International Young Scientist Awards

  S ome memories last a lifetime — and now, scientists have revealed a type of molecular "glue" that helps those memories stick around. Memories form when collections of neurons in a region of the brain called the hippocampus activate in response to a particular experience. Each time you recall that experience, the same set of cells activates. When one neuron repeatedly activates another, the connection between those neurons strengthens. Over time, this process in the hippocampus, along with related activity in other regions of the brain, solidifies a short-term memory into a long-term one. To maintain these long-term memories, brain cells make proteins that help strengthen the connections, or synapses, between neurons. One critical protein is the enzyme PKMzeta, which is continually made by neurons. However, an outstanding question is how this enzyme "knows" to go to the right synapses to ensure that certain memories stay with us forever. In a new study, scientists...

 Lots of AI news today — and not all of it positive steps forward for the industry. We’ve got plenty of missteps, delays, question marks and roadblocks cropping up this week. But organizations and industries are keeping plenty busy with the rise of generative content: Read on to learn about the first AI-generated commercial, big changes in the Chinese market and the rise of consultants. Let’s get into it. Tools This week, the promises that AI will revolutionize our lives and make everything more convenient are smacking directly into the reality of what the technology is actually capable of doing today. OpenAI widely touted next-gen voice features that sound and react more like a real person. But a planned launch has been delayed over a need for additional “safety testing.” The tech company did not specify what is currently unsafe about the technology. One also has to wonder if the delay is related to a lawsuit from Scarlett Johansson, who is accusing the company of copying her voic...

Astronomers have discovered five young star clusters, and possibly the oldest star clusters ever, born from the time when the Universe was an infant. Moreover, these gravitationally-bound massive clusters could hold some vital clues about the reionization era of the Universe, the international team led by Stockholm University and collaborators from select European countries, US and Japan, have claimed. “This is the first discovery of star clusters in an infant galaxy less than 500 million years after the Big Bang,” said a statement released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on Monday. Our universe is 13.6 billion years old whereas the Earth is 4.5 billion years old; and the newly discovered star clusters are believed to have been born when the Universe was 460 million years old. For several centuries now, scientists world over have been trying to look back in time and understand how the early stars were born and what these baby stars looked like. But the cosmological distances have p...

Explore the dynamic landscape of technological innovation as we commemorate National Technology Day 2024. From groundbreaking advancements to transformative solutions, join us in celebrating the power of technology to shape our future and drive progress across industries. Biswajit Biswas, Chief Data Scientist, Tata Elxsi "India’s tech potential isn’t just waiting to be realised; it is already in motion. AI technologies are driving unprecedented change across industries worldwide. At Tata Elxsi, we are using AI to change the game in transportation, healthcare, telecom, and broadcast media. From self-driving cars to personalised healthcare, our focus is on real-world solutions that make a difference. But it’s not just about the technology; it’s about how it improves everyday life. Whether it is keeping you connected or entertaining you with tailored content, AI-powered innovations are all about enhancing experiences. We believe in the power of technology to drive positive change an...

NASA has raised a concern over a theoretical scenario in which there is a 72% chance that an asteroid might reach Earth on July 12, 2038, and could pose a threat. Even though there are no current threats, NASA's exercise highlights seriousness over how unprepared the human race is for such a massive threat. Findings From NASA's Exercise NASA conducted the fifth biennial Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise in April, according to an official report from the space agency. The exercise, which took place at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, was summarized by NASA and released on June 20. Aside from NASA, around a hundred officials of different US government departments and foreign partners participated in the tabletop exercise . Even though there aren't any known serious asteroid threats in the near future, this exercise was conducted to gauge how well Earth could react in the event that an asteroid became potentially dangerous....

  The analysis suggests that worldwide, the overall amount of disability, illness, and premature death—caused by neurological conditions increased by 18% over the past 31 years NEW DELHI: The number of people living with, or dying from, neurological conditions such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias, and meningitis globally has risen substantially over the past 30 years due to the growth and ageing of the global population as well as increased exposure to environmental, metabolic, and lifestyle risk factors, a new study published in The Lancet Neurology said.In 2021, 3.4 billion people experienced a nervous system condition, according to the analysis from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021.The analysis suggests that worldwide, the overall amount of disability, illness, and premature death—a measurement known as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)—caused by neurological conditions increased by 18% over the past 31 years, rising ...

For many professional data scientists, Jupyter Notebook has become their staple working environment. Even for me, it’s always the first place I go to for any data science experiment and workflow. As a data scientist workplace, Jupyter Notebook is a unique IDE as the code can be executed independently in each cell. At the same time, the author could explain each cell. This distinction allows the notebook to be reused by others and become a project template. In this article, we will discuss five free templates for building a data science project on Jupyter Notebook. So, what are these Jupyter Notebook templates? Let’s get into them. The first template that we discuss is not necessarily a complete code project that we can fill in already. The template we would discuss is not only the Jupyter Notebook but also complete projects that support the Jupyter Notebook. What we would have is the Python data science projects by AWS. This template creates a complete data science project structure t...

Modern microscopy techniques make it possible to examine the inner workings of cells in astonishing detail. “We can now observe the arrangement and interaction of individual proteins under the microscope,” says Professor Ralf Jungmann, Chair of Molecular Physics of Life at LMU and Max Planck Fellow at the MPI of Biochemistry. The biophysicist’s team recently developed the revolutionary RESI (Resolution Enhancement by Sequential Imaging) method. This technique can be used to improve the resolution of fluorescence microscopy down to the Ångström scale – far below the classical diffraction limit of light. DNA-conjugated marker molecules, which the researchers attach precisely to the molecules they want to understand better, are crucial for this. Jungmann’s team has now presented a technique in the journal Nature Methods that can be used to quantify how well biomarker molecules bind to the target proteins. “This is absolutely crucial if you want to make quantitatively reliable statements,...

