Menu

Blog

Page 4576

Dec 25, 2021

A decade after CRISPR discovery, the unimaginable outcomes of gene editing emerge

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

CRISPR-based cures will soon help combat all kinds of disease, from UTIs to leukemia. But terrifying implications of gene editing are abound as well.

Share in Twitter.

Dec 25, 2021

Probiotics for dementia: What’s the evidence?

Posted by in category: neuroscience

The results of a meta-analysis suggest that probiotic supplementation may improve cognitive function in people with mild cognitive impairment.

Dec 25, 2021

Stealthy BLISTER malware slips in unnoticed on Windows systems

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

Security researchers have uncovered a malicious campaign that relies on a valid code-signing certificate to disguise malicious code as legitimate executables.

One of the payloads that the researchers called Blister, acts as a loader for other malware and appears to be a novel threat that enjoys a low detection rate.

The threat actor behind Blister has been relying on multiple techniques to keep their attacks under the radar, the use of code-signing certificates being only one of their tricks.

Dec 25, 2021

Giant reservoir of ‘hidden water’ discovered on Mars

Posted by in categories: futurism, space

The hidden water was found at a site as large as the Netherlands.


The water likely exists as ice, making the region ripe for future exploration.

Dec 25, 2021

Blood Test #6 In 2021: What’s My Diet?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Join us on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/MichaelLustgartenPhD

Dec 25, 2021

Antimicrobial 3D Printed Objects in the Fight Against Pandemics

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, health

The uncharted nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused uncertainty globally, resulting in many health care professionals and key-workers being left with supply shortages in medical consumables and personal protective equipment, exacerbated by supply line issues and in some cases delays resulting from governmental policies. 3D printing (3DP) has played an important role in providing essential items to hospitals and the wider communities, such as visors, face masks, and ventilator components. This short-review article covers the potential of antimicrobial materials in the manufacturing of 3DP essential products, as an approach for added protection against pandemics.

Dec 25, 2021

Cuba soars to near top of COVID vaccination charts on decades-old bet

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, health

How is Cuba’s one dose vaccine working 🤔


HAVANA, Dec 20 (Reuters) — Cuba has vaccinated more of its citizens against COVID-19 than most of the world’s largest and richest nations, a milestone that will make the poor, communist-run country a test case as the highly contagious Omicron variant begins to circle the globe.

The Caribbean island has vaccinated over 90% of its population with at least one dose, and 83% of the population is now fully inoculated, placing it second globally behind only the United Arab Emirates among countries of at least 1 million people, according to official statistics compiled by ‘Our World in Data.’

Continue reading “Cuba soars to near top of COVID vaccination charts on decades-old bet” »

Dec 25, 2021

Henry Kissinger: AI Will Prompt Consideration of What it Means to Be Human

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

WASHINGTON, December 24, 2021 – Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says that further use of artificial intelligence will call into question what it means to be human, and that the technology cannot solve all those problems humans fail to address on their own.

Kissinger spoke at a Council on Foreign Relations event highlighting his new book “The Age of AI: And Our Human Future” on Monday along with co-author and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a conversation moderated by PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff.

Schmidt remarked throughout the event on unanswered questions about AI despite common use of the technology.

Dec 25, 2021

The Aging Kidney Harms the Brain

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience

A good deal of evidence points to declining kidney function as a cause of declining cognitive function in aging. There are strong correlations between loss of kidney function and risk of dementia, for example. Correlation isn’t a smoking gun in matters of aging, however: it is possible for any one of the underlying forms of molecular damage that cause aging, or for intermediate consequences of that damage, to give rise to otherwise unrelated pathologies in different parts of the body. Those pathologies appear more often in people with greater amounts of that form of damage, and thus appear correlated.

Nonetheless, there are good reasons to think that kidney failure and its downstream consequences contribute meaningful to neurodegeneration, perhaps largely by degrading the function of the vascular system. Vascular aging can cause damage and dysfunction in brain tissue via numerous mechanisms, including the pressure damage of hypertension, similar damage resulting from an acceleration of atherosclerosis, failing to delivery sufficient nutrients and oxygen to the energy-hungry brain, and disruption of the blood-brain barrier, allowing inflammatory cells and molecules into the brain.

Interactions Between Kidney Function and Cerebrovascular Disease: Vessel Pathology That Fires Together Wires Together.

Dec 24, 2021

Tetris Handheld Powered By Tritium Cell, Eventually

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, mathematics, nuclear energy, solar power, sustainability

The idea of a tritium power cell is pretty straightforward: stick enough of the tiny glowing tubes to a photovoltaic panel and your DIY “nuclear battery” will generate energy for the next decade or so. Only problem is that the power produced, measured in a few microwatts, isn’t enough to do much with. But as [Ian Charnas] demonstrates in his latest video, you can eke some real-world use out of such a cell by storing up its power over a long enough period.

As with previous projects we’ve seen, [Ian] builds his cell by sandwiching an array of keychain-sized tritium tubes between two solar panels. Isolated from any outside light, power produced by the panels is the result of the weak green glow given off by the tube’s phosphorus coating as it gets bombarded with electrons. The panels are then used to charge a bank of thin-film solid state batteries, which are notable for their exceptionally low self-discharge rate.

Continue reading “Tetris Handheld Powered By Tritium Cell, Eventually” »