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Feb 22, 2024

The Mysterious Math of Billiards Tables

Posted by in categories: entertainment, mathematics

The surprisingly subtle geometry of a familiar game shows how quickly math gets complicated.

Feb 22, 2024

Bioweapons Designed by AI: a ‘Very Near-Term Concern,’ Schmidt Says

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, military, robotics/AI

Artificial intelligence could bring about “biological conflict,” said former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, who co-chaired the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

Schmidt spoke with defense reporters Sept. 12 as he helped release a new paper from his tech-oriented nonprofit think tank, the Special Competitive Studies Project. Schmidt launched the think tank with staff from the commission in order to continue the commission’s work.

AI’s applicability to biological warfare is “something which we don’t talk about very much,” Schmidt said, but it poses grave risks. “It’s going to be possible for bad actors to take the large databases of how biology works and use it to generate things which hurt human beings,” Schmidt said, calling that risk “a very near-term concern.”

Feb 22, 2024

Survival Chances For Cardiac Arrest During CPR

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

According to a study published in the BMJ, a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest while receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in a hospital is 22%, but that declines rapidly after only one minute to less than 1% after 39 minutes. The likelihood of leaving with no major brain damage is similar, declining from 15% after one minute of CPR to less than 1% after 32 minutes without a heartbeat.

Only around 25% of patients survive to hospital discharge after being admitted to the emergency department for cardiac arrest. This common catastrophic medical emergency with a high mortality rate is an important public health issue, affecting around 300,000 adults every year in America alone. Unfortunately, studies have shown that long resuscitation times are linked to lower odds of survival, but there are no specific recommendations on when to stop resuscitation.

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Feb 22, 2024

How do we know the sun is a star?

Posted by in category: futurism

Today, it’s common knowledge, but it took scientists centuries to figure out.

Feb 22, 2024

CAR T-cell therapy appears to be feasible, safe for autoimmune diseases

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy seems feasible, safe, and efficacious for patients with different autoimmune diseases, according to a study published in the Feb. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Fabian Müller, M.D., from the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany, and colleagues examined patients with severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), idiopathic inflammatory myositis, or systemic sclerosis (eight, three, and four patients, respectively) who received a single infusion of CD19 CAR T-cells after fludarabine and cyclophosphamide preconditioning.

Efficacy was assessed up to two years after CAR T-cell infusion, measured using the Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS) criteria, American College of Rheumatology-European League against Rheumatism (ACR-EULAR) major clinical response, and the score on the European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group (EUSTAR) activity index.

Feb 22, 2024

Angle-dependent holograms made possible by metasurfaces

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, holograms, nanotechnology

Recently, a research team from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has employed metasurfaces to fabricate angle-dependent holograms with multiple functions. This technology allows holograms to display multiple images based on the observer’s viewing angle. The findings were published in Nano Letters.

Objects can appear distinct depending on the viewer’s position, a concept that can be harnessed in to generate cinematic and realistic 3D holograms presenting different images based on the viewing angle. However, the current challenge lies in controlling light dispersion according to the angle, making the application of nano-optics in this context a complex endeavor.

The team addressed this challenge by leveraging metasurfaces, artificial nanostructures capable of precisely manipulating the characteristics of light. These metasurfaces are incredibly thin and lightweight, approximately one-hundredth the thickness of a human hair, making them promising for applications in miniaturized displays such as virtual and augmented reality devices.

Feb 22, 2024

DVD-like optical disc could store 1.6 petabits (or 200 terabytes) on 100 layers

Posted by in category: computing

Forward-looking: As consumers increasingly turn toward digital distribution and data center operators try various storage methods, optical discs haven’t stopped evolving. A recently published paper explains how manufacturers could make DVD-like discs that hold the equivalent of hundreds or thousands of Blu-rays.

Researchers at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology have developed an optical disc with a capacity of over a petabit of data, equivalent to well over 100 terabytes. Although the technology is primarily proposed for enterprise use, it could potentially become accessible to consumers after overcoming significant obstacles.

The scientists were able to significantly increase the capacity of an optical disc by implementing a 3D planar recording architecture. The technology uses a highly transparent, uniform photoresist film doped with aggregation-induced emission dye and stimulated by femtosecond lasers.

Feb 22, 2024

Scientists discover exotic quantum interference effect in a topological insulator device

Posted by in categories: energy, engineering, quantum physics

In a novel experiment, physicists have observed long range quantum coherence effects due to Aharonov-Bohm interference in a topological insulator-based device. This finding opens up a new realm of possibilities for the future development of topological quantum physics and engineering.

This finding could also affect the development of spin-based electronics, which may potentially replace some current electronic systems for higher energy efficiency and may provide new platforms to explore .

The research, published in the February 20 issue of Nature Physics, is the culmination of more than 15 years of work at Princeton. It came about when Princeton scientists developed a —called a bismuth bromide (α-Bi4Br4) topological insulator—only a few nanometers thick and used it to investigate .

Feb 22, 2024

New treatments are emerging for type-1 diabetes

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The trick is to outsmart the immune system.

Feb 22, 2024

What is Lynch syndrome, the hereditary condition that raises bowel cancer risk before 50?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

“Lynch syndrome also known as HNPCC (Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer) is an autosomal dominant condition that increases the risk of developing certain cancers, particularly bowel cancer. It results from mutations in genes that help to correct errors during DNA replication. Lynch syndrome patients have a higher incidence of bowel cancer in their lifetime and such other cancers as endometrial, ovarian, stomach and urinary tract cancers. These patients have an earlier presentation, i.e. younger age group. People with this condition face a much higher risk of developing colorectal cancer at ages below 50 years. This underscores the need for an early diagnosis through screening and surveillance in individuals having Lynch syndrome so that it can be detected rather earlier when it would be more easily treatable,” says Dr Tanveer Abdul Majeed, Consultant, Surgical Oncology, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital Navi Mumbai.

“To effectively tackle Lynch syndrome-related cancers, early detection is vital. Screening protocols typically involve genetic testing to identify individuals at risk and surveillance measures, such as regular colonoscopies, starting at a younger age. Genetic counselling plays a pivotal role in Lynch syndrome management, providing affected individuals and their families with personalized risk assessments, guidance on screening strategies, and support in making informed decisions regarding preventive measures, including prophylactic surgery,” says Dr Kanuj Malik, Sr. Consultant-Surgical Oncology, Yatharth Hospitals.

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