Innovative quantum computers may enhance our ability to detect exoplanets and analyze their characteristics in unprecedented detail.
Astronomers have identified thousands of planets beyond our solar system, but they believe billions of exoplanets remain to be uncovered. This exploration is crucial for the search for extraterrestrial life, though the distance from Earth complicates direct observations.
Johannes Borregard and his team at Harvard University propose that quantum computing technology could dramatically streamline this endeavor.
Capturing images of exoplanets involves detecting their faint light signals, which diminish as they traverse vast cosmic distances. Additionally, these signals can be obscured by the light of nearby stars, creating additional challenges.
According to Borregard, his NASA colleagues illustrated the difficulty of this task, likening it to locating a single photon amidst a sea of light during telescope observations.
Traditional processing methods struggle with such weak signals. However, quantum computers can harness the quantum states of incoming photons, utilizing their unique properties to gather crucial data about exoplanets. This approach could transform what typically produces indistinct images or singular blurred points into clear visuals of distant worlds, revealing light-based markers of molecules present on these exoplanets.
The central concept of the team’s proposal suggests that light from an exoplanet interacts with a quantum computing device crafted from specially engineered diamond. This technology has already shown success in storing quantum states of photons. These states would then be transmitted to an advanced quantum computer designed to process and generate images of exoplanets. In their model, Borregard and his colleagues envision the second device utilizing ultracold atoms, which have demonstrated significant potential in recent experiments.
Research indicates that employing quantum devices in this manner could produce images using only one-hundredth, or even one-thousandth, of the photons needed in conventional methods. Essentially, in scenarios of extremely weak light, quantum systems could surpass existing technology.
“Since photons adhere to quantum mechanics principles, it is intuitive to explore quantum approaches for detecting and processing light from exoplanets,” notes Cosmolpo from the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy. However, he acknowledges that realizing this proposal poses significant challenges, necessitating precise control over both quantum computers and effective coordination between them.
Borregard concurs, recognizing promising experimental advancements in employing diamond-based and cryogenic quantum computers. He highlights that establishing a connection between these systems is currently a focus for several research teams, including his own.
Lupo introduces another innovative strategy leveraging quantum light properties. Current initiatives utilizing quantum devices have already begun to observe stars in the Canis Minor constellation. “I am eager to witness the influence of quantum computing on imaging and astronomy in the future,” he states. “This new research represents a pivotal step in that direction.”
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Numerous TikTok accounts are accumulating billions of views by sharing anti-immigrant and sexually explicit AI-generated material, as highlighted in a recent report.
Researchers found 354 accounts centered around AI that shared 43,000 posts created with AI tools, resulting in 4.5 billion views in just one month.
As per the Paris-based nonprofit AI Forensics, these accounts are attempting to manipulate TikTok’s algorithm—responsible for deciding what content appears for users—by posting large volumes of content in hopes of achieving viral status.
Some accounts reportedly posted as many as 70 times daily, indicative of automated activity, with most accounts established at the start of the year.
TikTok disclosed last month that it hosted at least 1.3 billion AI-generated posts. With more than 100 million pieces of content uploaded daily, AI-labeled material constitutes a minor fraction of TikTok’s offerings. Users can also adjust settings to minimize exposure to AI content.
Among the most active accounts, around half focused on content related to women’s bodies. The report notes, “These AI representations of women are often depicted in stereotypically attractive forms, which include suggestive clothing and cleavage.”
Research from AI Forensics indicated that nearly half of the content posted by these accounts lacked labels, and under 2% used TikTok’s AI tags. The organization cautioned that this could mislead viewers. They noted that some accounts can evade TikTok’s moderation for months, even while distributing content that violates the platform’s terms.
Several accounts identified in the study have been deleted recently, with signs suggesting that moderators removed them, according to the researchers.
Some of this content resembled fake news broadcast segments. An example is an anti-immigrant story and other materials that sexualize young women’s bodies, potentially including minors. AI Forensics identified that half of the top ten most active accounts were focused on the female body niche, with some of the fake news utilizing familiar news brands including Sky News and ABC.
After a mention by The Guardian, some posts were subsequently taken down by TikTok.
