EurekAlert! News by Subject: Tech & Engineering - News by Subject: Tech & Engineering

Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-Sep-2025 13:11 ET (2-Sep-2025 17:11 GMT/UTC)

Study shows how retinal cells know when to keep their distance

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In vertebrate retinas, specialized photoreceptors responsible for color vision (cone cells) arrange themselves in patterns known as the “cone mosaic”. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have discovered that a protein called Dscamb acts as a "self-avoidance enforcer" for color-detecting cells in the retinas of zebrafish, ensuring they maintain perfect spacing for optimal vision. Their findings have been published in Nature Communications.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

Radiation belt electron wisp inside South Atlantic anomaly due to terrestrial VLF transmitter observed by MSS-1

Science China Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The South Atlantic Anomaly represents a region within near-Earth space characterized by a significantly weaker geomagnetic field and a higher flux of energetic particles compared to other areas. It is a space weather hazards to Low-Earth-Orbit satellites. There has been evidence that the Very Low Frequency (VLF) waves from the powerful ground VLF radio transmitter in Australia, known as NWC, have the capacity to scatter energetic electrons’ pitch angle in the inner radiation belt. In a paper published in Science China: Earth Sciences, scientists report the initial observation of a 'wisp' precipitation resulted from NWC, an unusual occurrence with peak intensity detected inside the SAA. With the full pitch angle distribution observed via the Macao Science Satellite – 1 at Low-Earth-Orbit, scientists attribute the 'wisp' within the anomaly to a specific pitch angle range just outside the drift loss cone.

Journal: Science China Earth Sciences

The rise of DeepSeek: technology calls for the “catfish effect”

National Center for Respiratory Medicine
Reports and Proceedings

Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); DeepSeek; catfish effect; open source; medical applications During the 2025 Chinese Spring Festival, a topic that garnered widespread attention was DeepSeek. On January 20, the Hangzhou-based DeepSeek company released its latest large language model, DeepSeek-R1. This release sent shockwaves through the technology sector and attracted attention from top scientific journals such as Nature and Science (1,2). With its powerful performance and open-source characteristics, DeepSeek-R1 has created substantial pressure on existing artificial intelligence (AI) competitors, exemplifying the “catfish effect” in the AI domain. This concept originates from a classical management theory: Norwegian fishermen placed catfish, a natural predator, in sardine transport tanks, significantly reducing mortality rates by triggering the sardines’ survival instincts. By analogy, in other fields, the introduction of strong competitors often activates industry innovation dynamics. DeepSeek’s emergence has injected new momentum into the AI field, driving rapid technological iteration and innovation.

Journal: Journal of Thoracic Disease

DeepSeek: the “Watson” to doctors—from assistance to collaboration

National Center for Respiratory Medicine
Reports and Proceedings

DeepSeek is an AI platform based on deep learning and natural language processing, featuring core products DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-V3 models. Using efficient Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture and multimodal data fusion capabilities, it achieves performance comparable to OpenAI's GPT-4o-mini while significantly reducing training costs .

In healthcare applications, DeepSeek rapidly extracts valuable information from massive datasets, providing intelligent information retrieval and analysis solutions that:

- Assist physicians with diagnosis and treatment - Optimize doctor-patient communication - Improve medical efficiency - Supplement professional knowledge - Provide humanized medical interactions - Identify potential blind spots

DeepSeek enhances clinical decision-making efficiency, supports scientific research, optimizes patient management and assists patients with medical decision-making .

However, the platform faces challenges including data quality issues, algorithm stability and accuracy concerns, multimodal data fusion problems, lack of automated information collection, and dynamic update delays .

Future developments may bring breakthroughs in personalized medicine, telemedicine, and public health management .

Journal: Journal of Thoracic Disease

KAIST develops eco-friendly, nylon-like plastic using microorganisms

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Using microorganisms, KAIST researchers have successfully developed a new bio-based plastic to replace conventional plastic.

Journal: Nature Chemical Biology
Funder: Ministry of Science and ICT

Good and bad bacteria: What microorganisms can do in our food

BfR Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
Meeting Announcement

What do cheese, sauerkraut and yeast dough have in common? Their production is only possible with the help of bacteria or fungi. The microorganisms initiate fermentation or maturing processes and thus create foods that have been on the human menu for, in some case, centuries. On the other hand, microorganisms contribute to the rotting and spoilage of food and can even make people ill, as outbreaks caused by pathogens in food have repeatedly shown, e.g. with Salmonella. "Food microbiology is a very multifaceted field of research," says Professor Andreas Hensel, President of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). "It investigates the properties of a wide variety of microorganisms and touches on topics from the fields of food technology, food safety, animal health and environmental and consumer protection." In order to discuss current research, the BfR, the German Society for Microbiology and Hygiene (DGHM) and the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM) are inviting researchers to the 19th Food Microbiology Conference in Berlin from 1 to 3 April.

Developing nonviral gene delivery system in Primate

Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi), Kyoto University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Genetic engineering in non-human primates has long been limited by the need for virus-based gene delivery methods. Recently, researchers in Japan successfully used a nonviral system to introduce a transgene—that is, a gene that has been artificially inserted into an organism—into cynomolgus monkeys, which is a species of primate closely related to humans.

Journal: Nature Communications