Headline of the day!
Nice indirect order/intervention aimed at Iran to stop messing with the Strait of Hormuz! Bravo!
Xi Jinping says Strait of Hormuz should be open in call to Saudi Crown Prince
Monday, April 20, 2026
Xi Jinping says Strait of Hormuz should be open in call to Saudi Crown Prince
Sunday, April 19, 2026
On Momentum Further Constrains Sharpness at the Edge of Stochastic Stability
This could be an interesting, but narrowly focused, new paper by Tomaso Poggio and his team!
Caveat: I have not read the paper (40 pages total) yet.
From the abstract:
"Recent work suggests that (stochastic) gradient descent self-organizes near an instability boundary, shaping both optimization and the solutions found.
Momentum and mini-batch gradients are widely used in practical deep learning optimization, but it remains unclear whether they operate in a comparable regime of instability.
We demonstrate that SGD with momentum exhibits an Edge of Stochastic Stability (EoSS)-like regime with batch-size-dependent behavior that cannot be explained by a single momentum-adjusted stability threshold.
Batch Sharpness (the expected directional mini-batch curvature) stabilizes in two distinct regimes:
at small batch sizes it converges to a lower plateau , reflecting amplification of stochastic fluctuations by momentum and favoring flatter regions than vanilla SGD; at large batch sizes it converges to a higher plateau , where momentum recovers its classical stabilizing effect and favors sharper regions consistent with full-batch dynamics.
We further show that this aligns with linear stability thresholds and discuss the implications for hyperparameter tuning and coupling."
Born in Germany only 16 years after World War II ended
My whole life I wondered what was World War II, the Spanish Civil War and Caudillo Francisco Franco, fascist Italy and Benito Mussolini, the supremacist and warmongering Japanese Empire all about?
The leftist poet Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) coined the phrase "An die Nachgeborenen" (To Those Born After) in 1939, which became "Die Last der Nachgeborenen" (The burden of those born after WWII) and the motto "Nie wieder" (never again). I sure can relate to this. It was probably my late father, a poet himself, who introduced me to Bertolt Brecht.
One of my late father's favorite poems, which he introduced me to and which I still remember, was written by the Romanian poet Paul Celan (1920-70, a Holocaust survivor) titled Todesfuge (published in 1948). The language of this poem is strange and amazing "„Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abends/wir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachts/wir trinken und trinken/wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng“ (the opening verses of this poem).
Why the Holocaust? Why the antisemitism? Therefore, I support Israel and Jews whenever I can! I strongly oppose Antisemitism all the time and in all its forms. All my life I made it my habit to learn more about the modern Israel and Ancient Judea and the intervening time period, the relationship between Arabs and Jews, the Levant and so on. Modern Israel (since 1948) is probably one of the most diverse and exciting countries in the world except perhaps for India. The history of Jews and Judaism is so fascinating (David & Goliath, Masada, Maccabee, King Solomon, Samson and Delilah and so much more). One of my late parents e.g. would teach me at a young age the meaning of the Judgement of King Solomon.
I was born in Frankfurt am Main and I grew up in the Westend district of the city.
From my late mother and my late father I was told a number of horrible stories about their and other children's war time experiences. My mother was about 6 years old when WWII ended, my father was about 12 years old. One of the stories, I remember was that my late father as a young boy once found a soldier's boot with a torn off leg still showing. What do e.g. the Ukrainian children go through since the Russo-Ukrainian War started in 2022?
When I was a child some of my German neighbors may have been Nazis and were possibly involved in atrocities against Jews. My late father pointed out several times that he suspected some of our German neighbors and other Germans were possibly perpetrators.
It was an open secret that some of the German perpetrators got away and were living among us. My paternal uncle had a typical German soldier tattoo (Waffen SS? I forgot where on the body (arm?) and what kind of tattoo it exactly was), which he was always hiding. Also, I do not remember whether and how he served in the German military etc. However, neither my late father nor I suspected he was involved in atrocities given e.g. what he told my father about his service in World War II and given his generally friendly and kind personality.
The Westend Synagogue (see photo below) was located very near where I grew up. It was kind of sad to see that this large synagogue appeared to be in constant lockdown and it was always fortified. This synagogue was not easily accessible to the public for security reasons.
While in high school, I had a Jewish high school buddy. We spent a lot of time together. He was not very athletic and looked perhaps a little bookish with his glasses, but he was a great guy. I also visited him several times at home and got to know his Jewish mother and father. They both were very nice! This family was not orthodox Jewish, but typical Jewish symbols were displayed in their home. If I remember correctly, his father was in the philately business, which is perhaps not so unusual for a Jew. In my youth, I was also a collector of stamps and coins from all over the world.
Then there was the Jewish leader Ignatz Bubis. He was often decried as a real estate speculator in Frankfurt (antisemitism?). However, he was also an active member of the Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) in Frankfurt. My late father and I were active members as well of the FDP that is how I got to know Mr. Bubis.
As an older teenager I had the great opportunity to travel to Vienna in Austria for a summer vacation with a Jewish youth organisation from Frankfurt. It was a great experience and I had a great time. Here I was together with a group very nice people, mostly young Jews. I think, I had a crush on one of the very young Jewish women. It was there in the Viennese area that I discovered my lifelong love for real hazelnut spread. Unfortunately, I do not remember anymore how I was able to join this group and what the name of this group was. I believe, I have to thank my late father for this great experience.
The city of Frankfurt was heavily bombed during World War II due to the location of e.g. important companies of the chemical industry. Much of the city was in rubble. E.g. the opera house (die Alte Oper) in the center of Frankfurt was hallowed out, basically only the outer walls and some lower level structures in the interior were still standing. Many times I passed by these ruins, one day I even climbed into the ruins out of curiosity. The ruins of the opera house were left as a war memorial and reminder until it was rebuilt beginning in 1976 and reopened in 1981. The reconstruction was quite controversial at the time.
