The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported 80 new West Nile virus (WNV) positive human cases reported in the state last week from the following counties: Fresno (2), Glenn (1), Los Angeles (59), Orange (11), Riverside (1), San Joaquin (1), Stanislaus (3), Tulare (1), and Yolo (1).
This brings the total human cases in California to 378 from 24 counties. This number accounts for 25.7 percent of the total WNV cases in the United States (1471).
23 WNV-related fatalities have been reported to CDPH this year from 9 jurisdictions: Butte (3), Glenn (2), Kings (1), Los Angeles (6), Orange (5), Sacramento (2), Stanislaus (1), Tuolumne (1), and Yolo (2).
Of the 378 case patients, 321 (85%) had neuroinvasive disease. The median age of case patients was 66 years and 254 (67%) of the case patients were male.
In Los Angeles County, the Department of Public Health has documented 249 West Nile virus (WNV) human infections and 12 deaths.
The 378 cases statewide this year is higher than 59 cases reported in 2025 and the 110 case 5 year average.
West Nile virus is the most common and serious vector-borne disease in California. There have been more than 8,000 human cases and over 400 deaths reported in California since 2003. The mosquitoes that spread WNV are found throughout the state.
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A plant-derived compound called ailanthone reduced HSV-1 replication in several cell models and eased corneal disease in a mouse model of herpes simplex keratitis, according to the study. The researchers found that ailanthone acted mainly after the virus entered cells and linked much of this effect to reduced expression of integrin beta 2, or ITGB2, a host protein that supports viral replication. The results identify ailanthone as a potential drug candidate, but the experiments do not establish that it is safe or effective in people.
The team began by screening natural compounds and testing ailanthone in African green monkey kidney Vero cells infected with HSV-1. Concentrations of 100 to 3,000 nanomolar reduced transcription of the viral immediate-early genes ICP0 and ICP4 and the late gene gD in a dose-dependent manner. The compound also reduced plaque formation and the concentration of progeny virus released into culture. Ailanthone had a half-maximal cytotoxic concentration above 10,000 nanomolar in these cells, while its half-maximal effective concentration against viral replication was 197.4 nanomolar, giving a selectivity index greater than 50. It also suppressed HSV-1-induced increases in the inflammatory cytokine genes IL-1B and TNF-α.
Antiviral activity was subsequently observed in human corneal epithelial cells, a model more directly relevant to the tissue affected by keratitis. Ailanthone concentrations of 100 to 500 nanomolar markedly reduced the cytopathic effects of HSV-1F, lowered expression of ICP0, ICP4 and gD, and reduced the viral induction of IL-1B and TNF-α. Its effective concentration in these cells was 50.16 nanomolar, with a cytotoxicity concentration above 10,000 nanomolar and a selectivity index greater than 100. The researchers also tested the compound in human retinal pigment epithelial ARPE-19 cells, where it reduced viral gene expression, plaque formation and progeny-virus titers while showing low cytotoxicity.
Activity was not restricted to the laboratory HSV-1F strain. In ARPE-19 cells, ailanthone concentration-dependently inhibited the late gD gene in the clinical acyclovir-resistant strain HSV-1/153, whereas 1,000 nanomolar acyclovir had little effect. The compound’s effective concentration was 35.05 nanomolar against HSV-1F and 227.4 nanomolar against HSV-1/153, with selectivity indices above 100 for both strains. A time-of-addition experiment indicated that ailanthone did not prevent attachment of HSV-1 to cells. It reduced entry under one experimental schedule and had its strongest effect on post-entry replication, where it lowered gD expression.
To investigate how the compound might work, the researchers combined computational target prediction with protein-interaction network analysis. They identified 36 targets shared by ailanthone and herpes simplex keratitis, then selected ITGB2 as a highly connected hub in the resulting network and as a top candidate in molecular docking. The predicted docking score for ailanthone and ITGB2 was −8.6 kcal per mole. Computational predictions alone cannot establish direct binding, so the team also performed a drug affinity responsive target stability assay in THP-1 cell lysates. Ailanthone protected ITGB2 from digestion by the protease pronase E in a dose-dependent manner, while acyclovir did not, providing biochemical evidence consistent with a direct interaction.
Functional experiments then tested whether ITGB2 was necessary for the antiviral effect. Three independent small interfering RNAs reduced ITGB2 messenger RNA and protein in THP-1 cells. Following HSV-1 infection, this knockdown lowered gD messenger RNA and protein and reduced the number of plaques produced when culture supernatants were transferred to fresh Vero cells. The converse pattern appeared when ITGB2 was overexpressed: elevated ITGB2 increased gD expression in infected cells, and it partially counteracted the reduction in gD protein caused by ailanthone in 293T and ARPE-19 cells. Together, these loss- and gain-of-function results support the conclusion that ailanthone’s antiviral activity is mediated at least partly by lowering ITGB2.
