An AI model has been developed to automatically translate Akkadian text written in cuneiform into English. Hundreds of thousands of clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia, written in cuneiform and dating back as far as 3,400 BCE, have been found by archeologists, far more than could easily be translated by the limited number of experts who can read them. Shai Gordin and colleagues present a new machine learning model that can automatically translate Akkadian cuneiform into English. Two versions of the model were trained. One version translates the Akkadian from representations of the cuneiform signs in Latin ...

A popular explanation for climate denialism is that humans will adopt beliefs that accord with their political orientation, using their cognitive abilities to explain away identity-inconsistent information in a process called “motivated reasoning.” To test this hypothesis, Bence Bago and colleagues challenged volunteers’ ability to think rationally using time pressure and cognitive loads of varying intensity. The team recruited American participants from Lucid, a website that connects academics with online survey participant pools. The authors found that people who had the ability to deliberate free of cognitive load or time ...

SAN ANTONIO – May 2, 2023 - Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have developed a method to synthesize the highly potent antimalarial drug artemisinin, which could lead to a more cost-effective treatment for malaria. The work, recently featured on the cover of the scientific journal Organic Letters, was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as a grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program, a joint effort by SwRI and UTSA to enhance scientific collaboration between the two institutions. In 2021, 247 million cases of malaria led to 619,000 deaths worldwide. The most effective ...

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology sent recommendations to the National Institutes of Health on April 14 to improve working conditions for postdocs. The society recommended that the NIH: Ensure a livable wage, benefits, etc. for postdocs Require that principle investigators help postdocs craft a training plan Require that principal investigators complete mentor training programs Expand programs to create more academic staff scientist positions Collect data on postdoc career outcomes “Many of our members who run labs are struggling to recruit and retain qualified postdocs,” Sarina Neote, public affairs director ...

A multi-lab replication of a 2006 study supports the role of peer sanction in promoting human cooperation. Cooperation is imperative for society to successfully solve complex problems, including climate change. One approach many groups have adopted is a system of peer sanctions for noncooperators. Such a system incurs costs to participants, who must impose the sanctions, but can allow cooperators to feel more secure that their investments in the shared project will be matched by others. A 2006 study suggested that groups with peer sanctions outgrew and outperformed groups without a peer-sanctioning institution. In light ...

In a world that is slowly distancing itself from carbon-based energy, there has been a meteoric rise in the use of lithium-ion batteries as a next-generation energy storage solution. However, this has resulted in another problem - an increase in the amount of lithium battery waste. Lithium-ion batteries degrade slowly over their lifetime, losing anywhere from 12% to 24% of their total capacity over 500 charging and discharging cycles. The electrolyte and other materials inside the battery can also degrade, causing a decrease in capacity over time. The disposal of lithium batteries ...

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) today began inviting proposals for new studies and implementation projects through nine funding opportunities. These PCORI Funding Announcements (PFAs) include four offering up to $452 million for comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies comparing health care approaches to help patients and their caregivers make better-informed health choices given their particular circumstances. Additional PFAs offer funding for a range of projects that support and advance patient-centered CER and use of PCORI-funded research results.     “With ...

New York, NY (May 2, 2023)—Applying machine learning models, a type of artificial intelligence (AI), to data collected passively from wearable devices can identify a patient’s degree of resilience and well-being, according to investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The findings, reported in the May 2nd issue of JAMIA Open, support wearable devices, such as the Apple Watch®, as a way to monitor and assess psychological states remotely without requiring the completion of mental health questionnaires. The ...

Three high school students – Andrea Olsen from Oslo, Norway; Zachary Harpaz from Boca Raton, Florida; and Chris Ren from Shanghai, China – co-authored a paper using a generative artificial intelligence (AI) engine for target discovery from Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”) called PandaOmics to identify new therapeutic targets for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). GBM is the most aggressive and common malignant brain tumor, accounting for 16% of all primary brain tumors. The findings were published on April 26 in the journal Aging. Olsen, a student at Sevenoaks School in Kent, UK, began interning at Insilico Medicine in 2021, after discovering ...

People often assume that the products they use every day are safe. Now a new study by Silent Spring Institute and University of California, Berkeley exposes how much people come into contact with toxic ingredients in products, used at home and at work, that could harm their health. Findings from the analysis could help state and federal agencies strengthen chemical regulations and guide manufacturers in making safer products. Many common products like shampoos, body lotions, cleaners, mothballs, and paint removers contain toxic volatile organic compounds or VOCs—chemicals that escape as gases, accumulate in indoor air, and cause a variety of health ...

There are no plants, and only very few animals: people rarely come here. The large glaciers in Greenland have long been perceived as ice deserts. Gigantic ice sheets where conditions for life are extremely harsh. But now, it seems, we have been wrong. There is much more life on the glaciers than we thought. Headed by Professor Alexandre Anesio, a group of researchers from the Department of Environmental Science at Aarhus University have discovered that the glaciers are teeming with life. Microbes that have adapted to ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study analyzing data on over 20,000 U.S. adults links a healthier diet and increased exercise to weight loss that reduces heart disease risk – while associating skipping meals and taking prescription diet pills with minimal weight loss, weight maintenance or weight gain. For many in the study sample, however, losing a “clinically significant” 5% of their body weight did not eliminate their risk factors for cardiovascular disease, results showed. In fact, the average ...

