🤖 Computer Science

Realistic morphology-preserving generative modelling of the brain

Medical imaging research faces data scarcity due to privacy concerns, governance, and high costs. Generative models can help by synthesizing realistic images. This work presents a 3D brain generative model that produces high-resolution, morphologically accurate images based on patient characteristics. These synthetic images preserve biological and disease traits, making them useful for image analysis and addressing data scarcity issues in healthcare AI.

Make-An-Agent: A Generalizable Policy Network Generator with Behavior-Prompted Diffusion

Can we generate a control policy for an agent from a single demonstration? Make-An-Agent uses conditional diffusion models to convert behavior embeddings into policy networks. Trained on policy networks and trajectories, it excels in various tasks with few-shot demonstrations and is effective across different robots and real-world applications.

⚛️ Physics and Chemistry

Nano-confinement may be key to improving hydrogen production

Researchers at LLNL discovered a mechanism to boost hydrogen production efficiency via water splitting. Published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, the study suggests ways to enhance and protect electrocatalysts, advancing the development of durable and affordable systems for hydrogen production.

Scientists create space plasmas at CERN

Physicists at CERN have successfully created plasma "fireballs" in the lab using the SPS accelerator to generate high-density beams of relativistic electron-positron pairs. This achievement could illuminate the extreme astrophysical emission processes in gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei. These plasmas, common in deep space around black holes and neutron stars, consist of matter-antimatter pairs moving at near-light speeds.

🧬 Biology & Medicine

Genetic cloaking of healthy cells opens door to universal blood cancer therapy

In the fight against cancer, distinguishing cancer cells from healthy ones is challenging as they often lack unique markers. This makes targeted treatments difficult, risking damage to healthy cells. Researchers are now shifting strategies to protect healthy cells using common molecular markers, effectively leaving only cancer cells vulnerable to treatments.

We Finally Know How General Anesthesia Knocks You Out

MIT neuroscientists have discovered how propofol, a common anesthesia drug, works. Their research shows it disrupts the brain's "dynamic stability," preventing neurons from overreacting to input. By comparing electrical recordings from various brain regions in animals before and after administering propofol, the team identified how the drug induces and maintains unconsciousness.

Harnessing brain proteins for enhanced diabetes and weight-loss drugs

University of Michigan research suggests that proteins melanocortin 3 and 4 could enhance the effectiveness and reduce side effects of diabetes and weight-loss drugs by improving how the brain regulates feeding and energy balance.

🔭 Space & Astronomy

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket failure forces NASA to evaluate astronaut launch schedule for ISS

NASA is monitoring potential schedule impacts on its upcoming SpaceX astronaut mission after a Falcon 9 rocket failure last week. The rocket's second stage malfunctioned during a Starlink satellite launch, and both SpaceX and the FAA are investigating the issue.

NASA Johnson to Dedicate Building to Dorothy Vaughan, Women of Apollo

On July 19, NASA will honor Katherine Johnson and the women of Apollo with a renaming ceremony at “Building 12” and events including discussions, poetry readings, and a panel on women in spaceflight.

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