A new magnetorheological fluid-based soft robot created by the researchers includes reversible t robot with reversible gastrointestinal tract medical applications.
Millions of people around the world are infected with gastrointestinal tract diseases and the conventional drug delivery system lacks high targeting capacity with chances of side effects of systemic drug delivery. The development of magnetic soft robots has become an innovative solution to minimally invasive medical procedures, due to their miniaturity, untethered locomotion and their agile movements. Nonetheless, the current magnetic soft robots have severe constraints of multi-angle folding, real time reconfigurable magnetization, and compliance with the irregular and constrained gastrointestinal cavity, which are the barriers to clinical use of targeted drug delivery.
In order to solve these problems, a research team, comprising of researchers at China University of Mining and Technology, Soochow University, RWTH Aachen University and the University of Oxford created a magnetic soft sheet robot with magnetorheological fluids. The robot takes the form of a four-layered fully-soft sheet, which consists of upper and bottom layers of linear low-density polyethylene surface, a core layer of magnetorheological fluids and a polyamide nylon mesh support layer. The robot is non-magnetized in zero magnetic field, weighing 0.55 g (a weight of 30 mm in length, 10 mm in width, 1.5 mm in thickness), which is small (30 mm in length, 10 mm in width, 1.5 mm in thickness), which removes unwanted magnetic interference in the human body.
The main novelty of such robot is the magnetization, which can be reconfigured in real time, and the performance by reversible folding. The magnetic particle chains along the magnetic field direction can be generated by the internal magnetorheological fluids within milliseconds under the external magnetic and the magnetization direction can be dynamically readjusted using the spatial magnetic field. Propelled by a 5 degree of freedom magnetic field platform, the robot can be folded to a one third size of the original to move in slender intestinal tracts and unfolded to a large surface area to move in a stable fashion within the stomach cavity-achieving the flexible adaptation to the different spatial sizes of the gastrointestinal tract.
The research group used the fabrication of five prototypes of the soft sheet robot with varying magnetorheological fluid densities (3.0 g/mL to 4.2 g/mL) and a series of motion performance tests under various environments.
The robot was found to have a stable flip, steering and folding motion on smooth surfaces, on flexible fluff surfaces and on slope surfaces and also in environment with underwater. It was also able to maintain consistent performance of movement even under load (carrying biodegradable hydrogel drugs with a mass of 0.15 g, which is about 30 percent of the own mass of the robot).
The ex vivo porcine stomach experiments, which mimicked the human gastrointestinal environment, were done to have critical validation. The robot was able to reach any predetermined location in the porcine stomach in an average of 5 minutes and firmly secured to the point of drug release with the loaded hydrogel drugs dissolving within 30 minutes to create localized targeted therapy in 10 repetitions.
Also, the ultrasonic detection technology (Voluson E10), was able to trace real-time movements of the robot in closed gastric cavity, which proved traceable and controllable in closed biological environments- a technical assurance in monitoring robots in clinical practices.
The biocompatibility tests continued to confirm the safety of the robot when used in human body: the robot was immersed in the simulated gastric juice (pH 1.2) and intestinal juice (pH 6.8) at 37degC after 24 hours and no rupture of its surfaces, expansion of its volume and deformation of the shape were observed. It was revealed that no exceeding of the safety levels was detected in the extract solutions by the heavy metals and harmful substances and no bacterial colonies were obtained in the tests related to the growth of microbial cultures, which indicates the biocompatibility and non-toxicity of the robot in the gastrointestinal tract environment.
The research team observed that the magnetic soft sheet robot has overcome the technical bottlenecks of the conventional magnetic soft robots in terms of folding capability and magnetization ability. It has the benefit of untethered drive, complete soft-structure, and excellent targeting precision, which render it the best noninvasive medical device to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal tract.
The legend went that wolves were followed by ravens to fresh kills. Another scavenging strategy is of much interest, as demonstrated by a tracking study.
The raven is usually the first to be on the scene when the wolf pack is running down its prey. The ravens are already waiting in queue to grab hold of the scrap of meat that is an oddity and may arise even before the predators have time to dig. The scavengers are so fast in getting to wolf kills that it is uncanny to people how they got there and the answer is that wolves must have ravens trailing on them.
However, a recent study that followed ravens and wolves in the Yellowstone National Park during two-and-a-half years reveals that the predators adopt a much more advanced approach. Ravens know the locations that wolves will most likely kill and they will fly far back to the location. According to the first author of the study, Matthias Loretto, “they are capable of flying six hours without making a landing, directly to a kill site.”
The findings were published in the journal of science, with suggestions that ravens attempt to locate food scattered in the landscape by the use of spatial memory and navigation. According to Loretto, ravens can travel long distances by flying, and apparently they have a good memory so they do not have to always keep up with wolves in order to make out of the predators.
The research was conducted by the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (Germany) along with several other institutes across the world including the Yellowstone National Park (USA).
Putting a legend to the test
The research was conducted regarding the Yellowstone National Park where wolves were introduced in the mid 90s after 70 years. The wolves of the park are monitored using tracking collars which are implanted on a quarter of the wolf population in any given year, according to Dan Stahler, a Yellowstone biologist, who has been tracking the wolves of the park since its reintroduction, the ravens seem to prefer the company of the wolves: you find them flying directly overhead or even leaping behind them when they take down prey.
To the ravens, it is a lucrative foraging measure, because the wolves always generate food which the birds can deal with. “The rule of the birds, which we all had supposed, was,” says Stahler, “simply to keep near the wolves.” However, the assumption was not checked. He says he did not know what ravens could do because nobody had ever put them in the middle; nobody had ever put the scavenger into the perspective.
To get a full view of the behavior of the raven, the group fitted the birds with small GPS positioning devices, 69 ravens in all, which is, according to Loretto, simply insane. “The reason is that ravens are so watchful of the scene that they do not easily fall into traps,” he says. Researchers were keen to adjust the traps to the environment in order to trap the birds to tag them. To illustrate, traps placed near the campsites had to be covered with rubbish and fast-food lure, otherwise, the ravens would know that something was not right and would not approach it, according to Loretto who is now a scientist at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.
Besides the tracking ravens, the researchers added the movement data of 20 Yellowstone collared wolves. They followed the animals through the winter when ravens most frequently occur with wolves and recorded GPS positions with intervals up to 30 minutes in the case of ravens and up to one hour in the case of wolves. They also added information as where and when wolves killed their prey which consisted mainly of elk, bison and deer.
The memory of lucrative sceneries
In more than two-and-a-half years of observation, scientists discovered only one unambiguous incidence of a raven trailing a wolf at a distance of over one kilometer or over an hour. “In the beginning we were confused,” says Loretto. “After we discovered that wolves were not being followed by ravens from a great distance, we could not understand why the birds came so fast to wolf killings.”
The pattern was obvious after the thorough analysis of the movement data. Instead of following predators at long distances, the ravens returned to certain locations where they could find wolf kills. Others covered as little as 155 kilometers per day, but in a highly directional way, towards locations where a carcass was likely to be found–although the time a kill will occur is indeterminate.
In regard to location, wolves kills are clumped into specific terrain features, which the wolves hunt more effectively, flat valley bottoms. Ravens were also much more likely to visit frequently wolfridden locations as compared to infrequently wolfrided locations, indicating that they learn and retain the long-term resource landscape that wolves cause.
Loretto says that ravens have already been known to recollect consistent food sources, such as landfills. “What did we find surprising is that they also appear to learn where the wolf killings are more frequent. One kill is random, and with time certain areas of the terrain prove more fruitful than others, but ravens seem to take advantage of this pattern.”
Greater understanding of the intellect of animals
The authors do not eliminate the possibility that wolves continue to be followed by ravens on a short distance. To locate wolf kills in their area, ravens must be able to determine this by short-range signals, probably by watching the movements of the wolves or hearing them howl. However, on a bigger level, the order is quite obvious: memory then, cues then. Spatial memory and navigation enables ravens to make decisions regarding where to start searching, in the first place, sometimes tens or even hundreds of kilometers.
Senior author Prof John M. Marzluff of the University of Washington adds: “What is evident in our work is the fact that ravens are able to be quite flexible in the locations they choose to feed. They do not remain attached to a certain wolf pack. They have the opportunity to select between numerous foraging opportunities since they have a good sense and recollection of the previous feeding places far and wide. This alters our way of thinking about scavenger finding food, and the notion may be that we have long underestimated certain ones.”
Liquid water is said to be a necessity to life. Amazingly, however, there could be conducive conditions of life far away in an area that is not near a sun. A group of researchers working on the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS at LMU and the Max Planck Institute of Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) has demonstrated how moons of free-floating planets can retain their water oceans as liquid to as long as 4.3 billion years through dense hydrogen atmospheres and tidal heating – that is to say, roughly as long as Earth has been around and complex life can evolve.
