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  • IND vs ENG: Backfires! Rishabh Pant falls into Ben Stokes’ trap, throws wicket away with reckless shot – WATCH | Cricket News

    IND vs ENG: Backfires! Rishabh Pant falls into Ben Stokes’ trap, throws wicket away with reckless shot – WATCH | Cricket News

    NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant’s ultra-aggressive style has often drawn both admiration and criticism, and on Day 1 of the second Test at Edgbaston, it backfired spectacularly. India were beginning to settle into a strong position, but Pant, who had just started looking comfortable, threw away his wicket in a moment of misjudged bravado.The dismissal came in the 48th over of India’s innings, a moment that swung momentum England’s way. Shoaib Bashir, the young off-spinner, was in the middle of a tidy spell when he floated one up invitingly at 74kph.

    EXCLUSIVE | David Gower on Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and India’s England tour

    Pant, sensing an opportunity to put pressure back on the bowler, went for a big hit over long-on. But the delivery was a touch fuller and slower than expected. Pant didn’t get under it properly, and the ball went flat and hard straight to Zak Crawley at long-on. The dismissal left Shubman Gill visibly frustrated at the non-striker’s end as India lost their fourth wicket against the run of play.Pant’s shot selection suggested he was lured into a trap meticulously set up by Ben Stokes and Bashir — a flighted bait that the flamboyant left-hander couldn’t resist. Given the rhythm Pant was in and his recent form, the shot was all the more disappointing.Pant had been in exceptional touch leading into the second Test. He was the standout performer in the series opener at Headingley, becoming only the second wicketkeeper in Test history to score centuries in both innings of a match. That performance not only solidified his role as India’s most dangerous counter-attacker but also propelled him to sixth in the ICC Test batting rankings — a new personal high with 801 rating points.Pant now sits just behind the likes of Joe Root and Harry Brook, trailing the top spot by only 88 points. It’s a return to familiar heights for the 26-year-old, who had previously reached the fifth spot in 2022.Elsewhere in the rankings, Yashasvi Jaiswal retained his No. 4 position, while Shubman Gill dropped to 21st. Among bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah continued to dominate the charts with 907 points, ahead of Rabada and Cummins. Ravindra Jadeja remained the No.1 all-rounder despite a quiet match.Pant’s dismissal at Edgbaston, however, was a reminder that brilliance needs balance — something he’ll look to restore in the remaining matches of the series.


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  • PTI’s Sanam Javed released from Kot Lakhpat Jail

    PTI’s Sanam Javed released from Kot Lakhpat Jail



    Pakistan


    Released following Lahore High Court bail approval in state-related cybercrime case.





    LAHORE (Dunya News) – Sanam Javed, a prominent leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail after being granted bail by the Lahore High Court.

    Justice Farooq Haider approved her bail on June 30, following a case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) alleging she uploaded content deemed “anti-state” online. The bail decision led to her release from custody on Tuesday.

    The FIA had initiated the case against Mrs Javed under cybercrime laws, accusing her of uploading material that could incite unrest or harm national security narratives. The charges are part of a broader crackdown on political activists using social media platforms to voice dissent.

    Sanam Javed’s release marks a significant moment amid ongoing legal battles faced by several PTI leaders in the wake of political tensions and digital expression scrutiny. 

    Also, in another development, senior leaders of PTI, currently incarcerated in Lahore jail, have issued a formal appeal urging the initiation of comprehensive negotiations to steer the country out of its worsening political and economic crisis.

    Also read: PTI warns against attempt to topple KP govt

    In a joint statement released from jail on Tuesday, the PTI leaders emphasised that dialogue is the only viable path toward stability. “Negotiations must take place at all levels,” the statement read, adding that both political actors and state institutions need to engage constructively.

    The statement further proposed that political negotiations be prioritised as an entry point to broader talks, with incarcerated PTI leaders included in the process. It also called for improved access to PTI’s founding chairman to facilitate the formation of a negotiation committee.

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  • Readers Choose Their Top Movies of the 21st Century

    Readers Choose Their Top Movies of the 21st Century

    When we talk about the movies we love, every voice deserves a spotlight. So after publishing our official list of the best movies of the 21st century, compiled from the votes of 500-plus filmmakers, actors and other movie-industry professionals, we turned to New York Times readers, who cast more than 200,000 ballots of their own.

    Here, you’ll find several blockbusters that fell short of the original 100 — “Sinners,” “Barbie,” not one but two “Dune” movies — and small international gems like “Drive My Car” and “The Handmaiden,” too. “Midsommar” and “Mean Girls” entered the chat, while a surprising number of rankings (“Mulholland Drive,” “The Social Network”) stood firm.

    Maybe you’ve already seen them all. If not, you can click through and save the movies you want to watch as you go — they’ll be easily accessible on your watch list. You can also still create a ballot here to share with friends; it won’t count toward the final tally, but there’s no expiration date on a good debate.

    The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

    The Reader Top 100

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    Plus, for fun, here are the next 400 movies, as ranked by our readers.

