See photographs of the beautiful natural wonders from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

See images of the American flag captured by our readers.

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Transform your iPhone 16 into a digital art studio with iOS 18.2's Image Playground, the latest tool for creating custom visuals with a few taps.

With the release of iOS 18.2, Apple's Image Playground app offers users an accessible way to create custom digital images, sparking creative possibilities for iPhone owners. Part of Apple's expanding Apple Intelligence suite, Image Playground debuted in developer betas in late 2024.

With each update, Apple has strived to make Image Playground more responsive and intuitive, aiming to provide a smoother user experience as the feature matures. In the second developer beta of iOS 18.2, notable improvements are already evident, particularly in rendering speed and the alignment between user prompts and generated images.


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iOS 18.2 with access to ChatGPT integrations, Image Playground, and Genmoji could finally roll out to the general public on December 9 based on a notice recently posted by a UK carrier.

On Monday, Apple released the third developer beta of iOS 18.2. Along with the various changes and quality-of-life improvements, the software also contains an update for carrier-specific settings.

The third developer beta contains an update for devices using the British carrier EE. The carrier settings shipped with iOS 18.1 and the second developer beta of iOS 18.2 had the version number 59.5.1, while iOS 18.2 developer beta 3 increased the EE carrier settings version to 60.5.2.


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A math specialist shares how she uses dots to allow students to see the connections between mathematical operations, like addition and multiplication.

Baidu, the Chinese tech giant, announced two new artificial intelligence (AI) platforms on Tuesday. The company introduced a text-to-image generator dubbed I-RAG and a no-code platform called Miaoda. The new AI platforms were showcased at the Baidu World Conference, the company’s annual event. Additionally, the company also plans to launch new AI-integrated smart glasses. These glasses will be equipped with a dedicated AI assistant.

Kyrgyzstan is trying to stabilise a volatile business environment by diversifying its economy away from gold and remittances, and employing an ombudsman to reassure investors. 

Satellite images show China working on nuclear reactor for new warship

In the 1920s, Erwin Schrödinger wrote an equation that predicts how particles-turned-waves should behave. Now, researchers are perfectly recreating those predictions in the lab

Ultra-fast pulses of laser light can be shaped into vortices similar to smoke rings – when chained together, they can carry enough information to transmit a simple image

From a photograph of algae choking an Indian river to a shocking depiction of the wearing away of the UK coast, these are some of the pictures in the running for the contest

This photo of Tungurahua, a volcano exploding in the Ecuadorian night, comes from an illustrated book to accompany a TV series about Earth’s deep history

Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, the largest lake in South America, has been captured in detail by the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission

These stunning photographs are all shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards 2024

Amazing images of an open-air library, underground lab and design museum show the reincarnation of dead mines, captured in a new book, 102 Things to Do With a Hole in the Ground

Pascal Maitre's photos from the Democratic Republic of Congo detail the problems arising as demand for cobalt grows

Endurance sank beneath the ice during Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic expedition. More than a hundred years later, researchers document their own saga of how they found the vessel

Endurance sank beneath the ice during Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic expedition. More than a hundred years later, researchers document their own saga of how they found the vessel

The British Heart Foundation’s Reflections of Research competition showcases beautiful images captured by researchers studying heart and circulatory disease

The skull of Shanidar Z was found in the Shanidar cave in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and has been painstakingly put back together

Title: U.S. Appeals Court Backs Ruling Against Graphic Images on Cigarette Packs
Category: Health News
Created: 8/24/2012 2:05:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 8/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

