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Scientists Develop Pea-Sized Brain to Study Stephen Hawking's Disease

British physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions during an interview in 2007. Photo: Reuters/Charles W Luzier
British physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions during an interview in 2007. Photo: Reuters/Charles W Luzier
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Scientists Develop Pea-Sized Brain to Study Stephen Hawking's Disease

British physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions during an interview in 2007. Photo: Reuters/Charles W Luzier
British physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions during an interview in 2007. Photo: Reuters/Charles W Luzier

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a pea-sized brain to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in a new step that could lead to testing new treatment methods.

ALS, which killed the world renowned physicist Stephen Hawking at the age of 76, is a currently untreatable neurodegenerative disease that leads to rapid cognitive decline and paralysis. Because the neurological symptoms don't show up until later in life, scientists know very little about how it starts.

During the study published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, the researchers isolated stem cells from patients with ALS, and managed to grow them into "brain organoids" similar to a fetus' brain after about a dozen weeks of growing. The little blobs can't think, but can give the researchers much information about the structure, diversity, and reaction of cells in specific parts of the growing brain.

Using living brains in such experiments is impossible, at least on the ethical level, but these pea-sized "mini brains" can be beneficial for research purposes.

To get to even that simple level of development takes scientists a lot more time than nature itself to get a human's stem cells to proliferate into the millions and grow into something resembling a 'mini-brain'.

In previous efforts, researchers managed to grow brain organoids derived from the stem cells of those with Parkinson's disease for about 30 days and of Alzheimer's disease for 84 days. Researchers at Cambridge have now grown a pea-sized mini-brain to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for nearly a year.

The team hopes their technique of growing organoid models of neurological disease will help identify further potential drug targets in the future.

"We currently have no very effective options for treating ALS, and while there is much more work to be done following our discovery, it at least offers hope that it may in time be possible to prevent or to slow down the disease process," explains neurologist András Lakatos from the University of Cambridge.

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Islamabad Puts Drivers on Notice as Smog Crisis Worsens

This picture taken on December 9, 2025, shows buildings engulfed in dense smog due to severe air pollution in Islamabad. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
This picture taken on December 9, 2025, shows buildings engulfed in dense smog due to severe air pollution in Islamabad. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
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Islamabad Puts Drivers on Notice as Smog Crisis Worsens

This picture taken on December 9, 2025, shows buildings engulfed in dense smog due to severe air pollution in Islamabad. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
This picture taken on December 9, 2025, shows buildings engulfed in dense smog due to severe air pollution in Islamabad. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Truck driver Muhammad Afzal was not expecting to be stopped by police, let alone fined, as he drove into Islamabad this week because of the thick diesel fumes emanating from his exhaust pipe.

"This is unfair," he said after being told to pay 1,000 rupees ($3.60), with the threat of having his truck impounded if he did not "fix" the problem.

"I was coming from Lahore after getting my vehicle repaired. They pressed the accelerator to make it release smoke. It's an injustice," he told AFP.

Checkpoints set up this month are part of a crackdown by authorities to combat the city's soaring smog levels, with winter months the worst due to atmospheric inversions that trap pollutants at ground level.

"We have already warned the owners of stern action, and we will stop their entry into the city if they don't comply with the orders," said Dr Zaigham Abbas of Pakistan's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as he surveyed the checkpoint at the southeast edge of the capital.

For Waleed Ahmed, a technician inspecting the vehicles at the site, "just like a human being, a vehicle has a life cycle. Those that cross it release smoke that is dangerous to human health".

While not yet at the extreme winter levels of Lahore or the megacity Karachi, where heavy industry and brick kilns spew tons of pollutants each year, Islamabad is steadily closing the gap.

So far in December it has already registered seven "very unhealthy" days for PM2.5 particulates of more than 150 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the Swiss-based monitoring firm IQAir.

