05 Sci-Tech

Trump Administration Ousts National Science Foundation from Headquarters Building– www.scientificamerican.com

pgnewser June 25, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Trump Administration Ousts National Science Foundation from Headquarters Building

Employees at the National Science Foundation say they’ve been blindsided by a plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take over their offices

CLIMATEWIRE | The Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to announce Wednesday that it’s moving into the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, according to the union representing NSF employees.

But as of Tuesday evening, staff at the science foundation hadn’t been informed by management about their building’s incoming occupants, leaving them feeling blindsided and unsure about where they’re expected to work.

One NSF employee said that they had “literally zero idea” the move was coming until reports began circulating among staffers Tuesday evening. That person was granted anonymity because they fear retaliation.

Mice with two fathers? Scientists create fertile mice using DNA from two fathers |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser June 25, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in reproductive technology by successfully breeding normal, healthy, and fertile motherless mice using DNA from two sperm cells: no egg, no female DNA. This work is part of a broader effort to understand the advantages and disadvantages of same-sex parenting and represents a significant leap in the field. Remarkably, the motherless mice survived to adulthood, but also reproduced, demonstrating their fertility.This finding could enhance our understanding of genetic inheritance and may eventually enable the use of epigenetic programming. The paper presents compelling evidence for the future possibilities of assisted reproduction through epigenetic techniques. Ongoing research in this area opens new avenues for exploring same-sex reproductive patterns, with potential applications in biomedicine and beyond. This breakthrough significantly expands our options for creating fertile offspring.

Breakthrough in same-sex reproduction: Healthy mice born from dual sperm DNA

According to the study, published in the journal Nature, the researchers were able to breed healthy and fertile mice using DNA from two sperm, and this was achieved through epigenetic programming. Unlike previous attempts, which resulted in weak or short-lived offspring, this study yielded viable pups. The scientific demonstration involved the targeted editing of methylation using epigenetic programming, meaning that the changes do not affect the underlying DNA sequence.

SCARY: China Unveils New Mosquito Drone for Covert Military Operations | The Gateway Pundit– www.thegatewaypundit.com

pgnewser June 25, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Watch out for mosquitoes!

China has just unveiled a new “mosquito drone” created for covert military operations.

The drone, which is the size and shape of a mosquito, contains cameras, microphones, and electronic signals.

The National University of Defense Technology engineered the new drone and released a video of it in action.

WATCH:

Deep Earth pulses beneath Africa tearing the continent apart– www.techexplorist.com

pgnewser June 25, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Deep beneath Earth’s surface, hot mantle rock slowly rises, fueling massive volcanic activity, tearing continents apart, and opening new oceans. But where these upwellings form, what they’re made of, and how shifting tectonic plates shape them still remains a puzzle.

The Afar region in East Africa is a rare geological crossroads—a triple rift zone where three tectonic plates are pulling away from each other. Scientists think a rising plume of hot mantle lies below it, offering a unique chance to study how such forces reshape our planet from the inside out.

Deep under Africa, scientists from the University of Southampton have found that hot mantle rock is rising in steady pulses—almost like the Earth has a beating heart. This hot material is pushing up beneath the Afar region in Ethiopia, slowly pulling the continent apart and setting the stage for a brand-new ocean.

The research shows that this rising heat is shaped by the movement of tectonic plates—huge slabs of Earth’s crust that float above the mantle. As these plates stretch and thin over time, especially at places like Afar where three rifts meet, they eventually split. That split is how a new ocean begins to form.

Scientists may have found a way to extend lifespan without strict dieting; here’s what the research shows |– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser June 22, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

For centuries, humanity has pursued the secret to a longer life through alchemy, mythology, and, more recently, science. While the philosopher’s stone remains a myth, researchers have discovered a reliable method to extend lifespan in animals: eating less. Known as dietary restriction, this practice triggers biological mechanisms that slow aging and improve longevity. However, strict dieting is difficult and unsustainable for many. The pressing question now is whether we can replicate these benefits without giving up the joy of food. Could science develop treatments that mimic the effects of calorie restriction, offering a longer, healthier life—without constant hunger?