The researchers next tested ailanthone in an acute mouse model of HSV-1 keratitis. Six-week-old male BALB/c mice received a corneal scratch followed by application of HSV-1F, then received intraperitoneal ailanthone at 1 or 5 milligrams per kilogram or acyclovir at 5 milligrams per kilogram on days 1, 3 and 5 after infection. The methods section states that six animals were assigned to each group, although the discussion says five mice per group were used in the animal experiment. The 5-milligram-per-kilogram ailanthone treatment significantly reduced clinical disease scores, improved the appearance of the cornea under normal and cobalt-blue illumination, and lowered fluorescein staining scores on days 3 and 5. Hematoxylin and eosin staining at day 6 also indicated reduced corneal inflammation, and viral titers in ocular swabs were significantly lower than in infected mice given vehicle.
Analysis of mouse corneal tissue was consistent with the proposed mechanism. ITGB2 was upregulated in the corneas of infected animals, and ailanthone reduced its fluorescence intensity in a dose-dependent manner. Acyclovir did not significantly alter corneal ITGB2 levels. The investigators interpreted this as evidence that ailanthone differs from a direct viral DNA-replication inhibitor: the data are consistent with modulation of a host dependency factor rather than action solely through a viral enzyme. However, the study did not determine precisely how binding to ITGB2 leads to lower protein abundance. The authors note that transcriptional regulation, changes in messenger-RNA stability, or enhanced protein degradation could all be involved, and dedicated experiments would be required to distinguish among them.
Several limitations constrain how far the findings can be generalized. The cell experiments used established lines, including corneal epithelial and retinal pigment epithelial cells, rather than primary human corneal cells or an intact human immune system. The animal experiment examined acute primary infection in young male mice, whereas recurrent reactivation and the inflammation associated with repeated episodes are important features of human herpes simplex keratitis. Ailanthone was administered by intraperitoneal injection, but no topical ophthalmic formulation, corneal penetration, intraocular distribution, or optimized dosing regimen was evaluated. Long-term ocular toxicity and safety under repeated exposure also remain unknown. The natural compound may additionally affect multiple targets, and compensation among integrins could limit or alter its effects. The evidence therefore supports further preclinical investigation of ailanthone and ITGB2 as a host-directed antiviral strategy, not a clinical recommendation or a claim of human therapeutic benefit.
Subject of Research: Preclinical evaluation of ailanthone as a host-directed inhibitor of HSV-1 replication and herpes simplex keratitis.
Article Title: Natural compound ailanthone alleviates herpes simplex keratitis in mice by inhibiting HSV-1 replication
Article References: Chen, L., Yang, E., Zhang, X., Zhang, L., Wu, L., Chen, S., Jin, W., Qin, Q., Chen, R., Wu, J., & Chen, D. (2026). Natural compound ailanthone alleviates herpes simplex keratitis in mice by inhibiting HSV-1 replication. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 17, Article 1937590. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2026.1937590
Scientists from the Quantum Technologies Group at the Institute of Physics Zagreb, in collaboration with a colleague from the Physics Department at the Faculty of Science (PMF), have experimentally demonstrated for the first time the existence of discrete one-dimensional (1D) solitons in an optically induced photonic lattice in warm rubidium vapor.
Scientists from the Quantum Technologies Group at the Institute of Physics Zagreb, in collaboration with a colleague from the Physics Department at the Faculty of Science (PMF), have experimentally demonstrated for the first time the existence of discrete one-dimensional (1D) solitons in an optically induced photonic lattice in warm rubidium vapor.
Most plants do not gather nutrients from the soil entirely on their own. Many form partnerships with microscopic fungi that grow inside their roots and extend into the surrounding soil. These partnerships, known as arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses, help plants access nutrients, especially phosphorus. In return, the fungi receive carbon-rich compounds from the plants. But how does a plant coordinate the many signals needed to build and maintain this exchange?
Russia proposes abandoned coal mines as potential sites for future data centers
Some exhausted open pits reach depths of approximately 300 metres
Accumulated mine water could offer another option for cooling infrastructure
Russia is considering abandoned coal mines as potential locations for data centers, following reported damage to digital infrastructure during Ukrainian drone attacks.
Ilya Seredyuk, governor of the Kemerovo region, has proposed using exhausted mining sites for computing facilities, cryptocurrency operations and other infrastructure.
