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☆ Scientists induce virgin birth in fruit flies in monumental first
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —In a historic first, scientists have used gene editing to induce virgin birth in fruit flies, a major step in unlocking the mysteries of the intriguing phenomenon known as parthenogenesis. The researchers used fruit flies because they’re considered “model organisms,” meaning the flies are among a list of organisms that scientists have long studied in depth to gain a better fundamental understanding of biology. Fruit flies’ short life spans of about 80 days have made it easy to observe changes throughout generations relatively quickly. And prior research into fruit flies is so extensive it’s possible to order genetic mutations for some flies online. “There’s just so many tools,” Sperling said, “and the tools are easily, cheaply available to all researchers” when it comes to fruit flies.

Persons: Alexis Sperling, Sperling, ” Sperling, “, we’d, they’re, “ There’s, ”, aren’t, Dr, Warren Booth, Booth, ” Booth, parthenogenesis Organizations: CNN, UK’s University of Cambridge, Pesticides, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, State University Locations: United Kingdom

☆ Heat Endures in the Southwest as the Monsoon Season Lags
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Jacey Fortin | Mary Beth Gahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Many Texans are familiar with the chorus of cicadas that fills the air on the hottest days of early July. It could be, at least in part, a result of the heat wave that has been baking the region and shows no signs of letting up. On Tuesday, the high temperature was expected to reach around 103 degrees in El Paso and San Antonio. “They start calling earlier because the minimum air temperature combined with solar radiation is reached earlier in the day,” he said. “They also call later into the afternoon and evening because they can maintain the elevated body temperatures for a longer period of time.”

Persons: It’s, Allen F, Sanborn, Dr, ”, “ Organizations: Texans, Barry University Locations: El Paso, San Antonio, Miami, Texas

☆ Shattering the myth of men as hunters and women as gatherers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But researchers have found that women in foraging societies were often the ones bringing home the bacon (and other prey, too). Of the 63 foraging communities examined, 50 had records documenting women hunting. Women hunted game of all sizes, “with large game pursued the most,” the study authors reported. Women also used specialized tools: In the Philippines, for example, Agta women hunted with knives, bows and arrows, or a combination of the two weapons, depending on personal preference. In many of the groups, it seemed as though women had a more flexible approach to hunting than men did, Wall-Scheffler said.

Persons: Cara Wall, Scheffler, “, ”, Vivek Venkataraman, ” Venkataraman, Venkataraman, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Pacific, Charles University, University of Calgary, Scientific Locations: Czech Republic, Philippines, Canada

☆ Scientists report creation of first human synthetic model embryos
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The research raises critical legal and ethical questions, and many countries, including the US, don’t have laws governing the creation or treatment of synthetic embryos. “Unlike human embryos arising from in vitro fertilization (IVF), where there is an established legal framework, there are currently no clear regulations governing stem cell derived models of human embryos. “I just wish to stress that they are not human embryos,” Zernicka-Goetz said. Right now, the synthetic model human embryos are confined to test tubes. “There is much work to be done to determine the similarities and differences between synthetic embryos and embryos that form from the union of an egg and a sperm.”

Persons: CNN —, ” James Briscoe, Francis Crick, Dr, Magdalena Zernicka, Goetz, Zernicka, ”, ” Zernicka, “, haven’t, Sanjay Gupta, ” Roger Sturmey Organizations: CNN, Francis, Francis Crick Institute, International Society for, CalTech, University of Cambridge, The Guardian, CNN Health, University of Manchester Locations: United States, United Kingdom, Boston, Israel

☆ One of the 'godfathers' of AI says that today's systems don't pose an existential risk, but warned that things could get 'catastrophic'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

There's a chance that AI development could get "catastrophic," Yoshua Bengio told The New York Times. "Today's systems are not anywhere close to posing an existential risk," but they could in the future, he said. "Today's systems are not anywhere close to posing an existential risk," Yoshua Bengio, a professor at the Université de Montréal, told the publication. Marc Andreessen spoke even more strongly in a blog post last week in which he warned against "full-blown moral panic about AI" and described "AI risk doomers" as a "cult." "AI doesn't want, it doesn't have goals, it doesn't want to kill you, because it's not alive," he wrote.

