The Zen of Technology & Scientific Discovery! (& Robots)

[Jundo]

Elon is finally in our heads ... literally ...

Elon Musk says his Neuralink startup has implanted a chip in its first human brain

... The operation took place on Sunday and the patient was recovering well, he added. ... Neuralink’s first product would be called Telepathy, he said in another post, adding that its initial users will be people who have lost the use of their limbs. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal,” he wrote. ... In May last year, Neuralink received FDA clearance for human clinical trials, and a few months later, the startup began recruiting patients with quadriplegia caused by cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ... Trial patients will have a chip surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls the intention to move. The chip, installed by a robot, will then record and send brain signals to an app, with the initial goal being “to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,” the company wrote in September.

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/30/business/elon-musk-brain-implant-neuralink-intl-hnk/index.html

More here: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/30/h...nts/index.html

Makes my mind spiral ...

Webb telescope captures 'stunning' images of 19 spiral galaxies

A batch of newly released images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope show in remarkable detail 19 spiral galaxies residing relatively near our Milky Way, offering new clues on star formation as well as galactic structure and evolution. ... The closest of the 19 galaxies is called NGC5068, about 15 million light years from Earth, and the most distant of them is NGC1365, about 60 million light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). ...

https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/webb-telescope-captures-stunning-images-19-spiral-galaxies-2024-01-29/

Get you head around this ...

Revolution in AI: New Brain-Like Transistor Mimics Human Intelligence

Researchers have developed a novel synaptic transistor that mimics the human brain’s integrated processing and memory capabilities. This device operates at room temperature, is energy-efficient, and can perform complex cognitive tasks such as associative learning, making it a significant advancement in the field of artificial intelligence. ... This advanced device not only processes but also stores information, mirroring the multifunctional nature of the human brain. Recent experiments by the team have shown that this transistor goes beyond simple machine-learning tasks to categorize data and is capable of performing associative learning.

Although previous studies have leveraged similar strategies to develop brain-like computing devices, those transistors cannot function outside cryogenic temperatures. The new device, by contrast, is stable at room temperatures. It also operates at fast speeds, consumes very little energy and retains stored information even when power is removed, making it ideal for real-world applications.

The study was recently published in the journal Nature.

https://scitechdaily.com/revolution-...-intelligence/

A reactor in your pocket ...

STARTUP SAYS ITS COIN-SIZED NUCLEAR BATTERY COULD FLY DRONES "CONTINUOUSLY" -- IT WORKS BY HARNESSING ENERGY FROM NUCLEAR DECAY.

Imagine never having to change a battery in a device ever again — or, in fact, a battery that could outlive you.

That’s what Betavolt, a Chinese tech company, is claiming with its newly unveiled miniature nuclear battery that it says can keep working for up to 50 years.

The Beijing-based company claims to have entered the "pilot stage" for the battery, which is smaller than a coin and will soon put it into mass production.

The company anticipates the battery being used in industries ranging from aerospace to robotics and to smartphones.

"If policies permit, atomic energy batteries can allow a mobile phone to never be charged, and drones that can only fly for 15 minutes can fly continuously," the company claims. ... The battery measures at 15 x 15 x 5 millimeters and is made of wafer-thin layers of nuclear isotopes and diamond semiconductors. It's a type of betavoltaic device, meaning it works by harnessing energy released from radioactive isotopes, in this case an isotope of nickel, by picking up and converting electrons as the material decays.

Betavolt says the radiation poses no danger to the human body, making it usable in medical devices such as pacemakers. The nickel isotope decays to a stable copper isotope, making it easily recyclable. ...

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/betavolt-radioactive-battery-no-charging/

Keeping our genes to ourselves ...

US House bill would curb genetic info sharing with China's Wuxi Apptec, BGI

A congressional committee focused on China has introduced a bill that would restrict federally funded medical providers from allowing China's BGI Group, WuXi Apptec (603259.SS), opens new tab and other biotech companies from getting genetic information about Americans. ... "Closing this loophole is the first step in protecting the American bioeconomy and our national security, and ensuring our genomic data is kept safe and secure,” said Democratic committee member Raja Krishnamoorthi. ...

Units of BGI Group appear on a U.S. Department of Commerce export control list over allegations that they pose a "significant risk" to contributing to Chinese government surveillance. Reuters also has reported that BGI was collecting genetic data from millions of women for sweeping research on the traits of populations, and collaborates with China's military. ...

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...gi-2024-01-26/

Early and complex ...

Early Complex Life Forms Revealed: 1.63-billion-year-old Multicellular Fossils Unearthed in China

Researchers unveiled 1.63-billion-year-old multicellular fossils from North China, marking the oldest record of multicellular eukaryotes and pushing back the timeline for the emergence of multicellularity in eukaryotes by about 70 million years. This discovery highlights the complexity of early life forms and supports the early appearance of the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) in the evolutionary history.

... All complex life on Earth, including diverse animals, land plants, macroscopic fungi, and seaweeds, are multicellular eukaryotes. Multicellularity is key to eukaryotes acquiring organismal complexity and large size, and is often regarded as a major transition in the history of life on Earth. However, scientists have been unsure when eukaryotes evolved this innovation. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/early-compl...thed-in-china/

A picture taken by a really tiny dentist ...

Scientists report world’s first X-ray of a single atom in Nature

A team of scientists from Ohio University, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and others, led by Ohio University Professor of Physics, and Argonne National Laboratory scientist, Saw Wai Hla, have taken the world’s first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one atom. This groundbreaking achievement was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences and could revolutionize the way scientists detect the materials. ...

BELOW: An image of a ring shaped supramolecule where only one Fe atom is present in the entire ring.

to be continued ...

[Jundo]

Good news at our JAXA space center here in Tsukuba ...

Japan’s SLIM probe regains power more than a week after moon landing

Japan’s SLIM spacecraft has regained power, its space agency said on Monday, more than a week after it achieved an unconventionally precise lunar landing but ran out of electricity because its solar panels were at the wrong angle.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) re-established communication with its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) late on Sunday, a JAXA spokesperson said, nearly nine days after the probe’s touchdown made Japan the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon.

The probe was most likely able to generate power thanks to a change in the sunlight’s direction, JAXA said.

SLIM resumed its operations to analyze the composition of olivine rocks on the lunar surface with its multi-band spectral camera, in search of clues about the origin of the moon, the agency added.

... [But] JAXA does not have a clear date when SLIM will end its operation on the moon, but the agency has previously said the lander was not designed to survive a lunar night. The next lunar night begins on Thursday. ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/j...ing-rcna136119

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

The early bird catches the worm ...

New Findings From the James Webb Telescope Suggests That Life Could Have Existed Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

New findings from the James Webb Space Telescope reveal a surprising abundance of oxygen in the early Universe. Researchers discovered that oxygen levels in galaxies surged within 500-700 million years following the Universe’s birth, reaching levels comparable to those in contemporary galaxies. This suggests that the essential elements for life were present much earlier than previously believed. ... This opens the possibility that with the necessary ingredients, like oxygen, already readily available in the early Universe, life may have appeared sooner than previously thought. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/new-findings-from-the-james-webb-telescope-suggests-that-life-could-have-existed-much-earlier-than-previously-thought/

Plentiful water on Mars ... huge amounts, in fact ...

Mars Express Reveals Hidden Ice Reserves at Mars’s Equator

Recent Mars Express data reveals the Medusae Fossae Formation contains extensive water ice layers, offering new clues about Mars’s past and supporting future exploration. ... If melted, the ice locked up in the MFF would cover the entire planet in a layer of water 1.5 to 2.7 m deep: the most water ever found in this part of Mars, and enough to fill Earth’s Red Sea. ...

... The extent and location of these icy MFF deposits would also make them potentially very valuable for our future exploration of Mars. Missions to Mars will need to land near the planet’s equator, far from the ice-rich polar caps or high-latitude glaciers. And they’ll need water as a resource – so finding ice in this region is almost a necessity for human missions to the planet. ... “Unfortunately, these MFF deposits are covered by hundreds of meters of dust, making them inaccessible for at least the next few decades. However, every bit of ice we find helps us build a better picture of where Mars’s water has flowed before, and where it can be found today.” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/mars-expres...marss-equator/

Too young to be with the grown ups ...

Puzzling Baby Stars at the Galaxy’s Core: Astronomers Unravel Age Mystery

Through the study of detailed data obtained from a powerful ten-meter telescope located in Hawaii, a team of scientists at Lund University in Sweden have made significant discoveries regarding three stars situated in the central region of the Milky Way galaxy. These stars were found to be unusually young with a puzzling chemical composition that surprised the researchers. ... “We can now confirm this. In our study, we have been able to date three of these stars as relatively young, at least as far as astronomers are concerned, with ages of 100 million to about 1 billion years. This can be compared with the sun, which is 4.6 billion years old,” says Rebecca Forsberg, a researcher in astronomy at Lund University. ...

