In the classical Universe, the arrow of time flies one way – but in the quantum realm, where classical physics breaks down, could even time’s direction be ripe for the tweaking?
The ability to manipulate the direction of quantum evolution could offer new ways to process information – with implications especially for quantum computing.
And it may be within reach.
It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that there is at least one type of information processing and manipulation that does not readily lend itself to explanations that assume that all final causes are subsumed within brain, or more generally, central nervous system mechanisms. The cases in question are those in which the conscious act of wilfully altering the mode by which experiential information is processed itself changes, in systematic ways, the cerebral mechanisms used. There is a growing recognition of the theoretical importance of applying experimental paradigms that use directed mental effort to produce systematic and predictable changes in brain function (e.g. Beauregard et al. 2001; Ochsner et al. 2002). These wilfully induced brain changes are generally accomplished through training in, and the applied use of, cognitive reattribution and the attentional re-contextualization of conscious experience. Furthermore, an accelerating number of studies in the neuroimaging literature significantly support the thesis that, again, with appropriate training and effort, people can systematically alter neural circuitry associated with a variety of mental and physical states that are frankly pathological (Schwartz et al. 1996; Schwartz 1998; Musso et al. 1999; Paquette et al. 2003). A recent review of this and the related neurological literature has coined the term ‘self-directed neuroplasticity’ to serve as a general description of the principle that focused training and effort can systematically alter cerebral function in a predictable and potentially therapeutic manner (Schwartz & Begley 2002).
From a theoretical perspective, perhaps the most important aspect of this line of research is the empirical support it provides for a new science-based way of conceptualizing the interface between mind/consciousness and brain. Until recently, virtually all attempts to understand the functional activity of the brain have been based, at least implicitly, on some principles of classic physics that have been known to be fundamentally false for three-quarters of a century. According to the classic conception of the world, all causal connections between observables are explainable in terms of mechanical interactions between material realities. But this restriction on modes of causation is not fully maintained by the currently applied principles of physics, which consequently offer an alternative conceptual foundation for the scientific description and modelling of the causal structure of self-directed neuroplasticity.
The advantages for neuroscience and neuropsychology of using the conceptual framework of contemporary physics, as opposed to that of classic physics, stem from five basic facts. First, terms such as ‘feeling’, ‘knowing’ and ‘effort’, because they are intrinsically mentalistic and experiential, cannot be described exclusively in terms of material structure. Second, to explain the observable properties of large physical systems that depend sensitively upon the behaviours of their atomic constituents, the founders of contemporary physical theory were led to introduce explicitly into the basic causal structure of physics certain important choices made by human beings about how they will act. Third, within this altered conceptual framework these choices are described in mentalistic (i.e. psychological) language. Fourth, terminology of precisely this kind is critically necessary for the design and execution of the experiments in which the data demonstrating the core phenomena of self-directed neuroplasticity are acquired and described. Fifth, the injection of psychologically described choices on the part of human agents into the causal theoretical structure can be achieved for experiments in neuroscience by applying the same mathematical rules that were developed to account for the structure of phenomena in the realm of atomic science.
Early results of the first clinical trial to evaluate the drug invikafusp alfa (invika) in humans indicate that the treatment may be capable of managing cancers that have rebuffed most other interventions, including standard immunotherapy.
A study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Mass General Brigham and Memorial Sloan Kettering found that, at optimal doses, invika was well tolerated and, in patients whose solid tumors had resisted standard immunotherapy, halted disease progression in most and shrank tumors in some. The work is published in the journal Nature Medicine.
“Patients whose tumors are advanced—particularly tumors that don’t respond well to immunotherapy—often have their backs against a wall. Few options remain once you reach that point, but these results highlight a more precise means of stimulating antitumor immunity that could provide another solution,” said co-corresponding author James Gulley, clinical director at the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), part of NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The immortal jellyfish is capable of winding back its lifecycle to become young again. Scientists are unlocking its cellular secrets to find ways human cells could rejuvenate too.
Railway says an intruder may have accessed decrypted environment variables for some users, as a researcher reports related cryptocurrency theft.
Bai et al. show that bone acts as a dynamic force sensor that systemically delays aging and extends lifespan. This work reveals a bone-derived mechanism linking mechanical sensing to organismal longevity, suggesting new targets for anti-aging interventions.
Researchers measured mitochondrial DNA copy number in post-mortem brain tissue. Alzheimer’s disease was associated with lower mtDNA levels, while diabetes was linked to higher levels.
What would it take to watch an electron move through a material? Researchers would need to see individual atoms and capture an electron’s motion at incredibly short timescales. A Technion-led team has brought those two capabilities together in a scanning tunneling microscope, using carefully shaped laser pulses to control the direction of electron flow while preserving nanoscale spatial resolution.
The study, led by Michael Krüger of the Technion Faculty of Physics and published in Nature Photonics, builds on a microscope with an exceptionally sharp needle tip. When the needle tip is brought very close to a surface, electrons can cross the gap through a quantum effect called tunneling. The resulting current flow lets researchers map minute features of the surface. Until now, following the rapid movement of electrons within that tiny gap has been a major challenge.
The team directed infrared laser pulses into the gap between the tip and the sample. Each pulse contained two colors of light. By changing their relative timing, the researchers changed the shape of the light wave—and could steer electrons from the needle tip to the sample or back in the opposite direction. They adjusted the timing instead of repeatedly turning the laser on and off, helping them distinguish the ultrafast current from noise signals caused by laser heating.
Astronomers identified an exceptionally tiny core that may represent an early stage in the formation of a massive star. Located in an infrared-dark area called Dragon Cloud, the core is nicknamed the “dragon egg.” The paper, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, was posted to the arXiv preprint server on Oct. 5.
How giant stars, with masses eight times greater than the sun, form is still a matter of debate in the scientific community. There are two main ideas. One says that a dense cloud of gas first condenses into a massive “pre-stellar” core, which then collapses to form a single giant star. Another says the star begins small and grows by pulling in material from the larger clump around it.
Researchers think that if they directly observe a compact, massive yet young concentration of mass, they will be able to lean toward one of these ideas. Such cores, however, are hard to detect, and if they are found, their interpretations are sometimes complicated by nearby star formation and stellar activity.
Researchers have created a material that manufactures the proteins responsible for cell movement, without needing intact living cells. By embedding cell-free gene expression into a thin sheet of protein filaments, they were able to make the material wrinkle, rise into blister-like shapes and break into bundles that flow around one another.
The instructions driving these transformations are built into the material itself—in DNA. Changing the genetic program made the filaments sustain flowing motion, stop after a burst of activity or repeatedly speed up and slow down.
The study, published in Nature Materials, demonstrates mechanical behavior that is “genetically programmed and executed autonomously,” as the authors describe it. Once assembled, the material can change its activity without researchers intervening at each step.
