AI science evaluation tools should be scrutinized through ‘critically engaged pragmatism’ - Center for an Informed Public

20 hours agoFergus WalshMedical editorA pioneering same-day test has been used to detect hidden and drug-resistant infections among children in intensive care. Respiratory samples from more than 100 critically ill young patients at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) were sent for what is known as metagenomic testing. It can identify bacteria, viruses and fungi from a single sample, which in many cases influences what doctors prescribe. Metagenomics can detect infections that standard tests miss, meaning better outcomes for some critically ill patients.'The test... saved her life' In March, 10-year-old Willow Crowther became dangerously ill with pneumonia, which triggered a seizure and multiple cardiac arrests. Willow, from Kent, was admitted to intensive care at GOSH. Her mum, Stacey Moore, was told she had a 50% chance of survival. "The consultant said... we should bring our family up to say goodbye to her. This is how critical and in how much danger she was of passing away.

SaskatchewanRegina is desperately short of nuclear medicine technologists, a situation that is delaying critical testing of everything from cancer to heart blockages, according to the union that represents the health workers. Opposition says workers are leaving for provinces where they can make $15 more per hourListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP and CUPE say nuclear medicine technologists are leaving Regina for higher pay in other provinces. (CBC News)Regina is desperately short of nuclear medicine technologists, a situation that is delaying critical testing of everything from cancer to heart blockages, according to the union that represents the health workers. “If you come to this department you will see half of this equipment sitting empty because they don’t have people to run them,” said Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE local 5430, which represents nuclear medicine technologists in the city.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Isaiah Santistevan led the development of three-dimensional simulations exploring how a nuclear device could deflect or disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth. Credit: Blaise Douros/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers are developing three-dimensional simulations to examine how a nuclear device could be used to deflect or potentially disrupt an asteroid threatening Earth.

Milky Way’s first microblazar candidate sits 12,000 light-years away, offering a rare ground-level lab for studying relativistic jetsA black hole 12,000 light-years away is firing a jet of plasma almost directly toward Earth. At that distance, no known or expected danger to Earth has been identified by the researchers or the institutions involved. What astronomers have actually found is rarer and more interesting than a threat. Researchers have identified IRAS 18293-0941 as a compelling candidate for the Milky Way’s first microblazar, a class of object that gives astrophysicists a close-up laboratory for studying some of the most violent physics in the galaxy. What Astronomers FoundThe discovery centers on a binary system whose black hole expels plasma jets at close to three-quarters the speed of light, pointed almost directly toward Earth. The system pairs a hot, massive star with a black hole that completes a full orbit roughly every 11.38 days. Material drawn from the companion star feeds the black hole, and some of that matter gets expelled outward as opposing jets traveling at approximately three-quarters the speed of light. Terminology matters here.

Forests that stood on Mozambique's coast thousands of years ago now lie beneath shallow seas, and they have become fish-filled "peat reefs" with marine life comparable to coral reefs, researchers report in Scientific Reports. A team from the Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS) Ocean Observatory, led by Mario Lebrato, documented the submerged peat in the Bazaruto Archipelago in the Western Indian Ocean. BCSS, founded in 2017, describes itself as Africa's first permanent ocean observatory. Working with universities and institutions in the U. K., U. S. and Canada, the team believes it has carried out the first ecological study of peat reefs anywhere in the tropics. Old forests, new seafloorRadiocarbon dating shows the peat formed between about 300 and 5,000 years ago, and chemical analysis indicates it came mostly from coastal land plants and trees. Some samples contain up to 40% organic carbon by dry weight. Lebrato said the coastline has very little natural hard seabed, mostly shifting sand. As rising seas expose the old peat layers, they create rare solid habitat where marine life can settle, hide and feed.