Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection causes varicella and herpes zoster and, rarely, severe central nervous system (CNS) complications, including encephalitis. Ogunjimi et al. review the evidence linking herpes zoster with stroke and dementia, summarize innate and adaptive immune responses to VZV-related CNS disease, and debate the consequences of vaccination.
Understanding consciousness is the ultimate prize for creators of artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, consciousness theory will also shape how we view ourselves and our place in the world. Although AI systems can mimic human reasoning, they can only regurgitate the input data. They are sophisticated pattern recognizers and content remixers, but cannot step beyond the limitations of the input. Understanding consciousness would enable us to transition from synthetic to synthesis, unlocking unlimited potential.
Computer scientists hope that recurrent computation will somehow ‘awaken’ code to consciousness. Yet the spectacular achievements of large language and diffusion models have not moved beyond imitation. We train models on the outputs of consciousness—our language, our art, our logic—while remaining entirely ignorant of the process that produces them. An AI can write a gut-wrenching paragraph about sadness by replicating patterns, vocabulary, and syntax. But it knows nothing of grief. It can create a shadow play, yet knows nothing of the object that casts it. This imitation, while impressive, should not be mistaken for a proper understanding of consciousness. No amount of coloring can turn the shadow into a solid object.
To reverse-engineer the mind, we need a blueprint. The pressing need to advance AI is a physicalist theory of consciousness, the architecture of subjective experience itself. The Fermionic Mind Hypothesis (FMH) is such a physicalist framework. It posits that selfhood is structurally and functionally analogous to a fermion in physics. The self’s persistent core operates as an energy-regulating system, maintaining mental equilibrium through continuous thermodynamic cycles. Within this cycle, cognitive processes such as decision-making are wave-particle transitions that capture the inherent nondeterminism and contextual collapse of probabilistic mental states.
Unlike treatments that focus on removing plaques that have already formed, levetiracetam works differently. It blocks the production of toxic amyloid beta peptides in the first place.
In 2021, a technology developed at University of Michigan, called Seq-Scope, revolutionized the ability to map gene activity within intact tissue at microscopic resolution, enabling researchers to measure all expressed mRNA molecules and determine precisely where they are located within the tissue, using an Illumina sequencer machine.
The team behind the Seq-Scope method, led by Jun Hee Lee, Ph.D., has recently taken the technology even further.
Their findings are described in Nature Communications.
Your gut bacteria are chemical detectives—sniffing out nutrients and even feeding each other to keep your microbiome thriving. Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria that constantly “sense” their surroundings to survive and thrive. New research shows that beneficial gut microbes, especially common Clostridia bacteria, can detect a surprisingly wide range of chemical signals produced during digestion, including byproducts of fats, proteins, sugars, and even DNA. These microbes use specialized sensors to move toward valuable nutrients, with lactate and formate standing out as especially important fuel sources.
The gut microbiome, also called the gut flora, plays a vital role in human health. This enormous and constantly changing community of microorganisms is shaped by countless chemical exchanges, both among the microbes themselves and between microbes and the human body. For these interactions to work, gut bacteria must be able to detect nutrients and chemical signals around them. Despite their importance, scientists still know relatively little about the full range of signals that bacterial receptors can recognize.
A key question remains. Which chemical signals matter most to beneficial gut bacteria?
In this video we look into one of the developing areas of computing: wetware. Most specifically neuromorphic computing, a science which uses actual neurons on chips.
We talk to Cortical labs, the company that developed the pong-playing dish brain, and professor Thomas Hartung to understand what the benefits of this technology are.
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(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoetPdW1-xI)
How to Protect Yourself from ‘Idiots’ — Arthur Schopenhauer ## Intelligent people should protect their emotional energy and well-being by being cautious and strategic in their interactions with others, particularly those who are unreasonable, toxic, or manipulative.
## Questions to inspire discussion.
Recognizing Bad-Faith Arguments.
🚩 Q: What are the four red flags that signal someone is arguing in bad faith?
A: Watch for personal attacks on character instead of addressing your actual point, extending and distorting your argument to an absurd extreme, treating epistemic humility as weakness, and unresolved conflicts that shift without resolution—these patterns indicate the goal is asserting dominance, not understanding.
Disengaging from Unproductive Conversations.
Group B streptococcus commonly colonizes the human gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts and is the single most common bacterial cause of invasive infection among newborns in the United States. Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis is currently used to reduce the risk of group B streptococcal disease among pregnant persons and newborns. No strategies are currently available to prevent disease in later infancy or among nonpregnant adults. Vaccines against group B streptococcal disease that consist of capsular polysaccharides linked to protein antigens are in development and may provide a means of prevention for all at-risk populations.
