Category: 4. Technology

Cornell researchers have found a new and potentially more accurate way to see what proteins are doing inside living cells – using the cells’ own components as built-in sensors.

This approach could help scientists study how molecules associate inside cells, including in viruses, and how proteins misfold in diseases like cancer and neurodegeneration.

The researchers discovered a novel way to use natural proteins produced by a cell as tiny sensors to report on their environment and interactions, without traditional invasive techniques that could interfere with a cell’s normal biology and skew research results. The study was published July 1 in Nature Communications.

The method is mainly useful for understanding new biological mechanisms, such as those that could be involved in disease states like cancer or during infection. For example, one could conceivably track the assembly of a virus using this method to understand how and where its components are built within cells.”

Brian Crane, the George W. and Grace L. Todd Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences and corresponding author on the publication

Crane, who directs the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, and his colleagues focused on flavins, small, vitamin B2-derived molecules that can act like magnetic labels inside cells. This magnetic property makes them detectable by a technique called electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, which is like an MRI machine but measures extremely small changes and nanoscale distances. By tracking the behavior of proteins called flavoproteins, which carry flavins, researchers can detect how other molecules organize and move in living cells.

Because flavoproteins exist in many biological systems, the researchers saw a way to use them as built-in sensors. By triggering the flavin’s magnetic properties with light, they could use ESR to study protein structures directly inside cells – without synthetic chemicals.

“We were studying the properties of certain flavoproteins and discovered that their magnetic spin-states were more stable than expected in cells,” said Timothée Chauviré, a research associate within the Crane Lab at the Weill Institute and lead author on the study. “And from earlier work on light-sensitive proteins, we realized we could use light to trigger the signal we needed to detect these molecules using ESR.”

Forcing artificial tags into cells might interfere with cellular function, but cells naturally produce flavin-containing probes, so “if you can trick the cell into making them, that is much better,” Crane said.

To test their new method, the researchers studied a bacterial protein called Aer, which helps E. coli bacteria sense oxygen. Aer works with two other proteins, CheA and CheW, to transmit signals across the membrane. While these proteins have been studied before, this was the first time researchers were able to directly observe how the Aer receptor assembles inside a living cell.

“We learned that Aer forms higher-order assemblies, arrays of molecules in the membrane, that work together to amplify signals,” Crane said. “These architectures are unstable and won’t form outside of cells.”

With ESR, the team measured the distance between the two flavins in an Aer dimer – complexes of two identical protein molecules – with angstrom-level precision, confirming not only the dimer structure but also revealing larger assemblies that form inside cells.

The researchers also developed a small engineered flavoprotein called iLOV, which can be genetically fused to other proteins to make them visible with ESR. This tool acts like a molecular tag, enabling scientists to study the structure and positioning of nearly any protein inside a living cell.

The study also demonstrated that ESR, previously mainly limited to purified proteins in test tubes, can now be used in living systems with remarkable detail.

“ESR spectroscopy is not limited to just studying purified molecules or reconstituted systems,” Crane said.

The team is now adapting the method to other cell types, particularly mammalian cells, to see if they can track processes in more complex environments, he said.

Contributors to the study include Siddarth Chandrasekaran, Ph.D. ’17; Robert Dunleavy, M.S. ’19, Ph.D. ’23; and Jack H. Freed, professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (A&S).

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology and the National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies.

The mystery of how we became human still drives scientific inquiry, especially among researchers probing the ancient genetic shifts that gave rise to our complex brains, capacity for language, and upright posture—traits that set us apart from our closest ape relatives.

“What we found in our study was that a range of different traits—skeletal, neuropsychiatric, pigmentation, cholesterol synthesis, and so on—were accelerated at different points in the history of humans,” said Vagheesh Narasimhan, who co-authored a study published in Cell Genomics in January 2025.  Narasimhan is an assistant professor in the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin).

