Sustainable Flourishing

A small US city experiments with AI to find out what residents want– www.technologyreview.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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The volunteers running the experiment were not completely hands-off. Submitted ideas were screened according to a moderation policy, and redundant ideas were not posted. Ford says that 51% of ideas were published, and 31% were deemed redundant. About 6% of ideas were not posted because they were either completely off-topic or contained a personal attack.

But some researchers who study the technologies that can make democracy more effective question whether soliciting input in this manner is a reliable way to understand what a community wants.

One problem is self-selection—for example, certain kinds of people tend to show up to in-person forums like town halls. Research shows that seniors, homeowners, and people with high levels of education are the most likely to attend, Fung says. It’s possible that similar dynamics are at play among the residents of Bowling Green who decided to participate in the project.

“Self-selection is not an adequate way to represent the opinions of a public,” says James Fishkin, a political scientist at Stanford who’s known for developing a process he calls deliberative polling, in which a representative sample of a population’s residents are brought together for a weekend, paid about $300 each for their participation, and asked to deliberate in small groups. Other methods, used in some European governments, use jury-style groups of residents to make public policy decisions.

DNA repair insights could pave way for new cancer therapies– www.futurity.org

pgnewser April 15, 2025 0

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Researchers have unraveled the complex network that cells use to repair their genetic material.

By examining thousands upon thousands of genetic interactions, the team has discovered new vulnerabilities in cancer cells that could be exploited therapeutically in the future.

The DNA of human cells consists of a sequence of about 3.1 billion building blocks. Cells go to great lengths to maintain the integrity of this vast store of information. They constantly untangle knots in the DNA strand and create new chemical bonds when a strand of DNA breaks somewhere in the nucleus.

“When people read about repairing genetic material, they often think of it being in response to exposure to toxins or radiation,” says Jacob Corn, professor of genome biology at ETH Zurich.

However, repair mechanisms not only defend against external threats; they also play a crucial role in helping cells survive the challenges they face in their daily fight for survival.

 

 

‘Super’ AI uses less power by mimicking the human brain– www.futurity.org

pgnewser April 4, 2025 0

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A new approach to AI’s “thinking” mimics the human brain and has the potential to revolutionize the AI industry.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can perform complex calculations and analyze data faster than any human, but to do so requires enormous amounts of energy. The human brain is also an incredibly powerful computer, yet it consumes very little energy.

Suin Yi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering, is on a team of researchers that developed “Super-Turing AI,” which operates more like the human brain.

This new AI integrates certain processes instead of separating them and then migrating huge amounts of data like current systems do.

The “Turing” in the system’s name refers to AI pioneer Alan Turing, whose theoretical work during the mid-20th century has become the backbone of computing, AI, and cryptography. Today, the highest honor in computer sciences is called the Turing Award.

The findings appear in Science Advances.

 

 

3-D Printed skin to replace animal testing– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser April 4, 2025 0

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A research team from TU Graz and the Vellore Institute of Technology in India is developing a 3D-printed skin imitation equipped with living cells in order to test nanoparticles from cosmetics without animal testing.

Directive 2010/63/EU laid down restrictions on animal testing for the testing of cosmetics and their ingredients throughout the EU. Therefore, there is an intense search for alternatives to test the absorption and toxicity of nanoparticles from cosmetics such as sun creams. A team of researchers from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in India is working on the development of skin imitations that mimic the native three-layer tissue structure and biomechanics of human skin. Such imitations can be produced using 3D printing and consist of hydrogel formulations that are printed together with living cells.

Hydrogels in which skin cells survive and grow

“The hydrogels for our skin imitation from the 3D printer have to fulfil a number of requirements,” says Karin Stana Kleinschek from the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Biobased Systems. “The hydrogels must be able to interact with living skin cells. These cells not only have to survive, but also have to be able to grow and multiply.” The starting point for stable and 3D-printable structures are hydrogel formulations developed at TU Graz. Hydrogels are characterised by their high-water content, which creates ideal conditions for the integration and growth of cells. However, the high-water content also requires methods for mechanical and chemical stabilisation of the 3D prints.

Scientists Cracked the Code to Capturing Ultrafast Electron Motion in Real Time – SciTechDaily

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

Scientists Cracked the Code to Capturing Ultrafast Electron Motion in Real Time – SciTechDaily
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Researchers have simplified a highly complex quantum imaging technique, 2DES, used to observe ultrafast electron interactions.