Planetary systems are usually created when the conditions are not steady. In the event of close approach of young planets they have the ability to launch one another out of orbit. This results in free-floating planets (FFPs) that move around the galaxy with no parent star. A previous paper by LMU physicist Dr. Giulia Roccetti had indicated that gas giants that were thrown out in this manner do not always lose their moons in the process.
Oceans remain in their liquid state because of tidal heating
The ejection however does change the orbits of the moons. They are elongated to a high extent in which their distance to the planet is constantly varying. This leads to the tidal forces rhythmically deforming the lunar body, compressing the body interior, and creating heat due to friction. This tidal heating can be adequate to keep oceans of liquid water on the surface – without the power of a star, and in the coolness of interstellar space.
Hydrogen as stable heat trap
It is the atmosphere that dictates whether this heat remains on the surface or not. Carbon dioxide is a good greenhouse gas on earth. Prior research had shown that carbon dioxide would be able to stabilize life-supportable conditions on exomoons of up to 1.6 billion years. In really low temperatures of free-floating systems, however, carbon dioxide would condense, lose the protective effect on the atmosphere and the heat to escape.
Thus, the scientists of astrophysics, biophysics, and astrochemistry started to research the possibilities of the hydrogen-rich atmospheres being the alternative heat traps. Despite the fact that the molecular hydrogen is mostly transparent to infrared radiation, an important physical phenomenon occurs under high pressures: collision-induced absorption. During this process, hydrogen colliding molecules create temporary complexes, which are able to take up the thermal radiation and store it in the atmosphere. Simultaneously, hydrogen is a stable element even at the lowest temperature.
Parallels to early Earth
The results also provide new insights to the origin of life. The cooperation with the team of Professor Dieter Braun enabled us to understand that the cradle of life does not always need a sun, says David Dahlbudding who is a doctoral researcher at LMU and the lead author of the study. According to the case, there was a distinct relationship between these moons that were far away and the early Earth, which had high levels of hydrogen due to asteroid impact in order to form conditions that supported life.
The tidal force was even capable of providing heat, as well as, chemical development processes. There is deformation periodically, which produces local wet-dry cycles, where water evaporates and condenses. These cycles have been regarded as a significant process of the formation of complex molecules and may make essential steps in the direction to the emergence of life.
Life-friendly moons in interstellar space
The free-floating planets are believed to be common. It has been estimated that these so-called nomadic planets in the Milky Way may be as numerous as the stars. Their moons could also offer long term stable habitats. The new discoveries were therefore able to considerably expand the range of potential habitats in which life might exist – and indicate that life would not only exist but also be able to survive even in the darkest parts of the galaxy.
Every year, Indians living in the United States send tens of billions of dollars back home. A landmark new federal law, a shifting currency, and a maturing digital transfer market have together reshaped how that money moves. Here is what has changed, what it costs, and how to navigate it.
India has long held the title of the world’s top destination for remittances, and the numbers only keep climbing. In 2024, the country received a record $129 billion in inward remittances, the highest ever recorded for any single nation in a single year. By the close of FY25, that figure had climbed again to an estimated $136 billion, up roughly 14% from the previous financial year, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.
The United States is the engine driving that growth. America now accounts for more than a quarter of all remittances flowing into India, the largest single-country source by a significant margin, ahead of the UAE, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. The shift toward digital transfers has accelerated this momentum. Nearly three-quarters of all remittance transactions are now completed digitally, a sharp rise from just a few years ago.
Yet for the millions of Indian-Americans, NRIs, and temporary workers who form the backbone of this money movement, 2026 has arrived with a significant change in the rules.
The 1% Remittance Tax: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and Who It Affects
The biggest development this year is a new federal law that touches every international money transfer sent from US soil.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, introduced a 1% federal excise tax on outbound remittances effective January 1, 2026. The road to that figure was a negotiated one — the original proposal floated a 5% rate, which was reduced to 3.5% during House deliberations before landing at the final 1% when the bill was signed. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the tax will generate roughly $10 billion in federal revenue over ten years.
The mechanics are simple. The tax applies to transfers funded by cash, money orders, and cashier’s checks. It does not apply to transfers funded by bank accounts, debit cards, or credit cards. In other words: walk into a Western Union outlet with $1,000 in hand, and you owe an additional $10 in federal excise tax on top of whatever the service charges. Log in from your phone, enter your bank account details, and the tax does not apply at all.
Money transfer providers are required to collect the tax at the point of transaction, make deposits to the IRS on a semimonthly basis, and file quarterly returns. The Treasury Department and IRS have extended penalty relief for providers through the first three quarters of 2026 while compliance systems are established, with full enforcement beginning in the fourth quarter.
For the Indian-American community specifically, the practical impact is limited. The platforms most commonly used Wise, Remitly, Xoom, and ICICI Money2India are all digital-first services that require payment via bank account or card. For the vast majority of users, the new tax changes nothing. For those who rely on cash-based services at physical locations, often newer immigrants or those in communities with limited banking access, it represents a 1% surcharge that will either be absorbed as a cost or prompt a move to digital alternatives.
The Market in 2026: What Your Options Are
The money transfer market has matured considerably. The gap between the best and worst providers is wide, and understanding the two components of every transfer, the flat fee and the exchange rate markup, is essential before sending a single dollar.
The mid-market USD to INR exchange rate currently sits in the range of 90 to 92 rupees to the dollar. No consumer-facing transfer service passes this rate on without some markup; the question is how much of a cut each one takes. On a $1,000 transfer, the difference between the cheapest and the most expensive provider can easily amount to $30 to $50.
Wise, The Benchmark for Transparency
Wise has become the standard against which all other services are measured. The platform consistently uses the mid-market exchange rate without any markup, and charges a small, clearly displayed percentage fee, typically starting from 0.48% per transfer. There are no hidden margins buried in the rate. What you see quoted is what the recipient receives.
Speed is also a strong suit. Most transfers to India from the US arrive within one to three working days, and Wise displays the estimated delivery time before the transaction is confirmed. The platform is fully digital, funded by bank account or debit card, and therefore entirely exempt from the 2026 remittance tax.
For anyone sending larger sums, where even a fraction of a percentage point on the exchange rate translates into meaningful rupees, Wise is consistently the most cost-effective option available.
Best for: Regular senders, large transfers, and anyone who wants full transparency on costs before confirming.
Remitly — The Competitive Challenger
Remitly has built a strong reputation on the US-India corridor, particularly for speed and promotional pricing. The service offers two transfer modes: Express, which delivers within minutes to the same day at a higher fee, and Economy, which takes three to five business days at a lower cost.
The fee structure rewards new and high-value users. There is no flat transaction fee on transfers above $1,000, and first-time customers receive a promotional exchange rate that is significantly better than the standard rate. For transfers within the promotional threshold, Remitly can match or occasionally beat Wise on total cost. Beyond that threshold, however, the standard exchange rate markup, which typically ranges between 1% and 3.7% above mid-market depending on the speed tier, applies.
Transfer limits are set at $30,000 for US-based senders, and the platform supports bank deposits to all major Indian banks.
Best for: First-time senders taking advantage of the promotional rate, and those who need same-day Express delivery.
Western Union, The Network Giant
Western Union’s competitive advantage in 2026 is not its pricing, it is its physical reach. The service typically adds a 2% to 4% exchange rate markup, making it one of the more expensive digital options. But no other provider comes close to matching its network of agent locations across India, where recipients can collect cash without a bank account.
For recipients in rural areas or those who prefer cash, Western Union remains the most practical option. The service supports bank deposits to all major Indian banks as well as cash pickup, and verified US-based senders can transfer up to $50,000.
One important note in 2026: funding a Western Union transfer at a retail location with physical cash triggers the new 1% federal excise tax. Funding the same transfer digitally from a bank account or card avoids it entirely.
Best for: Recipients without bank accounts, urgent cash pickup requirements, and senders who need the widest possible network coverage.
Xoom by PayPal, The Ecosystem Play
Xoom operates within the PayPal ecosystem, which makes it a natural choice for the tens of millions of Americans who already use PayPal for everyday transactions. Transfers can be funded directly from a PayPal balance, a linked bank account, or a debit card, and the service supports bank deposits to all major Indian banks including HDFC, ICICI, SBI, PNB, and Axis Bank, as well as cash pickup.
Rupee-dollar/IANS
Rate-wise, Xoom sits in the middle ground — more competitive than Western Union, but with a more noticeable markup than Wise. The main draw is convenience and integration, not price leadership.
Best for: Existing PayPal users who want a seamless experience without opening a new account on a separate platform.
