Alchemists rejoice as Cern turns lead into gold — for a flash
The feat was achieved not in a dark medieval laboratory, but inside the world's most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Operated by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) and buried deep beneath the Franco-Swiss border, the LHC is perhaps the largest and most complex machine yet built.
The transmutation, detailed in a paper published in Physical Review Journals, was a side-effect of a high-energy experiment in which two beams of lead atoms were smashed together at close to the speed of light.
• Scientists split over successor to Large Hadron Collider
As they screamed past each other, three protons were
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The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
US medical journal rejects call from RFK Jr to retract vaccine study
An influential US medical journal is rejecting a call from the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to retract a large Danish study that found that aluminum ingredients in vaccines do not increase health risks for children, the journal's editor told Reuters. Kennedy has long promoted doubts about vaccines' safety and efficacy, and as health secretary has upended the federal government's process for recommending immunization. A recent media report said he has been considering whether to initiate a review of shots that contain aluminum, which he says are linked to autoimmune diseases and allergies. The study, which was funded by the Danish government and published in July in the Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed nationwide registry data for more than 1.2 million children over more than two decades. It did not find evidence that exposure to aluminum in vaccines had caused an increased risk for autoimmune, atopic or allergic, or neurodevelopmental disorders. The work is by far the best available evidence on the question of the safety of aluminum in vaccines, said Adam Finn, a childhood vaccination expert in the UK and pediatrician at the University of Bristol, who was not involved in the study. 'It's solid, [a] massive dataset and high-quality data,' he said. Kennedy described the research as 'a deceitful propaganda stunt by the pharmaceutical industry', and said the scientists who authored it had 'meticulously designed it not to find harm' in a detailed 1 August opinion piece on TrialSite News, an independent website focused on clinical research. He called on the journal to 'immediately retract' the study. 'I see no reason for retraction,' Dr Christine Laine, editor in chief of the Annals of Internal Medicine and a professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, said in an interview. The journal plans to respond to criticism the article has received on its website, Laine said, but it does not intend to respond directly to Kennedy's piece, which was not submitted to the journal. The lead author of the study, Anders Peter Hviid, head of the epidemiology research department at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, defended the work in a response post to TrialSite. He wrote that none of the critiques put forward by Kennedy were substantive and he categorically denied any deceit as implied by the secretary. 'I am used to controversy around vaccine safety studies – especially those that relate to autism, but I have not been targeted by a political figurehead in this way before,' Hviid said in an emailed response to Reuters. 'I have confidence in our work and in our ability to reply to the critiques of our study.' Kennedy had a number of criticisms, including the lack of a control group, that the study deliberately excluded different groups of children to avoid showing a link between aluminum and childhood health conditions – including those with the highest levels of exposure – and that it did not include the raw data. Hviid responded to the criticisms on TrialSite. He said some of the points were related to study design choices that were reasonable to discuss but refuted others, including that the study was designed not to find a link. In fact, he said, its design was based on a study led by Matthew Daley, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, which did show a link, and which Kennedy cited in his article. There was no control group because in Denmark only 2% of children were unvaccinated, which was too small for meaningful comparison, Hviid added. The data was available for researchers to analyze, but individual-level data was not released under Danish law, he said. Other prominent vaccine skeptics including those at the antivaccine organization Kennedy previously ran, Children's Health Defense, have similarly criticized the study on the Annals of Internal Medicine site. TrialSite staff defended the study for its scale, data transparency and funding while acknowledging the limitations of its design, a view seconded by some outside scientists. Laine said that while some of the issues Kennedy raised in his article may underscore acceptable limitations of the study, 'they do not invalidate what they found, and there's no evidence of scientific misconduct'. An spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said the department had 'no further comment than what the secretary said'.
The Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Sun
The 10 signs of ‘brain swelling' sloth fever which could be spread by sex after cases spotted in UK for the first time
THE UK has reported its first-ever cases of flu-like 'sloth fever'. Three people tested positive for the disease, officially called Oropouche virus, between January and June 2025, new data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says. 4 The little-known virus, spread to humans by mosquitoes and biting midges - unlike the name suggests - was also reported in Europe last summer for the first time after it started spreading rapidly in Latin America. Historically, Oropouche was confined to within the Amazon basin in South America, including Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and Panama. In 2024, outbreaks also appeared in these regions as well as in Cuba and Barbados, the likely source of some of the 19 cases of sloth fever reported in Europe last year. The first cases of the oropouche in the UK were all linked to travel from Brazil, the UKHSA said. The bug typically circulates between primates, including sloths - hence the nickname - before it is occasionally passed to humans by the critters. Mosquitos and midges found in the UK and wider Europe do not currently spread Oropouche virus disease. Until last year, experts didn't think the virus could spread from person to person. But a study published by Italian scientists in December suggested it could spread in semen, sparking concerns about possible sexual transmission. Scientists are currently investigating whether the infection can be passed on from mothers to babies during pregnancy, after the virus was linked to stillbirths and birth defects. For most people, Oropouche infections are mild, with symptoms typically showing up 4 to 8 days after a bite. I tried the best ways to stop mosquitoes on your summer hols - from sprays, patches & bracelets, one was a dud and stank These can include: Fever Headache Joint pain Muscle aches Chills Nausea and vomiting Rash Sensitivity to light Dizziness Pain behind the eyes UKHSA chiefs have urged anyone who becomes unwell with these symptoms after travel to affected areas. Symptoms typically last less than a week but can occasionally reoccur. In severe cases, the virus can also attack the brain leading to meningitis or encephalitis, which can be fatal. 4 4 It is estimated that fewer than four per cent of patients will develop neurological symptoms. The first ever deaths linked to the virus were reported in Brazil in July 2024, where, sadly, two people died. There are currently no specific antiviral treatments or vaccines available. Treatment for symptoms can include rest, fluids, and the use of medicines to reduce pain and fever. The 6 things all travellers must do to protect themselves from 'sloth virus' Dubbed a "mysterious threat But it is transmitted by biting midges and mosquitoes that have fed on sloth, monkey or bird blood, so avoiding bites can help keep you safe. There are also five other steps you can take to protect yourself. 1. Prevent bites The number one thing you can do to protect yourself from Oropouche, as well as dengue fever, Zika and other viruses transmitted by insects, is preventing bites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This means using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved tops and trousers, and staying in places with air conditioning or that use window and door screens and/or mosquito nets. Avoiding strong perfumes, soaps, shampoos and deodorants can also help, the NHS says. 2. Time it right Anyone who has been to areas where Oropouche is present should continue to prevent insect bites for three weeks after travel, the CDC warns. "This is to mitigate additional spread of the virus and potential importation into unaffected areas," it adds. 3. Know the signs Another major line of defence is being aware of the most common symptoms of Oropouche. The CDC says these are a fever and headache, which usually begin three to 10 days after being bitten by an infected bug. Other potential signs include muscle aches, stiff joints, nausea, vomiting, chills and sensitivity to light. "Most people infected with Oropouche feel better within a week, but symptoms often come back," the CDC adds. 4. Seek medical help According to the CDC, travellers to areas with Oropouche transmission, including South America or the Caribbean, who develop a fever, chills, headache, joint pain or muscle pain during or within two weeks after travel should: Seek medical care and tell their healthcare provider when and where they travelled Not take aspirin or other NSAIDS (e.g. ibuprofen) to reduce the risk of bleeding Continue to prevent insect bites during the first week of illness to avoid further spread, especially in areas where mosquitoes or biting midges are active 5. Plan ahead Before jetting off, pregnant holidaymakers should discuss travel plans with their GP, CDC guidance states. This should include their reason for travel, how to prevent insect bites, and all potential risks associated with travel. The dangers of Oropouche during pregnancy are unknown, but experts say it acts similarly to Zika, which can be passed to unborn babies and cause miscarriages, stillbirths, birth defects, seizures, vision problems and hearing loss. 6. Avoid non-essential travel Finally, if you are pregnant, you should reconsider non-essential travel to Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Cuba, the CDC says. "If travel is unavoidable, pregnant travellers should strictly follow Oropouche virus prevention recommendations to prevent insect bites during travel," it adds.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump cuts to science research threaten his administration's own AI action plan
