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Blog – Page 993

Samuele Ferracin1,2, Akel Hashim3,4, Jean-Loup Ville3, Ravi Naik3,4, Arnaud Carignan-Dugas1, Hammam Qassim1, Alexis Morvan3,4, David I. Santiago3,4, Irfan Siddiqi3,4,5, and Joel J. Wallman1,2

1Keysight Technologies Canada, Kanata, ON K2K 2W5, Canada 2 Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada 3 Quantum Nanoelectronics Laboratory, Dept. of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94,720, USA 4 Applied Math and Computational Research Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94,720, USA 5 Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94,720, USA

Get full text pdfRead on arXiv Vanity.

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“Bridge recombination can universally modify genetic material through sequence-specific insertion, excision, inversion, and more, enabling a word processor for the living genome beyond CRISPR,” said Berkeley’s Patrick Hsu, a senior author of one of the studies and Arc Institute core investigator, in a press release.

CRISPR Coup

Scientists first discovered CRISPR in bacteria defending themselves against viruses. In nature, a Cas9 protein pairs with an RNA guide molecule to seek out viral DNA and, when located, chop it up. Researchers learned to reengineer this system to seek out any DNA sequence, including sequences found in human genomes, and break the DNA strands at those locations. The natural machinery of the cell then repairs these breaks, sometimes using a provided strand of DNA.

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Summary: Researchers have identified how the brain’s default mode network (DMN) collaborates with other regions to produce creative thought. By using advanced brain imaging techniques, they tracked real-time brain activity during creative tasks.

This study reveals that the DMN initiates creative ideas, which are then evaluated by other brain regions. Understanding this process could lead to interventions that enhance creativity and aid mental health treatments.

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The artificial intelligence startup and Menlo Ventures are launching a $100 million fund on Wednesday to back early-stage startups, and get them using the AI company’s technology. Menlo will put up the cash to invest in the startups, while Anthropic will give founders $25,000 in credits that go toward using its large language models.

The launch of the Anthology Fund mirrors a partnership between Apple and venture firm Kleiner Perkins. The joint venture, called the iFund, was introduced in 2008, a year after the iPhone hit the market, to support developers on Apple’s mobile platforms. It initially started with $100 million in 2008, and doubled to $200 million two years later.

Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures and a former partner at Kleiner Perkins, said the iFund was the inspiration for this launch.

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“This new planet supports the theory that high eccentricity migration should account for some fraction of hot Jupiters,” said Dr. Sarah Millholland.

How do exoplanets evolve throughout their lifetimes, specifically those known as “hot Jupiters”, which have been found to orbit extremely close to their parent stars? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated the highly eccentric orbit of TIC 241,249,530 b, which is a Jupiter-sized exoplanet located approximately 1,100 light-years from Earth. This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the formation of exoplanets like hot Jupiters and how their orbits evolve over time.

Now, TIC 241,249,530 b could help astronomers piece together the evolution of hot Jupiters given the exoplanet’s highly eccentric orbit, meaning it travels very close to its parent star at certain points followed by swinging back out to well beyond the parent star, completing one orbit in 167 days. Astronomers hypothesize this could mean that hot Jupiters initially begin as cold Jupiters in highly eccentric orbits only to slowly become more circular and closer to its parent star over time.

For the study, the researchers used computer models to simulate long-term orbits of TIC 241,249,530 b, whose star also orbits another star, making it a binary system. After modeling the gravitational relationship between TIC 241,249,530 b, its host star, and the second star, the team determined that TIC 241,249,530 b will eventually become a hot Jupiter several billion years from now. Additionally, they discovered that TIC 241,249,530 b started out as a cold Jupiter but whose orbit was stretched over time resulting from the gravity between its orbit and the binary star system.

Continue reading “Evolution of Hot Jupiters: From Cold Giants to Star-Hugging Worlds” | >