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Sep 23, 2022

Scientists Discover the Nearest Black Hole to Our Solar System Ever Found

Posted by in categories: computing, cosmology, physics

Astronomers have recently found the nearest known black hole to our solar system. According to scientists, the black hole is 1,570 lightyears away and ten times larger than our sun.

Known as Gaia BH1, the research was led by Harvard Society Fellow astrophysicist Kareem El-Badry, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA).

In addition, El-Badry worked with researchers from CfA, MPIA, Caltech, UC Berkeley, the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA), the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Observatoire de Paris, MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, and other universities.

Sep 23, 2022

Requiem For A NUCLEAR WAR

Posted by in category: existential risks

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OhoDTy7XUk8

Hi guys, my name is Captain Red Fist Gaming and this is my first video. It is a scenario of a Nuclear War.

WARNING!!! Some of these clips are not mine. all credit goes there to rightful owners.

Continue reading “Requiem For A NUCLEAR WAR” »

Sep 23, 2022

Molecular Changes in the Brain in the Aftermath of a Traumatic Event May Help Explain Long-Term Susceptibility or Resilience

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

Summary: In mice genetically more susceptible to PTSD following a stressful event, researchers found an increased expression of cortisol receptors on neurons in the CA1 region of the dorsal hippocampus. Those increased receptors enabled an elevated expression of the HCN1 protein and TRIP8b, reducing neural excitability.

Source: medical college of georgia at augusta university.

Social avoidance is a common symptom of PTSD, and scientists working to better understand why have laboratory evidence that while stress hormone levels consistently increase in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, there can be polar opposite consequences in parts of the brain down the line.

Sep 23, 2022

Is the World Ready for Extremely Effective Weight-Loss Drugs?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Earlier this summer, Forrest Smith got some promising news. The Denver-based petroleum engineer, who works for the National Park Service, had read reports on a new diabetes medication called tirzepatide. Clinical trials had confirmed a potent side effect: Tirzepatide users could shed up to 20 percent of their body weight. Smith told me he spent his childhood cast as “the fat kid in school,” and his adulthood locked in a cycle of losing pounds and regaining them. Though he is not diabetic, he was aware that some doctors were prescribing the drug for weight loss and, feeling like he had nothing to lose, sought one out for treatment. He took his first weekly injection in July, and says it was like “a switch was flipped overnight.” Food cravings disappeared. When watching skinny friends eat, he used to wonder, “How do you not eat that entire plate of cookies in front of you?” That all changed. “One cookie? Totally doable.”

He now weighs 236 pounds, 24 pounds down from when he began the medication. Smith’s spouse and parents were so impressed with his progress that they decided to seek out tirzepatide, too. His young children have noticed that running around their garden now tires them out before their father. Since his first shot, Smith has been reaching deeper into his closet for clothes that will fit. “Hopefully,” he said, “I don’t find parachute pants—I don’t have to go that far back.”

Tirzepatide (marketed by Eli Lilly and Company as Mounjaro) first became available to the public in May of 2022, when it was approved by the FDA as a diabetes treatment. And while FDA approval for using the drug specifically for weight loss appears imminent, doctors have the authority to deviate from FDA mandates when prescribing drugs, and some have been writing scripts to treat obesity at their own discretion. “I’ve been very excited about these medicines,” said Dr. Melanie Jay, director of NYU Langone’s Comprehensive Program on Obesity. “[Obesity] has always been something that’s under-treated.” It might be the trickle that precedes a torrent—tirzepatide is just one in a class of new extremely effective weight loss drugs that threaten to upend the way we think about and treat obesity.

Sep 23, 2022

Scientists blasted plastic with lasers and turned it into tiny diamonds and a new type of water

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, space

New research inspired by ice giants like Neptune and Uranus shows lasers can transform a common plastic into tiny diamonds.

Sep 23, 2022

There’s New Proof Crispr Can Edit Genes Inside Human Bodies

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The technique had largely been limited to editing patients’ cells in the lab. New research shows promise for treating diseases more directly.

Sep 23, 2022

Scientists Use CRISPR to Condense a Million Years of Evolution Into Mere Months

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, evolution, genetics

Chromosome-level engineering is a completely different beast: it’s like rearranging multiple paragraphs or shifting complete sections of an article and simultaneously hoping the changes add capabilities that can be passed onto the next generation.

Reprogramming life isn’t easy. Xiao Zhu’s DNA makeup is built from genetic letters already optimized by eons of evolutionary pressure. It’s no surprise that tinkering with an established genomic book often results in life that’s not viable. So far, only yeast have survived the rejiggering of their chromosomes.

The new study, published in Science, made the technology possible for mice. The team artificially fused together chunks from mice chromosomes. One fused pair made from chromosomes four and five was able to support embryos that developed into healthy—if somewhat strangely behaved—mice. Remarkably, even with this tectonic shift to their normal genetics, the mice could reproduce and pass on their engineered genetic quirks to a second generation of offspring.

Sep 23, 2022

High-Temperature Superconductivity Understood at Last

Posted by in category: futurism

A new atomic-scale experiment all but settles the origin of the strong form of superconductivity seen in cuprate crystals, confirming a 35-year-old theory.

Sep 23, 2022

Elon Musk says ‘patents are for the weak’ as he talks Starship rocket, tours SpaceX Starbase with Jay Leno

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

The list of things that interest Elon Musk ranges from space travel to easing Los Angeles’ infamous traffic.

One thing that doesn’t make the cut? Patents.

The 51-year-old entrepreneur recently appeared on CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage” to give the former “Tonight Show” host a tour around the SpaceX Starbase facility in Texas.

Sep 22, 2022

Precision tomography of a three-qubit donor quantum processor in silicon

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Circa 2022 Silicon based quantum computer is 99 percent accurate.


Universal quantum logic operations with fidelity exceeding 99%, approaching the threshold of fault tolerance, are realized in a scalable silicon device comprising an electron and two phosphorus nuclei, and a fidelity of 92.5% is obtained for a three-qubit entangled state.