Title: For Muslim Pilgrimage, Climate Change Poses Health Risks
Category: Health News
Created: 8/28/2019 12:00:00 AM
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Title: Scientists Design Skin Patch That Takes Ultrasound Images
Category: Health News
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The role of somatostatin receptor (SSTR) PET/CT, using ⁶⁸Ga-based tracers or [⁶⁴Cu]Cu-DOTATATE (⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE), in the management of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) is guided by appropriate use criteria (AUC). In this study, we performed systematic analyses of referral patterns and image findings of routine ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE PET/CT scans to support AUC development. Methods: We included all clinical routine ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE PET/CT scans performed between April 10, 2018 (start of clinical use), and May 2, 2022, at Copenhagen University Hospital–Rigshospitalet. We reviewed the referral text and image report of each scan and classified the indication according to clinical scenarios as listed in the AUC. Results: In total, 1,290 patients underwent 2,249 ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE PET/CT scans. Monitoring of patients with NEN seen both on conventional imaging and on SSTR PET without clinical evidence of progression was the most common indication (defined as "may be appropriate" in the AUC) and accounted for 703 (31.3%) scans. Initial staging after NEN diagnosis ("appropriate" in the AUC) and restaging after curative-intent surgery ("may be appropriate" in the AUC) accounted for 221 (9.8%) and 241 (10.7%) scans, respectively. Selection of patients eligible for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy ("appropriate" in the AUC) and restaging after peptide receptor radionuclide therapy completion ("appropriate" in the AUC) accounted for 95 (4.2%) and 115 (5.1%) scans, respectively. The number of scans performed for indications not defined in the AUC was 371 (16.5%). Image result analysis revealed no disease in 669 scans (29.7%), stable disease in 582 (25.9%), and progression in 461 (20.5%). In 99 of the 461 (21.5%) scans, progression was detected on PET but not on CT. Conclusion: Our study provided real-life data that may contribute to support development of ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE/SSTR PET/CT guidelines including AUC. Some scenarios listed as "may be appropriate" in the current AUC were frequent in our data. Monitoring of patients with NEN without clinical evidence of progression was the most frequent indication for ⁶⁴Cu-DOTATATE PET/CT, in which disease progression was detected in more than one third, and a large proportion was visible by PET only. We therefore conclude that this scenario could potentially be classified as appropriate.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Intracranial vessel wall imaging is technically challenging to implement, given the simultaneous requirements of high spatial resolution, excellent blood and CSF signal suppression, and clinically acceptable gradient times. Herein, we present our preliminary findings on the evaluation of a deep learning–optimized sequence using T1-weighted imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Clinical and optimized deep learning–based image reconstruction T1 3D Sampling Perfection with Application optimized Contrast using different flip angle Evolution (SPACE) were evaluated, comparing noncontrast sequences in 10 healthy controls and postcontrast sequences in 5 consecutive patients. Images were reviewed on a Likert-like scale by 4 fellowship-trained neuroradiologists. Scores (range, 1–4) were separately assigned for 11 vessel segments in terms of vessel wall and lumen delineation. Additionally, images were evaluated in terms of overall background noise, image sharpness, and homogeneous CSF signal. Segment-wise scores were compared using paired samples t tests.

RESULTS:

The scan time for the clinical and deep learning–based image reconstruction sequences were 7:26 minutes and 5:23 minutes respectively. Deep learning–based image reconstruction images showed consistently higher wall signal and lumen visualization scores, with the differences being statistically significant in most vessel segments on both pre- and postcontrast images. Deep learning–based image reconstruction had lower background noise, higher image sharpness, and uniform CSF signal. Depiction of intracranial pathologies was better or similar on the deep learning–based image reconstruction.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our preliminary findings suggest that deep learning–based image reconstruction–optimized intracranial vessel wall imaging sequences may be helpful in achieving shorter gradient times with improved vessel wall visualization and overall image quality. These improvements may help with wider adoption of intracranial vessel wall imaging in clinical practice and should be further validated on a larger cohort.

Spinal CSF leak care has evolved during the past several years due to pivotal advances in its diagnosis and treatment. To the reader of the American Journal of Neuroradiology (AJNR), it has been impossible to miss the exponential increase in groundbreaking research on spinal CSF leaks and spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). While many clinical specialties have contributed to these successes, the neuroradiologist has been instrumental in driving this transformation due to innovations in noninvasive imaging, novel myelographic techniques, and image-guided therapies. In this editorial, we will delve into the exciting advancements in spinal CSF leak diagnosis and treatment and celebrate the vital role of the neuroradiologist at the forefront of this revolution, with particular attention paid to CSF leak–related work published in the AJNR.