The study integrated three powerful data sources: ancient DNA from fossils; 3D MRI scans from hundreds of thousands of participants in the UK Biobank revealing the structure of the brain, skeleton, and major organs; and comparative functional genomics that mapped how the human genome aligns—and diverges—from that of chimpanzees, orangutans, and other great apes. By layering these datasets, researchers were able to uncover where bursts of human-specific evolutionary changes and genetic mutations likely occurred.

“We looked at gene expression and gene regulation through embryo development between humans and other primates, particularly Rhesus macaque,” Narasimhan said. “We then carried out genomic enrichment analysis, which determines whether the overlap between our evolutionary annotation and our annotation associated with traits is more than we expect by chance compared to the genome wide average.”

Narasimhan and colleagues leveraged this method to look at whether sections of the human genome associated with traits had bursts at particular time intervals.

With advanced computing power from the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), scientists were able to identify when key human traits may have undergone major evolutionary changes. TACC supported the research by awarding Narasimhan allocations on its Frontera and Lonestar6 supercomputers, along with data storage and management resources on the Corral system.

Lonestar6 helped the researchers process 80,000 3D MRI images of the heart, brain, liver, and pancreas, as well as hip, knee, spine, and whole-body X-ray scans from the UK Biobank.

“We trained AI models for segmentation and classification on the imaging data using TACC GPU (graphics processing unit) resources, particularly Lonestar6, which has a large number of GPUs that were capable of processing this type of data,” Narasimhan said.

“For carrying out genomic analyses, we are heavy users of the CPU (central processing unit) infrastructure on Frontera, largely because the genome is a very large data problem,” he added. “Having a large number of CPU nodes on a supercomputing cluster like Frontera was tremendously useful to shrink compute time from a linear process to a parallel process and allow the study to happen.”

The HIPAA protections on TACC’s Corral data storage allowed Narasimhan to simultaneously compute on two different environments, Lonestar6’s GPUs and Frontera’s CPUs.

“It’s impossible to do this work without this integrated enterprise at TACC,” Narasimhan said.

Narasimhan is excited about the new GPU computing capacity with TACC’s AI-focused Vista supercomputer, which entered production in November 2024.

“We’re hoping to use Vista soon and continue our work,” he said. “TACC’s vision to keep pace with new data generation is transformative.”

A more recent study by Narasimhan published in April 2025 in the journal Science also acknowledges TACC support. It found genetic correlations between pelvic proportions and traits such as osteoarthritis, walking speed, and back pain, giving insight into facets of the obstetrical dilemma—the biological tradeoffs between the size of a mother’s birth canal and the brain of her child.

“To truly understand change in the human genome, we need massive amounts of data from a vast number of individuals to look at what’s happening in each of these three billion DNA bases,” Narasimhan said. “It’s a monumental data problem that can only be tackled by using supercomputing infrastructure.”

This article was originally published by TACC and is reprinted with permission.

The Lenovo Tab M9 is one of the more understated tablets out there, and its most recent price drop should put it on everyone’s radar. This midrange tablet normally retails for $160, but as part of a new Clearance sale, the Tab M9 has gone down to just $104, which is nearly 40% off the regular price.

Also: The best Android tablets you can buy

Because the device is on clearance, this may be the last time that you’ll be able to buy the Tab M9 at such a low price — or ever. Lenovo may be clearing up inventory to make room for a brand new model. The tablet originally launched back in 2023. In the two years since its release, the device has stood tall as a great budget entertainment device when lounging or using as a secondary screen for work.

I recommend the Lenovo Tab M9 for people who want an inexpensive, everyday tablet. It sports a nine-inch HD touchscreen that outputs an image resolution of 1,340 x 800 pixels. It’s powered by a MediaTek G80 Octa Core processor and 3GB of memory. For the camera system, you have an 8MP lens on the rear and a 2MP selfie lens on the front. Lenovo’s tablet has 32GB of storage for storing photos and apps.

As you can see from these specs, it is not a super powerful device, but it makes up for it in other areas. The Tab M9 has a 5,100mAh battery that lasts up to 13 hours of video playback. It also weighs 13.4 ounces, making it easy to carry around and a great travel device.

