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Summary: Scientists are using epigenetic clocks to reveal our biological age, a true marker of health.

A new study delves into the immune system’s role in understanding and improving the accuracy of these clocks. Their innovative approach sheds light on the relationship between immune cell composition and biological age, with a focus on the balance between naïve and memory immune cells.

This research has significant implications for aging insights, health interventions, and targeted cancer treatments.

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YSM researchers are using deeplearning AI models to improve detection of patients at risk for multiple hospitalizations due to asthma and COPD.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two of the most common lung diseases worldwide, and exacerbation of these conditions can negatively impact health and increase health care costs. A new study shows that deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses large amounts of data to process information, can improve detection of patients with these diseases who are at increased risk for multiple hospitalizations.

The study was published Dec. 13, 2023, in the journal Respiratory Research.

In the study, researchers identified electronic health record (EHR) characteristics of severe asthma and COPD exacerbations. They then evaluated four machine learning models and one deep learning model in predicting hospital readmissions using EHR data. The researchers found that multilayer perceptron, a deep learning method, had the best performance.

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When it comes to virtual worlds, one of the most challenging things to create (rivaling real trees, which Eric Ramberg, Chief Content Officer at Quixel, wrote is “the most requested type of asset”) is realistic human characters — especially their faces.

But Epic Games may have created the best solution so far. They have released a new character creation tool in Unreal Engine, called Creator, that helps you render an almost endless selection of near-photorealistic digital people.

“Up until now one of the most arduous tasks in 3D content creation has been constructing truly convincing digital humans. Even the most experienced artists require significant amounts of time, effort, and equipment, just for one character,” said Vladimir Mastilovic, VP, Digital Humans Technology at Epic Games. “That barrier is being erased through Unreal Engine, and we’re thrilled to introduce Creator.”

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Thanks to the LIGO and Virgo detectors, researchers now regularly observe ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves, which are caused by catastrophic cosmic events such as black-hole mergers, star explosions, or the big bang itself.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime that travel at the speed of light. These are produced in some of the most violent events in the universe, such as black-hole mergers, supernovae, or the Big Bang itself. Since their first detection in 2015, and after three observing runs, the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors have detected around 100 such waves.

Thanks to these observations, we are starting to unveil the black-hole population of our universe, study gravity in its most extreme regime and even determine the formation of elements like gold or platinum during the merger of neutron stars.

The LIGO and Virgo detectors are nothing but the most precise rulers ever built by humankind, able to measure the subtle squeezing and stretching of spacetime produced by gravitational waves.

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German researchers are developing an algorithm to help decode ancient cuneiform tablets — including those containing the oldest known work of world literature.

Ancient poem: The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Babylonian poem first written in cuneiform characters on clay tablets around 4,000 years ago. It tells the story of Gilgamesh, the king of the city of Uruk, and his quest for immortality.

Over the centuries, the poem was copied onto countless other tablets in both the original Sumerian language as well as Akkadian.

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A low carbon abundance in planetary atmospheres could be a signature of habitability. Scientists at MIT, the University of Birmingham, and elsewhere say that astronomers’ best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence, rather than the presence, of a chemical feature in their atmospheres.

The researchers propose that if a terrestrial planet has substantially less CO2 in its atmosphere compared to other planets in the same system, it could be a sign of liquid water — and possibly life — on that planet’s surface.

What’s more, this new signature is within the sights of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). While scientists have proposed other signs of habitability, those features are challenging if not impossible to measure with current technologies. The team says this new signature, of relatively depleted carbon dioxide, is the only sign of habitability that is detectable now.

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