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In 2023, EPFL researchers succeeded in sending and storing data using charge-free magnetic waves called spin waves, rather than traditional electron flows. The team from the Lab of Nanoscale Magnetic Materials and Magnonics, led by Dirk Grundler, in the School of Engineering, used radiofrequency signals to excite spin waves enough to reverse the magnetization state of tiny nanomagnets.

When switched from 0 to 1, for example, this allows the nanomagnets to store digital information, a process used in computer memory, and more broadly, in information and communication technologies.

This work was a big step toward sustainable computing, because encoding data via (whose quasiparticles are called magnons) could eliminate the energy loss, or Joule heating, associated with electron-based devices. But at the time, the spin wave signals could not be used to reset the to overwrite existing data.

Cancer creates an immunosuppressive environment that hampers immune responses, allowing tumors to grow and resist therapy. One way the immune system fights back is by inducing ferroptosis, a type of cell death, in tumor cells through CD8 + T cells. This involves lipid peroxidation and enzymes like lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3 (Lpcat3), which makes cells more prone to ferroptosis. However, the mechanisms by which cancer cells avoid immunotherapy-mediated ferroptosis are unclear. Our study reveals how cancer cells evade ferroptosis and anti-tumor immunity through the upregulation of fatty acid-binding protein 7 (Fabp7).

To explore how cancer cells resist immune cell-mediated ferroptosis, we used a comprehensive range of techniques. We worked with cell lines including PD1-sensitive, PD1-resistant, B16F10, and QPP7 glioblastoma cells, and conducted in vivo studies in syngeneic 129 Sv/Ev, C57BL/6, and conditional knockout mice with Rora deletion specifically in CD8+ T cells, Cd8 cre; Rorafl mice. Methods included mass spectrometry-based lipidomics, targeted lipidomics, Oil Red O staining, Seahorse analysis, quantitative PCR, immunohistochemistry, PPARγ transcription factor assays, ChIP-seq, untargeted lipidomic analysis, ROS assay, ex vivo co-culture of CD8+ T cells with cancer cells, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, Western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation assay, flow cytometry and Imaging Mass Cytometry.

PD1-resistant tumors upregulate Fabp7, driving protective metabolic changes that shield cells from ferroptosis and evade anti-tumor immunity. Fabp7 decreases the transcription of ferroptosis-inducing genes like Lpcat3 and increases the transcription of ferroptosis-protective genes such as Bmal1 through epigenetic reprogramming. Lipidomic profiling revealed that Fabp7 increases triglycerides and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which impede lipid peroxidation and ROS generation. Fabp7 also improves mitochondrial function and fatty acid oxidation (FAO), enhancing cancer cell survival. Furthermore, cancer cells increase Fabp7 expression in CD8+ T cells, disrupting circadian clock gene expression and triggering apoptosis through p53 stabilization. Clinical trial data revealed that higher FABP7 expression correlates with poorer overall survival and progression-free survival in patients undergoing immunotherapy.

Curt Jaimungal and Graham Priest sit down to discuss various philosophical themes including the nature of truth, logic and paradoxes, the philosophy of mathematics, concepts of nothingness and existence, and the influence of Eastern philosophy on Western logical traditions.

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IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 The ACES mission by the European Space Agency aims to redefine time measurement in space with unmatched precision. ⏱️ ACES will test Einstein’s theories of relativity by measuring how time bends, slows, and stretches under cosmic conditions. 🔬 Using advanced atomic clocks like PHARAO and SHM, ACES will explore fundamental constants

A team of fusion researchers at TAE Technologies, Inc., in the U.S., working with colleagues from the University of California, has developed a new type of fusion technology that the company claims produces 100 times the power of other designs while costing just half as much to run. Their study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Over the past several decades, scientists around the world have been trying to find a way to produce using . Despite recent advancements, commercial electricity produced by fusion reaction power plants is still likely years away, due mainly to inefficiencies and cost. The team working in California claims that they have made significant inroads into solving both problems.

Their work was focused mostly on improving the field-reversed configuration (FRC), a magnetic confinement technique. As the researchers note, generating involves first generating plasma, which has to be contained. Because it is so hot, it cannot simply be contained; instead, it is held in place by a magnetic field.

Charged surfaces in contact with liquids—such as biological cell walls or battery electrodes—attract oppositely charged ions from the liquid. This creates two distinct charged regions: the surface itself and a counter-charged region in the liquid: the so-called electrical double layer. While pivotal to energy storage devices, the speed of its formation has remained elusive.

A team of researchers has now developed a light-based technique to observe this ultrafast process. The results validate previous models and extend their applicability to diverse systems, from to next-generation .

The work is published in the journal Science.

Senescent skin cells, often referred to as zombie cells because they have outlived their usefulness without ever quite dying, have existed in the human body as a seeming paradox, causing inflammation and promoting diseases while also helping the immune system to heal wounds.

New findings may explain why: Not all senescent cells are the same.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have identified three subtypes of senescent skin cells with distinct shapes, biomarkers, and functions—an advance that could equip scientists with the ability to target and kill the harmful types while leaving the helpful ones intact.

Brain cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the blood, carrying diverse cargoes, represent a valuable source of predictive, diagnostic, prognostic, disease-monitoring and treatment-response biomarkers for neurological disorders. This Review summarizes key aspects of EV biology and provides a critical overview of EV biomarker research and therapeutic development in neurology.