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Jul 28, 2022

A 5th person is likely cured of HIV, and another is in long-term remission

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

One case involved a man with cancer who underwent a specialized stem cell transplant; the other involved a woman who received immune-boosting therapies as part of a clinical trial.

Jul 28, 2022

Uncontrolled debris from massive Chinese booster rocket could hit Earth within days

Posted by in category: futurism

China decided not to guide the booster back through the atmosphere and it’s not clear exactly when or where it will come down to Earth. While it will largely burn up on return, there remains a slight risk of fragments causing damage or casualties.

According to researchers at The Aerospace Corporation “there is a non-zero probability of the surviving debris landing in a populated area—over 88 percent of the world’s population lives under the reentry’s potential debris footprint.”

While China is not alone in such practices, the size of the Long March rocket stage has drawn particular scrutiny.

Jul 28, 2022

Dangerous bacterium found in Mississippi soil

Posted by in category: futurism

Medics are on alert for cases of the rare infection that cause can be serious and even deadly to some people.

Jul 28, 2022

New vaccine could save thousands of lives

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Academics have created a vaccine which has the potential to protect humans from the infection melioidosis, also called Whitmore’s disease.

The vaccine is the result of two decades of research, and is the most protective tested to date.

Melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. It is thought to be spread in soil and dust, but experts do not yet know why it only affects people and animals in tropical regions. Occasionally people from the UK have contracted melioidosis while on holiday abroad.

Jul 28, 2022

NASA’s VIPER Prototype Motors Through Moon-like Obstacle Course

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics, space travel

NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) prototype recently endured the most realistic tests to-date of its ability to drive through the most difficult terrain during its mission to the Moon’s South Pole.


Quantum computers, devices that exploit quantum phenomena to perform computations, could eventually help tackle complex computational problems faster and more efficiently than classical computers. These devices are commonly based on basic units of information known as quantum bits, or qubits.

Jul 28, 2022

An alternative superconducting qubit achieves high performance for quantum computing

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Quantum computers, devices that exploit quantum phenomena to perform computations, could eventually help tackle complex computational problems faster and more efficiently than classical computers. These devices are commonly based on basic units of information known as quantum bits, or qubits.

Researchers at Alibaba Quantum Laboratory, a unit of Alibaba Group’s DAMO research institute, have recently developed a using fluxonium qubits, which have so far not been the preferred choice when developing quantum computers for industry teams. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, demonstrates the potential of fluxonium for developing highly performing superconducting circuits.

“This work is a critical step for us in advancing our quantum computing research,” Yaoyun Shi, Director of Alibaba’s Quantum Laboratory, told Phys.org. “When we started our research program, we decided to explore fluxonium as the building block for future quantum computers, deviating from the mainstream choice of the transmon qubit. We believe that this relatively new type of superconducting qubit could go much further than transmon.”

Jul 28, 2022

Parasites may take a heavier toll on the health of mammal populations than previously thought, study suggests

Posted by in category: health

From cattle to uncontrolled wildlife, pesky but pervasive large parasites like tapeworms have a far greater impact on the total body health of their mammal hosts than previously known, new University of Alberta research suggests.

“Parasites don’t have to kill the animal to control a population,” says Kyle Shanebeck, a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Science’s Department of Biological Sciences who led the study.

Shanebeck explained that all wildlife have at least one and often multiple . The less fatal a parasite, the more prevalent it is within a population, with potentially stronger negative effects.

Jul 28, 2022

Adding one more layer of metal fluoride can enhance performance of solar cells

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Inserting a metal fluoride layer in multilayered perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells can stall charge recombination and enhance performance, KAUST researchers have found.

Tandem solar cells that combine and silicon-based subcells in one device are expected to better capture and convert sunlight into electricity than their conventional single-junction silicon analogs at a lower cost. However, when strikes the perovskite subcell, the resulting pairs of electrons and positively charged holes tend to recombine at the interface between perovskite and the electron-transport layer. Also, a mismatch between energy levels at this interface hinders electron separation within the cell. Cumulatively, these problems lower the maximum operating voltage available, or open-circuit voltage, of the tandem cells and limit device performance.

These performance issues can partially be solved by introducing a lithium fluoride layer between the perovskite and electron-transport layer, which usually comprises the electron-acceptor fullerene (C60). However, lithium salts readily liquify and diffuse through surfaces, which makes the devices unstable. “None of the devices have passed the standard test protocols of the International Electrotechnical Commission, prompting us to create an alternative,” says lead author Jiang Liu, a postdoc in Stefaan De Wolf’s group.

Jul 28, 2022

17-YO Shares 5 Easy Steps To Grow Microgreens At Home, Using Old Milk Packets

Posted by in categories: computing, education

A fter schools shifted to an online teaching mode, 17-year-old Nisha Pathak was worried about her increase in screen time. To avoid spending too much time looking at computers and to keep herself active, the Class 12 student of Neeraja Modi school, Jaipur, Rajasthan, took up farming.

“I wanted to keep myself engaged in activities that did not require looking at a screen. Apart from that, I wanted to grow the veggies and distribute them to underprivileged families living near my home,” says Nisha, adding that she learnt how to prepare seeds and plant them from a gardener in her community premises.

Initially, she grew vegetables like potatoes, onions and tomatoes. The harvest was distributed among underprivileged families who were living in neighbouring areas and were unable to procure fresh vegetables regularly.

Jul 28, 2022

These 28+ Android Apps with 10 Million Downloads from the Play Store Contain Malware

Posted by in categories: business, cybercrime/malcode

Researchers have discovered a new infostealer malware, dubbed DUCKTAIL, targeting individuals and organizations that operate on Facebook’s Business.