Ghost from the future: lunar vehicles and neural chips for living AI
A new type of virus that infects pathogenic bacteria was discovered by Russian medical scientists, and historians, using the analysis of fragments of a semi-excavated pine tree, found out how the conditions for the development of Chinese statehood arose. At the same time, the first private spacecraft arrived on the moon to begin its commercial exploration. In addition, researchers from Australia have created a processor based on living human brain cells, and American geneticists have raised mice with mammoth fur. This is stated in the collection of the most interesting scientific news prepared by Izvestia.
Scientists have found a "devourer" of tuberculosis pathogens
Scientists from the Lopukhin National Research Research Center for Physico-Chemical Medicine of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences have discovered and described the Vic9 virus, which destroys mycobacteria, pathogens of diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy, which are dangerous to humans.
As the experts explained, the discovery will allow the creation of drugs for phage therapy — the treatment of bacterial infections using viruses (phages). Such drugs can become an additional means to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Phages enter bacterial cells, destroying them from the inside. As a rule, they are focused on a single strain of the pathogen, which makes them safe for the patient and his microflora.
— In addition to Vic9, we have identified about 20 more phages, including those that demonstrate high activity against tuberculosis bacillus. Currently, scientists are also studying how mycobacteria evade the immune response and become resistant to standard therapy. We want to investigate how phages will affect mycobacteria in such protected conditions," Egor Shitikov, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Microorganisms at the Lopukhin National Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, told Izvestia.
According to him, in the future, scientists will replenish the collection of mycobacteriophage viruses to develop an alternative method of treating tuberculosis and other diseases caused by mycobacteria.
Pine trees have revealed the secrets of China's "golden age"
The staff of the Siberian Federal University, as part of an international group of scientists, revealed that one of the reasons that contributed to the formation of Chinese statehood at the end of the III century BC was a steady period of high humidity in the climate.
The experts made their conclusions based on the analysis of samples of ancient and modern wood. The work is based on the Russian Vaganov-Shashkin computational model, which shows how temperature, precipitation and illumination in different historical periods affect the growth of trees.
— The main equation of the model describes the growth rate of trees as a mathematical function that depends on temperature, soil moisture and sunlight. They influence the processes of formation of wood cells, which, in turn, determine the width of the annual rings. At the same time, the increase in plant mass is limited to the most scarce resource. For example, if the temperature is optimal but the soil moisture is low, the slowdown in growth will be determined precisely by the lack of water," Vladimir Shishov, director of the Institute of Fundamental Biology and Biotechnology at SibFU, told Izvestia.
Studies have shown, he said, that the climate during the Qin and Han dynasties, when the centralized Chinese empire was being formed and intensive state construction was underway, was characterized by stable high humidity, which had a beneficial effect on the productivity of woody plants and crops.
A chip with brain cells will teach you how to control a living AI
Australian scientists have created a prototype neuromorphic computer, a microchip, in which they connected human brain cells grown from stem cells with a matrix of 59 electrodes. The engineers placed the neurons on a silicon base, where electrodes stimulate the cells and read the signals. The functioning of cells is supported by the built-in life support system.
According to the developers, neural networks based on a silicon chip can develop and evolve like a living organism. Such a system has high speed and flexibility in learning, which will allow it to surpass silicon chips, which are used to teach modern language models such as Chat GPT.
— We almost see it as a new form of life, something like an animal or a human. We approach AI from an engineering point of view: we use biological neurons as a basis, but we assemble them in a completely new way," said Loz Blaine, one of the developers.
According to the creators, the innovation opens up opportunities for experiments on controlling living artificial intelligence.
Mammoth fur was grown on mice
American scientists from Colossal Biosciences have raised mice in whose embryos seven genes related to coat texture and fat metabolism have been simultaneously edited. As a result, the rodents received long and thick fur, which in its structure resembles the hair of a mammoth.
This experiment is part of a larger project in which experts intend to revive the population of an ancient animal on Earth using genetic modifications of Asian elephants.
"Since Asian elephants are endangered, it will take a lot of procedures and bureaucratic delays before such a plan can be implemented," explained Ben Lamm, co—founder of Colossal Biosciences and one of the inspirers of the idea.
Therefore, before starting the main part of the project, the scientists decided to "practice" on mice.
However, the scientific community doubts the value of the experiment, since mouse DNA is not the same as elephant DNA. And the same genetic changes can manifest themselves in different ways.
Blue Ghost marked the beginning of commercial exploration of the Moon
On March 2, the Blue Ghost spacecraft, developed by Firefly Aerospace, made a soft landing on the Moon. He landed on the visible side of the satellite near the ancient volcano Mons Latreille in the eastern part of the Sea of Crises.
Also, four days later, the Athena module of Intuitive Machines landed near the South Pole of the Moon. However, the latter landed less successfully and is in an emergency situation.
According to experts, these events marked the beginning of commercial exploration of the Moon. The devices were launched as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. It is focused on the creation and development of soft landing technologies, the extraction of lunar resources and the development of infrastructure for the colonization of the satellite.
The lunar landers are equipped with scientific instruments that will help prepare future manned missions to the moon. In particular, Athena delivered a mini-hopper device to the satellite, a device that moves by jumping. It is assumed that it will head into a crater a kilometer from the landing site, which is never illuminated by the Sun. There, the grasshopper will try to find traces of water ice, an important resource for the future exploration of the Moon.
Next, the Japanese Hakuto-R Mission 2 is approaching the Moon. Several more modules will be sent to the satellite before the end of this year.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
