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Scientists map DNA folding at single base-pair resolution in living cells

Scientists from Oxford’s Radcliffe Department of Medicine have achieved the most detailed view yet of how DNA folds and functions inside living cells, revealing the physical structures that control when and how genes are switched on.

Using a new technique called MCC ultra, the team mapped the down to a single base pair, unlocking how genes are controlled, or, how the body decides which genes to turn on or off at the right time, in the right cells. This breakthrough gives scientists a powerful new way to understand how lead to disease and opens up fresh routes for drug discovery.

“For the first time, we can see how the genome’s control switches are physically arranged inside cells, said Professor James Davies, lead author of the study published in the journal Cell titled ” Mapping chromatin structure at base-pair resolution unveils a unified model of cis-regulatory element interactions.”

A long, bumpy caterpillar-like wormhole may connect two black holes

For obvious reasons, we do not know what the inside of a black hole looks like. But thanks to theoretical physics, we can ask what the inside should look like if Einstein’s theory of gravity and the rules of quantum mechanics are both true. A new study published in the journal Physical Review Letters has done exactly this by concentrating on two black holes that are deeply entangled (linked together by quantum rules).

The research by scientists from the U.S. and Argentina theoretically mapped the shared inner space between the two objects—the wormhole connecting them. They found that for a typical, messy entangled pair, the interior isn’t the smooth tunnel of science fiction.

Instead, it’s a long, lumpy structure they called the “Einstein-Rosen caterpillar.” It’s named after the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, the mathematical structure that connects two regions of spacetime, and “caterpillar” because of its bumpy, segmented shape. This discovery is a significant step toward proving that the bizarre rules of quantum mechanics can control the shape of spacetime inside a black hole.

AI-designed antibodies created from scratch

Research led by the University of Washington reports on an AI-guided method that designs epitope-specific antibodies and confirms atomically precise binding using high-resolution molecular imaging, then strengthens those designs so the antibodies latch on much more tightly.

Antibodies dominate modern therapeutics, with more than 160 products on the market and a projected value of US$445 billion in 5 years. Antibodies protect the body by locking onto a precise spot—an epitope—on a virus or toxin.

That pinpoint connection determines whether an antibody blocks infection, marks a pathogen for removal, or neutralizes a harmful protein. When a drug antibody misses its intended epitope, treatment can lose power or trigger side effects by binding the wrong target.

Textbook view of NMDA receptor calcium signals upended by new findings

Drugs that act on NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors, which are essential for learning, memory and moment-by-moment consciousness, are key for treating neuropsychiatric disorders. These drugs were developed based on the assumption that the proportion of calcium in the current produced by these receptors remains constant. That assumption turns out to be false, according to University at Buffalo research published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Our research reveals that small variations in the brain environment in which NMDA receptors operate can increase or decrease the amount of in the currents fluxed by these receptors,” explains Gabriela K. Popescu, Ph.D., corresponding author and professor of biochemistry in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. “This, in turn, could mean the difference between normal and impaired learning, memory and cognition, symptoms that accompany many neuropsychiatric conditions.”

Gyromorphs combine liquid and crystal traits to enhance light-based computers

Researchers have been developing computers that deploy light (photons) rather than electricity to power storage and calculations. These light-based computers have the potential to be more energy efficient than traditional computers while also running calculations at greater speeds.

However, a major challenge in the production of light-based computers—still in their infancy—is successfully rerouting microscopic light signals on a computer chip with minimal loss in . This is fundamentally a materials-design problem. These computers require a to block additional light from all incoming directions—what’s known as an “isotropic bandgap material”—in order to maintain signal strength.

Scientists at New York University report the discovery of gyromorphs—a material that combines the seemingly incompatible properties of liquids and crystals and that performs better than any other known structure in blocking light from all incoming angles.

Quantum nonlocality may be inherent in the very nature of identical particles

At its deepest physical foundations, the world appears to be nonlocal: particles separated in space behave not as independent quantum systems, but as parts of a single one. Polish physicists have now shown that such nonlocality—arising from the simple fact that all particles of the same type are indistinguishable—can be observed experimentally for virtually all states of identical particles.

All particles of the same type—for example, photons or electrons—are entangled with one another, including those on Earth and those in the most distant galaxies. This surprising statement follows from a fundamental postulate of quantum mechanics: particles of the same type are, in their very nature, identical. Does this mean that a universal source of entanglement—underlying the peculiar, nonlocal features of the quantum world—is at our fingertips? And can we somehow outsmart , which so carefully guards access to this extraordinary resource?

Answers to these questions have been provided by two Polish theorists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Krakow and the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IITiS PAN) in Gliwice. Their findings, published in npj Quantum Information, show how the very identity of particles gives rise to observable quantum .

Brain-computer interface decodes Mandarin from neural signals in real time

Researchers in Shanghai have reported in a study, recently published in Science Advances, that they’ve successfully decoded Mandarin Chinese language in real time with the help of a brain-computer interface (BCI) framework, a first for BCIs working with tonal languages. The participant involved in the study was also capable of controlling a robotic arm and digital avatar and interacting with a large language model using this new system.

While most people may not want a computer reading their mind, those who are unable to speak due to neurological conditions, like strokes or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), need to find alternative ways to communicate. Speech BCIs, capable of decoding neural signals, offer a promising way to restore communication in such individuals. In addition to communication, BCIs also offer ways to control devices directly through thought. This is particularly helpful for neurological conditions in which disabilities extend beyond loss.

These types of devices are not exactly a novel technology, but most BCI speech decoding research has focused on English, a non-tonal language.

Mapping a new frontier with AI-integrated geographic information systems

Over the past 50 years, geographers have embraced each new technological shift in geographic information systems (GIS)—the technology that turns location data into maps and insights about how places and people interact—first the computer boom, then the rise of the internet and data-sharing capabilities with web-based GIS, and later the emergence of smartphone data and cloud-based GIS systems.

Now, another is transforming the field: the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) as an independent “agent” capable of performing GIS functions with minimal human oversight.

In a study published in Annals of GIS, a multi-institutional team led by geography researchers at Penn State built and tested four AI agents in order to introduce a conceptual framework of autonomous GIS and examine how this shift is redefining the practice of GIS.

Composite metal foam could lead to safer hazmat transportation

A new study finds that composite metal foam (CMF) can withstand tremendous force—enough to punch a hole in a railroad tank car—at much lower weight than solid steel. The finding raises the possibility of creating a safer generation of tanker cars for transporting hazardous materials.

The researchers have also developed a that can be used to determine what thickness of CMF is needed in order to provide the desired level of protection necessary for any given application. The paper, “Numerical Model and Experimental Validation of Composite Metal Foam in Protecting Carbon Steel Against Puncture,” is published in Advanced Engineering Materials.

“Railroad tank cars are responsible for transporting a wide range of hazardous materials, from acids and chemicals to petroleum and liquefied ,” says Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University.

Sounds modify visual perception: New links between hearing and vision in the rodent brain

Sounds can alter the way the brain interprets what it sees. This is the key finding of a new study by SISSA researchers in Trieste, published in PLOS Computational Biology. The research shows that, when sounds are paired with moving visual stimuli, the latter are perceived differently by rats. In particular, auditory cues systematically alter vision by compressing the animals’ “perceptual space.”

Derived from the integration of behavioral experiments and computational modeling, the researchers’ findings indicate that auditory signals exert an inhibitory influence on visual perception. The study thus provides a new perspective on how the senses communicate within the brain, revealing that even direct connections between primary sensory areas—not only integration within higher-order association cortices—can profoundly influence perceptual experience.

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