See the world's best space images from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 award

The Euclid space telescope's massive “cosmic atlas” promises to shed light on fundamental questions in physics and cosmology

Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who has worked on the JWST, catalogues the science behind its most stunning images in her new book, Webb's Universe. Here's her pick of the telescope’s best shots

It can be difficult to spot AI generated videos known as deepfakes, but there are ways to spot one if you know what to look for

The British Heart Foundation’s Reflections of Research competition showcases beautiful images captured by researchers studying heart and circulatory disease

Will Apple keep one of the few single-fee alternatives to Photoshop available?

Des voleurs ont réussi à dérober un guichet automatique en le tirant à travers la devanture vitrée de l’immeuble à l’aide d’un camion.

Neurosurgeon Vitor Mendes Pereira has grown accustomed to treating brain aneurysms with only blurry images for guidance.

Equipped with a rough picture of the labyrinthine network of arteries in the brain, he does his best to insert mesh stents or coils of platinum wire—interventions intended to promote clotting and to seal off a bulging blood vessel.

The results are not always perfect. Without a precise window into the arterial architecture at the aneurysm site, Pereira says that he and other neurovascular specialists occasionally misplace these implants, leaving patients at a heightened risk of stroke, clotting, inflammation, and life-threatening ruptures. But a new fiber-optic imaging probe offers hope for improved outcomes.

Pereira et al./Science Translational Medicine

According to Pereira’s early clinical experience, the technology—a tiny snake-like device that winds its way through the intricate maze of brain arteries and, using spirals of light, captures high-resolution images from the inside-out—provides an unprecedented level of structural detail that enhances the ability of clinicians to troubleshoot implant placement and better manage disease complications.

“We can see a lot more information that was not accessible before,” says Pereira, director of endovascular research and innovation at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “This is, for us, an incredible step forward.”

And not just for brain aneurysms. In a report published today in Science Translational Medicine, Pereira and his colleagues describe their first-in-human experience using the platform to guide treatment for 32 people with strokes, artery hardening, and various other conditions arising from aberrant blood vessels in the brain.

Whereas before, with technologies such as CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, and x-rays, clinicians had a satellite-like view of the brain’s vascular network, now they have a Google Street View-like perspective, complete with in-depth views of artery walls, plaques, immune cell aggregates, implanted device positions, and more.

“The amount of detail you could get you would never ever see with any other imaging modality,” says Adnan Siddiqui, a neurosurgeon at the University at Buffalo, who was not involved in the research. “This technology holds promise to be able to really transform the way we evaluate success or failure of our procedures, as well as to diagnose complications before they occur.”

A Decade of Innovation

The new fiber-optic probe is flexible enough to snake through the body’s arteries and provide previously unavailable information to surgeons.Pereira et al./Science Translational Medicine

The new imaging platform is the brainchild of Giovanni Ughi, a biomedical engineer at the University of Massachusetts’ Chan Medical School in Worcester. About a decade ago, he set out to adapt a technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT) for imaging inside the brain’s arteries.

OCT relies on the backscattering of near-infrared light to create cross-sectional images with micrometer-scale spatial resolution. Although OCT had long been used in clinical settings to generate pictures from the back of the eye and from inside the arteries that supply blood to the heart, the technology had proven difficult to adapt for brain applications owing to several technical challenges.

One major challenge is that the fiber-optic probes used in the technology are typically quite stiff, making them too rigid to twist and bend through the convoluted passageways of the brain’s vasculature. Additionally, the torque cables—traditionally used to rotate the OCT lens to image surrounding vessels and devices in three dimensions as the probe retracts—were too large to fit inside the catheters that are telescopically advanced into the brain’s arteries to address blockages or other vascular issues.

