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Category: biological – Page 121

Scientists at Northwestern Medicine are using new advances in CRISPR gene-editing technology to uncover new biology that could lead to longer-lasting treatments and new therapeutic strategies for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

The HIV epidemic has been overlooked during the COVID-19 pandemic but represents a critical and ongoing threat to with an estimated 1.5 million new infections in the last year alone.

Drug developers and research teams have been searching for cures and new treatment modalities for HIV for over 40 years but are limited by their understanding of how the virus establishes infection in the . How does this small, unassuming virus with only 12 proteins—and a genome only a third of the size of SARS-CoV-2—hijack the body’s cells to replicate and spread across systems?

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Mar 31, 2022

Our 91st episode with a summary and discussion of last week’s big AI news!
Outline:

Applications & Business.

Meet the DeepMind mafia: These 18 alumni from Google’s AI research lab are raising millions for their own startups, from climate to crypto.

Nvidia unveils new technology to speed up AI, launches new supercomputer.

Continue reading “DeepMind Mafia, DishBrain, PRIME, ZooKeeper AI, Instant NeRF” | >

Computer scientists at the University of California San Diego are showing how soil microbes can be harnessed to fuel low-power sensors. This opens new possibilities for microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which can power soil hydration sensors and other devices.

Led by Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Assistant Professor Pat Pannuto and Gabriel Marcano, a Ph.D. student working with Pannuto, this research was presented today at the first Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) Workshop on No Power and Low Power Internet of Things.

“Our most immediate applications are in agricultural settings, trying to create closed-loop controls. First for watering, but eventually for fertilization and treatment: sensing nitrates, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium. This could help us understand how to limit run off and other effects,” said Pannuto, senior author on the study titled “Soil Power? Can Microbial Fuel Cells Power Non-Trivial Sensors?”

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In biology, symmetry is typically the rule rather than the exception. Our bodies have left and right halves, starfish radiate from a central point and even trees, though not largely symmetrical, still produce symmetrical flowers. In fact, asymmetry in biology seems quite rare by comparison.

Does this mean that evolution has a preference for symmetry? In a new study, an international group of researchers, led by Iain Johnston, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Bergen in Norway, says it does.

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Which, to me, sounds both unimaginably complex and sublimely simple.

Sort of like, perhaps, like our brains.

Building chips with analogs of biological neurons and dendrites and neural networks like our brains is also key to the massive efficiency gains Rain Neuromorphics is claiming: 1,000 times more efficient than existing digital chips from companies like Nvidia.

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Research On Humans Adapting, Living & Working In Space — Colonel (ret) Dr. Samantha Weeks, Ph.D., Polaris Dawn, Science & Research Director

Colonel (ret) Dr. Samantha “Combo” Weeks, Ph.D. is the Science & Research Director, of the Polaris Dawn Program (https://polarisprogram.com/dawn/), a planned private human spaceflight mission, operated by SpaceX on behalf of Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, planned to launch using the Crew Dragon capsule.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned missions in the Polaris Program (https://polarisprogram.com/), which endeavors to rapidly advance human spaceflight capabilities by demonstrating new technologies and conducting extensive scientific research to expand our knowledge of humans adapting, living and working in space. Much of this research also has purpose and applicability to improve life here on Earth.

Colonel Dr. Weeks, is a retired United States Air Force Colonel, with over 2,200 hours flying the F-15C, F-16, and T-38, including 105 combat hours. She commanded at the squadron, group, and wing level in the Air Force, and today also serves a corporate Vice President at the Shift4 Payments company, focusing on transformation and change management. Her position as Science & Research Director with Polaris comes after two and a half decades of focus on human performance in aviation.

Colonel Dr. Weeks has a BS in Biology from the United States Air Force Academy, a Masters in Human Relations from University of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. in Military Strategy / Leadership from the United States Air Force, Air University.

Continue reading “Dr. Samantha Weeks, Ph.D. — Polaris Dawn — Science & Research Director” | >