Persons: There's, Yoshua Bengio, there's, Montréal, Bengio, Anthony Aguirre, Microsoft Bing, It's, Aguirre, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Anthropic, Eric Schmidt, Bill Gates, Marc Andreessen, it's, Andreessen Organizations: New York Times, Morning, University of California, Times, Microsoft, Life Institute, Bengio, Apple, Center, AI Safety Locations: Santa Cruz

☆ Flesh-eating bacteria on beaches: What to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Out of more than 100 Vibrio species, about 12 — the most common in the US being Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus — can cause a human illness known as vibriosis. Vibrio vulnificus is the species that can cause flesh-eating infections, known as necrotizing fasciitis. Vibrio bacteria can enter through even minor wounds, including cuts, scrapes, scratches, recent piercings, new tattoos or surgical incisions. Even though the risk of a Vibrio vulnificus infection is low, if contracted the effects can be severe. Around 1 in 5 people infected with Vibrio vulnificus die, sometimes within a day or two of getting sick.

Persons: Daniel Slim, Vibrio, vulnificus, it’s, ”, Jae Williams, wasn’t, Tracy Mincer, “, Linda Amaral, Williams, “ It’s, ” Williams, parahaemolyticus, Hurricane Ian, Vibrio vulnificus, Don’t Organizations: CNN, Research, Florida Atlantic University, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Florida Department of Health, Florida, Branch Oceanographic Institute, University of Amsterdam Locations: Florida, United States, Africa, Gulf of Mexico, Cancun, AFP, Caribbean, Hurricane, sargassum

☆ Steakholder Foods and Umami Meats have teamed up to create the world's first 3D-printed cultivated fish fillet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Michelle Cohan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A “Star Trek“-like, food-on-demand 3D printer has just served up a real, cultivated fish fillet for the first time. Steakholder Foods, a startup based in Israel, produced the 3D-printed cut of grouper – “a significant milestone in the food industry,” says Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods. Chicken nuggets from Steakholder Foods, pictured, are considered a hybrid product, containing both plant-based and cultured ingredients. At the time of writing, Singapore is the only country in the world where cultivated meat products are commercially available. “One way is to create hybrid products, so something that (combines) cultivated meat with plant-based meat or conventional meat,” Block tells CNN.

Persons: ”, Arik Kaufman, Mihir Pershad, ” Kaufman, we’ve, Orit Goldman, Liz Specht, Davis, Ronen Mangan, David Block, GFI’s Specht Organizations: CNN, Steakholder Foods, Good Food Institute, UN, of California, NASA, Foods, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, UC Davis, Consortium Locations: Israel, Singapore, bioreactors, California

☆ Video may show an octopus waking up from a nightmare, scientists believe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video shows an octopus appearing to wake up from sleep in distress. The behaviour looked similar to waking up from a nightmare, scientists said. One of the study's co-authors noted that it would be difficult to study an octopus' brain activity and determine whether they actually dream. Robyn Crook, an associate professor of biology at San Francisco State University, told Live Science that the octopus' behavior could have been due to senescence, which is when an octopus' body starts to break down before death. "I don't exclude that senescence could be one of the drivers of this," Ramos told Live Science.

☆ Opinion | Applying D.E.I. to Science
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Let Science Be Science,” by Pamela Paul (column, May 5):Ms. Paul describes how a leading scientific journal declined to publish an opinion article advocating impartiality in science. Her implication is that rejecting a paper equates to rejecting its premise. Top scientific journals are not dissimilar to the Opinion pages of The New York Times in that the competition to appear in them is intense. Misleading readers to score political points with an argument that scientists have exchanged merit and objectivity for progressive ideology is a disservice to science and the public alike. Carl T. BergstromSeattleThe writer is a professor of biology at the University of Washington and had a guest essay published in The Times last year.

☆ A.I. poses existential risk of people being 'harmed or killed,' ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said he sees "existential risks" with artificial intelligence as the technology gets more advanced. Artificial intelligence could pose existential risks and governments need to know how to make sure the technology is not "misused by evil people," former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned Wednesday. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit in London, Schmidt said his concern is that AI is an "existential risk." "And existential risk is defined as many, many, many, many people harmed or killed," Schmidt said. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI which developed ChatGPT, admitted in March that he is a "little bit scared" of artificial intelligence.

