Toggle light / dark theme

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

AI tool debuts with better genomic predictions and explanations

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. In biology, AI tools called deep neural networks (DNNs) have proven invaluable for predicting the results of genomic experiments. Their usefulness has these tools poised to set the stage for efficient, AI-guided research and potentially lifesaving discoveries—if scientists can work out the kinks. The findings are published in the journal npj Artificial Intelligence.

“Right now, there are a lot of different AI tools where you’ll give an input, and they’ll give an output, but we don’t have a good way of assessing the certainty, or how confident they are, in their answers,” explains Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Associate Professor Peter Koo. “They all come out in the same format, whether you’re using a large language model or DNNs used in genomics and other fields of biology.”

It’s one of the greatest challenges today’s researchers face. Now, Koo, former CSHL postdoc Jessica Zhou, and graduate student Kaeli Rizzo have devised a potential solution—DEGU (Distilling Ensembles for Genomic Uncertainty-aware models). DNNs trained using DEGU are more efficient and more accurate in their predictions than those learning via standard methods.

HD 137010 b: Earth-Sized Exoplanet Could Be Icy and Cold

Astronomers have found an Earth-sized exoplanet, HD 137,010 b, orbiting a nearby Sun-like star but likely far too cold to be habitable.


How any Earth-sized exoplanets exist, and how do we find them? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as a team of scientists announced the discovery of an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting a K-dwarf star, the latter of which is smaller and cooler than our Sun. This discovery has the potential to help scientists not only better understand the formation and evolution of Earth-like worlds, but also the methods used to find them.

For the discovery, the researchers analyzed data obtained from the NASA Kepler K2 mission about HD 137,010 b, which is located approximately 146 light-years from Earth. While the data was collected in 2017 using the transit method, which is when astronomers observe a dip in starlight as the planet crosses in front of its star, astronomers only recently were able to analyze the data to confirm this dip in starlight was an exoplanet. Despite the transit only lasting 10 hours, the astronomers estimate this means HD 137,010 b has an approximate orbital period of 355 days and an approximate radius of 1.06 Earths.

Space Station Microbes Harvest Metals from Meteorites

Most microbes aboard the International Space Station can extract valuable metals like palladium from meteorite material in microgravity, showing potential for sustainable space resource mining.


How can microbes be used to help enhance human space exploration, specifically on the Moon and Mars? This is what a recent study published in npj Microgravity hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated how microbes could be used to harvest essential minerals from rocks that could be used to enhance sustainability efforts on long-term human missions to the Moon and Mars. This study has the potential to help scientists develop new methods for improving human spaceflight, which could substantially alleviate the need for relying on Earth for supplies.

For the study, the researchers sent meteorite and microorganism samples to the International Space Station (ISS) where astronauts conducted a series of experiments to ascertain how microorganisms could harvest essential minerals, specifically platinum and palladium, from the meteorite samples. Concurrently, the researchers also conducted the same experiments on Earth to compare the results under microgravity and terrestrial environments.

The goal of the study was to ascertain whether microorganisms could be used on future long-term space missions to harvest precious metals for construction of space habitats. In the end, the researchers and astronauts found that the microorganisms not only successfully extracted metals like palladium and platinum but also had minimal fungal residues typically that results from such processes. This lack of fungal residue was found to be more prevalent under microgravity conditions.

SEEDANCE 2.0 : The Most Insane AI Fight You’ve Ever Seen!

# Hollywood is cooked!


Seedance 2.0 just changed the AI video generation game forever. Forget everything you know about Sora or Veo. In this 16-minute cinematic masterclass, we push this AI model to its absolute limits to create the ultimate visual crossover. From hyper-realistic magic clashes inspired by the Marvel universe, to epic sci-fi battles worthy of Star Wars, and mind-blowing Pokémon realistic adaptations, the visual quality is simply unmatched.

Is Sora officially over? Watch this full showcase to see the insane capabilities, volumetric lighting, and face consistency that Seedance 2.0 can generate.

Don’t forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to support the channel and never miss the latest AI tech news! Tell me in the comments which fight scene blew your mind the most. 👇

🇫🇷 FR : Seedance 2.0 vient de détruire la concurrence. Dans cette masterclass de 15 minutes, découvrez les combats générés par IA les plus épiques jamais créés. Des affrontements magiques intenses aux batailles spatiales, en passant par des créatures hyper-réalistes, la qualité cinématographique de Seedance 2.0 repousse toutes les limites. Pensez à vous abonner pour soutenir la chaîne!

Abstract: A therapeutic target for terminating the long-lived autoimmune response!

Maureen A. Su find the epigenetic regulator UTX complexes with transcription factors TCF1 and STAT3 to promote pathogenicity of long-lived, stem-like progenitor T cells in models of type 1 diabetes (T1D)


1Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.

2Department of Pediatrics and.

3Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Complement Inhibition for Acute Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder AttacksInsights From an International Case Series

These findings underscore the potential role of complement inhibition as a treatment option for acute NMOSD attacks, particularly in patients with insufficient response to standard therapies.


Background and Objectives.

Profile of a pimple

Sunny Y. Wong & team characterize gene expression changes that occur during acne pathogenesis and identify a therapeutic that reduces acne-like pustule formation in a mouse model of high fat diet-induced folliculitis:

The image shows prominent neutrophilic pustules from ear skin of the mouse model, stained for the neutrophil marker Ly6G (green) and KRT14 (red).


Address correspondence to: Sunny Y. Wong or Joseph S. Durgin, Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan, 1,500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48,109, USA. Email: sunnyw@umich.edu (SYW); durginj@med.umich.edu (JSD).

Norepinephrine acts through radial astrocytes in the developing optic tectum to enhance threat detection and escape behavior

Benfey et al. find that norepinephrine shifts the visual response selectivity of optic tectal neurons in the Xenopus tadpole to favor threatening loom stimuli over more neutral, randomly drifting dots. Mechanistically, norepinephrine induces radial astrocyte activation and glial release of ATP/adenosine, resulting in reduced excitatory neurotransmission and selectivity shift.

/* */