“We had to invent a new technology,” Ughi explains. “Our probe had to be very, very flexible, but also very, very small to be compatible with the clinical workflow.”

To achieve these design criteria, Ughi and his colleagues altered the properties of the glass at the heart of their fiber-optic cables, devised a new system of rotational control that does away with torque cables, miniaturized the imaging lens, and made a number of other engineering innovations.

The end result: a slender probe, about the size of a fine wire, that spins 250 times per second, snapping images as it glides back through the blood vessel. Researchers flush out blood cells with a tablespoon of liquid, then manually or automatically retract the probe, revealing a section of the artery about the length of a lip balm tube.

St. Michael’s Foundation

Clinical Confirmation

After initial testing in rabbits, dogs, pigs, and human cadavers, Ughi’s team sent the device to two clinical groups: Pereira’s in Toronto and Pedro Lylyk’s at the Sagrada Familia Clinic in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Across the two groups, neurosurgeons treated the 32 participants in the latest study, snaking the imaging probe through the patients’ groins or wrists and into their brains.

The procedure was safe and well-tolerated across different anatomies, underlying disease conditions, and the complexity of prior interventions. Moreover, the information provided frequently led to actionable insights—in one case, prompting clinicians to prescribe anti-platelet drugs when hidden clots were discovered; in another, aiding in the proper placement of stents that were not flush against the arterial wall.

“We were successful in every single case,” Ughi says. “So, this was a huge confirmation that the technology is ready to move forward.”

“We can see a lot more information that was not accessible before.” —Vitor Mendes Pereira, St. Michael’s Hospital

A startup called Spryte Medical aims to do just that. According to founder and CEO David Kolstad, the company is in discussions with regulatory authorities in Europe, Japan, and the United States to determine the steps necessary to bring the imaging probe to market.

At the same time, Spryte—with Ughi as senior director of advanced development and software engineering—is working on machine learning software to automate the image analysis process, thus simplifying diagnostics and treatment planning for clinicians.

Bolstered by the latest data, cerebrovascular specialists like Siddiqui now say they are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the imaging probe once it clears regulatory approval.

“I’m really impressed,” Siddiqui says. “This is a tool that many of us who do these procedures wish they had.”

Learn how to take simple x/y coordinates, and create map polygons shaped like holiday images, that can be plotted using SAS/Graph's PROC GMAP.

Transforma Tu Hogar para este Verano

The British Heart Foundation’s Reflections of Research competition showcases beautiful images captured by researchers studying heart and circulatory disease

Alcon Entertainment says it denied a request to use material from the film at the Tesla cybercab event.

The accounts are part of pro-Trump and pro-Harris networks sharing each other’s content multiple times a day.

Being addicted to TikTok videos makes women feel less satisfied with their bodies, thereby increasing the risk of medlinkeating disorders/medlink.

A new study suggests that rehearsing alternative outcomes of discarding through imagery rescripting may be a promising treatment strategy for individuals with hoarding disorder (!--ref1--).

Elon Musk-owned xAI has added image-understanding capabilities to its Grok AI model. This means that paid users on his social platform X, who have access to the AI chatbot, can upload an image and ask the AI questions about it. An xAI employee and the official @grok handle posted to X about the update on […]

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The U.S. said about 100,000 Russian troops have been deployed near the Ukrainian border. Satellite images show the growing presence of military equipment at several locations. Photo: Maxar Technologies

North Korea released images of earth from space, which it claims were captured by a camera attached to the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile it launched Sunday. The weapon tested appears to be one of the country’s most powerful in years. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP

Satellite images show parts of the Pacific nation of Tonga before and after a tsunami triggered by an underwater volcanic eruption damaged the archipelago’s coastline. Vast areas were blanketed in ash. Photos: Maxar Technologies/Reuters

Growing up, we often look to the people closest to us for guidance on how to face the world, especially when it comes to understanding ourselves. The way we see our reflection in the mirror, the words we use to describe

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2023]

[s.l.] : Amsterdam University Press, 2023.

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2005]