Bug drugs: bacteria-based cancer therapies are finally overcoming barriers

Lightspring/Shutterstock Justin Stebbing, Anglia Ruskin UniversityImagine a world where bacteria, typically feared for causing disease, are turned into powerful weapons against cancer. That’s exactly what some scientists are working on. And they are beginning to unravel the mechanisms for doing so, using genetically engineered bacteria to target and destroy cancer cells. Using bacteria to fight cancer dates back to the 1860s when William B. Coley, often called the father of immunotherapy, injected bacteria called streptococci into a young patient with inoperable bone cancer. Surprisingly, this unconventional approach led to the tumour shrinking, marking one of the first examples of immunotherapy. William Coley (centre), a pioneer of bug drugs. Wikimedia CommonsOver the next few decades, as head of the Bone Tumour Service at Memorial Hospital in New York, Coley injected over 1,000 cancer patients with bacteria or bacterial products. These products became known as Coley’s toxins. Despite this early promise, progress in bacteria-based cancer therapies has been slow. The development of radiation therapy and chemotherapy overshadowed Coley’s work, and his approach faced scepticism from the medical community. However, modern immunology has vindicated many of Coley’s principles, showing that some cancers are indeed very sensitive...
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India now OpenAI’s second largest market, Altman says

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a press conference with Kakao CEO Chung Shina to announce partnerships on AI services, in Seoul, South Korea, February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo(Reuters) -OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday said India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market by number of users, which have tripled in the past year.Altman met with India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and discussed India’s plan of creating a low-cost AI ecosystem. Altman lauded the country’s rapid AI adoption and growing ambitions.Vaishnaw posted on X that he had a “super cool discussion” with Altman on India’s “strategy of creating the entire AI stack – GPUs, model, and apps” and that OpenAI was willing to collaborate on all three.“I think India should be doing everything. I think India should be one of the leaders of the AI revolution”, Altman said, a reversal from last year when he cast doubt on whether the country could build a substantial model in the OpenAI space with a $10 million budget.It was Altman’s first visit since 2023 to India, where his company faces legal challenges.Vaishnaw last week praised Chinese startup DeepSeek for shaking up the sector with its low-cost AI assistant, likening its frugal approach to his government’s efforts to build a localised AI model.“Our country sent a mission to the moon at a fraction...
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2025 will see huge advances in quantum computing. So what is a quantum chip and how does it work?

Motion Loop/Shutterstock Muhammad Usman, CSIROIn recent years, the field of quantum computing has been experiencing fast growth, with technological advances and large-scale investments regularly making the news. The United Nations has designated 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. The stakes are high – having quantum computers would mean access to tremendous data processing power compared to what we have today. They won’t replace your normal computer, but having this kind of awesome computing power will provide advances in medicine, chemistry, materials science and other fields. So it’s no surprise that quantum computing is rapidly becoming a global race, and private industry and governments around the world are rushing to build the world’s first full-scale quantum computer. To achieve this, first we need to have stable and scalable quantum processors, or chips. What is a quantum chip? Everyday computers – like your laptop – are classical computers. They store and process information in the form of binary numbers or bits. A single bit can represent either 0 or 1. By contrast, the basic unit of a quantum chip is a qubit. A quantum chip is made up of many qubits. These are typically subatomic particles such as electrons or photons, controlled and manipulated by specially designed electric and...
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Indian American engineers discuss advancements in hot technologies