The idea could reduce construction expenses while providing additional physical protection for servers against attacks from above.
Abandoned mines offer space and potential protection
Seredyuk introduced the proposal during the recent Russian Energy Week, arguing that instead of spending money to reclaim the mines, they could just build new facilities.
Some former open pits reach about 300m deep, creating substantial vertical space for infrastructure without requiring conventional surface construction across large areas.
Seredyuk also suggested that accumulated mine water and underground waterways could help lower cooling expenses.
At the moment, this is simply a proposal and the technical feasibility of such a project remains uncertain.
The governor suggested covering underground installations with roofs and developing landscaped areas above them, potentially creating parks across reclaimed mining properties.
Such arrangements could conceal server buildings from direct observation, although landscaping alone would not establish meaningful protection against aerial surveillance or precision attacks.
Modern commercial and hyperscale data centers are increasingly treated as legitimate military and strategic targets because they run cloud computing, AI, surveillance, and military-logistics networks.
Consequently, developing public parks above underground server facilities could expose civilians, including children, to potential risks if those installations became targets.
Russia's struggling coal industry could also benefit if abandoned mining properties attracted investment for alternative industrial uses.
However, converting deep open pits into dependable computing facilities would require substantial engineering assessments covering structural stability, water management, electricity supply, ventilation and emergency access.
The proposal comes amid concerns about attacks on Russia's digital infrastructure, including facilities operated by Yandex, one of the country's major technology companies.
Reports said a drone attack sparked a fire at a Yandex data center in Sasovo, within the Ryazan region, on October 8 2026.
Yandex subsequently suspended operations at the affected facility, although the company did not publicly confirm the full extent of the reported damage.
The incident raised questions about the vulnerability of concentrated computing infrastructure during continuing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.
Russian outlet Verstka also reported that Yandex had obscured four cloud data center locations on its mapping service.
Those facilities were identified as being in Mytishchi, Kaluga, Vladimir and Sasovo, although concealing map locations does not establish that every site suffered damage.
Moving data centers underground could introduce new engineering difficulties, particularly where groundwater accumulates, or mining operations have weakened surrounding rock.
Reliable computing facilities also require continuous electricity, redundant connectivity, fire suppression, and accessible maintenance routes, regardless of their physical depth.
All these factors would need careful assessment before Russia could determine whether abandoned coal mines offer a practical alternative to conventional data center sites.
Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, have produced a high-intensity beam of muonium atoms in a cold state, an experimental advance that could enable a direct test of whether gravity acts differently on second-generation matter. The peer-reviewed study in Nature Physics describes a new method for generating muonium in superfluid helium. The resulting atoms travel at similar speeds and almost parallel to one another, properties required for a future interferometer that would measure the tiny influence of gravity on muonium.
The study did not conduct that gravitational measurement or find evidence that gravity departs from its expected behavior for ordinary matter; it instead developed the beam source needed for the proposed test. The experiment is designed to examine the universality of free fall and the equivalence of gravitational and inertial mass, a cornerstone of Albert Einstein’s theory of gravitation. In ordinary matter, bodies fall at the same rate at a given point within a gravitational field, while the equivalence principle links gravitational mass with inertial mass.
According to the research team, this principle has so far been demonstrated only with ordinary matter or first-generation antimatter. Muonium is a neutral atom formed from a positively charged antimuon and a negatively charged electron, making it a second-generation probe. A gravity experiment with this exotic atom would test whether the equivalence continues to hold for particles outside the first generation.
Muonium has two characteristics that make it useful for this test: it is neutral, and it belongs to a heavier and less familiar generation of particles. A neutral object allows gravitational behavior to be studied without the weak gravitational signal being masked by stray electromagnetic fields, which can dominate the behavior of charged particles. At the same time, muonium is exceptionally difficult to produce and control.
Its constituent muon decays after only about 2.2 microseconds. Earlier sources generated muonium atoms that flew off in many directions at different speeds and were therefore unsuitable for the precision required in a gravity experiment. The researchers addressed this problem by creating a cold, intense and well-directed beam.
The antimuons were directed into a thin layer of superfluid helium that had been cooled close to absolute zero, at minus 273 degrees Celsius. Superfluid helium is a quantum fluid in which individual helium atoms lose their identity and in which impurities are not tolerated. Lead author Jesse Zhang said the researchers used the superfluid as an “atomic cannon,” exploiting the conversion of chemical potential into kinetic energy to propel the newly formed muonium atoms out of the liquid.
When an antimuon encounters a free electron in the superfluid helium, it forms a neutral muonium atom with positive chemical potential. The atom is forced out of the liquid, and as it reaches the surface, that chemical potential is converted into kinetic energy. The resulting boost sends the muonium vertically out of the helium.