Intraday PM2.5 levels in Islamabad often exceed those in Karachi and Lahore, and in 2024 the city's average PM2.5 reading for the year was 52.3 micrograms -- surpassing the 46.2 for Lahore.

Those annual readings are far beyond the safe level of five micrograms recommended by the World Health Organization.

Built from scratch as Pakistan's capital in the 1960s, the city was envisioned as an urban model for the rapidly growing nation, with wide avenues and ample green spaces abutting the Himalayan foothills.

But the expansive layout discourages walking and public transport remains limited, meaning cars -- mostly older models -- are essential for residents to get around.

"The capital region is choked overwhelmingly by its transport sector," which produces 53 percent of its toxic PM2.5 particles, the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative, a research group, said in a recent report.

"The haze over Islamabad... is not the smoke of industry, but the exhaust of a million private journeys -- a self-inflicted crisis," it said.

Announcing the crackdown on December 7, EPA chief Nazia Zaib Ali said over 300 fines were issued at checkpoints in the first week, with 80 vehicles impounded.

"We cannot allow non-compliant vehicles at any cost to poison the city's air and endanger public health," she said in a statement.

The city has also begun setting up stations where drivers can have their emissions inspected, with those passing receiving a green sticker on their windshield.

"We were worried for Lahore, but now it's Islamabad. And that's all because of vehicles emitting pollution," said Iftikhar Sarwar, 51, as he had his car checked on a busy road near an Islamabad park.

"I never needed medicine before but now I get allergies if I don't take a tablet in the morning. The same is happening with my family," he added.

Other residents say they worry the government's measures will not be enough to counter the worsening winter smog.

"This is not the Islamabad I came to 20 years ago," said Sulaman Ijaz, an anthropologist.

"I feel uneasy when I think about what I will say if my daughter asks for clean air -- that is her basic right."

Varieties

Spider-Like Scar Haunts Jupiter's Moon Europa

A dendritic “lab star” formed by liquid water flowing through Europa ice simulant at NASA JPL, modeling how features like Damhán Alla could form on Jupiter's icy moon, similar to how lake stars form on Earth. (Image credit: Prof. Lauren Mc Keown.)
A dendritic “lab star” formed by liquid water flowing through Europa ice simulant at NASA JPL, modeling how features like Damhán Alla could form on Jupiter's icy moon, similar to how lake stars form on Earth. (Image credit: Prof. Lauren Mc Keown.)
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Spider-Like Scar Haunts Jupiter's Moon Europa

A dendritic “lab star” formed by liquid water flowing through Europa ice simulant at NASA JPL, modeling how features like Damhán Alla could form on Jupiter's icy moon, similar to how lake stars form on Earth. (Image credit: Prof. Lauren Mc Keown.)
A dendritic “lab star” formed by liquid water flowing through Europa ice simulant at NASA JPL, modeling how features like Damhán Alla could form on Jupiter's icy moon, similar to how lake stars form on Earth. (Image credit: Prof. Lauren Mc Keown.)

Scientists have explored a strange, spider-like scar on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, suggesting the feature might have formed from briny water eruptions beneath the moon's ice.

NASA's Galileo spacecraft, whose mission ended in 2003, spotted the unique feature - officially named Damhán Alla, an Irish word meaning “spider” or “wall demon” - within Europa's Manannán crater.

The starburst-like pattern first appeared in images captured by the spacecraft in the late 1990s, but scientists are only now piecing together how it may have formed, according to a statement from Trinity College Dublin.

“The significance of our research is really exciting,” Lauren Mc Keown, lead author of a study published in The Planetary Science Journal.

“Surface features like these can tell us a lot about what's happening beneath the ice. If we see more of them with Europa Clipper, they could point to local brine pools below the surface.”

On Earth, lake stars emerge when snow falls on frozen lakes and holes form in the ice, allowing water to flow upwards and melt surrounding snow, carving radial, branching channels as it spreads.