    101. Synecdoche, New York  102. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World  103. Punch-Drunk Love  104. Nope  105. American Psycho  106. Poor Things  107. The Lives of Others  108. Hot Fuzz  109. Challengers  110. Inside Out  111. The Devil Wears Prada  112. In Bruges  113. Donnie Darko  114. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)  115. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse  116. Requiem for a Dream  117. Best in Show  118. Melancholia  119. Sicario  120. Manchester by the Sea  121. Prisoners  122. First Reformed  123. The Banshees of Inisherin  124. Roma  125. Frances Ha  126. The Substance  127. Incendies  128. The Piano Teacher  129. Drive  130. Moulin Rouge!  131. Shrek  132. Paddington 2  133. The Big Short  134. Chicago  135. Adaptation  136. The Witch  137. Coco  138. Toy Story 3  139. 1917  140. The Pianist  141. Anora  142. Ex Machina  143. Avatar  144. Casino Royale  145. A Separation  146. A Serious Man  147. Moonrise Kingdom  148. Burning  149. Jojo Rabbit  150. Shrek 2  151. Dunkirk  152. Finding Nemo  153. Under the Skin  154. Spider-Man 2  155. Carol  156. 28 Days Later  157. I Saw the TV Glow  158. Shaun of the Dead  158. Catch Me If You Can  160. About Time  161. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith  162. The Favourite  163. Slumdog Millionaire  164. Inland Empire  165. Avengers: Infinity War  166. Black Panther  167. Godzilla Minus One  168. Your Name.  169. Shutter Island  170. The Batman  171. Juno  172. Mission: Impossible – Fallout  173. Sideways  174. The Martian  175. Babylon  176. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story  177. The Irishman  178. Coraline  179. Legally Blonde  180. School of Rock  181. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri  182. The Act of Killing  183. Mamma Mia!  184. Mysterious Skin  185. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy  186. 12 Years a Slave  187. La Chimera  188. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl  189. Midnight in Paris  190. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World  191. Collateral  192. The Lobster  193. Decision to Leave  194. Conclave  195. Monster  196. Napoleon Dynamite  197. Volver  198. How to Train Your Dragon  199. Silver Linings Playbook  200. Borat  201. Atonement  202. Shoplifters  203. The Nice Guys  204. Wicked  205. Step Brothers  206. Dogville  207. Silence  208. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  209. Snatch  210. Nickel Boys  211. Marie Antoinette  212. John Wick  213. Caché  214. The Fall  215. Minority Report  216. Skyfall  217. Tropic Thunder  218. Dancer in the Dark  219. Gravity  220. The Great Beauty  221. The Perks of Being a Wallflower  222. Lincoln  223. Speed Racer  224. Flow  225. RRR  226. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou  227. The Shape of Water  228. Titane  229. Good Time  230. 500 Days of Summer  231. Let the Right One In  232. Nightcrawler  233. Joker  234. The Hangover  235. The Wind Rises  236. Sound of Metal  237. The Bourne Identity  238. The King’s Speech  239. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford  240. Paprika  241. The Brutalist  242. Monsters, Inc.  243. Another Round  244. Argo  245. Kill Bill: Vol. 2  246. Amour  247. All of Us Strangers  248. Love Actually  249. The Hurt Locker  250. Training Day  251. Big Fish  252. Baby Driver  253. I’m Still Here  254. Hell or High Water  255. Zero Dark Thirty  256. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire  257. Amores Perros  258. A.I. Artificial Intelligence  259. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives  260. Talk to Her  261. The Hateful Eight  262. The Fabelmans  263. It’s Such a Beautiful Day  264. Green Book  265. A Beautiful Mind  266. Marriage Story  267. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone  268. The Hunt  269. Million Dollar Baby  270. Goodbye, Dragon Inn  271. The Revenant  272. Us  273. Grizzly Man  274. Mommy  275. Edge of Tomorrow  276. Burn After Reading  277. Tenet  278. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty  279. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya  280. CODA  281. Sorry to Bother You  282. Climax  283. Iron Man  284. Beau travail  285. Wet Hot American Summer  286. Miami Vice  287. Inherent Vice  288. Crazy, Stupid, Love.  289. Annihilation  290. The Boy and the Heron  291. Cast Away  292. Asteroid City  293. Holy Motors  294. Lilo & Stitch  295. Cold War  296. The Notebook  297. Bottoms  298. Sing Sing  299. It Follows  300. The Hours  301. Dogtooth  302. The White Ribbon  303. Bridget Jones’s Diary  304. Logan  305. The Darjeeling Limited  306. Millennium Actress  307. The Raid: Redemption  308. Train to Busan  309. Booksmart  310. All Quiet on the Western Front  311. Twilight  312. Nomadland  313. Certified Copy  314. The Virgin Suicides  315. The Gleaners & I  316. Werckmeister Harmonies  317. Guardians of the Galaxy  318. Mystic River  319. Ford v Ferrari  320. District 9  321. Spring Breakers  322. Cars  323. The Death of Stalin  324. Nosferatu  325. Love Exposure  326. The Hunger Games  327. V for Vendetta  328. Licorice Pizza  329. Gangs of New York  330. 20th Century Women  331. BlacKkKlansman  332. Tangerine  333. Promising Young Woman  334. Hidden Figures  335. Soul  336. Ponyo  337. Margaret  338. The Secret in Their Eyes  339. The Dark Knight Rises  340. Captain America: The Winter Soldier  341. Elf  342. Hundreds of Beavers  343. The Iron Claw  344. The Intouchables  345. True Grit  346. Saw  347. Suspiria  348. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy  349. Spider-Man  350. Batman Begins  351. Nobody Knows  352. Erin Brockovich  353. A Star Is Born  354. Crazy Rich Asians  355. The Green Knight  356. Birth  357. Forgetting Sarah Marshall  358. Brooklyn  359. Toni Erdmann  360. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  361. Kung Fu Hustle  362. Tropical Malady  363. Memoria  364. The Wild Robot  365. The Avengers  366. The Killing of a Sacred Deer  367. Moana  368. What We Do in the Shadows  369. Triangle of Sadness  370. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days  371. Sexy Beast  372. Remember the Titans  373. Zoolander  374. 25th Hour  375. Sing Street  376. Frozen  377. Tangled  378. Pulse  379. Into the Wild  380. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  381. West Side Story  382. Ghost World  383. The New World  384. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story  385. The Beast  386. An Elephant Sitting Still  387. Raw  388. The Help  389. Hunt for the Wilderpeople  390. The Lego Movie  391. Pitch Perfect  392. Battle Royale  393. The Wrestler  394. A History of Violence  395. Hero  396. Before Midnight  397. Hedwig and the Angry Inch  398. Life of Pi  399. Enter the Void  400. Jennifer’s Body  401. Hot Rod  402. The Power of the Dog  403. Minari  404. Pain and Glory  405. Billy Elliot  406. The 40-Year-Old Virgin  407. Gran Torino  408. Bones and All  409. Gosford Park  410. Shin Godzilla  411. Columbus  412. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2  413. Black Hawk Down  414. Paterson  415. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish  416. Snowpiercer  417. A Ghost Story  418. Isle of Dogs  419. Wedding Crashers  420. Once  421. A Prophet  422. Mandy  423. The Wailing  424. Cloud Atlas  425. Signs  426. The Imitation Game  427. La ciénaga  428. Elephant  429. Palm Springs  430. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On  431. Blue Valentine  432. The Princess Diaries  433. The Town  434. Petite Maman  435. Millennium Mambo  436. 2046  437. Beau Is Afraid  438. Tokyo Godfathers  439. Blue Is the Warmest Colour  440. tick, tick… BOOM!  441. The Father  442. The Fast and the Furious  443. Eighth Grade  444. Force Majeure  445. American Fiction  446. Only Lovers Left Alive  447. Avatar: The Way of Water  448. The Cabin in the Woods  449. Aruitemo aruitemo  450. Fast Five  451. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days  452. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping  453. Munich  454. Unbreakable  455. Inside Man  456. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi  457. Beasts of the Southern Wild  458. Infernal Affairs  459. O.J.: Made in America  460. Ida  461. Mother!  462. Pacific Rim  463. The Turin Horse  464. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie  465. Irréversible  466. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby  467. John Wick: Chapter 4  468. Persepolis  469. Hacksaw Ridge  470. Under the Silver Lake  471. Sunshine  472. Emma.  473. Creed  474. The Other Guys  475. Les Misérables  476. Happy as Lazzaro  477. 13 Going on 30  478. A Silent Voice: The Movie  479. 3 Idiots  480. Wild Tales  481. Lady Vengeance  482. Beautiful Boy  483. If Beale Street Could Talk  484. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga  485. High Fidelity  486. Bohemian Rhapsody  487. The Menu  488. May December  489. Pearl  490. Close  491. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire  492. Everybody Wants Some!!  493. The Holiday  494. I’m Thinking of Ending Things  495. Dallas Buyers Club  496. Downfall  497. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time  498. Morvern Callar  499. Long Day’s Journey Into Night  500. The Farewell  