New research published in PeerJ Life and Environment by Dr. Sarah Davis and sixty-one scientists from 12 countries presents a perspective to build consensus around the assessment and interpretation of Symbiodiniaceae diversity. Symbiodiniaceae is a family of marine dinoflagellates (plankton) notable for their symbiotic associations with reef-building corals, sea anemones, jellyfish, marine sponges and other marine invertebrates. Understanding Symbiodiniaceae is important to those working to protect and regenerate coral reefs that are under threat around the world. "The authors hope this paper will provide a springboard to launch ...

The International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2) announced today that the 2023 Seoul Test of Time Award will be presented to the authors of the paper “A Contextual-Bandit Approach to Personalized News Article Recommendation;” Wei Chu, (Ant Group), Lihong Li, (Amazon), John Langford, (Microsoft) and Robert Schapire (Microsoft). The award will be presented during the opening ceremony of the 32nd international conference in The ACM Web Conference series (formerly known as The International World Wide Web Conference) hosted by the team in Austin. See https://www2023.thewebconf.org ...

NEW YORK, NY (May 2, 2023)--A study of more than 2,200 adults who attended U.S. high schools in the early 1960s found that those who attended higher quality schools had better cognitive function 60 years later.   Previous studies have found that the number of years spent in school correlates with cognition later in life, but few studies have examined the impact of educational quality.  “Our study establishes a link between high-quality education and better late-life cognition and suggests that increased investment ...

RICHLAND, Wash. –  While adding a little water is popularly thought to “open up” the flavor of whisky, a Washington State University-led study indicates there’s a point at which it becomes too much: about 20%. Researchers chemically analyzed how volatile compounds in a set of 25 whiskies responded to the addition of water, including bourbons, ryes, Irish whiskeys and both single malt and blended Scotches. They also had a trained sensory panel assess six of those whiskies, three Scotches and ...

PITTSBURGH, May 2, 2023 — In a paper published today in Communications Biology, auditory neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh describe a machine learning model that helps explain how the brain recognizes the meaning of communication sounds, such as animal calls or spoken words.   The algorithm described in the study models how social animals, including marmoset monkeys and guinea pigs, use sound-processing networks in their brain to distinguish between sound categories – such as calls for mating, food or danger — and act on them.   The study is an important step toward understanding the intricacies and complexities ...

Every cell in our body is able to turn genes (DNA) on or off, producing RNA, but when genes are ‘turned on’ to the wrong level it can result in a variety of health conditions. Rett syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental condition that causes a loss of motor and language skills over time in girls. The condition is caused by a genetic variation in the MECP2 gene located on the X chromosome, resulting in affected nerve cells in the brain expressing the wrong levels of more than one thousand genes. The end result is that Rett syndrome nerve cells are smaller, less interconnected and less electrically active than healthy controls.  In ...

A new paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that an important part of the pay gap between men and women has to do with how they conduct job searches, with women more likely to accept job offers early while men tend to hold out for higher pay. Women in the United States earn 84% of what men earn, as of 2020. This disparity is well documented, and economists and the general public have known about the earnings difference for decades. The reasons for this phenomenon are a matter of considerable debate. Initial conditions in the labor market are long-lasting. Young workers who begin ...

Scientists dream of using tiny molecules as building blocks to construct things, similar to how we build things with mechanical parts. However, molecules are incredibly small - around one hundred millionth the size of a softball - and they move randomly in liquids, making it very difficult to manipulate them in a single form. To overcome this challenge, “nanofluidic devices” that can transport molecules in extremely narrow channels, similar in size to one millionth of a straw, are attracting attention ...

AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Alaska Anchorage are the first to characterize two different types of surface water in the hyperarid salars—or salt flats—that contain much of the world’s lithium deposits. This new characterization represents a leap forward in understanding how water moves through such basins, and will be key to minimizing the environmental impact on such sensitive, critical habitats. “You can’t protect the salars if you don’t first understand how they work,” says Sarah McKnight, lead author of the research that appeared recently ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 01 May 2023 Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet @Annalsofim Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent. ---------------------------- 1. ...

Climate change has led to earlier spring blooms for wildflowers and ocean plankton but the impacts on salmon migration are more complicated, according to new research. In a new study, published in the journal Nature, Ecology & Evolution, Simon Fraser University (SFU) researcher Sam Wilson led a set of diverse collaborators from across North America to compile the largest dataset in the world on juvenile salmon migration timing. The dataset includes 66 populations from Oregon to B.C. to Alaska. Each dataset was at least 20 years in length with the longest dating back to 1951. Only wild salmon, and not salmon from hatcheries, ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In recent years, experts have debated whether most birthing individuals would benefit from labor induction once they reach a certain stage of pregnancy. But a new statewide study in Michigan suggests that inducing labor at the 39th week of pregnancy for people having their first births with a single baby that is in a head down position, or low risk, doesn’t necessarily reduce the risk of caesarian births. In fact, for some birthing individuals, it may even have the opposite effect if hospitals don’t take a thoughtful approach to ...

BEND, Ore. – A researcher at Oregon State University-Cascades has received funding to develop a smart compost bin that tracks household food waste. The project led by Patrick Donnelly, assistant professor of computer science in the OSU College of Engineering, seeks to make a dent in a multi-billion-dollar annual problem in the United States: More than one-third of all food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten. “At every other step of the agricultural supply chain, food waste is tracked, measured and quantified,” Donnelly ...