SCIENCE AND TECH
Agency encourages public input on proposal that aims to prevent millions of premature deaths
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would make cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products minimally or nonaddictive by limiting the level of nicotine in those products. If finalized, the United States would be the first country globally to take such a bold, life-saving action to prevent and reduce smoking-related disease and death. The FDA first announced its intent to propose such a rule in 2018, and today’s announcement is an important next step in the rulemaking process. The agency intends to seek input on the proposal, including through public comment and the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.
Nicotine is the primary addictive chemical in tobacco products that keeps people using the products. In the case of combusted products, such as cigarettes, nicotine addiction leads to users being repeatedly exposed to a toxic mix of chemicals in the smoke that cause disease and death. Based on the scientific evidence outlined in the proposed rule, the proposed nicotine level for cigarettes and certain other combustible tobacco products would be low enough to no longer create or sustain addiction. Importantly, a large body of research also shows reduced nicotine content cigarettes do not lead smokers to compensate for lower nicotine by smoking more.
Existing evidence shows that cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products—products that are smoked, such as cigars and pipe tobacco—are the most harmful types of tobacco products. In fact, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States and is a major driver of chronic disease nationally. Each year, cigarette smoking alone is estimated to kill nearly half…
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U.S. Army South Headquarters Battalion Welcomes New Leadership at Change of Responsibility Ceremony
Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion (HHBN), U.S. Army South (USARSOUTH), conducted a change of responsibility ceremony
Defense Innovation Board Advances Military Innovation With Key Studies and Strategic Recommendations
Over the past three years, the Defense Innovation Board has been a powerful advisory resource
Going Beyond the Demo: Ensuring Robotics Technology Thrives in Real-World Environments
In the rapidly evolving sphere of robotics, achieving product-market fit is often the defining hurdle for success. While spectacular demonstrations can showcase the potential of a solution, the real challenge lies in ensuring these technologies deliver in the complexity of real-world facilities. According to Failory, over 50% of startups…
Promoting Healthy Aging: Dr. Philippe Smith on Preventative Geriatric Care
Living longer is a common aspiration, but living healthier as we age holds even more value. As the global population ages, promoting healthy aging through preventative geriatric care becomes crucial. With advancements in medical science and lifestyle awareness, many seniors can enjoy not just longer, but better lives. This…
Groundbreaking Study Shows Larotrectinib Promises Hope for Pediatric Patients With Infantile Fibrosarcoma and NTRK Gene Fusion
Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) found that larotrectinib, an oral drug that stops cancer-cell growth, was highly effective in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS) or other solid tumors that have a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a…
Engaging Activities to Boost Impulse Control in Children
Impulse control in children isn’t just about preventing tantrums or saying “no.” It’s a crucial skill that helps young minds navigate social situations, manage emotions, and achieve personal goals. While some kids seem to naturally possess strong impulse control, many need guidance to hone this skill.
By involving children in…
New Research Creates Roadmap for Understanding Antimalarial Drug Resistance
Researchers at University of California San Diego analyzed the genomes of hundreds of malaria parasites to determine which genetic variants are most likely to confer drug resistance. The findings, published in Science, could help scientists use machine learning to predict antimalarial drug resistance and more effectively prioritize the most…
Department of State hosts U.S.-Nigeria Technology Dialogue and signing of $2 million broadband study grant
Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell led the inaugural U.S.-Nigeria Technology Dialogue in Washington, D.C. on January 10, hosting a senior delegation from the Nigerian government led by the Honorable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani.
This event built on the momentum of Deputy Secretary Campbell’s visit to Abuja for the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC) co-hosted with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar on April 29-30, 2024, the U.S. Department of State and Government of Nigeria-funded “Global Inclusivity and Artificial Intelligence (AI)” event held in Lagos on September 9-11, 2024, and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) AI event hosted by the U.S. Department of State on September 23, 2024, in which Nigerian Minister Tijani participated.