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    THE 100 BEST MOVIES OF THE 21st CENTURY

    I haven’t seen any of these movies yet …

    If you’ve watched a movie on the list, be sure to check the box under its entry, and
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    THE 100 BEST MOVIES OF THE 21st CENTURY

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  • South African Air Force chief visits Pakistan, discusses strengthening ties with PAF

    South African Air Force chief visits Pakistan, discusses strengthening ties with PAF

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    South African Air Force (SAAF) Chief Lt General Wiseman Simo Mbambo paid an official visit to Pakistan, where he met with Chief of the Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at Air Headquarters in Islamabad, according to the military’s media wing.

    Upon his arrival, the visiting dignitary was welcomed with a formal Guard of Honour by a smartly turned-out contingent of the Pakistan Air Force, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

    During the meeting, the PAF chief highlighted the strong bilateral relationship between Pakistan and South Africa, emphasising the shared values and aspirations that underpin the two nations’ deep-rooted friendship. He reiterated PAF’s commitment to strengthening the aerial combat capabilities of the South African Air Force through tailored training and capacity-building initiatives, according to the ISPR.

    Lt General Mbambo lauded the operational readiness of the PAF, commending its multi-domain warfare capabilities and its success in maintaining a credible deterrence posture. He acknowledged the high standards maintained by the PAF and expressed his admiration for its technical excellence, it added.

    A key focus of the discussions was the revamping of the SAAF’s training regime. Lt General Mbambo expressed his desire for PAF’s support in developing a modern and comprehensive training framework, beginning at the academy level.

