Deep sleep, memory formation go hand-in-hand. Scientists are also finding links to dementia

Study found decrease in deep sleep associated with higher risk of dementia in people 60 and up.

== yjc, had no idea sea lions ate octopi
Swimmer witnesses surprise fight between octopus and sea lion

It was flippers against tentacles in an ocean matchup near Nanaimo, B.C.

== yjc, we live in the Fraser Valley
Avian flu expands across B.C., endangering poultry, birds of prey and other wildlife.

The contagious viral infection mainly impacts birds, but there’s also a growing risk it could infect humans.

MIT tests new ingestible sensor that records your breathing through your intestines

The ‘smart capsule’ is designed to monitor vital signs and even detect opiate overdose.

== yjc
What is RCS and how is it different from SMS and iMessage?

Or the story of why we can’t have nice things.

Why superconductor research is in a ‘golden age’ — despite controversy

Last week’s retraction dealt a blow to the search for room-temperature superconductivity, but physicists are optimistic about the field’s future.

== paywall?
What is death?

New neuroscience is challenging our understanding of the dying process—bringing opportunities for the living.

Scientists Use Raspberry Pi Tech To Protect NASA Telescope Data

Sneakernet for the stars?

‘Make It Real’ AI Prototype Turns Drawings Into Working Software

Designer: “I think I need to go lie down.”

World’s 1st sperm whale reserve protects ‘carbon heroes’ of the sea

Marine protected area aimed at a unique population of sperm whales off the coast of Dominica.

== yjc
‘Hallucinate’ Chosen As Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year

The psychological verb gained an extra meaning in 2023 that ‘gets to the heart of why people are talking about artificial intelligence’.

== I did that once when I first started using Git and Github
Developers Can’t Seem To Stop Exposing Credentials in Publicly Accessible Code

Many transgressions come from “very large companies that have robust security teams.”

‘Staggering’ rise in global measles cases last year, say leading health organizations

Cases up by 18% to about 9 million, and deaths to 136,000 — mostly among children.

Researchers developed a gene-editing technology that reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol

CRISPR was used to edit genes in trial participants’ livers.

World-first gene therapy for 2 blood disorders — sickle cell and thalassemia — approved

Casgevy the 1st medicine licensed using the gene editing tool CRISPR.

Global Decline In Male Fertility Linked To Common Pesticides

Scientists have spent decades trying to untangle puzzling questions over falling sperm concentrations. A new analysis of 25 studies of pesticides shows a clear connection, researchers say.

== paywall??
Why is the universe so complex and beautiful?

For some reason the universe is full of stars, galaxies, and life. But it didn’t have to be this way.

Planet Where It Rains Sand Revealed By Nasa Telescope

Planet Wasp-107b also has scorching temperatures, raging winds and the burnt-matches scent of sulphur dioxide

Microsoft and Nvidia Are Making It Easier To Run AI Models on Windows

Microsoft’s new Windows AI Studio lets developers access and configure AI models, such as Microsoft’s Phi, Meta’s Llama 2, and Mistral.s

Researchers use magnetic fields for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring

The steel, boxy-looking device uses low-field magnets and low-frequency radio waves to deliver readings.

EU Agrees Law To Curb Methane Emissions From Fossil Fuel Industry

Rules would require firms to report emissions, find and fix leaks, and limit wasteful venting and flaring

Google’s updated Titan security key can store up to 250 passkeys

The new Titan key is better equipped to handle a world without passwords.

Microsoft will use custom-designed chips to bolster its AI services

They’ll reach its data centers early next year.

Researchers printed a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons for the first time

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in printing a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons made of different polymers using a new laser scanning technique.

== we live not too far from Sumas Prairie and have family in Abbotsford
How a U.S. river swelled catastrophic floods in B.C. — and why little can be done to stop it happening again

2 years later, cities still face challenge of mitigating floodwaters that flow across Canada-U.S. border

A Coder Considers the Waning Days of the Craft

Coding has always felt to me like an endlessly deep and rich domain. Now I find myself wanting to write a eulogy for it.

Airbus Introduces ‘Detumbler’ Device To Address Satellite Tumbling In Low Earth Orbit

This magnetic damping device, weighing approximately 100 grams, is engineered to be attached to satellites nearing the end of their operational lives.

Lost NASA Tool Bag Can Be Seen With Binoculars

An astronaut’s tool bag that accidentally floated away during a routine spacewalk is the newest object for skywatchers to find in the night sky.

