Thank goodness for this opportunity to share my gratitude to our community and to you who have helped us spread this information and help others in need.
Gassho
Sat/lah
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This is huge
GNoME’s discovery of 2.2 million materials would be equivalent to about 800 years’ worth of knowledge and demonstrates an unprecedented scale and level of accuracy in predictions.Leave a comment:
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The universe keeps moving, the world turning, life living ... all is stillness ...
This void is empty too ...Our galaxy’s black hole spins fast and drags space-time with it, scientists say
The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is spinning rapidly and altering space-time around it, a new study has found.
Space-time is the four-dimensional continuum that describes how we see space, fusing one-dimensional time and three-dimensional space together to represent the space fabric that curves in response to massive celestial bodies. ... The researchers confirmed that the black hole is spinning, which causes what is known as the Lense-Thirring effect. Also known as frame dragging, the Lense-Thirring effect is what happens when a black hole drags space-time along with its spin ...
... “With this spin, Sagittarius A* will be dramatically altering the shape of space-time in its vicinity,” Daly said. “We’re used to thinking and living in a world where all the spatial dimensions are equivalent — the distance to the ceiling and the distance to the wall and the distance to the floor … they all sort of are linear ... “But if you have a rapidly rotating black hole, the space-time around it is not symmetric — the spinning black hole is dragging all of the space-time around with it … it squishes down the space-time, and it sort of looks like a football,” she said. ...
BELOW: Sagitarrius A*
May Hubble Be Healthy, and at ease in all its ills ...Is a Giant Void Driving the Universe Apart?
The recent “Hubble tension” in cosmology, marked by conflicting expansion rate measurements, raises questions about the standard cosmological model. A new theory posits that a giant, underdense void could account for these discrepancies, challenging traditional views of matter distribution in the universe and suggesting a potential overhaul of Einstein’s gravitational theory.
... In our new paper, we present one possible explanation: that we live in a giant void in space (an area with below average density). We show that this could inflate local measurements through outflows of matter from the void. Outflows would arise when denser regions surrounding a void pull it apart – they’d exert a bigger gravitational pull than the lower density matter inside the void.
In this scenario, we would need to be near the center of a void about a billion light years in radius and with density about 20% below the average for the universe as a whole – so not completely empty.
Such a large and deep void is unexpected in the standard model – and therefore controversial. The CMB gives a snapshot of structure in the infant universe, suggesting that matter today should be rather uniformly spread out. However, directly counting the number of galaxies in different regions does indeed suggest we are in a local void. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/lost-in-spa...niverse-apart/
Too big for its britches ...Hubble’s Hiccup: Gyro Issue Causes NASA To Suspend Telescope Operations
... NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode on November 23 due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue. Hubble’s instruments are stable, and the telescope is in good health. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/hubbles-hic...pe-operations/
Big is small, small is big ...Massive exoplanet orbiting small star upends planet formation theories
... Astronomers are questioning the theories of planet formation after discovering an exoplanet that technically shouldn’t exist.
The planet, about the mass of Neptune and more than 13 times as massive as Earth, was detected orbiting an ultracool M-dwarf star called LHS 3154 — which is nine times less massive than our sun. An M-dwarf star is the smallest and coolest type of star.
The planet — dubbed LHS 3154b — closely whips around the star, completing one orbit every 3.7 Earth days, making it the most massive known planet in a close orbit around one of the coldest, low-mass stars in the universe, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science. It upends how scientists understand the formation of planetary systems. ...
... This graphic compares the sizes of our sun and Earth with the smaller, cooler LHS 3154 star and its orbiting planet, LHS 3154b.
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https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/30/world/...scn/index.html
We are the rivers, we are the earth ...Predictions of quantum field theory experimentally confirmed for the first time.
Entanglement is a quantum phenomenon where the properties of two or more particles become interconnected in such a way that one cannot assign a definite state to each individual particle anymore. Rather, we have to consider all particles at once that share a certain state. The entanglement of the particles ultimately determines the properties of a material. ... “We have developed a more efficient description, that allows us to extract entanglement information from the system with drastically fewer measurements,” explains theoretical physicist Rick van Bijnen. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/unlocking-t...ted-phenomena/
Alas, our circulatory system is drying up ... and we watch ...Tectonic Tales of Life: How Geology Has Influenced Evolution for the Past 500 Million Years
The movement of rivers, mountains, oceans, and sediment nutrients at the geological timescale are central drivers of Earth’s biodiversity, new research recently published in Nature reveals. The research also shows that biodiversity evolves at rates similar to the pace of plate tectonics, the slow geological processes shaping continents, mountains, and oceans.
“That is a rate incomparably slower than the current rates of extinction caused by human activity,” said lead author Dr Tristan Salles from the School of Geosciences.
The research looks back over 500 million years of Earth’s history to the period just after the Cambrian explosion of life, which established the main species types of modern life.
Dr Salles said: “Earth’s surface is the living skin of our planet. Over geological time, this surface evolves with rivers fragmenting the landscape into an environmentally diverse range of habitats.
“However, these rivers not only carve canyons and form valleys, but play the role of Earth’s circulatory system as the main conduits for nutrient and sediment transfer from sources (mountains) to sinks (oceans). While modern science has a growing understanding of global biodiversity, we tend to view this through the prism of narrow expertise,” Dr Salles said. “This is like looking inside a house from just one window and thinking we understand its architecture. Our model connects physical, chemical, and biological systems over half a billion years in five-million-year chunks at a resolution of five kilometers. This gives an unprecedented understanding of what has driven the shape and timing of species diversity,” he said. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/tectonic-ta...million-years/
Global warming is also an addiction ... excess desires ... clinging ... neurostimulation could help ...Global Drought Catastrophe: UN Uncovers “An Unprecedented Emergency on a Planetary Scale”
The UN’s report on global drought, revealed at COP28, highlights the severe and often overlooked consequences of droughts. It presents alarming data on drought impacts worldwide, including agriculture, water resources, and economic losses. The report calls for urgent action and international cooperation to build global drought resilience through sustainable practices and efficient resource management.
https://scitechdaily.com/global-drou...anetary-scale/
A small study shows another way to treat our excess desires ...Unmasking Addiction: Scientists Discover Common Brain Network Among People With Substance Use Disorder
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, part of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, have conducted a study indicating the presence of a common brain network in individuals with substance use disorder. This conclusion was drawn from an analysis of data from over 144 studies on addiction.
The research revealed that regardless of the substance or lesion location, abnormalities in substance use disorders mapped to a shared brain network. This discovery opens up possibilities for targeting this specific brain circuit with neurostimulation therapies. The study’s findings have been published in the journal Nature Mental Health. ...
... It also looked at different substances and found the network was common, whether someone was addicted to nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, or heroin. ...
... Fox said that despite the extensive data points, narrowing down a specific circuit fills in a gap from previous studies done in the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, bringing targeted neurostimulation to treat addiction, like transcranial magnetic stimulation, closer to patients in a clinical setting. ... https://scitechdaily.com/unmasking-a...-use-disorder/
CRISPR gets more snap ...Recent research indicates that semaglutide, a drug used for diabetes and weight loss, could effectively reduce symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorder.
... The paper is titled “Significant Decrease in Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms Secondary to Semaglutide Therapy for Weight Loss: A Case Series.” This collaboration has the potential to impact the lives of individuals struggling with Alcohol Use Disorder. ...
Using out brains to see our brains better ...CRISPR’s Hidden Treasures: 188 New Systems Unveiled by Smart Algorithm
Researchers at MIT, the Broad Institute, and the National Institutes of Health have developed a new search algorithm that has identified 188 kinds of new rare CRISPR systems in bacterial genomes. ...
By analyzing bacterial data, researchers have discovered thousands of rare new CRISPR systems that have a range of functions and could enable gene editing, diagnostics, and more. ... The scientists found a surprising number and diversity of CRISPR systems, including ones that could make edits to DNA in human cells, others that can target RNA, and many with a variety of other functions. ...
But we really don't need a brain for everything ...Brain Imaging Redefined: NexGen 7T MRI Achieves 10x Better Resolution
Higher resolution will allow neuroscientists to more precisely localize and trace brain networks.
An intense international effort to improve the resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for studying the human brain has culminated in an ultra-high resolution 7 Tesla scanner that records up to 10 times more detail than current 7T scanners and over 50 times more detail than current 3T scanners, the mainstay of most hospitals.
BELOW: Cross-sectional diagram of the NexGen 7T scanner, showing the new Impulse head-only gradient coil (green) and receiver-transmit coil (white) resting on a movable bed (brown) and connected to an electronic interface (blue) containing nearly a thousand wires (blue) that extend out of the magnet.
https://scitechdaily.com/brain-imagi...er-resolution/
Are they alive? Art they robots?Brain Not Required: Brittle Stars Showcase Surprising Learning Abilities
Recent research led by Julia Notar at Duke University reveals that brittle stars, despite lacking brains, can learn through experience. These marine creatures, related to starfish, use their nerve cords to learn by association, a concept demonstrated in classical conditioning. ... “There’s no processing center,” said lead author Julia Notar, who did the research as part of her biology Ph.D. in professor Sönke Johnsen’s lab at Duke University.
“Each of the nerve cords can act independently,” Notar said. “It’s like instead of a boss, there’s a committee.” ...
BELOW: This time-lapse video shows a classical conditioning experiment Duke researchers conducted to see if brittle stars – which don’t have brains – could learn. Every time the lights went dim, the researchers put a pipette with a morsel of shrimp in the animals’ tanks. Over time the animals learned that “lights out” was a dinner bell call to come for dinner.
https://scitechdaily.com/brain-not-r...ing-abilities/
Another new biomedical tool ...Tiny living robots made from human cells surprise scientists
Scientists have created tiny living robots from human cells that can move around in a lab dish and may one day be able to help heal wounds or damaged tissue, according to a new study.
A team at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have dubbed these creations anthrobots. The research builds on earlier work from some of the same scientists, who made the first living robots, or xenobots, from stem cells sourced from embryos of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). ...
... While alive, the anthrobots were not full-fledged organisms because they didn’t have a full life cycle, Levin said.
“It reminds us that these harsh binary categories that we’ve operated with: Is that a robot, is that an animal, is that a machine? These kinds of things don’t serve us very well. We need to get beyond that.” ...
... “In our method, each anthrobot grows from a single cell.”
It’s this self-assembly that makes them unique. Biological robots have been made by other scientists, but they were constructed by hand by making a mold and seeding cells to live on top of it, Levin said. ...
... The multicellular robots, ranging in size from the width of a human hair to the point of a sharpened pencil, were made to self-assemble and shown to have a remarkable healing effect on other cells. The discovery is a starting point for the researchers’ vision to use patient-derived biobots as new therapeutic tools for regeneration, healing, and treatment of disease. ...
... The experiments outlined in this latest study are at an early stage, but the goal is to find out whether the anthrobots could have medical applications, Levin and Gumuskaya said. To see whether such applications might be possible, researchers examined whether the anthrobots were able to move over human neurons grown in a lab dish that had been “scratched” to mimic damage.
They were surprised to see the anthrobots encouraged growth to the damaged region of the neurons, although the researchers don’t yet understand the healing mechanism, the study noted. ...
... “By reprogramming interactions between cells, new multicellular structures can be created, analogous to the way stone and brick can be arranged into different structural elements like walls, archways or columns.” The researchers found that not only could the cells create new multicellular shapes, but they could move in different ways over a surface of human neurons grown in a lab dish and encourage new growth to fill in gaps caused by scratching the layer of cells. ...
BELOW: A swarm of anthrobots ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/30/world/...scn/index.html
We are children of bacteria ...The Fast and the Luminous: First Visible Wavelength Femtosecond Fiber Laser Developed
Researchers have recently developed the first fiber laser capable of producing femtosecond pulses in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. This advancement holds potential for various biomedical and material processing applications. The unique feature of these lasers is their ability to produce ultrashort, bright visible-wavelength pulses, a significant step forward in laser technology. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/the-fast-an...ser-developed/
Right under our feet ... and maybe martian feet too ...Sophisticated Microbial Metropolis: Revealing Bacterial Teamwork Across Generations
When bacteria build communities, they cooperate and share nutrients across generations. Researchers at the University of Basel have now successfully demonstrated this for the first time using a newly developed method. This innovative technique enables the tracking of gene expression during the development of bacterial communities over space and time. ... The development of bacterial communities is a highly complex process where bacteria form intricate three-dimensional structures. In their latest study published on November 16 in the journal Nature Microbiology, the team led by Professor Knut Drescher from the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has investigated the development of bacterial swarm communities in detail. ... This study illustrates the complexity and dynamics within bacterial communities and reveals cooperative interactions among individual bacteria — in favor of the community. The spatial and temporal effects thus play a central role in the development and establishment of microbial communities. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/sophisticat...s-generations/
It is sure easier to preserve species than to put them back ... but I think the dodo is a no go ...Unveiling Earth’s Hidden World: Scientists Map Vast Subsurface Microbial Universe
If you totaled the mass of all microbes dwelling beneath the Earth’s surface, their combined biomass would surpass that of all life in our oceans.
