The Daily Trickle

Low-dose bisphenol mixture reprograms human breast tissue in lab study

This peer-reviewed study tested chemicals on three-dimensional human breast tissue grown in the laboratory, called organoids. A low-dose mixture of bisphenols (BPA, BPS and BPF) disrupted organoid development and changed gene activity and DNA methylation patterns. The authors report that these patterns resemble those in some human breast cancers, especially invasive lobular carcinoma, and suggest that developmental exposures may set up cancer-relevant tissue states.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Infection-risky contact depends on how much people value others

This peer-reviewed study surveyed 47,756 participants across 61 societies about infection-risky contact, such as sharing a water bottle, and about touching someone when greeting them. People were more comfortable with risky contact, and more likely to touch in greetings, when the target was someone they valued more, such as a friend rather than a stranger or enemy. Societal factors such as historical pathogen prevalence and tightness mattered less, mainly for high-value targets.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Ultra-processed food total not linked to colorectal cancer in US cohort

This peer-reviewed cohort study followed 461,682 cancer-free older US adults through 2018, during which 10,075 colorectal cancer cases were diagnosed. Total intake of ultra-processed foods was not associated with the cancer, but whole grain, fiber, dairy and calcium from these foods were linked to lower risk, and meat from them to higher risk. Because the study is observational, it shows associations rather than causes, and the authors say it supports existing advice to eat whole grains, fiber, dairy and calcium and to avoid processed meat.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Preprint finds measles spread increasingly across US counties

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, analyzes county-level measles cases and vaccine coverage in the United States from 2011 to 2025. It finds that from 2021 to 2025 outbreaks were more strongly linked to vaccine coverage and spread more across neighboring counties than in the earlier decade. The authors say targeting interventions at the highest-risk counties could prevent re-emergence more effectively than state-level or low-coverage targeting.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Preprint estimates wildfire smoke linked to 1.7 million US deaths

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, estimates 1.7 million smoke-associated deaths in the United States from 2011 to 2023 (95% uncertainty interval: 1.1 to 2.3 million), using county-level monthly wildfire PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) and mortality data. It finds the excess mortality response peaks about three years after an exposure pulse and subsides by five years, and is greater among adults aged 65 and over. The authors say reducing smoke exposure could yield substantial health benefits over multiple years.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Texas replaces workers' compensation maintenance tax with surcharge

The Texas Department of Insurance adopts amendments to section 1.414 of Title 28 of the Texas Administrative Code on assessments collected from insurance policy sales, taking effect October 21, 2026. The amendments implement Senate Bill 1455 (2025), which replaces the maintenance tax on workers' compensation insurance with workers' compensation surcharges, and include plain-language and style changes.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 21, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

Texas proposes tuition limits for competency-based baccalaureate degrees

This is a proposal by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. It would clarify the allowable tuition threshold for public institutions offering competency-based baccalaureate degrees under Texas Education Code section 51.3535, and add a definition of direct cost of attendance with a maximum allowable amount.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Nov 15, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by November 15, 2026.

Texas proposes campus emergency warning rules for colleges

This is a proposal by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to create rules that help institutions of higher education comply with the Clery Act and recent legislation on timely emergency warnings. The proposed rules cover campus-wide warning policies, types of notifications, timing, methods, and testing the system once each semester.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Nov 15, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by November 15, 2026.

Texas proposes adding Classic Learning Test to uniform admission rules

This is a proposal by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to add the Classic Learning Test (CLT), with requisite scores, to the SAT and ACT as an option under the uniform admission policy. The option would apply to students who do not meet the top 10% or 25% grade point average or the Distinguished Level of Achievement requirements for automatic admission, and changes would start with admissions in fall 2028.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Nov 15, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by November 15, 2026.

Texas proposes dropping English II test and allowing remote state tests

This is a proposal by the Texas Education Agency to amend section 101.3011 on academic assessments. It would keep the English II end-of-course assessment only through the 2026-2027 school year, following a 2025 change in state law, and let eligible virtual campuses and programs administer state assessments remotely.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment deadline is listed; see the document.

