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Physicists just found a tiny flaw in time itself
Physicists are rethinking one of quantum mechanics’ biggest puzzles: how fuzzy possibilities become definite reality. New research suggests that spontaneous “collapse” processes—possibly linked to gravity—could subtly blur time itself. This wouldn’t affect clocks we use today, but it reveals a hidden limit to how precise time can ever be. The findings open a new path toward uniting quantum physics with gravity.
Leukemia stem cells cause treatments to fail, but findings open new avenues to overcome resistance
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the HI-STEM Stem Cell Institute have deciphered a key mechanism that contributes to treatment failure in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They show that there are not just one, but four different subtypes of leukemia stem cells. This diversity could explain why one of the most important AML drugs does not work sufficiently in some patients or loses its effectiveness over time—resulting in the return of leukemia.
This discovery lays an important foundation for more precise and long-term successful treatment strategies that could specifically overcome resistance mechanisms. The findings are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive form of blood cancer that primarily affects older people and often has a poor prognosis despite improved therapies. In recent years, the targeted drug venetoclax has significantly improved treatment. In combination with other drugs, venetoclax often shows good therapeutic success in AML and will, at least in part, replace highly aggressive chemotherapy in the future. However, AML returns in nearly all patients—usually because individual cancer stem cells become resistant to the drug.
AI agents may be skilled researchers—but not always honest ones
Artificial intelligence tools designed to execute end-to-end projects, from coming up with hypotheses to running and writing up experiments, are increasingly popular with researchers—and increasingly skilled.
But a new study shows these tools can stealthily violate norms of research integrity.
VANCOUVER, CANADA— Artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed to execute end-to-end projects, from coming up with hypotheses to running and writing up experiments, are increasingly popular with researchers—and increasingly skilled. But a new study shows these tools can stealthily violate norms of research integrity.
Computer scientist Nihar Shah of Carnegie Mellon University and colleagues looked at two high-profile tools— Agent Laboratory and the AI Scientist v2 —both developed recently to help computer scientists perform experiments within the field of machine learning. The AI Scientist made headlines earlier this year by being the first AI system to have an original research paper accepted by peer review.
But in a presentation at the World Conferences on Research Integrity here today, Shah reported that both systems engaged in acts that aren’t acceptable in research, including making up data and “p-hacking”: running an experiment multiple times but only reporting the best outcome. (The team’s results were previously posted as a preprint on arXiv.) The misbehaviors weren’t obvious and required a lot of sleuthing to track down, suggesting AI-assisted studies might fall victim to such problems without their authors’ knowledge.
Digital therapy outperforms referrals to campus clinics among college students
College students with anxiety, depression and eating disorders may be more likely to start and to respond more positively to therapy offered via a digital app compared to referrals to in-person campus clinics, according to a study led by Penn State researchers and published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Globally, an estimated 40% to 60% of college students experience a mental health disorder at some point, and the need for campus counseling services has increased faster than institutions’ capacity to provide these services, according to the researchers.
The research team wanted to see if a proactive intervention using a digital therapy app could effectively treat anxiety disorders, depression and eating disorders, as well as address the increased need for psychological services.
Magnetic checkerboard separates microparticles by size and sends them along different paths
A team of researchers from the Universities of Tübingen, Bayreuth, and Kassel, and the Polish Academy of Sciences has developed a method for precisely controlling the movement of magnetic microparticles based on their size. These suspended particles, known as colloidal particles, range in size from a few tens of nanometers to several micrometers. Controlling them is important for applications such as drug delivery, medical laboratory tests, and the synthesis of new materials. The team’s study has now been published in Physical Review Letters.
The new method involves positioning microparticles above a magnetic layer that is patterned like a chessboard. In previous studies, magnetic transportation of the colloidal particles was limited to a specific height. At this distance, although the magnetic forces appear to balance each other out, the particles move regardless of their size. Therefore, it was not possible to control the particles specifically based on their size.