However, due to the challenge of accessing these depths, this teeming underground life remains largely unexplored and poorly understood. Utilizing a repurposed goldmine in South Dakota’s Black Hills as a laboratory, researchers from Northwestern University have crafted the most comprehensive map yet of these elusive and unusual microbes beneath our feet.
In total, the researchers characterized nearly 600 microbial genomes — some of which are new to science. Out of this batch, Northwestern geoscientist Magdalena Osburn, who led the study, says most microbes fit into one of two categories: “minimalists,” which have streamlined their lives by eating the same thing all day, every day; and “maximalists,” which are ready and prepared to greedily grab any resource that might come their way. ...
... The minimalists, Osburn explained, typically share resources with friends, which also have specialized jobs. ... “Some of these lineages don’t even have genes to make their own lipids, which blows my mind,” Osburn said. “Because how can you make a cell without lipids? It’s sort of like how humans can’t make every amino acid, so we eat protein to get the amino acids that we cannot make on our own. But this is on a more extreme scale. The minimalists are extreme specialists, and all together, they make it work. It’s a lot of sharing and no duplication of effort.” ...
... Not only does the new study expand our knowledge of the microbes living deep within the subsurface, it also hints at potential life we someday might find on Mars. Because the microbes live on resources found within rocks and water that are physically separate from the surface, these organisms also potentially could survive buried within Mars’ dusty red depths. ... “I get really excited when I see evidence of microbial life, doing its thing without us, without plants, without oxygen, without surface atmosphere,” she said. “These kinds of life very well could exist deep within Mars or in the oceans of icy moons right now. The forms of life tell us about what might live elsewhere in the solar system.” ...
https://scitechdaily.com/unveiling-e...bial-universe/
AI, MRI and autism ...Not so dead as a dodo: ‘De-extinction’ plan to reintroduce bird to Mauritius
An audacious collaboration between geneticists and conservationists plans to bring back the extinct dodo and reintroduce it to its once-native habitat in Mauritius.
US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences, which is pursuing the “de-extinction” of multiple species, including the woolly mammoth, has entered a partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation to find a suitable location for the large flightless birds.
The dodo has been extinct since 1681; a combination of predation by humans and animals introduced by humans led to its downfall, turning it into a textbook case for extinction. But according to the partners, its return to Mauritius could benefit the dodo’s immediate environment and other species. ...
... One lingering question is “why?” Why pool resources into recreating a long-dead, flightless bird and sequestering it on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean?
Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal, argued that “restoring the dodo gives us the opportunity to create ‘conservation optimism,’ that hopefully inspires people around the globe, specifically the youth, in a time when climate change, biodiversity loss and politics can make things seem hopeless.”
He added that the techniques pioneered by the dodo project could help restore other avian species. ...
https://us.cnn.com/dodo-de-extinctio...scn/index.html
Pioneering AI Technology Diagnoses Autism in Children Under Two With 98.5% Accuracy
A groundbreaking AI system now diagnoses autism in children under two years old with 98.5% accuracy using brain MRIs, paving the way for earlier, more effective treatment and management of autism.
Crystal Clear AI: Revolutionizing the Future of Electronics Manufacturing
Nagoya University researchers have trained an AI to predict the orientation of crystal grains in polycrystalline materials using optical images, significantly reducing analysis time from 14 hours to 1.5 hours. This advancement, detailed in APL Machine Learning, promises to revolutionize the use of these materials in industries like electronics and solar energy.
https://scitechdaily.com/crystal-cle...manufacturing/The future, right here in Ibaraki, Japan ...HuGE AI Breakthrough: Using Crowdsourced Feedback in Robot Training
A novel reinforcement learning method, HuGE, developed by MIT, Harvard, and the University of Washington researchers, uses crowdsourced feedback to efficiently teach AI agents complex tasks, showing promising results in both simulations and real-world applications. ...
... To teach an AI agent a new task, like how to open a kitchen cabinet, researchers often use reinforcement learning — a trial-and-error process where the agent is rewarded for taking actions that get it closer to the goal.
In many instances, a human expert must carefully design a reward function, which is an incentive mechanism that gives the agent motivation to explore. The human expert must iteratively update that reward function as the agent explores and tries different actions. This can be time-consuming, inefficient, and difficult to scale up, especially when the task is complex and involves many steps. ...
... Researchers from MIT, Harvard University, and the University of Washington have developed a new reinforcement learning approach that doesn’t rely on an expertly designed reward function. Instead, it leverages crowdsourced feedback, gathered from many nonexpert users, to guide the agent as it learns to reach its goal.
While some other methods also attempt to utilize nonexpert feedback, this new approach enables the AI agent to learn more quickly, despite the fact that data crowdsourced from users are often full of errors. These noisy data might cause other methods to fail. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/huge-ai-bre...obot-training/
Bitcoin ... blackchain ... bad ... especially with that drought ...World’s biggest experimental nuclear fusion reactor launched in Japan
The world’s biggest operational experimental nuclear fusion reactor – a technology in its infancy but billed by some as the answer to humanity’s future energy needs – has been inaugurated in Naka, Japan.
Fusion differs from fission, the technique used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one.
The goal of the JT-60SA reactor is to investigate the feasibility of fusion as a safe, large-scale and carbon-free source of net energy – with more energy generated than is put into producing it.
The six-storey-high machine, in a hangar in Naka, north of Tokyo, comprises a doughnut-shaped “tokamak” vessel set to contain swirling plasma heated to 200 million degrees Celsius.
It is a joint project between the European Union and Japan, and is the forerunner for its big brother in France, the under-construction International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...hpbvYqg-M081M4
AI, in shy Japan, is even picking our spouses ...Cryptocurrency’s Thirst: A Single Bitcoin Transaction Consumes a Pool’s Worth of Water
Bitcoin mining’s extensive water use is worsening the global water crisis, especially in drought-prone regions, according to Alex de Vries. He suggests potential solutions, including renewable energy, but notes the challenges in their implementation.
... In the Bitcoin network, miners make about 350 quintillion—that is, 350 followed by 18 zeros—guesses every second of the day, an activity that consumes a tremendous amount of computing power.
“The right answer emerges every 10 minutes, and the rest of the data, quintillions of them, are computations that serve no further purpose and are therefore immediately discarded,” de Vries says.
During the same process, a large amount of water is used to cool the computers at large data centers. Based on data from previous research, de Vries calculates that Bitcoin mining consumes about 8.6 to 35.1 gigaliters (GL) of water per year in the U.S. In addition to cooling computers, coal- and gas-fired power plants that provide electricity to run the computers also use water to lower the temperature. This cooling water is evaporated and not available to be reused. Water evaporated from hydropower plants also adds to the water footprint of Bitcoin’s power demand.
... In total, de Vries estimates that in 2021, Bitcoin mining consumed over 1,600 GL of water worldwide. Each transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain uses 16,000 liters of water on average, about 6.2 million times more than a credit card swipe, or enough to fill a backyard swimming pool. Bitcoin’s water consumption is expected to increase to 2,300 GL in 2023, de Vries says,
In the U.S., Bitcoin mining consumes about 93 GL to 120 GL of water every year, equivalent to the average water consumption of 300,000 U.S. households or a city like Washington, D.C. ...
Gassho, J1 in 4 newlyweds in Japan met on matching apps, equaling workplace encounters: survey
One in four couples who got married in the past year in Japan met through matching apps, the same proportion as those who met at work, a survey conducted by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. has found. ... A total of 25% of those who got married in the past year answered they met their spouse through "matching apps" while the same proportion cited "colleagues, seniors or juniors at work." These responses were followed by "introductions by friends or acquaintances" at 13.5%, "school classmates, seniors or juniors" at 9.4%, and "marriage hunting parties or events" at 7.3%. "Introduction of prospective marriage partners" and "pickups" accounted for 1% each.
The top reasons for those who have used matching apps for marriage, with multiple answers allowed, were "because it is easy to meet people" and "because I can't meet prospective partners at work" at 46.7% each, followed by "because I can choose the partner of my choice," at 41.7%. ...
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/013000c
stlahLeave a comment:
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New clues on the origin of life ...
The Primordial Brew: How Ancient Seas Molded Life on Earth
Recent research has shown that the formation of greenalite in ancient oceans played a crucial role in determining the availability of certain metals, such as manganese and molybdenum, which were vital for early life forms. ... All life uses nutrients such as zinc and copper to form proteins. The oldest lifeforms evolved in the Archean Eon, three and a half billion years before the dinosaurs first appeared. These microbes showed a preference for metals such as molybdenum and manganese compared to their more recent counterparts. This preference is thought to reflect the availability of metals in the ocean at that time. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/the-primord...life-on-earth/
Maps of space, and maps of the the connections within the brain ...
Our brains should feel thankful for Microglia ...Mind Mapping: A Human Brain Cell Atlas Ushering In “A New Era in Brain Science”
Researchers from the Salk Institute, in a global collaboration, have produced a detailed atlas of human brain cells by analyzing over half a million cells. The study, part of the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, marks a pivotal shift in understanding brain cell diversity and function. ... The research, published in a special issue of the journal Science on October 13, 2023, is the first time that techniques to identify brain cell subtypes originally developed and applied in mice have been applied to human brains. ...
... Every cell in a human brain contains the same sequence of DNA, but in different cell types different genes are copied onto strands of RNA for use as protein blueprints. This ultimate variation in which proteins are found in which cells—and at what levels—allows the vast diversity in types of brain cells and the complexity of the brain. Knowing which cells rely on which DNA sequences to function is critical not only to understanding how the brain works, but also how mutations in DNA can cause brain disorders and, relatedly, how to treat those disorders. ...
... Other research teams whose work is also published in the special issue of Science used cells from the same three human brains to test their own cell profiling techniques, including a group at UC San Diego led by Bing Ren—also a co-author in Ecker and Behrens’ study. Ren’s team revealed a link between specific brain cell types and neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and major depression. Additionally, the team developed artificial intelligence deep learning models that predict risk for these disorders. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/mind-mappin...brain-science/
And don't forget the little brain ...Microglia’s Key Function in Brain Development Uncovered
Researchers have discovered the vital role of microglia in brain development by studying lab-grown brain organoids. ... Scientists have found that microglia play a crucial role in regulating the number of cells that become neurons in the brain, enhancing our understanding of brain development and disorders.
... The microglia-like cells were found to contain lipid droplets containing cholesterol, which were released and taken up by other developing brain cells in the organoids. This cholesterol exchange was shown to significantly enhance the growth and development of these brain cells, especially their progenitors. ... Cholesterol is abundant in the brain and constitutes about 25% of the body’s total cholesterol content. It is essential for the structure and function of neurons. Abnormal cholesterol metabolism has been linked to various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. ...
BELOW: Super-resolution image of human stem cell-derived Microglia cells with labeled mitochondria (yellow), nucleus (magenta), and actin filaments (cyan).
https://scitechdaily.com/microglias-...ent-uncovered/
Now, on to future brains ...Rethinking the “Little Brain” – The Surprising Learning Power of Cerebellar Nuclei
Associative learning was always thought to be regulated by the cortex of the cerebellum, often referred to as the “little brain”. However, new research from a collaboration between the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, and Champalimaud Center for the Unknown reveals that actually the nuclei of the cerebellum make a surprising contribution to this learning process. ...
If a teacup is steaming, you’ll wait a bit longer before drinking from it. And if your fingers get caught in the door, you’ll be more careful next time. These are forms of associative learning, where a positive or negative experience leads to learning behavior. We know that our cerebellum is important in this form of learning. But how exactly does this work? ...
... If you look at the cerebellum, you can distinguish two major parts in it: the cerebellar cortex, or the outer layer of the cerebellum, and the cerebellar nuclei, the inner part. These parts are interconnected. The nuclei are groups of brain cells that receive all kinds of information from the cortex. These nuclei in turn have connections to other brain areas that control movements, including eyelid closures. Essentially, the nuclei are the output center of the cerebellum. ... “The cerebellar cortex has long been regarded as the primary player in learning the reflex and timing of the eyelid closure. With this study, we show that well-timed eyelid closures can also be regulated by the cerebellar nuclei. " ...
