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Heart damage caused by a myocardial infarction is exacerbated by activation of a heart–brain–immune axis.Credit: Sevolod Zviryk/Science Photo Library
Frenzied crosstalk between the heart, the brain and the immune system could be what damages the heart after a myocardial infarction, a study in mice suggests. Researchers found that during a heart attack, a set of neurons in the vagus nerve relay signals between the heart and the brain, which activates immune and inflammatory responses and causes widespread damage to the heart. Blocking these signals improved outcomes after heart attacks, which could pave the way for developing new therapies.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Cell paper
Blue manakins (Chiroxiphia caudata) decorate their nests with elaborate ‘tails’ of organic material to confuse visually-oriented predator birds. These tails, which can be up to two metres long, are an example of ‘disruptive camouflage’ — the adornments don’t hide the nest, but alter its shape so predators are less likely to recognize them. Researchers set up nests containing fake eggs in the blue manakins’ usual nesting spots and found that those without tails were raided by predators 10 times more often than those with them.
Science | 4 min read
Reference: Biology Letters paper
Posts on social-media platform X (née Twitter) that are critical of scientific research can act as early warning signs of problematic articles. Two separate analyses found that articles that went on to be retracted were more likely to have had at least one critical X post than articles that weren’t retracted, and that tweets about a paper that included ‘red flag’ words, such as fraud or flawed, were also associated with an increased risk of retraction. Post-publication critique can be a useful way to spot suspect papers, but publishers should be cautious of giving undue weight to such discourse, says academic-publishing researcher Hajar Sotudeh, who co-authored one of the studies.
Nature | 5 min read
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