TikTok labeled the report’s assertions as “unfounded,” asserting that the researchers acknowledged the issue as one affecting several platforms. Recently, The Guardian revealed that almost one in ten of the fastest-growing YouTube channels primarily features AI-generated content.
“TikTok is committed to eliminating harmful AIGC [artificial intelligence-generated content], we are blocking the creation of hundreds of millions of bot accounts while investing in top-notch AI labeling technology, and providing users with the tools and education necessary to manage their content experience on our platform,” declared a TikTok spokesperson.
An example of AI “slop” is content that lacks substance and is intended to clutter social media timelines. Photo: TikTok
The most viewed accounts flagged by AI Forensics often shared “slop,” a term used to describe AI-generated content that is trivial, odd, and meant to disturb users’ feeds. This includes postings such as animals in Olympic diving or talking babies. Researchers noted that while some of the risqué content was deemed “funny” and “adorable,” it still contributes to the clutter.
TikTok’s policies forbid the use of AI to create deceptive authoritative sources, portray anyone under 18, or depict adults who aren’t public figures.
“Through this investigation, we illustrate how automated accounts integrate AI content into platforms and the broader virality framework,” the researchers noted.
“The distinction between genuine human-generated content and artificial AI-produced material on platforms is becoming increasingly indistinct, indicating a trend towards greater AI-generated content in users’ feeds.”
The analysis spanned from mid-August to mid-September, uncovering attempts to monetize users via the advertisement of health supplements through fictitious influencers, the promotion of tools for creating viral AI content, or seeking sponsorships for posts.
While AI Forensics acknowledged TikTok’s recent move to allow users to restrict AI content visibility, they emphasized the need for improved labeling.
“We remain cautious about the effectiveness of this feature, given the significant and persistent challenges associated with identifying such content,” they expressed.
The researchers recommended that TikTok explore the option of developing AI-specific features within its app to differentiate AI-generated content from that produced by humans. “Platforms should aim to transcend superficial or arbitrary ‘AI content’ labels and develop robust methods that either distinctly separate generated and human-created content or enforce systematic and clear labeling of AI-generated material,” they concluded.
This piece was reported by indicator, a publication focused on unearthing digital misinformation, in partnership with the Guardian.
Numerous YouTube channels have blended AI-generated visuals with misleading claims surrounding Sean “Diddy” Combs’s high-profile trial, attracting tens of millions of views and profiting from the spread of misinformation.
Data from YouTube reveals that 26 channels have garnered a staggering 705 million views from approximately 900 AI-influenced videos about Diddy over the last year.
These channels typically employ a standardized approach. Each video features an enticing title and AI-generated thumbnail that fabricates connections between celebrities and Diddy with outrageous claims, such as a celebrity’s testimony forcing them to engage in inappropriate acts or revealing shocking secrets about Diddy. Thumbnails regularly showcase well-known figures in courtroom settings alongside images of Diddy, with many featuring suggestive quotes designed to grab attention, including phrases like “f*cked me me me me me of me,” “ddy f*cked bieber life,” and “she sold him to Diddy.”
Channels indulging in Diddy’s “Slop,” a term for low-quality, AI-generated content, have previously demonstrated a penchant for disseminating false claims about various celebrities. Most of the 26 channels seem to be either repurposed or newly created, with at least 20 being eligible for advertising revenue.
Spreading sensational and erroneous “Diddy AI Slop” has become a quick avenue for monetization on YouTube. Wanner Aarts, managing numerous YouTube channels that employ AI-generated content, expressed his strategies for making money on the platform, noting his detachment from the Diddy trend.
“If someone asked, ‘How can I make $50,000 quickly?’ the first thing might be akin to dealing drugs, but the second option likely involves launching a Diddy channel,” Aarts (25) stated.
Fabricated Celebrity Involvement
The indicator analyzed hundreds of thumbnails and titles making false claims about celebrities including Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Justin Bieber, Oprah Winfrey, Eddie Murphy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dwayne “Rock” Johnson, 50 Cent, Joe Logan, and numerous others. Notably, one channel, Fame Fuel, uploaded 20 consecutive videos featuring AI-generated thumbnails and misleading titles related to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy and Diddy.
