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Human macrophages migrating directionally toward an electrode. Left: no electric field. Right: Time-lapse photo two hours after 150 mV/mm electric field applied (white lines shows the movement path toward candida yeast; numbers indicate start and end positions of cells). (credit: Joseph I. Hoare et al./JLB)

Small electrical currents appear to activate certain immune cells to jumpstart or speed wound healing and reduce infection when there’s a lack of immune cells available, such as with diabetes, University of Aberdeen (U.K.) scientists have found.

In a lab experiment, the scientists exposed healing macrophages (white blood cells that eat things that don’t belong), taken from human blood, to electrical fields of strength similar to that generated in injured skin. When the voltage was applied, the macrophages moved in a directed manner to Candida albicans fungus cells (representing damaged skin) to facilitate healing (engulfing and digesting extracellular particles). (This process is called “phagocytosis,” in which macrophages clean the wound site, limit infection, and allow the repair process to proceed.)

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The world is in the midst of a new arms race, one designed to deliver hypersonic glider weapons — both conventional and nuclear — to one’s adversaries at lightning speed. The U.S. is leading the race at this point, but Russia and China are going to great lengths to make sure that they develop their own boost-glide technology.


Today, the U.S., Russia and China are developing a new class of hypersonic ballistic glider weapons, which within a decade, may render most of the world’s nuclear arsenals vulnerable to lightning-fast penetration and attack.

Although boost-glide [or hyperglide vehicles (HGVs)] weapons would be launched by ballistic missiles and reach hypersonic speeds of at least Mach 5 or more, they would remain maneuverable and largely untrackable after the initial boost phase of their flight. And unlike an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), an HGV’s aerodynamics enables it to generate enough “lift” to potentially glide over distances approaching ten thousand kilometers. All before hitting their targets with accuracies down to a few meters.

“In theory, gliders can either “skip” along the atmosphere like a stone skimming the surface of a pond, or they can glide on a smooth “equilibrium” trajectory,” James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., told me. But the latter smooth trajectory is technically less challenging. Thus, Acton says it appears that’s the one that all three countries are currently developing.

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Modern life is punctuated by market cycles.

One year the gears of commerce are whirring along. Businesses are hiring and investing. People are buying houses and cars, televisions and computers. Things are going great. Then a year later, the gears screech to halt—sweeping layoffs, plummeting investment, and crashing markets. No one’s buying anything.

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The things you learn on the DarkWeb. Wonder what will happen when more and more countries and folks onboard to the Quantum Internet, etc. Could we see one last massive apocalyptic raid on accounts, etc.?


X5 simplifies the process of stealing details from contactless debit cards, cloning fake debit cards.

A criminal group going under the name of The CC Buddies is selling a hi-tech device on the Dark Web that’s capable of copying details from contactless debit cards if held as close as eight centimeters away from a victim’s card.

CC Buddies claim that their device, named Contactless Infusion X5, can copy up to 15 bank cards per second, something that may come in hand if a crook is going through a crowd at a concert or through a crowded subway cart.

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Finally, someone is getting the concept about why in tech where you’re producing technologies that ultimately support many areas of the consumer market in the form of bio/ medical, consumer commercial products, art, homes/ buildings, autos, etc. You must be more inclusive in your teams or find your product and services will plataeu as more and more competitors crowd the space over time; something that other industries have learned many many decades ago.


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Because most of the quickly growing companies and startups that tend to dominate it emerged from the maker community, the 3D printing industry often seems to find itself a little sequestered from the rest of the tech industry. Part of the reason is that very few of the industry’s largest companies started or are even based in Silicon Valley. While there is more to the tech industry than Northern California, it is often treated like the popular kids’ lunch table: everyone wants to sit there, and those that are tend to ignore those that aren’t. Sure most of the world’s large tech shows and conferences include plenty of 3D printing these days, but there still isn’t as much crossover as you’d expect, and 3D printing is still treated like that weird cousin who you’re not exactly sure is going to amount to anything.

I certainly can’t speak for everyone, but it almost feels as if being off in its own corner has been good for 3D printing. It has allowed a culture that thrives on open source technology and software to take root, and proven that businesses don’t need excessive patents to be successful if they build their companies correctly. In reality, 3D printing, despite being tech- and software-driven, probably has more in common with the manufacturing industry than high tech. However for all of its varied differences, the 3D printing industry does share one thing with most of the big tech companies in the world, it has a bit of a diversity problem.

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This needs to be on the commercial carriers especially for those 4+ hour flights.


An Austin, Texas company, whose founders were commissioned by NASA to develop palatable foods for astronauts’ deep space mission to Mars, has built a device that can 3D-print pizza.

The company –known as BeeHex — boasts that its machine is efficient, clean, and capable of churning out a delicious pizza in less than half the time it takes a typical human chef. The tech is being developed for astronauts, but since NASA’s manned mission to the Red Planet isn’t planned until the 2030s, us Earthbound eaters may be able to enjoy a 3D-printed pizza at theme parks, shopping malls, or concert halls by early 2017.

Related: MIT student designs gardening robots that could grow produce for astronauts on Mars.

Very cool.


According to NASA’s statement on the agreement, it included a formal “Implementing Arrangement” that outlines Mars exploration as the first field of cooperation between the agencies and establishes a steering committee to identify areas of mutual interest.

NASA was contacted for further comment clarifying the nature of the UAE agreement, but had not responded at the time of this writing. The agreement also entails working as a team on education, technology, safety and mission assurance as well as aeronautics and other areas in which the countries can potentially benefit.

Additionally, the two countries will aim to collaborate on education and public outreach programs and joint workshops, with the goal of facilitating the exchange of scientific data, scientists, engineers, and views and experiences on relevant regulatory frameworks and standards.