    He further requested the participation of SAAF officers as observers in PAF’s major operational exercises to enhance learning and foster collaboration, as per the ISPR report.

    In addition, the SAAF chief spoke about the possibility of increasing technical collaboration between the two air forces, particularly in the area of aircraft maintenance.

    Recognising the cost-effective maintenance capabilities and technical excellence of PAF’s engineering infrastructure, Lt General Mbambo conveyed the intent of the SAAF to undertake the inspection and maintenance of its C-130 fleet in Pakistan.

    The discussions highlighted a mutual desire to institutionalise and further strengthen the formal relationship between the PAF and the SAAF.

    This meeting is expected to pave the way for deeper cooperation between the two forces, ensuring enhanced operational capabilities and shared military expertise.

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  • Sensors for Quick Detection of Infections and Resistance

    Sensors for Quick Detection of Infections and Resistance


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    A new approach to diagnosing bacterial infections and detecting antimicrobial-resistant bacteria could be on the horizon, as engineers, microbiologists and machine learning experts propose the development of sensors that “sniff out” bacteria. Published in Cell Biomaterials on July 2, an opinion paper outlines the potential for sensors to detect bacterial infections in bodily fluids, providing a quick, affordable alternative to traditional diagnostic methods.

    Bypassing laboratory analysis for faster results

    One of the major challenges in combating antimicrobial resistance is the lack of rapid diagnostic tools, says senior author Andreas Güntner, a mechanical and process engineer at ETH Zurich. His team proposes a solution to this challenge: a device that could offer results in just seconds or minutes, bypassing the lengthy, multi-step laboratory processes that usually take hours or even days.

    Antimicrobial resistance

    Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria evolve to resist the effects of drugs designed to kill or inhibit them. This resistance can make infections harder to treat and increase the risk of spreading resistant strains.

    “Our idea is to bypass laboratory analysis, which is multi-step process that usually takes hours to days, and sometimes even weeks, with a simple test that gives results within seconds to minutes.”  

    Dr. Andreas Güntner. 

    The science behind bacterial detection

    Historically, doctors relied on their sense of smell to diagnose certain bacterial infections. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections emit a sweet, grape-like odor, while Clostridium infections produce a foul, putrid smell. These odors are linked to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – small molecules emitted by bacteria that carry distinct smells.

    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

    VOCs are organic chemicals that can easily evaporate into the air at room temperature. Many microbes produce specific VOCs that can be used to identify them, making VOCs a useful tool for detecting bacterial infections.

    Rather than using human noses, the team envisions developing chemical sensors that can detect VOCs in bodily fluids like blood, urine and sputum. This technology is similar to devices used in alcohol breathalyzers or air-quality monitoring systems.

    “We have already developed and commercialized something similar for detecting contaminations like methanol in alcoholic beverages,” says Güntner. “Now, we are trying to transfer this technology to more complex situations.” 

    Identifying antimicrobial resistance through VOCs

    One of the most promising aspects of the technology is its potential to detect antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. VOCs vary not only by bacterial species but also by strain. This means the sensors could potentially differentiate between antibiotic-resistant and non-resistant strains of bacteria. A previous study demonstrated that VOCs could distinguish between methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and non-resistant strains, showing that the concept is feasible in a laboratory setting.

    However, bringing this technology to clinical practice is no small feat. VOC concentrations are extremely low, which makes sensor development a challenge. Güntner likens the task to finding a single red ball in a room full of one billion blue balls, emphasizing the need for highly sensitive and precise sensors.

    Overcoming technical challenges

    The sensors must be able to detect and differentiate thousands of VOCs emitted by bacteria. To achieve this, the devices will require a combination of sensors with varying binding capacities. These sensors could be made from materials such as metal oxides, polymers, graphene derivatives, and carbon nanotubes. Recent advances in nanoengineering will help optimize sensor performance, but additional challenges remain, such as filtering out VOCs produced by human cells or common to all bacteria.

    Machine learning algorithms will play a critical role in optimizing sensor design, according to the researchers. These algorithms will help identify the key VOC combinations needed to distinguish between bacterial types, as well as provide insights into antimicrobial resistance and virulence.

    A future of rapid, reliable diagnostics

    Once developed, the sensors could provide a rapid, portable method for diagnosing infections, offering a solution that requires minimal training to operate. This breakthrough could pave the way for real-time infection detection and more informed treatment decisions.

    “The overall goal is to translate scientific advances in VOC analysis into practical, reliable tools that can be used in everyday medical practice,” says Güntner. “Ultimately, we hope this will improve patient outcomes and support antibiotic stewardship.” 

    Reference: Bilgin MB, Shin H, Jutzeler CR, et al. Microbial and antimicrobial resistance diagnostics by gas sensors and machine learning. Cell Biomater. doi: 10.1016/j.celbio.2025.100125

    This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.

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  • Apple Researching Groundbreaking Image Sensor Tech to Achieve Dynamic Range on Par With Human Eye

    Apple Researching Groundbreaking Image Sensor Tech to Achieve Dynamic Range on Par With Human Eye

    Apple has filed a patent for a new type of image sensor that could give future iPhones and other Apple devices the ability to capture photos and videos with dynamic range levels approaching that of the human eye.