Among the top-performing channels is Peeper, which has amassed over 74 million views since its inception in 2010, but pivoted to exclusively covering Diddy for at least the last eight months. Peeper boasts some of the most viral Diddy videos, including “Justin Bieber reveals Will Smith, Diddy and Clive Davis grooming him,” which alone attracted 2.3 million views. Peeper is currently being converted into a demo.
Channels named Secret Story, previously offering health advice in Vietnamese, shifted focus to Diddy content, while Hero Story transitioned from covering Ibrahim Traore, the military leader of Burkina Faso, to Diddy stories. A Brazilian channel that amassed millions from embroidery videos also pivoted to Diddy content just two weeks ago. A channel named Celebrity Topics earned over 1 million views across 11 Diddy videos in just three weeks, despite being created in early 2018 and appearing to have deleted prior videos. Both Secret Story and Hero Story were removed by YouTube following inquiries from the indicator, while Celebrity Topics has since undergone rebranding.
Shifting Focus to Diddy
For instance, around three weeks ago, the channel PAK GoV Update started releasing videos about Diddy, utilizing AI-generated thumbnails with fictitious quotes attributed to celebrities like Ausher and Jay-Z. One video labeled “Jay-Z breaks his silence on Diddy’s controversy,” included a tearful image of Jay-Z with the text “I Will Be Dod” superimposed.
The video achieved 113,000 views with nearly 30 minutes of AI-generated narration accompanied by clips from various TV news sources, lacking any new information from Jay-Z, who did not provide any of the attributed quotes.
The Pak Gov Update channel previously focused on Pakistan’s public pensions, generating modest views—its most popular being a poorly titled video about the pension system that garnered 18,000 views.
Monetizing Misinformation
Aarts commented that the strategy of exploiting Diddy Slop is both profitable and precarious. “Most of these channels are unlikely to endure,” he remarked, referencing the risk of being penalized for violating YouTube policies and potential legal actions from Diddy or other celebrities depicted in their thumbnails and videos.
Like PAK Gov Update, most videos uploaded by these channels predominantly utilize AI narration and fewer direct clips from news reports, often leaning on AI-generated images. The use of actual footage tends to skirt the boundaries of fair use.
The YouTube channel Pakreviews-F2Z has produced numerous fake videos surrounding the Diddy trial, disguised under the name Pak Gov Update. Photo: YouTube
AI Slop represents one of the many variations of Diddy-related content proliferating on YouTube. This niche appears to be expanding and proving lucrative. Similar Diddy-focused AI content has attracted engagement on Tiktok.
“We are fans of the world,” stated YouTube spokesperson Jack Maron in an email. Maron noted that the platform has removed 16 channels linked to this phenomena and confirmed that various channels, including Pak Gov Update, have faced similar actions.
The Diddy phenomenon exemplifies the convergence of two prominent trends within YouTube: automation and faceless channels.
YouTube Automation hinges on the premise that anyone can establish a prosperous YouTube venture through the right niche and low-cost content creation strategies, including topic discovery, idea brainstorming, or employing international editors to churn out content at an automated rate.
With AI, it has become simpler than ever to embark on a faceless automation journey. Aarts indicated that anyone can generate scripts using ChatGPT or analogous language models, create images and thumbnails via MidJourney or similar software, utilize Google Veo 3 for video assembly, and implement AI voice-over using tools like ElevenLabs. He further mentioned that he often hires freelancers from the Philippines or other regions for video editing tasks.
“AI has democratized opportunities for budget-conscious individuals to engage in YouTube automation,” Aarts stated, highlighting it can cost under $10 per video. He reported earnings exceeding $130,000 from over 45 channels.
Muhammad Salman Abazai, who oversees As a Venture, a Pakistani firm offering video editing and YouTube channel management services, commented that Diddy video content has emerged as a “legitimate niche” on YouTube, showcasing successful Diddy videos created by his team.
“This endeavor has proven fruitful for us, as it has significantly boosted our subscriber count,” he noted.
NV Historia shifted focus following the viral response to a Diddy-themed video titled “A minute ago: No one expected Dwayne Johnson to say this in court about Diddy,” featuring AI-generated images of Johnson and Diddy in court along with disturbing visuals of alleged incidents. The thumbnail showcased the quote “He gave me it.”
