And researchers from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Dental Medicine helped unearth the cave’s secrets over more than a decade of excavation.

Manot Cave was used for thousands of years as a living space for both Neanderthals and humans at different times. In 2015, researchers from Case Western Reserve helped identify a 55,000-year-old skull that provided physical evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthal and homo sapiens, with characteristics of each clearly visible in the skull fragment.

The cave’s living space was near the entrance, but in the deepest, darkest part of the cave, eight stories below, the new paper describes a large cavern with evidence it was used as a gathering space, possibly for rituals that enhanced social cohesion.

The cavern’s touchstone is an engraved rock, deliberately placed in a niche in the cavern, with a turtle-shell design carved into its surface. The three-dimensional turtle is contemporaneous with some of the oldest cave paintings in France.

“It may have represented a totem or spiritual figure,” said Omry Barzilai, Head of Material Culture PaleoLab at the University of Haifa and the Israel Antiquities Authority, who led the team. “Its special location, far from the daily activities near the cave entrance, suggests that it was an object of worship.”

The cavern has natural acoustics favorable for large gatherings, and evidence of wood ash on nearby stalagmites suggests prehistoric humans carried torches to light the chamber.

Manot Cave was discovered in 2008 by workers building condominiums in a mountain resort close to Israel’s border with Lebanon. Case Western Reserve’s School of Dental Medicine got involved in the excavation in 2012. The dean at the time, Jerold Goldberg, committed $20,000 annually for 10 years to CWRU’s Institute for the Science of Origins; the money was used to fund dental students’ summer research in Israel.

“I’m an oral and maxillofacial surgeon by training,” Goldberg said. “I provided the commitment and the money because I wanted people to understand the breadth and intellectual interest that dental schools have.”

And although not trained in archaeology, dental students can quickly identify bone fragments from rock, which makes them invaluable at excavations like Manot Cave.

“Most people would not suspect that a dental school would be involved in an archaeological excavation,” said Mark Hans, professor and chair of orthodontics at the dental school. “But one of the things that are preserved very well in ancient skeletons are teeth, because they are harder than bone. There is a whole field of dental anthropology. As an orthodontist, I am interested in human facial growth and development, which, it turns out, is exactly what is needed to identify anthropological specimens.”

For 10 years, Case Western Reserve sent 10 to 20 dental students every summer to help with the Manot Cave excavation. The summer research became so popular that students from other dental and medical schools began applying to visit Israel with the CWRU team, according to Yvonne McDermott, the project coordinator.

Case Western Reserve also collaborated closely with Linda Spurlock, a physical anthropologist at Kent State University, whose expertise is putting a face on a skull using clay to build out the tissues that would have covered the bone when the person was alive.

“One of the things I liked most about working on this excavation was how much we learned from the other researchers,” Hans said. “Everyone has a narrow focus, like mammals, uranium-dating, hearths; and we all came together and shared our knowledge. We learned a lot over 10 years.”

The Manot Cave project is supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation, the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation and the Leakey Foundation. The research also involved experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Cleveland State University, the Geological Survey of Israel, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, the University of Vienna, the University of Barcelona, the University of Siena and Simon Fraser University.

Almost always, battery scientists and engineers have tested the cycle lives of new battery designs in laboratories using a constant rate of discharge followed by recharging. They repeat this cycle rapidly many times to learn quickly if a new design is good or not for life expectancy, among other qualities.

This is not a good way to predict the life expectancy of EV batteries, especially for people who own EVs for everyday commuting, according to the study published Dec. 9 in Nature Energy. While battery prices have plummeted about 90% over the past 15 years, batteries still account for almost a third of the price of a new EV. So, current and future EV commuters may be happy to

“We’ve not been testing EV batteries the right way;’ said Simona Onori, senior author and an associate professor of energy science and engineering in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “To our surprise, real driving with frequent acceleration, braking that charges the batteries a bit, stopping to pop into a store, and letting the batteries rest for hours at a time, helps batteries last longer than we had thought based on industry standard lab tests.”