A study has found that two atom-thick layers of twisted bismuth might exhibit superconductivity at temperatures significantly higher than the near absolute zero required for a conventional superconductor, like bulk bismuth. “Much has been written about superconductivity on twisted bilayer graphene for certain ‘magic angles’, so it seemed natural for us to investigate the possible existence of superconductivity in other layered materials,” said Ariel Valladares, a professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and lead author of the study, in an email. “We were trying to see if this behavior could be considered general or that it only occurs for graphene. Also, new ways to generate superconducting materials have to be explored,” he continued. This would be a remarkable achievement and a significant step, overcoming a major obstacle to practical applications of superconductivity in fields such as computer science, energy, communications, and electronics. Why is creating a supe...

It is well established that investors sometimes ignore pertinent information when making decisions about trading stocks. This phenomenon has most often been pinned to bounded rationality, that is, limitations on individuals’ reasoning—for example, due to time constraints or cognitive capabilities. But new research finds that a cause may be cognitive dissonance, the state of holding inconsistent or conflicting thoughts when faced with a behavioral decision. Zhijian Huang, Associate Professor in Saunders College Department of Finance and Accounting, co-authored an article, “Asymmetric response to earnings news across different sentiment states: The role of cognitive dissonance,” published in the Journal of Corporate Finance. Huang and his collaborators tested a hypothesis that earnings announcements contradictory to current market sentiment trigger cognitive dissonance, causing investors to disregard bad news when they are optimistic about the market, and good news when they are pessimi...

The Catalyst is part ode to the oft-overlooked molecule and part detailed history of the scientists who’ve studied it. RNA has clearly ensorcelled Cech. And after reading his book, the molecule may ensorcell you, too. RNA was once considered the “biochemical backup singer” to the diva DNA, Cech writes. But this molecule, a largely single-stranded cousin of DNA, seems to be pretty wondrous all on its own. It can slice, it can splice, it can perform a rollicking array of genetic gymnastics that scientists may still not fully comprehend. Cech, a biochemist at the University of Colorado Boulder, catalogs these abilities in an informative story that offers readers a no-stone-unturned tour of the biochemical basics. Researchers harnessing RNA’s skills have now aimed the molecule at some of medicine’s most pressing problems. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, for example, is the hero of two widely used COVID-19 vaccines and may help scientists rapidly conjure vaccines for other viruses and even cancer (...

This article is part of a series of pieces on advances in sustainable battery technologies that Physics Magazine is publishing to celebrate Earth Week 2024. See also: Q&A: Electrochemists Wanted for Vocational Degrees; Q&A: The Path to Making Batteries Green; News Feature: Sodium as a Green Substitute for Lithium in Batteries; Research News: A New Cathode for Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries. Electric vehicles are picking up visibility in the public eye. But their adoption is slowed down by batteries that degrade over time, an issue commercial ventures are especially keen on addressing as they adopt increasingly nickel-rich cathodes—the cathode du jour for high-end electric vehicles. The substitution of nickel for cobalt in earlier versions of these cathodes can improve their performance, but it also accelerates degradation. Earlier this year, Louis Piper, University of Warwick, UK, and his colleagues devised and demonstrated an x-ray technique that can examine industry-grade ...

evolutions in the biological sciences can take many forms. Sometimes they erupt from the use of a novel tool or the invention of a radical theory that suddenly opens so many new avenues for research, it can feel dizzying. Sometimes they take shape slowly, through the slow accumulation of studies, each one representing years of painstaking work, that collectively chip away at the prevailing wisdom and reveal a stronger, better intellectual framework. Both kinds of revolution unleash avalanches of new ideas and insights that improve our understanding of how life works. This past year has had no shortage of these. For example, researchers successfully grew “embryo models” — lab-grown artificial embryos that mature like real ones — that reached a more advanced developmental stage than ever before. That accomplishment could eventually yield valuable new insights into how human fetuses grow, although debate about the ethical status of those models seems likely, too. Meanwhile, in the world ...

Chemists are harnessing energy in sunlight to clean up pollutants from freshwater. In a recent study published in Advanced Sustainable Systems, the team used a process known as photocatalysis, in which energy from light can drive the breakdown of organic molecules, such as dyes and runoff pharmaceuticals. Employing photocatalysis to decontaminate wastewater is not a new idea. Many common organic pollutants have already been successfully broken down using this method. However, its large-scale application still faces considerable obstacles. Sustainable solutions for water purification The current study is part of an effort to create an accessible solution to clean up water in developing countries and remote regions. In doing so, they hope to tackle the pressing issue of limited, drinkable water, as well as the need to decontaminate and reuse wastewater. “Finding a simple, cost-effective, and universally accessible method for applying photocatalysis in water purification, especially in c...

Atoms are normally made of a nucleus and electrons. But scientists are proposing a hunt for a new variety of atom without either. Tauonium (sometimes called “ditauonium” or “true tauonium”) would consist of a negatively charged tau lepton, and its positively charged antimatter counterpart, an antitau. Tau leptons are relatives of electrons. Each tau has about 3,500 times an electron’s mass, making it heavier than a proton. In the 1950s, scientists discovered an atom called positronium, consisting of an electron and its positively charged antiparticle, a positron. Tauonium, if discovered, would be a burlier atom. Scientists propose searching for tauonium by smashing electrons and positrons together at a future particle collider designed to produce tau leptons, which has been proposed in both China and Russia. Such facilities could find tauonium within a year of starting up, physicist Jing-Hang Fu of Beihang University in Beijing and colleagues report April 4 in Science Bulletin. The r...