Also: Why I recommend this Lenovo Android tablet to most people – especially at this price

“Dual speakers provide crystal clear sound,” Lenovo touts, but if you don’t want to disturb the people around you, the device has a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones on the side.

Looking at Best Buy user reviews, people praise the Lenovo Tab M9 for its size, long-lasting battery, and ease of use. Others appreciate the lightweight form factor and solid audio output. Considering its display and compact design, I’m finding it difficult to recommend any other value-centric tablet that’s on sale this week.

Looking for the next best product? Get expert reviews and editor favorites with ZDNET Recommends.

How I rated this deal

At 50% off, ZDNET’s rating system grants this promotion a 5/5 Editor’s deal rating score. That is a perfect score. The Lenovo Tab M9 is a decent media tablet that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, and it makes for a great first tablet for children. This is near the lowest amount that I have ever seen the Tab M9 go for. I don’t anticipate this tablet dropping much lower anytime soon, so be sure to take advantage of the deal while it lasts.

For Amazon Prime Day, Motorola has heavily discounted its Moto G Stylus 5G (2024), bringing it to just $299 ($100 off).

It’s been several years since I evaluated the first-generation Moto G Stylus, and a lot has improved. But late last year, I had the chance to test the Moto G Stylus 2024. It’s been a couple of months since, so here’s how my experience has gone with my T-Mobile SIM installed.

Also: Best early Prime Day phone deals: These 15 sales should be on your radar

While I bought a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra last year for three times the price of the Moto G Stylus, for daily use, I prefer carrying the latter. It’s smaller, the stylus meets all my needs, and I enjoy the streamlined Moto experience and customization. My notification shade isn’t cluttered with ads, and I can even go two days before needing to charge it.

Motorola sent me the Caramel Latte color with a vegan leather back, which is lovely and matches one of my favorite coffee types (haha!). There’s also a Scarlet Wave color that’s more red, almost like lipstick. With 8GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage with microSD card support, and a 5,000mAh battery, all for just $299, the Moto G Stylus is one of the better budget phones in recent year.s

The stylus remains the distinguishing feature of the 2024 Motorola model. It has been improved over previous generations with reduced latency, better targeting, and an updated user interface. Pulling out the stylus when the phone is off is convenient, and there’s a new note pop-up for quickly jotting down thoughts. It’s a subtle but very handy feature for notetakers on the go.

Also: I changed 12 settings on my Android phone to drastically improve battery life

As far as default notes apps go, you can choose between Moto Note and Google Keep Notes. Since Keep Notes is my default, the phone is even more useful for my needs.

When the phone is on, and the stylus is removed, a list of favorited shortcuts appears on an overlay screen, allowing you to jump right into the action. The stylus settings include removal notifications and the last known location of the stylus to help you find it if it’s lost. The stylus has a much nicer design than previous Moto Stylus models I’ve used, closely resembling the Samsung S-Pen. It’s easy to hold, slim, and charges within the phone.

Built-in pen aside, Motorola’s user interface is one of my favorite parts of the phone; it’s a fairly stock, Pixel-esque look and feel boosted by Motorola’s handy gestures and system enhancements. For example, you can twist to launch the camera, make chopping motions to toggle the flashlight, and pick up the phone to silence the ringer. These gestures, and several others, make the phone feel much smarter than others, and it’s great to have them available even at this lower price point.

The Moto G Stylus 5G launches with Android 14 and has monthly security updates, but given the affordable price and processor of the phone, you can likely expect one major upgrade to Android 15 and possibly two years of Android security patches. The cadence will vary, of course, though I wish Motorola would push the limit a little more and promise at least two years of OS upgrades. Samsung and Google, for comparison, offer upwards of seven years of updates.

