EPFL researchers have developed a microscope that can be used to predict the onset of misfolded protein aggregation – a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease – as well as analyze the biomechanical properties of these aggregates. The accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain is central to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. But to the human eye, proteins that are destined to form harmful aggregates don't look any different than normal proteins. The formation of such aggregates also tends to happen randomly and relatively rapidly – on the scale of minutes. The ability to identify and characterize protein aggregates is essential for understanding and fighting neurodegenerative diseases.

Explosions have been heard at the Port of Sudan, a critical lifeline and entry point for aid, as attacks on the city continued for a fourth day in the latest confrontation between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country's brutal two-year civil war. The attacks have been blamed on the RSF by Sudan's army and by residents. On Wednesday morning, an army source told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that the explosion was due to a drone attack that was met with "anti-aircraft missiles". The Port of Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been a haven city hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people since the war began and serves as an interim seat for Sudan's military-allied government, which has been at war with the RSF since 2023. The attacks on Port Sudan have increased fears of disruptions to desperately needed aid deliveries in the country suffering one of the world's most dire humanitarian crises, and where famine has been declared in some areas.

In recent years, there has been a notable advancement in the integration of healthcare and technology, particularly evident in the field of medical image analysis. This paper introduces a pioneering approach in dermatology, presenting a robust method for the detection of hair and scalp diseases using state-of-the-art deep learning techniques. Our methodology relies on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), well-known for their efficacy in image recognition, to meticulously analyze images for various dermatological conditions affecting the hair and scalp. Our proposed system represents a significant advancement in dermatological diagnostics, offering a non-invasive and highly efficient means of early detection and diagnosis. By leveraging the capabilities of CNNs, our model holds the potential to revolutionize dermatology, providing accessible and timely healthcare solutions. Furthermore, the seamless integration of our trained model into a web-based platform developed with the Django framework ensures broad accessibility and usability, democratizing advanced medical diagnostics. The integration of machine learning algorithms into web applications marks a pivotal moment in healthcare delivery, promising empowerment for both healthcare providers and patients. Through the synergy between technology and healthcare, our paper outlines the meticulous methodology, technical intricacies, and promising future prospects of our system. With a steadfast commitment to advancing healthcare frontiers, our goal is to significantly contribute to leveraging technology for improved healthcare outcomes globally. This endeavor underscores the profound impact of technological innovation in shaping the future of healthcare delivery and patient care, highlighting the transformative potential of our approach.

We introduce a novel Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm aimed at addressing the challenge of maintaining a uniform proton beam intensity delivery in the Muon to Electron Conversion Experiment (Mu2e) at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). Our primary objective is to regulate the spill process to ensure a consistent intensity profile, with the ultimate goal of creating an automated controller capable of providing real-time feedback and calibration of the Spill Regulation System (SRS) parameters on a millisecond timescale. We treat the Mu2e accelerator system as a Markov Decision Process suitable for Reinforcement Learning (RL), utilizing PPO to reduce bias and enhance training stability. A key innovation in our approach is the integration of a neuralized Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller into the policy function, resulting in a significant improvement in the Spill Duty Factor (SDF) by 13.6%, surpassing the performance of the current PID controller baseline by an additional 1.6%. This paper presents the preliminary offline results based on a differentiable simulator of the Mu2e accelerator. It paves the groundwork for real-time implementations and applications, representing a crucial step towards automated proton beam intensity control for the Mu2e experiment.

Israel's military has launched air raids on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, dropping missiles from helicopters and killing at least two Palestinians as well as wounding 10 others, according to officials and witnesses. Residents said at least four Israeli air attacks hit buildings in Jenin early on Monday, sending smoke billowing up from the wreckage, and reported spotting a convoy of Israeli armoured vehicles moving towards the city's vast refugee camp. "There is bombing from the air and an invasion from the ground," Mahmoud al-Saadi, the director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, told the AFP news agency. "Several houses and sites have been bombed…. The Palestinian health ministry said the raids killed at least two people and wounded 10, one of whom was in critical condition. The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "joint operations centre", which served as a command centre for the Jenin Brigades, a unit comprised of fighters from different Palestinian armed groups. The raids on Monday came after Israeli forces killed three gunmen near Jenin in the first drone assault on the West Bank since 2006. Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the Israeli military also announced the arrest of several "wanted Palestinians and the seizure of explosive devices". "Now, these are homemade Palestinian explosives that wounded eight Israeli soldiers during last month's Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

A year ago, the idea of holding a meaningful conversation with a computer was the stuff of science fiction. But since OpenAI's ChatGPT launched last November, life has started to feel more like a techno-thriller with a fast-moving plot. Chatbots and other generative AI tools are beginning to profoundly change how people live and work. But whether this plot turns out to be uplifting or dystopian will depend on who helps write it. Thankfully, just as artificial intelligence is evolving, so is the cast of people who are building and studying it.

The U.K. government on Wednesday published recommendations for the artificial intelligence industry, outlining an all-encompassing approach for regulating the technology at a time when it has reached frenzied levels of hype. In the white paper, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) outlined five principles it wanted companies to follow. They are: safety, security and robustness; transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress. Rather than establishing new regulations, the government is calling on regulators to apply existing regulations and inform companies about their obligations under the white paper. It has tasked the Health and Safety Executive, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the Competition and Markets Authority with coming up with "tailored, context-specific approaches that suit the way AI is actually being used in their sectors."

Engineering has a white-male problem. Women make up just 14.5 percent of the engineering workforce in the United Kingdom, with ethnic minorities constituting just 8 percent. For Lila Ibrahim, chief operating officer at DeepMind, and Hayaatun Sillem, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, being both female and people of color meant the odds were stacked against them in their industry. But for Sillem, who is the first woman and ethnic minority to hold her position, coming from such a diverse background helped her "to build empathy into her life"--a trait she describes as a superpower. And as for Ibrahim, the daughter of immigrants to the United States, she always felt like the "oddball" growing up in midwestern America.

Researchers trying to improve healthcare with artificial intelligence usually subject their algorithms to a form of machine med school. Software learns from doctors by digesting thousands or millions of x-rays or other data labeled by expert humans until it can accurately flag suspect moles or lungs showing signs of Covid-19 by itself. A study published this month took a different approach--training algorithms to read knee x-rays for arthritis by using patients as the AI arbiters of truth instead of doctors. The results revealed radiologists may have literal blind spots when it comes to reading Black patients' x-rays. The algorithms trained on patients' reports did a better job than doctors at accounting for the pain experienced by Black patients, apparently by discovering patterns of disease in the images that humans usually overlook.

Mr. Ibrahim will lead Axon's AI team, based in Axon's global software hub in Seattle, and will report to Axon Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President of Software Jeff Kunins. "At this moment in history, Axon's unrelenting mission to obsolete the bullet and uplift social justice in the world couldn't be more relevant or more vitally important," Mr. Kunins says. "Artificial intelligence and applied machine learning are fundamental to how we are harnessing technology to radically improve transparency, accountability, and safety for law enforcement and the citizens they protect. Mr. Ibrahim brings decades of AI expertise and a proven ability to attract and retain world-class science talent. I'm thrilled to welcome him to Axon and to invent on behalf of customers together."