ICICI Money2India, The NRI Specialist
For NRIs making larger, planned transfers, property payments, fixed deposit funding, or long-term family support, ICICI’s Money2India platform occupies a category of its own. The bank-backed service waives transfer fees entirely on online remittances above $1,000, offers exchange rates that are locked at the moment of transaction initiation, and delivers funds instantly or on the same day to ICICI accounts and within one to two business days to other major Indian banks.
The platform integrates directly with NRE and NRO account management, which matters for NRIs who need to structure transfers correctly for Indian tax and repatriation purposes.
Best for: NRIs making large or planned transfers, and those managing NRE or NRO accounts who want a bank-grade platform.
The NRE vs NRO Distinction: A Critical Point Many Get Wrong
For NRIs, the account type receiving the funds matters as much as the platform sending them. These two account types are not interchangeable, and mixing them up can create unnecessary tax complications and repatriation headaches.
An NRE (Non-Resident External) account is designed to receive money earned abroad. Interest earned on NRE balances is tax-free in India, and both principal and interest can be freely moved back to the US at any time without restriction. This is the correct account for most NRIs sending salary savings or other foreign earnings back to India.
An NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary), account is meant for income that originates within India: rent from property, dividends, pensions, and similar earnings. Interest on NRO accounts is subject to Indian income tax, and repatriation is capped at $1 million per financial year after applicable taxes have been paid.
Sending US-earned money into an NRO account is not prohibited, but it complicates the paper trail and limits future flexibility. For most NRIs whose primary purpose is to support family or accumulate savings in India, an NRE account is the right destination.
What You Need to Send: A Practical Checklist
Regardless of which platform you choose, gather the following before initiating any transfer.
From the recipient’s side: their full name exactly as it appears on their bank account, the bank name, the account number, and the IFSC code, an eleven-character alphanumeric code unique to each bank branch, available on the recipient’s cheque book or through the bank’s website or app.
From your own side: a government-issued photo ID, your Social Security Number for identity verification, and your US bank account or debit card details. First-time users on any platform will be asked to complete a brief identity verification process before their first transfer is processed.
For transfers above $10,000, US anti-money-laundering regulations require additional reporting. This is a compliance and documentation requirement, not an additional tax. The transfer will not be blocked or penalised, but providers may request supporting documentation before processing.
The Bottom Line
The fundamentals of sending money to India from the US have improved dramatically over the past decade. What once required a branch visit, a $25 wire fee, and a three-day wait can now be done in minutes from a smartphone at a fraction of the cost.
The 2026 remittance tax is real, but it is also largely avoidable. For the overwhelming majority of Indian-Americans who already use digital platforms funded by bank accounts, it is a non-issue. For the smaller segment relying on cash-based services, it is a 1% prompt to go digital.
The clearest guidance, stripped to its essentials: use Wise for the best rate and the most transparency. Use Remitly if you are a new sender or need Express delivery. Use ICICI Money2India for large, planned NRI transfers. Use Western Union only when cash pickup is genuinely necessary, and fund it digitally.
India’s inward remittances have roughly doubled in the past decade, from around $70 billion in 2014 to nearly $140 billion today. The diaspora driving those numbers is not shrinking. The tools available to them, at least, have never been sharper.
Disclaimer: All exchange rates and transfer fees are subject to change. Readers should verify live rates directly on provider platforms before initiating any transfer. This report does not constitute financial or tax advice.
This is another reason I love Japanese popular matcha: a mouse study states that the green tea powder might decrease the necessity to sneeze in persons with nasal allergies.
Matcha is a clear green powder created by the dried and grounded leaves of green tea, which have been particularly grown. It is consumed as a tea beverage, and also as a flavouring ingredient in a large variety of commodities. It has been demonstrated that tea has been found to have high concentrations of biologically active compounds, which include antioxidants and amino acids, and its use is associated with numerous health benefits, including better heart and brain functioning, and decreased inflammation.
Hiroshima University in Japan was especially interested in matcha effects on people with allergic rhinitis (also called hay fever) especially by Professor Osamu Kaminuma, of the Research Institute of Radiation Biology and Medicine. There is no clear understanding of the mechanism of action of green tea on allergic rhinitis despite human studies being in the process of pointing out that it can help relieve allergic rhinitis.
Kaminuma and colleagues published an early access article in NPJ Science of Food on March 5 stating that mice with symptoms of hay fever were fed matcha tea in 2-3 doses weekly over a period of greater than five weeks and a second dose of tea 30 minutes prior to allergen exposure to instigate symptoms of allergic rhinitis.
Matcha treatment reduced allergy in mice
The group discovered that the sneezing of the mice was significantly reduced than anticipated with matcha treatment but what was found to be more interesting was that the matcha did not seem to influence the allergenic reactions of immunoglobulin E (IgE), mast cells, and T cells.
The role of IgE antibodies attaching to mast cells is central to the process of an allergic reaction and the subsequent release of histamine and other inflammatory chemicals. The initial part of the allergic response is mediated by mast cells, whereas the T cells mediate more prolonged immune responses, such as the production of IgE.
Oral matcha suppressed sneezing without a definite alteration of key immune parameters. It instead had a strong suppressive effect on brainstem neuronal activation associated to sneezing reflex, Kaminuma explained.
The activity of a gene, c-Fos-indicator of neurological and behavioural reactions to a strong stimulus such as exposure to an allergen causing hay fever was studied in the ventral spinal trigeminal nucleus caudali or the part of the brain associated with sneezing. They discovered that, the mice were in a state of hay fever; the c-Fos gene expression was high but this was reduced nearly to normal by medication with matcha.
The second thing to do is to research as to whether these effects are present in humans as well. Kaminuma said: The aim is an evidence-based, food-based alternative that includes typical care of the symptoms of allergic rhinitis.
According to a report that cautions against the use of AI-powered talking toys on small children, the toys should be more strictly regulated and have new safety kitemarks, since they are not necessarily intended at children with the safety of their psychology in mind.
The suggestion is found in the first report of AI in the Early Years: a University of Cambridge project and the first systematic study of how Generative AI (GenAI) toys that can have human-like conversation can affect development during critical years of up to age five.
This was a one-year project at the Faculty of Education at the university where formal scientific observations of children at the initial encounter with a GenAI toy were carried out.
The report reflects the perceptions of a few of the early-years practitioners that, over time, these toys would be useful in areas of child development, including language and communication skills. The researchers also discovered, however, that GenAI toys are not good at social and pretend play, do not understand children, and respond in the wrong way to emotions.
As an illustration, if a five-year-old child said to the toy, I love you, it responded, As a friendly reminder, please, make interactions in accordance with the guidelines given. Please tell me what you wish me to do.
Even though genAI toys are highly sold as learning companions or friends, their effect on the development of early years has hardly been examined. The report encourages parents and teachers to be careful. It suggests a more direct regulation, open privacy policy and new labeling norms to allow families to make their own decision about the suitability of toys.
NGOs help conduct studies
The studies were contracted by the children poverty charity, The Childhood Trust, and were targeted to children in locations with significant socio-economic disadvantage. Researchers based at the Faculty in the Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL) Centre carried out it.
Researcher Dr Emily Goodacre, opined: Generative AI toys tend to confirm they are friends with a child who is only beginning to understand the meaning of friendship. They can begin conversing with the toy regarding emotions and requirements, instead of discussing them with an adult. Since these toys might fail to interpret emotions correctly or act in a wrong way, children might be deprived of the comfort provided by the toy – and without the emotional assistance by an adult, either.
The research was maintained in a small scale deliberately to be able to observe the play of children in greater detail and to observe the finer details that would be overlooked in a bigger scale study.
The researchers question early years educators survey to investigate their concerns and attitudes and conducted more detailed focus groups and workshops with early years practitioners and 19 leaders of children charities. They also video-recorded 14 children playing with GenAI soft toy, named Gabbo, in London children centres working with someone called Babyzone, an early years charity. They also interviewed every child and a parent after the play sessions using a drawing activity to facilitate the dialogue.
The majority of parents and educators believed that AI toys may assist in the growth of the communication abilities of children and some parents were eager to learn about their educational possibilities. One of them informed the researchers: “I want to buy it in case it is sold.
There was concern among many about children developing the so-called para-social relationships with toys. The observations proved this: the children hugged and kissed the toy, said that they loved it and – in the case of one of the children – proposed to play hide-and-seek together.
Kid believe toys love them back
Goodacre emphasized that these responses could be merely a vivid imagining of children but commented that there could be a dangerous relationship with a toy which, as one of the early years practitioners had remarked, they believe loves them back, but not vice versa.
The children were also having difficulties with the conversation of the toy. It even disregarded their interruptions, confused the voices of parents with the voice of the child and did not even give the appropriate answers to seemingly significant statements about feelings. A number of children were seen to get frustrated when no one appeared to be listening.