During my youth, there were numerous reports of unexploded ordnance, mostly WWII bombs discovered in the inner city of Frankfurt. Even at my neighborhood high school, which I had attended, there was a large bomb discovered in the corner of the school yard during some construction work. Me and a buddy of mine climbed on a close by, one story high car garage roof to watch the disposal team to take care of this bomb. Dangerous adventures.
The headquarters of the US Army V Corps was located until 1995 in the former IG Farben Hochhaus in the largest inner city park (Grüneburgpark) not far from where I grew up. Thus, I encountered many US soldiers during my childhood and beyond. It never crossed my mind that the American soldiers were an occupation force (as suggested by some Germans). Actually by frequently visiting two US military gyms (one was the V Corps main gym, the other was the 97th General Hospital gym) for several years, I learnt how to play basketball from black American soldiers. It was a very friendly, older black American gym attendant, who allowed/tolerated me to play basketball at the V corps gym. In the beginning, he jokingly reminded me not to wear those typical German skimpy shorts, but instead more American like trunks so his white American supervisor (an Irish guy who peeped on topless, sunbathing young German women while jogging in the Grüneburgpark during lunch break) would not complain. I have spent many weekends and evenings there to play ball. I enjoyed the contemporary soul, rap & funk music blasted across the gym or inside the barracks. Plus, I learnt some cool dance moves and I became a big fan of Soul Train hosted by Don Cornelius. I had a lot of fun with the mostly black American soldiers some of whom I came to know quite well. Sometimes we would also go out to discos together on Saturday evenings, I sometimes visited them in their barracks, or I joined barbecue parties with them etc. One of the older black American soldiers and basketball player also invited me over to his home for dinner with his wife and two children. I had a very good time. A few black American soldiers pointed out to me that I was naturally high, which I understood to be a compliment (no one had ever before told me that or ever since). I am not a churchgoer (other than as a tourist), but during this time I was somehow invited to attend a black American church service at a US military church near the small town of Hanau (not far from my home town Frankfurt). For me, the journey started from Frankfurt on a bus filled with black American churchgoers heading for this church. The church service with all the Gospel singing, expressions of joy and faith and so on was an incredible, mind blowing experience. Last, but not least, I have also witnessed a few cases of open, reverse racism of some black Americans against white Americans. Sometimes black Americans would call each other nigger, but a white American better not dare to say it.
Westend Synagogue in Frankfurt am Main (Source)
Iranian commander tells Iraqi Islamist terrorists to attack US and Israel
Bad news! The hydra of fanatic and suicidal Islamist terrorism sponsored by Iran is not yet slain!
"A statement released by Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah on April 18 appears to confirm that IRGC Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani discussed preparations for renewed conflict with the United States and Israel during his meetings with Iraqi militia leaders in Baghdad on April 18. Ghaani may have specifically discussed enhancing coordination between Iraqi militias and other Axis of Resistance groups against the United States, Israel, and the Gulf states in the event of renewed conflict."
Norway Approves Driverless bus to operate on regular public routes without a safety driver
Good news!
"“The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has granted authorization to transport operators Vy and Kolumbus to operate an autonomous bus on regular public routes without a safety driver.
The deployment involves the Karsan e-ATAK platform equipped with autonomous driving software supplied by ADASTEC and supported by the xFlow fleet management system developed by Applied Autonomy, according to a press note by Applied Autonomy.
The milestone represents a transition from supervised autonomous operations to fully driverless service within a controlled public transport environment. The vehicle is integrated into Stavanger’s public transport network since 2024, following deployment’s kickoff in 2022. ..."
The Netherlands Vehicle Authority has become the first European regulator to approve Tesla’s supervised self-driving software
Good news! Dutch cyclists are not afraid of autonomous vehicles! 😊
"The Netherlands Vehicle Authority has become the first European regulator to approve Tesla’s supervised self-driving software, commenting that “Proper use of this driver assistance system makes a positive contribution to road safety.” Seems especially notable coming from the world’s foremost cycling nation."
"... RDW [Dutch vehicle authority] said in a statement on Friday, adding that it would also submit an application for the technology to be used throughout the EU.”"
Tesla Supervised Self-Driving Software Gets Dutch Okay
Thanks to Starlink Argentina has now more than 2 million additional Internet users
Good news!
"In Argentina, where such a [government Internet] ban was recently lifted, two million people have connected to Starlink, many of whom live in remote areas of the country."
"“When Javier Milei became president of Argentina in December 2023, one his first measures as part of a package of wide-ranging deregulations was to open up the economy to satellite internet. ..."
Starlink Connects Millions of People in Argentina
Argentina Graph of the Day: Starlink Connects Millions of People
Organ donations have surged in the United States, partly thanks to improved harvesting methods
Good news!
"Organ donations have surged in the United States, partly thanks to improved harvesting methods.
Until recently, most organs came from donors who were brain dead but kept on life support, with their circulatory systems still functioning.
Over the past decade, however, advances in organ preservation and recovery have made it increasingly feasible to recover organs after circulatory death [DCD], when the heart has stopped and preservation becomes far more difficult.
A recent study finds that in 2000, just 2 percent of donors fell into this category;
by 2025, that had risen to 49 percent, with the number of such donors rising from 118 to 8,129."
"... Recent innovations have facilitated recovery from medically complex DCD donors.
Normothermic regional perfusion, in which perfusion is restored in situ to limited organs after circulatory death, contributed to the rise in recovery of DCD organs since its use began increasing in 2019.
The regulatory approval of normothermic machine perfusion for livers (2021) contributed to the subsequent acceleration of DCD liver recovery, and normothermic machine perfusion enabled the advent of DCD heart transplantation in 2019.” "
"... By contrast, donation after circulatory death involves donors who do not meet criteria for brain death and who cannot be kept alive without life support machines. In these cases, if the family chooses to stop life support, it is then given the option to do so in an operating room instead of the intensive care unit.