BELOW: The image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, shows a high-resolution view of the innermost parts of the Milky Way. In the new study, the researchers examined the dense nuclear star cluster shown in detail here.

And life finds a way in even the hard places ...

Salty Survival: Stanford Finds Life Thriving in “Uninhabitable” Conditions

A Stanford study on microbes in extremely salty water suggests life may survive conditions previously thought to be uninhabitable. The research widens the possibilities for where life may be found throughout our solar system and shows how changes in salinity may affect life in aquatic habitats on Earth.

https://scitechdaily.com/salty-survi...le-conditions/

A synthetic chromosome ... YEA! yeast! ...

Synthetic Yeast Genome Nears Completion With New Milestone

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom, including leading experts from the University of Nottingham and Imperial College London, have successfully constructed a synthetic chromosome. This achievement is a significant milestone in a major international initiative aimed at creating the world’s first synthetic yeast genome. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/the-future-...new-milestone/

Malaria fights back ... but, hopefully, the doctors will stay one step ahead ...

Invisible Menace: Newly Discovered Malaria Parasites Evade Detection and Treatment

Scientists discovered new variants of malaria parasites in Ethiopia that are resistant to existing treatments and undetectable by standard diagnostic tests. This situation could lead to a rise in malaria cases and fatalities, complicating efforts to eradicate the disease. ... “Now we’re essentially seeing the worst-case scenario: parasites with the mutation that make them resistant to treatment have also picked up the chromosomal deletions that make them invisible to the diagnostic tests,” Bailey said. “This means that it will be harder to detect people who are infected, and then when infected people are treated with antimalarial drugs, that may not work to stop them from spreading the disease.” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/invisible-m...and-treatment/

Here's how the scientists want to stay ahead ...

Superbug crisis threatens to kill 10 million per year by 2050. Scientists may have a solution

... “These multi-drug-resistant superbugs can cause chronic infections in individuals for months to years to sometimes decades. It’s ridiculous just how virulent some of these bacteria get over time,” said Dwayne Roach, assistant professor of bacteriophages, infectious disease and immunology at San Diego State University. ... “It’s estimated that by 2050, 10 million people per year — that’s one person every three seconds — is going to be dying from a superbug infection,” said infectious disease epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee, codirector of the first dedicated phage therapy center in North America ...

Last year doctors offered to treat Horton’s infection with one of nature’s oldest predators — tiny tripod-looking viruses called phages designed to find, attack and gobble up bacteria. ... In this microscopic game of “The Terminator,” each set of phages is uniquely designed to find, attack and devour a specific type of pathogen. ... In labs around the country, phage scientists are taking research and discovery to the next level, or what Strathdee calls “phage 3.0.” Scientists in Turner’s Yale laboratory are busy mapping which phages and antibiotics are most symbiotic in the fight against a pathogen. Roach’s San Diego State lab is investigating the body’s immune response to phages while developing new phage purification techniques to prepare samples for intravenous use in patients.

Currently, clinical trials are underway to test the effectiveness of phages against intractable urinary tract infections, chronic constipation, joint infections, diabetic foot ulcers, tonsillitis and the persistent, reoccurring infections that occur in patients with cystic fibrosis. The chronic infections common in cystic fibrosis are typically due to various strains of drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa — the same pathogen responsible for Horton’s ear infection and the artificial tears outbreak. ...

BELOW: This illustration of a bacteriophage shows its tripod-like form that mimics a tiny robot.

This seems like an idea long past due. Also, why don't they just put fiber optic cables down highways and many roads so that the self-driving cars can follow those like tracks? Why is it necessary for them to drive fully on their own guidance systems???

NEW STREET CHARGES ELECTRIC VEHICLES WHILE THEY DRIVE: IT'S NORTH AMERICA'S VERY FIRST WIRELESS CHARGING ROAD

Engineers have turned an otherwise unnoteworthy stretch of road in downtown Detroit into what's being hailed as the first wireless-charging public road in the United States.

Massive copper coils, much like the scaled-down ones inside your wireless phone charger, are hidden beneath the surface to charge EVs while they're stationary, idling, or even driving.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-st...7J51sQk7uOv5nM

Fossil fuels kills us ...

New Research: Phasing Out Fossil Fuels Could Save Millions of Lives

A study reveals that phasing out fossil fuels could prevent 5.13 million deaths per year globally linked to air pollution, primarily from cardiometabolic diseases. Utilizing a new risk model, it emphasizes the health and environmental benefits of transitioning to renewable energy sources.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-researc...ions-of-lives/

Clones ... not monkeying around ...

New cloned monkey species highlights limits of cloning

Meet Retro, a cloned rhesus monkey born on July 16, 2020. He is now more than 3 years old and is “doing well and growing strong,” ...

... scientists have cloned many mammalian species, including pigs, cows, horses and dogs, but the process has been hit or miss, with typically only a tiny percentage of the embryos that are transferred into surrogates resulting in viable offspring. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/16/world/...scn/index.html

Very fishy arrests ...

Tokyo couple arrested over unpermitted cultivation of glowing fish

... The police arrested Hidehiko Takeda, the 66-year-old owner of the fish shop, and his 56-year-old Thai wife Somphorn, who runs the shop, for alleged violation of the Cartagena law, which came into force in 2004 to regulate the use of genetically modified living organisms.

The suspects sold the genetically modified Siamese fighting fish, or betta, as "neon betta" at the store, the police said. The fish glows in a yellow-green color when exposed to ultraviolet light. ...

A step toward artificial eyes ...

Revolutionary Biochip Mimics Human Retina: A Leap Toward Cyborg Reality


A team of international researchers, led by Francesca Santoro from Jülich, has developed a biochip that imitates the human retina. This innovation is part of a broader effort in bioelectronics aimed at repairing bodily and brain dysfunctions. ... A new chip could help retinal implants fuse even better with the human body in the future. It is based on conductive polymers and light-sensitive molecules that can be used to imitate the retina, complete with visual pathways. ... What is exceptional about the new semiconductor is that it consists entirely of non-toxic organic components, is flexible, and works with ions, that is, with charged atoms or molecules. It can thus be integrated into biological systems much better than conventional semiconductor components made of silicon, which are rigid and only work with electrons. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/revolutionary-biochip-mimics-human-retina-a-leap-toward-cyborg-reality/

Never forget this ...

Unraveling Memory’s Molecular Mystery: How Brain Cells Stabilize Information Over Time

Recent research discovers that our ability to distinguish similar memories improves over time due to the dynamic nature of engrams, brain cells involved in memory storage. This finding provides key insights into the treatment of memory disorders. ... The researchers developed a computational model for learning and memory formation that starts with sensory information, which is the stimulus. Once that information gets to the hippocampus, the part of the brain where memories form, different neurons are activated, some of which are excitatory and others that are inhibitory.

When neurons are activated in the hippocampus, not all are going to be firing at once. As memories form, neurons that happen to be activated closely in time become a part of the engram and strengthen their connectivity to support future recall.

“Activation of engram cells during memory recall is not an all or none process but rather typically needs to reach a threshold (i.e., a percentage of the original engram) for efficient recall,” Roy explains. “Our model is the first to demonstrate that the engram population is not stable: The number of engram cells that are activated during recall decreases with time, meaning they are dynamic in nature, and so the next critical question was whether this had a behavioral consequence.”

“Over the consolidation period after learning, the brain is actively working to separate the two experiences and that’s possibly one reason why the numbers of activated engram cells decrease over time for a single memory,” he says. “If true, this would explain why memory discrimination gets better as time goes on. It’s like your memory of the experience was one big highway initially but over time, over the course of the consolidation period on the order of minutes to hours, your brain divides them into two lanes so you can discriminate between the two.”

https://scitechdaily.com/unraveling-...ion-over-time/

And now we can remember to watch remembering ...

SynapShot Unveiled: Observing the Processes of Memory and Cognition in Real Time

SynapShot, developed by an international research team, marks a major advancement in neuroscience by enabling real-time, live observation of synaptic changes in the brain. ... On January 8, a joint research team led by Professor Won Do Heo from the KAIST Department of Biological Sciences, Professor Hyung-Bae Kwon from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Professor Sangkyu Lee from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) revealed that they have developed the world’s first technique to allow real-time observation of synapse formation, extinction, and alterations.

Professor Heo’s team conjugated dimerization-dependent fluorescent proteins (ddFP) to synapses in order to observe the process in which synapses create connections between neurons in real-time. The team named this technique SynapShot, by combining the words ‘synapse’ and snapshot’, and successfully tracked and observed the live formation and extinction processes of synapses as well as their dynamic changes. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/synapshot-u...-in-real-time/

AI gets a prize ...

The winner of a prestigious Japanese literary award has confirmed AI helped write her book

After Japanese author Rie Kudan won one of the country’s most prestigious literary awards, she admitted she’d had help from an unusual source — ChatGPT.

“I plan to continue to profit from the use of AI in the writing of my novels, while letting my creativity express itself to the fullest,” said the 33-year-old, who was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for the best work of fiction by a promising new writer on Wednesday.