☆ New box jellyfish species found in Hong Kong's waters -study
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, April 19 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong university team said it has discovered a new species of box jellyfish in the city's Mai Po Nature Reserve, the first discovery of the venomous species in China's waters. Baptist University (HKBU) together with WWF-Hong Kong, Ocean Park Hong Kong and University of Manchester said on Tuesday that the team collected jellyfish samples from a brackish shrimp pond over 2020-2022 and found they contained a new species. Box jellyfish "are poorly known in Chinese marine waters. Our discovery of Tripedalia maipoensis in Mai Po - a relatively well-studied area in Hong Kong - highlights the rich diversity of marine life in Hong Kong and even the whole of China," he said. Box jellyfish, scientifically known as class Cubozoa, includes some of the highly venomous marine animals that are widely known in tropical waters, the study said.

☆ Fact Check-Document mentioning cryogenic-electron microscopy does not prove Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene oxide
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Graphene oxide is not an ingredient in the vaccine,” she said. When contacted by Reuters, a Pfizer spokesperson sent a link with the full list of ingredients of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (here, see page six). No graphene oxide is listed. “We confirm that graphene oxide is not used in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokesperson said. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine does not contain graphene oxide.

☆ Employees would rather return to the office for a four-day workweek than have five days of hybrid work, a survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two-thirds of staffers prefer RTO for a four-day work week than work hybrid for five days, per a survey. One-third of employers would be more likely to consider a four-day work week if staff RTO every day. The UK trialed a four-day work week from June to December last year with 3,300 workers at 70 firms. And employers seem to agree — about one-third would be more likely to consider offering a four-day workweek if employees came to the office daily. On top of that, just under 90% of survey respondents said a four-day workweek could improve employee mental health and well-being.

☆ 'It's honestly changed my life': Employees from one of the biggest 4-day-workweek trials say working less improved their lives but was a big adjustment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Employees working four-day weeks told Insider having the extra day off was an adjustment at first. "It's hard to overstate how good it's been," Jo Sims, a senior case manager at AKA Case Management, told Insider, adding: "It's honestly changed my life." Sims said the extra day off had improved her mental health, eased her stress levels, and left her with a new perspective. The study was led by academics from Boston College, the University of Cambridge, and the research organization Autonomy in partnership with the campaign groups 4 Day Week Global and 4 Day Week Campaign. A representative for the 4 Day Week Campaign put Insider in contact with the four employees that are referenced in this article.

☆ Meet the 'methane man' with a mission: Using microbes to eat up the greenhouse gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Most recently, he's zeroed in on the idea of using methane-eating microbes to combat climate change. The startup was founded in 2022 and sells methane-eating microbes, or methanotrophs, to its pilot customers, farmers. "If you only look at the long term, and you don't spend anything on short term, you end up tripping over your feet," Silverman told CNBC. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Windfall’s propriety methane-eating microbes seen here under a microscope. First, they will move to other types of livestock farms, like cows, pigs and chickens, Silverman told CNBC.

☆ Arkansas enacts law restricting school bathroom use by transgender people
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Mike SegarMarch 21 (Reuters) - Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed a law targeting the trans community, prohibiting transgender people from using the restroom that matches their gender identity at public schools. The law requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations, that include single-person restrooms and changing areas. School authorities that violate the law can face fines of at least $1,000, and parents can also file lawsuits to enforce the measure. Similar laws directed at transgender youth have been enacted in Alabama and Oklahoma. read moreRepublican legislators across the United States have escalated a campaign to ban certain healthcare for transgender youth, in some cases seeking to charge parents and doctors with child abuse if they provide treatment.

☆ Meta AI Unlocks Hundreds of Millions of Proteins to Aid Drug Discovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Eric Niiler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Meta AI researchers produced this digital representation of one million proteins using a new artificial-intelligence tool known as ESMFold. Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. has created a tool to predict the structure of hundreds of millions of proteins using artificial intelligence. Researchers say it promises to deepen scientists’ understanding of biology, and perhaps speed the discovery of new drugs. Meta’s research arm, Meta AI, used the new AI-based computer program known as ESMFold to create a public database of 617 million predicted proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of life and of many medicines, required for the function of tissues, organs and cells.