If the patient dies within a set time after support is removed, organs can be recovered and used for transplantation, preserving the opportunity to donate according to the wishes of the family and the patient. ..."
From the abstract:
"Organ transplant improves survival and quality of life, but transplant access is limited by organ shortages.
Transplants in the US predominantly use deceased donor organs, including 75% and 94% of kidney and liver transplants, respectively, and all lung, heart, and pancreas transplants from 2018 to 2025. Improving transplant access therefore relies on expanding the deceased donor pool, including by increasing donation after circulatory death (DCD), in which organs are recovered from donors with irreversible loss of circulatory function.
Factors limiting DCD use include a higher risk of organ dysfunction compared with donation after brain death organs and the increased complexity of DCD organ recovery, which is not possible if the time between life support withdrawal and circulatory death is prolonged. Despite these limitations, the severe organ shortage combined with technological innovations that enhance DCD organ function have increased interest in DCD organ transplant by transplant programs and organ procurement organizations (OPOs), the federal contractors responsible for coordinating US organ recovery and allocation. This study aimed to describe secular trends in DCD donation."
DCD Organ Donations Surge in the US
More Organ Donations Now Come from People Who Die After Their Heart Stops Beating (original news release) "As the Donor Pool Grows & More Lifesaving Transplants Become Possible, Public Education Is More Important Than Ever"
Changes in Organ Donation After Circulatory Death in the United States (open access)
DCD = donation after circulatory death, DBD = donation after brain death
Two-minute EV charging coming to Israel thanks to Chinese BYD
Good news!
"In the next few months, Chinese car manufacturers will raise the competitive threshold a further notch in the electric vehicle segment in Israel, through supercharger technology that makes it possible to charge a battery fully within a few minutes. Leading the charge is BYD, which has announced a global rollout of the technology under the brand name "Flash".
The venture has two sides to it. The first is the construction of public chargers with a charging rate of 1.5 megawatts, almost ten times the average rate of existing fast charging stations in Israel and three times faster than the current maximum rate of Tesla’s new fast chargers set up in Israel.
The second component is a series of new and rehashed electric and plug-in hybrid car models equipped with second generation batteries. These models are designed to support Flash charging, without overheating or other side-effects, over a long lifetime. ..."
AWS extends Ichilov AI medical collaboration for hospital to become cloud based
Good news!
"The new agreement is a continuation of a collaboration between the parties, in which Ichilov transferred all of its computer systems to the cloud, becoming one of the world’s first hospitals to do so."
Disclaimer
Since end of February, I am blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.
My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.
Saturday, April 18, 2026
The Ancient Weapons Active in Your Immune System Today
Recommendable!
Caveat: I did not read the entire, long article!
"... In recent years researchers have come upon a surprising finding: Some of the machinery that bacteria use to defend against phages exists, almost unchanged, in our own cells. According to dozens of discoveries made over the past decade, the rules of engagement between cells and viruses were written billions of years ago and still largely define how our innate immune system, the first responder to infection, defends us against viruses and bacteria today. ...
Two recent waves of discovery broke this field open.
First, in 2018, researchers reported a variety of novel bacterial defense systems against viruses(opens a new tab), which now number in the hundreds.
The second wave, starting around 2019, showed that some of these bacterial mechanisms exist in plant and animal cells, including our own — and that they still work the same way they did in those distant ancestors. ...
These and other discoveries that followed reveal an unexplored landscape of human innate immunity — one that could lead to new medical treatments and biotechnological tools ...
A few years later, ... team observed that big constellations of immune genes, including restriction-modification enzymes and CRISPR arrays, tended to cluster together in the same region of bacterial genomes. He and other labs observed that genes of unknown function within these “defense islands” or “genomic islands” could potentially represent novel anti-phage mechanisms. ...
In 2018, his team showed that many of the unknown genes in these defense islands did, in fact, function as a variety of anti-phage defense systems. ..."
Remarkably, the core machinery of the STING protein (top, protein diagrams) has remained structurally preserved across diverse organisms, although the underlying gene sequence differs widely. Some parts of the protein (bottom, dashed outline) have changed over billions of years.
A nasal spray reversed brain aging and inflammation in just two doses
Good news! This could be a breakthrough!
"A nasal spray reversed brain aging and inflammation in just two doses, restoring memory and cognitive sharpness, in a Texas A&M study of mice that researchers say could reshape treatment for dementia."
"Summary: For decades, “neuroinflammaging”, the slow-burning inflammation that causes brain fog and memory decline, was considered an unavoidable part of getting older. However, a landmark study suggests the clock can be turned back.
Researchers developed a non-invasive nasal spray that uses microscopic “delivery parcels” to travel directly into the brain. With just two doses, the therapy dramatically reduced chronic inflammation, recharged cellular “power plants” (mitochondria), and restored memory and cognitive sharpness in aging models.
Key Facts
- Rapid & Lasting Results: Significant cognitive improvements were observed within weeks and, remarkably, persisted for months after only two doses.
- Universal Efficacy: Unlike many medical studies that show varying results by sex, this therapy proved equally effective in both males and females.
- Behavioral Recovery: Treated models showed a restored ability to recognize familiar objects and adapt to changes in their environment—key indicators of a healthy, functioning memory center.
..."
From the abstract:
"Neuroinflammaging, a moderate, chronic, and sterile inflammation in the hippocampus, contributes to age-related cognitive decline.
Neuroinflammaging comprises the activation of the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat family, and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes, and the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway that triggers type 1 interferon (IFN-1) signalling.
Studies have shown that extracellular vesicles from human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (hiPSC-NSC-EVs) contain therapeutic miRNAs that can alleviate neuroinflammation.
Therefore, this study examined the effects of late middle-aged (18-month-old) male and female C57BL6/J mice receiving two intranasal doses of hiPSC-NSC-EVs on neuroinflammaging in the hippocampus at 20.5 months of age. Compared with animals receiving vehicle treatment, the hippocampus of animals receiving hiPSC-NSC-EVs exhibited reductions in astrocyte hypertrophy, microglial clusters, and oxidative stress, along with elevated expression of antioxidant proteins and genes that maintain mitochondrial respiratory chain integrity.