Importantly, the atoms must move through the quantum liquid at a suitable speed without collisions, because excessive scattering would prevent them from reaching the surface within their very short lifetime. The high-intensity antimuon beam from PSI allows many muonium atoms to be generated for the planned experiments. Anna Soter, a professor of physics at ETH Zurich and member of the research team, said the cold state is what makes the proposed gravity experiment possible.
In this context, “cold” does not mean that the atoms are motionless; it means that they propagate at similar speeds and nearly parallel to one another. This improved control over direction and velocity is important because the planned instrument will use the wave properties of the atoms to create an interference pattern. A very small shift in that pattern caused by Earth’s gravitational pull would provide a measure of gravity’s effect on muonium.
The study establishes the upstream beam capability rather than reporting the result of that comparison. The next stage of the program is the development of a muonium interferometer. According to the researchers, they hoped to test the method for the first time with the atomic beam in the year of the announcement and, if that worked as expected, to carry out the actual gravity experiment two or three years later.
Those are planned milestones rather than completed measurements. If the interference pattern of muonium shifts differently from the pattern expected for ordinary matter, Soter said the result would be surprising and could, among other theoretical possibilities, point toward the existence of a fifth force. No fifth force has been proven, and the present work provides no evidence for one.
The team’s primary aim is to measure whether the equivalence between gravitational and inertial mass applies to a second-generation particle. Physics recognizes four fundamental interactions: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong interaction and the weak interaction. A fifth force has been proposed repeatedly, but it has never been established.
Soter emphasized that the researchers are open-minded about what the measurement may show while keeping the immediate objective focused on the first such test. The new beam is therefore an enabling experimental result, not a demonstration that Einstein’s theory has been challenged or overturned. Beyond the planned gravity measurement, the high-intensity muonium beam is expected to enable more precise laser-spectroscopy experiments.
These could allow muonium to be measured more accurately than in previous work and provide information about the muon’s mass and fundamental physical constants, which are stated goals of the research group. The same experimental source can thus serve two purposes: supplying a cold, directed beam for a gravitational comparison and providing a larger, better-controlled population of muonium for detailed spectroscopic study. The reported advance addresses a major technical obstacle while leaving the central scientific question unresolved.
A successful gravitational test will still require an interferometer capable of resolving a minuscule shift in an interference pattern while dealing with muonium’s short lifetime, beam quality and other sources of uncertainty. The study’s demonstrated result is the generation of a high-intensity, superthermal muonium beam in superfluid helium, with atoms emerging in the cold state needed for future work. Whether muonium falls exactly as expected for ordinary matter remains to be measured.
The beam nevertheless supplies the experimental foundation for testing gravitational universality in a second-generation particle, a comparison that had not previously been carried out with muonium.
Subject of Research: A cold muonium beam developed for future tests of gravitational universality and laser spectroscopy
Article Title: Novel particle beam could challenge Einstein’s Theory of Gravity
Article References: Novel particle beam could challenge Einstein’s Theory of Gravity. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: Not provided
Keywords: muonium, muon beam, gravity, gravitational universality, equivalence principle, interferometry, superfluid helium, laser spectroscopy, ETH Zurich, Paul Scherrer Institute, Novel, particle
Tesla now says unsupervised “Full Self-Driving” in customer-owned cars will arrive in Q2 2027. It’s the latest date on a promise Elon Musk has been making to FSD buyers for the better part of a decade.
But there’s a catch. On Tesla’s Q3 2026 earnings call today, AI chief Ashok Elluswamy described it as owners adding their own vehicles to Tesla’s managed Robotaxi fleet, not owners getting a car that drives them anywhere they want to go.
The PLOS One editors have issued an expression of concern for a 2024 case study concerning the digital economy, innovation factor allocation and industrial structure transformation in China’s Yangtze River Delta city cluster. The notice, published on October 21, 2026, states that the article was identified as one of a series of submissions for which the journal has concerns about the integrity or reliability of the peer-review process. Readers are advised to interpret the original study with this issue in mind.
The notice does not report a new scientific finding, identify an error in the paper or evaluate the study’s scientific validity. According to the editors, PLOS did not assess the article’s integrity or scientific validity when following up on the matter. The expression of concern therefore records a concern about the circumstances surrounding peer review rather than announcing that the study’s data, methods or conclusions have been disproved. The editors also state that they have no concerns regarding the authors’ conduct during the peer-review process.
