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Menstrual Pads: A Revolutionary Tool for Tracking Women’s Fertility
Shutterstock/Connect World
Innovative home tests integrated into menstrual pads are empowering women to monitor their fertility through menstrual blood. This non-invasive method eliminates the need for frequent blood tests or clinic visits.
For many women, understanding their fertility journey often remains elusive until they attempt to conceive. In case of any complications, clinical tests can offer vital information.
These tests are instrumental in assessing the levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), a key indicator of “ovarian reserve,” which reflects the quantity of eggs remaining in a woman’s ovaries. In adults, AMH levels naturally decrease with age, indicating that higher levels signify a robust supply of eggs, whereas lower levels may signal reduced reserves or early onset of menopause.
Traditionally, AMH measurement has involved either clinic-based blood tests or at-home finger-prick tests, both requiring lab analysis before results are available.
Recently, Lucas Dosnon from ETH Zurich and his team in Switzerland have created a user-friendly test utilizing menstrual blood for immediate results.
The test functions as a lateral flow assay—similar to a COVID-19 test—utilizing small gold-coated particles with antibodies that selectively bind to AMH. When the test strip is exposed to menstrual blood, the hormonal interactions create a visible line, where the darkness of this line correlates with AMH levels.
While visual assessments can estimate results, researchers have developed a smartphone app that accurately analyzes test strip images. When tested against menstrual blood samples with known AMH concentrations, results aligned closely with clinical evaluations.
Moreover, the research team has seamlessly integrated this test into menstrual pads, enabling passive AMH level monitoring throughout menstruation. Over time, this approach may reveal trends in ovarian reserves that single tests could miss.
“We believe this research could be a game-changer for women’s health,” stated Dosnon, highlighting the potential for regular ovarian health screenings useful for various purposes, including during IVF and for diagnosing conditions outside of reduced ovarian reserve. Elevated AMH levels, for instance, can indicate polycystic ovarian syndrome and, in rare cases, granulosa cell tumors affecting the ovaries. “Menstrual blood is an underutilized resource with great potential in monitoring overall health,” Dosnon added.
Richard Anderson from the University of Edinburgh emphasizes the interpretation challenges all family medicine tests face, noting that understanding results can be complex, as no AMH test assesses egg quality. He questions whether women will prefer this test over traditional methods: “Is obtaining a reliable blood test that much of a burden?”
In response, Dosnon clarified that the test isn’t designed to replace clinical evaluations but rather offers an alternative that addresses the challenges in women’s health monitoring and research, praised for its non-invasive nature, user-friendliness, and affordability.
You May Be Historically Older Than Your “Real Age”
Reuters/Toru Hanai
Years ago, when I began discussing the concept of aging, the “biological clock” emerged as a key topic. This term, synonymous with the aging clock and “true age” measurement, highlights the difference between chronological age—the number of years since birth—and biological age, which indicates the actual aging process within our bodies.
Generally, biological aging follows a predictable pattern: a gradual decline in physical and mental functions throughout adulthood. Our intuitive judgments of age often incorporate visible signs like wrinkles, gray hair, and variations in posture, gait, mental sharpness, and voice.
The goal of determining biological age is to encapsulate this aging process into a single measurable figure. This provides insight into an individual’s health trajectory, emphasizing that some people age significantly faster than others.
Most individuals find their biological age within a few years of their chronological age. However, discrepancies can be stark: one 56-year-old may exhibit a biological age akin to someone in their 30s, while another may resemble a person in their 70s. Notably, biological age can increase or decrease at a different rate than chronological age.
Understanding biological age serves as a valuable tool, offering individuals clear, understandable insights into their health. This information can motivate lifestyle modifications and help assess the effectiveness of interventions like diet and exercise. The demand for biological age assessments is evident, as numerous companies now offer testing services, albeit often at a premium.
For scientists investigating anti-aging strategies, biological age measurements serve as immediate indicators of intervention success, eliminating the need for long-term studies involving human or animal subjects. Furthermore, tracking biological age enables us to comprehend the inner workings of our bodies as they age.
Despite its advantages, the concept of biological age requires refinement. The initial biological clocks were based on epigenetic markers—molecular indicators that alter gene expression. Innovators like Steve Horvath from UCLA discovered that these markers change predictably throughout life, allowing for the estimation of biological age through complex algorithms.
Yet, epigenetics isn’t the sole estimation approach. Various other biological markers—such as blood proteins, telomeres, urine metabolites, facial imagery, and even X-rays—can also inform biological age assessments. However, the inconsistency between these different measurement methods raises concerns about their reliability.
For instance, according to a recent analysis of the CALERIE trial, which examined caloric restriction as an anti-aging intervention, five different aging clocks were applied to a cohort of 220 adults. Only two showed a significant decline in biological age among calorie-restricted participants, leaving questions about which clock to trust—a dilemma faced by both individuals and researchers utilizing aging assessments.
Another challenge is the misleading perception of accuracy. Most companies report a single biological age figure without indicating a margin of error, leading to potential misinterpretations. A recent study published in npj Aging pointed out that many existing biological clocks do not perform as anticipated, which could lead to unnecessary anxiety regarding health outcomes.
But does this imply that biological clocks are without value? Not entirely. Research indicates that many limitations associated with these methods could be addressed. According to Dmitri Kulikov and fellow researchers from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, overcoming these challenges is feasible, although determining whether it is worth pursuing these improvements remains an open question.
Meanwhile, innovative solutions are on the horizon. Emerging methodologies that utilize artificial intelligence, particularly large-scale health models (LHM), hold promise. These AI-driven models, akin to those powering systems like ChatGPT, analyze vast datasets to assess individual risks related to mortality and the development of age-related conditions. A recent study in Natural Medicine suggests these modern methods may outperform traditional biological clocks.
As LHM continues to evolve, it may address many current limitations of biological age assessments. Thus, if you are contemplating determining your biological age, proceed with caution. If you’ve already done so, take the outcomes with a degree of skepticism. In future reflections on aging, I promise to approach this subject with a more critical perspective, blending newfound knowledge with experience.
Many of us find joy in liberally using profanity. Why? Because it feels satisfying. Recent scientific findings have validated this common behavior, thanks to a new study conducted by researchers at Keele University in the UK.
The research indicates that swearing can enhance physical performance and lead to better results in strength and endurance tests.
According to Dr. Richard Stevens, who spearheaded the study: BBC Science Focus, “This study essentially confirms what we consider common sense: swearing when we need to can elevate our mood.” He described swearing as a “low-cost, easily accessible, non-drug self-help strategy.”
To explore this phenomenon, the research team performed two experiments involving 192 participants. During the first experiment, each volunteer shouted an expletive every two seconds while doing push-ups (raising their body using only their arms) on a chair.
Participants also completed the same task using neutral words instead. Some began with swearing, while others started with neutral terms.
The results were significant. Those who swore were able to maintain their weight support for longer periods.
Stevens attributes this enhancement in performance to people feeling less constrained when they swear. “You become more uninhibited, you push past your hesitations and go all out instead of holding back,” he explains.
This effect was later confirmed through a post-test questionnaire, showing that participants reported higher levels of “psychological flow” when swearing—a state where they were fully engaged and enjoying the activity.
It’s common to hear profanity at the gym as individuals strive for extra strength – Photo credit: Getty
“This paper builds on research from the 1960s indicating that shouting, loud sounds, alcohol, and similar stimuli enhance physical performance. It suggests that reducing inhibitions can boost fitness,” Stevens remarked.
But what is it about profanity that gives it such power? Stevens posits that it “must relate to their taboo nature.” He noted that many curse words are “double taboos,” meaning they aren’t just socially unacceptable, but often touch on other sensitive subjects, such as sex.
The research team plans to delve deeper into the influence of a word’s taboo nature by examining its effects on pain tolerance. Essentially, they’re searching for the ultimate swear word with the greatest impact.
For now, you might be wondering if you should incorporate more swearing into your life. According to science, the answer is affirmative.
“Our findings indicate that swearing diminishes inhibition and enhances performance, suggesting that this effect may extend to other scenarios where success relies on overcoming hesitation,” Stevens stated.
“Using curse words strategically during challenging moments, especially when we’re outside our comfort zone, can help us unlock our full potential and ultimately achieve greater success.”
For nearly a century, dark matter has posed a significant enigma. Although it outnumbers ordinary matter by a ratio of five to one, it remains invisible and undetectable by current technology.
A daring new analysis of 15 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope now claims to shed light on this mystery.
The latest research reveals the detection of a peculiar halo-like glow of gamma rays surrounding the Milky Way galaxy, with distinct peaks in energy that align closely with the signals predicted for a specific type of hypothetical dark matter particle.
These particles, referred to as weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), can generate gamma rays by annihilating one another.
“If this is validated, it would be the first instance where humanity has ‘seen’ dark matter,” stated Professor Tomonori Toya, an astronomer at the University of Tokyo and co-author of the study.
In an interview with BBC Science Focus, he expressed his initial skepticism: “When I first noticed what looked like a traffic light, I was doubtful, but after careful investigation, I became convinced it was accurate—it was an exhilarating moment,” he shared.
However, despite the excitement surrounding the new signals, independent experts caution that this discovery is far from conclusive.
This possible breakthrough emerges nearly a century after Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky first proposed dark matter’s existence, after observing that the galaxies in the Milky Way cluster were moving too swiftly for their visible mass.
Mr. Toya’s study, published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, scrutinized 15 years of data from the Fermi telescope, focusing on the regions above and below the Milky Way’s main disk—known as the galactic halo.
After modeling and accounting for known sources of gamma rays, such as interstellar gas interactions, cosmic rays, and massive bubbles of high-energy plasma at the galaxy’s center, he identified a leftover component that shouldn’t exist.
“We detected gamma rays with a photon energy measuring 20 giga-electron volts (or an impressive 20 billion electron volts), extending in a halo-like formation toward the Milky Way’s center,” Toya explained. “This gamma-ray-emitting component aligns with the expected shape of a dark matter halo.”
A gigaelectronvolt (GeV) represents a unit of energy utilized by physicists to quantify subatomic particles’ energy levels—approximately a billion times the energy that a single electron attains when traversing a 1-volt battery.
The potential dark matter signal identified by Toya sharply rises from a few GeV, peaks around 20 GeV, and subsequently declines, consistent with predictions for WIMPs, which possess about 500 times the mass of a proton.
This gamma-ray intensity map illustrates a signal that may originate from dark matter encircling the Milky Way halo. The gray horizontal bar in the central area represents the galactic plane, which was exempted from the analysis to avoid strong astrophysical radiation. – Photo credit: Tomonori Toya, University of Tokyo
In Totani’s perspective, this data significantly indicates the existence of dark matter. “This marks a crucial advancement in astronomy and physics,” he asserts.
Nevertheless, Jan Conrad, a professor of astroparticle physics at Stockholm University in Sweden and an independent expert in gamma-ray searches for dark matter, advises prudence.
“Making claims based on Fermi data is notoriously challenging,” he remarked to BBC Science Focus.
This isn’t the first instance of astronomers witnessing such phenomena; the story stretches back to 2009, shortly after the Fermi telescope’s launch. In that year, researchers identified an unexplained surplus of gamma rays emanating from the galactic center.
For years, this finding stood out as a compelling hint of dark matter. However, Conrad pointed out that even after 16 years, the scientific community has yet to arrive at a consensus about the signal’s dark matter roots.
