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Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health have identified a protein in the visual system of mice that appears to be key for stabilizing the body’s circadian rhythms by buffering the brain’s response to light. The finding, published Dec. 5 in PLoS Biology, advances efforts to better treat sleep disorders and jet lag, the study authors say.

“If adjusted to every rapid change in illumination, say an eclipse or a very dark and rainy day, they would not be very effective in regulating such periodic behaviors as sleep and hunger. The protein we identified helps wire the brain during neural development to allow for stable responses to circadian rhythm challenges from day to day,” says Alex Kolodkin, Ph.D., professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Neuroscience and deputy director for the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences.

Kolodkin co-led the study with Samer Hattar, Ph.D., chief of the Section on Light and Circadian Rhythms at the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Charging quantum batteries in indefinite causal order. In the classical world, if you tried to charge a battery using two chargers, you would have to do so in sequence, limiting the available options to just two possible orders. However, leveraging the novel quantum effect called ICO opens the possibility to charge quantum batteries in a distinctively unconventional way. Here, multiple chargers arranged in different orders can exist simultaneously, forming a quantum superposition. ©2023 Chen et al. CC-BY-ND

Batteries that exploit quantum phenomena to gain, distribute and store power promise to surpass the abilities and usefulness of conventional chemical batteries in certain low-power applications. For the first time, researchers including those from the University of Tokyo take advantage of an unintuitive quantum process that disregards the conventional notion of causality to improve the performance of so-called quantum batteries, bringing this future technology a little closer to reality.

When you hear the word “quantum,” the physics governing the subatomic world, developments in quantum computers tend to steal the headlines, but there are other upcoming quantum technologies worth paying attention to. One such item is the quantum battery which, though initially puzzling in name, holds unexplored potential for sustainable energy solutions and possible integration into future electric vehicles. Nevertheless, these new devices are poised to find use in various portable and low-power applications, especially when opportunities to recharge are scarce.

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If you were exposed to the harsh depths of space, you’d lose consciousness in 15 seconds, and be dead within 30 seconds to 1 minute.

But what if you’re wearing an advanced powerful spacesuit? Well, that would buy you about 6 hours before your oxygen runs out, and then you’d still be dead.

So what would happen to your body? Would someone come to retrieve it? Or would it just keep floating through space forever?

Transcript and sources: https://insh.world/science/what-if-yo… possible with the support of Ontario Creates http://www.ontariocreates.ca Watch more what-if scenarios: Planet Earth: • What If Earth Was in Fact Flat? The Cosmos: • Video Technology: • What If the Sahara Desert Was Covered… Your Body: • What If You Were Born on a Space Stat… Humanity: • What If You Were the Last Person on E… About What If: Produced by Underknown in Toronto, Canada, What If is a mini-documentary web series that takes you on an epic journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities. Join us on an imaginary adventure — grounded in scientific theory — through time, space and chance, as we ask what if some of the most fundamental aspects of our existence were different. Follow what-if on Instagram for bonus material: / what.if.show Suggest an episode: http://bit.ly/suggest-whatif Follow the show on Facebook Watch: / what.if.science “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere.” — Carl Sagan Feedback, inquiries and suggestions: https://underknown.com/contact.

Continue reading “What If You Died in Space?” | >

Check out https://NordVPN.com/coolworlds for 4 months for free when you sign up today, thanks to Nord for sponsoring us!

Could there be a bizarre exotic type of star out there made of quarks? What would these things be like and how could they form? Join us as we explore quark stars, and the terrifying implications they have for forging strange matter within their cores…

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Special thanks to Dr Sam Gregson (/ @badboyofscience) for fact checking our script.

→ Support our research: https://www.coolworldslab.com/support.

Continue reading “Could Quark Stars be the Engines of Self-Replicating Strange Matter?” | >

The question of whether artificial intelligence could ever achieve consciousness is a common theme in science fiction. Could robots ever truly feel anything—like love, hate, or fear—or would they be all “dark inside”, experiencing nothing at all?

It is more important than ever to answer this question correctly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer merely a matter of science fiction. AI are increasingly capable of producing art and mastering the use of language, raising serious questions about whether AI are already capable of consciousness, or if not yet, then soon.

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How do we ensure that our robots are the most reliable on the market, capable of walking greater distances, climbing more steps, and inspecting more assets than any other mobile robot? In this webinar, we’ll offer an unprecedented glimpse into the rigorous testing each robot endures before it leaves our lab. We’ll also explore our commitment to customer success, covering our after-sales service and support programs that enable an exceptional customer experience.

In this webinar you will learn:

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An AI chatbot deployed by a car dealership went off the rails after mischievous users discovered a cheeky exploit, in some cases tricking the bot into offering them the deal of a lifetime: brand new cars for chump change. It’s an amusing but cautionary tale on relying on AIs for front-of-house interactions.

The dealership, Chevy of Watsonville in California, used the chatbot to handle customers’ online inquiries, a purpose it was expressly tailored for.

Chris White, a software engineer and musician, was one such customer. He innocently intended to shop around for cars at Watsonville Chevy — until he noticed an amusing detail about the site’s chat window.

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