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Regulatable in vivo gene expression via adaptamers

Bryant et al. created adaptamers, 120 bp RNA sequences which act as regulatory elements of mRNAs so that translation only occurs in the presence of a small molecule inducer (tetracycline or doxycycline). They work by recruiting endogenous adenosine deaminases to edit out a stop codon only when the inducer stabilizes a stem loop structure. A very clever design with lots of promise for gene therapy!

Bryant et al. develop adaptamers, compact RNA switches that use FDA-approved drugs to control gene expression by co-opting endogenous RNA-editing machinery rather than relying on foreign proteins. In mice, this approach safely tuned a metabolic hormone to reverse obesity, pointing to a simpler path toward programmable, drug-controlled gene therapies.

What Psychedelics Can Teach Us About Building Better Drugs

An insightful essay/post about how distinct drug compounds can act on the same receptor to trigger very different effects as mediated by different signaling pathways. Much like the post’s author (Aaran Vijay), I am very intrigued by the question of why these different signaling pathways lead to different effects and how understanding the pathways could reveal even better ways to treat psychiatric diseases.

Can we use psychedelics to decode the biology of psychiatric medicine.

403 Forbidden

TOKYO NOW HAS AN AMBULANCE FOR HUMANOID ROBOTS.

When a humanoid robot breaks down in Tokyo, help may arrive in an ambulance. But the patient isn’t human.

Unveiled on September 8, 2026, by GMO AI & Robotics Trading, a subsidiary of GMO Internet Group, the “GMO Humanoid Ambulance” is a dedicated emergency-response and repair vehicle for humanoid robots.

It looks remarkably like a conventional ambulance: a white body, red stripe, and purple lights on the roof. But instead of transporting injured people, it carries diagnostic equipment, replacement parts, repair tools, and even a backup humanoid robot.

Inside is a stretcher designed specifically for robots. Press photographs show a white humanoid robot strapped onto it, much like a human patient being transported to a hospital.

A better comparison might be Japan’s JAF roadside assistance service, but for robots.

When called out, the vehicle brings engineers to the scene to diagnose and repair a malfunctioning robot. If the problem cannot be fixed on-site, the team can deploy a replacement unit so work can continue, then transport the damaged robot to the company’s development base in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Why do humanoid robots need their own emergency-response service?

Continue reading “403 Forbidden” | >

Scientists Developed a Supplement To Target the Hallmarks of Aging

“The STAMINA results provide encouraging clinical evidence consistent with that hypothesis, demonstrating improvements across three measures of cardiovascular function, particularly meaningful given that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide.”

To learn more, 61 participants were recruited, 33 of whom received the supplement and 28 a placebo (control group). Participants were asked to consume the supplement or a placebo once daily for six months.

Researchers found that flow-mediated dilation, a measure of endothelial function (regulation of blood vessel tone and blood clotting), improved in participants receiving the supplement compared with the control group. An improvement was also observed one hour after the first dose, while values remained largely unchanged in the control group.

New platform tackles critical material risks in electric motors

As manufacturers face growing uncertainty tied to critical material shortages and global supply chain disruptions, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers have developed a super intelligence (SI)-driven platform to help companies evaluate electric motor technologies before market conditions shift.

Called Motor Decide, the platform evaluates motor technologies using factors such as performance, critical material availability, supply chain stability, technology maturity and long-term resilience.

Critical materials such as copper and rare-earth magnets are essential components in the electric motors that power transportation, manufacturing systems and energy infrastructure. As industries work to reduce dependence on vulnerable supply chains and manage rising geopolitical and market uncertainty, selecting the right motor technology has become increasingly complex.

Monte Carlo Uncertainty Quantification and Numerical Verification of Linear Vibration Systems with Stochastic Parameters and Fixed Initial Conditions

Abstract

Monte Carlo sampling is used to characterize parameter uncertainty in linear single-and two-degree-of-freedom free-vibration benchmarks with fixed initial conditions. Each model uses 100,000 trials: uniform mass, stiffness, and damping inputs for SDOF and independent, unfiltered normal inputs for 2DOF. The SDOF undamped natural-frequency mean and sample standard deviation are 1.38036 and 0.02817 rad/s. An analytical audit reveals that the original forward Euler calculation gives 67.384% peak-displacement exceedance at 13.5 m, compared with 39.842% for the analytical response with identical samples. The original figure is retained as a documented numerical approximation; the analytical estimate supersedes its threshold result. The lower and upper 2DOF natural frequencies have means 1.80020 and 5.72171 rad/s and sample standard deviations 0.06309 and 0.18961 rad/s. Nominal damped eigencomponents have amplitude half-lives of 7.88 and 0.385 s. The 2DOF population retains 4,805 negative first-damper draws, and its central response bands do not describe an entirely passive population. Undamped modal illustrations are distinguished from damped transients. The study demonstrates uncertainty propagation and numerical verification, rather than validated manufacturing yield or service reliability. Differences between the two models do not isolate distribution-family effects.

Monte Carlo Simulation, Uncertainty Quantification, Vibration Analysis, MDOF Systems, Natural Frequency, Transient Response

Can an AI ‘Co-Scientist’ Accelerate Cancer Research?

A team led by Marinka Zitnik, associate professor of biomedical informatics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, has received a grant of nearly $7 million from Cancer Grand Challenges to create artificial intelligence (AI) “co-scientists” that help cancer researchers analyze data, generate hypotheses, and suggest new experiments, speeding new knowledge and therapies.

The project, known as AURORA, includes an additional $4 million to three international teams across Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which will evaluate the effectiveness of the “co-scientists” in their ongoing studies of next-generation CAR T-cell therapies, cancer initiation, and tumor-immune interaction.

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