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Sep 30, 2024

New filtration material could remove long-lasting chemicals from water

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, engineering

Water contamination by the chemicals used in today’s technology is a rapidly growing problem globally. A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that 98 percent of people tested had detectable levels of PFAS, a family of particularly long-lasting compounds also known as “forever chemicals,” in their bloodstream.

A new filtration material developed by researchers at MIT might provide a nature-based solution to this stubborn contamination issue. The material, based on natural silk and cellulose, can remove a wide variety of these persistent chemicals as well as heavy metals. And, its antimicrobial properties can help keep the filters from fouling.

The findings are described in the journal ACS Nano, in a paper by MIT postdoc Yilin Zhang, professor of civil and environmental engineering Benedetto Marelli, and four others from MIT.

Sep 30, 2024

‘Squeezing’ increases accuracy out of quantum measurements

Posted by in category: quantum physics

Quantum squeezing is a concept in quantum physics where the uncertainty in one aspect of a system is reduced while the uncertainty in another related aspect is increased. Imagine squeezing a round balloon filled with air. In its normal state, the balloon is perfectly spherical. When you squeeze one side, it gets flattened and stretched out in the other direction. This represents what is happening in a squeezed quantum state: you are reducing the uncertainty (or noise) in one quantity, like position, but in doing so, you increase the uncertainty in another quantity, like momentum. However, the total uncertainty remains the same, since you are just redistributing it between the two. Even though the overall uncertainty remains the same, this ‘squeezing’ allows you to measure one of those variables with much greater precision than before.

This technique has already been used to improve the accuracy of measurements in situations where only one variable needs to be precisely measured, such as in improving the precision of atomic clocks. However, using squeezing in cases where multiple factors need to be measured simultaneously, such as an object’s position and momentum, is much more challenging.

In a research paper published in Physical Review Research (“Squeezing-induced quantum-enhanced multiphase estimation”), Tohoku University’s Dr. Le Bin Ho explores the effectiveness of the squeezing technique in enhancing the precision of measurements in quantum systems with multiple factors. The analysis provides theoretical and numerical insights, aiding in the identification of mechanisms for achieving maximum precision in these intricate measurements.

Sep 30, 2024

‘Superintelligent’ AI Is Only a Few Thousand Days Away: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

Altman predicts that with AI in the future, “We will be able to do things that would have seemed like magic to our grandparents.”

Sep 30, 2024

Hurricane Helene Update: More than a million Americans still without power

Posted by in category: climatology

Power outages continued for many in the Eastern U.S. early on Monday as Helene’s death toll passed 100.

Sep 30, 2024

EnergyX raises another $50 million, opens new production facility in Austin, Texas

Posted by in category: energy

The company said its technology can recover 300% more lithium than conventional methods. Traditional extraction typically yields 30% to 40% of lithium from brine, while EnergyX said its DLE achieves a +90% extraction rate.

The technology has raised over $110 million in total funding, backed by investors including General Motors, Eni and POSCO.

With two Tier 1 projects underway, Black Giant in Chile is estimated to produce 40,000 tonnes of lithium per year, while Project Lonestar in the US is estimated at 25,000 tonnes.

Sep 30, 2024

UK data watchdog confirms it’s investigating MoneyGram data breach

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

The world’s second-largest money transfer provider, which filed a data breach notice with U.K. authorities, serves over 50 million people.

Sep 30, 2024

AI begins its ominous split away from human thinking

Posted by in categories: entertainment, robotics/AI

AIs have a big problem with truth and correctness – and human thinking appears to be a big part of that problem. A new generation of AI is now starting to take a much more experimental approach that could catapult machine learning way past humans.

Remember Deepmind’s AlphaGo? It represented a fundamental breakthrough in AI development, because it was one of the first game-playing AIs that took no human instruction and read no rules.

Continue reading “AI begins its ominous split away from human thinking” »

Sep 30, 2024

The Race to Harness Quantum Computing’s Mind-Bending Power

Posted by in categories: business, climatology, computing, finance, quantum physics, sustainability

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si\u003doKkiYzJ96H2hY9en\u0026v\u003d1_gJp2uAjO0\u0026feature\u003dyoutu.be

Quantum computers have the ability to harness the mysterious effects of quantum physics, making them a game changer for science. Professor Hannah Fry explains how they work on The Future with Hannah Fry.


With the promise of unimaginable computing power, a global race for quantum supremacy is raging. Who will be first to harness this new technological force, and what will they do with it?

Continue reading “The Race to Harness Quantum Computing’s Mind-Bending Power” »

Sep 29, 2024

Overcoming Treatment Challenges in Multiple Myeloma: Bispecific Antibodies and CAR T-Cell Therapy

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Immunotherapies are the cornerstone of treatment for multiple myeloma (MM), demonstrating clinically meaningful improvements in response rates and progression-free survival (PFS) through the use of more precise, targeted therapies.


Experts discuss immunotherapy advancements and challenges of resistance, efficacy, and toxicity in patient management.

Sep 29, 2024

The Two Faces of Space-Time

Posted by in category: physics

A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time, space-time itself can sometimes be two things at once.

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