Scientia Magazine

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. It stimulates the viewer's imagination to consider the possibilities of the technologies depicted as suitable only for on-screen viewing. The article aims to positively address the concept behind this series, thereby connecting it with real human experiences and its potential to motivate progress and growth. Read more on: https://lnkd.in/d9FM6Fr5

Scientia Pakistan is a partner of SJF24! Join us for the Science Journalism Forum 2024 (SJF24), the largest and most diverse international event of science journalism, taking place from October 28th to 31st! This year's theme is "Transforming Narratives: Reshaping the Landscape of Science Journalism," where we will explore the latest shifts in the field and offer insights to help media professionals navigate and thrive in this changing environment. Science Journalism Forum #sjf24

-International Day of Girl Child- In Pakistan, UNESCO reports that 47% of the total students who enroll in universities are female. The percentage of female students who enroll in doctoral programs is only 36%. The rate is further reduced in the institutes offering natural sciences programs, i.e., 34% and 45% of medical and engineering programs consist of only 21% female students. Read more on: https://lnkd.in/dVi3xVZE

-World Mental Health Day- Eco-anxiety, or climate anxiety, is a growing concern. It is the manifestation of anxiety stemming from worries about environmental degradation and climate change. As we grapple with the alarming realities of global warming, individuals may experience heightened stress, sleep disturbances, and overall emotional distress. This anxiety is fueled by the knowledge that our actions, including our carbon footprint, have contributed to this crisis. Read more on: https://lnkd.in/dC4F5qWN

Scientia's Science Writing Internship Program Cohort-3! We are thrilled to invite Dr. Jörg Matthias Determann (Associate Prof. at Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar) to our 5th webinar, "Writing about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Astronomy." Here is the Link to join: https://lnkd.in/dnkyYXvs Sunday, Oct 13, 2024 (Sunday) Time: 03:00 PM (PST)  Time zone: Asia/Karachi

BREAKING NEWS!!! The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with one half to David Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper “for protein structure prediction.” The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about proteins, life’s ingenious chemical tools. David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures. These discoveries hold enormous potential. The diversity of life testifies to proteins’ amazing capacity as chemical tools. They control and drive all the chemical reactions that together are the basis of life. Proteins also function as hormones, signal substances, antibodies and the building blocks of different tissues. Proteins generally consist of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as life’s building blocks. In 2003, David Baker succeeded in using these blocks to design a new protein that was unlike any other protein. Since then, his research group has produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors. The second discovery concerns the prediction of protein structures. In proteins, amino acids are linked together in long strings that fold up to make a three-dimensional structure, which is decisive for the protein’s function. Since the 1970s, researchers had tried to predict protein structures from amino acid sequences, but this was notoriously difficult. However, four years ago, there was a stunning breakthrough. In 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper presented an AI model called AlphaFold2. With its help, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified. Since their breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries. Among a myriad of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can decompose plastic. Credits: The Nobel Prize

Developing countries face significant constraints yet have made remarkable strides in space exploration. These nations often grapple with limited budgets, resource constraints, and the need to prioritize immediate social and economic issues.India’s ISRO has become a symbol of frugal engineering and innovative problem-solving. The Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) is a testament to ISRO’s ability to maximize limited resources, achieving interplanetary success on a shoestring budget Read more on: https://lnkd.in/daD4C_DF

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 #NobelPrize in Physics to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.” This year’s physics laureates John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used tools from physics to construct methods that helped lay the foundation for today’s powerful machine learning. Hopfield created a structure that can store and reconstruct information. Hinton invented a method that can independently discover properties in data and which has become important for the large artificial neural networks now in use. Although computers cannot think, machines can now mimic functions such as memory and learning. The 2024 Nobel Prize laureates in physics have helped make this possible. Using fundamental concepts and methods from physics, they have developed technologies that use structures in networks to process information. Learn more Press release: https://bit.ly/4diXSfz Popular information: https://bit.ly/4gK57jl Advanced information: https://bit.ly/4egLrly

The space industry, currently valued at around $630 billion, is projected to soar to $1.8 trillion by 2035. This growth not only brings technological advancements but is fuelling geopolitical conflicts among the most powerful nations. Along with this, it brings a multitude of challenges including orbital congestion, radio frequency spectrum allocation, and ethical considerations regarding equity, access to space resources, and a potential space race. Read more on: https://lnkd.in/dTSECSdM

BREAKING NEWS The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. This year’s Nobel Prize honours two scientists for their discovery of a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated. The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions. Yet, different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics. How do these differences arise? The answer lies in gene regulation, which allows each cell to select only the relevant instructions. This ensures that only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type. This year’s medicine laureates Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were interested in how different cell types develop. They discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome codes for over one thousand microRNAs. Their surprising discovery revealed an entirely new dimension to gene regulation. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function. Learn more Press release: https://bit.ly/3BiM2o9 Advanced information: https://bit.ly/3N6vAtK