1. A new cancer treatment combines LED light and tiny tin flakes to neutralize cancer cells while shielding healthy cells and avoiding the painful side effects associated with chemotherapy and other treatments. The discovery is a collaboration between The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Porto in Portugal through the UT Austin Portugal Program. It could enable widespread use of an emerging light-based treatment that currently faces several hurdles, including high material costs, the need for specialized facilities, and lasers that can damage healthy tissue. The new research could knock down these barriers through the use of LED technology, instead of lasers, and a cancer-targeting material the researchers call “SnOx nanoflakes.” “Sn” represents the symbol for tin on the periodic table. (Source: news.utexas.edu, link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com)
2. New research has shown why preserving lymph nodes, often removed near tumors to prevent cancer spread, could improve patient outcomes and make immunotherapies more effective. A team of researchers, led by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), explored the cellular and molecular interactions revealing how lymph nodes play a crucial role in the fight against chronic infection and cancer. The research, published across two papers in Nature Immunology, showed that lymph nodes provide the right environment for stem-like T cells, an important type of immune cell, to survive, multiply and produce killer cells that can fight cancer or viruses. In other immune organs, such as the spleen, these cells don’t develop or proliferate as effectively, making lymph nodes essential for a strong immune response and successful immunotherapy. (Source: doherty.edu.au)
3. To achieve his vision of securing seemingly endless computing power for OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman has gone on a dealmaking blitz, playing the egos of Silicon Valley’s giants off one another as they race to cash in on OpenAI’s future growth. The resulting game of financial one-upmanship has tied the fates of the world’s biggest semiconductor and cloud companies—and vast swaths of the U.S. economy—to OpenAI, essentially making it too big to fail. All of them are now betting on the success of a startup that is nowhere near turning a profit and facing a mounting list of business challenges. Investors aren’t bothered. (Source: wsj.com)
4. The New York Times:
Nearly 60 percent of the 1,244 largest data centers in the world were outside the United States as of the end of June, according to an analysis by Synergy Research Group, which studies the industry. More are coming, with at least 575 data center projects in development globally from companies including Tencent, Meta and Alibaba.
As data centers rise, the sites — which need vast amounts of power for computing and water to cool the computers — have contributed to or exacerbated disruptions not only in Mexico, but in more than a dozen other countries, according to a New York Times examination.
In Ireland, data centers consume more than 20 percent of the country’s electricity. In Chile, precious aquifers are in danger of depletion. In South Africa, where blackouts have long been routine, data centers are further taxing the national grid. Similar concerns have surfaced in Brazil, Britain, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore and Spain. (Source: nytimes.com)
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