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Oct 1, 2024

Antiviral innate immune memory in alveolar macrophages following SARS-CoV-2 infection ameliorates secondary influenza A virus disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Pathogen encounter can result in epigenetic remodeling that shapes disease caused by heterologous pathogens.


The therapeutic potential of antigen-independent innate immune memory (IIM) is of particular relevance in the context of respiratory viruses with pandemic potential. Lercher et al. find that antiviral IIM in alveolar macrophages following SARS-CoV-2 infection ameliorates disease caused by a secondary unrelated pathogen, influenza A virus.

Oct 1, 2024

AI-accelerated Nazca survey nearly doubles the number of known figurative geoglyphs and sheds light on their purpose

Posted by in categories: education, robotics/AI

This paper demonstrates how AI accelerates discoveries in archaeology, even in a region as well known as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site of Nazca.


It took nearly a century to discover a total of 430 figurative Nazca geoglyphs, which offer significant insights into the ancient cultures at the Nazca Pampa. Here, we report the deployment of an AI system to the entire Nazca region, a UNESCO World Heritage site, leading to the discovery of 303 new figurative geoglyphs within only 6 mo of field survey, nearly doubling the number of known figurative geoglyphs. Even with limited training examples, the developed AI approach is demonstrated to be effective in detecting the smaller relief-type geoglyphs, which unlike the giant line-type geoglyphs are very difficult to discern. The improved account of figurative geoglyphs enables us to analyze their motifs and distribution across the Nazca Pampa.

Oct 1, 2024

From Lab to Cosmos: Rethinking Signs of Life on Other Planets

Posted by in category: alien life

When it comes to searching for life beyond Earth, specifically on exoplanets or exomoons, are researchers searching for the correct biomarkers? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how certain organic compounds that were long hypothesized to be created by life can be created in a laboratory setting without life present. This study holds the potential to challenge longstanding hypotheses regarding what biomarkers scientists should search for when trying to identify life on other worlds and how we should adapt our search methods accordingly.

For the study, the researchers successfully created dimethyl sulfide, which is an organic sulfur compound typically produced by marine algae, using a combination of light and gases that have been identified in the atmospheres of exoplanets. The caveat is no organisms were present to create the dimethyl sulfide, which left the researchers puzzled due to the longstanding hypothesis that marine organisms were the only way dimethyl sulfide was created.

“The sulfur molecules that we’re making are thought to be indicators of life because they’re produced by life on Earth,” said Dr. Eleanor Browne, who is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a co-author on the study. “But we made them in the lab without life — so it might not be a sign of life but could be a sign of something hospitable for life.”

Oct 1, 2024

Sex Hormones Modulate the Immune System to Influence Disease Risk Differently, study finds

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, sex

Researchers have uncovered how hormones profoundly affect our immune systems, explaining why men and women are affected by diseases differently.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Imperial College London have shown for the first time which aspects of our immune systems are regulated by sex hormones, and the impacts this has on disease risk and health outcomes in males and females.

It is well established that diseases can affect men and women differently, due to subtle differences in our immune systems. For example, the immune condition systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is nine-times more likely to affect women, or with COVID-19, males are known to have a greater risk of acute first-time infections, while females have a greater risk of long-COVID.

Oct 1, 2024

Researchers exploit quantum entanglement to create hidden images

Posted by in category: quantum physics

Encoding an image into the quantum correlations of photon pairs makes it invisible to conventional imaging techniques.

Oct 1, 2024

Novel FABP4+C1q+ macrophages enhance antitumor immunity and associated with response to neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in NSCLC via AMPK/JAK/STAT axis

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) immunotherapy facilitates new approaches to achieve precision cancer treatment.


Zhang, D., Wang, M., Liu, G. et al. Novel FABP4+C1q+ macrophages enhance antitumor immunity and associated with response to neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in NSCLC via AMPK/JAK/STAT axis. Cell Death Dis 15, 717 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-024-07074-x.

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Continue reading “Novel FABP4+C1q+ macrophages enhance antitumor immunity and associated with response to neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in NSCLC via AMPK/JAK/STAT axis” »

Oct 1, 2024

History of quantum computing: 12 key moments that shaped the future of computers

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Although quantum computing is a nascent field, there are plenty of key moments that defined it over the last few decades as scientists strive to create machines that can solve impossible problems.

Oct 1, 2024

Why are we called Fermilab?

Posted by in categories: education, nuclear energy, particle physics

On September 29, 1901 Enrico Fermi ForMemRS was born.


On May 11, 1974, National Accelerator Laboratory was given a new name: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The eponym honors famed Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, whose accomplishments in both theoretical and experimental physics place him among the greatest scientists of the 20th century.

Many visitors to Fermilab reasonably conclude from its name that Enrico Fermi worked at the laboratory, but he never did. In fact, he died in 1954, years before scientists even officially recommended the construction of a U.S. accelerator laboratory in 1963.

Continue reading “Why are we called Fermilab?” »

Oct 1, 2024

Google’s UNREAL New AI

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

The rapid advancement of AI-generated content is challenging our understanding of authenticity and creativity, raising significant ethical, regulatory, and existential questions about the future of human-AI collaboration Questions to inspire discussion AI-Generated Content Revolution 🎙️Q: How is Google’s Notebook LM.

Oct 1, 2024

First Observation of One-in-10-Billion Particle Decay Hints at Hidden Physics

Posted by in category: particle physics

Physicists have detected a long-sought particle process that may suggest new forces and particles exist in the universe.

By Clara Moskowitz

Once in a very great while, an ephemeral particle called a kaon arises and then quickly decays away into three other obscure entities. Whether or not this happens in a particular way has very little bearing on most of us, who will go about our lives without knowing either way. But to physicists who have been searching for this arcane process for decades, it matters a lot; finding out how often it happens could reveal hidden aspects of our universe.

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