Science & TechnologyS

Microscope 1

Researchers reveal newfound DNA repair mechanism


NewsHub
Tue, 16 May 2023 00:01 UTC
newfound dna repair mechanism
© Evgeny NudlerThe study enzyme RNAseHII repairs DNA by riding along on the enzyme that reads the genetic code, RNA polymerase, and cutting out (see scissors) misplaced code letters when it โ€œseesโ€ them in bacterial genetic material.
New study helps show how bacterial cells fix faulty DNA sections.

A new study adds to an emerging, radically new picture of how bacterial cells continually repair faulty sections of their DNA.

Published online May 16 in the journal Cell, the report describes the molecular mechanism behind a DNA repair pathway that counters the mistaken inclusion of a certain type of molecular building block, ribonucleotides, into genetic codes. Such mistakes are frequent in code-copying process in bacteria and other organisms.

Comment: See also:

Read More...
HAL9000

OpenAI CEO warns of artificial intelligence's ability to persuade voters: It may 'cause significant harm to the world'

Jarryd Jaeger
The Post Millennial
Tue, 16 May 2023 00:01 UTC
sam altman OpenAI
Sam Altman
On Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared before Congress to address the need for new rules to help guide the development of artificial intelligence as the sector continues to grow exponentially.

He suggested that while he was committed to working with the government to ensure that humans remain in control of the technology, there was a chance that things could get out of control.

As the Daily Mail reports, Altman warned that if left unattended, AI could "go quite wrong," adding that OpenAI sought to "work with the government to prevent that from happening." He admitted that his "worst fear" was that products such as OpenAI's ChatGPT would cause "significant harm to the world."

Comment: See also:

Read More...
Arrow Up

The largest scientific experiment in history was Peer Review itself and it failed

Jo Nova
joannenova.com
Wed, 17 May 2023 03:50 UTC
Graph
© Nature
Peer Review has been a sixty year experiment with no control group

It's touted as the "gold standard" of science, yet the evidence shows Peer Review is an abject failure.

There are 30,000 scientific journals that publish nearly 5 million articles a year, and the only thing we know for sure is that two-thirds of papers with major flaws will still get published, fraud is almost never discovered, and peer review has effectively crushed ground breaking new discoveries.
By Adam Mastroianni, Experimental History

The rise and fall of Peer Review

Why the greatest scientific experiment in history failed, and why that's a great thing

For the last 60 years or so, science has been running an experiment on itself. The experimental design wasn't great; there was no randomization and no control group. Nobody was in charge, exactly, and nobody was really taking consistent measurements. And yet it was the most massive experiment ever run, and it included every scientist on Earth.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, instead it was just rubber stamp to keep the bureaucrats safe. As government funded research took over the world of science after World War II, clueless public servants wanted expert reviewers to make sure they weren't wasting money on something embarrassingly stupid, or fraudulent. They weren't search for the truth, just protecting their own necks.
Read More...
Brain

A rare mutation has helped one man stave off Alzheimer's for decades

Simon Makin
Science News
Mon, 15 May 2023 02:48 UTC
tau proteins brain alzheimer's
© Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Libary/Getty Images PlusAggregations of tau proteins (orange clump in this illustration) are one of the major signs of Alzheimer's disease in the brain.
It's the second such case ever to be reported

A rare genetic mutation never seen before protected a man with an inherited form of Alzheimer's from developing the disease for decades.

He is the second person found to have such protection, following a report in 2019 of a woman with a different mutation (SN: 1/26/20). Both mutations may have staved off the disease for years by acting in similar ways in the brain, an insight that could lead to new treatments for all forms of Alzheimer's, scientists report May 15 in Nature Medicine.

But some researchers are cautious about concluding too much from just two cases. "The results look very promising, but it would be useful to see replication in more samples," says neurologist Rudolph Tanzi of Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the new study. Still, the work is important as "it can serve as a useful guide for drug discovery," he says.

Comment: The tau protein has been the subject of several studies in connection with Alzheimer's:

Read More...
Cassiopaea

Betelgeuse's renewed brightening raises hopes for a supernova spectacle

Meghan Bartels
Scientific American
Mon, 15 May 2023 12:00 UTC
Betelgeuse
© Davide De Martin/ ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2.A telescopic view of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion that will someday explode as a powerful supernova.
Even if you don't know it by name, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is one of the most familiar sights in the heavens above โ€” a gleaming ruddy dot at the shoulder of the constellation Orion. Although already quite difficult to overlook, Betelgeuse has become even more eye-catching across the past few years because of major changes in its appearance โ€” unexpected fluctuations in its brightness that remain poorly understood. In recent weeks, the star has at times shone more than 50 percent brighter than normal, drawing renewed attention from amateur sky watchers and professional astronomers alike. These individuals hopefully await a historic celestial event. Someday, you see, Betelgeuse will explosively end its life in a supernova โ€” and from our planetary perch just 650 light-years away, we Earthlings will have front-row seats to this spectacular cosmic cataclysm.

But does the current bout of brightening presage Betelgeuse blowing its top? And what would such a nearby supernova look like?

Comment: It's understandable that scientists would feel confident with their Betelgeuse forecasts, however there are sufficiently regular discoveries that reveal there are significant gaps, and even errors, in their knowledge, particularly with regards to space, and so, considering Betelgeuse's current unexpected and unpredictable behaviour, we perhaps shouldn't write off a downtick in activity, just yet: And check out SOTT radio's:

Read More...
Attention

Santorini is still an active volcano, scientists remind tourists

Noor Al-Sibai
The Byte
Mon, 15 May 2023 23:10 UTC
Thera Volcano
© Steve Jurvetson, CC BYThe massive eruption of the Thera volcano more than 3,500 years ago left behind a hollowed out island, today known as Santorini.
Known as one of Greece's most famous tourist destination islands, Santorini's unique beauty was, as many know, the result of the eruption of an ancient volcano โ€” one that is still alive to this day, as scientists remind us.

