There is a moment in Finding Nemo, in which Dory makes a deep voice and says that she can speak whale.. In the real world, the chances that a Paracanthurus hepatus would want to ask a whale for help to find a clownfish are remote, but thanks to generative Artificial Intelligence, we are not that far from a fish speaking to us with the voice of Anabel Alonso .

Until now, everything we knew about animal communication we had learned with human eyes, human ears and human brain.. We have even submerged ourselves, ourselves and our junk, in the ocean and in the jungle for weeks and years to approach the impossible of perceiving the world as a gorilla or a sperm whale.. «If the lion could speak», said the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, «we would not understand it», due to the sidereal distance between our human mind, and our concepts of human, compared to the sensory and conceptual landscape of characters such as an octopus or a bat.

Artificial Intelligence aspires to become the missing link. In the tool capable of finding points of convergence between our language and any other, in the same way that we would ask it if an alien ship arrived on earth. If it is helping us to translate Babylonian texts, why is it not going to serve to convert a 34-million-year-old language and culture like that of the sperm whale, into our phonemes of barely 2.5 million?

Dozens of projects are currently investigating the potential of artificial intelligence to make us an animal Google Translator, collecting acoustic, chemical, electrical, chromatic, vibration, group dance signals and everything at the same time; putting cryptographers, linguists, marine biologists and robotics specialists to work together. And all knowing that we will find holes that seem insurmountable like the ultraviolet range of the visual spectrum of some bees or birds, or the ultrasonic range of bats, dolphins and dogs.

The Earth Species Project (ESP) is cataloging, among others, the calls of Hawaiian crows and the sound of belugas in the St. Lawrence River; Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), aims to decipher the language of sperm whales, DeepSqueak is a software that uses learning algorithms to identify, process and categorize the ultrasonic sounds of rodents; Communication and Coordination Across Scales (CCAS), has focused on the information flows of populations of meerkats, coatis, and hyenas, which it has filled with biorecorder collars.. There is also the Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, and Animals and Robots (VIHAR) Project and Interspecies Internet. In a workshop of the latter in 2019, Roger Payne, one of the discoverers of humpback whale song, assured that we could soon ask a dolphin if it is afraid of boats, or sharks, and if its mother is too, or which shark scares you the most. Even, he explained, “we could find out if dolphins lie regularly like humans…. I'd be surprised if they didn't.”

The technology could be available to anyone through a mobile phone app, as Denise Herzing, founder and director of research at the non-profit Wild Dolphin Project, warned in a 2013 TED.

Removal of a biomarker from a hyena. CCAS PROJECT

Before the advent of generative artificial intelligence, we had already taken giant steps in bioacoustics. Karen Bakker explains in the book The Sounds of Life that bats vocalize, seem to call each other by name, remember favors and can be spiteful. We know that dolphins communicate with whistles produced by the vibration of their noses, that they call each other by name, and that they speak dolphin in long conversations like Dory spoke whale.. The machine learning algorithm Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry (Chat) managed to make a new sound in the dolphin language so that they could identify it with some floating seaweed that they sometimes played with.

Within one to three years, Aza Raskin, one of the co-founders of the Earth Species Project, predicts that algorithms will be able to make new words for many animals, and that a crow or a whale will not be able to tell that they are not talking to one of them. theirs, although there is a problem: “We may be able to start a conversation before we understand what we are saying.”

Logic tells us that we will have it easier with gorillas, more complicated with the dance of bees to signal nectar, and almost impossible, for example, with the quasi-alien biology of octopuses, and to demonstrate an intelligence capable of opening jars, solving simple mathematical operations, boycotting laboratory lights with jets of water, escaping from a tank when no one is looking, or putting away objects that are of no use to you, perhaps just because they look pretty to you. The last common ancestor we share with chimpanzees lived between six and eight million years ago, while the last one we share with octopuses lived in the Precambrian seas almost 700 million years ago.

A drone takes data from a sperm whale in the Interspecies Internet project. OCEAN ALLIANCE

The main objective of all this would be the conservation of species, recognizing their needs, their perception of the world and life, looking for their well-being and perhaps that they teach us things, for example, to save the planet, or discover their plans to attack us.. «More than 8 million species share our planet, but we only understand the language of one. A better understanding of animal communication in general could inject more empathy and interest into conservation efforts, which in turn could help reduce some of the problems humans have caused ecosystems around the world,” says Katie. Zacarian, executive director of the Earth Species Project (ESP).

