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Why large dogs age faster than small ones, and other October research highlights

It’s a regrettable reality that there is never enough time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across. So every month, we highlight a handful of the best stories that nearly slipped through the cracks. October’s list includes an epigenetic mechanism for why large dogs age faster than smaller ones; physicists who trapped a single particle of antimatter for months; and invisible tattoo inks that only show up under UV light.

令人遗憾的是，我们总是没有足够的时间来报道所遇到的所有有趣的科学故事。因此，每个月我们都会精选一些差点被遗漏的精彩报道。十月份的榜单包括：大型犬比小型犬衰老得更快的一种表观遗传机制；物理学家将单个反物质粒子捕获了数月之久；以及只有在紫外线下才会显现的隐形纹身墨水。

Why large dogs age faster

In many mammalian species, larger creatures tend to have longer lifespans. Mice, for instance, live an average of just two years, while some whales can last for as long as 200 years. Dogs, however, buck this pattern; larger dogs tend to age faster and die younger than smaller ones, which makes canines an ideal model for biologists to study to learn more about aging in general.

为什么大型犬衰老得更快

在许多哺乳动物物种中，体型较大的生物往往寿命更长。例如，老鼠的平均寿命仅为两年，而某些鲸鱼的寿命可长达 200 年。然而，狗却打破了这一规律；大型犬往往比小型犬衰老得更快、寿命更短，这使得犬类成为生物学家研究衰老机制的理想模型。

Arizona State University scientists report that these lifespan differences seem to be due to so-called “jumping genes,” according to a paper published in the journal Science. The authors used data from 864 dogs collected in the Dog Aging Project to map patterns of DNA methylation (which influences how much certain genes are turned on or off) across the entire genome. It’s part of the epigenome, whose markers can change over time in response to stress and other environmental factors. Genetic sequences, by contrast, are largely fixed. So DNA methylation is a good chemical indicator of aging and DNA regulation.

据发表在《科学》杂志上的一篇论文显示，亚利桑那州立大学的科学家报告称，这种寿命差异似乎是由所谓的“跳跃基因”引起的。研究人员利用“犬类衰老项目”中收集的 864 只狗的数据，绘制了整个基因组的 DNA 甲基化模式（这会影响某些基因的开启或关闭程度）。这是表观基因组的一部分，其标记会随着时间的推移，因压力和其他环境因素而发生变化。相比之下，基因序列在很大程度上是固定的。因此，DNA 甲基化是衡量衰老和 DNA 调节的一个很好的化学指标。

Their analysis showed that aging in dogs is linked to the decrease in the regulation provided by DNA methylation, particularly in regions where there are “jumping genes” that can move from chromosome to chromosome. These jumps can damage DNA, causing cancer and other age-related diseases, and their activity increases with the loss of regulatory markers. The authors identified a specific class of jumping genes called LINE1s that were responsible for the different rates of aging in dogs. Giant dog breeds lost roughly 35 percent more LINE1 methylation each year compared to small breeds.

分析表明，狗的衰老与 DNA 甲基化提供的调节能力下降有关，特别是在存在可从一条染色体移动到另一条染色体的“跳跃基因”区域。这些跳跃会损伤 DNA，导致癌症和其他与年龄相关的疾病，且其活性会随着调节标记的丢失而增加。作者确定了一类名为 LINE1 的特定跳跃基因，它们是导致狗衰老速度差异的原因。与小型犬相比，巨型犬品种每年丢失的 LINE1 甲基化程度高出约 35%。

“This is one of the clearest molecular signatures we’ve seen that aligns with the well-known size-lifespan trade-off in dogs,” said co-author Blaise Mariner. “It suggests that faster aging in larger dogs may be driven, at least in part, by reduced control over these jumping genes.” Science, 2026. DOI: 10.1126/science.aeb2986 (About DOIs).

合著者布莱斯·马里纳（Blaise Mariner）表示：“这是我们所见过的最清晰的分子特征之一，它与狗界众所周知的体型与寿命之间的权衡相吻合。这表明大型犬衰老得更快，至少部分原因是由于对这些跳跃基因的控制力减弱所致。”《科学》，2026 年。DOI: 10.1126/science.aeb2986（关于 DOI）。

Trapping an antimatter particle for months

One of the biggest unanswered questions in cosmology is why the early universe had a fundamental asymmetry between matter and antimatter. When matter and antimatter particles collide, they annihilate into energy, so that asymmetry resulted in matter dominating our universe, which contains much more matter than antimatter. It’s extremely difficult to create and isolate antimatter, requiring special traps.

