The brightest take on this week’s science
Welcome to the last month of 2025!
Neuroscientists recently discovered that your brain undergoes four major turning points at different ages.
Plus:
🪨 The big surprise found lurking in a Mars rock
☢️ The black fungus spreading in Chernobyl
🔬 A wickedly green microscope mystery
Here we go!
LOOK IN
Your Brain’s 4 Major Tipping Points
(Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
The brain you are born with is very different from the one that reaches old age.
Thousands of brain scans from infancy to old age have revealed four times at which the brain’s architecture changes:
Ages 9, 32, 66, and 83.
Each tipping point marks a new era for the noggin: from childhood, to adolescence, then adulthood, early aging, and late aging.
The adolescent brain, in particular, lasts for a surprisingly long time.
Age 32, however, brings many changes…
HEADLINES
What Else We're Watching
🏅This week’s most read: How Long Poop Stays in Your Body Could Impact Your Health, Study Finds
LOOK UP
The Big Surprise Hiding in a Martian Rock
An accident on Mars revealed the surprising contents of an otherwise unremarkable rock. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
A rock on Mars has spilled forth a big surprise.
When the Curiosity Rover accidentally rolled over what appeared to be an unremarkable rock, it cracked open and dished up a shocking yellow treasure.
It was the element sulfur, known as brimstone.
It’s the first time sulfur has been found on the red planet in its pure elemental form.
Scientists have compared the discovery to finding an oasis in the desert.
A cracking victory for Curiosity!
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Georgy Shafeev/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
A) Nickel
B) Slime mold
C) Snot
D) Coral
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK OUT
A Black Fungus Breeds In the Chernobyl Zone
Cladosporium sphaerospermum, cultured at the Coimbra University Hospital Centre in Portugal. (Rui Tomé/Atlas of Mycology, used with permission)
The Chernobyl exclusion zone is home to a strange black fungus.
The species, called Cladosporium sphaerospermum, clings to the walls of one of the most radioactive buildings on Earth.
Scientists think it harvests radiation and converts it into energy.
The process, called radiosynthesis, could be similar to how plants use light for photosynthesis.
The melanin that gives the fungus its dark appearance works like a protective cloak, shielding it from the harms of ionizing radiation.
WOW FACTOR
Science Fact of The Week
(BlackJack3D/Getty Images)
In the last half-century, vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives.
The vast majority of deaths averted in the last 50 years were for children under five.
Vaccination accounted for 40 percent of global decline in infant mortality.
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Smiles!
(NASA)
Microscope answer: Nickel.
Nickel is a special metal that can hold incredibly precise shapes. These particular nanostructures were chiseled out by a laser beam, a technique that can alter the metal’s properties in useful ways for electronics.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
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