Microsoft’s first mission statement envisioned a computer on every desk and in every home, but Bill Gates also had another goal: that computers would someday be able to see, hear, communicate and understand humans and their environment.
More than 25 years and two CEOs later, Microsoft is betting its future on it.
The immune system is like an army keeping us safe from invasion, injury and infection and helps us to regenerate and repair tissues and organs. However, the immune system is sometimes a double-edged sword that does more harm than good.
A lot of focus has been on the role of macrophages and their ability to facilitate tissue healing and regeneration. Today, we will be looking at a study that examines the role of neutrophils and how they can actually harm the brain further following a stroke[1].
Ed Whiting, director of policy at the Wellcome Trust agreed and said: “There is no doubt of the urgency – the world is running out of effective antibiotics and drug-resistant infections already kill 700,000 people a year globally. We’ve made good progress in getting this on the political agenda. But now, a year on from a major UN agreement, we must see concerted action – to reinvigorate the antibiotic pipeline, ensure responsible use of existing antibiotics, and address this threat across human, animal and environmental health.”
The report’s authors have found 51 new antibiotics and biologicals currently in development that may be able to treat the diseases caused by these resistant bugs. But that will not be anywhere near enough because of the length of time it takes to get drugs approved and onto the market, and because inevitably some of the drugs will not work.
“Given the average success rates and development times in the past, the current pipeline of antibiotics and biologicals could lead to around 10 new approvals over the next five years,” says the report. “However, these new treatments will add little to the already existing arsenal and will not be sufficient to tackle the impending antimicrobial resistance threat.”
ARCA Space Corporation has announced its linear aerospike engine is ready to start ground tests as the company moves towards installing the engine in its Demonstrator 3 rocket. Designed to power the world’s first operational Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) satellite launcher, the engine took only 60 days to complete from when fabrication began.
Over the past 60 years, space launches have become pretty routine. The first stage ignites, the rocket lifts slowly and majestically from the launch pad before picking up speed and vanishing into the blue. Minutes later, the first stage shuts down and separates from the upper stages, which ignite and burn in turn until the payload is delivered into orbit.
Continue reading “ARCA’s revolutionary aerospike engine completed and ready for testing” »
Sept. 21 (UPI) — Scientists have observed, for the first time, a jellyfish in a sleep-like state. It’s the first time an animal without a brain or central nervous system has been observed sleeping.
The findings — detailed this week in the journal Current Biology — could help scientists finally answer the questions: Do all animals sleep?
All vertebrates studied by scientists sleep, but researchers haven’t been able to agree whether or not sleep is ubiquitous, or even common, among invertebrates. Studies have suggested fruit flies and roundworms sleep, but what about more primitive organisms like sponges and jellyfish?
S cientists have edited human embryos for the first time in the UK to discover a “master gene” that underpins successful pregnancies. The “game-changing” research promises improved IVF outcomes and a breakthrough in understanding why so many pregnancies fail.
The Government-funded investigation, undertaken by the Francis Crick Institute, is the first to prove that gene editing can be used to study the genetic behaviour of human embryos in their first few days of life.