But scientists also warn of certain risks, because animals can be more easily tricked into luring them for consumption or exploitation, like the acoustic signals already used by poachers, and even for military purposes.. Advanced chatbots allow researchers to initiate a conversation with an animal before they actually know what they are saying, which could lead to unintended effects, as noted in an article published in Science.. For example, the reproduction of sounds by wild humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) could unexpectedly trigger anything from mass strandings to changes in their singing at ocean level.

The same tool would also serve to create soundscapes beyond individual communication, and develop tools capable of examining the movements of animals recorded by satellite in search of signs of disease, stress or attempts to escape from humans.

Among the researchers who have done the most to communicate with animals, we could point out the primatologist Jane Goodall, who at 89 stated after learning about these AI programs: «Since I was a child, I dreamed of understanding what animals say. How wonderful that it is now a real possibility.

The Moon will leave us a very dark sky during this weekend as the new moon will take place on Monday, July 17. So let's take advantage to enjoy the planets, there are five visible to the naked eye and forming beautiful scenes in the sky.

At sunset

The Moon will not be an obstacle to observe the three rocky planets of the solar system, brothers of the Earth, which are visible in the evening twilight, since we are on the eve of the next new moon, which will happen on July 17 in the constellation of Gemini.

One hour after sunset, it is advisable to face northwest in a place with a clear horizon and free from light pollution.. Extremely bright Venus dominates the show, but a little higher (about ten degrees away) we can also see the discreet reddish glow of Mars. And, between both planets, we can distinguish the star Regulus (from the Latin “little king”), the brightest in the constellation Leo, which exhibits a beautiful bluish glow.

Jupiter and the Pleiades, July 15 and 16 Stellarium/RB

Venus reaches its maximum brightness of the year these days as it is extremely close to Earth, only 55 million kilometers away (just over a third of the Earth-Sun distance).. It is so close that, with binoculars, it is possible to see the phase it is in, with only a fine arc of the planetary disk illuminated by the Sun.. You have to take advantage of these days to observe it because as the month progresses, its apparent distance from the Sun will decrease and, at the end of the month, both stars will be practically aligned and will disappear together at sunset.. Venus will not be visible until late August when it will reappear in the eastern sunrises.

This weekend Mars continues to appear much weaker than Venus, because in recent months, as it orbits the Sun, it has been moving away from Earth. It is now 2.3 times farther than the Sun and 6.4 times farther than Venus.. This great distance, together with its own characteristics, makes Mars now appear about 400 times less bright than Venus.

To complete this picture, we can also observe the always elusive Mercury, very low above the horizon, but a little higher with each passing day from July 16 to 21.. To observe it, it is very important to stand before a horizon that is well free of obstacles such as trees or buildings.

At dawn

Early risers who look at the sky before sunrise will be lucky enough to see two giant planets. To do this, we recommend looking northeast one or two hours before solar rising, that is, around 5 or 6 in the morning.

Jupiter will already be low above the horizon, but despite the colors that come on at dawn, this giant planet is so extremely bright that it can be seen without difficulty.. These days in the middle of the month, Jupiter rises at about 2:00 a.m. (peninsular time) and from that moment it is possible to see its calm ascent over the horizon. To its left, as we look at the sky, we can see the Pleiades (or “the seven sisters”), a beautiful stellar cluster that has been the subject of legends and stories invented by practically all civilizations and throughout the entire history of mankind. .

We have been able to see the thin edge of the waning Moon in the sunrises of this past week, on Saturday the 15th its position in Taurus is very close to that of the great reddish star Aldebaran. On the unilluminated lunar disk we will be able to observe the always delicate ashen light, a glow that comes from the reflection of sunlight on our planet, which intrigued astronomers for centuries. The first to give a scientific explanation of its origin was Galileo.

To the south is Saturn, which these days rises in the east at sunset and remains visible throughout the night.. The giant with the rings rises about 40 minutes earlier each day and, therefore, if we look at it one night after another at the same time, we will see that it is gaining in height with each passing day.

If you are lucky enough to observe Saturn with the help of a small telescope, you will be able to get a beautiful view of its fascinating rings because, now, the inclination of these is small, making the perspective on the planet particularly beautiful.. And also with a telescope, it is now possible to observe Neptune whose apparent position in the sky is halfway between Jupiter and Saturn.. Finally, such a telescope would also be useful for looking at Uranus, which lies to the east of Jupiter.

These hot summer nights are not the most favorable for professional astronomy because they are short and, in addition, the high temperatures increase atmospheric turbulence.. But, for the average citizen, who spends more time outside enjoying the good weather, these are excellent nights to look up at the sky, especially at twilight, and thus enjoy these beautiful celestial images that remind us of our origins. and our place in the cosmos.

Rafael Bachiller is director of the National Astronomical Observatory (National Geographic Institute) and academic of the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain.

