<![CDATA[Remembering 2 child and adolescent psychiatrists…]]>
<![CDATA[Learn more about the effect of sleep on coaches and athletic teams.]]>
Humber trust receives NHSE funding to lead on NHS App features
NHS England has asked the Trust implement these features on behalf of 11 other trusts also using the SystmOne electronic patient record
The Download: AI’s impact on jobs, and data centres in space
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.
The one piece of data that could actually shed light on your job and AI
Within Silicon Valley’s orbit, an AI-fueled jobs apocalypse is spoken about as a given. Now even economists who have downplayed the threat are coming around to the idea.
Alex Imas, based at the University of Chicago, is one of them. He believes that any plan to address AI’s impact will depend on collecting one vital piece of data: price elasticity.
Imas argues that “we need a Manhattan Project” for this. Read the full story to find out why.
—James O’Donnell
This article is from The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.
Four things we’d need to put data centers in space
In January, Elon Musk’s SpaceX applied to launch up to 1 million data centers into Earth’s orbit. The goal? To fully unleash the potential of AI—without triggering an environmental crisis on Earth.
SpaceX is among a growing list of tech firms pursuing orbital computing infrastructure. But can their plans really work? Here are four must-haves for making space-based data centers a reality.
—Tereza Pultarova
This story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Trump has again proposed major cuts to US science and tech spending
He wants to slash nearly every science-focused agency. (Ars Technica)
+ If Trump gets his way, the US could face a costly brain drain. (NYT $)
+ Top research talent is already fleeing the country. (Guardian)
+ Basic science deserves our boldest investment. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Sam Altman lobbied against AI regulations he publicly welcomed
A bombshell report reveals many OpenAI insiders don’t trust him. (The New Yorker $)
+ Some have called him a sociopath. (Futurism)
+ OpenAI’s CFO fears it won’t be IPO-ready this year. (The Information $)
+ A war over AI regulation is brewing in the US. (MIT Technology Review)
3 NASA’s Artemis II has broken humanity’s all-time distance record
The astronauts have flown farther than any humans before them. (BBC)
+ Their mission includes MIT-developed technology. (Axios)
4 Chinese tech firms are selling intel “exposing” US forces
It comes from combining AI with open-source data.. (WP $)
+ AI is turning the Iran conflict into theater. (MIT Technology Review)
5 War is pushing countries to ditch hyperscalers
Driven by Iran naming tech giants as military targets. (Rest of World)
+ No one wants a data center in their backyard. (MIT Technology Review)
6 OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have united against China’s AI copying
They’re sharing information on “adversarial distillation” (Bloomberg $)
7 Anduril and Impulse Space are working on Trump’s “Golden Dome”
They’re developing space-based missile tracking for the project. (Gizmodo)
8 OpenAI has urged California to probe Elon Musk’s “anti-competitive behavior.”
It accuses Musk of trying to “take control of the future of AGI.” (Reuters $)
+ And claims he coordinated attacks with Mark Zuckerberg. (CNBC)
+ A former Tesla president has revealed how he survived working for Musk. (WP $)
9 DeepSeek’s new AI model will run on Huawei chips
It’s expected to launch in the next few weeks. (The Information $)
10 Memes have nuked our culture
Internet “brain rot” has escaped our phones to take over everything. (NYT $)
Quote of the day
“I must say, it was actually quite nice.”
—Astronaut Victor Glover tells President Donald Trump what it was like when Artemis II was out of communication with the rest of humanity, The New York Times reports.
One More Thing
PABLO ALBARENGA
Inside the controversial tree farms powering Apple’s carbon-neutral goal
In 2020, Apple set a goal to become net zero by the end of the decade. To hit that target, the company is offsetting its emissions by planting millions of eucalyptus trees in Brazil.
Apple is betting that the strategy will lead to a greener future. But critics warn that the industrial tree farms will do more harm than good.
Find out why the plans have sparked a backlash.