Johnson has neither testified nor had any connection to allegations against Diddy. This video has gathered over 200,000 views. Following this, NV Historia managed another video linking Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities to Diddy, which earned 45,000 views. Subsequently, the channel committed entirely to Diddy content and has since been removed by YouTube.
A French channel, Starbuzzfr, was launched in May and appears to exclusively publish Diddy-related content, deploying AI-generated thumbnails and narration to spin fabricated narratives, such as Brad Pitt’s supposed testimony against Diddy, claiming he experienced abuse by the mogul. Starbuzzfr notably utilizes sexualized AI-generated imagery featuring Diddy and celebrities like Pitt. As of this writing, the channel remains monetized.
Aarts noted that the general sentiment within the YouTube automation community respects anyone who manages to monetize their content.
“I applaud those who navigate this successfully,” he remarked.
The music industry is evolving in parallel worlds. While the Gallagher brothers dominate stadiums this summer, Tiktok users are grooving to a different beat.
Electronic music has surged on Tiktok, surpassing indie and alternative genres in popularity. #ElectronicMusic garnered over 13 billion views globally, marking a 45% increase from 2023. Videos featuring electronic music tags doubled in number during the same period.
Tiktok creators are increasingly using electronic music as the soundtrack for sports, fitness, fashion, travel, and summer vacation content. The success of British electronic artists like Disclosure and Joel Corey on Tiktok highlights the genre’s mainstream appeal.
Tiktok’s influence on the music industry is evident, with artists like Adam Port and Posa gaining popularity on the platform before becoming streaming hits. Electronic artists are making waves in major markets as well as climbing the mainstream charts.
British DJs like Hannah Line and Billy Gillies have also found success on Tiktok, further boosting the electronic music scene. The community-driven nature of electronic music is reflected in the platform’s user-generated content.
Spotify reports a significant increase in streams for dance and electronic music, indicating a growing global interest in the genre. Despite the rise of electronic music, indie and alternative genres, as well as rap and hip-hop, remain popular among Tiktok users.
Last year, Tiktok saw a surge in back catalog music usage, with users incorporating older tracks into their content. This trend was not limited to the UK, as global users embraced classic tracks from past decades.
circleIf you work security, stopping thieves can be an uphill battle. Most would-be thieves know that they have the same legal powers as security guards, so it can be hard to know who can use “appropriate force” when a teenager is trying to cut your bike lock right in front of you.
My shift coworker and I recently witnessed a heroin addict walking through the parking lot, repeatedly typing a shopping list into her phone of shampoo, school uniforms, and other low-quality items. She was part of a growing number of heroin addicts. Steal for othersIt focuses on things that people need but don’t want to pay for.
Shoplifting by telephone (aka “deliverobbing”) seems like a natural thing to happen when you consider the overall number of reported shoplifting cases. Store theft increased 37%But nobody wants to be caught in the act, and while the UK lacks police patrols to catch shoplifters, we make up for it in another area: cameras.
The UK is one of the most surveilled countries in the Western world. 13.21 cameras per 1,000 people That may seem Orwellian until you compare it with the estimated percentage for Chinese cities: 439.07.
It’s crazy to think that one of those cameras is now me. As a security guard who wears a body-worn camera (BWC) on his protective vest, I’m part of a growing demographic. This year alone, Pret a Manger staff members,BP and Greggs They are the latest employees to be issued BWCs to protect against misuse and theft.
Essex County Council Librarian Apparently “please be quiet” signs are no longer of any use: Rochdale crossing officers start recording the lollipop lady immediately after she crosses the road. Beaten Trying to stop traffic.
There’s a part of me that’s still in awe of this technology: when I was a kid in London in the ’80s, the only way to get on a screen was to walk past Rumbelows, an electronics store that happened to be promoting camcorders.
When I started working in security, I watched surveillance hardware evolve from bulky CCTV monitors like furniture to slim smart screens. Perhaps if frontline workers like me were issued BWCs, the conviction rate for shoplifting cases would be 100% today. 14% – Grow.
Recorded footage undoubtedly helped accelerate convictions after this summer’s riots, as far-right looters were quickly charged and convicted for stealing bath bombs (among other violent crimes) and begged for sympathy in court.