The affected article was published in PLOS One in 2024 under the title “Digital economy, innovation factor allocation and industrial structure transformation—A case study of the Yangtze River Delta city cluster in China.” The supplied notice does not provide the study’s findings, population details, analytical methods, model estimates, uncertainty measures or specific mechanisms linking the subjects named in the title. As a result, the notice does not support conclusions about the relationship between digital-economy development, innovation factors and industrial structure in the region, nor does it establish whether any reported association or causal effect is reliable.
For the wider research record, the immediate effect is that the 2024 article is accompanied by an editorial notice questioning the integrity or reliability of its peer-review process. The notice does not provide details about the submissions or explain the specific basis for the journal’s concerns. It also does not announce a correction, replacement analysis or revised conclusion. The central status of the paper’s scientific validity remains unevaluated in the supplied material, while the issue is sufficiently significant for PLOS One to advise readers to consider it when interpreting the study.
Subject of Research: A PLOS One expression of concern concerning peer-review reliability in a Yangtze River Delta regional-economy case study.
Article Title: Expression of Concern: Digital economy, innovation factor allocation and industrial structure transformation—A case study of the Yangtze River Delta city cluster in China
Article References: The PLOS One Editors (2026). Expression of Concern: Digital economy, innovation factor allocation and industrial structure transformation—A case study of the Yangtze River Delta city cluster in China. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360867. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360867
Keywords: PLOS One, expression of concern, peer review, research integrity, digital economy, innovation factors, industrial structure, Yangtze River Delta, China, Expression, Concern, Digital
A nurse-led chronic disease management clinic in the urology department of a tertiary hospital recorded 14,013 outpatient registrations between July 2024 and September 2026, according to a single-center retrospective descriptive study using routinely collected service records. The clinic primarily supported long-term management of patients with prostate and bladder cancer while also providing specialty nursing services for other urological conditions. Its follow-up system marked 3,547 of 3,553 assigned tasks as successful, a task-level success rate of 99.83%. These figures describe service activity and record completion; the study did not measure whether the clinic improved clinical outcomes or economic performance.
The clinic was established in July 2024 within the hospital’s existing specialty nursing outpatient service framework. Its operating model included staffing and qualification requirements, professional training, clearly defined nursing responsibilities, physician–nurse collaboration, standardized procedures, information-system support and quality management. Nurses worked within their authorized scope of practice, while urologists participated in medical assessment and treatment decisions when required. The service had four reported components: patient assessment and follow-up planning; treatment follow-up and adverse-event monitoring; rehabilitation guidance and health promotion; and assistance with healthcare policies and basic nursing care.
Monthly registrations increased from 147 in July 2024 to a peak of 710 in August 2026, with fluctuations during the reporting period. Total registration fees were CNY 152,758. The clinic delivered 14,246 prostate cancer-related injections, 3,523 urinary catheterizations, 2,777 intravesical instillation procedures and 2,142 urinary catheter removals. It also assisted patients with prostate or bladder cancer in applying for outpatient chronic and special disease insurance benefits. The study reports these counts as routine service activities, but it did not compare the procedures with those delivered elsewhere or evaluate their individual clinical effects.
Follow-up management was integrated into the clinic’s information system, which contained records for 1,111 patients. Of these, 953 patients had been followed up and 951 had successful follow-up records. Nurses also executed 3,553 follow-up tasks, of which 3,547 were successful, corresponding to the reported 99.83% task-level rate. The descriptive data do not specify the duration or effectiveness of patient follow-up, assess whether missed contacts influenced treatment adherence or health outcomes, or establish how the results would compare with another care model.
Because the research covered one tertiary hospital and relied on routinely collected records, it cannot establish how the clinic would operate in smaller facilities, under different staffing arrangements or in other health systems. The findings offer a documented example of a nurse-led outpatient service with defined responsibilities, standardized workflows, follow-up documentation and collaboration with urologists. The authors stated that further research is needed to evaluate the model’s clinical outcomes and economic implications. Accordingly, the registration growth, procedural workload and high proportion of completed follow-up tasks should be interpreted as descriptions of implementation and recorded service delivery, not as evidence of improved survival, fewer complications, lower costs or other patient benefits.
Subject of Research: Operation and service activity of a nurse-led chronic disease management clinic in hospital urology
Article Title: Development and implementation of a nurse-led chronic disease management clinic in the urology department of a tertiary hospital: a descriptive study
Article References: Liu, C., Xia, Y., Jia, X., Wang, R., Li, T., Ma, Y., & Long, H. (2026). Development and implementation of a nurse-led chronic disease management clinic in the urology department of a tertiary hospital: a descriptive study. BMC Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-026-05566-z
Chrome is getting new scam protections that use Gemini to detect deceptive websites and warn users when they copy suspicious commands from ClickFix attacks. [...]