By refining an existing interferometer design, they improved control over laser pulses, unlocking new capabilities for studying energy transfer in materials.

Unveiling the Ultrafast World of Electrons

The ultrafast movements and interactions of electrons in molecules and solids have long been difficult to observe directly. In recent years, scientists have developed methods to study these quantum processes, such as chemical reactions, solar energy conversion, and quantum computing operations, in real-time with extreme precision.

One of the most advanced techniques for this is two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES), which can track electron dynamics with a resolution of just a few femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second). However, 2DES is highly complex and has only been used by a few research teams worldwide.

Spooky Action Could Bring Quantum Computers to Life

pgnewser March 11, 2025 0

Scientists discover simpler way to achieve Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’ thanks to AI breakthrough — bringing quantum internet closer to reality– www.space.com
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Scientists have used AI to discover an easier method to form quantum entanglement between subatomic particles, paving the way for simpler quantum technologies.

When particles such as photons become entangled, they can share quantum properties — including information — regardless of the distance between them. This phenomenon is important in quantum physics and is one of the features that makes quantum computers so powerful.

But the bonds of quantum entanglement have typically proven challenging for scientists to form. This is because it requires the preparation of two separate entangled pairs, then measuring the strength of entanglement — called a Bell-state measurement — on a photon from each of the pairs.

These measurements cause the quantum system to collapse and leave the two unmeasured photons entangled, despite them never having directly interacted with one another. This process of “entanglement swapping” could be used for quantum teleportation.

Printed nanoparticle sensors could enable personalised healthcare – Professional Engineering

pgnewser February 4, 2025 0

Printed nanoparticle sensors could enable personalised healthcare – Professional Engineering
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Personalised healthcare could transform medicine. By tracking and measuring patients’ conditions, doctors could deliver the precise combination of nutrients and medications they need, stabilising and improving conditions.

To make that possible, healthcare professionals need a way to continuously monitor certain biomarkers. Wearable and implantable sensors offer a way to do that – but until now, scaling up production has been a challenge.

A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology hope to change that with a new technique for inkjet printing arrays of special nanoparticles, which could be used in mass production of long-lasting wearable sweat sensors. These could monitor biomarkers such as vitamins, hormones and medications in real time, allowing patients and physicians to track changes.

Wearable biosensors that incorporate the new nanoparticles have already been used to monitor metabolites in patients suffering from long Covid, and the levels of chemotherapy drugs in cancer patients.

“These are just two examples of what is possible,” said Professor Wei Gao, corresponding author of a paper describing the new technique. “There are many chronic conditions… that these sensors now give us the possibility to monitor continuously and non-invasively.”

Scientists identify neurons in mice that, once activated, can change body’s metabolic rate, induce hibernation-like state– www.sciencedaily.com

pgnewser January 27, 2025 0

Scientists identify neurons in mice that, once activated, can change body’s metabolic rate, induce hibernation-like state– www.sciencedaily.com
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A team led by researchers at Georgia State University has identified a novel group of neurons controlling the brain-heart-gut axis which can be activated to induce a hypometabolic state that resembles hibernation. The discovery could have wide-ranging impacts for scientific fields ranging from obesity to cardiometabolic health, and even space travel.

The new study is published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Lead author Eric Krause is a professor of neuroscience, a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Distinguished Investigator at Georgia State University and a core member of the Center for Neuroinflammation and Cardiometabolic Disease (CNCD). Krause worked with researchers from the University of Florida and the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

“We identified this population of neurons located near the base of the skull that relay the sensation of mechanical stretch exerted on the gut and heart to the brain. When these neurons are activated, they seem to recreate the sensation of feeling full or having increased blood pressure,” Krause said. “We found that activating these neurons suppresses eating and lowers blood pressure, heart rate and whole-body metabolism.”

During the research, the team discovered that simultaneous, recurrent firing of these neurons in mice produces a torpor-like state, similar to that of animals in hibernation, characterized by reductions in cardiac output, body temperature and energy expenditure.

“We found that repeated excitation of the neurons decreased body mass and produced a hypometabolic state without inducing anxiety-like behaviors that are often observed with chronic stress,” Krause said. “This is changing what we know about body-to-brain communication and how profoundly it affects physiology and behavior.”