Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have made a digital map showing a tiny chunk of a human brain in unprecedented detail.

Based on a brain tissue sample that had been surgically removed from a person, the map represents a cubic millimeter of brain—an area about half the size of a grain of rice. But even that tiny segment is overflowing with 1.4 million gigabytes of information—containing about 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels and 150 million synapses, the connections between neurons.

The researchers published their findings in the journal Science on Friday. They have made the data set freely available online and provided tools for analyzing and proofreading it.

The lab’s latest AI news is something different, though. Instead of designing a model to master a single game, DeepMind has teamed up with researchers from the University of British Columbia to develop an AI agent capable of playing a whole bunch of totally different games.

Called SIMA (scalable i nstructable m ulti-world a gent), the project also marks a shift from competitive to cooperative play as the AI operates by following human instructions.

But SIMA wasn’t created simply to help sleepy players grind out levels or farm up resources. The researchers instead hope that by better understanding how SIMA learns in these virtual playgrounds, we can make AI agents more cooperative and helpful in the real world.

A groundbreaking study reveals that Rhizobia bacteria can fix nitrogen in partnership with marine diatoms, a discovery that could have significant implications for agriculture and marine ecosystems.

Nitrogen is an essential component of all living organisms. It is also the key element controlling the growth of crops on land, as well as the microscopic oceanic plants that produce half the oxygen on our planet.

Atmospheric nitrogen gas is by far the largest pool of nitrogen, but plants cannot transform it into a usable form. Instead, crop plants like soybeans, peas and alfalfa (collectively known as legumes) have acquired Rhizobial bacterial partners that “fix” atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium. This partnership makes legumes one of the most important sources of proteins in food production.

The findings, published in a study in Developmental Cell, reveal that intestinal smooth muscle originates in embryos and forms by the same process that is a hallmark of creating scar tissue when a wound heals.

The smooth muscle sits inside tiny finger-like projections called villi, which absorb fats—also known as lipids—from foods. Contractions of these smooth muscles squeeze absorbed dietary fats through lymphatic capillaries, called lacteals, which send the fats into the systemic blood circulation to produce energy.

Western diets that are high in sugars, fats, and processed foods have been linked to a wide variety of health ailments. Now, researchers have determined that Western diets can also disrupt the crucial barrier in the gastrointestinal tract known as the gut mucosa. This disruption can raise an individual’s risk of inflammation and infectious disease. Scientists have also identified a gut microbe called Blautia that has an important role in shielding the gut mucosa. The findings have been reported in Nature Communications.

“Our results contribute to an increased understanding of how the intestinal bacteria and the mucus layer work together, which may eventually lead to new treatment strategies for diseases linked to the Western diet such as the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis,” said first study author Sandra Holmberg, a graduate student at Umeå University.

Experts say the food on your plate can affect everything from your bones, heart, and gut to your mental health.

For the first time, chemists in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering have created a highly reactive chemical compound that has eluded scientists for more than 120 years. The discovery could lead to new drug treatments, safer agricultural products, and better electronics. The study is published in Science.

The inventors of a suite of tests that enable food packages to signal whether their contents are contaminated are working to bring producers and regulators together to get their inventions into commercial products, with the goal of preventing illness and reducing food waste.

Approximately 60 percent of the meat people eat in 2040 won’t come from dead animals, but rather from plant-based substitutes and cultured meat, according to a 2019 report. “The large-scale livestock industry is viewed by many as an unnecessary evil,” the report states, adding later: “With the advantages of novel vegan meat replacements and cultured meat over conventionally produced meat, it is only a matter of time before they capture a substantial market share.”

The report — conducted by the consulting firm A.T. Kearney, and based on expert interviews — found that “classic vegan and vegetarian meat replacements as well as insect-based meat alternatives” probably won’t disrupt the $1,000 billion conventional meat industry.