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Jul 6, 2023

Living digital camera: scientists capture light patterns in DNA for image storage

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, electronics

In a recent article published in Nature communications*, researchers described a technique of capturing two-dimensional (2D) light patterns into deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and using high-throughput next-generation sequencing to retrieve recorded images.

Study: A biological camera that captures and stores images directly into DNA. Image Credit: BillionPhotos/Shutterstock.com.

Jul 6, 2023

Smile, You’re on BacCam! DNA Stores Images from a Living Digital Camera

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing

Scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have used bacteria for recording, storing, and retrieving images in DNA. This biological analog to a digital camera, which the authors have named “BacCam,” is a crucial step for DNA data storage techniques and the merging of biological and electronic systems.

The article, “A biological camera that captures and stores images directly into DNA,” was published in Nature Communications.

Prior to this publication, there were two landmark papers that addressed either the use of cells to capture light or the storage of images into DNA, but not the two together. In May 2017, researchers from the lab of Christopher Voigt, PhD, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a system to produce ‘color photographs’ on bacterial culture plates by controlling pigment production and to redirect metabolic flux by expressing CRISPRi guide RNAs. Two months later, researchers in the lab of George Church, PhD, at Harvard Medical School demonstrated a method for encoding images via de novo DNA synthesis before insertion into the bacterial genome.

Jul 6, 2023

New glass could cut carbon footprint by nearly half and is 10x more damage resistant

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

Worldwide, glass manufacturing produces at least 86 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. A new type of glass promises to cut this carbon footprint in half. The invention, called LionGlass and engineered by researchers at Penn State, requires significantly less energy to produce and is much more damage resistant than standard soda lime silicate glass. The research team recently filed a patent application as a first step toward bringing the product to market.

“Our goal is to make glass manufacturing sustainable for the long term,” said John Mauro, Dorothy Pate Enright Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State and lead researcher on the project. “LionGlass eliminates the use of carbon-containing batch materials and significantly lowers the melting temperature of glass.”

Soda lime silicate glass, the common glass used in everyday items from windows to glass tableware, is made by melting three primary materials: quartz sand, soda ash and limestone. Soda ash is and limestone is calcium carbonate, both of which release carbon dioxide (CO2), a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, as they are melted.

Jul 6, 2023

Texas Fourth of July Drone Show Sets Guinness World Record

Posted by in category: drones

Sky Elements Drone Shows set a Guinness World Record for its Fourth of July drone show in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Sky Elements Drone Shows produced 40 shows during the extended holiday weekend using more than LED-equipped 10,000 drones, including 1,002 just at the show in Texas.

The show near Dallas set the record for the largest aerial sentence formed by multirotor drones and the 10-minute display illustrated critical moments in American history through precisely choreographed movements.

Jul 6, 2023

Telo’s tiny pickup and Canoo’s EV are having a moment. Here are the hottest small vehicles on the road right now

Posted by in category: transportation

Compact trucks like Ford’s Maverick, and Telo’s tiny pickup are having a moment. Here are the hottest small vehicles in the US and abroad.

Jul 6, 2023

The Science of Sleep: How to Get Better Sleep Every Night

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, science

We all know the feeling of waking up groggy and exhausted, struggling to find the energy to tackle the day ahead. The key to breaking free from this cycle lies in understanding the science of sleep and adopting evidence-based strategies to enhance its quality. So, let’s explore the stages of sleeping and the role of circadian rhythms in regulating our sleep-wake cycles to transform your habits and embark on the journey to obtain better sleep every night!

Get Better Sleep Every Night: Understand the Science

Continue reading “The Science of Sleep: How to Get Better Sleep Every Night” »

Jul 6, 2023

There’s a striking link between quantum and astronomic scales. What could it mean?

Posted by in category: quantum physics

A discovery with potentially mind-boggling implications about the behaviour of matter at the quantum and astronomical scales.

Jul 6, 2023

What does the future hold for humanity? Well, 4 out of 10 experts said they were equally concerned and excited “about the changes in the ‘human-tech’ evolution”

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

Wonder drugs, environmental sustainability or Skynet apocalypse: Hundreds of experts weigh in on what life might be for A.I.-fueled 2035 in new Pew Research report.

Jul 6, 2023

Another deadly pandemic seems inevitable — but there is a way to avoid it

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

We need to do big things quickly to halt the disturbance of nature. And I fear that’s not happening, says former Guardian environment editor John Vidal.

Jul 6, 2023

United Nations counting on AI and robots to save its failing Social Development Goals

Posted by in categories: climatology, robotics/AI, sustainability

The 17 goals were set by the UN in 2015 and over the years, these goals have become unachievable.

The United Nations’ ‘AI for Good’ Summit is underway in Geneva and will showcase specialized robots to help the organization reach its 17 Social Development Goals (SDGs).

The goals were set in 2015, and over the years, these goals have become improbable, owing to the increasing costs of meeting the targets. The United Nations has been fighting issues like hunger, poverty, and climate change, whose prices have risen 25 PERCENT to $176 trillion from 2021 to 2022, reported Reuters.