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Most biological cells have a fixed place in an organism. However, there are instances where these cells acquire mobility, enabling them to traverse the body. Such occurrences are seen during processes like wound recovery, or when cancerous cells divide indiscriminately and spread throughout the body. The characteristics of mobile and stationary cells exhibit several differences, one notable one being the structure of their cytoskeleton.

This structure of protein filaments makes the cells stable, stretchable, and resistant to external forces. In this context, “intermediate filaments” play an important role. Interestingly, two different types of intermediate filaments are found in mobile and stationary cells. Researchers at the University of Göttingen and ETH Zurich have succeeded in precisely measuring and describing the mechanical properties of the two filaments. In the process, they discovered parallels with non-biological materials. The results have been published in the journal Matter.

The scientists used optical tweezers to investigate how the filaments behave under tension. They attached the ends of the filaments to tiny plastic beads, which they then moved in a controlled way with the help of a laser beam. This stretched the two different types of filaments, which are known as vimentin and keratin. The researchers worked out which forces were necessary for the stretching and how the different filaments behaved when they were stretched several times.

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DOCTORS have reconnected a 12-year-old boy’s skull to his body after he suffered “internal decapitation” in a freak car accident.

Medics in Jerusalem, Israel, say they performed the “extremely rare” operation on Suleiman Hassan after a car knocked him off his bike.

His skull broke off the top vertebrae in his spine in the hit in June, effectively separating his head from his body with just skin and muscles keeping it in place.

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The Fine-Tuning Argument is often seen as the best argument for the existence of God. Here we have assembled some of the world’s top physicists and philosophers to offer a reply. Not every critic of the argument comes from the same perspective. Some doubt there is a problem to be solved whilst others agree it is a genuine problem but think there are better solutions than the God hypothesis. Some like the multiverse and anthropics other don’t. We have tried to represent these different approaches and so it should be taken as given, that not all of the talking heads agree with each other. Nevertheless, they all share the view that the fine-tuning argument for God does not work. Nor are all the objectors atheist, Hans Halvorson offers what we think is a strong theological objection to the argument. This film does not try to argue that God doesn’t exist only that the fine-tuning argument is not a good reason to believe in God. Most of the footage was filmed exclusively for this film with some clips being re-used from our Before the Big Bang series, which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry_pILPr7B8&list=PLJ4zAUPI-q…4hnojoCR4m All of the critics of the fine tuning argument that appear were sent a draft of the film more than a month before release and asked for any objections either to their appearance, the narration or any other aspect of the film. No objections were raised, and many replies were extremely positive and encouraging. A timeline of the subjects covered is below:
(We define God as a perfect Omni immaterial mind as for example modern Christians and Muslims advocate, there are other conceptions of God which our video does not address).
Just to be clear, this is a polemical film arguing against the fine tuning argument.

Timecodes.

0:00 Introduction.

Continue reading “Physicists & Philosophers critique The Fine Tuning Argument” | >

Filmmakers may soon be able to stabilize shaky video, change viewpoints and create freeze-frame, zoom and slow-motion effects – without shooting any new footage – thanks to an algorithm developed by researchers at Cornell University and Google Research.

The software, called DynIBar, synthesizes new views using pixel information from the original video, and even works with moving objects and unstable camerawork. The work is a major advance over previous efforts, which yielded only a few seconds of video, and often rendered moving subjects as blurry or glitchy.

The code for this research effort is freely available, though the project is at an early stage and not yet integrated into commercial video editing tools.

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Tesla has unveiled its V4 Supercharger station, and it now includes a credit card reader for the first time which might open doors for state subsidies.

When Tesla first launched the Supercharger network in 2012, it was a free service to Tesla owners.

Later, the automaker started charging some Tesla owners for charging at the Supercharger stations, but it was only for Tesla owners, and therefore, the company handled all payments and activation of charging sessions through an automatic handshake between the cars and charging stations and through its mobile app.

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India has launched its third Moon mission and is hoping to become to the first to land near its south pole – which has rarely been explored.

If successful, the Chandrayaan-3’s orbiter, lander and a rover are due to touch down on the Moon’s surface on 23 or 24 August.

The rocket set off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre space centre just after 09:05 GMT (10:05 BST; 14:35 local time).

The launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is the country’s first major mission since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced policies to spur investment in the space industry.

Continue reading “India moon mission rocket blasts into space — BBC News” | >

Adults with a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome are 39% more likely to develop HF during 10 years of follow-up, especially amyloidosis, compared with those without a carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis, researchers reported.

“The increased rate of HF among patients with carpal tunnel syndrome requires attention because HF is a common disease associated with high mortality,” Mark Luedde, MD, from Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel and Cardiology Joint Practice in Bremerhaven, Germany, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Network Open. “Early diagnosis of HF is a key to successful treatment, particularly for [transthyretin] cardiac amyloidosis, which has been associated with carpal tunnel syndrome in a recent study.”

In a retrospective study, Luedde and colleagues analyzed data from 81,898 adults from 1,284 general practices in Germany with an initial diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome from 2005 to 2020, using the Disease Analyzer database. The mean age of patients was 53 years and 66.7% were women. Researchers used propensity-score matching to match patients without carpal tunnel syndrome to those with carpal tunnel syndrome. The main outcome was the initial diagnosis of HF up to 10 years after the index date of carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis. As a negative control, researchers analyzed the association of carpal tunnel syndrome with cancer.

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