Lifeboat Foundation

In a scientific first, researchers have used machine learning-powered AI to design de novo enzymes — never-before-existing proteins that accelerate biochemical reactions in living organisms. Enzymes drive a wide range of critical processes, from digestion to building muscle to breathing.

A team led by the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design, along with colleagues at UCLA and China’s Xi’an Jiaotong University, used their AI engine to create new enzymes of a kind called luciferases. Luciferases — as their name implies — catalyze chemical reactions that emit light; they’re what give fireflies their flare.

“Living organisms are remarkable chemists,” David Baker, a professor of biochemistry at UW and the study’s senior author, said.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple will “aggressively upgrade” its iPhone hardware to better integrate with the new Apple Vision Pro.

It’s only to be expected that Apple sees its Vision Pro as part of the company’s ecosystem of devices and services, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims to know the specifics of Apple’s hardware plans.

Speaking of both the 2023 and 2024 iPhone releases, Kuo says that “Apple will aggressively upgrade hardware specifications to build a more competitive ecosystem for Vision Pro.”

Our first delivery with DOM Drone by Flirtey, from the Whangaparaoa store in New Zealand!

DOM (previously known as ‘DRU’) is the personality behind Domino’s innovative customer-facing technology, including our bots, autonomous delivery vehicle, drone and Pizza Checker. He is cheeky and endearing, but most importantly he puts the customer at the heart of everything he does. Rebranded to ‘DOM’ in 2019, he is our newest recruit and helps our team members to create efficiencies in their jobs.

Fatigue is the subjective sensation of weariness, increased sense of effort, or exhaustion and is pervasive in neurologic illnesses. Despite its prevalence, we have a limited understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying fatigue. The cerebellum, known for its role in motor control and learning, is also involved in perceptual processes. However, the role of the cerebellum in fatigue remains largely unexplored. We performed two experiments to examine whether cerebellar excitability is affected after a fatiguing task and its association with fatigue. Using a crossover design, we assessed cerebellar inhibition (CBI) and perception of fatigue in humans before and after “fatigue” and “control” tasks. Thirty-three participants (16 males, 17 females) performed five isometric pinch trials with their thumb and index finger at 80% maximum voluntary capacity (MVC) until failure (force 40% MVC; fatigue) or at 5% MVC for 30 s (control). We found that reduced CBI after the fatigue task correlated with a milder perception of fatigue. In a follow-up experiment, we investigated the behavioral consequences of reduced CBI after fatigue. We measured CBI, perception of fatigue, and performance during a ballistic goal-directed task before and after the same fatigue and control tasks. We replicated the observation that reduced CBI after the fatigue task correlated with a milder perception of fatigue and found that greater endpoint variability after the fatigue task correlated with reduced CBI. The proportional relation between cerebellar excitability and fatigue indicates a role of the cerebellum in the perception of fatigue, which might come at the expense of motor control.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms in neurologic, neuropsychiatric, and chronic illnesses. Despite its epidemiological importance, there is a limited understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying fatigue. In a series of experiments, we demonstrate that decreased cerebellar excitability relates to lesser physical fatigue perception and worse motor control. These results showcase the role of the cerebellum in fatigue regulation and suggest that fatigue-and performance-related processes might compete for cerebellar resources.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a major breakthrough in the fields of nanophotonics and ultrafast optics, a Sandia National Laboratories research team has demonstrated the ability to dynamically steer light pulses from conventional, so-called incoherent light sources.

The most American-made cars sold in the US all come from Tesla, but the car in the number six spot is a bit of a surprise.

From Kasparov’s chess career to Steve Jobs’ bicycle, we already know how to approach these new AI tools. The real question: Will you master them before your competition does?

Quantum computing, just like traditional computing, needs a way to store the information it uses and processes. On the computer you’re using right now, information, whether it be photos of your dog, a reminder about a friend’s birthday, or the words you’re typing into browser’s address bar, must be stored somewhere. Quantum computing, being a new field, is still working out where and how to store quantum information.

In a paper published in the journal Nature Physics, Mohammad Mirhosseini, assistant professor of electrical engineering and applied physics, shows a new method his lab has developed for efficiently translating electrical quantum states into sound and vice versa. This type of translation may allow for storing quantum information prepared by future quantum computers, which are likely to made from electrical circuits.

This method makes use of what are known as phonons, the sound equivalent of a light particle called a photon. (Remember that in quantum mechanics, all waves are particles and vice versa). The experiment investigates phonons for storing quantum information because it’s relatively easy to build small devices that can store these mechanical waves.

Under certain conditions—usually exceedingly cold ones—some materials shift their structure to unlock new, superconducting behavior. This structural shift is known as a “nematic transition,” and physicists suspect that it offers a new way to drive materials into a superconducting state where electrons can flow entirely friction-free.

But what exactly drives this transition in the first place? The answer could help scientists improve existing superconductors and discover new ones.

Now, MIT physicists have identified the key to how one class of superconductors undergoes a nematic transition, and it’s in surprising contrast to what many scientists had assumed.