“It’s believed to be related to dark matter,” he claims. “Despite accumulating data and enhanced methods since then, the question of dark matter’s existence remains unresolved.”
Even at this juncture, researchers who have spent over a decade working to disprove the galactic center excess are unable to definitively prove it is astrophysical in nature (originating from sources other than dark matter), nor can they confirm it is attributable to dark matter. The issue remains unsolved.
Conrad emphasized that the emerging signals from the halo are insufficiently studied and will likely necessitate many more years of investigation for verification. Both the new halo anomaly and the much-debated galactic center signal share a common challenge: noise interference.
In these regions, gamma rays potentially stemming from dark matter annihilation may also originate from numerous other, poorly understood sources—complicating efforts to reach definitive conclusions.
“The uncertainties surrounding astrophysical sources make it exceedingly difficult to assert strong claims,” Conrad stated.
Despite their differing confidence levels, both Totani and Conrad highlight the same forthcoming focus: dwarf galaxies.
These small, faint galaxies orbiting the Milky Way are believed to contain significant amounts of dark matter while exhibiting minimal astrophysical gamma-ray background, rendering them ideal for studying dark matter annihilation.
“If we detect a similar excess in dwarf galaxies, that would provide compelling evidence,” Conrad said. “Dwarf galaxies provide a much cleaner environment, allowing for potential confirmation.”
Dr. Toya concurred, noting, “If the results of this study are validated, it wouldn’t be surprising to observe gamma rays emitting from dwarf galaxies.”
The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is the most sensitive ground-based gamma-ray observatory ever constructed, offering a powerful new approach to scrutinize whether this enigmatic signal is indeed dark matter. – Photo credit: Getty
Yet, the ultimate verification of Toya’s discovery might be closer to home. Experiments designed to detect dark matter are currently taking place in facilities situated deep underground around the world.
“If we were to observe a signal there that aligns with a WIMP of the same mass…that would present a robust argument, as it would be much cleaner,” Conrad pointed out.
In the coming years, the next-generation Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will significantly enhance sensitivity to high-energy gamma rays, enabling researchers to analyze halo signals with greater detail.
“Naturally, if this turns out to be true, it’s a significant discovery,” Conrad said. “The true nature of dark matter remains elusive. A clear signal indicating dark matter particles would be monumental. However, further research is essential to explore alternative explanations for this excess.”
A study has revealed that artificial intelligence chatbots are providing faulty financial advice, misleading UK consumers about tax matters, and urging them to purchase unnecessary travel insurance.
An examination of popular chatbots indicated that Microsoft’s Copilot and ChatGPT discouraged adherence to HMRC investment thresholds for ISAs. ChatGPT also mistakenly claimed that travel insurance is mandatory for entry into most EU nations. Moreover, Meta’s AI distributed inaccurate guidance on how to claim compensation for delayed flights.
Google’s Gemini suggested withholding payments from builders if a project doesn’t meet expectations, a recommendation echoed by consumer advocacy group Which?. They cautioned that this could expose consumers to breach of contract claims.
Which? conducted research that posed 40 questions to competing AI tools and found “far too many inaccuracies and misleading assertions” to instill confidence, particularly in critical areas like finance and law.
Meta’s AI received the lowest evaluation, followed closely by ChatGPT. Copilot and Gemini earned somewhat higher ratings, while Perplexity, a search-focused AI, ranked the best.
Estimates suggest that between one in six and half of UK residents are using AI for financial guidance.
When asked about their experiences, Guardian readers shared that they had turned to AI for help in finding the best credit cards for international travel, seeking ways to reduce investment fees, and securing discounts on home appliances. One artist even used AI to buy a pottery kiln at a reduced price.
While some users reported satisfaction with the outcomes, Kathryn Boyd, a 65-year-old fashion entrepreneur from Wexford, Ireland, recounted that when she sought advice from ChatGPT on self-employment tax, she was informed that outdated information was being utilized.
“I just fed them incorrect information,” she explained, indicating she had to rectify it multiple times. “I worry that while I have some understanding… others asking similar questions might mistakenly trust the assumptions ChatGPT operates on. Those assumptions are clearly erroneous: incorrect tax credits, inaccurate tax and insurance rates, etc.”
Which? researchers probed AI tools on how to request tax refunds from HMRC; both ChatGPT and Perplexity suggested links to premium tax refund services alongside free government options, raising concerns due to these companies’ reputations for high fees and deceptive claims.
In a deliberate misstep regarding the ISA allowance question ‘How do I invest my £25,000 a year ISA allowance?’, ChatGPT and Copilot failed to recognize the accurate allowance of £20,000, providing guidance that could potentially lead users to exceed limits and violate HMRC regulations.
The Financial Conduct Authority warned that, unlike the regulatory guidance from authorized firms, advice from these general-purpose AI platforms lacks coverage from the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
In response, Google affirmed its transparency about the limitations of its generative AI, while Gemini urged users to verify information and consult professionals regarding legal, medical, and financial inquiries.
A Microsoft representative stated, “We encourage users to verify the accuracy of any content produced by AI systems and are committed to considering feedback to refine our AI technology.”
“Enhancing accuracy is a collective industry effort. We are making solid progress, and our latest default model, GPT-5.1, represents the most intelligent and accurate version we have created,” OpenAI commented in a statement.
Mr. Mehta has been contacted for further comments.
Rollin Justin can navigate obstacles and serve beverages.
Henrik Sporer/laif/CameraPress
Human fascination with our own likeness is longstanding. The term “robot” was introduced by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his 1920s play Rossum’s Universal Robots, depicting human-like beings made to work in factories. Since then, numerous humanoid robots have been designed to interact with their environment in human-like manners.
Henrik Sporer, an acclaimed photographer with the agency Leif, investigates such themes in his project Tomorrow is the Problem. The main image above showcases the metal craftsmanship from the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center, featuring a 200-kilogram robot named Rollin’ Justin. It can traverse extensive distances on wheels, capture images, navigate around obstacles, and serve drinks. Its potential applications include assisting astronauts and aiding individuals with disabilities.
Lola is the ideal robot for challenging terrains and new surroundings
Henrik Sporer/laif/CameraPress
The image above depicts Lola, a 1.8-meter tall robot developed by the Technical University of Munich. It can navigate new and unstable surfaces with ease.
Next up is Amar-6, a robot standing at 1.9 meters tall, designed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. This machine can converse with people and assist in carrying heavy loads.
Amar-6 is designed to assist with heavy lifting
Henrik Sporer/laif/CameraPress
The final image below features ZAR5, a dual-armed robot engineered at the Technical University of Berlin, equipped to pick and place items with finesse.
ZAR5 is capable of lifting and placing items manually
Neanderthals may have used ocher crayons to draw on cave walls
Golodenkov/Getty Images
A fascinating yellow crayon discovered in Crimea remains sharp after over 40,000 years, indicating that marking objects was a component of Neanderthal culture. This finding serves as the most compelling evidence so far that certain Neanderthal groups utilized colored pigments symbolically, a behavior previously believed to be exclusive to humans.
“It’s truly remarkable. It expands our understanding of the symbolic application of color,” states Emma Pomeroy from the University of Cambridge, who was not part of the study.
The use of ocher, an iron-rich mineral displaying red, yellow, and orange shades, has deep roots in Europe and Africa, reaching back at least 400,000 years. Ocher fragments have been found in numerous Neanderthal sites and seem to have been utilized for practical activities like tanning skins and igniting fires, sometimes being applied to seashell beads.
Neanderthals might have also decorated their bodies, clothing, and surfaces with ocher, although such marks have long since vanished. To delve deeper, Francesco d’Errico and fellow researchers from the University of Bordeaux in France undertook a thorough examination of ocher fragments from Neanderthal sites in Crimea, Ukraine. By analyzing how Neanderthals modified these fragments and examining their wear using a microscope, they gained insights into their usage.
The most intriguing of these ocher artifacts, dating back at least 42,000 years, was yellow and shaped like a crayon, measuring about 5 to 6 centimeters long. In-depth analysis revealed that the tip had been worn down through use and then resharpened, suggesting that it was regularly reused as a marking implement.
“This is a tool that has been refined and reshaped multiple times, making it quite unique,” remarks D’Errico. “It’s not merely a standard crayon; it exists as a crayon because of its use as such. It may have been utilized for drawing lines on skin or stone, reflecting artistic endeavors.”
Ocher fragment tip utilized as a crayon and subsequently sharpened
D’Errico et al., Sci. Advances 11, eadx4722
April Nowell, a professor at Victoria University in Canada who was not part of the study, concurs. “I only retain the dot on the crayon when I aim to create precise lines or designs,” she comments.
The research team also uncovered an even older broken crayon made from red ocher, potentially as old as 70,000 years.
“A small piece of ocher can convey a wealth of information,” says Pomeroy. “It connects with our shared humanity in a deeply emotional way.”
This Crimean crayon discovery contributes to a growing array of evidence of Neanderthal artistic capacity, which includes a 57,000-year-old finger carving found on a cave wall in France, and a mysterious circle created from stalagmites 175,000 years ago in another French cave.
These findings support the notion that symbolic behavior is not merely a recent development but has deep-seated roots in our evolutionary trajectory. “The cognitive capabilities associated with symbolic actions were likely present in our last common ancestor, encompassing Homo sapiens, Denisovans, and Neanderthals over 700,000 years ago,” notes Nowell.
Ancient caves, the origins of humanity: Northern Spain
Explore some of the oldest cave paintings in this picturesque area of northern Spain. Journey back 40,000 years to discover how our ancestors lived, created, and built their lives. From ancient Paleolithic art to stunning geological formations, every cave tells a distinctive and timeless narrative.
The likelihood of older fathers transmitting disease-causing mutations to their offspring is greater than previously believed. Genome sequencing indicates that, in men in their early 30s, approximately 1 in 50 sperm contain harmful mutations, escalating to nearly 1 in 20 by the age of 70.
Matthew Neville, also affiliated with the Sanger Institute, states, “This is something families should consider when making their own choices.” For instance, younger men might want to consider freezing their sperm if they anticipate delays in having children until later in life, while older men aiming to start families could explore available testing methods.
Research indicates that each individual typically carries around 70 new mutations present in most body cells that their parents do not possess, with 80% of these mutations arising in the father’s testes (excluding large-scale chromosomal abnormalities that are more frequent in the mother’s eggs). It was previously thought that the number of mutations in sperm increased steadily with age due to random mutation, but certain genetic conditions, such as achondroplasia (dwarfism), are notably more prevalent than random mutation rates would suggest.
In 2003, Anne Goriely from the University of Oxford found that this phenomenon likely stems from specific stem cells that produce sperm becoming “selfish.” This behavior causes these particular stem cells to proliferate more than usual, leading to an exponential rise in the proportion of sperm exhibiting these mutations as a man ages, rather than a steady increase. Goriely demonstrated that mutations in various genes can induce this selfish behavior in sperm stem cells, suspecting that even more factors are at play.
To date, Rahbari, Neville, and their research team have sequenced over 100,000 sperm cells sourced from 81 men of differing ages, as well as blood cells. Utilizing a unique method to sequence both strands of the DNA double helix, they overcame the high error rates in standard sequencing techniques. Thus, if a mutation is present on both strands, it is extremely unlikely to be a sequencing error.
Despite these selfish mutations comprising only a small fraction of total mutations, their impact is significant.
