Nobel Medicine Prize Goes To 3 Scientists for Brain Research

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Nobel Medicine Prize Goes to 3 Scientists for Brain Research (Maria)

The author writes, “The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works. Research by Dr. Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel opened a new field named optogenetics, combining light with genes to switch on and off neurons in living brains. Experts said their work greatly expanded knowledge about brains.”

A Wealthy Russian Businessman Is Helping Fund Trump’s Stupid Ballroom. Nothing Sketchy About That, Right? (DonkeyHotey)

From Esquire: “The history of the president’s political career is so thoroughly shot through with various Russians that it’s a wonder that the Bolshoi isn’t doing three shows a night in the East Room. It is, of course, all a hoax according to the administration. That lasts until the next Volga Bagman shows up in the news. … That damned ballroom again. It is the key to so much of the White House corruption. Every editor of every newspaper should get on a big bus and drive to DC and look at the gouge in the land where the ballroom is supposed to be. There are something like 20 Pulitzers down in there waiting to be found.”

Trump’s Border Wall Construction Destroys 6,500-Year-Old Arizona Geoglyph – Older Than Stonehenge (Dana)

The author writes, “Before Stonehenge was raised, before Egypt’s first pyramid broke ground, before the Nazca people drew their famous lines across the Peruvian desert, someone in what is now southern Arizona shaped a 272-foot fish into the earth. On April 23, 2026, a border-wall contractor drove heavy equipment across it. Conservation advocates describe the damage as irreparable.”

Why Doesn’t High Speed Rail Work in America? (Reader Jim)

From CNN: “High speed passenger rail is common around the globe, from major countries like Japan, France and China, all the way to emerging economies like Morocco. The United States is a glaring exception, with no passenger trains that meet the global definition of high speed, or that run at least 150 mph for extended trips. That’s partly cultural — America is a country of cars. But the main reason high speed rail hasn’t happened in the United States is due to a lack of government resources.”

Depression May Shut Down the Brain’s Ability To Make New Neurons (Mili)

The author writes, “A major study found that adults with depression show disrupted production of new neurons in the hippocampus, potentially weakening the brain’s ability to separate new experiences from painful memories. The researchers also identified broad molecular changes that could open the door to new treatments tailored to different biological forms of depression.”

In a Warming Arctic, Inuit Bear Guards Protect Communities (Laura)

From Grist: “After retiring from a long career as a conservation officer with the Canadian government, Derrick Pottle devoted himself to guiding people on the land, carving, hunting, and training bear guards. Pottle, an elder and skilled guide from the Inuit community of Tikigâksuagusik in Nunatsiavut, founded BearSafe Planning in 2005. The program trains and certifies students to guard against the polar bears and black bears found throughout northern Labrador. The three-day course is advertised as offering ‘safety, protection, confidence in bear country.’ More than two decades later, that work has taken on renewed urgency. As climate change reshapes the Arctic — particularly the sea ice polar bears rely on to travel and hunt — Inuit are seeing the animals at different times of year and in places they rarely encountered before.”