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Jul 20, 2023

How a Sugar Could Be a Potential Secondary Treatment for Cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

A natural sugar called mannose is a type of hexose that is abundant in many different types of fruits. Recent studies have demonstrated that mannose has been found to be effective in promoting immune tolerance, suppressing inflammatory diseases, and efficient in suppressing tumors by suppressing glycolysis. However, it is not fully understood how mannose exerts its anticancer activity. Now, a study by Sanford Burnham Prebys and the Osaka International Cancer Institute has shed new light on the anticancer properties of mannose and suggests that mannose could be a helpful secondary treatment for cancer.

The findings are published in eLife in an article titled, “Metabolic clogging of mannose triggers dNTP loss and genomic instability in human cancer cells.”

“Mannose has anticancer activity that inhibits cell proliferation and enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy,” wrote the researchers. “How mannose exerts its anticancer activity, however, remains poorly understood. Here, using genetically engineered human cancer cells that permit the precise control of mannose metabolic flux, we demonstrate that the large influx of mannose exceeding its metabolic capacity induced metabolic remodeling, leading to the generation of slow-cycling cells with limited deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs).”

Jul 20, 2023

Preventing Colorectal Cancer With AI Technology

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, robotics/AI

Patients who come to any Northwestern Medicine location for colonoscopies now have access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which is improving the way gastroenterologists detect colon polyps and prevent colorectal cancer. According to new research by Northwestern Medicine, physicians who performed colonoscopies assisted by AI achieved a 13% increase in the detection and removal of colorectal polyps.

Computer-aided colonoscopies could reduce future colon cancer diagnoses by up to 39%.

“Most polyps do not become cancerous, but nearly all colorectal cancers begin as polyps,” says Rajesh N. Keswani, MD, MS, director of Endoscopy for Northwestern Memorial Hospital and director of quality for the Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center. “We want to detect them in their earliest stages and remove them to prevent future diagnoses of cancer. There’s nothing better than telling a patient that their decision to have a screening colonoscopy may have saved their life.”

Jul 20, 2023

Clinical Trial Overview: Types of Studies Used to Access New Cancer Therapies

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

We often discuss clinical trials, research studies that evaluate the efficacy of new medical approaches. Necessary for both improving healthcare and advancing medicine, clinical trials make up a vital part of the medical process. Here, we will begin a series of articles to provide an overview of the clinical trial process, which will help you understand all the exciting studies you read about!

Doctors and researchers use clinical trials to develop new drugs to treat cancer (or other diseases). What may be a surprise is that not all clinical trials aim to cure disease; some work to improve the quality of life for patients living with an illness. Clinical trials can also help us improve screening and diagnostic methods. Additionally, some clinical trials access new approaches for preventing disease.

Arguably the most crucial component of any clinical trial is the volunteers. Clinical trial participants may have the disease in question, but this isn’t always the case because some clinical trials rely on healthy volunteers.

Jul 20, 2023

Ammonia-Based Lifeforms

Posted by in categories: alien life, futurism

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Our search for extraterrestrial life assumes alien life based on water and carbon, but could there be biochemistries based on other substances?

NSS Townhall Registration & Q&A Submission: https://space.nss.org/nss-town-hall-july-20-with-nss-senior-leadership/

Continue reading “Ammonia-Based Lifeforms” »

Jul 20, 2023

Future AI algorithms have potential to learn like humans, say researchers

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

Memories can be as tricky to hold onto for machines as they can be for humans. To help understand why artificial agents develop holes in their own cognitive processes, electrical engineers at The Ohio State University have analyzed how much a process called “continual learning” impacts their overall performance.

Continual learning is when a computer is trained to continuously learn a sequence of tasks, using its accumulated knowledge from old tasks to better learn new tasks.

Yet one major hurdle scientists still need to overcome to achieve such heights is learning how to circumvent the machine learning equivalent of memory loss—a process which in AI agents is known as “catastrophic forgetting.” As are trained on one new task after another, they tend to lose the information gained from those previous tasks, an issue that could become problematic as society comes to rely on AI systems more and more, said Ness Shroff, an Ohio Eminent Scholar and professor of computer science and engineering at The Ohio State University.

Jul 20, 2023

“Absolutely Stunning” — Scientists Discover Metals That Can Heal Themselves

Posted by in categories: engineering, materials

Microscopic cracks vanish in experiments, revealing possibility of self-healing machines.

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have for the first time observed metal spontaneously healing its microscopic cracks, upending traditional material theories. This observation could lead to self-healing machines, significantly enhancing their safety and lifespan. The phenomenon, confirming a theory proposed in 2013, may pave the way for an engineering revolution, though further research is necessary to fully understand its practical applicability.

Discovery of Self-healing Metal Phenomenon.

Jul 20, 2023

AI-Powered NPCs: A Game-Changing FREE Demo

Posted by in categories: media & arts, robotics/AI, virtual reality

Once this is added to a VR open world, like low-fi, I may never come out!


The Unreal Engine combined with the power of OpenAI’s GPT has opened up a lot of possibilities for the future of video games. This demo created by Replica Studios allows us to directly interact with NPCs. It’s surprisingly good, and gives some insight into where things might be heading.

Continue reading “AI-Powered NPCs: A Game-Changing FREE Demo” »

Jul 20, 2023

Amazon rolling out new payment tech at all Whole Foods stores

Posted by in categories: food, mobile phones

Amazon announced Thursday it is rolling out its pay-by-palm services in Whole Foods Market stores across the country, making it possible for customers to use their palms for purchases without a wallet or phone.

The palm recognition service, called Amazon One, will be available for payment and Prime membership benefits in all Whole Foods Market locations by the end of this year. Instead of traditional payment methods, Amazon One allows customers to hover their palm over an Amazon One device.

Customers who link their Prime membership with their Amazon One profile will also automatically receive savings once their palm is registered, according to the Seattle-based retail giant.

Jul 20, 2023

Malaysia issues license to Musk’s Starlink to bring internet services to remote areas

Posted by in categories: education, Elon Musk, government, internet, satellites

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Reuters) — Malaysia has issued a license to Starlink, the satellite communications service started by Elon Musk, to provide internet services in the country, particularly in remote areas, its communications minister said on Thursday.

Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in a Facebook post that Starlink, which is operated by Musk’s SpaceX, would begin by providing its services to schools and higher education institutions.

The government was also prepared to work with satellite communications firms, including Starlink, to ensure 100 percent internet coverage in populated areas, Fahmi said.

Jul 20, 2023

Falcon 9 puts on a show in the Californian skies

Posted by in categories: internet, robotics/AI, satellites

Last night at 9:09 p.m. PT (04:09 UTC), SpaceX successfully launched 15 V2 mini Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Following a last-second aborted launch attempt the previous night, SpaceX teams performed checkouts of the Falcon 9 and determined another attempt to launch the next-gen satellites was good to go. During the previous attempt, the launch was held early in the countdown due to a “perceived leak” in the second stage, then eventually, the automated abort at T-minus 5 seconds.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/CzetVZFGbv