Debu Chatterjee, CEO Konfer and Mihir Shukla, CEO Automation Anywhere discussing responsible AI and engaging the audience. ALL PHOTOS: ASEIThe American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin (ASEIUSA.org), a non-profit founded in 1983, convened an AI Summit February 17, 2025, in Santa Clara, California, attended by a number of academics, researchers, authors, speakers and industry innovators.Held at the UCSC Silicon Valley campus, the event also marked the 10-year anniversary of ASEI’s Silicon Valley chapter.The Conference covered a wide variety of subjects in Artificial Intelligence.India’s Consul General in San Francisco Dr Srikar Reddy addressing the ASEI audience at AI meeting, Feb. 15, 2025. PHOTO: ASEIAfter a warm welcome by co-hosts UCSC Dean P.K. Agarwal,and ASEI Silicon Valley President Piyush Malik, setting the stage for the event, the Consul General (CG) of India in San Francisco Dr. Srikar Reddy, shared his perspectives on India’s digital economy, the strength of Silicon Valley Indian community and how the Indian government is investing in and leveraging AI for improving lives and livelihoods of citizens. Reddy alluded to Prime Minister Modi’s recent speeches at AI Action Summit in Paris and recent visit to the US.Opening the program with a classical Indian music performance by a young high school STEM student Sohum Gupta,...
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An AI system has reached human level on a test for ‘general intelligence’. Here’s what that means

OLaLa Merkel / Shutterstock Michael Timothy Bennett, Australian National University and Elija Perrier, Stanford UniversityA new artificial intelligence (AI) model has just achieved human-level results on a test designed to measure “general intelligence”. On December 20, OpenAI’s o3 system scored 85% on the ARC-AGI benchmark, well above the previous AI best score of 55% and on par with the average human score. It also scored well on a very difficult mathematics test. Creating artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is the stated goal of all the major AI research labs. At first glance, OpenAI appears to have at least made a significant step towards this goal. While scepticism remains, many AI researchers and developers feel something just changed. For many, the prospect of AGI now seems more real, urgent and closer than anticipated. Are they right? Generalisation and intelligence To understand what the o3 result means, you need to understand what the ARC-AGI test is all about. In technical terms, it’s a test of an AI system’s “sample efficiency” in adapting to something new – how many examples of a novel situation the system needs to see to figure out how it works. An AI system like ChatGPT (GPT-4) is not very sample efficient. It was “trained” on millions of examples of human text, constructing probabilistic “rules”...
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Supersonic jets are making a comeback – but despite the hype, don’t expect to book yet

Rendering of Boom Supersonic’s proposed Overture supersonic airliner. Boom Supersonic Chris James, The University of QueenslandLate last week, American company Boom Supersonic flew faster than the speed of sound with its XB-1 supersonic demonstrator aircraft. It’s now the first piloted non-military aircraft to break the sound barrier since the Concorde was retired from service in 2003. It’s the first step in Boom’s ambitious goal to have supersonic airliners carry passengers by 2029. But what exactly is supersonic travel? There are good reasons why it’s not more common, despite the hype. Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 supersonic demonstrator aircraft during its 11th test flight where it became the first civilian aircraft to fly supersonically since the Concorde. Boom SupersonicWhat is supersonic flight? The Mach number is defined as a plane’s speed divided by the speed that sound waves move through the air. To “break the sound barrier” means to fly faster than the speed of sound, with Mach numbers greater than 1. The Mach number is an important ratio: as a plane flies, it disturbs the air in front of it. These disturbances move at the speed of sound. In supersonic flight these disturbances combine to form shock waves around the vehicle. When people say you can see a fighter jet before you hear it, they’re referring to supersonic...
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‘Digital doppelgangers’ are helping scientists tackle everyday problems – and showing what makes us human

cybermagician/Shutterstock Alicia (Lucy) Cameron, CSIRO and Sarah Vivienne Bentley, CSIROAs rising seas lap at its shore, Tuvalu faces an existential threat. In an effort to preserve the tiny island nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, its government has been building a “digital twin” of the entire country. Digital twins are exactly what they sound like – a virtual double or replica of a physical, real-world entity. Scientists have been creating digital twins of everything from molecules, to infrastructure, and even entire planets. It’s also now possible to construct a digital twin of an individual person. In other words, a “digital doppelganger”. A doppelganger is someone who looks spookily like you but isn’t. The word originated in German, and literally means a “double walker”. A number of industries are now using digital doppelgangers for a range of reasons. These include enhancing athletic performance, offering more personalised healthcare and improving workplace safety. But although there are benefits to this technology, there are significant risks associated with its development. Having digital doppelgangers also forces us to reflect on which of our human attributes can’t be digitally replicated. Modelling complex systems The development of digital twins has been enabled by advances in environmental sensors,...
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AI technologies set to revolutionise Indian businesses this year: Report

