Researchers have pinpointed a gene mutation associated with survival at high altitudes that could restore myelin to damaged neurons.
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New hope for treating a rare genetic disease before birth
Stanford Medicine scientists are launching a clinical trial of prenatal transplants, using stem cells from the mother, to treat a rare genetic disease called Fanconi anemia before a baby is born.
ZZU team synthesizes bulk hexagonal diamond
Findings of ZZU team are published online in the journal Nature. [Photo/zzu.edu.cn]
A research team from Zhengzhou University (ZZU) has successfully synthesized bulk pure-phase hexagonal diamond and precisely resolved its crystal structure, revealing a novel phase transition mechanism. The findings were published online in the journal Nature on March 5, 2026, under the title “Bulk hexagonal diamond”
Diamond, renowned for its exceptional hardness, thermal conductivity, and wide bandgap, typically adopts a cubic structure. However, the existence of a hexagonal polymorph was first predicted theoretically in 1962 and later discovered in meteorites in 1967. Yet natural samples exist only as nanoscale grains embedded in meteorites, making isolation and property measurement extremely challenging. Moreover, the high formation energy barrier of hexagonal diamond under laboratory conditions has long hindered its synthesis, fueling debate over whether it can exist as a stable bulk material.
Movies reconstructed from mouse brain activity
Scientists have successfully reconstructed videos purely from the brain activity of mice, showing what the mice were seeing, in a new study led by UCL researchers.
Researchers Upload Fly’s Brain to Matrix, Let It Control Virtual Body
Artificial intelligence seeks to emulate the faculties of the human mind through computational systems, a synthetic recreation of our brains’ capabilities to perceive, learn, and reason.
Now, a company claims to have taken a totally different tack by simulating the 125,000 neurons and 50 million synaptic connections of an adult fruit fly’s brain — and then letting it roam inside a Matrix-like virtual environment.
In a video shared by Eon Systems cofounder Alex Weissner-Gross, the crudely animated insect can be seen stretching its legs inside a simulated sandbox, rubbing its front feet together and using its labellum to drink from a small bowl.
New Data Centers Will Be Powered by Human Brain Cells
Now, Cortical Labs is ready to scale up the operation. As Bloomberg reports, the company says it’s working on “biological data centers” in Melbourne, Australia, and Singapore. Simply put, instead of relying on Nvidia chips like AI companies, Cortical Labs is planning to outfit its futuristic facilities with racks of CL1 biological computers, powered by many more human brain cells, instead.
The company refers to this approach as “wetware,” an unsettling new take on software and hardware terminology. Simply put, the computers send electrical signals to neurons derived from human blood stem cells. The chips embedded within record those neurons’ responses as the output.
The company teamed up with DayOne Data Centers, to develop the two facilities. The Melbourne data center will house 120 CL1 units, while DayOne is planning to deploy as many as 1,000 units at the one in Singapore.