Moreover, hiPSC-NSC-EVs therapy decreased the levels of various proteins involved in the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, p38/mitogen-activated protein kinase, cGAS-STING-IFN-1, and Janus kinase and signal transducer and activator of transcription signalling pathways.
Furthermore, in vitro assays using genetically engineered RAW cells and hiPSC-NSC-EVs, with or without targeted depletion of specific miRNAs, demonstrated that miRNA-30e-3p and miRNA-181a-5p, both present in hiPSC-NSC-EVs, can significantly inhibit the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the STING pathway, respectively. Additionally, single-cell RNA sequencing conducted 7 days post-treatment revealed that hiPSC-NSC-EVs induce widespread transcriptomic changes in microglia, including increased expression of numerous genes that enhance oxidative phosphorylation and reduced expression of abundant genes that drive multiple proinflammatory signalling pathways.
These changes mediated by hiPSC-NSC-EVs were also associated with improved cognitive and memory function.
Thus, intranasal hiPSC-NSC-EVs therapy in late middle age can effectively diminish proinflammatory microglial transcriptome and signalling cascades that drive neuroinflammaging in the hippocampus, contributing to better brain function in old age."
Scientists reverse brain aging, with a nasal spray (original news release) "New therapy is turning back the clock in aging brains, healing inflammation, restoring memory and reshaping the future of brain age-related therapies."
Fig. 2 Intranasal administration of extracellular vesicles from human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (hiPSC-NSC-EVs) to late middle-aged mice reduced hypertrophy of astrocytes and microglial clusters.
The case for a new economic theory of how markets really work without the Invisible Hand. Really!
Food for thought! However, I am not getting smart out of the abstract of this research article. It sounds like gibberish to me!
Is it possible that the authors here wrongly connected market clearing with the Invisible Hand? I bet!
Service economy is not a new concept! It has been around for several decades. So what is new here? Well, manufacturing is still very much alive and kicking too, because humans can not live by services alone, products are still needed.
"... In the real world, it is rare that markets “clear”—meaning that all the products reach customers thanks to the balancing of the invisible hand. Businesses must often commit to what they will charge and how much they will produce before they know what the actual demand will look like.
A Model for the Service Economy
While traditional economic theories were built in an era of manufacturing, this research is particularly descriptive of the modern service industry [???], which now dominates the U.S. economy. ..."
From the abstract:
"Modern theories of the business cycle do not allow for the simultaneous rational choice of both prices and quantities, instead assuming that an “invisible hand” determines one of these variables to clear markets.
In this paper, we develop a macroeconomic framework in which both prices and quantities are chosen directly by firms, and exchange is both voluntary and efficient. Because of uncertainty about demand and productivity, individual product markets can be in excess supply or rationed.
The absence of market-clearing changes pricing and production in qualitatively important ways: markups are no longer determined solely by the elasticity of demand, and higher uncertainty reduces production and increases markups.
In equilibrium, production in rationed markets has a negative aggregate demand externality on demand in slack markets.
Differently from New Keynesian economies, monetary shocks propagate by reducing economic slack, raising aggregate labor productivity and consumption, while uncertainty shocks act as stagflationary cost-push shocks. We integrate our theory of disequilibrium in a dynamic, rational-expectations “New Old Keynesian Model” and demonstrate its implications for the business cycle."
FBI says these apps downloaded from smartphone app storefronts let China suck up your personal data
I think this is plausible! These storefronts surely are valuable targets for espionnage.
Unlike the article below, I don't think these apps are limited to typical, popular Chinese apps like Temu, TikTok, Tencent etc. Any popular App could be affected.
"Centralized smartphone app storefronts, like Apple’s App Store for iPhone and the Google Play Store for Android, make apps feel like they all come from the same safe place online, but the developers behind these apps are spread out all over the world. This month, the FBI brought attention to international developers, warning that installing apps built by foreign nations could pose a major threat to user privacy and security. ..."
FBI says these apps let China suck up your personal data (behind paywall)
Solid-state quantum sensors can measure several properties at once
Amazing stuff! This could be a breakthrough!
"A special class of sensors leverages quantum properties to measure tiny signals at levels that would be impossible using classical sensors alone. Such quantum sensors are currently being used to study the inner workings of cells and the outer depths of our universe.
Particularly promising are solid-state quantum sensors, which can operate at room temperature. Unfortunately, most solid-state quantum sensors today only measure one physical quantity at a time — such as the magnetic field, temperature, or strain in a material. Trying to measure both the magnetic field and temperature of a material at the same time causes their signals to get mixed up and measurements to become unreliable.
Now, ... researchers have created a way to simultaneously measure multiple physical quantities with a solid-state quantum sensor. They achieved this by exploiting entanglement, where particles become correlated into a single quantum state. In a new paper, the team demonstrated its approach in a commonly used quantum sensor at room temperature, measuring the amplitude, frequency, and phase of a microwave field in a single measurement. They also showed the approach works better than sequentially measuring each property or using traditional sensors.
The researchers say the approach could enable quantum sensors that can deepen our understanding of the behavior of atoms and electrons inside materials and living systems like cancer cells. ...
Although the researchers say their sensor didn’t measure each quantity at the highest possible precision, in future work they plan to explore if their approach can achieve higher precision for each parameter. ..."
From the abstract:
"Quantum multiparameter estimation promises to extend quantum advantage to the simultaneous high-precision measurements of multiple physical quantities. However, realizing this capability in practical quantum sensors under realistic conditions remains challenging due to intrinsic system imperfections.
Here, we experimentally demonstrate multiparameter estimation using a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, a widely adopted solid-state quantum sensor.
