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Oct 17, 2022

Top Facebook Scientist Quietly Plotting “Autonomous” AIs

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

The top machine learning researcher at Facebook is quietly building a roadmap towards an “autonomous” AI that has common sense.

Oct 17, 2022

These Nootropics May Give Your Brain the Boost It Needs To Function at Max Capacity

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

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This is not a knock on caffeine by any means. There’s a reason people have been consuming it for thousands of years. It works by blocking the neurotransmitters in the brain that produce drowsiness. This keeps your neurons firing at full speed, which makes you feel awake. And studies show it is very effective at boosting mood. But what if you could do more for your brain than simply tricking it into being awake? What if you could give your brain nutrients that help it work better all the time? Well, with a well-designed nootropics supplement, you can.

Nootropics are often marketed as “smart drugs,” which gives the impression that they’re going to boost your IQ and turn you into a rocket scientist or brain surgeon. But that is not actually the case. Nootropics are simply chemical compounds that help create the biological conditions necessary for optimal brain function. They include things like amino acids, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and even stimulants such as caffeine. Some of these compounds serve as fuel for cognition. Others modulate various processes involved in neurotransmission.

Oct 17, 2022

Astrobiologist: We Should Gene-Hack New Traits Into Mars Settlers

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

Fellow webinar participant Christopher Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine, argued that gene-hacking astronauts could even be a moral imperative.

“And are we maybe ethically bound to do so?” Mason said. “I think if it’s a long enough mission, you might have to do something, assuming it’s safe, which we can’t say yet.”

Oct 17, 2022

Yale researchers create a new amphibious turtle robot with shape-shifting limbs

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI

The uses of such a robot include ocean farming, diver support, and monitoring of coastal ecosystems.

Yale University researchers in the U.S. have developed a new amphibious turtle robot that has the ability to transform its legs into flippers.

The amphibious robotic turtle, known as ART (Amphibious Robotic Turtle), was inspired by the land and aquatic turtles, a group whose fossil record dates back over 110 million years, according to a press release published by the university on Wednesday.

Oct 17, 2022

NASA detects the most powerful cosmic gamma-ray burst ever discovered

Posted by in category: space

On Sunday, October 9th, astronomers around the world were privy to an unusually bright and long-lasting pulse of high-energy radiation that swept over Earth, according to a NASA statement published on Thursday. The source of the event was a gamma-ray burst (GRB), one of the most luminous events ever known.

Oct 17, 2022

Elon Musk: A combination of Einstein, Tesla and Rockefeller, says former SpaceX exec

Posted by in categories: education, Elon Musk, space travel, sustainability

Musk was inspired by Alexander and Napolean, says his father.

Elon Musk is a combination of Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, and John D. Rockefeller, according to Dolly Singh, a former SpaceX executive who worked with Musk between 2008 and 2013.


Daniel Oberhaus/ Wikimedia Commons.

Continue reading “Elon Musk: A combination of Einstein, Tesla and Rockefeller, says former SpaceX exec” »

Oct 17, 2022

Nanostructured diamond capsules hold fast under pressure

Posted by in categories: materials, nanotechnology

New structures maintain the properties of high-pressure materials outside the high-pressure vessels in which they were formed.

Oct 17, 2022

A Special Type of Diet Can Reduce Symptoms of Dementia

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

Short cycles of a low-calorie diet that mimics fasting appeared to lower inflammation and delay cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease is a disease that attacks the brain, causing a decline in mental ability that worsens over time. It is the most common form of dementia and accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. There is no current cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but there are medications that can help ease the symptoms.

Oct 17, 2022

First-ever medication to treat neuropsychiatric disorders could soon be available

Posted by in category: neuroscience

There could soon be a treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders that cause social deficits—such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. If the treatment.

Oct 17, 2022

Human Tetrachromacy is Real. Here’s What We Know

Posted by in category: genetics

After decades of exhaustive study, scientists have concluded that human tetrachromacy is real. Some people have a truly superhuman range of color vision. In fact, there are two distinct types of tetrachromacy. In some cases, it’s genetic. But in some rare cases, it can also be an acquired trait. While it’s difficult to test, enough tetrachromats have stepped forward that scientists now have visual and genetic tests for the condition.

One percent of the world’s population is thought to be tetrachromatic. These lucky folks may be able to see a thousand times as many colors as the rest of us trichromats. In order to test that idea, researcher Gabriele Johnson devised an experiment. She used precise amounts of pigment to create shades of paint that could only be distinguished by a machine — or a tetrachromat. In 2010, Johnson found a subject who was able to tell each subtle shade apart, every time — just as fast as trichromats could identify the colors they saw. “When you ask them to discriminate between the two mixtures, a tetrachromat can do it very quickly,” she said. “They don’t hesitate.”

Concetta Antico is a painter and art teacher with genetic tetrachromacy. Growing up in Sydney, she says, she was always “a little bit out of the box,” alone in her own visual dreamland. She always preferred the kaleidoscope of colors she saw when she looked at the natural world. But nobody else seemed to see it quite like she did. So she decided to paint what she saw. “I’m sure people just think I’m high on something all the time,” she said, “but I’m really just high on life and the beauty that’s around us.”