将反物质粒子捕获数月之久

宇宙学中最大的未解之谜之一是，为什么早期宇宙在物质和反物质之间存在根本性的不对称。当物质和反物质粒子碰撞时，它们会湮灭并转化为能量，因此这种不对称性导致物质主导了我们的宇宙，使得宇宙中物质的含量远多于反物质。创造和分离反物质极其困难，需要特殊的捕获装置。

Physicists at Northwestern University have succeeded in trapping a single positron (antimatter particle) for months on end, according to a paper published in Physical Review Letters. Co-author Gerald Gabrielse and his team built on earlier work, in which they trapped a single electron to create a one-electron quantum cyclotron. They then used the setup to make one of the most precise measurements of its magnetic moment yet.

据发表在《物理评论快报》上的一篇论文显示，西北大学的物理学家成功地将单个正电子（反物质粒子）捕获了数月之久。合著者杰拉德·加布里埃尔（Gerald Gabrielse）及其团队在早期工作的基础上进行了研究，他们曾捕获单个电子以制造单电子量子回旋加速器。随后，他们利用该装置对其磁矩进行了迄今为止最精确的测量之一。

Trapping a positron was a bit trickier. They harvested the positron from sodium-22 nuclei, slowing it down enough to guide it into a near-perfect vacuum trap of electric and magnetic fields. Once inside, they chilled the positron to just 300 millikelvins (0.3° above absolute zero), thereby keeping the positron in its quantum ground state. They found they could maintain that state for months at a time.

捕获正电子则更为棘手。他们从钠-22 原子核中获取正电子，将其减速并引导至一个由电场和磁场组成的近乎完美的真空陷阱中。进入陷阱后，他们将正电子冷却至仅 300 毫开尔文（绝对零度以上 0.3 度），从而使正电子保持在其量子基态。他们发现，这种状态可以维持数月之久。

That enabled Gabrielse et al. to manipulate and detect the particle’s individual quantum energy state using tuned microwaves—the first critical step in being able to measure the positron’s magnetic properties, hopefully with the same precision they achieved in their earlier experiments with a single electron. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that there should be no difference between the two particle measurements. If they are not equal, “that would be the biggest discovery in physics in the last century,” said Gabrielse. Physical Review Letters, 2026. DOI: 10.1103/gbkc-6nlj.

这使得加布里埃尔等人能够利用调谐微波来操纵和检测该粒子的单个量子能态——这是测量正电子磁特性的第一个关键步骤，希望其精度能达到他们此前在单电子实验中实现的水平。粒子物理学的标准模型预测，这两种粒子的测量结果应该没有区别。加布里埃尔表示，如果它们不相等，“那将是上个世纪物理学界最伟大的发现”。《物理评论快报》，2026 年。DOI: 10.1103/gbkc-6nlj。

Invisible tattoos that show up under light

Many people sport tattoos, but there are situations where hiding them is desirable. A new line of multicolored tattoo inks could one day make that dilemma moot; they are invisible to the human eye unless one illuminates them with UV light, according to a paper published in the journal Matter & Light.

在光线下显现的隐形纹身

许多人喜欢纹身，但在某些情况下，隐藏纹身是必要的。据发表在《物质与光》杂志上的一篇论文显示，一系列新型多色纹身墨水未来可能会解决这一难题；除非用紫外线照射，否则肉眼无法看到这些纹身。

“There’s a stigma, in science and in many cultures, around body art,” said co-author Carson Bruns of the University of Colorado, Boulder, who sports a green lion tattoo on one arm, among others. “I’m proud to be pushing against that.”

“在科学界和许多文化中，人们对人体艺术存在偏见，”科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的合著者卡森·布伦斯（Carson Bruns）说道，他的手臂上纹着一只绿色的狮子，身上还有其他纹身。“我为能打破这种偏见而感到自豪。”

As previously reported, epidermal electronics attached to the skin via temporary tattoos (e-tattoos) have been around for more than a decade. So-called e-tattoos connect to skin without adhesives, are practically unnoticeable, and are typically attached via temporary tattoo, allowing electrical measurements (and other measurements, such as temperature and strain) using ultra-thin polymers with embedded circuit elements. In 2024, researchers developed special polymer-based conductive inks that can be printed onto a person’s scalp to measure brain waves, even if they have hair. This could one day enable mobile EEG monitoring outside a clinical setting.

正如之前报道的那样，通过临时纹身贴在皮肤上的表皮电子设备（电子纹身）已经存在十多年了。所谓的电子纹身无需粘合剂即可连接到皮肤上，几乎无法察觉，通常通过临时纹身的方式贴附，利用嵌入电路元件的超薄聚合物进行电学测量（以及温度和应变等其他测量）。2024 年，研究人员开发出一种特殊的聚合物导电墨水，可以打印在人的头皮上以测量脑电波，即使有头发也不受影响。这未来可能实现临床环境之外的移动脑电图监测。