Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have developed a new laser technology using large colloidal quantum dots of lead sulfide to emit coherent light in the extended short-wave infrared range.

This innovation promises cheaper, scalable laser solutions compatible with silicon CMOS platforms, covering a broader wavelength range without altering chemical compositions, and eliminating the need for costly femtosecond laser amplifiers.

Novel Laser Technologies

The Tbx1 gene influences brain volume and social behavior in autism and schizophrenia, with its deficiency linked to amygdala shrinkage and impaired social incentive evaluation.

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry has linked changes in brain volume to differences in social behavior associated with psychiatric conditions like autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.

The research, led by Noboru Hiroi, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), revealed that a deficiency in a specific gene was connected to social behavior differences in mice. These behavioral differences are similar to those often observed in psychiatric disorders.

Inside every jar of honey lies a taste of the local environment. Its sticky-sweet flavor is shaped by the flowers that nearby bees choose to sample. However, a new study from Tulane University has revealed that honey can also provide insights into local pollution.

The study, published in Environmental Pollution, analyzed 260 honey samples from 48 states for traces of six toxic metals: arsenic, lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and cobalt. None of the samples contained unsafe levels of these metals based on a typical serving size of one tablespoon per day, and the concentrations in the United States were generally lower than global averages. Still, researchers identified regional variations in toxic metal distribution: the highest arsenic levels were detected in honey from a cluster of Pacific Northwest states (Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Nevada); the Southeast, including Louisiana and Mississippi, showed the highest cobalt levels; and two of the three highest lead levels were found in samples from the Carolinas.

Overall, the study highlights a potential dual role for honey as both a food source and a tool for monitoring environmental pollution.

MIT physicists propose a method to create fractionalized electrons known as non-Abelian anyons in two-dimensional materials, potentially advancing quantum computing by enabling more reliable quantum bits without using magnetic fields.

Their research highlights the potential of molybdenum ditelluride in forming these anyons, promising significant advancements in robust quantum computation.

MIT physicists predict exotic matter for quantum computing.

Launching in February 2025, NASAs PUNCH mission will study the Sun’s corona and solar wind with four satellites.

NASA and SpaceX plan to launch NASA’s PUNCH mission (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) in late February 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The PUNCH mission consists of four small satellites designed to enter low Earth orbit and capture 3D, global views of the Sun’s corona. By studying how mass and energy in the corona become the solar wind, scientists hope to gain new insights into solar activity and its effects on space weather.

Researchers have developed a method using viruses to track neuronal development in frogs, shedding light on the evolution of vertebrate nervous systems and offering comparative insights with mammals.

Although viruses are typically associated with illnesses, not all viruses are harmful or cause disease. Some are instrumental in therapeutic treatments and vaccinations. In scientific research, viruses are often used to infect certain cells, genetically modify them, or visualize neurons in the organism’s central nervous system (CNS)—the command center made up of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves.

The highlighting process has now been successfully applied to amphibians, which are crucial for understanding the brain and spinal cord of tetrapods—four-limbed animals, including humans. This has been shown in a new study by an international EDGE consortium jointly led by the Sweeney Lab at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Tosches Lab at Columbia University.

Over 390,000 WordPress credentials exfiltrated via malicious GitHub repository hosting trojanized PoC code.

DoJ indicts 14 North Koreans for $88M IT fraud; $2.26M seized, $5M reward offered.

Iranian-linked IOCONTROL malware targets IoT, OT, and SCADA systems with advanced evasion tactics.