A Supernova ‘Destroyed’ Some of Earth’s Ozone For a Few Minutes In 2022

Effects of brightest ever gamma ray burst show how a closer blast could harm life.

ntel Fixes High-Severity CPU Bug That Causes ‘Very Strange Behavior’

Among other things, bug allows code running inside a VM to crash hypervisors.

Scientists warn of ‘dangerous future’ if global emissions aren’t cut

The Lancet medical journal projects risks by mid-century if temperatures keep rising.

48-Nation Bloc To Crack Down On Using Crypto Assets To Avoid Tax

But unless transactions made with those instruments can be observed, the potential for their use to evade tax authorities is high.

Delhi Plans To Unleash Cloud Seeding in Its Battle Against Deadly Smog

Hazardous air pollution is once again choking Delhi. City officials want to use cloud seeding to wash the problem away.

AMD-Powered Frontier Remains Fastest Supercomputer in the World

Intel’s oft-delayed Aurora remains a work in progress.

== yjc, Barbara and I make pizza pretty regularly, though no sardines
She introduced the exotic dish of pizza to CBC viewers in 1957. Now it’s made this 90-year-old internet famous

In the ’50s video gone viral, Kathy Brady tells viewers about an up-and-coming dish known as ‘pizza pie’

== paywall??
A Lost Bitcoin Wallet Passcode Helped Uncover a Major Security Flaw

A company that helps recover cryptocurrency discovered a software flaw putting as much as $1 billion at risk from hackers. Now it’s going public in hopes people will move their money before they get robbed.

FBI Struggled To Disrupt Dangerous Casino Hacking Gang, Cyber Responders Say

Industry executives have told Reuters they were baffled by an apparent lack of arrests despite many of the hackers being based in America.

AI Could Predict Heart Attack Risk Up To 10 Years in the Future, Finds Oxford Study

Researchers say more accurate analysis of cardiac CT scans could save thousands of lives and improve treatments

== fup
I spent a weekend with Amazon’s free AI courses, and highly recommend you do too

Want to learn more about AI but don’t know where to start? Check out these free AI training courses from AWS.

== I once thought about trying to do this
Student Uses AI To Decipher Ancient Greco-Roman Scroll, Wins $40K Prize

Machine learning helped a student win a $40,000 prize.

== paywall ?
The Lego-Like Way To Get CO2 Out of the Atmosphere

A company says that it has found a way to remove CO2 from the air for less than $100 per ton

== in case anyone looking for a webcam
Opal’s Tadpole proves webcams don’t need to be big or boring

A large sensor and a directional microphone should give your Zoom calls a solid facelift.

AI could predict hurricane landfall sooner - report

Artificial Intelligence could save lives by warning where a hurricane will hit land much sooner than traditional forecasting systems, researchers say.

== yjc
Who chooses the world’s Color of the Year?

From her desert office in a converted RV garage, Leatrice Eiseman has turned color into a celebrity for Pantone.

U.S. Reenters the Nuclear Fuel Game

Centrus Energy delivers first batch of uranium that’s critical for advanced reactors.

== US specific
Biden gives center stage to the climate report Trump tried to bury

No part of the country is unscathed from climate change, according to the federal government’s new National Climate Assessment.

== paywall possible
The Biggest Questions: How did life begin?

AI is helping chemists unpick the mysteries around the origins of life and detect signs of it on other worlds.

ExxonMobil Is a Lithium Company Now

ExxonMobil plans on extracting and producing battery-grade lithium from the Smackover Formation in Arkansas.

In a First, Cryptographic Keys Protecting SSH Connections Stolen in New Attack

An error as small as a single flipped memory bit is all it takes to expose a private key.

Cancer Researchers Show CRISPR-Edited CAR T Cells Could Improve Immunotherapy

…disrupting a single gene called SUV39H1 gave CAR T cells more staying power to fight cancer.

Researchers Identify a ‘Switch’ That Might Someday Kill Tumor Cells

Cells have a protein receptor that will cause that cell to die — in theory. Unfortunately, “Previous efforts to target this receptor have been unsuccessful,”…

== rather lengthy
Former President Obama Warns ‘Disruptive’ AI May Require Rethinking Jobs and the Economy

The former president joined me on Decoder to discuss AI regulation, the First Amendment, and of course, what apps he has on his homescreen.

== yjc
Domestic Cats Have Wiped Out the Scottish Wildcat. Only ‘Hybrid Swarm’ Remains

After 2000 years of isolation, a few decades of interbreeding have rendered the animal “genomically extinct”.