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Join me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/TheScienceFoundation/277697568961708Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written…

New research into dark matter suggests it might have originated from a “Dark Big Bang,” distinct from the traditional Big Bang.

This theory, which posits a separate cosmic event as the source of dark matter, could change how we understand the universe’s early moments. Upcoming gravitational wave detection experiments could provide critical evidence to support this theory.

Alternative theory of dark matter genesis.

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AI spend in 2024 has gone from $2.3B to $13.8B, a 6x increase.

The enterprise AI landscape is being rewritten in real time. We surveyed 600 enterprise IT decision-makers to reveal the emerging winners and losers.

Puget Sound Energy warned that the magnitude of the storm and the damages could mean that some people will go without power for multiple days. They “encourage customers to make alternate plans as we work to assess the situation and restore power.” The company said the biggest impact is in King County.

Severe winds from this evening’s bomb cyclone ripped through western Washington, causing a mass outage event throughout most of our service area, with the biggest impact in King County. #WAwx (1÷7) pic.twitter.com/NMeoDSkexY — Puget Sound Energy (@PSETalk) November 20, 2024

PSE reported “extensive numbers” of downed power lines and reminded customers to never touch or go within 30 feet of a downed line, because they may still be energized. Field crews are also navigating downed trees, which is restricting their access to some areas.

All pertinent conditions and requirements of the prior approval have been met.

Finastra, a global leader in financial technology that serves 45 of the world’s top 50 banks, has confirmed a major data breach impacting its internal file transfer system. The London-based firm, which facilitates vital banking and wire transfers for over 8,100 financial institutions worldwide, detected the breach on Nov. 7.

The breach targeted Finastra’s internally hosted Secure File Transfer Platform, or SFTP, which was exploited using stolen credentials—essentially, a username and password. The attacker claims to have leveraged IBM Aspera, a high-speed file transfer tool to exfiltrate data from Finastra’s systems.

The cybercriminal, known by the alias “abyss0,” first advertised the stolen data for sale on BreachForums, a notorious online marketplace for cybercrime, on October 31. Initially priced at $20,000, the data’s asking price was later halved to $10,000. After gaining attention, “abyss0” disappeared, erasing their presence on both BreachForums and Telegram. This sudden retreat suggests they either secured a buyer or sought to avoid further scrutiny.

Genes aren’t the sole driver instructing cells to build multicellular structures, tissues, and organs. In a paper published in Nature Communications, USC Stem Cell scientist Leonardo Morsut and Caltech computational biologist Matt Thomson characterize the influence of another important developmental driver: cell density, or how loosely or tightly cells are packed into a given space.

In both computational models and laboratory experiments, the team of scientists used cell density as an effective tool for controlling how mouse cells pattern themselves into complex structures.

“This paper represents progress towards our big picture goal of engineering synthetic tissues,” said Morsut, an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and biomedical engineering at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Summary: The Human Cell Atlas (HCA) consortium has published over 40 studies revealing groundbreaking insights into human biology through large-scale mapping of cells. These studies cover diverse areas such as brain development, gut inflammation, and COVID-19 lung responses, while also showcasing the power of AI in understanding cellular mechanisms.

By profiling over 100 million cells from 10,000 individuals, HCA is building a “Google Maps” for cell biology to transform diagnostics, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine. The initiative emphasizes diversity, including underrepresented populations, to ensure a globally inclusive understanding of health and disease.

Summary: Autism-linked SHANK3 gene mutations disrupt not only neurons but also oligodendrocytes, essential for producing myelin, which insulates nerve fibers. This damage reduces brain signal efficiency and impairs behavior.

Using gene therapy, researchers successfully repaired these cells in a mouse model, restoring their function and myelin production. They validated their findings with human-derived stem cells, confirming similar impairments and repair mechanisms.

This discovery highlights a significant role for oligodendrocytes in autism and opens the door for innovative treatments targeting myelin dysfunction. The study underscores both the biological complexity of autism and the promise of genetic therapies for intervention.