—Gregory Barber
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.)
+ Japan’s automated bike garage is a cyclist’s dream come true.
+ This deep dive into bird behavior reveals the secrets of their dining habits. (Big thanks to reader Terry Gordon for the find!)
+ The first photo from the Artemis astronauts vividly captures the glow of our atmosphere.
+ There’s a new contender for the world’s most gorgeous website: RobertDeNiro.com.
Frequency-specific microstate correlates of ciprofol-induced alterations of consciousness
BackgroundCiprofol is a novel GABAergic intravenous anesthetic with a rapid onset and favorable safety profile; however, the neural mechanisms underlying the induction and reversal of unconsciousness remain unclear. Electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates provide millisecond-scale markers of large-scale brain network dynamics and may reveal frequency-specific signatures of ciprofol’ s effects on consciousness.MethodsSixty-channel EEG was recorded during wakefulness, ciprofol-induced loss of consciousness (LOC), and recovery of consciousness (ROC). Power spectra were computed across the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Microstate analysis was performed separately for each band, yielding seven microstates (A–G). Duration, coverage, and occurrence were compared across conscious states using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni correction. Support vector machine classifiers were trained on broadband and frequency-specific microstate features to distinguish the conscious states.ResultsCiprofol increased delta–alpha power during LOC and maintained elevated beta–gamma activity during early ROC. Microstate parameters showed clear state-dependent changes across frequencies: microstate D decreased in the delta–theta bands during LOC; alpha-band microstates displayed reduced duration and increased occurrence; and microstates A, C, and E in the beta–gamma bands showed significant alterations in occurrence, coverage, or explained variance. Classification improved with sub-band features, with alpha band achieving the highest accuracy (0.841) compared with broadband features (0.754). Moreover, classification models integrating features of all sub-frequency bands yielded superior performance in distinguishing conscious states, achieving an accuracy of 0.971.ConclusionCiprofol induces a distinct frequency-specific reorganization of cortical microstates, revealing multiscale network signatures of unconsciousness and recovery. Frequency-resolved microstate metrics may serve as sensitive markers for characterizing anesthetic-induced brain state transitions.
Synaptic remodeling and the female depression exposome: a mini-review of neuroendocrine, epigenetic, and social determinants
Depression is a multifactorial, chronic disorder and represents a leading cause of disability, with women exhibiting nearly twice the lifetime prevalence compared to men. Growing evidence indicates that this disparity cannot be explained by hormonal or psychosocial factors, but rather by dynamic interactions between environmental exposures, neuroendocrine signaling, and epigenetic regulation across development. This mini-narrative review aimed to examine how sex-specific exposome components interact with epigenetic mechanisms and synaptic remodeling processes to influence vulnerability to Major Depressive Disorder in women. The reviewed evidence demonstrates that fluctuations in ovarian hormones modulate HPA axis responsivity, neuroinflammatory signaling, and glutamatergic transmission through epigenetic regulation of stress-responsive genes such as NR3C1, SLC6A4, and BDNF, consequently influencing synaptic remodeling within corticolimbic circuits. Environmental and social exposures, particularly early-life adversity and psychosocial stressors, further interact with microglial activation and chromatin remodeling to produce long-lasting alterations in hippocampal and prefrontal plasticity. Collectively, these findings support a model in which sex-dependent neuroendocrine sensitivity amplifies exposome-driven epigenetic programming across the lifespan. Future research directions emerging from this synthesis include longitudinal life-course studies integrating multi-omic biomarkers, quantitative exposome assessment, and neuroimaging approaches to identify modifiable environmental targets and advance precision, sex-informed preventive and therapeutic strategies in depression.
