Menu

Blog

Page 1518

Feb 9, 2024

World’s Cruelest Hackers Went After, Yes, a Children’s Hospital

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Hackers have brought a children’s hospital in Chicago to its knees, an especially cruel attack that has made life for staff a nightmare.

Feb 9, 2024

SGLT-2 Inhibitors Lower Risk for Kidney Stones in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

according to a recent study.


Type 2 diabetes is associated with excess risk for kidney stones. Sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors increase urine output and alter urine composition in ways that might lower risk for kidney stones. In this U.S. study, researchers compared risks for kidney stones among 600,000 adults with type 2 diabetes who were new users of SGLT-2 inhibitors versus 600,000 propensity score–matched patients who initiated glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, which do not have the same renal effects.

During median follow-up of 6 months, risk for kidney stones was significantly lower in patients who began using SGLT-2 inhibitors than in patients who began using GLP-1 receptor agonists (15 vs. 22 events/1000 person-years) or DPP-4 inhibitors (15 vs. 20 events/1000 person-years). The effect was larger for younger patients (age, 70).

Continue reading “SGLT-2 Inhibitors Lower Risk for Kidney Stones in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes” »

Feb 9, 2024

What your biological age can reveal about your health

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

A new tool that uses images of your face, tongue, and retina, could help gauge your risk of developing chronic diseases.

Feb 9, 2024

Cappella’s AI translates baby cries to help sleep-deprived parents

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Ask any parent, and they’ll tell you that one of — if not the — biggest challenges facing them is trying to decipher a newborn’s anguished cries in the middle of the night. Is the baby hungry? Does she have an upset stomach, or is she in the throes of colic? Maybe the poor girl needs to poop?

The only thing worse than feeling helpless in the face of such unreadable emotions is trying everything and still having no idea what’s wrong or how to ease their baby’s discomfort. Such a dilemma, mixed with a lack of quality sleep, can easily slide into feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and depression.

To help parents find peace of mind and a more restful night’s sleep, the startup Cappella has gathered a team of MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford engineers to help parents answer those inscrutable midnight questions. The team developed an app that detects baby sounds and then translates them so parents know what’s wrong. And the app runs on technology that’s already available in most U.S. homes.

Feb 9, 2024

Apple bought 30+ AI startups last year, more than other tech giants

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

A new report says that Apple bought “up to” 32 AI startups in 2023, more artificial intelligence acquisitions than any other tech giant.

Feb 9, 2024

Neuralink brain chip’s first human patient. How does it work? | About That

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, Elon Musk, robotics/AI

The first human patient has received an implant from Neuralink, Elon Musk’s computer-brain interface company. Andrew Chang explores the complexity of the N1 implant, how it’s working in clinical trials, and what Neuralink is trying to achieve with the device.

»»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/1RreYWS

Continue reading “Neuralink brain chip’s first human patient. How does it work? | About That” »

Feb 9, 2024

Video Friday: Monocycle Robot with Legs

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

Cybathlon Challenges: 2 February 2024, ZURICH ICRA 2024: 13–17 May 2024, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN

Enjoy today’s videos!

Feb 9, 2024

Hydrogen-powered drones get a major boost with new fuel cell membrane

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

Researchers used a rubbery polymer to make a new electrolyte membrane that is less likely to crack and lasts 1.7 times longer than before.

Feb 9, 2024

BYD Intelligent driving NOA system set for a pivotal upgrade in March

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

BYD’s announcement of a substantial upgrade to its intelligent driving system signals a notable advancement in its efforts to improve this technology. Scheduled for March 30th, this update signifies a significant step forward for BYD in the realm of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The upgrade will further enhance its Navigation On Autopilot (NOA) or its internally known Urban Navigation Assistance (UNA) system in cities across China.

- Advertisement -

The upgrade was alluded to in 2023 with the BYD Denza N7 with its advanced lidar system and came on the heels of recent improvements to Xpeng’s XNGP intelligent driving system. Telsa has also been a strong competitor in the intelligent driving race, with announcements last year aiming to improve its FSD system. According to sources, the initial rollout of BYD’s Urban Navigation Assistance (UNA) system is slated for March 30th, starting with the N7 model among its existing lineup of over 20 vehicles.

Feb 9, 2024

SynMoss project grows moss with partially synthetic genes

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, food, genetics

A Chinese team of life scientists, microbiologists, plant researchers and seed designers has developed a way to grow engineered moss with partially synthetic genes. In their project, reported in the journal Nature Plants, the group engineered a moss that is one of the first living things to have multiple cells carrying a partially artificial chromosome.

Several research projects have been working toward the goal of creating plants with synthetic —such plants could be programmed to produce more food, for example, or more oxygen, or to pull more from the air. Last year, one team of researchers developed a way to program up to half of the genome of yeast cells using synthetic genes.

In this new effort, the team in China upped the ante by replacing natural genes with genes created in a lab—moss is far more genetically complex than yeast. They call their project SynMoss.