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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,944

Motor Trend reimagines the ‘Apple Car,’ sees autonomous rideshare in Apple’s future

American auto magazine Motor Trend is back to rehash its initial predictions for Apple’s yet unannounced “Apple Car”, this time updating it for the “inevitable” autonomous future.

The new report is, once again, a think piece that collates a collection of rumors into Motor Trend’s best guess at what Apple might have in the works.

It doesn’t take long for the publication to reference its first stab at imagining the “Apple Car,” one which wound up being ridiculed for being too “podlike.” Yet, as Motor Trend points out, podlike cars are being developed all over.

Scientists use ‘sticky’ DNA to build organized structures of gel blocks

Researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have used microscopic strands of DNA to guide the assembly of gel blocks that are visible to the naked eye.

The blocks, which measure up to 2mm in length and contain DNA on their surface, self-assembled in around 10–15 minutes when mixed in a solution, the scientists reported today in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

“These hydrogel blocks are, we believe, the largest objects so far that have been programmed by DNA to form organized structures,” said Dr. Vyankat Sontakke, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in the OIST Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Unit.

Retracted coronavirus (COVID-19) papers

Omuterema AkhahendaAdmin.

🤔 if it is Optimus, can I buy it with Amazon Prime.

Wojtek TekOmuterema Akhahenda free delivery.

Alan LightAdmin.

More than just free delivery: self-delivery.

We should really come up with a new term for an autonomous robot that delivers itself this way. Probably some combination of the terms “auto” (for “self”) and “bot”.… See more.

Ron FriedmanJust when I thought I have enough Tesla stocks, it looks like I’ll buy more.

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A small island nation has cooked up not 1, not 2 but 5 COVID vaccines. It’s Cuba!

Kamil MuzykaYes you are!

Nicholas MacDonald “Newton. Pfft.”

Omuterema Akhahenda shared a link.

In the early days of the COVID pandemic, Cuba decided it was going to make its own vaccine – even though vaccine development historically takes years, even decades, to bear fruit.

Why did the Communist island nation decide to go it alone?

It didn’t want to rely on the whims of foreign governments or international pharmaceutical companies to immunize its people. Cuba didn’t even sign up for the COVAX program, backed by the World Health Organization, that was promising to pur… See more.

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Ivermectin shows ‘antiviral effect’ against COVID, Japanese company says

Info from Japan.

TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) — Japanese trading and pharmaceuticals company Kowa Co Ltd (7807.T) on Monday said that anti-parasite drug ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against Omicron and other coronavirus variants in joint non-clinical research.

The company, which has been working with Tokyo’s Kitasato University on testing the drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19, did not provide further details. The original Reuters story misstated that ivermectin was “effective” against Omicron in Phase III clinical trials, which are conducted in humans.

Clinical trials are ongoing, but promotion of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment has generated controversy.

SpaceX debuts converted Falcon Heavy booster on spectacular Italian satellite launch

For the first time, SpaceX has converted a flight-proven Falcon Heavy side core into a Falcon 9 booster and successfully launched the reborn rocket, carrying an Italian Earth observation satellite to orbit with one of the most visually spectacular Falcon launches in recent memory.

After a tortured campaign of four scrubbed or aborted launch attempts between January 27th and 30th, Falcon 9 finally lifted off from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) LC-40 pad at 6:11 pm EST (23:11 UTC) on Monday, January 31st. The converted Falcon Heavy booster performed perfectly on its first solo mission, successfully carrying a Falcon upper stage and Italy’s CSG-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite to an altitude of 70 km (~45 mi) and a velocity of ~1.7 km/s (Mach 5) – effectively the edge of space.

Thanks to near-perfect weather and the timing of the launch about 15 minutes after sunset, Falcon Heavy side core B1052’s first mission as a Falcon 9 booster wound up producing some of the best views of a SpaceX launch in the company’s history. As the rocket ascended, the sky continued to darken for local ground observers. It wasn’t long before Falcon 9’s shiny, white airframe ascended into direct sunlight, which created some extraordinary contrast against the darkening sky for tracking cameras near the launch site.

How putting humans into hibernation could help astronauts travel to Mars

Bear-like human hibernation could enable ambitious proposals for Mars.

On Monday, the European Space Agency published a report explaining how hibernation could help humanity get to Mars. The agency explained that when bears hibernate, they use fewer resources without letting their muscles and bones go to waste.

For a multi-month trip to Mars, it could help a crew complete their trip with reduced stress levels and fewer medical complications. Crew members would enter pods, administer a drug, and let the ship handle operations for most of the flight.

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