Defining the minimal genetic requirements for cellular life remains a fundamental question in biology...Here, we report the discovery of Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, a novel archaeon with an unprecedentedly small genome of only 238 kbp —less than half the size of the smallest previously known archaeal genome...lacking virtually all recognizable metabolic pathways, and primarily encoding the machinery for its replicative core: DNA replication, transcription, and translation. This suggests an unprecedented level of metabolic dependence on a host, a condition that challenges the functional distinctions between minimal cellular life and viruses...

...when atacamite is exposed to a magnetic field, its temperature changes, a rare and valuable behavior that could help shape the future of cooling technologies...

Journal article:
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.216701

...This warmth acts as a natural incubator for the giant eggs, which span 18 to 20 inches in width and require an extended gestation period of four years.

This unique environment accelerates the development of young Pacific white skates, giving them a vital advantage in the harsh conditions of the deep sea. The interaction between the volcano and marine life demonstrates the profound influence geological features can have on biological processes...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed sweeping legislation Sunday to slap warning labels on potentially tens of thousands of food and beverage packages...containing 44 dyes or additives commonly found in the country’s food supply...

...the effort from Texas — a deep-red state — is particularly striking, food safety experts said. Policies cracking down on the nation’s food supply have often come from big blue states, such as California...

...GOP lawmakers and the first Trump administration decried measures such as stricter school lunch standards as overregulation by the nanny state...The bill passed the Texas legislature this year with bipartisan support...

The law applies to a food product label “developed or copyrighted” on or after Jan. 1, 2027. This essentially means that companies would only need to add the labels to their packaging when they redesign or update labels, such as when new ingredients are added to a product...

In 2023, California passed a law prohibiting food containing red dye No. 3 from being sold in the state after Jan. 1, 2027. This year, West Virginia’s Republican governor signed sweeping legislation banning foods containing any of seven dyes from being served in school nutrition programs starting in August, and from being sold in the state starting in 2028.

American healthcare is too expensive. This is particularly true of brand-name drugs. Although our nation accounts for 4.2% of the world’s population, we consume 13% of the world’s prescription drugs and pay half of the world’s costs for these products. GLP-1 drugs are a case in point...Drug companies need FDA approval before they can market a newly patented drug. Unlike other countries, the FDA can’t consider a new medication’s price or the existence of equally effective, lower-cost alternatives in reaching its decision...Once FDA approval is secured, Medicare typically covers the the drug’s cost because it is not allowed to negotiate with drug companies as other countries do...It’s the main reason the U.S. pays far higher prices than other countries...Rather than bankrupt the federal treasury or, alternatively, pass the costs on to states and tens of millions of American families, Congress should focus on lowering costs and improving the value of American healthcare.

Trump signed an executive order saying the tie-up could move forward if the companies sign an agreement with the Treasury Department resolving national security concerns posed by the deal. The companies then announced they had signed the agreement, fulfilling the conditions of Trump's directive and effectively garnering approval for the merger... the agreement includes $11 billion in new investments to be made by 2028 as well as governance, production and trade commitments. Nippon Steel will buy a 100% stake in U.S. Steel...some Nippon Steel investors are concerned about short-term financial pressure due to the scale of the additional investment commitment...

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference related to immigration.

"I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary," Padilla said to Noem, which prompted several men to physically push him out of the room. It was unclear who the men were, as several were dressed in plain clothes.

Padilla's office shared a video of the incident with NBC News. The video shows Padilla being taken into a hallway outside and pushed face forward onto the ground as officers with FBI-identifying vests told the senator to put his hands behind his back. The officers then handcuffed him.

The study shows rainbow trout endure an average of 10 minutes of intense pain during air asphyxia, with estimates ranging from 2 to 22 minutes depending on factors like fish size and water temperature. This translates to approximately 24 minutes of pain per kilogram of fish. These estimates are based on a comprehensive review of existing research to assess the intensity and duration of pain and distress experienced by the fish.

Crucially, the study also assesses the cost-effectiveness of interventions. If implemented properly, electrical stunning could avert 60 to 1,200 minutes of moderate to extreme pain for every U.S. dollar of capital cost.

This sort of time flip has been described as looking into a mirror and spotting your back instead of your face...By carefully adjusting electronic components on a strip of metal, they introduced a sudden jump that reversed the direction of incoming signals...The outcome was a time-reversed copy of the original wave, appearing just as predicted but never before seen with clarity...A wave that can jump to a new frequency and then rewind might open new possibilities for data transmission at different ranges of the spectrum. It could also reshape how certain sensors and imaging systems are designed.

In physics, gauge theory helps scientists take all the measurable things they know and align them in order to find commonalities or definitions...In this paper, physicists Mikko Partanen and Jukka Tulkki turn the universe at large into a bunch of overlapping, finite relationships of symmetry...their goal was to find the mathematically smallest model that could still hold up to all the rules required of a theory of unified gravity.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has selected Rocket Lab’s medium-lift reusable Neutron for the Rocket Cargo mission...Earlier this year, the company announced that its Neutron rocket will land its payloads at sea. To facilitate this, the company is modifying an offshore barge, named “Return on Investment,” to serve as an ocean landing platform for returning missions...Rocket Lab, along with Stoke Space, will now be eligible to bid against established giants like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance.

Utilities’ high returns on equity outpace riskier stocks and cost the average customer $300 a year, national study finds.

The study: https://www.economicliberties.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20250102-aelp-ror-v5.pdf

[Investor-Owned Utilities] are granted regional franchises not subject to competition under the rationale that they are “natural monopolies”: their service can be most efficiently provided by a single entity...As investor-owned businesses, IOUs seek to maximize their profits, which often runs headlong into regulators’ goal of achieving just and reasonable rates...Over the last three years, IOU residential electricity rates have increased 49% more than inflation. In contrast, their publicly owned counterparts have increased 44% less than inflation.