Menu

Blog

Page 10421

Sep 1, 2016

Genetic ‘Extinction’ Technology Rejected

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biological, existential risks, genetics

OAHU, HAWAI’I —(ENEWSPF)–September 1, 2016. As thousands of government representatives and conservationists convene in Oahu this week for the 2016 World Conservation Congress, international conservation and environmental leaders are raising awareness about the potentially dangerous use of gene drives — a controversial new synthetic biology technology intended to deliberately cause targeted species to become extinct.

Members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), including NGOs, government representatives, and scientific and academic institutions, overwhelmingly voted to adopt a de facto moratorium on supporting or endorsing research into gene drives for conservation or other purposes until the IUCN has fully assessed their impacts. News of the August 26 digital vote comes as an important open letter to the group is being delivered.

Scientists and environmental experts and organizations from around the globe have advocated for a halt to proposals for the use of gene drive technologies in conservation. Announced today, a long list of environmental leaders, including Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, genetics professor and broadcaster Dr. David Suzuki, Dr. Fritjof Capra, entomologist Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, Indian environmental activist Dr. Vandana Shiva and organic pioneer and biologist Nell Newman, have lent their support to the open letter: “A Call for Conservation with a Conscience: No Place for Gene Drives in Conservation.” The letter states, in part: “Gene drives, which have not been tested for unintended consequences, nor fully evaluated for ethical and social impacts, should not be promoted as conservation tools.”

Read more

Sep 1, 2016

Ready for 3D-printed wood?

Posted by in category: 3D printing

For all my tree loving friends.


A University of Canterbury professor is researching ways we can 3D print wood. Could this be how we save our trees?

Read more

Sep 1, 2016

Oak Ridge Just Entered Record Books With The Largest 3D-Printed Object in the World

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, materials

My friends at ORN setting records again.


Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory broke a world record for the largest solid 3D-printed item with its trim-and-drill tool. The item, which is practically the size of a large SUV, took 30 hours to print using carbon fiber and composite plastic materials.

Continue reading “Oak Ridge Just Entered Record Books With The Largest 3D-Printed Object in the World” »

Sep 1, 2016

8 Amazing 3D Artworks created in Cinema 4D R18

Posted by in category: entertainment

Art 3D style.


See what some talented artists have created using C4D R18 – from sci-fi art a very real-looking Rolleiflex.

Read more

Sep 1, 2016

How You Discover the Passion to Pursue Entrepreneurship

Posted by in category: lifeboat

Latest article chronicling my entrepreneurial journey and how anyone can be successful and change the world. You need only look at the Lifeboat Foundation to see that entrepreneurs can turn their wealth into instigators for change!


YawLife is an embodiment of my life… All of my struggles, all of my mistakes, all of my pain, and all of my perseverance through in-fortitude to reach the pinnacle I’m at now, where the fruits of my labour are finally beginning to flourish, and where the seeds sowed in the past have begun to grown roots, which shall outlast even my own passing. To me, YawLife is not about just building a company and selling instantaneously. It’s about endowing my life’s work to make it successful. To reward those who believed in me early once I’ve succeeded, to reward the world for their choice to use our service, and to reward myself with, at the very least, the pride in creating something from nothing… Because, to do such a thing, is not a simple task. You can try as much as possible, and for all that effort, nothing may arise from it, but…

It is in the journey of creation that brings true elation to one’s soul — an inner fulfilment beyond what any odd job or person can spark within.

Continue reading “How You Discover the Passion to Pursue Entrepreneurship” »

Sep 1, 2016

The $10 Million Race to Invent Star Trek’s Tricorder | Smithsonian

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, environmental, genetics, health, information science

“Fifty years after the show aired, Star Trek’s fictional tricorder is far from becoming a reality. But a $10 million prize from the XPRIZE Foundation is hoping to motivate inventors to create one quickly.”

Read more

Sep 1, 2016

Google isn’t far off from achieving quantum supremacy

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Google’s new QC targeted by the end of next year.


Researchers at the company could unveil a quantum computer that is superior to conventional computers by the end of next year.

Read more

Sep 1, 2016

Continuous Roll-process Technology for Transferring and Packaging Flexible Large-scale Integrated Circuits

Posted by in categories: computing, wearables

Luv this.


A research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and by Dr. Jae-Hyun Kim from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has jointly developed a continuous roll-processing technology that transfers and packages flexible large-scale integrated circuits (LSI), the key element in constructing the computer’s brain such as CPU, on plastics to realize flexible electronics.

Professor Lee previously demonstrated the silicon-based flexible LSIs using 0.18 CMOS (complementary metal -oxide semiconductor) process in 2013 (ACS Nano, “In Vivo Silicon-based Flexible Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Monolithically Encapsulated with Biocompatible Liquid Crystal Polymers”) and presented the work in an invited talk of 2015 International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM), the world’s premier semiconductor forum.

Continue reading “Continuous Roll-process Technology for Transferring and Packaging Flexible Large-scale Integrated Circuits” »

Sep 1, 2016

Engineers give new meaning to the phrase ‘cool clothes’

Posted by in categories: climatology, energy, engineering, habitats, sustainability

Cannot wait for this material so that I can finally enjoy my run in the park near my US home in August.


WASHINGTON — Engineers have created clothing for a warming world — a fabric that allows your body heat to escape far better than other materials do.

It hasn’t been worn or tested by humans, so outside experts caution this is far from a sure thing, but a team at Stanford University engineered a fabric using nano technology that not only allows moisture to leave the body better, but helps infrared radiation escape better. As a result, they say in Thursday’s journal Science, the body should feel around 4.8 degrees (2.7 degrees Celsius) cooler than cotton and 3.8 degrees (2.1 degrees Celsius) chillier than commercially available synthetics.

Continue reading “Engineers give new meaning to the phrase ‘cool clothes’” »

Sep 1, 2016

Solid-State Nanopores Unravel Twisted DNA Mystery

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, nanotechnology

Cancer thrives when mutated cells undergo frequent division. Most anti-cancer drugs work by inserting themselves in between the DNA base pairs that encode our genetic information. This process is known as intercalation, and it can result in subtle changes to the DNA molecule’s geometric shape or tertiary structure. These structural changes interfere with the DNA’s transcription and a cell’s replication process, ultimately resulting in cell death.

While intercalating agents used in chemotherapy drugs are highly effective in fighting cancer, they also may kill important cells in the body and lead to other complications such as heart failure. Therefore, researchers are always searching for faster, cheaper and more accurate tools to aid in the design of next-generation anti-cancer drugs with reduced side effects.

A paper published in ACS Nano, one of the top nanotechnology journals in the world, explores this topic. “Modeling and Analysis of Intercalant Effects on Circular DNA Conformation,” (LINK TO http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.6b04876) focuses on the effect of the intercalating agent ethidium bromide (a mimic for many chemotherapy drugs) on the tertiary structure of DNA.

Continue reading “Solid-State Nanopores Unravel Twisted DNA Mystery” »