Twice As Powerful: Next-Gen AI Chip Mimics Human Brain for Power Savings
Innovative new chip technology integrates data storage and processing, significantly boosting efficiency and performance. Inspired by the human brain, these chips, expected to be market-ready in three to five years, require interdisciplinary collaboration to meet industry security standards.
https://scitechdaily.com/twice-as-po...power-savings/New Techniques From MIT and NVIDIA Revolutionize Sparse Tensor Acceleration for AI
MIT and NVIDIA researchers have created two techniques to enhance sparse tensor processing, improving performance and energy efficiency in AI machine-learning models. These techniques optimize zero value handling, with HighLight accommodating a variety of sparsity patterns and Tailors and Swiftiles maximizing on-chip memory utilization through “overbooking.” The developments offer significant speed and energy usage improvements, enabling more specialized yet flexible hardware accelerators.
https://scitechdaily.com/new-techniq...ration-for-ai/On the other hand, there is intelligence, and then there is intelligence ...The Future of AI: Self-Learning Machines Could Replace Current Artificial Neural Networks
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute have devised a more energy-efficient method for AI training, utilizing physical processes in neuromorphic computing. This approach, diverging from traditional digital neural networks, reduces energy consumption and optimizes training efficiency. The team is developing an optical neuromorphic computer to demonstrate this technology, aiming to significantly advance AI systems. ... New physics-based self-learning machines could replace the current artificial neural networks and save energy. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/the-future-...ural-networks/
... not yet anyway ...The Limits of AI: Why ChatGPT Isn’t Truly “Intelligent”
A new paper argues that AI’s intelligence, as seen in systems like ChatGPT, is fundamentally different from human intelligence due to its lack of embodiment and understanding. This difference highlights that AI does not share human concerns or connections with the world. ... ... AI cannot be intelligent in the way that humans are, even though “it can lie and BS like its maker.” ...
... According to our everyday use of the word, AI is definitely intelligent, but there are intelligent computers and have been for years, Chemero explains in a paper he co-authored in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. ... “LLMs generate impressive text, but often make things up whole cloth,” he states. “They learn to produce grammatical sentences, but require much, much more training than humans get. They don’t actually know what the things they say mean,” he says. “LLMs differ from human cognition because they are not embodied.” ...
...
The main takeaway is that LLMs are not intelligent in the way that humans are because they “don’t give a damn,” Chemero says, adding “Things matter to us. We are committed to our survival. We care about the world we live in.” ...
https://scitechdaily.com/the-limits-...y-intelligent/
Misuse for politics ...From Pixels to Paradigms: MIT’s Synthetic Leap in AI Training
MIT’s StableRep system uses synthetic images from text-to-image models for machine learning, surpassing traditional real-image methods. It offers a deeper understanding of concepts and cost-effective training but faces challenges like potential biases and the need for initial real data training. ... “We’re teaching the model to learn more about high-level concepts through context and variance, not just feeding it data,” says Lijie Fan, MIT PhD student in electrical engineering, affiliate of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), lead researcher on the work. “When multiple images, all generated from the same text, all treated as depictions of the same underlying thing, the model dives deeper into the concepts behind the images, say the object, not just their pixels.” ...
https://scitechdaily.com/from-pixels...n-ai-training/
The sense of the separate "self" ... when and how does it develop? New answers:China is using the world’s largest known online disinformation operation to harass Americans, a CNN review finds
The Chinese government has built up the world’s largest known online disinformation operation and is using it to harass US residents, politicians, and businesses—at times threatening its targets with violence, a CNN review of court documents and public disclosures by social media companies has found.
The onslaught of attacks – often of a vile and deeply personal nature – is part of a well-organized, increasingly brazen Chinese government intimidation campaign targeting people in the United States, documents show.
The US State Department says the tactics are part of a broader multi-billion-dollar effort to shape the world’s information environment and silence critics of Beijing that has expanded under President Xi Jinping. ... Victims face a barrage of tens of thousands of social media posts that call them traitors, dogs, and racist and homophobic slurs. They say it’s all part of an effort to drive them into a state of constant fear and paranoia.
Often, these victims don’t know where to turn. Some have spoken to law enforcement, including the FBI – but little has been done. While tech and social media companies have shut down thousands of accounts targeting these victims, they’re outpaced by a slew of new accounts emerging virtually every day. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/13/us/chi...nvs/index.html
Gassho, JFour Months Old and Already Self-Aware: New Findings in Infant Psychology
Research from the University of Birmingham shows that babies as young as four months can understand their body’s interaction with space. This study, involving a tactile and visual experiment, indicates that infants’ brains are capable of linking sight and touch, contributing to their spatial awareness. Further research is planned to investigate these abilities in newborns.
...
Dr. Giulia Orioli, Research Fellow in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, who led the study said: “Our findings indicate that even in the first few months of life, before babies have even learned to reach for objects, the multisensory brain is wired up to make links between what babies see and what they feel. This means they can sense the space around them and understand how their bodies interact with that space. This is sometimes referred to as peripersonal space.
“Of course, humans do this all the time as adults, using our combined senses to perceive where we are in space and making predictions about when we will touch an object or not. But now that we know that babies in the early stages of their development begin to show signs of this, it opens up questions about how much of these abilities are learned, or innate.” ...
https://scitechdaily.com/four-months...nt-psychology/
stlahLast edited by Jundo; 11-26-2023, 02:42 PM.Leave a comment:
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Some truly POWERFUL and OUT OF THIS WORLD stories this week ... starting with ...
Looking inward ...Mysterious cosmic ray observed in Utah came from beyond our galaxy, scientists say - Astronomers Shocked by Mysterious Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray – “What the Heck Is Going On?”
Space scientists seeking to understand the enigmatic origins of powerful cosmic rays have detected an extremely rare, ultra-high-energy particle that they believe traveled to Earth from beyond the Milky Way galaxy.
The energy of this subatomic particle, invisible to the naked eye, is equivalent to dropping a brick on your toe from waist height, according to the authors of new research published Thursday in the journal Science. It rivals the single most energetic cosmic ray ever observed, the “Oh-My-God” particle that was detected in 1991, the study found.
... “If you hold out your hand, one (cosmic ray) goes through the palm of your hand every second, but those are really low-energy things,” said study coauthor John Matthews, a research professor at the University of Utah.
“When you get out to these really high-energy (cosmic rays), it’s more like one per square kilometer per century. It’s never going through your hand.” ...
... The source of these ultra-high-energy particles baffles scientists.
Matthews, a co-spokesman for the Telescope Array Collaboration, said the two biggest recorded cosmic rays appeared “sort of random” — when their trajectories are traced back, there appears to be nothing high-energy enough to produce such particles. The Amaterasu particle, specifically, seemed to originate from what’s known as the Local Void, an empty area of space bordering the Milky Way galaxy. “If you take the two highest-energy events — the one that we just found, the ‘Oh-My-God’ particle — those don’t even seem to point to anything. It should be something relatively close. Astronomers with visible telescopes can’t see anything really big and really violent,” Matthews said. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/23/americ...scn/index.html
Talk about a long distance call ...Webb telescope captures never-before-seen glimpse of the heart of the Milky Way
The James Webb Space Telescope has looked into the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, unveiling new features and mysteries within the chaotic region that could help astronomers unravel more details about the early universe. ... Astronomers used Webb to glimpse Sagittarius C, or Sgr C, an active region of star formation located about 300 light-years from the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. A light-year, equivalent to 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion kilometers), is how far a beam of light travels in one year. ... Studying the Milky Way’s center with Webb could provide insights into how many stars form there and whether massive stars are more likely to form near the galactic center rather than the galaxy’s spiral arms. “There’s never been any infrared data on this region with the level of resolution and sensitivity we get with Webb, so we are seeing lots of features here for the first time” ...
... There are an estimated 500,000 stars glittering within the image, all ranging in size and age. Among them are a cluster of protostars, or dense masses of dust and gas that are still developing and growing into full-fledged stars — including a massive protostar at the cluster’s center that has more than 30 times the mass of the sun.
ALSO:
This image of Sagittarius C (Sgr), captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.
The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).
The scale bar is labeled in light-years, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year. (It takes 3 years for light to travel a distance equal to the length of the scale bar.) One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers. The field of view shown in this image is approximately 50 light-years long.
And we need good maps ...‘First light’: NASA receives laser-beamed message from 10 million miles away
An innovative experiment flying aboard NASA’s Psyche mission just hit its first major milestone by successfully carrying out the most distant demonstration of laser communications. The tech demo could one day help NASA missions probe deeper into space and uncover more discoveries about the origin of the universe. ... The experiment beamed a laser encoded with data from far beyond the moon for the first time. The test data was sent from nearly 10 million miles (16 million kilometers) away and reached the Hale Telescope at the California Institute of Technology’s Palomar Observatory in Pasadena, California. ...
... During first light, it took only 50 seconds for the laser to travel from Psyche to Earth. At the farthest distance between the spacecraft and Earth, the laser is expected to take 20 minutes to travel one way. And during that time, the spacecraft will continue to move and Earth will rotate. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/24/world/...scn/index.html
Jet power ...Gaia’s Galactic Cartography: Building the Most Detailed 3D Map of the Milky Way
Gaia is creating an extraordinarily precise three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond. It is mapping their motions, luminosity, temperature, and composition. This huge stellar census will provide the data needed to tackle an enormous range of important questions related to the origin, structure, and evolutionary history of our galaxy.
https://scitechdaily.com/gaias-galac...the-milky-way/
Then, looking down ...Giant Telescope – 8x the Size of Earth – Reveals Unprecedented View of Colossal Cosmic Jet
Using a network of radio telescopes on Earth and in space, astronomers have captured the most detailed view ever of a jet of plasma shooting from a supermassive black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy.
The jet, which comes from the heart of a distant blazar called 3C 279, travels at nearly the speed of light and shows complex, twisted patterns near its source. ... Blazars are the brightest and most powerful sources of electromagnetic radiation in the cosmos. They are a subclass of active galactic nuclei comprising galaxies with a central supermassive black hole accreting matter from a surrounding disk. About 10% of active galactic nuclei, classified as quasars, produce relativistic plasma jets. Bazars belong to a small fraction of quasars in which we can see these jets pointing almost directly at the observer. ...
... and more to come ...Unlocking Fundamental Mysteries: Using Near-Miss Particle Physics to Peer Into Quantum World
In a breakthrough at CERN, scientists measured the elusive tau particle’s magnetic moment using near-miss particle interactions in the Large Hadron Collider. This method, marking a significant advancement in particle physics, has the potential to reveal unknown aspects of the universe’s fundamental nature. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/unlocking-f...quantum-world/Last edited by Jundo; 11-26-2023, 01:50 PM.Leave a comment:
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Did you feel it?
Cosmic Flash: Earth Struck by Historic Gamma-Ray Burst From Exploding Star
An enormous burst of gamma rays, detected by ESA’s Integral space telescope, has struck Earth [At 14:21 BST / 15:21 CEST on October 9, 2022]. The blast caused a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere. Such disturbances are usually associated with energetic particle events on the Sun but this one was the result of an exploding star almost two billion light-years away. Analyzing the effects of the blast could provide information about the mass extinctions in Earth’s history.
... “It was probably the brightest gamma-ray burst we have ever detected,” says Mirko Piersanti, University of L’Aquila, Italy, and lead author of the team that published these results. ... So strong in fact that its nearest rival on record is ten times weaker. Statistically, a GRB as strong as GRB 221009A arrives at Earth only once every 10,000 years. ... Gamma-ray bursts were once mysterious events but are now recognized to be the outpouring of energy from exploding stars called supernovae, or from the collision of two super-dense neutron stars. ...
... This particular GRB took place in a galaxy almost 2 billion light-years away – hence two billion years ago – yet it still had enough energy to affect Earth. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/cosmic-flas...xploding-star/
Do you know that SATURN'S RINGS WILL DISAPPEAR SOON!!!!
(well, for awhile) ...
Shining a light on the dark ...Unveiling Saturn’s Secrets: Eclipses Reveal Ring Transparency
Τhe main rings, which extend up to 140,000 km (90,000 miles) from the planet, but have a maximum thickness of only 1 km (0.6 miles), are to disappear from view from Earth by 2025. In that year the rings will be tilted edge-on to Earth, making it almost impossible to view them. They will tilt back towards Earth during the next phase of Saturn’s 29-year orbit and will continue to become more visible and brighter until 2032.
...
https://scitechdaily.com/unveiling-s...-transparency/
You can fly to Jupiter! ... or, at least, your name can ...Cosmic Clarity: Gravitational Lensing Reveals the Fine Fabric of Dark Matter
A team of researchers has used the gravitational lensing of the MG J0414+0534 system, observed with ALMA, to map dark matter distribution in unprecedented detail, confirming theories of cold dark matter and paving the way for further discoveries about the universe’s dominant but elusive component. ... Mysterious dark matter accounts for most of the matter in the Universe. Dark matter is invisible and makes itself know only through its gravitational effects. Dark matter has never been isolated in a laboratory, so researchers must rely on “natural experiments” to study it.
[Below] Dark matter fluctuations in the lens system MG J0414+0534. The whitish blue color represents the gravitationally lensed images observed by ALMA. The calculated distribution of dark matter is shown in orange; brighter regions indicate higher concentrations of dark matter and dark orange regions indicate lower concentrations.
I posted this before, but worth mentioning again ...Fly Your Name to Jupiter’s Moon: Join NASA’s Europa Odyssey
Six weeks remain for you to add your name to a microchip that will ride aboard the spacecraft as it explores Jupiter’s moon Europa.