Leveraging electronic-nuclear spin entanglement and optimized Bell-state measurement at room temperature, we simultaneously estimate the amplitude, detuning, and phase of a microwave drive from a single measurement sequence.
Despite practical constraints, our results achieve linear sensitivity scaling for all parameters with respect to interrogation time. This work bridges the gap between foundational quantum estimation theory and real-world quantum sensing, opening pathways toward enhanced multiparameter quantum sensors suitable for diverse scientific and technological applications."
Fig. 1. Principles of multiparameter estimation based on a single NV center in diamond.
Hisbollah in Deutschland: Wie Europas wichtigster Finanzstandort für den Terror wachsen konnte
Neues aus der Bananenrepublik D! Oder ist das eine neue Form von Antisemitismus?
"Deutschland taucht darin als Hauptstandort der Finanzgeschäfte der Hisbollah in Europa auf.
Das ist keine Randnotiz aus dem Nahen Osten – das ist ein Befund über die Bundesrepublik. Während Politiker in Berlin bei jeder Gelegenheit mit moralischer Entschlossenheit posieren, lief hier laut der neuen Analyse ein Knotenpunkt für die Finanzierung einer vom Iran gestützten Terrororganisation.
Die Studie beschreibt Verbindungen zu global tätigen Unternehmen und ein Geflecht aus legalen und illegalen Geschäftsmodellen. Sie nennt ausdrücklich Drogenhandel, Kunsthandel, Blutdiamanten, Ölschmuggel, Geldwäsche und inzwischen auch Kryptowährungen als Teil der Finanzarchitektur. Wer da noch von vereinzelten Sympathisanten spricht, betreibt Beruhigungsrhetorik für Schlafwandler.
Der Kern des Skandals liegt tiefer. Die Europäische Union hat sich jahrelang in die bequeme Fiktion geflüchtet, bei der Hisbollah lasse sich ein angeblich politischer Teil von einem militärischen Teil trennen. Genau diese Aufspaltung beschreibt die neue Studie als Einfallstor. ...
Deutschland hat die gesamte Hisbollah zwar bereits im April 2020 verboten. Das Bundesinnenministerium sprach damals ausdrücklich ein Betätigungsverbot gegen die Terrororganisation aus. Der neue Befund fällt dadurch noch verheerender aus. Ein Verbot auf dem Papier hat den Standort Deutschland offenkundig nicht aus der Gleichung entfernt. Es zeigt nur, wie groß die Lücke zwischen Verlautbarung und Wirkung geblieben ist. Der Apparat verkündet Härte, während sich Netzwerke anpassen, umetikettieren und über Wirtschaftsstrukturen weiterarbeiten. Gut, dass man den Fokus voll auf Rollator-Gangs und politische Schauprozesse verlegt hat. ...
Der Vorgang ist politisch vernichtend. Wer Europa mit immer neuen Kontrollen gegen den eigenen Bürger überzieht, jede digitale Regung misstrauisch beäugt und unter Kontrolle stellen will, sollte doch wohl wenigstens irgendwie versuchen zu verhindern, dass eine vom Iran gefütterte Terrororganisation auf europäischem Boden ihre Finanzadern pflegt. ..."
Terrorfinanzen laufen über Firmen, Spenden, Geldwäsche und Krypto. Was genau macht eigentlich die Bundesjustizministerin?"
Exklusiv: Geheimdienstinformationen enthüllen Schlüsselfiguren im Finanznetzwerk der Hisbollah "Ein Großteil der Finanzierung der Hisbollah stammt aus Iran. Zusätzliche Einnahmen werden durch Spenden von Sympathisanten im Libanon und in der westlichen Diaspora sowie von libanesischen Unternehmen generiert."
On GIANTS: Generative Insight Anticipation from Scientific Literature
How will machine learning & AI revolutionize scientific research? Here is an example, the latest research paper by Chelsea Finn and Noah D. Goodman.
Caveat: I have not yet read this paper.
From the abstract:
"Scientific breakthroughs often emerge from synthesizing prior ideas into novel contributions.
While language models (LMs) show promise in scientific discovery, their ability to perform this targeted, literature-grounded synthesis remains underexplored.
We introduce insight anticipation, a generation task in which a model predicts a downstream paper's core insight from its foundational parent papers.
To evaluate this capability, we develop GiantsBench, a benchmark of 17k examples across eight scientific domains, where each example consists of a set of parent papers paired with the core insight of a downstream paper.
We evaluate models using an LM judge that scores similarity between generated and ground-truth insights, and show that these similarity scores correlate with expert human ratings.
Finally, we present GIANTS-4B, an LM trained via reinforcement learning (RL) to optimize insight anticipation using these similarity scores as a proxy reward. Despite its smaller open-source architecture, GIANTS-4B outperforms proprietary baselines and generalizes to unseen domains, achieving a 34% relative improvement in similarity score over gemini-3-pro.
Human evaluations further show that GIANTS-4B produces insights that are more conceptually clear than those of the base model.
In addition, SciJudge-30B, a third-party model trained to compare research abstracts by likely citation impact, predicts that insights generated by GIANTS-4B are more likely to lead to higher citations, preferring them over the base model in 68% of pairwise comparisons. We release our code, benchmark, and model to support future research in automated scientific discovery."
Scientists stunned by ‘fundamentally new way’ life produces DNA
Amazing stuff!
However this is junk journalism by AAAS! No link to the research article! No title of the research article provided!
"For decades, biology textbooks have enshrined a simple rule: DNA is made by copying a template. After one enzyme unzips a DNA double helix into separate strands, another called a polymerase builds a complementary sequence, base by base, for each strand. Presto: two copies of the original DNA. But new research into how bacteria defend themselves from viruses now shows this synthesis rule isn’t absolute. Today in Science, a Stanford University team describes a bacterial enzyme that synthesizes DNA without a nucleic acid template, using its own structure as a guide. ...
