MIT News: In the 1920s, German chemist Otto Warburg discovered that cancer cells don’t metabolize sugar the same way that healthy cells usually do. Since then, scientists have tried to figure out why cancer cells use this alternative pathway, which is much less efficient. MIT biologists have now found a possible answer to this longstanding question. In a study appearing in…
Tag: authors
Dog Domestication May Have Begun Because Paleo Humans Couldn’t Stomach the Original Paleo Diet
A new theory described today in Scientific Reports posits that hunter-gatherers whose omnivorous digestive system prevented too much protein consumption likely shared surplus meat with wolves. Those scraps may have initiated a step toward domestication. Scientific American reports: [Maria Lahtinen, a senior researcher at the Finnish Food Authority and a visiting scholar at the Finnish Museum of Natural History] did not…
New sunspot cycle could be among strongest on record
A study of oppositely charged magnetic field bands, moving in the sun’s northern and southern hemispheres, suggests the coming sunspot cycle – Cycle 25 – will be a particularly strong one. This result contradicts an earlier expert forecast, suggesting a weak Cycle 25. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sunspot-cycle-25-among-strongest-on-record-says-ncar…
Why on Earth Is Someone Stealing Unpublished Book Manuscripts?
A phishing scam with unclear motive or payoff is targeting authors, agents and editors big and small, baffling the publishing industry. From a report: Earlier this month, the book industry website Publishers Marketplace announced that Little, Brown would be publishing “Re-Entry,” a novel by James Hannaham about a transgender woman paroled from a men’s prison. The book would be edited by…
Google Told Its Scientists To ‘Strike a Positive Tone’ in AI Research
Alphabet’s Google this year moved to tighten control over its scientists’ papers by launching a “sensitive topics” review, and in at least three cases requested authors refrain from casting its technology in a negative light, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing internal communications and interviews with researchers involved in the work. From a report: Google’s new review procedure asks that researchers consult with…
AI Solves Schrodinger’s Equation
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: A team of scientists at Freie Universitat Berlin has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) method for calculating the ground state of the Schrodinger equation in quantum chemistry. The goal of quantum chemistry is to predict chemical and physical properties of molecules based solely on the arrangement of their atoms in space, avoiding the…
Goodreads Is Retiring Its Current API, and Book-Loving Developers Aren’t Happy
Last week, some Goodreads users received a disappointing message: The popular book tracking website is disabling access to its API for users who haven’t used the product in more than 30 days. The company says it “plans to retire these tools” altogether and that, as of December 8, it will no longer issue new keys. It’s unclear when or if Goodreads…
Want to find life on Mars? Look deep underground
A new study from researchers at Rutgers University suggests that the best place to look for evidence of life on Mars is deep underground, where geothermal heat melted subsurface ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-life-search-subsurface-ice-melted-by-geothermal-heat…
‘Save Europe from Software Patents’, Urges Nonprofit FFII
Long-time Slashdot reader zoobab shares this update about the long-standing Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, a Munich-based non-profit opposing ratification of a “Unified Patent Court” by Germany: The FFII is crowdfunding a constitutional complaint in Germany against the third attempt to impose software patents in Europe, calling on all software companies, independent software developers and FLOSS authors to donate. The…
For 3rd data release, Gaia gazed toward galactic anticenter
The 3rd data release from the Gaia mission will provide astronomers with a “treasure trove” of information they didn’t have before. As they analyze Gaia’s data in the years ahead, we’re sure to learn new and surprising things about our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/gaia-3rd-data-release-edr3-dec-2020…