New England order sets school teachers' pay and conditions

This is UK law: The School Teachers' Pay and Conditions (England) Order 2026, which determines the remuneration of school teachers in England and other conditions of employment relating to their professional duties and working time. It was made on October 14, 2026 and comes into force on November 6, 2026.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Made

Oct 14, 2026

Effective

Nov 6, 2026

Magnetar brings proof-based computing to standard programming languages

Microsoft Research announces Magnetar, a system for proof-based general-purpose computing. It says Magnetar verifies computing results with zero-knowledge proofs without rerunning the workload or exposing sensitive data, supports standard programming languages, and offers quantum-resistant security. The company also claims major speed gains.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Ocean microbes shape nitrous oxide levels in low-oxygen waters

This peer-reviewed study uses a computer model of microbes in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific, a marine oxygen minimum zone. It finds that competition and feeding relationships among microbes, rather than simple sensitivity to oxygen, help explain why nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas, builds up in some layers. The authors say the results could help project future shifts in marine nitrogen loss and emissions.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Iron in rice soil can convert nitrate without microbes, study finds

This peer-reviewed study reports that specifically adsorbed iron ions on rice roots can reduce nitrate to ammonium without microbial involvement, accounting for 57% of nitrate reduction in the study's conditions. In two-year field experiments, a controlled-release form of iron raised rice yield by 16.1% while halving the nitrogen input. The authors say the work points to ways to improve nitrogen use efficiency in paddy soils.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Tall ice cliffs break off faster than models assume

This peer-reviewed study measured 15,330 ice cliffs at the edges of Earth's ice sheets using laser altimetry. It finds that tall cliffs calve more rapidly than model parameterizations assume, but that dynamic thinning and retreat into regions with low ice thickness gradients prevent runaway retreat. The authors say models may underestimate how fast cliffs calve, but that the potential for instability depends on more than cliff height alone.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Texas streamlines utility complaint process for all regulated utilities

The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopts amendments to section 22.242 on complaints, with changes to the proposed text, and says the rule will be republished. The rule streamlines the complaints process for all utilities under the commission's jurisdiction and takes effect October 21, 2026.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 21, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

Texas adopts customer relations rules for water and sewer service

The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopts amendments to section 24.153 on customer relations, with changes to the proposed text, taking effect October 21, 2026. They implement Texas Water Code (TWC) sections 13.5051 and 13.153 from Senate Bill 790 and Senate Bill 1778, and allow a retail public utility, on customer request, to start, transfer or end a customer's retail water or sewer service.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 21, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

Texas updates customer access and complaint rules for utilities

The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopts amendments to section 25.485 on customer access and complaint handling, with changes to the proposed text, taking effect October 21, 2026. The rule streamlines the commission's complaints process for all utilities under its jurisdiction and brings it in line with other state agencies' processes.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 21, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

Texas streamlines complaint rules under section 26.30

The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopts amendments to section 26.30 on complaints, with changes to the proposed text, taking effect October 21, 2026. The rule streamlines the complaints process for all utilities under the commission's jurisdiction, in line with other state agencies.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 21, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

Method forecasts abrupt tipping points in changing systems

This peer-reviewed study describes a computer method for forecasting abrupt, often irreversible changes in systems that evolve over time. The method learns a system's behavior before its tipping point, flags deviations from physics constraints, and gives a measure of uncertainty. The authors test it on mathematical models and on a climate example, stratocumulus cloud cover, and say it can work with only partial or approximate physics.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Antarctic ice cliffs don't always collapse as scientists expected

MIT News reports, based on satellite data, that the cliffs at the edge of Antarctica do not always collapse in the runaway process scientists had expected. The article says the satellite data reveal how these ice cliffs behave over time.

Published

Oct 15, 2026

Preprint finds narrower matching zones cut emissions but raise costs

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, uses an integrated capacity expansion model to test hourly and geographically narrower matching of carbon-free electricity procurement. It suggests that, across most scenarios, narrower deliverability zones are associated with greater consequential emissions reductions, along with higher EAC prices.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Preprint finds COVID-19 restrictions reorganized how people move

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, analyzes privacy-enhanced GPS trajectories of over one million users in California and 180,000 in Massachusetts from January to September 2020. It finds that during restrictions individual ranges contracted and visits concentrated on a few habitual locations, and that recovery after reopening was heterogeneous rather than a uniform return to baseline.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Rainfall can trigger system-wide disruption in railway networks

This peer-reviewed study models how transportation networks respond to external events such as rainfall, using real-world railway networks as a case study. It finds local and system-wide disruptions above a critical rainfall strength, and that localized disruptions reveal weak points in the wider network. The authors assess these vulnerabilities as societal risk and say climate change may intensify them.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

AI conversations persuaded people to sign real petitions

This peer-reviewed study reports two large preregistered experiments with 14,779 people, in which conversational AI models tried to persuade participants. The AI had sizable effects on behavior, such as signing real petitions (+19.7 percentage points) and donating money to charity, but effects on attitudes did not predict effects on behavior. The authors say earlier findings based on attitudes may generalize poorly to real-world behavior.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Preprint describes making common plastics chemically reactive

