Number 345
Engineered bacteria secrete powerful nanoparticles to aid in drug delivery
Those particles, known as bacterial membrane vesicles (BMVs), are widely recognized for their potential impact in biomedicine.
Fish swim bladders could be useful in a treatment for heart failure
Hydrogels, which are soft materials formed by cross-linking polymers, could have a variety of medical applications.c
Using pulsed infrared light to find cancer’s ‘fingerprints’ in blood plasma
Plasma is the liquid portion of blood, depleted of any cells. Some molecules carried by blood plasma indicate potential health conditions.
Why are some cats more allergenic than others?
It’s not their coat length, studies show.
They also found that the hornet reliably produced these features as they tend to hover continuously.
== been seeing a lot of new theories that don’t need dark matter of late
Researcher proposes first-time model that replaces dark energy and dark matter in explaining nature of the universe
The theory offers instead the notion that the universe is expanding due to a series of step-like bursts called “transient temporal singularities” that flood the entire cosmos with matter and energy, yet happen so rapidly, they cannot be observed as these singularities wink in and out of existence.
== and…
Do ‘completely dark’ dark matter halos exist?
A detection of completely dark halos would open up a new window to study the universe.
In Guatemala, painted altar found at Tikal adds new context to mysterious Maya history
Just steps from the center of Tikal, a 2,400-year-old Maya city in the heart of modern-day Guatemala, a of researchers have unearthed a buried altar that could unlock the secrets of a mysterious time of upheaval in the ancient world.
Using orbital cycles to understand early life
Understanding early life on Earth has been frequently stalled by an imprecise geological clock.
Revealing the rhythms of ancient Arabia: Music connected cultures in the prehistoric Arabian Gulf
A pair of copper alloy cymbals excavated from the third millennium BC “Umm an-Nar” culture site of Dahwa, Oman, is a rare and important find.
Scientists Recreate Brain Circuit in Lab For First Time
Stanford Medicine investigators have replicated, in a lab dish, one of humans’ most prominent nervous pathways for sensing pain.
There’s a new comet in the sky, and it’s already visible through binoculars
The comet was discovered by an amateur astronomer in Australia.
== for those who might be interested, paywall??
The BRICS Challenge: Can They Shift Global Power?
How five nations aim to rewrite the rules of global influence.
== yjc
Middle-Aged Man Trading Cards Go Viral in Rural Japan Town
Why kids in Fukuoka are obsessed with collecting cards with middle-aged men on them.
== yjc, not for me, bu maybe some of you would be interested
Bracket City could be your latest word game obsession
The Atlantic is the new home for the puzzle game.
== opinion piece
The trade deficit isn’t an emergency. It’s a sign of America’s strength
A trade deficit can only arise if foreigners invest more in the U.S. than Americans invest abroad.
New blood test for protein troponin can improve heart attack and stroke risk prediction
The researchers found that testing for this protein can detect silent ongoing damage to the heart, a sign of a future risk of cardiovascular disease.
Small model approach could be more effective than LLMs
Researchers are now exploring ways of leveraging the power of LLMs while making them more efficient, secure and economical to operate.
Wave energy’s huge potential could finally be unlocked by the power of sound
Research of a phenomenon known as triad resonance. This is where two acoustic waves transfer energy to a surface wave by matching its frequency, which in turn causes the surface wave to get larger and more powerful (by increasing its amplitude).
Taiwan’s latest computer chip has serious implications for technology—and the island’s security
Compared to the previous most advanced chip, known as 3nm chips, TSMC’s 2nm technology should deliver notable benefits. These include a 10%–15% boost in computing speed at the same power level.
Rare crystal shape found to increase the strength of 3D-printed metal
To prove that he found an icosahedron, Andrew Iams had to rotate the sample under his microscope to show that it had fivefold, threefold and twofold rotational symmetry.
In the search for life on exoplanets, finding nothing is something too
“Even if we don’t find life, we’ll be able to quantify how rare—or common—planets with detectable biosignatures really might be.”
‘Thirstwaves’ are growing more common across the United States
A thirstwave is a period of extremely high evaporative demand that like its cousin the heat wave, can wreak havoc on a growing season.
Antarctica’s hidden threat: Meltwater under the ice sheet amplifies sea-level rise
New research shows “subglacial water” plays a far larger role in Antarctic ice loss than previously thought.
Quantum cosmology with final states can explain the accelerated expansion of the universe
Quantum theory involves a complex notion of causation, and it can naturally incorporate final conditions.