… Rapamycin, which was initially identified in Easter Island soil in the 1970s, is a potent immunosuppressant drug utilised to suppress organ transplant rejection. Its anti-aging applications result from its capacity to inhibit a primary molecular switch (mTOR) that informs cells that nutrients are abundant. By suppressing this message, rapamycin mimics the action of dietary deprivation at the cell level. Actually, a combination of rapamycin with another medication, trametinib, has been found to further prolong the lifespan of mice.Metformin is a compound found in the French lilac plant that is commonly prescribed to manage blood sugar levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Like rapamycin, it targets the body’s nutrient-sensing mechanisms. With its extensive record of safety and widespread use, it’s been a potential life-extending candidate.Yet the review of 167 studies involving eight vertebrate animals—from fish to rats—found no persistent evidence that metformin prolonged lifespan. This would indicate it might not be able to deliver all the benefits of dietary restriction, at least singly.

Construction workers find Viking graves linked to King ‘Bluetooth’– www.popsci.com

pgnewser June 20, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

The roughly 30 graves containing artifacts and treasures represent the era’s entire social hierarchy spectrum, according to an announcement by the Moesgaard Museum. The findings include a gold-threaded box, pearls, coins, ceramics, and even a pair of scissors likely owned by an important noblewoman of the time. The box itself is a particularly remarkable find, as experts believe it’s only the third confirmed example of its kind. Human remains such as bones and teeth were also found at the site along with smaller, less ornate graves that possibly held an elite family’s enslaved workers.

Conservators work to lift a Viking Age coffin from the archeological site. Credit: Moesgaard Museum poul madsen

“Together, they paint the picture of an aristocratic environment that was linked to royal power, and which was part of the Vikings’ vast and dynamic world,” Kasper Andersen, a Viking Age historian at Moesgaard, said in a statement.

Archeologists speculate the burial site is probably related to a nobleman’s farm located less than 0.65 miles away. That find, discovered in the 1980s, may have belonged to an earl or steward of King Harald Bluetooth—a legendary figure in his own right.

The son of King Gorm the Old, Harald ruled over Denmark and Norway from around 958–986 CE and allegedly earned his nickname from a conspicuously colored tooth. More importantly, he is remembered for spreading Christianity across Denmark, as well as consolidating power over the regions of Jutland and Zealand.

X-ray photograph of the Lisbjerg box, showing a cross-shaped fitting on the lid as well as beads, scissors and gold thread inside the box. Credit: Moesgaard Museum

Pope Leo XIV flags AI impact on kids’ intellectual and spiritual development– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser June 20, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

ROME — ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV warned Friday that artificial intelligence could negatively impact the intellectual, neurological and spiritual development of young people as he pressed one of the priorities of his young pontificate.

History’s first American pope sent a message to a conference of AI and ethics, part of which was taking place in the Vatican in a sign of the Holy See’s concern for the new technologies and what they mean for humanity.

In the message, Leo said any further development of AI must be evaluated according to the “superior ethical criterion” of the need to safeguard the dignity of each human being while respecting the diversity of the world’s population.

He warned specifically that new generations are most at risk given they have never had such quick access to information.

“All of us, I am sure, are concerned for children and young people, and the possible consequences of the use of AI on their intellectual and neurological development,” he said in the message. “Society’s well-being depends upon their being given the ability to develop their God-given gifts and capabilities,” and not allow them to confuse mere access to data with intelligence.

The FDA Just Approved a Long-Lasting Injection to Prevent HIV– www.wired.com

pgnewser June 20, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved lenacapavir, an injectable form of HIV prevention that is almost 100 percent effective and requires only two doses per year. Science magazine described the medicine the most important scientific advance of 2024.