    The patent, titled “Image Sensor With Stacked Pixels Having High Dynamic Range And Low Noise,” was first spotted by Y.M.Cinema Magazine and describes an advanced sensor architecture that combines stacked silicon, multiple levels of light capture, and on-chip noise suppression mechanisms to reach up to 20 stops of dynamic range.

    For comparison, the dynamic range of the human eye is estimated to be around 20 to 30 stops, depending on how the pupil adjusts and how light is processed over time. Most smartphone cameras today capture between 10 and 13 stops. If Apple’s proposed sensor reaches its potential, it would not only surpass current iPhones but also outperform many professional cinema cameras, such as the ARRI ALEXA 35.

    The patent outlines a stacked sensor design made up of two layers. The top layer, called the sensor die, contains the parts that capture light. The layer underneath, the logic die, handles processing, including noise reduction and exposure control.

    Currently, Apple uses sensors made by Sony across the iPhone lineup. Those sensors also use a two-layer design, but Apple’s version includes several original features and takes up less space.

    One of the most important parts of the sensor design is a system called a Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor (LOFIC). This allows each pixel in the sensor to store different amounts of light depending on how bright the scene is, all in the same image. With this, the sensor can handle extremely wide lighting differences, such as a person standing in front of a bright window, without losing detail in the shadows or highlights.

    Another part of the design focuses on reducing image noise and grain. Each pixel has its own built-in memory circuit that measures and cancels out heat-related electronic noise in real time. This is done on the chip itself, before the image is saved or edited by software.

    Patent filings cannot be taken as evidence of Apple’s immediate plans, but they do indicate areas of active research and interest for the company, as well as what it is considering developing for future devices.

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  • Foo Fighters release first new song since Dave Grohl infidelity scandal and firing of drummer | Foo Fighters

    Foo Fighters release first new song since Dave Grohl infidelity scandal and firing of drummer | Foo Fighters

    Foo Fighters have released their first brand new music after a difficult period for the band during which frontman Dave Grohl announced he had fathered a child outside his marriage, and drummer Josh Freese was let go from the group.

    Today’s Song, which features artwork by Grohl’s daughter Harper, is a typically anthemic Foo Fighters track with Grohl full of existential angst: “I woke today screaming for change / I knew that I must / So, here lies a shadow / Ashes to ashes / Dust into dust.”

    Grohl wrote a lengthy letter alongside the release, retelling the story of the band and acknowledging former band members, including Freese: “It should go without saying that without the boundless energy of William Goldsmith, the seasoned wisdom of Franz Stahl, and the thunderous wizardry of Josh Freese, this story would be incomplete, so we extend our heartfelt gratitude for the time, music, and memories that we shared with each of them over the years. Thank you, gentlemen.”

    Freese said in May that he was “not angry – just a bit shocked and disappointed” when he was told that Foo Fighters wanted “to go in a different direction with their drummer”. Foo Fighters did not comment on Freese’s departure.

    Freese was the replacement for Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022 aged 50. Grohl paid tribute to Hawkins in his letter, saying: “Your name is spoken every day, sometimes with tears, sometimes with a smile, but you are still in everything we do, everywhere we go, forever.”

    A new drummer has not been announced; a statement alongside Today’s Song says: “Foo Fighters are Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee.”

    Grohl is married to Jordyn Blum, the mother of three of his daughters. In September 2024 he said in a statement: “I’ve recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside of my marriage. I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her. I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness.”

    In his announcement of Today’s Song, Grohl perhaps made an oblique reference to these widely publicised struggles, using the metaphor of a lobster shedding its shell. “The point being that life’s challenges have a way of signalling the need for change and growth, so when that time comes, you retreat, rebuild, and resurface stronger than before.”

    The admission of infidelity somewhat tarnished the image of a man who was often described as “the nicest man in rock”. Foo Fighters cancelled a headline festival performance and retreated from the public eye for a time, though Grohl reunited with Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic in January for a benefit concert after the LA wildfires.

    Foo Fighters will return to live music in October, playing four concerts across east Asia and another in Mexico City in November. Their most recent album is 2023’s But Here We Are.

    Earlier this week they released I Don’t Wanna Hear It, a cover of a song by punk band Minor Threat, with instrumentals recorded in 1995 but vocals recorded earlier this year.

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  • New tool allows researchers to track assembly of cells’ protein-making machines

    New tool allows researchers to track assembly of cells’ protein-making machines

    Proteins are the infinitely varied chemicals that make cells work, and science has a pretty good idea how they are made. But a critical aspect underlying the machinery of protein manufacture has long been hidden inside a blobby cellular structure called the nucleolus.

    Now, a team of Princeton engineers have developed a technique to peer inside the nucleolus and reveal this hidden system of creation. Previous methods required researchers to break open the cell and destroy most of its structures, resulting in minimal access to the blob’s inner workings. By tracking the movement of RNA molecules inside the nucleolus using advanced imaging and genomics techniques, the new method allows researchers to watch these processes as they unfold without destroying the cell or its fragile components.

    “These tools give us a window into what’s happening inside the nucleolus in a way we’ve never been able to see before,” said Clifford Brangwynne, the June K. Wu ’92 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the director of Princeton’s Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute, and the study’s principal investigator. “Now we have a precise spatial and temporal map,” he said.