Antiviral chewing gum shows promise in reducing influenza and herpes spread
Researchers tested the ability of a chewing gum made from lablab beans, Lablab purpureus—that naturally contain an antiviral trap protein (FRIL)—to neutralize two herpes simplex viruses (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and two influenza A strains (H1N1 and H3N2).
Consecutive El Niños are happening more often
The result is more devastating, research suggests. For instance, a single-year El Niño-driven drought can challenge agricultural systems, but consecutive years of drought could overwhelm them.
Scientists link a phytoplankton bloom to starving dolphins in Florida
In 2013, scientists monitoring the Indian River Lagoon noticed that the dolphin population was struggling.
== yjc
The 50 best things Microsoft has ever made
From beloved operating systems and hit games to never-realized concepts that captured our imagination.
In Western Wildlife, Bird Flu Deaths Highlight Uncertainties
The closely-spaced deaths of two cougars in Washington state suggest the virus is likely more widespread than thought.
ndia’s ‘Frankenstein’ Laptop Economy Thrives Against Planned Obsolescence
India’s repair culture gives new life to dead tech.
== though, don’t know what else Silicon Valley folks would be saying
US’s AI Lead Over China Rapidly Shrinking, Stanford Report Says
Many leaders in Silicon Valley and D.C. say winning this AI competition is critical to the future of U.S. national security.
Titanic scan reveals ground-breaking details of ship’s final hours
More than 700,000 images, taken from every angle, were used to create the “digital twin”.
== yjc
Is ChatGPT Plus worth your $20? Here’s how it compares to Free and Pro plans
ChatGPT Pro is 10 times the price of ChatGPT Plus. Is either worth the money or should you stick to the free version?
North America is dripping from below, geoscientists discover
It’s the first time that “cratonic thinning” may be captured in action.
Highly accurate blood test diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease, measures extent of dementia
Current Alzheimer’s therapies are most effective in the early stages of the disease, so having a relatively easy and reliable way to gauge how far the disease has progressed could help doctors determine which patients are likely to benefit from drug treatment and to what extent.
NIH scientists have a cancer breakthrough. Layoffs are delaying it.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health demonstrated a promising step toward using a person’s own immune cells to fight gastrointestinal cancers in a paper in Nature Medicine on Tuesday, the same day the agency was hit with devastating layoffs.
Could We Reach Mars Faster With Nuclear Fusion-Powered Rockets?
Fission technology is well established in power generation and nuclear-powered submarines, and its application to drive or power a rocket could one day give NASA a faster, more powerful alternative to chemically driven rockets.
New TikTok tech lets you become anyone
ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, just accelerated our descent into a world where everything, and everyone, is fake.
But we’re hopeful that we can get one, possibly two, spacecraft to the 50th anniversary in 2027.
Zoo’s tortoises become first-time parents… aged about 100
The zoo said this week it was “overjoyed” at the arrival of four hatchlings from Abrazzo and Mommy, a pair Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises.
== deceptive titel, not so new
Scientists reveal new toxin that damages the gut
There are more than five types of E. coli that damage epithelial cells in different ways to cause gut infection.
Artificial sweetener shows surprising power to overcome antibiotic resistance
Saccharin breaks the walls of bacterial pathogens, causing them to distort and eventually burst, killing the bacteria.
== yjc
These are the remote islands on Trump’s tariff list, and what they export
The list includes some of the most remote, smallest territories in the world.
Oxygen is running low in inland waters—and human activities are to blame
Oxygen depletion in water, called hypoxia, is causing problems.
Southern Ocean warming may affect tropical drought and rainfall more than Arctic warming
The authors found that just 1°C of warming in the Southern Ocean could exert a similar level of influence on tropical precipitation as 1.5°C of warming in the Arctic Ocean could.
Astronomers discover doomed pair of spiraling stars on our cosmic doorstep
These two stars are on a collision course to explode as a type 1a supernova, appearing 10 times brighter than the moon in the night sky.
Shape-recovering liquid defies textbooks
Researchers discovered that strongly magnetized particles can bend the laws of thermodynamics.
== repeat?
Wikimedia Drowning in AI Bot Traffic as Crawlers Consume 65% of Resources
The Wikimedia projects are the largest collection of open knowledge in the world. Since January 2024, we have seen the bandwidth used for downloading multimedia content grow by 50%.
NSA Warns ‘Fast Flux’ Threatens National Security
Used by nation-states and crime groups, fast flux bypasses many common defenses.
Every time you think you've paid the price
Seems you've always got to pay it twice
Every time you think you've got it made
Seems you're lonely lying in the shade