Weekend Edition.

"Everything, everywhere, all at once.”

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1. Research paper published in Neuron.

The brain’s primary immune cells, microglia, are a leading causal cell type in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Yet, the mechanisms by which microglia can drive neurodegeneration remain unresolved. Here, we discover that a conserved stress signaling pathway, the integrated stress response (ISR), characterizes a microglia subset with neurodegenerative outcomes. Autonomous activation of ISR in microglia is sufficient to induce early features of the ultrastructurally distinct “dark microglia” linked to pathological synapse loss. In AD models, microglial ISR activation exacerbates neurodegenerative pathologies and synapse loss while its inhibition ameliorates them. Mechanistically, we present evidence that ISR activation promotes the secretion of toxic lipids by microglia, impairing neuron homeostasis and survival in vitro. Accordingly, pharmacological inhibition of ISR or lipid synthesis mitigates synapse loss in AD models. Our results demonstrate that microglial ISR activation represents a neurodegenerative phenotype, which may be sustained, at least in part, by the secretion of toxic lipids. (Source: cell.com/neuron, sciencealert.com)

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2. Microsoft is planning to invest about $80 billion in fiscal 2025 on developing data centers to train artificial intelligence (AI) models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications, the company said in a blog post on Friday. Investment in AI has surged since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, as companies across sectors seek to integrate artificial intelligence into their products and services. AI requires enormous computing power, pushing demand for specialized data centers that enable tech companies to link thousands of chips together in clusters. Microsoft has been investing billions to enhance its AI infrastructure and broaden its data-center network. Analysts expect Microsoft's fiscal 2025 capital expenditure including capital leases to be $84.24 billion, according to Visible Alpha. (Source: reuters.com, blogs.microsoft.com)

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3. Bloomberg:

The worst-case scenarios for a US-China conflict, as military and policy experts describe it, usually involve China invading Taiwan and seeking to disable growing US military capability in Guam to impede a response. This could mean a missile attack—some Chinese ballistic missiles have been nicknamed “Guam killers” for their ability to reach the island. But the top US military leader on Guam says cyberattacks are more likely.

US officials have recounted in testimony and briefings how Chinese hackers are building the capacity to poison water supplies nationwide, flood homes with sewage, and cut off phones, power, ports and airports, actions that could cause mass casualties, disrupt military operations and potentially plunge the US into “societal panic.” The aim, US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly told Congress in January 2024, would be to take down “everything, everywhere, all at once.”