Some reports suggest the recent increase in shoplifting is due to gangs, not prices. account They were the “exploited middle class” who steal in the name of revenge against multinational corporations, then boast about the “big smile” they would give to security guards like me when we came out of the stores with our stolen goods.
I haven’t encountered any middle-class robbers yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time. Like many facilities that require security guards, my workplace is privately owned, but the doors are wide open. The premises are used as a public thoroughfare, and frontline workers like me can encounter everyone from users of the brain-damaging synthetic cannabinoid Spice to violent drunks and even mentally ill dropouts.
The recent surge in shoplifting is Attack on store clerk Given the abuse and attacks against frontline NHS staff, it is understandable why ambulance staff are issued with BWCs. 3,500 attacks In one year. This is despite the maximum prison sentence for attacking emergency workers being doubled in a 2020 consultation.
As a uniformed intermediary, I often have to call 999, and my boss has made it very clear to me when to press the record button. I can only press record following a “dynamic risk assessment”, but that can be difficult to implement during sudden outbursts of violence.
When my boss explained to me how BWCs worked — that they would always record but the footage would be dumped unless the “capture” tab was pressed — I became nervous: I feared that coworkers who forgot to press “stop” after a confrontation would furtively scroll through their phones or archive something inappropriate, like a nasty comment about their team leader.
Knowing when to press the button isn’t the only thing I fear about BWCs. My starting pay for my job is £11.44 an hour, the current minimum wage. The retail price of the camera I’m wearing is £534. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if I broke it. Sometimes I feel like the uniform is worth more than I am.
One group that doesn’t seem to care much about prices or digital overexposure are teenagers: the gangs we encounter are more interested in smashing windows and tearing open manhole covers.
If we approach them and say we are being recorded, they will film us with their cell phones and broadcast it to their followers, or they will threaten to stab us.
Perhaps only once the current backlog in the courts is cleared will the wider impact of BWCs be seen. Another London memory of the last century is the installation of CCTV in football grounds. Millwall’s 96-strong camera system has been used to track down Bushwhacker hooligan hangouts. “A well managed venue.”
If they can do it at the Den, they can do it downtown, and I don’t mind being the referee in the meantime, which makes sense considering I already wear black for work.
The quasar, called RX J1131-1231, lies about 6 billion light-years away in the constellation Crater.
This Webb image shows the galaxy RX J1131-1231 distorted by gravitational lensing into a dark ring. At the top of the ring are three very bright spots next to each other, emitting diffraction spikes. These are copies of a single quasar in the lensed galaxy, duplicated by gravitational lensing. In the center of the ring, the lensing elliptical galaxy appears as a small blue spot. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Nierenberg.
RXJ1131-1231 The galaxy is thought to be one of the best lensed quasars ever discovered, as the foreground lensing effect blurs the image of the background quasar into a bright arc, creating four celestial images.
“Gravitational lensing effect“This phenomenon, first predicted by Albert Einstein, acts as a natural telescope, magnifying the light from these sources and providing a rare opportunity to study the regions close to the black holes in distant quasars,” astronomer Webb said.
“All matter in the universe distorts the space around it, and the more mass there is, the more pronounced this effect.”
“Around very massive objects like galaxies, light passing nearby travels through this distorted space, appearing to bend visibly from its original path.”
“One of the inevitable effects of gravitational lensing is the magnification of distant objects, allowing astronomers to study objects that would otherwise be too faint or too far away.”
“Measuring the X-ray emission from a quasar can provide an indication of how fast the central black hole is rotating, which could give researchers important clues about how black holes grow over time,” the researchers added.
“For example, if black holes grow primarily through collisions and mergers between galaxies, then the accumulation of material in a stable disk and the steady supply of new material from the disk should cause the black hole to rotate rapidly.”
“On the other hand, if a black hole grows through many small accretion episodes, then material will accumulate from random directions.”
“Observations show that the black hole in RX J1131-1231 is rotating at more than half the speed of light, suggesting that the black hole grew by merging rather than by attracting matter from different directions.”
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Confocal microscopy images show mesenchymal stem cells (green) captured within nanovials (pink). Nanovial technology was developed by Dino Di Carlo and colleagues at UCLA. Credit: Shreya Udani/UCLA
University of California Los Angeles Stem cell scientists have uncovered surprising genetic instructions for promoting protein secretion, with major implications for biotechnology and cell therapy.