A pleasant surprise

The researchers designed four types of EV discharge profiles, from the standard constant discharge to dynamic discharging based on real driving data. The research team tested 92 commercial lithium ion batteries for more than two years across the discharge profiles. In the end, the more realistically the profiles reflected actual driving behavior, the higher EV life expectancy climbed.

Several factors contribute to the unexpected longevity, the study finds. A machine learning algorithm trained on all the data the team collected helped tease out the impacts of dynamic discharge profiles on battery degradation.

For example, the study showed a correlation between sharp, short EV accelerations and slower degradation. This was contrary to long-held assumptions of battery researchers, including this study’s team, that acceleration peaks are bad for EV batteries.

Pressing the pedal with your foot hard does not speed up aging. If anything, it slows it down, explained Alexis Geslin, one of three lead authors of the study and a PhD student in materials science and engineering and in computer science in Stanford’s School of Engineering.

Two ways to age

The research team also looked for differences in battery aging due to many charge-discharge cycles versus battery aging that just comes with time. Your batteries at home that have been sitting unused in a drawer for years will not operate as well as when you bought them, if they work at all.

“We battery engineers have assumed that cycle aging is much more important than time-induced aging. That’s mostly true for commercial EVs like buses and delivery vans that are almost always either in use or being recharged,” said Geslin. “For consumers using their EVs to get to work, pick up their kids, go to the grocery store, but mostly not using them or even charging them, time becomes the predominant cause of aging over cycling.”

The study identifies an average discharge rate sweet spot for balancing time aging and cycle aging, at least for the commercial battery they tested. Luckily, that window is in the range of realistic consumer EV driving. Carmakers could update their EV battery management software to take advantage of the new findings and to maximize battery longevity under real-world conditions.

Looking ahead

“Going forward, evaluating new battery chemistries and designs with realistic demand profiles will be really important,” said energy science and engineering postdoctoral scholar Le Xu. “Researchers can now revisit presumed aging mechanisms at the chemistry, materials, and cell levels to deepen their understanding. This will facilitate the development of advanced control algorithms that optimize the use of existing commercial battery architectures.”

The implications extend beyond batteries, the study suggests. Scientists and engineers could apply the principles to other energy storage applications, as well as to other materials and devices in physical sciences in which aging is crucial, like plastics, glasses, solar cells, and some biomaterials used in implants.

“This work highlights the power of integrating multiple areas of expertise — from materials science, control, and modeling to machine learning- to advance innovation,” Onori said.

P2X-catalyst needs less Iridium

But new options are already in the pipeline: Within the Kopernikus P2X project, a new efficient iridium-based nanocatalyst was developed by the Heraeus Group, consisting of a thin layer of iridium oxide deposited on a nanostructured titanium dioxide support. The so-called ‘P2X catalyst’ requires only an extremely small amount of iridium, reducing precious metal loading substantially (four times lower than in the current best commercial material).

A team at HZB led by Dr. Raul Garcia-Diez and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marcus Bär, together with colleagues from the ALBA synchrotron in Barcelona, have studied the P2X catalyst, which shows remarkable stability even in long-term operation, and compared its catalytic and spectroscopic signature with the benchmark commercial crystalline catalyst.

Operando measurements at BESSY II

The HZB team has thoroughly investigated the commercial benchmark catalyst as well as the P2X catalyst at BESSY II during water electrolysis (operando measurements). “We wanted to observe how the two different catalyst materials change structurally and electronically during the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction using operando Ir L₃-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS),” says Marianne van der Merwe, a researcher in Bär’s team. They also developed a new experimental protocol to ensure that the results are measured in both samples under exactly the same oxygen production rate. This made it possible to compare the two catalysts under equivalent conditions.

Different chemical environments explored

“From the measurement data, we were able to conclude that the mechanisms for OER in the two classes of iridium oxide catalysts are different, and this is driven by the different chemical environments of the two materials,” says van der Merwe. The measurement data also show why the P2X catalyst performs even better compared to its more crystalline benchmark: in the P2X sample, the bond lengths between iridium and oxygen decrease significantly more than in the reference catalyst at OER relevant potentials. This reduction in Ir-O bond lengths can be associated to the participation of defective environments that are proposed to be key players in highly active pathways of the oxygen evolution reaction.

