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Sep 25, 2021

Karl Deisseroth shares Lasker Award for research on microbial molecules behind optogenetics

Posted by in categories: genetics, neuroscience

Discoveries by Deisseroth and his two co-recipients regarding microbial light-activated molecules led to his development of a way to manipulate selected neurons in living animals to observe changes in their behavior.

Sep 25, 2021

In a gene tied to growth, scientists see glimmers of human history

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution, genetics, sex

“Our study points to sex-and environment-specific effects of a common genetic variant. In the mice, we observed that Ghrd3 leads to a ‘female-like’ expression pattern of dozens of genes in male livers under calorie restriction, which potentially leads to the observed size reduction,” Saitou says.

“Females, already smaller in size, may suffer from negative evolutionary consequences if they lose body weight. Thus, it is a reasonable and also very interesting hypothesis that a genetic variant that may affect response to nutritional stress has evolved in a sex-specific manner,” Mu says.


A new study delves into the evolution and function of the human growth hormone receptor gene, and asks what forces in humanity’s past may have driven changes to this vital piece of DNA.

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Sep 25, 2021

New Solid-State Battery Surprises Researchers Who Created It

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy, engineering

The study had been supported by LG Energy Solution’s open innovation, a program that actively supports battery-related research. LGES has been working with researchers around the world to foster related techniques.


Silicon anodes are famous for their energy density, which is 10 times greater than the graphite anodes most often used in today’s commercial lithium ion batteries. On the other hand, silicon anodes are infamous for how they expand and contract as the battery charges and discharges, and for how they degrade with liquid electrolytes. These challenges have kept all-silicon anodes out of commercial lithium ion batteries despite the tantalizing energy density. The new work published in Science provides a promising path forward for all-silicon-anodes, thanks to the right electrolyte.

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Sep 25, 2021

What is Consciousness? Part I of the Documentary Consciousness: Evolution of the Mind

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, education, information science, robotics/AI

Consciousness: Evolution of the Mind Documentary (2021), a film by Alex Vikoulov, Part I, WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?

*Subscribe to our YT channel to watch the rest of documentary (to be released in parts): https://youtube.com/c/EcstadelicMedia.

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Sep 25, 2021

Does eating healthy prevent people from getting, dying from COVID?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, information science

We know that a daily diet that includes lots of fruit and vegetables is healthier, but now it seems that it can also help prevent one from being infected with COVID-19.

A new study from Boston published in the journal Gut reports that consuming healthy food like produce may lower the risk of contracting the virus, in addition to lowering the severity of symptoms if one is infected. Although doctors have stated that metabolic conditions including obesity and type 2 diabetes can cause severe coronavirus complications, this study is among the first to add nutrition to the equation.


A new study claims that one-third of coronavirus cases could have been avoided if people had healthier eating habits.

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Sep 25, 2021

Japan flying car startup looks to Osaka to help it take off

Posted by in category: transportation

TOKYO — A Japanese flying car startup is eager to gain credibility with the public for its sci-fi-like mobility system by forging close ties with local governments and big companies in the western city of Osaka.

Tokyo-based SkyDrive, which is working on an electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, signed an agreement last week with the Osaka municipal and prefectural governments to promote the industry.

SkyDrive hopes to use the 2025 Osaka World Expo to launch its mobility service, ferrying visitors around by air without the need for large-scale takeoff and landing facilities.

Sep 25, 2021

Researchers Turn Back the Clock on Heart Cells in Mice

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Researchers turn back the clock on heart cells via yamanaka factors in mice.


Scientists may have found a way for the heart to gain regenerative capabilities, offering a potential silver lining for patients who have suffered a heart attack.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research reportedly achieved positive results after returning adult cardiomyocytes to their fetal-like state in mouse models. To make this happen, they selectively expressed four genes, collectively called OSKM, which are necessary for cell renewal — Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc.

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Sep 24, 2021

‘Star Trek’ Star William Shatner Heading to Space with Jeff Bezos Next Month

Posted by in categories: education, space travel

Legendary Star Trek actor would become the oldest person EVER in space.


William Shatner will be following the footsteps of his Star Trek character Captain Kirk and boldly going…well, where more and more people have been as he is reportedly about to join the growing number of people who have ventured into space on board Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. A report has revealed that Shatner is planning on becoming the oldest person to have ventured into space as part of Bezos’ “15 minute civilian flight”, which would be a rerun of the flight that Bezos took into the lower atmosphere earlier this year. The report also suggested that Shatner is looking to use the opportunity to make a documentary about the experience.

Sep 24, 2021

MIT Establishes New Initiative to Meld Humans and Machines

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, robotics/AI, transhumanism

The K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics has been established thanks to a $24 million donation from philanthropist Lisa Yang, according to an MIT announcement. That’s probably not enough attain the center’s enormously ambitious goals of restoring neural function and rebuilding lost limbs, but it does get the ball rolling and bring together MIT faculty with a variety of specialties toward a common big-picture objective — potentially serving as a much-needed accelerant for disability tech research.

The new research center will fall under the leadership of MIT Media Lab professor Hugh Herr, who is a double amputee himself and has come to be known as a leader in the field of robotic prosthetics. In the MIT announcement, Herr said that he sees this new initiative as an important step toward eliminating physical disabilities altogether.

“The world profoundly needs relief from the disabilities imposed by today’s nonexistent or broken technologies,” Herr said. “We must continually strive towards a technological future in which disability is no longer a common life experience. I am thrilled that the Yang Center for Bionics will help to measurably improve the human experience for so many.”

Sep 24, 2021

Which countries are on track to reach global COVID-19 vaccination targets?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Based on our international COVID-19 vaccination data, we publish projections of which countries are on track to achieve global targets.


Visit the COVID-19 Information Center for vaccine resources.