Scientists understand why smart people think slower than stupid people

Anastasia Adakhovskaya

At the household level, this was already known, even the proverb is "while the smart one thinks, the fool does." Now the fact has a scientific explanation.

Of course, it all depends on the complexity of the task. When it's simple, people with higher IQs solve it faster. But if it is difficult, then smart people act more slowly, but make much fewer mistakes. These results were obtained by scientists from the Berlin Institute for Health Research "Charite" in Germany, together with a colleague from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.

“We want to understand how brain decision-making processes work and why different people make different decisions,” explains Petra Ritter, head of brain modeling at the Charité, explaining her interest in the topic.

First, she and colleagues conducted magnetic resonance imaging of the brains of 650 participants in the American Human Connectome Project, which has been studying neural connections in the human brain since 2010. How these people perform on cognitive tests and what their IQ scores were was known by then.

Then, on the basis of tomograms, as well as mathematical models based on theoretical knowledge about biological processes, scientists performed computer simulations of the brain. As a result, they built the so-called general model of the human brain. Then they improved it and created personalized brain models for each of the participants. Accordingly - 650 pieces. The models helped scientists reproduce the activity of each brain, analyzing the intelligence characteristics and reaction time of a particular person in solving various kinds of problems, from simple to complex.

Scientists understand why smart people think slower than stupid people

Anastasia Adakhovskaya

PART II

At the next stage, the researchers compared the performance of 650 computer models of the brain with the performance of the participants themselves, who solved different levels of tasks within the test. An example of a simple task: the participant had to slow down on a red light, a difficult one - to lay the best route on the road map.

“In the process, we found that these artificial brains behave differently, but in exactly the same way, as their biological counterparts,” says Ritter. “The former were not inferior to the latter in terms of intellectual capabilities and reaction time.”

Researchers have found that the brains of people with low intelligence are literally in a hurry to make a decision and do not wait until the higher parts of the central nervous system complete all the necessary stages of information processing. Such people are much more likely to make mistakes when solving complex problems.

At the same time, participants with higher intelligence scores completed simple tasks quickly, but took longer to solve complex ones. At the same time, parts of their brain were better synchronized with each other, constantly exchanging information, but slowing down the final decision. As a result, intellectually developed people were more likely to cope with a difficult task. Simply put, collecting and analyzing information takes time, but is more likely to lead to the right decisions.

“Synchronization, that is, the formation of functional networks in the brain, changes the properties of working memory and, therefore, the ability to withstand long periods of time without making a decision,” explains Michael Schirner, lead author of the study and researcher in the Ritter lab. - In more complex problems, you must keep previous progress in working memory while you explore other solutions, and then integrate them into each other. This gathering of evidence for a particular decision can sometimes take longer, but it also leads to better results. We were able to use the model to show how the balance between excitation and inhibition at the global level of the entire brain network affects decision making and working memory at a more detailed level of individual neuronal groups.”

As a result, the performance of computer models matched the results of real people, which is another advantage of the study.

Of course, scientists did not start all this in order to test the old proverb. Their main interest was in helping people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dementia.

“The simulation technology used in this study has made significant advances and can be used to improve individual planning for surgical and medical interventions, as well as therapeutic brain stimulation,” says Ritter. “For example, a doctor can already use computer simulation to evaluate which intervention or drug would work best for a particular patient and have the fewest side effects.”

And a better understanding of how smart decisions differ from stupid ones has become only a pleasant appendage to the main scientific work.

Could you email this entire essay to me--I will message you my email.

I have an editorial that I wrote about "buzz words" and semantics that may be of some interest.

Thanks,

Gloria McMillan

Scientists Have Found the First Branch on the Tree of Life

Something had to diverge from the trunk eventually.

📷BY JACKIE APPEL

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a43993880/scientists-find-first-branch-on-tree-of-life/

• Scientists have discovered which animal was the first to branch off from our collective common ancestor.
• For years, debate had raged over whether the first to diverge was the sea sponge or the comb jelly.
• Thanks to new chromosomal analysis techniques, we finally have an answer.

All animals on Earth share a common ancestor. Trace back the history of any creature from humans to slugs, and you’ll eventually be able to follow all of the branches on the animal tree of life back to its trunk.

But that trunk had to branch off at some point, or we wouldn’t have all of today’s animals. And that first split has been a bit elusive to scientists, due to it taking place around 600 million years ago.

We know a few things, though. Namely, we know that the first split resulted in the birth of two creatures—the ancestor of almost all animals, and the “sister” to that ancestor. That sister is the ancestor of just one group of modern-day animals.

For decades, scientists have debated which group of animals traces its lineage back to the “sister” of literally all other animals. They had two contenders for a long time—sea sponges and comb jellies. And now, thanks to new methods enabling researchers to analyze these creature’s chromosomes, scientists believe they finally have the answer.

An idea on the Principle of the Best. When Occam's razor operates, only the essentials remain: This is the “Principle of the Best” stated by Leibniz in a beautiful text: “Whence it follows that God, possessing supreme and infinite wisdom, acts in the perfect manner, not only metaphysically, but also morally speaking…”. By applying this principle to knowledge Leibnitz declares “power and knowledge are perfections, and, insofar as they belong to God, they do not have limits”. And (according to me) to deduce that: Knowledge is anything but irrational.

Israel will use atomic clocks to protect national infrastructure

In an effort to improve the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, Israel's national clock, located at the National Physical Laboratory, was connected to the national digital system's "time sharing" system on Sunday.

https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-to-use-atomic-clock-to-secure-its-national-infrastructure/

Based in Jerusalem, the National Physical Laboratory maintains national standards for the measurement of time, mass and pressure, as well as electric capacitance. This includes four cesium-type atomic clocks that measure time and frequency for security and civilian purposes such as television broadcasts, telephone calls, computers, navigation devices and military systems.

Many information systems are based on quoting time from the GPS satellite system. But such systems can have difficulty getting a correct time reading if the satellites are blocked, requiring a backup that the National Physical Laboratory can provide.

In addition to watches, the National Physical Laboratory houses equipment for international comparisons, measurements and calibrations for industrial and military clients such as Rafael, Elbit, Aerospace Industry, Air Force and Electricity Company.

To ensure accuracy, the lab compares time measurements made in Israel with those of other national laboratories around the world - 86,400 times a day.

In 2019, a new generation of atomic clocks and a comparison system were introduced into the laboratory.

In the United States confirmed the effectiveness of the new drugs against Alzheimer's disease

Experts from the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) advisory panel on Friday confirmed that Eisai and Biogen's Alzheimer's drugs Leqembi are effective in treating early-stage patients.

According to Reuters, final FDA approval of the drug is expected before July 6.

This is the first drug that changes the course of the disease, and not only eliminates the symptoms.

"Overall, the study clearly demonstrated that this is an effective treatment," said Alzheimer's Institute expert Dr. Robert Alexander. He added that he thought the study "clearly demonstrated clinical benefit", calling the results "robust".

In the United States, 6 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

You can recognise an idea as useful, but not know how to use it.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Ideas are valuable in themselves, but every idea is, after all, only an idea. The challenge is to put it into practice.

Henry Ford

Dear Boris Michailovich Manin,

Could you do a literature review and cite the study on Alzheimer's not just the popular article mentioning it? That would help us here in general.

That saves time. Most people reserve opinion in science until they have seen the study with its controls, variables, and constraints, possible conflicts of interested accounted for. Such a pop article might be little more than a paid commercial for some drug company.

Thanks,

Gloria

Dear Gloria Lee Mcmillan

I am not a specialist of this area :-)

Sorry

Dear Boris MIchailovich Menin,

That is just standard practice. If you are talking about a tech topic to refer people to the original research.

Why? The academic reason is because citing popular sources are in fact using secondary sources, which can be misleading.

The pop science magazine summarizing writer may have misunderstood or misinterpreted (intentionally or unintentionally) because that pop science columnist is wearing an interpretative lens of his/her/their own in addition to the data in that original study.

This summarizing in a popular magazine can be compared the children's game of "telephone" whereby an original message whispered from child to child becomes more and more distorted, in this case grossly simplified, leading to distortion.

While pop science magazines and their articles are valuable for gaining an initial gist of a study, they should in my opinion, always carry links to the PRIMARY SOURCE which is that original study.

Hope this help to clarify?

Israeli scientists make breakthrough in fight against skin cancer

A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer shows how melanoma cancer cells affect their immediate surroundings, forming new lymphatic vessels in the dermis (the inner layer of the skin) to penetrate deeper. and spread throughout the body. The researchers believe their discovery could lead to the development of a vaccine against deadly cancer.

The study was led by Prof. Carmit Levy of the TAU School of Medicine and Prof. Shoshana Greenberger of Sheba.

Melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer, begins with the uncontrolled division of melanocyte cells in the epidermis, the top layer of the skin. In the second stage, cancer cells penetrate the dermis and metastasize through the lymphatic and circulatory systems. Previous studies have seen a dramatic increase in the density of lymphatic vessels in the skin around melanoma, a mechanism that has not yet been understood by researchers.

“Our main question was how melanoma affects the formation of lymphatic vessels, through which it then metastasizes,” Greenberger explained. “We have shown for the first time that in the first stage, melanoma cells secrete extracellular vesicles called melanosomes in the epidermis.”

By investigating this in human melanomas, the scientists showed that melanosomes can enter the lymphatic vessels, and then examined their behavior in the environment of real lymphatic cells. It was found that here, too, melanosomes penetrate cells and give them a signal to replicate and migrate. In other words, primary melanoma secretes extracellular vesicles that infiltrate the lymphatics and promote the formation of more lymphatics near the tumor, allowing the melanoma to progress to a lethal stage of metastasis.

Levy added that “melanoma cells secrete melanosomes before the cancer cells reach the dermal layer of the skin. These vesicles modify the environment of the dermis in favor of cancer cells, so melanoma cells are responsible for enriching the dermis with lymphatics and preparing the substrate for their own metastases.” Melanosomes don't stop at lymph cells as they also affect the immune system.

Since melanoma is not dangerous at the metastatic stage, scientists say understanding how metastases spread through the lymphatic and circulatory systems could help develop a vaccine against this deadly cancer.

“Melanoma that remains on the skin is not dangerous,” concluded Greenberger, “Therefore, the most promising direction in the fight against melanoma is immunotherapy - the development of a vaccine that will induce the immune system to fight melanosomes and specifically attack already infiltrated lymphatic endothelial cells. If we can stop the mechanisms that generate metastases in the lymph nodes, we can also stop the spread of the disease.”

Dear Gloria Lee Mcmillan

I prefer, at this stage :-) only 71 years old, to be focused on the informational approach.

You can read my professional articles and reports in "popular sources" if you will visit my RG page!

In a week, a person inhales enough microplastic to create a credit card.

Scientists from Australia have found that every week people inhale microplastics, which would be enough to create a credit card. Researchers warn that it may pose a greater threat to human health than previously thought. Study Finds writes about it.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/you-may-inhale-a-credit-card-sized-worth-of-microplastic-each-week-study-finds#:~:text=On%20Tuesday%2C%20Australian%20researchers%20published,amount%20of%20plastic%20every%20week.

Physicists simulated the movement of microplastic particles through the upper respiratory tract of people. They studied the movement of particles of different shapes and sizes - from spherical to tetrahedral and cylindrical - in conditions of slow and fast breathing. It turned out that people can inhale approximately 16.2 particles of microplastic every hour, which collects in the nasal cavities and oropharynx.

The larger microplastic (5.56 microns) was more likely to remain in the airways than its smaller counterpart.

“Millions of tons of microplastics have been found in water, air and soil. The global production of microplastics is rapidly increasing, and the density of microplastics in the air is increasing significantly. In 2022, for the first time, researchers found microplastics deep in the human respiratory tract, raising concerns about serious respiratory health hazards,” said study author Mohammad S. Islam. Sydney.

Scientists believe that their model will help colleagues assess the impact of microplastics on the human body and develop methods of protection.

A UN report says that global plastic pollution could be reduced by 80% by 2040 if the world takes a few steps in this direction, such as eliminating excess packaging and increasing reuse.

In my world (view) having an idea means to see what everybody sees but then not to think what everybody thinks. I’ll often have ideas - so I must know ;-)

Beyoncé concerts in Stockholm raised the inflation rate in Sweden

How is it possible??????????

Beyoncé's decision to kick off her Renaissance world tour from Stockholm has had an impact on inflation in Sweden, according to the Financial Times, citing economists at local Danske Bank.

According to the publication, Beyoncé's first two concerts, which took place on May 11 and 12, were attended by at least 46,000 people - many of them came to Sweden directly for these concerts, which, in turn, was reflected in prices in hotels and restaurants.

The influx of tourists also contributed to the country's inflation rate, which stood at 8.2% in May, although the Swedish Central Bank had forecast 8.1% and experts polled by Bloomberg had expected inflation to slow to 7.8%.

“Beyoncé is responsible for this surprise. It's pretty amazing for one event. We have never seen this before,” said Michael Grahn, chief economist at Danske Bank.

According to experts, the effect of Beyoncé's concerts should come to naught during June.

A component necessary for the origin of life was found on the moon of Saturn

Using data collected by NASA's Cassini mission, an international team of scientists has discovered phosphorus, an important chemical element for the origin of life, in salt-rich ice grains fired into space from Saturn's moon Enceladus.

This is stated in a press release from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

“We have previously found that the Enceladus ocean is rich in various organic components. But this new result shows a clear chemical signature of a significant amount of phosphorus salts inside ice particles released into space by streams from a small satellite. This is the first time that this important element has been detected in the ocean for Earth," said Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, who led the study.

It is noted that phosphorus, the less common of the essential elements required for biological processes, has not yet been discovered outside the Earth.

This chemical element is the most important material for DNA, which forms chromosomes and carries genetic information.

It is also present in the bones of mammals, cell membranes, and plankton living in the ocean. Phosphorus is also a major part of the energy-carrying molecules present in all life on Earth. Without this life it would be impossible.

A billion years ago, a day on Earth lasted 19 hours - study !!!!!!?????

