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Sep 18, 2023

Vision rescue via unconstrained in vivo prime editing in degenerating neural retinas

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Crispr used in mice to reverse vision loss 😀.


Qin and colleagues develop a genome-editing tool characterized by the versatility of prime editors and unconstrained PAM requirement of SpRY. In vivo gene corre.

Sep 18, 2023

Potential Therapeutic Benefit of NAD+ Supplementation for Glaucoma and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience

Year 2020 Immortality in eyes achieved with Nad plus 😗😁😘.


Glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration are leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide with significant health and societal burdens. To date, no clinical cures are available and treatments target only the manageable symptoms and risk factors (but do not remediate the underlying pathology of the disease). Both diseases are neurodegenerative in their pathology of the retina and as such many of the events that trigger cell dysfunction, degeneration, and eventual loss are due to mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Here, we critically review how a decreased bioavailability of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD; a crucial metabolite in healthy and disease states) may underpin many of these aberrant mechanisms. We propose how exogenous sources of NAD may become a therapeutic standard for the treatment of these conditions.

Sep 18, 2023

A Billion-Mile Journey: OSIRIS-REx’s Meteoric Return With a Space Rock Treasure

Posted by in category: space

Recovery teams participate in field rehearsals in preparation for the retrieval of the sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and will return to Earth on September 24th, landing under parachute at the Utah Test and Training Range. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber.

The OSIRIS-REx team also thought a lot about conditions on the ground itself. Late summer is monsoon season in the desert, so heavy rains could saturate the silty ground. Wet-cement-like mud would make driving difficult if off-road vehicles are required to help helicopters find and transport the capsule.

“We should know by the end of monsoon season how much precipitation we’ve received and the condition of the salt flats,” said Eric Nelson, a U.S. Army meteorologist supporting the mission. “A good indicator is Bonneville Speed Week, an annual racing event in August.” Since it went off without a hitch, “we’re probably okay.”

Sep 18, 2023

This incredible cargo ship can traverse the oceans with its massive, 123-foot sails — and it just took its maiden voyage

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Looking to the past has made a more sustainable future possible in the shipping industry, with the latest wind-powered vessel taking to the seas for its first voyage.

The Pyxis Ocean from the Mitsubishi Corporation has been retrofitted with two “WindWings” sails — developed by BAR Technologies and produced by Yara Marine — on the cargo ship’s deck.

Continue reading “This incredible cargo ship can traverse the oceans with its massive, 123-foot sails — and it just took its maiden voyage” »

Sep 18, 2023

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to complex software that performs tasks in a way similar to human brains, often by sensing and responding to a feature of their environment. This could mean learning to solve problems in unexpected ways, recognising the nuances of speech, or exhibiting some form of human-like creativity.

Just as no single quality defines human thinking, no clear line differentiates more basic computer programs from AI. It can be thought of more as an ideal than a category — using our own penchant for learning and problem solving to inspire new technology and answers to some of our biggest and most complex questions.

There are many different fields of AI, including ’robotics’, but one of the most commonly known forms is referred to as ‘machine learning’. This involves a program applying known information to new experiences and ‘learning’ how to take this historical information and its experiences into account in future actions.

Sep 18, 2023

World’s first crewed liquid hydrogen plane takes off

Posted by in categories: energy, transportation

At a somewhat small and unassuming airport in Maribor, Slovenia, German hydrogen propulsion startup H2FLY has quietly been building up to a major milestone in zero-emission aviation over the summer. And all the hard work has come to fruition, with the successful completion of the world’s first crewed liquid hydrogen-powered flights.

Before any aviation history enthusiast out there goes “but what about the Tupolev Tu-155?” — yes, the Soviets did try out liquid hydrogen as fuel 35 years ago, but only for one of the three engines. In contrast, H2FLY’s HY4 has now operated using only liquid hydrogen (as opposed to the gaseous kind) as fuel, relying solely on the hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain for the entire flight.

Sep 18, 2023

Google’s Gemini AI is a Serious Threat to ChatGPT — Here’s Why

Posted by in categories: business, robotics/AI

At a glance, Gemini’s ability to generate text and images gives it a serious advantage over GPT4 with respect to the range of content that it can produce.

However, perhaps the most threatening differentiator between the two is Google’s vast array of proprietary training data. Google Gemini can process data taken across services, including Google Search, YouTube, Google Books, and Google Scholar.

The use of this proprietary data in training the Gemini models could result in a distinct edge in the sophistication of the insights and inferences that it can take from a data set. This is particularly true if early reports that Gemini is trained on twice as many tokens as GPT4 are correct.

Continue reading “Google’s Gemini AI is a Serious Threat to ChatGPT — Here’s Why” »

Sep 18, 2023

How to use AI to write songs and make music videos

Posted by in categories: media & arts, robotics/AI

If you would like to harness the power of artificial intelligence to aid you in the creation of your next song or music video. You might be interested in a new video created by AI enthusiast Matt Wolfe. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer a wide variety of different sectors including AI art generation, writing and more. As well as offering innovative tools that can assist in creating songs and music videos.

This AI music writing overview guide provides an in-depth look into how some of these AI tools can be utilized to create a new songs and accompanying music videos, a process that is not only fascinating but also accessible to anyone with an interest in music and technology.

Sep 18, 2023

‘First true flying car’ unveiled — it can even fit in a normal parking spot

Posted by in categories: futurism, transportation

THE future has finally caught up as the world’s first flying car has at last been unveiled nearly a year after the concept was announced.

Thanks to California-based Alef Aeronautics, a car that can fly is officially on the ground — and soon to be in the air.

Dubbed the Alef Model A, the technologically advanced concept car was revealed at the North America International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.

Sep 18, 2023

Researchers create optical device that can kill pathogens on surfaces while remaining safe for humans

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, particle physics

While it has long been known that ultraviolet (UV) light can help kill disease-causing pathogens, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on how these technologies can rid environments of germs. However, the excimer lamps and LEDs that can directly emit light in the required deep-UV wavelengths generally have low efficiency or suffer from short lifetimes. Moreover, UV light of the wrong wavelength can actually be harmful to human cells.

Now, a team led by researchers from Osaka University has shown how an made of can be used to generate deep-UV light in a method wholly different from previous approaches. The team made use of a process called “second harmonic generation,” which relies on the fact that the frequency of a photon, or particle of light, is proportional to its energy. The study is published in the journal Applied Physics Express.

Most are considered “linear” with respect to their response to light, i.e., photons cannot interact with each other. However, inside certain “nonlinear” materials, two photons can be combined into a with twice the energy, and thus, twice the frequency.