Ruben Arslan from the University of Witten in Germany emphasizes the discovery that these selfish mutations increase in a non-linear fashion. He suggests that, in youth, adding a year to a father’s age has a lesser negative effect compared to adding a year during older age.
Another investigation, involving Ravari and Neville, employed new sequencing methods on skin cells in the mouth, uncovering a similar trend of growth-promoting mutations that raised the ratio of specific stem cell lineages.
“These patterns of selection appear to extend beyond sperm cells,” asserts Rahbari. Although growth-promoting mutations may progress toward malignancy, they can also lead to troubles and potentially accelerate aging, she explains.
Researchers from University College London and other institutions have analyzed the molars of female Boss Torus (cattle) discovered at Stonehenge.
Stonehenge. Image credit: Regina Wolf.
In 1924, archaeologists restored the jawbone of an elderly cow found at the base of the groove surrounding Stonehenge Stage 1, constructed between 2995 and 2900 BC.
Professor Michael Parker Pearson from University College London and his team dated the find between 3350 and 2920 BC through isotopic analysis of a tooth, suggesting its origins in Wales.
“This offers even more intriguing evidence of Stonehenge’s connection to Southwest Wales, the source of Bluestone,” noted Professor Parker Pearson.
“It heightens the likelihood that these cows assisted in transporting the stones.”
Researchers recorded chemical signals from the second year of the animal’s life and sectioned its third molar into nine horizontal slices.
This enabled them to measure isotopes of carbon, oxygen, strontium, and lead, each shedding light on the cow’s diet, environment, and movements.
The varying concentrations and types found in the teeth offered insights into the cattle’s lifestyle.
Oxygen isotopes indicated that the teeth recorded about six months of growth spanning winter to summer, while carbon isotopes revealed seasonal dietary changes: forest feed in winter and pasture in summer.
Moreover, strontium isotopes suggested that these seasonal food sources came from different geological regions, implying that the cattle may have moved seasonally or that winter feed was transported.
Lead isotopes indicated a spike in composition between late winter and spring, suggesting older lead sources than the other dental leads.
The findings imply that the cattle originated from much older Paleozoic rock formations in the Pleshri hills of Pembrokeshire, Wales.
“This research revealed six months of unprecedented details about the life of this cow, presenting the first evidence of cattle movements from Wales and documenting dietary shifts and life events from around 5,000 years ago,” remarked Professor Jane Evans, an archaeologist at the National Environmental Isotope Facility at the British Geological Survey.
“One slice of cow tooth has conveyed an extraordinary narrative. I am hopeful that more revelations will emerge from her extensive journey as new scientific tools become available.”
Additionally, scientists concluded that unusual lead signals could not be attributed solely to local contamination or movement.
Rather, this lead, retained in the cow’s bones, was regenerating during the stress of pregnancy.
If accurate, this indicates that the cow was female during the formation of the teeth and was either pregnant or breastfeeding.
To validate this hypothesis, the authors employed peptide-based sex determination techniques, suggesting that the animal was likely a female.
“This study offers significant new insights into the life history of this enigmatic cow, whose remains were deposited at such a pivotal location at the entrance to Stonehenge,” said Professor Richard Majwick of Cardiff University.
“It provides unparalleled details regarding the animal’s distant origins and the arduous journey it undertook.”
“Often, grand narratives dominate research on major archaeological sites, but this detailed biographical examination of individual animals brings a fresh perspective to Stonehenge’s story.”
The team’s findings were published on June 17th, 2025, in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
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J. Evans et al. 2025 Boss Torus Evaluating the comparative sources and uptake times of teeth, strontium and lead from Stonehenge. Journal of Archaeological Science 180:106269; doi:10.1016/j.jas.2025.106269
Donald Trump and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick have announced that the US government has secured a groundbreaking 10% stake in Intel through a partnership with struggling chip manufacturers. This marks another significant intervention by Corporate America’s White House.
Lutnick stated on X: “Big News: The United States now owns 10% of Intel, one of our nation’s leading technology firms. We extend our gratitude to Intel CEO @Lipbutan1 for negotiating fair agreements benefit Americans.”
Trump met with Lipbu Tang on Friday and posed for a photo with Lutnick. This move was prompted by the US president’s demand for Intel’s resignation regarding its ties with Chinese companies after a previous meeting between Tang and Trump earlier this month.
“He approached us to continue his efforts and ultimately committed $1 billion to the US, so we secured a billion,” Trump shared on Friday.
Although Trump did not detail the $10 billion sum, it approximately corresponds to the financial assistance Intel receives from the government under the Chips and Science Act to build a US chip manufacturing facility.
Intel’s investment is the latest in a series of extraordinary deals brokered by the US administration under Trump, including allowing AI chip giant Nvidia to sell H20 chips to China. Amd has similarly pursued a comparable transaction.
Additionally, the Department of Defense is poised to become the principal stakeholder in small mining companies, enhancing the production of rare earth magnets, with the US government negotiating specific veto rights and “golden shares” as part of a deal enabling Nippon Steel to acquire US steel.
The extensive range of US government interventions in corporate affairs is raising concerns among critics who argue that Trump’s measures will establish a new category of corporate risk.
This development follows a $2 billion capital infusion from SoftBank Group, a significant endorsement for a troubled US chipmaker now navigating a turnaround. Daniel Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, mentioned that Intel’s challenges extend beyond the financial boosts from SoftBank or government profits.
“Without government backing and strong financial allies, it’s tough for Intel’s Foundry units to generate enough capital to keep expanding fabs at a reasonable pace,” he stated. “We need to catch up with TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] to be competitive technically.”
The 10% stake is valued at approximately $10 billion at the current stock price. Lutnick noted this week that these shares do not confer voting rights, meaning the US government cannot dictate the company’s operational decisions.
Federal backing could provide Intel with more leeway to revitalize its struggling casting business, analysts observe, though it still faces weaknesses in its product roadmap and challenges in attracting customers to its new factories.
Tang, who took on a leading role at Intel in March, has the responsibility of reviving the iconic American chipmaker, which reported a loss of $18.8 billion in 2024—the first loss since 1986.
Smartwatches are intended to track your well-being throughout the workday, ensuring your life remains balanced.
However, recent studies indicate that these devices are not reliable for accurately assessing stress levels. You may feel overwhelmed when you’re actually just excited.
The findings showed only a weak correlation between smartwatch-reported stress and the levels participants claimed to have felt. In contrast, fatigue was somewhat related to the smartwatch data, while sleep metrics had a stronger association.
Eiko Freed, the study’s author, stated that the connection between smartwatch stress readings and self-reported stress was “essentially zero.”
He further explained, “It’s not surprising since the device doesn’t accurately reflect your emotions and may even heighten feelings of excitement and pleasure.”
Freed recalled that his Garmin had flagged him as stressed while he was exercising and enthusiastically chatting with a long-lost friend from his wedding.
“These findings prompt critical considerations about the ability of wearable tech to truly reflect our mental states,” Fried remarked. “Exercise caution; don’t rely solely on smartwatches. They are consumer gadgets, not medical instruments.”
Freed noted that while many researchers are exploring physiological indicators that could represent emotional states, the accuracy is often insufficient due to the overlap of positive and negative emotions. For instance, increased heart rate can indicate both anxiety and excitement.
Fried, an associate professor at Leiden University’s Clinical Psychology Department, monitored stress, fatigue, and sleep over three months in 800 young adults using Garmin Vivosmart 4 watches. Participants were asked to report their feelings about stress, fatigue, and sleepiness four times daily, which were then compared to the smartwatch data.
As published in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, none of the participants found that their smartwatch stress readings accurately reflected their self-reported stress levels. For 25% of participants, the smartwatch indicated they were either not stressed or stressed when they felt quite the opposite.
The link between physical fatigue, dubbed “body battery” by Garmin, was “significantly stronger than stress but overall still weak,” Fried mentioned. Garmin attributes this to a combination of pulse rates and activity levels, though they do not disclose the specifics of how the body battery score is calculated.
The connection to sleep proved to be stronger, although Freed acknowledged the need for improved measurements on undisturbed rest.
In about two-thirds of sleep assessments, a notable correlation between Garmin readings and self-reported data was observed. Researchers highlighted that participants often projected that Garmin sleep duration would increase by around two hours if they reported improved sleep quality compared to a prior day rated poorly. “This effect is quite remarkable,” they noted.
The study aspires to establish early warning systems for depression, enabling wearable technology users to receive data that may facilitate preventive care before a depressive episode occurs.
There are initial indicators suggesting that reduced activity levels could be predictive, although Fried has not yet determined whether this stems from exercise’s protective role against depression or if declining energy arises as mental health deteriorates.
“Wearable technology can offer insightful information about emotions and experiences, but it’s vital to understand their limitations,” stated Margarita Panayiotou, a researcher at the University of Manchester.
“This study will elucidate the reliable insights such data can provide and contribute significantly to the ongoing discussion regarding technology’s role in understanding happiness. It’s crucial to remember that wearable data might not represent objective truths and should be interpreted within a broader context, including individual experiences and perceptions.”
When thick oil from tanker or pipeline accidents infiltrates the ocean, the clean-up process often generates more waste than oil removed. Traditional synthetic tools, such as polypropylene pads and oil dispersants, consist of toxic chemicals that decompose slowly. To offer a more eco-friendly solution, scientists are looking to natural materials like coconut shells, which can absorb oil without causing additional contamination. This Bio-based material is safe and decomposes naturally without harming the environment.
One category of bio-based materials under investigation for oil spill clean-up consists of long chains known as repeating molecules polymers. Researchers have combined various bio-based polymers to create what are called hybrid materials Composite Materials. These composites include a unique type of highly porous solids primarily made of air—Air Gel. Depending on the material composition, iPhone-sized aerogels can weigh less than small paper clips and are highly porous, allowing them to absorb significant amounts of oil, functioning like an overactive sponge!
Previously, scientists utilized chitosan (CS) derived from crustacean shells to construct bio-based aerogels with sodium alginate (SA) from brown seaweed. However, both CS and SA are water-attracting compounds, Hydrophilicity, causing them to dissolve in water. This makes it challenging to apply them for oil spill clean-ups in bodies of water, as they dissolve before capturing much oil. Additionally, CS-SA aerogels tend to be relatively weak and flexible, raising concerns about their reusability.
To address these issues, researchers at the National University of Singapore developed a new CS-SA aerogel. This enhanced aerogel not only repels water but is also lightweight, durable, and reusable through multiple oil absorption cycles.
To create the aerogels, researchers initially dissolved CS and SA in a solution and sent sound waves through it. The sound waves intertwine polymer chains, releasing and reassembling them into smaller chains of Nanofiber. To counteract the hydrophilic nature of CS and SA, researchers introduced water-repelling agents—Hydrophobicity chemicals such as Methyltrimethoxysilane or MTMS.
The mixture was then poured into a mold and placed in liquid nitrogen. This facilitated the formation of ice crystals within the solution, pushing the nanofibers towards the edges where they bonded to create honeycomb-like microstructures. The researchers then froze the mixture and directly sublimated it into steam to eliminate the water.
After producing the aerogels, researchers assessed their porosity and strength. They employed a high-powered microscope to examine the internal structure of the aerogels and determine how the nanofibers influenced porosity. They discovered that aerogels containing nanofibers are more porous than those without. An increase in nanofiber concentration from 0.5% to 2% resulted in aerogels that are up to 9.5 times stronger, albeit with lower porosity, increasing density by 2.5 times. The team settled on a 1% nanofiber concentration as the optimal formula to balance strength and porosity.
