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Feb 16, 2017

Revolutionary New Technique Visualizes Biomolecules Without Crystallization

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

Quantum interpolation makes viewing Biomolecules at room temp. possible without freezing. This technique will enable more powerful sensors than we have ever had before.


In the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from MIT and Singapore University of Technology and Design are describing a new technique that may finally give life scientists a detailed view into many of the biomolecules they work with. These days, X-ray diffraction is typically used to see the structure of a molecule. But this requires crystallization, a process not all molecules, including many proteins, are unwilling to undergo.

The technology uses tiny diamond crystals that have a nitrogen atom in place of a single carbon atom. These so-called “nitrogen vacancy centers” make the crystals react to minute fluctuations of magnetic and electric fields surrounding them. They’re so sensitive that the spins of individual atoms of a nearby molecule affect them enough to be detected by an external device.

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Feb 16, 2017

Company Claims Brain Transplants Could Bring Back the Dead by 2045

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, life extension, military, nanotechnology, neuroscience, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI, singularity

Not too shock by this given other transplant patient’s stories of memories, etc.


1 brains
There are a lot of outrageous claims being made within the halls of neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Whether exaggerations, wishful thinking, the dreams of the egocentric and megalomaniacal to be immortal, or just drumming up funding for a never-ending round of “scientific investigation,” the year 2045 seems to always be cited as a target date.

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Feb 16, 2017

‘Bionic’ eye on the future: From ‘Star Trek’ visors to ‘Mission Impossible’ contact lenses

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, military, transhumanism

Could bionic eyes restore sight to the blind and give the U.S. military super sight?

Bionic implanted eyeballs, “Star Trek”-style visors, telescopic contact lenses … these are just a few of the many exciting projects underway to both restore and provide enhanced sight.

Significant strides have been made in tech that will restore and transform lives — replacing white canes, service animals, braille machines and more for the visually impaired.

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Feb 16, 2017

Trends with Benefits: Elon Musk is boring a hole under LA, would you take a pilot-less flying taxi?

Posted by in category: Elon Musk

Pilot-less Flying Taxis: If you head to Dubai this summer, you could be one of the few people to actually try out a flying pilot-less taxi. The 184 has one passenger, eight propellers, four arms and NO pilot. Would you be willing to go for a ride?

Boring Company: Elon Musk posted on Twitter in December that he was tired of sitting in traffic and said he wanted to bore a hole under the freeways to alleviate it. It looks like he was serious, because he is now drilling test holes in the SpaceX parking lot!

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Feb 16, 2017

Meet Zealandia: Earth’s latest continent

Posted by in category: futurism

New Zealand might be Australia’s smaller neighbor but it’s sitting on a massive new continent scientists have named “Zealandia,” according to a publication released by The Geological Society of America.

New Zealand and Australia might be able to finally give each other more breathing room. It turns out they sit on separate continents. New Zealand calls a 1.8 million square mile land mass known as Zealandia home. This new continent also includes New Caledonia, along with several other territories and island groups.

The idea of a potential continent in this area has been around for some time. Geophysicist Bruce Luyendyk coined the term Zealandia in 1995.

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Feb 16, 2017

The UAE is looking to expand

Posted by in categories: government, space

The United Arab Emirates is looking to expand — and wants to do so on Mars.

Over the past few decades, oil and gas revenue has helped the UAE develop at a breakneck pace. It’s glistening megacity Dubai is now home to the world’s tallest building and countless other accolades, while just last year there were new plans announced to build a completely new “city of happiness.”

The UAE’s latest venture may set new heights in terms of ambition, however. On Tuesday, at the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai, the UAE announced that it was planning to build the first city on Mars by 2117. According to CNBC, UAE engineers presented a concept city at the event about the size of Chicago for guests to explore.

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Feb 16, 2017

Aubrey de Grey — A Post-Aging Planet

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJzrXZb1G3E

A great Q&A, especially with the deathists that crop up.


Website ► http://sens.org
YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/user/SENSFVideo
Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/sensf
Twitter ► https://twitter.com/senstweet

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Feb 16, 2017

Local Funeral Home Offers Drive-Thru Visitation For Families Of The Dearly Departed

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, business, transportation, virtual reality

My niece shared this with me; and the 1st thing of course that came to mind was VR/ AR funerals/ ceremonials as so many including myself cannot always be there doesn’t mean we could not engage/ participate in an event like a funneral or wedding. Maybe marriage via VR is a business just like a funeral via VR could be.


MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) — A funeral home off Lamar Avenue is offering a different service from its competitors. You can drive up, say your final goodbyes to your loved ones, and you don’t even have to get out the car.

Ryan Bernard, owner of R. Bernard funeral home, says he got the idea from a funeral home in California. His main goal is to make it more convenient for families who are already dealing with losing a loved one.

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Feb 16, 2017

NASA wants you to help find a new planet

Posted by in category: space

For those of you still upset over Pluto’s demotion, there may be a new ninth planet. Or at least NASA scientists believe it exists — and they want you to help find it.

The Zooniverse space projects site has launched a NASA-funded venture, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, which lets anyone participate in the search for the not-yet-discovered planet.

“There are really low barriers to entry,” Dr. Laura Trouille of Zooniverse told CNN. “Anyone can participate, from a kindergartener to a 95-year-old.”

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Feb 16, 2017

From Initial Nucleation to Cassie-Baxter State of Condensed Droplets on Nanotextured Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Posted by in categories: energy, nanotechnology

Science mimicking nature’s dew in a lab. Important btw in how we looking at H2O harvesting and improving how we advance green energy; however, I see usage of this research in other emerging technologies as well.


Understanding how droplet condensation happens plays an essential role for our fundamental insights of wetting behaviors in nature and numerous applications. Since there is a lack of study of the initial formation and growing processes of condensed droplets down to nano-/submicroscale, relevant underlying mechanisms remain to be explored. We report an in situ observation of vapor condensation on nano-/microtextured superhydrophobic surfaces using optical microscopy. An interesting picture of the vapor condensation, from the initial appearance of individual small droplets (≤1 μm) to a Cassie-Baxter wetting state (30 μm), are exhibited. It is found that individual droplets preferentially nucleate at the top and the edge of single micropillars with very high apparent contact angles on the nanotextures. Scenarios of two distinguished growing modes are reported statistically and the underlying mechanisms are discussed in the view of thermodynamics. We particularly reveal that the formation of the Cassie-Baxter wetting state is a result of a continuous coalescence of individual small droplets, in which the nanotexture-enhanced superhydrophobicity plays a crucial role. We envision that these fundamental findings can deepen our understanding of the nucleation and development of condensed droplets in nanoscale, so as to optimize design strategies of superhydrophobic materials for a broad range of water-harvesting and heat-transfer systems.

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