Scientists have shown that the length of the day on Earth remained unchanged during the era of the “boring billion”. The study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The length of a day - the period it takes for the Earth to complete one revolution around its axis - is not constant. Last day on Earth were much shorter than today. Most models assume that the length of the day changed gradually. An international team of researchers has shown that for almost a billion years this has remained virtually unchanged at about 19 hours.

To establish this, scientists used an alternative approach - cyclostratigraphy. It is a geological technique that uses rhythmic layering of sediment to detect Milankovitch astronomical cycles (changes in the amount of light reaching the Earth) that reflect how changes in the Earth's orbit and rotation affect climate. The researchers analyzed data on Milankovitch cycles obtained from studying sedimentary rocks in recent years. Their statistical analysis points to a stabilization of the length of the earth's day between two and one billion years ago, in the middle of the Proterozoic era. This era is known as the “boring billion,” characterized by climate stability, low levels of oxygen in the atmosphere, and very slow evolution of living organisms.

Researchers believe that long-term stabilization is associated with the balance of two opposing forces - the tidal influence of the Moon and the Sun. In addition to tides in the ocean, associated with the gravity of the Moon, solar tides are also observed on Earth, associated with the heating of the atmosphere during the daytime.

Solar atmospheric tides are not as strong as lunar ocean tides, but this was not always the case. When the Earth rotated faster in the past, the Moon's pull was much weaker. The influence of the satellite and the star is multidirectional - while the Moon slows down the rotation of the Earth, the Sun accelerates it.

"If in the past these two opposing forces became equal to each other, such a tidal resonance would cause the length of the Earth's day to stop changing and remain constant for some time," says Uwe Kirscher, co-author of the study.

These are the results that the collected data show - the duration of the earth's day has stabilized at about 19 hours.

"Owls" die before "larks" - study

The shorter life expectancy of "owls" is not so much related to the time of their sleep, but to the lifestyle inherent in people with such a chronotype.

A large study over 37 years found that night owls die earlier than early risers. The reasons for this are related to smoking and drinking, and not because they stay up late. For the study, data on 22,976 adult twins in Finland, of which 42.9% identified themselves as "owls", i.e. used to staying up late.

Scientists have found that a greater likelihood of early death may not be directly related to the chronotype, but to the lifestyle it leads to. At the same time, Christer Hublin, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, notes: “Our results indicate that there is practically no independent influence of chronotype on mortality.”

"The increased risk of mortality associated with a clearly 'evening' person is due to greater consumption of tobacco and alcohol compared to those who are clearly of the 'morning' type," he explains.

Having determined the chronotypes for study participants in 1981, the scientists continued their work until 2018, studying the mortality rate established using nationwide registries. The analysis adjusted for factors such as education, body mass index and sleep habits, as well as the amount of nicotine and alcohol for each individual.

By 2018, researchers found that 8,728 participants had passed away. Accordingly, the data showed that the chance of dying earlier was 9% higher for night owls than for early risers.

At the same time, non-smokers and non-alcoholic night owls did not have an increased risk of dying from any cause. That is, in the long run, smoking and alcohol consumption are the cause of additional deaths. However, more often such habits are typical just for “owls”.

“Levels of alcohol and substance use are correlated with the advantage of staying awake late at night,” the study authors say.

I would like to bring the attention of forum members who are interested in exploring the potential connection between the Einstein formula and the Landauer formula (information-energy equivalence) to a recently published article in the American Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics titled "Investigating the Link between Energy, Matter, and Information: The E=mc² and Landauer Principle."

Article Investigating the Link between Energy, Matter, and Informati...

I would greatly appreciate any criticism, comments, or recommendations from those who have had the opportunity to read this article. Your insights would be invaluable to furthering our understanding in this field.

Thank you for your attention and contributions.

Compliments Boris on your explorations. May I suggest evaluating the energy required to form and destroy a bit of information in inorganic and organic systems. e.g. the energy required to create versus to destroy atomic scale information. e.g. 1) Information storage & erasure in inorganic systems by positioning, displacing or evaporating an atom relative to another on a crystal plane. 2) Information storage & erasure in organic systems by forming, extending, or erasing base pairs in DNA and RNA. Both inorganic and organic systems have an upper limit of the energy required to evaporate or thermally displace an atom, and the energy to destroy base pairs in DNA and RNA with an organic bond upper temperature limit.

We owe to Ibn Khaldoun (1332-1406), historian, geographer, and precursor of sociology, a formidable quote “Al adel assas al omrane”, which translates as “Justice is the Foundation of Civilization” [1]. All governments that practice discrimination of any kind are outside of Civilization, outside of History.

[1] https://docplayer.fr/50217192-Universitatis-petru-maior-historia.html

Groundwater extraction has shifted the Earth's rotation pole by 80 cm in 18 years

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/world/groundwater-extraction-has-tilted-earth-s-spin-how-likely-is-it-to-fuel-climate-change--90073

The pumping of groundwater affects the location of the Earth's pole of rotation. The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Based on climate models, geophysicists have calculated the impact of groundwater use on the Earth's rotation. The analysis showed that, due to the movement of gigatonnes of water, only from 1993 to 2010, the tilt of the Earth changed by 80 cm.

The researchers studied the change in the position of the Earth's pole of rotation - the point around which the planet rotates. Its position is constantly changing in relation to the earth's crust. The distribution of water on the planet affects the distribution of mass.

“Like adding a small weight to a spinning top, the rotation of the Earth changes under the influence of the water located on it,” the scientists explain.

The researchers modeled the observed changes in the pole drift of the Earth's rotation and the movement of water - first considering only ice sheets and glaciers, and then adding different scenarios for the redistribution of groundwater. The model was consistent with the observed polar drift only after the researchers included the movement of 2150 Gt of groundwater. Without it, the model deviated by 78.5 cm during the study period, or by 4.3 cm per year.

“The location of groundwater matters for how much it can alter polar drift,” the scientists add.

The greatest influence is exerted by the redistribution of water from the middle latitudes. During the period analyzed in the study, the largest amount of water was redistributed in the western part of North America and northwestern India, that is, in the middle latitudes.

The pole of rotation typically moves several meters during the year, so changes in groundwater extraction do not carry the risk of changing seasons in the short term. But on a geologic time scale, polar drift can have an impact on climate, the authors of the study say.

$450,000 per ticket: Virgin Galactic launches first commercial spaceflight

https://nypost.com/2023/06/17/virgin-galactic-to-launch-first-450k-commercial-spaceflight-this-month/

Virgin Galactic, part of billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group, announced on Thursday a launch window for its first commercial flight, Galactic 01, which will take place from June 27 to 30.

"Galactic 01, a research mission, will transport three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the Italian National Research Council to conduct microgravity research," Virgin Galactic said in a statement Thursday.

The Virgin Galactic suborbital space flight system consists of two elements - the VMS Eve carrier aircraft and the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft with six passengers and two pilots called VSS Unity. VMS Eve takes off from the runway from Unity under the wings and then drops the space liner at an altitude of about 15,000 meters. VSS Unity then fires up its onboard rocket engine.

Passengers on board the space plane will experience several minutes of weightlessness and will be able to see the planet against the backdrop of space. Unity then returns to Earth for an unpowered runway landing.

Unity has already completed five test missions to suborbital space, the last of which took place on May 25th. This flight was Virgin Galactic's first spacewalk since July 2021; the company was temporarily shutting down Unity and Eve to perform maintenance and upgrades that prepared both units for the increased speed of commercial service flights.

The missions will launch from Spaceport America in New Mexico, Virgin Galactic's commercial hub. A ticket to board the VSS Unity now costs $450,000.

Virgin Galactic is building a fleet of new Delta-class spaceplanes that the company says can be launched once a week. New space liners should start operating in 2026.

As an expert in metrology and temperature issues, I can provide insights into novel concepts related to temperature measurement.

A novel concept in metrology, particularly in relation to temperature, refers to the introduction of innovative measurement principles, techniques, or standards that improve the accuracy and reliability of temperature measurements. In the domain of science, this could involve the development of new thermometry methods or temperature sensors that offer higher precision and sensitivity, allowing scientists to gather more accurate data for their experiments. In art, temperature-related metrology could be applied to analyze and monitor the thermal conditions of artworks, ensuring optimal preservation and preventing damage caused by temperature fluctuations. In politics, novel concepts in temperature metrology may focus on establishing standardized temperature measurement protocols for environmental regulations or safety standards in various industries. These concepts can lead to advancements in temperature measurement technology, calibration methodologies, and the overall understanding of thermal phenomena. By incorporating temperature issues into metrology, we can enhance our ability to measure and monitor temperature accurately, ultimately benefiting scientific research, art preservation, and policy-making processes.

Dear Dr. Ciro Alberto Sánchez

Many thanks for your detailed comments about "novel concepts related to temperature measurement".

Dear Dr. Ciro Alberto Sánchez

It is very important to support this forume with scientific advancies in different areas!

"Office plankton" remotely after 80 years: humpbacked with claw-hands.

The modern world dictates its own conditions: scientists have shown what remote workers will look like in 80 years. The spectacle, let's face it, is shocking - humpbacked with claw-hands.

https://mignews.com/media/uploads/2023/06/17/image.png

https://mignews.com/media/uploads/2023/06/17/image_Vv23Llx.png

British researchers helped to look into the future by creating a model that actually shows what remote workers will look like in 2100. Such an evolution will happen to them if they do not begin to equip themselves with a normal workplace at home.

Researchers from Furniture at Work have shown what people working remotely at a computer will look like in 80 years, writes LadBible. After the Covid-19 pandemic, many are accustomed to working from home rather than in the office. But they do not create the right workplace for themselves, but work right on the couch or in bed.

And so the researchers compiled a model named Anna - a woman who lives in the year 2100 and has been working at home for more than a generation. In the images, Anna can be seen to have a hunchback, puffy face, and dark eyes. Moreover, her long arms became like claws.

According to journalists, it was decided to generate Anna after a study by British scientists from the University of Leeds, which showed that a third of people in the UK who work at home do not create a normal workplace for themselves. This may lead to problems in the future.

According to Furniture at Work researchers, the image of Anna shows that due to the wrong workplace and the constant exposure of the computer screen to the eyes, a person can begin to suffer from poor posture and vision problems. Moreover, mental health problems are predicted for remote workers in 2100.

"To visualize the impact of not having the right place to work from home, Furniture at Work used scientific research and worked with health experts to show what the remote worker of the future might look like," the statement said.

Brian Clark, founder of United Medical Education, said teleworkers should take regular breaks to recharge to avoid back and neck pain.

"Arranging the workplace with ergonomic furniture is also important for setting clear boundaries between work and personal time," he said.

New hydrogel can extract unlimited amounts of water from the air, even in deserts

https://www.earth.com/news/new-hydrogel-can-extract-unlimited-amounts-of-water-from-the-air-even-in-deserts/

ByEric Ralls

Earth.com staff writer

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a superabsorbent hydrogel material capable of absorbing moisture and extracting water from the air. This groundbreaking material could be a game-changer, particularly in desert and drought-prone regions.

The material is able to swell as it absorbs water vapor, allowing it to continuously draw in moisture even under dry conditions of 30 percent relative humidity.

Remarkably, it does this without any leakage. After the water is absorbed, it can be heated, condensed, and collected as ultrapure water.

Supercharged hydrogel is the secret sauce

What’s the secret behind this new material’s extraordinary absorbency? The material is a hydrogel, a naturally absorbent substance used in products such as disposable diapers.

The team of engineers supercharged the hydrogel’s moisture-absorbing capabilities by infusing it with lithium chloride, a salt known for its desiccating power.

In earlier studies, there was a limit to how much salt could be infused into the hydrogel. This MIT team, however, was able to exceed that limit, achieving unprecedented levels of moisture absorption even in extremely dry environments.

Carlos Díaz-Marin is a mechanical engineering graduate student at MIT and member of the Device Research Lab. He said, “We’ve been application-agnostic, in the sense that we mostly focus on the fundamental properties of the material. But now we are exploring widely different problems like how to make air conditioning more efficient and how you can harvest water. This material, because of its low cost and high performance, has so much potential.”

Hydrogel can be produced quickly and in massive amounts

If it can be manufactured quickly and on a large scale, this superabsorbent hydrogel could be used as a passive water harvester. Additionally, it could also be integrated into air conditioning units to save energy by dehumidifying the air.

The MIT team sought to improve hydrogels’ moisture-absorbing abilities, particularly from the air. They found that salts like lithium chloride were efficient at absorbing moisture and decided to combine the two.

Gustav Graeber, who was a member of the MIT team and is now a principal investigator at Humboldt University in Berlin, said, “The hydrogel can store a lot of water, and the salt can capture a lot of vapor. So it’s intuitive that you’d want to combine the two.”

How the hydrogel was created

In a new approach, the MIT team spent days and even weeks allowing the lithium chloride to infuse into the hydrogel, instead of the usual 24 to 48 hours used in previous experiments.

The results were astonishing. After 30 days, the hydrogels had absorbed up to 24 grams of salt per gram of polymer, quadrupling the previous record.

This record-breaking absorption ability held across a range of humidity levels. In dry conditions of 30 percent relative humidity, the hydrogel captured an astonishing 1.79 grams of water per gram of material.

Díaz-Marin further commented, “Any desert during the night would have that low relative humidity, so conceivably, this material could generate water in the desert.” The focus now, he said, is on improving the rate of water uptake, to allow for faster cycling and more frequent water harvesting.

The team’s study is published in the journal Advanced Materials, and the research was supported, in part, by the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The innovation showcased by these researchers offers a glimpse of a future where even the driest of regions may have access to a consistent water source.

Material used in diapers was the spark for creating the hydrogel

This astonishingly absorbent hydrogel is a product of MIT’s Device Research Lab, which is dedicated to creating innovative materials aimed at solving global energy and water challenges.

The team decided to focus on enhancing the capabilities of hydrogels, a material that has been used for years in absorbing moisture, especially in products like diapers.

The team pondered, “Our question was, how can we make this work just as well to absorb vapor from the air?” Díaz-Marin shared. They researched extensively and found that some salts, like rock salt, could efficiently soak up moisture.

