Plaintext Today

News without noise.

Sunday, October 4, 2026

  1. ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft successfully completed a gravity assist flyby of Earth on September 28, skimming 8,640 km above the Indian Ocean and using the planet's gravity to increase its speed by 3.5 km/s and change direction by 20 degrees on its journey to Jupiter, while conserving fuel for its 2031 arrival.[1]

  2. New research published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry found that people who followed the MIND diet more closely showed slower brain shrinkage and less grey matter loss over 12 years, with the strongest differences equivalent to about 2.5 years of delayed brain aging.[2]

  3. Researchers have discovered that squid have hair cells distributed across their entire bodies rather than just their heads and arms, with bundles that vary in length similar to structures in the human inner ear, potentially offering new insights into hearing loss research.[3]

  4. University of Cologne researchers found that the essential amino acid leucine can boost cellular energy production by protecting key proteins on mitochondria from being destroyed, revealing a new connection between nutrition and metabolism.[4]

  5. South Korea defeated Japan 1-0 in the men's football final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to claim their fourth consecutive gold medal in the event, with Eom Ji-sung scoring the winning goal in the 61st minute.[5]

  6. North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the Wonsan area on its east coast into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, flying more than 700 kilometers, amid heightened tensions with Seoul over a DMZ explosion that wounded three South Korean soldiers last month.[6]

  7. Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across more than 50 Spanish cities on Saturday to demand affordable housing, one day after parliament rejected government emergency measures for tenants, with some demonstrations in Valencia resulting in clashes between police and protesters.[7]

  8. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, the 20-year-old Italian leading the world championship, topped final practice at the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, outpacing four-time champion Max Verstappen by 0.278 seconds ahead of qualifying.[8]

End of digest for October 4, 2026.

Sources

  1. 1. ESA's Juice just used Earth as a slingshot to Jupiter (opens in new tab)
  2. 2. This diet may slow brain aging by 2.5 years (opens in new tab)
  3. 3. Newly discovered hair cells on squid may offer clues to understanding hearing loss in humans (opens in new tab)
  4. 4. Leucine does more than build muscle. It powers up your cells (opens in new tab)
  5. 5. S. Korea beat Japan for 4th straight men's football gold (opens in new tab)
  6. 6. North Korea launches ballistic missile as tensions with Seoul grow over border mine blasts (opens in new tab)
  7. 7. Tens of thousands protest in Spain after failed housing reforms (opens in new tab)
  8. 8. Antonelli tops times in final practice at Bahrain GP (opens in new tab)