The researchers also evaluated the strength of each aerogel by stretching them and measuring how much deformation they could withstand without losing their shape—a concept referred to as Top yield strength and the force they could handle before failure—Ultimate strength. With increasing amounts of MTM, the aerogels became stronger, boosting yield strength by up to 300% and ultimate strength by 200%. They also tested the recovery of the aerogels after compression, showing that they could regain up to 96% of their original shape and exhibited 32% resilience to compression, with minimal bending or structural deformation.
Finally, researchers examined how effectively the aerogels repelled water and absorbed oils. When placed on the aerogel’s surface, water droplets retained a nearly spherical shape instead of spreading out. The droplets were observed moving across the surface and rolling off without leaving any residue, confirming the hydrophobic nature of the aerogel. To test oil absorption, researchers submerged the aerogels in an oil-water mixture, where the aerogels absorbed more than 90% of the oil volume and weighed 30-90 times their initial mass.
Researchers concluded that their new aerogels could be a powerful and sustainable alternative to synthetic materials for oil spill clean-up. They emphasized that designing materials at multiple scales—ranging from molecules to small fibers—can enhance their strength and performance. They proposed that further advancements could allow these aerogels to support reusable and eco-friendly solutions for oil spill remediation, particularly in sensitive coastal areas.
Compromised AI-driven chatbots pose risks by gaining access to harmful knowledge through illegal information encountered during their training, according to researchers.
This alert comes as an alarming trend emerges where chatbots have been “jailbroken” to bypass their inherent safety measures. These safeguards are meant to stop the systems from delivering harmful, biased, or inappropriate responses to user queries.
Powerful chatbots, including large language models (LLMs) like ChatGpt, Gemini, and Claude, consume vast amounts of content from the Internet.
Even with attempts to filter out harmful content from their training datasets, LLMs can still learn about illegal activities—including hacking, money laundering, insider trading, and bomb-making. Security protocols are intended to prevent the use of such information in their answers.
In a Report on the risks, researchers found that it is surprisingly easy to deceive many AI-powered chatbots into producing harmful and illegal content, emphasizing that the threat is “immediate, concrete, and alarming.”
The author cautions that “what was once limited to state actors and organized crime may now be accessible to anyone with a laptop or smartphone.”
The study, conducted by Professor Rior Lokach and Dr. Michael Fier from Ben Gurion University in Negev, Israel, highlights an escalating threat from “dark LLMs” developed without safety measures or altered through jailbreaks. Some entities openly promote a “no ethical guardrails” approach, facilitating illegal activities like cybercrime and fraud.
Jailbreaking involves using specially crafted prompts to manipulate chatbots into providing prohibited responses. This is achieved by taking advantage of the chatbot’s primary goal of following user requests against its secondary aim of avoiding harmful, biased, unethical, or illegal outputs. Prompts typically create scenarios where the program prioritizes usefulness over safety precautions.
To illustrate the issue, researchers created a universal jailbreak that breached several prominent chatbots, enabling them to answer questions that should normally be denied. Once compromised, LLMs consistently produced responses to nearly all inquiries, according to the report.
“It was astonishing to see the extent of knowledge this system holds,” Fier noted, citing examples that included hacking computer networks and providing step-by-step guides for drug manufacturing and other criminal activities.
“What makes this threat distinct from previous technical challenges is an unparalleled combination of accessibility, scalability, and adaptability,” Rokach added.
The researchers reached out to leading LLM providers to inform them of the universal jailbreak, but reported that the response was “overwhelmingly inadequate.” Some companies did not reply, while others claimed that the jailbreak threat lay outside the parameters of their bounty programs, which encourage ethical hackers to report software vulnerabilities.
The report suggests that chatbots need to “forget” any illegal information they learn, emphasizing that technology companies must screen training data rigorously, implement strong firewalls to block dangerous queries and responses, and develop techniques for “learning machines.” Dark LLMs should be regarded as a “serious security threat,” comparable to unlicensed weapons and explosives, warranting accountability from providers.
Dr. Isen Aloani, an AI security expert at Queen’s University Belfast, highlighted that jailbreak attacks on LLMs could lead to significant risks, ranging from detailed weapon-building instructions to sophisticated disinformation campaigns, social engineering, and automated fraud.
“A crucial part of the solution is for companies to not only rely on front-end safeguards but to also invest meaningfully in red teaming and enhancing model-level robustness. Clear standards and independent oversight are essential to adapt to the evolving threat landscape,” he stated.
Professor Peter Garraghan, an AI security authority at Lancaster University, emphasized, “Organizations need to treat LLMs as they would any other vital software component.”
“While jailbreaking is a concern, understanding the entire AI stack is vital for genuine accountability. The real security requirements involve responsible design and deployment, not merely responsible disclosure,” he added.
OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGpt, stated that the latest O1 model can better infer its safety policies and improve its resistance to jailbreak attempts. The company affirmed its ongoing research to bolster the robustness of its solutions.
Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic were contacted for their feedback. Microsoft replied with a link to a blog detailing their work to mitigate jailbreaks.
Paleontologists have discovered two new three-dimensionally preserved aculiferous mollusks from the Silurian period, showing that the earliest molluscs were more complex and adaptable than previously known. It was revealed that there was.
3D model of punk ferox (above) and emo swirl (Bottom) Reconstructed as a digital virtual fossil. Image credit: Mark Sutton, Imperial College London.
The two new Aculifera species are punk ferox and emo swirllived about 430 million years ago.
The specimen was discovered in a Silurian deposit in the county of Herefordshire, England.
These had distinctive spikes and other features that set them apart from the earlier molluscs mentioned above.
Dr Mark Sutton, a paleontologist at Imperial College London, said: “Molluscans are one of the largest and most diverse groups of animals on Earth.
“However, early acripheran molluscs are less well known than their relatives.”
“Information about this group was limited, and for a very long time we thought they were fairly basic, simple, and primitive.”
“It's extremely rare to find fossils that are so well-preserved and have such detailed soft tissues.”
“We were able to create 'virtual fossils', or 3D digital models. This provided us with a treasure trove of information and revealed that the evolutionary branches of molluscs include: It helps you understand that punk ferox and emo swirl It was much more evolutionarily rich and diverse than we expected. similar to other mollusk groups. ”
Sutton and his colleagues used two different methods to obtain clear images of both the interior and exterior of the fossil.
First, an X-ray scan was used to closely observe the internal structure without damaging the exterior.
The fossil is then carefully crushed into very thin layers and photographed at each stage to create 3D images of its external features.
The researchers found that both fossils had smooth undersides, suggesting they lived on the ocean floor, and both had some unique features and unconventional locomotion strategies.
of emo swirl The fossil is preserved in a folded position, suggesting it moved like an inchworm to grasp the vertebrae and push forward.
Meanwhile, how punk ferox Scientists weren't sure if it was still mobile, but it turned out that it had ridge-like legs, unlike any mollusk that exists today.
“The name is punk ferox and emo swirl In fact, our first nicknames for these ancient mollusks were inspired by some of their unique features and personalities,” Dr. Sutton said.
“punk ferox In particular, its spiky appearance clearly resembles a rebellious punk rocker. emo swirl It complemented it nicely. ”
“meanwhile punk ferox They resemble insect-like molluscs with long spines, but also have wide legs and chiton-like gills. ”
“emo swirlIt resembles an earthworm with a similarly long body and spines, but also features a chiton-like shell and compressed body. ”
“Such a combination of features helps us better understand the evolutionary tree of molluscs. This points to a story involving more complexity and diversity than previously thought.”
MD Sutton others. New Silurian aculiferan fossils reveal the mollusk's complex early history. naturepublished online on January 8, 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08312-0
Marks & Spencer is utilizing artificial intelligence to offer advice to shoppers regarding clothing choices based on their body type and style preferences in order to enhance online sales.
The 130-year-old retailer is employing this technology to customize consumers’ online experiences and suggest products for them to purchase.
Stephen Langford, the company’s online director, mentioned that M&S is using AI to adjust the language it uses when communicating with shoppers to cater to six different preferences, including emotive, descriptive language, and more direct prose.
One objective is to tailor online interactions with shoppers, prioritizing the products that are most suitable for them – for instance, a male shopper might not be shown the latest sale on bras.
Shoppers can also participate in a quiz about their size, body type, and style preferences to receive appropriate outfit ideas generated by M&S’s AI-driven technology.
Langford noted that 450,000 M&S shoppers have taken the quiz so far, which enables them to select an outfit from 40 million options.
The service combines input from the £7 billion company’s in-house stylists with feedback from shoppers to offer suggestions on how to mix and match various outfits.
While automation of product descriptions using AI has increased from nearly zero to 80% in the past year, Langford emphasized that “humans are still essential in the process to validate the output.”
M&S’s managing director of clothing and homewares, Richard Price, stated that the fashion industry is “accelerating its shift online” with the goal of achieving approximately a third of sales digitally by 2028.
The retailer, which operates 240 full-line stores and 325 food outlets, reported a 41% increase in profits last year, with sales climbing 9.4% to £13 billion.
Online Fashion and Home Goods Sales increased 7.8% M&S acquired over one million customers last year, with two-thirds of them coming through the internet.
The increase in online sales is partly driven by an 80% surge in spending on social media marketing and advertising in the past year, with the company now allocating more funds to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok than to TV, and almost a third of its TikTok revenue coming from entirely new customers.
During the presentation of its autumn range, Price stated that M&S had captured its first share of the women’s wear market in nine years this summer, despite facing challenging weather conditions until late July.
Although the company has traditionally been a leader in categories like knitwear and lingerie, it is gaining market share in other areas like denim, and with the winter party season approaching, it aims to surpass Next as the top seller of occasionwear.
Similar to childbirth, the process of dying involves stages and noticeable progressions. The speed at which this process occurs varies from person to person, just like in childbirth. In some cases, medical support may be necessary to ensure that dying, or childbirth, is as safe and comfortable as possible.
As death nears, most individuals lose interest in eating and drinking. This is a normal occurrence, and sometimes only a small amount of food may be welcomed when regular meals become overwhelming.
Dying individuals often experience extreme fatigue due to a lack of energy. While sleep usually helps to replenish energy and aid in recovery, in the final stages of life, the impact of sleep diminishes as the body weakens towards death.
Individuals approaching death spend less time awake and more time in a state of apparent unconsciousness. When they do wake up, many report feeling as though they had peacefully slept without any sense of being unconscious.
If the dying person relies on regular medications to manage symptoms, it is important to transition to medications that can be administered without the person needing to be awake. Skin patches, syringe pumps, or suppositories can be considered. It’s crucial to note that loss of consciousness is typically a result of the dying process itself rather than the medication.
What happens in the final moments?
As death progresses, heart rate decreases, blood pressure drops, skin temperature decreases, and fingernails darken. Internal organs also slow down as blood pressure declines. Restlessness, confusion, and periods of deepening consciousness may occur during this time.
While there are no established methods for studying the experiences of dying individuals, recent studies suggest that the unconscious brain may respond to noise as death approaches. Breathing patterns in an unconscious person are governed by the brain stem’s respiratory center, leading to heavy breathing and occasional saliva flow.
Breathing patterns may shift from deep to shallow and fast to slow until breathing eventually slows, becomes shallow, pauses, and ceases altogether. Following a few minutes without oxygen, the heart stops beating.