The author then confirmed at a press conference that around 5% of her book “The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy” — which was lauded by committee members as “practically flawless” — was word-for-word generated by AI.

The novel centers around the dilemmas of an architect tasked with building a comfortable high-rise prison in Tokyo where law breakers are rehabilitated, and features AI as a theme.

Kudan said that, in her own life, she would consult ChatGPT about problems she felt she couldn’t tell anyone. “When the AI did not say what I expected,” she said, “I sometimes reflected my feelings in the lines of the main character.” ...

... Writer and prize committee member Keiichiro Hirano took to X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, to say the selection committee did not see Kudan’s use of AI as a problem.

“It seems that the story that Rie Kudan’s award-winning work was written using generative AI is misunderstood… If you read it, you will see that the generative AI was mentioned in the work,” he wrote. “There will be problems with that kind of usage in the future, but that is not the case with ‘Tokyo Sympathy Tower.’” ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/19/style/...gpt/index.html

Latest on the Japanese landing from JAXA in Tsukuba, a great success in some ways ...

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced that it has disconnected the battery from the circuit and turned off the power to restore the SLIM, the Japanese unmanned lunar probe that successfully landed on the Moon on January 20, because the onboard solar cells are not generating power. The organization is hopeful that the solar cells may be able to generate electricity if they are exposed to sunlight in the future.

https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pac...LQO596XISgvPJc

Gassho, J

stlah

[Tai Shi]

The Zen of Technology & Scientific Discovery! (& Robots)

There is a fairly new technology for pain relief Radio Frequency Ablation. And I had recently been treated for Ankylosing Spondylitis in the upper spine and I believe it is working 100% in my case. I am so grateful 🥲 to have been fortunate enough to have my doctor be so skilled as to have reliable medical care and I am grateful beyond words. The treatment works in combination with Lidocaine Patches 12 hours on 12 off and a Simponi subQ injection which lasts 25 days so it gives 25 regular and also Lidocaine. And RFA , I am very grateful to report that I am experiencing 100% pain reliever for symptoms of pain from Ankylosing Spondylitis which has never been away from me for 10 years and more.
Gassho
sat lah
Tai Shi


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Jundo]

Sorry, my town of Tsukuba goes to the moon ...

Live Coverage in English [Click on Youtube below] of Tsukuba (Japan) JAXA to the moon ... landing planned for 12:20 AM ...

Japan gave the green light for its spacecraft to make a "precision" landing on the moon on Friday, its bid to become the world's fifth country to achieve a moonshot and revitalise a space programme that has suffered a wave of recent setbacks.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) was en route to 15 km (9 miles) above the moon's surface, where it will start an autonomous 20-minute descent from midnight on Saturday (1500 GMT Friday).

Dubbed the "moon sniper", SLIM is attempting to land within 100 metres (328 feet) of its target, versus the conventional accuracy of several kilometres.

JAXA says this landing technology will become a powerful tool in future exploration of hilly moon poles seen as a potential source of oxygen, fuel and water - factors necessary to sustain life.

JAXA will broadcast the touchdown on its YouTube channel, but has said it will take up to a month to verify whether SLIM had achieved the high-precision goals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXLt3ET9mE

Gassho, Jundo

stlah

[Jundo]

The Holobox by Holoconnects ... first step to the Treeleaf Holo-Zendo ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-36qpX6lY4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9MAgaYtgt8

[Jundo]

A HUGE mystery ... imagine the hand that this ring fits ...

Ultra-Large Structure Discovered in Distant Space Defies Our Current Understanding of the Universe

The discovery of the Big Ring, a colossal structure 9.2 billion light-years away with a diameter of 1.3 billion light-years challenges existing cosmological theories. Along with the previously discovered Giant Arc, these structures, located in the same cosmic neighborhood, contest the Cosmological Principle. ... “We could expect maybe one exceedingly large structure in all our observable universe. Yet, the Big Ring and the Giant Arc are two huge structures and are even cosmological neighbours, which is extraordinarily fascinating.” ... Alexia said: “The Cosmological Principle assumes that the part of the universe we can see is viewed as a ‘fair sample’ of what we expect the rest of the universe to be like. We expect matter to be evenly distributed everywhere in space when we view the universe on a large scale, so there should be no noticeable irregularities above a certain size. ... "

https://scitechdaily.com/ultra-large...-the-universe/

Our brains rethink the brain ...

Redefining Brain Function: Physicists Overturn Long-Standing Assumptions

Recent research suggests that a number of neuronal characteristics, traditionally believed to stem from the cell body or soma, may actually originate from processes in the dendrites. This discovery has significant implications for the study of degenerative diseases and for understanding the different states of brain activity during sleep and wakefulness. ... For the last 75 years, a core hypothesis of neuroscience has been that the basic computational element of the brain is the neuronal soma, where the long and ramified dendritic trees are only cables that enable them to collect incoming signals from its thousands of connecting neurons. This long-lasting hypothesis has now been called into question. ... "Results showed that neuronal features are independent of these physiological conditions, a finding which strongly pinpoints dendrites as the segments which control neuronal plasticity features, such as the neuronal firing frequency and the stimulation threshold of the neuron.” ...

This film explains ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyNzxiqI4nE&t=12s

https://scitechdaily.com/redefining-...g-assumptions/

Transparent implants = Transpara-plants ...

Revolutionary Transparent Implant Unveils Deep Brain Secrets From the Surface

Researchers have developed a revolutionary neural implant, combining the advantages of surface and deep probing technologies. This transparent, flexible implant with high-density graphene electrodes offers high-resolution data on both surface and deep neural activities. ... The technology, tested in transgenic mice, brings the researchers a step closer to building a minimally invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) that provides high-resolution data about deep neural activity by using recordings from the brain surface. ... Existing surface arrays, for example, are minimally invasive, but they lack the ability to capture information beyond the brain’s outer layers. In contrast, electrode arrays with thin needles that penetrate the brain are capable of probing deeper layers, but they often lead to inflammation and scarring, compromising signal quality over time.

The new neural implant developed at UC San Diego offers the best of both worlds. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/revolutiona...m-the-surface/

And this is mesmerizing ... maybe ...

Unlocking Hypnosis: Stanford Enhances Brain Power With Neurostimulation

Stanford Medicine scientists used transcranial magnetic stimulation to temporarily enhance hypnotizability in patients with chronic pain, making them better candidates for hypnotherapy. ...

... Approximately two-thirds of adults are at least somewhat hypnotizable, and 15% are considered highly hypnotizable, meaning they score 9 or 10 on a standard 10-point measure of hypnotizability. ... The researchers found that participants who received the neurostimulation showed a statistically significant increase in hypnotizability, scoring roughly one point higher. The sham group experienced no effect. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/unlocking-h...rostimulation/

A material improvement ...

Google Scientists Discovered 380,000 New Materials Using Artificial Intelligence

The Materials Project, an open-access database for new materials, is revolutionizing how researchers discover and develop materials for future technologies, with Google DeepMind contributing 400,000 new compounds. This synergy of AI, supercomputing, and experimental data speeds up the creation of materials for applications like renewable energy, efficient electronics, and environmental solutions.

https://scitechdaily.com/google-scie...-intelligence/

Am I (and you too) from Amyloid?

The Amyloid Hypothesis: Rewriting Life’s Origin Story

New research explores how amyloids, capable of forming under early Earth conditions and binding with RNA and DNA, may have played a key role in life’s emergence by increasing molecular stability and encouraging cooperation over competition. ... Riek and his team have been pursuing the idea that protein-like aggregates, known as amyloids, might have played an important role in the transition between chemistry and biology. Riek’s research group’s first step was to demonstrate that such amyloids can be formed relatively easily under the conditions that probably prevailed on the early Earth: in the laboratory, all it takes is a little volcanic gas (as well as experimental skill and a lot of patience) for simple amino acids to combine into short peptide chains, which then spontaneously assemble into fibers.

Later, Riek’s team demonstrated that amyloids can replicate themselves – which means that the molecules fulfill another decisive criterion for being considered precursor molecules of life. And now the researchers have taken the same line for a third time with their latest study, in which they show that amyloids are able to bind with molecules of both RNA and DNA. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/the-amyloid...-origin-story/

An old gene, once useful, is the source of modern problems ...

Gene that protected humans 5,000 years ago may be linked to debilitating modern disease

Scientists have compiled the largest database of ancient DNA based on the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across Western Europe and parts of Central Asia from 34,000 years ago until medieval times.

Analysis of this uniquely detailed pool of ancient genetic information suggests genes that may have once protected prehistoric hunter-gatherers or Bronze Age herders from harmful pathogens may today increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s in Europeans. ...

... Researchers used the database to explore the genetic origins of multiple sclerosis. They found that genetic risk of having the condition correlates to the proportion of ancestry from a group of ancient pastoralists who introduced domesticated animals to Europe around 5,000 years ago.

