Nice job Geordie and Vern.
Search the universe with qbsolv
Want to fool around with some quantum-ish computing? D-Wave has open sourced a software tool that prepares optimisation problems to run on its hardware.
Novel structures exhibit highly directional emission and provide a template for site-controlled quantum dots and self-aligned nanophotonic cavities.
Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are thought to be a promising candidate for a single-quantum emitter in on-chip systems because of their well-developed growth and fabrication techniques. Semiconductor QDs, however, have a number of inherent limitations that need to be overcome before they can be used in practical applications. For example, QDs in semiconductors are strongly affected by elements (e.g., phonons) in the surrounding environment, which results in short nonradiative decay times and rapid dephasing processes. Despite the high intrinsic radiative decay rates of semiconductor QDs compared with those of other single-quantum emitters (such as atoms and ions), the radiative decay rate needs to be further increased so that these fast nonradiative and dephasing processes can be overcome. Furthermore, the collection efficiency of the light that is emitted from conventional QDs embedded in a high-index planar substrate is typically low (about 4%).
Read more
Harvesting light.
Plants and other photosynthetic organisms use a wide variety of pigments to absorb different wavelengths of light. MIT researchers have now developed a theoretical model to predict the spectrum of light absorbed by aggregates of these pigments, based on their structure.
The new model could help guide scientists in designing new types of solar cells made of organic materials that efficiently capture light and funnel the light-induced excitation, according to the researchers.
“Understanding the sensitive interplay between the self-assembled pigment superstructure and its electronic, optical, and transport properties is highly desirable for the synthesis of new materials and the design and operation of organic -based devices,” says Aurelia Chenu, an MIT postdoc and the lead author of the study, which appeared in Physical Review Letters on Jan. 3.
The University of Queensland Australia has done subsequent studies on time travel, its possibility aspects, and components. According to in-depth studies from the University, time travel is a possibility. The scientists used single particles of light photons to simulate quantum particles that travel through time. The study indicated that modern physics has strange aspects that were explained by Professor Timothy Ralph. Quantum particles are made up of fuzzy or uncertain components that make it possible for them to wiggle around and thus avoid inconsistent time travel situations. Therefore, nature behaves differently making the impossible possible.
Read more
In Brief
- Illumina claims its new NovaSeq sequencing machine will one day be able to sequence an entire genome for less than $100, a process that currently costs about $1,000.
- Cheaper genome sequencing could revolutionize healthcare, allowing doctors to prescribe individualized treatment options for patients.
There are an estimated 25,000 genes in the human genome, comprised of approximately 3 billion nucleotide base pairs. It took the Human Genome Project (HGP) approximately 15 years and $2.7 billion to sequence the entire human genome (minus about 1 percent) using the DNA of several volunteers.
Now, San Diego-based sequencing company Illumina has debuted a new sequencing machine, the NovaSeq (NovaSeq 5000 and NovaSeq 6000), that it says will one day be able to sequence an entire genome for less than $100 in fewer than 60 minutes. This is a steep difference in both cost and time compared to that first sequenced genome, but it follows the trend. In 2006, Illumina released their first machine, which could sequence a genome for $300,000, but by last year, that price had dropped to $1,000.
Read more
Senolytics to remove senescent cells will deliver the first “repair” based approach to treat the aging process. This is the arrival of true rejuvenation biotechnology in the SENS model of damage repair.
Senescent cell removal with companies such as Unity, entering human clinical trials in the next 18 months will deliver the first true damage repair rejuevenation biotechnology. This will be the first “repair” approach to the aging process and one the SENS Research Foundation has been advocating for over a decade.
#aging #crowdfundthecure
Read more
MEPs vote on robots’ legal status
Posted in law, robotics/AI
This is probably important.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a protein that fine-tunes the cellular clock involved in aging.
This novel protein, named TZAP, binds the ends of chromosomes and determines how long telomeres, the segments of DNA that protect chromosome ends, can be. Understanding telomere length is crucial because telomeres set the lifespan of cells in the body, dictating critical processes such as aging and the incidence of cancer.
“Telomeres represent the clock of a cell,” said TSRI Associate Professor Eros Lazzerini Denchi, corresponding author of the new study, published online today in the journal Science. “You are born with telomeres of a certain length, and every time a cell divides, it loses a little bit of the telomere. Once the telomere is too short, the cell cannot divide anymore.”
A genome sequenced every 15 minutes.
Filmed November 2016.
J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. was one of the leading scientists in the sequencing the human genome. Now, he is working to extend the human lifespan long beyond what it is today.