In clinical trials, lenacapavir proved to be 99.9 percent effective in preventing HIV infection through sexual transmission in people weighing more than 35 kilograms. The drug, an antiretroviral, works not by stimulating an immune response, but by blocking HIV from reproducing during its early stages—specifically, by disrupting the function of the virus’s capsid protein. This happens so long as the body receives injections every six months.

Lenacapavir has already been approved in some countries as a treatment for HIV in people with forms of the virus that are resistant to other treatments. However, prior to this week, its prophylactic use had not been approved anywhere, making the FDA’s decision a significant new development in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The drug is not the first medicine that can be taken preemptively to protect against an HIV infection: pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pills were already available in many countries, including the United States. But these must be taken every day, and ensuring ongoing access to these medicines, and that people actually remember to take them, is a known challenge. It’s hoped the long-lasting effects of lenacapavir will make it easier for people to stay protected against the virus.

Scientists Announce Major Breakthrough as Ivermectin Nanoparticles Destroy Brain Cancer Cells– slaynews.com

pgnewser June 16, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Leading oncology scientists in Brazil have just announced a major breakthrough in the fight against cancer.

A team of scientists at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) has discovered that ivermectin nanoparticles destroy cancer cells, massively reducing tumors.

In a groundbreaking preclinical study, researchers led by Drs. Maiara Callegaro Velho and Ruy Carlos Ruver Beck showed that a nano-encapsulated form of ivermectin, when delivered intranasally, reduced glioma tumor volume in rats by over 70%.

The discovery is being hailed as a major development in the fight against glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer.

The results of the study were published in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.

This is the first study to investigate “nose-to-brain IVM delivery using nanotechnology,” the authors noted.

The team tested two ivermectin nanoformulations:

• IVM-NC: Ivermectin encapsulated in poly(ε-caprolactone) nano capsules

• IVM-MCM: Ivermectin within mesoporous silica particles

Steve Bannon stokes fear of an AI “apocalypse”– www.yahoo.com

pgnewser June 16, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Pressure to regulate AI, fueled by apocalyptic prophecy and long-held animosity of tech giants like billionaire Elon Musk, is building within MAGA, and it might be enough to get something done in Congress.

AI-generated images, ranging from muscle-bound depictions of President Donald Trump to memes portraying the president’s opponents as communists, have become a hallmark of online conservatism over the past few years.

Percolating in the background, however, has been a resistance to AI technology, rooted in the conservative movement’s skepticism of Big Tech. Criticism of AI on the right ranges from relatively mundane concerns over AI’s potential ability to defame to warnings that AI has a role to play in the end times.

Central to the concern of right-wingers is the concept of the AI “singularity” — the name for the hypothetical point at which AI becomes able to improve itself, leading to an uncontrollable cascade of advancements in the technology — and Musk, who often features prominently in right-wing critiques of AI for his influence in the Trump administration, a 2014 interview where he predicted that “with artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon” and for his longtime social media profile, in which he sported armor bearing the Sigil of Baphomet.

“If you listen to the four horsemen of the apocalypse — Dario, Musk, Altman… they talk right now about the Big Bang, that this is the Big Bang time for artificial intelligence,” former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said on a recent episode of his podcast, “War Room.” “As sure as the turning of the Earth, this is going to be the most fundamental radical transformation in all human history, going back to the absolute beginning,” Bannon continued, “and what you have is the most irresponsible people doing it for: one, their own efforts for eternal life, because they do not believe in the underlying tenants of the Judeo-Christian West; and also money and power. It must be stopped.”

‘Statistically, that shouldn’t have happened’: Something very weird occurred in the ocean after the dinosaur-killing asteroid hit– www.livescience.com

pgnewser June 16, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

About 66 million years ago — perhaps on a downright unlucky day in May — an asteroid smashed into our planet.

The fallout was immediate and severe. Evidence shows that about 70% of species went extinct in a geological instant, and not just those famous dinosaurs that once stalked the land. Masters of the Mesozoic oceans were also wiped out, from mosasaurs — a group of aquatic reptiles topping the food chain — to exquisitely shelled squid relatives known as ammonites.