The use of a protein as a template for DNA synthesis, ... “is a meaningful conceptual shift from the classical central dogma,” in which information flows in one direction from nucleic acids like DNA to protein. Scientists hope the novel form of DNA synthesis can be adapted as a tool for basic biological research, much like the powerful genome editor CRISPR was developed from another bacterial defense system. ...
The new finding centers on DRT3, a defense system that protects bacteria from viruses, known as phages, that infect them. DRT3, the researchers found, bypasses the logic of base pairing. It relies on two reverse transcriptases: a conventional one that builds single-stranded DNA from an RNA template, and a second, unusual one that assembles its complement from its own built-in template. This unusual enzyme, called Drt3b, has amino acids in its active site that mimic a template RNA strand. ..."
From the abstract:
"Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) are widespread bacterial anti-phage systems that use unconventional mechanisms of polynucleotide synthesis. We show that DRT3, which comprises two distinct RTs (Drt3a and Drt3b) and a noncoding RNA (ncRNA), synthesizes alternating poly(GT/AC) double-stranded DNA.
Cryo–electron microscopy structures at 2.6 Å resolution reveal a D3-symmetric 6:6:6 complex of Drt3a, Drt3b, and ncRNA. Drt3a produces the poly(GT) strand using a conserved ACACAC template within the ncRNA.
Notably, Drt3b synthesizes a complementary, protein-primed poly(AC) strand in the complete absence of a nucleic acid template, using conserved active site residues specific to Drt3b to enforce precise base alternation. These findings expand the functional landscape of nucleic acid polymerases, revealing a protein-templated mechanism for sequence-specific DNA synthesis."
Over 300 humanoid robots will race a half-marathon in Beijing
Good news! I hope these robots will be well lubricated with machine oil! 😊
More than 70 teams are said to participate in this race.
This is the second such race in Beijing.
"Over 100 humanoid robots will race a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday, as teams test endurance, autonomy, and reliability under real-world conditions. "
"Summary
- More than 300 humanoid robots to take part in 21 km event
- The robots will face more challenging terrain in test of their technical advances
- Nearly 40% of robots expected to navigate the course autonomously
- In the 2025 race, every robot was remotely controlled
...
China dominates global humanoid robot installations, accounting for more than 80% of the 16,000 units installed worldwide in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research.
The top U.S. vendor, Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, only accounted for 5% of global humanoid installations, the report said. ..."
Friday, April 17, 2026
Israel Blocks France’s Participation in its Peace Talks With Lebanon
Probably a good move by Israel! President Macron is dubious or even duplicitous!
Lebanon is perhaps to some extent Francophone, but that does not provide sufficient excuse for President Macron to get involved.
"... For under Macron, France has become even more hostile to Israel than it was before his ascendance to the presidency. ...
Macron never condemned Hezbollah for its missile and drone fire into Israel, though he was quick to deplore Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Hezbollah targets in south Beirut. ...
Macron prevented American military planes delivering weapons to Israel to use its airspace. ..."
Jake Sullivan: The Tech High Ground. Really!
What a moron! He was the National Security Advisor for the senile, demented and pathological liar, the 46th President!
"“For decades, U.S. policy toward China rested on a quiet but powerful assumption: Beijing was essentially running the same race as the United States, just a few steps behind,” writes Jake Sullivan, former U.S. national security adviser, in a new essay from the forthcoming issue of Foreign Affairs. As technology—from semiconductors to artificial intelligence, biotechnology to clean energy—becomes “the central front in U.S.-Chinese competition,” Washington may not have the durable lead [???] it thought it had.
The United States’ biggest rival is starting to dominate “many of the foundational layers that underpin the modern economy,” Sullivan argues. Regaining these areas of high ground [???] “must be the central task of American statecraft [???] in the twenty-first century.” After all, “technological power is translating directly and rapidly into geopolitical power to a degree the world hasn’t seen in years.”"
Jake Sullivan
English for trippers: Planktonic organisms
With about their platonic relationships?
Is there a Planck constant involved?
Growing engineered liver tissue on demand directly in the body
Good news!
"... “We asked if it would be possible to first implant a small-scale liver construct and then drive it to expand in the body following its engraftment. A sufficiently grown, functional ‘satellite liver’ could immediately relieve the metabolic burden in a damaged liver and help bridge the time until a transplant becomes available,” ..."
From the abstract:
"Despite the promise of engineered tissue implants for the treatment of organ failure, scaling of these constructs to sizes of therapeutic relevance remains a barrier to clinical translation.
Here, we propose a strategy to circumvent this limitation: to instead implant a small-scale construct and then induce it to grow in situ after its engraftment into a host.
Using engineered liver tissue as a proof-of-concept application, we integrated synthetic biology and tissue engineering tools to build liver tissues that can be expanded on-demand after implantation in vivo.
To achieve this goal, we first identified the combination of Yes-associated protein (YAP) and growth factor (GF) signaling as sufficient to drive human hepatocyte proliferation in dense, three-dimensional engineered tissues.
We then engineered control of these signaling axes using synthetic biology tools to drive human liver tissue expansion both in vitro and in vivo.
As such, this work establishes a genetic strategy for generating large organ implants through bioengineered on-demand outgrowth via synthetic biology triggering (BOOST)."
Fig. 1. GF and YAP signaling synergize to induce proliferation of dense cultures of HEPs.
The genetic “BOOST” strategy, explained in his graphic, integrates tissue engineering and synthetic biology tools to enable on-demand liver growth inside the body. By specifically rewiring the gene expression of primary liver hepatocytes and supportive fibroblast cells, a tissue growth program is switched on in a small, engineered liver construct after its implantation into recipients and upon addition of an inducing agent (shown as a pill). As a result, the hepatocytes in the construct start and continue to proliferate until a desired construct size has been reached and the inducing signal is not provided anymore. In mice, BOOST resulted in robust and healthy liver growth.
Study reveals a new role for cell membranes
Amazing stuff!
