researchers

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS, VIDEO REELS

Deepfake Audio Has A Tell – Researchers Use Fluid Dynamics To Spot Artificial Imposter Voices

Imagine the following scenario. A phone rings. An office worker answers it and hears his boss, in a panic, tell him that she forgot to transfer money to the new contractor before she left for the day and needs him to do it. She gives him the wire transfer information, and with the money transferred, the crisis has been averted. The worker sits back in his chair, takes a deep breath, and watches as his boss walks in the door. The voice on the other end of the call was not his boss. In fact, it wasn’t even a human. The voice he heard was that of an audio deepfake, a machine-generated audio sample designed to sound exactly like his boss. Attacks like this using recorded audio have already occurred, and conversational audio deepfakes might not be far off. Deepfakes, both audio and video, ha...

Some Researchers Question Whether Synthetic Dyes In Colorful Sweets May Pose Health Risks To Your Colon And Rectum

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Some Researchers Question Whether Synthetic Dyes In Colorful Sweets May Pose Health Risks To Your Colon And Rectum

Early-onset colorectal cancer incidence among the young, defined as those under age 50, has been rising globally since the early 1990s. Rates for colon and rectal cancers are expected to increase by 90% and 124%, respectively, by 2030. One suspected reason behind this trend is increased global consumption of a Westernized diet that consists heavily of red and processed meats, added sugar and refined grains. Sixty percent of the Standard American Diet, also known as “SAD,” is made up of ultra-processed food such as industrial baked sweets, soft drinks and processed meat. SAD is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. One aspect of ultra-processed foods I’m concerned about is how colorful they are. This characteristic is on full display in many delicious foods and treats pr...

What Researchers Know And What They Don’t Know About The New Coronavirus Variant – Will Omicron Be More Contagious Than Delta? A Virus Evolution Expert Explains

1Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

What Researchers Know And What They Don’t Know About The New Coronavirus Variant – Will Omicron Be More Contagious Than Delta? A Virus Evolution Expert Explains

Suresh V. Kuchipudi, Penn State A new variant named omicron (B.1.1.529) was reported by researchers in South Africa on Nov. 24, 2021, and designated a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization two days later. Omicron is very unusual in that it is by far the most heavily mutated variant yet of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The omicron variant has 50 mutations overall, with 32 mutations on the spike protein alone. The spike protein – which forms protruding knobs on the outside of the SARS-CoV-2 virus – helps the virus adhere to cells so that it can gain entry. It is also the protein that all three vaccines currently available in the U.S. use to induce protective antibodies. For comparison, the delta variant has nine mutations. The larger number of mutations in the...

In The US Intense Scrutiny Of Chinese-Born Researchers Threatens Innovation

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

In The US Intense Scrutiny Of Chinese-Born Researchers Threatens Innovation

The arrest of MIT engineering professor Gang Chen on Jan. 14 has drawn attention to the role of China in U.S. science and technology system. It’s not the first time suspicions have fallen on a Chinese-born scientist – Chen is a naturalized U.S. citizen – for work they conduct openly in the United States. The charges against Gang Chen – wire fraud, failing to report a foreign bank account and a false statement on a tax return – stem from failing to disclose Chinese funding for his research. MIT called the allegations “distressing,” and the school’s president and 100 faculty members are defending a Chinese university’s investment in MIT research. No evidence of spying has been made public, but a Department of Justice criminal complaint expressed suspicions that Chen’s loyalty may not be ali...

Researchers Are Working To Prevent An Outbreak Of A Skin-Eating Fungus From Europe That Could Decimate Appalachia’s Salamanders

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Researchers Are Working To Prevent An Outbreak Of A Skin-Eating Fungus From Europe That Could Decimate Appalachia’s Salamanders

The Southern Appalachian mountains are a global biodiversity hot spot for salamanders. Dr. Deb Miller and Dr. Matt Gray lead the Amphibian Disease Laboratory at the University of Tennessee and are looking at various strategies to prevent a fungus that is deadly to salamanders from entering the U.S. via the international pet trade. They are also conducting research to learn more about the disease, and looking at potential strategies to reduce the spread of the fungus in case it does enter the country._ Deb Miller and Matt Gray talk about the Bsal fungus and their efforts to protect salamanders. Why do the Appalachian mountains have so many salamanders? The intersection of North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia is a global biodiversity hot spot for salamanders. Tennessee, for example, has aro...

Researchers Are Preparing For The Coming Wave Of Deepfake Propaganda In A Battle Of AI Versus AI

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

VIDEO REELS

Researchers Are Preparing For The Coming Wave Of Deepfake Propaganda In A Battle Of AI Versus AI

An investigative journalist receives a video from an anonymous whistleblower. It shows a candidate for president admitting to illegal activity. But is this video real? If so, it would be huge news – the scoop of a lifetime – and could completely turn around the upcoming elections. But the journalist runs the video through a specialized tool, which tells her that the video isn’t what it seems. In fact, it’s a “deepfake,” a video made using artificial intelligence with deep learning. Journalists all over the world could soon be using a tool like this. In a few years, a tool like this could even be used by everyone to root out fake content in their social media feeds. As researchers who have been studying deepfake detection and developing a tool for journalists, we see a future for these to...

AI tool searches thousands of scientific papers to guide researchers to coronavirus insights

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

AI tool searches thousands of scientific papers to guide researchers to coronavirus insights

The big idea The scientific community worldwide has mobilized with unprecedented speed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, and the emerging research output is staggering. Every day, hundreds of scientific papers about COVID-19 come out, in both traditional journals and non-peer-reviewed preprints. There’s already far more than any human could possibly keep up with, and more research is constantly emerging. And it’s not just new research. We estimate that there are as many as 500,000 papers relevant to COVID-19 that were published before the outbreak, including papers related to the outbreaks of SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012. Any one of these might contain the key information that leads to effective treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19. Traditional methods of searching through the research li...

Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them

Amid the chaos of an epidemic, those who survive a disease like COVID-19 carry within their bodies the secrets of an effective immune response. Virologists like me look to survivors for molecular clues that can provide a blueprint for the design of future treatments or even a vaccine. Researchers are launching trials now that involve the transfusion of blood components from people who have recovered from COVID-19 to those who are sick or at high risk. Called “convalescent-plasma therapy,” this technique can work even without doctors knowing exactly what component of the blood may be beneficial. For the pioneering work of the first treatment using therapeutic serum in 1891 (against diphtheria), Emil von Behring later earned the Nobel Prize in medicine. Anecdotal reporting of the therapy d...