All posts tagged: system

Scientists link immune system proteins to mental health conditions like schizophrenia and depression

Scientists link immune system proteins to mental health conditions like schizophrenia and depression

Published by José

New research suggests that immune system activity may play a role in the development of several major mental health conditions. The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, identified 29 immune-related proteins that appear to contribute to the risk of disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease. Many of these proteins are already being targeted by drugs used for other conditions, raising the possibility that treatments focused on the immune system could one day help people with psychiatric disorders. The researchers undertook this study to clarify whether immune system dysfunction actually causes mental health conditions or merely correlates with them. In recent years, many studies have found that people with depression, schizophrenia, and other disorders often have signs of increased inflammation. However, it has remained unclear whether this inflammation is a consequence of the illness, a contributing factor, or unrelated entirely. Resolving this uncertainty is essential for guiding the development of new therapies. To investigate this, the research team, led by Christina Dardani and Golam Khandaker at the University of Bristol, used a method …

ITER reactor reaches superconducting magnet system milestone

ITER reactor reaches superconducting magnet system milestone

Published by skeptic

In a monumental leap forward for fusion energy, the ITER reactor project has completed all major components for its colossal superconducting magnet system. This achievement marks a turning point for the world’s largest and most advanced fusion experiment, designed to prove that replicating the Sun’s energy is not only possible but scalable and sustainable. At the core of this breakthrough is the final module of the Central Solenoid – ITER’s most powerful magnet – now ready for assembly at the project’s site in Southern France. Weighing in at thousands of tons and reaching magnetic forces powerful enough to lift an aircraft carrier, this system will drive the fusion process that lies at the heart of ITER’s mission: producing clean, safe, and virtually limitless energy. ITER explained The ITER reactor, short for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, is a global scientific partnership involving over 30 countries. Its aim is to harness nuclear fusion – the same energy process that powers stars – to create a viable, carbon-free energy source for Earth. When fully operational, ITER will be …

A golden opportunity to help fix our broken SEND system

A golden opportunity to help fix our broken SEND system

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Despite the broken state of England’s SEND system, we now have a golden opportunity to get it right. Bridget Phillipson has set a bold and clear mission: to break down the barriers to opportunity. The work of fixing the SEND system must be central to that mission, but we only get one shot at this and it must be done properly – not rushed. The future of thousands of children depends on a measured, thoughtful redesign that genuinely delivers inclusion. Our work so far Let’s be clear: the existing system is not working, and the current government has inherited a school system stretched beyond capacity. For too many families, the process of securing support for their child with SEND is adversarial and exhausting. Education, health and care plans (EHCPs), originally designed to protect entitlements, have become the only ticket to provision. This creates a fragmented, combative system driven by diagnosis rather than need. Mainstream schools become exclusionary by default and the specialist sector, while vital for some, becomes the …

Will we ever have confirmation of life outside our solar system?

Will we ever have confirmation of life outside our solar system?

Published by skeptic

Artist’s impression of the exoplanet K2-18b A. Smith/N. Mandhusudhan One of the strongest signs of life outside Earth was announced this week, but some astronomers cautioned that it is extremely difficult to verify. That raises the question: will there ever come a point where we have definitive evidence of extraterrestrial life, and when might that be? The supposed signs of life were picked up by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) from the exoplanet K2-18b, 124 light years away. Nikku Madhusudhan at the University of Cambridge and his colleagues reported a signal of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a molecule that… Source link

Mysterious objects from other stars are passing through our solar system. Scientists are planning missions to study them up close

Mysterious objects from other stars are passing through our solar system. Scientists are planning missions to study them up close

Published by skeptic

In late 2017, a mysterious object tore through our solar system at breakneck speed. Astronomers scrambled to observe the fast moving body using the world’s most powerful telescopes. It was found to be one quarter mile (400m) long and very elongated – perhaps 10 times as long as it was wide. Researchers named it ‘Oumuamua, Hawaiian for “scout”. ‘Oumuamua was later confirmed to be the first object from another star known to have visited our solar system. While these interstellar objects (ISO) originate around a star, they end up as cosmic nomads, wandering through space. They are essentially planetary shrapnel, having been blasted out of their parent star systems by catastrophic events, such as giant collisions between planetary objects. Astronomers say that ‘Oumuamua could have been travelling through the Milky Way for hundreds of millions of years before its encounter with our solar system. Just two years after this unexpected visit, a second ISO – the Borisov Comet – was spotted, this time by an amateur astronomer in Crimea. These celestial interlopers have given us …

New UK system to protect satellites against attack shows how global conflict has spilled into outer space

New UK system to protect satellites against attack shows how global conflict has spilled into outer space

