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Bacterial ‘brains’ operate on the brink of order and disorder

The sensory proteins that control the motion of bacteria constantly fluctuate. AMOLF researchers, together with international collaborators from ETH Zurich and University of Utah, found out that these proteins can jointly switch on and off at the same time. The researchers discovered that this protein network operates at the boundary between order and disorder. The findings are published in Nature Physics on January 29.

Bacteria may be simple, single-celled organisms, but they still have a surprisingly sophisticated way of sensing and responding to their environment. Tom Shimizu, group leader at AMOLF and senior author of the study, explains that bacteria use networks of thousands of proteins to judge whether conditions are improving or worsening.

AI tool predicts six-month risks for cancer patients after heart attack

Cancer patients who suffer a heart attack face a dangerous mix of risks, which makes their clinical treatment particularly challenging. As a result, patients with cancer have been systematically excluded from many clinical trials and available risk scores. Until now, doctors had no standard tool to guide treatment in this vulnerable group.

An international team led by researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) has now developed the first risk prediction model designed specifically for cancer patients who have had a heart attack. The study, published in The Lancet, analyzed more than one million heart attack patients in England, Sweden and Switzerland, including over 47,000 with cancer.

Overall, the results show that cancer patients have a strikingly poor prognosis: nearly one in three died within six months, while around one in 14 suffered a major bleed and one in six experienced another heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death.

They Are Waiting for Us To Die: Aestivation Hypothesis

What if advanced civilizations aren’t absent—they’re just waiting? What if they looked at our universe, full of burning stars and abundant energy, and decided it’s too hot, too expensive, too wasteful to be awake? What if everyone else has gone into hibernation, sleeping through the entire age of stars, waiting trillions of years for the universe to cool? The Aestivation Hypothesis offers a stunning solution to the Fermi Paradox: intelligent civilizations aren’t missing—they’re deliberately dormant, conserving energy for a colder, more efficient future. We might be the only ones awake in a sleeping cosmos.

Over the next 80 minutes, we’ll explore one of the most patient answers to why we haven’t found aliens. From thermodynamic efficiency to cosmic hibernation, from automated watchers keeping vigil to the choice between experiencing now versus waiting for optimal conditions trillions of years ahead, we’ll examine why the rational strategy might be to sleep through our entire era. This changes everything about the Fermi Paradox, the Drake Equation, and what it means to be awake during the universe’s most “expensive” age.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 — Introduction: The Patience of Stars.

4:30 — The Fermi Paradox Once More.

8:20 — Introducing the Aestivation Hypothesis.

Continue reading “They Are Waiting for Us To Die: Aestivation Hypothesis” | >

GDC’s Survey Says Over 50% Of Game Devs See Gen AI As Harmful

Each year, thousands of professionals contribute to GDC’s State of the Game Industry report, offering studios, investors, and creators a snapshot of where the market is headed.

This year’s survey gathered responses from more than 2,300 game industry professionals, including developers, producers, marketers, executives, and investors, covering topics such as layoffs, diversity and inclusion, business models, and generative AI. Just over half of respondents were based in the United States, with a disproportionate share coming from North America and Western Europe, meaning the survey is not fully representative of the global industry.

However, some of these findings may reflect broader global trends. You can feel the mood shifting around AI, with its use increasingly sparking backlash whenever it comes up, from Baldur’s Gate 3 controversies to “Microslop”.

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