New map reveals all the iconic US cities and landmarks set to DISAPPEAR by 2050

A new interactive map is painting a grim picture for America's coastal cities, with many projected to be underwater by 2050.
Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists, has been developing a new Coastal Risk Screening Tool to predict how sea level rise and coastal flooding will reshape the US each decade.

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Daily Mail​

2 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

Why earwax can predict if you're at risk of developing Parkinson's disease

Published: | Updated: Scientists have revealed that the wax in your ears could actually say a lot about your health. Researchers in China have identified key differences in the makeup of earwax in people with Parkinson's disease compared to people without the condition, suggesting the sticky stuff holds secrets that could flag a person's risk of eventually developing the condition. Scientists at Zhejiang University took earwax samples from 100 people with Parkinson's and 79 without. They chose earwax because much of it is made up of sebum, an oily substance that undergoes chemical changes in cases of Parkinson's, and releases distinct volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Parkinson's triggers neurodegeneration, inflammation, and oxidative stress, altering sebum's composition and creating a distinct odor. It also progressively damages the brain, causing tremors, stiffness, and slow movement. Over time, symptoms worsen to include sudden freezing, speech loss, swallowing problems -often leading to pneumonia - and falls, both common causes of death among people with Parkinson's. Four specific types of VOCs stood out among people with the condition, suggesting that earwax could potentially be an accessible indicator of Parkinson's, which would allow patients to avoid invasive diagnostic tests and spinal taps. Around 1million Americans and 10million people globally currently have the disease, with nearly 90,000 new cases diagnosed each year. As that number is projected to climb, early diagnosis is more important than ever. While there is no cure, medication regimens can be started early to treat symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease. Researchers fed the VOC data from the samples of earwax into an algorithm that categorized subjects' Parkinson's status accurately 94 per cent of the time, demonstrating the potential for a fast, reliable diagnostic tool. The VOCs that stood out to researchers were all significant in differentiating between people with the condition and those without it, even after accounting for age and lifestyle factors. Two of the VOCS, Ethylbenzene & 4-Ethyltoluene, are compounds commonly found in plastics and petroleum products. Their presence suggests inflammation in the brain, which is a key driver of the breakdown of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine, while often thought of as a 'feel good' neurotransmitter, is a key chemical messenger that regulates movement control. As dopamine levels plummet while Parkinson's progresses, people become steadily more immobile. Another significant VOC was Pentanal, which is produced when fats break down. Elevated levels suggest cell damage, a hallmark of Parkinson's. The compound has been linked to an accumulation of protein clumps in patients' brains. And the VOC 2-Pentadecyl-1,3-dioxolane likely reflects issues with the metabolism of fats, which could have originated from microbiome changes in the skin of patients. It's unclear whether this VOC has any direct links to PD, but there is an expanding body of research pointing to a connection between PD and an imbalance in the gut microbiome. Soaring: Parkinson's death rates rose from 42 to 65 deaths per 100,000 from 1999–2017 Research suggests that VOCs are produced by the balance of good bacteria in the gut, which have also been associated with brain health. An imbalance allows harmful bacteria to flourish, leading to a proliferation of toxins that can cause inflammation in the brain. VOCs come from a wide array of toxic sources in the environment, from pesticides used to grow food, industrial chemicals in gasoline, and solvents in everyday items like dry cleaning chemicals and adhesives, to cleaning products, car emissions, and contaminated groundwater. Parkinson's is believed to be caused by a confluence of genetic and environmental factors. It is the world's fastest-growing brain disorder, and, according to NIH research, 'exposure to environmental toxicants is the principal reason.' In the US, deaths from Parkinson's disease have more than doubled in the past 20 years, with about 35,000 deaths in 2019 compared to 14,500 in 1999. While considering the clues that earwax can provide about Parkinson's development is new, investigating the role that VOCs play is not. A sweeping 2023 meta-analysis identified distinct VOCs present in the breath and skin oil in people with the disease compared to those without it. These compounds are specifically linked with oxidative stress, or a barrage of damage that cells endure before dying.

The Guardian

5 hours ago

• The Guardian

Trump's plan to ban US states from AI regulation will ‘hold us back', says Microsoft science chief