Security researchers using an OpenAI model have uncovered two stunning security flaws in PHP, the software that underpins nearly 70 percent of all websites on the internet.
The flaws are so catastrophic that all websites using PHP — all untold millions of them — are advised to immediately take their servers down and apply the latest patch, which was released Wednesday. Vast swathes of the internet, following the news, have gone dark. Some that went offline for a time include Wikipedia, Steam, and even government websites.
Many organizations, however, may not have the time, resources, and personpower to swiftly implement the patch, making them potential sitting ducks until they do. According to the New York Times, the information released on the vulnerability can be used to reverse engineer the attack and take control of victim’s servers and steal information. The best course of action if you can’t patch your website, the National Security Agency advised, is dramatic: keep your site offline and don’t turn it back on.
Just as extraordinary as the breadth of the threat was how it was identified. The flaws were discovered by researchers at the cybersecurity firm Calif by using OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol model, as part of a collaboration with the AI company. It then reported the flaw to the PHP Foundation back on August 11.
The Google-owned security firm Wiz independently found the flaws, too, and made a report on August 24. Wiz called it one of the “most severe vulnerabilities discovered in PHP, and arguably in software history.”
Adding to the alarm presented by the exploits, there have been concerns raised over OpenAI’s role in how they were identified.
The flaws have been present in versions of PHP dating backing to 2004. But through OpenAI’s “Patch the Planet” program, and by using its flagship GPT-5.6 Sol model, Calif found it in only a matter of days. In a sense, these exploits only exist because of current powerful AI models. And moreover, OpenAI encouraged their discovery through its programs.
The messy disclosure of the vulnerability doesn’t help matters. OpenAI followed standard responsible practices, but some of the details around the hack leaked a day before it was officially scheduled to be announced.
Even if no leaks occurred, though, the damage caused by the mere knowledge that the vulnerabilities exist — which again, is largely thanks to AI — would still be catastrophic. It was the inevitable next chapter in all the bluster around AI companies revealing their agentic models’ hacking prowess. A headline in The Atlanticproclaimed that the “AI-Hacking Apocalypse Began Last Night.” OpenAI will tout the discovery as undeniable proof of its AI’s capabilities, while the rest of the world picks up the pieces of a shattered internet.
Hosts are threatening to leave the platform after Airbnb says that they can no longer require guests to strip beds or do other time-consuming cleaning chores.
Astronauts should return to the Apollo 15 landing site on the moon and haul home some of its half-century-old poop and hardware, a panel told NASA on Wednesday.
A crew would land just north of the site at Mons Hadley — far enough away to avoid damaging it. From there, the astronauts would walk over to inspect the rover, lander base, instruments, and power systems the prior crew left behind in 1971.
That equipment has endured decades of space radiation and repeated heating and cooling as lunar days give way to nights. Scientists on Earth could study how the lunar environment impacts the hardware over time. A close look at the urine and feces in a lab could reveal how biological material changes and whether it affects the area around it.
That "would be foundational information [for] how we need to engineer the systems for lunar bases," said Dan Dumbacher, co-chairperson of the committee, "for anything humans take to the surface of the moon."
The mission proposal came from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee, whom NASA asked to recommend future moon-landing sites away from the lunar south pole, where the agency already intends to build a long-term moon base. In a new report, members of the committee selected four non-polar sites — Bhabha Crater, Mons Hadley, Orientale Basin, and Aristarchus Plateau — where they believe Artemis astronauts should collect samples, make observations, and conduct experiments. They prioritized locations they believed would benefit from human explorers over uncrewed robots.
These so-called "sorties," the term NASA used when tasking the committee, would be short, one-time visits. Because the poles lack the volcanic terrain found elsewhere on the moon, as well as radioactive metals like uranium and thorium, the brief trips would complement the base, not replace it, according to the report.
Each mission would send a pair of astronauts to make one to four moonwalks within 2 kilometers — or 1.2 miles — of their lander. That distance is a previously established "walkback" limit NASA decided long ago that the committee thinks the agency should try to extend. The panel also chose landing sites that offered the most opportunities for geology, biology, human health, and physics research.
The top pick, Bhabha Crater, sits inside what may be the solar system's largest and oldest crater, and its rocks could pin down when that massive impact happened. Situated on the far side of the moon, the crew would have to land farther from home than any humans before, letting NASA test how astronauts cope with isolation.
The site is also prime for a telescope, said James Day, the other chairperson of the committee.