Even groups that weathered the catastrophe, such as mammals, fishes and flowering plants, suffered severe population declines and species loss. Invertebrate life in the oceans didn’t fare much better.

But bubbling away on the seafloor was a stolid group of animals that has left a fantastic fossil record and continues to thrive today: bivalves — clams, cockles, mussels, oysters and more.

What happened to these creatures during the extinction event and how they rebounded tells an important story, both about the past and the future of biodiversity.

Thousands of University Students in the UK Caught Cheating Using AI– legalinsurrection.com

pgnewser June 16, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

When it comes to higher education and AI, this is going to be one of the biggest challenges of the future.

The Guardian reports:

Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AI

Thousands of university students in the UK have been caught misusing ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools in recent years, while traditional forms of plagiarism show a marked decline, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

A survey of academic integrity violations found almost 7,000 proven cases of cheating using AI tools in 2023-24, equivalent to 5.1 for every 1,000 students. That was up from 1.6 cases per 1,000 in 2022-23.

Figures up to May suggest that number will increase again this year to about 7.5 proven cases per 1,000 students – but recorded cases represent only the tip of the iceberg, according to experts.

The data highlights a rapidly evolving challenge for universities: trying to adapt assessment methods to the advent of technologies such as ChatGPT and other AI-powered writing tools.

In 2019-20, before the widespread availability of generative AI, plagiarism accounted for nearly two-thirds of all academic misconduct. During the pandemic, plagiarism intensified as many assessments moved online. But as AI tools have become more sophisticated and accessible, the nature of cheating has changed.

‘People thought this couldn’t be done’: Scientists observe light of ‘cosmic dawn’ with a telescope on Earth for the first time ever– www.livescience.com

pgnewser June 11, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

For the first time, scientists have used Earth-based telescopes to peer back into the cosmic dawn — an era more than 13 billion years ago when light from the first stars began reshaping our universe.

The residual light from this ancient epoch is millimeters in wavelength and extremely faint, meaning that although space-based observatories have been able to peer into it, the signal is drowned out by the electromagnetic radiation in Earth’s atmosphere before ground-based telescopes can detect the primordial light.

But now, by deploying a specially designed telescope, scientists at the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) project have detected traces that the first stars left on the background light of the Big Bang. They published their findings June 11 in The Astrophysical Journal.

“People thought this couldn’t be done from the ground,” study co-author Tobias Marriage, CLASS project leader and a professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, said in a statement. “Astronomy is a technology-limited field, and microwave signals from the Cosmic Dawn are famously difficult to measure. Ground-based observations face additional challenges compared to space. Overcoming those obstacles makes this measurement a significant achievement.”

Research shows how pigs were domesticated from wild boars in 8,000 years ago in China– cosmosmagazine.com

pgnewser June 11, 2025 0

Source Link
Excerpt:

Black pig in Sapa, Vietnam. Credit: bloodua / iStock / Getty Images Plus.

Analysis of 8,000-year-old teeth has revealed how pigs were first domesticated from wild boars in what is today South China.

The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show that pigs were eating the cooked foods and waste from ancient human homes.

Examples of pig molar teeth specimens analysed for the study. Credit: Jiajing Wang.

“While most wild boars are naturally aggressive, some are more friendly and less afraid of people, which are the ones that may live alongside humans,” says lead author Jiajing Wang, an assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College in the US. “Living with humans gave them easy access to food, so they no longer needed to maintain their robust physiques. Over time, their bodies became smaller, and their brains also became smaller by about one-third.”

Traditional domestication studies focus on skeletal shape of ancient animals.

“But this method can be problematic because the reduction in body size likely occurred later in the domestication process,” says Wang. “What probably came first were behavioural changes, like becoming less aggressive and more tolerant of humans.”

The new study looked at the molars of 32 ancient pigs to see what they were eating over their lifespan. The teeth were from 2 sites where humans lived 8,000 years ago at Jingtoushan and Kuahuqiao in the Lower Yangtze River region of South China