Research group finds way to turn plastic waste products into jet fuel

A research group led by Washington State University scientists has found a way to turn daily plastic waste products into jet fuel.

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Cracking open the black box of automated machine learning

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed an interactive tool that, for the first time, lets users see and control how automated machine-learning systems work. The aim is to build confidence in these systems and find ways to improve them.

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An AI taught itself to play a video game and now it's beating humans

Since the earliest days of virtual chess and solitaire, video games have been a playing field for developing artificial intelligence (AI). Each victory of machine against human has helped make algorithms smarter and more efficient. But in order to tackle real world problems—such as automating complex tasks including driving and negotiation—these algorithms must navigate more complex environments than board games, and learn teamwork. Teaching AI how to work and interact with other players to succeed had been an insurmountable task—until now.

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To tackle child labor, start with consumers

Consumer education campaigns that raise awareness about the use of child labour in global supply chains can be an effective countermeasure against the practice, according to new research published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.

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'Organs in a dish' pave the way for personalized medicine in gut and liver disease

One of the most exciting advancements in stem cell research has been the development of organoid systems, which are organ-like three-dimensional structures that mimic their corresponding organ in vivo. In this important review in Digestive and Liver Disease, published by Elsevier, scientists highlight some of the established and exciting novel uses for organoids or "organs in a dish" in gastroenterology and hepatology and look towards the future in this exciting field.

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K-Athena: a performance portable magnetohydrodynamics code

Running large-scale simulations is a crucial aspect of modern scientific research, yet it often requires a vast amount of computational resources. As we approach the era of exascale computing, which will be marked by the introduction of highly performing supercomputers, researchers have been trying to develop new architectures and codes to meet the huge computational requirements of our times. An important property to consider when developing codes for the exascale computing era is performance portability, which prevents the repeated, non-trivial refactoring of a code for different architectures.

* This article was originally published here

New TAILORx data guides adjuvant therapy in younger breast cancer patients

New information about adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence of breast cancer in women 50 years of age or younger, or premenopausal, emerged today from the landmark Trial Assigning IndividuaLized Options for Treatment (Rx), or TAILORx. An analysis of a pre-specified secondary endpoint in this largest-ever breast cancer treatment trial found that an assessment of a woman's recurrence risk based on classic clinical features—tumor size and histologic grade, adds prognostic information that is complementary to the 21-gene Recurrence Score (RS) test. Integration of the RS with clinical risk may help identify more young women who may be spared chemotherapy than originally reported. It may also help identify young women who stand to benefit from more effective anti-estrogen therapy. The analysis was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2019 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

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A prosthetic foot that tackles tough terrain

Taking on a hiking trail or a cobblestone street with a prosthetic leg is a risky proposition—it's possible, but even in relatively easy terrain, people who use prostheses to walk are more likely to fall than others. Now, Stanford University mechanical engineers have developed a more stable prosthetic leg—and a better way of designing them—that could make challenging terrain more manageable for people who have lost a lower leg.

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Hormone produced during pregnancy repurposed to treat painful joint condition

Beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy, the body begins to produce the hormone relaxin, which loosens the expectant mother's muscles, joints and ligaments to help her body accommodate a growing baby and prepare for birth. When Edward Rodriguez, MD, Ph.D., Chief of Orthopedic Trauma in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIMDC) observed that patients with a common and painful joint condition called arthrofibrosis experienced long-lasting relief during and after pregnancy, he reached out to his colleagues in the lab to confirm his suspicion that relaxin could explain the phenomenon.

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Heat, not drought, will drive lower crop yields, researchers say

Climate change-induced heat stress will play a larger role than drought stress in reducing the yields of several major U.S. crops later this century, according to Cornell University researchers who weighed in on a high-stakes debate between crop experts and scientists.

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With summer vacation here, how much screen time is too much?

Dazzling graphics, engaging applications and a dizzying array of beeps, pings and rings make smartphones and other portable gadgets hard to resist. With summer vacation starting for millions of American children, many parents are asking: How much screen time is too much?

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Phosphorylation of Regnase-1 lets IL-17 run amok

When considering the role of the key immune molecule interleukin (IL)-17, the phrase "too much of a good thing" springs to mind. Because unlike some of its more sedate cytokine cousins which studiously direct the immune response to destroy invading pathogens, IL-17 can get a little carried away. So much so that excess inflammation caused by IL-17 has been implicated in autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis.

* This article was originally published here