Two MIT professors, an alumnus, and a former postdoc are among the winners of 2024s Nobel Prizes.From left: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, Victor Ambros, and Gary RuvkunADAM GLANZMAN (ACEMOGLU); MICHELLE FIORENZA (JOHNSON); COURTESY OF UMASS CHAN MEDICAL SCHOOL (AMBROS); COURTESY OF THE HARVARD GAZETTE (RUVKUN)Professors Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, PhD 89, shared the prize in economics with political scientist James Robinson of the University of Chicago, with whom they have long collaborated. Using evidence from the last 500 years, their work has empirically demonstrated that inclusive governments such as democracies, which extend individual rights and political liberties while upholding the rule of law, have generated greater economic activity than extractive political systems, where power is wielded by a small elite. Partly because economic growth depends on technological innovation, it is best sustained when countries protect property rights, giving more people the incentive to invent things.Acemoglu, an Institute Professor, has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1993. Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan, was chief economist of the International Monetary Fund from 2007 to 2008.Meanwhile, Victor Ambros 75, PhD 79, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and Gary Ruvkun, a professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, shared the prize in medicine for their discovery of microRNA, a class of tiny RNA molecules that help govern gene regulation. This crucial mechanism allows cells with the same chromosomes to develop into cell types with different characteristics and functions.The foundation for their discoveries was laid by their work on mutant forms of the roundworm C. elegans as MIT postdocs in the lab of Professor H. Robert Horvitz (who would win a Nobel in 2002). Later, working independently, they showed that a certain roundworm gene produces a very short RNA molecule that binds to messenger RNA encoding a different gene and blocks it from being translated into protein. Since then, more than 1,000 microRNA genes have been found in humans.In an interview with the Journal of Cell Biology, Ambros also credited the contributions of collaborators including his wife, Rosalind Candy Lee 76, and postdoc Rhonda Feinbaum.

Brackish groundwater is a major potential source of drinking water in underserved areas of the world, but desalinating it affordably is a challenge. A new system developed by mechanical engineering professor Amos Winter, Jon Bessette, SM 22, and staff engineer Shane Pratt manages to do the job entirely on solar energy, with no need for batteries or grid power.The system is a variation of a previous design based on electrodialysis, which uses an electric field to draw out salt ions as water is pumped through a stack of ion-exchange membranes. That design incorporated both a solar array and a sensor-based control system that dialed the desalting process up and down in response to the amount of sunlight available, but it made the necessary calculations only every three minutes.(Left to right): Jon Bessette, Shane Pratt, and Muriel McWhinnie (UROP) stand in front of the electrodialysis desalination system during an installation in July.SHANE PRATTIn that time, a cloud could literally come by and block the sun, Winter says. So backup batteries were still needed.The new system, however, updates the desalination rate three to five times per second. That means it doesnt have to make up for any lag in solar energy, so it doesnt require batteries for energy storage.In a six-month trial in New Mexico, a prototype produced up to 5,000 liters per day despite large swings in weather and available sunlighttypically while harnessing more than 94% of the electrical energy generated by its solar panels. The team hopes to launch a company based on the technology soon.

Apple appears to be working on a minor update for its iPhone operating system, with different claims hinting towards the release of iOS 18.2.1 in the near future.Apple could release an iOS 18.2.1 update in the near future.Although iOS 18.3 was made available for developer testing on December 16, iOS 18.2 remains the latest release version of the operating system intended for the general public. Evidence of an upcoming iOS 18.2.1 update has appeared online since mid-December.iOS 18.2.1, expected to be little more than a simple bugfix update, was reportedly spotted by MacRumors in the site's analytics, though no details about a potential build number were provided. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The annual Apple Pay donation campaign, which serves to help vulnerable communities affected by AIDS, has raised a total of $3 million in 2024.Apple has donated $3 million to fight AIDS worldwide.Apple has a long-standing partnership with the Global Fund, an organization that provides healthcare and distributes funding to people affected by HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis in developing nations. On December 1st of every year, Apple commemorates World AIDS Day with (PRODUCT)RED window displays and through the promotion of related books.The company raises more than just awareness, though, as it also holds a donation campaign, which aims to help communities affected by AIDS. The donation campaign is based on customer purchases from November 29 through December 8, as announced by Apple. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The first phase of a monumental-scale new addition within LAs famed Hollywood Forever Cemetery has been revealed after a design from Lehrer Architects and Arquitectura y Diseo.Image: courtesy Tim GriffithThe Gower Court Mausoleum stands five stories and 100 feet above the landmark tourist attractions iconic palm grove, offering the deceased space for some 22,500 crypts and the public panoramic views of the city and Hollywood Sign beyond as one of the only true "new landmarks" to come to Los Angeles in recent memory.Image: courtesy Tim GriffithImage: courtesy Tim GriffithAlong with its Brazilian quartzite stone-coveredcrypts, the honeycombed Mausoleum's interior includes more than 30,000 niches for urn storage. They are connected via a circuit of open-air breezeways. Concrete is the primary building material, and the scale of the edifice was broken down thanks to a "vertical topographical landscape" incorporated by the inclusion ofstepped garden setbacks that extend 20 feet a...

