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Researchers used magnetically driven microrobots to carry cells to predetermined spots within living zebrafish and mice, they report in Science Robotics today (June 27). The authors propose using these hair-width gadgets as delivery vehicles in regenerative medicine and cell therapy.

The scientists used a computer model to work out the ideal dimensions for a microrobot; spiky, porous, spherical ones were deemed best for transporting living cells. They printed the devices using a 3D laser printer and coated the bots with nickel and titanium to make them magnetic and biocompatible, respectively. An external magnetic field applied to the animal then leads the microrobots.

To begin with, the research team tested the ability for the robots to transport cells through cell cultures, blood vessel–like microfluidic chips, and in vivo in zebrafish. Further, they used these microrobots to induce cancer at a specific location within mice by ferrying tumor cells to the spot. The team observed fluorescence at the target site as the labeled cancer cells proliferated.

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Tactical Robotics’ Cormorant drone design allows it to navigate tight areas where a helicopter’s blades would get caught on the environment. The remote-controlled military drone can transport two injured people from a battle zone. The Israeli-based company believes the drone could one day also be used to inspect bridges, deliver medical supplies and spray crops.

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Elon Musk Wants You to Watch ‘Do You Trust This Computer?’ in Memory of Stephen Hawking, and It’s Free.

Because “nothing will affect the future of humanity more than digital super-intelligence,” Elon Musk thinks you should watch Chris Paine’s artificial-intelligence movie “Do You Trust This Computer?” And, wouldn’t you know it, the film is streaming for free until later tonight.

Here’s the synopsis: “Science fiction has long anticipated the rise of machine intelligence. Today, a new generation of self-learning computers has begun to reshape every aspect of our lives. Incomprehensible amounts of data are being created, interpreted, and fed back to us in a tsunami of apps, personal assistants, smart devices, and targeted advertisements. Virtually every industry on earth is experiencing this transformation, from job automation to medical diagnostics, even military operations. ‘Do You Trust This Computer?’ explores the promises and perils of our new era. Will A.I. usher in an age of unprecedented potential, or prove to be our final invention?”

Nothing will affect the future of humanity more than digital super-intelligence. Watch Chris Paine’s new AI movie for free until Sunday night at http://doyoutrustthiscomputer.org/watch

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Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is one of the most commonly associated causes of age-related dementia and stroke. New research, led by the University of Edinburgh, may have finally uncovered the mechanism by which SVD causes brain cell damage, as well as a potential treatment to prevent the damage, and possibly even reverse it.

SVD is thought to be responsible for up to 45 percent of dementia cases, and the vast majority of senior citizens are suspected of displaying some sign of the condition. One study strikingly found up to 95 percent of subjects between the ages of 60 and 90 displayed some sign of SVD when examined through MRI scans.

The new research set out to examine early pathological features of SVD and found that dysfunction in endothelial cells are some of the first signs of the disease’s degenerative progression. These are cells that line small blood vessels in the brain and, in early stages of SVD, they secrete a protein that impairs production of myelin, a compound essential for the protection of brain cells.

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The world’s most powerful tractor beam just lifted a 2 centimeter ball, but could it make levitating humans a reality?

One Shot Could Provide All the Vaccines You’ll Ever Need — https://youtu.be/qQ1VKYX4Vl0

Thumbnail image courtesy of University of Bristol.

The world’s most powerful acoustic tractor beam could pave the way for levitating humans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180121221627.htm
“Acoustic tractor beams use the power of sound to hold particles in mid-air, and unlike magnetic levitation, they can grab most solids or liquids. For the first time University of Bristol engineers have shown it is possible to stably trap objects larger than the wavelength of sound in an acoustic tractor beam.”

Weaponizing Sound: How a ‘Silent’ Sonic Weapon Might Work
https://www.seeker.com/tech/weaponizing-sound-how-a-sonic-weapon-might-work
“A super secret sonic weapon being used to attack diplomats in a foreign country may sound like the start of a sci-fi novel, but that’s exactly what several US diplomats in Cuba may have been exposed to, the US State Department recently announced.”

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A team of scientists, looking to figure out how hardy little creatures known as archaea thrive in boiling, volcanic pools of sulfuric acid like they were hot tubs, may have uncovered the key to an anti-aging drug. By manipulating a so-called “super hero” protein common to both archaea and humans, the researchers found a way to “trick” cells into acting younger by keeping the DNA repairing process running much longer than usual.

In previous studies, the researchers examined how archaea have managed to survive in such harsh conditions for billions of years. Eventually they determined that a protein called ssB1 was responsible by helping the organisms repair damage to their DNA. The team says the real eureka moment came when they discovered that we humans have our own versions of this protein, hSSB1.

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