New Delhi, (IANS): India is expected to witness a transformative shift in its technological landscape this year, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI), a report said on Thursday.The Indian organisations are rapidly adopting AI technologies across key domains such as automation, cybersecurity, robotics, and supply chain management, said Capgemini Research Institute’s report.Nearly 80 per cent of surveyed Indian organisations are planning to initiate proof-of-concepts (PoCs) or fully adopt AI agents by 2025.Additionally, 36 per cent of Indian organisations plan to partially implement AI agents in specific areas, said the report.The enthusiasm for AI is also echoed by Indian venture capitalists (VCs) and executives, with 85 per cent of VCs and 70 per cent of business leaders believing AI agents will play a transformative role in the AI and data domain by 2025.Generative AI is also set to make waves in cybersecurity. According to the report, around 63 per cent of Indian organisations surveyed expect Gen AI to enable faster threat detection.Retail and telecom sectors are particularly optimistic, with 92 per cent and 91 per cent of executives, respectively, ranking Gen AI among the top three cybersecurity trends for 2025, said the report.Over 70 per cent of Indian companies are expected to integrate...
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Scientists discover new superconductor material for wider use

Tokyo, (IANS): Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered a new superconducting material which can be more widely deployed in society.They combined iron, nickel, and zirconium, to create a new transition metal zirconide with different ratios of iron to nickel.While both iron zirconide and nickel zirconide are not superconducting, the newly prepared mixtures are, exhibiting a “dome-shaped” phase diagram typical of so-called “unconventional superconductors,” a promising avenue for developing high temperature superconducting materials, according to the study published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds.Superconductors already play an active role in cutting-edge technologies, from superconducting magnets in medical devices and maglev systems to superconducting cables for power transmission.However, they generally rely on cooling to temperatures of around four Kelvin, a key roadblock in wider deployment of the technology.Scientists are on the lookout for materials which can show zero resistivity at higher temperatures, particularly the 77 Kelvin threshold at which liquid nitrogen can be used to cool the materials instead of liquid helium.Now, a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Yoshikazu Mizuguchi from Tokyo Metropolitan University have conceived a new superconducting material containing a magnetic...
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Scientists Turn Industrial Waste into Batteries for Storing Renewable Energy

Emily Mahoney, the new paper’s first author, in the lab – courtesy Malapit LabA team at Northwestern University has transformed an industrial waste product into a battery for storing sustainable energy.While many iterations of these batteries are in production or being researched for grid-scale applications, using a waste molecule, in this case, triphenylphosphine oxide, (TPPO) has never been done before.The batteries used in our phones, devices, and even cars rely on metals like lithium and cobalt, sourced through intensive and sometimes exploitative mining operations. Demand for these critical minerals is expected to skyrocket over the next few decades.At the same time, thousands of tons of the well-known chemical byproduct TPPO are produced each year by many organic industrial synthesis processes, including the production of vitamin supplements, but it is rendered useless and must be carefully discarded following production.In a paper published last week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a ‘one-pot’ reaction allows chemists to turn TPPO into a usable product with the powerful potential to store energy, opening the door for the future viability of a long-imagined battery type called “redox flow” batteries.“Battery research has traditionally been dominated by engineers and materials scientists,” said Northwestern...
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S. Korea to develop 100 advanced industry materials within 5 years

