Algorithm finds the optimal transducer location to focus ultrasound through the skull onto a target in the brain.
It’s time to recalibrate the navigation systems on ships, airplanes, and (given the time of year) Santa’s sleigh: the position of the magnetic North Pole is officially being changed, continuing its shift away from Canada and towards Siberia.
Experts from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the British Geological Survey (BGS) have joined forces – as they do every five years – to produce a new, more accurate World Magnetic Model (WMM).
While the geographical North Pole stays fixed in place (at the very summit of the Earth’s rotational axis), the WMM pinpoints the magnetic North Pole – where Earth’s magnetic field points straight down, a perfectly vertical magnetic field.
Each year, flu causes hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of hospitalizations worldwide. Although the best way to protect against serious illness is annual vaccination, the influenza vaccine’s effectiveness is far from perfect. In the past decade, CDC estimates of flu vaccine effectiveness have ranged from a low of 19% to a high of 48%, spurring calls for development of more effective flu vaccines. Now, NIH-funded researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a new approach to crafting flu vaccines that resulted, both in mice and human tonsil tissue, in a more broadly protective immune response compared to currently available flu vaccines. The studies were led by Mark M. Davis, Ph.D., and the findings appeared in Science.
The trouble with current vaccines
Currently, flu vaccines are formulated annually to contain up to four strains of human influenza virus that are predicted to circulate widely in the coming season. For example, the 2024–2025 seasonal flu vaccine contains two strains of the influenza viurs A subtype and one of influenza virus B subtype. Each virus strain includes a viral protein called hemagglutinin (HA) that the virus uses to attach to and enter human cells. The immune system recognizes and responds to components of a virus or a vaccine—the antigens—by generating protective antibodies and T cells. On exposure to the flu virus, a subset of flu-specific T cells, called CD4+ helper T cells, provides signals to generate and activate antibody-producing B cells. Ideally, a swarm of HA-matched antibodies is produced following vaccination and will protect the vaccinated person from infection by flu virus strains represented in that year’s vaccine.
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For the first time, scientists have imaged an entirely new form of magnetism called altermagnetism.
The researchers used cutting-edge x-ray techniques to visualize and fine-tune this novel magnetic material, which is very different from the kind of magnets we know in day-to-day life.
Their findings, published in Nature, demonstrate that altermagnetic materials can be precisely controlled in microscopic devices, marking a major step forward in magnetic and material science.
Rapidus becomes the first Japanese firm to announce 2nm trial production and integrate ASML’s EUV equipment, potentially gaining a place in NVIDIA’s supply chain.
Rapidus Announces 2nm Trial Production To Occur By 2025, Commercial Production Slated For 2027, Almost Two Years After TSMC
When you look at the general semiconductor dynamics, it won’t be wrong to say that TSMC has a wide lead, taking in orders from all the big tech giants out there. Competition from the likes of Intel Foundry and Samsung isn’t looking too good, given that both companies are witnessing organizational flaws, which has given TSMC a clear edge. However, Rapidus, which is said to be an emerging semiconductor player, has announced the integration of ASML’s EUV scanners in a facility in Japan and has also revealed that 2nm production is on track, ready to compete with TSMC.
WASHINGTON — Japanese lunar lander developer ispace has confirmed that its second mission to the moon will launch on the same SpaceX Falcon 9 as Firefly Aerospace’s first lunar lander.
In an online presentation late Dec. 17 to discuss preparations for its Resilience lander, Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace, said that his company’s mission would launch during a six-day window in mid-January on the same rocket launching Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 mission.