These nomadic herders of cattle and sheep, known as the Yamnaya, originated from the Pontic steppe, which stretches from southeastern Europe into Kazakhstan. It’s thought they were the first horse riders, making them highly mobile.

When they moved westward into Europe, they brought specific genetic variants that the researchers believe evolved to protect the nomads against pathogens carried by domesticated animals, the study found.

These genetic variants may have subsequently proved beneficial to European populations in making the shift from hunting and gathering to farming.

And because the Yamnaya primarily moved into northern Europe, the team concluded that the increased proportion of pastoralist ancestry in present-day northern Europeans might be partly responsible for the higher prevalence of the disease there. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/11/health...scn/index.html

Really, Sherlock?

Are fingerprints unique? Not really, AI-based study finds

... However, Guo said he’s confident that the discovery can improve criminal investigations.:

“The most immediate application is it can help generate new leads for cold cases, where the fingerprints left at the crime scene are from different fingers than those on file,” he said. “But on the flip side, this won’t just help catch more criminals. This will also actually help innocent people who might not have to be unnecessarily investigated anymore. And I think that’s a win for society.” ...


... Simon Cole, a professor in the department of criminology, law and society at the University of California, Irvine, agreed that the paper is interesting but said its practical utility is overstated. Cole was also not involved in the study.

“We were not ‘wrong’ about fingerprints,” he said of forensic experts. “The unproven but intuitively true claim that no two fingerprints are ‘exactly alike’ is not rebutted by finding that fingerprints are similar. Fingerprints from different people, as well as from the same person have always been known to be similar.”

The paper said the system could be useful in crime scenes in which the fingerprints found are from different fingers than those in the police record, but Cole said that this can only occur in rare cases, because when prints are taken, all 10 fingers and often palms are routinely recorded. “It’s not clear to me when they think law enforcement will have only some, but not all, of an individual’s fingerprints on record,” he said. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/12/world/...scn/index.html

AInemployment ...

‘Jobs may disappear’: Nearly 40% of global employment could be disrupted by AI, IMF says

Almost 40% of jobs around the world could be affected by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), a trend that is likely to deepen inequality, according to the International Monetary Fund.

In a Sunday blog post, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva called for governments to establish social safety nets and offer retraining programs to counter the impact of AI.

“In most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality, a troubling trend that policymakers must proactively address to prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions,” she wrote ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, where the topic is set to be high on the agenda. ...

... Georgieva said the effects were expected to be felt more deeply in advanced economies than emerging markets, partly because white-collar workers are seen to be more at risk than manual laborers. In more developed economies, for example, as much as 60% of jobs could be impacted by AI. Approximately half of those may benefit from how AI promotes higher productivity, she said. ... She warned that the use of AI could increase chances of social unrest, particularly if younger, less experienced workers seized on the technology as a way to help boost their output while more senior workers struggle to keep up. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/15/tech/i...hnk/index.html

Consumers of tomorrow ... and the FIRST STEP TO OUR TREELEAF HOLO-ZENDO!!!

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) ... Exoskeletons and AI cocktails: A walk through this year’s CES

Several products unveiled on the CES floor catered to solving issues in health care and sustainability. Nuvilab’s AI nutrition scanner is a device that aims to do both. The scanner, which looks like a small tablet screen and a camera, uses AI image processing to assess the amount of food being consumed and wasted in restaurants and commercial kitchens. It can also show the nutritional content of a plate, like calorie intake.

While the product is intended for any commercial kitchen to curb food waste, the nutritional content scan is meant to be helpful for places with a focus on serving healthy meals like long-term care facilities, schools and hospitals.

Technology for physical therapy and fitness also debuted at CES. WIRobotics and Innophys showed off their wearable robotic suits. WIRobotics demonstrated a robot that straps around a user’s waist and legs to assist in walking, running or exercising for those who find it increasingly difficult. Innophys’ “wearable exoskeleton” muscle suit attaches to a user’s back to alleviate stress from labor-intensive activity. ...

... PalmPlug is another piece of technology looking to change the future of physical therapy, but especially curated for stroke victims. Its sensor technology is built into a small glove that wraps around the wrist and fingers. A screen detects the hand and prompts movements through games and piano lessons, making physical therapy more entertaining. “You can apply this technology in gaming and in health, sports, AR and VR, just so much, but we’re starting with health care,” ...

... . The Holobox by Holoconnects is a device tall and wide enough to project a full-body 3D holographic image of an individual from anywhere in the world. While everyday consumers might not have a use for it, companies can use it for keynotes and conferences. The United Nations has even used the box to bring colleagues to the U.N. floor for meetings, Holoconnects staff members said. ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...ces-rcna133756

And SPECIAL MENTION, CHECK THESE OUT ...

Award-winning close-up photos show the hidden wonders of nature

https://us.cnn.com/travel/close-up-p...ntl/index.html

Gassho, J

stlah

“The Dark Side of AI: How Our Subconscious Is at Risk”

Reminds me of the plot of Minority Report.

The idea of a computer knowing more about what goes on inside my head than I do is pretty scary, almost as scary as the snippets that I get to see most nights.

Sattlah

Myojin

[Jundo]

Say what you are thinking ...

Not Science Fiction: Brain Implant May Enable Communication From Thoughts Alone

A team from Duke University has created a speech prosthetic that translates brain signals into speech, aiding individuals with neurological disorders. While still slower than natural speech, the technology, backed by advanced brain sensors and ongoing research, shows promising potential for enhanced communication abilities. ...

BELOW: A device no bigger than a postage stamp (dotted portion within white band) packs 128 microscopic sensors that can translate brain cell activity into what someone intends to say. ... Neurons just a grain of sand apart can have wildly different activity patterns when coordinating speech, so it’s necessary to distinguish signals from neighboring brain cells to help make accurate predictions about intended speech. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/not-science...houghts-alone/

AI will know what we are thinking, more than we know ...

The Dark Side of AI: How Our Subconscious Is at Risk

New research examines the potential misuse of AI in accessing our subconscious, as revealed by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. ... According to estimates, only 5% of human brain activity is conscious. The remaining 95% takes place subconsciously and not only do we have no real control over it, but we are also not even aware that it is taking place. As noted by Beltran de Heredia in his article, we are unaware of this extraordinary torrent of neural activity due to the high complexity of the interaction between our conscious mind and our subconscious behavior and our complete lack of control over the forces that guide our lives.

However, this does not mean that people cannot be influenced subconsciously. “There are two ways for artificial intelligence to do this,” he explained. “The first one is by collecting data about people’s lives and creating a decision architecture that leads you to make a particular decision. And the other – which is currently less developed – involves using applications or devices to directly create impulses that are irresistible for our subconscious mind in order to generate impulsive responses at a subliminal level, i.e. to create impulses.”

“As we gradually develop better and more powerful machines and become more closely connected to them, both options will become increasingly widespread. Algorithms will have more information about our lives, and creating tools to generate these impulsive responses will be easier […]

... “Under the proposal, the AI ban will apply when there is serious harm and the person ends up doing something they wouldn’t otherwise have done. But that’s an unrealistic standard. If I can’t access my subconscious, I can’t possibly prove what I would’ve done without the stimulus, and I can’t prove the harm either […] If subliminal advertising is now completely banned without qualification, why are we leaving room for subliminal conditioning by artificial intelligence?” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/the-dark-side-of-ai-how-our-subconscious-is-at-risk/

But AI helps folks too ...

Machine Learning Predicts Sight Loss: A Breakthrough in Eye Health

A breakthrough study by Tokyo Medical and Dental University has introduced a machine-learning model capable of predicting long-term visual impairment in patients with high myopia. Using a dataset of 34 variables from eye exams and a patient-friendly nomogram for easy interpretation, this model represents a significant step in combating the global challenge of vision loss.

https://scitechdaily.com/machine-lea...in-eye-health/

CRISPR over does it ...

CRISPR’s Unintended Cuts: Alarming Findings in Cancer Gene Therapy

Scientists have discovered that CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing can cause leukemia-derived cancer cells to eliminate important genes under stress. This overlooked phenomenon affects gene regulation and has significant implications for cancer treatment and research, highlighting the need for careful use of gene editing technologies.

https://scitechdaily.com/crisprs-uni...-gene-therapy/

Gassho, J

[Jundo]

A good week for NASA in some ways ...

Cosmic Cinema: NASA Unveils Stunning 14-Year Time-Lapse of the Gamma-Ray Sky

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has created a stunning all-sky time-lapse movie from 14 years of data, capturing the dynamic universe. It highlights the Sun’s path, the gamma-ray glow of the Milky Way, and distant galaxies known as blazars. The movie reveals both the beauty and complexity of the cosmos, showcasing high-energy events from across the galaxy and beyond, including eruptions from supermassive black holes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SutoWjMAmHI

https://scitechdaily.com/cosmic-cine...gamma-ray-sky/

Not a good week for our return to the moon ... but what's the rush? ...