Mesenchymal stem cells present in the bone marrow secrete therapeutic proteins that may help regenerate damaged tissue.
The UCLA study examining these cells challenges conventional understanding of what genetic instructions drive the release of these therapeutic proteins.
The discovery could help advance both regenerative medicine research and the laboratory production of biological therapeutics already in use.
Expanding the possibilities of antibody-based medicineToday, drugs based on antibodies (proteins that fight infection and disease) are prescribed for everything from cancer to disease. COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) For high cholesterol. Antibody drugs are supplied by genetically engineered cells that act as small protein-producing factories in the lab.
Meanwhile, researchers are targeting cancer, internal organ damage, and many other diseases with a new strategy that involves transplanting similarly engineered cells directly into patients.
These biotechnological applications rely on the principle of causing cellular changes. DNA When a cell produces more genetic instructions to make a particular protein, it releases more of that protein.
Challenging established biological principlesBut a groundbreaking study from UCLA challenges this long-held belief, at least when it comes to certain types of stem cells.
The researchers looked at mesenchymal stem cells, which reside in the bone marrow and can self-renew and grow into bone, fat, and muscle cells. Mesenchymal cells secrete a protein growth factor called VEGF-A. Scientists believe this may play a role in blood vessel regeneration, repairing damage caused by heart attacks, kidney damage, arterial disease in the extremities, and other diseases.
Amazing discoveries in stem cell researchWhen the researchers compared the amount of VEGF-A released by each mesenchymal cell to the expression of the gene encoding VEGF-A in the same cells, the results were surprising. There was only a weak correlation between gene expression and actual growth factor secretion. Scientists have identified other genes that better correlate with growth factor secretion, including genes that code for proteins on the surface of some stem cells. The research team isolated stem cells with the protein on their surface, cultured a population that secreted large amounts of VEGF-A, and continued to secrete it even after several days.
Biotechnology and its impact on medicineThe findings were published Dec. 11 in the journal natural nanotechnologyco-author Dino Di Carlo said, suggesting that fundamental assumptions in biology and biotechnology may be worth reconsidering. UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.
“The central dogma is that there are instructions in DNA, and these instructions are transcribed. RNAThe RNA is then translated into protein,” said Di Carlo, who is also a member of UCLA. California Nanosystems Institute and Eli and Edythe Regional Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. “Based on this, many scientists assumed that if you had more RNA, you would get more protein, and more protein would be released from the cell. I had doubts.”
It seems inconceivable that when a gene is expressed at a higher level, there is more secretion of the corresponding protein. We found a clear example where this does not occur, and many new questions arise.” Ta.
“The results could help make the production of antibody-based therapeutics more efficient and define new, more effective cell therapies. Knowing the right genetic switches to flip could enable the manipulation and selection of highly productive cells to create or deliver therapeutics.
Breakthrough in single cell analysisThe UCLA study was conducted using standard laboratory equipment enhanced with technology invented by Di Carlo and his colleagues. Nanovials, microscopic bowl-shaped hydrogel containers, each capturing a single cell and its secretions. By leveraging a new analytical method using nanovials, scientists were able to measure the amount of VEGF-A released by each of 10,000 mesenchymal stem cells compared to tens of thousands of genes expressed by that same cell. I was able to link it to the mapped atlas.
“The ability to link protein secretion to gene expression at the single-cell level holds great promise for the fields of life science research and therapeutic development,” said David, a member of the Broad Stem Cell Research Group and a professor of biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. said chemistry professor Kathryn Plath. Center and co-corresponding author of the study. “Without that, we would not have been able to reach the unexpected results found in this study. Now we have learned something new about the mechanisms that underpin the fundamental processes of life, and we have We have an incredible opportunity to leverage this to improve human health.”
A new path in therapeutic drug developmentAlthough activation of genetic instructions for VEGF-A showed little correlation with protein release, the researchers identified a cluster of 153 genes with strong associations with VEGF-A secretion. Many of them are known for their functions in blood vessel development and wound healing. For others, their functionality is currently unknown.