Also: The obvious reason why I’m not sold on smartphone AI features yet (and I’m not alone)

The 6.7-inch OLED supports up to a 120Hz refresh rate that can dynamically adjust based on your use cases. For example, it’ll lower the refresh rate when you’re scrolling through photos or a webpage — when there are fewer animations to render. I’ve enjoyed hours of content with the phone, and having a legacy port in the 3.5mm headphone jack certainly helps when traveling without wireless earbuds.

A 50MP main and 13MP ultra-wide camera are positioned on the back of the phone. It’s certainly refreshing to see a mid-range phone without the unnecessary macro lens and depth sensor. Instead, the ultra-wide camera supports a 120-degree field-of-view while also serving as the macro shooter. 

Also: The best Motorola phones of 2025: Where does the new Razr rank?

While the camera hardware is not as powerful as flagship phones, Motorola provides excellent software tools that help you capture great photos and be creative with little effort. Still, I’ve enjoyed using the Motorola camera, especially when capturing quick shots during the daytime. The 50MP camera system should serve most people just fine. At this price point, you really can’t complain.

ZDNET’s buying advice

I started using personal digital assistant (PDA) devices that all had a stylus in 1997, and I am still a fan of using such an accessory that provides precision inputs and on-device handwriting. The Moto G Stylus 5G is an affordable option for stylus lovers while also serving as a very capable Android phone. The Motorola user interface remains one of my favorites since it is optimized for efficient use and doesn’t rely as heavily on AI to help you get things done.

This story was first published on May 25, 2024, and was updated on July 2, 2025, to reflect the Amazon Prime Day sale.

Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z foldable phones are soon to be unveiled at the company’s Unpacked event on July 9. But you don’t have to wait to lock in your next device — you can reserve one right now at Samsung.com and earn a $50 Samsung credit.

It’s not yet clear just how many new phones we’ll be getting (we’re wondering if there will be more than the usual two), but Samsung has been teasing Ultra-grade and slim foldable phones for this launch. Samsung Newsroom posts have pointed to a more “powerful camera” and “AI-powered tools,” and have also noted that its “newest Galaxy Z series is the thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet.”

So, it’s possible Samsung could unveil the Galaxy Z Flip 7, Z Fold 7 and then the Z Fold Ultra, or perhaps just one Ultra-grade Fold device. 

But wait, there’s more. There are also rumors surrounding a more affordable Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE phone. Leaks show renders of the rumored device, which appears similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, but it’s possible the phone could swap out the Snapdragon chip for an Exynos processor to keep that price down. 

Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see what Samsung has up its sleeve. But if you’re eager to get your hands on one of the latest devices, you can head to Samsung’s site to reserve your future phone and score that $50 Samsung credit. You can also enter a sweepstakes for the chance to win an additional $5,000 credit. These offers are only available on Samsung.com and the Shop Samsung app.

If you’d like to explore Samsung’s other phone options, check out list of the best Samsung phones to buy right now.

Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick aren’t the only speedrunning marathons in town. There are others dotted throughout the year, such as Frost Fatales and Flame Fatales. Those all-women and femmes events are also operated by the Games Done Quick organization. The schedule for this year’s Flame Fatales has just dropped, and there are lots of fascinating runs on deck.

For one thing, you’ll be able to watch an Any% run (i.e. beating the game with any percentage) of Hollow Knight. What’s more, SawaYoshi will do this one-handed. The runner is expected to pull this off in around 45 minutes — it typically takes around 27 hours to beat that game.

Some newer titles are in the mix as well, such as Blue Prince. It might seem odd that a puzzle game with a heavy randomization element is on the schedule. ProfessorBurtch will be undertaking what’s known as a “B Quest Bingo” run. The idea here is to get to the Antechamber while using a bingo board. Here’s an example of such a run (it contains spoilers, of course):

Elsewhere, we have Any% runs of the wonderful Neva, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and New Super Mario Bros. in the mix, along with speedrunning staples like Celeste and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The bonus runs include the first act of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and all regions of Hades II. I’m very intrigued by the Stardew Valley finale, which is a “Marriage% Co-Op Haley/Penny (Lesbian%)” run.

