Researchers have found a woman with a rare genetic mutation that has protected her from dementia even though her brain has developed major neurological features of the disease. The woman with an Alzheimer’s-causing mutation and lots of beta-amyloid buildup (red, above) in her brain remained cognitively healthy for decades.This case comes at a time when the Alzheimer’s field needs new approaches after billions of dollars have been spent on developing and testing treatments and many have failed. It has been more than 15 years since the last treatment for dementia was approved, and the few drugs available do not work very well for very long.https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/colombian-woman-s-genes-offer-new-clues-staving-alzheimer-s

Platypus milk is capable of killing bacteria and other microbes thanks to an antibacterial protein. This protein has a highly unusual structure not seen elsewhere in nature (that we know of). The Australian researchers who found the protein hypothesized that, due to its unique structure, the protein might also function differently from our current antibiotics, and that this difference in functionality might mean it can kill bacteria that other drugs can't.www.popsci.com/platypus-milk-bacterial-infections/

After 2+ years of research and development, Spotify kids is launching. They're starting with a Beta test in Ireland before looking to scale it out. The vision is to create an entirely new generation of music listeners. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/30/spotify-launches-a-dedicated-kids-app-for-premium-family-subscribers/

Electric vehicle owners may soon be able to fully charge their cars in as little as 10 minutes, thanks to a new design that heats the battery to increase the reaction rate.A current major barrier to the uptake of electric cars is the length of time it takes to charge the battery compared with filling a car with petrol.https://www.newscientist.com/article/2221740-electric-cars-could-charge-in-10-minutes-with-a-new-kind-of-battery/

MIT engineers have created a new way of carbon removal that efficiently removes carbon dioxide from the air. The system can be developed commercially at low cost and has many potential applications. While there are alternative ways to remove carbon dioxide from gas, they typically only work well on carbon dioxide levels significantly higher than atmospheric concentrations and require lengthy chemical processes to ultimately remove the carbon dioxide. www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/10/30/mit-engineers-develop-battery-that-can-remove-carbon-dioxide-from-air/