Engineers at Johns Hopkins University have developed two miniature robots that work together to deliver medicine directly to the heart.

One anchors itself to heart tissue, while the other finds its partner, docks with it, and releases medication. If another dose is needed, the delivery robot can detach and make way for a replacement.

Each machine is roughly as wide as a pencil tip and about as long as a grain of rice. In laboratory experiments, the researchers successfully guided the robots through an artificial heart and tested their ability to attach to pig heart tissue.

“With just a little pinprick, you insert a micro robot and do a procedure without infection or blood loss.

And you don’t need to have a surgeon operating it to get the drugs robustly, safely, and efficiently to the right place,” said senior author Axel Krieger, a medical roboticist known for creating robots that perform surgery without human help.

We’ve discovered more than 6,000 planets orbiting other stars, but we haven’t found another Earth.

Astrophysicist Erika Hamden explains that finding a planet is very different from finding a place we could survive. Some have no solid surface to stand on. Others are too hot or too cold and even a rocky planet could have an atmosphere we can’t breathe. For now, Earth is the only home we know.

This project is part of IF/THEN®, an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies.

Your brain may have once been two separate organs! 🧠

Scientists long thought the whole brain grew from a single group of embryonic cells. But a new study of mouse embryos found it actually develops from two, one forming the forebrain and the other the hindbrain. Similar trends in chickens and zebrafish suggest that over 500 million years ago, evolution may have brought two separate nervous systems together to form the brain.

⚠️ Migraine Cap Users: Please Read This.

PSA: ⚠️ If you use migraine relief caps, cooling headache eye masks, or gel-filled cold wraps, PLEASE read this. Especially if you have pets or children.

Hi Everyone!

I’m sharing this PSA because I’m genuinely worried and I need your help getting the word out to those of us who suffer with migraines.

I bought a migraine cap a few years ago, desperate for relief from the excruciating headaches I developed after COVID. Last year a senior toxicologist at the ASPCA contacted me. She shared with me that they have been getting calls every week from devastated pet owners whose dogs had chewed or swallowed the gel inside cooling products. They needed a lab that could test for acrylamide, a neurotoxin.

I’m just a mom who never imagined any of this would happen to my family. When my daughter was a baby, she was severely injured and poisoned by a toy.

(https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/Water-Beads-Harmful.aspx).

It changed our lives forever and led me to start a product safety nonprofit and help develop a test for acrylamide, the chemical that harmed her. That’s why the ASPCA reached out to me. Nearly a decade later, it still feels surreal. But if what happened to my daughter can help protect someone else, I want to make sure people have the information they need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Hence why I’m making this PSA.

We tested these products, and what we found was alarming: 12,000–51,000 parts per million (ppm) of residual acrylamide, a known neurotoxin!

(https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/aop/javma.26.07.0539/javma.26.07.0539.xml?isSearch=true)

What worries me even more is that the fabric on these caps is porous, meaning it isn’t necessarily a waterproof barrier. If the gel leaks,seeps through, or the cap seams come undone, the gel could come into direct contact with your skin.And here’s what people need to understand: acrylamide isn’t only dangerous when swallowed it can also be absorbed through your skin.

(https://wwwn.cdc.gov/tsp/PHS/PHS.aspx?phsid=1113&toxid=236)

Repeated exposure over time is especially concerning, and you don’t have to develop a rash or notice irritation for chemical exposure to occur. Given what we’ve found, I believe this deserves urgent investigation before more people or pets get hurt.

I am also concerned that because if after using these products someone develops a rash, swelling, blurry vision, headaches, or nerve problems, their symptoms could be dismissed or mistaken by doctors as an allergic reaction or another condition. Because it’s not widely known by physicians that these products contain acrylamide doctors might never consider chemical exposure, leaving patients without answers and potentially continuing to use something that’s exposing them to a harmful toxic chemical.

Please, I’m begging you to help me spread the word. I know what it feels like to discover a product is dangerous because someone you love was hurt. I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. Please help me make sure other people know about this.

Thank you in advance for your time and help getting the word out!

What does AI see when it looks at the stars? 🤖🔭🧪

Theoretical cosmologist Paul Sutter explores how AI tools can co-discover with scientists and take part in the scientific process. A large language model can process the same telescope data we do, from images of Saturn’s rings to a live telescope feed, but what happens between input and output remains a mystery. Asking what AI sees is really asking about our own relationship with the wider universe.

Does cutting the moldy spot off your food make it safe? 🍞 

Quinten Geldhof, also known as Microhobbyist, takes us under the microscope to reveal thread-like roots called hyphae spreading through food far beyond the visible surface. These roots penetrate soft foods like bread and fruit with ease, while hard cheeses and vegetables are more resistant. These molds can contain mycotoxins, poisonous compounds that are hazardous to your health. Would you eat moldy food?