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Oct 6, 2021

Neuroscientists make strides towards deciphering the human brain

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Early findings from the BRAIN Initiative are exciting, but researchers still have a way to go in their quest to understand the entire human brain.

Oct 6, 2021

Predicting gene expression with AI

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health, robotics/AI

Based on Transformers, our new architecture advances genetic research by improving the ability to predict how DNA sequence influences gene expression.

When the Human Genome Project succeeded in mapping the DNA sequence of the human genome, the international research community were excited by the opportunity to better understand the genetic instructions that influence human health and development. DNA carries the genetic information that determines everything from eye colour to susceptibility to certain diseases and disorders. The roughly 20,000 sections of DNA in the human body known as genes contain instructions about the amino acid sequence of proteins, which perform numerous essential functions in our cells. Yet these genes make up less than 2% of the genome. The remaining base pairs — which account for 98% of the 3 billion “letters” in the genome — are called “non-coding” and contain less well-understood instructions about when and where genes should be produced or expressed in the human body.

Oct 6, 2021

Zuckerberg Responds to Claims That Facebook Prioritizes Profit as ‘Just Not True’

Posted by in category: futurism

Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg addressed a recent series of negative stories about the company for the first time by saying accusations that it puts profit over user safety are “just not true.”

Oct 6, 2021

The Biggest Simulation of the Universe Yet Stretches Back to the Big Bang

Posted by in categories: cosmology, evolution, particle physics

Remember the philosophical argument our universe is a simulation? Well, a team of astrophysicists say they’ve created the biggest simulated universe yet. But you won’t find any virtual beings in it—or even planets or stars.

The simulation is 9.6 billion light-years to a side, so its smallest structures are still enormous (the size of small galaxies). The model’s 2.1 trillion particles simulate the dark matter glue holding the universe together.

Continue reading “The Biggest Simulation of the Universe Yet Stretches Back to the Big Bang” »

Oct 6, 2021

Researchers transform water into a metallic material that conducts electricity

Posted by in categories: materials, space

It is a well-known fact that pure, distilled water is an almost perfect insulator and does not conduct electricity. It consists of H2O molecules that are loosely linked to one another via hydrogen bonds. However, any impurities, like salts, in the water enable it to conduct electricity. To create a conduction band with freely moving electrons, water would have to be pressurized to such an extent that the orbitals of the outer electrons overlap, something that only exists deep inside of large planets such as Jupiter.

Now, a team of researchers from 11 institutions around the world have used a completely different approach to create metallic water for the first time. They have achieved that feat by forming a thin layer of gold-colored metallic water on the outside of a droplet of liquid metal and documented this phase transition at the BESSY II facility in Berlin.

The key to the breakthrough was to pair the water with alkali metals, which release their outer electron very easily.

Oct 6, 2021

Electric Aircraft Has Unlimited Range… With A Fleet Of Recharging Planes

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Circa 2012


It’s okay, you’ve not clicked on “Green Plane Reports”, but every so often something from beyond the world of cars catches our attention.

This time, it’s electric flight. The concept is nothing new, and it’s even been alluded to by people like Elon Musk of Tesla, but for the time being it remains a true flight of fancy, rather than a working concept for passenger transportation.

Continue reading “Electric Aircraft Has Unlimited Range… With A Fleet Of Recharging Planes” »

Oct 6, 2021

Solar plane makes history after completing round-the-world trip

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Circa 2016 Awesome


Solar Impulse 2 which landed in Abu Dhabi, is first plane powered by the renewable energy source to tour the globe.

Oct 6, 2021

Report: Twitch Is Hacked And Its Source Code Is In The Wild [Update]

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, robotics/AI

Autonomous machine expected to pick more than 25,000 raspberries a day, outpacing human workers.

Oct 6, 2021

Robocrop: world’s first raspberry-picking robot set to work

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Circa 2019


Autonomous machine expected to pick more than 25,000 raspberries a day, outpacing human workers.

Continue reading “Robocrop: world’s first raspberry-picking robot set to work” »

Oct 6, 2021

Box taps deep learning to detect sophisticated malware

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, robotics/AI

Cloud-based content management provider Box has announced a new “deep scan” functionality that checks files as they are uploaded to identify sophisticated malware and avert attacks.

The new capabilities constitute part of Box Shield, which uses machine learning to prevent data leaks, detect threats, and spot any kind of abnormal behavior. In April of last year, Box added a slew of automated malware detection features to the mix, allowing Box Shield customers to spot malicious content that may already have been uploaded to a Box account. However, so far this has leaned heavily on “known” threats from external intelligence databases. Moving forward, Box said it will mesh deep learning technology with external threat intelligence capabilities to analyze files for malicious scripts, macros, and executables to protect companies from zero-day (unknown) vulnerabilities.

When a user uploads an infected file, Box will quarantine it for inspection but will still allow the user to view a preview of the file and continue working.