Several multi-cancer GWAS loci within the region encoding telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) have been identified. Here, the authors explore the locus within TERT intron 4, link it with a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR), and investigate its biological significance and role in cancer.
Glaciers separate from the continental ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica covered a global area of approximately 706,000 km2 around the year 200019, with an estimated total volume of 158,170 ± 41,030 km3, equivalent to a potential sea-level rise of 324 ± 84 mm (ref. 20). Glaciers are integral components of Earth’s climate and hydrologic system1. Hence, glacier monitoring is essential for understanding and assessing ongoing changes21,22, providing a basis for impact2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and modelling11,12,13 studies, and helping to track progress on limiting climate change23. The four main observation methods to derive glacier mass changes include glaciological measurements, digital elevation model (DEM) differencing, altimetry and gravimetry. Additional concepts include hybrid approaches that combine different observation methods. In situ glaciological measurements have been carried out at about 500 unevenly distributed glaciers24, representing less than 1% of Earth’s glaciers19. Glaciological time series provide seasonal-to-annual variability of glacier mass changes25. Although these are generally well correlated regionally, long-term trends of individual glaciers might not always be representative of a given region. Spaceborne observations complement in situ measurements, allowing for glacier monitoring at global scale over recent decades. Several optical and radar sensors allow the derivation of DEMs, which reflect the glacier surface topography. Repeat mapping and calculation of DEM differences provide multi-annual trends in elevation and volume changes26 for all glaciers in the world27. Similarly, laser and radar altimetry determine elevation changes along linear tracks, which can be extrapolated to calculate regional estimates of glacier elevation and volume change28. Unlike DEM differencing, altimetry provides spatially sparse observations but has a high (that is, monthly to annual) temporal resolution26. DEM differencing and altimetry require converting glacier volume to mass changes using density assumptions29. Satellite gravimetry estimates regional glacier mass changes at monthly resolution by measuring changes in Earth’s gravitational field after correcting for solid Earth and hydrological effects30,31. Although satellite gravimetry provides high temporal resolution and direct estimates of mass, it has a spatial resolution of a few hundred kilometres, which is several orders of magnitude lower than DEM differencing or altimetry26.
The heterogeneity of these observation methods in terms of spatial, temporal and observational characteristics, the diversity of approaches within a given method, and the lack of homogenization challenged past assessments of glacier mass changes. In the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)16, for example, glacier mass changes for the period from 2000 to 2019 relied on DEM differencing from a limited number of global27 and regional studies16. Results from a combination of glaciological and DEM differencing25 as well as from gravimetry30 were used for comparison only. The report calculated regional estimates over a specific baseline period (2000–2019) and as mean mass-change rates based on selected studies per region, which only partly considered the strengths and limitations of the different observation methods.
The spread of reported results—many outside uncertainty margins—and recent updates from different observation methods afford an opportunity to assess regional and global glacier mass loss with a community-led effort. Within the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE; https://glambie.org), we collected, homogenized and combined regional results from the observation methods described above to yield a global assessment towards the upcoming IPCC reports of the seventh assessment cycle. At the same time, GlaMBIE provides insights into regional trends and interannual variabilities, quantifies the differences among observation methods, tracks observations within the range of projections, and delivers a refined observational baseline for future impact and modelling studies.
Sodium is cheap and abundant, but the batteries can’t quite match lithium cells—so far.
A new humanoid robot prototype uses fluid-filled muscles to kick its legs while hanging.
Not everyone is willing to passively accept the future AI companies are shaping.
In an aggressive response to AI companies like OpenAI, independent developers have created “tarpits” — malicious software designed to trap and confuse AI scrapers for months on end.
The goal? To make AI companies pay a higher price for their relentless data collection and, perhaps, to slow the rapid commercialization of AI-driven content generation.
Inspired by cybersecurity tactics originally used against spam, these digital snares lure AI crawlers into endless loops of fake data, slowing their operations and potentially corrupting their training models. One such tool, Nepenthes, forces scrapers into a maze of gibberish, while another, Iocaine, aims to poison AI models outright.
While critics argue that these efforts may have limited long-term impact—since AI companies are developing countermeasures—supporters see tarpits as a symbolic act of resistance against AI’s unchecked expansion.
Han, R.; Yoon, H.; Kim, G.; Lee, H.; Lee, Y. Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16, 1259. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16091259
AMA Style
Han R, Yoon H, Kim G, Lee H, Lee Y. Pharmaceuticals. 2023; 16:1259. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16091259
Researchers used artificial intelligence to predict the activity of thousands of genes in tumors based on routinely collected images of tumor biopsies. It could guide treatment without costly genomic tests.
Scientists detected a record-breaking, ultra-high-energy “ghost particle,” neutrino named km3-230213a, with an underwater telescope.
Bryan Johnson took ketamine and monitored his brain activity for 15 days, recording the experience and sharing about it on X.
Johnson is a 47-year-old longevity-obsessed entrepreneur, known for sharing biohacking content across his social media channels. His most recent health experiment involved treatment with the popularized horse tranquilizer.
As he shared in a tweet, he wanted to test what happens to the brain before, during, and after ketamine treatment.
Ketamine has gained popularity as a fast-acting treatment for depression, PTSD, and chronic pain. Unlike traditional antidepressants, it works quickly by targeting the brain’s glutamate system to restore neural connections.
To monitor his brain activity, Johnson used his self-invented Kernel Flow—a form of non-invasive brain interface technology worn on the head.
Photonics researchers from Tampere University, Finland, and Kastler-Brossel Laboratory, France, have demonstrated how self-imaging of light, a phenomenon known for nearly two centuries, can be applied to cylindrical systems, facilitating unprecedented control of light’s structure with great potential for advanced optical communication systems. In addition, a new type of space-time duality was explored for powerful analogies bridging different fields of optics.
In 1836, Henry F. Talbot performed an experiment, where he observed light patterns that naturally reappear after some propagation without the use of any lenses or imaging optics—a self-imaging phenomenon nowadays of then termed the Talbot effect.
Recently, researchers interested in sculpting light from the Experimental Quantum Optics Group (EQO) in Tampere University, as well as the Complex Media Optics group at Kastler Brossel Laboratory, in Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, have teamed up and investigated the self-imaging Talbot effect in cylindrical systems in greater depth than ever before. The presented interesting fundamental physics and powerful applications in optical communications have now been published in the journal Nature Photonics.
