This is a short summary talk by Ivan Kroupin (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XjxueRYAAAAJ&hl=en) and Tian Chen Zeng (https://www.researchgate.net/…
Category: biological
Materials with self-adaptive mechanical responses have long been sought after in material science. Using computer simulations, researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad, now show how such adaptive behavior can emerge in active glasses, which are widely used as models for biological tissues.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Physics, provide new insights—ranging from how cells might regulate their glassiness to aiding in the design of new metamaterials.
Glasses (or amorphous solids) are materials whose components lack any particular ordering. Contrast this with a crystal, where atoms are arranged in neat, repeating patterns on a well-defined lattice. While crystals are ordered and nearly perfect, amorphous materials are defined by their disorder.
This is a ~20 minute very rapid talk reviewing ideas around the scaling of intelligence in unconventional substrates.
Terraforming Mars is widely discussed but rarely studied rigorously. This Perspective advocates for more research on the topic, ranging from warming methods to biological engineering, to clarify feasibility, costs, ethics and planetary impacts before any ambitious, large-scale attempts.
ASILAB is excited to introduce Asinoid – the world’s first true artificial superintelligence built on the architecture of the human brain. Designed to think, learn, and evolve autonomously like a living organism.
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The phenomenon of biological ultraweak photon emission (UPE), that is, extremely low-intensity emission (10 − 103 photons/cm2/sec) in the spectral range of 200 − 1,000 nm, has been observed in all living systems that have been examined. Here we report experiments that exemplify the ability of novel imaging systems to detect variations in UPE for a set of physiologically important scenarios. We use EMCCD and CCD cameras to capture single visible-wavelength photons with low noise and quantum efficiencies higher than 90%. Our investigation reveals significant contrast between the UPE from live vs. dead mice. In plants we observed that an increase in temperature and injuries both caused an increase in UPE intensity. Moreover, chemical treatments modified the UPE emission characteristics of plants, particularly the application of an anesthetic (benzocaine) to injury, which showed the highest emission among the compounds tested. As a result, UPE imaging provides the possibility of non-invasive label-free imaging of vitality in animals and the responses of plants to stress.
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Crystals are not alive, yet they grow, form complex structures, and even conduct electricity. Could life emerge from crystals rather than carbon-based molecules? Explore the intriguing possibility of crystal-based lifeforms, the challenges they would face, and the conditions where they might thrive. We journey to five exotic worlds—Vulcan, Ribbon World, Longenacht, Telluride, and Tempest—each offering unique environments where crystalline life might take hold. Could such life develop naturally, or might humanity one day engineer it? Join us as we dive into the cutting-edge science and speculative possibilities of crystalline biology.
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/ discord Credits: Crystal Aliens Episode 436a; March 1, 2024 Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik, Real Courte Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator.
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Credits:
Crystal Aliens.
Episode 436a; March 1, 2024
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik, Real Courte.
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
How did life originate? Ancient proteins may hold important clues. Every organism on Earth is made up of proteins. Although all organisms—even single-celled ones—have complex protein structures now, this wasn’t always the case.
For years, evolutionary biochemists assumed that most ancient proteins emerged from a simple signature, called a motif. However, new research suggests that this motif, without the surrounding protein, isn’t as consequential as it seemed. The study is published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
The international team of researchers was led by Lynn Kamerlin, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Georgia Research Alliance Vasser Woolley Chair in Molecular Design, and Liam Longo, a specially appointed associate professor at the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Institute of Science Tokyo, in Japan.
Modeling gene regulatory networks using euler’s method and fourth-order runge kutta methods.
A multi-institutional collaboration of synthetic biology research centers in China has developed a genetically engineered strain of Vibrio natriegens capable of bioremediating complex organic pollutants, including biphenyl, phenol, naphthalene, dibenzofuran, and toluene, in saline wastewater and soils.
Complex organic pollutants are prevalent in industrial wastewater generated by petroleum refining and chlor-alkali processing. Due to their chemical stability and resistance to natural degradation, these compounds persist in marine and saline environments, posing ecological risks and potential threats to public health.
Microbial bioremediation methods typically use consortia of wild-type bacterial strains, yet these organisms demonstrate limited capacity to degrade complex pollutant mixtures. Elevated salinity levels further inhibit bacterial activity, diminishing bioremediation efficacy in industrial and marine wastewater. Developing bacterial strains capable of degrading pollutants while tolerating saline conditions remains a critical challenge.