[The process by which they do it is even more interesting!] ....
https://scitechdaily.com/fly-your-na...uropa-odyssey/
This is not good news ...CRISPR treatment has been greenlit in UK in global first. Here’s who it could help
The United Kingdom has become the first country to give regulatory approval to a medical treatment involving the revolutionary CRISPR gene editing tool.
The country’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said Thursday it had given a greenlight to a treatment known as Casgevy, which will be used to treat sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. Both genetic conditions are caused by errors in the genes for hemoglobin, which is used by red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body. There is no known universally successful treatment for either disorder.
Sickle cell disease, which can result in attacks of debilitating pain, is more common in people with an African or Caribbean family background. Beta thalassemia mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern origin, the statement said.
... The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique allows scientists to make very precise changes to DNA. Its inventors — Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna — won a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2020.
Casgevy isn’t a simple pill or injection. The treatment, made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is administered by taking stem cells out of a patient’s bone marrow and editing a gene in the cells in a lab. Patients then must undergo a “conditioning treatment,” which can involve an immunosuppressing drug, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, to prepare the bone marrow before the modified cells are infused back into the patient, according to the MHRA.
“After that, patients may need to spend at least a month in a hospital facility while the treated cells take up residence in the bone marrow and start to make red blood cells with the stable form of haemoglobin,” according to the statement.
The US Food and Drug Administration is evaluating the same treatment and is expected to make a decision on whether to greenlight it by December 8. ... The release from the MHRA did not say how much the treatment would cost, but it’s likely to be expensive.
... although maybe will help with over-population 
And in case we stop reproducing ... this is faster than humans anyway ...Common pesticides in food reducing sperm count worldwide, study says
Pesticides used in our homes, gardens and lawns and sprayed on foods we eat are contributing to a dramatic decline in sperm count among men worldwide, according to a new analysis of studies over the last 50 years.
“Over the course of 50 years, sperm concentration has fallen about 50% around the world,” said senior study author Melissa Perry, dean of the College of Public Health at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
“What is not known is the culprit,” Perry said. “While there are likely many more contributing causes, our study demonstrates a strong association between two common insecticides —organophosphates and N-methyl carbamates — and the decline of sperm concentration.”
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/15/health...ess/index.html
A chip off the old block ...The “Self-Driving Lab” That Unlocks Quantum Dot Secrets in Hours – Instead of Years
Researchers have developed SmartDope, an autonomous system capable of rapidly identifying the best materials for electronic and photonic devices, addressing a longstanding challenge in quantum dot synthesis. SmartDope operates as a self-driving lab, conducting experiments in a continuous flow reactor and utilizing machine learning to optimize quantum dot production. In just one day, it surpassed the previous quantum yield record, showcasing the potential of self-driving labs for accelerating material science. ... It can take years of focused laboratory work to determine how to make the highest quality materials for use in electronic and photonic devices. Researchers have now developed an autonomous system that can identify how to synthesize “best-in-class” materials for specific applications in hours or days.
... The SmartDope system is a “self-driving” lab. ... Once it has received that initial information, SmartDope begins running experiments autonomously. The experiments are conducted in a continuous flow reactor that uses extremely small amounts of chemicals to conduct quantum dot synthesis experiments rapidly as the precursors flow through the system and react with each other. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/smartdope-t...tead-of-years/
Ever see a pattern when sitting Zazen, facing the wall ...A Milestone in Computing: 2D In-Memory Processor With Over 1000 Transistors
EPFL researchers have created an energy-efficient in-memory processor using MoS2, combining over 1000 transistors. This processor, which efficiently performs vector-matrix multiplication, represents a shift away from traditional von Neumann architecture and could boost the European semiconductor industry.
https://scitechdaily.com/a-milestone...0-transistors/
... While Americans slowly return to being cavemen ...New Study Decodes Pareidolia in 40,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings
New suggests that Ice Age cave art was partly influenced by pareidolia, a phenomenon where humans see meaningful shapes in random patterns. Focusing on caves in Northern Spain, the study found that many images incorporated natural features of the cave walls, indicating that artists were influenced by both pareidolia and their creativity.
... Top image: Upper Palaeolithic drawing of the partial outline of a horse that uses the natural edge of the cave wall to represent the back and head of the horse. Bottom image: The same horse drawing under the simulated VR light conditions. ...
Gassho, JAmericans’ trust in science declining, Pew survey says
mericans’ trust in science and scientists has dropped since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report by Pew Research Center.
The percent of American adults who say science has a “mostly positive” effect on society fell to 57%, down 8 percentage points since November 2021 and 16 percentage points since just before the pandemic, according to the survey of more than 8,800 U.S. adults conducted in the last week of September. More than a third of respondents believed that the impact of science has been equally positive and negative, while 8% think science has a “mostly negative” impact on society.
... Trust in science wasn’t the same across the political spectrum: The Pew survey found that Republicans had less confidence in scientists and the benefits of science than Democrats. Less than half of Republicans (47%) said science has had a mostly positive effect on society, a decline from 70% in 2019. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats say science has had a mostly positive effect on society, although that has also declined by 8 points from 2019. ...
... Despite public opinion turning away from science, nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults expressed confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest. More Americans had at least some faith in scientists to act in the public’s best interest than other prominent groups, such as business leaders, religious leaders, journalists and elected officials. ...
... Wallace attributes the rise of scientific mistrust to what she described as an “infodemic” about Covid-19: an influx of conflicting information and opinions about the virus and prevention measures.
“It led to a lot of public chaos, bewilderment, message fatigue and people just kind of checking out,” Wallace told CNN. “It just causes a lot of confusion because we have different people with big platforms saying different things.” ... “Everyone was at home on social media and interacting in these echo chambers filtering out any information they didn’t want to see,” Wallace said. “Different groups come to different conclusions because they’re interacting with different information.”
And often, experts say, that flood of false information was intentional and malicious — attacking scientific voices in favor of inaccurate content.
Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said a “revisionist history” popped up as the pandemic emerged, blaming scientists for seeding mistrust and exacerbating the harms of Covid-19.
stlahLeave a comment:
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What makes a human - human? Does blessing machines means we use our times wisely?Leave a comment:
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Some ASTOUNDING views of the Heavens this week, including from the new Euclid space telescope ...
Galactic Wonders Unveiled: Euclid’s Deep Dive Into the Perseus Cluster
... This incredible snapshot from Euclid is a revolution for astronomy. The image shows 1000 galaxies belonging to the Perseus Cluster, and more than 100,000 additional galaxies further away in the background, each containing up to hundreds of billions of stars. ... Many of these faint galaxies were previously unseen. Some of them are so distant that their light has taken 10 billion years to reach us. By mapping the distribution and shapes of these galaxies, cosmologists will be able to find out more about how dark matter shaped the Universe that we see today.
Euclid ... was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Euclid Consortium and was launched on 1 July 2023. ... The objective of the Euclid mission is to better understand dark energy and dark matter by accurately measuring the accelerating expansion of the universe. https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorat...uclid_overview
Euclid’s wide perspective can record data from a part of the sky 100 times bigger than what NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s camera can capture. ... “We have never seen astronomical images like this before, containing so much detail. They are even more beautiful and sharp than we could have hoped for, showing us many previously unseen features in well-known areas of the nearby Universe. Now we are ready to observe billions of galaxies, and study their evolution over cosmic time,” said René Laureijs, ESA’s Euclid project scientist, in a statement. https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/07/world/...scn/index.html
ALSO
Euclid’s advanced imaging presents a spectacularly detailed panorama of the Horsehead Nebula, located within the Orion constellation.
At approximately 1375 light-years away, the Horsehead – visible as a dark cloud shaped like a horse’s head – is the closest giant star-forming region to Earth. ... In Euclid’s new observation of this stellar nursery, scientists hope to find many dim and previously unseen Jupiter-mass planets in their celestial infancy, as well as young brown dwarfs and baby stars.
https://scitechdaily.com/euclids-cos...sehead-nebula/
Euclid’s Eye on the “Hidden Galaxy” – A Spiral Revelation in Infrared
Euclid, with its powerful imaging technology, has unveiled the intricacies of the ‘Hidden Galaxy’, IC 342, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of the Universe’s structure. ... This galaxy, also known as IC 342 or Caldwell 5, is difficult to observe because it lies behind the busy disc of our Milky Way, and so dust, gas, and stars obscure our view. ...
Cosmic Fossils Unearthed: Euclid Unravels the Ancient NGC 6397 Cluster
Euclid has captured a comprehensive image of the NGC 6397 globular cluster, located in the Milky Way’s disc and containing stars that offer insights into the galaxy’s history. Observing the entire cluster, especially the faint stars in its outer regions, has been a challenge for existing telescopes. Euclid’s capabilities, however, allow it to distinguish these faint stars, enabling the search for ‘tidal tails’ that can indicate past interactions and help map dark matter within the Milky Way. ... Located about 7800 light-years from Earth, NGC 6397 is the second-closest globular cluster to us. Together with other globular clusters it orbits in the disc of the Milky Way, where the majority of stars are located.
Telescopes spot the oldest and most distant black hole formed after the big bang
Astronomers found the most distant black hole ever detected in X-rays using the Chandra and Webb space telescopes. The Abell 2744 galaxy cluster dominates this image, while the closeups from each telescope show the more distant galaxy UHZ1 and the black hole it hosts. ... a growing black hole within the early universe just 470 million years after the big bang, which occurred 13.8 billion years ago.
... Astronomers think the discovery will help them to better understand how supermassive black holes appeared and reached their monstrous masses so soon after the beginning of the universe. The researchers want to know whether the giant celestial objects formed when massive clouds of gas collapsed or if they resulted from the explosions of the very first massive stars. ...
ALSO
Hubble’s Stellar Detective Work: Unmasking the Milky Way’s Hidden Jewel
This colorful image of the globular star cluster Terzan 12 is a spectacular example of how dust in space affects starlight coming from background objects.
A globular star cluster is a conglomeration of stars, arranged in a spheroidal shape. Stars in globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards the center. The Milky Way has about 150 ancient globular clusters at its outskirts. These clusters orbit around the galactic center, but far above and below the pancake-flat plane of our galaxy, like bees buzzing around a hive. ...
The cluster is about 15,000 light-years from Earth. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/hubbles-ste...-hidden-jewel/Galactic Collision Captured in Stunning Detail: NASA’s Webb & Hubble Unite To Create Most Colorful View of Universe
This panchromatic view of galaxy cluster MACS0416 was created by combining infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with visible-light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. ... The result: A vivid landscape of galaxies along with more than a dozen newfound, time-varying objects. ... The resulting panchromatic image combines visible and infrared light to assemble one of the most comprehensive views of the universe ever taken. Located about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth, MACS0416 is a pair of colliding galaxy clusters that will eventually combine to form an even bigger cluster.
And behold ... our Milky Way doppelganger ...‘Puzzling’ discovery spotted in new images from NASA mission’s asteroid flyby
Dinkinesh, a small asteroid that NASA’s Lucy mission visited last week, continues to surprise. ... there was more to the shadowy asteroid than expected. At first, images suggested that the space rock was part of a binary pair, with a smaller asteroid orbiting Dinkinesh. However, additional images taken by the spacecraft just after the flyby’s closest approach have now revealed that the smaller asteroid is actually a contact binary — two smaller space rocks that touch each other. “Contact binaries seem to be fairly common in the solar system,” said John Spencer, Lucy deputy project scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, in a statement. “We haven’t seen many up-close, and we’ve never seen one orbiting another asteroid. ...
Well, no termites up there ...Cosmic Surprise: Webb Spots Milky Way’s Twin in Early Universe
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope, have discovered ceers-2112, the most distant barred spiral galaxy observed to date. This challenges prior assumptions about galaxy evolution, showing that galaxies became orderly earlier than previously believed, and may lead to changes in theoretical models of galaxy formation. ... “This galaxy, named ceers-2112, formed soon after the Big Bang,” said coauthor de la Vega, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Finding ceers-2112 shows that galaxies in the early universe could be as ordered as the Milky Way. This is surprising because galaxies were much more chaotic in the early universe and very few had similar structures to the Milky Way.”
https://scitechdaily.com/cosmic-surp...arly-universe/
From ice to planets ...Japanese scientists want to send a wooden satellite into space
... A researcher at Kyoto University in Japan, Murata has been exploring how biological materials could be used in space.
Murata wondered if he “could build a wooden house on the moon or Mars,” and decided to test the theory — by creating a wooden satellite.
Recent research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that 10% of atmospheric aerosol in the stratosphere contained metallic particles from spacecraft, including satellites. The long-term impact of these metal fragments is unknown, but scientists are concerned it could damage Earth’s fragile ozone layer. Wooden satellites would be better for the planet while still providing the same functionality as their metal counterparts, says Murata.
“At the end of their life, satellites re-enter the atmosphere. The difference is, the wood in the LingoSat will burn up and eventually become a gas, whereas metals become fine particles instead,” says Murata.
It’s not just a pipedream: Murata and his team have been working on the project for four years and sent wood samples to space in 2021 to test the material’s resilience to space conditions.