Of these, lithium chloride stood out due to its incredible ability to absorb over ten times its own mass in moisture. However, lithium chloride by itself can only pool the moisture around it without retaining it.

Getting from diapers to a groundbreaking hydrogel material

This led the researchers to combine hydrogel and lithium chloride, resulting in a superabsorbent material that could attract and hold in moisture.

Graeber clarified this approach by stating, “It’s the best of both worlds. The hydrogel can store a lot of water, and the salt can capture a lot of vapor. So it’s intuitive that you’d want to combine the two.”

The innovation of the MIT team, however, didn’t stop there. They noticed that other teams had hit a roadblock when it came to the amount of salt they could infuse into the hydrogel.

Previous attempts were only able to infuse 4 to 6 grams of salt per gram of polymer, yielding absorption of about 1.5 grams of vapor per gram of material in 30 percent relative humidity conditions.

Instead of stopping there, the MIT team decided to push the boundaries. They experimented with a longer infusion process that went on for weeks instead of hours.

They sliced tubes of hydrogel into thin disks and placed each disk into a different concentration of lithium chloride solution. The disks were weighed each day to measure how much salt had been absorbed, then returned to their solutions.

Final results of their work exceeded expectations

The results were striking. After a month-long process, hydrogels incorporated up to 24 grams of salt per gram of polymer. When tested under various humidity conditions, the enhanced gels swelled and absorbed more moisture without leaking.

This happened even at a very low 30 percent relative humidity. At this dry condition, the gels captured a “record-breaking” 1.79 grams of water per gram of material.

Díaz-Marin enthused, “Any desert during the night would have that low relative humidity, so conceivably, this material could generate water in the desert.” He indicated that their next objective is to enhance the rate at which the material absorbs moisture.

Graeber added, “The big, unexpected surprise was that, with such a simple approach, we were able to get the highest vapor uptake reported to date. Now, the main focus will be kinetics and how quickly we can get the material to uptake water. That will allow you to cycle this material very quickly, so that instead of recovering water once a day, you could harvest water maybe 24 times a day.”

More work ahead to unleash the vast potential of the hydrogel

The research carried out at MIT’s Device Research Lab underlines the vast potential of this superabsorbent material. This could mark a significant advancement in the quest for more sustainable water harvesting and energy-saving practices.

The world awaits the next developments with eager anticipation as we move closer to a future where the scarcity of water in desert regions could be a thing of the past.

More about global water security

Global water security is a critical issue that’s becoming more important due to growing populations, climate change, and increased industrial demand. It refers to the reliable access and availability of clean, safe water for everyone, everywhere. It’s an essential aspect of global security, health, and development.

As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, there were already numerous challenges that threatened global water security. Here are some of them:

Water Scarcity

Water scarcity is caused by a combination of factors like overuse, wastage, pollution, and climate change. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population could be under “water-stressed” conditions.

Climate Change

Changes in weather patterns due to climate change can lead to droughts, floods, and unpredictable rainfall, making water availability less predictable.

Population Growth and Urbanization

Rapid population growth and urbanization often lead to increased demand for water, sometimes outpacing the supply.

Pollution

Pollution from industry, agriculture, and domestic waste can contaminate water sources, making them unsafe for human consumption and reducing the overall available clean water.

Inadequate Infrastructure

In many parts of the world, water infrastructure is outdated or inadequate. This can lead to significant water loss due to leakage or inefficient distribution systems.

Political and Transboundary Issues

Water sources often cross national borders, and disagreements over usage rights can lead to conflicts. Effective water management and cooperation between countries are essential for global water security.

Addressing these challenges requires a combined global effort. Potential solutions include improved water management strategies, increased investment in infrastructure, implementing water conservation measures, pollution control, and using new technologies like the superabsorbent hydrogel developed by MIT engineers.

Achieving global water security is not just about having enough water, but also about ensuring the water is safe and can be accessed by everyone. It’s an integral part of sustainable development and vital for the health and survival of communities around the world.

For new ideas read old books.

Underground GPS based on ultrafast cosmic ray particles developed

Engineers from the University of Tokyo have developed a new type of navigation system, the muometric positioning system (muPS). It works underground, indoors and underwater. The development will help in carrying out rescue operations, underground and underwater research.

https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/press/z0508_00291.html

For the first time, researchers have used ultrafast subatomic particles called muons to travel wirelessly underground. Using ground-based muon detection stations synchronized with an underground receiver, the engineers calculated the position of the receiver in the basement of a six-story building.

The scientists used a high-precision quartz clock to synchronize the ground stations with the receiver. Four parameters provided by the reference stations and synchronized by the clock used to measure the time of flight of the muons make it possible to determine the coordinates of the receiver.

“Cosmic ray muons still fall to Earth and always move at the same speed, no matter what matter they pass through, penetrating even kilometers of rock,” says Hiroyuki Tanaka, professor at the University of Tokyo and co-author of the study.

To test the navigation capabilities of the new system, the reference detectors were placed on the sixth floor of the building, and the navigator moved the receiving detector to the basement. The researchers moved the detector along the corridors of the basement. Instead of real-time navigation in the experiment, the researchers used the collected data to calculate the route and confirm the past path.

The analysis showed that the current accuracy of the proposed system is from 2 to 25 m with a range of up to 100 m and varies depending on the depth and speed of movement. These results are consistent with GPS positioning accuracy on the Earth's surface. Improved time synchronization will increase the accuracy to one meter.

In the future, the proposed technology could be used to navigate underwater robots or drive autonomous vehicles underground. Besides atomic clocks, all other MuWNS electronic components can be miniaturized. The researchers plan to create a device small enough to be integrated into portable devices such as smartphones.

NASA is preparing a $10 quadrillion asteroid mission

The American space agency NASA has scheduled the start of a long-awaited space mission to the massive metal-rich asteroid Psyche on October 5. This is stated in the message NASA.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-go-for-launch-of-mission-10-quadrillion-dollar-asteroid/#:~:text=NASA%20has%20given%20the%20okay,world's%20entire%20%24110%2Dtrillion%20economy.

Initially, the launch was supposed to take place in August 2022, but it was postponed due to design and organizational problems.

Located at a distance of 280 million miles, the asteroid Psyche was discovered in 1852 by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. It orbits the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

This asteroid is believed to be predominantly composed of iron, nickel, gold and other rare metals and is about 225 km in diameter.

According to astronomers, Psyche may represent the metallic core of a forming planet that lost its rocky outer layers due to violent collisions during the early development of the solar system.

It is believed that the cost of Psyche can reach 10 thousand quadrillion dollars, which exceeds the total economy of our planet.

Artificial intelligence banned from Grammy nominations

The US National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has clarified that only humans can receive Grammys. Thus, the organizers restricted artificial intelligence from participating in the competition.

According to the updated rules, only people can nominate for the Grammy.

"A work that does not contain human authorship has no right in any categories," the organizers said.

Artists will still be able to use artificial intelligence tools to create music, but the submitted work must be "impressive and more than insignificant."

Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd. In the middle of war Albert Camus published 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe" (The Myth of Sisyphus) (Gallimard, 1942). Within, Albert Camus utters a sentence, which has since become a famous quote “There is only one really serious philosophical problem: it is suicide". Albert Camus continues: “To judge that life is or is not worth living is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy". (Own translation). Comment: To seek meaning in absurdity is to give meaning to life. And only for this reason, life should be worth living!

Himalayan glaciers could melt by 75% by 2100

Glaciers in the Himalayas could lose up to 75% of their volume by the end of 2100 due to global warming.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/himalayan-glaciers-track-lose-up-75-ice-by-2100-report-2023-06-20/#:~:text=June%2020%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20Glaciers,according%20to%20a%20new%20report.

This is stated in the report of the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), writes Reuters.

According to the forecast of scientists, the intensive melting of the Himalayan glaciers will lead to a shortage of water for 240 million people living in the mountainous region.

Scientists have found that the loss of ice in the region where the famous peaks of Everest and K2 are located is accelerating. During 2010, glaciers melted 65% faster than in the previous decade.

The Hindu Kush Mountains stretch for 3500 km through Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. For a warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, glaciers across the region will lose 30% to 50% of their volume by 2100, scientists predict.

However, the intensity of glacier melting depends on their location.

"With a warming of 3 degrees Celsius, to which the world is approximately moving according to the current climate policy, glaciers in the Eastern Himalayas, which include Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75% of ice," the scientists emphasized.

According to their forecast, in the event of a warming of 4 degrees Celsius, the loss of glacier volume will be 80%

"Most Himalayan glaciers are retreating at rates comparable to glaciers elsewhere in the world. In the Karakorum, on the other hand, advancing glaciers are more common.... it is unlikely that dramatic changes in total runoff will occur soon, although continuing shrinkage outside the Karakoram will increase the seasonality of runoff, affect irrigation and hydropower, and alter hazards". Excerpts from: Bolch, T., Kulkarni, A., Kääb, A., Huggel, C., Paul, F., Cogley, J. G., ... & Stoffel, M. (2012). The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers. Science, 336(6079), 310-314. (1914 citations). Available on: Article Hazard from Himalayan Glacier Lake Outburst Floods

NASA shows staggering sea level rise - video

https://youtu.be/VloVk67VHCo

Created by NASA Science Imaging Studio, the animation is seen from the boat's window view. Over the years, the ocean level is slowly but surely rising.

The video shows the change in global sea level from 1993 to 2022.

Between 1993 and February 2023, the mean global sea level rose by 9.85 centimeters. While this may not sound like much, NASA says it is “unprecedented in the past 2,500+ years.” And the reason for this is climate change caused by human activity.

The climate crisis is raising sea levels in several ways. First, as heat is absorbed by the oceans, water expands. Secondly, the vast amount of water that was previously stored in the glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica is melting at an alarming rate, filling the oceans. Last but not least, the melting of mountain glaciers also makes a significant contribution.

The impact of these changes will be profound. Coastal and low-lying areas are at particular risk, but rising sea levels can also allow storms and floods to reach further inland. This will have a devastating impact on a huge number of communities around the world, not to mention the natural environment.

Scholar misconduct and lack of Scientific Integrity are "believed to be on the increase as the media frequently report dramatic cases. Scientific societies, academies, publishers, and stakeholders in industry are all expressing growing concern. Public opinion and political leaders are consequently becoming skeptical about science as a provider of reliable knowledge. Yet spectacular headline news should not hide pernicious misbehaviors of a different sort which are more difficult to identify but maybe even more dangerous for the scientific endeavor"[*].

Comment: ReaserchGate Staff and RG community should IMHO be more vigilant in acting concretely against this paramount threat.

[*] Scientific Integrity Matters September 2021, Minerva 59(6175)

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Scientific_Integrity_on_ResearchGate

On the principle of the Best: when Occam's razor operates, only the essentials remain: This is the “Principle of the Best” stated by Leibniz in a beautiful text : “Whence it follows that God, possessing supreme and infinite wisdom, acts in the most perfect manner, not only metaphysically, but also morally speaking…”. By applying this principle to knowledge Leibnitz declares “power and knowledge are perfections, and, insofar as they belong to God, they do not have limits”. And (according to me) to deduce that: Knowledge is anything but the irrational.

Moore’s law: further progress will push hard on the boundaries of physics and economics

https://physicsworld.com/a/moores-law-further-progress-will-push-hard-on-the-boundaries-of-physics-and-economics/

Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel who died earlier this year, is famous for forecasting a continuous rise in the density of transistors that we can pack onto semiconductor chips. James McKenzie looks at how “Moore’s law” is still going strong after almost six decades, but warns that further progress is becoming harder and ever more expensive to sustain

When the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced last year that it was planning to build a new factory to produce integrated circuits, it wasn’t just the eye-watering $33bn price tag that caught my eye. What also struck me is that the plant, which is set to open in 2025 in the city of Hsinchu, will make the world’s first “2 nanometre” chips. Smaller, faster and up to 30% more efficient than any microchip that has come before, TSMC’s chips will be sold to the likes of Apple – the company’s biggest customer – powering everything from smartphones to laptops.

But our ability to build such tiny, powerful chips shouldn’t surprise us. After all, the engineer Gordon Moore – who died on 24 March this year, aged 94 – famously predicted back in 1965 that the number of transistors we can squeeze onto an integrated circuit ought to double every year. Writing for the magazine Electronics (38 114), Moore reckoned that by 1975 it should be possible to fit a quarter of a million components on to a single silicon chip with an area of one square inch (6.25 cm2).

Electrocaloric Refrigeration: A Breakthrough in Energy-Efficient Cooling Technology

https://www.energyportal.eu/news/electrocaloric-refrigeration-a-breakthrough-in-energy-efficient-cooling-technology/37470/

Electrocaloric refrigeration represents a significant breakthrough in energy-efficient cooling technology, offering a more environmentally friendly and efficient alternative to traditional refrigeration methods. While there are still challenges to be overcome, the potential benefits of this technology are immense, and continued research and development could pave the way for a new era of sustainable cooling solutions. As the world grapples with the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change, electrocaloric refrigeration could play a crucial role in helping us transition to a more sustainable future.

Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd. In the middle of war Albert Camus published 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe" (The Myth of Sisyphus) (Gallimard, 1942). Within, Albert Camus utters a sentence, which has since become a famous quote “There is only one really serious philosophical problem: it is suicide". Albert Camus continues: “To judge that life is or is not worth living is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy". (Own translation). Comment: To seek meaning in absurdity is to give meaning to life. And only for this reason, life should be worth living!

Turk tore down basement wall and found 2,000-year-old underground city

https://crier.co/this-man-knocked-down-his-basement-wall-to-find-a-2000-year-old-underground-city-and-the-photos-are-insane/#: ~:text=This%20Man%20Knocked%20Down%20His,And%20The%20Photos%20Are%20Insane&text=Via%20NY%20Post%20%E2%80%93%20A%20Turkish,that%20once%20housed%2020% 2C000%20people.

A man from Turkey who was looking for his lost chickens accidentally found an ancient underground city that had been forgotten for years. The man suspected that the chickens had escaped through a hole in the wall of the house. He decided to demolish the wall and, to his surprise, discovered behind it a tunnel leading to an entire city hidden underground.