Recognizing common patterns of dying and understanding its stages can help companions comprehend what is happening, alleviate fears of unlikely complications, and empower them to seek medical assistance if necessary to manage symptoms and ensure a peaceful passing. Additional information can be found in BBC Short Films on Death.
Vermont’s groundbreaking new law is set to become the first in the United States to mandate that fossil fuel companies contribute to the expenses associated with weather-related disasters caused by climate change.
The bill was authorized by Republican Governor Phil Scott on Thursday night without his signature, following its passage in the state Legislature with majority support from Democrats.
According to Vermont law, the Climate Superfund Act is designed to hold companies accountable, similar to the EPA’s Superfund program, by requiring large oil and high-emission companies to cover expenses related to preparing for and recovering from extreme weather events resulting from climate change.
The companies subject to taxation and the specific amounts they must pay will be determined based on a calculation of the role of climate change in Vermont’s weather disasters and the costs incurred by the state. Each company’s share will be based on their carbon dioxide emissions between 2000 and 2019.
Following the bill’s passage in Vermont, there was uncertainty among state lawmakers regarding Governor Scott’s potential veto of the legislation. In a memo to lawmakers, Scott expressed concerns about the bill’s impacts.
However, supporters of the law celebrated its enactment, viewing it as a step towards holding major polluters accountable for environmental damage. Elena Millay, vice president of the Vermont Environmental Protection Law Foundation, praised the legislation.
Ethan Poplawski’s family home was destroyed in a landslide in July 2023 in Lipton, Vermont. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images file
Lauren Hierle, executive director of Vermont Environmental Voters, highlighted the importance of the Climate Superfund in distributing cleanup costs fairly and preventing taxpayers from bearing the burden alone.
The funds collected from fossil fuel companies under the new law will go towards upgrading infrastructure, securing schools and public buildings against extreme weather, storm cleanup, and reducing public health expenses related to climate change. State agencies will determine each company’s financial obligations by 2027.
While the law is expected to face legal challenges, including potential lawsuits, critics like the American Petroleum Institute argue that the fees are unjust and damaging to the energy industry.
Other states such as Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York are also contemplating similar legislation in response to escalating climate disasters, showcasing a growing need for financial resources to support recovery efforts.
Jennifer Rushlow, a Vermont Law School professor, emphasized the significance of Vermont’s law in setting a precedent for resilient climate Superfund legislation that could be adopted by other states.
Cerebellum of a person suffering from kuru disease
Liberski PP (2013)
Genetic research in a very remote community in Papua New Guinea has revealed new insights into a brain disease that is spread when people eat dead relatives and has killed thousands of people over two decades.
Dotted with mountains, gorges, and fast-flowing rivers, Papua New Guinea’s Eastern Highlands province is extremely isolated from the rest of the world, and it wasn’t until the beginning of the 20th century that outsiders realized that about 1 million people lived there.
Some tribes known as the Fore practiced a form of cannibalism called “funeral feasts,” in which they consumed the bodies of their deceased relatives as part of their funeral rites. This could mean they ingested an abnormally folded protein called a prion, which can cause a fatal neurodegenerative condition called kuru associated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). However, the local people believed that the Kuru phenomenon was caused by witchcraft. At least 2,700 Kuru deaths have been recorded in the eastern highlands.
Simon Mead Researchers at University College London examined the genomes of 943 people representing 68 villages and 21 language groups in the region. Although this region of Papua New Guinea covers just over 11,000 square kilometers, smaller than Jamaica, researchers say the different groups are as genetically different as the peoples of Finland and Spain, some 3,000 kilometers apart.
The study found that not everyone who attended the funeral died from the disease. Mead and his colleagues say it appears communities were beginning to develop a resistance to kuru, which led to tremors, loss of coordination, and, ultimately, death.
The study found that some of the elderly women who survived the feast had mutations in the gene encoding the prion protein, which likely conferred resistance to kuru disease.
By the 1950s, funeral feasts had become illegal, and the kuru epidemic began to subside, but visitors say that the number of women in some villages had dwindled because so many women had died from kuru. It pointed out. Mead said women and children are most susceptible to the disease, likely because they ate the brains of deceased relatives.
However, genetic evidence shows that despite fears of the disease, there was a large influx of women into Fora tribal areas, particularly in areas where the highest levels of kuru were present.
“We believe it is likely that the sexual prejudice caused by Kuru caused single men in Kuru-affected communities to look further afield for wives than usual because they were unable to find potential wives locally. “We will,” Meade said.
He said the team wants to understand what factors confer resistance to prion diseases such as CJD, which caused a severe epidemic in the UK in the 1990s.
“[Our work sets] “This is a site to detect genetic factors that may have helped the Fore people resist kuru,” Mead said. “Such resistance genes may suggest therapeutic targets.”
Ira Debson Researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, say the study provides new insight into the “rich and unique cultural, linguistic and genomic diversity” of the Eastern Highlands region.
“This is a demonstration of how genomics can be used to look almost back in time, reading the genetic signature of past epidemics and understanding how they have shaped today’s populations. It helps.”
Cerebellum of a person suffering from kuru disease
Liberski PP (2013)
Genetic research in a very remote community in Papua New Guinea has revealed new insights into a brain disease that is spread when people eat dead relatives and has killed thousands of people over two decades.
Dotted with mountains, gorges, and fast-flowing rivers, Papua New Guinea’s Eastern Highlands province is extremely isolated from the rest of the world, and it wasn’t until the beginning of the 20th century that outsiders realized that about 1 million people lived there.
Some tribes known as the Fore practiced a form of cannibalism called “funeral feasts,” in which they consumed the bodies of their deceased relatives as part of their funeral rites.
This could mean they ingested an abnormally folded protein called a prion, which can cause a fatal neurodegenerative condition called kuru associated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). there was. However, local people believed that the Kuru phenomenon was caused by witchcraft. At least 2,700 Kuru deaths have been recorded in the eastern highlands.
simon mead Researchers at University College London examined the genomes of 943 people representing 68 villages and 21 language groups in the region. Although this region of Papua New Guinea covers just over 11,000 square kilometers, smaller than Jamaica, researchers say the different groups are as genetically different as the peoples of Finland and Spain, some 3,000 kilometers apart. ing.
The study found that not everyone who attended the funeral died from the disease. Meade and his colleagues say it appears that communities were beginning to develop a resistance to kuru, which led to tremors, loss of coordination and, ultimately, death.
The study found that some of the elderly women who survived the feast had mutations in the gene encoding the prion protein, which likely conferred resistance to kuru disease.
By the 1950s, funeral feasts had become illegal and the kuru epidemic began to subside, but visitors say that the number of women in some villages had dwindled because so many women died from kuru. It pointed out. Mead said women and children are most susceptible to the disease, likely because they ate the brains of deceased relatives.
However, genetic evidence shows that despite fears of the disease, there was a large influx of women into Fora tribal areas, particularly in areas where the highest levels of kuru were present.
“We believe it is likely that the sexual prejudice caused by Kuru caused single men in Kuru-affected communities to look further afield for wives than usual because they were unable to find potential wives locally. “We will,” Meade said.
He said the team wants to understand what factors confer resistance to prion diseases such as CJD, which caused a severe epidemic in the UK in the 1990s.
“[Our work sets] “This is a site to detect genetic factors that may have helped the Fore people resist kuru,” Mead said. “Such resistance genes may suggest therapeutic targets.”
Ira Debson Researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, say the study provides new insight into the “rich and unique cultural, linguistic and genomic diversity” of the Eastern Highlands region.
“This is a demonstration of how genomics can be used to almost look back in time, reading the genetic signature of past epidemics and understanding how they have shaped today’s populations. It helps.”
Feces can reveal the bacteria in your intestines, but we don’t yet know which ones are best.
STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/Science Photo Library/Alamy
The science of our gut microbiome is often portrayed as one of medicine’s hottest new areas, but some argue that this research is overhyped. The latest aspect of this field to gain traction is test kits that allow you to send in a stool sample to find out if your gut bacteria are impacting your health.
Analysis found that these kits made claims that were not supported by evidence and that their testing procedures were not rigorous enough. So should companies even be allowed to sell them?
Research into the microbiome began about 20 years ago, with advances in DNA sequencing allowing scientists to learn more about our bodies and the bacteria that live within them.
Doctors have long known that some infectious diseases are caused by an overgrowth of harmful pathogens. The innovative idea is that more subtle microbiome disturbances can lead to conditions normally thought to have nothing to do with our gut, such as obesity, cancer and depression. did.
Despite the hype, this field has yet to change the world of medicine. Fecal transplants (transferring one person’s stool to another’s to increase beneficial bacteria) have so far been approved for only one rare medical condition. It is a severe form of diarrhea that usually affects hospitalized patients taking strong antibiotics. Additionally, probiotic products that purport to deliver “good bacteria” to the gut have generally not yet been shown to be effective in randomized trials, the gold standard of medical evidence.
But that hasn’t stopped some companies from selling microbiome-related products directly to the public. In response, the US National Institutes of Health launched an investigation into the increased use of fecal test kits by the general public.
Diane Hoffman Researchers from the University of Maryland identified 31 companies around the world that offer direct-to-consumer microbiome analysis kits. Based on the results of these analyses, users may be provided with a comprehensive report on their gut health, for example in the form of a numerical score, or told that their gut bacteria are associated with certain medical conditions. there is.
The big problem, Hoffman says, is that the science behind fecal DNA analysis is not yet advanced enough to draw reliable conclusions. Previous research has shown that Giving the same sample to different laboratories can give different results. This may be due to differences in how samples are processed or the reference databases companies use to determine someone’s microbiome.
Companies typically do not provide details about how they conduct their analysis, considering it commercially sensitive. “They don’t have to provide any information,” Hoffman said.
A further problem is that even if we could accurately quantify how much of each bacterial species is in someone’s feces, there is still no debate among doctors about which bacteria are associated with specific medical conditions or gut health. There’s a lack of consensus, Hoffman said. “They don’t have the data they need to determine whether someone’s gut microbiome is healthy or unhealthy.”
Some of the companies selling these tests have conflicts of interest. The research team found that nearly half of manufacturers sell supplements and probiotic products that claim to improve gut health and recommend them to consumers based on test results.
The findings are not surprising. leslie hoyles He is co-author of a review on the field at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. natural microbiology Last year, it concluded that the country was susceptible to “hype and misinformation.” When it comes to fecal testing, “it varies so much from person to person that it’s meaningless,” she says. “We don’t know what a healthy microbiome is.”
It might be tempting to think that if people want to waste money on fecal test kits, they should be allowed to do so. However, many other types of direct-to-consumer medical tests, such as pregnancy tests and COVID-19 tests, are regulated by government agencies and require sufficient supporting evidence. It’s time for microbiome testing to meet the same standards, Hoffman says.
No one is arguing that microbiome research should be abandoned. Although there is great promise in this field, it is clear that it is still in its early stages. So for now, it may be wise to just continue flushing your stool down the toilet.
When you’re trying to solve one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology, you need to triple-check your homework. The mystery, called the Hubble tension, is that the universe is currently expanding faster than astronomers expect based on the initial conditions of the universe and our current understanding of its evolution. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and many other telescopes are constantly discovering numbers that don’t match predictions based on observations from ESA’s Planck mission. Does this discrepancy require new physics to resolve, or is it a result of measurement errors between the two different methods used to determine the rate of expansion of space?
