Science

Shampoo Basin Syndrom: The Stroke from the Beauty Salon
ExplainerShampoo Basin Syndrom: The Stroke from the Beauty Salon

That day, Julien never imagined that a simple shampoo would turn his life upside down. Sitting comfortably at the basin with his head tilted back, he enjoyed a moment of calm, unaware that a hidden danger was looming. A few days later, he suffered a stroke. On Instagram, he shared: “When I had my stroke, one of the first questions the ...

Online Search a Battleground for AI Titans
Online Search a Battleground for AI Titans

Tech firms battling for supremacy in artificial intelligence are out to transform how people search the web, challenging the dominance of the Chrome browser at the heart of Google's empire. Chatbots that started out as AI-powered assistants have gradually merged with web browsers and can independently scour the internet for detailed answers to ...

Osteoporosis: The Other Silent Burden
Osteoporosis: The Other Silent Burden

Osteoporosis weakens bone and exposes people to so-called “fragility” fractures (a fall from standing height, a trivial movement). Long asymptomatic, it often declares itself with a first fracture – vertebra, wrist, hip – which is likely to be followed by others if nothing is done. Each October, the International Osteoporosis Foundation ...

A Subretinal Chip Brings New Hope for AMD Patients
SpotlightA Subretinal Chip Brings New Hope for AMD Patients

Losing central vision is like watching the heart of the world blur, then fade to black, until you can no longer recognize a loved one’s face or read the lines of a book. This silent suffering affects over 200 million people worldwide: Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is now the leading cause of vision loss in those over 60. The disease ...

From Protection to Precaution: Reassessing Pandemic-Era Chemicals
From Protection to Precaution: Reassessing Pandemic-Era Chemicals

Some of the chemicals widely used for protection during the 2020 – 2021 coronavirus pandemic are now raising concerns among scientists, with new research suggesting they may have posed unexpected health risks. According to a recent report published by the Financial Times on Tuesday, the European Union (EU) is considering classifying ...

EU Takes Aim at Plastic Pellets to Prevent their Nightmare Cleanup
EU Takes Aim at Plastic Pellets to Prevent their Nightmare Cleanup

At first glance, the tiny plastic pellets appear relatively harmless. No bigger than a lentil, these "nurdles" are destined to be melted down to make everything from car bumpers to salad bowls. But when tens of millions of them spill from trucks or cargo ships they are devilish to clean up, blighting landscapes and washing up around the world for ...

Didier Raoult, the Korean Study and the Lure of Oversimplification
Didier Raoult, the Korean Study and the Lure of Oversimplification

An internationally reputed microbiologist before 2020, Didier Raoult moved to the eye of the media storm with his promotion of hydroxychloroquine. Raoult, from Mandarin to Divisive ‘Star’ Since then, investigations, methodological critiques and disciplinary proceedings have piled up: in May 2023, his “off-protocol” regimens and a massive ...

Internet Services Cut for Hours by Amazon Cloud Outage
Internet Services Cut for Hours by Amazon Cloud Outage

Popular internet services ranging from streaming platforms to messaging services to banking were offline for hours Monday due to an outage in Amazon's crucial cloud network, illustrating the extent to which internet life depends on the tech titan. The disruption affected streaming platforms, including Amazon's Prime Video service and Disney+, as ...

OpenAI Commits to Over $100 Billion in AI Chip Orders Amid Uncertain Financing Plans
FocusOpenAI Commits to Over $100 Billion in AI Chip Orders Amid Uncertain Financing Plans

OpenAI is ordering hundreds of billions of dollars worth of chips in the artificial intelligence race, raising questions among investors about how the startup will finance these purchases. In less than a month, the San Francisco startup behind ChatGPT has committed to acquiring a staggering 26 gigawatts of sophisticated data processors from ...

Pink October at LAU-Rizk: Breaking the Silence on Breast Cancer
Pink October at LAU-Rizk: Breaking the Silence on Breast Cancer

The film avoids slogans and the “campaign” aesthetic to favor narration at the level of everyday life. One perceives what the illness upsets — confidence, self-image, intimacy — and what speech can repair. The room reacts: a few nervous laughs when self-mockery defuses embarrassment, longer silences over the metamorphoses of the body and ...

Climate and Poverty: UN Warns of a Double Burden for 900 Million People
Climate and Poverty: UN Warns of a Double Burden for 900 Million People

Nearly 80 percent of the world's poorest, or about 900 million people, are directly exposed to climate hazards exacerbated by global warming, bearing a "double and deeply unequal burden," the United Nations warned Friday. "No one is immune to the increasingly frequent and stronger climate change effects like droughts, floods, heat waves, and air ...

SCUBE3: The Molecule That Promises to Awaken Sleeping Hair
SpotlightSCUBE3: The Molecule That Promises to Awaken Sleeping Hair

A California laboratory at the University of Irvine is revolutionizing dermatology. In 2022, Professor Maksim Plikus’s team isolated a molecule called SCUBE3, short for Signal peptide, CUB domain, EGF-like 3. Naturally produced by the dermal papilla, a tiny cluster of cells at the base of each hair follicle, this molecular messenger has a ...