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Jan 22, 2024

Machine learning models teach each other to identify molecular properties

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, information science, robotics/AI

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a new method to improve the effectiveness of machine learning models. By pairing two machine learning models, one to gather data and one to analyze it, researchers can circumvent limitations of the technology without sacrificing accuracy.

This new technique could make it easier for researchers to use machine learning algorithms to identify and characterize molecules for use in potential new therapeutics or other materials.

The research is published in the journal Artificial Intelligence in the Life Sciences.

Jan 22, 2024

Higher measurement accuracy opens new window to the quantum world

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

A team at HZB has developed a new measurement method that, for the first time, accurately detects tiny temperature differences in the range of 100 microKelvin in the thermal Hall effect. Previously, these temperature differences could not be measured quantitatively due to thermal noise.

Their study is published in Materials & Design.

Using the well-known terbium titanate as an example, the team demonstrated that the method delivers highly reliable results. The thermal Hall effect provides information about coherent multi-particle states in quantum materials based on their interaction with lattice vibrations (phonons).

Jan 22, 2024

Anti-CRISPR Proteins Can Regulate Cas3 Targeted Deletions

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The type I CRISPR protein Cas3 works like Pac-Man, chomping away at a continuous stream of nucleotides with intrinsic activity for introducing targeted large deletions from a few hundred base pairs to as large as 200 kb. However, without the molecular equivalent to the four colored ghosts who chase and capture Pac-Man, the broad and unidirectional genome editing activity of Cas3 is essentially unregulated.

Yan Zhang, PhD, assistant professor in the department of biological chemistry at the University of Michigan Medical School, and her collaborators at Cornell University identified two anti-CRISPR proteins that can “turn off” Cas3, paving the way toward safer and better-controlled CRISPR applications.

The research article, “Exploiting activation and inactivation mechanisms in type I-C CRISPR-Cas3 for genome-editing applications,” was published in Molecular Cell.

Jan 22, 2024

Two Contradictory Versions of Reality Exist Simultaneously in Quantum Experiment

Posted by in category: quantum physics

In a paradigm-shifting revelation, scientists at Heriot-Watt University have conducted experiments suggesting that two conflicting versions of reality can coexist simultaneously within the realm of quantum mechanics. This study challenges fundamental concepts in physics and raises questions about the existence of an objective reality.

The research delves into “Wigner’s friend,” a theoretical construct proposed by Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner in 1961. This concept revolves around a photon existing in a superposition, where its polarization is both vertical and horizontal until measured. This theoretical dilemma becomes the focal point for the experimental exploration.

Jan 22, 2024

This African lake may literally explode—and millions are at risk

Posted by in category: futurism

A tragedy in the making.


How Lake Kivu became a ticking time bomb

Lake Kivu sits along the East African Rift Valley, dotted with hot springs that feed carbon dioxide and methane into its depths.

Continue reading “This African lake may literally explode—and millions are at risk” »

Jan 22, 2024

Paper page — Rambler: Supporting Writing With Speech via LLM-Assisted Gist Manipulation

Posted by in category: futurism

Join the discussion on this paper page.

Jan 22, 2024

New Strategies in the Battle Against Infectious Diseases

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Learn how the latest research into viral and bacterial pathogens advances the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

Jan 22, 2024

Characterizing the Swimming Gait of a Bacterium

Posted by in category: futurism

A new technique could allow researchers to distinguish the swimming motion of a species of microorganisms without the need to track individuals within a population.

Jan 22, 2024

Experimental Evidence for a New Type of Magnetism

Posted by in category: materials

Spectroscopic data suggest that thin films of a certain semiconducting material can exhibit altermagnetism, a new and fundamental form of magnetism.

Jan 22, 2024

Particles Flutter as They Fall

Posted by in categories: climatology, particle physics

Experiments with small falling particles show that their orientations oscillate—which may help explain the settling of volcanic ash and the formation of snow.

Ice crystals and volcanic ash fall through the atmosphere in a complicated way that has been hard to capture experimentally. A new lab experiment has photographed the descent of nonspherical plastic particles that were fabricated to resemble natural particles [1]. The images reveal oscillations in the particles’ orientations as they flitter downward. The results could help in modeling the formation of snow and the transparency of clouds, which is important for weather and climate models.

In order to study how micrometer-sized particles fall in the atmosphere, researchers must address the challenge of zooming in on the particles as they pass quickly in front of the camera. “The problem is that your field of view is so small that you have a very limited chance to see the particle for a long trajectory,” says Gholamhossein Bagheri from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Germany. Previously, researchers tried to solve this problem by performing experiments in water with easier-to-view centimeter-sized particles. The water slows the particle motion, but the ratio of particle size to fluid viscosity—which can be characterized by the dimensionless Reynolds number—remains roughly the same for larger, waterborne particles as for smaller, airborne particles. This correspondence between the two situations implies that water-based experiments can offer information about the speed and orientation of falling particles in the atmosphere.