Seoul, (IANS) South Korea will seek to secure technologies for 100 advanced materials for the chip, biology, and other industries within the next five years, the science ministry said on Thursday, a move aimed at strengthening its own supply chains.According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the government will support science research and development projects to independently develop 100 advanced materials, including 20 semiconductor-related materials, 23 battery materials, and 10 biomaterials, Yonhap news agency reported.The government also has a 10-year plan to develop 100 materials for future technologies, such as artificial intelligence chips, quantum, robotics, and space, to secure a competitive edge against other countries in the industries.The move comes as experts assess South Korea's technological capabilities in advanced materials remain at 84 per cent of the level of the United States and also lag behind those of China and Japan, the ministry explained."The advanced materials sector is a key driving factor that determines the country's capabilities in key strategic technology fields, such as semiconductors and secondary batteries," Science Minister Yoo Sang-im said."We will expand investment in materials technologies for the present and future to preemptively respond to any potential global supply chain crisis," he...
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South Asian Americans win Lifesciences Technology Award at Innovation Challenge

Meghna Sharma, and Tseten Gurung,pose with Loudoun Economic Development officials. PHOTO: Loudoun Economic DevelopmentSouth Asian Americans, Meghna Sharma, of Indian origin, and Tseten Gurung, of Nepali origin, won the 2024 Loudoun Innovation Challenge award in the Life Sciences Technology category for their company, VascRisk.The Loudoun Economic Development team announced the winners during an awards gala held on December 5, 2024, at the Belmont Country Club in Ashburn, Virginia.VascRisk, a Loudoun County firm, redefines “cardiovascular health management by integrating advanced scientific methods, and generative-AI with the power of personalized care.” Other winning companies of the Innovation Challenge included Emtel Energy in the Clean Technology Innovation category, Measured Risk in the Cyber and Defense Innovation category, SkyRFID in the Highly Specialized Innovation category, and noHack in the Industry Transformation Innovation category.Sharma and Gurung were supported by two other Indian-origin women on VascRisk’s management team, Kavya Krishnan and Yashwini Krishnan, whose collective efforts played a key role in achieving this recognition. Sharma and Gurung were awarded a $15,000 cash prize, and a crystal trophy for their achievement.Sharma told South Asian Herald, “We are incredibly grateful and honored to be chosen as...
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South Korea develops novel nuclide separation technology

(Image: KAERI)The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute says it has developed a new concept for the world's first nuclide separation device that employs robots and sensors.In order to safely manage radioactive waste, radionuclide analysis must be conducted to determine what radionuclides are present within it. This analysis is generally divided into three processes: preprocessing, separation, and measurement.Nuclide separation is the process of adding a reagent that reacts with a specific nuclide to a sample of melted radioactive waste to separate each nuclide. There is currently a manual method of adding the reagent to a separation container by gravity and an automatic method using a pump.The manual method cannot control the speed of the reagent, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) notes, and the automatic method has the disadvantage of having complex components such as pumps, valves, and numerous tubes connected to the valves, and that the valves must be controlled according to a predetermined time. In particular, the automatic method requires cleaning each time to ensure that no radioactive samples remain in the valves that control the injection of the reagent and the tubes through which the reagent moves.KAERI says the separation device it has developed uses an automatic method, but a liquid handling robot that...
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New AI Smartphone App Accurately Diagnoses Ear Infections and Prevents Unnecessary Antibiotic Use

(Left) a normal eardrum next to (right) an infected one – credit University of Pittsburgh, released.An AI-powered application developed by physician-scientists at the University of Pittsburgh in the US could decrease unnecessary antibiotic use in children by diagnosing ear infections via smartphone.The only thing worse than your child getting an ear infection is wrongly believing they have one and administering a redundant course of antibiotics which obliterates their developing gut microbiome.Around 70% of children develop an ear infection before the age of one, the most common of which is acute otitis media (AOM).However, AOM is often confused with other issues such as fluid behind the ear, which can lead to infections being incorrectly diagnosed and incorrectly treated.The study’s senior author Dr. Alejandro Hoberman, a professor of pediatrics, explained that an underdiagnosis of AOM results in inadequate care, while overdiagnosis results in unnecessary antibiotic treatment, which can compromise the effectiveness of currently available antibiotics.To develop the new AI tool, Dr. Hoberman and his research team built and annotated a training library of 1,151 videos of the tympanic membrane, also known as the eardrum, from 635 children who visited outpatient pediatric offices at the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Center between...
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