“In addition, the electronic state observations also correlate with local geometric information,” van der Merwe points out. “Our work provides valuable key information about the different mechanisms of iridium oxide-based electrocatalysts during the oxygen evolution reaction and deepens our understanding of catalyst performance and stability, while our newly proposed in situ spectroscopic electrochemical protocol approach is generally applicable to all anode materials studied under relevant OER conditions.”

“Tell me why: The missing w in episodic memory’s what, where and when” appears in a special issue of Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience focusing on individual differences in memory modulation. Authors Fernanda Morales-Calva, a graduate student in psychological sciences at Rice, and Stephanie Leal, an adjunct assistant professor of psychological sciences, examined existing research to create a comprehensive analysis of the “three Ws” of memory — what, where and when we remember — to answer the central question of why people remember.

Specifically, the researchers explore how emotional significance, personal relevance and individual differences shape memory retention. Unlike experimental studies, this review gathers and interprets existing findings to advance the understanding of episodic memory.

The review categorizes memory research into three primary domains centered on what, where and when people remember. Morales-Calva and Leal found that memories are often shaped by emotional content, personal significance, repetition and attention. For example, individuals are more likely to remember events with deep emotional resonance or details on which they actively focus.

However, what we remember is also influenced by factors such as where the event happened. What is known as spatial memory is often studied in animals, and the researchers said it is also an important aspect of what we remember that applies to human experiences. New environments command greater attention and therefore foster stronger memories when compared to familiar, routine settings.

Finally, the researchers said when the event occurs makes a difference in what people remember. How individuals sequence events and recognize transitions between them plays a critical role in memories. Specific events are often compartmentalized into distinct episodes and therefore can be easier for individuals to recall.

In addition to the what, where and when of memory, Morales-Calva said individual circumstances, including cultural, personal and cognitive differences, can have a significant impact in shaping how individuals remember.

“Memory is not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon,” Morales-Calva said. “What’s memorable for one person might be entirely forgettable for another depending on their unique background and cognitive priorities.”

The researchers said that examining why we remember certain experiences over others can have significant implications for both clinical and everyday settings. For instance, professional memory assessments often rely on standardized tests developed in specific cultural contexts, which have the potential to overlook critical individual differences, the researchers said. Such tests may yield skewed results when applied in diverse populations, highlighting the need for more tailored approaches.

As the global population ages and memory impairments become increasingly prevalent, understanding the specific factors that shape memory could inform interventions for conditions like dementia and cognitive decline, the researchers said.

“This review highlights the importance of considering subjectivity and context in memory research,” Leal said. “By accounting for these variables, we can develop more accurate diagnostic tools and effective interventions.”

The authors argue that complexity of memory can be better understood when the researchers incorporate individual differences into experimental designs. By doing so, they say they hope to bridge gaps between laboratory findings and real-world applications to foster a deeper understanding of the human experience.

The findings, which have been published in the journal Parasitology, present some of the earliest evidenceof schistosomiasis outside its endemic region of Africa.

“Many of the parasites we see today have been around for centuries. One of our goals in infectious disease studies is to understand where in the world people had these parasites in the past and how their epidemiology has changed through time,” says Marissa Ledger, a post-doctoral fellow at McMaster’s Ancient DNA Centre, who led the research.

Schistosomiasis is caused by Schistosoma mansoni, a water-borne parasitic flatworm that can burrow into the skin, move through the bloodstream and establish itself in the intestines. There it reproduces and releases eggs, which are passed through human waste. Ledger discovered a preserved egg in the contents of a 15^th-century latrine in present-day Belgium, thousands of kilometers away from its endemic region.

The latrine had been uncovered in an excavation in 1996, but its artifacts and organic remains were only recently examined as part of a larger research project at Ghent University focused on the many foreign communities living and trading in medieval Bruges and its former harbor towns.

Researchers say the latrine came from a house known as the Spanish nation house, the administrative seat and meeting place of the Castilian merchant community. The parasite in question is likely associated with one of these Spanish traders who facilitated the import of African commodities like gold dust, ivory and various spices. There’s also evidence they were involved in the early Atlantic slave trade.

