Menu

Blog

Page 4869

Oct 23, 2021

Will you learn better from reading on screen or on paper?

Posted by in category: futurism

Some studies find students don’t learn as well by reading on screens as from paper. But that’s not always true. Here’s how to make the most of reading in either format.

Oct 23, 2021

Mike Graglia, Managing Dir & Co-Founder, SynGAP Research Fund — Collaboration, Transparency, Urgency

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, education, mathematics, neuroscience

Collaboration, transparency & urgency for rare disease research — mike graglia, managing director & co-founder, syngap research fund — SRF.


Mike Graglia is the Managing Director & Co-Founder of the SynGAP Research Fund (SRF — https://www.syngapresearchfund.org/), an organization that he set up in 2018 with his wife Ashley, after their son was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease caused by an insufficiency in SynGAP protein, which causes the life-changing diagnoses of Epilepsy, Autism, sleep disorder and intellectual disability.

Continue reading “Mike Graglia, Managing Dir & Co-Founder, SynGAP Research Fund — Collaboration, Transparency, Urgency” »

Oct 23, 2021

Scientists Say They’ve Created a “Strange” New State of Matter

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space

Scientists at the University of Chicago say that they’ve successfully created a “strange” new state of matter in the laboratory called “superionic ice” — and that the stuff might already exist inside planets in our solar system.

“It was a surprise — everyone thought this phase wouldn’t appear until you are at much higher pressures than where we first find it,” co-author and University of Chicago researcher Vitali Prakapenka said in a press blurb. “But we were able to very accurately map the properties of this new ice, which constitutes a new phase of matter, thanks to several powerful tools.”

Prakapenka’s team used a particle acclerator to fire electons between two pieces of diamond, creating unfathomable pressures of 20 gigapascals in a sample of water and causing it to form an entirely new structure that reverted when they relieved the pressure.

Oct 23, 2021

First Seal of Historic SAM Analog at Biosphere 2 — Kai Staats — 2021 Mars Society Virtual Convention

Posted by in categories: biological, chemistry, economics, food, government, habitats, space

Title: A data analysis of the first hermetic seal of SAM–a hi-fidelity, hybrid physicochemical and bioregenerative human habitat analog at the Biosphere 2

Track Code: AM-8

Continue reading “First Seal of Historic SAM Analog at Biosphere 2 — Kai Staats — 2021 Mars Society Virtual Convention” »

Oct 23, 2021

“No one has ever seen this before”: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is speeding up

Posted by in categories: climatology, life extension

“Hubble is the only telescope that has the kind of temporal coverage and spatial resolution that can capture Jupiter’s winds in this much detail”


Over the past 100 years, however, the cyclone has been dwindling, but recent observations with Hubble show that the wind speeds may be picking up again. Is this just temporary, or will the storm return to its former glory?

Continue reading “‘No one has ever seen this before’: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is speeding up” »

Oct 23, 2021

A rapid, accurate, scalable, and portable testing system for COVID-19 diagnosis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Here we report a rapid Scalable and Portable Testing (SPOT) system consisting of a rapid, highly sensitive, and accurate assay and a battery-powered portable device for COVID-19 diagnosis. This device consists of 3D printed casing and internal structure with precise temperature control and fluorescence detection, whereas this assay combines RT-LAMP with an Argonaute protein from hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus (PfAgo) capable of precise recognition and cleavage of a target DNA at 95 °C as directed by small 5′-phosphorylated single strand DNA (ssDNA) as guide DNA (gDNA)10,11. Due to the multi-turnover activity of PfAgo, its secondary cleavage mechanism can be harnessed for specific, sensitive, and multiplex nucleic acid detection12,13. For COVID-19 samples, although nasopharyngeal swab and nasal swab samples were recommended for detection of SARS-CoV-2, saliva samples are a more attractive alternative due to the ease, safety, and non-invasive nature of its collection14,15, and its relatively high viral load during the first week of infection16. These benefits enable a saliva sample to be an ideal specimen for reliable and rapid self-detection without professional supervision17,18,19. While current CRISPR-based detection systems normally require 50 min for testing, PfAgo can dramatically speed up the detection process by requiring only 3–5 min for cleavage of amplified products, thereby shortening the total turnaround time for testing to less than 30 min. Moreover, successful PfAgo detection requires at least two sequence-specific cleavages, endowing the SPOT system with high specificity and the ability for multiplexing. Finally, to validate the SPOT system, the sensitivity and accuracy of the SPOT system were determined by using 104 clinical saliva samples.

- please note: The SPOT system also may be useful for detecting genetic markers of certain types of cancer in saliva.


There is a clear need for rapid, accurate and scalable Covid-19 diagnostics. Here the authors use PfAgo to detect viral sequences amplified by RT-LAMP in a handheld battery-powered device.

Oct 23, 2021

After decades, room temperature superconductivity achieved

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

But the hydrogen-based material requires high pressure.


A kidney grown in a genetically altered pig functions normally, scientists reported. The procedure may open the door to a renewable source of desperately needed organs.

Oct 23, 2021

In a First, Surgeons Attached a Pig Kidney to a Human, and It Worked

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

A kidney grown in a genetically altered pig functions normally, scientists reported. The procedure may open the door to a renewable source of desperately needed organs.

Oct 23, 2021

Physicists Have Created a New State of Matter. With Four Electrons?

Posted by in categories: materials, particle physics

The iron-based superconductor material, Ba1−xKxFe2As2. Vadim Grinenko, Federico Caglieris/KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Twenty years ago, scientists first predicted electron quadruplets. Now, KTH Professor Egor Babaev, with the aid of international collaborators, has revealed evidence of fermion quadrupling in a series of experimental measurements on the iron-based material, Ba 1−x Kx Fe 2 As 2.

This is the first-ever experimental evidence of this quadrupling effect and the mechanism by which this state of matter occurs.

Oct 23, 2021

A diet of essential amino acids could keep dementia at bay, finds study

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Protein intake is known to be vital for maintaining brain function in older individuals. Now, using a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers have shown that the intake of a specific set of amino acids can inhibit the death of brain cells, protect the connections between them, and reduce inflammation, preserving brain function. Their research suggests that this amino acid combination called Amino LP7 can hinder the development of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.