Published by skeptic

The UK government has announced £65 million in funding for a new system called Borealis which is intended to help the UK military defend its satellites against threats. Borealis is a software system that collates and processes data to strengthen the UK military’s ability to monitor what’s going on in space. The government’s investment, announced on March 7, underlines the increasingly critical role played by space systems in the modern world. Space services play a key role in managing critical infrastructure such as the energy grid, transport systems and communications networks. For example, SpaceX’s Starlink system has been vitally important for communication on the battlefield during Ukraine’s war with Russia. It is just one example of the game changing potential of satellite based services. The investment in Borealis also shows that the UK government is taking the threat to space systems increasingly seriously. From as long ago as 2019, senior US officials have warned that space is no longer considered a “benign environment”. In 2021, a US general claimed that states were constantly conducting attacks …

How Chinese Characters Work: The Evolution of a Three-Millennia-Old Writing System

How Chinese Characters Work: The Evolution of a Three-Millennia-Old Writing System

Published by José

Con­trary to some­what pop­u­lar belief, Chi­nese char­ac­ters aren’t just lit­tle pic­tures. In fact, most of them aren’t pic­tures at all. The very old­est, whose evo­lu­tion can be traced back to the “ora­cle bone” script of thir­teenth cen­tu­ry BC etched direct­ly onto the remains of tur­tles and oxen, do bear traces of their pic­to­graph ances­tors. But most Chi­nese char­ac­ters, or hanzi, are logo­graph­ic, which means that each one rep­re­sents a dif­fer­ent mor­pheme, or dis­tinct unit of lan­guage: a word, or a sin­gle part of a word that has no inde­pen­dent mean­ing. Nobody knows for sure how many hanzi exist, but near­ly 100,000 have been doc­u­ment­ed so far. Not that you need to learn all of them to attain lit­er­a­cy: for that, a mere 3,000 to 5,000 will do. While it’s tech­ni­cal­ly pos­si­ble to mem­o­rize that many char­ac­ters by rote, you’d do bet­ter to begin by famil­iar­iz­ing your­self with their basic nature and struc­ture — and in so doing, you’ll nat­u­ral­ly learn more than a lit­tle about their long his­to­ry. The TED-Ed les­son at the top of the …

How innovation is transforming the UK’s water system

How innovation is transforming the UK’s water system

Published by skeptic

Jo Jolly, Ofwat’s Director of Environment and Innovation, discusses how innovation and collaboration are transforming the UK’s water system to tackle critical challenges like leakage, emissions, and pollution while building a sustainable future. The water system is a complex and nationally critical network, with hundreds of thousands of kilometres of mains water and wastewater pipes across the length and breadth of the country. Every day, each person in England and Wales uses an average of 152 litres of water; 15.3 billion litres of water is treated to some of the strictest quality levels in the world, and 11 billion litres of wastewater is collected and processed in 9,000 sewage treatment works. In a water system of such scale, serving 26 million homes and businesses, it’s no surprise that there are challenges. Some are well-publicised, such as sewage overflowing into our waterways and seas. Other challenges in our water system achieve less attention, but equally require action, such as reducing the sector’s significant greenhouse gas emissions, cutting leaks, building circularity into wastewater treatment, managing runoff and …

Forward and Inverse Modelling of the Earthquake Subduction System – apply now

Forward and Inverse Modelling of the Earthquake Subduction System – apply now

Published by skeptic

Utrecht University’s Department of Earth Sciences is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher (up to four years) and a PhD candidate (four years) to model and image earthquake systems in subduction zones. These positions are largely funded by a €2.5m ERC Consolidator grant, “RESET: mega-thRust Earthquake System Theory,” awarded to Dr Ylona van Dinther. Research focus RESET aims to improve predictions of earthquake locations, magnitudes, and possibly even timing. By integrating satellite observations and innovative system-based physics, the project introduces an earthquake system model that unifies motion across subduction interfaces, tectonic plates, and the mantle. This approach bridges spatial, temporal, and methodological inference scales, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of fault motion and system processes. Currently, earthquake modelling relies on inverting horizontal surface velocities before, during, or after seismic events. This research will extend inversion methods to include vertical velocities, enhancing our ability to predict earthquake depth and impact. These advancements could significantly refine earthquake risk assessments for the three billion people living near subduction zones and coastlines. Methodology The methodologies for this project …

Can the UK fix its broken prison system? – video | Prisons and probation

Can the UK fix its broken prison system? – video | Prisons and probation

Published by Sam

The prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years, with overcrowding now endemic across the system. But the government’s strategy of easing this pressure by granting early release to thousands of offenders has had a knock-on effect. With many lacking stability on the outside, reoffending rates are high, exacerbating the existing problem. The Guardian visited Wales to see this playing out on the streets of Bridgend; and the Netherlands, to find out why the Dutch have closed more than 20 prisons in the past 10 years, seemingly in complete contrast to the struggles in Britain – and despite increasing levels of more serious crime seen across the country With thanks to Prison Escape Utrecht and Tap Social Movement Source link