Cryptocurrency is usually "mined" through the blockchain by asking a computer to perform a complicated mathematical problem in exchange for tokens of cryptocurrency. But in research appearing in the journal Chem a team of chemists has repurposed this process, asking computers to instead generate the largest network ever created of chemical reactions which may have given rise to [...]
A team of researchers from the Institute for Optoelectronic Systems and Microtechnology at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) has designed a biosensor capable of identifying proteins and peptides in quantities as low as a single monolayer. For that, a surface acoustic wave (SAW), a kind of electrically controlled nano earthquake on a chip, is [...]
Cynthia Horton’s earaches are the stuff of nightmares. “I can wake up from my sleep in horrible pain, like I’m having a root canal with no anesthesia,” she said. “When I sit up, my ear is often weeping with infection, even oozing blood.” Already weakened by a lifelong battle with lupus, Horton’s immune system was [...]
The study hypothesizes that ‘pre-digested’ foods contributed to the development of larger brains. The large, capable human brain is a marvel of evolution, but how it evolved from a smaller primate brain into the creative, complex organ of today is a mystery. Scientists can pinpoint when our evolutionary ancestors evolved larger brains, which roughly tripled in [...]
Neuroscientists demonstrate how the brain improves its ability to distinguish between similar experiences, findings that could lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders. Think of a time when you had two different but similar experiences in a short period. Maybe you attended two holiday parties in the same week or gave two presentations [...]
Sensors built with a new manufacturing approach are capable of recording activity deep within the brain from large populations of individual neurons—with a resolution of as few as one or two neurons—in humans as well as a range of animal models, according to a study published in the Jan. 17, 2024 issue of the [...]
A team of international researchers, led by Francesca Santoro from Jülich, has developed a biochip that imitates the human retina. This innovation is part of a broader effort in bioelectronics aimed at repairing bodily and brain dysfunctions. The creation of this chip is a collaborative achievement involving experts from Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, Istituto [...]
The brain, despite its comparatively shallow structure with limited layers, operates efficiently, whereas modern AI systems are characterized by deep architectures with numerous layers. This raises the question: Can brain-inspired shallow architectures rival the performance of deep architectures, and if so, what are the fundamental mechanisms that enable this? Neural network learning methods are [...]
The annual total of deaths from fungal disease worldwide has risen to 3.75 million, double the previous estimate, according to a new study. In a paper, titled "Global incidence and mortality of severe fungal disease" published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, David Denning, a professor of infectious disease at The University of Manchester also [...]
Molecular biology's central dogma posits a simple recipe for the construction of the human body: a DNA blueprint is transcribed into an RNA message, and the RNA message is translated into the proteins that make you. Translating the mRNA message is a bit like an assembly line. The individual nucleotide "letters" in mRNA form [...]
