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Nov 7, 2022

Rethinking How The Information I Write About Gets To My Readers

Posted by in category: Elon Musk

Elon Musk from his Twitter bully pulpit tells U.S. voters for whom they should cast their ballots.


When social media first arrived I hoped it would facilitate global engagement and serve to advance humanity’s common purpose.

Nov 7, 2022

New camera system taps into terahertz wavelengths for better imaging

Posted by in categories: materials, security

A team of engineers has developed a new type of camera that can detect radiation in terahertz (THz) wavelengths. This new imaging system can see through certain materials in high detail, which could make it useful for security scanners and other sensors.

Terahertz radiation is that which has wavelengths between microwaves and visible light, and these frequencies show promise in a new class of imaging systems. They can penetrate many materials and capture new levels of detail, and importantly the radiation is non-ionizing, meaning it’s safer than X-rays when used on humans.

The problem is that detectors that pick up THz wavelengths can be bulky, slow, expensive, difficult to run under practical conditions, or some combination of these. But in a new study, researchers at MIT, Samsung and the University of Minnesota have developed a system that can detect THz pulses quickly, precisely and at regular room temperature and pressure.

Nov 7, 2022

A startup building software to encrypt messaging tools such as Slack just raised $11 million from Molten Ventures. Check out the 17-slide pitch deck Worldr used to secure the round

Posted by in categories: encryption, security

The company gives its customers full control over their data and claims to increase security, with a focus on compliance and auditing.

Nov 7, 2022

Scientists Suggest Our Brains Work Like Quantum Computers

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience, quantum physics

A study conducted by scientists from Trinity College Dublin could suggest that quantum processes are involved in the functions of our brains.

Nov 7, 2022

Google is testing a new robot that can program itself

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

The robot can understand natural language commands, remember what it learned, and reuse instructions for similar tasks down the line.

Nov 7, 2022

PIONEERS (Animation Short Film)

Posted by in category: media & arts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inpTY8mnwos

Music in this video:
Creator: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.
Title: Melancholic Synthwave *No Beat* — Dreams of 1984
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpPI4xiMCD8&list=RDkpPI4xiMCD8&start_radio=1
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/WhiteBatAudio.

Carl Sagan: Pale Blue Dot (1994) — Wanderers: An Introduction.

Nov 7, 2022

Elon Musk threatens to boot Twitter account impersonators

Posted by in category: Elon Musk

BOSTON (AP) — Elon Musk tweeted Sunday that Twitter will permanently suspend any account on the social media platform that impersonates another.

The platform’s new owner issued the warning after some celebrities changed their Twitter display names — not their account names — and tweeted as ‘Elon Musk’ in reaction to the billionaire’s decision to offer verified accounts to all comers for $8 month as he simultaneously laid off a big chunk of the workforce.

“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended,” Musk wrote. While Twitter previously issued warnings before suspensions, now that it is rolling out “widespread verification, there will be no warning.”

Nov 6, 2022

Spate of polio outbreaks worldwide puts scientists on alert

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The virus found in these regions is derived from an oral polio vaccine used in some countries. So far, only two cases of polio-related paralysis have been reported, in Jerusalem in February and New York in June1; the New York infection was the first such US case in nearly a decade. But wastewater samples in all three areas suggest that the virus is circulating more widely.

Polio causes irreversible paralysis in less than one in 200 of the susceptible people it infects, so the cases of paralysis suggest that many other people there have been infected, says Walter Orenstein, who studies infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. “Cases like that are just the tip of the iceberg,” he says. “It’s very concerning.”

Nature talked to researchers about the scale of the outbreak, and what can be done to stop it.

Nov 6, 2022

Evolution of immune genes is associated with the Black Death

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

Klunk and colleagues identify signatures of natural selection imposed by Yersinia pestis and demonstrate their effect on genetic diversity and susceptibility to certain diseases in the present day.

Nov 6, 2022

Black Death survivors gave their descendants a genetic advantage — but with a cost

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

This could give more immunity to viruses with the gene they found helped people survive the black death.


“We all think that COVID-19 was insane and completely changed the world and our societies,” Barreiro says. “COVID has a mortality rate of about 0.05% – something like that. Now try to project – if it’s even possible – a scenario where 30 to 50% of the population dies.”

Now a new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, shows that the Black Death altered more than society: It also likely altered the evolution of the European people’s genome.

Continue reading “Black Death survivors gave their descendants a genetic advantage — but with a cost” »