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AI model detects prediabetes using ECG data without need for blood tests

DiaCardia, a novel artificial intelligence model that can accurately identify individuals with prediabetes using either 12-lead or single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) data, has been developed. This breakthrough holds promise for future home-based prediabetes screening using consumer wearable devices, without requiring invasive blood tests.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the human body either cannot make enough insulin or does not use insulin well, resulting in high blood glucose levels. This condition is a growing global health burden that can reduce the quality of life and life expectancy.

Before type 2 diabetes develops, many people go through a prolonged stage called prediabetes, where blood glucose levels are above normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes is an important window wherein lifestyle changes can reduce the progression to diabetes.

Archaeologists Have Discovered an Ancient “Factory” That Could “Reshape What We Thought We Knew” About Roman Britain

A major ancient Roman industrial site on the River Wear may be one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the last hundred years, experts say.

Situated in northern England, the Roman site has yielded more than 800 whetstones on the riverbanks, with the expectation that hundreds or even thousands more may remain buried and await discovery. Durham University’s Department of Archaeology oversaw the work, which potentially could reframe our past understanding of Roman activity in the area.

Roman Whetstones

Liraglutide in Acute Minor Ischemic Stroke or High-Risk Transient Ischemic Attack With Type 2 Diabetes: The LAMP Randomized Clinical Trial

Liraglutide addition for Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes and minor AIS or high-risk TIA reduced 90-day stroke recurrence and improved functional outcomes.

Question Do glucagon-like peptide–1 receptor agonists (liraglutide) reduce stroke recurrence in patients with type 2 diabetes who have minor acute ischemic stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack?

Findings In this randomized clinical trial of 636 participants with type 2 diabetes, 25 patients (7.9%) who were randomly assigned to receive standard therapy plus liraglutide and 44 (13.8%) of those who received standard therapy had recurrent stroke at 90 days.

Meaning The results of this randomized clinical trial suggest that, compared with standard therapy, liraglutide might reduce recurrent stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes who had minor acute ischemic stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack.

Physicists uncover hidden magnetic order in the mysterious pseudogap phase

Physicists have uncovered a link between magnetism and a mysterious phase of matter called the pseudogap, which appears in certain quantum materials just above the temperature at which they become superconducting. The findings could help researchers design new materials with sought-after properties such as high-temperature superconductivity, in which electric current flows without resistance.

Using a quantum simulator chilled to just above absolute zero, the researchers discovered a universal pattern in how electrons—which can have spin up or down—influence their neighbors’ spins as the system is cooled.

The findings represent a significant step toward understanding unconventional superconductivity, and were the result of a collaboration between experimentalists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Germany and theoretical physicists, including Antoine Georges, director of the Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute in New York City.

What deep sea mud is revealing about giant earthquakes along the Pacific Coast

Marine turbidites are layers of mud and sand deposited on the deep ocean floor by massive underwater landslides and are often used as a historical record for reconstructing earthquake histories.

However, they can be unreliable because it is difficult to show they were not triggered by a storm or flood rather than a quake. In a new study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers detail a new way to link these mud layers to the specific landslides that caused them. This could mean much more accurate earthquake timelines.

World’s smallest capacitor paves way for next-generation quantum metrology

Nanomechanical systems developed at TU Wien have now reached a level of precision and miniaturization that will allow them to be used in ultra-high-resolution atomic force microscopes in the future. Their new findings are published in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies.

A major leap in measurement technology begins with a tiny gap of just 32 nanometers. This is the distance between a movable aluminum membrane and a fixed electrode, together forming an extremely compact parallel-plate capacitor—a new world record. This structure is intended for use in highly precise sensors, such as those required for atomic force microscopy.

But this world record is more than just an impressive feat of miniaturization—it is part of a broader strategy. TU Wien is developing various hardware platforms to make quantum sensing easier to use, more robust, and more versatile. In conventional optomechanical experiments, the motion of tiny mechanical structures is read out using light. However, optical setups are delicate, complex, and difficult to integrate into compact, portable systems. TU Wien therefore relies on other types of oscillations that are better suited for compact sensors.

Twisted 2D materials get an ultraclean, scalable upgrade for future quantum devices

Exciting electronic characteristics emerge when scientists stack 2D materials on top of each other and give the top layer a little twist.

The twist turns a normal material into a patterned lattice and changes the quantum behavior of the material. These twisted materials have shown superconductivity—where a material can conduct electricity without energy loss—as well as special quantum effects. Researchers hope these “twistronics” could become components in future quantum devices.

But creating these extremely thin stacked structures, called moiré superlattices, is difficult to do. Scientists usually peel off single layers of material using Scotch tape and then carefully stick those layers together. However, the method has a very low success rate, often leaves behind contamination between layers and produces tiny samples smaller than the width of a human hair.

Benchmarking framework reveals major safety risks of using AI in lab experiments

While artificial intelligence (AI) models have proved useful in some areas of science, like predicting 3D protein structures, a new study shows that it should not yet be trusted in many lab experiments. The study, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, revealed that all of the large-language models (LLMs) and vision-language models (VLMs) tested fell short on lab safety knowledge. Overtrusting these AI models for help in lab experiments can put researchers at risk.

LabSafety Bench for AI use in labs

The research team involved in the new study initially sought to answer whether LLMs can effectively identify potential hazards, accurately assess risks and make reliable decisions to mitigate laboratory safety threats. To help answer these questions, the team developed a benchmarking framework, called “LabSafety Bench.”

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