"Cells are enveloped by a lipid membrane that gives them structure and provides a barrier between the cell and its environment. However, evidence has recently emerged suggesting that these membranes do more than simply provide protection — they also influence the behavior of the protein receptors embedded in them.
A new study ... adds further support to that idea. The researchers found that changing the composition of the cell membrane can alter the function of a membrane receptor that promotes proliferation.
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can be locked into an overactive state when the cell membrane has a higher than normal concentration of negatively charged lipids, the researchers found. This may help to explain why cancer cells with high levels of those lipids enter a highly proliferative state that allows them to divide uncontrollably. ..."
From the eLife assessment and abstract:
"eLife Assessment
The authors describe an interesting approach to studying the dynamics and function of membrane proteins in different lipid environments. The fundamental findings have theoretical and practical implications beyond the study of EGFR to all membrane signalling proteins. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, based on the use of a nanodisk system to study membrane proteins in vitro, combined with state-of-the-art single-molecule FRET. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists and biochemists.
Abstract
Cell surface receptors transmit information across the plasma membrane to connect the extracellular environment to intracellular function. While the structures and interactions of the receptors have been long established as mediators of signaling, increasing evidence suggests that the membrane itself plays an active role in both suppressing and enhancing signaling. Identifying and investigating this contribution has been challenging owing to the complex composition of the plasma membrane.
We used cell-free expression to incorporate the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) into nanodiscs with defined membrane compositions and characterized ligand-induced transmembrane conformational response and interactions with signaling partners using single-molecule and ensemble fluorescence assays. We observed that both the transmembrane conformational response and interactions with signaling partners are strongly lipid dependent, consistent with previous observations of electrostatic interactions between the anionic lipids and conserved basic residues near the membrane adjacent domain.
Strikingly, the active conformation of EGFR and high levels of ATP binding were maintained regardless of ligand binding with high anionic lipid content typical of cancer cells, where EGFR signaling is enhanced.
In contrast, the conformational response was suppressed in the presence of cholesterol, providing a mechanism for its known inhibitory effect on EGFR signaling.
Our findings introduce a model of EGFR signaling in which the lipid environment can override ligand control, providing a biophysical basis for both robust EGFR activity in healthy cells and aberrant activity under pathological conditions. The membrane-adjacent protein sequence, likely responsible for the lipid dependence, is conserved among receptor tyrosine kinases, suggesting that active regulation by the plasma membrane may be a general feature of this important class of proteins."
Fig. 2 Membrane composition influences EGFR function through ATP binding.
Big Pharma Bets Big on AI
Good news!
"... What’s new: Pharma giant Eli Lilly agreed to give as much as $2.75 billion to Insilico Medicine, a Hong Kong-based biotechnology company that applies generative AI across its drug-discovery pipeline.
Initially, Lilly will pay $115 million for exclusive rights to develop and sell undisclosed drugs that have not yet been tested in humans, while further payments will be tied to developmental, regulatory, and commercial milestones ...
This is the third agreement between the companies following an AI software license in 2023 and a $100 million research collaboration in November 2025.
AI drug-discovery: Founded in 2014, Insilico has used AI to develop 28 candidate drugs, roughly half of which are in clinical trials.
The most advanced one, Rentosertib, targets idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease in which scarring progressively reduces lung function. A Phase 2a trial (an early, small-scale test of efficacy) showed positive results.
A second drug, Garutadustat, which is intended to treat inflammatory bowel disease, entered Phase 2a in January 2026. ...
Insilico’s pipeline suggests generative AI can tackle one of the hardest problems in science: finding a molecule that binds to a particular protein, is absorbed by the body, isn’t toxic, and helps patients. ..."
Insilico Medicine pipeline
Trump's Illegal War in Iran Is Financed by Your Taxes. That's a Good Reason To Stop Paying Them. Really!
What a moron or useful idiot wrote this article!
Is this author on the payroll of the fanatic, suicidal mullahs and a major state sponsor of terrorism Iran trying to acquire a nuclear bomb?
Caveat: I did not read the article as the headline says enough!
"The executive branch is out of control [???]. We're now more than six weeks into a deeply unpopular, unnecessary war [???] with Iran that lacks any semblance of congressional authorization. The Trump administration has sent masked, unaccountable goons into American cities, where they have harassed and arrested innocent people and killed multiple times. President Donald Trump's signature economic policy is an illegal tax increase that his administration is refusing to refund. ..."
Trump's Illegal War in Iran Is Financed by Your Taxes. That's a Good Reason To Stop Paying Them "If Congress will not deploy the power of the purse to restrain a lawless administration [???] and an illegal war [???], then it falls to the public to do so."
'The Rich Don't Pay Their Fair Share' and 4 Other Tax Myths That Won't Die
Recommendable!
The argument regarding the Myth No. 5 is flawed. Yes, tax cuts that stimulate economic growth, labor force participation etc. pay for themselves if government exercises restraint on expenditures!
"Myth No. 1: The Rich Don't Pay Their Fair Share ...
Myth No. 2: We'll Fix the Budget Deficit by Taxing the Rich ...
Myth No. 3: If You Can't Tax the Rich, Tax Corporations ...
Myth No. 4: Capital Gains Should Be Taxed Like Ordinary Income ...
Myth No. 5: Tax Cuts Pay for Themselves ..."
'The Rich Don't Pay Their Fair Share' and 4 Other Tax Myths That Won't Die "The United States has the most progressive income-tax system in the developed world"
Uber will now pick up your returns from your doorstep
More progress of the leisure society! 😊 When will retail stores become superfluous?
"Uber launched a new feature on Friday that lets customers return purchased items without leaving their home.
The new returns feature, which is accessed through the Uber Eats app, is the latest effort by Uber to add “stickiness” to its app by offering services that extend beyond its core ride-hailing and delivery businesses.
There are limitations to the new service, and there is, of course, a courier fee. The return fee is calculated based on the courier’s time and distance, according to Uber.