The Trump administration released 'America's AI Action Plan' last month with the goal of expanding US dominance when it comes to AI in order to maintain a global edge, especially over China. But Donald Trump's cuts to scientific research funding through federal agencies – including the National Intitute Health, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Nasa – will undermine that goal and threaten the research environment that fostered the foundations of AI, experts in the field said. Mark Histed, chief of neural computation and behavior at NIH, said that while the effects of funding cuts on AI might not be obvious in the next year or two, they threaten 'the whole ecosystem that we have built around AI, that has been created by federal support'. 'What I see is an ecosystem, right? I see multiple different disciplines contributing different aspects to this process. I see academia playing a key role and industry playing a key role. And so as we look forward and we think about trying to advance AI, we need to be supporting that entire ecosystem,' Rebecca Willett, a computer science professor at the University of Chicago and faculty director of AI at the Data Science Institute, explained, echoing Histed. Histed and Willett both believe that AI simply would not exist in its current form without federally funded research, and offered a variety of AI technologies and companies that owe their development to federal funding. For example, self-driving cars rely on computer vision technology – federal funding has supported its development since the 1980s. Computer vision is the foundation for the vast majority of face and image recognition technologies. AlphaFold, which uses AI to help discover new medications, and Anthropic, which improves AI safety, including for the US Department of Defense, also exists thanks to federal support. AI research often takes cues from other realms of science, which in turn can help foster AI, so cuts to other disciplines will affect the intelligence's development. Histed points to the overlap between his field of neuroscience and AI. 'We're just at the beginning of understanding how networks of connected neurons create functions like memory and cognition. And if you look at a machine learning network or an AI network, that is also the case,' he said. Histed pointed out that federally funded research that brings these disciplines together has led to Nobel prize-winning work. Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield won the 2024 Nobel prize in physics for their work at the intersection of neuroscience and AI, and received support from the NSF. Trump's plan could also pose a threat to AI safety, which is essential to ensuring that AI is not only effective but that it operates within the boundaries of the law. The plan includes provisions to revise guidelines at the National Institute of Standards and Technology 'to eliminate references to misinformation, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and climate change'. These are three of the most controversial aspects of AI, which has been demonstrated to show gender and racial bias in a variety of applications, including face recognition technology and popular applications like ChatGPT. A recent study found that ChatGPT advises women to ask for less money than men when prompted for advice about salary expectations. Histed says that the field of AI safety is also closely linked with neuroscience, because understanding how human neural networks create bias can also help us understand how AI networks create bias. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Trump's plan also calls for less red tape when it comes to building AI datacentres that can suck up huge amounts of energy. Willett said it was true that large-scale machine learning systems 'come at an enormous cost. It's a huge amount of energy, a huge amount of cooling.' But, she added, AI companies themselves should still want to reduce those costs regardless of what Trump's plan says. 'Not only do they have environmental impacts, but it's expensive for the companies that are running these systems. And so I think across the AI community, people are invested in trying to make these systems more efficient,' Willett said. Willett and Histed both say that the AI community will be under threat in the coming years if the federal government no longer funds their training at universities. Histed noted that the federally funded 'talent pipeline' is 'incredibly important', adding 'we train lots and lots and lots of people in neuroscience and related fields that are going directly to these tech companies. There's tons of overlap. All the people who are leading the technical side of the AI revolution have had contact with the academic world that trained them and is supported by US federal funding. 'One of the big ways in which tech companies benefit from universities is that we train students, right?' Willett said. 'And so they walk into these companies with cutting-edge skills that these companies need. And so right off the bat, I think universities are playing an essential role that's important to industry.'