The U.S.-Nigeria Technology Dialogue is designed to enhance bilateral cooperation in critical technology sectors, seize opportunities in technology and innovation, and strengthen interagency collaboration and stakeholder engagement in both countries. These objectives advance the Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) initiative, by facilitating a more conducive investment environment for digital transformation, promoting digital infrastructure and connectivity, and supporting digital skills development and talent cultivation.
Kicking off the Technology Dialogue, the United States and Nigeria signed a new $2,095,000 grant to assess the viability of the deployment…
A treasure trove of unseen stars seen beyond the ‘Dragon Arc’
Looking halfway across the observable universe and expecting to see individual stars is considered a non-starter in astronomy, a bit like raising a pair of binoculars at the moon in hopes of making out individual grains of dust inside its craters. Thanks to a cosmic quirk of nature, however, an international team of astronomers did just that.
Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), postdoctoral researcher Fengwu Sun at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and his team observed a galaxy nearly 6.5 billion light-years from Earth, at a time when the universe was half its current age. In this distant galaxy, the team identified 44 individual stars, made visible thanks to an effect known as gravitational lensing and JWST’s high light collecting power.
Published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the discovery marks this record-breaking achievement – the largest number of individual stars detected in the distant universe. It also provides a way to investigate one of the universe’s greatest mysteries – dark matter.
“This groundbreaking discovery demonstrates, for the first time, that studying large numbers of individual stars in a distant galaxy is possible,” Sun, a co-author on the study, said. “While previous studies with the Hubble Space Telescope…
ROTC-Like Recruitment Program Helping Space Force Find Civilian ‘Guardians’
Like its sister services, the Space Force has officer, enlisted and civilian members — all called “guardians.” But the Space Force is looking for new ways to recruit civilian employees, which right now make up about 50 percent of the service.
On college campuses, the Space Force is part of…
Study Reveals Alarming Rise in Alcohol Use During and After COVID-19 Pandemic
Alcohol use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and remained elevated even after the pandemic ended, according to a large nationally representative Keck Medicine of USC studypublished in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
From pre-pandemic (2018) to the height of the pandemic (2020), heavy alcohol use among Americans rose by 20%,…
Discovery of a Protein’s Key Role in RNA Processes Could Improve Disease Treatment in Humans and Plants
Texas A&M AgriLife researchers uncovered a promising target for controlling gene expression and other cellular processes, which could lead to advancements in crop resilience and our understanding of certain human diseases.
This target centers on RNA regulation, which, when disrupted in humans, is often linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease…
Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s Builds Genome Sequencing Team
Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children’s has appointed highly respected pediatric physician-scientists Mustafa Khokha, MD, and Saquib Lakhani, MD, to advance knowledge and application of genome sequencing with the goal of improving screening and treatment of genetic disorders and abnormalities.
Khokha and Lakhani, who specialize in rare pediatric genetic diseases and conditions, have published…
The Role of Boredom in Fostering Creativity in Early Childhood Education Introduction
Do you feel guilty when your children get bored? Please don’t! Boredom has traditionally been seen as something to avoid, but recent research highlights its significant role in fostering creativity, especially in early childhood. With increasing access to technology and structured activities, children today have fewer opportunities to experience…
UCLA Health researchers say improvements extend to non-autistic children in multilingual households
By Tina Geiger / Staff WriterA new study from UCLA Health adds to the growing body of evidence on the cognitive benefits of speaking multiple languages, finding that multilingualism not only enhances general cognitive abilities but also may help reduce certain symptoms and bolster control of daily thoughts and actions in children with and without autism.
The study, published in the journal Autism Research, found parents of autistic and non-autistic children in multilingual households reported their children had stronger overall executive function, including the ability to focus, understand other people’s perspectives, communication and reduced levels of repetitive behaviors, compared to children in mono-lingual households.
“It turns out that speaking multiple languages, whether or not you have a diagnosis of autism, is associated with better inhibition, better shifting or flexibility, and also better perspective taking ability,” said study lead author Dr. Lucina Uddin, a UCLA Health Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Professor and Director of the UCLA Brain Connectivity and Cognition Laboratory.
