<![CDATA[Faster aging may be linked to schizophrenia, according to new research.]]>
Cera launches AI lab to address global care capacity challenges
Cera has launched an AI lab to develop tools aimed at improving care capacity and reducing pressure on health systems.
The Download: cyberscammers’ banking bypasses, and carbon removal troubles
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
Cyberscammers are bypassing banks’ security with illicit tools sold on Telegram
Inside a money-laundering center in Cambodia, an employee opens a banking app on his phone. It asks for a photo linked to the account, so he uploads a picture of a 30-something Asian man.
The app then requests a video “liveness” check. The scammer holds up a static image of a woman who doesn’t match the account. After 90 seconds, he’s in.
The exploit relies on illicit hacking services sold on Telegram that break “Know Your Customer” (KYC) facial scans. MIT Technology Review found 22 channels and groups advertising these services. This is what we discovered.
—Fiona Kelliher
Is carbon removal in trouble?
—Casey Crownhart
Last week, news emerged that Microsoft was pausing carbon removal purchases. It was a bombshell—Microsoft effectively is the carbon removal market, single-handedly purchasing around 80% of all contracted carbon removal.
The report sparked fear across the industry, raising questions about the future of carbon removal and the role of Big Tech. Read the full story.
This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter exploring the technology that could combat the climate crisis. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
The quest to measure our relationship with nature
—Emma Marris
Humans have done some destructive things to the ecosystems around us. But conservationists are learning that we can also be a force for good.
To understand how we work best with nature, a group of scientists, authors, and philosophers have developed new measurements of human-nonhuman relationships. Now, a team in the United Nations is continuing the work. Find out why—and what they hope to achieve.
This story is from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about nature. Subscribe now to read it when it lands on Wednesday, April 22.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Ukraine says Russian troops have surrendered to robots
They claim a fully automated attack captured army positions for the first time in history. (404 Media)
+ Europe’s vision for future wars is full of drones. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Monkeys with BCIs are navigating virtual worlds using only their thoughts
The research could help people with paralysis. (New Scientist)
+ But these implants still face a critical test. (MIT Technology Review)
3 NASA wants to put nuclear reactors on the Moon
They could power lunar bases and extend spaceflight. (Wired $)
+ NASA is also building a nuclear-powered spacecraft. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Plans for online age verification in the US are raising red flags
Experts warn of compliance issues and potential data breaches. (NBC News)
+ In the EU, an age verification app is about to launch. (Reuters $)
5 An AI chip boom just pushed Taiwan’s stock market past the UK’s
It’s risen past $4 trillion to become the world’s seventh largest. (FT $)
+ Future AI chips could be built on glass. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The public backlash against data centers is intensifying in the US
Protests and litigation are blocking projects. (CNBC)
+ One potential solution? Putting them in space. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Five-minute EV charging is becoming a reality
China’s BYD has started rolling it out. (Gizmodo)
+ “Extended-range electric vehicles” are about to hit US streets. (Atlantic $)
8 Stealth signals are bypassing Iran’s internet blackout
Files hidden in satellite TV broadcasts keep information flowing. (IEEE)
9 Shoe brand Allbirds made a shock pivot to AI, sending stock up 700%
No bubble to see here, folks. (CNBC)
+ What even is the AI bubble? (MIT Technology Review)
10 The largest ever map of the universe is complete
It captures 47 million galaxies and quasars. (Space.com)
Quote of the day
“I like the internet as much as anybody, but we’ve got to go on an internet diet. We don’t need to pay for corporations to do their internet stuff.”
—Sylvia Whitt, a 78-year-old retiree based in Virginia, tells the Washington Post why they’re protesting against data centers.
One More Thing
ISRAEL VARGAS
AI and the future of sex
Some Republican lawmakers want to criminalize porn and arrest its creators. But what if porn is wholly created by an algorithm? In that case, whether it’s obscene, ethical, or safe becomes a secondary issue. The primary concern will be what it means for porn to be “real”—and what the answer demands from all of us.
Technological advances could even remove the “messy humanity” from sex itself. The rise of AI-generated porn may be a symptom of a new synthetic sexuality, not the cause. Read the full story.
—Leo Herrera
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)
+ An animator turned his son’s drawings into epic anime characters.
+ Hundreds of baby green sea turtles made a spectacular first journey to the ocean.
+ You can now track rocket launches from take-off to orbit in real time.
+ These musical mistakes prove that even the classics aren’t perfect.