In all, there will be more than 50 speedruns during this edition of Flame Fatales, which runs from September 7 – 14. This year’s edition is being held in support of Malala Fund, which is a non-profit that helps girls around the world to have safe, secure and quality education. The event will be livestreamed on the GDQ Twitch channel.

ChatGPT has had an “unprecedented” impact on scientific writing, leading to a marked increase in “flowery” language, a new paper has found.

To determine the extent of usage of large language models (LLMs), researchers from the University of Tübingen and Northwestern University analysed more than 15 million biomedical abstracts from the PubMed library.

Their paper compared results from before and after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 and discovered that LLMs have resulted in certain words featuring much more regularly.

These were predominantly verbs, such as “delves”, “underscores” and “showcasing”, which all had much higher increases in usage compared with previous years.

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Previously this so-called excess vocabulary had mainly been seen in content words. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, nouns such as “respiratory” or “remdesivir” appeared in studies much more regularly.

One example highlighted of “flowery language” from a 2023 study said: “By meticulously delving into the intricate web connecting […] and […], this comprehensive chapter takes a deep dive into their involvement as significant risk factors for […].”

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The results, published in the journal Science Advances, also show that changes as a result of LLMs resulted in abrupt changes in both the quality and quantity of research papers. And the analysis suggested that at least 13.5 per cent of abstracts published last year were processed with LLMs – about 200,000 papers in total.

“We show that LLMs have had an unprecedented impact on scientific writing in biomedical research, surpassing the effect of major world events such as the Covid pandemic,” said Ágnes Horvát, co-author of the study and a professor at Northwestern’s School of Communication. 

The paper, which did not use LLMs for any writing or editing, said that the impact of ChatGPT, which is used to improve grammar, rhetoric and overall readability, could have broader implications for scientific writing as well.

Campus resource: Can we detect AI-written content?

“LLMs are infamous for making up references, providing inaccurate summaries, and making false claims that sound authoritative and convincing. While researchers may notice and correct factual mistakes in LLM-assisted summaries of their own work, it may be harder to spot errors in LLM-generated literature reviews or discussion sections.”

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With a risk that LLMs make academic papers less diverse and less novel than human-written text, the researchers warned that such homogenisation may degrade the quality of scientific writing.

And they called for a reassessment of current policies and regulations around the use of LLMs for science in light of the findings.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com

Google has pushed an emergency update to the widely used Chrome browser after identifying an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability in the product, the fourth found so far in 2025.

Tracked as CVE-2025-6554, it is described as a type confusion flaw in the Google-developed V8 JavaScript engine that compiles and executes JavaScript code in Chromium-based browsers.

It was identified by the Google Threat Analysis Group’s (TAG’s) Clément Lecigne on 25 June, and fixed the following day by a configuration change that has by now been pushed out to the stable channel on all platforms.

Left unchecked, the US National Vulnerability Database (NVD) – which is operated by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) – said the high-severity vulnerability could have allowed remote attackers to perform arbitrary read or write actions via a specially crafted HTML page.

In layman’s terms, this means vulnerable Chrome users lured into visiting an attacker-controlled website may be exposed to attacks in which threat actors install malware, including spyware, on their devices, or take other malicious actions such as bypassing security restrictions to conduct deeper lateral movement in their environment or accessing and stealing confidential data.

“Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2025-6554 exists in the wild,” Google said in its update notice.

However, given the update may take a while to filter down to all Chrome users, Google provided no further technical details of the issue beyond the fact an exploit appears to be being used in cyber attacks. Note that the Google TAG frequently monitors and reports on state-backed cyber activity, but this is not necessarily an indicator of attribution to any such threat nexus.

Chrome users can check whether or not their browser is up to date by navigating to the Help menu via the three-dot icon in the top right corner of their browser window, and then clicking through to About Google Chrome. In most cases, doing so should automatically trigger the update if it has not yet been applied.