NASA delays astronaut moon landing to at least 2026

The primary reasons for the delay include SpaceX’s outlook for developing Starship, the gargantuan rocket and spacecraft system that is expected to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon’s south pole. Two Starship test flights in 2023 ended in explosions. ... NASA officials added that they are also expecting delays in engineering the spacesuits astronauts will wear while on the moon’s surface. ... That delay is [also] linked in part to issues with the Orion crew capsule that will be home to the astronauts during the mission. The space agency previously disclosed that the spacecraft’s heat shield, which keeps Orion from burning up as the vehicle reenters the Earth’s atmosphere, became charred and eroded in an unexpected way during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/09/world/nasa-artemis-moon-landing-delay-scn/index.html

Peregrine mission abandons moon landing attempt after suffering ‘critical’ fuel loss

Astrobotic Technology, the company that developed the first lunar lander to launch from the United States in five decades, said it is abandoning an attempt to put its Peregrine spacecraft on the moon less than 24 hours after the vehicle took flight. The spacecraft has suffered “critical” propellant loss from a fuel leak, according to the company. ... On board the Peregrine vehicle are five scientific instruments from NASA and 15 other payloads from a variety of organizations and countries. The commercial payloads on the lander include mementos and even human remains that customers had paid to send to the lunar surface. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/08/world/peregrine-lunar-lander-anomaly-astrobotic-nasa-scn/index.html

But some folks did not like it anyway ...

Navajo Nation’s objection to landing human remains on the moon prompts last-minute White House meeting

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/05/w...scn/index.html

A bad week for AI use in chemistry too ...

Decoding the Black Box of AI – Scientists Uncover Unexpected Results

...Surprisingly, their findings indicate that these AI models primarily rely on recalling existing data rather than learning specific chemical interactions for predicting the effectiveness of drugs. ... According to the scientists, this is largely reminiscent of the “Clever Hans effect”. This effect refers to a horse that could apparently count. How often Hans tapped his hoof was supposed to indicate the result of a calculation. As it turned out later, however, the horse was not able to calculate at all, but deduced expected results from nuances in the facial expressions and gestures of his companion.

What do these findings mean for drug discovery research? “It is generally not tenable that GNNs learn chemical interactions between active substances and proteins,” says the cheminformatics scientist. Their predictions are largely overrated because forecasts of equivalent quality can be made using chemical knowledge and simpler methods. However, the research also offers opportunities for AI. Two of the GNN-examined models displayed a clear tendency to learn more interactions when the potency of test compounds increased. “It’s worth taking a closer look here,” says Bajorath. Perhaps these GNNs could be further improved in the desired direction through modified representations and training techniques. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/decoding-th...ected-results/

Plus AI is rAIcist ... and seen as more human than human ...

The Deceptive Realism of AI: White Faces That Fool the Eye

... Researchers found that AI-generated white faces are perceived as more realistic than human faces, a trend not seen with faces of people of color. ... For the AI faces, participants judged them to be real two-thirds of the time – more often than for the real faces. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/the-decepti...-fool-the-eye/

And maybe some AI progress ... magnetically attractive ...

Revolutionizing AI: Chiral Magnets Pave the Way for Energy-Efficient Brain-Like Computing

Researchers have advanced brain-inspired computing using chiral magnets, significantly reducing energy use in machine-learning tasks. The research marks progress towards more sustainable and adaptable computing technologies. ... In the new study, published in the journal Nature Materials, an international team of researchers used chiral (twisted) magnets as their computational medium and found that, by applying an external magnetic field and changing temperature, the physical properties of these materials could be adapted to suit different machine-learning tasks. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/revolutioni...ike-computing/

A very very strange case ...

Missing exchange student found cold and scared after what police call a ‘cyber-kidnapping’


Utah police say they found a teenage Chinese exchange student alone and cold in a tent after he was a victim of what they’re calling a “cyber-kidnapping.”

The Riverdale Police Department said Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing Thursday by his high school. His parents in China had contacted the school after they received a ransom photo of their son – and had sent $80,000 to bank accounts in China “due to continuous threats from the kidnappers,” according to a press release issued Sunday.

Police found him Sunday “alive but very cold and scared” at a makeshift campsite in the mountains near Brigham City, using Zhuang’s bank and phone records, the release said. Police said he was there on directions from his cyber-kidnappers to isolate himself. ... Police said the FBI told them other foreign exchange students, particularly Chinese, have been targeted in similar “cyber-kidnapping” scams in the US. Perpetrators threaten students, order them to isolate, monitor them through video calls and demand ransom from their families. ...

https://us.cnn.com/us/missing-exchange-student-utah-found/index.html

Pleasure and reward ... imagine if we could rewire the pleasure and reward centers of the brain ...

lluminating the Brain’s Reward Pathway – New Findings From Neuroscience

Recent research uncovers how dopamine in the brain guides animals to identify and refine behaviors leading to rewards. This study, linking specific actions to dopamine release, has implications for improving learning processes in education and AI. ... It reveals how dopamine not only signals a reward but also guides animals to home in on the specific behaviors that lead to these rewards through trial and error. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/illuminatin...-neuroscience/

When does consciousness begin?

Scientists Shed New Light on Mystery of Infant Consciousness

An international research study reveals that infants might possess conscious experiences from birth, integrating sensory and cognitive responses to understand their environment. ... the researchers argue that by birth the infant’s developing brain is capable of conscious experiences that can make a lasting imprint on their developing sense of self and understanding of their environment. ...

... “Nearly everyone who has held a newborn infant has wondered what, if anything, it is like to be a baby. But of course, we cannot remember our infancy, and consciousness researchers have disagreed on whether consciousness arises ‘early’ (at birth or shortly after) or ‘late’ *– by one year of age, or even much later.” ... To provide a new perspective on when consciousness first emerges, the team built upon recent advances in consciousness science. In adults, some markers from brain imaging have been found to reliably differentiate consciousness from its absence, and are increasingly applied in science and medicine. This is the first time that a review of these markers in infants has been used to assess their consciousness. ... “Our findings suggest that newborns can integrate sensory and developing cognitive responses into coherent conscious experiences to understand the actions of others and plan their own responses.” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-...consciousness/

Neurons and neurons ...

First Complete Cellular Map of a Mammalian Brain Reveals Over 5,300 Cell Types

Six years and 32 million cells later, scientists have created the first full cellular map of a mammalian brain. In a set of 10 papers in Nature today, a network of researchers unveiled an atlas cataloging the location and type of every cell in the adult mouse brain. Using advanced technologies that profile individual cells, the teams identified over 5,300 cell types – far more than known before – and pinpointed their locations within the brain’s intricate geography. ... “This is a landmark achievement that really opens the door for the next stage of investigations of the brain’s function, development and evolution, akin to the reference genomes for studying gene function and genomic evolution,” said Zeng, who led one of the studies. “My colleagues said that the 5,000 cell types we identified will keep neuroscientists busy for the next 20 years trying to figure out what these cell types do and how they change in disease.” ... One of the atlas’s major revelations is the deep connection between a cell’s genetic identity and its spatial position, Zeng said. This relationship underscores how location shapes function, offering clues into the evolutionary history and intricate interactions of different brain regions. ...

BELOW: Detailed classification and distribution of cell types in the entire mouse brain based on the expression of their genes.

https://scitechdaily.com/first-complete-cellular-map-of-a-mammalian-brain-reveals-over-5300-cell-types/

And how are they strung together ? ....

Scientists Have Decoded the Mechanism of How Synapses Are Formed

Researchers have made significant advances in understanding synapse formation. They used CRISPR technology to observe synaptic vesicle development and discovered that synaptic components share a common transport pathway. This finding, coupled with the discovery of unique neuronal transport organelles, offers new insights into neuronal functions and potential therapeutic approaches for neurological damage. ... To follow the formation of pre-synapses from the beginning, the researchers used CRISPR gene scissors to insert a fluorescent protein into human stem cells, and generated neurons from the modified stem cells. Thanks to the fluorescent marker, the researchers were now able to observe the development of nascent synaptic vesicles in living developing human nerve cells directly under the microscope. ...

BELOW: Schematic representation of axonal transport vesicles (blue) carrying presynaptic proteins (SV and AZ proteins). Kinesin motor proteins (KIF1A) attach these vesicles and carry them along the axons to the site of synapse formation.

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-...es-are-formed/

Nitogen is nice ... for our life ...

Space Rocks to Life Blocks: Meteorites Likely Source of Nitrogen for Early Earth

Micrometeorites originating from icy celestial bodies in the outer Solar System may be responsible for transporting nitrogen to the near-Earth region in the early days of our solar system. That discovery was published recently in Nature Astronomy by an international team of researchers, including University of Hawai’i at Manoa scientists, led by Kyoto University.

Nitrogen compounds, such as ammonium salts, are abundant in material born in regions far from the sun, but evidence of their transport to Earth’s orbital region had been poorly understood.

