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Jan 6, 2024

Horizontal gene transfer facilitates the molecular reverse-evolution of antibiotic sensitivity in experimental populations of H. pylori

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution

The authors evolved antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori in the absence of antibiotics and presence of DNA from antibiotic-sensitive strains. Horizontal gene transfer mediated the molecular reverse evolution of the antibiotic-resistance gene to the antibiotic-sensitive allele, and the authors used theoretical modelling to determine the evolutionary conditions that promote reverse evolution.

Jan 6, 2024

Freeform direct-write and rewritable photonic integrated circuits in phase-change thin films

Posted by in category: materials

In a thin film of phase-change materials, photonic circuits can be directly written, erased, and modified by a laser writer.

Jan 6, 2024

Metal-organic frameworks study unravels mechanism for capturing water from air

Posted by in categories: chemistry, physics, sustainability

Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and Dresden University of Technology have unraveled the water adsorption mechanism in certain microporous materials—so-called hierarchical metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)—while probing them on the atomic scale.

Discovered only about 25 years ago, their special properties quickly led to a reputation as “miracle materials”—which, as it turned out, can even harvest water from air. The researchers describe how the material achieves this in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

“These very special materials are highly porous solids made of metals or metal-oxygen clusters which are connected in a modular way by pillars of organic chemicals. This 3D arrangement leads to networks of cavities reminiscent of the pores of a kitchen sponge. It is precisely these cavities that we are interested in,” says Dr. Ahmed Attallah of HZDR´s Institute of Radiation Physics.

Jan 6, 2024

Evolution May Not Be As Random As Previously Thought

Posted by in category: evolution

New research challenges the long-held idea that evolution is always random, and could have massive implications for addressing real-world issues.

Jan 6, 2024

Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes

Posted by in category: mathematics

Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal shapes.”

Jan 6, 2024

Sleep restores an optimal computational regime in cortical networks

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience

Unraveling the Enigma of Sleep: A Critical Exploration of Cortical network Dynamics.

Sleep has long been recognized as a fundamental physiological process, crucial for the well-being of both humans and animals.


Xu et al. show that waking progressively disrupts neural dynamics criticality in the visual cortex and that sleep restores it. Deviations from criticality predict future sleep/wake behavior better than prior behavior and slow-wave activity.

Jan 6, 2024

A new laser amplification that breaks the 10-petawatt limit

Posted by in category: futurism

Tiled titanium: sapphire laser amplification.

Jan 6, 2024

Is Radon linked to health condition other than lung cancer?

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

Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced when metals like uranium or radium break down in rocks and soil, is a known cause of lung cancer. Now new research has found exposure to high levels of this indoor air pollutant is associated with an increased risk of another condition in middle age to older female participants with ischemic stroke. The study is published in the January 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain and is the most common type of stroke.

The condition, called clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), develops when some hematopoietic stem cells, the building blocks for all blood cells, undergo genetic mutations as a person ages. Cells with such mutations replicate more quickly than cells without them. Previous research has shown people with CHIP may have a higher risk of blood cancers like leukemia and cardiovascular disease including stroke.

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Jan 6, 2024

Police Say AI-Generated Article About Local Murder Is “Entirely” Made Up

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

An AI-generated article about a murder that never happened in New Jersey has police and local news outlets in a tizzy.

Jan 6, 2024

DNA-repairing animals may unlock anti-aging treatments in NEXT DECADE

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

During our lives, normal exposures cause DNA damage to build up. Eventually, this causes cancer and age-related diseases. Studying DNA-repairing animals could help treat these issues.