One of the top matches encodes the cell surface protein IL13RA2, but its purpose is poorly understood. Its outer location made it easy for scientists to use it as a marker and separate those cells from other cells. Cells with IL13RA2 showed 30% more VEGF-A secretion than cells lacking the marker.
In a similar experiment, the researchers kept isolated cells in culture for six days. At the end of that period, cells with the marker secreted 60% more VEGF-A compared to cells without the marker.
Potential impact on clinical applicationsMesenchymal stem cell-based therapies have shown promise in laboratory studies, but many of these new options are safe but not effective in clinical trials with human participants. It is shown that there is no. Her ability to use IL13RA2 to sort VEGF-A-rich cells could help change this trend.
“Identifying the subpopulations that produce more and the markers associated with that population means that they can be separated very easily,” Di Carlo said. “If we had very pure populations of cells that produced high levels of therapeutic proteins, we would have better treatments.”The nanovials are commercially available from Partillion Bioscience, a company co-founded by Di Carlo and founded in CNSI’s on-campus incubator. Expand.
Reference: “Correlating growth factor secretion in nanovials with single cell transcriptome using SEC-seq” Shreya Udani, Justin Langerman, Doyeon Koo, Sevana Baghdasarian, Brian Cheng, Simran Kang, Citradewi Soemardy, Joseph de Rutte, Kathrin Plath, Dino Di Carlo, December 11, 2023; natural nanotechnology.
DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01560-7The study’s lead author is Shreya Udani, who received her PhD from UCLA in 2023. Other co-authors, all at UCLA, are staff scientist Justin Langerman; Doyoung Koo, who received his Ph.D. in 2023. graduate students Sevana Bagdasarian and Chitradewi Somardi; undergraduate student Brian Chen; Simran Kang received her bachelor’s degree in 2023. and Joseph de Rutte, who completed his PhD in 2020 and is co-founder and CEO of Partillion.This research was supported by: National Institutes of Health It also won the Stem Cell Nanomedicine Program Award, jointly funded by CNSI and the Broad Center for Stem Cell Research.
Another policy tug-of-war may be emerging in the European Union over Big Tech’s content recommendation systems, with the European Commission ruling out profiling-based content feeds (also known as “personalization” engines that process user data). Many members of Congress are calling for the government to curb this. To determine what content to display. The tracking and profiling of users by mainstream platforms to power “personalized” content feeds has long raised concerns about potential harm to individuals and democratic societies, and whether this technology is fueling social media addiction. , some critics say poses mental health risks to vulnerable people. There are also concerns that this technology is undermining social cohesion through its tendency to amplify divisive and polarizing content that can push individual anger and anger towards political extremes.
Of letter, 17 MPs from political groups including S&D, the Left, the Greens, EPP and Renew Europe have signed the petition, which calls for recommendation systems on technology platforms to be switched off by default. The idea emerged during negotiations over the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA). ), but it was not included in the final regulations because it did not have a democratic majority. Instead, EU lawmakers agreed to transparency measures for recommender systems, along with a requirement that large platforms (so-called VLOPs) must provide at least one content feed that is not based on profiling. But in a letter, lawmakers are calling for a complete dedefault on the technology. “Interaction-based recommender systems, especially hyper-personalized systems, pose a serious threat to the public and society as a whole, as they prioritize emotional and extreme content and target individuals who are particularly likely to be provoked. ” they wrote. “This insidious cycle exposes users to sensational and dangerous content, prolonging their engagement with the platform in order to maximize ad revenue.”
Amnesty International’s experiment on TikTok showed that the algorithm were exposed to videos glorifying suicide within just an hour. Additionally, Meta’s internal research found that 64% of joins to extremist groups were due to recommended tools, and that extremists It has become clear that we are exacerbating the spread of ideology.” The phone is: Draft online safety guidelines for video sharing platforms, was announced earlier this month by the Irish Media Commission (Coimisiún na Meán). The committee will be responsible for overseeing the DSA when regulations become enforceable for covered services next February. Coimisiún na Meán is currently consulting on guidance proposing that video sharing platforms “take steps to ensure that profiling-based recommendation algorithms are turned off by default.” The publication of the guidance occurred after the following episodes. violent civil unrest in Dublin The country’s police authorities suggested the attack was fabricated by far-right “hooligans” with false information spread on social media and messaging apps. And earlier this week, Irish Civil Liberties and Human Rights Council ICCL, which has been campaigning on digital rights issues for many years, also called on the European Commission to support the Koimisiun na Mean proposal and to make it public. my report They say social media algorithms are tearing society apart and are calling for personalized feeds to be turned off by default.