Conducted initially at the University of Miami, the study recruited more than 100 autistic and non-autistic children ages 7 to 12 from both monolingual and multilingual households. Most of the multilingual households spoke Spanish and English at home. Parents were asked to score their child’s executive function skills, which are often affected by autism spectrum disorder. Skills assessed included:
- Inhibition: the ability to suppress doing something irrelevant or get distracted.
- Working memory: the ability to keep something in mind, such as remembering a phone number.
- Shifting: the ability to switch between two or more different tasks, such as playing with toys and cleaning…
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U.S. Space Force Activates 33rd Range Squadron to Enhance Cyber Training and Readiness
Researchers Create Comprehensive Brain Atlas to Uncover Connections Between Motor Control and Spinal Interneurons
Honeywell and Google Cloud to Accelerate Autonomous Operations With AI Agents for the Industrial Sector
Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) and Google Cloud announced a unique collaboration connecting artificial intelligence (AI) agents with assets, people and processes to accelerate safer, autonomous operations for the industrial sector.
This partnership will bring together the multimodality and natural language capabilities of Gemini on Vertex AI – Google Cloud’s AI platform…
Honeywell Awarded $103M Contract by U.S. Army for Next-Generation Radar Altimeter System
Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) has been awarded a $103 million contract by the U.S. Army, through the Defense Logistics Agency, to provide its Next-Generation APN-209 Radar Altimeter (Next Gen APN-209) system on a wide variety of Army aircraft. This contract underscores Honeywell’s ongoing commitment to delivering advanced, reliable technology to…
iAsk Secures $4.2M to Lead the Next Wave of AI Search Innovation
For over two decades, Google has been the undisputed leader in online search, shaping how billions of people access information. But now, artificial intelligence is disrupting its dominance. iAsk AI is stepping up and positioning itself as the future of search innovation that will lead the next wave of…
STARCOM activates Space Force’s first cyber range squadron
Space Training and Readiness Command officially stood up the Space Force’s first cyber range squadron, the 33rd Range Squadron (RGS), during an activation ceremony on Schriever Space Force Base, Dec. 16. The new squadron, which falls under Space Delta 11, marks a critical milestone in advancing the Space Force’s ability to test, train, and prepare for cyber threats in the contested space domain.
For more than two years, space cyber operations training and testing were conducted under the 11th Delta Operations Squadron/S9. With the activation of the 33rd RGS, the mission transitions to a dedicated unit capable of providing space warfighters a cyber aggressor force and interconnected, scalable, and distributed range environments to sharpen joint warfighting solutions and enhance readiness for cyber and space operations.
The 33rd RGS now holds tactical control of cyber operational test and training infrastructure capabilities, a system of cyber ranges that will support advanced testing, training, and interagency cooperation across air, space, and cyberspace operations. The 33rd RGS will operate and maintain the range environments built for and utilized by Space Force cyber squadrons. This activation reflects a key focus area for Space Force leadership in expanding test and training infrastructure to prepare Guardians for emerging…
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Researchers Create Comprehensive Brain Atlas to Uncover Connections Between Motor Control and Spinal Interneurons
Lilly Announces $4.5 Billion Investment to Establish Lilly Medicine Foundry for Advanced Manufacturing and Drug Development
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced a $4.5 billion investment to create the Lilly Medicine Foundry, a new center for advanced manufacturing and drug development. This unique facility will give Lilly the ability to research new ways of producing medicines, while also scaling up manufacturing of medicines for…
Case Study: DSI Managed Services at Garland ISD – Driving Success and Innovation in the K12 Sector Introduction
Garland Independent School District (GISD), one of the largest school districts in Texas, serving over 55,000 students across 70 campuses, embarked on a transformative journey in 2016 to overhaul its aging IT infrastructure. The district partnered with DISYS Solutions, Inc. (DSI Tech), a leader in managed network services, to…
HiPP vs. Holle: A Comprehensive Comparison of Organic Baby Formulas
Parents have become increasingly more aware of the quality of food that goes into their little ones’ bodies and demanding of better. Organic’s Best Shop has emerged as a trusted source of high-quality, safe, and nutritious organic baby formulas. The company has carved a niche in the industry by…