Science and Research News
US, China renew long-standing science and technology agreement
BEIJING – The Joined together States and China have recharged their long-standing science and innovation assention, checking a cautious continuation of collaboration in the midst of increased pressures. The changed US-China Science and Innovation Participation Assention, declared on Friday, is set to final five a long time and points to adjust national security concerns with the require for joint endeavors on worldwide challenges such as climate alter and open wellbeing. In spite of determined geopolitical strains between the world`s two biggest economies, specialists said the agreement underscores the significance of supported participation in tending to shared worldwide needs. Denis Simon, a previous teacher of worldwide trade and innovation at the College of North Carolina and an master on China’s innovation and development techniques, depicted the upgraded assention as a crucial instrument for progressing endeavors to address shared worldwide challenges. The recharged agreement is more straightforward and constrained in scope, reflecting an exertion to adjust collaboration with increased sensitivities, Simon said. “The typical esteem of the assention is noteworthy, because it illustrates a shared commitment by both governments to collaborate in spite of broader pressures.
Science and Technology Daily: Promoting AI Governance Jointly
During a recent sub-forum of the 20th Beijing-Tokyo Gathering in Tokyo, agents from China and Japan exchanged insights on advancing AI governance and data sharing. Gao Shaolin from Peking University emphasized the significance of international collaboration for enhancing the digital economy. Experts noted that the next decade will be crucial for AI development, with China making significant strides since its 2017 guidelines on AI growth, particularly in computing power and 5G expansion. By the end of 2023, China held over half of the world’s 1.57 billion 5G users and ranked second globally in AI and computing power. The forum participants stressed the need for strengthened AI governance frameworks and joint efforts between China and Japan to tackle global challenges. They agreed on the importance of international cooperation in establishing ethical guidelines and regulatory measures for AI. The potential risks of AI, including data breaches and misinformation, were also addressed, highlighting the need for balanced technological advancement and ethical considerations. Participants underscored the necessity for policy decisions to align with national technological development goals while ensuring effective risk management.
The Power of Prions’ explores misfolded proteins’ role in brain diseases
The Power of Prions is a new book by neurovirologist Michel Brahic, which explores the molecular biology of disease-causing prions. Prions are misfolded proteins that can arise naturally in the body or enter via consumption of infected tissue. They can cause neurological trouble, such as memory loss, trouble speaking, and jerky movements. Scientists now believe prions may play a role in many neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. Brahic takes readers on a tour of prion diseases, with stops at scrapie, mad cow disease, and kuru, the illness that plagued those people in Papua New Guinea. The book is not for the casual reader, but for people who want to dig into prion biology. It also includes bits of narrative that help propel the story.
New haptic patch transmits complexity of touch to the skin
A Northwestern University-led team has developed a wearable device that stimulates skin to deliver complex sensations. A new wearable technology called “epidermal VR” uses miniaturized actuators to deliver controlled forces across large areas of the skin. The device comprises a hexagonal array of 19 small magnetic actuators encapsulated within a thin, flexible silicone-mesh material. It uses Bluetooth technology in a smartphone to translate data about a person’s surroundings for translation into tactile feedback. Although the device is powered by a small battery, it saves energy using a clever “bistable” design. The idea was to use the energy stored in skin mechanically as elastic energy and recover that during the operation of the device. With only a short period of training, subjects using the device were able to change behavior in real time.
The ‘midlife crisis’ is too simple a story, scientists say
The theory that happiness plummets in midlife before rebounding has been around since the mid-1960s. However, a growing body of evidence now supports the theory. Researchers have found several variants of how happiness unfolds among nonindustrialized communities in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The U-shape curve has now all but disappeared, and researchers must turn their focus to teens and young adults immediately. The midlife crisis narrative rose out of people’s desire for simple answers to complex problems.
A zombie star’s spiky filaments shed light on a 12th century supernova
Astronomers have observed the 3-D structure and motion of debris left in the wake of a supernova that was seen to detonate almost 900 years ago. The supernova appeared to be a kind called type 1a, wherein a white dwarf star detonates, destroying itself in the process. The star was surrounded by spiky filaments stretching about three light-years in all directions. The system is structured like a three-layered onion, with the filaments emerging from the dust shell. The study shows that the remnant is almost definitely from the guest star of 1181.
Why finding bird flu in a U.S. pig for the first time is raising new worries
A pig on a farm in Oregon has contracted bird flu, the first time a pig in the US has been infected with the H5N1 strain. Other animals on the farm are under quarantine to prevent further spread of the virus. Pigs have both birdlike and humanlike receptors, making them susceptible to not only swine-specific flu strains but also to viruses from birds and humans. The risk to people comes from pigs’ long-time standing as flu mixing vessels. If a bird virus and a human virus were to infect the same pig, this provides an opportunity for the viruses to swap genes in a process called reassortment. Pigs are the suspected source of the strain behind the 1918 influenza pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. The virus is adapting to spread mammal-to-mammal rather than to mammals from wild birds or poultry. Other changes also need to happen for avian flus to break the species barrier and efficiently spread among people.
A phone app could help people have lucid dreams
A phone app that has users listen to a specific sound before bed and practice associating it with their awareness of their thoughts and body can increase the chances of having lucid dreams. The app plays the sound again six hours later to reactivate self-awareness in the sleeping user, coaxing them to become lucid mid-dream. A rough approximation of the technique using an app can promote lucid dreaming at home, researchers report in the October Consciousness and Cognition. In one experiment, 19 people who used the app every night for a week reported an average of 2.11 lucid dreams, which is a big increase for lucid dreaming. In another experiment, only 5 percent of people who heard the sounds from training kept up that rate of lucid dreaming, hinting that the real sound cues were indeed behind the app’s effectiveness.