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While cosmologists may be fascinated by what dark matter does, particle physicists are fascinated by what dark matter is. For us, dark matter should be—naturally—a particle, albeit one that is still lurking hidden in our data. For the last few decades, we’ve had a tantalizing guess as to what this particle might be—namely, the lightest of a new class of supersymmetric particles. Supersymmetry is an extension to the Standard Model of particles and forces that nicely addresses lingering questions about the stability of the mass of the Higgs boson, the unification of the forces, and the particle nature of dark matter. In fact, supersymmetry predicts a vast number of new particles—one for each particle we already know about. Yet while one of those new particles could constitute dark matter, to many of us that would be just a happy byproduct.

But after analyzing data from the first (2010–2012) and second (2015–2018) runs of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), we haven’t found supersymmetric particles yet—indeed, no new particles at all, beyond the Higgs boson. So, while we continue to hunt for supersymmetry, we’re also taking a fresh look at what our cosmology colleagues can tell us about dark matter. It is the strongest experimental evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model, after all.

In fact, some might say that a principal goal of the LHC and future colliders will be to create and study dark matter. For that to happen, there must be a means for the visible universe and the dark universe to communicate with each other. In other words, the constituents of the particles that we collide must be capable of interacting with the putative dark-matter particles via fundamental forces. A force requires a force carrier, or boson. The electromagnetic force is carried by the photon, the weak nuclear force by so-called vector bosons, and so on. Interactions between dark matter and normal matter should be no different: They could happen by exchanging dark bosons.

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Last week, the US Patent and Trademarks Office ruled on the most-watched patent proceeding of the 21st century: the fight for Crispr-Cas9. The decision was supposed to declare ownership of the rights to the revolutionary gene editing technique. But instead, the patent judge granted sorta-victories to each of the rival parties—a team from UC Berkeley and another with members from both MIT and Harvard University’s Broad Institute. That’s great for those groups (and their spin-off, for-profit gene editing companies with exclusive licenses). But it leaves things a bit murkier for anyone else who wants to turn a buck with gene editing.

The Crispr discoverers now have some authority over who gets to use Crispr, and for what. And while exclusive licenses aren’t rare in biotech, the scope of these do stand out: They cover all the 20,000-plus genes in the human genome. So this week, legal experts are sending a formal request to the Department of Health and Human Services. They want the federal government to step in and bring Crispr back to the people.

Crispr is new, but patent laws governing genetic engineering date back decades. In 1980, shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that genetically engineered microbes were patentable, Congress passed something called the Bayh-Doyle Act. The law gives permission for universities to patent—and license—anything their researchers invented with public funds, making it easier to put those inventions back in the hands of citizens.

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Recently, I saw an article making big deal that a robot can now write. Ok, it only took us 253 years to enhance it a little. Meet the Automaton from Sweden that could write and was designed to look like a young boy. Made in 1774 and still writes today.

We had Automaton that did this since 1774. 1st one was from Sweden and made in 1775.

See more @ One of three surviving automata from the 18th century built by Jaquet Droz, this is ”The Writer” and is the most famou… The Writer Automaton A 240 year old doll that can write, a clockwork creation by Pierre Jaquet-Droz. Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721−1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. He lived in Paris, London, and… On you will find a DVD named ”The Jaquet-Droz androids”. This documentary tells the story of Pierre Jaquet-Droz a sw… From the bestselling children’s novel ”The Invention of Hugo Cabret” to the Oscar nominated film ”Hugo,” automatons — mechanical marvels from a time gone by… Jaquet Droz The Writer Automaton From 1774 In Action: Inspired Hugo Movie. Automato escrevendo no museu do automato e da caixinha de musica em Sainte-Croix, Suiça… identica ao automato visto no filme Hugo Automaton writing in the… A demonstration of the Maillardet’s Automaton at The Franklin Inst.

Continue reading “‘The Writer’ Automaton” | >

Keys of the emerging leaders are — 1) Futurist 2) Technologist 3) Innovator 4) Humanitarian. I rank them as (only in my opinion only as it truly depends on industry, company and products, culture, etc.)

1) futurist 2) innovator 3) technologist 4) humanitarian

This article is part of a new series exploring the skills leaders must learn to make the most of rapid change in an increasingly disruptive world. The first article in the series, “How the Most Successful Leaders Will Thrive in an Exponential World,” broadly outlines four critical leadership skills—futurist, technologist, innovator, and humanitarian—and how they work together.

Today’s post, part two in the series, takes a more detailed look at leaders as futurists. Upcoming articles will explore leaders as technologists, innovators, and humanitarians.

Continue reading “How Leaders Dream Boldly to Bring New Futures to Life” | >

A new world is coming — been waiting for a while. Glad we’re finally seeing the promotion.

As Internet-of-Things keep expanding the need for interoperability and sharing of resources become a necessity. IOTA enables companies to explore new business-2-business models by making every technological resource a potential service to be traded on an open market in real time, with no fees.

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Never before have businesses been able to build billion-dollar valuations in so little time. Never before have incumbent enterprises been able to go out of business so quickly. Disruption is now commonplace, and augmented reality (AR) is emerging as yet another avenue to turn industries on their heads. But what direction will this new technology take?

AR overlays digital information on the physical world using a smartphone (think Pokémon Go) or a headset. In its simplest form, AR is simply a rectangular display floating in front of the eyes, à la Google Glass. More advanced forms will drop video game characters or useful information seamlessly onto physical objects, from homes to industrial warehouses.

While virtual reality is moving into a more commercial phase, AR is a little earlier in its development. But AR’s potential practical applications are significant. So, what’s in store for AR in the coming years?

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World View Enterprises, a private company that plans to sell balloon rides to the edge of space, has announced the grand opening of its new headquarters and a conjoined spaceport in Tucson, Arizona.

The new facility will soon be launching World View’s non-crewed high altitude balloons, which could provide a low-cost alternative to launching payloads into space, according to company representatives. The balloons can carry instruments and equipment that could, for example, be used to consistently observe severe weather events or natural disasters. The balloon could also carry equipment for scientific investigations, communications, remote sensing and wealth of other potential applications.

The newly completed Spaceport Tucson was built specifically to launch high-altitude balloons, and includes a 700-foot-wide (200 meters) launchpad. The spaceport is owned by Pima County (where it is located) but is operated by World View Enterprises, which now has its headquarters attached to the spaceport. World View employees have already started working out of the new digs, and the first uncrewed launches from Spaceport Tucson are expected to take place in the next few months, company representatives told Space.com. [World View’s Near-Space Balloon Rides in Pictures].

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