Next-gen biobattery shrinks tumor, paving way for drug-free cancer treatments

The paper examines how biobatteries can be used to target tumors and spark a localized immunotherapy response in the body.

Saving twice the ice by limiting global warming

A new study finds that if global warming exceeds the Paris Climate Agreement targets, the non-polar glacier mass will diminish significantly.

‘Stealthy’ lipid nanoparticles give mRNA vaccines a makeover

A new material developed at Cornell University could significantly improve the delivery and effectiveness of mRNA vaccines by replacing a commonly used ingredient that may trigger unwanted immune responses in some people.

Sharks rarely seen together peacefully co-feed

Observation could help scientists understand shark ecology better.

The other great wall? Exploring Asia’s Medieval Wall System

The Medieval Wall System (MWS), a network of walls, trenches and enclosures stretches approximately 4,000 kilometers across parts of China, Mongolia and Russia.

== I am currently working, very slowly, on coding a transformer model for language translation
== but obviously not with this new algorithm, and it’s been a few weeks since I actually worked on it
A new transformer architecture emulates imagination and higher-level human mental states

In their current form, however, transformers do not reliably emulate high-level perceptual processing and the imaginative states experienced by humans.

‘E-tattoo’ could track mental workload for people in high-stake jobs, study says

Scientists say device could alert workers such as pilots and healthcare staff when they are feeling the strain.

Editing Green Revolution genes to boost tomato production efficiency for vertical farming

A research team has successfully engineered a tomato variety optimized for vertical farming, significantly enhancing production efficiency in plant factory systems.

‘Living fossil’ velvet worm species discovered in South Africa’s arid Karoo region

Velvet worms’ lineage dates back to over 500 million years ago, making it a living relic of the Cambrian period.

Underground water channels preserve ancient climate records in their shape

An international team has discovered that vertical channels, known as karstic solution pipes, preserve a record of Earth’s climatic history.

Humans are seasonal creatures, according to our circadian rhythms

New research shows that our circadian rhythms are still wild at heart, tracking the seasonal changes in daylight.

Ancient DNA uncovers unknown group near Americas’ land bridge 6,000 years ago

Discovered through ancient DNA, the group lived in the high plateaus of present-day Bogotá, Colombia—close to where the Americas meet.

Astronomers discover mystery cosmic body bursting with X-rays

Long-period transients are flashing cosmic bodies that emit radio pulses separated by a few minutes or a few hours.

Planet’s darkening oceans pose threat to marine life, scientists say

Band of water where marine life can survive has reduced in more than a fifth of global ocean between 2003 and 2022.

== yjc, lengthy, my apologies for this long intro
== My first computer, 1970s, was a kit from England, soldered together by a friend. It had 14k of
== memory, an 8 bit cpu and a cassette tape drive for data storage. Eventually a $500 8 inch floppy
== drive was added. It’s operating system was CPM. It used a version of free basic for programming.
== I used it to code a time-series forecast for mail volumes at the Vancouver mail processing plant.
== Not that it was at all accurate, but my boss liked the concept.
== And yes, it had a simple Star Trek game.
The Hobby Computer Culture

From 1975 through early 1977, the use of personal computers remained almost exclusively the province of hobbyists who loved to play with computers and found them inherently fascinating.

Silent X chromosome awakens with age

Perhaps a ew explanation for sex differences in age-related diseases.

== seen articles on this before
Webb telescope helps refine Hubble constant, suggesting resolution to long-standing expansion rate debate

The universe expands over time, but how fast it’s expanding has seemed to differ depending on whether you looked early in the universe’s history or the present day.

Mangrove crabs use optical geometry to enhance conspecific signaling

In the tangled darkness of Southeast Asian mangrove forests, one crab species appears to have evolved a structure that functions like a miniature car headlamp.

New high-resolution laser device reads millimeter-scale text from a kilometer away

Intensity interferometry uses light from a single source being measured separately by two detectors or telescopes, and the variations in their recorded intensities are compared.

== yjc
Some signs of AI model collapse begin to reveal themselves

Prediction: General-purpose AI could start getting worse.

Cancer-fighting immune cells could soon be engineered inside our bodies

Manufacturing CAR T cells in the laboratory is expensive and time-consuming. An in vivo approach could get the powerful therapy to more people.

== yjc
The tiny island where puffins are thriving despite global decline

Skomer Island, a 1.13 sq mile (2.92 sq km) internationally important seabird island, is located less than a mile from the Pembrokeshire coast.

