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Feb 24, 2024

Microscopic robots could soon float inside your liver to fight cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

Canadian researchers are closing in on a novel approach to treat liver tumours using microrobots in a MRI device.

Feb 24, 2024

Legendary shipwreck’s treasure of “incalculable value” will be recovered by underwater robot, Colombia says

Posted by in categories: economics, government, robotics/AI

Colombia’s government on Friday announced an expedition to remove items of “incalculable value” from the wreck of the legendary San Jose galleon, which sank in 1708 while laden with gold, silver and emeralds estimated to be worth billions of dollars. The 316-year-old wreck, often called the “holy grail” of shipwrecks, has been controversial, because it is both an archaeological and economic treasure.

Culture Minister Juan David Correa told AFP that more than eight years after the discovery of the wreck off Colombia’s coast, an underwater robot would be sent to recover some of its bounty.

Feb 24, 2024

Elon Musk claims Neuralink’s first patient implanted with brain chip can already move a computer mouse with their mind

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, Elon Musk, neuroscience

The maverick entrepreneur, known for embellishing the facts, provided no conclusive evidence as to the veracity of his claim.

Feb 24, 2024

Qubits are notoriously prone to failure — but building them from a single laser pulse may change this

Posted by in category: quantum physics

Qubits are normally made from superconducting metals and need to be cooled to near absolute zero to avoid collapsing. But scientists just built an error-free “logical qubit” from a single laser pulse — and it works at room temperature.

Feb 24, 2024

Infinite Intelligence > Superintelligence

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, robotics/AI

Superintelligent AI might solve all the world’s problems. It could cure cancer, eliminate human aging, create a world of abundance for all.

Superintelligent AI might also prove completely uncontrollable and destroy humanity, whether intentionally or as mere collateral damage in the path of achieving other goals.

The clashing viewpoints about the potential and dangers of peak AI live at the heart of the battle of techno-optimists and doomsayers, accelerationists vs doomers.

Feb 24, 2024

Breakthrough Pseudo CMOS Transistors for 1000 Times More Efficient Computing

Posted by in categories: computing, materials

Beijing researchers made a pseudo-CMOS architecture for sub-picowatt logic computing that uses self-biased molybdenum disulfide transistors.

As transistors are scaled to smaller dimensions, their static power increases. Combining two-dimensional (2D) channel materials with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) logic architectures could be an effective solution to this issue because of the excellent field-effect properties of 2D materials. However, 2D materials have limited polarity control. The transistors have a gapped channel that forms a tunable barrier—thus circumventing the polarity control of 2D materials—and exhibit a reverse-saturation current below 1 pA with high reliability and endurance.

They use the devices to make homojunction-loaded inverters with good rail-to-rail operation at a switching threshold voltage of around 0.5 V, a static power of a few picowatts, a dynamic delay time of around 200 µs, a noise margin of more than 90% and a peak voltage gain of 241. They also fabricate fundamental gate circuits on the basis of this pseudo-CMOS configuration by cascading several devices.

Feb 24, 2024

Is Cytomegalovirus Disease a Risk Factor for Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction After Transplantation?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Despite preventive strategies, cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a leading cause of disease after solid organ transplantation. Indirect effects of CMV infection include organ-specific complications (e.g., chronic allograft nephropathy, cardiac vasculopathy) as well as more-general effects including excess risk for rejection and death. After lung transplantation, chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) is the most important limitation to long-term survival. Thus, investigators sought to determine the role of CMV in CLAD.

Among 668 lung transplant recipients, 647 had evaluable data. CLAD developed in 39% and was associated with high-risk (CMV donor positive/recipient negative) serostatus and, to a lesser degree, intermediate-risk (CMV recipient positive) serostatus. CLAD was not associated with CMV DNAemia. By contrast, CMV DNAemia was associated with the combined endpoint of death or re-transplantation, and higher CMV levels were associated with increased risk.

The causes of CLAD remain obscure, frustrating efforts to improve outcomes after lung transplantation. The authors speculate that CMV replication limited to the allograft — and possibly combined with episodes of CMV DNAemia without lung involvement — might explain the association of CLAD with CMV as determined by serostatus but not DNAemia. Further research is necessary to determine if serosorting (i.e., only transplanting lungs from CMV-negative donors into CMV-negative recipients) or life-long CMV prophylaxis in high-risk recipients is justified.

Feb 24, 2024

Genetic variants, neurocognitive outcomes, and functional neuroimaging in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, sex

A study involving long-term acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors found certain genetic variants related to the folate pathway, glucocorticoid regulation, and other factors were associated with impaired attention, motor skills, memory, and more. Read the article here:


Genetic predispositions may modulate risk for developing neurocognitive late effects in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors.

Methods.

Continue reading “Genetic variants, neurocognitive outcomes, and functional neuroimaging in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia” »

Feb 24, 2024

Moon lander Odysseus tipped sideways on lunar surface but ‘alive and well’

Posted by in category: space travel

The moon lander dubbed Odysseus is “alive and well” but resting on its side a day after its white-knuckle touchdown as the first private spacecraft ever to reach the lunar surface, and the first from the U.S. since 1972, the company behind the vehicle said on Friday.

Feb 24, 2024

Tesla shares more footage of Optimus walking improvements

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Tesla has shared its latest clip of the Optimus humanoid robot, once again showing off how smoothly the bot is able to walk around.