When one of the three year old children said to the toy: I am sad, the toy mishheard, and answered: Don’t worry! I’m a happy little bot. Let’s keep the fun going. What shall we talk about next?” According to researchers, this could have indicated that the sadness of the child was not significant.
The authors discovered that GenAI toys are also not good at social play, playing with many children and/or adults, and pretend play – both of which are important in the early childhood development. In such a way, when a three-year-old child tried to give the toy an imaginary present, the latter reacted by saying: I cannot open the present – and shifted to another topic.
Most parents were concerned about the data that the toy could be capturing and where this could be stored. In choosing a GenAI toy to be used as a research, the researchers discovered that privacy practices of many GenAI toys are not very transparent or that they do not provide crucial information about them.
AI toys increase digital divide
Almost half of the surveyed early years practitioners reported that they did not know where they could find credible information on AI safety among young children and 69% said the sector required further guidance. They also highlighted the issue of protection and affordability with others being worried that AI toys would increase the digital divide.
The authors claim that most of these issues would be resolved by working out clearer regulation. They suggest restricting the distance at which toys can make children befriend or confide in them, more open privacy policies and more restrictive access of third parties to AI models.
One of the recurring themes of the focus groups, the other co-author of the study Professor Jenny Gibson added, was that individuals did not trust tech companies to do the right thing. Clear, forceful, disciplined standards would go a long way in enhancing consumer confidence.
The report recommends that manufacturers should test toys on children and consult experts in safeguarding before launching new toys as well as urging parents to research GenAI toys before purchase.
The IEA is reacting to the effects of the conflict in the Middle East on the energy market. The Strait of Hormuz holds significant effects on the world economy and the energy security and affordability through the disruption of oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and energy infrastructure in the region.
The conflict in the area which started on 28 February has disrupted the streams of energy trade across the Strait causing the biggest supply shock in the history of the global oil market. The situation has also decreased the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world by approximately 20%.
On 11 March, the IEA Member countries had unanimously agreed to conduct the largest ever emergency release of their oil stocks as a measure to contain the market shocks.
Current market backdrop
The prices of oil and natural gas have upsurged owing to the war. By 11 March, Brent crude futures have increased more than 25 per cent since the hostilities began on 28 February, and Dutch TTF, the European natural gas market, has increased by nearly 60 per cent. Oil products markets have also been especially hit such as the diesel and the jet fuel markets. The effects are being experienced worldwide.
Flows of crude and oil products via the Strait of Hormuz have fallen to a mere trickle of approximately 20 million barrels per day (mb/d) prior to the war and currently. Traffic paralyzed, little ability to circumvent the waterway of the crucible, and storage is filling, the Gulf Countries have reduced the overall production of oil by no less than 10 mb/d, as we have reported in our latest Oil Market Report, released on 12 March. Unless shipping traffic is quickly restored, loss of supply will continue to expand.
The gulf region is one of the major exporters of the refined oil products to world markets, especially to the middle distillates, used as diesel and jet fuel. In 2025, the gulf producers sold 3.3 mb/d of refined oil products and 1.5 mb/d of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Already more than 3 mb/d of refining capacity in the region has been shut down as a result of attacks and non-existent viable outlets to export.
The middle distillates markets globally have not been very tight in comparison with other products. Consequently, the refineries outside the area seem to have limited scope to pump more diesel and jet fuel to offset such losses in case of losses in supply on a lasting basis.
Global Markets(Wikipedia)
The oil consuming nations have large reserves of oil to overcome short time losses in supply. The international recorded stocks of crude and products are at present estimated to dominate above 8.2 billion barrels, the maximum amount since February 2021. Approximately 50 of these are in the advanced economies with 1.25 billion barrels of these in government emergency stock with an additional 600million barrels of industry stocks obligated by the government. These stocks are the foundation of the emergency collective action which IEA has declared on 11 March to provide more oil supply into the market.
The war has also greatly affected the LNG production in the Gulf region. The global natural gas markets were slowly rebalancing after a massive shock occurred after the invasion of Russia in Ukraine in February 2022. It is projected that a new wave of LNG capacity will be introduced between now and the end of this decade and this will change the dynamics of the markets. But the tightness in gas markets in the first two months of 2026, and empty storage at the end of the heating season in the Northern Hemisphere is poised to drive up the demand on LNG in much of the next few months.
A prolonged outage of production in the Ras Laffan plant in Qatar may further create a serious issue in this market tightness. On 2 March, an attack on the facilities brought about production shutdown. Ras Laffan delivered 112 billion cubic metres (bcm) of LNG, also 300 000 barrels per day of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 180 000 barrels per day of condensate, making it by far the largest LNG plant in the world.
What is so special about the Strait of Hormuz?
Strait of Hormuz is a slender sea passage, which is located between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, and, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is an important trade route and is the main outlet of oil and natural gas that are manufactured in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran.
It was estimated that in 2025 around 25% of the world seaborne oil trade passed through the Strait, and there are few alternatives to oil flows avoiding the Strait of Hormuz. Crude pipelines only exist in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which would potentially allow the rerouting to avoid the Strait with a capacity of 3.5 mb/d to 5.5 mb/d. Countries such as Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain are also dependent on the Strait to export the large percentage of their oil products.
In 2025, approximately 80 percent of the oil and oil products passing through the Strait was bound to Asia.
Besides that, more than 110 bcm of LNG went through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025. Approximately 93 percent of Qatar and 96 percent of the UAE LNG exports went across the Strait, which constitutes nearly a fifth of the entire LNG trade in the world. It does not have any other option of distributing these volumes to the market.
The majority of the LNG in the UAE and Qatar is shipped to Asia. In 2025, approximately 90 percent of the total amounts that get exported through the Strait of Hormuz was allocated to the Asian market. Just over 10% went to Europe.
Iran has categorically denied reports suggesting it gave special permission for India-flagged oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, dismissing the claims as unfounded amid the ongoing conflict that has choked the vital shipping lane since late February.
The controversy erupted yesterday when several Indian news outlets reported that Tehran had quietly agreed to let Indian vessels transit the strait following a telephone conversation between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
An Indian government source, speaking anonymously to Reuters, stated: “Iran will allow India-flagged tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of India’s crude imports pass.” The source pointed to the recent safe passage of two India-flagged ships, Pushpak and Parimal, as proof of the arrangement, while noting that vessels tied to the United States, Europe or Israel were still being blocked.
Tehran moved quickly to shoot down the story. An Iranian source told Reuters the matter was “sensitive” and no such deal had been reached. Another contact in Tehran, quoted by NDTV, was blunt: “No, it’s not true.” Iranian state-affiliated media echoed the denial, insisting no exemptions had been granted for Indian-flagged crude carriers.
Oil tankers bombed by Iran
The Strait of Hormuz has seen traffic plummet since the escalation began. Satellite data shows only a handful of commercial vessels crossing in recent weeks, with several tankers coming under drone and projectile attacks. While one Liberia-flagged tanker carrying Saudi crude did reach Mumbai recently (with an Indian captain on board), that does not confirm any broader policy change for India-flagged ships.
India remains heavily exposed. Roughly 40 percent of its crude and 90 percent of its LPG imports normally flow through the strait. At present, about 28 Indian vessels with 778 crew members are stuck in the Persian Gulf, and three Indian sailors have already lost their lives in related incidents, according to shipping sources.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs described early reports of a breakthrough as “premature,” stressing that talks on safe passage and energy security are continuing but no agreement has been finalized.
The closure has slashed global oil flows by an estimated 10–20 million barrels per day, sending prices soaring and unexpectedly boosting revenues for exporters like Russia. For now, the diplomatic back-and-forth has only added to the uncertainty hanging over one of the world’s most critical energy arteries.
Thursday night the Trump administration issued a temporary general license authorizing the delivery, sale and offloading of Russian crude and petroleum products loaded onto vessels on or before March 12, 2026, to stabilize global energy markets following the soaring of crude oil prices by the 13 years war between the U.S. and Israel, who war with Iran.
The license, called General License 134, takes effect through the middle of the Washington time on April 11, giving a 30-day period to such transactions, even involving authorized entities or vessels.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the move on X, saying: “US is granting a provisional sanction to allow nations to buy Russian oil already at sea.”
Bessent further highlighted that the action will be a short-term, narrowly focused action that is only applicable in the oil already under transit but it would not give great financial relief to the Russian government, which gets most of its energy revenue as taxes levied at the point of extraction.
The move comes after the recent spike in oil prices due to the strikes by the U.S and Israel on Iran that started February 28, 2026, including the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and strikes on Iranian nuclear, missile, and military facilities.
Congestion of the Strait of Hormuz and less output of the Middle East have propelled prices upwards, with the Brent crude futures already trading past $100 a barrel on Thursday, although prices have soared to a high of 110-119 a barrel in recent trading.