In a CNN profile, scientists studying the volcano noted that although it hasn't erupted for hundreds of years, it is by no means dead.

"If we start seeing increased activity in Kolumbo then we need to be alert," Tim Druitt, volcanologist and expedition co-chief of the deep drilling research vessel JOIDES Resolution, which visited Santorini for the first time late last year, told CNN.

Capable of drilling up to 26,000 feet below the surface of the Aegean Sea, the researchers collected sediments that hadn't yet been uncovered as they attempted to scientifically piece together the region's storied volcanic history.

Comment: Volcanoes might ordinarily give 'plenty of warning', however there is strong evidence showing that there have been periods throughout history where there are sharp upticks in volcanic activity - as appears to be happening in our own time - moreover, mainstream science has yet to identify and understand the triggers, which may be even greater than the volcanoes themselves: Volcanoes, Earthquakes And The 3,600 Year Comet Cycle

See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

Read More...
Info

Astronomers observe the first radiation belt seen outside of our solar system

Tim Stephens
University of California Santa Cruz
Mon, 15 May 2023 23:13 UTC
High-resolution imaging of radio emissions from an ultracool dwarf show a double-lobed structure like the radiation belts of Jupiter.
radiation belt
© Chuck Carter, Melodie Kao, Heising-Simons FoundationArtist's impression of an aurora and the surrounding radiation belt of the ultracool dwarf LSR J1835+3259.
Astronomers have described the first radiation belt observed outside our solar system, using a coordinated array of 39 radio dishes from Hawaii to Germany to obtain high-resolution images. The images of persistent, intense radio emissions from an ultracool dwarf reveal the presence of a cloud of high-energy electrons trapped in the object's powerful magnetic field, forming a double-lobed structure analogous to radio images of Jupiter's radiation belts.

"We are actually imaging the magnetosphere of our target by observing the radio-emitting plasma โ€” its radiation belt โ€” in the magnetosphere. That has never been done before for something the size of a gas giant planet outside of our solar system," said Melodie Kao, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Santa Cruz and first author of a paper on the new findings published May 15 in Nature.

Strong magnetic fields form a "magnetic bubble" around a planet called a magnetosphere, which can trap and accelerate particles to near the speed of light. All the planets in our solar system that have such magnetic fields, including Earth, as well as Jupiter and the other giant planets, have radiation belts consisting of these high-energy charged particles trapped by the planet's magnetic field.
Read More...
Bad Guys

Study finds Bill Gates' lab-grown 'meat' 25 times worse for climate than beef

Frank Bergman
Say News
Wed, 10 May 2023 17:46 UTC
Bill gates synthetic meat lab
The lab-grown "synthetic meat" being pushed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is far worse for the environment than beef, a new study has found.

Bill Gates and his allies in the World Economic Forum (WEF) have been heavily pushing for the public to switch to lab-grown meat by arguing it helps fight "climate change."

In a 2021 interview with MIT Technology Review, Gates argued that "all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef" in an effort to meet the green agenda goals of the WEF.

However, the new study suggests that lab-grown meat's "green" credentials are not what people have been led to believe. Researchers have revealed that lab-grown or "cultured" meat, produced by cultivating animal cells, is up to 25 times worse for the climate than real beef.

Comment: Trying to game Mother Nature never ends well:
fake meat left on empty grocery shelves
© Davey /@baldrowdy/Twitter"No matter how empty the shelves are of real meat people still won't eat the fake cr*p." - January 17, 2022


Read More...
Microscope 1

Researchers discover that T-cells are able to self-activate to fight tumors

Scott LaFee
UC San Diego
Sun, 14 May 2023 16:59 UTC
T cell white blood cell immune response tumors
© NIAIDT cells are a type of white blood cell that play a central role in the immune response
UC San Diego scientists find an auto-signaling mechanism driving the T cell anti-tumor response

When you need a bit of motivation, it often has to come from within. New research suggests cancer-fighting immune cells have found a way to do just that.

Scientists at University of California San Diego have discovered a property of T cells that could inspire new anti-tumor therapeutics. Through a previously undescribed form of cell auto-signaling, T cells were shown to activate themselves in peripheral tissues, fueling their ability to attack tumors.

The study, published May 8, 2023 in Immunity, was led by study first author and postdoctoral fellow Yunlong Zhao, PhD, and co-senior authors Enfu Hui, PhD, professor in the School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego and Jack D. Bui, MD, PhD, professor of pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Read More...
Microscope 2

Babies who have DNA from three different people born in the UK for first time


NBC News
Wed, 10 May 2023 19:19 UTC
IVF invitro fertilization
In 2015, the U.K. became the first country to adopt legislation regulating methods to help prevent women with faulty mitochondria from passing defects on to their babies.

Britain's fertility regulator on Wednesday confirmed the births of the U.K.'s first babies created using an experimental technique combining DNA from three people, an effort to prevent the children from inheriting rare genetic diseases.

The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority said fewer than five babies have been born this way in the U.K. but did not provide further details to protect the families' identities. The news was first reported by the Guardian newspaper.

In 2015, the U.K. became the first country to adopt legislation regulating methods to help prevent women with faulty mitochondria โ€” the energy source in a cell โ€” from passing defects on to their babies. The world's first baby born using the technique was reported in the U.S. in 2016.

Comment: See also: U.K. moves forward with three-parent IVF

Read More...