Now, they are working with Japan’s space agency (JAXA) and NASA to send the prototype satellite, called LingoSat, into orbit early next year. ... “There is not much reduction in strength from minus 150 to 150 degrees Celsius (-238 to 302 degrees Fahrenheit), we confirmed that in our experiments,” says Murata. “But a satellite goes round the Earth and has these huge temperature differences in 90 minutes. We don’t know to what extent the satellite can withstand this intense, repeated cycle of temperature difference, so this has to be investigated.” ...
From space to civilization ...Webb’s Window Into Cosmic Birth: Ice Pebble Drift Sparks Planetary Life
How are planets born? Scientists have long proposed that ice-covered pebbles are the seeds of planet formation. These icy solids are thought to drift toward the newborn star from the cold, outer reaches of the disk surrounding it. The theory predicts that, as these pebbles enter the warmer region closer to the star, they would release significant amounts of cold water vapor, delivering both water and solids to nascent planets.
Now, the James Webb Space Telescope has witnessed this process in action, revealing the connection between water vapor in the inner disk and the drifting of icy pebbles from the outer disk. This finding opens exciting, new vistas into the study of rocky planet formation.
https://scitechdaily.com/webbs-windo...lanetary-life/
AI in SPACE ...Scientists Uncover Mysterious Cosmic Gift That Sparked Agricultural Revolution in Ancient Syria
Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago following a comet fragment’s explosive entry into Earth’s atmosphere. This cataclysmic event, coupled with ensuing environmental changes, compelled the hunter-gatherers of the prehistoric Abu Hureyra settlement to adopt agricultural practices for survival. ... The papers are the latest results in the investigation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis, the idea that an anomalous cooling of the Earth almost 13 millennia ago was the result of a cosmic impact. ...
“In this general region, there was a change from more humid conditions that were forested and with diverse sources of food for hunter-gatherers, to drier, cooler conditions when they could no longer subsist only as hunter-gatherers,” said Earth scientist James Kennett, a professor emeritus of UC Santa Barbara. The settlement at Abu Hureyra is famous among archaeologists for its evidence of the earliest known transition from foraging to farming. “The villagers started to cultivate barley, wheat, and legumes,” he noted. “This is what the evidence clearly shows.” ... Before the impact, the researchers found, the inhabitants’ prehistoric diet involved wild legumes and wild-type grains, and “small but significant amounts of wild fruits and berries.” In the layers corresponding to the time after cooling, fruits, and berries disappeared and their diet shifted toward more domestic-type grains and lentils, as the people experimented with early cultivation methods. By about 1,000 years later, all of the Neolithic “founder crops” — emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, hulled barley, rye, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chickpeas, and flax — were being cultivated in what is now called the Fertile Crescent. ... To be clear, Kennett said, agriculture eventually arose in several places on Earth in the Neolithic Era, but it arose first in the Levant (present-day Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and parts of Turkey) initiated by the severe climate conditions that followed the impact. ...
... In the 12,800-year-old layers corresponding to the shift between hunting and gathering and agriculture, the record at Abu Hureyra shows evidence of massive burning. The evidence includes a carbon-rich “black mat” layer with high concentrations of platinum, nanodiamonds and tiny metallic spherules that could only have been formed under extremely high temperatures — higher than any that could have been produced by man’s technology at the time.
The airburst flattened trees and straw huts, splashing meltglass onto cereals and grains, as well as on the early buildings, tools and animal bones found in the mound — and most likely on people, too.
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-...ancient-syria/
AI helps CRISPR too ...CRISP-AI-R ...SONATE-2’s Space Odyssey: Testing AI’s Limits in Space
SONATE-2, a nanosatellite developed by JMU, is scheduled for launch in March 2024 to test novel AI technologies and other advanced systems in space. ... The satellite will test novel artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and software technologies in near-Earth space. The goal is to use it to automatically detect anomalies on planets or asteroids in the future.
... “What is unique about our mission is that the AI is trained on board. Normally, this training is done on Earth with powerful computers. ... Sending this data to Earth first and then training the AI by remote control would take a long time for missions far from Earth. A higher level of autonomy supported by AI directly on board would be more powerful. It would lead to interesting objects and phenomena on the asteroid being detected much more quickly. ...
The Würzburg SONATE-2 satellite is about the size of a shoebox. Its solar panels are folded out here.
Is AI like the BrAIn? Is the BrAIn like AI?Revolutionizing CRISPR: Quantum Biology and AI Merge to Enhance Genome Editing
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have advanced CRISPR Cas9 technology for microbial genome editing by using quantum biology and explainable artificial intelligence. This breakthrough allows for more precise genetic modifications in microbes, expanding the potential for renewable fuel and chemical production. ... The CRISPR Cas9 tool relies on a single, unique guide RNA that directs the Cas9 enzyme to bind with and cleave the corresponding targeted site in the genome. Existing models to computationally predict effective guide RNAs for CRISPR tools were built on data from only a few model species, with weak, inconsistent efficiency when applied to microbes. ... To improve the modeling and design of guide RNA, the ORNL scientists sought a better understanding of what’s going on at the most basic level in cell nuclei, where genetic material is stored. They turned to quantum biology, a field bridging molecular biology and quantum chemistry that investigates the effects that electronic structure can have on the chemical properties and interactions of nucleotides, the molecules that form the building blocks of DNA and RNA.
The way electrons are distributed in the molecule influences reactivity and conformational stability, including the likelihood that the Cas9 enzyme-guide RNA complex will effectively bind with the microbe’s DNA, said Erica Prates, computational systems biologist at ORNL. ... The scientists built an explainable artificial intelligence model called iterative random forest. They trained the model on a dataset of around 50,000 guide RNAs targeting the genome of E. coli bacteria while also taking into account quantum chemical properties, in an approach described in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
The model revealed key features about nucleotides that can enable the selection of better guide RNAs. “The model helped us identify clues about the molecular mechanisms that underpin the efficiency of our guide RNAs,” Prates said, “giving us a rich library of molecular information that can help us improve CRISPR technology.”
https://scitechdaily.com/revolutioni...enome-editing/
HIGH may lead to more "Hi, How are you?" ...MIT’s Brain Breakthrough: Decoding How Human Learning Mirrors AI Model Training
MIT research reveals that neural networks trained via self-supervised learning display patterns similar to brain activity, enhancing our understanding of both AI and brain cognition, especially in tasks like motion prediction and spatial navigation.
Two MIT studies find “self-supervised learning” models, which learn about their environment from unlabeled data, can show activity patterns similar to those of the mammalian brain. ... The researchers found that when they trained models known as neural networks using a particular type of self-supervised learning, the resulting models generated activity patterns very similar to those seen in the brains of animals that were performing the same tasks as the models.
The findings suggest that these models are able to learn representations of the physical world that they can use to make accurate predictions about what will happen in that world, and that the mammalian brain may be using the same strategy, the researchers say. ... “We can’t say if it’s the whole brain yet, but across scales and disparate brain areas, our results seem to be suggestive of an organizing principle.” ...
A pharmacy which can be implanted within ...Boosting Brain Connectivity: Cannabis May Enhance Empathy and Emotional Perception
A study in the Journal of Neuroscience Research suggests that regular cannabis users may have an improved ability to understand others’ emotions, supported by stronger connectivity in the anterior cingulate, a brain region associated with empathy ... offering potential insights into treatments for social interaction disorders.
https://scitechdaily.com/boosting-br...al-perception/
$3 ...Breathing Life Into Medicine: “Living Pharmacy” Implant Gets Oxygenating Boost
New device could improve the outcomes of cell-based therapies. Cell-based therapies show promise for drug delivery, replacing damaged tissues, harnessing the body’s own healing mechanisms, and more. But keeping cells alive to produce therapies has remained a challenge Researchers used a smart, energy-efficient version of water splitting to produce oxygen for these cells New approach maintains cells in vitro and in vivo, showing promise for both acute and chronic applications.
https://scitechdaily.com/breathing-l...enating-boost/
Less weight, less side-effects ... less mouse ...The $3 Lifesaver: New Blood Test Could Detect Common Deadly Cancers Sooner
Researchers have developed a cost-effective, multi-cancer blood test that can detect a protein, LINE-1-ORF1p, produced by cancer cells, potentially leading to early detection. This protein is elevated in many cancers and the test’s ability to spot it early can save lives. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/the-3-lifes...ancers-sooner/
Two monkeys in one ... but, sadly, an abrupt end ... I wonder why they ended it so quickly? ...New Drug Reverses Obesity Without Side Effects in Preliminary Tests
Scientists have developed a nanogel-based delivery system that successfully targets and reverses obesity in mice by delivering drugs directly to the liver, avoiding side effects and enhancing drug efficacy. ... “The treated mice completely lost their gained weight, and we did not see any untoward side effects,” says S. Thai Thayumanavan, distinguished professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering. “Considering 100 million Americans have obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders, we became pretty excited about this work.”
... “We realized we needed to deliver this drug selectively to the liver because if it goes to other places, it could cause complications,” he says. ... “We came up with a very simple approach, using our unique invention – nanogels that we can direct selectively to different targets, which we call IntelliGels,” Thayumanavan says. “They were custom-designed for hepatocyte delivery in the liver.” ...
Some questions about gene studies ... Have they made a monkey of all of us? ...Scientists create chimeric monkey with two sets of DNA
Scientists based in China have created a monkey chimera with two sets of DNA, experimental work they say could ultimately benefit medical research and the conservation of endangered species.
The monkey, which lived for 10 days before being euthanized, was made by combining stem cells from a cynomolgus monkey — also known as a crab-eating or long-tailed macaque, a primate used in biomedical research — with a genetically distinct embryo from the same monkey species. It’s the world’s first live birth of a primate chimera created with stem cells, the researchers said. ... “It is encouraging that our live birth monkey chimera had a big contribution (of stem cells) to the brain, suggesting that indeed this approach should be valuable for modeling neurodegenerative diseases,” ... ...
... Wu wasn’t involved in the study but has worked on human-animal chimeras. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/09/world/...scn/index.html
Inaccuracies in Genetic Studies Exposed by NIH – European Ancestry Under the Microscope
NHGRI researchers have found that failing to account for mixed ancestries in genetic studies of European populations may have led to incorrect associations between genetic variants and traits. ... By considering mixed genetic lineages, researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrated that previously inferred links between a genomic variant that helps digest lactose and traits such as a person’s height and cholesterol level may not be valid. As such, the results from previous genome-wide association studies that do not account for admixture in their examinations of people with European ancestry should be re-evaluated. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/inaccuracie...he-microscope/How does she taste the tea?How breast implants helped save a man with severe lung damage
Doctors turned to an unusual tool to help keep 34-year-old Davey Bauer alive after his lungs stopped working: large breast implants. Experts say it was an innovative solution to give Bauer's body time to fight off a nasty infection so it could accept a lifesaving double lung transplant.
Maybe she uses her AI tongue ...'Will AI replace performers?': Japan-first TV ad with artificial model draws attention
A television commercial featuring a model generated by artificial intelligence (AI) -- reportedly a first for Japan -- has drawn attention on social media, with users expressing surprise and questioning whether AI will replace human performers.
The ad by Japanese beverage company Ito En Ltd. is for its "Oi Ocha catechin green tea" drink. Comments on social media about the commercial included, "I was wondering who this celebrity was, only to discover it was AI," and, "Is the industry for performers going to be replaced by AI?"
... it is the first TV ad in Japan using an AI performer. The theme of the commercial is "The time to change the future is now!" with the storyline being that a woman starts drinking catechin green tea so that she can live healthily in the future. The AI entertainer's age in the commercial changes and she is depicted skipping around, drinking the tea and smiling. ...
Gassho, JMeet HyperTaste, an AI-Assisted Electronic Tongue IBM researchers built an e-tongue that can analyze the chemical composition of liquids
https://spectrum.ieee.org/meet-hyper...ctronic-tongue
stlahLast edited by Jundo; 11-12-2023, 06:37 AM.Leave a comment:
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Rethinking reality ...
Organics on Jupiter's moon ... and they don't mean there's a health food store ...Quantum Breakthrough: Scientists Rethink the Nature of Reality
Quantum physicists from Hiroshima University have revealed that the results of quantum measurements are fundamentally tied to the interaction dynamics between the measuring device and the system, challenging traditional views of fixed physical properties and suggesting that reality is shaped by the context of these interactions. Their findings point to a need to rethink the interpretation of quantum experimental data.
