There’s No Turning Back
Not long ago, solving the crystal structure of a protein required an entire PhD.
Growing crystals, collecting X-ray diffraction data, and interpreting electron density maps often took years of optimization and expensive instruments. Even then, solving all protein structures was a challenge, further compounding the “protein folding problem” in biology.
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Blog post with audio player, show notes, and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/12/09/298-…the-brain/
The number of neurons in the human brain is comparable to the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Unlike the stars, however, in the case of neurons the real action is in how they are directly connected to each other: receiving signals over synapses via their dendrites, and when appropriately triggered, sending signals down the axon to other neurons (glossing over some complications). So a major step in understanding the brain is to map its wiring diagram, or connectome: the complete map of those connections. For a human brain that’s an intimidatingly complex challenge, but important advances have been made on tinier brains. We talk with Jeff Lichtman, a leader in brain mapping, to gauge the current state of progress and what it implies.
Jeff Lichtman received an MD/PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently the Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Santiago Ramón y Cajal Professor of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He is co-inventor of the Brainbow system for imaging neurons. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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This tech offers smarter decision-making and regional analysis.
Spaid’s AI-based mapping solutions transform GIS data into detailed 3D maps with land, building, traffic, and demographic insights.
New analysis supports Einstein’s relativity and narrows neutrino mass ranges, hinting at evolving dark energy.
Gravity, the fundamental force sculpting the universe, has shaped tiny variations in matter from the early cosmos into the vast networks of galaxies we see today. Using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), scientists have traced the evolution of these cosmic structures over the past 11 billion years. This research represents the most precise large-scale test of gravity ever conducted, offering unprecedented insights into the universe’s formation and behavior.
Introduction to DESI and its global impact.
That ordinary smartphone in your pocket could be a powerful tool for investigating outer space. In a new study, researchers at Google and CU Boulder have transformed millions of Android phones across the globe into a fleet of nimble scientific instruments—generating one of the most detailed maps to date of the uppermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
The group’s findings, published Nov. 13 in the journal Nature, might help to improve the accuracy of GPS technology worldwide several-fold. The research was led by Brian Williams of Google Research and included Jade Morton, professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder.
“These phones can literally fit in your palm,” Morton said. “But through crowdsourcing, we can use them to change the way we understand the space environment.”
A new way of mapping activity and connections between different regions of the brain has revealed fresh insights into how higher order functions like language, thought and attention, are organized.
Traditional models of human brain activity represent interactions in pairs between two different brain regions. This is because modeling methods have not developed sufficiently to describe more complex interactions between multiple regions.
A new approach, developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham is capable of taking signals measured through neuroimaging, and creating accurate models from these to show how different brain regions are contributing to specific functions and behaviors. The results are published in Nature Communications.
Astronomers have unveiled the most detailed map of the gravitational wave background to date, using pulsar timing arrays and the extraordinary sensitivity of the MeerKAT radio telescope. In my new co-author paper, we find potential tantalising hints of a “hot spot” in the gravitational wave map.
To demonstrate the capabilities of their diamond storage system, the researchers encoded a famous sequence of photographs by Eadweard Muybridge.
“The team then stored images by mapping the brightness of each pixel to the brightness levels of specific sites inside the diamond,” New Scientist reported.
Interestingly, the system achieved a remarkable level of accuracy and completeness, successfully storing and retrieving the images with 99%.
Nuclear microreactors in remote areas require robust monitoring for safe operation.
A team of researchers at the University of Michigan has developed a groundbreaking real-time, 3D temperature mapping system for nuclear microreactors.
This innovation promises to enhance safety monitoring and pave the way for wider adoption of these compact power sources.
Kuhn’s taxonomy of consciousness connects various theories to deep questions about human existence and AI, based on his extensive dialogue with over 200 experts.
“Out of meat, how do you get thought? That’s the grandest question,” said philosopher Patricia Churchland to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, the producer and host of the acclaimed PBS program Closer to Truth and member of FQxI’s scientific advisory council.
Kuhn has now published a comprehensive taxonomy of proposed solutions and theories regarding the hard problem of consciousness. His organizing framework aims to assess their impact on meaning, purpose, and value, as well as on AI consciousness, virtual immortality, survival beyond death, and free will. His work, titled ‘Landscape of Consciousness,’ appeared in the August 2024 issue of the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology.
