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Oct 8, 2021

Elon Musk: US Nationwide Starlink Rollout Is Coming This Month

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, internet, satellites

But if you’re in an area already full of Starlink users, don’t expect availability until SpaceX launches more satellites.

Oct 8, 2021

SpaceX Is Doubling Its Number of Astronaut-Carrying Spacecraft

Posted by in category: space travel

SpaceX is doubling the size of its fleet of astronaut-carrying spacecraft — as well as doubling the number of cargo-carrying ones — according to officials who spoke during a briefing ahead of the space company’s next crewed mission later this month.

It’s a significant expansion that will widen SpaceX’s already sizeable head start over the competition.

Continue reading “SpaceX Is Doubling Its Number of Astronaut-Carrying Spacecraft” »

Oct 8, 2021

Americans Need a Bill of Rights for an AI-Powered World

Posted by in category: policy

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is developing principles to guard against powerful technologies—with input from the public.

Oct 8, 2021

Scientists pinpoint evolutionary genes that allow lizards to give birth like mammals

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution

Dr. Hans Recknagel, who led the field and genome research during his Ph.D. and postdoctoral research, said: This was fascinating research, not least because in this species of lizard egg-laying populations still occur and interbreed with live-bearing ones.


Scientists studying the evolution of birth in lizards, from egg-laying to live births, have pinpointed the evolutionary genes from which the species is evolving to ‘build’ a new mode of reproduction.

The study—led by the University of Glasgow and published in Nature Ecology and Evolution —found that a significantly similar amount of the same genes involved in the pregnancy of lizards were shared with other mammals and live-bearing vertebrates.

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Oct 8, 2021

Merck Sells Federally Financed Covid Pill to U.S. for 40 Times What It Costs to Make

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

A FIVE-DAY COURSE of molnupiravir, the new medicine being hailed as a “huge advance” in the treatment of Covid-19, costs $17.74 to produce, according to a report (pdf) issued last week by drug pricing experts at the Harvard School of Public Health and King’s College Hospital in London. Merck is charging the U.S. government $712 for the same amount of medicine, or 40 times the price. (taxpayer funded mind you)


The Covid-19 treatment molnupiravir was developed using funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

Oct 8, 2021

‘Gut bugs’ can drive prostate cancer growth and treatment resistance

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Scientists also analysed microbial genetic material from the stool of men with prostate cancer and identified a specific bacterium – Ruminococcus – that may play a major role in the development of resistance. In contrast, the bacterium Prevotella stercorea was associated with favourable clinical outcomes.


Image: Section of a mouse gut. Credit: Kevin Mackenzie, University of Aberdeen.

Common gut bacteria can fuel the growth of prostate cancers and allow them to evade the effects of treatment, a new study finds.

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Oct 8, 2021

Elon Musk confirms that Tesla Giga Shanghai now exceeds the Fremont Factory

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Tesla Giga Shanghai has officially exceeded the Fremont Factory’s output, according to Elon Musk’s calculations. As Tesla’s main export hub, Giga Shanghai’s output will play a significant role in the company’s global growth.

“We have three new factories. Giga Shanghai has done an incredible job. And Giga Shanghai now exceeds Fremont in production,” Musk announced at the 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting.

Musk pointed out that Tesla Giga Shanghai took roughly 11 months to build and reached full volume production a year later. Since Giga Shanghai started operations, Tesla’s production and delivery numbers have noticeably increased.

Oct 8, 2021

Regenerating the cells that keep the heart beating

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Specialized cells that conduct electricity to keep the heart beating have a previously unrecognized ability to regenerate in the days after birth, a new study in mice by UT Southwestern researchers suggests. The finding, published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could eventually lead to treatments for heart rhythm disorders that avoid the need for invasive pacemakers or drugs by instead encouraging the heart to heal itself.

“Patients with arrhythmias don’t have a lot of great options,” said study leader Nikhil V. Munshi, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Molecular Biology, and in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development. “Our findings suggest that someday we may be able to elicit regeneration from the heart itself to treat these conditions.”

Dr. Munshi studies the cardiac conduction system, an interconnected system of specialized that generate electrical impulses and transmit these impulses to make the heart beat. Although studies have shown that nonconducting heart muscle cells have some regenerative capacity for a limited time after birth—with many discoveries in this field led by UTSW scientists—conducting cells called nodal cells were largely thought to lose this ability during the fetal period.

Oct 7, 2021

World’s First Robot Citizen Sophia Said She Wants To Have A Baby

Posted by in categories: government, robotics/AI

Okay…very odd indeed.


As already mentioned, the Saudi Arabian Government officially granted Sophia citizenship in 2017. She is the first and only robot to be an official citizen of a country. Her citizenship sparked some controversy, and not just from people who don’t think robots deserve rights. Rather, many people pointed out the contrast to women’s rights in the country.

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Oct 7, 2021

Coronavirus report warned of impact on UK four years before pandemic

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health, surveillance

Exclusive: Report from planning exercise in 2016 alerted government of need to stockpile PPE and set up contact tracing system.