Zaha Hadid Architects has won the pitch to design the Zhejiang Shaoxing Shangyu District Caoe River Culture and Art Centre, a central component of a new cultural quarter in Shaoxing, China.The ambitious project will feature a 1,400-seat grand theater, a 500-seat multifunctional hall, an arts and education center, a conference center, a heritage museum, and a digital art gallery, all spanning an expansive riverside site.

Microsoft explored new avenues for its first party and delivered some standout titles this year, while Sony presented a strong line-up of exclusives and a compelling mid-gen console refresh. By comparison, Nintendo is seemingly in a waiting period, with all attention focused on the Switchs successor. Nevertheless, it still offered an incredible range of titles this year, pulling from its wealth of IPs for some unexpected hits. This is in addition to various third-party games that made their mark on the platform. Check out our picks for the 15 best Switch games of 2024.Princess Peach: Showtime!One day, Nintendo woke up, looked back on how underwhelming Super Princess Peach was, and decided to do something about it. The result is Princess Peach: Showtime!, with Peach harnessing multiple forms across various plays to stop the sorceress Grape and her Sour Bunch. With a fun story, enjoyable gameplay, and solid level design, theres much to love, even if the performance would have been better.

The bone and tile floor was found in a building in Alkmaar's historic center. Municipality of AlkmaarArchaeologists have made a startling discovery in Alkmaar, a Dutch town famous for its cheese market. In a building under construction, they found a mosaiced floor made of tiles and sawed-up cow bones.According to astatement from the municipality of Alkmaar, it appears the floor was originally made completely of tile. When the tile degraded, the gaps were filled in with livestock bones. All of the bones are eithermetacarpals ormetatarsals, which are part of cows lower legs. Researchers think the floor could date to the 15th century.We were very happy to have the opportunity to see this bone floor with our own eyes, says Nancy de Jong, an archaeologist working at the site, in the statement, per a translation from theNL Times. It is always a privilege to uncover something from the distant past and contribute new information to the history of Alkmaar. Archaeologists were invited to examine the floor during the building's renovation. Heritage AlkmaarAlkmaar, located about 25 miles north of Amsterdam, is known for its traditional Dutchcheese market, which is the countrys oldest. The town had a communalcheese scale as far back as1365, and the earliest known record of its cheese market dates to 1408, perLive Sciences Kristina Killgrove. In the 1600s, the Alkmaar market traded millions of pounds of cheese, exporting it throughout Europe and European colonies. Alkmaar became home to theDutch Cheese Museum in 1983.Researchers saw the cow bone floor when they were invited to examine a house under renovation in Achterdam, Alkmaars red-light district. As archaeologists say in aFacebook post, the house was built around 1609, but the tile and bone floor may be older: The standing house might have been built atop an older foundation. As de Jong says in the statement, the floor was significantly worn down from extensive use.Other cow bone floors have been found in Holland. In fact, a strikingly similar example was unearthed in the nearby city of Hoorn, and others were discovered in Enkhuizen and Edam. All three likely date to the 15th century.The researchers say that tiles were a common and inexpensive material in 15th-century Holland, so they dont know why the floors builders used cow bones. The bovine material may have simply been a quicker, slightly cheaper fix for a crumbling tile floor, according to the statement. Alternatively, the bones could have been included because they were connected to the activities that occurred inside the building. The researchers will continue studying the site to learn more about its origins.The discovery of this floor is incredibly interesting, saysAnjo van de Ven, an Alkmaar heritage councilor, in the statement, per the NL Times. In the historical city center of Alkmaar, it is crucial to treat the soil carefully. There are still many hidden stories waiting to be uncovered.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Archaeology, Bones, Cattle, Cool Finds, European History, Food, Food History, History, Netherlands