In their letter, MEPs said they also accepted proposals from Ireland’s media regulator, which similarly tend to promote “emotional and extremist content” that they say could undermine civic cohesion. It suggests that it “effectively” addresses issues related to recommender systems. The letter also references recently adopted regulations. Report by the European Parliament On the addictive design of online services and consumer protection, they highlight the negative impact of recommender systems on online services, which involve the profiling of individuals, especially minors. , which aims to keep users on the platform for as long as possible, thus manipulating them.” Artificial amplification of hatred, suicide, self-harm, and disinformation. ” “We call on the European Commission to follow Ireland’s lead and not only approve this measure under TRIS, but also take decisive action.” [Technical Regulations Information System] In addition to following the steps, you can also recommend this measure as a mitigation measure for large online platforms to take. [VLOPs] 35(1)(c) of the Digital Services Act, to give citizens meaningful control over their data and online environment,” the MEPs wrote, adding: “The protection of our citizens, especially young people, is of paramount importance” We believe that the European Commission has an important role to play in ensuring a safe digital environment for everyone. We look forward to your prompt and decisive action on this issue. ”
Under TRIS, EU member states must submit proposals before they are adopted into national law so that the EU can carry out a legal review to ensure that they are consistent with the bloc’s rules, in this case the DSA. draft technical regulations must be notified to the European Commission. . This system means that domestic laws that seek to “golden” EU regulations are unlikely to pass scrutiny. As such, the Irish Media Commission’s proposal to turn off video platforms’ recommender systems by default appears to go further than the text of the relevant legislation and may not survive the TRIS process. be. However, no company has gone that far yet. And clearly not the kind of step that ad-funded, engagement-driven platforms would choose as their commercial default.
When we asked, the European Commission declined public comment on the MEP’s letter (or the ICCL report). Instead, the spokesperson pointed to the “clear” obligations regarding her VLOP’s recommendation system set out in Article 38 of the DSA. This mandate requires platforms to provide at least one non-profiling-based option for each of these systems. However, we were able to discuss the profiling feed debate with EU officials who provided background to speak more freely. They agreed that platforms could choose to turn off profiling-based recommender systems by default as part of DSA systemic risk mitigation compliance, but they still do not have initiatives that stray too far from their own policies. I have confirmed that the platform you are using does not exist. So far, we have only seen examples where non-profiling feeds are optionally provided to users, such as on TikTok and Instagram, in order to meet the aforementioned (Article 38) DSA requirement to provide users with the option of circumvention. not. Personalization of this type of content. However, this requires active opt-out by the user. On the other hand, setting a feed to non-profiling by default is clearly a stronger type of content regulation, as it requires no user action to enable. EU officials we spoke to said that the European Commission, in its capacity as enforcer of the DSA on VLOPs, is considering a recommender system, including the formal process initiated in relation to X earlier this week. admitted that. The recommendation system has also been the focus of some of the formal requests for information the commission has sent to his VLOP, including one to Instagram that focuses on child safety risks. they spoke. And they agreed that the EU could use its enforcer role, or law-abiding power, to force large platforms to stop personalized feeds by default. However, they indicated that the commission would only take such action if it determined it would be effective in mitigating a particular risk. The official noted that multiple types of profiling-based content feeds are in place, even on a platform-by-platform basis, and emphasized that each must be considered in context.
More generally, they appealed for “nuance” in the debate over the risks of recommendation systems. They suggested that the Commission’s approach here would be to conduct a case-by-case assessment of concerns and advocate for data-driven policy interventions on VLOPs rather than blanket measures. did. After all, it’s a collection of platforms as diverse as video-sharing and social media giants, as well as retail and information services and (most recently) porn sites. The risk that an enforcement decision will not be selected by legal challenge in the absence of solid evidence to support the decision is clearly a concern for the Commission. The official also wants to collect more information before making a decision on whether to recommend.
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