Chance opened Derinkuyu, which is today considered the largest underground city in the world. The settlement is located at a depth of about 85 meters underground and includes eight different levels, divided into small apartments. It is estimated that in the past there were about 20,000 people who lived underground to escape wars or religious persecution.

The Hidden City is part of Turkey's other underground cities. Part of the city was destroyed by an earthquake that hit Turkey along with other similar places.

A joint study by an Israeli and Turkish delegation examined the similarities between the underground city and the shelter systems built during the Bar Kochba uprising. It is not clear if there is a direct connection between the cities, although accounts from the Talmudic era say that Rabbi Akiva, the spiritual leader of the rebellion, visited Kapotkia (which is identified with the local city of Cappadocia), which may explain the similarities between the places.

Most Favorable Countries to Survive a Nuclear War - Study

https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-747252#:~:text=While%20no%20country%20can%20be,destinations%20for%20survival%20and%20rebuilding.

When it comes to the threat of nuclear war, an asteroid impact, or even a volcanic eruption, it turns out that some countries are better equipped to survive and recover from such disasters. A recent study identified the top countries that offer the highest chance of survival.

Australia has the highest chance of survival, followed by its neighbor New Zealand, according to a study published in the journal Risk Analysis. These countries have been found to be best suited to deal with catastrophic events such as a nuclear war, a supervolcano eruption, or an asteroid impact.

The researchers compared 38 different island nations based on 13 key factors that predict post-apocalyptic survival. These factors included food production, energy self-sufficiency, productive capacity, and local climate resilience after a disaster. Australia and New Zealand have excelled in these areas, securing a spot at the top of the survival rankings.

Australia's robust infrastructure, abundant energy reserves, strong defense budget and sizable food supply played a key role. The country is able to feed a significant number of the population even under dire circumstances. However, its close military ties to Britain and the US make it a potential target in a nuclear war.

New Zealand also has several advantages that contribute to its survival. Its long-standing non-nuclear status provides security in the event of a nuclear war. In addition, New Zealand's proximity to the ocean protects it from sudden temperature changes caused by long periods of darkness. The country boasts a highly efficient food export economy, ensuring that its citizens are adequately supplied with food even under the most adverse scenarios.

Despite New Zealand's rich food resources and strong social cohesion, the study raises concerns about its reliance on trade. In the event of a shutdown of global trade, the social stability of a country could be jeopardized. Other island nations face similar challenges as the collapse of industry and social cohesion could call into question their sustainability.

Superpowers such as China, Russia and the US could face a significant drop in food production during a nuclear winter, requiring the introduction of new agricultural technologies.

While no country can be fully prepared for the devastation caused by a nuclear war or an asteroid impact, the study highlights Australia and New Zealand as the most favorable places to survive and rebuild. These countries have the necessary resources, infrastructure and agricultural capabilities to support their populations even in the harshest conditions.

Artificial intelligence will commentate on Wimbledon

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/21/wimbledon-introduce-ai-powered-commentary-to-coverage-this-year

Tennis has become the first sport in which artificial intelligence will commentate matches. Live broadcasts will continue to be covered by people, AI will only be trusted with videos with cutting highlights of tennis matches.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) has teamed up with the US company IBM to use artificial intelligence (AI) as an announcer at Wimbledon matches this year. Generative AI will create comments for all video highlights during the Wimbledon tournament, which will be held from 3 to 16 July. The commentary will be powered by artificial intelligence and the IBM Watsonx data platform and will include subtitles for the main videos. AI comments and subtitles will be available in English.

“AI is now being fully utilized in sports commentary. Tennis is the first sport to test this technology.

Israeli scientists reprogram skin cells into placental cells

Placental disorders such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth retardation are usually detected late in pregnancy. To understand what causes them, as well as identify risk factors and possible treatments, scientists have been looking for a way to recreate placental cells at an early stage.

“We do this better than other recently developed methods,” says Dr. Morya Naamah, MD in the laboratory of the Hebrew University's Hadassah School of Medicine.

“To really understand diseases, their mechanisms and possible treatments, you need to know how they work - the exact molecular mechanisms, and how they can be manipulated, and for this you need a good model of a diseased cell,” she says. “We didn't have human cells to model diseases. Our system is part of the puzzle to do this.”

A study led by her, published in Nature Communications, uncovers a new method for reprogramming skin cells into human placental cells for research purposes. It works with skin cells of men and women of any age.

“In 2015, we figured out how to get these cells from mice, which was a big breakthrough. Now we have developed this system in humans,” says Naama.

The placenta manages the bond between mother and fetus, supplying oxygen and nutrients to the developing fetus, protecting it from infections, among other functions. In addition, there is growing evidence that the placenta affects the long-term health of both mother and child. Its dysfunction can lead to miscarriage and diseases associated with pregnancy.

However, the study of the placenta is difficult. It forms very early, and by the time of pregnancy, when placental dysfunction can be detected, the most important cells for research no longer exist. Animal placentas are different from human placentas, so they can do little to help.

Naama notes that “many pregnancy disorders are due to improper implantation of the embryo, a very early process, so it is important to obtain stem cells that give rise to placental cells, as they control the process of implantation.”

According to the authors of the study, the new reprogramming strategy “is of vital importance for modeling and identifying potential risk factors for placental disorders, as well as for possible future cell therapy to support implantation in cases of recurrent miscarriages.”

“Another challenge is figuring out which medications are safe to take during pregnancy,” Naama says. “A good model that shows us what crosses the placental barrier and what doesn’t can be a useful first step towards understanding this.”

Cell reprogramming research also opens up new avenues for understanding the causes of infertility and the long-term health consequences for both mothers and children.

Vaccines could be the next big breakthrough in cancer treatment

Scientists say that after decades of limited success, research has reached a turning point and predict that more vaccines will be released in five years. These are not traditional vaccines that prevent disease, but vaccines that shrink tumors and prevent the cancer from returning. These experimental therapies target breast and lung cancers, and this year saw advances in the treatment of skin cancer, melanoma and pancreatic cancer.

Cancer vaccines, like other types of immunotherapy, stimulate the immune system to find and kill cancer cells. And some of the new ones use mRNA that was developed to treat cancer but was first used for COVID-19 vaccines.

"For a vaccine to work, it must teach the immune system's T cells to recognize cancer as dangerous," says Dr. Nora Disis of UW Medicine's Cancer Vaccine Institute in Seattle. “Once trained, T cells can travel throughout the body to hunt down danger.”

“Early cancer vaccine research stalled as cancer outwitted and outlived patients' weak immune systems,” said Olya Finn, a vaccine researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “All these failed trials have allowed us to learn so much.”

As a result, Finn is now focused on patients with earlier disease, as experimental vaccines have failed to help patients with more advanced disease. Her group plans to study a vaccine in women with a low-risk, non-invasive breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ.

There may be more cancer-preventing vaccines ahead. Hepatitis B vaccines, developed decades ago, prevent liver cancer, and HPV vaccines, introduced in 2006, prevent cervical cancer.

“Vaccines are arguably the next big step in the quest to reduce cancer deaths,” said Dr. Steve Lipkin, a medical geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

Drug makers Moderna and Merck are collaborating to develop a personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma patients, with a major trial to begin this year. Vaccines are selected individually for each patient based on numerous mutations in his cancerous tissue. A vaccine personalized in this way could train the immune system to hunt for the fingerprint of a cancer mutation and kill those cells.

“Basically, you have to make every vaccine from scratch. If it wasn't personalized, the vaccine could probably be made for pennies, just like the COVID vaccine,” explains Dr. Patrick Ott of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

The vaccines being developed at UW Medicine are for many patients, not just one patient. Trials are currently underway in early and advanced stages of breast cancer, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. Some results may appear as early as next year.

Archaeologists have reproduced the face of a girl of the 7th century

Archaeologists have reproduced the face of a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon girl found in a rare "bed burial" in 2012, ArsTechnica reports.

https://images.weserv.nl/?w=715&we=1&n=-1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewspeka.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com%2Fprod%2Fmedia%2F38107%2F1687758433589.jpg%3Fv%3D1687758433

It is believed that, at the time of death, the girl was about 16 years old. The grave was found near the village of Trumpington, near Cambridge. This is one of 18 "bed burials" - a rare Anglo-Saxon practice in which the deceased is placed on a decorative bed, it was usually used for the burial of women of high social status.

A variety of items were buried with the girl, but a particularly interesting find was an exquisite golden pectoral cross, known as the Trumpington Cross.

The presence of such a cross indicates that the young woman belonged to the top of Anglo-Saxon society. The cross testifies that she was a Christian, although other funerary items are associated with pagan tradition. Archaeologists see this find as a key period in British history, when Christianity was just beginning to spread across the country.

To reconstruct the face, scientists used measurements of the skull and general data on the depth of the tissues. The lack of DNA analysis made it impossible to accurately determine the color of the hair and eyes, but forensic expert Hugh Morrison tried to create the most accurate reconstruction possible. One of the features of her face is that her left eye is slightly lower than the right eye, which, according to Morrison, would be noticeable in real life.

Research also showed that the girl was suffering from an illness, although the cause of death remains unknown. Isotope analysis suggests that the girl moved to England at about the age of 7 and changed her diet to reduce her protein intake during her lifetime.

Cambridge bioarchaeologist Sam Leggett suggests that the girl moved from southern Germany to England. The fact that her diet changed when she arrived in England suggests that her lifestyle may have changed a lot.

In the US, an institute janitor destroyed 25 years of research with one click

An irritated janitor accidentally destroyed 25 years of scientific research in one night after flipping a switch to stop a "continuous squeak".

The damage to the laboratory of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York is almost 800 thousand pounds (1017540 US dollars). Now the university has filed a lawsuit against the cleaning service due to negligence, according to The Sun.

"All this was caused by the behavior and negligence of people. Unfortunately, they nullified 25 years of research," lawyer Michael Ginzburg said.

The unplugged freezer contained cell cultures and samples that were to be stored at -112 degrees Fahrenheit (-44.5C).

After the janitor turned off the refrigerator, the temperature rose to -25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4C), rendering research and samples useless.

It is noted that the plate on the freezer explained how to turn off the sound signal without damaging the samples in the freezer, but the service personnel ignored it.

The sign said "No cleaning required in this area. You can press the alarm/test mute button for 5-10 seconds if you want to mute the sound."

The next morning, laboratory workers tried to salvage the research materials, but to no avail.

The lawsuit says most of the samples were destroyed and declared beyond recovery, nullifying more than 20 years of research.

An investigation into the cleaner's actions revealed that he simply made a mistake in reading the instructions. “At the end of the interview, he still didn’t seem to believe that he had done something wrong, but was just trying to help,” the newspaper writes.

The Key to Species Diversity May Be in Their Similarities

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-key-to-species-diversity-may-be-in-their-similarities-20230626/?utm_source=Quanta+Magazine&utm_campaign=857d29b4e2-RSS_Daily_Biology&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f0cb61321c-857d29b4e2-389723505&mc_cid=857d29b4e2&mc_eid=aed3226bfd

New modeling work suggests why nature is more diverse than niche-based ecological theory predicts.

More than four decades ago, field ecologists set out to quantify the diversity of trees on a forested plot on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, one of the most intensively studied tracts of forest on the planet. They began counting every tree with a trunk wider than a centimeter. They identified the species, measured the trunks and calculated the biomass of each individual. They put ladders up the trees, examined saplings and recorded it all in sprawling spreadsheets.

As they looked at the data accumulating year after year, they began to notice something odd in it. With more than 300 species, the tree diversity on the tiny 15-square-kilometer island was staggering. But the distribution of trees among those species was also heavily lopsided, with most of the trees belonging to only a few species.

Since those early studies, that overstuffed, highly uneven pattern has been seen repeatedly in ecosystems around the world, particularly in rainforests. The ecologist Stephen Hubbell of the University of California, Los Angeles, who was part of the team behind the Barro Colorado surveys, estimates that less than 2% of the tree species in the Amazon account for half of all the individual trees, meaning that 98% of the species are rare.

Such high biodiversity flies in the face of predictions made by a leading theory of ecology, which says that in a stable ecosystem, every niche or role should be occupied by one species. Niche theory suggests that there are not enough niches to enable all the species the ecologists saw to stably exist. Competition over niches between similar species should have sent the rarities into extinction.

A new ecological modeling paper in Nature by James O’Dwyer and Kenneth Jops of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign explains at least part of this discrepancy. They found that species that should seemingly be head-to-head competitors can share an ecosystem if details of their life histories — such as how long they live and how many offspring they have — line up in the right way. Their work also helps to explain why one of the most successful ways to model ecologies often arrives at accurate results, even though it glosses over almost all we know about how organisms function.

The Morning After: NASA is recycling 98 percent of astronaut pee on the ISS into drinkable water

And sweat.

https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-nasa-is-recycling-98-percent-of-astronaut-pee-on-the-iss-into-drinkable-water-111541147.html

NASA has achieved a technological milestone, announcing the International Space Station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is now recycling 98 percent of all water astronauts bring onboard. Advanced dehumidifiers capture moisture from the station’s crew breaths and sweats, while urine processor assembly recovers water from astronauts’ urine through vacuum distillation.

According to NASA, the distillation process produces water and a urine brine that still contains reclaimable H20. Now, a new device can extract the remaining water in the brine, increasing the water recovery rate from 93 to 98 percent. If the idea is making you gag, it shouldn’t, says Jill Williamson, NASA’s ECLSS water subsystems manager. “The crew is not drinking urine; they are drinking water that has been reclaimed, filtered and cleaned such that it is cleaner than what we drink here on Earth.” I'll pass.

– Mat Smith

"In sum, transitioning from the MDG to the SDG will require greater attention to the SDG-relevant dimensions, with particular focus on the aspect of water quality. This will also require improved indicators and metrics around water quality, its year-round availability, sustainability of source, affordability for the poor and accessibility, which are currently not reflected by the national assessments. The spatial inequalities for people living in high saline zones, illustrated in this paper, point to the need to revisit current policy and practice around different infrastructural investments in order to reliably deliver safe water to these people". This is the ultimate conclusion of the paper, published on 23 June 2023 in:

Akhter, Tanjila, Maheen Naz, Mashfiqus Salehin, Sharif Tanjim Arif, Sonia Ferdous Hoque, Robert Hope, and Mohammad Rezaur Rahman. 2023. "Hydrogeologic Constraints for Drinking Water Security in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: Implications for Sustainable Development Goal 6.1" Water 15, no. 13: 2333.