Stage-specific ERP correlates of audiovisual facial emotion processing across depressive tendencies
Emotional dysregulation can emerge as early as the initial stages of depression. This study aimed to examine event-related potential characteristics during the perception of negative, positive, and neutral facial expressions in healthy individuals across depressive tendencies. Twenty-six healthy participants underwent ERP measurements during emotion recognition using a facial emotion recognition task in visual and audiovisual modalities. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) assessed cognitive strategy, emotion regulation difficulties, and depression severity, respectively. Facial affect elicited larger amplitudes compared to neutral faces, from the N170 and early posterior negativity (EPN) in the temporo-occipital region to the late positive potential (LPP) in the centroparietal region. Under audiovisual conditions, P1 peak latency to negative stimuli in the temporal region exhibited significant negative correlations with DERS-16 and BDI-II scores. N170 peak latency to positive stimuli also demonstrated a significant negative correlation with BDI-II scores. Under visual conditions, EPN amplitude to negative stimuli in the occipital region exhibited a significant positive correlation with BDI-II scores. P1 and N170 latencies, or neural response speeds, and EPN amplitude, which represents emotional reaction strength, correlate with depressive tendencies in healthy individuals. These early components function as initial neural signals that may serve as electrophysiological markers of abnormal emotional processing within neuropsychological functions prior to clinical depression.
Mechanistic research on the vestibular-hippocampal pathway in neurodegenerative diseases: an integrative perspective from molecular to behavioral levels
This paper systematically reviews the pivotal role and bidirectional regulatory mechanisms of the Vestibular-hippocampal pathway in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease), focusing on the common comorbidity of vestibular dysfunction and cognitive decline. Evidence spanning molecular to behavioral levels indicates that vestibular signal loss can induce hippocampal atrophy and spatial memory impairment through neuroinflammation, impaired synaptic plasticity, and disrupted theta rhythms. Conversely, hippocampal degeneration further impairs vestibular information integration, creating a vicious cycle. Intervention approaches such as vestibular rehabilitation, cognitive training, and neurostimulation show potential for slowing co-morbidity progression. Future research should focus on developing animal models simulating vestibular-neurodegenerative co-morbidity, conducting longitudinal clinical validation using multimodal imaging and electrophysiology techniques, and optimizing neuromodulation strategies and targeted molecular interventions to advance this mechanism toward early diagnosis and precision treatment.
Visual search characteristics in two-way skeet shooters of different performance levels during simulated target viewing
BackgroundVisual search plays a critical role in skeet shooting. Athletes must quickly and rapidly detect, track, and respond to fast-moving targets. Understanding how visual search characteristics differ between shooters of different performance levels during target viewing can provide insight into visuomotor control and visual information processing in dynamic tasks, particularly in skeet shooting.MethodsA 2 (level of performance: expert, novice) × 2 (target position: high house, low house) × 2 (target type: single target, double target) mixed experimental design was adopted. Differences in eye-movement behavior between expert and novice skeet shooters were analyzed using eye-tracking technology during simulated tasks of target viewing.ResultsThe expert group had the lowest reaction time, mean saccade amplitude, number of fixations, pupil diameter, and number of blink compared to the novice counterparts, and the experts had the longest fixation time. There was a variation in fixation and blink count among the target conditions, with significant main effects of target condition. Repeated-measures analysis indicated that there was a significant main effect of group across all the eye-movement and behavioral indicators and no significant group x target condition interaction. Analysis of visualization revealed that highly skilled shooters had more focused gaze patterns, smaller gaze patterns, and more consistent fixation patterns. Conversely, beginner shooters had a more diffuse gaze, more scattered fixation points, and more complicated gaze patterns.ConclusionVisual search strategies vary significantly between expert and novice skeet shooters during simulated target-viewing experiments. Compared to amateur shooters, expert shooters exhibit longer fixation times, fewer fixations, smaller saccade amplitudes, less blinking, smaller pupil sizes, and more focused and regular gaze paths. These properties suggest shorter and more efficient visual search behavior, more profound information, and more stable gaze organization during target tracking, reflecting more efficient task-relevant visual information processing.