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Blog – Page 293

The majority of studies on laser-driven proton–boron nuclear reaction is based on the measurement of α-particles with solid-state nuclear tracks detector (Cr39). However, Cr39’s interpretation is difficult due to the presence of several other accelerated particles which can bias the analysis. Furthermore, in some laser irradiation geometries, cross-checking measurements are almost impossible. In this case, numerical simulations can play a very important role in supporting the experimental analysis. In our work, we exploited different laser irradiation schemes (pitcher–catcher and direct irradiation) during the same experimental campaign, and we performed numerical analysis, allowing to obtain conclusive results on laser-driven proton–boron reactions. A direct comparison of the two laser irradiation schemes, using the same laser parameters is presented.

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Just like your body has a skeleton, every cell in your body has a skeleton—a cytoskeleton to be precise. This provides cells with mechanical resilience, as well as assisting with cell division. To understand how real cells work, e.g. for drug and disease research, researchers create artificial cells in the laboratory.

However, many artificial cells to date cannot be used to study how cells respond to forces as they don’t have a . TU/e researchers have designed a polymer-based network for artificial cells that mimics a real cytoskeleton, thus making it possible to study with greater accuracy in artificial cells how cells respond to forces.

The research is published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

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Diverse Applications Beyond Elderly Care

While companion robots have traditionally been used to support the elderly, their utility is expanding to other demographics prone to loneliness, such as office workers and university students. Dr. Li’s research in China reveals that these groups often experience social isolation and lack the resources for meaningful companionship. The physical presence of robots like Moflin and LOVOT, which offer tactile interactions, differentiates them from virtual assistants and enhances their effectiveness in providing emotional support.

[Read More: Can AI Step Out from Virtual to Real Companionship?].

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T Coronae Borealis (T CrB) is a binary star system comprising two stars at very different stages of their life cycles: a red giant and a white dwarf. The red giant, an aging star, is expanding as it nears the end of its life, shedding layers of material into space. Meanwhile, the white dwarf, a stellar remnant that has burned through its fuel, is steadily cooling. This system draws the red giant’s expelled material toward the white dwarf’s surface. When enough accumulates, it triggers a thermonuclear explosion, creating a dramatic outburst of energy and light.

Astronomers know about the “Blaze Star” because it’s had sudden outbursts before. They even know there is usually a decade-long uptick in brightness before the explosion, preceded by a noticeable dip in brightness. That 10-year uptick was reported in a paper in 2023, while the American Association of Variable Star Observers announced T CrB’s pre-eruption dip in April 2024.

Something to bear in mind is that this is a rare astronomical event, but only committed stargazers are likely to get much out of it.

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Galaxies are not islands in the cosmos. While globally the universe expands—driven by the mysterious “dark energy”—locally, galaxies cluster through gravitational interactions, forming the cosmic web held together by dark matter’s gravity. For cosmologists, galaxies are test particles to study gravity, dark matter and dark energy.

For the first time, MPA researchers and alumni have now used a novel method that fully exploits all information in galaxy maps and applied it to simulated but realistic datasets. Their study demonstrates that this new method will provide a much more stringent test of the cosmological standard model, and has the potential to shed new light on gravity and the dark universe.

From tiny fluctuations in the primordial universe, the vast cosmic web emerged: galaxies and form at the peaks of (over)dense regions, connected by cosmic filaments with empty voids in between. Today, millions of galaxies sit across the cosmic web. Large galaxy surveys map those galaxies to trace the underlying spatial matter distribution and track their growth or temporal evolution.

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Summary: Researchers have developed a Genetic Progression Score (GPS) using artificial intelligence to predict the progression of autoimmune diseases from preclinical symptoms to full disease. The GPS model integrates genetic data and electronic health records to provide personalized risk scores, improving prediction accuracy by 25% to 1,000% over existing models.

This method identifies individuals at higher risk earlier, enabling timely interventions and better disease management. The framework could also be adapted to study other underrepresented diseases, offering a breakthrough in personalized medicine and health equity.

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Gray matter is made up of neuron cell bodies and dendrites and is responsible for processing and interpreting information, such as sensation, perception, learning, speech, and cognition. White matter is made up of axons, which are long nerve fibers that connect neurons together from different parts of the brain.

In the study, male brains tended to be greater in volume than female brains. When adjusted for total brain volume, female infants on average had significantly more , while on average had significantly more in their brains.

Yumnah Khan, a Ph.D. student at the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge, who led the study, said, Our study settles an age-old question of whether male and female brains differ at birth. We know there are differences in the brains of older children and adults, but our findings show that they are already present in the earliest days of life.

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