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I came up with a neat idea for a multiplication grid visual the other day, and stuck it up on Twitter where it has been doing the rounds with unprecedented alacrity:

I’ve loved reading comments and seeing how people are using the grids already, with fellow teachers, students and your own kids (I’m making one on A1 squared paper for my son this weekend – here’s one 3-year-old who will know what multiplication means before he learns his tables, if I can manage it!) A few of you came up with ideas for variations I could do, including starting the grid from the bottom-left to mimic a Cartesian coordinate grid, and emphasizing square numbers. I’ve also done one with the prime factorization of numbers on one side of the diagonal, which I quite like. I’ve put all the images together into a single pdf document to make it easier to access. It’s on my website at www.thechalkface.net/resources/true_scale_multiplication_grid.pdf:

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SAN FRANCISCO A U.S. judge on Wednesday said he had not seen clear evidence that Uber Technologies Inc had conspired with an engineer on its self driving car program to steal trade secrets from Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Waymo, and that he was wrestling with whether to issue an injunction against the ride service.

At a hearing in San Francisco federal court, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said it was undisputed that the engineer, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded about 14,000 documents shortly before he stopped working for Waymo.

If it were proven that Levandowski and Uber conspired in taking Waymo’s information, that could have dire consequences for Uber, say legal and ride-hailing industry experts.

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One of the greatest ethical debates in science — manipulating the fundamental building blocks of life — is set to heat up once more.

According to scientists behind an ambitious and controversial plan to write the human genome from the ground up, synthesising DNA and incorporating it into mammalian and even human cells could be as little as four to five years away.

Nearly 200 leading researchers in genetics and bioengineering are expected to attend a meeting in New York City next week, to discuss the next stages of what is now called the Genome Project-write (GP-write) plan: a US$100 million venture to research, engineer, and test living systems of model organisms, including the human genome.

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Nothing like a deep, penetrating, pervasive case of radiation poising to give you the energy you need to keep you awake, focused, alert and energetic all day long. lol.

But there was a time when energy drinks actually contained real energy. The active ingredient in these drinks was radium, a radioactive element that releases a packet of radiant energy with every atomic decay. While the connection between consuming a radioactive element and reaping a perceived energy boost is tenuous at best, it didn’t stop people in the early 1900s from ignoring the known downsides of ingesting radioactivity and risking the long-term health consequences.

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New research in multiple mouse types and human cell lines shows senolytics helps mitigate osteoarthritis.

The removal of senescent cells has shown further potential for the treatment of osteoarthritis in this recent publication where the researchers reduce the impact of post injury osteoarthritis by clearing senescent cells[1]. As we have discussed many times in our publications, senescent cells are a key player in the aging process, if you are new to the subject and want to know what senescent cells are here is a quick primer.

What are senescent cells?

Cellular senescence is a hallmark of aging and is one of the various processes that cause you to age. As you grow older an increasing number of your cells enter into a state known as senescence. These senescent cells no longer divide or support the tissue they are part of, instead they send out a cocktail of harmful chemical signals that cause inflammation and drive the aging process. This proinflammatory collection of proteins, cytokines and signals are known as the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP). The SASP blocks various important cellular processes, prevents stem cells from repairing damaged tissue efficiently, and is implicated in the development of age-related diseases[2–3].

Continue reading “Treating Osteoarthritis” | >

The DARPA Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program is exploring ways to speed up skill acquisition by activating synaptic plasticity. If the program succeeds, downloadable learning that happens in a flash may be the result.

In March 2016, DARPA — the U.S. military’s “mad science” branch — announced their Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program. The TNT program aims to explore various safe neurostimulation methods for activating synaptic plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to alter the connecting points between neurons — a requirement for learning. DARPA hopes that building up that ability by subjecting the nervous system to a kind of workout regimen will enable the brain to learn more quickly.

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I’m giving a speech this morning in San Diego on #transhumanism. If you’re at this medical device conference, please come listen and say hello after the talk:

The 10x Medical Device Conference is an annual, in-person reuinion for the Medical Devices Group, the world’s largest medical device community.

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This is a guest post in our series looking at the future of 3D Printing. To celebrate 5 years of reporting on the 3D printing industry, we’ve invited industry leaders and 3D printing experts to give us their perspective and predictions for the next 5 years and insight into trends in additive manufacturing.

Brian O’Connor is Vice President, Production Operations at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

How lockheed martin is printing the path to mars by brian o’connor.

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The push to find exercise memetics continues.

Every week, there seems to be another story about the health benefits of running. That’s great—but what if you can’t run? For the elderly, obese or otherwise mobility-limited, the rewards of aerobic exercise have long been out of reach.

Salk Institute scientists, building on earlier work that identified a gene pathway triggered by running, have discovered how to fully activate that pathway in sedentary mice with a chemical compound, mimicking the beneficial effects of exercise, including increased fat burning and stamina.

Continue reading ““Exercise-in-a-pill” boosts athletic endurance” | >