Microsoft's chief scientist has warned that Donald Trump's proposed ban on state-level guardrails on artificial intelligence will slow the development of the frontier technology rather than accelerate it. Dr Eric Horvitz, a former technology adviser to Joe Biden, said bans on regulation will 'hold us back' and 'could be at odds with making good progress on not just advancing the science, but in translating it into practice'. The Trump administration has proposed a 10-year ban on US states creating 'any law or regulation limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems'. It is driven in part by White House fears China could otherwise win the race to human-level AI, but also pressure from tech investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, an early investor in Facebook, which argues consumer uses should be regulated rather than research efforts. Its co-founder, the Trump donor Marc Andreessen, said earlier this month that the US was in a two horse race for AI supremacy with China. The US vice-president, JD Vance, recently said: 'If we take a pause, does [China] not take a pause? Then we find ourselves … enslaved to [China]-mediated AI.' Horvitz said he was already concerned about 'AI being leveraged for misinformation and inappropriate persuasion' and for its use 'for malevolent activities, for example, in the biology biological hazard space'. Horvitz's pro-regulation comments came despite reports that Microsoft is part of a Silicon Valley lobbying push with Google, Meta and Amazon, to support the ban on individual US states regulating AI for the next decade which is included in Trump's budget bill which is passing through Congress. Microsoft is part of a lobbying drive to urge the US Senate to enact a decade-long moratorium on individual states introducing their own efforts to legislate, the Financial Times reported last week. The ban has been written into Trump's 'big beautiful bill' that he wants passed by Independence Day on 4 July. Horvitz was speaking at a meeting of the the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence on Monday when he said: 'It's up to us as scientists to communicate to government agencies, especially those right now who might be making statements about no regulation, [that] this is going to hold us back. 'Guidance, regulation … reliability controls are part of advancing the field, making the field go faster in many ways.' Speaking at the same seminar, Stuart Russell, the professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, said: 'Why would we deliberately allow the release of a technology which even its creators say has a 10% to 30% chance … of causing human extinction? We would never accept anything close to that level of risk for any other technology.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The apparent contradiction between Microsoft's chief scientist and reports of the company's lobbying effort comes amid rising fears that unregulated AI development could pose catastrophic risks to humanity and is being driven by companies prioritising short-term profit. Microsoft has invested $14bn (£10bn) in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, whose chief executive Sam Altman who this week predicted that: 'In five or 10 years we will have great human robots and they will just walk down the street doing stuff … I think that would be one of the moments that … will feel the strangest.' Predictions of when human-level artificial general intelligence (AGI) will be reached vary from a couple of years to decades. The Meta chief scientist, Yann LeCun, has said AGI could be decades away, while last week his boss, Mark Zuckerberg, announced a $15bn investment in a bid to achieve 'superintelligence'. Microsoft declined to comment.

Glasgow Times

8 hours ago

• Glasgow Times

Celebrated physicist visits old Glasgow school nearly 40 years later

Dr Calum Torrie, associate director and chief engineer at the USA-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), visited Cardonald Primary School on Tuesday, June 17, to present a special piece of science-themed artwork and talk about his career. Dr Torrie, who now lives in Pasadena, California, said: "I was proud to come back to Cardonald Primary nearly 40 years after I left to meet pupils and present them with their fantastic artwork representing the first detection of gravitational waves. "Having the opportunity to meet young people and get them engaged with science is always welcome, but being able to meet pupils who are growing up where I did was particularly special." Read more: New Glasgow research centre launched to help advance sustainable shipping (Image: Supplied) (Image: Supplied) He spoke to pupils about his time at the school in the 1980s, his studies in physics and astronomy at the University of Glasgow, and his current work at LIGO. Martin Coogan, headteacher at Cardonald Primary School, said: "We were delighted to welcome Dr Torrie back to the school to meet pupils, discuss his career, and present us with the artwork. "The children thoroughly enjoyed Dr Torrie's presentation, which focused on gravitational wave astronomy and how the remarkable sensitivity of the LIGO detectors was enabled by research at a local university. "It's fantastic to think that an internationally recognised scientist attended our school and studied at the University of Glasgow. "I am sure Dr Torrie's visit to our school will inspire some of our pupils to start thinking about science as a possible future career path." During the visit, Dr Torrie showcased a framed mosaic created by pupils in 2023 as part of a University of Glasgow project. Gravitational waves, first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916, were detected for the first time in 2015 by LIGO. This discovery opened a new frontier in astronomy and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017. The mosaic visualises one of the signals detected by LIGO and is composed of 1,156 individual drawings contributed by pupils and staff. Dr Torrie also presented the pupils with a framed A3 poster, celebrating their work. Dr Andrew Spencer, University of Glasgow researcher who helped lead the development of the mosaics, said: "The Cardonald mosaic celebrates how this ground-breaking discovery was the work of many people. "The individual squares are recycled from the work of many University of Glasgow researchers, past and present, and each one was decorated by students and staff at Cardonald Primary. "Working with the School to produce the mosaic was a brilliant experience, and it was great to return with Dr Torrie and the final artwork. "We hope that future generations of Glasgow children will grow up to continue the tradition of scientific innovation." Read more: Glasgow University urges unpaid carers to take part in new survey (Image: Supplied) (Image: Supplied) University of Glasgow scientists played a key role in the development of LIGO, particularly in the design of its mirror suspensions and data analysis. Dr Torrie's visit to Cardonald Primary School comes as the global gravitational wave research community prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the first detection. Glasgow will host the International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation and the Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves from July 14 to 18. This conference, organised by the Institute of Physics and supported by the University of Glasgow, will see gravitational wave and relativity researchers from across the globe come together to talk about their research.