A new series of papers in The Lancet journal summarizes evidence on the impact of ultra-processed food on health, from obesity to diabetes, and highlights the urgency of protecting children from marketing. We analyze what UPF is according to the NOVA system, which policies the WHO and states propose, examples from Brazil and the USA, and practical steps to reduce the share of UPF in the diet.
In China, a genetically modified pig liver was successfully transplanted into a living patient for the first time. The auxiliary xenograft took over key organ functions for almost six months and opened a new possibility for treating patients with severe liver damage and a lack of human donors. This pioneering procedure is considered an important step in the development of transplant medicine.
A new theoretical model by Japanese physicists suggests that cosmic knots, formed immediately after the Big Bang, could have created the crucial matter-antimatter excess and left a recognizable signature in the background of gravitational waves, making them one of the most intriguing hypotheses about the origin of the universe as we know it.
New research in BMJ Mental Health on the Norwegian TOP cohort shows a non-linear association between coffee and telomere length in people with severe mental disorders: 3–4 cups per day are associated with longer telomeres (about five years of biological advantage), while the effect is lost at very high intake. Data are observational and require confirmation.
Researchers electrically switched on insulating lanthanide nanoparticles using triplet excitations on 9-ACA ligands: energy is transferred to 4f levels creating narrowband NIR-II emission. The first hybrid LnLEDs turn on around 5 V, cover 1000–1533 nm with very narrow FWHM, and with optimizations reach peak EQE >0.6%, with applications in biomedicine and optical communications.
An Indian team has described a new species of wolf snake from Great Nicobar. Named Lycodon irwini, in honor of Steve Irwin, it was confirmed by a combination of morphological and genetic analyses. It reveals the importance of island isolation and points to the need for urgent protection of the fragile habitats of the Nicobar archipelago. The paper published in Evolutionary Systematics on November 7, 2025, brings diagnostic tables and open data.