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Hacking the iPhone has long been considered a rarified endeavor, undertaken by sophisticated nation-states against only their most high-value targets. But a discovery by a group of Google researchers has turned that notion on its head: For two years, someone has been exploiting a rich collection of iPhone vulnerabilities with anything but restraint or careful targeting. And they’ve indiscriminately hacked thousands of iPhones just by getting them to visit a website.

Researchers at EPFL’s Blue Brain Project, a Swiss brain research Initiative, have combined two high profile, large-scale datasets to produce something completely new—a first draft model of the rules guiding neuron-to-neuron connectivity of a whole mouse neocortex. They generated statistical instances of the micro-connectome of 10 million neurons, a model spanning five orders of magnitude and containing 88 billion synaptic connections. A basis for the world’s largest-scale simulations of detailed neural circuits.

Identifying the connections across all neurons in every region of the neocortex

The structure of synaptic connections between shapes their activity and function. Measuring a comprehensive snapshot of this so-called connectome has so far only been accomplished within tiny volumes, smaller than the head of a pin. For larger volumes, the long-range connectivity, formed by bundles of extremely thin but long fibers, has only been studied for small numbers of individual neurons, which is far from a complete picture. Alternatively, it has been studied at the macro-scale, a ‘zoomed-out’ view of average features that does not provide single-cell resolution.

We asked three centenarians what their most valuable life lessons were, and also their regrets.

The conversations that followed were remarkable. They talked about the importance of family, people, relationships and love. Their view on life, as an elderly citizen with a lot of experience is truly an inspiration and motivation. Enjoy the video!

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Opioid withdrawal is a challenging experience, and although there are medications already on the market that can help curb the symptoms of withdrawal, these drugs cause negative side effects.

Current withdrawal medications also often require people to take them for a prolonged period, which is not ideal and could lead to a relapse.

There may be encouraging news on the horizon, however. New research highlights the possible benefits of an experimental drug called rapastinel, which scientists initially created to help those with major depressive disorder.

Credit: MIT
Credit: MIT Engineers from the MIT and Analog Devices have created the most complex chip design yet that uses transistors made of carbon nanotubes instead of silicon. The chip was manufactured using new technologies proven to work in a commercial chip-manufacturing facility.

The researchers seem to have chosen the RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) for the design of the chip, presumably due to the open source nature that didn’t require hassling with licensing restrictions and costs. The RISC-V processor handles 32-bit instructions and does 16-bit memory addressing. The chip is not meant to be used in mainstream devices quite yet, but it’s a strong proof of concept that can already run “hello world”-type applications.

One advantage transistors made out of carbon nanotubes have over silicon transistors is that they can be manufactured in multiple layers, allowing for very dense 3D chip designs. DARPA also believes that carbon nanotubes may allow for the manufacturing of future 3D chips that have performance similar or better than silicon chips, but they can also be manufactured for much lower costs.