Jay Kakade

Freelance science journalist

[Jay Kakade @jaykakade28]

I’m excited to share my latest feature story for Nature Africa. This "Behind the paper" story explores the massive, dome-shaped stick lodges they construct.

https://t.co/kGabW9m5q7

[The Hindu @the_hindu]

Dog brains shrank significantly by 5,000 years ago, thanks to humans
✍️Jay Kakade
https://t.co/Gw3BcE99D8

[New Atlas @nwtls]

For decades, scientists believed that associative learning – understanding that two events are linked to each other, like a stimulus and a response –…

https://t.co/HNWCqO0P9I

[New Atlas @nwtls]

The warm waters of Mexico and Texas are home to a small fish that has produced nothing but daughters for over 100,000 years.

https://t.co/185BqJQSS1

[New Atlas @nwtls]

When a predator like a lion walks through the grasslands, it makes its presence known by roaring, which can be heard miles away.

https://t.co/2s0UU0h2jv

[New Atlas @nwtls]

The earliest ancestors of all backboned animals, including humans, may have viewed the world with four eyes, not just two.

https://t.co/lzCVQvTm9q

[New Atlas @nwtls]

Most mammals produce their own vitamin C using an enzyme called GULO.

https://t.co/2pqLYXNVKz

[New Atlas @nwtls]

Nitrous oxide, informally known as laughing gas, has shown rapid antidepressant effects in people with depression in a series of small clinical trial…

https://t.co/7f02y5zPL4

[Jay Kakade @jaykakade28]

Lunar soil contains ions from Earth's atmosphere, implanted over billions of years via the magnetotail, preserving a record of our planet's ancient air.
#sciencenews #Space
https://t.co/9h81ELZL0G

[Jay Kakade @jaykakade28]

“... results are interesting because of the clear associations between these chemicals during pregnancy and brain structural development in children. It seems that even at low levels, chronic exposure to these chemicals (pfas) might influence the brain.”
https://t.co/kE1KMEyx8c

[New Atlas @nwtls]

New research has made a striking link between a mother’s exposure to “forever chemicals” during pregnancy and the shape of her child’s brain at age f…

https://t.co/yuj3g367Oz

#PFASChemicals #BrainDevelopment #ForeverChemicals #NeuralImpact

[Science News @ScienceNews]

Pasteurization kills H5N1 in milk. Viral bits remain, but they didn’t make mice sick.

https://t.co/sX1U9PXVZ7

[New Atlas @nwtls]

Plant-based microbeads made from everyday ingredients like green tea and seaweed have helped mice shed weight by trapping fats in the gut, reports a new study published in Cell Biomaterials. Researchers see these microbeads as a potential “structured, drug-free therapy” to treat obesity, with fewer side effects than the current medications.

https://t.co/Beet4wtOge

#PlantBasedFatMagnets #MicrobeadsWeightLoss #StructuredWeightLossTherapy #GreenTeaSeaweedMicrobeads

[Science News @ScienceNews]

“What surprised me most was that these apex predators are actually so gentle and curious…. Hugging seems to be their way of keeping family bonds strong.”

https://t.co/Usdlz4xH96

[Science News @ScienceNews]

“We might just be scratching the surface of the social complexity in this species.”

https://t.co/Usdlz4xH96

[Science News @ScienceNews]

The world’s largest carnivorous bats don’t just hunt — they hug. New research shows spectral bats greet each other with gentle wing wraps.

https://t.co/Usdlz4xH96

[New Atlas @nwtls]

Some people simply don’t derive pleasure from listening to music. There is nothing wrong with their hearing, and they enjoy plenty of other experiences, but for some strange reason music does absolutely nothing for them. Researchers say this behavioral trait points to a fascinating disconnect between the brain’s auditory and reward networks.

https://t.co/zJ5adekjE4

#MusicDisconnect
#AuditoryReward
#MusicalAnhedonia
#SpecificMusicSensitivity

[Jay Kakade @jaykakade28]

A common asthma medication has been shown to shield mice from anaphylaxis – a potentially fatal allergic reaction. The drug, called zileuton, has long been used to treat asthma and is now being trialled in humans as a possible treatment for severe allergy.
https://t.co/NxJNrrTOF2

[New Atlas @nwtls]

Over the past two centuries, the construction of thousands of dams has done more than just tame rivers – it has shifted the Earth’s North Pole about a meter from its original position. By storing billions of liters of water, these reservoirs have fundamentally altered the globe's mass distribution, causing both a drop in global sea level and a drift in the planet’s axis.

https://t.co/9rVetMEUeQ

#DamShift #PoleDrift #ReservoirReshaping #MassDistribution

[New Atlas @nwtls]

Tracing the potato’s deep ancestry, researchers have revealed a surprising origin story: modern potatoes emerged from natural interbreeding between tomato relatives and a wild-potato-like species about nine million years ago.

https://t.co/pJc3AKyrVL

#PotatoEvolution #TomatoAncestry #InnovativeTubers #AndesPotatoes