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Archive for the ‘chemistry’ category: Page 212

Aug 13, 2021

A chemical in plastic is tricking hermit crabs into thinking trash is food

Posted by in categories: chemistry, food

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It’s hard to avoid garbage when you’re chemically attracted to it. But such is the life of a hermit crab.

Aug 12, 2021

Dr. Dennis McKenna — Founder, McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy — A 21st Century Mystery School

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, neuroscience

A 21st Century Mystery School — “Creating New Paradigms In Wellness And Wisdom Never Seen Before, And Never More Needed Than Now” — Dr. Dennis McKenna, Founder, McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy.


Dr. Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer, author, and Founder of the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy (www.mckenna.academy).

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Aug 11, 2021

Microwave and Laser Thermal Rockets

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy

Parkin Research.


MICROWAVE THERMAL ROCKETS

AND

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Aug 11, 2021

This 1,992 paper was included on best-selling CDR World Philosophy compilation (before internet) and I claim some credit for circulated it and popularising the “Transhuman sidetrack”

Posted by in categories: chemistry, cryonics, ethics, existential risks, law, life extension, robotics/AI, transhumanism

Since 1,988 and formation of the Posthuman Movement, and articles by early adopters like Max Moore were a sign our message was being received — although I always argued on various Extropian & Transhuman bulletin boards & Yahoo groups &c that “Trans” was a redundant middle and we should move straight to Posthuman, now armed with the new MVT knowledge (also figures on the CDR). There will be a new edition of World Philosophy, the first this millennium, to coincided with various Posthuman University events later this year. Here is the text:

THE EXTROPIAN PRINCIPLES V. 2.01 August 7 1992.

Max More Executive Director, Extropy Institute.

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Aug 10, 2021

Mutation-mapping tool could yield stronger COVID boosters, universal vaccines

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, chemistry

Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a platform which can quickly identify common mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that allow it to escape antibodies and infect cells.

Published today in Cell Reports, the research marks a major step toward successfully developing a universal vaccine for not only COVID-19, but also potentially for influenza, HIV and other deadly global viruses.

“We’ve developed a predictive tool that can tell you ahead of time which antibodies are going to be effective against circulating strains of virus,” said lead author Timothy Whitehead, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. “But the implications for this technology are more profound: If you can predict what the variants will be in a given season, you could get vaccinated to match the sequence that will occur and short-circuit this seasonal variation.”

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Aug 9, 2021

Sunscreen Concerns Escalate as Another Potential Carcinogen Found

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, health

Researchers asked U.S. regulators to pull some sunscreens from the market, including brands such as Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena, saying they’ve found evidence of a potential carcinogen.

Scientists petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to remove from sale all sunscreens containing the active ingredient octocrylene. Products made with the chemical may contain benzophenone, a suspected carcinogen that also can interfere with key hormones and reproductive organs, according to a group led by Craig Downs, executive director of the nonprofit Haereticus Environmental Laboratory that studies risks to health and the environment.

Aug 9, 2021

MIT Researchers Devised a Way To Program Memories Into Bacterial Cells

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, engineering

For several years, Lu’s lab has been working on ways to use DNA to store information such as memory of cellular events. In 2,014 he and Farzadfard developed a way to employ bacteria as a “genomic tape recorder,” engineering E. coli to store long-term memories of events such as a chemical exposure.


Technique for editing bacterial genomes can record interactions between cells, may offer a way to edit genes in the human microbiome.

Biological engineers at MIT

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Aug 8, 2021

Nutritional Supplements Could Help Treat PTSD

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, neuroscience

Since DNMT3A increases DNA methylation, the researchers used a natural product that donates methyl groups S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) and to activate the retinoic acid receptor they treated the animals with vitamin A. They found that combined treatment with the methyl donor SAM and retinoic acid reversed PTSD-like behaviors.


Summary: Combining two natural products that modulate the epigenome, researchers believe they have identified a feasible approach to reversing symptoms of PTSD in animal models that could be effective in humans.

Source: Bar Ilan University

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Aug 6, 2021

Using graphene foam to filter toxins from drinking water

Posted by in categories: chemistry, engineering, health, nuclear energy, sustainability

Some kinds of water pollution, such as algal blooms and plastics that foul rivers, lakes, and marine environments, lie in plain sight. But other contaminants are not so readily apparent, which makes their impact potentially more dangerous. Among these invisible substances is uranium. Leaching into water resources from mining operations, nuclear waste sites, or from natural subterranean deposits, the element can now be found flowing out of taps worldwide.

In the United States alone, “many areas are affected by uranium contamination, including the High Plains and Central Valley aquifers, which supply drinking water to 6 million people,” says Ahmed Sami Helal, a postdoc in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. This contamination poses a near and present danger. “Even small concentrations are bad for human health,” says Ju Li, the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering.

Now, a team led by Li has devised a highly efficient method for removing uranium from drinking water. Applying an electric charge to graphene oxide foam, the researchers can capture uranium in solution, which precipitates out as a condensed solid crystal. The foam may be reused up to seven times without losing its electrochemical properties. “Within hours, our process can purify a large quantity of drinking water below the EPA limit for uranium,” says Li.

Aug 6, 2021

Fracking in Pennsylvania used toxic ‘forever chemicals’

Posted by in category: chemistry

The physicians group identified the use of the chemicals in at least 1200 wells in six states, not including Pennsylvania.


The Inquirer’s editorial board identified the use of PFAS in eight fracking wells. Only the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection can shed light on the full scope.