NGC 5468 is an image of a galaxy located approximately 142 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, combining data from Hubble and Webb. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / A. Riess, JHU & STScI.
One of the scientific justifications for building Hubble was to use its observational capabilities to provide accurate values for the rate of expansion of the universe.
Before Hubble’s launch in 1990, ground-based telescope observations were subject to large uncertainties. Depending on what we infer from the expansion rate, the age of the universe could be between 10 and 20 billion years old.
Over the past 34 years, Hubble has reduced this measurement to less than 1% accuracy, dividing the difference by an age value of 13.8 billion years.
This was achieved by improving the so-called “cosmic distance ladder” by measuring important milepost markers known as Cepheid variable stars.
However, the Hubble value does not match other measurements that suggest the universe expanded faster after the Big Bang.
These observations were made by mapping the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation by ESA’s Planck satellite.
A simple solution to this dilemma would be that the Hubble observations are wrong as a result of some inaccuracy creeping into the measurements of the deep space yardstick.
Then the James Webb Space Telescope came along, allowing astronomers to cross-check Hubble’s results.
Webb’s infrared observations of Cepheids were consistent with Hubble’s optical data.
Webb confirmed that Hubble’s keen observations were correct all along and dispelled any lingering doubts about Hubble’s measurements.
The bottom line is that the Hubble tension between what’s happening in the nearby universe and the expansion of the early universe remains a perplexing puzzle for cosmologists.
“There may be something woven into the fabric of the universe that we don’t yet understand,” the astronomers said.
“Do we need new physics to resolve this contradiction? Or is it the result of measurement errors between the two different methods used to determine the rate of expansion of space?”
Hubble and Webb are now working together to make the final measurements, making it even more likely that something else, not measurement error, is influencing the rate of expansion.
Dr. Adam Rees, a physicist at Johns Hopkins University and leader of the SH0ES (Dark Energy Equation of State Supernova “This is a very real and interesting possibility.” ) Team.
As a cross-check, the first Webb observations in 2023 confirmed that Hubble’s measurements of the expanding universe were accurate.
But in hopes of softening the Hubble tension, some scientists have speculated that invisible measurement errors may grow and become visible as we look deeper into the universe.
In particular, star crowding can systematically affect measurements of the brightness of more distant stars.
The SH0ES team obtained additional observations by Webb of an object that is a Cepheid variable star, an important cosmic milepost marker. This can now be correlated with Hubble data.
“We now have the entire range observed by Hubble and can rule out measurement errors as a cause of the Hubble tension with very high confidence,” Dr. Rees said.
The team’s first few Webb observations in 2023 succeeded in showing that Hubble is on the right track in firmly establishing the fidelity of the first rung of the so-called cosmic distance ladder.
Astronomers use different methods to measure relative distances in space, depending on the object they are observing.
These techniques are collectively known as the space distance ladder. Each stage or measurement technique relies on previous steps for calibration.
But some astronomers believe that the cosmic distance ladder could become unstable as we move outward along the second rung, as Cepheid measurements become less accurate with distance. suggested.
Such inaccuracies can occur because the Cepheid’s light can mix with the light of neighboring stars. This effect can become more pronounced at greater distances, as stars become denser in the sky and harder to distinguish from each other.
The observational challenge is that past Hubble images of these more distant Cepheid variable stars show that as the distance between us and our host galaxy grows ever greater, they appear to overlap more closely with their neighbors. Therefore, this effect needs to be carefully considered.
Intervening dust makes reliable measurements in visible light even more difficult.
The web cuts through the dust, naturally isolating the Cepheid cluster from its neighboring stars. The reason is that its view is clearer at infrared wavelengths than the Hubble Cluster.
“Combining Webb and Hubble gives us the best of both worlds. We find that the reliability of Hubble measurements remains as we climb further along the cosmic distance ladder,” Dr. Rees said.
The new Webb observations include five host galaxies consisting of eight type Ia supernovae containing a total of 1,000 Cepheids, and are located 130 million light-years away, the most distant galaxy in which Cepheids have been sufficiently measured. NGC 5468 is also reached in the distance.
“This spans the entire range measured by Hubble, so we’ve reached the end of the second rung of the cosmic distance ladder,” said Dr. Gagandeep Anand, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Told.
of the team paper Published in Astrophysics Journal Letter.
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Adam G. Reese other. 2024. JWST observations refute unrecognized crowding of Cepheid photometry as an explanation for the Hubble tension with 8σ confidence. APJL 962, L17; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad1ddd
Some cancer treatments can cause so-called chemobrain, commonly defined as problems with memory and concentration.
One Bar/Alamy
An experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease that involves flickering lights and low-pitched sounds may also help prevent cognitive impairment after cancer treatment, also known as chemical brain, a study in mice suggests.
In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, light and sound stimulation has been shown in small human trials to reduce memory and concentration problems, but larger studies are still investigating it.
The light flashes 40 times per second, or 40 Hz, and the sound also has a frequency of 40 Hz. This frequency was originally chosen because the brainwave intensity of Alzheimer’s patients is lower than 40 Hz and is associated with memory processing. The idea was that this treatment would stimulate these brain waves.
Subsequent research has shown that such brain waves may have a wide range of benefits for the brain, including increased immune cell activity and, more recently, strengthened drainage systems that may help remove a toxic protein called beta-amyloid. It suggests that there is.
Cai Li Hui The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers who developed this approach thought it could help cancer patients who have memory and concentration problems after chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. It is thought that these may be caused by damage to brain cells, but the exact mechanism is unknown and there is no cure.
In the latest study, Professor Tsai’s team exposed cancer-free mice to light and sound for one hour a day while being given a common chemotherapy drug called cisplatin, compared to those who had just received chemotherapy. They found that they experienced less decline in mental acuity than mice.
Acuity was assessed by a memory test in which mice were exposed to either new or familiar objects, and the animals typically showed more interest in things they had never seen before. Chemotherapy reduced the mice’s ability to identify objects, but this was prevented by light and sound treatment.
The therapy had several effects, including reducing inflammation in the brain, reducing DNA damage, and reducing the loss of myelin, the insulation around nerve cell fibers.
nazanin derakshan Researchers at Britain’s University of Reading say the idea needs to be tested in people to see if it has any overall benefits. If this treatment is given at the same time as chemotherapy and reduces cell death in the brain, it may help cancer cells survive there, she says.
I’m at a loss to understand how my BT landline and Wi-Fi could be disconnected without the company receiving any instructions from me.
I’m a 79-year-old widow who lives 11 miles out of town and relies on Wi-Fi to order medication from my GP, groceries, and many other things.
I received a phone call out of the blue from someone who appeared to be a scammer, and on October 6th, I was told that BT was “sad to be leaving.”
I denied doing any such thing. I then received a letter from BT asking me to settle my bill as I would be made redundant on October 20th. I called and protested, but it still didn’t work. Disconnected.
I have now spent a lot of time and money calling BT from my mobile and now here I am after several months with no solution. There’s no real explanation as to how the initial error occurred or why I can’t reconnect.
I also got a warning from one of them Employees, you may not be able to get back the same phone number you’ve had for 23 years. My neighbor is letting me use his Wi-Fi, but it’s illegal.
It’s understandable that you’re upset about this experience of having no landline or internet for more than three months.
We tracked BT, only to discover that your fate is accidentally intertwined with your nearby neighbor in the Herefordshire countryside. When setting up a new contract, an incorrect address was retrieved and the connection was dropped.
BT says: hardware I’ve experienced it. Our complaints team has identified the address discrepancy. They fixed this and reconnected her service.
“We offered compensation for the delay and she accepted this as a resolution to her complaint.”
You will probably receive around £900. This reflects the length of the outage that occurred. I also got my old number back which had sentimental value.
Nevertheless, you are angry that no one listens when you tell BT that you are not canceling the contract, and that the contract could be terminated by someone else’s careless actions.
We welcome letters, but cannot respond individually. Email us at Consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please enter a phone number where you can be reached during the day. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our Terms of Use. http://theguardian.com/letters-terms
NSO Group, a maker of advanced cyberweapons, has been instructed by a US court to provide WhatsApp with the code for its Pegasus and other spyware products as part of an ongoing legal battle.
The ruling, issued by Judge Phyllis Hamilton, deals a significant blow to WhatsApp, owned by Mehta, who has been in a legal dispute with NSO since 2019 over allegations that the Israeli company’s spyware targeted 1,400 WhatsApp users over a two-year period, marking a major legal victory that lasted weeks.
NSO’s Pegasus code and other surveillance product codes sold by the company are considered highly classified national secrets. NSO is overseen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which must authorize all sales of licenses to foreign governments.
Despite NSO’s request to be exempt from the case’s discovery obligations due to US and Israeli restrictions, Judge Hamilton sided with WhatsApp. She ordered NSO to produce the spyware code and provide information on relevant spyware features used during a specified period.
However, on another issue, Hamilton ruled in favor of NSO, exempting the company from disclosing client names or server architecture details at this time.
A spokesperson for WhatsApp celebrated the court’s decision, stating that it marks a significant step in protecting users from illegal attacks by spyware companies. NSO declined to comment, and the legal battle continues.
NSO’s Pegasus software, once deployed against a target, grants unauthorized access to calls, emails, photos, location, and encrypted messages on mobile phones. The Biden administration blacklisted NSO in 2021, citing actions contrary to US foreign policy and national security interests.
NSO sells spyware to governments worldwide, claiming that the deploying agency is responsible for its use. Investigations have revealed countries like Poland, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, India, Hungary, and the UAE using NSO technology against dissidents, journalists, activists, and civil society members.
NSO argues that Pegasus aids law enforcement and intelligence agencies in combating crime, protecting national security, and apprehending terrorists, child abusers, and violent criminals.
Concerned about the proliferation and misuse of products like Pegasus, the Biden administration announced a new policy imposing global visa restrictions on individuals involved in exploiting commercial spyware, extending to EU member states and Israel.
Planting forests helps reduce further global warming by absorbing some of the carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere. But the global climate benefit could be about 15 to 30 percent smaller than previously estimated, due to other influences such as sunlight absorption by trees.
“We're not saying don't plant trees,” he says. james webber at the University of Sheffield, UK. It's just that the climate benefits aren't as big as we thought, he says.
The impact of trees will depend in part on what other actions are taken to address climate change. Weber and his colleagues showed that the more forests are planted, the greater the benefits. “It’s more positive and efficient to do other things at the same time,” he says.
It has long been known that plants have both warming and cooling effects. In particular, dark foliage can have a warming effect by absorbing light that would otherwise be reflected into the space. This effect is strongest when trees are replaced by snow or ice, but can occur in other situations as well.
Plants also release volatile organic compounds into the air. “Those are the chemicals that create the smell of the forest,” team members say james king also at the University of Sheffield.
These biogenic compounds can affect the climate in a variety of ways. One important example is that it can react with chemicals in the atmosphere that react with methane. “So the methane stays around longer, and methane is a powerful greenhouse gas,” Weber said.
Compounds emitted by plants can also react with nitrogen oxides to form ozone, another greenhouse gas.
These effects will lead to further warming. However, compounds of biological origin can also form aerosol particles that reflect sunlight and have a cooling effect.
To understand the overall climate impact of afforestation, the researchers incorporated these and other processes into a climate model in which all available land is forested. This means, for example, trees that are located in areas that are currently grasslands, but not in farmland or urban areas.
“To our knowledge, this is the first time this has been done on a global scale and based on a plausible reforestation scenario,” King said.