Spatial evolution in temporal dynamics of hemodynamic response function in human superior colliculi with ultra-high-resolution MRI at 9.4T
The superior colliculus (SC) plays a crucial role in multisensory integration, visual information processing, saccadic target selection, visual selective attention, and decision making. In particular, the SC has a key role in oculomotor coordination, following a rostro-caudal organization. The rostral SC, which corresponds to foveal representation, is linked to fixation, microsaccades, smooth pursuit, and vergence adjustments. In contrast, the caudal SC, representing more peripheral visual field, is associated with the large gaze shifts (saccades). However, evidence regarding whether this functional gradient is preserved in the human SC remains limited. In this study, we employed a sequence-following visual-motor task to specifically engage SC activity. We measured blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to brief neural activity, known as hemodynamic response function (HRF). We showed a spatial gradient of the BOLD positive HRFs (pHRF) along the rostro-caudal axis of the SC. The pHRF was primarily located in the rostral SC, and it gradually weakened toward the caudal SC, where negative HRF (nHRF) was often observed. The systematic rostro-caudal evolution of HRFs were consistent both within and across subjects, consistent with results from previous electrophysiological studies. Our work showed the feasibility of using ultra-high-field fMRI to non-invasively examine neurovascular dynamics in a small and deeply located subcortical structures of the human brain.
MambaSSM: efficient segmentation of brain structures in anisotropic 3D EM images via state-space models
Accurate segmentation of brain structures from anisotropic 3D electron microscopy (EM) images remains challenging due to the trade-off between global context modeling and computational efficiency. While state-space models (SSMs) like Mamba have shown promise in capturing long-range dependencies, their direct application to anisotropic EM data has been limited. We introduce MambaSSM, a novel network that adapts SSMs to anisotropic 3D EM images via a tailored scanning strategy. Our method features two core modules: an SSM-based anisotropic adaptation module for early-stage feature learning and an SSM-based isotropic adaptation module for later-stage refinement. These modules are interleaved with convolutional layers to enable multi-scale feature extraction. Evaluated on two public datasets (SNEMI3D and MitoEM-R), MambaSSM achieves superior segmentation accuracy with significantly lower memory usage compared to CNN, Transformer, and Mamba based baselines.
Role of TRPC1 in the pathogenesis of depression induced by traumatic brain injury
BackgroundTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of mortality and disability, with many patients developing long-term sequelae. Depression is among the most common psychiatric complications following TBI, yet its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Transient receptor potential canonical 1 (TRPC1) has been implicated in neurological disorders, but its role in post-TBI depression is not well understood.MethodsA controlled cortical impact (CCI) model was used to induce moderate TBI in mice. At 4 weeks post-injury, depressive-like behaviors were assessed using the tail suspension test (TST), forced swim test (FST), and sucrose preference test (SPT). Subsequently, reactive astrocytes and microglia were quantified, along with the expression of inflammatory cytokines, in the ipsilateral hippocampus. Synaptic function was also evaluated.ResultsBehavioral tests revealed that TBI mice exhibited significant depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors at 4 weeks post-injury. Concurrently, TRPC1 expression was downregulated in the ipsilateral hippocampus, accompanied by reduced levels of synaptic-associated proteins, elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased reactive astrocytes and microglia. Further experiments demonstrated that TRPC1 overexpression attenuated neuroinflammation, restored synaptic function, and ameliorated depressive-like behaviors in TBI mice.ConclusionThis study suggests that TBI may trigger depression by downregulating TRPC1, thereby promoting neuroinflammation and synaptic dysfunction. Conversely, TRPC1 overexpression mitigates these effects, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target for post-TBI depression.
Diffusion tensor imaging-functional MRI fusion reveals disrupted white matter structure–function coupling in HIV-associated asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment
ObjectiveConventionally, blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) are attributed to gray matter, but recent evidence confirms stable low-frequency oscillations within white matter. While structure–function coupling is pivotal in neuropsychiatry, it remains underexplored in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Focusing on Asymptomatic Neurocognitive Impairment (ANI), the earliest stage of HAND, this study establishes a white matter skeleton-based fusion framework integrating diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and rs-fMRI to investigate underlying mechanisms.MethodsWe enrolled 47 patients with ANI and 48 matched healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) images from DTI and BOLD signals derived from rs-fMRI were projected onto a unified white matter skeleton to achieve structure–function spatial alignment. FA, skeleton-based white matter amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (SWALFF), and its dynamic variability (dSWALFF) were calculated. Group differences in white matter structure and function were assessed, with structure–function coupling examined in regions showing overlapping FA-SWALFF and FA-dSWALFF alterations. Additionally, a novel White Matter Dys-coupling Index (WDI) was proposed to quantify the deviation between structural integrity and functional activity and evaluate its clinical relevance.ResultsCompared to controls, ANI patients exhibited widespread FA reductions and increased mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD), indicating diffuse demyelination. Functionally, a spatial dissociation emerged: SWALFF was reduced in posterior occipital pathways (left vertical occipital fasciculus, forceps major), whereas SWALFF and dSWALFF were elevated in prefrontal pathways (forceps minor). Overlapping regions revealed complex coupling patterns, ranging from concordant decline to compensatory upregulation and decoupling. The interaction between FA and dSWALFF further highlighted instability in dynamic regulation. The WDI was significantly correlated with infection duration, immune status, and cognitive domain scores.ConclusionThis study identifies a characteristic “coupling imbalance” in the white matter of ANI patients, defined by the coexistence of structural degeneration and functional reorganization. We propose the WDI as a quantitative metric for this deviation. Its significant associations with clinical and cognitive metrics suggest its potential as a neuroimaging biomarker for the early identification and mechanistic understanding of HAND.