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports a photocatalytic and cobalt-catalyzed dehydrogenation that adds carbon-carbon double bonds to polyethylene and polypropylene plastics, including post-consumer plastics. The authors say the resulting polyolefins can be converted into functional polymers, block and graft copolymers, and adhesives. They also report that these materials can serve as compatibilizers for immiscible polymer blends.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Preprint links alcohol exposure to lasting changes in gene regulation

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports cell-line experiments and mouse data on how alcohol changes chromatin, the packaging of DNA in cells. It finds that alcohol moves elongating RNA polymerase II toward promoters and changes CTCF and cohesin occupancy at guanine-rich sites, with changes persisting six days after withdrawal. The authors link these changes to altered gene expression.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Preprint finds high glucose damages liver blood vessels in mice

A preprint, not yet reviewed by other scientists, reports that hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) causes liver sinusoidal endothelial cells to lose their fenestrae, the small pores in their walls, through a pathway involving O-GlcNAcylation and nitric oxide. In mice with diet-induced steatohepatitis (fatty liver inflammation), inhibiting O-GlcNAc transferase restored sinusoidal fenestrae and attenuated fibrosis. The authors say the liver sinusoid is a site of microvascular complications of hyperglycemia.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Men use AI chatbots more often than women, Pew Research Center finds

Pew Research Center reports that men and women now use AI chatbots at similar rates, but men use them more often. It says women are more skeptical of AI's impact on their lives.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

California sets maximum ages for horses in races and workouts

This is a final rule by the California Horse Racing Board, effective January 1, 2027. It sets the maximum ages at which horses are eligible to compete in races and permitted to work out.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Jan 1, 2027

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

California corrections department readopts emergency rules on restricted housing

This is a temporary emergency rule by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), in effect from October 9, 2026. It readopts amendments governing Restricted Housing Units and the Privilege Group system (Groups C and D) for incarcerated persons. The department filed it as an emergency based on operational necessity under Penal Code section 5058.3.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 9, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

California readopts emergency rules for sales tax exclusion program

This is a temporary emergency rule by the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, in effect from October 1, 2026. It readopts amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Exclusion Program that revise definitions, application and eligibility requirements, regulatory agreement and compliance requirements, and program fees.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 1, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

California raises invasive mussel prevention fee under emergency rule

This is a temporary emergency rule by the California Division of Boating and Waterways, in effect from October 2, 2026. It amends regulations on the invasive mussel infestation prevention fee and grant program, including raising the fee, under Government Code section 11346.1.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Oct 2, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

California adds private equity groups to health deal notice rules

This is a temporary emergency rule by the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA), taking effect November 2, 2026. It adds private equity (PE) groups, hedge funds, management services organizations (MSO), newly created business entities, and entities that own, operate or control a provider to the list of entities that must file material change notices of transactions.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Effective

Nov 2, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment period: this is a final rule.

Dental Board proposes updated minimum infection control standards

This is a proposal, not a final rule. The Dental Board of California would update its minimum infection control standards, last revised in 2011, to reflect later CDC guidance, changes in California law and changes in dentistry practice.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Nov 30, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by November 30, 2026.

California workplace safety agency proposes egregious violation rules

This is a proposal, not a final rule. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health would add Egregious and Enterprise-wide violation classifications, which Labor Code sections 6317 and 6317.8 set out, and explain how penalties would be calculated for each employee exposed to an Egregious violation. The proposal also includes updates to Title 8 sections 332.4 and 340.4 and other corrections.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Dec 3, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by December 3, 2026.

Fair Political Practices Commission proposes cost of living adjustments

This is a proposal, not a final rule. The Fair Political Practices Commission proposes to adopt, amend or repeal regulations on cost of living adjustments under the Political Reform Act. The proposed regulations would sit in Title 2, Division 6 of the California Code of Regulations.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

How to weigh in: No comment deadline is listed; see the document.

Veterinary Medical Board proposes new civil penalty rules for citations

This is a proposal, not a final rule. It would update California Code of Regulations (CCR) section 2043, which sets the classes of violation and penalty ranges for citations, to align with changes made by Assembly Bill 1502 (2025) to fines for unlicensed practice.

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Nov 30, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by November 30, 2026.

California Civil Rights Council proposes pregnancy and bonding leave rules

This is a proposal to clarify and supplement state regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) on job-protected leave, reasonable accommodations and temporary transfers for pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. It also covers bonding leave for a new child under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

Published

Oct 16, 2026

Comments close

Dec 8, 2026

How to weigh in: Comment by December 8, 2026.