Ancient human fingerprint suggests Neanderthals made art

Scientists in Spain say they have discovered the oldest full human fingerprint after unearthing a rock which they say resembles a human face.

Sun’s eruptions are killing off SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, claims NASA scientist

A new report claims that sun eruptions are shortening the lives of satellites in Earth orbit.

Just three nights of poor sleep might harm your heart

We’ve long known that a lack of sleep is bad for the heart—but scientists are now starting to understand exactly how it causes harm.

Researchers study ‘old water paradox’ in forest laboratory experiment

However, it is less the trees that catch the eye here, and more the electronics and technology strapped to the tree trunks or set up on the forest floor.

The cost of some invasive species could be 16 times higher than we thought

The accelerating spread of invasive species—from mosquitoes to wild boar to tough-to-eradicate plants—blights agriculture, spreads disease and drives the growing pace of species extinction.

If a tree falls in the forest, was it a pine? Researchers can now make a good guess

For nearly a century, scientists have sought a mathematical model to describe this pattern, the “hollow curve” species-abundance distribution, found universally within ecological communities.

Environmental SOS: Rare birds crunch from bellies full of plastic

They found plastic in the bellies of chicks less than 3 months old and a dead bird with 778 individual pieces of plastic packed into its tummy “like a brick.”

A root development gene that’s older than root development

A gene that regulates the development of roots in vascular plants is also involved in the organ development of liverworts—land plants so old they don’t even have proper roots.

Teeth hurt? It could be because of a 500-million-year-old fish

The exact origin of teeth—and what they were for—has long proved elusive to scientists.

Five-year study suggests chimpanzees strike stones against trees as form of communication

A recent study has uncovered a remarkable phenomenon among wild chimpanzees in West Africa: the use of stones to produce sound, presumably as a form of communication.

Street smarts: Cooper’s hawk uses pedestrian crossing signal to ambush urban prey

Perched near idling cars during long red lights, the hawk launched its approach only after auditory pedestrian signals predicted an extended signal phase, resulting in a longer queue of vehicles.

Intuitive geometric method simplifies inverse design of kirigami

Kirigami is a traditional Japanese art form that entails cutting and folding paper to produce complex three-dimensional structures or objects.

The Longest Predatory Dinosaur Known To Science Was Probably A Great Dad, Too

Longer than Tyrannosaurus rex, and considerably taller, Spinosaurus was one of the largest theropod dinosaurs ever to stamp across the planet.

== yjc, personally never knew about this
The Soviet plan to reverse Siberia’s rivers with ‘peaceful nuclear explosions’

In the 1970s, the USSR used nuclear devices to try to send water from Siberia’s rivers flowing south, instead of its natural route north.

== paywall?, lengthy, but perhaps worth a read
People Should Know About the ‘Beliefs’ LLMs Form About Them While Conversing

What happens when people can see what assumptions a large language model is making about them?

== yjc
Little lighthouse found in B.C. thrift store illuminates N.S. family connections

Julia Ghersini posted her find online and received overwhelming reaction.

How Many Qubits Will It Take to Break Secure Public Key Cryptography Algorithms?

For decades the quantum and security communities have also known that large-scale quantum computers will at some point in the future likely be able to break many of today’s secure public key cryptography algorithms, such as Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA).

Bird Feeders Have Caused a Dramatic Evolution of California Hummingbirds

Beaks have grown longer and larger, and ranges have expanded to follow the feeders.

Snowy owl labelled threatened by expert group — and humans are primarily to blame

Population of species has declined by over 40% in around 24 years, group says.

Microsoft says its Aurora AI can accurately predict air quality, typhoons, and more

Aurora, which has been trained on more than a million hours of data from satellites, radar and weather stations, simulations, and forecasts, can be fine-tuned with additional data to make predictions for particular weather events.

Only One Country in the World Produces All the Food It Needs, Study Finds

Low levels of self-sufficiency can reduce a country’s capability to respond to sudden global food supply shocks such as droughts, wars or export bans.

‘Landmark’ Evolution Study Shows How Rice Inherits Tolerance To Cold Without DNA Changes

The study shows that the environment isn’t just a passive actor in evolution, but a selective force inducing a targeted change

== rather lengthy, but…
Japan and the Birth of Modern Shipbuilding

How Japan invented modern shipbuilding, and conquered the shipbuilding industry in the process.

== yjc
Should ayahuasca be made legal? A N.S. religious freedom case tests that argument

52-year-old man facing drug charges argues religious freedom infringed upon by prohibition.