Nitrogen Compounds As Building Blocks for Life
“Our recent findings suggest the possibility that a greater amount of nitrogen compounds than previously recognized was transported near Earth, potentially serving as building blocks for life on our planet,” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/space-rocks...r-early-earth/

They once were alive ...

Newly discovered large predator worms ruled the seas as Earth’s earliest carnivores, study finds

Long before the first sharks appeared, large predator worms were the “terror beasts” of the seas more than 500 million years ago, according to new research.

Scientists discovered fossils of the previously unknown worm species during expeditions in North Greenland, uncovering what they believe to be some of the earliest carnivorous animals.

The worms reached nearly 1 foot (30 centimeters) in length and were some of the largest swimming animals at the time, known as the early Cambrian Period. ...

https://us.cnn.com/2024/01/04/world/...scn/index.html

I knew he was not dead ...

AI Elvis to make virtual reality comeback in London show

Elvis Presley fans who missed out on seeing their hero when he was alive will be able to catch a glimpse of the King of Rock 'n' Roll perform later this year, thanks to virtual reality.

Elvis Evolution will use AI and holographic projection, augmented reality and live theatre to recreate events in Presley's life and music, said Layered Reality, the immersive entertainment company developing the show. ...
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/ai...ow-2024-01-04/

TO BE CONTINUED ...

[Jundo]

Discoveries and innovations to close the year ... and tragedies too ...

A day in the life ...

Shadow Play: NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Captures a Martian Day, From Dawn to Dusk

When NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover isn’t on the move, it works pretty well as a sundial, as seen in two black-and-white videos recorded on November 8, the 4,002nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rover captured its own shadow shifting across the surface of Mars using its black-and-white Hazard-Avoidance Cameras, or Hazcams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GestPFnDMIk

https://scitechdaily.com/shadow-play-nasas-curiosity-mars-rover-captures-a-martian-day-from-dawn-to-dusk/

Grains in the hour glass ...

In a Universe of Wonders: NASA’s Hubble Presents a Holiday Globe of a Billion Stars

Hubble’s colorful snapshots show that the universe always looks like it’s in a holiday spirit. The dwarf irregular galaxy UGC 8091 is an opulent example. The dizzying interplay of matter and energy bubbles up to create dazzling blue, newborn stars that look like a festive string of lights. They are swaddled in glowing cocoons of hot, pink hydrogen gas. The galaxy is a collection of approximately 1 billion stars. That sounds like a lot, but it is 1/100th the stellar population inside our full-grown Milky Way galaxy. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/in-a-univer...billion-stars/

Always something new to discover about the body, and how it seeks health ...

“Fascinating” Findings – Scientists Have Discovered a New Type of Immune Cell

Lo, a distinguished professor of biomedical sciences in the UC Riverside School of Medicine, and Del Castillo, who are co-authors on the research paper published in Nature, confirmed the newly discovered cells in the thymus are just like M cells. Acting like gatekeepers, M cells are specialized antigen-delivery cells for the immune system in organs like the intestine and lungs. They play a key role in the development of the body’s immune system. ... “These particular M cells are limited to a specific region in the thymus and have unique associations with different cell types and functions,” Del Castillo said. “Questions these cells have already prompted include how similar are they to M cells elsewhere in the body and what is different about where they have been found.” ... “The thymus is complicated because it creates a whole functional immune system and repertoire, and we know many component parts play a role in its performance,” he said. “We didn’t expect M cells to even show up in the thymus. This is, therefore, a satisfying discovery because it is so clearly connected to similar processes happening in the gut and airways, which is where 60-70% of our infectious agents enter our bodies.” ...

https://scitechdaily.com/fascinating...f-immune-cell/

AI gets an A+ in chemistry ...

From Code to Chemistry: Coscientist, the AI System Mastering Nobel Prize-Winning Reactions

In less time than it will take you to read this article, an artificial intelligence-driven system was able to autonomously learn about certain Nobel Prize-winning chemical reactions and design a successful laboratory procedure to make them. The AI did all that in just a few minutes — and nailed it on the first try.

“This is the first time that a non-organic intelligence planned, designed, and executed this complex reaction that was invented by humans,” says Carnegie Mellon University chemist and chemical engineer Gabe Gomes, who led the research team that assembled and tested the AI-based system. They dubbed their creation “Coscientist.”

The most complex reactions Coscientist pulled off are known in organic chemistry as palladium-catalyzed cross couplings, which earned its human inventors the 2010 Nobel Prize for chemistry in recognition of the outsize role those reactions came to play in the pharmaceutical development process and other industries that use finicky, carbon-based molecules.

Published in the journal Nature, the demonstrated abilities of Coscientist show the potential for humans to productively use AI to increase the pace and number of scientific discoveries, as well as improve the replicability and reliability of experimental results.

https://scitechdaily.com/from-code-t...ing-reactions/

Where is the hype, and where is the reality about AI???

2023: The year we played with artificial intelligence -- and weren't sure what to do about it

... Some of the AI field's most esteemed scientists warned that the technology's unchecked progress was marching toward outsmarting humans and possibly threatening their existence, while other scientists called their concerns overblown or brought attention to more immediate risks. ...

... But the latest generative AI trend is at peak hype, according to the market research firm Gartner, which has tracked what it calls the "hype cycle" of emerging technology since the 1990s. Picture a wooden rollercoaster ticking up to its highest hill, about to careen down into what Gartner describes as a "trough of disillusionment" before coasting back to reality. ...

... But Gruber believes what's happening now is the "biggest wave ever" in AI, unleashing new possibilities as well as dangers.

...

The dangers could come fast in 2024, as major national elections in the U.S., India and elsewhere could get flooded with AI-generated deepfakes.

In the longer term, AI technology's rapidly improving language, visual perception and step-by-step planning capabilities could supercharge the vision of a digital assistant -- but only if granted access to the "inner loop of our digital life stream," Gruber said.

"They can manage your attention as in, 'You should watch this video. You should read this book. You should respond to this person's communication,'" Gruber said. "That is what a real executive assistant does. And we could have that, but with a really big risk of personal information and privacy."

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0bu/010000c

This was the space mission run from here, by Tsukuba, Japan's JAXA ...

Rethinking Cosmic Origins: The Ryugu Asteroid Samples’ Revelatory Findings

A recent study on asteroid Ryugu’s samples, brought back by Hayabusa2, offers new understanding of early solar system materials, challenging previous beliefs about asteroid compositions and the impact of Earth’s atmosphere on meteorites. ... “This study opens new avenues for understanding the composition and evolution of small bodies in our solar system. By considering the impact of terrestrial weathering on meteorites, we can refine our interpretations of asteroid compositions and advance our knowledge of the solar system’s early history,” said Kana Amano, a former PhD student at the early Solar System evolution Research Group at Tohoku University and co-author of the paper. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/rethinking-...tory-findings/

Also being run by JAXA here in Tsukuba ... Tsukuba to the moon! ...

Japan’s lunar spacecraft arrives in orbit ahead of historic moon landing attempt

The “Moon Sniper” lander developed by Japan’s space agency successfully entered lunar orbit on Christmas Day. The milestone brings the nation a step closer to achieving its goal of landing a robotic explorer on the moon’s surface for the first time.

On its current path, the lander is completing one loop of the moon roughly every 6.4 hours. But over the next few weeks, the vehicle will slowly tighten its orbit, diving closer to the moon’s surface as it prepares for its historic touchdown attempt, slated for mid-January.

If successful, Japan would become only the fifth country to accomplish such a feat and only the third country to do so in the 21st century.

https://us.cnn.com/2023/12/26/world/...scn/index.html

Pictures can deceive ...

The Great Galactic Misconception: Uncovering True Distances in Space

... This image is a really interesting example of how challenging it can be to tell whether two galaxies are actually close together, or just seem to be from our perspective here on Earth. A quick glance at this image would likely lead you to think that NGC 1356, LEDA 467699, and LEDA 95415 were all close companions, while IC 1947 was more remote. ... For instance, while NGC 1356 and LEDA 95415 appear to be so close that they must surely be interacting, the former is about 550 million light-years from Earth and the latter is roughly 840 million light-years away, so there is nearly a whopping 300 million light-year separation between them. That also means that LEDA 95415 is likely nowhere near as much smaller than NGC 1356 as it appears to be.

On the other hand, while NGC 1356 and IC 1947 seem to be separated by a relative gulf in this image, IC 1947 is only about 500 million light-years from Earth. The angular distance apparent between them in this image only works out to less than four hundred thousand light-years, so they are actually much much closer neighbors in three-dimensional space than NGC 1356 and LEDA 95415!

https://scitechdaily.com/the-great-g...nces-in-space/

X and Y ... more than just sex ...

The Surprising Influence of Sex Chromosomes on Whole-Body Gene Expression

Researchers David Page and Adrianna San Roman discovered that human sex chromosomes, particularly the gene pair ZFX and ZFY, regulate a wide range of genes throughout the body. Their findings, which redefine the roles of the X and Y chromosomes, suggest these chromosomes are crucial regulators of gene expression beyond just determining sex. ... by dialing up or down the expression of thousands of genes found on other chromosomes. ...

