Category archives: Science

Language makes us human. Or not

Language makes us human. Or not

Language

By Invited Researcher

It is a warning that keeps repeating once and again: the behavior of artificial intelligence will soon be indistinguishable from that of human beings. A frightening and inevitable moment that is drawing ever closer. A recent paper available on arXiv [/footnote] Daniel Jannai, Amos Meron, Barak Lenz, Yoav Levine, Yoav Shoham (2023) Human or not? […]

A dog parasite could help fight incurable cancers

A dog parasite could help fight incurable cancers

BiologyBiomedicineMedicine

By Invited Researcher

Cancers are the second leading cause of death in the world, after cardiovascular diseases. Their seriousness lies in their diversity – some can be effectively treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, while others respond poorly or not at all. Improving the treatment of these diseases is therefore a major challenge. For several years, the development […]

Traditional understanding of heat transport, involving phonons, is not applicable to strong heat insulators

Traditional understanding of heat transport, involving phonons, is not applicable to strong heat insulators

EnergyMaterialsNanotechnologyPhysics

By César Tomé

Researchers have made significant progress in understanding the fundamental microscopic mechanisms that can be used to customize materials for heat insulation. This breakthrough represents a significant step forward in the continuous endeavour to understand heat transport, improve energy efficiency and promote sustainability. Heat transport plays a vital role in numerous scientific and industrial fields, including […]

A lifetime of mental illness accelerates ageing

A lifetime of mental illness accelerates ageing

NeurobiologyNeuroscience

By Rosa García-Verdugo

Mental illness is associated with accelerated ageing, namely with shorter life span and ageing-related diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular problems, with worse effects observed in men than women (the average lifespan for men having suffered from mental illness is 10 years shorter than for peers without those issues, for women the difference is seven […]

Tracking C–H bond activation with unprecedented resolution

Tracking C–H bond activation with unprecedented resolution

CatalysisChemistry

By César Tomé

C-H bond The emission of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, is escalating due to livestock farming and the ongoing thawing of permafrost. Converting methane and longer alkanes into more benign and valuable chemicals presents an opportunity to mitigate these hazards while providing a vast resource for the chemical industry. Nevertheless, the conversion of methane […]

Repurposing ponatinib for ALT-specific minority types of recurrent tumors

Repurposing ponatinib for ALT-specific minority types of recurrent tumors

BiomedicinePharmacy

By Invited Researcher

Author: José R. Pineda got his Ph.D. from University of Barcelona in 2006. Since 2007 he has worked for Institut Curie and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Currently he is a researcher of the UPV/EHU. He investigates the role of stem cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions. Replicative senescence is a process […]

Tunneling electrons excite a superconducting pair-breaking transition in the presence of magnetic impurities

Tunneling electrons excite a superconducting pair-breaking transition in the presence of magnetic impurities

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materialsMaterialsQuantum physics

By DIPC

The development of superconducting devices was greatly stimulated after the acceptance of the basic theory of superconductivity proposed in 1957 by John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schrieffer – BCS theory. The basic idea is that the electron waves in the superconducting state no longer act independently, as in Bloch’s model. Instead, they are paired […]

Organoid intelligence: brains acting as computers

Organoid intelligence: brains acting as computers

Computer scienceNeuroscience

By Rosa García-Verdugo

While for long in neuroscience, computers were used to model brain function, organoid intelligence, a new scientific field, aims to do the opposite by developing biological computers which would benefit from the efficiency of our most complex biological machine: the brain. Fear not. The objective is not to connect humans by their brains to power […]

Bilingualism and cognitive reserve: unlocking the benefits of multilingualism

Bilingualism and cognitive reserve: unlocking the benefits of multilingualism

LanguageNeuroscience

By Invited Researcher

Bilingualism, or the ability to speak two or more languages, has become increasingly important in today’s globalized world. Not only does it facilitate communication and cultural understanding between people of different languages and backgrounds, but it has also been shown to have cognitive benefits that can help promote healthy aging. Research has shown that bilingualism […]