    Making an artificial nucleolus

    The nucleolus is the largest structure inside the cell’s nucleus, key to cell growth and stress response. One of its main jobs is building ribosomes, which are the scaffolds that cells use to make proteins.

    The team published details of the new method and an initial batch of findings that resulted from its use in the journal Nature on July 2.

    Members of the research team, from left: Anita Donlic, Aya Abu-Alfa, Jordy Botello, Qiwei Yu, Sofia Quinodoz, Lennard Wiesner, Cliff Brangwynne, Lifei Jiang, Troy Comi. Photo by Wright Seneres

    In a first, the team also developed a way to make a simplified, artificial nucleolus. The model nucleoli allowed them to test ideas developed with the mapping technique and will play a complementary role in future experiments, according to the researchers.

    Sofia Quinodoz, a postdoctoral fellow, and Lifei Jiang, a graduate student in molecular biology, spearheaded the work in Brangwynne’s lab.

    These tools and other technologies developed in the Brangwynne lab were also highlighted in a recent article in Nature surveying the current state of this field.

    What happens inside the nucleolus does not stay inside the nucleolus

    The nucleolus itself is globular, with an inner, middle and outer layer. These layers consist of distinct liquid-like materials with physical differences — namely, surface tension — that keep them separated like oil and water. Each of these layers plays a different role in assembling the protein-making machines called ribosomes.

    The researchers wanted to find a way to watch this ribosome-assembly process play out. Everything begins with RNA produced in the nucleolus’s innermost layer. That RNA assembles into components of what will become a new ribosome. As the components move through the layers of the nucleolus, they are assembled in a stepwise fashion to form ribosomes. With the mapping technique, Quinodoz and Jiang track this process in detail, from the initial formation of components to the finished product.

    “This is exciting because we previously didn’t know how the layers are built,” Quinodoz said.

    Nucleoli blobs rotate as points of light grow inside them, representing ribosome assembly.
    The new tool allows researchers to peer inside nucleoli and watch ribosome assembly, shedding new light on the machinery responsible for making proteins. Images courtesy of the researchers

    To watch the assembly process play out, she and Jiang applied advanced sequencing and imaging techniques, capturing snapshots as RNA moved along the assembly line that allowed them to track the movements of each part. Along with advanced microscopy techniques, they observed that properly processed ribosomal RNA moves through the nucleolus from inner to middle to outer layer and then leaves the nucleolus, and that specific assembly steps to the ribosomal RNA occur inside each layer. As this was unfolding, they observed that the ribosome’s smaller subunit is mostly assembled in the inner and middle layers while the larger subunit is assembled throughout all three layers.

    Interestingly, they found that disrupting these processes created major problems with the structure of the nucleolus. In one test, RNA accumulated within the middle layer and not in the outer layer, prompting the outer layer to detach from the middle layer and form a kind of necklace around the smaller sphere. Another test resulted in the nucleolus turning itself inside-out, reversing the order of the layers. Working with Princeton colleagues including Andrej Košmrlj, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, graduate student Qiwei Yu, and former Princeton Bioengineering Institute Innovators Fellow Hongbo Zhao, the group was able to show how the perturbations to RNA processing alter surface tension, to drive this inside-out structuring.

    “We got all these hints that the structure is being built around the RNA, and its processing is shaping the structure, making it turn inside out or fall apart when its normal function is disrupted,” said Quinodoz, a Hanna Gray Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and a 2013 Princeton alumna.

    Quality control checkpoints

    The Princeton group teamed up with ribosome experts Denis Lafontaine of Université libre de Bruxelles and Sebastian Klinge of Rockefeller University, to disrupt different steps in the ribosome assembly line and use a system called a DNA plasmid to induce living cells to create brand new, human-designed nucleoli. They found that the synthesized structures functioned much like the natural ones, with the larger ribosome subunits assembling more slowly than the smaller ones. They were also able to replicate the inside-out structures that they saw in the defective nucleoli. By manipulating the RNA and causing the nucleolus to react accordingly, they identified a key feature that can be studied in greater detail.

    “We uncovered that this complex factory in the cell has essential quality control checkpoints,” said Quinodoz. “The ribosomal RNA is moving from one part of the factory to another only if the processing step is actually done. Then it releases into the next step.”  

    Now that they have these tools, Brangwynne and his group are looking at what happens in diseases like cancer, where more ribosomes are produced in cancerous cells than in healthy cells. Using their mapping tool, they hope to find vulnerabilities in the production process which could be targets for therapeutics. “Nobody has really mapped that in detail yet,” said Jiang.


