Menu

Blog

Page 5172

Sep 22, 2021

Nuclear waste interaction in the environment may be more complicated than once thought

Posted by in categories: chemistry, nuclear energy

Past and present nuclear activities (energy, research, weapon tests) have increased the urgency to understand the behavior of radioactive materials in the environment. Nuclear wastes containing actinides (e.g. plutonium, americium, curium, neptunium…) are particularly problematic as they remain radioactive and toxic for thousands of years.


Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators proposed a new mechanism by which nuclear waste could spread in the environment.

The new findings, that involve researchers at Penn State and Harvard Medical School, have implications for nuclear waste management and environmental chemistry. The research is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Continue reading “Nuclear waste interaction in the environment may be more complicated than once thought” »

Sep 22, 2021

Scientists find a new way to reverse immune suppression in tumors

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

These club cell-secreted factors are able to nullify immune suppressor cells that otherwise help tumors escape an effective antitumor response,” said co-senior author Dr. Vivek Mittal, director of research at the Neuberger Berman Lung Cancer Center and the Ford-Isom Research Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine. “We’re excited by the possibility of developing these club cell factors into a cancer treatment.


Malignant tumors can enhance their ability to survive and spread by suppressing antitumor immune cells in their vicinity, but a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian has uncovered a new way to counter this immunosuppressive effect.

In the study, published Sept. 20 in Nature Cancer, the researchers identified a set of anti-immunosuppressive factors that can be secreted by called cells that line airways in the lungs. They showed in a mouse model of lung cancer that these club cell factors inhibit highly potent immunosuppressive cells called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which tumors often recruit to help them evade antitumor immune responses.

Continue reading “Scientists find a new way to reverse immune suppression in tumors” »

Sep 22, 2021

A genetic brain disease reversed after birth

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

As this is the first report of neuro-inflammation in Kleefstra syndrome, the next step is to find out if it also occurs in the human condition. Shinkai believes the chances are high and says he would not be surprised if other neurological diseases caused by epigenetic dysregulation were also related to abnormal inflammation in the brain.


Researchers at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) in Japan report that Kleefstra syndrome, a genetic disorder that leads to intellectual disability, can be reversed after birth in a mouse model of the disease. Published in the scientific journal iScience, the series of experiments led by Yoichi Shinkai showed that postnatal treatment resulted in improved symptoms, both in the brain and in behavior.

Normally, we get two good copies of most genes, one from each parent. In Kleefstra , one copy of the EHMT1 gene is mutated or missing. This leads to half the normal amount of GLP, a protein whose job is to control genes related to brain development through a process called H3K9 methylation. Without enough GLP, H3K9 methylation is also reduced, and the connections between neurons in the brain do not develop normally. The result is and autistic-like symptoms. “We still don’t know if Kleefstra syndrome is a curable disease after birth or how this epigenetic dysregulation leads to the ,” says Shinkai. “Our studies in have provided new information about what causes the behavioral abnormalities associated with the syndrome and have shown that a cure is a real possibility in the future.”

Continue reading “A genetic brain disease reversed after birth” »

Sep 22, 2021

Do Microbes Make Us Social?

Posted by in categories: biological, evolution, genetics, neuroscience

Microbes may have influenced the evolution of the social brain and behavior as a means to propagate their own genetic material.

—Cryan, Dinan, et al., November 2,019 Science.


In an effort to extend their territory, microbes may push us to socialize.

Sep 22, 2021

Government Scientists Are Creating Matter From Pure Light

Posted by in category: government

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory turned light into electrons, validating a theory that dates back nearly a century.

Sep 22, 2021

Pioneering and Highly Accurate Approach to Clocking Electron Movements Inside an Atom

Posted by in category: particle physics

New technique delivers resolution improvement in ultrafast processes.

An international consortium of scientists, initiated by Reinhard Kienberger, Professor of Laser and X-ray Physics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), several years ago, has made significant measurements in the femtosecond range at the U.S. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

However, on these minuscule timescales, it is extremely difficult to synchronize the X-ray pulse that sparks a reaction in the sample on the one hand and the laser pulse which ‘observes’ it on the other. This problem is called timing jitter, and it is a major hurdle in ongoing efforts to perform time-resolved experiments at XFELs with ever-shorter resolution.

Sep 22, 2021

I Tried Warning Them — Elon Musk on Superhuman AI

Posted by in categories: biological, Elon Musk, existential risks, robotics/AI, singularity

I tried to warn them.-Elon Musk.


Elon Musk has warned humanity many times about the dangers of superhuman AI. He thinks the advent of digital superintelligence will bring about profound changes to human civilization. Elon Musk thinks the technological singularity could either be super beneficial or it could be terrible for our society. Elon said that no one knows for sure the impact superhuman AI will have on our world but that one thing is for certain: We will not be able to control it. He thinks artificial intelligence will be used as a weapon and warns that the lack of AI regulation could mean it’s already too late for humanity.

Continue reading “I Tried Warning Them — Elon Musk on Superhuman AI” »

Sep 22, 2021

First Deep Drilling Success for ExoMars — Much Deeper Than Any Other Martian Rover Has Ever Attempted

Posted by in category: space

ESA’s Rosalind Franklin twin rover on Earth has drilled down and extracted samples 1.7 meters into the ground – much deeper than any other Martian rover has ever attempted.

The successful collection of soil from a hard stone and its delivery to the laboratory inside the rover marks a promising milestone for the ExoMars 2022 mission.

Sep 22, 2021

Brazilian President # JairBolsonaro wants to keep Latin America’s largest economy ticking instead of locking down activities to combat the spread of # coronavirus

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics

Sep 22, 2021

SpaceX Says It May Build Starships Exclusively for Space Tourism

Posted by in category: space travel

SpaceX successfully sent four space tourists on a three day joyride around the Earth inside its Crew Dragon spacecraft last week — and the mission has sent demand soaring, according to the company.

“The amount of people who are approaching us through our sales and marketing portals has actually increased significantly,” the company’s senior director of human spaceflight programs Benji Reed revealed during Saturday’s press conference, as quoted by Ars Technica. “There’s tons of interest rolling in now.”

Even more excitingly, Reed says that the company’s much, much bigger spacecraft Starship may also be destined to launch tourists, a massive upgrade that could allow significantly more passengers to embark on an extremely expensive trip to space.