Analysis: Science & Technology — 09 November 2026
Gravitational reconnection identified in Einstein’s field equations
Luca Comisso of Columbia University and Felipe A. Asenjo of Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez report a theoretical process they call gravitational reconnection, published in Physical Review D. Using a reformulation of Einstein’s equations that resembles plasma magnetohydrodynamics, they argue that gravitational field “sheets” in four-dimensional spacetime can break and reattach, transferring energy from the field into matter. The closest analogue is magnetic reconnection, which powers solar flares. The result stands out because it extracts a new dynamical process from a century-old theory without adding extra physics.
The work extends an earlier Physical Review Letters paper that identified previously unrecognized constraints on how spacetime geometry can evolve. Gravity is represented as sheets rather than lines because spacetime has three spatial dimensions plus time. The sheets are mathematical structures, not physical surfaces that tear. The National Science Foundation and NASA funded the research.
The finding is purely theoretical. The authors have not shown that reconnection occurs in real astrophysical systems or that it leaves a detectable imprint on gravitational waves from black-hole mergers. Supercomputer merger simulations remain the main tool, and whether the new constraints will change those predictions is open. How much energy could be released, and whether LIGO-class detectors could see a signature, is the next claimed research step.
Nuclear X-ray asteroid deflection varies fivefold with blast angle
Sandia National Laboratories physicist Nathan Moore and colleagues report in Icarus that the effectiveness of a nuclear X-ray pulse at deflecting an asteroid depends strongly on which face is irradiated. In one simulation, deflection velocity was 3.9 mm/s from one direction and 0.8 mm/s from another—nearly a fivefold gap. Spin-up of another body varied by a factor of 17 with aim. The work stands out because earlier models treated asteroids as spheres.
A nuclear burst would heat the surface with X-rays, vaporizing material that then provides a push. Moore’s team combined Sandia’s ALEGRA high-energy code with the SPARTA Monte Carlo code, claiming a 1,600-fold speedup that lets them use realistic 3-D shapes from spacecraft flybys. Earlier Z-machine experiments had shown X-rays can move a small sample of asteroid material.
The model still cannot predict whole-body breakup, only surface rock. A successful defense would need to shift the orbit without creating multiple threatening fragments. Mission design would require a full-shape map and precise placement of a nuclear device—data and logistics that may not exist if a threat is found late.
B-SYNC CAR-T cells eliminate DMG brain tumors in every mouse tested
UCSF researchers report that B-SYNC CAR-T cells, which stay off until they sense the brain protein brevican, eliminated human diffuse midline glioma in every mouse in two models. Conventional CAR-T cells did not control the same tumors. Cells remained functional more than 70 days and rejected a second tumor challenge about seven weeks later. The paper appeared in Science Translational Medicine; UCSF Health is preparing trials that could start as early as April 2027.
DMG invades the brainstem and is almost always fatal within a year. Earlier E-SYNC cells needed the EGFRvIII mutation, present in only about 20% of glioblastomas and often lost under pressure. B-SYNC uses synNotch to gate CAR expression on brevican, then targets EphA2 or IL13Rα2, antigens shared by DMG and glioblastoma. Intracerebroventricular delivery outperformed intravenous delivery.
All efficacy data are preclinical. Why brain-restricted CAR expression is so much more effective is not fully explained; reduced T-cell exhaustion is a hypothesis. Human dosing, shunt-based delivery, and on-target effects of brevican sensing in healthy brain tissue remain untested.
Sources: ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily.