Miryam Naddaf

London

Science Reporter at Nature

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Articles

AI-boosted cameras help blind people to navigate

1 week ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

A system that helps visually impaired people to navigate their surroundings using cameras, earphones and artificial intelligence (AI) could offer advantages over white canes and other conventional technologies. The system uses AI to interpret footage from camera mounted on a pair of glasses, and feeds the wearer information on their location in real time through audio alerts and vibration. The AI revolution is coming to robots: how will it change them?
Biggest Brain Map Ever Shows Mouse Neurons in Stunning Detail

2 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Miryam Naddaf

Researchers have created the largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date, by mapping cells in a cubic millimetre of a mouse’s brain tissue. In a landmark achievement, the diagram also details the activity of individual neurons on a large scale―a neuroscience first. The high-resolution 3D map contains more than 200,000 brain cells, around 82,000 of which are neurons.
Biggest brain map ever details huge number of neurons and their activity

2 weeks ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

Researchers have created the largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date, by mapping cells in a cubic millimetre of a mouse’s brain tissue1. In a landmark achievement, the diagram also details the activity of individual neurons on a large scale ― a neuroscience first. The high-resolution 3D map contains more than 200,000 brain cells, around 82,000 of which are neurons.
Journal targeted by paper mill still grappling with the aftermath years later

3 weeks ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

A biotechnology journal that was inundated with paper-mill submissions in 2021 — and claimed in 2023 that it had tackled the problem — still harbours hundreds of dubious papers, an analysis by research-integrity sleuths has found. At least 226 studies on rodents published in the open-access journal Bioengineered between 2010 and 2023 contain manipulated or duplicated images, says the analysis, which was posted on the arXiv preprint server on 28 March1.
Brain implant translates thoughts to speech in an instant

3 weeks ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

A brain-reading implant that translates neural signals into audible speech has allowed a woman with paralysis to hear what she intends to say nearly instantly. Researchers enhanced the device — known as a brain–computer interface (BCI) — with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that decoded sentences as the woman thought of them, and then spoke them out loud using a synthetic voice.
Can trauma from violence be genetically inherited? Scientists debate Syria refugee study

3 weeks ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

A study of families who have lived through conflict in Syria suggests that genetic imprints of their trauma have been passed to their children and grandchildren. The research1 focuses on the controversial idea that trauma can leave ‘epigenetic marks’ on a person’s genes that can be passed onto following generations. Not all scientists agree that trauma can be inherited in this way and the mechanism for such inheritance is not known.
AI is transforming peer review - and many scientists are worried

4 weeks ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

This February, ecologist Timothée Poisot was surprised when he read through the peer reviews of a manuscript he had submitted for publication. One of the referee reports seemed to have been written with, or perhaps entirely by, artificial intelligence (AI). It contained the telltale sentence, “Here is a revised version of your review with improved clarity and structure”, a strong indication that the text was generated by large language models (LLMs).
Immune cells ‘bandage’ wounds with bacteria-trapping goo

1 month ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

Immune cells in the skin ‘cauterize’ open wounds and create ‘band-aids’ to prevent the spread of harmful bacteria and foreign molecules from injury sites, finds a study1 in mice. The works shows that white blood cells called neutrophils form gooey, protein-rich rings around sites where the skin has been breached. These rings trap pathogens, ensuring that they don’t penetrate into deeper tissues.
How fast your brain ages is affected by these 64 genes

1 month ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

Researchers have identified 64 genes that help to shape how quickly a person’s brain ages, in one of the largest attempts to pinpoint genetic factors that influence the organ’s decline. The study, published1 in Science Advances on 12 March, also pinpointed 13 potential drugs that have already been explored in clinical trials for their anti-ageing effects and that could be used to target these genes.
Preprint sites bioRxiv and medRxiv launch new era of independence

1 month ago | nature.com | Miryam Naddaf

A new chapter has begun for two of the world’s most popular preprint platforms, bioRxiv and medRxiv, with the launch of a non-profit organization that will manage them, their co-founders announced on 11 March. The servers allow researchers to share manuscripts for free before peer review and have become an integral part of publishing biology and medical research. Until now, they had been managed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York.