... “Our results show that the physical reality of an object cannot be separated from the context of all its interactions with the environment, past, present, and future, providing strong evidence against the widespread belief that our world can be reduced to a mere configuration of material building blocks,” said Hofmann.
https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-bre...re-of-reality/
You are standing atop Theia ...NASA’s Juno Mission Discovers Organics on Jupiter’s Giant Moon Ganymede
NASA’s Juno mission has observed mineral salts and organic compounds on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. ... Ganymede is the biggest of Jupiter’s moons and has long been of great interest to scientists due to the vast internal ocean of water hidden beneath its icy crust. ... “This suggests we are seeing the remnants of a deep ocean brine that reached the surface of this frozen world.”
https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-juno-...moon-ganymede/
Dinosaur killer and more ...Scientists say they’ve finally found remnants of Theia, an ancient planet that collided with Earth to form the moon
Scientists widely agree that an ancient planet likely smashed into Earth as it was forming billions of years ago, spewing debris that coalesced into the moon that decorates our night sky today.
The theory, called the giant-impact hypothesis, explains many fundamental features of the moon and Earth.
But one glaring mystery at the center of this hypothesis has endured: What ever happened to Theia? Direct evidence of its existence has remained elusive. No leftover fragments from the planet have been found in the solar system. And many scientists assumed any debris Theia left behind on Earth was blended in the fiery cauldron of our planet’s interior.
A new theory, however, suggests that remnants of the ancient planet remain partially intact, buried beneath our feet.
Molten slabs of Theia could have embedded themselves within Earth’s mantle after impact before solidifying, leaving portions of the ancient planet’s material resting above Earth’s core some 1,800 miles (about 2,900 kilometers) below the surface, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
... They were already aware that there are two massive, distinct blobs that are embedded deep within the Earth. The masses — called large low-velocity provinces, or LLVPs — were first detected in the 1980s. One lies beneath Africa and another below the Pacific Ocean. ... If Theia were a certain size and consistency, and struck the Earth at a specific speed, the models showed it could, in fact, leave behind massive hunks of its guts within Earth’s mantle and also spawn the debris that would go on to create our moon. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/03/world/...scn/index.html
Old fossils new fuel ...Asteroid that doomed the dinosaurs halted a key process for life on Earth, scientists say
The age of the dinosaurs ended 66 million years ago when a city-size asteroid struck a shallow sea off the coast of what is now Mexico.
But exactly how the mass extinction of 75% of the species on Earth unfolded in the years that followed the cataclysmic impact has remained unclear.
Previous research suggested that sulfur released during the impact, which left the 112-mile-wide (180-kilometer-wide) Chicxulub crater, and soot from wildfires triggered a global winter, and temperatures plunged.
However, a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience suggests that fine dust made from pulverized rock thrown up into Earth’s atmosphere in the wake of the impact likely played a greater role. This dust blocked the sun to an extent that plants were unable to photosynthesize, a biological process critical for life, for almost two years afterward.
“Photosynthesis shutting down for almost two years after impact caused severe challenges (for life),” said lead study author and planetary scientist Cem Berk Senel, a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. “It collapsed the food web, creating a chain reaction of extinctions.” ... The team determined that this fine dust could have remained in the atmosphere for up to 15 years after the asteroid strike. The researchers suggested the global climate may have cooled by as much as 15 degrees Celsius.
Their research marked the first time these dust particles had been studied in detail.
“It had been long assumed that the main killing mechanism was extreme cold following the Chicxulub impact, but of course the cessation of photosynthesis after impact is a mechanism itself,” Senel said.
“Within a few weeks, months (of the impact), the planet underwent a global shutdown in photosynthesis, which continued for almost two years during which photosynthesis is completely gone,” Senel added. “Then it starts getting back to recovery after these two years. … Within three to four years, it reaches a complete recovery.”
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/30/americ...scn/index.html
Memorial for a pioneer ...They went hunting for fossil fuels. What they found could help save the world
When two scientists went looking for fossil fuels beneath the ground of northeastern France, they did not expect to discover something which could supercharge the effort to tackle the climate crisis. ... That could make it one of the largest deposits of “white hydrogen” ever discovered, Pironon said. The find has helped fuel an already feverish interest in the gas.
White hydrogen – also referred to as “natural,” “gold” or “geologic” hydrogen – is naturally produced or present in the Earth’s crust and has become something of a climate holy grail. ...
White hydrogen is “very promising,” agreed Isabelle Moretti, a scientific researcher at the University of Pau et des Pays de l’Adour and the University of Sorbonne and a white hydrogen expert.
“Now the question is no longer about the resource… but where to find large economic reserves,” she told CNN.
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/29/climat...ate/index.html
Crispr for Sickle Cell ... at great cost ...Second person to receive experimental pig heart transplant dies nearly six weeks after procedure
Lawrence Faucette, the second living person to receive a genetically modified pig heart in a transplant, has died six weeks after the experimental procedure. The University of Maryland Medical Center, where the experimental procedure had been performed, said the heart began to show signs of rejection in recent days. ... One month after his surgery, his doctors said they believed his heart function was excellent and had withdrawn any drugs to support his heart function.
“We’ve had no evidence of infections and no evidence of rejection right now,” Griffith said at the time.
Doctors had treated Faucette with an experimental antibody treatment to further suppress the immune system and prevent rejection. However organ rejection is “the most significant challenge with traditional transplants involving human organs as well,” said UMMC in a statement.
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/31/health...ransplant-dies
Brain game ...FDA moves closer to sickle cell cure that uses gene editing
If approved by the FDA, it would be the first medication on the market that uses the groundbreaking gene-editing tool CRISPR.
... “The promise of a universally available, potentially curative option for individuals with sickle cell disease is revolutionary,” said Dr. Biree Andemariam, a hematologist and the director of the New England Sickle Cell Institute at the University of Connecticut. Andemariam has consulted for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which makes exa-cel.
The illness is chronic, and the only known cure is a bone marrow transplant from a donor, which carries the risk of rejection.
The gene-editing drug, from Vertex along with CRISPR Therapeutics, would eliminate the need for a donor. Instead, it works by changing the DNA in the patient’s blood cells.
Exa-cel uses CRISPR, a gene-editing tool that’s able to target certain stretches of DNA and snip them out, essentially deleting the unwanted section that, in the case of sickle cell disease, causes the cells to take on a crescent shape. ...
...
No drug that uses CRISPR gene-editing — which was invented in 2009 — has been granted FDA approval. What’s more, Tuesday’s meeting looked different from past advisory committee meetings. In this case, the panel was not asked to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Vertex’s drug, which is seeking approval for people ages 12 and up with severe illness.
Instead, the focus was on the “off-target” effects of CRISPR — that is, when the technology makes cuts to other stretches of the DNA other than the intended target — and how the FDA should think about those risks moving forward. ...
... Vertex Pharmaceuticals presented research findings on 46 people who received the treatment. Among the 30 patients with a minimum of 18 months of follow-up, 29 no longer experienced severe pain crises.
The company said there was no evidence of “off-target” effects from the therapy, but committee members questioned whether Vertex’s analysis was thorough enough. ...
... Vertex has not disclosed the price of gene therapy, but, if it is approved, it is expected to be extremely expensive, potentially costing as much as $2 million per patient, according to a report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a nonprofit group that helps determine fair prices for drugs.
Dr. Stephan Grupp, the chief of the therapy and transplant section of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who consults for Vertex, said in an email that if it is approved, the step next would be to make sure patients can get access. ...
Neural Networks Go Nano: Brain-Inspired Learning Takes Flight
Researchers from the University of Sydney and UCLA have developed a physical neural network that can learn and remember in real-time, much like the brain’s neurons. This breakthrough utilizes nanowire networks that mirror neural networks in the brain. The study has significant implications for the future of efficient, low-energy machine intelligence, particularly in online learning settings. ... The result opens a pathway for developing efficient and low-energy machine intelligence for more complex, real-world learning and memory tasks. ...
... “This is a significant step forward as achieving an online learning capability is challenging when dealing with large amounts of data that can be continuously changing. A standard approach would be to store data in memory and then train a machine learning model using that stored information. But this would chew up too much energy for widespread application ...
https://scitechdaily.com/neural-netw...-takes-flight/
I empathize with R2D2 ...High mobile phone use may impact sperm count, study says
Male sperm count has fallen by more than 50% globally in the last 50 years, leaving researchers scrambling to understand why. Could it be pollution, PFAS and other potential toxins in our food and water, an increase in obesity and chronic disease, or even the ever-present mobile phone? A new study explored the role of cell phones and found men between the ages of 18 and 22 who said they used their phones more than 20 times a day had a 21% higher risk for a low overall sperm count. The men also had a 30% higher risk for a low sperm concentration, a less important measure of sperm count in a milliliter of semen. The study did not specify whether the men called or texted or used their phones to do both.
On the positive side, researchers found that as phone technology improved over the 13 years of the study, the impact on sperm count began to ease.
“I am intrigued by the observation that the biggest effect was apparently seen with older 2G and 3G phones compared to modern 4G and 5G versions. This is not something I am able to explain,” ...
... Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are greatly reduced when texting and highest when downloading large files, streaming audio or video, when only one or two bars are displayed, and when in a fast-moving bus, car or train, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The agency recommends keeping the phone away from the body and head — use the speakerphone or headphones instead — and carry the phone in a backpack in a backpack, briefcase or purse. ... Results showed that men who used their phones one to five times a day or less than once a week had much higher sperm counts and concentration. As cell phone usage climbed, sperm count dropped, with the lowest levels among men using their phone 20 or more times a day.
Researchers also evaluated the impact of cell phones over different periods of time. The greatest association between low sperm count and concentration and phone use were between 2005 and 2007. As companies moved from 2G up to 5G, the association weakened, in line with the “corresponding decrease in the phone’s output power,” the study said.
“It’s very, very difficult to draw a definitive conclusion from this type of study because it’s not controlled well enough to be able to do that,” Pastuszak said. “They can’t control for the day-to-day exposures of living in an urban environment, and those should not be understated. Even stress levels can impact spermatogenesis and hormone production.”
As an infertility expert who works daily with couples trying to conceive, Pastuszak points to the fascinating complexity of factors that impact infertility, for which sperm count and concentration are minor players.
https://us.cnn.com/2023/11/01/health...ess/index.html
Gassho, JEmbarrassed for a Robot? How Humans Relate to Machines on an Emotional Level
A virtual-reality study led by Toyohashi University of Technology revealed that humans can experience empathic embarrassment for robots in awkward situations. Participants showed emotional reactions, both in self-reported feelings and physiological responses, towards both human and robot avatars in embarrassing contexts. However, cognitive empathy was stronger for human avatars. These insights have implications for the future of human-robot interactions and our understanding of human empathy.
https://scitechdaily.com/embarrassed...otional-level/
stlahLast edited by Jundo; 11-05-2023, 02:24 PM.Leave a comment:
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Can you spot where you are on the map?
A oceanic exoplanet discovery, long anticipated ... hydrogen carbon and methane (but no ammonia), possible signs of an ocean ... and maybe signs of life ...From Big Bang to Big Picture: A Comprehensive New View of All Objects in the Universe
Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have developed the most comprehensive view of the universe’s history. The study highlights the transformation of the universe from its inception 13.8 billion years ago to its current state, filled with objects like protons, atoms, and galaxies.
[They suggest that] it may have originated from an “instanton” rather than a singularity. This revelation, visualized through two innovative plots, also delves into the mysteries of the universe’s boundaries. ...
... To show this process in the simplest possible way, the researchers made two plots. The first shows the temperature and density of the universe as it expanded and cooled. The second plots the mass and size of all objects in the universe.
The result is the most comprehensive chart ever created of all the objects in the universe. ... “Parts of this plot are ‘forbidden’ – where objects cannot be denser than black holes, or are so small, quantum mechanics blurs the very nature of what it really means to be a singular object.” Mr. Patel said. ... The researchers also emphasize that the plot boundaries and what potentially lies beyond them remain a major mystery.
“At the smaller end, the place where quantum mechanics and general relativity meet is the smallest possible object – an instanton. This plot suggests the universe may have started as an instanton, which has a specific size and mass, rather than a singularity, which is a hypothetical point of infinite density and temperature,” Mr. Patel said.
“On the larger end, the plot suggests that if there were nothing – a complete vacuum – beyond the observable universe, our universe would be a large, low density black hole. This is a little scary, but we have good reason to believe that’s not the case.”
This is heavy, man ...'Huge deal': Lead scientist explains new exoplanet discovery
A planet 120 light-years away from Earth appears to have chemicals that could indicate the presence of life. Lead author professor Nikku Madhusudhan from the University of Cambridge joins CNN to explain the study.
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onyd39z0P4U
Billions of Years Burst ...Cosmic Collision: Life-Essential Elements Forged in Massive Space Explosion
In one of the most luminous gamma-ray bursts observed, scientists detected the creation of rare chemical elements following a neutron star merger named GRB 230307A. Using various telescopes, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers identified the presence of heavy chemical elements, such as tellurium. This discovery offers insights into the synthesis of heavy elements essential for life and challenges previous assumptions about gamma-ray bursts’ durations. Future research will focus on understanding these mergers more deeply and their elemental implications for the universe.