Available on:

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/13/2333

Scientists have found out which languages are the most common in the world

Of all the languages spoken around the world, which ones are the most widely spoken?

This question is difficult to answer as sometimes countries may have multiple primary languages, including some as second languages.

But new research has shed light on this, courtesy of Statista, writes jpost.

English is considered the most widely spoken language in the world, with approximately 1.5 billion native and non-native speakers. Even though English is not the first language for most people around the world, it is in high demand due to its relevance. It is an official language in 40 countries including India, Ireland, New Zealand and Jamaica.

Chinese occupies a prominent position among the most popular languages, with nearly 1.2 billion speakers. China's influence on the world economy has contributed to the widespread use of the Chinese language, essential for business and cultural exchanges.

In addition to English and Chinese, several other languages have significant influence and global importance:

With over 600 million native speakers, Hindi is the third most spoken language.

Spanish is ranked fourth with approximately 550 million speakers. Officially spoken in over 20 countries including Spain and various countries in Latin America, Spanish boasts a rich linguistic and cultural heritage.

French, with over 300 million speakers worldwide, ranks fifth and is the second most spoken language in Europe. It extends beyond Europe, declaring its presence in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands.

As an official language in many countries, Arabic boasts nearly 275 million speakers. Its widespread use and special status in countries such as Algeria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia contribute to its significant presence.

Bengali is spoken by over 270 million people. This language represents the Indo-European language family.

Portuguese is spoken by over 260 million people. It is an official language in 10 countries in South America, Africa and Europe. Its influence extends beyond Portugal and Brazil, reaching African countries such as Angola and Mozambique.

Hebrew stands out as a language spoken by relatively few people worldwide, primarily as an official language in Israel and as a second language for a quarter of a million people in the United States. The importance of Hebrew as a classical language is recognized by various universities around the world, where it is taught in special departments.

New type of computer memory could help cut energy costs

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed an innovative computer memory design that can dramatically improve performance while reducing internet and communications technology power consumption.

In the next few years, artificial intelligence, algorithms, internet usage, and other data-driven technologies are expected to consume almost a third of the world's electricity. This dramatic increase in power consumption is largely due to shortcomings in current computer memory technologies.

Ordinary storage devices are capable of two states - one or zero. The data is then stored and processed in different parts of the computer system, meaning that the data needs to be moved back and forth between them, which is time and energy consuming.

“To a large extent, this jump in energy consumption is due to the shortcomings of current computer memory technologies,” said Dr. Markus Hellenbrand of the Cambridge Department of Materials and Metallurgy. “Normal computing has memory on one side and processing on the other, and data is shuffled between the two, which takes both energy and time.”

Cambridge researchers have been experimenting with a new type of technology known as resistive switching memory that could potentially solve the problem of inefficient computer memory.

Unlike conventional memory devices, this new type of memory can support a continuous range of states rather than being limited to two states.

“A typical continuous-range USB drive could store, for example, 10 to 100 times more information,” Hellenbrand explained.

The research team has developed a prototype device based on hafnium oxide, an insulating material already used in the semiconductor industry. Hafnium oxide can be difficult to use for resistive switching memory applications because the material lacks structure at the atomic level.

However, Hellenbrand and his colleagues found that adding barium to the mixture could resolve this dilemma.

After addition of barium, it formed structured bridges between hafnium oxide films. Where these bridges meet the contacts of the device, an energy barrier is created that allows the electrons to cross.

This energy barrier can be raised or lowered, which changes the resistance of the hafnium oxide composite and allows multiple states to exist in the material.

“This allows the material to exist in multiple states, unlike conventional memory, which has only two states,” said Hellenbrand. - What's really interesting about these materials is that they can work like a synapse in the brain: they can store and process information in the same place as our brain, which makes them very promising for the rapidly developing fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. learning".

The researchers hope this could lead to the development of computer storage devices with higher density and performance, but lower power consumption. Because hafnium oxide is already widely used in the semiconductor industry, the researchers say it will be easy to integrate into existing manufacturing processes for other technologies.

Cambridge Enterprise has filed a patent for this technology and a research team is currently working on further research.

Hunga Tonga Volcano Eruption Causes World's Most Powerful Lightning - Study

When the underwater volcano Tonga Hunga Tonga erupted on January 15, 2022, it released magma clots and threw clouds of ash and water vapor into the ocean, causing intense lightning. And it was no ordinary storm.

This storm now boasts the most lightning strikes ever recorded on Earth. A volcanic cloud hung over the Pacific Ocean, illuminated by concentric rings of lightning that flashed about 192,000 times during the 11 hours of volcano activity (about 2,615 flashes per minute). Lightning rose to a height of up to 30 km - another record that even beat cyclones.

Led by volcanologist Alexa Van Eaton of the US Geological Survey, a team of researchers found that no one had ever recorded such strong lightning.

“Our results show that a sufficiently powerful volcanic plume can create its own weather system, supporting conditions for electrical activity at heights and speeds not previously observed,” Van Eaton and her team said in a study recently published in Geophysical Research. letters.

Lightning is generated by positively or negatively charged particles that form in turbulent air. For a while, the air acts as an insulator and prevents these particles from neutralizing each other. But if enough charge builds up, it can cause the insulator to break down, allowing electricity to move around so opposite charges can meet. The place of their meeting may be where opposite charges have gathered inside a thundercloud.

The concentric rings of lightning seen in the upper atmosphere during the Hunga volcano eruption are thought to have been created by ultra-fast energy waves known as gravitational waves. As they passed through the clouds above the volcano, they caused changes in atmospheric pressure and enough turbulence to generate lightning.

Although Hunga Volcano actually began erupting on December 19, 2021, it was most active on January 15 when the volcanic plume exploded about 58 km into the sky. There were two geostationary satellites, NOAA's GOES-8 and Japan Meteorological Agency's Himawari-8, which observed the phenomenon as it developed. It is thanks to these data that the researchers identified four phases of the eruption.

At the first stage, satellites recorded a rising and falling volcanic plume, but there was no sign of lightning. The second stage was the most powerful. Magma, water vapor, and other volcanic gases swept through the air at incredibly high speeds, bursting past the mesosphere, where the plume had previously peaked, and into the stratosphere, where it reached its maximum height. This created a huge umbrella cloud in the stratosphere and a small cloud just below it in the tropopause. The height of the upper cloud reached 40 km. So much mass was ejected into the air that gravitational waves whistled at over 80 m/s, rippling the clouds and expanding the lightning rings.

The GLM satellite saw the most lightning as the upper umbrella cloud began to move away from the volcano and revealed its smoking hole. Both the eruption and the lightning then subsided a little, but intensified again in the third phase, and only in the fourth phase did the intensity begin to decrease.

When the plume soared above 30 km above sea level, GLM had problems observing it, and the lightning became invisible at times. Van Eaton and her team believe it was caused by a lightning flash either too low or too high for the satellite to pick up.

“This event pushes the boundaries of our understanding of how explosive volcanism affects the Earth system,” Van Eaton notes in the study.

Because researchers have found that volcanic eruptions can amplify lightning, their discovery will make it easier to assess the risks to aircraft from lightning and ash clouds that can block their view. Van Eaton plans to continue studying this phenomenon to get more information.

Handbag smaller than a grain of sea salt sells for more than $63,000

A microscopic handbag that is smaller than a grain of salt sold at auction for $63,750. It was created by the MSCHF art collective from Brooklyn, writes CNN.

You need a microscope to see the design of the handbag as it measures 657 x 222 x 700 micrometers.

MSCHF has called their miniature piece a "microscopic pouch" and claims it is narrow enough to fit through the eye of a needle and smaller than a grain of sea salt.

The bag is made using two-photon polymerization, a manufacturing technique that is used to 3D print micro-sized plastic parts. It was sold along with a microscope equipped with a digital display through which the bag could be viewed.

The promotional photo shows the design in more detail, revealing Louis Vuitton's signature LV monogram. The miniature appears to be based on the French label's OnTheGo bag, which is now selling in full size for between $3,100 and $4,300, according to CNN.

However, the miniature bag has no connection with Louis Vuitton. MSCHF Creative Director Kevin Wiesner said the team did not apply to Louis Vuitton for permission to use the logo. "We are supporters of the school" to ask for forgiveness, not permission, "he said.

I think other RG members have touched on this, but new ideas are often when someone comes up with a solution to a problem that people have been living with and grumbling about but not doing anything about.

But I don't think that everyone has the same ability to come up with a solution and be able to develop it.

This site has some examples:

https://doyouremember.com/58014/25-weird-amazing-inventions-solve-annoying-everyday-problems

I like the 24. 'Dogbrella' (umbrella for dogs) and 22. the Cat Crib for cats to rest on. The cat looks comfortable!

I was using a garlic press the other day. the man who invented this came up with lots of innovative ideas:

https://www.eguide.ch/en/objekt/zylyss/#:~:text=Karl%20Zysset%20(1907–1988),Swiss%20kitchens%20until%20the%201980s.

New ideas emerge from life experiences, wide imagination, life challenges and societal needs

Created edible food packaging that will replace plastic

Scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have developed an edible, transparent and biodegradable material with significant potential for use as food packaging. The team members turned their attention to bacterial cellulose (BC), an organic compound derived from certain types of bacteria, that has attracted attention as a sustainable, readily available and non-toxic solution to the ubiquitous use of plastics.

Professor To Ngai from the Department of Chemistry explained that VS's impressive tensile strength and high versatility are key to its potential. Unlike the cellulose found in plant cell walls, BC can be obtained through microbial fermentation, eliminating the need to harvest trees or crops. Ngai noted that as a result, “this production method does not contribute to deforestation or habitat loss,” making BC a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to plant cellulose.”

Until now, the widespread introduction of BC was limited by its unfavorable sensitivity to air moisture (hygroscopicity), which adversely affected its physical properties. By incorporating specific soy proteins into the structure and coating it with an oil-resistant composite, the scientists successfully created an edible, transparent, and durable BC-based composite packaging.

Ngai noted that this approach has a high feasibility for scaling.

“It does not require special conditions such as chemical reactions, but rather a simple and practical mixing and coating method,” he added. “This approach offers a promising solution to the challenge of developing sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging materials that can replace single-use plastic on a large scale.”

The study showed that the plastic alternative can completely degrade within one or two months. Unlike other bio-based plastics such as PLA, BC-based composite does not require special industrial composting conditions to degrade.

“The material developed in this study is completely edible, making it safe for turtles and other marine animals to consume without causing aquatic toxicity in the ocean,” the professor concluded.

World's first: New Zealand bans plastic bags from supermarkets

New Zealand has become the first country in the world to ban thin bags commonly used for fruit and vegetable packaging in supermarkets. The decision came into force on July 1.

It is reported by the BBC.

After a 2019 ban on tighter bags, stores are using a billion fewer bags, Deputy Environment Secretary Rachel Brooking said. However, in her opinion, New Zealand still produces too much plastic waste.

The ban on thin bags is expected to avoid the use of 150 million units per year, and shoppers to purchase reusable fruit and vegetable bags.

Based on the ideas and values intrinsic within a culture, a new idea is either accepted or rejected.

Japanese scientists manage to re-grow teeth

Japanese scientists have successfully tested a drug on animals that helps to re-grow lost teeth. It is reported by ZME Science.

Katsu Takahashi, lead author of the study and head of the Department of Dentistry and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Kitano Medical Research Institute Hospital, believes humans can grow a third-generation dentition.

“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist's dream. I started working on this idea when I was still a graduate student,” he said.

Takahashi studied the genes of mice. So, it turned out that the removal of certain genes in rodents leads to the fact that they grow fewer teeth than they should. Thus, scientists thought about how to change the genes of these animals.

The researchers concluded that mice lacking a particular gene grow more teeth. This is due to the USAG-1 protein. It is he who prevents the growth of more teeth. Therefore, blocking this protein allows more teeth to grow.

“It's hard to believe that just one gene affects the dentition so much. But once we were able to neutralize USAG-1, we were able to grow new teeth in mice that were not born with a complete set. In other words, the world's first dental restoration was developed. Of course, the drug that worked so well in mice now needs to be tested in humans. We hope to pave the way for the clinical use of drugs,” said the researcher.

It is planned that by 2029 the team will be able to conduct large-scale clinical trials. And by the end of this decade, people may have the first drug to grow new teeth.

One step closer to longevity: Anti-aging therapy successfully tested in primates

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-023-00429-7

More than 30 years after the klotho protein was identified as a key “longevity gene,” it has been used to boost the cognitive function of aging rhesus monkeys, paving the way for human trials.

Following recent mouse models, an international team of scientists found that working memory and task performance in 18 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), averaging 22 years of age (the human equivalent of about 65 years), were enhanced when clotho protein was administered.

The researchers include scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, the Weill Institute of Neurology, who have been studying klotho and regenerative cognitive function for more than half a century.

During the study, the monkeys had to repeatedly go through easy and difficult mazes to find a treat to see how well they remembered the most direct route. While the monkeys showed only a 6% improvement on average in the simple mazes, they did about 20% better in the more difficult tasks.

It is noted that after the introduction of clotho, the protein level rises to the level of young individuals. Memory improvement lasts at least two weeks.

Interestingly, the dosage was relatively much lower than in the mouse trials.

The function of klotho is still not fully understood. However, it plays a key role in aging by regulating many pathways such as phosphate levels and insulin signaling.

The protein, named after the Greek goddess Clotho who spun the thread of human life, is naturally produced in the kidneys and is depleted with age. Its deficiency is a factor in arterial stiffness, hypertension and vascular degeneration, as well as many other age-related diseases.

