GoKawiilTyrannosaurus rex of any size were not to be messed with. Plus, the first genetic clues for borderline personality disorder and a step closer to understanding the wasting that often accompanies cancer.
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Researchers compared bones from a T. rex hatchling to birds and other dinosaurs to estimate that it would have been about the size of a small house cat. (Nicholas R. Longrich et al./Biology)
“Tyrannosaurus were unsafe at any size,” says anatomist Eric Snively, a member of a team who analysed the teeth and foot bones of young dinosaurs to understand their behaviour soon after hatching. “Babies were quickly out of the nest and killing the heck out of things.” Tyrannosaurus rex fossils reveal that tiny hatchlings “were smashing into the bones of their food, just like giant adults”, says Snively.
Discover | 6 min read
Reference: Biology paper
Researchers have identified 11 locations in the human genome, and nine functional genes in or near these areas, that seem to be linked to borderline personality disorder (BPD) — the first evidence of genetic risk factors associated with the condition. The findings come from the largest genome-wide association study of BPD so far, including data from more than 12,000 people with the condition. The study is “an extraordinary step up from where we’ve been previously, with virtually no research being conducted on the condition at scale,” says psychiatrist Andrew McIntosh.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Nature Genetics paper
Last week, Beijing-based Moonshot AI unveiled ‘Kimi K3’, a large language model that the company says can handle large swathes of text, and match or outperform US models on tasks such as coding. The open-weight model has generated a buzz among some researchers that use AI models, partly because it’s well-tuned for running AI agents, a capability that made its predecessor Kimi K2.5 so popular in China. But K3 might not be made widely available internationally, partly because of Chinese policies that could limit the use of its domestic AI models overseas.
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