Goldman Sachs predicts that in March Brent will exceed the $100-mark because of the volatility, which also marks the middle of a loss of supply that will result in a potential addition of supply to oil-starved markets.
Experts predict that the waiver will release up to 100-128 million barrels of Russian oil that is currently at sea and will likely add to affected markets. The presidential envoy of Russia Kirill Dmitriev advocated the move stating that the move concerns approximately 100 million barrels of it and it shows the involvement of Russian energy in global stability.
The license is a follow-up on a waiver of a prior March waiver specifically to India which is criticized. It has now allowed sales across the globe and this has given Russia a financial boost. The move has led to a rise in oil income in Moscow where certain reports reveal that there has been an increment of about $150 million per day more oil sales due to the rise in prices.
In February, Russia earned about $9.5 billion from oil and product exports, or roughly $339 million per day (based on 28 days). January revenues were $11.1 billion. Annual projections under normal conditions (pre-escalation) ranged from $113-129 billion for 2026, depending on sanctions enforcement.
India’s shift to Russian oil
Earlier March projections had India’s Russian crude imports dropping sharply to low levels (~129,000 bpd or less in some forecasts) due to intensified U.S. sanctions pressure and tariffs. However, with Middle Eastern supplies choked by the Iran conflict and Hormuz effectively closed, India has dramatically ramped up purchases. Indian refiners snapped up around 30 million barrels of Russian crude in recent days following a temporary U.S. waiver allowing deals on in-transit (already-loaded) sanctioned cargoes. March volumes are now tracking toward 1.5-1.6 million bpd so far, with projections for the full month potentially reaching 40 million barrels (pre-sanctions levels), as buyers like India and China seek alternatives to offset the ~10-20 million bpd global shortfall.
With U.S. temporary sanctions relief by Washington for 30 days Russia is likely to reap an estimated up to $150 million per day in extra budget revenues from surging oil prices and renewed demand, which means a ~14% jump over February averages, driven by higher export taxes. Cumulative early gains from oil export duties alone are pegged at $1.3-1.9 billion since the conflict escalated, with potential for $3.3-4.9 billion more by month-end if trends hold.
Mineral extraction tax surge
Russia’s key oil production levy (mineral extraction tax) is projected to nearly double in March to around 590 billion rubles (~$7.43 billion), thanks to the global price rally pushing taxable Urals prices well above the budget’s $59/bbl assumption (recently hitting $70-90+ levels in various reports, sometimes at premiums in India).
With Urals now trading much closer to (or occasionally above) Brent amid the crisis, and exports potentially stabilizing or rising on Asian demand, Russia’s full-year oil revenues could significantly exceed pre-conflict forecasts. Sustained high prices and volumes might push totals toward the higher end of prior estimates ($200-250 billion or more), offering major fiscal breathing room despite sanctions.
These developments highlight Russia’s unexpected position as a prime beneficiary of the energy crunch, flipping prior sanction dynamics in its favor, at least short-term.
Democrats Oppose Trump’s Move
The step has received criticism by congressional democrats and European leaders. The decision was condemned by senate democrats like Elizabeth Warren, Jeanne Shaheen, Chuck Schumer and others as giving Putin a huge financial hit during his war in Ukraine and the Iran conflict was deemed reckless and ill-conceived, and is claimed to have strengthened the argument that the administration is enriching Russia at the cost of Middle East shocks.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reacted to the decision saying it was wrong and the Iran fighting was inadvisable and windfall profits were enriching Russia. The administration has positioned the step as a logistical one, ensuring the stranded cargoes do not disrupt shipping instead of the relief of broad sanctions, but critics say that this is a way of undercutting long-term effort to stop Russian revenue.
The narrower the difference between your biological age and actual age the lower the risk of a stroke and the health of your brain.
The study involved 250,000 people. The scientists measured the level of 18 biomarkers in their blood to obtain their biological age. Brain scans were also done to a section of individuals.
Individuals that bridged the difference between their biological and chronological ages during the intervention were 23% less likely than the rest to experience a stroke in the future.
The research does not demonstrate that the reduction of the age gap is the reason of the reduced stroke risk and positive brain health changes. It only shows an association.
According to researchers, a healthy diet, regular exercise, proper sleep and blood pressure management can contribute to the age gap in the biology of the body, although this study has not assessed any lifestyle program.
The article is a preliminary study published in March of 2026 will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 78th Annual Meeting in April 18-22, 2026 in Chicago. It found that the closer your biological age is to your chronological age, the lower the risk of stroke and the better the signs of damage in the brain.
Betterment of age gap
The research does not demonstrate that betterment of the age gap is the reason behind better brain health; it only presents a correlation.
The researcher Cyprien Rivier of Yale University and an American Academy of Neurology member, said that efforts to “change our biological age may be one of the ways to help our brains stay healthy. Lifestyle habit, such as healthy diet, physical activity, sleep and good blood pressure management, which can help to prevent cardiovascular and metabolic disease, might help reduce the biological age difference, but we did not assess lifestyle interventions in the study.”
In the study, the biological age of 258,169 individuals of a health care research database was analyzed. They quantified 18 biomarkers in the blood, including cholesterol, average red blood cell volume and white blood cell count, to assess biological age at the beginning of the study and six years later in a sub-group of the participants. Researchers then found the participants who had a stroke after an average of 10 years. A group of the participants also administered tests on memory and thinking ability and brain scans to examine indications of brain damage.
In the beginning of the study, the biological age of the participants was 54 on average and their real age was 56. Their actual age was 62 years but on average, they were 58 years biologically six years on.
Individuals whose biological age was more than their chronological age at the conclusion of the study exhibited poorer brain scans and also poorer scores in the cognitive tests. They were also at a higher risk of stroke by 41 percent.
Those who lengthened the distance between their biological and chronological ages between the beginning of the study and the repeat measure had their risks of developing a stroke in the follow-up phase reduced by 23%.
Individuals who had some improvement also contained a smaller amount of white matter hyperintensities, an indicator of tissue damage to the white matter, by the conclusion of the study compared to those who had no amelioration in their biological age gaps. The overall amount of damage that they could do was 13 per cent less with each standard deviation of progress.
These outcomes factored in other factors that might influence the risk of stroke and damage to the brain including high blood pressure and other blood vessels conditions and socioeconomic outcomes.
Study’s Insufficiency
One of the weaknesses of the research was that although it identified correlations, it was not a causal study. In addition, only a smaller number underwent repeat blood tests and this does not allow the researcher to draw conclusions of change over time especially on cognitive tests.
Scientists have found out that non-psychoactive cannabis substances, CBD and CBG, can help to reduce liver fat significantly and improve metabolic health. The researchers have found out that these compounds act by establishing a buffer of energy in the liver and by the re-activation of the cleaning crews inside the cells to clear undesirable waste products. These results point to the existence of a novel, plant-based direction of treating the most frequent chronic liver disease of the world.
According to a study by Prof. Joseph (Yossi) Tam, Dr. Liad Hinden, a PhD student, Radka Kocvarova, and the team of researchers led by Tam, at the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, two compounds of the cannabis plant are useful in the treatment of fatty liver disease. The study indicates that the non-psychoactive and non-high-inducing Cannabidiol (CBD) and Cannabigerol (CBG) can help people live healthier lives due to its ability to alter how the liver processes energy and purifies itself.
The prevalent chronic liver disorder in the world is currently known as Maatotic asymptomatic liver disease (MASLD) which is associated with metabolic dysfunction. It is prevalent among about 1 in 3 adults, and strongly associated with obesity, hypertension and insulin resistance. Although lifestyle change such as diet and exercise is significant, it is not always easier to sustain it and known medicines approved to treat this condition are very limited. This renders the discovery of new medicines a top priority to the scientists.
The researchers demonstrated that CBD and CBG are not only fat-reducing tools with the help of sophisticated tools. In fact, they assist the liver to work more efficiently internally in a special mechanism of metabolic remodeling. The effect on the energy stores of the liver was identified as one of the most crucial findings. The compounds cause a rise in phosphocreatine levels which serve as a backup battery to keep the liver healthy despite the stress which is posed by high-fat diet. It is a novel finding because the liver is not normally dependent on such a system of energy in a heavy way.
Reinstate functions of cathepsins
Also, the experiment revealed that CBD and CBG reinstate the functions of cathepsins. They are enzymes that serve as the cleaning crew in the recycling centers of the cell and they are called lysosomes. With the help of getting this cleaning crew back at work the liver is able to better process and eliminate the harmful fats and waste. Another finding by the researchers was that the two treatments had significant lowering effects on the harmful lipids, including triglycerides and ceramides. Ceramides are those that are especially harmful since they have been identified to cause insulin resistance and liver inflammation.