... Furthermore, the researchers found that the gene pair responsible for around half of this regulatory behavior, ZFX and ZFY, found on the X and Y chromosome respectively, have essentially the same regulatory effects as each other. This suggests that ZFX and ZFY inherited their role as influential gene regulators from their shared ancestor and have independently maintained it, even as their respective chromosomes diverged, because that regulatory role is critical for human growth and development.

... A subtlety thus far not discussed is that when Page and San Roman think about the sex chromosomes, they no longer think of X as most people think of it. Their work has convinced them that our current understanding of the sex chromosomes is imprecise. Although the human sex chromosomes are defined as X and Y, in fact there are two types of X chromosomes, and only one of them differs between typical males and females. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/the-surpris...ne-expression/

A medical miracle in Turin ...

Italian may regain use of hand after nerve transfer from amputated leg

A man may regain the use of his hand, left paralysed by a severe road accident, thanks to a pioneering nerve transfer operation from his partly amputated leg, doctors in northern Italy said.

Surgeons at Turin City Hospital (CTO) transferred part of the man's sciatic nerve, which controlled the movement of his amputated foot, to his brachial plexus, the network of nerves that connect the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm and hand.

... "We think this is pioneering surgery because if it works it means that the brain plasticity can control also other parts of the body that we didn't expect and also opens new fields in neuro studies," Titolo said. ...

https://www.reuters.com/business/hea...eg-2023-12-27/

Let there be light ...

E=mc² Comes Alive: Simulating Matter Creation From Laser Light

A team led by researchers at Osaka University and UC, San Diego has used simulations to demonstrate how one can experimentally produce matter solely from light, which in the future might help test long-standing theories on the composition of the universe.

One of the most striking predictions of quantum physics is that matter can be generated solely from light (i.e., photons), and in fact, the astronomical bodies known as pulsars achieve this feat. Directly generating matter in this manner has not been achieved in a laboratory, but it would enable further testing of the theories of basic quantum physics and the fundamental composition of the universe.

https://scitechdaily.com/emc2-comes-...m-laser-light/

Soon, we will move things with our thoughts ...

Mind Control Breakthrough: Caltech’s Pioneering Ultrasound Brain–Machine Interface

The latest advancements in Brain-Machine Interfaces [BMIs] feature functional ultrasound (fUS), a non-invasive technique for reading brain activity. This innovation has shown promising results in controlling devices with minimal delay and without the need for frequent recalibration. ... Many BMIs require invasive surgeries to implant electrodes into the brain in order to read neural activity. However, in 2021, Caltech researchers developed a way to read brain activity using functional ultrasound (fUS), a much less invasive technique. ...

... Because the skull itself is not permeable to sound waves, using ultrasound for brain imaging requires a transparent “window” to be installed into the skull. “Importantly, ultrasound technology does not need to be implanted into the brain itself,” says Whitney Griggs (PhD ’23), a co-first author on the study. “This significantly reduces the chance for infection and leaves the brain tissue and its protective dura perfectly intact.”

“As neurons’ activity changes, so does their use of metabolic resources like oxygen,” says Norman. “Those resources are resupplied through the blood stream, which is the key to functional ultrasound.” In this study, the researchers used ultrasound to measure changes in blood flow to specific brain regions. In the same way that the sound of an ambulance siren changes in pitch as it moves closer and then farther away from you, red blood cells will increase the pitch of the reflected ultrasound waves as they approach the source and decrease the pitch as they flow away. Measuring this Doppler-effect phenomenon allowed the researchers to record tiny changes in the brain’s blood flow down to spatial regions just 100 micrometers wide, about the width of a human hair. This enabled them to simultaneously measure the activity of tiny neural populations, some as small as just 60 neurons, widely throughout the brain. ... The ultrasound data was sent in real-time to a decoder (previously trained to decode the meaning of that data using machine learning), and subsequently generated control signals to move a cursor to where the animal intended it to go. The BMI was able to successfully do this to eight radial targets with mean errors of less than 40 degrees. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/mind-control-breakthrough-caltechs-pioneering-ultrasound-brain-machine-interface/

What separates the men from the monkeys ...

Brain Evolution Unlocked: Over 100 Genes That Make Us Uniquely Human

An international team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has uncovered over 100 genes that are common to primate brains but have undergone evolutionary divergence only in humans – and which could be a source of our unique cognitive ability. ... The divergent genes the researchers identified are found in 57 brain cell types, grouped by inhibitory neurons, excitatory neurons, and non-neurons. A quarter of the genes were only expressed differently in neuronal cells, also known as grey matter, and half were only expressed differently in glial cells, which are white matter. ...

https://scitechdaily.com/brain-evolu...niquely-human/

And for all this, people remain the weak link, not the technology itself ...

... as modern day slavery, scams and tech intersect ...

... appears to be a modern apartment complex, but the 10-foot-high fence and guard tower suggest otherwise

... It’s known as a “pig butchering” scam -- a type of confidence fraud in which victims are lured by scammers often impersonating young women on the internet. The scammers then spend weeks building a relationship with their victim, introducing them to cryptocurrency and encouraging them to invest on a fake platform.

Victims are shown startling returns and coaxed to keep pumping in more money — like a pig slowly fattened for the slaughter — until one day their scammer disappears along with the money. ... In 2020 reported losses connected to pig butchering scams amounted to $907million, according to the FBI. By November 2023 that number had shot up to $2.9 billion for the year.

... It is in one of these compounds that Indian national Rakesh, 33, worked for 11 months as a scammer stealing thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims like CY.

From San Francisco, someone like Rakesh may look like the bad guy. But he was also the victim of a brutal scam. Lured to Thailand with promises of white-collar jobs, thousands of people from across the world are trafficked to criminal hubs in Myanmar where they are held against their will and forced to steal millions in cryptocurrency.

The UN estimates that up to 120,000 people could be held in compounds across Myanmar, with another 100,000 people held in Cambodia and elsewhere in conditions that amount to modern slavery. ...

... A few days after his release from Gate 25 Rakesh sits on the edge of his bed in a dark hotel room showing photos of his friends still stuck inside.

“These bastards don't care about and don't have any feelings for other persons,” he says.

Rakesh is out, but hundreds of thousands of people remain trapped in scam compounds across Asia, and more are popping up all around the globe. ...

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/...-intl-hnk-dst/

Happy New (Earth) Year Everyone!

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Who doesn't love cat videos ... but this one is special ...

NASA laser message beams video of a cat named Taters back to Earth, and it’s a big deal

A laser communications experiment flying aboard NASA’s Psyche mission has beamed back a video to Earth from nearly 19 million miles (31 million kilometers) away — and the short clip stars a cat named Taters. It’s the first time NASA has streamed a video from deep space using a laser.

In the ultra-high definition video, the playful orange tabby cat chases, of all things, the elusive red dot from a laser pointer as it moves across a couch.

The cat video was transmitted to Earth from a flight laser transceiver as part of the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, or DSOC. The technology could one day be used to quickly transmit data, imagery and videos as humans push the limits of space exploration by venturing to places like Mars.

The 15-second video was encoded in a near-infrared laser and beamed from the Psyche spacecraft to the Hale Telescope at the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory. The video was downloaded at the observatory on December 11, and each frame was streamed live at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

At the time of the transmission, the distance between the Psyche spacecraft and Hale was 80 times the distance between Earth and the moon. It only took 101 seconds for the laser to each Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn60Mro8fcU

https://us.cnn.com/2023/12/18/world/...scn/index.html

My reaction was ... "WOW!!!" ...

Scientists successfully replicate historic nuclear fusion breakthrough three times


Scientists in California shooting nearly 200 lasers at a cylinder holding a fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn have taken another step in the quest for fusion energy, which, if mastered, could provide the world with a near-limitless source of clean power.

Last year on a December morning, scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (LLNL) managed, in a world first, to produce a nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy than it used, in a process called “ignition.”

Now they say they have successfully replicated ignition at least three times this year, according to a December report from the LLNL. This marks another significant step in what could one day be an important solution to the global climate crisis, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.

https://us.cnn.com/2023/12/20/climat...ate/index.html

Might we all be expert neuro-surgeons someday? ...

Zap Your Way to Surgical Mastery: Johns Hopkins’ Shocking New Training Technique

A study by Johns Hopkins University demonstrates that applying gentle electric currents to the cerebellum enhances the ability of individuals to transfer skills from virtual reality to real-world settings, especially in robotic surgery. This technique, which showed significant improvement in participants’ dexterity and skill application without previous surgical or robotics training, could revolutionize training methods in various high-tech industries, including medicine and robotics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsoPxK-o8iE&t=19s

https://scitechdaily.com/zap-your-wa...ing-technique/

Fake Jeans ...

