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He’s hoping that his plastic orbs, which rest between 15 and 36 feet below the ocean’s surface and hold about 528 gallons of air, will provide a water-conserving, overall sustainable alternative to on-land agricultural operations, particularly helping dry coastal nations grow more food without having to desalinate more water — a costly and resource-intensive process. The plants require just a small bit of starter water, but from there, they’re self-sustaining. Sunlight heats the submerged spheres, which contain humid air that naturally condenses into freshwater on the walls and drips back into the soil.

“Since the underwater farm needs an external source of water only for the start-up of plants growing,” reads the company’s site, “our system could be useful for those locations far from the bodies of water available.”

The findings come, in part, from nine patients involved in an ongoing Swiss study that is seeking to restore movement to people with paralysis.

All nine rapidly regained the ability to stand and walk with the help of implants that electrically stimulate spinal nerves that control lower-body movement.

Now the researchers are reporting that they’ve identified a specific group of cells in the lower spine that appear necessary for that movement recovery to happen.

Continue reading “Targeting Key Cells in Spinal Cord Got Paralyzed Patients Walking Again” | >

A team of researchers at Universität Heidelberg has built an early universe analog in their laboratory using chilled potassium atoms. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their simulator and how it might be used. Silke Weinfurtner, with the University of Nottingham, has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue outlining the work done by the team in Germany.

Understanding what occurred during the first few moments after the Big Bang is difficult due to the lack of evidence left behind. That leaves astrophysicists with nothing but theory to describe what might have happened. To give credence to their theories, scientists have built models that theoretically represent the conditions being described. In this new effort, the researchers used a new approach to build a in their laboratory to simulate conditions just after the Big Bang.

Beginning with the theory that that the Big Bang gave rise to an , the researchers sought to create what they describe as a “quantum field simulator.” Since most theories suggest it was likely that the was very cold, near absolute zero, the researchers created an environment that was very cold. They then added potassium atoms to represent the universe they were trying to simulate.

Continue reading “An early universe analog built in a lab in Germany” | >

Have you struggled to take your career in data or software engineering to the next level?

After working with hundreds of alumni, FourthBrain’s curriculum and career services staff has developed a framework with key strategies that you can implement today to help you find your focus, showcase your unique skills, and take your ML career to the next level.

Continue reading “Webinar — How to Build your Career in Machine Learning” | >

Researchers at UC Riverside are paving the way for diabetes and cancer patients to forget needles and injections, and instead take pills to manage their conditions.

Some drugs for these diseases dissolve in water, so transporting them through the intestines, which receive what we drink and eat, is not feasible. As a result, these drugs cannot be administered by mouth. However, UCR scientists have created a chemical “tag” that can be added to these drugs, allowing them to enter via the intestines.

The details of how they found the tag, and demonstrations of its effectiveness, are described in a new Journal of the American Chemical Society paper.

Continue reading “Injections for diabetes, cancer could become unnecessary” | >