    The paper “Mapping and engineering RNA-driven architecture of the multiphase nucleolus” was published July 2, 2025 in Nature. In addition to Brangwynne, Quinodoz, Jiang, Zhao, Yu, Košmrlj, Lafontaine and Klinge, the authors included Aya A. Abu-Alfa, Troy J. Comi, Lennard W. Wiesner, Jordy F. Botello, Anita Đonlić and Elizabeth Soehalim of Princeton University; Prashant Bhat of the California Institute of Technology and the University of California-Los Angeles; and Christiane Zorbas and Ludivine Wacheul of Université libre de Bruxelles. Support for this project was provided by HHMI, the National Science Foundation, the St. Jude Medical Foundation, Princeton University, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Exploratory Network, the Princeton Biomolecular Condensate Program, the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (NSF MRSEC, DMR-2011750), the Princeton University Office of Undergraduate Research, W. Reid Pitts Jr. Senior Thesis Fund in Molecular Biology/Biology, the Eleanor A. Crecca Senior Thesis Research Fund for Molecular Biology, Princeton Bioengineering Institute Innovators (PBI2) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Princeton University Harold W. Dodds Fellowship, Chen Graduate Innovator Grant, Josephine De Karman Fellowship Trust, European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique – FNRS, EOS [CD-INFLADIS 40007512] Région Wallonne (SPW EER) Win4SpinOff [RIBOGENESIS] European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases (EJP-RD) RiboEurope DBAGene Cure, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | National Institutes of Health, and the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation.

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  • Research Reveals AI-Biology Parallels in Social Interaction

    Research Reveals AI-Biology Parallels in Social Interaction

    UCLA researchers have made a significant discovery showing that biological brains and artificial intelligence systems develop remarkably similar neural patterns during social interaction. This first-of-its-kind study reveals that when mice interact socially, specific brain cell types synchronize in “shared neural spaces,” and AI agents develop analogous patterns when engaging in social behaviors. The study appears in the journal Nature.

    Why it matters

    This new research represents a striking convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, two of today’s most rapidly advancing fields. By directly comparing how biological brains and AI systems process social information, scientists reveal fundamental principles that govern social cognition across different types of intelligent systems. The findings could advance understanding of social disorders like autism, while simultaneously informing the development of socially-aware AI systems. This comes at a critical time when AI systems are increasingly integrated into social contexts, making understanding of social neural dynamics essential for both scientific and technological progress.

    What the study did

    A multidisciplinary team from UCLA’s departments of Neurobiology, Biological Chemistry, Bioengineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science across the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering used advanced brain imaging techniques to record activity from molecularly defined neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex of mice during social interactions. Mice serve as an important model for understanding mammalian brain function because they share fundamental neural mechanisms with humans, particularly in brain regions involved in social behavior. The researchers developed a novel computational framework to identify high-dimensional “shared” and “unique” neural subspaces across interacting individuals. The team then trained artificial intelligence agents to interact socially and applied the same analytical framework to examine neural network patterns in AI systems that emerged during social versus non-social tasks.

    What they found

    The research revealed striking parallels between biological and artificial systems during social interaction. In both mice and AI systems, neural activity could be partitioned into two distinct components: a “shared neural subspace” containing synchronized patterns between interacting entities, and a “unique neural subspace” containing activity specific to each individual.

    Remarkably, GABAergic neurons—inhibitory brain cells that regulate neural activity—showed significantly larger shared neural spaces compared to glutamatergic neurons, the brain’s primary excitatory cells. This represents the first investigation of inter-brain neural dynamics in molecularly defined cell types, revealing previously unknown differences in how specific neuron types contribute to social synchronization.

    When the same framework was applied to AI agents, shared neural dynamics also emerged as artificial systems developed social interaction capabilities. Most importantly, when researchers selectively disrupted these shared neural components in artificial systems, social behaviors were substantially reduced, providing the direct evidence that synchronized neural patterns causally drive social interactions.

    The study also revealed that shared neural dynamics don’t simply reflect coordinated behaviors between individuals, but emerge from representations of each other’s unique behavioral actions during social interaction.

    What’s next

    The research team plans to further investigate shared neural dynamics in different and potentially more complex social interactions. They also aim to explore how disruptions in shared neural space might contribute to social disorders and whether therapeutic interventions could restore healthy patterns of inter-brain synchronization. The artificial intelligence framework may serve as a platform for testing hypotheses about social neural mechanisms that are difficult to examine directly in biological systems. They also aim to develop methods to train socially intelligent AI.

    From the experts

    “This discovery fundamentally changes how we think about social behavior across all intelligent systems,” said Weizhe Hong, Ph.D., professor of Neurobiology, Biological Chemistry, and Bioengineering at UCLA and lead author of the new work. “We’ve shown for the first time that the neural mechanisms driving social interaction are remarkably similar between biological brains and artificial intelligence systems. This suggests we’ve identified a fundamental principle of how any intelligent system—whether biological or artificial—processes social information. The implications are significant for both understanding human social disorders and developing AI that can truly understand and engage in social interactions.”

    About the study

    Inter-brain neural dynamics in biological and artificial intelligence systems, Nature 2025; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09196-4.

    About the Research Team

    The study was led by Weizhe Hong and Jonathan C. Kao at UCLA. Co-first authors Xingjian Zhang and Nguyen Phi, along with collaborators Qin Li, Ryan Gorzek, Niklas Zwingenberger, Shan Huang, John L. Zhou, Lyle Kingsbury, Tara Raam, Ye Emily Wu, and Don Wei contributed to the research. The interdisciplinary team includes researchers from UCLA’s Department of Neurobiology, Department of Biological Chemistry, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Department of Computer Science. This work was supported in part by the NIH, NSF, Packard Foundation, Vallee Foundation, Mallinckrodt Foundation, and Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

    /Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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  • Clingy Planets May Trigger Doom, Say Cheops, TESS

    Clingy Planets May Trigger Doom, Say Cheops, TESS

    Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Cheops mission mission have caught an exoplanet that seems to be triggering flares of radiation from the star it orbits. These tremendous explosions are blasting away the planet’s wispy atmosphere, causing it to shrink every year.

