July 9, 2024: Surprising side effects of Ozempic, an unprecedented map of the Milky Way, and how math is helping Olympic swimmers improve. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | People taking Ozempic, Wegovy and other new weight-loss drugs are observing that their intense preoccupations with food, or "food noise," suddenly disappear during the treatment. Some even note a decrease in other compulsive habits, like addictions to alcohol, nicotine and drugs. Scientists are examining the gut hormone such drugs mimic—GLP-1, which promotes the production of insulin and the feeling of fullness. Compared with the naturally occurring hormone that breaks down in minutes, the drugs' more durable structure allows them to last in the body for days to a week.
Why this matters: One in eight adults in the U.S. reported having taken a GLP-1 medication, and new aspects of the drug are unfolding in real-time. Growing evidence in animal models suggests that the drugs can pass through leaky sections of the protective blood-brain barrier, but it's unclear where and how deep the drugs get into the human brain—and the behaviors they might cause.
What the experts say: The GLP-1 system is evolutionarily ancient. "And we are now, in 2024, finding the advantages of the system through these drugs—we have hijacked it, if you will," says Matthew Hayes, a nutritional neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania. "We are at the precipice of the beginning." --Lauren Young, associate editor for health and medicine | | | D. Paré, K. Karpovich and D. Chuss/Villanova University (PI); Three-color background image also uses data from European Space Agency (ESA), Herschel Space Observatory and South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and MeerKAT Radio Telescope | | | Researchers around the world spent four years gathering and combining telescope data of light from interstellar dust across 500 light-years at the center of the Milky Way. Dust particles in space absorb and re-emit infrared light. As magnetic fields in space pass through the dust, the infrared light is oriented in particular ways, giving that light a property called polarization. By measuring the polarization researchers can see patterns in magnetism. They created a map, which is the first to depict the field with such clarity at this resolution.
Why this matters: The new map of the galactic center and its magnetic field offers scientists a view into the elaborate interactions between gravity and magnetism, indicating when and why dust clouds collapse to form stars.
What the experts say: "When we have these two forces working in balance, the cloud doesn't collapse," says astronomer Roberta Paladini of the California Institute of Technology. "But at some point gravity always wins—and examining magnetic fields will help us know when collapse actually happens and stars emerge." | | | • As drones get less expensive and computer vision systems improve, rescuers are using them more and more for dangerous search-and-rescue missions. | 6 min read | | | • Scientific American sat down with Nicola Fox, head of NASA science, to talk about her LEGO-building hobby, the agency's massive Space Launch System rocket and exciting NASA science. | 7 min read | | | • For this summer's Olympics, swimmers are training using their "digital twins," based on data from sensors on their wrists, ankles and backs that immediately provide feedback to improve technique. | 7 min read | | | • Earlier this year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed officially reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The government should go further and completely remove research barriers for the substance nationwide, writes Joerg Leheste, a neuroscientist at New York Tech's College of Osteopathic Medicine. The true potential of pot's therapeutic value remains underresearched, he says. "Large multicenter clinical studies, the gold standard for medical research examining marijuana for therapeutic purposes, are lacking as a result of high costs, regulatory hurdles, limited supply, complex approval processes, funding challenges and stigma over the past five decades." | 4 min read | | | The head of NASA's science division, Nicola Fox, tells our reporter Meghan Bartels in the interview noted above that many people at the agency put together LEGO sets as a hobby. Even I, your intrepid newsletter writer, have assembled a LEGO set of the Saturn V Rocket, and you can watch a timelapse video of that project here (I teamed up with our Creative Director Michael Mrak). Not everyone gets to play for work, so this was a real treat. | Email me anytime with photos of your favorite LEGO set creations and other thoughts: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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