The explosion, observed on March 7, was the second brightest gamma-ray burst ever witnessed by telescopes in more than 50 years of observations, over one million times brighter than the entire Milky Way Galaxy combined. ... This particular burst, called GRB 230307A, was likely created when two neutron stars — the incredibly dense remnants of stars after a supernova — merged in a galaxy about one billion light-years away. In addition to releasing the gamma-ray burst, the merger created a kilonova, a rare explosion that occurs when a neutron star merges with another neutron star or a black hole, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
... Astronomers have long believed that neutron star mergers are the celestial factories that create rare elements heavier than iron. But it’s been difficult to track down the evidence. ...
The moon is no kid ...Galactic Flashbacks: 8 Billion-Year-Old Radio Burst Unlocks Universal Secrets
Astronomers have identified the oldest and most distant fast radio burst (FRB) yet, about eight billion years old, supporting theories on FRBs and their ability to reveal “missing” matter between galaxies. This discovery promises more insights into the Universe’s structure with future telescopic advancements. ... The source of the burst was shown to be a group of two or three galaxies that are merging, supporting current theories on the cause of fast radio bursts. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/galactic-fl...ersal-secrets/
Earth is leaking ...Lunar dust collected by Apollo 17 astronauts in the 1970s has revealed that the moon is 40 million years older than previously believed.
... A new analysis of that sample detected zircon crystals and dated them to 4.46 billion years old. Previous estimates put the moon, formed by a massive celestial collision, at 4.425 billion years old. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/23/world/...scn/index.html
A better map of the brain too ... Can you spot where you are on the map?Earth’s core is leaking, scientists say
Scientists have detected a surprising amount of a rare version of helium, called helium-3, in volcanic rocks on Canada’s Baffin Island, lending support to the theory that the noble gas is leaking from Earth’s core — and has been for millennia. ... Helium leaking from Earth’s core doesn’t affect our planet or have any negative implications, he said. The noble gas does not chemically react with matter, so it won’t have an impact on humanity or the environment.
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/27/world/...scn/index.html
CRISPR gets crispier too ...First Single-Cell “Atlas” of the Human Brain Reveals Inner Workings an Unprecedented Level
A global collaboration has created the world’s most comprehensive primate brain atlas with 4.2 million cells, unveiling region-specific functionalities and associations with neurological diseases, paving the way for future brain research and disease interventions. ... A longstanding mystery in science is how the over 100 million individual neurons work together to form a network that forms the basis of who we are – every human thought, emotion, and behavior. ...
... From the gene expression profiles, they were able to identify hundreds of molecularly distinct brain cell types. They also found that cell composition differed extensively across the brain, revealing cellular signatures of region-specific functions, from the neurotransmitters involved in brain cell communication to support cells that help feed and protect the brain from diseases like Alzheimer’s. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/first-singl...edented-level/
A modern model ...Redefining Gene Therapy: CRISPR’s Innovative “Find-and-Replace” Genome Editing
Genome editing, specifically the CRISPR-Cas9 method, offers a revolutionary solution to Severe Combined Immunodeficiencies (SCIDs) and other genetic disorders. Bar-Ilan University researchers have enhanced this approach with their GE x HDR 2.0 strategy, aiming for precise gene replacement. ... “This groundbreaking technique, which involves replacing entire coding sequences or exons while retaining critical regulatory elements, brings hope to patients with RAG2-SCID and holds promise for the treatment of various other genetic disorders.” ...https://scitechdaily.com/redefining-...enome-editing/
Did I freely choose to make this post, do you freely choose to read it?Breakthroughs in race to create lab models of human embryos raise hopes and concerns
... The embryo-like structures are essentially clumps of cells grown in a lab, which are smaller than a grain of rice and represent the very earliest stages of human development, before any organs have formed. They don’t have a beating heart or a brain.
The most advanced models, revealed in September by an Israeli team that Hanna was part of, show all the cell types that are essential for an embryo’s development — the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac (outer membrane) and other tissues that an embryo needs to develop.
The structures were left to develop for eight days — reaching a developmental stage equivalent to day 14 of a human embryo in the womb — an important moment when natural embryos acquire the internal structures that enable them to proceed to the next stage: developing the progenitors of body organs.
Hanna said they were the most accurate models developed so far and, unlike those created by other teams, no genetic modification had been made to turn on the genes necessary to generate the different types of cells, only chemical nudges.
“It’s not only you put the cells together, and they’re there,” he said. “But you see the architecture, you start also seeing very fine details,” Hanna said. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/26/health...scn/index.html
For really tiny hands ...Does Free Will Exist? New Study Challenges Classic Libet Experiments
The results of Libet’s experiments have generated a lot of controversy about free will, and some neurophysiologists have even concluded that it does not exist. Moreover, Libet’s experiment has been repeated using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and it turns out that the decision of the subject can be predicted even 6-10 seconds before their conscious awareness of it. ... [But] Neuroscientists from HSE University have questioned the conclusions of famous studies ... Libet’s experiments in the 1970s and 1980s used EEG to show that brain activity indicating a decision occurred before individuals were consciously aware of their intention to act. The HSE team’s recent research suggests flaws in Libet’s measurement of intention awareness and asserts that the readiness potential doesn’t directly correlate with the decision itself. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/does-free-w...t-experiments/
Of course, AI keeps getting smarter ...Revolution in Nanotech: A Motor That’s 1/10,000th of a Millimeter
An international team of scientists headed by the University of Bonn has developed a novel type of nanomotor. It is driven by a clever mechanism and can perform pulsing movements. The researchers are now planning to fit it with a coupling and install it as a drive in complex machines. ... This novel type of motor is similar to a hand grip trainer that strengthens your grip when used regularly. However, the motor is around one million times smaller. Two handles are connected by a spring in a V-shaped structure.
Ancient faces ... modern problems ...The Future of Machine Learning: A New Breakthrough Technique
Researchers have developed a technique called Meta-learning for Compositionality (MLC) that enhances the ability of artificial intelligence systems to make “compositional generalizations.” This ability, which allows humans to relate and combine concepts, has been a debated topic in the AI field for decades. Through a unique learning procedure, MLC showed performance comparable to, and at times surpassing, human capabilities in experiments. This breakthrough suggests that traditional neural networks can indeed be trained to mimic human-like systematic generalization.
https://scitechdaily.com/the-future-...ugh-technique/
A big advance here in my home ... Ibaraki, Japan ...Ancient face carvings exposed as Amazon water level drops to record lows
Human faces sculpted into stone up to 2,000 years ago have appeared on a rocky outcropping along the Amazon River since water levels dropped to record lows in the region’s worst drought in more than a century.
Has a missing law of evolution been found??World's largest nuclear fusion experimental device successfully generates plasma for the first time
The National Institute for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, a national research and development agency, is using the world's largest nuclear fusion experimental device located in Naka City, Ibaraki Prefecture to create, for the first time, the state called "plasma" required to cause a nuclear fusion reaction. announced that it was successful.
Full-scale experiments will begin toward the realization of a technology that is expected to become a next-generation energy source.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/mito/20...070022595.html
In any case, it may all be a simulated universe (I think such beliefs not incompatible with Buddhism, by the way) ...A new “law of increasing functional information” reveals that complex natural systems, beyond just life on Earth, evolve towards higher complexity. This discovery expands traditional evolutionary theory, offering insights from cosmology to astrobiology.
... In essence, the new law states that complex natural systems evolve to states of greater patterning, diversity, and complexity. In other words, evolution is not limited to life on Earth, it also occurs in other massively complex systems, from planets and stars to atoms, minerals, and more. ...
... In the case of stars, the paper notes that just two major elements – hydrogen and helium – formed the first stars shortly after the big bang. Those earliest stars used hydrogen and helium to make about 20 heavier chemical elements. And the next generation of stars built on that diversity to produce almost 100 more elements.
“Charles Darwin eloquently articulated the way plants and animals evolve by natural selection, with many variations and traits of individuals and many different configurations,” says co-author Robert M. Hazen of Carnegie Science, a leader of the research.
“We contend that Darwinian theory is just a very special, very important case within a far larger natural phenomenon. The notion that selection for function drives evolution applies equally to stars, atoms, minerals, and many other conceptually equivalent situations where many configurations are subjected to selective pressure.” ...
https://scitechdaily.com/beyond-biol...-of-evolution/
Gassho, JRedefining the Fabric of Reality: The Growing Evidence for a Simulated Universe
The simulated universe theory proposes that our reality is a complex computer simulation, an idea echoed throughout history and popular culture. The second law of infodynamics, a concept introduced using information theory, suggests that information entropy must decrease or remain constant over time. This new law might provide evidence for the simulated universe theory, as it implies universal data optimization and compression, which are characteristics of a simulation. ... The simulated universe theory proposes that our reality is a complex computer simulation, an idea echoed throughout history and popular culture. The second law of infodynamics, a concept introduced using information theory, suggests that information entropy must decrease or remain constant over time. This new law might provide evidence for the simulated universe theory, as it implies universal data optimization and compression, which are characteristics of a simulation. ...
... it also indicates that genetic mutations are at the most fundamental level not just random events, as Darwin’s theory suggests. Instead, genetic mutations take place according to the second law of infodynamics, in such a way that the genome’s information entropy is always minimised. ...
... A super complex universe like ours, if it were a simulation, would require built-in data optimization and compression in order to reduce the computational power and the data storage requirements to run the simulation. This is exactly what we are observing all around us, including in digital data, biological systems, mathematical symmetries and the entire universe. ...
stlahLast edited by Jundo; 10-28-2023, 08:00 AM.Leave a comment:
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Are we living in a simulation? Is Elon Musk a simulation?
Gassho, JundoIs Our Reality a Computer Simulation? A New Law of Physics Could Prove Elon Musk Is Right
... A University of Portsmouth physicist has explored whether a new law of physics could support the much-debated theory that we are simply characters in an advanced virtual world.
The simulated universe hypothesis proposes that what humans experience is actually an artificial reality, much like a computer simulation, in which they themselves are constructs.
The theory is popular among a number of well-known figures including Elon Musk, and within a branch of science known as information physics, which suggests physical reality is fundamentally made up of bits of information. ...
... In 2022, he discovered a new law of physics that could predict genetic mutations in organisms, including viruses, and help judge their potential consequences.
It is based on the second law of thermodynamics, which establishes that entropy – a measure of disorder in an isolated system – can only increase or stay the same.
Dr. Vopson had expected that the entropy in information systems would also increase over time, but on examining the evolution of these systems he realized it remains constant or decreases. That’s when he established the second law of information dynamics, or infodynamics, which could significantly impact genetics research and evolution theory. ... A new paper, published on October 6 in AIP Advances, examines the scientific implications of the new law on a number of other physical systems and environments, including biological, atomic physics, and cosmology. ... Key findings include:
Biological- Systems: The second law of infodynamics challenges the conventional understanding of genetic mutations, suggesting that they follow a pattern governed by information entropy. This discovery has profound implications for fields such as genetic research, evolutionary biology, genetic therapies, pharmacology, virology, and pandemic monitoring.
- Atomic Physics: The paper explains the behavior of electrons in multi-electron atoms, providing insights into phenomena like Hund’s rule; which states that the term with maximum multiplicity lies lowest in energy. Electrons arrange themselves in a way that minimizes their information entropy, shedding light on atomic physics and stability of chemicals.
- Cosmology: The second law of infodynamics is shown to be a cosmological necessity, with thermodynamic considerations applied to an adiabatically expanding universe supporting its validity.
“The paper also provides an explanation for the prevalence of symmetry in the universe,” explained Dr. Vopson.
“Symmetry principles play an important role with respect to the laws of nature, but until now there has been little explanation as to why that could be. My findings demonstrate that high symmetry corresponds to the lowest information entropy state, potentially explaining nature’s inclination towards it. ...
... Dr. Vopson’s previous research suggests that information is the fundamental building block of the universe and has physical mass. He even claims that information could be the elusive dark matter that makes up almost a third of the universe, which he calls the mass-energy-information equivalence principle. ...
HIS PAPER: https://pubs.aip.org/aip/adv/article...namics-and-its
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A few more science stories from this week (I feel asleep posting em last night) ...
AI need never fall asleep ...
From AI Black Boxes to Physics: The New Frontier of Protein Folding Prediction
The University of Tokyo’s new protein folding model, WSME-L, offers enhanced predictions over traditional models. This breakthrough can impact medical research, including studying Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and help in designing functional proteins for medical and industrial uses. ... Proteins are important molecules that perform a variety of functions essential to life. To function properly, many proteins must fold into specific structures. However, the way proteins fold into specific structures is still largely unknown. ... By knowing more about this folding process, researchers can better understand more about the processes that constitute life itself. Such knowledge is also essential to medicine, not only for the development of new treatments and industrial processes to produce medicines, but also for knowledge of how certain diseases work, as some are examples of protein folding gone wrong. So, to say proteins are important is putting it mildly. Proteins are the stuff of life.
https://scitechdaily.com/from-ai-bla...ng-prediction/Japan police to stamp out online criminal activity with help of AI
Japanese police said Thursday they will introduce artificial intelligence technology to identify social media posts in which people are recruited to commit crimes like robbery and fraud.
