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Researchers Engineer Bacteria To Produce Plastics

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: [A] team of Korean researchers [describe] how they've engineered a bacterial strain that can make a useful polymer starting with nothing but glucose as fuel. The system they developed is based on an enzyme that the bacteria use when they're facing unusual nutritional conditions, and it can be tweaked to make a wide range of polymers. The researchers focused on the system bacterial cells use for producing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). These chemicals are formed when the bacterial cells continue to have a good supply of carbon sources and energy, but they lack some other key nutrients needed to grow and divide. Under these circumstances, the cell will link together small molecules that contain a handful of carbons, forming a much larger polymer. When nutritional conditions improve, the cell can simply break down the polymer and use the individual molecules it contained.

The striking thing about this system is that it's not especially picky about the identity of the molecules it links into the polymer. So far, over 150 different small molecules have been found incorporated into PHAs. It appears that the enzyme that makes the polymer, PHA synthase, only cares about two things: whether the molecule can form an ester bond (PHAs are polyesters), and whether it can be linked to a molecule that's commonly used as an intermediate in the cell's biochemistry, Coenzyme A. Normally, PHA synthase forms links between molecules that run through an oxygen atom. But it's also possible to form a related chemical link that instead runs through a nitrogen atom, like those found on amino acids. There were no known enzymes, however, that catalyze these reactions. So, the researchers decided to test whether any existing enzymes could be induced to do something they don't normally do. [...]

Overall, the system they develop is remarkably flexible, able to incorporate a huge range of chemicals into a polymer. This should allow them to tune the resulting plastic across a wide range of properties. And, considering the bonds were formed via enzyme, the resulting polymer will almost certainly be biodegradable. There are, however, some negatives. The process doesn't allow complete control over what gets incorporated into the polymer. You can bias it toward a specific mix of amino acids or other chemicals, but you can't entirely stop the enzyme from incorporating random chemicals from the cell's metabolism into the polymer at some level. There's also the issue of purifying the polymer from all the rest of the cell components before incorporating it into manufacturing. Production is also relatively slow compared to large-scale industrial production. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

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Italian Newspaper Says It Has Published World's First AI-Generated Edition

Italian newspaper Il Foglio claims to have published the world's first entirely AI-generated edition as part of a month-long experiment to explore AI's impact on journalism. The special four-page supplement, available in print and online, features AI-written articles, headlines, and reader letters. The only thing the human journalists provided were prompts. The Guardian reports: The front page of the first edition of Il Foglio AI carries a story referring to the US president, Donald Trump, describing the "paradox of Italian Trumpians" and how they rail against "cancel culture" yet either turn a blind eye, or worse, "celebrate" when "their idol in the US behaves like the despot of a banana republic." The front page also features a column headlined "Putin, the 10 betrayals," with the article highlighting "20 years of broken promises, torn-up agreements and words betrayed" by Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

In a rare upbeat story about the Italian economy, another article points to the latest report from Istat, the national statistics agency, on the redistribution of income, which shows the country "is changing, and not for the worse" with salary increases for about 750,000 workers being among the positive effects of income tax reforms. On page 2 is a story about "situationships" and how young Europeans are fleeing steady relationships. The articles were structured, straightforward and clear, with no obvious grammatical errors. However, none of the articles published in the news pages directly quote any human beings.

The final page runs AI-generated letters from readers to the editor, with one asking whether AI will render humans "useless" in the future. "AI is a great innovation, but it doesn't yet know how to order a coffee without getting the sugar wrong," reads the AI-generated response.

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Rijnmond - Nieuws

Het laatste nieuws van vandaag over Rotterdam, Feyenoord, het verkeer en het weer in de regio Rijnmond

Het weer van vandaag: zonnig, zachter en minder wind

Vandaag volgt opnieuw een stralend zonnige dag met strakblauwe luchten en gaan eindelijk ook de temperaturen daarbij omhoog. Het wordt vanmiddag in de zon 16 tot 17 graden en waait er slechts een zwakke tot matige zuidoostenwind. Doordat er minder wind staat voelt het vandaag een stuk warmer dan de afgelopen dagen.

Brown River below Silver Falls

Alan M :-) has added a photo to the pool:

Brown River below Silver Falls

Mount Wellington, Tasmania

OMD EM1 3.19.2025 bird 1

uchi uchi has added a photo to the pool:

OMD EM1 3.19.2025 bird 1

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OMD EM1 3.19.2025 bird 2

uchi uchi has added a photo to the pool:

OMD EM1 3.19.2025 bird 2

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Shidare Ume, Okayama Korakuen

DanÅke Carlsson has added a photo to the pool:

Shidare Ume, Okayama Korakuen

The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

China's EV champ BYD reveals super-fast charging that leaves Tesla eating dust

Apparently boosts battery to 20 km range in 10 seconds, although as ever ... YMMV

Chinese electric automaker BYD has announced 1,000-volt supercharging technology it claims can fill a compatible vehicle’s battery in the same amount of time needed to pump fuel into a conventional car.…

Shidare Ume, Okayama Korakuen

DanÅke Carlsson posted a photo:

Shidare Ume, Okayama Korakuen

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Nieuwe vijandelijkheden tussen VS en Houthi's

SANAA (ANP) - Het Amerikaanse leger heeft volgens media van de Jemenitische Houthi's minstens tien aanvallen uitgevoerd op door Houthi's gecontroleerde gebieden in Jemen, waaronder Sanaa, de hoofdstad, en havenstad Hodeidah. Zelf voerden de Houthi's naar eigen zeggen een nieuwe aanval uit op Amerikaanse oorlogsschepen in de Rode Zee, de vierde keer in 72 uur.

Zaterdag vielen door Amerikaanse aanvallen op doelen van de Houthi's 53 doden, meldde het gezondheidsministerie van de Jemenitische rebellen.

Begin deze maand zetten de VS de Houthi's op hun lijst met terroristische organisaties. De Houthi's, die de controle hebben over een groot deel van Jemen, begonnen eind 2023 met het beschieten van Amerikaanse, Israëlische en Britse schepen op de Rode Zee. Ze zijn solidair met de Palestijnen en eisen dat de Israëlische aanvallen op de Gazastrook stoppen. Ook vuren de Houthi's geregeld raketten af op Israël.