One of the co-authors of the current study, Dena Dubal, compares cognitive tests to real-world experiences, such as having to remember where you left your car in a parking lot or remembering a sequence of numbers, two skills that decline with age.

Dubal, now a research physician at the Weill Institute of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been studying the ability of klotho to prolong life for many years.

While much is still unknown about the mechanisms involved in klotho's restorative abilities, Dubal said this current study provides "a very good reason to move into human clinical trials now."

The study was published in the journal Nature Aging.

Toward alternative socio-ecological pathways. This is the ultimate conclusion of the recent paper [1] by Vezzoni, R. (2023) "To conclude, the need for decreasing consumption also poses a direct threat to an economic system based on expectations of limitless growing future production. If sufficiency is to be attained in high-income countries as well as in the rest of the world, what implications will this have for systems of economic provisioning, such as the welfare state as the ultimate form of social security and economic redistribution? How will they be reshaped? Further research should help address these and related questions to carry on with the daunting, yet indispensable, task of building alternative socio-ecological pathways"

[1] Vezzoni, R. (2023). Green growth for whom, how and why? The REPowerEU Plan and the inconsistencies of European Union energy policy. Energy Research & Social Science, 101, Available on: Article Green growth for whom, how and why? The REPowerEU Plan and t...

I found interesting these texts on hypocrisy, (own translation from French): https://batinote.wordpress.com/2019/11/26/vous-meprisez-lhypocrisie-lisez-ce-texte/ "Hypocrisy is a natural feeling of the human being that is reflected as a self-defense system. It is an ungrateful feeling towards others because you wear a mask to hide your personality, ”says Dil-shaad Chaumoo, psychologist. For Sabrina Puddoo, who is also a psychologist, hypocrisy can be a one-time action or a mode of functioning of the personality that can switch into pathology. “This behavior fascinates, because it testifies to the capacity of dissimulation of the human being. But it disturbs and frightens, because it cancels all confidence and therefore all security. One explanation for this discomfort can be given in part by Maslow's Needs Scale. Indeed, this measure indicates the essential needs of the individual for him to feel good. Security and trust are part of it; yet hypocrisy prevents you from trusting the other and therefore from feeling safe,” she says. Mazarin in The Politicians' Breviary sums up, in five precepts, the essence of hypocrisy: simulate, dissimulate, trust no one, speak well of everyone, plan before you act". To understand the importance of hypocrisy in our life, it is enough to just note that it makes it possible to avoid civil war, which is not negligible but on condition of playing it well, like any good actor.

To find out more, see Olivier Babeau’s excellent book: Éloge de l’hypocrisie, (but in French), available on:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u5Sr53fto9FLF06QNJoTk0kTgO7db3lk

Chinese train hits 453 km/h during test run - video

https://youtu.be/uOurdh76X4c

China Railways announced the successful testing of new technological components for its CR450 bullet train under development. During testing, two trains moved across the Meizhou Bay bridge towards each other at a peak speed of 453 km/h each. The maximum relative speed was 891 km/h.

This speed is not an absolute world record - in Japan in 2015 a maglev train accelerated to a speed of more than 600 km / h, and in France in 2007 they assembled a test train, modernized specifically for setting a record, moving at a speed of 574 km / h. However, for permanent “classic” trains for passengers, this is one of the highest speeds.

The CR450 is a train designed for an operating speed of 400 km/h. Right now, the fastest train speed in China is 350 km/h, which is also the fastest regular high speed train speed in the world. Despite setting records in Japan and France, normal traffic is limited to 320 km/h.

Once in service, the CR450 will become the world's fastest bullet train, taking about 2.5 hours to travel between Beijing and Shanghai.

The developers note that at the current level of technology development, even a relatively small change in speed by 50 km/h becomes a difficult task that requires a rethinking of the technological device of the train and the associated infrastructure. Successful test results confirm that Chinese engineers have managed to solve the main problems.

The creators of ChatGPT create a team of "Terminators" to protect humanity from AI

The creators of chatbot ChatGPT are working on a team of "Terminators" to protect humanity from superintelligent AI.

It is reported by Metro.co.uk.

OpenAI has announced that it is forming a new team to focus on the risks associated with over-developed AI. The team will be led by the company's chief scientist Ilya Sutzkever and Jan Leike.

Experts believe that "superintelligent" AI could appear within a decade, threatening the very existence of mankind. They drew an analogy with Skynet from the sci-fi thriller Terminator.

Due to potential threats, the experts decided to develop a "good" artificial intelligence that can control superintelligent AI over the next four years.

US approves drug to slow progression of Alzheimer's disease

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Leqembi, developed by Eisai (4523.T) and Biogen (BIIB.O), to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The corresponding revolutionary FDA decision marks a new milestone in the fight against a deadly disease.

According to test results, treatment with this drug slows down the progression of cerebral atrophy by 27% in patients in the earliest stages.

"We believe this is a triumph for those suffering from Alzheimer's after so many years of hard work," Ivan Cheng, chief executive of Eisai US, said in an interview.

Leqembi received fast-track approval from the FDA in January based on its ability to remove beta-amyloid protein deposits from patients' brains.

However, the U.S. Medicare health plan for people aged 65 and over limited coverage to only patients in clinical trials. According to the new decision, coverage will be increased. The drug is administered intravenously.

Exposure to low gravity changes the structure of the brain of astronauts - scientists

Prolonged exposure to low gravity alters the structure of the brain, the long-term effects of these changes are unknown.

A peer-reviewed article published in the journal Scientific Reports shows that prolonged time spent outside the Earth's gravity causes changes in the white and gray matter of the brain, writes jpost.

Astronauts who spent two weeks in space noticed small changes that began to fade after six months. These changes take the form of dilation of the ventricles, which carry important fluid in and out of the brain, allowing it to function properly.

Although the size and shape of the ventricles is controlled by the body in a normal terrestrial environment, in low gravity, fluids tend to shift upward, causing the brain to rise higher in the skull and expanding the ventricles.

The ventricles also expand with age, so their short-term expansion should not be of much concern, but during space flight they expand at a rate much faster than the aging process.

The researchers found that it can take up to three years for the ventricles to return to their normal size after returning to Earth. It is still unclear exactly what long-term effects this will have on astronauts.

The researchers were hesitant to discuss the long-term effects of dilated ventricles because they had not been studied in detail.

Practically, this means that they recommend a three-year interval between space flights in order to avoid as yet unknown long-term consequences.

Their research shows that any changes caused by low gravity in the ventricles can be reversed by returning to normal Earth gravity.

They recommend astronauts space out three years between missions to avoid possible side effects, which will naturally have implications for space travel and mission schedules.

It will also have an impact on the nascent space tourism industry if future space tourists have to wait three years between trips, which will inevitably limit the market for such trips.

Innovative fuel: Volvo will reduce shipping emissions by 84%

Volvo will reduce shipping emissions by 84% by partnering with trucking companies using renewable fuels.

While private transport is a major source of emissions worldwide, cargo ships are also a major environmental hazard. That is why Volvo is looking to move from cargo ships using conventional fuels to those using renewable energy alternatives.

The group announced that it was the first to switch to a new renewable fuel for its maritime logistics, which will help it reduce CO₂ emissions by 55,000 tons per year, or 84% of fossil fuel emissions. This is equivalent to the CO₂ savings of 1,250 XC40 electric crossovers over their lifetime, or the emissions of a truck driving around the equator about 1,200 times.

Volvo Cars worked on the initiative with logistics partners Maersk, Kuehne+Nagel and DB Schenker. Since June 1, they have been using renewable fuels to provide the equivalent energy needed for all Volvo Cars container shipping.

Logistics companies will use fatty acid methyl esters on their ships. Basically, we are talking about waste cooking oil. Volvo says this is the latest measure introduced by the company, which aims to reduce the carbon footprint of its vehicles by 40% between 2018 and 2025. Volvo hopes to inspire other automakers to follow suit.

Harvest under threat: global warming causes bees to wake up early

A warming climate could threaten the pollination of crops such as apples and pears, according to a new study by British scientists.

A study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution found that for every degree Celsius of temperature rise due to climate change, wild bees, including bumblebees, wake up an average of 6.5 days earlier.

Waking the bees too early in the spring can cause them to get out of sync with the flowering plants and have less food. This can result in the bees not having enough energy to effectively pollinate crops, or they may miss crop flowering entirely.

Scientists have previously found that it is vital for bees to match the dates of their awakening with the exact time of flowering plants so that they find pollen and nectar that increase their chances of surviving offspring.

Less efficient natural pollination may result in farmers needing to keep their own bees, driving up costs and, as a result, higher consumer prices for products.

Scientists make startling discovery about Earth's inner core

The "solid" inner core of the Earth may not actually be all that hard. On the contrary, it is a mixture of solid and liquid states, reaching the very center of our planet.

A new study based on the faint echoes of earthquake waves bouncing off the Earth's surface from deep within the planet suggests the inner core is more diverse than previously thought.

The findings suggest that the inner core, which grows by about a millimeter each year as the liquid outer core solidifies, may have grown faster in earlier periods of Earth's history. What's more, there could be swirls of liquid iron inside the solid core, said study senior author Keith Koper, a seismologist at the University of Utah.

"A long time ago, the inner core grew very quickly. It reached equilibrium and then started to grow much more slowly. Not all of the iron became solid, so there may have been some liquid iron left inside," Koper said.

The Earth's inner core is a solid ball, mostly composed of iron and nickel. This inner core is about 2440 km long and orbits inside the outer core, an ocean of molten iron and nickel about 2260 km thick. Metal flows in the center of the Earth create the planet's magnetic field. Over time, the outer core gradually crystallized, but scientists know little about how quickly this process took place, which also raises questions about the state of the Earth's magnetic field over time.

There is no direct access to the core, so Koper and his team used data from 20 seismometers set up to measure earthquake waves and monitor nuclear weapons tests. They focused on waves generated by earthquakes of magnitude 5.7 or greater, which are large enough to vibrate to the inner core, sending a faint echo back to the seismometer. There are 2455 such earthquakes registered in the data set.

"This signal that comes back from the inner core is really tiny. It's on the order of a nanometer. What we're doing is looking for a needle in a haystack. Those little echoes and reflections are very hard to catch," Koper said.

The key finding was that the composition of the core was "heterogeneous" or varied. In other words, the inner core is not frozen smoothly and consists of patches of different textures.

"For the first time, we have confirmed that this kind of heterogeneity is present throughout the inner core," Guanning Pang, a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University, said in a statement.

Seismic waves scatter more strongly the deeper they penetrate into the core, Koper says, indicating increasing variability closer to the center of the Earth. This may be due to the change in core solidification rate over time, he added.

Scientists turn paper waste into drugs

A team of scientists from the University of Bath has turned waste paper into raw materials for the production of common painkillers, writes New Atlas.

Instead of oil-based chemicals, the researchers suggest using waste from the paper industry. In particular, we are talking about the chemical beta-pinene. It is obtained from pine trees. This is a natural compound that is part of the aromatic turpentine oil.

Scientists have used a process known as "continuous flow reactors" to produce paracetamol and ibuprofen and other critical ingredients for a range of drugs and household products.

“One of those ingredients is 4-HAP, a key ingredient in beta-blockers used for heart disease, asthma medications, and even perfumes and cleaning products. Simply put, this research is like turning a pile of garbage into a treasure chest: from what usually considered waste, something extremely valuable and useful is being created. What's more, since continuous flow reactors are easier to use on a large scale, the whole process could become a practical, everyday part of drug production," the researchers say.

Artificial intelligence taught to identify Alzheimer's disease in the eyes

Artificial intelligence has been used in medicine for many years, and over time it is increasingly being implemented to improve the effectiveness of treatment. The innovative model can now analyze retinal images to identify abnormalities in the brain.

American scientists have begun using artificial intelligence to distinguish between normal cognitive function and mild impairment. This will help to identify early signs of cognitive decline without any extra effort and economics.

AI-based machine highlights features in retinal images obtained using optical coherence tomography (a non-invasive examination of the mucous membranes of the eye) and angiography (a method of X-ray examination of blood vessels)

A machine learning model analyzing retinal images and patient features has a sensitivity of 79%, and is also 83% effective in identifying specific features in individuals with initial cognitive impairment.

"The retina of the eye is a window to the brain, and machine learning algorithms that use non-invasive and cost-effective imaging of the retina to assess neurological health could be a powerful tool for large-scale patient screening," said study co-author, a student at the Multimodal Eye Imaging Lab in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Duke Alexander Richardson.

Japanese researchers find a simple and affordable way to store hydrogen

It does not involve pressurized containers and can be retrieved at relatively low temperatures.

Ameya Paleja

https://interestingengineering.com/science/simple-affordable-way-store-hydrogen-perovskite

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) in Japan have found a simple and affordable way to store ammonia, an important chemical in a range of industries. The discovery could also help in establishing a hydrogen-based economy.

Ammonia, chemically written as NH3, is widely used across industries ranging from textiles to pharmaceuticals and is an important component in the manufacture of fertilizers. For its current use, ammonia is stored in pressure-resistant containers after liquefying it at temperatures of -27 Fahrenheit (-33 degrees Celsius).

Alternate methods of storing ammonia in porous compounds have been explored. The storage and retrieval process can be achieved at room temperature, but the storage capacity of these compounds is limited.

A research team led by Masuki Kawamoto at RIKEN CEMS has now found that perovskites, crystalline structures associated with improving energy conversion efficiencies of solar panels, can also serve as an excellent medium for the storage and retrieval of ammonia.

Perovskite as an ammonia carrier

Kawamoto's team found that the perovskite ethyl ammonium lead iodide (EAPbI3) reacts with ammonia at room temperature and pressure to make lead iodide hydroxide, or Pb(OH)I. Ethyl ammonium lead iodide has a one-dimensional columnar structure but, after reacting with ammonia, forms a two-dimensional layered structure.

Ammonia is a highly corrosive gas, but the chemical reaction with the perovskite allows for its safe storage that does not need any special equipment to store it either. The retrieval process is also very straightforward. Under vacuum, ethyl ammonium lead iodide can be heated to 122 Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) to release ammonia gas.

Dear Participants,

If you are interesting to get more information how to formulate the most attractive model of the physical phenomenon which you look and explain...

