A specially designed mobile phone game can detect people at risk of Alzheimer's - according to new research from the University of East Anglia. Researchers studied gaming data from an app called Sea Hero Quest, which has been downloaded and played by more than 4.3 million people worldwide.
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Can Science Writing be Automated?
The work of a science writer, including this one, includes reading journal papers filled with specialized technical terminology, and figuring out how to explain their contents in language that readers without a scientific background can understand. Now, a team of scientists at MIT and elsewhere has developed a neural network, a form of artificial intelligence (AI), that can do much the same thing,
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Text Messages Show Promise as Next Step for Improving Heart Health in China
Motivational text messages are a well-liked, feasible new way to provide additional support to Chinese patients with heart disease, reports a preliminary study by researchers at Yale and in China. However, the study did not prove that these targeted text messages led to an improvement in blood pressure control amongst the recipients, the intended outcome.
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First Bacterial Genome Created Entirely with a Computer
All the genome sequences of organisms known throughout the world are stored in a database belonging to the National Center for Biotechnology Information in the United States. As of today, the database has an additional entry: Caulobacter ethensis-2.0. It is the world's first fully computer-generated genome of a living organism, developed by scientists at ETH Zurich.
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Artificial Intelligence Sheds New Light on Cell Developmental Dynamics
What happens inside a cell when it is activated, changing, or responding to variations in its environment? Researchers from the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research have developed a map of how to best model these cellular dynamics. Their work not only highlights the outstanding challenges of tracking cells throughout their growth and lifetime, but also pioneers new ways of evaluating computational biology methods that aim to do this.
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Virtual Reality could be Used to Treat Autism
Playing games in virtual reality (VR) could be a key tool in treating people with neurological disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. The technology, according to a recent study from the University of Waterloo, could help individuals with these neurological conditions shift their perceptions of time, which their conditions lead them to perceive differently.
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BridgIT, a New Tool for Orphan and Novel Enzyme Reactions
Effective protein engineering can give us control over the generated products inside a cell. However, for many of the biochemical reactions responsible for these products, we don't we don't know the specific protein- or enzyme-producing gene responsible. These reactions are called "orphan" and have become a big problem for protein engineers.
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