Some Whales Live Much Longer Than Previously Thought, a Discovery That Could Change How We Protect ThemIn a new study, researchers use novel techniques to uncover more accurate life expectancy estimates of southern and North Atlantic right whales One in ten southern right whales lives past the age of 131, new research suggests. Paula Ribas / Getty ImagesRight whales are among the rarest whales on Earth, and their populations are highly endangered. Now, scientists say some of the gentle giants may live nearly twice as long as previously thought. The new findings, published December 20 in the journal Science Advances, makesouthern right whalesthe mammal with the second-longest known life span, behind only the bowhead whale. The findingsand the novel methods used to achieve themcould help inform conservation efforts moving forward.We were thinking about these whales all wrong, says study co-author Peter Corkeron, a marine ecologist at Griffith University in Australia, to the Guardians Petra Stock. Its impeded our ability to get it right when it comes to doing the science for conservation to stop these whales from going extinct.Estimating the age of some individual whales is relatively easy. For example, a bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) killed in 2007 had a harpoon tip stuck in its blubber that was manufactured in the late 1800s, allowing researchers to surmise it was at least 115 years old.But deducing the average life expectancy of an entire species can be more challenging. For one, past methodssuch as analyzing their earwax, which builds up each year like the rings of a treehave required whales to be dead. In addition, commercial whaling was so intense throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries that most of the largest, oldest animals were likely missing from researchers calculations. Most of todays longevity estimates are probably skewed by an overrepresentation of younger whales, the team writes in the paper.So, for the new study, researchers deployed some new tactics. Using photos of right whales dating back to the 1970s, they identified individual females based on their appearance and noted when they stopped showing up in photos, presumably because they died. Then, they incorporated this information into statistical models that are similar to those used by life insurance companies to estimate human life expectancy.These novel methods are quite impressive, as C. Scott Baker, an ecologist at Oregon State University who was not involved with the paper, tells Sciences Mitch Leslie. They make a good case for the plausibility of their results.The findings suggest southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) have a median lifespan of about 73 years. But up to 10 percent might live to be 131 years oldand a handful may even approach 150. Thats much higher than previous estimates, which suggested the marine mammals had a maximum life expectancy between 70 and 80 years.Researchers used the same techniques for North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis), a critically endangered species with an estimated 372 individuals remaining. The study finds that North Atlantic right whales have a median lifespan of just 22 years, with the longest-living 10 percent surpassing the age of 47.Overall, the findings reinforce the idea that these animals are still bouncing back from the damage wrought by commercial whaling, a practice that ended less than four decades ago.To attain healthy populations that include old animals, recovery might take hundreds of years, says study lead author Greg Breed, an ecologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, in a statement. For animals that live to be 100 or 150 and only give birth to a surviving calf every 10 years or so, slow recovery is to be expected.Why such a big life expectancy gap between southern and North Atlantic right whales? Scientists suspect North Atlantic right whales are much more vulnerable because of where they live. They primarily inhabit Atlantic coastal waters near Canada and the United Statesa bustling region with lots of commercial activity.This month alone, three North Atlantic right whales were seen tangled in fishing gear off the East Coast of the U.S. Theyre also susceptible to boat strikes and climate change.Its a maze of rope these animals need to get through, and theres huge ports coming into the U.S., theres lots of shipping, Corkeron tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Sam Bradbrook and Samantha Goerling.The Southern Ocean, meanwhile, is not nearly as congested. One takeaway from the study is that its important to keep it that way, Corkeron adds.Moving forward, researchers say their methods could be applied to other species, such as blue, fin, sei, humpback, gray and sperm whales. And, in the meantime, their recent findings could lead to the development of more effective conservation plans.Understanding how long wild animals live has major implications for how to best protect them, Corkeron and Breed write in the Conversation. Animals that have very long lifespans usually reproduce extremely slowly and can go many years between births. Conservation and management strategies that do not plan accordingly will have a higher chance of failure. This is especially important given the expected impacts of climate disruption.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Aging, Animals, Atlantic Ocean, Conservation, Endangered Species, Health, Mammals, New Research, Oceans, Water, Whales, wildlife

Lux Optics has released a loose product roadmap for its next big iPhone photo app, Halide 3.0 (which its calling Halide Mark III). After being more forthright than usual in the development of its Kino video app, which was recently awarded iPhone app of the year for 2024 by Apple, Lux is giving the next version of its popular photo app a touch of the Steam indie dev treatment. Not only is Lux already hyping key upcoming features in a blog post by cofounder Ben Sandofsky, but it also plans to open up the development process via a Discord server, where users can give feedback once they start trying Halide Mark III.RelatedSo far, Lux has detailed three upcoming features for Halide Mark III that subscribers will be able to try early: Color Grades, HDR photos, and an app redesign. Color grades will operate a lot like they do in Kino, with users able to quickly load an aesthetic look / color palette based on Luxs own creations, film stocks, and imported recipes cooked by other users. In addition to what sounds like Luxs take on Fujifilms film emulations, Halide Mark III will also include the developers take on HDR photos now that iOS 18s Adaptive HDR feature is making it easier to view HDR images on more platforms.Not much has been revealed so far about Halide 3.0s redesigned interface, but Sandofsky said in the blog post that form follows function, and if Halides version of Instant Grade goes as smooth as we think it will, well make grade-picking central to the UI, just like Kino.Sandofskys blog post also didnt go into further detail about when Halide Mark III will ship beyond sometime in 2025, and it didnt say how much Halide Mark III will cost. But the @halideapp account on Threads indicated to a commenter that Mark III will be included for Mark II users, and an upgrade for v1 users.