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A team of researchers led by Northwestern University has achieved a breakthrough by producing the most mature neurons to date from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). This advancement opens up new avenues for medical research and the possibility of transplantation therapies for conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injuries.

Previous efforts to turn stem cells into neurons have resulted in functionally immature neurons that resemble those from the early stages of development. The limited maturation achieved through current stem cell culture methods restricts their potential for studying neurodegeneration.

The study was recently published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

During almost two-years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of telemedicine and new ways of reaching people has changed and developed. In October 2021, NASA flight surgeon Dr. Josef Schmid, industry partner AEXA Aerospace CEO Fernando De La Pena Llaca, and their teams were the first humans “holoported” from Earth into space.

Using the Microsoft Hololens Kinect camera and a personal computer with custom software from Aexa, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet had a two-way conversation with live images of Schmid and De La Pena placed in the middle of the International Space Station. This was the first holoportation handshake from Earth in space.


Holoportation is a type of capture technology that allows high-quality 3D models of people to be reconstructed, compressed and transmitted live anywhere in real time.

Check out all the on-demand sessions from the Intelligent Security Summit here.

Data management and integration veteran Talend today debuted the winter ‘23 release of its core platform, providing enhanced observability, automation and connectivity for enterprises’ data assets. The update comes over a month after the company announced it is being acquired by Qlik in a transaction set to close in the first half of 2023.

Talend started in 2004 as a data integrator, but gradually expanded to offer Talend Data Fabric, a unified solution that works across any cloud, hybrid or multicloud environment. The solution combines enterprise-grade data discovery, integration, quality (automatic cleaning and profiling) and governance capabilities. It’s is intended to reduce the effort involved in working with data, while providing teams with clean and uncompromised information for decision-making.

Looks like Meta is also getting into the AI action.


The tech giant will be creating a new “top-level product group” focused on generative AI — AI that can create content — to focus on “building delightful experiences around this technology into all of our different products,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Monday.

“Over the longer term, we’ll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways,” he said, adding Meta is exploring AI experiences with text in WhatsApp and Messenger, and with images in Instagram.

Zuckerberg didn’t specify in the post what top-level meant.

The war is on. 😃


Elon Musk has approached AI researchers in recent weeks about forming a new research lab to develop an alternative to OpenAI ‘s ChatGPT, the Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the effort.

Tesla and Twitter chief Musk has been recruiting Igor Babuschkin, a researcher who recently left Alphabet’s DeepMind AI unit, the report said.

The report comes after ChatGPT, a text-based chatbot developed by OpenAI that can draft prose, poetry or even computer code on command, gained widespread attention in Silicon Valley.

Amid the continuing layoffs at Twitter, Elon Musk may have zeroed in on its new CEO — Steve Davis who is a long-time associate of Musk and currently the CEO of The Boring Company.

The Boring Company is an infrastructure and tunnel construction services company founded by Musk.

According to Platformer, Davis came to Twitter as part of Musk’s transition team last year.