    This is the first-ever evidence for a ‘planet with a death wish’. Though it was theorised to be possible since the nineties, the flares seen in this research are around 100 times more energetic than expected.

    This planet’s star makes our Sun look sleepy

    Thanks to telescopes like the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ( TESS ), we already had some clues about this planet and the star it orbits.

    The star, named HIP 67522, was known to be just slightly larger and cooler than our own host star, the Sun. But whilst the Sun is a middle-aged 4.5-billion-year-old, HIP 67522 is a fresh-faced 17-million-year-old. It bears two planets. The closer of the two – given the catchy name HIP 67522 b – takes just seven days to whip around its host star.

    Because of its youth and size, scientists suspected that star HIP 67522 would churn and spin with lots of energy. This churning and spinning would turn the star into a powerful magnet.

    Our much-older Sun has its own smaller and more peaceful magnetic field. From studying the Sun, we already knew that flares of energy can burst from magnetic stars when ‘twisted’ magnetic field lines are suddenly released. This energy can take the form of anything from gentle radio waves to visible light to aggressive gamma rays.

    A la carte research with Cheops

    Ever since the first exoplanet was discovered in the 1990s, astronomers have pondered whether some of them might be orbiting close enough to disturb their host stars’ magnetic fields. If so, they could be triggering flares.

    A team led by Ekaterina Ilin at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy ( ASTRON ) figured that with our current space telescopes, it was time to investigate this question further.

    “We hadn’t seen any systems like HIP 67522 before; when the planet was found it was the youngest planet known to be orbiting its host star in less than 10 days,” says Ekaterina.

    The team was using TESS to do a broad sweep of stars that might be flaring because of an interaction with their planets. When TESS turned its eyes to HIP 67522, the team thought they could be on to something. To be sure, they called upon ESA’s sensitive CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, Cheops .

    “We quickly requested observing time with Cheops, which can target individual stars on demand, ultra precisely,” says Ekaterina. “With Cheops we saw more flares, taking the total count to 15, almost all coming in our direction as the planet transited in front of the star as seen from Earth.”

    Because we are seeing the flares as the planet passes in front of the star, it is very likely that they are being triggered by the planet.

    A flaring star is nothing new. Our own Sun regularly releases bursts of energy, which we experience on Earth as ‘ space weather ‘ that causes the auroras and can damage technology. But we’ve only ever seen this energy exchange as a one-way street from star to planet.

    Knowing that HIP 67522 b orbits extremely close to its host star, and assuming that the star’s magnetic field is strong, Ekaterina’s team deduced that the clingy HIP 67522 b sits close enough to exert its own magnetic influence on its host star.

    They think that the planet gathers energy as it orbits, then redirects that energy as waves along the star’s magnetic field lines, as if whipping a rope. When the wave meets the end of the magnetic field line at the star’s surface, it triggers a massive flare.

    It’s the first time we see a planet influencing its host star, overturning our previous assumption that stars behave independently.

    And not only is HIP 67522 b triggering flares, but it is also triggering them in its own direction. As a result, the planet experiences six times more radiation than it otherwise would.

    A self-imposed downfall

    Unsurprisingly, being bombarded with so much high-energy radiation does not bode well for HIP 67522 b. The planet is similar in size to Jupiter but has the density of candy floss, making it one of the wispiest exoplanets ever found.

    Over time, the radiation is eroding away the planet’s feathery atmosphere, meaning it is losing mass much faster than expected. In the next 100 million years, it could go from an almost Jupiter-sized planet to a much smaller Neptune-sized planet.

    “The planet seems to be triggering particularly energetic flares,” points out Ekaterina. “The waves it sends along the star’s magnetic field lines kick off flares at specific moments. But the energy of the flares is much higher than the energy of the waves. We think that the waves are setting off explosions that are waiting to happen.”

    More questions than answers

    When HIP 67522 was found, it was the youngest known planet orbiting so close to its host star. Since then, astronomers have spotted a couple of similar systems and there are probably dozens more in the nearby Universe. Ekaterina and her team are keen to take a closer look at these unique systems with TESS, Cheops and other exoplanet missions.

    “I have a million questions because this is a completely new phenomenon, so the details are still not clear,” she says.

    “There are two things that I think are most important to do now. The first is to follow up in different wavelengths (Cheops covers visible to near-infrared wavelengths) to find out what kind of energy is being released in these flares – for example ultraviolet and X-rays are especially bad news for the exoplanet.

    “The second is to find and study other similar star-planet systems; by moving from a single case to a group of 10–100 systems, theoretical astronomers will have something to work with.”

    Maximillian Günther, Cheops project scientist at ESA, is excited to see the mission contributing to research in a way that he never thought possible: “Cheops was designed to characterise the sizes and atmospheres of exoplanets, not to look for flares. It’s really beautiful to see the mission contributing to this and other results that go so far beyond what it was envisioned to do.”

    Looking further ahead, ESA’s future exoplanet hunter Plato will also study Sun-like stars like HIP 67522. Plato will be able to capture much smaller flares to really give us the detail that we need to better understand what is going on.

    /Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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