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How schizophrenia risk may begin: Gene changes reshape signaling in developing neurons

Researchers at King’s College London have identified the biological nature and timing of changes in human cortical neurons caused by altering activity of a schizophrenia-associated gene in developing human neurons. This discovery links a genetic risk factor to cellular changes in neurons; an essential step for understanding the neurobiology of this mental illness and developing future treatments.

Schizophrenia is estimated to be one of the most heritable psychiatric conditions, with a strong developmental aspect. Large-scale human genomic studies have identified many genetic variants which are thought to increase the likelihood of schizophrenia.

However, the link between these genetic risk variants and the underlying neurobiology of schizophrenia is less well understood. Addressing this knowledge gap provides vital information that could ultimately help develop therapies for the disorder.

Scientists use light to create tiny molecules that could transform medicine

Researchers have developed a light-driven method for creating tiny, high-energy “housane” molecules that are valuable for drug development and materials science. These compact ring-shaped structures are difficult to produce because of the intense internal strain they contain. By using photocatalysis and carefully tuning the starting molecules, the team managed to guide the reaction into a clean and efficient pathway.

The Unambigous Alien Probe and the Von Neumann Cloud

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Music:

Cylinder Five by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.… https://chriszabriskie.com/cylinders/ Intermission in D by Miguel Johnson https://migueljohnson.bandcamp.com/

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Geordie Rose: Machine Learning is Progressing Faster Than You Think

“Machine learning is progressing faster than you think.”

Geordie Rose said that to me in 2013.

Back then, it sounded like the kind of thing a quantum computing CEO says to drum up attention. Today it reads like a weather report.

Thirteen years ago, the D-Wave founder and CTO sat down with me for over two hours and laid out a thesis most observers found extreme: machine learning would become broadly available far faster than anyone hoped, and quantum computers would help us build AI by 2029.

The 2029 date sounded like science fiction.

It does not sound like science fiction anymore.

Continue reading “Geordie Rose: Machine Learning is Progressing Faster Than You Think” | >

Optoelectronic synapse shows exceptional photoresponse for neuromorphic vision

Like so much else in nature, the human visual system has both a complex structure and functional efficiency that is difficult for scientists to replicate. The system is both a sensor and a processor, with the eyes and the brain working together to resolve images with less energy use than anything people have invented.

But a technology called optoelectronic synapses can reproduce at least some of the phenomena that make human vision so successful, and a team of researchers at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) has discovered why certain materials perform so well at artificial vision and memory.

In their article “Interlayer Exciton Polarons in Mesoscopic V2O5 for Broadband Optoelectronic Synapses” published in Advanced Functional Materials, the NLR-led research team discovered the source of persistent photoconductivity—a mechanism that mirrors some of the functionality of biological synapses in the eye—for a particular vanadium-oxide material.

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