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Archive for the ‘biological’ category: Page 121

Sep 3, 2021

Researchers use gold film to enhance quantum sensing with qubits in a 2D material

Posted by in categories: biological, engineering, quantum physics

Quantum sensing is being used to outpace modern sensing processes by applying quantum mechanics to design and engineering. These optimized processes will help beat the current limits in processes like studying magnetic materials or studying biological samples. In short, quantum is the next frontier in sensing technology.

As recently as 2,019 spin defects known as qubits were discovered in 2D materials (hexagonal boron nitride) which could amplify the field of ultrathin . These scientists hit a snag in their discovery which has unleashed a scientific race to resolve the issues. Their sensitivity was limited by their low brightness and the low contrast of their magnetic resonance signal. As recently as two weeks ago on August 9 2021, Nature Physics published an article titled “quantum sensors go flat,” where they highlighted the benefits and also outlined current shortfalls of this new and exciting means of sensing via qubits in 2D materials.

A team of researchers at Purdue took on this challenge of overcoming qubit signal shortcomings in their work to develop ultrathin quantum sensors with 2D materials. Their publication in Nano Letters was published today, September 2 2021, and they have solved some of the critical issues and yielded much better results through experimentation.

Sep 2, 2021

How Computationally Complex Is a Single Neuron?

Posted by in categories: biological, robotics/AI

Computational neuroscientists taught an artificial neural network to imitate a biological neuron. The result offers a new way to think about the complexity of single brain cells.

Sep 2, 2021

Scientists discover on-off switch for bacteria that breathe electricity

Posted by in category: biological

Deep beneath the seabed, teensy bacteria “exhale” electricity through long, skinny snorkels, and now, scientists have discovered how to switch these microbes’ electric breath on and off.

Sep 2, 2021

Cat genome’s ‘dark matter’ may hold clues to our health

Posted by in categories: biological, biotech/medical, cosmology, genetics

Cats have many superior genetic mutations like night vision even immunity to the current pandemic. If we can find the key to their immunity we could find a way to have near super human immunity.


“Getting a better understanding of the cat’s biology and genetic makeup will help us better understand the biology of humans, too,” says Leslie Lyons. (Credit: Lottie/Flickr)

The findings, published in Trends in Genetics, come after decades of genome DNA sequencing by Leslie Lyons, professor of comparative medicine in the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. Their cat genome assembly is nearly 100% complete.

Sep 2, 2021

ZENET is my chosen interface with MVT uploading

Posted by in categories: biological, space

The game is the ORIGINAL Kabbalah imo. Here is Hymn to the 10 Bau of Amen from “The Slates of Zizyphus“
Awake being rested, May you awake in peace!
May Amen awake in life and peace.
May (name) awake in peace!

[FIRST bA] “bA in his ever-lasting flame“
Horus who is in the Nomes {districts}
Who illumines the Two Lands.
Bull who ejaculates Nun.
Who lives eternally.
In his name of Rah, Every day.

[SECOND bA] “bA in his Left Eye“
The one living of births in his left eye.
Whom everybody loves.
In his effective form of Moon.
God of hearts and minds.

Continue reading “ZENET is my chosen interface with MVT uploading” »

Sep 1, 2021

Developing Cohesive, Domestic Rare Earth Element (REE) Technologies

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biological

Program aims to fortify supply chain by utilizing bioengineering approaches to facilitate REE separation and purification.


Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are a group of 17 similar metals that are critical material components of many DoD systems, including lasers, precision-guided weapons, magnets for motors, and other devices.1 Although the U.S. has adequate domestic REE resources, its supply chain is vulnerable due to dependence on foreign entities for separation and purification of these elements. “Biomining,” an approach that uses microbes to extract or separate target metals like gold or copper from a variety of sources is not yet useful for REEs because of poor specificity and selectivity of the microbes for REEs. The Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program aims to leverage advances in microbial and biomolecular engineering to develop a scalable bio-based separation and purification strategy for REEs using under-developed domestic sources.

“The EMBER program will aim to fill a critical DoD supply chain gap” stated Dr. Linda Chrisey, EMBER program manager. “The program will target the development of bioengineered organisms/biomolecular approaches for REE purification, then translate these to practical biomining modules (e.g., biosorbent, biofiltration) that can be integrated with domestic REE sources.”

Continue reading “Developing Cohesive, Domestic Rare Earth Element (REE) Technologies” »

Sep 1, 2021

Interspecifics: We are a nomadic multispecies collectivity experimenting in the intersection between art and science

Posted by in categories: biological, science

We embrace hybridized practices among different disciplines and living organisms, open knowledge and precarity as a challenge. Our current lines of research are based in the use of sound to understa…

Sep 1, 2021

Synthetic Biology Enables Microbes To Build Muscle Fibers That Are Tougher Than Kevlar

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biological

No animals were harmed in the production of the synthetic muscle fibers, which are tougher than Kevlar.

Would you wear clothing made of muscle fibers? Use them to tie your shoes or even wear them as a belt? It may sound a bit odd, but if those fibers could endure more energy before breaking than cotton, silk, nylon, or even Kevlar, then why not?

Don’t worry, this muscle could be produced without harming a single animal.

Sep 1, 2021

The fungal mind: on the evidence for mushroom intelligence

Posted by in categories: biological, neuroscience

Mushrooms and other kinds of fungi are often associated with witchcraft and are the subjects of longstanding superstitions. Witches dance inside fairy rings of mushrooms according to German folklore, while a French fable warns that anyone foolish enough to step inside these ‘sorcerer’s rings’ will be cursed by enormous toads with bulging eyes. These impressions come from the poisonous and psychoactive peculiarities of some species, as well as the overnight appearance of toadstool ring-formations.

Given the magical reputation of the fungi, claiming that they might be conscious is dangerous territory for a credentialled scientist. But in recent years, a body of remarkable experiments have shown that fungi operate as individuals, engage in decision-making, are capable of learning, and possess short-term memory. These findings highlight the spectacular sensitivity of such ‘simple’ organisms, and situate the human version of the mind within a spectrum of consciousness that might well span the entire natural world.

Before we explore the evidence for fungal intelligence, we need to consider the slippery vocabulary of cognitive science. Consciousness implies awareness, evidence of which might be expressed in an organism’s responsiveness or sensitivity to its surroundings. There is an implicit hierarchy here, with consciousness present in a smaller subset of species, while sensitivity applies to every living thing. Until recently, most philosophers and scientists awarded consciousness to big-brained animals and excluded other forms of life from this honour. The problem with this favouritism, as the cognitive psychologist Arthur Reber has pointed out, is that it’s impossible to identify a threshold level of awareness or responsiveness that separates conscious animals from the unconscious. We can escape this dilemma, however, once we allow ourselves to identify different versions of consciousness across a continuum of species, from apes to amoebas. That’s not to imply that all organisms possess rich emotional lives and are capable of thinking, although fungi do appear to express the biological rudiments of these faculties.

Aug 31, 2021

What’s next for lab-grown human embryos?

Posted by in categories: biological, genetics

As work in real and model embryos movesforward, scientists are keen to know how similar the two really are. Finding out how models differ in their molecular details, and how their cells behave, is the main reason researchers wish to push beyond 14 days in real embryos. “We can learn a lot from a model,” says Jesse Veenvliet, a developmental biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. “But it’s important to know where it goes wrong.”


Researchers are now permitted to grow human embryos in the lab for longer than 14 days. Here’s what they could learn.