Toggle light / dark theme

Resurrecting a 2.6 billion-year-old ancient CRISPR system

Incapable of replicating on their own, viruses must hijack other organisms, like bacteria, to continue their existence. Little wonder, then, that bacteria had to develop ways to fight back.

Among them is CRISPR, a kind of an immune system that keeps DNA records of previous infections and then uses a protein called Cas to attack viruses that show up again. When Cas reaches a targeted virus, it cleaves the viral DNA, protecting the bacteria from infection.

Researchers have harnessed that targeted, DNA-snipping ability as a gene editing tool for all kinds of organisms. CRISPR can now be found in a variety of fields doing a variety of jobs, from helping to fight sickle cell and high cholesterol in humans to gene editing animals and crops. It’s proven to be an amazingly versatile tool.

Rare fossils fill a gap in the evolution of major animal groups

Exceptionally well-preserved fossils from the Cambrian period have helped fill a gap in our understanding of the origin and evolution of major animal groups alive today.

A new analysis of fossils belonging to an extinct invertebrate called Rotadiscus grandis have helped place this species in the animal tree of life, revealing how some characteristics of living species may have evolved independently rather than originating in a single common ancestor.

Half a billion years ago, an unusual-looking animal crawled over the sea floor, using tentacles to pick up food particles along the way.

Astronomers Capture a Star Swallowing a Planet

For the first time, astronomers have spotted an evolving star engulfing an orbiting planet.

When our Sun nears the end of its life, it will start to swell. During this expansion, which is expected to happen in some 6 billion years, the dying Sun will engulf our Solar System’s inner planets, including Earth. Though scientists are certain of Earth’s far-future fate, no direct observation had been made of a dying star swallowing an orbiting planet, until now [1].

The unique observation comes from Kishalay De of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues. The team found the planet-eating star in data taken as part of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), a large-area optical survey of the night sky. While comparing a few weeks’ worth of consecutive ZTF scans—a new survey of the sky is performed every 48 hours—a brightening star 12,000 light-years from Earth caught De’s attention, he says.

Wendy’s, Google preview partnership with new AI-powered drive-thru

Customers will be ordering food from AI.


#Wendys #Google #yahoofinance.
Yahoo Finance culinary correspondent Brooke DiPalma joins the Live Show to discuss the partnership between Wendy’s and Google to revolutionize drive-thru orders with the use of AI technology, first premiering in Columbus.

Ohio in June of this year, and how AI is transforming the restaurant industry.

About Yahoo Finance:
At Yahoo Finance, you get free stock quotes, up-to-date news, portfolio management resources, international market data, social interaction and mortgage rates that help you manage your financial life.

Yahoo Finance Plus: With a subscription to Yahoo Finance Plus get the tools you need to invest with confidence. Discover new opportunities with expert research and investment ideas backed by technical and fundamental analysis. Optimize your trades with advanced portfolio insights, fundamental analysis, enhanced charting, and more.

BacterAI: New AI system enables robots to conduct 10,000 scientific experiments a day

Artificial intelligence-powered BacterAI accurately predicts the necessary amino acid combinations for growth 90% of the time.

A group of scientists has created a system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that enables robots to conduct as many as 10,000 scientific experiments independently in a single day.

The AI system, named BacterAI, could significantly accelerate the pace of discovery in a range of fields such as medicine, agriculture, and environmental science. In a recent research study released in Nature Microbiology, the team successfully utilized BacterAI to map the metabolic processes of two microbes linked with oral health.

High concentrations of floating neustonic life in the plastic-rich North Pacific Garbage Patch

Floating life (neuston) is a core component of the ocean surface food web, but the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic is the only known region of high neustonic abundance. This study reveals high densities of floating life in the plastic-rich Great Pacific Garbage Patch, suggesting that this area could be an important marine habitat.

German Hacker Transforms Sausages Into A Working Piano

The internet is full of many interesting things. Most of them are quite useful and even amazing, but the rest is often unnecessary and weird. And you gotta love it because there is probably no better outlet for creativity than the internet, regardless of what shape or form it might come in.

Meet Patrick from Patrick’s World, who has flexed his creativity muscle in a way that probably nobody has ever thought of. He took out some traditional German sausages, hooked them up to some wires that were connected to a number of sound equipment, and made a fully functional piano. Yes, you read that correctly.


So, this guy took out some traditional German sausages, hooked them up to some wires that were connected to sound equipment, and made a fully functional piano. Yes, you read that correctly. The internet is amazing.

AI could run a million microbial experiments per year, says study

An artificial intelligence system enables robots to conduct autonomous scientific experiments—as many as 10,000 per day—potentially driving a drastic leap forward in the pace of discovery in areas from medicine to agriculture to environmental science.

Reported today in Nature Microbiology, the research was led by a professor now at the University of Michigan.

That , dubbed BacterAI, mapped the metabolism of two associated with —with no baseline information to start with. Bacteria consume some combination of the 20 amino acids needed to support life, but each species requires specific nutrients to grow. The U-M team wanted to know what amino acids are needed by the beneficial microbes in our mouths so they can promote their growth.

/* */