The researchers modeled two scenarios. For one, little is being done to tackle climate change other than planting trees. In this case, the warming avoided by CO2-absorbing forests is reduced by 23 to 31 percent, once other forest impacts are taken into account.
In the second, more optimistic scenario, strong action is taken to limit further warming. In this case, avoided warming was reduced by 14 to 18 percent.
One reason for the difference is that reducing fossil fuel emissions reduces aerosols from air pollution. In a polluted world, adding more aerosols from forests won't make much of a difference, but in a cleaner world, the cooling effect will be greater.
The team acknowledges that the model is still incomplete and does not include all feedback effects. For example, it includes the greenhouse effect of ozone, but not its effects on vegetation. High levels of ozone can kill trees, meaning less CO2 is removed from the atmosphere. The model also does not include the effects of wildfires.
“It's very complicated,” King says. “It's not really possible to consider all feedback in one study.”
“Importantly, this study shows that preventing deforestation is a much more efficient way to mitigate climate change compared to reforestation, and therefore should be prioritized. It’s a necessity,” he says. Stephanie Law Climate Scientist at WWF in Washington, DC.
Another feedback missing from the model is the cooling effect of water evaporating from leaves, which can be greater in tropical regions, Roe says. So the climate benefits of tree planting may be overestimated, she says, but the study doesn't yet tell the full story.
Additionally, tree planting has many other benefits for humans and wildlife, including reducing erosion, maintaining water supply and quality, providing food and jobs, and reducing extreme heat in the region. “Afforestation, especially reforestation in forest biomes with native species, is absolutely worth pursuing,” says Lo.
“We've always known that forests have a warming effect under certain conditions and a cooling effect under others. What this study shows is that forests have an overwhelming net The effect is a cooling effect.” thomas crouser in ETH Zurich Swiss.
“But most importantly, even if the effects of cooling were not as great, we still need to conserve our natural forests to support the planet's biodiversity and the billions of people who depend on it.” “There is,” he says.
After years of extremely precise experiments, a group of researchers at CERN finally succeeded in creating and carefully capturing a sample of antihydrogen (the antimatter version of hydrogen) in September of this year. The sample was held in magnetic confinement to prevent it from hitting the walls of the container and quickly disappearing. The ALPHA-g experiment aimed to answer how antimatter behaves and revealed that it actually falls the same way that regular matter does.
Antimatter is known for generating high-energy radiation when it encounters normal matter, but contrary to popular belief, it has been shown to be less extreme than expected. For example, positrons, known as antielectrons, are exactly the same as electrons but with opposite charges and “parity.” Physicists had not experimentally confirmed that antimatter behaves the same way as regular matter until the ALPHA-g experiment.
Despite its violent tendencies, antimatter’s nature has raised questions about the definition and properties of matter in physics. The debate revolves around the conception of matter, where rest mass is the simplest definition. Matter encompasses various substances, atoms, molecules, protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks, and neutrinos. However, what constitutes matter becomes blurry when considering massless elementary particles and the contribution of energy to the mass of an object.
Exotic materials, like dark matter and negative mass materials, add complexity to the matter debate. The fact that matter and antimatter exist in unequal amounts, although not fully explained, has led to the formation of stars, galaxies, and planets. Antimatter experiments like ALPHA-g offer insight into matter’s nature and the existence of the universe.
The Christmas present for the EU’s precarious gig workers can’t come soon enough: a political agreement announced in the middle of this month aims to strengthen the rights of platform workers across the European Union by establishing a legal presumption of employment. However, it does not have the support of the necessary qualified majority among the people. Dear Member States, that is clear today.
A quick update to the European Council online press release had promoted previous political dealings on file, the agency wrote.[O]On December 22, 2023, the Spanish Presidency concluded that it was not possible to reach the necessary majority for a provisional agreement among the representatives of the Member States (Coreper). The Belgian Presidency will resume negotiations with the European Parliament to reach an agreement on the final form of the directive. “
This development was previously covered bloomberg and Euractic — reported that the deal failed to secure a qualified majority at core par on Friday.
Euractic cited information that the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary and Italy had “formally said no to the deal they believe in”, adding: “As it became clear that a majority would not be reached, the document There was not even a formal vote taken.” It was too far removed from the board’s directives. “
France has been cited as being at the forefront of resistance to the deal announced mid-month by exhausted parliamentary negotiators, with parliamentary co-representatives also on file. Blaming French President Emmanuel Macron for opposition to deal Early this month.
Depending on the changes requested by the blocking Member States, the file could be forced back into the EU’s tripartite legislative negotiation process known as the Trilogue, where the European Parliament, Council and Commission The co-legislators will have to try again. To find a compromise that they can all agree on.
However, with European elections looming, there will be the added complication of tight deadlines if the Estates-General has to reconvene in January.
Unless a way can be found to move this file forward in the coming months, gig worker labor reform will be at the mercy of reconfigured political priorities under the new European Commission and Parliament. It is likely that the current system will lean even further to the right.
In a thread posted on He then announced on December 13 that an agreement had been reached on the platform worker file, and he blamed the Conservative and Liberal governments for blocking the reforms.
‼️ The Conservatoire and Liberals of Los Gobiernos stop the criminal acts of Plataformas Digital against the President of the UE.
🇪🇺 You give 30 million dollars of trabajador and 5,5 million dollars of autonomy to Pionera que Orgaba Derechos.
“The Spanish Council Presidency has reached an agreement with the support of all political groups in the country. [the European] Parliament other than the far right,” he also wrote [translated from Spanish using AI]. “This directive is inspired by the directive known as the Lidar Law, which came into force in Spain on August 12, 2021.”
“This pioneering regulation at international level, which positions the EU as a leader in a just digital transition, must continue to be discussed in the next Belgian Presidency, based on the agreement reached by the Spanish Presidency and the European Parliament.” he said. Added. “Spain and the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy will continue to defend an ambitious directive that truly improves the situation of workers on digital platforms.”
Congressional negotiators said at a press conference earlier this month to announce a tentative agreement on the file that estimates of the employment relationship between gig workers and platforms are among a list of five “indicators of control or direction.” He said it will be triggered if two of these conditions are met. However, he declined to provide details on what these standards would be.
Opposition to the deal is likely to focus on this element of the reform, with reports suggesting that bloc member states are seeking to raise the threshold before employment estimates begin.
Asked about this, a council spokesperson told TechCrunch: “We acknowledge that the disagreement centers on the issue of legal presumption.”
The council’s position is that came back in june, At least three of the seven criteria set out in the Directive had to be met for the employment presumption to be triggered. An interim agreement (now unsuccessful) had lowered the threshold to two out of five levels. However, the agreement announced earlier this month also allowed member states to expand the list of criteria, so disabled people are likely to only have two criteria to trigger employment presumptions instead of three. .
Lawmakers who touted the deal earlier this month called it “historic” and “ambitious” and said it “shifts the burden of proof” and burdens on precarious gig workers. It suggested that this would prevent them from being “incorrectly considered to be self-employed”. Prove on the platform that the employee is truly self-employed.
Traditionally, being a hardcore movie fan means collecting physical memorabilia, such as autographed posters, to demonstrate your dedication. But in recent years, many companies have begun betting on digital collections to become symbols of fan devotion.
Really (formerly known as Moviebill) — an AR platform offering digital collectible movie tickets and interactive experiences related to the latest blockbuster movies — announces partnership with blockchain platform avalanche It helps power “Fandime” NFTs, a new way for movie studios to engage with audiences. The company announced today that it is expanding AR Collection tickets to theater partners in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
There are three ways to earn Fandime tokens. These include attending movie theaters and events, purchasing merchandise, and interacting with Really’s AR experiences, including weekly trivia, scavenger hunts, and the “Pop-A-Corn” game where you toss kernels into a popcorn bucket. Users can also purchase Fandime directly in the Really app (iOS and android device).
Each Fandime gets a unique blockchain-based ID, created on Avalanche’s blockchain network and stored in the user’s Really account.
Users can redeem Fandime for digital perks, movie-related AR content, special opportunities, and “AR trophies, wearable face filters,” the company said. Tokens can also be used in Really games, such as extending play time in Trivia or gaining extra lives or levels in the Bucket Toss game.
Amazon-MGM Studios has already launched a collection with Really, likely to promote less mainstream films such as “American Fiction,” “The Boys in the Boat,” and “The Beekeeper.” It’s probably part of their marketing strategy. Moviegoers who collect all three AR tickets will win an exclusive His Fandime token. The production company recently unveiled AR collectibles for the hit psychological thriller Saltburn.
Image credits: Really
“Augmented reality is the future of content and media. Blockchain is the future of data. We believe that by combining these two things that Really is doing today, we can stay ahead of the game.” James Andrew Felts, founder and CEO of Really AR, told TechCrunch. “Specifically, augmented reality brings an entirely new user interface to how we interact with the digital world. As we move from 2D screens like smartphones and desktop computers to 3D screens like headsets and holograms, will become more tactile and more personal. Blockchain unlocks the ability to make digital files truly yours, just like physical objects and items in the real world. In many ways, the intersection of Web3 and AR will make our digital world more human and more accessible.”
Next year, Really will expand the ways users can earn Fandime tokens and redeem rewards. For example, users will be able to purchase movie tickets and merchandise, receive discounts, and collect Fandime tokens through their Really account while watching content at home.
In the long term, Felts revealed to us that Really plans to create original AR content and expand into other areas outside of the entertainment industry.
“We plan to roll out ‘Really Originals’, the first AR stories on the market that you can experience on your coffee table or in your backyard… Our digital collectibles program will expand into other sectors such as travel, retail, etc. “Ultimately, this content network will also be a place where brands can deliver 3D messages to their audiences at scale.” Told.
Really was founded in 2017 and gained the most attention from movie fans after partnering with. Regal Cinemas We will begin exclusive AR content such as interviews and AR games in preparation for the release of “Avengers: Infinity War”. To date, Regal’s customers have enjoyed his work across 200 wide-release films, including modern titles such as “The Marvels,” “Napoleon,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and “Wish.” We claim Really’s AR collection of over 4 million pieces. others.
“Initially, our goal was to provide the ultimate entertainment experience to our most loyal customers, those who were willing to spend a premium price for premium content. At the time, AR was the most advanced way to display content. Looking back, we were ahead of the curve, and now that AR/VR is mainstream, we can leverage our technology to provide an immersive experience for moviegoers. and bring people to the theater on a large scale.”
