Look inside a virtual burned-up Herculaneum scroll to read the text inside

Hello Nature readers,
Today we look inside a virtual burned-up Herculaneum scroll, listen to the first radio signals from an exoplanet and learn how to stay smart in the age of AI.

Lead detection reveals text in burned scrolls

Researchers have made their own burned, rolled-up papyri and showed that they can decipher the text by detecting the element lead in the ink. Using X-ray computed tomography (CT) and X-ray fluorescence to spot lead, the team was able to virtually unroll the scrolls and clearly read the text within. “The letters lit up like a Christmas tree,” says retired inventor and study co-author Douglas Seiler. This technique could help researchers read thousands of ancient scrolls recovered from the Roman town of Herculaneum, which were charred by the eruption of Vesuvius — if they contain ink.

Scientists eagerly await cool microscope

Early next year, scientific-instrument maker Bruker will ship the first-ever scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) that stably operates near absolute zero using liquid helium. The device — dubbed GAIA, for Generational Advance in Instrumentation for Analysis — can image materials at temperatures as low as about −266 °C (7 kelvin) for 30 hours or more. The advancement will open avenues for exploring never-before-seen properties of materials, and might also help to revolutionize quantum computing, researchers say.

First radio signals from an exoplanet

Astronomers have detected radio waves emitted directly by Beta Pictoris b — the first time such signals have been observed from a planet outside our Solar System. Researchers managed to separate the planet’s emissions from those of its host star by choosing a candidate that is big, relatively close to Earth and nicely separated from its magnetically quiet star. The signal comes from auroral radio emissions, similar to those from the Northern and Southern Lights on Earth.

No pain, no gain: stay smart in the AI age

There is growing concern that using AI can blunt memory and reasoning. The evidence so far is limited, but in general, friction is your friend: learning requires effortful cognitive processing, experts say. Thankfully, researchers are developing strategies to keep our brains nice and wrinkly. One technique, metacognition — the ability to think about, plan and monitor your own learning — can add an average eight extra months of student progress in school over a year, compared with students who are not taught it.

Limit easy access to loaded guns to save lives

Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, and more than half of those deaths involve a gun. That’s why public-health experts and suicide-prevention advocates are arguing for firearms regulation, as part of an evidence-based strategy to limit access to lethal means for completing suicide. “That’s the one that will save the most lives,” says psychiatrist Paul Nestadt. For example, laws requiring that guns are locked up in homes where children live have been shown to reduce youth suicides. And requiring a permit to buy a gun was associated with at least a 15% decrease in gun suicide rates in Connecticut and Missouri.