Starting Friday, the National Police Agency will use AI to look for posts promising large payments for "yami baito," an expression implying shadowy illegal work, coupled with wordings that solicit people to conduct other more specific criminal acts such as transporting or receiving money obtained via fraudulent means. ... Using natural language processing technology, the AI will not only look for specific keywords but also identify posts suspected to contain harmful information based on context, the agency said.
For the time being, X, formerly called Twitter, and introduction posts and comments on YouTube videos will be targeted for enhanced surveillance, it said.
The center will report the data it collects to another outside organization, the Internet Hotline Center, which can request website operators and internet service providers delete posts it determines to be illegal or harmful.
MIT’s New Generative AI Outperforms Diffusion Models in Image Generation
... Since its inception, the “Poisson Flow Generative Model ++” (PFGM++) has found potential applications in various fields, from antibody and RNA sequence generation to audio production and graph generation. The model can generate complex patterns, like creating realistic images or mimicking real-world processes. PFGM++ builds off of PFGM, the team’s work from the prior year. PFGM takes inspiration from the means behind the mathematical equation known as the “Poisson” equation, and then applies it to the data the model tries to learn from. To do this, the team used a clever trick: They added an extra dimension to their model’s “space,” kind of like going from a 2D sketch to a 3D model. This extra dimension gives more room for maneuvering, places the data in a larger context, and helps one approach the data from all directions when generating new samples. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/mits-new-ge...ge-generation/And AI may take a leap ...Nature Meets Tech: How Ecological Principles Could Reinvent AI
Researchers propose a synergy between AI and ecology, believing that ecology can inspire more resilient AI and that AI can address global ecological challenges. ...
Contemporary artificial intelligence platforms often draw inspiration from the human brain’s structure and functionality. In a recent study, experts propose that looking towards ecology, another realm of biology, could pave the way for AI systems that are powerful, resilient, and socially responsible. ... “Compared to other statistical models, AI can incorporate greater amounts of data and a diversity of data sources, and that might help us discover new interactions and drivers that we may not have thought were important,” said LaDeau. “There is a lot of promise for developing AI to better capture more types of data, like the socio-cultural insights that are really hard to boil down to a number.” ...
Artificial intelligence systems are notoriously fragile, with potentially devastating consequences, such as misdiagnosing cancer or causing a car crash. The incredible resilience of ecological systems could inspire more robust and adaptable AI architectures, the authors argue. In particular, Varshney said that ecological knowledge could help to solve the problem of mode collapse in artificial neural networks, the AI systems that often power speech recognition, computer vision, and more.
“Mode collapse is when you’re training an artificial neural network on something, and then you train it on something else and it forgets the first thing that it was trained on,” he explained. “By better understanding why mode collapse does or doesn’t happen in natural systems, we may learn how to make it not happen in AI.”
Inspired by ecological systems, a more robust AI might include feedback loops, redundant pathways, and decision-making frameworks. These flexibility upgrades could also contribute to a more ‘general intelligence’ for AIs that could enable reasoning and connection-making beyond the specific data that the algorithm was trained on. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/nature-meet...d-reinvent-ai/
2D to 3D ...Light Speed Ahead: 3D Photonic-Electronic Hardware Revolutionizes AI
Researchers have developed an integrated photonic-electronic hardware capable of processing 3D data. This innovation significantly improves data processing parallelism for AI tasks.
- A breakthrough development in photonic-electronic hardware could significantly boost processing power for AI and machine learning applications.
- The approach uses multiple radio frequencies to encode data, enabling multiple calculations to be carried out in parallel.
- The method shows promise for outperforming state-of-the-art electronic processors, with further enhancements possible.
In other news, not about AI ... although I bet AI is involved somehow ...Hologram Breakthrough – New Technology Transforms Ordinary 2D Images
Researchers have developed a novel deep-learning method that simplifies the creation of holograms, allowing 3D images to be generated directly from 2D photos captured with standard cameras. This technique, involving a sequence of three deep neural networks, not only streamlines the hologram generation process but also outperforms current high-end graphics processing units in speed. It doesn’t require expensive equipment like RGB-D cameras after the training phase, making it cost-effective. With potential applications in high-fidelity 3D displays and in-vehicle holographic systems, this innovation marks a significant advancement in holographic technology.
Teleportation ... not quite ready for Star Trek though ...
I thought that we fixed the ozone hole when we gave up on hairspray ...Quantum Breakthrough: Record-Breaking Quantum Teleportation Achieved Over Metropolitan Range
Quantum teleportation enables the transfer of quantum information to distant locations through the use of quantum entanglement and classical communication. This concept has been realized in various quantum light systems, ranging from laboratory-based experiments to practical real-world tests. Notably, by utilizing the low-Earth orbit Micius satellite, scientists have successfully teleported quantum information over distances exceeding 1200 km. However, there hasn’t been a quantum teleportation system yet whose rate can reach the order of Hertz. This hinders future applications of the quantum internet. ...
[Now] In a paper published in Light Science & Application, a team of scientists, led by Prof. Guangcan Guo and Prof. Qiang Zhou from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) cooperating with Prof. Lixing You from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have improved the teleportation rate to 7.1 qubits per second for the first time based on the “No. 1 Metropolitan Quantum Internet of UESTC”.
https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-bre...politan-range/
This is one of the few stories this week that I can get a grip on ...Ozone Hole Swells to 10 Million Square Miles – One of the Biggest on Record
Measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite show that this year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the biggest on record. The hole, which is what scientists call an ‘ozone depleting area,’ reached a size of 26 million sq km (10 million sq miles) on September 16, 2023. This is roughly three times the size of Brazil. ... The size of the ozone hole fluctuates on a regular basis. From August to October, the ozone hole increases in size – reaching a maximum between mid-September and mid-October. When temperatures high up in the stratosphere start to rise in the southern hemisphere, the ozone depletion slows, the polar vortex weakens and finally breaks down, and by the end of December, ozone levels return to normal. ...
BELOW: animation uses Sentinel-5P total ozone measurements and shows the evolution of the ozone hole over the South Pole from September 1 to September 29, 2023.
https://scitechdaily.com/ozone-hole-...est-on-record/
He's rich, and wants to live forever ... but it might be more fun to use the money other ways??Revolutionizing Prosthetics – Scientists Develop Bionic Hand That Merges With User’s Nervous and Skeletal Systems
A woman who lost her arm in a farming accident and experienced phantom limb pain, received a groundbreaking bionic prosthesis that integrates with her skeleton and nervous system, significantly improving her quality of life. ... In addition to her intractable pain, she found that conventional prostheses were uncomfortable and unreliable, and thus of little help in daily life. All this changed when she received groundbreaking bionic technology that allowed her to wear a much more functional prosthesis comfortably all day. The higher integration of between the bionic and Karin’s residual limb also relieved her pain. ...
... human-machine interface that allows for the prosthesis to be comfortably attached to the user’s skeleton via osseointegration, while also enabling electrical connection with the nervous system via electrodes implanted in nerves and muscles. ... The robotic hand developed by Prensilia, namely Mia Hand, featured unique motor and sensory components that allowed the user to carry out 80% of the activities of daily living ...
https://scitechdaily.com/revolutioni...letal-systems/
(to be continued ) ...Tech billionaire on journey to immortality says there is a ‘low probability’ humans will survive without AI
Johnson's health regimen includes a strict bedtime, collecting stool samples and a device to monitor erections
... Bryan Johnson, a 46-year-old tech entrepreneur, spends millions yearly on a team of experts monitoring his health and conducting experiments. The goal: Get his organs to look and act like that of an 18-year-old.
Some of his regiments include a strict bedtime of 8:30 p.m., taking 111 pills daily, collecting his stool samples, and having a small device attached to his penis to monitor nighttime erections. ... Johnson admits that achieving his health goals requires a lot of nuance and detail. However, most of these measures can be boiled down to a few small achievable mantras: Going to bed on time, exercising every day and avoiding things that cause harm.
"I joke in that I am a rights activist where I liberated my organs from the tyranny in my mind," Johnson said with a grin. "I can say that with tongue in cheek. It's kind of funny, but you think about it, and it's like, for entire life, my mind got exactly what it wanted, and my heart never did, nor did my lungs and nor did my kidney." ...
Jundo: He does look good. Here he is (can you tell which is him, which his son)?
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I have always been proud of my 3% Neanderthal lineage, I am also proud of my Devonian ancestors (though I don’t know much about them). This reveal may explain things about me to my Sangha family
Doshin
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Slower than the post office ... but fast as light ...
Funny, you don't look very neanderthal ...8 billion-year-old radio signal reaches Earth
Astronomers have detected a mysterious blast of radio waves that have taken 8 billion years to reach Earth. The fast radio burst is one of the most distant and energetic ever observed. ... The burst, named FRB 20220610A, lasted less than a millisecond, but in that fraction of a moment, it released the equivalent of our sun’s energetic emissions over the course of 30 years, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
... “Using ASKAP’s array of (radio) dishes, we were able to determine precisely where the burst came from,” ... The research team traced the burst to what appears to be a group of two or three galaxies that are in the process of merging, interacting and forming new stars. ...
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/19/world/...scn/index.html
But they were smarter than one might think ...Why do some groups of people today have more Neanderthal DNA than others? A new study offers answers
Most humans alive today can trace a very small percentage of their DNA to Neanderthals — a result of prehistoric sexual encounters between our ancestors and the now-extinct Stone Age hominins before the latter disappeared around 40,000 years ago.
However, Neanderthal DNA is slightly more abundant in the genomes of East Asian populations.
This discrepancy has long perplexed scientists because Neanderthal remains have been found extensively across Europe and the Middle East but not further east of the Altai Mountains in Central Asia. “So what’s puzzling is that an area where we’ve never found any Neanderthal remains, there’s more Neanderthal DNA,” said study coauthor Mathias Currat, a senior lecturer of genetics and evolution at the University of Geneva.
On average, Neanderthal DNA accounts for about 2% of the genetic makeup of people in Eurasia, while in East Asia the proportion can be as high as 4%, Currat said.
Currat and his colleagues at the University of Geneva came up with an explanation for this inconsistency by analyzing the distribution of the DNA inherited from Neanderthals in the genomes of humans over the past 40,000 years. The researchers found that, over time, the distribution of Neanderthal DNA didn’t always look as it does now. ... The study team thereby concluded that the current pattern of a higher percentage of Neanderthal ancestry in Asian populations compared with those in Europe must have developed at a later stage, mostly likely during the Neolithic transition when farming began to replace hunting and gathering as a way of life some 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. At this point in time, the first farmers from Anatolia, in what’s now western Turkey and the Aegean, began to mix with the existing hunter-gatherers in Western and Northern Europe. This resulted in a lower proportion of Neanderthal DNA observed in European genomes during this period.
“The thing was that they had less Neanderthal ancestry so they diluted the (Neanderthal ancestry) in European populations,” Currat said.
https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/18/world/...scn/index.html
Neanderthals couldn't do this with their brains ...20-Year Study Reveals: Neanderthals Were As Intelligent as Homo sapiens
Neanderthals knew how to control fire and used it to cook food. Researchers have learned about their habits and diet from the traces found near hearths. Angelucci: “More than different species, I would speak of different human forms.” ... Neanderthals were capable of symbolic thought, could create artistic objects, knew how to decorate their bodies using personal ornaments, and had an extremely varied diet. Add to that that, based on our findings, we can say with certainty that they habitually ate cooked food. This ability confirms that they were as skilled as the sapiens who lived millennia later.” ... The oldest layers of the Gruta de Oliveira, which includes a number of passages, date back to about 120,000 years ago, the most recent to about 40,000: it is believed that Neanderthals inhabited this place between 100,000 and 70,000 years ago. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/20-year-stu...-homo-sapiens/
Decoding the Human Brain: Detailed Cell Maps Pave Way for Next-Gen Therapies
Researchers have mapped the genetic and cellular makeup of human and nonhuman primate brains, providing deeper insights into brain functions and potential treatments for disorders.
https://scitechdaily.com/decoding-th...gen-therapies/Decoding Humanity: The 3,000+ Brain Cell Types Revealing Our Secrets
Researchers, through a massive collaboration supported by the BRAIN Initiative, unveil detailed studies on human and primate brain cellular structures, identifying over 3,000 distinct brain cells and contributing to the expansive Human Cell Atlas project.Scientists built the largest-ever map of the human brain. Here's what they found
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...-schizophrenia
Gassho, JDecoding Complexity: MIT’s Insight Into Individual Neurons and Behavior
MIT researchers studied a single neuron in the C. elegans worm, discovering its role in regulating multiple behaviors. This neuron utilizes various neurotransmitters and can “borrow” serotonin, potentially providing insights into psychiatric treatments in more complex organisms. ... “Our results reveal how a single neuron can influence a broad suite of behaviors over multiple timescales and show that neurons can ‘borrow’ serotonin from one another to control behavior,” the researchers report in Current Biology. ...
https://scitechdaily.com/decoding-co...-and-behavior/
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