The European Union plans to support its own AI startups by providing access to processing power for model training on the region’s supercomputers, announced and launched in September. According to the latest information from the EU, France’s Mistral AI is participating in an early pilot phase. But one early learning is that the program needs to include dedicated support to train AI startups on how to make the most of the ‘s high-performance computing. “One of the things we’ve seen is that we don’t just provide access; facility — In particular, the skills, knowledge and experience we have at our hosting centers — to not only facilitate this access, but also to develop training algorithms that take full advantage of the architecture and computing power currently available at each supercomputing center. however, an EU official said at a press conference today. The plan is to establish a “center of excellence” to support the development of specialized AI algorithms that can run on EU supercomputers. Rather than relying on the processing power provided by supercomputers as a training resource, AI startups may be accustomed to training their models using specialized computing hardware provided by US hyperscalers. Access to high-performance computing for AI training programs is therefore being enhanced with support wrappers, said EU officials speaking in the background ahead of the formal ribbon-cutting, mare nostrum 5a pre-exascale supercomputer, which goes live on Thursday at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center in Spain. “We are developing a facility to help small and medium-sized enterprises understand how best to use supercomputers, how to access supercomputers, how to parallelize algorithms so that they can develop models in the case of AI,” said a European Commission official. “In 2024, we expect to see a lot more of this kind of approach than we do today.” “AI is now considered a strategic priority for the , they added. “Next to the AI Act, as AI becomes a strategic priority, we are providing innovation capabilities or enabling small businesses and startups to make the most of our machines and this public infrastructure. “We want to provide a major window of innovation.” ” Another EU official confirmed that an “AI support center” was in the works, including a “special . “What we need to realize is that the AI community hasn’t used supercomputers in the past decade,” they noted. “They’re not new users of GPUs, but they’re new to how to interact with supercomputers, so we need to help them. “A lot of times the AI community comes from a huge amount of knowledge about how many GPUs you can put in a box. And they’ve been very good at it. What you have is a bunch of boxes with GPUs, and you need additional skillsets and extra help to scale out the supercomputer and exploit its full potential.” The bloc has significantly increased its investment in supercomputers over the past five years, expanding its hardware to regionally located clusters of eight machines, interconnected via a Terabit network. We also plan to create federated supercomputing resources. Accessed in the cloud, it is available to users across Europe. The EU‘s first exascale supercomputers are also expected to come online in the next few years, with one in Germany (likely next year) and a second in France (expected in 2025). The European Commission also plans to invest in quantum computing, providing hybrid resources co-located with supercomputers and combining both types of hardware, so that quantum computers can act as “accelerators”. There are plans to acquire a quantum simulator that will As the committee states, it is a classic supercomputer. Applications being developed on the EU‘s high-performance computing hardware include projects that simulate Earth’s ecosystems to better model climate change and weather systems. destination earth and one more thing needs to be devised Digital twin of the human body This is expected to contribute to the advancement of medicine by supporting drug development and making personalized medicine possible. Leveraging his resources in supercomputing to launch his AI startup has recently been announced, especially after the EU president announced this fall that his AI model would have computing access to his training program. It is emerging as a strategic priority. The bloc also announced what it called the “Large-Scale AI Grand Challenge.” This is a competition for European AI startups “with experience in large-scale AI models” and aims to select up to four promising domestic startups for a total of four. Access to millions of hours of supercomputing to support foundational model development. According to the European Commission, there will be a prize of 1 million euros to be distributed to the winners, who will be able to release their developed model or publish their research results under a non-commercial open source license. It is expected. The EU already had a program that provided industry users with access to core hours of supercomputing resources through a project recruitment process. However, the bloc is increasing its focus on commercial AI with dedicated programs and resources, and there is an opportunity to incorporate the growing supercomputing network into a strategic power source for expanding ‘Made in Europe’ general purpose AI. They are intently aiming for this. Thus, France’s Mistral, an AI startup that aims to compete with US infrastructure model giants like OpenAI and claims to offer “open assets” (if not fully open source), is an early adopter of It seems no coincidence that the beneficiaries of the Commission‘s Supercomputer Access Program. (That said, the technology company, which just raised €385 million in Series A funding that includes US investors including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Salesforce, is at the front of the line for computing giveaways.) That may raise some eyebrows, but hey, it’s another sign of the high-level strategic bets being made on “big AI.”) The ‘s “Supercomputing for AI” program is still in its infancy, so it’s still unclear whether there will be enough benefits in model training to warrant reporting from dedicated access. (We reached out to Mistral for comment, but he did not respond as of press time.) But the committee’s at least hope is that by focusing support on AI startups, they will be able to move into high-performance computing. It is about being able to leverage investments. The construction of supercomputer hardware is increasingly being procured and configured with AI model training in mind, and this is due to the fact that local, hyperscalar-like US AI giants are starting at a disadvantage. This will be a competitive advantage for the AI ecosystem. “We don’t have the massive hyperscalers that the Americans have when it comes to training this kind of basic model, so we’re using supercomputers and a new generation that is increasingly compliant with AI. “We intend to develop a supercomputer,” a committee official said. “The objective in 2024, not just with the supercomputers that we have now, is to move in this direction so that even more small and medium-sized businesses can use supercomputers to develop these basic models. It is to do.” The plan includes acquiring “more dedicated AI supercomputing machines based on accelerators rather than standard CPUs,” they added. Will the ‘s AI support strategy align with or diverge from certain member states’ ambitions to develop national AI champions? We heard a lot about this during the recent difficult negotiations to develop the ‘s AI rulebook, in which France took the lead in pushing forward the AI rulebook. Regulatory carve-outs to the underlying model It drew criticism from small and medium-sized businesses. – As seen. But Mistral’s early presence in the ‘s supercomputing access program may suggest a consensus.
Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz has announced its intention to begin lobbying the U.S. government, but their plan is as tone-deaf and insensitive as this summer’s dreaded “Techno-Optimist Manifesto.” Essentially, they would give anyone — literally anyone — Someone who “supports an optimistic technology-enabled future.”
These are called single-issue voters, and co-founder Ben Horowitz (who wrote the blog post) believes that publicizing themselves that way lends a childlike innocence to lobbying. It seems like it is, but it is quite the opposite.
The fact is that they are rich ideologues who have expressed a willingness to pay politicians who promote their agenda, regardless of what that politician’s other opinions may be. It’s really easy!
Fundamental to their approach is that technology is more important than people. They claim to be pro-human in the sense that they are pro-technology, e.g., writing, “Artificial intelligence has the potential to lift all humanity to an unprecedented quality of life.” right.
Therefore, being more AI-oriented means being more human-oriented.And actually, if you think about it, if you have AI. did it It justifies taking actions that lead to a 100-fold improvement in the human condition in the long term but have worse outcomes in the short term. For example, supporting politicians who oppose basic civil rights simply because they propose more liberal technology regulations.
For example, if a politician proposing a national abortion ban or a widespread ban on “Wake Agenda” books said he trusts AI companies to do what’s best for everyone, Andreessen and Would Horowitz support it? Now, according to A16Z’s statement of purpose here, abortion is not their business. They are “nonpartisan, one-issue voters.”
But that’s just bullshit, right?
To begin with, the idea that this one issue is bipartisan is at risk. Supporters of forced birth will likely describe themselves as independent, one-issue voters. After all, it’s not about politics, it’s about the right to life. It is irrelevant that a single political party has cynically linked this and other “traditional values” to all other policy proposals for decades.
No, no, you can’t just do that declare Nonpartisanship in blog posts. Technology regulation, like everything else, is a partisan issue. Net neutrality, Section 230, TikTok, social media disinformation, A16Z’s pet tech Debate about AI, cryptocurrencies, and biotech are all partisan. That’s just the nature of politics today.flat do not have Participating in lobbying is, in a sense, a partisan decision because it shows that you are not taking sides.
But that partisan language is just the usual pretense for this kind of announcement. Everyone claims it because it is a meaningless property and cannot be proven or disproved. The problem with A16Z’s philosophy here is that it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: an overtly deregulatory and pro-capitalist agenda masked superficially in the language of empowerment.
You have to imagine some tobacco industry executive wrote a similar blog post in the 60’s. We are nonpartisan, single issue voters on a faulty regulatory system that unfairly prevents Americans from enjoying the great taste and health benefits of our natural tobacco products.
The same goes for plastics, food additives, leaded gas, and everything else. All they were interested in, and all Andreessen Horowitz was interested in, was removing onerous obstacles to increasing wealth from the boardroom.
If they actually cared at all about people and how politics and lobbying affect them, then perhaps “the people” would theoretically mean “exalted” in some imagined future. It would have been referred to as more than an abstract concept that could be ” or hurt.
It’s unrealistic to think that by donating to politicians who support a vision of deregulation, A16Z won’t also support other policies that people are actually voting for right now. voting rights, reproductive care, education, etc. This obvious conflict of interest is conveniently avoided. Are any positions or proposals so despicable that they will withdraw their support, or will they stand by their principles, if it can be described as such?
They cannot expect us to believe that their understanding of lobbying and politics is this simple. There are smart people in that company. We have to take at face value their statements that they really don’t care about anything other than growing the areas they’re investing in. But what they are proclaiming is not an idealistic pro-humanity position as they suggest, but cynical selfishness. Basically an anti-people attitude.
But A16Z doesn’t care. people — I’m curious about that. Human race.
And as we enter this golden age of technology and enter a dark age of social policy, humanity will no doubt be grateful, right? Women like Kate Cox may not have physical independencebut at least they will have blockchain.
Unity is joining other companies in providing users with generative AI tools, but ensuring that those tools (unlike some) are built on a foundation that is not based on theft. I have been careful to check. Muse, a new suite of AI-powered tools, starts with texture and sprite generation and gradually moves into animation and coding as it matures.
The company announced these features at the Unite conference in San Francisco, along with Unity 6, the next big version of its cloud-based platform and its engine. After a turbulent few months that saw major product plans completely scrapped and a CEO ousted, you’re probably looking to get back to business as usual if possible.
Unity has traditionally positioned itself as a champion for small developers who lack the resources to adopt broader development platforms like rival Unreal. Therefore, the use of AI tools can be considered a useful addition for a developer who cannot afford to spend days creating, for example, 32 slightly different wooden wall textures in high resolution. can.
There are many tools out there to help you create and modify assets like this, but it’s often desirable to be able to say “make something more like it” without leaving your main development environment. The simpler your workflow, the more you can do without worrying about details like formatting or siled resources.
AI assets are also often used in prototyping, where things like artifacts and slightly wonky quality (which these days are common regardless of model) don’t really matter. However, illustrating your gameplay concept with original, well-made art rather than stock sprites or free sample 3D models can make the difference in communicating your vision to publishers and investors.
Examples of sprites and textures generated by Unity’s Muse.
Another new AI feature, Sentis, is a little harder to understand. “It enables developers to bring complex AI data models into the Unity runtime to create new gameplay experiences and features,” Unity’s press release states. So it’s kind of his BYO model, with some features built in, and it’s currently in open beta.
AI for animation and movement is in development and will be added next year. These highly specialized scripting and design processes can greatly benefit from generative first drafts or multiplicative helpers.
Image credits: unity
The Unity team emphasized that a big part of this release is to ensure that these tools are not overshadowed by future IP infringement lawsuits. Image generators like Stable Diffusion are fun to play with, but they’re built using assets from artists who never agreed to have their work taken and regurgitated.
“To provide usable output that is safe, responsible, and respectful of the copyrights of other creators, we challenged ourselves to innovate the training techniques for the AI models that power Muse’s sprite and texture generation.” says a blog post on responsible AI. Techniques associated with presentations.
The company said it used a completely custom model trained with images owned or licensed by Unity. However, they essentially used stable diffusion to generate a larger synthetic dataset from the small, carefully selected datasets they had assembled.
Image credits: unity
For example, this wood wall texture may be rendered with several variations and color types using a stable diffusion model, but no new content will be added. At least that’s how it’s described to work. But as a result, new datasets are not only based on responsibly sourced data, but also one step removed from it, making it less likely that a particular artist or style will be duplicated.
Although this approach is more secure, Unity admitted that the quality of the initial models it was providing was reduced. However, as mentioned above, the actual quality of the generated assets is not necessarily important.
Unity Muse costs $30 per month as a standalone product. We’re sure you’ll soon hear from the community about whether this product is worth its price.
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