Nipple discharge, fat necrosis, intraductal papillomas, fibroadenomas, cysts, mastitis, tumors…. There are many diseases, benign and malignant, that can affect the breasts at any age in a woman's life.. In order to better diagnose and treat these conditions, it is convenient to study and know breast biology well.. To this end, the largest and most complete map of breast tissue in the world has been created, a monumental project that has lasted seven years and that Nature publishes this Thursday.

Pulling joke, it is not a simple world map of 'tits'. This is a work that has used methods of spatial genomics and single-cell sequencing to describe more than 714,000 cells from 126 women, highlighting 12 main cell types and 58 cell states.

“We were able to take advantage of many technologies to define, in a very detailed and careful way, all the different cell types and cell states in each of the major areas of the breast.. We hope this tool will be very useful for anyone studying breast cancer and other diseases such as mastitis, as well as breast development or lactation failure,” says Nicholas Navin, Head of the Department of Systems Biology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, whose researchers are leading the study with the University of California at Irvine and the Baylor, Texas, School of Medicine.

“Until now there were approximations, that is, it was not such a large number and not in such a systematic way, but the technology to be able to genomically analyze a cell or a very specific cell subtype has been developed for a few years. It is an expensive technique, quite laborious and requires very powerful computer analysis. But we still need to be able to take him to the clinic,” says Alberto Orta, an oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid.

• The largest human cell atlas to date has been published
• A detailed cellular atlas of endometriosis is developed
• Developed and defined the cell map of the human uterus

The Human Breast Cell Atlas is part of the global Human Cell Atlas consortium supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which uses the latest technologies to generate cellular reference maps for every organ system in the human body.

The human body has around 200 different cell types, 12 of which are found in breast tissue.. Previous studies on breast tissue focused primarily on epithelial cells, which are known to give rise to cancer, but non-epithelial cell types have not been studied in depth using genomic approaches.. New technologies have allowed researchers to perform a very detailed classification of these 12 cell types in the breast: three types of cells: epithelial, lymphatic, vascular, myeloid, T cells, B cells, adipocytes, mast cells, fibroblasts, and perivascular cells.

Mapping techniques have allowed researchers to look at the protein and RNA composition of samples to understand how and where different types of cells are found.. Using these techniques, they have been able to determine the composition of known cell types and new cell states in the four main regions currently known in the breast: the lobular milk-producing areas (mammary glands), the milk ducts that transport milk, the connective tissue composed of fibroblasts and areas or adipose tissues.

Large number of 'natural killer' cells

The researchers were surprised to see that 16.7% of all cells found in normal breast tissue were made up of immune cells, including the three main types: myeloid, 'natural killer' (NK) T cells, and B cells (they thought they would find few immune cells in normal tissue). They also found an unexpectedly high number (7.4%) of perivascular cells, such as pericytes.

“The breast is a tissue that has many cells, like all tissues, and one in particular is the epithelium, which are the cells that line the cavities, the ducts, they are lining cells. Most of the cancers that we call adenocarcinoma and carcinoma derive from this epithelium, which is why we have always focused on this type of cell.. However, this has changed in recent years, now it is considered as if it were a biological ecosystem in which there are different participants: we have tumor cells, but we know that there are many other entities around and coexisting, there are the cells of the immune system – that every day are more in the front line with immunotherapy treatments-, the cells of the vascular tissue, that is, of the vessels, we also have a lot of supporting tissue, fibroblasts…”, explains Orta.

The medical oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center Madrid adds that this concept that was not taken into account before is what is called the tumor microenvironment. “Until now, what we could do was analyze in some way what kind of very crude components appeared there in the tumor microenvironment, but what this type of Atlas or technique has allowed is to describe the different types of cells that we find in the different compartments of cell types. For example, different types of cells of the immune system that we find in normal breast tissue, different types of cells that we also find in supporting tissue, and their characteristics, so that in the future we will have the possibility of putting into context the treatments or the specific characteristics”.

Differences by age and ethnic origin

For this Atlas, researchers have collected and examined 220 breast tissue samples from 132 women who underwent breast reduction surgery or a mastectomy.. Of these, 46% were Caucasian, 41% African American, 7% Hispanic, and 6% of unknown ethnicity.. This map also takes into account individual factors such as ethnicity, age, BMI, obesity, stage of menopause, pregnancy, and number of births, providing a wealth of information for the research community.

Thus, African-American women are disproportionately affected by aggressive breast cancer subtypes, such as triple-negative breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer, but not much is known about the causes of this disparity.. There are also significant differences in the breast tissues of women older than 50 compared to younger women, and differences in cell states that depend on the stage of menopause.

