Researchers have discovered a predicted type of fermion that has mass in only one direction.

From the article:

Scientists have made a satisfying and intriguing physics discovery some 16 years after it was first predicted to be a possibility: a quasiparticle (a group of particles behaving as one) that only has an effective mass when moving in one direction.

In physics, mass generally refers to a property of particles that relates to things like their energy and resistance to movement. Yet not all mass is built the same – some describes the energy of a particle at rest, for example, while mass may also take into account the energy of a particle's motion.

In this case, the effective mass describes the quasiparticle's response to forces, which varies depending on whether the movement through the material is up and down, or back and forth.

Whereas regular quasiparticles have the same mass no matter what their direction of travel, the semi-Dirac fermion (to give it its technical name) being studied here doesn't seem to play by the normal rules.

Source: Science Alert

Author: David Nield

Researchers have found what can cause Lupus in children. From the article:

Sometimes a single mutation in our genetic make-up is enough to cause disease. This is also the case with the autoimmune disease lupus. Lupus causes severe inflammation throughout the body and can have a serious impact on the lives of those affected. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin have now discovered a mechanism that can trigger lupus in children. This mechanism regulates the amount of a specific immune receptor that normally recognizes the genetic material of pathogens. If this mechanism is disrupted, receptors accumulate in the immune cells leading to the recognition of the body's own genetic material. As a result, the immune system turns against its own body and causes the systemic inflammation of lupus.

Source: Max-Plance-Gesellschaft

Our long national nightmare is over. Researchers have determined an enzyme is responsible for making our urine yellow.

From the article:

Gut microbes encode the enzyme bilirubin reductase that converts bilirubin into a colorless byproduct called urobilinogen," explained Hall, who has a joint appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. "Urobilinogen then spontaneously degrades into a molecule called urobilin, which is responsible for the yellow color we are all familiar with.

Source: Phys.org

Well this is some good news. Via the article:

We saw various abnormalities in the muscle tissue of the patients. At the cellular level, we saw that the mitochondria of the muscle, also known as the energy factories of the cell, function less well and that they produce less energy," says Rob Wüst, Assistant Professor at Department of Human Movement Sciences at the VU University. "So, the cause of the fatigue is really biological. The brain needs energy to think. Muscles need energy to move. This discovery means we can now start to research an appropriate treatment for those with long-COVID

Source: Amsterdam UMC

WELL deserved I might add.

Source: Washington Post