💉 An injectable gel helped severed spinal cords recover in pigs

Scientists are testing an experimental gel that could help reconnect severed spinal nerves, potentially opening a new path toward treating severe spinal cord injuries.

In a study involving five pigs with completely severed spinal cords, researchers combined the injectable gel with surgery and rehabilitation. The treated animals showed improvements in movement, sensation and bladder control, while untreated animals did not show comparable recovery.

The gel contains polyethylene glycol and chitosan, materials intended to help damaged cell membranes fuse together. Researchers also observed nerve fibers crossing the injury site, suggesting that some connections may have been restored.

The results are promising, but the evidence is still preliminary. With only five pigs involved, it remains unclear how much of the recovery came from the gel itself or whether the approach will work in humans.

If further studies confirm the findings, the technique could offer a new way to repair spinal cord damage once considered irreversible.

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🗣️ Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu fears humanity could enter a new era if artificial general intelligence, or AGI, surpasses even the “very best humans in every field.”

“We've never had something like that where most of us feel we're dispensable,” he says.

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20 years before $2 trillion.

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🔋 A nuclear diamond battery could keep working for 5,000 years

A battery that could outlast entire civilizations? Scientists in the UK are developing a nuclear diamond battery designed to generate tiny amounts of electricity for thousands of years.

The technology uses radioactive carbon-14 encased in a synthetic diamond. As the carbon decays, it releases energy that can be converted into electricity. With a half-life of around 5,730 years, carbon-14 could provide an exceptionally long-lasting energy source.

The power output is extremely low, so forget charging your smartphone with it. Instead, these batteries could eventually power medical implants, space equipment and remote sensors in places where replacing conventional batteries is difficult or impossible.

The technology has been demonstrated, but practical applications still face engineering challenges. If those can be overcome, devices could operate for decades or centuries without needing a battery replacement.

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Researchers at Shanghai Innovation Institute have enabled the Unitree G1 humanoid to pull a passive rickshaw while maintaining balance through turns, starts, and stops.

It handled a combined passenger-and-rickshaw mass of up to 115 kg, more than three times its own weight. Trained in simulation, the robot adapts to different loads without retuning.

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World’s first humanoid weapons fight

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⚠️Scientists are uncovering the biology behind limb regeneration

Imagine regrowing a lost hand. It sounds like science fiction, but animals like axolotls can already do something remarkable: regenerate entire limbs, including bone, muscle, nerves, and skin.

After an injury, specialized cells gather around the wound to form a blastema, a structure that helps rebuild the missing body part. Scientists are now investigating the genetic instructions and molecular signals that make this process possible.

In a 2026 study published in PNAS, researchers used targeted gene delivery to increase FGF8 activity in mice, accelerating bone regrowth in their digit tips.

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🚀NASA’s Moon base could take shape sooner than expected

NASA says its planned Moon base is running ahead of schedule, with the first element targeted for launch in December, followed by near-monthly robotic missions to the lunar surface starting in early 2027.

Administrator Jared Isaacman says the agency expects to beat the original 2030 target for deploying the first lunar-base infrastructure.

The strategy is to send equipment, rovers and essential infrastructure ahead of astronauts, allowing systems to be established on the Moon before crews arrive. NASA is also developing a public website where people will be able to follow construction as new missions deliver hardware.

“We’re leaving no doubts this time,” Isaacman said. “It’s all in HD.”

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A surgeon in Shanghai, China, successfully removed a lung tumor from a patient located 5,000 km away in Kashgar using a remotely operated surgical robot.

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❗️Quantum sensors could expose tunnels hidden underground

In 2022, a British team working under a UK Ministry of Defence contract used a quantum gravity sensor to detect a tunnel buried about 2 metres underground.

The technology measures tiny changes in gravity caused by underground structures. By comparing two clouds of ultracold rubidium atoms, it can help filter out vibrations that traditionally make gravity sensing difficult.

Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza reportedly reach depths of 20–70 metres, far beyond the publicly demonstrated capability.

Now, British startup Delta.g is developing portable quantum gravity sensors, while the Pentagon’s Farseer programme is targeting sensors that operate from vehicles, ships and aircraft.

The goal is to detect underground infrastructure without sending people below ground. The technology is advancing, but detecting deep tunnels from the surface remains an unsolved challenge.

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NASA's team captured the closest shot of earth from the international space station 🚀

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⚠️A spinal cord injury patient can now stand independently after experimental stem cell treatment

Researchers at Japan’s Keio University have reported encouraging early results from a trial using stem cells to treat spinal cord injuries.

The team transplanted neural precursor cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) into four patients. One reportedly regained the ability to stand independently, while another showed improvements in movement.

The approach aims to repair damaged nerve tissue and restore communication between the brain and body.

However, the treatment remains experimental. The results do not establish that patients can walk independently, and larger trials are needed to assess safety and effectiveness.

It’s an early step, but one that could eventually expand treatment options for people living with paralysis.

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‼️ AI could be making the internet less creative

AI-generated content is flooding the internet, and researchers warn that it could gradually push human creativity into the background.

Algorithms increasingly promote AI-made images, text and music, making online content more repetitive and less diverse. Researchers also found that when generative AI systems repeatedly recycle their own outputs, they can collapse into generic, predictable patterns, a phenomenon described as “visual elevator music.”

The concern goes beyond art. Heavy reliance on AI tools could also affect how people think, solve problems and develop original ideas. As synthetic content feeds back into future models, distinctive styles and creative variety risk getting lost.

The researchers argue that AI should remain a tool for augmenting human imagination, not replacing it. Without fresh human input, the internet could become an endless loop of machines producing increasingly similar work.

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Spotted in a shopping mall in China: a man casually walking hand-in-hand with a child-sized humanoid robot.

A glimpse of how robots may become part of everyday life.

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Aru, developed by Nio Robotics, is an all-terrain robot that can crawl, roll, and walk.

It moves like a snake, drives like a rover, and walks on four legs. Cameras, sensors, and robotic arms help it inspect machines and detect faults in difficult industrial environments.

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👽 Peter Thiel thinks aliens with warp drives must be demons or angels

Peter Thiel has a provocative theory about why an alien civilization with faster-than-light travel would have to be radically different from humanity.

With warp drives, weapons could travel between stars so quickly that their targets might be destroyed before they even detect an incoming attack. If there’s no effective defense, a single decision could be catastrophic.

Thiel believes this creates a dilemma. Either the civilization has totalitarian control so extreme that nobody can act independently, or its inhabitants are perfectly altruistic and would never use the technology to harm others.

In his words, they must be either “demons” or “angels.”

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