The combination of this rich historical record with the archaeological and parasitological data is quite unique and helps us better understand human migration and disease transmission in the past and underscores the historical significance of this Belgian-Canadian collaboration.

“Our findings speak to the complexity of medieval urban life and how interconnected this world was centuries ago. It not only provides novel insight into daily life of people in medieval Bruges but also shows how the city, known as an international hub for people, goods and ideas, inevitably also facilitated the spread of diseases through its strong maritime trade networks,” says Maxime Poulain, archaeologist at Ghent University.

It also demonstrates the importance of analyzing organic remains from these types of archaeological finding, as it can provide information on the health, hygiene and mobility of populations.

Ledger plans to analyze the genetics of the parasite to understand how its makeup compares to that of its modern counterparts.

“Understanding these parasites over a broader time frame provides more information on how they are impacted by factors like migration. Even in the past as people were migrating over these long distances, they were still very effectively moving infectious diseases across long distances. That’s incredibly useful to know.”

The CAST/EiJ mouse, part of a research panel including eight genetically diverse mouse strains, stands out for its severe response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including beta, omicron, and delta variants. While other strains either recovered or showed mild symptoms, the CAST mice displayed acute illness, highlighting their unique susceptibility to the virus.

“Although most mice strains have negligible symptoms from infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants, CAST mice exhibit a lethal response, making them an invaluable resource for studying the virus’s impact and testing next-generation therapies,” said Nadia Rosenthal, scientific director and professor at JAX, and one of the senior authors of the study.

Originally collected on the island of Castania and brought to JAX in 1971, CAST mice were bred at JAX to maintain a genetically pure line, creating a model as true to the mouse genome as possible. This characteristic makes them an ideal model for investigating severe COVID-19 symptoms on a clean genetic background.

These mice not only carry high viral loads in the lungs but also display severe lung damage, mirroring the kind of hyperinflammatory response seen in human patients with severe COVID-19. This unique strain offers researchers a model that closely parallels the human response to the virus without brain infection — an issue in previous models of COVID-19.

Initial trials using antiviral treatments have shown promising results, boosting survival rates in CAST mice and sparking hope for their role in developing therapies for future coronavirus outbreaks. As new variants continue to emerge, the CAST mouse model stands ready to accelerate a response, providing insights that could ultimately save lives.

Diversity in mouse models offers new perspectives

The study explored eight genetically diverse mouse strains, including A/J, B6J, CAST, 129S1, NSG, NZO, PWK, and WSB, encompassing traits like type 1 and type 2 diabetes susceptibility, obesity, and leanness. These diverse genetic backgrounds enabled the team to uncover differences in virus susceptibility.

Rosenthal and Candice Baker, director of research projects at JAX and first author of the study, started with all eight strains of mice and found the CAST mouse stood out as a highly susceptible mouse for Sars-CoV-2 infection. While the CAST mice didn’t recover, some strains did but displayed lingering symptoms resembling long-COVID.

“The CAST mice gave us insight into the acute symptoms of COVID-19, but now we are going to look at the long-term effects,” said Baker.

In follow-up work, Rosenthal and Baker plan to investigate long-term impacts using this same panel of eight mice.

Overcoming the early challenges of COVID-19 research

When the pandemic began, traditional mouse models were unsuitable for SARS-CoV-2 research, as their cells lack the receptors needed for the virus to bind. In 2023, Rosenthal and her team at JAX and NIH’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories addressed this by using mice engineered with human versions of these receptors, but the resulting infections were overly severe and failed to mimic the spectrum of human responses.

By crossing genetically engineered mice with diverse strains, Rosenthal’s team replicated a range of human-like responses. But these engineered human receptors don’t always give a clinically relevant disease phenotype. The CAST mouse is invaluable, as its genetic background avoids artificial receptor modifications, making it a more natural model for studying severe COVID-19.

“CAST mice stand poised to transform COVID-19 research and prepare us for future challenges,” said Rosenthal. “Equally important, the work reinforces the critical role of genetic diversity in science.”