I would like to suggest to lose several minutes and to read my new article:

Menin, B. (2023) Advancing Scientific Rigor: Towards a Universal Informational Criterion for Assessing Model-Phenomenon Mismatch. Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics, 11(7), 1817-1836.

Article Advancing Scientific Rigor: Towards a Universal Informationa...

Israeli scientists develop transistors that do not require silicon

Researchers at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa have approached the development of high-performance alternatives to silicon in microelectronics by stretching an oxide material at the atomic level, thereby controlling its conductivity. This is “an important step towards efficient switches, which are the basic building blocks of computer chips.”

Researchers at Viterbi's Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering have been able to control a new material they see as a future alternative to silicon in microelectronics. This will reduce the size of transistors, which is an important factor in the performance of computer chips. Computer chips are at the heart of modern life and are responsible for processing, storing and transmitting vast amounts of data. Modern chips contain billions of transistors per square centimeter.

Professor Lior Kornblum from the Faculty of Viterbi explained that “as a result of continuous miniaturization, modern transistors are only a few tens of atoms in size. Because they are already so small, downsizing without compromising their performance becomes more of a challenge. At the nanometer scale, transistors behave differently than their larger predecessors.” One problem is the leakage of electric current when the transistor (switch) needs to be turned off.

“It can be compared to a leaking faucet multiplied by a billion. This can lead to a lot of wasted water. In a modern telephone with billions of transistors, the slightest leakage of current will lead to a significant waste of energy. This can quickly drain the battery and cause the device to become excessively hot. When scaled down, when it comes to server farms and data centers, energy losses can be significant and produce huge amounts of heat,” says the professor.

Kornblum's research team is studying various oxide materials, one of which can switch from an electrical conductor to an insulator and back again. The researchers want to exploit this property for future transistors that could potentially switch more efficiently.

The development of such a technology requires precise control of material properties. The Technion team has shown a way to control the electrical properties of a material by precisely controlling the distance between its atoms, using a unique oxide growth system. Thanks to this, scientists were able to determine the distances between atoms to the nearest picometer (one thousandth of a nanometer). For understanding, the distance between two atoms in silicon is approximately 250 picometers.

The team showed that when the material is stretched at the atomic level, the lengthening of chemical bonds between atoms changes the electrical properties - by stretching less than 2% of the length of an atomic bond, the researchers changed the arrangement of atoms in space. Through these tiny changes, occurring at the scale of one picometer, there are “minor changes in the atomic structure of the material that have such a large effect on the electrical properties.”

“This is the scientific basis we need to develop future transistors from these unconventional materials. Today, I am implementing the results of our research into related materials, from which I am developing a new type of transistor,” concludes the professor.

Earth’s atmosphere can clean itself, groundbreaking research finds

July 10, 2023: Staff Writer, The Brighter Side of News

https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/earth-s-atmosphere-can-clean-itself-groundbreaking-research-finds

Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery that could change the way we think about air pollution. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have found that a strong electric field between airborne water droplets and surrounding air can create a molecule called hydroxide (OH) by a previously unknown mechanism.

This molecule is crucial in helping to clear the air of pollutants, including greenhouse gases and other chemicals.

The discovery is outlined in a new paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which suggests that the traditional thinking around the formation of OH in the atmosphere is incomplete.

Spontaneous dark formation of OH radicals at the interface of aqueous atmospheric droplets, Kangwei Li.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.222022812

Until now, it was thought that sunlight was the primary driver of OH formation, but this new research shows that OH can be created spontaneously by the special conditions on the surface of water droplets.

“You need OH to oxidize hydrocarbons, otherwise they would build up in the atmosphere indefinitely,” said Sergey Nizkorodov, a University of California, Irvine professor of chemistry, who was part of the research team.

“OH is a key player in the story of atmospheric chemistry. It initiates the reactions that break down airborne pollutants and helps to remove noxious chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide, which are poisonous gases, from the atmosphere.”

The implications of this discovery are significant. It could change the way we model air pollution, as the assumption has always been that OH comes from the air and is not produced in the droplet directly. This means that existing models may need to be revised to take into account this new source of OH.

What do you know about ICE wine?

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_do_you_know_about_ICE_wine

Discussion

• Started January 17, 2022

Ice Wine - One of Nature's Sweetest Nectars

The Legend of Ice Wine

Legend has it that ice wine was discovered by a German winemaker who was away from his vineyard during harvest (never a good idea), and when he returned all of his grapes had been frozen on the vine. Undeterred he carried out the unorthodox harvest as usual and proceeded to press his frozen grapes for fermentation. The result, the first eiswein.

China is developing a neuroweapon capable of disrupting the brain

According to a report by three open-source analysts, China's People's Liberation Army is developing high-tech brain-disrupting weapons to influence government leaders or the population. The Washington Times writes about it.

The weapon can be used for direct attack or mind control using directed energy weapons that fire electromagnetic beams.

According to analysts, “the danger of Chinese weapons for conducting neurowarfare is no longer theoretical.”

"Many people don't know that the Chinese Communist Party and its People's Liberation Army have established themselves as world leaders in the development of neuro-strike weapons," reads the 12-page report, of which the publication obtained a copy.

In December 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce sanctioned the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 affiliated organizations that allegedly used “biotech processes to support Chinese military objectives, including brain control weapons.”

Neurostrike is a military term defined as the targeted impact on the brain of military personnel or civilians using non-kinetic technologies. The goal is to impair thinking, reduce situational awareness, cause long-term neurological damage, and hamper normal cognitive functions.

Experts believe that China is developing such weapons, seeking to win the role of the world's only superpower. The main task of the weapon is mind control.

France to install Israeli wireless charging of electric vehicles

An Israeli supplier of solutions for wireless charging of electric vehicles has been selected to participate in an unprecedented French project for wireless charging of electric vehicles. The project will allow vehicles that can be charged directly from the electrical infrastructure en route to travel along the route.

The tender was awarded by French state investment bank Bpifrance to a consortium led by VINCI Autoroutes. Electreon's consortium partners are VINCI Construction, Hutchinson and Gustave Eiffel University. Based in Beit Yanai, near Netanya, Electreon will place its infrastructure on a two-kilometer stretch of the A10 highway southwest of Paris. The A10, also known as Aquitaine, is France's longest motorway, stretching 549 km from Paris to Bordeaux.

Electreon's wireless charging infrastructure has already been installed in other countries, including Israel, the US, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Norway.

According to the company, the technology is based on magnetic resonance induction with copper coils installed under the roadway. The coils transmit power to a receiver that can be installed under all types of electric vehicles such as trucks, vans, buses and cars. Electreon estimates that with proper maintenance of the coil and the rest of the charging infrastructure, the system will last 10-20 years.

The wireless charging infrastructure will serve all types and classes of vehicles. Initially, the project will focus on charging commercial electric vehicles while they are in motion. However, the long-term goal is to install an electric road system on major French roads.

The system will allow all types of electric vehicles, such as trucks, coaches, commercial vehicles and cars, to be seamlessly charged while driving on France's open motorways, reducing the carbon footprint of both passenger and freight transport.

A study by the French Ministry of Transport in 2021 identified this system as one of the most efficient and sustainable large-scale technologies to achieve zero emissions from transport. The study says that electric road systems can reduce CO2 emissions from road and truck transport by 86% compared to diesel engines.

In May, Electreon announced that it had set a new world record for non-stop duration and distance in an electric passenger vehicle. During the 100-hour demonstration, the Toyota RAV4 drove 1942 km without stopping to recharge the batteries. For five days in a row, the engine was not turned off even to change drivers.

American scientists are close to creating “anti-aging” drugs

Scientists at Harvard Medical School believe they are closer to creating "anti-aging pills" that will help make people young again, writes the Daily Mail.

The authors of the study report that they have discovered 6 chemical cocktails that reverse the aging process in human and mouse skin cells. At the same time, they rejuvenate for several years.

David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, one of the authors of a new study published in the journal Aging, considers the discovery of scientists a real breakthrough and an important step towards the rejuvenation of the entire human body. According to the scientist, human trials could begin within the next year. However, other scientists said the study was mostly preliminary.

The new study builds on existing research on genes that prevent cells from aging and can turn them into younger ones. Scientists have tested millions of combinations of molecules that can reverse aging and rejuvenate human cells. As a result, 6 chemical cocktails were discovered that restore aging cells to their younger state in less than a week.

According to Sinclair, the effect of chemical cocktails was tested on the cells of mice and humans, and the results showed a slowdown in aging. Scientists believe that their new discovery can be used to create tools for rejuvenating the body. Also, these funds can help in the treatment of various age-related diseases, scientists say.

However, not all biologists agree with the findings of the new study. They say the scientists needed to show that slowing cell aging leads to fewer age-related health problems in mice, so this study is still preliminary.

Passed the test of time: The secret of ancient Roman concrete is revealed

The ancient Romans were skilled builders and engineers. The most famous of their designs are still functioning aqueducts. And these architectural wonders are based on a unique building material - pozzolanic concrete, which gave Roman buildings incredible strength. Even today, one of the Roman structures - the Pantheon, preserved intact and almost 2000 years old - holds the record for the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.

The properties of this concrete are usually attributed to pozzolana - a mixture of volcanic ash named after the city of Pozzuoli - and lime. When mixed with water, these two materials form super-strong concrete. But this, as it turned out, is not all. An international team of researchers led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that the materials mixing methods were unique.

The small white lime particles found in ancient Roman concrete were previously attributed to poor mixing, but this theory has been questioned by materials scientist Admir Masik at MIT.

“If the Romans put so much effort into creating an outstanding building material, following recipes that have been perfected over many centuries, why did they put so little effort into producing a well-blended end product?” he says. “There must be more to this story.”

Masik and his team, led by MIT University civil engineer Linda Seymour, carefully examined 2,000-year-old Roman concrete samples from the Privernum archaeological site in Italy. The standard understanding of pozzolanic concrete is that it uses slaked lime. First, the limestone is heated to produce a highly reactive, caustic powder called quicklime or calcium oxide. When quicklime is mixed with water, slaked lime or calcium hydroxide is obtained, a less reactive and less caustic paste. According to the theory, it was this slaked lime that the ancient Romans mixed with pozzolana.

According to the team's analysis, the lime chips in their samples do not match this method. Scientists speculate that Roman concrete was made by “hot mixing” quicklime directly with pozzolana and water at extremely high temperatures, separate from the slaked lime, resulting in lime chips.

“The benefits of hot mixing are twofold,” Masik explains. “Firstly, when all the concrete is heated to high temperatures, it allows the use of certain chemicals, which is not possible if you only used slaked lime. Secondly, the increased temperature greatly reduces curing and setting, allowing you to build much faster.”

According to the scientist, this has another advantage - lime fragments give concrete "a remarkable ability to self-heal." When water enters the resulting crack, it reacts with lime to form a calcium-rich solution that dries and hardens as calcium carbonate, sealing the crack and preventing it from spreading further. This explains why the Roman concrete in the 2,000-year-old seawalls has survived despite the constant impact of the ocean.

The team is currently working on commercializing their concrete as a more environmentally friendly alternative to existing building mixes.

“Stronger concrete formulations can not only extend the life of these materials, but also increase the durability of 3D printed structures,” Masik concludes.

The War Sleep Method: How to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes

The “war sleep” technique is gaining popularity on TikTok. Fitness trainer Justin Agustin told his 1.7 million followers that the method is 96% effective with practice. The "fall asleep in two minutes" method was developed by the US Army to easily fall asleep at any time. The fitness trainer showed you how to do it in the video. The video has received more than 7.2 million views.

Agustin claims that it takes six weeks of practice to master this skill. The technique was first described in 1981 in the book Relax and Win: Championship Results, written by American track and field coach Lloyd Bud Winter with the goal of reducing sports injuries and improving athletic performance.

So, the war dream method:

Relax your facial muscles. Close your eyes. Breathe slowly and deeply. Then slowly relax all the facial muscles - start with the muscles of the forehead and move down. Relax your jaw, cheeks, mouth, tongue. Including the eyes - “let go” of them.

Lower your shoulders and arms. Release any tension. Relax your neck and trapezium, feel yourself falling into bed. Then start at the top of your right arm and slowly relax your biceps, forearms and hands. Repeat on the other side. Continue breathing slowly and deeply.

Exhale and relax your chest, keeping your shoulders and arms relaxed.

Relax your legs. Start with the right thigh. Then do the same with the calf, ankle and foot. Repeat the same with the left leg.

Clear your mind. Try to keep an image in your head. Choose something relaxing. If that doesn't work, try repeating the words "Don't think" for 10 seconds. This should help you take your mind off the thoughts that are keeping you awake.

The trainer promises his followers that if they “practice this every night for six weeks,” they will be able to fall asleep within “two minutes after they close their eyes.” Subscribers who have tested the technique on their own experience are satisfied with the result and thank Agustin for the effective technique.

Scientists create 'smart' cells to fight disease and recover from herbs

A research team at University College London believes it is possible to unlock future smart cells that can sense disease and repair damaged cells by fusing with them.

Human bodies are made up of trillions of cells about one thousandth of a millimeter in size and are the fundamental units of all life.

They contain “skeletons made of proteins that provide structural support, help the cell move and transport materials within it.

Scientists have managed to artificially create tiny tubes and filamentous structures that can give human cells shape and function.

University College London researchers used strands of DNA as building blocks and fine-tuned the structure's dimensions (from 20 to 400 nanometers thick) and stiffness (from flexible to super-rigid).

These tubes and filaments were either integrated into the cell sacs as a skeleton or covered the outside of the cells.

The team was also able to control the exact placement of the tubes and fibers while they were inside the pouches by attaching magnetic nanoparticles to them with an external magnet. That such work can be done is staggering.

Senior author Dr. Jonathan Burns of UCL Chemistry said: “DNA is used by nature to store genetic information, but it can also be used as a building block to create nanostructures. We have reprogrammed DNA to form synthetic scaffolds within model cells and tissues. We think this work could help unlock future smart cells that can sense disease, repair damaged cells by fusing with them, and deliver drugs in a more targeted way—for example, by carrying a drug or antibiotic and releasing it exactly where it is needed in the body.”

