Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have decoded the genomic sequence of Zygnema algae, revealing insights into the evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial plant life. This breakthrough enhances our understanding of plant adaptation mechanisms and offers a basis for future studies in environmental resilience and bioenergy.

Plant life first emerged on land about 550 million years ago, and an international research team co-led by University of Nebraska–Lincoln computational biologist Yanbin Yin has cracked the genomic code of its humble beginnings, which made possible all other terrestrial life on Earth, including humans.

The team — about 50 scientists in eight countries – has generated the first genomic sequence of four strains of Zygnema algae, the closest living relatives of land plants. Their findings shed light on the ability of plants to adjust to the environment and provide a rich basis for future research.

Eight vulnerabilities have been uncovered in Microsoft applications for macOS that an adversary could exploit to gain elevated privileges or access sensitive data by circumventing the operating system’s permissions-based model, which revolves around the Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC) framework.

“If successful, the adversary could gain any privileges already granted to the affected Microsoft applications,” Cisco Talos said. “For example, the attacker could send emails from the user account without the user noticing, record audio clips, take pictures, or record videos without any user interaction.”

The shortcomings span various applications such as Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Neurons in the brain are like vast networks, receiving thousands of signals from other neurons through tiny structures called synapses.

Researchers from Bonn and Japan have clarified how neighboring synapses coordinate their response to plasticity signals: Nerve cells in the brain receive thousands of synaptic signals via their “antenna,” the so-called dendritic branch. Permanent changes in synaptic strength correlate with changes in the size of dendritic spines. However, it was previously unclear how the neurons implement these changes in strength across several synapses that are close to each other and active at the same time.

The researchers—from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS)—assume that the competition between spines for molecular resources and the spatial distance between simultaneously stimulated spines affect their resulting dynamics. The results of the study have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Continue reading “Study reveals how neighboring synapses coordinate their response to plasticity signals” »

Understanding cellular architectures and their connectivity is essential for interrogating system function and dysfunction. However, we lack technologies for mapping the multiscale details of individual cells and their connectivity in the human organ–scale system. We developed a platform that simultaneously extracts spatial, molecular, morphological, and connectivity information of individual cells from the same human brain. The platform includes three core elements: a vibrating microtome for ultraprecision slicing of large-scale tissues without losing cellular connectivity (MEGAtome), a polymer hydrogel–based tissue processing technology for multiplexed multiscale imaging of human organ–scale tissues (mELAST), and a computational pipeline for reconstructing three-dimensional connectivity across multiple brain slabs (UNSLICE).

A writer with no technical background recounts his incredible journey into the realm of coding and the invaluable lesson it taught him about the modern world.

There is a legend that many hundreds of years ago—long before printing presses, computers, or telephones existed—a special method was used to remember significant events, such as land transfers, crucial agreements, or weddings. According to the legend, a child was chosen to witness the event and immediately thrown into a river. This extreme combination of events was believed to ensure that the child would never forget that specific event.

But why might such a method have worked? Although this historical method may seem extreme, our ancestors may have been onto something crucial: When an event is combined with a strong emotional reaction, it becomes easier to remember.

For a long time, researchers have been able to offer a specific explanation for why some events are stored in our long-term memory while others are not. However, learning and memory may not be as straightforward as once thought. New research from DANDRITE shows that experiences that are not directly relevant to a memory can still impact the strength of that memory, paving the way for the development of entirely new memory-focused learning tools.

Scientists at the University of Texas used a breakthrough laser recycling technique to turn plastic into computer components.

For centuries, we thought that the Universe was completely deterministic. But even if you know all the rules, you can’t get rid of chaos.

Metamaterials have recently garnered substantial research interest as they can be engineered to achieve materials properties not found in nature, thus presenting unique opportunities across various fields. In order to facilitate the rational design of metamaterials, computational methods have been widely employed, but not without numerous challenges yet to be addressed. This Focus highlights recent advancements, challenges, and opportunities in computational models for metamaterials design and manufacturing, as well as explores their potential promises in emerging information processors and computing technologies.