"It's an almost unmatched location for doing radio astronomy, and the reason for this is because it's in the quiet zone on the far side of the moon. It is shielded from the noise that we produce here on Earth," Day said. "This will give us information on the very early universe before the first stars or galaxies had formed."
Bhabha crater is the National Academies committee's top pick among four recommended moon landing sites. Credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State University
At Orientale, the moon's youngest large basin at roughly 3.8 billion years old, astronauts would collect boulders from deep in the crust that could show whether the moon was once entirely molten. They would also set up a detector for gravitational waves — ripples in spacetime. The instrument could alert astronomers months before distant neutron stars collide, the committee leaders said.
Finally, the Aristarchus Plateau, an Apollo destination that NASA never reached, holds volcanic deposits that may yield water. It spans about 60 miles, so crews there would gain the most from the simple open rover the committee thinks NASA should build.
Among its recommendations, the panel said NASA should keep mapping the moon in detail from orbit, build instruments that can run through the lunar night, and set up a communications system that keeps crews in constant contact with Earth, even on the far side.
NASA will decide when and in what order to fly the missions.
"All four of these sites will give us profound knowledge," Day said, "not just of our moon, but of our solar system, and frankly of ourselves."
Longitudinal airflow can sharply suppress the drifting and ablation of the electrical arc formed between a train’s pantograph and overhead contact wire, according to a modeling and experimental study of pantograph–catenary systems under low-pressure conditions. The researchers built a magnetohydrodynamic model that coupled electric, magnetic, thermal, fluid and arc-motion dynamics, then tested the method in a vacuum chamber with copper and carbon electrodes. In experiments conducted at atmospheric pressure, increasing the airflow to 45 metres per second reduced the measured arc drift height from 27.6 millimetres to zero and shortened the arc-root distance from 51.3 to 3.9 millimetres. The same airflow setting also produced progressively less carbon-electrode damage, supporting the proposal as a possible current-collection control method for railways operating at high altitude.
The need for such control arises because the pantograph–catenary system carries the electrical energy used by electric trains, while the stability of its contact strongly affects operating safety and efficiency. Lower atmospheric pressure presents a particularly difficult environment. The study notes that reduced air density and breakdown-field strength can lower the ignition threshold for pantograph–catenary arcs, increase their frequency and duration, and enlarge the region affected by arcing. Repeated arcing can cause irreversible high-temperature ablation and electrical wear on contact wires and pantograph strips. It can also generate broad-band electromagnetic interference that may affect onboard signalling and traction-control systems, with potential consequences including insulator flashover and disruption of the traction network. These background risks motivate efforts to understand and restrain the spatial movement of arcs in plateau environments.
Existing arc models include the Cassie and Mayr black-box approaches, which support analysis of interactions between arcs and traction-network circuits but do not represent an arc’s changing spatial shape. Magnetohydrodynamic models offer a more physical alternative by coupling electromagnetic, flow and thermal fields. Previous work represented crosswind effects on pantograph–catenary arcs and examined how decreasing pressure affects arc-root jumping, in which the root forms at a new location after the elongated column reaches a critical length. Other studies have shown that magnetic fields can stabilize welding and switching arcs. Airflow regulation, however, has been investigated more extensively in welding than in pantograph–catenary systems, whose dissimilar electrodes, high operating speed, open environment, changing electrode gap and constrained vehicle installation space make their arc dynamics more complicated.
The new model represents an arc initially 6 millimetres long and 2 millimetres in diameter between a copper anode and a carbon cathode. It includes the surrounding air, both electrodes and a central longitudinal-airflow channel beneath the copper electrode, including a 1.5-millimetre control-airflow inlet. A separate inlet represents train-induced airflow and was set to 40 metres per second. Calculations covered pressures of 101, 80 and 60 kilopascals, longitudinal airflow from zero to 80 metres per second and a total simulation time of 25 milliseconds. Air properties were adjusted with pressure, while the electrodes were assigned distinct densities, resistivities, thermal conductivities and heat capacities. The governing equations represented electrical potential and current, magnetic-vector potential, mass and momentum conservation, energy conservation, viscous dissipation, Joule heating and net volumetric radiation.
The calculations use several explicit simplifications. Arc ignition is omitted, and the plasma is treated as being in local thermodynamic equilibrium. Flow in the air and arc domains is assumed laminar and incompressible, while metal vapour generated by electrode evaporation and phase change is excluded. These assumptions make it possible to examine large-scale arc motion and temperature distribution but prevent the simulation from directly calculating electrode mass loss, crack width or crater area. Copper was assigned the anode and carbon the cathode; a Gaussian distribution represented current entering through the copper electrode, and the bottom of the carbon electrode was grounded. The air boundary was treated as magnetically insulated, and the initial temperatures were set to 300 kelvin for the air and electrodes and 5,000 kelvin for the arc domain. The experimental apparatus was separate from the numerical model and provided direct physical measurements of damage.