The relationship between impulsivity and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents: the chain-mediated effects of parenting style and distress tolerance
ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to explore the related risk factors and protective factors of adolescent non suicidal self injury (NSSI).MethodsUtilizing the experience sampling method, we recruited 311 adolescents engaging in NSSI, all without other mental disorders, from five public high schools in a specific city. Questionnaire surveys were administered, employing the Chinese version of the Short-Form Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (s-EMBU-C), Distress Tolerance Scale-Revised (DTS-CR), Adolescent Self-harm Behavior Questionnaire, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11).Results1) The findings indicate that NSSI in adolescents is positively correlated with impulsivity and negative parenting styles (P < 0.01), while it is negatively correlated with distress tolerance and positive parenting styles (P<0.01). Impulsivity is negatively correlated with distress tolerance and positive parenting styles (P < 0.01) and positively correlated with negative parenting styles (P < 0.01). Furthermore, distress tolerance is negatively correlated with negative parenting styles (P < 0.01) and positively correlated with positive parenting styles (P < 0.01). 2) This study reveals that both negative and positive parenting styles serve as complete mediators in the relationship between impulsivity and NSSI behavior in adolescents, with distress tolerance as a significant factor.ConclusionImpulsivity significantly influences NSSI behavior in adolescents through the mediation of parenting styles (both negative and positive) and distress tolerance.
Research progress on social participation of young and middle-aged stroke survivors: a narrative review
Stroke is characterized by high morbidity, disability, and mortality, and has become the third leading cause of death worldwide. In China, stroke accounts for 39.9% of all cerebrovascular diseases, with young and middle-aged survivors (aged 40–60 years) comprising 33% of global stroke survivors in this age group and over 51.51% of all stroke cases in China. Despite significant improvements in treatment, 70–80% of survivors still lose the ability to live independently, and social participation declines to varying degrees. Social participation plays an important role in rehabilitation outcome indicators, which can reflect the overall recovery of survivors and is closely related to quality of life. Guided by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework, this review aims to examine the current status, assessment tools, and influencing factors of social participation among young and middle-aged stroke survivors, with the goal of informing future research and guiding clinical practice.
A qualitative study on the participation experience in a mental health recovery program based on WHO QualityRights in South Korea
IntroductionThe World Health Organization’s QualityRights initiative offers a practical framework for developing rights-based, person-centered, and recovery-oriented mental health systems. In Korea, the face-to-face WHO QualityRights specialized training module, Recovery practices for mental health and well-being, was culturally and clinically adapted for local use, incorporating Open Dialogue principles. This adaptation led to the development of the group-based “QualityRights Recovery Program.” This study examines the experiences and perspectives of individuals with lived experience of mental health challenges, their family caregivers, and mental health practitioners who participated in this program to inform the local implementation of recovery-oriented mental health practices.MethodsEighteen participants were recruited from two mental health facilities in Suwon, Republic of Korea. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and used thematic analysis to examine participants’ experiences with the 13-week QualityRights Recovery Program, which was adapted for the Korean clinical context.ResultsFour major themes emerged: (1) participation and engagement in recovery, (2) changes in communication and decision-making, (3) mutual understanding and shifts in perception, and (4) redefining recovery concepts and therapeutic aims.ConclusionParticipants’ perspectives on the QualityRights Recovery Program indicate its potential to restore the autonomy and well-being of individuals with lived experience, while also positively influencing the perspectives of their caregivers and practitioners. These findings provide guidance for expanding rights-based, recovery-oriented mental health interventions in Korea.