People who receive stem cell therapy within a week of their first heart attack have nearly a 60 per cent lower risk of developing heart failure years later
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Chemists design candidate drug against diabetes
Researchers from the University at Albany and NYU Grossman School of Medicine have found a way to block a key cellular pathway known to drive chronic inflammation and impaired wound healing in people with diabetes.
The breakthrough could offer a new therapeutic option for stopping the harmful effects of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes at the source.
In their latest work, the researchers successfully identified—and developed a small molecule drug to disrupt—an intracellular chain reaction that is a major contributor to diabetes-induced complications. Their findings, published earlier this month, were featured on the cover of Cell Chemical Biology.
Seeking Signatures of Graviton Emission and Absorption
A proposed experiment may deliver evidence for the emission or absorption of gravitons—an advance that might one day enable gravity to be controlled much like electromagnetism is today.
A major milestone in human development was the transition from passively observing electromagnetic phenomena, such as electric discharges and magnetism, to actively manipulating them. This shift led to a plethora of applications—from power plants to modern electronics. The exquisite control of electromagnetic fields and of their interaction with matter has also yielded deep insights into the fundamental laws of nature, allowing us to test modern theories with remarkable precision. Now Ralf Schützhold of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf in Germany argues that a similar turning point may be reached for gravity [1]. His approach for manipulating gravity relies on experiments that can control the emission or absorption of gravitons, the hypothetical elementary particles mediating the gravitational interaction in a quantized theory of gravity.
AI efficiency advances with spintronic memory chip that combines storage and processing
To make accurate predictions and reliably complete desired tasks, most artificial intelligence (AI) systems need to rapidly analyze large amounts of data. This currently entails the transfer of data between processing and memory units, which are separate in existing electronic devices.
Over the past few years, many engineers have been trying to develop new hardware that could run AI algorithms more efficiently, known as compute-in-memory (CIM) systems. CIM systems are electronic components that can both perform computations and store information, typically serving both as processors and non-volatile memories. Non-volatile essentially means that they can retain data even when they are turned off.
Most previously introduced CIM designs rely on analog computing approaches, which allow devices to perform calculations leveraging electrical current. Despite their good energy efficiency, analog computing techniques are known to be significantly less precise than digital computing methods and often fail to reliably handle large AI models or vast amounts of data.
Lignin increases the stability and effectiveness of herbicide nanoparticles, study shows
A recent study has shown that a fraction obtained from lignin, an organic polymer responsible for the rigidity of plant cell walls, was able to improve the performance of nanoparticles with herbicide.
The work is published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering and was recently featured on its cover.
The study was conducted by researchers from three research institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: São Paulo State University (UNESP), the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), and the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar).
Spaceflight study reveals men experience greater eye changes, while brain differences between sexes are subtle
A new study into how spaceflight impacts the human brain and eyes revealed notable sex differences in brain fluid shifts, with female astronauts showing a greater reduction in fluid around the uppermost part of the brain than their male counterparts.
Led by Rachael D. Seidler, Ph.D., director of the University of Florida’s Astraeus Space Institute and professor of applied physiology and kinesiology, the study analyzed data from astronauts to determine how factors such as sex, age and body metrics relate to structural brain and eye changes after space travel.
The findings, published in npj Microgravity, provide key information for protecting astronaut health on long-duration missions to the moon and Mars.
The great search divide: How AI and traditional web searches differ
As anyone who uses the internet will know, the way we find information has fundamentally changed. For the last three decades, search engines have delivered ranked lists of links in response to our queries, and it was our job to search through them to find what we wanted. Now, major search engines use generative AI tools to deliver a single coherent answer, often embedded with a few links. But how does this approach compare with the traditional method? In a comprehensive new study, scientists compared these two approaches to see what we are gaining and losing.
To figure this out, researchers from Ruhr University Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems compared traditional Google Search with four generative search engines: Google AI Overview (AIO), Gemini, GPT-4o-Search and GPT-4o with Search Tool. The team ran thousands of queries covering six main areas, including general knowledge, politics, science and shopping.
Then they made a detailed comparison of the two search styles based on three key metrics. First, they analyzed source diversity by checking the websites AI used against traditional search’s top links. Second, they measured knowledge reliance to see how much AI relied on its own internal memory rather than searching the web for fresh information.
Detailed brain growth atlas in mice offers insights into brain development
Brain growth and maturation doesn’t progress in a linear, stepwise fashion. Instead, it’s a dynamic, choreographed sequence that shifts in response to genetics and external stimuli like sight and sound. This is the first high-resolution growth chart to explain changes of key brain cell types in the developing mouse brain, led by a team at Penn State College of Medicine and the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
Using advanced imaging techniques, the researchers constructed a series of 3D atlases that are like time-lapsed maps of the brain during its first two weeks after birth, offering an unparalleled look at a critical period of brain development. It’s a powerful tool to understand healthy brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders, the researchers explained.
The study, published in Nature Communications, also detailed how regions of the brain change in volume and explained the shift in density of key cell types within them.