The research found out that both compounds were useful but they had a slight difference in terms of benefit to metabolic health. CBD and CBG could all normalise blood sugar levels and enhance the glucose clearance in the body. Nevertheless, CBG seemed to influence some measures more strongly. It was much more effective in fat mass reduction in the body and insulin sensitivity than CBD. The CBG was also especially useful in reducing the total cholesterol and the bad LDL cholesterol levels.
Prof. Joseph Tam ssaid, “the findings of the research point to a new mechanism through which CBD and CBG improve the hepatic energy and lysosomal activity. Such dual metabolic remodelling results in a better process of lipids in liver and singling out such compounds as likely treatment options in MASLD.”
Though these findings are highly encouraging, the staff remarks that additional studies are required in order to comprehend how these findings can be optimally applied to human patients. The research provides a novel avenue in the use of plant-derived compounds to treat metabolic diseases because it is based on the energy and waste management in cells.
The results of these researchers in Jacksonville, Fla., are that a drug-and-supplement combination therapy can be used to lessen the harmful effects of senescent cells, or, to be more exact, zombie cells, in diabetic kidney disease.
In an article published by the Lancet, the team has found that the combination of the cancer drug dasatanib and a naturally occurring substance quercetin reduced inflammation and enhanced protective factors in the kidney.
Diabetic kidney disease is the number one cause of renal failure and goes over 12 million individuals in the U.S. Whereas there is a partial cure in newer treatments to slow the loss of kidney function, it has no cure at all.
According to LaTonya Hickson, a nephrologist with Mayo Clinic in Florida and the main researcher of the study, the combination therapy, administered on a short term basis, decreased the amount of senescent cells within a preclinical diabetes kidney disease model and also led to the enhancement of kidney functioning. In order to prolong the health of the kidney, researchers have been keen on the solution to the existence of senescent cells, which do not get to pass through the natural process of death and instead hang around in tissues leading to aging and disease.
Therapy to Attack Senescent Cells
The therapeutic strategy is senolytics, natural and synthetic substances that in combination selectively attack senescent cells.
In a clinical trial that was previously carried out and was a pilot study, researchers at the Mayo Clinic led by Hickson discovered that dasatanib combination with quercetin diminished senescent cells of skin and fat tissues in diabetic kidney disease patients. The impact of the combination therapy on senescence and protective factors on the diabetic kidney, however, had not been described yet.
“The need to demonstrate that this single, momentary, treatment has an outcome on the kidneys was informed by the necessity to do so without the use of invasive procedures in the patients,” says Xiaohui Bian, a nephrologist who did the work as a post-doctoral fellow at Mayo Clinic and leads the study.
The group identified that the combination therapy enhanced kidney performance and protective mechanisms and minimized injury, senescent cells, and inflammation in a preclinical model of diabetic kidney disease. The combination therapy also lowered the number of senescent cells and the inflammatory response caused by them in cultured human kidney cells.
According to Hickson, the results indicate that this combination treatment has a potential to assist in reducing and stopping the damage of kidneys caused by diabetes. These two studies are now promising and indicate that larger scale research in patients with senolytics is warranted to enhance the health of the kidneys.
The International Energy Agency’s 32 member countries have unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, the largest such action in the agency’s history, following the US-Israel war on Iran that resulted in the latter choking Strait of Hormuz shipment flows to less than 10% of pre-conflict levels.
Under the IEA measure, the US alone will contribute 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but the full release will take at least 120 days to complete.
The escalating war involving Iran, the US, and Israel has triggered the biggest oil supply shock. Tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz has plummeted from ~20 million barrels per day to almost nothing, as ships avoid the danger zone.
Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar have slashed output by at least 10 million barrels daily because storage is full and exports can’t leave.
The IEA warns global supply could drop ~8 million bpd this month, with some refineries shut and refined fuels stalled too.
Demand is dipping too
Meanwhile, fewer flights and LPG issues could cut it by ~1 million bpd. To ease the crisis, the IEA coordinated a record release of 400 million barrels from emergency stocks. Global inventories are still high, offering a short-term buffer, but without quick resumption of Hormuz flows, things could worsen fast.
Despite the announcement, oil prices climbed back above $90 a barrel, with markets warning that the reserves offer no structural fix unless safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is restored completely.
India imports around 85–90% of its crude oil requirement, which means domestic fuel prices are highly sensitive to global benchmarks such as Brent Crude Oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
gas price
When crude rises sharply—as it has this week due to Middle East tensions and supply fears—oil marketing companies typically face higher input costs. If prices remain elevated for long, those costs eventually feed into retail petrol and diesel prices.
What may happen in the next few weeks
1. Short-term: Prices may stay unchanged for now: State-run retailers such as Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum often absorb temporary spikes. If crude volatility lasts only a few days, pump prices may remain stable.
2. If crude stays near or above $100: Sustained levels above $100 per barrel could start putting pressure on fuel retailers. Historically, prolonged rallies at such levels have led to gradual price revisions.
3. Government intervention is possible: Before major elections or during inflation spikes, the government has sometimes cut excise duty or asked oil companies to delay hikes to cushion consumers.
4. Inflation risk: Higher fuel costs also raise transportation expenses, which can push up prices of food and other essentials—an issue closely monitored by the Reserve Bank of India.
If crude stays near $100–110 per barrel for several weeks, analysts typically estimate petrol and diesel prices could rise by roughly ₹2–₹6 per litre, depending on taxes and exchange rate movements.
For now, the oil spike is a warning signal rather than an immediate price hike. The key factor will be whether geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt supply routes like the Strait of Hormuz.
Binary asteroid systems are not uncommon in our cosmic neighborhood with about 15 percent of asteroids around the Earth having small moons around them.
A team of astronomers (headed by the University of Maryland) has since found that these binary asteroid systems are much more dynamic than they thought- involving active exchange of rocks and dust in slow, slow-motion collisions that reform them over millions of years.
Upon the analysis of the images captured by the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft just before deliberately colliding with the asteroid moon Dimorphos in 2022, the team observed bright, fan-shaped streaks across the surface of the moon, which is the first direct evidence of the material naturally traveling between two asteroids. The implications of the findings given by the researchers in The Planetary Science Journal on March 6, 2026, regarding the information about asteroids that may pose a threat to the earth are far reaching.
Initially, we assumed that it must have been a problem with the camera, then we assumed it must have been a problem with our processing of the images, said the lead author of the paper, Jessica Sunshine, a professor with joint appointments in both the Department of Astronomy and Department of Geological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences of UMD. However, once we cleared it up we found the marks we were observing were quite regular with respect to low velocity collisions, such as tossing cosmic snowballs. We possessed the first direct evidence of material movement within the recent past in a binary asteroid system.
The results of the team were also the first, visual confirmation of the Yarkovsky-O Keefe Radzievskii Paddak (YORP) effect wherein small asteroids rapidly rotate due to the presence of sunlight, causing material to be thrown off their surfaces to form moons. This was probably true of Didymos and its smaller satellite Dimorphos in the case of Sunshine reported the remnants of the so-called cosmic snowballs which had been deposited on the surface of Dimorphos.
How they found these traces?
They took months of investigative efforts to find these traces. The original images captured by the DART spacecraft could not see the fan-shaped streaks yet, UMD astronomy research scientist Tony Farnham and former postdoctoral researcher Juan Rizos developed more intricate methods to eliminate the boulder shadow and lightning effects in the images and exposed the eye-opening streaks that were left behind by the ‘cosmic snowballs’.
We finally saw these rays wrapping round Dimorphos, something no one has ever seen, you see, Farnham said. At the initial stages, it could not be believed because it was gentle and distinct.
To the researchers, the path of the DART mission provided a peculiar challenge. The space ship flew directly into the target with only slight distinctions in lighting and viewpoint that made it hard to differentiate actual features and any potential lighting possibilities. To demonstrate the authenticity of the streaks the team traced them to the source in one of the areas near the edge of Dimorphos- clearly out of phase with where the sun was overhead. Having done this, the team came to the conclusion that the traces left by the so-called cosmic snowballs were not really a light illusion.
Not fainter as we smoothed out the 3D image of the moon the fan-shaped streaks became more distinct, Farnham said. “It made us sure that we were dealing with a reality.
Earlier researchers noted an indirect evidence of the sunlight causing small asteroids to spin faster triggering the expulsion of material off their surfaces. However, the recently perfected models of the asteroid moon Dimorphos created by the UMD team give the first graphic assurance of the process and the precise sites of the shed material of its original asteroid, Didymos. Additional calculations by UMD alumnus Harrison Agrusa (M.S. ’19, Ph.D. ’22, astronomy) also indicated that the material moved Didymos at 30.7 centimeters per second, which is slower than the typical pace of a human walking.
