Neuralink, led by Elon Musk, has accomplished a major feat by implanting a brain chip in a human for the first time. Discover the groundbreaking advancements in brain-computer interfaces.
Acoustic tweezers can control target movement through the interaction of momentum between an acoustic wave and an object. Due to their high tissue penetrability and strong acoustic radiation force, such tweezers overcome the limitations of optical and magnetic tweezers, thus making them suitable for in vivo cell manipulation.
A research team led by Prof. Zheng Hairong from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has recently developed a new type of acoustic tweezers —the phased-array holographic acoustic tweezers (PAHAT) system—which is based on a high-density planar array transducer capable of generating tunable three-dimensional bulk acoustic waves. The researchers hope this system can realize a pharmacological version of “telekinesis.” The study was published in Nature Communications on June 6.
The in vivo environment is extremely complex, due to the different characteristics of various tissues, organs, bones, blood vessels, and blood flow. Such a complex environment creates a huge challenge: How can acoustic methods be used to “trap” bacteria so they can produce therapeutic effects on tumors?
The latest in the intersection of large language models and life science: virus sequences, virus proteins, and their function.
Large language models improve annotation of prokaryotic viral proteins.
Ocean viral proteome annotations are expanded by a machine learning approach that is not reliant on sequence homology and can annotate sequences not homologous to those seen in training.
Engineers and material scientists have been trying to develop increasingly advanced devices, to meet the growing needs of the electronics industry. These devices include electrostatic capacitors, devices that can store electrical energy in a dielectric between a pair of electrodes through the accumulation of electric charge on the dielectric surfaces.
These capacitors are crucial components of various technologies, including electric vehicles and photovoltaics (PVs). They are often fabricated using polymers as dielectric materials, synthetic substances made up of large organic molecules with good intrinsic flexibility and insulating properties.
Researchers at Tsinghua University and other institutes in China recently introduced a new strategy to fabricate polymer composites filled with subnanosheets exhibiting highly advantageous properties. Their proposed method, outlined in a Nature Energy paper, allowed them to fabricate a 100-meter-long roll of a polymer-based subnanocomposite film.
The ambition is to supercharge human capabilities, treat neurological disorders like ALS or Parkinson’s, and may be one day achieve a symbiotic relationship between humans and artificial intelligence.
“The first human received an implant from Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” he added.
South Carolina-based ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision claims to have found the aircraft of American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who famously disappeared back in 1937 while trying to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the globe.
If confirmed, the discovery could be a huge development in one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.
With the help of an underwater drone equipped with a high-tech radar and a 16-member crew, Deep Sea Vision claims to have come across an object that closely resembles Earhart’s Lockheed Electra aircraft roughly 16,000 feet below the surface and 100 miles off Howland Island, a location where the two were supposed to land to refuel.
After COVID vaccination, it usually takes weeks for our bodies to develop protective antibody responses. Imagine, however, a vaccine that speeds up the production of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that spreads COVID-19.
A research team led by Rong Hai, an associate professor of microbiology and plant pathology at the University of California, Riverside, has developed such a vaccine by using preexisting immunity to a separate virus (the influenza virus) to help kickstart the process of making antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
“Any delay in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 means there is some time when people are left poorly protected against the virus,” Hai said. “Our vaccine is designed to get people those protective antibody responses faster, so they are not vulnerable to the coronavirus. This is better protection for everyone. It could be especially valuable for people who still lack immunity to SARS-CoV-2, such as children.”
For the first time, researchers have used bacteria to “upcycle” waste polyethylene.
Move over Spider-Man: Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a strain of bacteria that can turn plastic waste into a biodegradable spider silk with multiple uses.
Transforming Plastic Into Protein
Amid a massive wave of tech company layoffs in favor of AI, Google is firing thousands of contractors tasked with making its namesake search engine work better.
As Vice reports, news of the company ending its contract with Appen — a data training firm that employs thousands of poorly paid gig workers in developing countries to maintain, among other things, Google’s search algorithm — coincidentally comes a week after a new study found that the quality of its search engine’s results has indeed gotten much worse in recent years.
Back in late 2022, journalist Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to refer to the demonstrable worsening of all manner of online tools, which he said was by design as tech giants seek to extract more and more money out of their user bases. Google Search was chief among the writer’s examples of the enshittification effect in a Wired article published last January, and as the new study out of Germany found, that effect can be measured.