Customers can only send back eligible retail items purchased on Uber Eats, and they must comply with each store’s return policy. Participating retailers include At Home, Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, GNC, Michael’s Pet Food Express, Pacsun, Petco, and Target. Uber said more retailers will be added in the future.
Uber has also placed price limitations on the service. Customers can only return items with retail prices above $20, according to the company. ..."
Yes, President Trump Can unilaterally Withdraw from NATO by John Yoo
Maybe President Trump should indeed withdraw the US from NATO! Let the Europeans do their own defense for once!
Such a withdrawal would certainly make President Trump an outstanding US president! Would be great for his legacy!
An exit from NATO would also free up the US to go forward in foreign affairs etc.
Caveat: I did not read the entire, long article by John Yoo.
"The Iran war has had the unintended consequence of undermining the West’s preeminent postwar alliance. Disappointed by the refusal of European allies to assist the United States, the Trump administration is floating the possibility of exiting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Critics argue that the president cannot terminate a treaty on his own.
But the Constitution is clear: Presidents can indeed unilaterally end U.S. participation in international agreements. If Donald Trump wants to tear up the NATO treaty, he can just do it. And in June, the Supreme Court may even provide implicit support for such an exercise of presidential power. ..."
Yes, President Trump Can Withdraw from NATO "He has the constitutional authority to do so. That doesn’t mean he should"
Unearthed mega-structure hints at communal rule in Romania 6,000 years ago
Amazing stuff!
"Archaeologists working at the ancient settlement of Stăuceni-"Holm" in northeastern Romania have uncovered a mega-structure measuring 350 square meters dating back about 6,000 years. This is one of the few examples of a massive building that has been physically excavated in the region. It is hoped that it will reveal more about the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture (ca. 5000–3500 BC) of Eastern Europe, which is known for its large, well-planned settlements.
A civilization without rulers?
Researchers have studied this culture extensively, yet many mysteries remain about their settlements. There are no palaces, no obvious signs of rich elite burials and precious metals are extremely rare. Even though thousands of people lived together in these early cities, most houses look the same. ..."
From the abstract:
"2021 to 2024, the Cucuteni A3 settlement of Stăuceni-‘Holm’, Botoşani County in north-east Romania was surveyed geophysically and by systematic field collections.
According to the geomagnetic results, on the plateau a settlement with about 45 houses was delimited by several ditch- and palisade systems.
A comparatively large building (350 m2) was located in the area between the ditches, which is meant to be a mega-structure, mainly due to its size and the clearly visible position next to the probable entrance of the settlement.
The mega-structure was partially excavated in 2023–2024. The observations, regarding the architecture and the dating of the feature in particular, provide valuable information for the discussion about the function of these special structures, of which only five others have been investigated in detail by excavation to date."
Scientists confirm precursor to commonest form of oesophageal cancer – offering opportunities to catch the disease early
Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!
"The findings, ... could help improve screening for and early detection of oesophageal cancer, the sixth most deadly cancer, helping improve outcomes for the disease.
Cancer of the oesophagus, including its most common form oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) ...
To answer the question of whether Barrett’s oesophagus is a pre-requisite for OAC, researchers ... analysed epidemiological and clinical data from 3,100 OAC patients undergoing surgery to remove their tumour or diseased tissue. Patients were recruited from 25 centres across the UK.
The team also analysed whole genome sequencing data from 710 patients, which allows them to look at all of an individual’s DNA, and whole exome sequencing from multiple samples taken from 87 patients, allowing them to understand how their tumours evolved and how different parts of the same cancer may differ genetically.
The researchers hypothesised that if OAC can arise through different routes – not always involving Barrett’s oesophagus – then genomic data and associated risk factors would differ between these two groups. Conversely, extensive overlap would strongly suggest that Barrett’s oesophagus plays a central role in OAC progression.
Just over a third of participants (35%) had a diagnosis of Barrett’s oesophagus. However, the DNA, mutations, genomic patterns, and cellular ‘identity’ inside the cancers were essentially indistinguishable, regardless of whether doctors could identify Barrett’s oesophagus during endoscopy or in pathology samples.
The only major difference between cancers with or without visible Barrett’s oesophagus was the tumour stage – those patients without signs of Barrett’s oesophagus tended to have more advanced cancers.
However, the team found biomarkers for Barrett’s oesophagus, such as the proteins TFF3 and REG4 present in the oesophagus cells at all disease stages including before the cancer has developed. This suggests that the growing tumour can destroy the original Barrett’s tissue, but importantly that proteins such as TFF3 and REG4 could be used to find individuals at future risk of oesophageal cancer. ..."
From the abstract:
"Cancer generally takes years to evolve, and early diagnosis can prevent life-threatening cancer. Establishing a link between precancerous states and cancer is essential for effective screening and prevention.
Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is an increasingly prevalent, poor-outcome cancer, and its presumed precursor, Barrett’s esophagus (BE), characterized by intestinal metaplasia, is evident in only about half of cases.
Here to test whether BE is a prerequisite to EAC, we integrated epidemiological and clinical characteristics in a prospective cohort of 3,100 patients with EAC for any evidence of BE (BE-positive and BE-negative) and compared genomic features using a subset of 710 patients with whole-genome sequencing and 87 patients (380 samples) with multiregional whole-exome sequencing. Demographic and genomic features typically associated with BE were observed across BE-positive and BE-negative EAC cases.
Notably, molecular features consistent with early BE evolution were detected in both phenotypes.
Advanced tumor stage was the only variable that corresponded with increased likelihood of BE-negative EAC, including in some patients with a previous BE diagnosis.
Phylogenetic analyses revealed shared evolutionary trajectories, and spatial transcriptomic and proteomic analyses demonstrated intestinal metaplasia-associated lineage markers in both groups.
These findings suggest a single pathway to EAC, with implications for early diagnosis and prevention strategies."
Fig. 1: The study design to establish whether there is a BE-independent pathway to EAC.
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