In any case, more studies are needed to better understand the functional role of many of these cellular states and focus on other factors that can significantly advance knowledge of the biology and diseases that can affect the human breast.. “To get an idea, it's like when the human genome was described. It was an important milestone, it took many years and cost a lot of money, but today we can do a feature analysis in less than a week and at a reasonable cost, we have a lot of genomes sequenced and a lot of things have been developed. Well, this is something similar, that is, it is something that in some way sows a base and that, of course, will have tremendous applicability in the future,” concludes Orta.

In the 80s, a series called Once upon a time…the human body taught us through cartoons how our body works, from how it digests to how our immune system manages every time a disease

While the white man, devoured by greed and hidden under the banner of some god, fought in countless wars, the indigenous peoples used their power plants, their psychedelic medicines, to seek harmony with nature.

This 2,400 m2 center offers 840 face-to-face places, advanced technology and guaranteed practices in the best public and private health centers and institutions in Madrid; and has the quality guarantee of both institutions. The 7 official health cycles of Vocational Training (FP), medium and higher grade, are taught there, with which the professional profiles most in demand by the sector are formed.

90% employability

According to the Ministry of Education, Spain exceeded one million FP students in the 21/22 academic year, with an increase of almost 29%. 65% of those who graduate in health vocational training enter the labor market in what they have been trained for. This figure, which is higher than the average, is even more accentuated among FP metrodora students, who reach 90% employability.

The public-private collaboration between Metrodora and the Chamber increases the supply of quality healthcare VET places in Madrid and offers the best healthcare VET training options, training that is among the most requested due to the shortage of professionals and the growing needs of a increasingly aging population.

Hospital immersion in the educational center

In order for the training to be as complete as possible, especially in the health field, the technical equipment available to the student in the educational center is of particular importance.. In this sense, the Metrodora FP-Cámara Center of Excellence in Madrid has face-to-face facilities that recreate real hospital environments, with state-of-the-art healthcare technology; and that guarantee the student's hospital immersion from the first day, in the educational center itself.

Specifically, this new center has clinical simulation and virtual reality classrooms, incubators for R+D+i health experiences, premium digital resources, and laboratories equipped with high technology for different specialties: Radiopharmacy, Radiology, Molecular Biology, and Anatomy. Pathology, Dosimetric Planning, Radiotherapy, Biochemistry and Hematology, CT/MR/ECO/MM and Microbiology. In addition, it includes Nursing and Laboratory workshops, and Cytiodiagnostic and Oral Hygiene Technical classrooms.

Technical and human training

In addition to technical training, there is a growing need for professionals who master transversal skills, such as communication or teamwork.. In this sense, the Metrodora FP-Cámara Center of Excellence in Madrid incorporates the Metrodora educational model, called FP Experience, which addresses the technical and human training of the student. In this way, the professional impulse and the vocation are worked equally so that the student makes a difference in the care of others, in line with what the health sector and society as a whole demand.

official cycles

Classes begin in September and cover 7 official cycles of health vocational training, medium and higher grade, including those with the highest employability, such as: Auxiliary Nursing Care Technician, Higher Technician in Pathological Anatomy and Cytodiagnosis, Higher Technician in Clinical Laboratory and Biomedical, Higher Technician in Imaging for Diagnosis and Nuclear Medicine, Higher Technician in Radiology and Dosimetry, Higher Technician in Oral Hygiene and Higher Technician in Dietetics.

Internships and employment exchange

For those who seek to enter the job market immediately after finishing their VT studies, thanks to the more than 40 years of experience of the VT centers of the metrodora education group, students have guaranteed internships in the best research institutes, companies medical scientists and public and private hospitals in the Community of Madrid, such as: La Paz, the Jiménez Díaz Foundation, the Gregorio Marañón, the Ramón y Cajal, the Hospital del Niño Jesús, Sanitas, Quirónsalud, Ruber, CEMTRO, Vithas and the Hospital Clínica de Navarra, among others; and have access to qualified employment exchanges.

Quality guarantee

This advanced center, tailor-made for what the health sector demands and student-oriented, has the endorsement of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce, an important driving force behind the Madrid economy, which is linked to training and committed to the improvement of society through innovation and employability.

It also incorporates the extensive experience of the metrodora education group, a specialist in health and sports training, which integrates 17 reference training centers, covers all educational levels (FP, higher and continuous) and offers itineraries to train and stay updated throughout all professional life. In the healthcare vocational training area, metrodora has leading centers that have been helping their students develop their vocation and start their professional career for more than 40 years at the hands of the best healthcare institutions.