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Category: biotech/medical – Page 179

Quantum Computer Performs 2.6 Billion Years of Computation In Only 4 Minutes

Four minutes. Imagine what you can accomplish in four minutes. Make coffee? Read half an article? Send a few text messages?

For most of us, four minutes pass in a heartbeat. Yet during those same four minutes, a quantum computer recently performed calculations that would have kept a conventional supercomputer busy for 2.6 billion years.

Scientists achieved something magical—compressing billions of years of computation into minutes. Such power shifts our understanding of what’s possible. Quantum computing won’t just change how we process information; it will transform medicine, climate science, materials design, and countless other fields we rely on daily.

Scientists are developing a groundbreaking method to eliminate potentially fatal diseases: ‘This is what science is’

Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

First appeared on The Cool Down.

Ingredient Found in All Mushrooms Can Reprogram Immune Cells to Fight Deadly Flu Infections

A component found in all fungi may provide a shield that prevents flu-related lung damage, according to a new Canadian study.

The preclinical trial uncovered how beta-glucan—which is found in all mushrooms, and also yeast, oats, and barley—can ‘reprogram’ immune cells to prevent lung inflammation.

A team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, demonstrated that administering the compound to mice before their exposure to influenza, reduced lung damage, improve lung function and lowered the risk of illness and death.

Low-Power Brain Chip Predicts Users’ Intentions

Despite its success, FNP has some limitations: it can’t create stable particles larger than 400 nm, the maximum drug content is about 70 percent, the output is low, and it can only work with very hydrophobic (water-repelling) molecules. These issues arise because the particle core formation and particle stabilization happen simultaneously in FNP. The new SNaP process overcomes these limitations by separating the core formation and stabilization steps.

In the SNaP process, there are two mixing steps. First, the core components are mixed with water to start forming the particle core. Then, a stabilizing agent is added to stop the core growth and stabilize the particles. This second step must happen quickly, less than a few milliseconds after the first step, to control the particle size and prevent aggregation. Current SNaP setups connect two specialized mixers in series, controlling the delay time between steps. However, these setups face challenges, including high costs and difficulties in achieving short delay times needed for small particle formation.

A new approach using 3D printing has solved many of these challenges. Advances in 3D printing technology now allow the creation of precise, narrow channels needed for these mixers. The new design eliminates the need for external tubing between steps, allowing for shorter delay times and preventing leaks. The innovative stacked mixer design combines two mixers into a single setup, making the process more efficient and user-friendly.

Inside the world of humanoid robots in Shanghai, China

Shanghai’s robotics revolution is here! At a cutting-edge startup, humanoid robots are being trained to navigate the real world-learning tasks from sorting objects to taking coffee. But how does Al collect and refine the data that powers these machines? We got access to a 2,000-square-meter data factory, where robots are trained through motion capture, human guidance, and real-world simulations. With China’s tech and supply chain advantages, could these humanoids become part of our daily lives sooner than we think? #HumanoidRobots #Al #FutureTech.
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Medical infusion bags can release microplastics, study shows

Microplastics have been found almost everywhere that scientists have looked for them. Now, according to research published in Environment & Health, these bits of plastic—from 1 to 62 micrometers long—are present in the filtered solutions used for medical intravenous (IV) infusions. The researchers estimate that thousands of plastic particles could be delivered directly to a person’s bloodstream from a single 8.4-ounce (250-milliliter) bag of infusion fluid.

In clinical settings, IV infusions are packaged in individual plastic pouches and deliver water, electrolytes, nutrients or medicine to patients. The base of these infusions is a that contains filtered water and enough salt to match the content of human blood. Research from the 1970s suggests IV fluid bags can contain solid particles, but few scientists have followed up on what those particles are made of.

Researchers Liwu Zhang, Ventsislav Kolev Valev and colleagues suspected that these particles could be microplastics that—upon —would enter the recipient’s bloodstream and potentially cause . So, they set out to analyze the types and amounts of particles in commercial IV fluid bags.

Scientists Discover a Trait in Speech That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline

Can you pass me the whatchamacallit? It’s right over there next to the thingamajig.

Many of us will experience “lethologica”, or difficulty finding words, in everyday life. And it usually becomes more prominent with age.

Frequent difficulty finding the right word can signal changes in the brain consistent with the early (“preclinical”) stages of Alzheimer’s disease – before more obvious symptoms emerge.

Hope for life-changing brain tech comes with a chilling caveat

Mind Control: Past and Future https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2025-01/24_Meier_02.pdf

On Jan. 28, 2024, Noland Arbaugh became the first person to receive a brain chip implant from Neuralink, the neurotechnology company owned by Elon Musk. The implant seemed to work: Arbaugh, who is paralyzed, learned to control a computer mouse with his mind and even to play online chess.

The device is part of a class of therapeutics, (BCIs), that show promise for helping people with disabilities control prosthetic limbs, operate a computer, or translate their thoughts directly into speech. Current use of the technology is limited, but with millions of global cases of spinal cord injuries, strokes, and other conditions, some estimates put the market for BCIs at around $400 billion in the U.S. alone.

A new discussion paper from the Carr Center for Human Rights welcomes the potential benefits but offers a note of caution drawn from the past, detailing unsettling parallels between an era of new therapies and one of America’s darkest chapters: experiments into psychological manipulation and mind control.

Mapping DNA’s hidden switches: A methylation atlas

A new study has been published in Nature Communications, presenting the first comprehensive atlas of allele-specific DNA methylation across 39 primary human cell types. The study was led by Ph.D. student Jonathan Rosenski under the guidance of Prof. Tommy Kaplan from the School of Computer Science and Engineering and Prof. Yuval Dor from the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center.

Using machine learning algorithms and deep whole-genome bisulfite sequencing on freshly isolated and purified cell populations, the study unveils a detailed landscape of genetic and epigenetic regulation that could reshape our understanding of gene expression and disease.

A key focus of the research is the success in identifying differences between the two alleles and, in some cases, demonstrating that these differences result from —meaning that it is not the sequence (genetics) that matters, but rather whether the allele is inherited from the mother or the father. These findings could reshape our understanding of gene expression and disease.