Fan-shaped marks
“That would be why it had the fan-shaped marks,” Sunshine said. “These slow moving effects would not cause a crater as they would cause a deposit instead of being evenly distributed. And they are focused on the equator as theorized on modeling material ripped off the primary.”
The researchers headed by the former UMD postdoctoral associate Esteban Wright conducted a battery of experiments in their laboratories to test their hypotheses at the UMD Institute of Physical Science and Technology. To replicate boulders on Dimorphos, they tossed marbles into a sand filled with painted gravel. The experiment was recorded with high-speed cameras, and it was found that boulders filtered some material and allowed other particles to stream in-between the boulders- forming ray-like patterns similar to those found on Dimorphos.
The results were verified in computer simulations of effects of loose clumps of dust done at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The shape of the fan-shaped rays on the surface of the asteroid was naturally formed by boulders that formed the cosmic snowballs on the surface of the asteroid whether the impactor was a compact rock such as the marble or a loose clump of material.
These marks could be seen on Dimorphos in that film taken by the DART spacecraft immediately before the large collision, evidence that there was an exchange of material between it and Didymos, said Sunshine. The fan line deposit must stretch up to the side of the moon that we did not strike and there is a chance that it was not smashed in by the blow.
These features could be found to be still present on Didymos as the Hera mission of the European Space Agency will possibly arrive in December 2026 and see them. Sunshine and her colleagues give an estimate as to how Hera will also witness new ray patterns formed when boulders are struck by the DART spacecraft, knocking them loose, which gives them a different perspective of the asteroids that have the potential to threaten the earth.
According to Sunshine, these new findings which arise out of this research play a critical part in our knowledge about the near-Earth asteroids and their evolutionary patterns. It has been discovered that they are much more dynamic than we thought before and this will assist us in streamlining our models and our planetary defense efforts.
A large number of teenagers who have some weight problem are resorting to AI models as they seek to design meal plans in a bid to lose weight. A new study, however, indicates that the plans that are a result of this could not, at least in all cases, cover the required nutrients and calorie consumption.
In Turkey, five different AI models were compared in regard to their meal planning capabilities, which led researchers to develop meal plans to help teenagers lose weight and evaluated their findings against the recommendations of a registered dietician. They described their results in Frontiers in Nutrition.
According to Dr Ayse Betul Bilen, an assistant professor of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Istanbul Atlas University, there is a significant underestimation of total energy and the main nutrient intake of diet plans generated by AI models compared to plans prepared by a dietitian based on guidelines. It is known that adherence to this type of imbalanced or excessively restrictive meal plans in the teenage years can have a detrimental influence on growth, metabolic health, and eating habits.
Missing a meal
The researchers were prompted to generate meal plans using five AI models, which were ChatGPT 4, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Bing Chat-5GPT, Claude 4.1 and Perplexity, using free versions of these models. Some of the prompts were age, height and weight of the individual the plan would be based on, and the directive to develop a 3 days plan that included three meals and two snacks a day. Four teenagers aged 15 years, one boy and one girl, who were in the overweight percentile and one boy and one girl who fell in the obese percentile were put on meal plans.
Comparing the results of AIs to generate meal plans to those of a dietician who specializes in adolescent diseases, it was found that the energy requirement that was estimated by the AI models was on average nearly 700 calories lower than the dietitian. This is a full meal worth of difference that has severe clinical implications. The intake of some macronutrients had been overcalculated whereas the intake of some caloric nutrients was grossly undercalculated.
The AI-generated diet plans never adhered to the recommended mix of macronutrients, which is quite dangerous among adolescents, as Bilen indicated.
In comparison, AI models suggested more protein intake (20g higher than the dietician), and this scheme led to about 21-24% of the energy intake as protein. Recommendations of lipid provided by AI were also significantly more than in the plans developed by dieticians, and lipids constituted 41-45% of energy intake.
The quantity of carbohydrates, however, was much inferior in AI plans and the difference was about 115g on average, that is, only about 32-36 percent of the energy intake would be derived as carbs. In comparison, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and medicine in the US advise that the proportion of lipids, proteins and carbs should be 30-35, 15-20 and 45-50 percent respectively.
Favoring plans to balanced diets
Although numerous pieces of information about healthy diet guidelines are found on national and international health organizations websites, such as the Turkish Nutritional Guidelines or WHO Adolescent Nutritional Guidelines, AI tools do not necessarily use evidence-based nutritional guidelines in their production. Bilen stated that AI models are mostly trained to produce answers that are most plausible and user-friendly, and not necessarily accurate, clinically. According to their findings, they might be dependent on generalized or popular diet patterns rather than incorporating the nutritional requirements of age.
Since not every teenager can hire the service of a dietician to help them plan their meals, the team recommended that a person using AI tools to create a diet plan should be cautious. The teenagers are also to remember that the diets that are too restrictive or that are constructed on the basis of extreme diets that are based on the dominance of either protein or fat.
The researchers claimed that they hope that their findings will contribute to the increased awareness of the narrow capability of AI tools to create well-balanced meal plans and assist in developing safer tools that are more consistent with the guidelines created by professionals. Although AI models are fast developing and models might be better now than they were at the time of analysis, AI models are not an alternative to professional dietary counseling especially to the vulnerable groups.
Bilen concluded that adolescence is a critical period with regard to physical development, bone development and cognitive maturation. The risks of a lower energy and carbohydrate intake and higher ratios of protein and fat could be dangerous at the adolescent growth stage.
Scientists have uncovered the first robust evidence of a black hole and neutron star crashing together but orbiting in an oval path rather than a perfect circle just before they merged. This discovery challenges long-standing assumptions about how these cosmic pairs form and evolve.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics published their findings today (11 Mar) in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Most neutron star-black hole pairs are expected to adopt circular orbits long before merging. But the analysis of the gravitational-wave event GW200105 shows that this system travelled on an oval orbit long before merging to form a black hole 13 times more massive than the Sun. An oval orbit is something never seen before in this kind of collision.
Dr Patricia Schmidt, from the University of Birmingham, said: “This discovery gives us vital new clues about how these extreme objects come together. It tells us that our theoretical models are incomplete and raises fresh questions about where in the Universe such systems are born.”
The researchers analysed data from LIGO and Virgo detectors using a new gravitational‑wave model developed at the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Gravitational Wave Astronomy. This allowed them to measure both how ‘oval’ the orbit was (eccentricity) and any spin‑induced wobbling (precession). This is the first time these two effects have been measured together in a neutron star–black hole event.
Geraint Pratten, a Royal Society University Research Fellow from the University of Birmingham, said: “The orbit gives the game away. Its elliptical shape just before merger shows this system did not evolve quietly in isolation but was almost certainly shaped by gravitational interactions with other stars, or perhaps a third companion.”
A Bayesian analysis comparing thousands of theoretical predictions to the real data, showed that a circular orbit is extremely unlikely, ruling it out with 99.5% confidence.
Past analyses of GW200105, which assumed a circular orbit, underestimated the black hole mass and overestimated the neutron star mass. The new study corrects these values and finds no compelling evidence of precession, indicating that the eccentricity was imprinted by its formation rather than by spins.
Gonzalo Morras, from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, said: “This is convincing proof that not all neutron star–black hole pairs share the same origin. The eccentric orbit suggests a birthplace in an environment where many stars interact gravitationally.”
This discovery challenges the prevailing view that all neutron star–black hole mergers arise from a single dominant formation channel and highlights the need for more advanced waveform models capable of capturing the full complexity of these systems.
The study helps to explain the growing diversity seen in compact-binary mergers and opens the door to identifying even more unusual pathways as the number of gravitational-wave detections continues to grow.
Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy jointly conducted four successful in-flight release trials of the indigenous Air Droppable Container ‘ADC-150’ from the P8I aircraft off the coast of Goa between February 21 to March 01, 2026, at different extreme release conditions. Indigenously designed and developed to deliver 150 kg payload, the Air Droppable Container enhances the naval operational logistics capabilities for providing quick response to naval vessels under distress, needing critical stores/equipment, medical assistance etc. at blue sea deployed far from the coast.
The Naval Science & Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam is the nodal laboratory for the activity. Aerial Delivery Research & Development Establishment, Agra has developed the parachute system and Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification, Bengaluru provided the flight clearance & certification. Defence Research & Development Laboratory, Hyderabad provided the instrumentation support for the trials.
To meet the requirement of the Indian Navy, the ADC-150 system for the P8I aircraft was developed and qualified in a short timeframe. As all the developmental flight trials have been completed successfully, the system is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy soon.
A recent study conducted by scientists working in Adelaide University and published in the journal Science Advances has shown the reason as to why certain cancers may grow and survive the body, whereas others do not. It happens that the hard mechanical stress to which the early cancer cells undergo as they are squeezed into a narrow area, causes some of the cancer cells to grow quicker, not to grow, as would otherwise be supposed.