Once the protocells created are stable in the body and able to circulate in the blood, researchers can adapt them to fight cancer or disease-causing bacteria.

The researchers also showed how their protocells can combine to form something like living tissue.

The team was able to bind these cells tightly together by placing nanotubes, or fibers, on the outside of the cells. This caused the cells to lose their spherical shape and form a honeycomb pattern.

Scientists hope to create smart cells entirely from substances like lipids, which are normally found in our body and therefore can be easily broken down and either recycled or thrown away.

Israeli scientists have made a giant leap in the development of magnetic sensors

Flexible magnetic sensors have become popular because they are versatile for a variety of purposes and applications in key areas of flexible electronics, including soft robotics, consumer electronics, healthcare, vehicles, and more. They are widely used in navigation, non-contact human-machine interface and strain sensors, and in smart leathers and textiles for applications such as pressure detection, posture monitoring, and motion tracking.

They are better than rigid sensors because they can be bent to fit a wide variety of surfaces, including soft and irregular shapes. But flexible magnetic sensors have a much harder time detecting weak magnetic fields, limiting their potential use.

According to researchers at Bar Ilan University (BIU) in Ramat Gan and Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Israeli scientists are now making “a giant leap of more than an order of magnitude in improving the sensitivity of flexible magnetoresistive sensors.” The new sensors are elliptical in shape and grown on a polyamide tape that has excellent chemical resistance and insulating properties and is not affected by acids or oils. It also keeps electrical components at a constant temperature, which is why many industries use polyimide tape to ensure their electronics don't burn out or fall below the required temperature.

The sensors can detect low-frequency magnetic fields of less than 200 pico-Tesla, more than 200,000 times smaller than the Earth's magnetic field.

“These values are not only the best of any type of flexible magnetic sensor reported to date, but they also outperform many rigid counterparts,” explained Prof. Lior Klein from the BIU Department of Physics, who led the study along with Dr. Asaf Grosh from Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Belarusian State University.

“Their unparalleled sensitivity, combined with simple design, low cost, and amazing flexibility, make these sensors particularly attractive for integration into next-generation flexible electronic devices.”

Football match on the moon - fantasy or reality: scientists' plans

Scientists from the British Institute of Engineering and Technology have far-reaching plans - to hold a football match on the moon.

According to the Daily Mail, they believe that it will be realistic to do so in 2035.

A new space age will begin as early as 2025, when NASA astronauts will land on the Earth's satellite. It is expected that a permanent base will appear on the Moon, where astronauts can play football matches in their free time.

However, to realize such ambitious plans, there is still a lot of work to be done. For example, you need to create a special site. To do this, lasers will be used to level the surface.

Moreover, special space suits are needed, in which an oxygen tank, a communication system and temperature control devices will be built. In addition, the ball must be twice the size of the earth.

It will be black and white, and inside will be a sponge filler made of airgel. Of the other differences from earthly football - the match will consist of four halves, each of which will be allocated 10 minutes.

Strong drink may help prevent Alzheimer's disease

A new study has found that chemicals in espresso, including caffeine, may help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Espresso, which is made from finely ground coffee beans, is the basis for popular drinks such as lattes and americanos.

"Some studies have shown that coffee consumption may have a protective effect against two of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease," the authors of the study say.

Scientists from the University of Verona in Italy decided to conduct an experiment with espresso compounds to confirm or disprove the above statement.

The fact is that the development of Alzheimer's disease is associated with the presence of the tau protein in the brain. In the body of most people, tau proteins help stabilize brain structures. But tau proteins can also assemble into filaments or fibrils, which then accumulate in parts of the brain responsible for memory.

In places where fibrils accumulate, the connection between nerve cells in the brain is broken, which causes the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

These include memory loss and personality changes. It is also noted that Alzheimer's disease is fatal, as it leads to aspiration pneumonia, which develops when a person cannot swallow properly. As a result, food or liquid enters the lungs.

For the experiment, scientists isolated compounds from store-bought espresso: caffeine, trigonelline, genistein, and theobromine. A complete coffee extract was also taken. After that, the extract and separately the compounds were incubated in the laboratory together with one of the forms of the tau protein for up to 40 hours.

The experiment showed that as the dose of the compounds from the espresso, as well as the extract from the drink, was increased, the tau protein fibrils became shorter and did not overlap. This result indicates that the development of Alzheimer's disease can slow down and even stop completely.

"Of all the compounds used in the experiment, the full espresso extract showed the best result," the press release says.

Additional studies will be required to confirm the result of the experiment.

Israel develops 'metal' pillowcases to treat skin problems

An Israeli startup has developed "metal" pillowcases implanted with silver and zinc ions that can help treat skin conditions like acne, psoriasis and eczema.

Onyx Radiance has developed two lines of skin care products, one with silver ions for anti-aging and the other with a zinc compound for healing.

The healing properties of these metals have been used for burns and bacterial infections for centuries. In an interview with Israeli technology news portal NoCamels, Onyx CEO and founder Galia Hirsch said she noticed the health benefits of these natural minerals after her father had major heart surgery.

“Although the operation was successful at first, he later developed an infection that the doctors could not overcome despite months of treatment,” she shared.

Hirsch learned that there was a practice “in which there are solutions with silver ions that could help in this case and began her own research on ionic solutions. Silver acts as an "extremely powerful" antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent, so strong that "no microorganisms can survive in the presence of ions" of this metal. Zinc is not only antibacterial but also antifungal, which helps protect against infections such as athlete's foot and eczema.

Hirsch says she decided to make pillowcases because she “wanted to use her rest hours to rejuvenate herself” and treat skin problems along the way.

The entrepreneur said that one of her next steps will be to launch a line for pets using the same solutions of silver and zinc. The line can help with allergic reactions that affect the skin and coat, and is scheduled to launch next semester.

Israel has created an efficient and inexpensive "green" hydrogen

Israeli scientists have managed to produce highly efficient and inexpensive "green" hydrogen. This achievement could be key in promoting alternative fuels and fighting pollution. Researchers at Tel Aviv University, using a biocatalyst, have developed hydrogen using "green" electricity, without air pollution and with a high level of efficiency.

Hydrogen is a necessary raw material for both agriculture and industry, but 95 percent of everything produced in the world today is "black" or "grey" - made from coal or natural gas - and emits 9 to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per ton.

“Although hydrogen is produced by the enzymes of microscopic organisms that obtain energy from photosynthesis processes, it is “very rare in the atmosphere,” explained doctoral student Itzhak Greenberg, who led the study with Dr. Oren Ben-Zvi under the supervision of Professor Iftach Jacobi.

In the laboratory, Israeli scientists "electrified" these enzymes, "that is, the electrode gives energy instead of the sun." According to Greenberg, the result is “a particularly efficient process that does not require extreme conditions that can use electricity from renewable sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.”

“However, the enzyme eludes the electrical charge, so it must be held in place by chemical treatment. We have found a simple and effective way to attach the enzyme to an electrode and use it,” the researchers report.

The university said in a statement that its scientists used a hydrogel to attach an enzyme to an electrode and were able to produce “green” hydrogen using a biocatalyst with over 90% efficiency.

“Today, green hydrogen is mainly produced by electrolysis, which requires precious and rare metals such as platinum, as well as water distillation, which makes green hydrogen 15 times more expensive than grey,” explained Dr. Ben-Zvi. “We hope that in the future our method can be used commercially to reduce costs and move towards the use of “green” hydrogen in industry, agriculture and as a source of clean energy.”

What characterizes a new concept?

it is a phrase that identifies, says what it is, and/or how it works and is universally applicable, and philosophically it is called the "real definition".

How do innovative ideas manifest themselves in the domains of science, art and politics? modifying understanding, creating new perspectives, habits and skills

How do new ideas arise in science and art?

in science from questions

in art through poietics

How do new ideas in science and art differ from each other? in the way of expressing information, while perception in science is limited to some characteristic types of expression, based on objective palpable abstractions, art can be expressed in various ways and abstracted in a subjective way, for example the sensation/emotion that a certain set of information reflects on the observer.

Israeli startup creates herbal chocolate that lowers blood sugar

Through the use of traditional Chinese medicine herbs, Solveat chocolate can lower the blood sugar levels of people with prediabetes by 10 to 24 percent.

Some herbs that are great for controlling blood sugar do not smell the best. Israeli chocolate, which contains these herbal products, tastes amazing and solves this problem.

“We use a variety of methods to mask the bitterness and acidity of herbs, but it's not easy,” explains Udi Peretz, CEO and co-founder of Solveat.

In an interview with technology news portal NoCamels, Peretz said the firm is partnering with Israeli chocolate company Ornat to "resolutely move forward with the project." Herbs are being added to Ornat chocolate and the product is expected to go on sale in the coming months.

According to Solveat, herbal chocolate lowered blood sugar levels by 10-24% in almost all study participants with prediabetes. The Israeli startup ensures that it uses proprietary methods to extract the maximum active ingredients from each herb. After mixing, the final formula is analyzed again to confirm that the quality of each ingredient has not been compromised during the mixing process.

“We want manufacturers to be able to easily integrate this blend into their products,” the company says.

The formula includes eight herbs, including coptis sinensis and rhehmannia glutinose, two important elements of traditional Chinese medicine.

“Our first target is prediabetes, which affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and eventually leads to diabetes,” the company says. “Our scientifically proven and patented herbal formulation has been successfully tested on humans and found to be delicious.”

Everyone chooses for himself a woman, religion, road.

Serve the devil or the prophet, everyone chooses for himself

Bulat Okudzhava

The coast of Uruguay is littered with thousands of dead penguins

Over the past 10 days, events have occurred that cause concern among scientists and society, as they can lead to a serious environmental disaster. On the shores of the east coast of Uruguay, a mass death of penguins was recorded - the bodies of about 2,000 animals were found.

An increased mortality of penguins was recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, and their bodies were washed up on the coast of Uruguay. The reasons for this tragedy may be related to famine and bad weather, reports AFP.

These penguins belong to the Magellanic species and most of them are juveniles. Many of the discovered bodies had no fat reserves and were with empty stomachs, indicating a lack of food.

Scientists are considering possible causes of mass mortality, including illegal and over-harvesting of natural resources. In addition, the subtropical cyclone that passed over the southeast coast of Brazil in mid-July may also have an impact, causing the death of weak animals due to bad weather.

In addition to the Magellanic penguins, the coast of Montevideo has faced mass mortality of other marine creatures such as petrels, albatrosses, gulls, sea turtles and sea lions, whose bodies were found dead on the beaches of Maldonado. The situation requires serious attention and further research in order to understand the scale and causes of this tragedy and take the necessary measures to conserve biodiversity and protect marine ecosystems.

Bulat Okudzhava, thoughts that will help in difficult times and save you from depression

There is a time for everything: a time to scatter stones and a time to collect them. If despondency and lack of taste for life bound us like shackles. If there is no motivation to wake up in the morning. If there is no purpose and meaning of existence. How to be?

Accept. That state, that heaviness that lies on the heart must be accepted. This is a test and it can be passed. And you also need to understand that no one will come to the rescue. Even the closest people are not able to understand how much pain and despair we experience, just as we physically cannot remember how to breathe or walk.

They will try, each in their own way to help. But it is not enough to stretch out a hand to a drowning person, it is necessary that he grab it. And therefore, you will have to get out of the state of depression and apathy yourself.

It is necessary to remember the common truths: the sky is blue, the sun is yellow, and a contrast shower invigorates and brings relief. Therefore, you need to get up and take this shower. Wash away from yourself what layers of thoughts about the past, memories, regrets have imposed. And go: to the store, cinema, just go around the house, meet a funny dog, look at passers-by. Movement is life.

We must accept that grief and mistakes, and this nasty state of “not wanting anything” and “not being able to do anything” is also a part of life. If it seems to us that there are people who are always doing well, it just seems.

Even the apostle Paul had to endure pain in his body. He had everything: wealth, an excellent education for those times, a very noble family and Roman citizenship from birth, he talked with God. However, his story says that he repeatedly asked God to save him from his illness, but the Lord answered:

“Given you pain in the body to pacify. My grace is enough for you."

It turns out that if everything is always good with us, we are not changing for the better. We need to endure trials and be in discord in order to understand something, learn another lesson, not become proud and be grateful for what we have. And only then we stop going in circles and move on to another level.

At school, everyone studied differently: for some, studying was easy, and for some, it was hard work, but the result is the same for everyone - we all graduated. Moved to another level - began to build a career. So here. Someone experiences their apathy quickly, someone gets stuck, but the result is the same as the phrase on the ring of King Solomon: "This too shall pass."

Boeing unmanned submarine taught to sink ships. Video

The American company Boeing has successfully tested its new development - the unmanned submarine Orca XLUUV. This modern submarine is designed for the US Navy, but can also be used for civilian purposes, including deep sea exploration.

For the first time, the drone was tested in open waters, and the company on its Twitter presented a video demonstrating the operation of this modern submarine.

One of the key features of the Orca XLUUV is its diesel-electric propulsion system, which gives the diver a top speed of up to 15 km/h and a practical speed of around 7 km/h. Due to its outstanding range, the Orca XLUUV is capable of covering distances of up to 10,500 km, allowing missions of several months duration without the need to constantly return to base.

The Orca XLUUV's intriguing dimensions give it considerable load capacity and flexibility. The length of the boat is 26 meters, and the final version weighs approximately 50 tons. It can carry up to 8 tons of payload in its modular cargo bay, which is about 10 meters long, making it suitable for applications ranging from military operations to scientific research.

The unique feature of the Orca XLUUV lies in its autonomy and the ability to work without human intervention for long periods of time. This makes it an attractive tool for a variety of tasks and missions. Armed with MK48 and MK46 torpedoes, unmanned submarines of this type can be used for reconnaissance, electronic warfare, mine clearance and neutralization of enemy ships.

The open water trials of the Orca XLUUV are a milestone in the world of marine technology. Boeing will continue to improve and develop this unique unmanned submersible to ensure its effective use in both military and civilian applications.