Menu

Blog

Page 992

Dec 12, 2023

Childhood Cat Exposure Once Again Linked to Schizophrenia

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

People may be more than two times likelier to develop schizophrenia-related disorders if they owned cats during childhood than if they didn’t:


Living with cats as a child has once again been linked to mental health disorders, because our furry friends apparently can’t catch a break.

In a new meta-analysis published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, Australian researchers identified 17 studies between 1980 and 2023 that seemed to associate cat ownership in childhood with schizophrenia-related disorders — a sample size narrowed down from a whopping 1,915 studies that dealt with cats during that 43-year time period.

Continue reading “Childhood Cat Exposure Once Again Linked to Schizophrenia” »

Dec 12, 2023

Research paves the way for predicting disease progression for incurable cancer

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Researchers have come one step closer to answering why, in some patients, a type of lymphoma changes from indolent to aggressive, and in particular, they are closer to identifying which patients are at high risk of this change happening.

Part of the answer lies in the in the tumor, explains Associate Professor Maja Ludvigsen from the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University. Maja is one of the authors of a new study on the subject, which has just been published in the journal Blood Advances.

Follicular lymphoma is an incurable lymphoma. But unlike many other cancers, it is not always aggressive from the start. This means that patients with the disease have to live with the uncertainty of when—and how—the cancer will develop. It also means frequent visits to the hospital to monitor any acute developments.

Dec 12, 2023

What’s so hard about measuring the strong force?

Posted by in category: futurism

The ATLAS collaboration recently measured the strength of the strong force to a record level of precision, but there’s still long way to go toward understanding this fundamental force.

Dec 12, 2023

Supercomputer Stout brews breakthroughs

Posted by in categories: innovation, supercomputing

Stout has earned a spot on the Top500 computers list that was released Nov. 13.

Dec 12, 2023

Spinning up control: Propeller shape helps direct nanoparticles (w/video)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, nanotechnology

Self-propelled nanoparticles could potentially advance drug delivery and lab-on-a-chip systems — but they are prone to go rogue with random, directionless movements. Now, an international team of researchers has developed an approach to rein in the synthetic particles.

Led by Igor Aronson, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Mathematics at Penn State, the team redesigned the nanoparticles into a propeller shape to better control their movements and increase their functionality. They published their results in the journal Small (“Multifunctional Chiral Chemically-Powered Micropropellers for Cargo Transport and Manipulation”).

A propeller-shaped nanoparticle spins counterclockwise, triggered by a chemical reaction with hydrogen peroxide, followed by an upward movement, triggered by a magnetic field. The optimized shape of these particles allows researchers to better control the nanoparticles’ movements and to pick up and move cargo particles. (Video: Active Biomaterials Lab)

Dec 12, 2023

Internet Archive Audio

Posted by in categories: futurism, internet

Future life magazine posted as a novelty.

Dec 12, 2023

OMNI Magazine Archive

Posted by in category: futurism

When I was growing up this was the closest thing to a futurist magazine I could find.


Omni was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science, parapsychology, and short works of science fiction and fantasy. It was published as a print version between October 1978 and 1995. The first Omni e-magazine was published on CompuServe in 1986 and the magazine switched to a purely online presence in 1996. It ceased publication abruptly in late 1997, following the death of co-founder Kathy Keeton; activity on the magazine’s website ended the following April.

Dec 12, 2023

Commercial Space Stations on Track: NASA’s Partners Reach Key Milestones

Posted by in category: space travel

“We are ending the year on a high note with multiple important milestones being completed by our partners,” said Angela Hart. “Over the past few months, we have been able to dig into the details of the specific hardware and processes of these stations and are moving forward to multiple comprehensive design reviews next year.”


NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) has been a become of scientific value and hope since its first module was launched in 1998, having since expanded into a football-sized behemoth large enough to be observed in detail from Earth. However, all good things come to an end, as the ISS is scheduled for “retirement” in 2031 by being steered into the Earth’s atmosphere where it will crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, it’s only natural to think about life after the ISS, which is why NASA has recently taken steps to develop future commercial space stations from Axiom Space, Blue Origin, and Nanoracks, with the goal of the United States working to maintain a constant human presence in low Earth orbit (LEO) long after the ISS has retired.

Axiom Space, which has already launched two privately funded missions to the ISS (Ax-1 and Ax-2) with two more being planned for 2024 (Ax-3 and Ax-4), is working hard with NASA to develop its Axiom Station with the first module, Axiom Hab One, currently scheduled to be launched and attached to the ISS sometime in 2026. During its time there, Hab One will undergo significant tests and evaluations pertaining to ensure they can hold seals and function in the vacuum of space.

Continue reading “Commercial Space Stations on Track: NASA’s Partners Reach Key Milestones” »

Dec 12, 2023

Scientists Reveal a New Way Our DNA Can Make Novel Genes From Scratch

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Scientists have discovered how our DNA can use a genetic fast-forward button to make new genes for quick adaptation to our ever-changing environments.

During an investigation into DNA replication errors, researchers from Finland’s University of Helsinki found that certain single mutations produce palindromes, which read the same backward and forward. Under the right circumstances, these can evolve into microRNA (miRNA) genes.

These tiny, simple genes play a significant role in regulating other genes. Many miRNA genes have been around for a long time in evolutionary history, but scientists discovered that in some animal groups, like primates, brand-new miRNA genes suddenly appear.

Dec 12, 2023

Webb’s Wonders: A New Holiday Image of Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Posted by in category: cosmology

Just in time for the holidays, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently used its Near-Infrared (NIRCam) instrument to capture stunning images of the massive supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A (Cas A), comes after JWST used its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to capture its own images of Cas A earlier this year. Along with being comprised of different colors, each image provides different details of Cas A, with some features being visible in one image that aren’t visible in the other image. In either case, this most recent NIRCam image continues to offer stunning insights into one of the most well-known supernova remnants that spans 10 light-years in diameter and located approximately 11,000 light-years from Earth.

Recent image of the supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A (Cas A), taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, revealing details like never before. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University of Gent))

“With NIRCam’s resolution, we can now see how the dying star absolutely shattered when it exploded, leaving filaments akin to tiny shards of glass behind,” said Dr. Danny Milisavljevic, who is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy ay Purdue University and is the research team lead. “It’s really unbelievable after all these years studying Cas A to now resolve those details, which are providing us with transformational insight into how this star exploded.”

Page 992 of 11,186First989990991992993994995996Last