrade nearly 55% of the plastic they had ingested —far higher than rates reported for other plastic-munching insects. The key to the cockroach’s success, researchers reported, is its remarkably cooperative relationship with the microbes living in its gut. These microbes break the polymer down into smaller, more manageable pieces, which the cockroach’s own enzymes can then convert to energy.
Astrocytes are star-shaped support cells in the brain that help keep neurons functioning properly. They regulate the chemical environment around synapses, supply nutrients, and help remove cellular debris. They can also engulf unwanted material through a process known as phagocytosis. In Alzheimer’s disease, however, one form of debris accumulates faster than the brain can clear it: sticky aggregates of amyloid-β protein that build up into plaques and are thought to contribute to neurodegeneration.
In a study published in Science, researchers explored whether astrocytes could be engineered to remove these plaques more efficiently . Borrowing a strategy from cancer immunotherapy, they equipped astrocytes with chimeric antigen receptors, or CARs—synthetic receptors that allow cells to recognize a specific target. The engineered CAR-astrocytes were designed to bind amyloid-β and trigger engulfment when the protein was detected. In laboratory tests, the modified cells readily internalized amyloid aggregates. The researchers then delivered the CAR constructs into the brains of mice using a viral vector that selectively targets astrocytes.
In a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, the engineered astrocytes accumulated around plaques and increased amyloid clearance. In some animals treated early, a single intervention prevented much of the plaque buildup that typically appears later in life. However, the team didn’t see a lessening of the behavioral symptoms of the disease, which mirrors the inconsistent cognitive benefits seen with anti-amyloid-β antibodies in clinical trials , wrote Jake Boles and David Gate in a related Perspective. Perhaps, they posit, amyloid plaques aren’t the best treatment target.
Still, the work provides a proof of concept that the brain’s support cells can be genetically programmed to remove harmful proteins; it also “helps to establish a foundation for increasingly innovative CAR strategies in [Alzheimer’s],” Boles and Gate added. “Together, these findings position CAR engineering as a scalable and tunable strategy for treating neurodegenerative disease,” the authors concluded.
What does biopharma growth look like on the ground in Wallonia, Belgium? This Q&A explores how the region has built research capacity, expanded lab space, and supported companies through public investment, clinical networks, and talent development.
As part of my postdoctoral research on box jellies, I attempted to keep some small ones alive in a tank. And I use the word attempted very intentionally—I have firsthand insight into just how tricky it must have been for Maude Delap to raise jellies in captivity for the first time. So, I was tickled pink when my 8-year-old daughter chose Jellyfish Scientist, a book about Delap’s life and work, to review for Science ’s roundup of children’s books. She loved it (as did I), especially the beautiful illustrations and diarylike format. “It showed me how long and how hard scientists work,” she explained. “I learned that anyone can be a scientist in their own way … Plus, my mom loves jellies, and I love jellies, so reading about them was fun.”
As AIs continue to become more and more advanced, the ethics of interacting with robots becomes similarly complex. At some point, one has to question whether machines with artificial intellects that rival human ones should have the same rights as people. In Automatic Noodle, journalist and award-winning science fiction author Annalee Newitz explores some of the thornier ethical and legal questions likely to arise in the nearish future via the tale of a motley crew of robot restauranteurs. “Would you give four stars to a restaurant entirely staffed by robots?” asked roboticist Robin Murphy in a Science Robotics Focus. “Automatic Noodle entertainingly argues that yes, people would give four stars, especially if the food is spiced with a dash of robot freedom and creativity.”
Although I am a little late to the party in my reading of Remarkably Bright Creatures, I am so glad I finally got there. This is the kind of book that had me eager for every chance to get back to it. The characters were colorful and felt like personal friends by the end of the book. It explores themes of friendships, aging, love, and mystical creatures that live in our oceans—all while unraveling the keys to a mystery. I started the book feeling that the premise was implausible, but I finished it thinking that it felt very possible. I missed the characters once the story ended. That is my kind of book. Netflix is working on an adaptation, and I am very curious to see how that turns out.
—Allison Prichard, Global Marketing Manager, Science Careers
Be sure to check out all the reviews in our Books et al. section.
Et Cetera
Pros and cons of preprints
Do preprints advance your career? Not substantially, according to one of the largest surveys to date of biomedical scientists, though they have some benefits. “This study makes a valuable contribution because it highlights the persistent tension between the benefits of rapid dissemination and the way research is evaluated,” said one expert. “Hiring, promotion, and funding decisions often still revolve around traditional journal publications.”
Maybe the real treasure is the waste we got rid of along the way
The citric acid cycle has a previously underappreciated purpose: to get rid of waste. “We tend to think the important thing about a metabolic pathway is the production of the product,” explained one biochemist. “It’s a surprising phenomenon that, in fact, the most damaging thing you can do with a metabolic pathway is … to actually block it in the middle and accumulate some toxic intermediate.”
Thanks to military action in Iran, the world has lost one of its biggest suppliers of helium. If the cutoff continues for more than a couple weeks, the shortage could last months. “The world can’t compensate for the loss of a third of its helium supply,” one expert noted.
There is perhaps no stronger evidence of the administration’s objectives to reduce the quality of the U.S. scientific workforce than its treatment of the National Science Foundation’s flagship Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
With contributions from Hannah Richter, Phie Jacobs, and Ana Georgescu
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