Using a virus-like delivery particle made from DNA, researchers from MIT and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard have created a vaccine that can induce a strong antibody response against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine, which has been tested in mice, consists of a DNA scaffold that carries many copies of a viral antigen. This …
DNA particles that mimic viruses hold promise as vaccines Read More »
Calls made by male orangutans to attract females have short sequences nested inside longer sequences – a feature called recursion that was thought to be unique to human language Calls made by male orangutans to attract females have short sequences nested inside longer sequences – a feature called recursion that was thought to be unique …
Orangutan calls have an intricate structure resembling human language Read More »
An AI inspired by the way humans form long-term memories during sleep can learn to perform tasks better than existing models An AI inspired by the way humans form long-term memories during sleep can learn to perform tasks better than existing models An AI inspired by the way humans form long-term memories during sleep can learn …
AI can better retain what it learns by mimicking human sleep Read More »
After nearly three years of exploring Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has taken its final flight – but its astounding performance is a good sign for future drones on other worlds After nearly three years of exploring Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has taken its final flight – but its astounding performance is a good sign for …
The Ingenuity helicopter’s Mars mission is over, but it left a legacy Read More »
Nerve cells in the brain demand an enormous amount of energy to survive and maintain their connections for communicating with other nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, the ability to make energy is compromised, and the connections between nerve cells (called synapses) eventually come apart and wither, causing new memories to fade and fail. A research …
Re-energizing mitochondria to treat Alzheimer’s disease Read More »
A startling number of people conceal an infectious illness to avoid missing work, travel, or social events, new research suggests. A startling number of people conceal an infectious illness to avoid missing work, travel, or social events, new research suggests. A startling number of people conceal an infectious illness to avoid missing work, travel, or social …
People are inclined to hide a contagious illness while around others, research shows Read More »
New research reviewed publicly available information for 99 different organizations that coordinate large-scale tree-planting programs around the globe to see if these organizations seemed to be applying best practices for successful reforestation. New research reviewed publicly available information for 99 different organizations that coordinate large-scale tree-planting programs around the globe to see if these organizations …
Do tree-planting campaigns follow best practices for successful forest restoration? Read More »
Researchers have designed a self-powering, battery-free, energy-harvesting sensor. Using the framework they developed, they produced a temperature sensor that can harvest and store the energy from the magnetic field that exists in the open air around a wire. Researchers have designed a self-powering, battery-free, energy-harvesting sensor. Using the framework they developed, they produced a temperature …
Self-powered sensor automatically harvests magnetic energy Read More »
Human pathologists are extensively trained to detect when tissue samples from one patient mistakenly end up on another patient’s microscope slides (a problem known as tissue contamination). But such contamination can easily confuse artificial intelligence (AI) models, which are often trained in pristine, simulated environments, reports a new study. Each of the four AI models …
When lab-trained AI meets the real world, ‘mistakes can happen’ Read More »
Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis or MASH (formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) is an inflammatory, liver-scarring disease that affects 1.5% to 6.5% of all U.S. adults. There are no approved pharmacological therapies for MASH and in the most severe case, the only recourse is liver transplantation. Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis or MASH (formerly known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) is …