The brightest take on this week’s science
Big news in science this week!
Researchers have found DNA from over 500 years ago that could potentially belong to Leonardo da Vinci himself.
What else to expect in this edition:
🧠 A review on menopause hormone therapy and dementia
⭐ A NASA video of an ongoing supernova explosion
🔬 A microscope mystery
Enjoy the journey!
LOOK IN
Hormone Replacement Therapy And Dementia
(Tetiana Melnyk/Getty Images)
The World Health Organization (WHO) commissioned a sweeping meta-analysis to determine if replenishing hormones after menopause is linked to dementia – and the results are in.
It’s the most rigorous review on the topic to date, and the conclusions are clear:
There is no strong evidence that menopause hormone therapy (MHT), also known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), is linked to dementia.
The results add to an ongoing debate over whether MHT is safe for treating symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes, night sweats, poor sleep, low libido, and osteoporosis.
The findings align with:
A 2024 Lancet Commission on dementia.
The FDA’s plans to remove dementia warnings from MHT products.
Scientists say there’s a need for more high-quality research in this area.
HEADLINES
What Else We're Watching
🏅This week’s most read: 'Mammoth' Bones Kept in a Museum For 70 Years Turn Out to Be An Entirely Different Animal
LOOK OUT
Scientists May Have Found Da Vinci’s DNA
(Self-portrait/Public Domain/SA)
The Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project has an ambitious goal: to reconstruct the centuries-old genome of the legendary Renaissance polymath.
According to the project's chair, Jesse Ausubel, "success is now inevitable".
Scientists working on the project have managed to extract a tiny bit of DNA from a roughly 550-year-old chalk drawing, thought to have been made by Leonardo da Vinci himself.
It’s not yet clear if the DNA really is da Vinci’s. But it could be.
The genetic information contains a Y chromosome signal that matches other artifacts associated with da Vinci.
It also suggests an ancestry from central and southern Italy, including Tuscany, where da Vinci is from.
The groundbreaking scientific technique could forever change art research. It has essentially turned paintings into “living fingerprints”, project scientists say.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Samuels Lab/UBC)
A) Intestinal lining
B) Fungi
C) Bacterial biofilm
D) Cannabis flower
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK UP
Watch a Supernova's Expansion
Since 1604, astronomers have watched the explosive supernova death of a white dwarf.
Kepler's Supernova, or SN 1604, is still expanding after all these centuries.
NASA astronomers have now compiled 25 years' worth of observations to create a stunning video of the ongoing explosion.
It’s a crucial piece of our cosmic history.
Parts of the shock front are moving at speeds up to 2 percent the speed of light.
"Supernova explosions and the elements they hurl into space are the lifeblood of new stars and planets," says astronomer Brian Williams of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
With death comes new life.
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
(ajcespedes/iStock/Getty Images)
Plants can ‘hear’ themselves being eaten. If a caterpillar is chewing on them, they can actually sense the munching vibrations.
Some species can even detect caterpillar saliva, triggering the release of defensive chemicals.
Just because plants can’t run away doesn’t mean they are powerless.
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Between a flytrap and a hard place.
Microscope answer: Cannabis flower.
The fluffy cannabis flower is riddled with tiny hairs called trichomes that look like little mushrooms under the microscope. Research suggests these large stalks are the most potent source of THC- and CBD-forming metabolites.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