Such patterns are common in nature, from lightning scars to tidal channels, illustrating the movement of fluids and energy through different surfaces.

The researchers suggest that Europa's version might form the same way - except the liquid in this case would be salty brine forced upward after an impact disrupted the ice shell.

“Lake stars are really beautiful, and they are pretty common on snow or slush-covered frozen lakes and ponds,” McKeown said in the statement. “It is wonderful to think that they may give us a glimpse into processes occurring on Europa and maybe even other icy ocean worlds in our solar system.”

Varieties

‘Like Skiing’: First Urban Cable Car Unveiled Outside Paris

This photograph shows the first urban cable car "C1" in Ile-de-France region during its official launch, in between Creteil Pointe du Lac and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, on the outskirts of Paris on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows the first urban cable car "C1" in Ile-de-France region during its official launch, in between Creteil Pointe du Lac and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, on the outskirts of Paris on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
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‘Like Skiing’: First Urban Cable Car Unveiled Outside Paris

This photograph shows the first urban cable car "C1" in Ile-de-France region during its official launch, in between Creteil Pointe du Lac and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, on the outskirts of Paris on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows the first urban cable car "C1" in Ile-de-France region during its official launch, in between Creteil Pointe du Lac and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, on the outskirts of Paris on December 13, 2025. (AFP)

Gondolas floated above a cityscape in the southeastern suburbs of Paris on Saturday as officials unveiled the first urban cable car in the French capital's region.

Authorities inaugurated the C1 line in the suburb of Limeil-Brevannes in the presence of Valerie Pecresse, the head of the Ile-de-France region, and the mayors of the towns served by the cable car.

The 4.5-kilometer route connects Creteil to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and passes through Limeil-Brevannes and Valenton.

Historically used to cross rugged mountain terrain, such systems are increasingly being used to link up isolated neighborhoods.

"It's like skiing!" joked Ibrahim Bamba, a 20-year-old student who lives in Limeil-Brevannes which is not served by the Paris metro or any rail network.

"It's the Alps on the Marne!" said Pecresse, referring to the department of Val-de-Marne located in the Grand Paris metropolis.

The cable car will carry some 11,000 passengers per day in its 105 gondolas, each able to accommodate ten passengers.

The total journey will take 18 minutes, including stops along the way, compared to around 40 minutes by bus or car, connecting the isolated neighborhoods to the Paris metro line 8. A ride requires a bus ticket or travel pass used for the Paris metro.

"This is a great step forward in terms of transportation. The roads are often congested in the morning," said Salimatou Bah, 52, who has lived in Limeil-Brevannes for thirteen years.

"We wondered if people would be hesitant, but I think it just takes a little time to adapt."

- 'Urban divides' -

Pecresse said the project was the result of "a 10-year obstacle course."

"We had to find the funding, convince local residents," she said. "For the inhabitants of Val-de-Marne, it's a sign of consideration."

The 138-million-euro project was cheaper to build than a subway, officials said.

"An underground metro would never have seen the light of day because the budget of more than billion euros could never have been financed," said Gregoire de Lasteyrie, vice-president of the Ile-de-France regional council in charge of transport.

Each cabin can accommodate ten seated passengers as well as wheelchairs, bicycles, and strollers. Inside, video surveillance and emergency call buttons have been installed to ensure passenger safety in addition to staff at each station.

The cable car is a response to "urban divides" in neighborhoods that were "lacking in terms of public transport," said Metin Yavuz, mayor of Valenton, a town of 16,000 inhabitants.

It is France's seventh urban cable car, with aerial tramways already operating in cities including Brest, Saint-Denis de La Reunion and Toulouse.

France's first urban cable car was built in Grenoble, nestled at the foot of the Alps, in 1934. The iconic "bubbles" have become one of the symbols of the southeastern city.

Cable cars are considered one of the safest means of transport in the world.

In France, the last fatal accident occurred in 1999 in the Hautes-Alpes, when 20 people lost their lives.