UNESCO places science and knowledge at the heart of recovery efforts in Ukraine - UNESCO

Planetary researchers at the University of Sydney have proposed a new way to classify the soils of Mars, along with a new word for them: areth (the name comes from Ares, the Greek name for Mars). Classification of realms across the Martian surface. Image credit: McBratney et al., doi: 10.1016/j.catena.2026.110649.

AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the Yale Department of Pathology and Yale Pathology Tissue Services for technical and tissue-related support. FundingThe research is supported by Maximizing Investigators Research Award (MIRA) for Early-Stage Investigators 1R35GM150838 (to Y. L.). The research is also supported, in part, by Grant #IRG-21-132-60-IRG from the American Cancer Society. We also acknowledge the support of Leslie H. Warner Postdoctoral Fellowship to D. W. Author informationAuthor notesThese authors contributed equally: Bo Tao, Deguang Song, Mingze Dong, Gaocai Li. Authors and AffiliationsDepartment of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USABo Tao, Mingze Dong, Gaocai Li, Shenjie Wang, Dejiang Wang, Xiangjun Di, Fu Gao, Liyun Lin, Xiaohui Yu, Junyi Xu, Mo Liu, Mariana Kelley, Anthony Y. Feng, Yu Jin, Yuval Kluger & Yang LiuDepartment of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USABo Tao, Gaocai Li, Shenjie Wang, Dejiang Wang, Xiangjun Di, Fu Gao, Liyun Lin, Xiaohui Yu, Mariana Kelley & Yang LiuDepartment of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USADeguang Song & Noah W.

The holotype of Polyostiosphaera operculata gen. et sp. nov. from the early Cambrian Kuanchuanpu Biota (NIGP210977). (a, b) Light microscopy images. (c, d) Scanning electron microscopy images. (e–g, j) Surface renderings; the outer envelope, plug-like opercula, membrane and inner body are indicated by green, pink, blue and yellow, respectively. (h) Transparent model showing the inner body. (i, k) Virtual three-dimensional sections of (f) and (j), respectively. (l) Virtual slice of (f). (m) Close-up view of (a). (n, o) Close-up views of (c). (p) Close-up view of (l), showing the spatial relationships among the plug-like opercula, outer envelope, membrane and internal cells. White arrows, apertures; pink arrows, plug-like opercula. Yellow, blue and pink outline internal cells, the membrane and plug-like opercula, respectively. Scale bars: (a–i, l) 200 μm, (j, k) 180 μm, (m) 66 μm, (n) 60 μm, (o) 64 μm, (p) 37 μm. Credit: Chen et al. (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2026). The Cambrian explosion was a major diversification of animal life that unfolded early in the Cambrian period, which began around 538.8 million years ago.

The Moon is getting closer to full, with most of its surface now lit up as it moves through the Waxing Gibbous phase. There's a lot more to see tonight than a week ago, so be sure to look up tonight. What is today's Moon phase? As of Monday, Oct. 19, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon is in the Waxing Gibbous phase, with 56% of its surface visible. Tonight, you should be able to spot the Mare Crisium and Mare Fecunditatis without any visual aids. If you have binoculars you'll also see the Endymion Crater, the Alphonsus Crater, and the Appenine Mountains. Plus, if you have a telescope, you'll also see the Apollo 15 and 16 landing spots, plus the Rima Hyginus. When is the next Full Moon? The next Full Moon will take place on October 25 or 26, depending on your timezone. What are Moon phases? The Moon takes around 29.5 days to travel around Earth, and its appearance changes throughout the month. As it moves around our planet, we see different amounts of its sunlit side, from a slim crescent to the quarter phases and eventually a Full Moon. It then begins the cycle again.

OCD is a mental health disorder characterized by unwanted, recurring thoughts and repetitive behaviors that can severely interfere with everyday life. Exposure-based psychotherapy is one of the most effective treatments, but the biological mechanisms underlying treatment response remain poorly understood. To investigate this, researchers from the University of Bergen studied DNA methylation, an epigenetic mechanism in which small chemical groups attach to DNA and can influence gene activity without changing the genetic code.

The findings support a stepwise model for how the genetic program that builds vertebrate paired fins and limbs may have evolved. An ancestral Hox9–10 program may first have helped establish posterior appendages, later expanded into a broader Hox patterning system, and eventually been redeployed in anterior paired appendages. Credit: H. Nakazawa et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2621291123. Used under CC BY-NC-ND. Paired appendages—the pectoral and pelvic fins of fishes and the forelimbs and hindlimbs of tetrapods—were a major innovation in vertebrate evolution. Their emergence greatly expanded the ways vertebrates could move through their environments and ultimately provided the developmental foundation for the evolution of limbs. Yet how the genetic system responsible for building paired appendages was assembled during evolution remains an unresolved question.