Without longitudinal airflow, the simulated arc passed through two stages. During the first 10 milliseconds, its column elongated continuously, bent under airflow influence, and developed greater drift height and arc-root distance. From 10 to 25 milliseconds, the column and root distance fluctuated through repeated shortening and elongation. The authors associate this behaviour with the electrical and mechanical limits of the arc: once a column reaches a critical length, the voltage and energy available between the electrodes may no longer sustain continuous burning, and a shorter path of lower resistance may form on the electrode surface. The resulting root “jump” shortened the column before airflow stretched it again. Arc development became faster and both drift height and root distance increased as pressure fell. Temperature briefly exceeded 10,000 kelvin and reached a maximum within roughly two to three milliseconds before fluctuating, while arc voltage rose as the column lengthened and resistance increased.
Longitudinal airflow changed these trajectories in the simulations. As speed increased, drift height, root distance and temperature all declined, with the greatest reductions occurring at lower airflow speeds before the curves began to level off. At 101 kilopascals, the calculated drift height fell from 37.5 millimetres without control airflow to zero at 45 metres per second, while root distance decreased from 57.3 to 3.7 millimetres and temperature dropped from 12,900 to 8,650 kelvin. The airflow needed to eliminate drift was 45, 40 and 35 metres per second at pressures of 101, 80 and 60 kilopascals, respectively; speeds required to bring root distance below 5 millimetres were 45, 40 and 30 metres per second. The authors attribute the stronger response at lower pressure to reduced plasma density, which weakens the arc’s inherent rigidity, Lorentz force and thermal buoyancy, allowing airflow load to become a more dominant influence on its motion.
The temperature response also revealed a practical plateau. The researchers defined the optimal airflow speed as the point after which increasing speed by 5 metres per second changes arc temperature by less than 3 per cent. At atmospheric pressure this occurred at 40 metres per second, compared with 30 metres per second at 60 kilopascals. The reported temperature reduction was 33.8 per cent at 101 kilopascals and 38.1 per cent at 60 kilopascals. Airflow strengthened convective heat removal, which lowered plasma temperature and, in turn, increased deionization and reduced Joule heating. Once thermal exchange approached saturation and the minimum temperature required for self-sustaining arc combustion was approached, further increases in speed produced little additional cooling. The model therefore indicates that the airflow speeds required for control decline as ambient pressure falls.
Laboratory testing used a vacuum chamber capable of controlling pressure with an accuracy of plus or minus 100 pascals, a constant-current supply rated from zero to 150 amperes, an arc igniter, a fan with continuously adjustable airflow from zero to 60 metres per second, a high-speed camera and an oscilloscope. Airflow at the electrode outlet was measured with an anemometer accurate to plus or minus 0.5 metres per second. The camera operated at 6,400 frames per second with an exposure of five microseconds, while each two-second arc test was repeated five times and the mean was reported. Tests at 101 kilopascals used airflow speeds of zero, 20, 30 and 45 metres per second. Without control airflow, high-speed images showed increasing arc drift. At 45 metres per second, drift was virtually absent during the final development phase and root distance was substantially shortened, with observed morphologies broadly consistent with the numerical results.
The experiments also found reductions in carbon-electrode ablation that increased with airflow speed. Microscopy showed shorter ablation areas, smaller craters and narrower crack propagation as the controlled airflow rose. The maximum crack width was 66.7 micrometres without airflow and decreased at higher speeds, while analytical weighing showed progressively less mass loss from the carbon electrode. The proposed mechanism is that stronger airflow promotes arc-root slippage, shortening the time the root remains at one point, while convective cooling lowers temperature and local energy density. These are experimental observations rather than direct outputs of the simulation: because the model omits electrode evaporation and metal-vapour transport, it cannot quantitatively predict ablation rates or near-electrode energy balances. The study therefore demonstrates reduced damage under its controlled laboratory conditions, not a complete first-principles calculation of all processes responsible for electrode wear or a proven field performance level in operating plateau railways.
Subject of Research: Experimental and numerical evaluation of airflow control of pantograph–catenary arcs at low pressure.
Article Title: Research on regulation method for suppression of pantograph-catenary arc by airflow in low-pressure environment
Article References: Xu, Z., Wang, S., Dong, K., & Gao, G. (2026). Research on regulation method for suppression of pantograph-catenary arc by airflow in low-pressure environment. iScience, 29(11), Article 117951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.117951
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