☆ How an AI breakthrough from Alphabet's DeepMind 'changed scientific history' and could lead to new cures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"AlphaFold has sparked a wave of innovation by showing people what's possible," said Chris Bahl, the chief scientist at AI Proteins, a Boston startup using AlphaFold to help develop drugs. "AlphaFold, amazing as it, is just the beginning," Demis Hassabis, the CEO of DeepMind, said on a podcast last year. AlphaFold2 was built with far more biological and physics knowledge of proteins, Jumper said. Next uses will be 'progressively harder' as DeepMind stays secretive on its future workJohn Jumper, a senior staff research scientist at DeepMind who helped develop AlphaFold. "But AI will also continue to progress rapidly, and the folks at DeepMind are very good, so I'm optimistic."

☆ The UFO shoot-downs show the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Extraterrestrial life likely wouldn't show up as flying objects, but finding it could cause similar chaos. An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW ESTIMATE HIGH ESTIMATE Estimate using travel patterns 970,000 deaths Estimate using recent testing data 1.5 million deaths Estimate based on U.S. death rates 1.1 million deaths China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW EST. But China’s official Covid death toll for the entire pandemic remains strikingly low: 83,150 people as of Feb. 9. Four separate academic teams have converged on broadly similar estimates: China’s Covid wave may have killed between a million and 1.5 million people. Why official data underrepresents China’s outbreak83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5M 83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5 millionChina has a narrow definition of what counts as a Covid-19 death. But the work was unwavering in its ultimate conclusion: Ending the “zero Covid” policy was likely to overwhelm the health care system, producing an estimated 1.6 million deaths.

☆ The 8 leading biotechs using AI to upend how drugs are discovered
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A few biotech companies have used AI to develop drugs that are already being tested in people. Insider found eight AI biotechs now in the clinic, a critical stage in drug development. Some of the fastest progress has been in using AI to improve the process of creating medicines. At the start of 2020, AI-focused biotechs had zero drugs in the clinic, according to Air Street Capital. Here are the eight biotechs using AI to develop better drugs, in order of how many drugs they have in human testing.

☆ The billionaire CEO of a top biotech VC firm details how a new type of AI could transform how we test and discover treatments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Afeyan is the CEO and founder of Flagship Pioneering, the venture firm behind Moderna. Flagship has in its portfolio multiple companies using AI in areas like drug discovery and testing. The Flagship method for company building starts with a vague "what if" question, and if the idea survives testing, it's unveiled to the public, Afeyan told Insider in 2021. Afeyan isn't alone in predicting that generative AI is gearing up to play a bigger role in healthcare. Morgan Cheatham, a vice president at Bessemer Venture Partners, told Insider he predicted generative AI would result in more than $1 trillion in value for the healthcare industry by 2040.

☆ When Does Life Begin?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Elizabeth Dias | Bethany Mollenkof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

“It is not black and white.”America’s fight over abortion has long circled a question, one that is broad and without consensus:When does life begin? The question of when life begins has been so politicized it can be hard to thoughtfully engage. Ancient Egypt gave the power to create new human life almost entirely to men. The scientific revolution, from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to reproductive science, disrupted centuries of thought on human life. “When does the responsibility for a life begin and end?”

☆ The Tom Brady of Other Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Meet them, and decide for yourself:The Tom Brady of Paramedics Jesse Izaguirre, 70Gardena, Calif.Jesse Izaguirre loves working with younger paramedics. Hopefully never.”The Tom Brady of Bakers Helen Fletcher, 83Clayton, Mo. Chalk it up to a great big fib.”The Tom Brady of Artists Lilian Thomas Burwell, 95Highland Beach, Md. “I should’ve signed them.”The Tom Brady of Biologists Maria Elena Zavala, 72Los AngelesProfessional longevity runs in Maria Elena Zavala’s family. It didn’t vanish when they crossed the border.”The Tom Brady of Loggers Earl Pollock, 82Hamburg, Ark.

☆ Fearsome spinosaurus wasn't the scourge of prehistoric seas after all
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Sereno and his team returned to their work with Spinosaurus in search of answers about what life had really been like for the fearsome dinosaur. James GurneyNext, the team turned to Spinosaurus’ tail. Dr. Frank Fish, tail mechanics expert and professor of biology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, took the lead. Fish compared the Spinosaurus tail with those of alligators and other reptiles and found the dinosaur would have been too rigid to function well underwater. Spinosaurus fossils have largely been found in the riverbank deposits of Niger’s inland basins, which are distant from prehistoric marine coastlines.

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