Science

The makers of an AI model called Foresight say it could help predict disease or hospitalisation rates, but others have expressed concern about the fact it is trained on millions of health records

This is about it for photos, folks, so please send in your wildlife photos (and remember, “wildlife” is construed broadly).

Today we have some plant photos by Rik Gern of Austin Texas. The subject is (my title) “Ten ways of looking at a plant.” Rik’s notes are indented and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.

It appears that my current mission is to glorify the common weed, something that was never my intention, but just seemed to happen, probably because I’ve been too lazy to venture much beyond my own yard to take pictures.

The subject of this batch of photos is field madder (Sherardia arvensis). Apparently field madder is an introduced species, but that’s news to me; it just showed up in the yard without a formal introduction, or even so much as a howdy-do and made itself at home. No matter; it doesn’t bother anybody, and my yard is a melting pot, so immigrant species are welcome, especially the flowering kinds that attract bees or butterflies and contribute to the general well being.

The flowers on this plant are really tiny, but their bright pink color really makes them pop out against the green background. While in bloom the plant feels supple and strong, but once it’s out of season it turns brown and crumbles to the touch, so it’s not a great ground cover, but makes for a pretty seasonal visitor, as you can see.

Organ transplant is a potentially lifesaving medical intervention, but there is a critical lack of donor organs. Even in a wealthy country like the US, there are about 100,000 people on the waiting list for an organ transplant, but only about 23 thousand organs become available each year. About 6 thousand people die each year while on the waiting list. For this […]

The post Pig Heart Xenografts for Infants first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

A UK parliamentary committee has greenlit gene-edited plants. This is great news, as it will boost food production and reduce waste, says Michael Le Page

What new technologies or methods can be developed for more efficient in-situ planetary subsurface analyses? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how a novel instrument called OptiDrill could fill existing technological voids regarding the sampling and collection of regolith (top dust layer) and subsurface samples on a myriad of planetary bodies throughout the solar system.

A research team has developed a groundbreaking technology poised to revolutionize next-generation displays and electronic devices.

A research team has developed a groundbreaking technology poised to revolutionize next-generation displays and electronic devices.

The mathematics of graphs has helped reveal a principle that limits the strength of quantum correlations – and explains why physicists have never measured any stronger connections in some post-quantum realm

To understand how chaotic the early Solar System was, we need only gaze at the Moon. Its cratered surface bears the scars from multitudes of collisions. The early Solar System was like a debris field where objects smashed into each other in cascades of collisions. The same must be true in all young solar systems, and in a new paper, researchers simulated a collision between two massive planets to see what would happen.

A new study suggests the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to rapidly analyze vast amounts of biodiversity data could revolutionize conservation efforts by enabling scientists and policymakers to make better-informed decisions.

A new discovery about the slime ejected by velvet worms could revolutionize sustainable material design. The findings outline how a naturally occurring protein structure, conserved across species from Australia, Singapore and Barbados over nearly 400 million years of evolution, enables the slime's transformation from liquid to fiber and back again. It's a discovery that could inspire next-generation recyclable bioplastics.

A team of researchers has developed a cost-effective, high-throughput technology for detecting nanoplastics and microplastics in the environment. These particles are pervasive, posing health and environmental risks, yet detecting them at the nanoscale has been difficult. The 3D-printed HoLDI-MS test platform overcomes the limitations of traditional mass spectrometry by enabling direct analysis of samples without requiring complex sample preparation. The researchers say it also will work for detection of waterborne plastic particles. HoLDI-MS stands for hollow-laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Electronic devices rely on materials whose electrical properties change with temperature, making them less stable in extreme conditions. A discovery that challenges conventional wisdom in physics suggests that bismuth, a metal, could serve as the foundation for highly stable electronic components. The researchers observed a mysterious electrical effect in ultra-thin bismuth that remains unchanged across a wide temperature range, from near absolute zero (-273 C) to room temperature.

Electronic devices rely on materials whose electrical properties change with temperature, making them less stable in extreme conditions. A discovery that challenges conventional wisdom in physics suggests that bismuth, a metal, could serve as the foundation for highly stable electronic components. The researchers observed a mysterious electrical effect in ultra-thin bismuth that remains unchanged across a wide temperature range, from near absolute zero (-273 C) to room temperature.

The substances behind the slimy strings from okra and the gel from fenugreek seeds could trap microplastics better than a commonly used synthetic polymer. Previously, researchers proposed using these sticky natural polymers to clean up water. Now, they report that okra and/or fenugreek extracts attracted and removed up to 90% of microplastics in ocean water, freshwater and groundwater.

While service robots with male characteristics can be more persuasive when interacting with some women who have a low sense of decision-making power, 'cute' design features -- such as big eyes and raised cheeks -- affect both men and women similarly, according to new research.

While service robots with male characteristics can be more persuasive when interacting with some women who have a low sense of decision-making power, 'cute' design features -- such as big eyes and raised cheeks -- affect both men and women similarly, according to new research.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Could Study Dying Planets

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Could Study Dying Planets

When astronomers want to understand brown dwarfs, they often turn to WISE 1049AB. It's a benchmark brown dwarf in astronomy, and the closest and brightest brown dwarf we know of. The binary pair, which is also known as Luhman 16, is about 6.5 light-years away. Brown dwarfs are a crucial bridge between planets and stars, and understanding them helps astronomers understand the dynamics of both exoplanets and stars.