Revolutionizing Biology: USC’s Breakthrough in “CReATiNG” Synthetic Chromosomes


A groundbreaking new technique invented by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science may revolutionize the field of synthetic biology. Known as CReATiNG (Cloning Reprogramming and Assembling Tiled Natural Genomic DNA), the method offers a simpler and more cost-effective approach to constructing synthetic chromosomes. It could significantly advance genetic engineering and enable a wide range of advances in medicine, biotechnology, biofuel production, and even space exploration.

https://scitechdaily.com/revolutioni...c-chromosomes/

There is dark code within us all ... and it is most of us ...

Dark Genome Discovery: Researchers Reveal “Ancient Genetic Parasite” Implicated in Human Diseases

Research published on December 14 in Nature sheds light on a small part of the so-called “dark genome” — the 98 percent of the human genome whose biological function is largely not known.

In this case, an international multidisciplinary team reported the first high-resolution images and structural details of a genetic element known as LINE-1, which inserts itself into the human genome and is implicated in diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, neurodegeneration, and even aging.

... LINE-1 is described in the paper as an “ancient genetic parasite” with about 100 potentially active copies in each person. LINE-1 activity is often correlated with disease.

Unlike DNA, which makes RNA and then proteins, retrotransposons like LINE-1 work backward, making DNA from RNA and then inserting it into the genome. [] The enzyme needed for this process is called LINE-1 reverse transcriptase, or LINE-1 RT.

https://scitechdaily.com/dark-genome-discovery-researchers-reveal-ancient-genetic-parasite-implicated-in-human-diseases/

Maybe AI will figure the "dark genome" out ...

Automating Scientific Discovery: Carnegie Mellon’s AI Coscientist Transforms Lab Work

Carnegie Mellon’s AI system, Coscientist, autonomously conducts chemistry experiments, significantly advancing scientific research. By using large language models and automating the experimental process, it offers a new level of efficiency and accessibility in scientific research, with an emphasis on safety and ethical use ...

... For example, a scientist could ask Coscientist to find a compound with given properties. The system scours the Internet, documentation data, and other available sources, synthesizes the information, and selects a course of experimentation that uses robotic application programming interfaces (APIs). The experimental plan is then sent to and completed by automated instruments. In all, a human working with the system can design and run an experiment much more quickly, accurately, and efficiently than a human alone. ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXg5hcKW44E&t=40s

How LLM learns ...

In a Striking Discovery, AI Shows Human-Like Memory Formation

An interdisciplinary team has found that AI models, particularly the Transformer, process memory in a manner similar to the human brain’s hippocampus. This breakthrough suggests that applying neuroscience principles, like those of the NMDA receptor, to AI can improve memory functions, advancing the field of AI and offering insights into human brain function. ... The NMDA receptor is like a smart door in your brain that facilitates learning and memory formation. When a brain chemical called glutamate is present, the nerve cell undergoes excitation. On the other hand, a magnesium ion acts as a small gatekeeper blocking the door. Only when this ionic gatekeeper steps aside, substances are allowed to flow into the cell. This is the process that allows the brain to create and keep memories, and the gatekeeper’s (the magnesium ion) role in the whole process is quite specific.

... The team made a fascinating discovery: the Transformer model seems to use a gatekeeping process similar to the brain’s NMDA receptor [see Figure 1]. This revelation led the researchers to investigate if the Transformer’s memory consolidation can be controlled by a mechanism similar to the NMDA receptor’s gating process.

https://scitechdaily.com/in-a-striki...ory-formation/

But more down to earth ... although in the sky ...

This cargo plane flew with no pilot on board

One of the world’s most widely used cargo planes completed an entire flight with no one on board for the first time.

Lasting approximately 12 minutes in total, the flight departed from Hollister Airport, in Northern California, and was operated by Reliable Robotics, which has been working since 2019 on a semi-automated flying system in which the aircraft is controlled remotely by a pilot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2O4hgNCMd4

https://us.cnn.com/travel/cessna-car...ntl/index.html

But AI also overdoes ...

Rite Aid’s ‘reckless’ use of facial recognition got it banned from using the technology in stores for five years

Rite Aid has agreed to a five-year ban from using facial recognition technology after the Federal Trade Commission found that the chain falsely accused customers of crimes and unfairly targeted people of color.

The FTC and Rite Aid reached a settlement Tuesday after a complaint accused the chain of using artificial intelligence-based software in hundreds of stores to identify people Rite Aid “deemed likely to engage in shoplifting or other criminal behavior” and kick them out of stores – or prevent them from coming inside.

But the imperfect technology led employees to act on false-positive alerts, which wrongly identified customers as criminals. In some cases, the FTC accused Rite Aid employees of publicly accusing people of criminal activity in front of friends, family and strangers. Some customers were wrongly detained and subjected to searches, the FTC said.

https://us.cnn.com/2023/12/20/tech/r...ent/index.html

This will never be comprehensive ... but it is a start ...

Biden administration takes first step toward writing key AI standards

... The agency is developing guidelines for evaluating AI, facilitating development of standards and provide testing environments for evaluating AI systems. The request seeks input from AI companies and the public on generative AI risk management and reducing risks of AI-generated misinformation. ... NIST is working on setting guidelines for testing, including where so-called "red-teaming" would be most beneficial for AI risk assessment and management and setting best practices for doing so.

External red-teaming has been used for years in cybersecurity to identify new risks, with the term referring to U.S. Cold War simulations where the enemy was termed the "red team."

https://www.reuters.com/technology/b...ds-2023-12-20/

Glass that shoots heat into space ...

A New Weapon Against Climate Change – Scientists Develop “Cooling Glass” That Blasts Building Heat Into Space

Researchers from the University of Maryland have created an innovative “cooling glass” designed to reduce indoor temperatures without using electricity. This groundbreaking material functions by tapping into the chill of outer space.

The new technology, a microporous glass coating described in a paper published in the journal Science, can lower the temperature of the material beneath it by 3.5 degrees Celsius at noon, and has the potential to reduce a mid-rise apartment building’s yearly carbon emissions by 10%, according to the research team led by Distinguished University Professor Liangbing Hu in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. ... The coating works in two ways: First, it reflects up to 99% of solar radiation to stop buildings from absorbing heat. More intriguingly, it emits heat in the form of longwave infrared radiation into the icy universe, where the temperature is generally around -270 degrees Celsius, or just a few degrees above absolute zero.

In a phenomenon known as “radiative cooling,” space effectively acts as a heat sink for the buildings; they take advantage of the new cooling glass design along with the so-called atmospheric transparency window—a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that passes through the atmosphere without boosting its temperature—to dump large amounts of heat into the infinite cold sky beyond. (The same phenomenon allows the earth to cool itself, particularly on clear nights, although with much less intense emissions than those from the new glass developed at UMD.)

https://scitechdaily.com/a-new-weapo...at-into-space/

A cancer cure for a buck?

The $1 Cure: How Programmable Bacteria Are Reshaping Cancer Therapy


What if a single one-dollar dose could cure cancer?

A multi-university team of researchers, supported by federal funding, is developing a highly efficient bacterial therapeutic to target cancer more precisely to make treatment safer through a single $1 dose. ...

... Drs. Arum Han, Jim Song and Chelsea Hu are developing synthetic programmable bacteria for immune-directed killing in tumor environments (SPIKEs). The idea is to engineer bacteria to help T cells kill cancerous tissue, destroy itself once the cancer is gone, and leave the body safely as human waste. ... “SPIKEs can specifically target tumor cells,” said Han, the Texas Instruments Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “And since it’s only targeting cancerous tissue and not the surrounding healthy cells, the safety of the patient is exponentially increased. It’s a great honor to be on this team, tackling a major health problem that affects a lot of people.”

Han’s lab is developing high-throughput microfluidic systems that can rapidly process and screen massive bacterial therapeutic libraries, one cell at a time, to quickly identify the most promising treatments. These systems are enabled by integrating microfabrication methods and biotechnology to achieve a pico-liter-volume liquid handling system that can accurately analyze single cells with high precision and high speeds, creating devices to analyze individual cells quickly.

“The major challenge is figuring out how to actually develop these sophisticated microdevices that allow us to conduct millions and millions of fully automated tests with almost no manual or human intervention,” Han said. “That’s the engineering challenge.”

https://scitechdaily.com/the-1-cure-...ancer-therapy/

Gassho, J

stlah

[Jundo]

Stunning picture of Uranus ...
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/n...Dlong%20winter.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9098[/ATTACH]

Gasshō

stlah, Bernal

I am avoiding the temptation to make a very bad joke ...

Gassho, J

stlah

[Kaitan]

This stone battery technology is HOT! ... worth a watch ...

I like the idea of the rocks, so simple, yet promising. I hope they don't seek profit over availability
Gasshō
stlah, Bernal

[Kaitan]

Stunning picture of Uranus from James Webb telescope

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/n...Dlong%20winter.

STScI-01HHFNPAHH8T1WG2ZNDXMEW2XS.png

Gasshō

stlah, Bernal