This squeeze worked to the favor of the early breast cancer cells as scientists discovered.
The key point that was explained by the lead researcher, Professor Michael Samuel, of the Centre of Cancer Biology at Adelaide University and the Basil Hetzel Institute is that these breast cancer cells steal a particular sensor – one that our bodies rely on to sense touch – and use it to divide quickly and aid them in making their escape off the major tumour.
The process creates an indefinitely lasting mechanical memory in the breast cancer cells and it still contributes towards aggressive behaviour even after the pressure itself has been removed, Professor Samuel said.
The tumours which are solid are exposed to a lot of physical pressure when the disease is at its early stage of development, as the cancer cells grow in tissues that are limited in space, e.g. the milk ducts of the breast. Up to this day, the mechanism by which these cancer cells detect this pressure and whether or not it impacts the progression of the disease is unknown.
We have a tendency to believe that cancer is a genetic disease, but through this work we know that there is the same importance of physical forces within the tumours as the cause of cancer as there are genetic changes that cause cancer.
The researchers discovered that cancer cells respond to pressure via a molecule named PIEZO1, which is a hole in the cell that relates the interior of a cell to the exterior environment. Upon pressure stimulation, PIEZO1 enables the movement of calcium ions into the cell and subsequent signal transduction containing the Rho-ROCK pathway – a central regulator of cell movement, shape and growth.
The team demonstrated that mechanical pressure of a short duration that is obtained through compressing cancer tissue was sufficient to cause tumour growth to increase significantly. Mechanically compressed tumours in laboratory models of breast cancer became larger and the cancer cells in them fragmented faster than control groups.
In addition to promoting growth, compression was also identified to drive cancer cells into a more aggressive, invasive, state in a process known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition. When either of the PIEZO1 or the Rho-ROCK pathway had, however, been inhibited with the help of suitable drugs, compression did not propel cancer aggressiveness, making their role in this process definite.
Co-lead author Dr Sarah Boyle mentioned that one of the most significant findings was that the cancer aggressiveness effects of compression remained even after removal of the force itself.
According to Dr Boyle, even relatively short durations of pressure can lead to a mechanical memory by altering the way the DNA is packed into the cell, by chemically modifying the histone proteins.
These changes, which are called epigenetic changes, are modifications of the interpretation of the DNA code by the cell, which enables the process of switching on some genes that promote tumour growth and aggressiveness.
This type of epigenetic mechanical memory offers a molecular basis to the long term effects of short term mechanical forces on the cell level of the behaviour of tumours.
Notably, the research established that PIEZO1 is over-expressed in human breast cancers compared to normal breast tissue, and that the level of PIEZO1 differs among the patients. The high PIEZO1 levels have been linked to low patient survival implying that the identical pressure-detecting system found in test animals would probably be applicable in human cancer.
The results indicate a little-known role of mechanical pressure in the development of cancer aggressiveness and represent the PIEZO1 -Rho-ROCK pathway as a possible new therapeutic objective that can be used as an early intervention.
According to the researchers, future therapies can restrict tumour growth and invasiveness by interfering with the sensory and response of cancer cells to mechanical pressure. The results can also be applied in diagnosing the patients who are susceptible to aggressive breast cancers due to excessively high concentrations of PIEZO1.
That work has opened up a whole new field of so-called mechanotherapy – the use of treatments that disrupt the mechanical signals that tumours are dependent on to develop and spread out, as cancers grow to be mechanically responsive diseases, said Professor Samuel.
TikTok is built for people to create and share their own content, so dance music and indie artists fill the platform’s Top 100. On Spotify, love songs and music from major record labels dominate its top charts. On both platforms, people’s preferences only partly explain what songs become hits.
A new University of California, Davis, study examined how the data-driven business models of TikTok and Spotify shape both the music artists make, and the songs people listen to. The study was published Feb. 27 in the journal Information, Communication & Society, and co-authored by researchers from Renmin University of China, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University.
“Hit song charts represent both user feedback and selections curated by the platforms’ algorithms that also influence users’ choices,” said Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, a UC Davis professor of communication and the study’s corresponding author. “By publishing hit song charts, platforms are declaring what songs are visible and dominant.”
How hits happen
TikTok is a global leader in user-generated short videos, frequently featuring remixes and clips of popular songs. Spotify is a major player in distributing full-length albums. With TikTok’s roughly 1.6 billion monthly active users and Spotify’s 675 million, both platforms serve massive and truly global audiences.
In analyzing differences between the platforms and 2020-22 data from their respective Top 100 hit song charts, researchers found significant differences in what makes a hit.
On TikTok, popularity was driven more by dance genres that suit the platform’s emphasis on user engagement and its popular “dance challenges,” which promotes user videos featuring specific songs and dance moves.
On Spotify, songs about relationships were popular, while songs about politics were unpopular. Spotify had more hit songs produced by major labels and songs in the pop and hip-hop/rap/trap genres. It had a lower proportion of songs from R&B/soul and dance genres.
In the study, TikTok’s Top 100 charts — during the two years analyzed — had 321 songs compared to 1,707 on Spotify. Only 68 hit songs appeared on both platforms within the two-year study period, and a majority entered and exited Spotify’s daily Top 100 charts more quickly than on TikTok.
Different platforms, different hits
TikTok and Spotify differ from traditional media such as radio and even MTV. On both apps, user data, such as clicks and subscriptions, are fed into the platforms’ algorithms and influence the music that artists create to meet demand.
This study highlights how the differences between the two platforms affect what makes a Top 100 hit. Spotify focuses on streaming full-length music and provides detailed metadata, including lyrics. TikTok features clipped snippets of songs that serve as background to users’ video content.
“Our study suggests that Spotify acts as a primary distribution channel while TikTok serves as a space for creative re-interpretation,” said Shen.
Amid war flares at home front, seven members of Iran’s women’s national football team have been granted humanitarian visas by Australia, allowing them to remain in the country following their participation in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. The players, who had refused to sing their national anthem before a match against South Korea, an act that drew sharp criticism from Iranian state media labeling them “wartime traitors,” feared severe repercussions if they returned home.
Iranian women soccer players remove their hijabs as soon as they are granted asylum in Australia.
It was never a choice. 99% of women in Iran will also take off their hijabs once the Islamic regime falls. pic.twitter.com/hZ6zVDOYeO
Captain Zahra Ghanbari and teammates Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramezanizadeh, and Mona Hamoudi were among the initial five to seek protection, slipping away from their team hotel with assistance from Australian authorities. Two more team members later joined them, though one individual ultimately changed their mind and requested to return to Iran. Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed the grants, noting that officials had individually approached the players at Sydney airport, offering support without Iranian officials present.
He described the women’s relief upon receiving the visas, emphasizing that they are now safe and welcome in Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added that the nation had been touched by the players’ courage, stating help was readily available. The situation even prompted a late-night call between Albanese and former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had publicly offered American asylum as an alternative and criticized any potential forced return.
Iranian officials have remained largely silent on specifics but accused Australia of essentially holding the players “hostage,” while the football federation suggested coercion was involved. The rest of the squad departed for home amid emotional scenes at the airport, with some diaspora supporters attempting to intervene in solidarity.
The latest episode fits into a longer pattern where international sporting events provide rare opportunities for athletes from repressive or unstable environments to seek asylum.
Here’s a short chronology of notable sports defections:
1948 London Olympics: Czechoslovakian gymnastics coach Marie Provazníková became the first known Olympic defector, refusing to return home after the communist takeover in her country, citing a lack of freedom.
1956 Melbourne Olympics: Following the Soviet invasion of Hungary, dozens of Hungarian athletes, about a quarter of their team, defected en masse, many eventually settling in the West, including the United States.
1972 Munich Olympics: Over 100 athletes, primarily from Eastern Bloc nations, sought asylum amid Cold War tensions.
2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games: At least 26 athletes, including from Sierra Leone and Cameroon, claimed asylum in Australia due to political instability and personal safety concerns.
2012 London Olympics: Seven Cameroonian athletes (boxers, a swimmer, and others) vanished from the village and later sought protection in the UK; three Sudanese runners also applied for asylum.
2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games: More than 200 athletes and officials, mostly from African nations like Cameroon, Rwanda, and Uganda, went missing and requested refugee status in Australia.
2021 Tokyo Olympics: Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya sought police protection at the airport to avoid forced repatriation after criticizing her coaches; she ultimately received asylum in Poland.
These moments highlight the dual role of global competitions on stages for athletic achievement and, sometimes, desperate escapes. For the Iranian players now starting anew in Australia, the path ahead involves uncertainty but also the promise of safety, a bittersweet trade-off familiar to many who have walked away from their teams and homelands in fear of persecution back home.
