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Mar 9, 2024

Michigan lawmaker introduces bill requiring state health plans to cover cutting-edge cancer treatments

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, law

A Michigan state senator introduced a bill that would require health insurance companies in the state to cover cutting-edge cancer treatments, even if they are not categorized as a “cancer drug.”

State Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Mich.) announced his new bill in a video on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. The legislation would build on an existing law that already says cancer drugs must be covered by health insurance companies.

Mar 9, 2024

‘Parrot fever’ outbreak in Europe has led to deaths of five people

Posted by in category: futurism

A deadly outbreak of psittacosis, a bacterial infection also known as parrot fever, has affected people living in several European countries, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The outbreak was initially noted in 2023 and has continued through the start of this year. The deaths of five people have been reported.

Parrot fever is caused by bacteria in the Chlamydia family that is found in a variety of wild and pet birds and poultry. Infected birds don’t always seem sick, but they shed the bacteria when they breathe or poop.

Mar 9, 2024

Over 225,000 Compromised ChatGPT Credentials Up for Sale on Dark Web Markets

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Over 225,000 OpenAI ChatGPT credentials were compromised and sold in underground markets by October 2023.

Mar 9, 2024

SpaceX is gearing up for a record-breaking rocket flight

Posted by in category: space travel

SpaceX has set plenty of spaceflight records in its 22-year history, and in the coming weeks, one of its boosters is expected to set another one.

Mar 9, 2024

Texas Parks and Wildlife votes unanimously to swap 43 contested acres to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for 477 acres a few miles south

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

Some of the 43 contested acres are landlocked with no public access but with protected plant and animal species. Although SpaceX is proposing swapping the public land for 477 acres, it has not yet purchased that property. None of the land in the deal has beach access, but the 43 acres sit near protected federal land and lagoons that stretch along the coast.

“Through this transaction we are guaranteeing the conservation of 477 acres, which would otherwise potentially be developed into condominiums or strip centers,” Jeffery D. Hildebrand, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission chairman appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, said at the meeting’s close.

The deal started in 2019 as a conversation between the state and SpaceX. But it was finally worked out in 2023, said David Yoskowitz, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s executive director.

Mar 9, 2024

‘Ring of Fire’ Rocket Engines Put a New Spin on Spaceflight

Posted by in category: space travel

Rotating detonation engines developed by NASA and others could spark a rocketry revolution.

By Steven Ashley

Mar 9, 2024

Aurora at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont on track to be world’s fastest supercomputer

Posted by in categories: climatology, supercomputing

The Aurora supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, IL, could soon be the world’s fastest. It could revolutionize climate forecasting.

LEMONT, Ill. (WLS) — This is what scientists at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont call a node: six huge graphics processors and two large CPUs cooled with water to make major calculations a cinch.

Argonne’s new supercomputer doesn’t just have one node, 10 or 100, instead it has 10,000 of them. Each single rack of nodes weighs eight tons and are cooled by thousands of gallons of water.

Mar 9, 2024

Scientists propose new scheme for the quantum battery using waveguides

Posted by in categories: energy, quantum physics

A new study by researchers at Lanzhou University and Hubei University proposes a quantum battery (QB) charging scheme based on a rectangular hollow metal waveguide. This approach allows them to overcome environment-induced decoherence and charging distance limitations. The findings are published in Physical Review Letters.

The demand and supply for batteries continue to grow with a focus on enhancing energy storage, longevity, and charging capabilities. On this front, scientists are now developing quantum batteries that leverage principles of quantum mechanics to store and supply energy.

The aim is to use fundamental principles of quantum mechanics such as entanglement and coherence to overcome the constraints of classical physics, thereby achieving stronger charging power, higher charging capacity, and larger work extraction compared to classical counterparts.

Mar 9, 2024

Video: Europe’s biggest 3D-printed building rises in just 140 hours

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, computing

Tasked with building a new data center in an urban area of Germany, the team behind the Wave House harnessed the benefits of 3D printing technology to inject a sense of style into the unglamorous world of cloud-computing infrastructure, creating Europe’s largest 3D-printed building in the process.

The Wave House is located in Heidelberg and was designed by SSV and Mense Korte, and created by Peri 3D Construction for developer KrausGruppe. It measures 600 sq m (6,600 sq ft). As mentioned, its unusual appearance comes from an attempt to spice up what could otherwise have been a rather boring building.

Continue reading “Video: Europe’s biggest 3D-printed building rises in just 140 hours” »

Mar 9, 2024

New method measures the 3D position of individual atoms

Posted by in categories: biological, particle physics

For more than a decade it has been possible for physicists to accurately measure the location of individual atoms to a precision smaller than one-thousandth of a millimeter using a special type of microscope. However, this method has so far only provided the x and y coordinates. Information on the vertical position of the atom is lacking.

A new method has now been developed that can determine all three spatial coordinates of an atom with one single image. This method—developed by the University of Bonn and University of Bristol—is based on an ingenious physical principle. The study is published in the journal Physical Review A.

Anyone who has used a microscope in a biology class to study a plant cell will probably be able to recall a similar situation. It is easy to tell that a certain chloroplast is located above and to the right of the nucleus.