Thursday 13 June 2019

Mysterious Majorana quasiparticle is now closer to being controlled for quantum computing

As mysterious as the Italian scientist for which it is named, the Majorana particle is one of the most compelling quests in physics.

* This article was originally published here

The whisper of schizophrenia: Machine learning finds 'sound' words predict psychosis

A machine-learning method discovered a hidden clue in people's language predictive of the later emergence of psychosis—the frequent use of words associated with sound. A paper published by the journal npj Schizophrenia published the findings by scientists at Emory University and Harvard University.

* This article was originally published here

The power of a love song: Dopamine affects seasonal hearing in fish and facilitates mating

Many people associate dopamine with reward or attention. Some might think of the part it plays in addiction, or Parkinson's disease, which kills off dopamine-making neurons.

* This article was originally published here

Taking a city's pulse with movable sensors

Suppose you have 10 taxis in Manhattan. What portion of the borough's streets do they cover in a typical day?

* This article was originally published here

Researchers identify hidden brain signals behind working memory

Making a specific type of brain pattern last longer improves short-term memory in rats, a new study finds.

* This article was originally published here

Taking the 'killer' out of natural killer cells

The virus responsible for chickenpox and shingles employs a powerful strategy of immune evasion, inhibiting the ability of natural killer cells to destroy infected cells and produce molecules that help control viral infection, according to a study published June 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Allison Abendroth of the Discipline of Infectious Diseases and Immunology in the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, and colleagues. As the authors noted, future studies that elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms may allow exploitation of this knowledge in therapeutic settings in which aberrant natural killer cell activation can cause immunopathology, such as in certain autoimmune diseases, graft-versus-host-disease, and transplant rejection.

* This article was originally published here

Behind the magic: Making moving photos a reality

People moving in and out of photographs used to be reserved for the world of Harry Potter. But now computer scientists at the University of Washington have brought that magic to real life.

* This article was originally published here

Twitter releases new trove of banned state propaganda

Social media giant Twitter on Thursday released a new archive of state-backed propaganda from accounts it has banned based in Iran, Russia, Spain and Venezuela.

* This article was originally published here

Cardiac toxicity risk factors identified with relapsed multiple myeloma therapy

More than half of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma treated with carfilzomib experienced cardiac issues during treatment, according to a multi-institutional study published June 12 in Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study recommends that patients undergo a detailed cardiovascular history before being prescribed carfilzomib and then be monitored with natriuretic peptide testing, an indicator for heart failure.

* This article was originally published here

Simplified, enhanced performance prediction for complex systems

Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a novel design and training strategy for reversible ResNets that reduces the dimensionality of high-dimensional machine learning models for complex physical systems.

* This article was originally published here

New 'king' of fossils discovered on Kangaroo Island

Fossils of a giant new species from the long-extinct group of sea creatures called trilobites have been found on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

* This article was originally published here

FCC wants to fix maps that now overstate broadband coverage

U.S. telecom regulators are trying to fix faulty maps that don't reflect which Americans have access to high-speed internet.

* This article was originally published here