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New reconfigurable memristor-based system enables in-memory data sorting

Organizing data in a specific order, also known as sorting, is a central computing operation performed by a wide range of systems. Conventional hardware systems rely on separate components to store and sort data, which limits their speed and energy efficiency.

Researchers at Peking University have recently developed a new reconfigurable sort-in-memory system that relies on memristors to in-situ sort stored data. Their proposed system, outlined in a paper published in Nature Electronics and led by Professor Yuchao Yang, was found to store and sort data both quickly and energy-efficiently.

“The original idea comes from the fact that although operations like matrix multiplication and convolution have been widely implemented in CIM (Computing-in-Memory) systems, sorting has long been regarded as a ‘hard nut to crack’ in computing-in-memory technology due to its unique computational characteristics,” Yaoyu Tao, corresponding author of the paper, told TechXplore.

Association of Medication Use and 8-Year Mortality Risk in Patients With Parkinson DiseaseDrug-Wide Trial Emulation

Background and ObjectivesThere are currently no treatments that can halt or slow the progression of Parkinson disease (PD). The aim of this study was to identify new drug repurposing candidates for PD among existing prescription drugs that could be used…

Computational exploration of global venoms for antimicrobial discovery with Venomics artificial intelligence

Researchers used artificial intelligence to mine global venom proteomes and discovered novel peptides with antimicrobial activity. Several candidates showed efficacy against drug-resistant bacteria in laboratory and animal tests.

Fusion Energy Start-up Claims to Have Cracked Alchemy

A fusion energy start-up claims to have solved the millennia-old challenge of how to turn other metals into gold.

Chrysopoeia, commonly known as alchemy, has been pursued by civilisations as far back as ancient Egypt. Now San Francisco-based Marathon Fusion, a start-up focused on using nuclear fusion to generate power, has said the same process could be used to produce gold from mercury.

Researchers Reveal How Bacteria Can Produce Gold

High concentrations of heavy metals, like copper and gold, are toxic for most living creatures. This is not the case for the bacterium C. metallidurans, which has found a way to extract valuable trace elements from a compound of heavy metals without poisoning itself. One interesting side-effect: the formation of tiny gold nuggets. A team of researchers from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Adelaide in Australia has discovered the molecular processes that take place inside the bacteria. The group presented their findings in the renowned journal Metallomics published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.


A team of researchers reveal how bacterium C. metallidurans extracts valuable trace elements from a compound of heavy metals without poisoning itself, and thereby produces gold particles.

Breakthrough method purifies rare earths element with just water

A rare earth breakthrough could rewrite the rules of recycling.

Scientists at IOCB Prague have developed a cleaner, smarter way to recover these critical elements, crucial to technologies from smartphones to wind turbines.

The technique can efficiently extract metals like neodymium and dysprosium from discarded magnets, bypassing the toxic solvents and waste generated by conventional processes.

With global demand for rare earths soaring, the need for sustainable recovery methods has never been greater.


ICOB Prague’s chelator tech separates rare earths cleanly—and just revealed holmium’s surprise EV comeback.

Surprising finding could pave way for universal cancer vaccine

An experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of immunotherapy in a mouse-model study, bringing researchers one step closer to their goal of developing a universal vaccine to “wake up” the immune system against cancer.

Published today in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the University of Florida study showed that like a one-two punch, pairing the test vaccine with common anticancer drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors triggered a strong antitumor response.

A surprising element, researchers said, was that they achieved the promising results not by attacking a specific target protein expressed in the tumor, but by simply revving up the immune system — spurring it to respond as if fighting a virus. They did this by stimulating the expression of a protein called PD-L1 inside of tumors, making them more receptive to treatment. The research was supported by multiple federal agencies and foundations, including the National Institutes of Health.

Sc: What research can be furthered?

What has not yet been tried? These are the questions that Inserm research director Nicolas L’Heureux has asked himself every day for a long time, « like a game ». Which means that from very early on he had the idea of pushing the limits of vascular tissue engineering – a field in which he had begun working when doing his M.Sc. « When performing a cardiac or other type of bypass, preference is given to using the patient’s own vessels that are taken from one place and transplanted into another, more critical, one. An autologous graft continues to remain the best solution, but it is a limited resource. » Diseases such as stroke, hyperlipidemia, and thrombosis, which have the particularity of being systemic – in which they attack all vessels to varying degrees –, as well as aging, weaken our vessels. And the earlier the need for surgery, the greater the likelihood of a second intervention. « A transplanted artery will withstand an average of ten years and a vein six to seven years. » Which just leaves synthetic grafts. https://www.inserm.fr/en/news/nicolas-lheureux-artificial-bl…iological/


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