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    Scientists discover Molecules that Store Much of the Carbon in Space

    October 27, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Gabi Wenzel and Brett McGuire stand in the lab full of equipment on racks.
    The findings suggest pyrene may have been the source of much of the carbon in our solar system. “It’s an almost unbelievable sink of carbon,” says Brett McGuire, right, standing with lead author of the study Gabi Wenzel.
    Credits:Photo: Bryce Vickmark

    A team led by researchers at MIT has discovered that a distant interstellar cloud contains an abundance of pyrene, a type of large, carbon-containing molecule known as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH).

    The discovery of pyrene in this far-off cloud, which is similar to the collection of dust and gas that eventually became our own solar system, suggests that pyrene may have been the source of much of the carbon in our solar system...

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    What Standing on One Leg can tell you: Biological Age

    October 25, 2024, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    How long a person can stand — on one leg — is a more telltale measure of aging than changes in strength or gait, according to new Mayo Clinic research. The study appears today in the journal PLOS ONE.

    Good balance, muscle strength and an efficient gait contribute to people’s independence and well-being as they age. How these factors change, and at what rate, can help clinicians develop programs to ensure healthy aging. Individually, people can train their balance without special equipment and work on maintaining it over time.

    In this study, 40 healthy, independent people over 50 underwent walking, balance, grip strength and knee strength tests. Half of the participants were under 65; the other half were 65 and older.

    In the balance tests, participants stood on force plates in...

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    A “Chemical ChatGPT” for New Medications

    October 25, 2024, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Three-dimensional structures of two target proteins,
    Three-dimensional structures of two target proteins, – histone deacetylase 6 (blue) and tyrosine-protein kinase JAK2 (red), together with a selective inhibitor of each enzyme. The dual inhibitor in the center is active against both targets. The prediction of compounds with predefined dual-target activity is the task of the chemical language model.© Figure: Sanjana Srinivasan & Jürgen Bajorath

    Researchers from the University of Bonn have trained an AI process to predict potential active ingredients with special properties. Therefore, they derived a chemical language model — a kind of ChatGPT for molecules. Following a training phase, the AI was able to exactly reproduce the chemical structures of compounds with known dual-target activity that may be particularly effective medications...

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    Physicists Discover First ‘Black Hole Triple’

    October 25, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Illustration of a black hole at the center of a galaxy in the process of consuming a nearby star, which looks like an orange blob. A second, more regular, star appears at a distance.

    System observed 8,000 light-years away may be the first direct evidence of ‘gentle’ black hole formation. A surprising discovery about the black hole V404 Cygnus is expanding our understanding of black holes, the objects they can host, and the way they form.

    Many black holes detected to date appear to be part of a pair. These binary systems comprise a black hole and a secondary object — such as a star, a much denser neutron star, or another black hole — that spiral around each other, drawn together by the black hole’s gravity to form a tight orbital pair.

    Now a surprising discovery is expanding the picture of black holes, the objects they can host, and the way they form.

    In a study appearing in Nature, physicists at MIT and Caltech report that they have observed a “black hole...

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