Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

Yacold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

.j.p. That's y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

This is Scientific Americans' 60-second science. I'm Steve Merski.

Got a minute?

They're like the Pac-Man of our brain.

Harvard neuroscientist, Beth Stevens,

talking about glia cells,

which make up more than half the human brain.

This week, Stevens got a MacArthur fellowship,

the so-called Genius Grant,

for her studies of glia.

These cells are incredibly responsive to damage or injury. They can protect our brain by, for example, clearing bacteria or debris in the brain in the case of injury and disease.

Until about 10 years ago, almost all of the research devoted to these cells was in these contexts.

We discovered that there was another role for these cells in the normal healthy brain,

in particular during development.

So a synapse is the junction of communication between two neurons.

It's how neurons talk to each other.

We're actually born with an excess of synaptic connections.

And through this normal developmental process called pruning,

...