June eNews
Welcome to this month’s eNews!
We’re delighted to bring you the highlights from May, including the top 5 most read items, our editor’s pick, and a wonderful image of the month.
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We hope you enjoy this issue!
The AlphaGalileo News Team
Top 5 in May
1. Never Too Old: Medication Improves Survival Rates After a First Heart Attack Even in Patients Over 90 Years Old, published by Elsevier on 22/05/2025
Researchers have found that prescribing guideline-directed medical treatment (GDMT), regardless of the number of medications, can improve survival rates in patients 90 years of age and older following their first heart attack, with the greatest benefit observed in patients who received all four recommended post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) therapies. These include beta-blockers, antiplatelets, lipid-lowering drugs, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors. The findings of the article appearing in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, published by Elsevier, can guide future clinical approaches to managing first-onset AMI in nonagenarians and centenarians.
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2. Update of cellular senescence in kidney fibrosis: from mechanism to potential interventions, published by Frontiers Journal on 22/05/2025
Kidney fibrosis, a common endpoint of chronic kidney disease (CKD), is strongly linked to aging, with cellular senescence emerging as a key driver in its pathogenesis. This overview synthesizes current knowledge on how senescent cells contribute to renal fibrosis, focusing on their mechanisms, identification, and potential therapeutic interventions.
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3. Sounding Out Coral Larval Settlements #ASA188, published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) on 16/05/2025
Healthy reefs are acoustically rich environments, filled with fish croaks and shrimp snaps. Océane Boulai and their collaborators mimicked these sound environments to study the effects of sounds on 19 artificial coral settlement modules placed in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. The researchers recorded audio near a vibrant reef, which they replayed at various distances from their artificial microhabitats, which were coated with a bacteria designed to induce larval settlement. Notably, there were significant increases in coral settlement close to the speakers.
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4. How could Hamas' brutal attack on Israel happen?, published by the University of Oslo, Faculty of Humanities on 6/05/2025
In his new book, historian Erik Skare uncovers the internal conflicts within Hamas that fuelled the brutal October 7 attack on Israel, refuting the oversimplified view of the group as solely antisemitic. He argues that an international boycott sidelined moderates, empowering hardliners and escalating violence.
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5. How do bio-based amendments address low nutrient use efficiency and crop yield challenges?, published by Frontiers Journal on 16/05/2025
The research team led by Professor Gang Wang from China Agricultural University systematically summarized the synergistic effects of bio-based material amendments such as microbial inoculants, nanomaterials, and biochar in improving soil health and crop productivity through a review article. The relevant research has been published in the journal Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering
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Editor's Choice
AI overconfidence mirrors human brain condition - A similarity between language models and aphasia points to diagnoses for both, published by University of Tokyo on 14/5/2025
Agents, chatbots and other tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly used in everyday life by many. So-called large language model (LLM)-based agents, such as ChatGPT and Llama, have become impressively fluent in the responses they form, but quite often provide convincing yet incorrect information. Researchers at the University of Tokyo draw parallels between this issue and a human language disorder known as aphasia, where sufferers may speak fluently but make meaningless or hard-to-understand statements. This similarity could point toward better forms of diagnosis for aphasia, and even provide insight to AI engineers seeking to improve LLM-based agents.
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Image caption: Aphasia and large language models. The similarity between an AI tool and a brain disorder in humans could open the door to new ways of exploring both. ©2025 Takamitsu Watanabe. CC-BY-ND
Image of the month
Cluster-root secretions improve phosphorus availability in low-phosphorus soil, published by Hokkaido University on 22/05/2025
Plants require phosphorus to grow and survive. In environments with low levels of available soil phosphorus, plants need to adjust to stay alive.
The pincushion hakea is a large woody, evergreen shrub native to southwestern Australia, an area that has amazingly low levels of soil phosphorus. This plant has adapted to these conditions by forming cluster roots—a large number of smaller rootlets extending from the root axis that resemble a bottlebrush—to extract the small amount of phosphorus in the soil.
Cluster roots help plants in low-nutrient soils by increasing the amount of root surface area in contact with the soil, improving their ability to extract limited resources. Additionally, cluster roots secrete chemicals and enzymes to enhance the bioavailability of nutrients, primarily phosphorus, in the soil. Acid phosphatase, for example, is an enzyme secreted by cluster roots that converts organic phosphorus into a form that plants can readily absorb. Improved understanding of these survival mechanisms could ultimately help researchers develop food crops that can thrive in nutrient-deficient soils.
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Image caption: Hakea laurina, or pincushion hakea, is a shrub native to southwestern Australia, best known for its beautiful pincushion-shaped flowers. (Photo courtesy of Hans Lambers, The University of Western Australia)