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Atom smasher turns lead into gold
Cities in the US are sinking. Here’s why?
Coffee Table Science
May 12, 2025
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Welcome to this edition of Over a Cup of Coffee!
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AI-designed DNA regulates genes in healthy mammalian cells
In a first, the successful control of gene expression in healthy mammalian cells by synthetic molecules designed by generative AI was recently reported. Researchers at Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Spain, developed an AI tool to create novel DNA regulatory sequences. The AI model predicts the necessary DNA letter combinations (A, T, C, G) for specific gene expression in cell types. Researchers then synthesize these ~250-letter DNA fragments and use a virus to deliver them into cells.
Using this approach, researchers designed a fluorescent protein gene that can express in mouse blood cells without affecting other genes. The introduced DNA integrated randomly and functioned as predicted, serving as a proof of concept.
This work is a key step in generative biology, which has so far focused on protein design for new enzymes and antibodies. However, many cell-specific diseases arise from faulty gene expression, where protein drugs may not be ideal.
This research could provide gene therapy developers with novel methods to precisely control gene activity in specific cells or tissues requiring intervention.
The findings were published in the journal Cell.
Cities in the US are sinking. Here’s why?
A new analysis shows that 25 of America's 28 largest cities are sinking with Texan cities like Fort Worth and Houston particularly affected, along with places like Seattle, Detroit, and Charlotte, N.C.
For most people, accessing water is as simple as turning on a tap, without needing to think about its origins. However, over-extraction of groundwater can directly impact surface land.
Texas' heavy groundwater use for agriculture, industry, and public supply, along with oil and gas extraction (including "monster fracks"), contributes to land sinking. Climate change exacerbates this by causing hotter temperatures and droughts, leading to increased groundwater pumping in dry regions.
Phoenix, a desert city with a history of groundwater depletion, reversed this trend after Arizona's 1980 Groundwater Management Act established management districts and conservation rules.
Despite improvements, Phoenix still feels the impact of past overpumping because some aquifers struggle to recharge, making it difficult to reverse land subsidence fully. Even with groundwater recovery, subsidence can persist because air fills the spaces once held open by water. While these spaces can sometimes refill, they can also compress permanently.
The analysis was published in the journal Nature Cities.
You can read more in 10 Cities that will disappear due to climate change
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Scientists report unusual phenomena in the universe
An intriguing astronomical discovery could change our understanding of the universe's structure and expansion.
Scientists recently found that dark energy, the force behind the universe's accelerating expansion, might be weakening. These findings could challenge the standard cosmological model (LCDM), which incorporates dark energy, ordinary matter, and slow-moving cold dark matter. In the LCDM model, lambda represents Einstein's cosmological constant, which posits a constant rate of the universe's acceleration.
However, last year, scientists revised this view after analyzing data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona, concluding that dark energy isn't constant. Instead of altering the LCDM, Akrami and colleagues proposed redefining dark energy as a "quintessence field," which can explain the universe's accelerating expansion. This could help scientists integrate advanced string theory with the standard cosmological model.
A modified quintessence model suggests dark energy might interact with gravity. However, introducing this "fifth force" requires explaining why we haven't observed any evidence of it in our local universe during precise measurements. The researcher thinks the debate over dark energy models may be unresolved. However, upcoming observations from ESA's Euclid satellite and DESI could potentially reveal dark energy's influence on gravity.
The findings were published in Futurism.
Atom smasher turns lead into gold
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collier created 86 billion gold nuclei by smashing lead atoms at near light speed (99.999993%) during its second run (2015-2018). The minuscule amount of gold (29 trillionths of a gram) created quickly collided and fragmented, but was still detected by ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment).
Inspired by Aristotle, alchemists wrongly thought lead's density indicated it could be transmuted into gold. Ironically, their belief held a bit of truth: gold (79 protons) and lead are close on the periodic table. Collisions in particle accelerators can transmute lead into gold by stripping three protons (and some neutrons). Removing one or two protons creates thallium and mercury, respectively.
Physicists quantified the created metals using ALICE's sensitive Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDCs), which measure protons and neutrons from the LHC's numerous collisions. The LHC's third run, with increased energy, now produces gold at a peak rate of about 89,000 nuclei per second, almost twice the rate of the second run, although it's still less frequent than thallium or mercury production.
The insights were published by CERN.
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Adya
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