Lifeboat Foundation

Material scientists have developed a fast method for producing epsilon iron oxide and demonstrated its promise for next-generation communications devices. Its outstanding magnetic properties make it one of the most coveted materials, such as for the upcoming 6G generation of communication devices and for durable magnetic recording. The work was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Iron oxide (III) is one of the most widespread oxides on Earth. It is mostly found as the mineral hematite (or alpha iron oxide, α-Fe₂O₃). Another stable and common modification is maghemite (or gamma modification, γ-Fe₂O₃). The former is widely used in industry as a red pigment, and the latter as a magnetic recording medium. The two modifications differ not only in crystalline structure (alpha-iron oxide has hexagonal syngony and gamma-iron oxide has cubic syngony) but also in magnetic properties.

In addition to these forms of iron oxide (III), there are more exotic modifications such as epsilon-, beta-, zeta-, and even glassy. The most attractive phase is epsilon iron oxide, ε-Fe₂O₃. This modification has an extremely high coercive force (the ability of the material to resist an external magnetic field). The strength reaches 20 kOe at room temperature, which is comparable to the parameters of magnets based on expensive rare-earth elements. Furthermore, the material absorbs electromagnetic radiation in the sub-terahertz frequency range (100−300 GHz) through the effect of natural ferromagnetic resonance. The frequency of such resonance is one of the criteria for the use of materials in wireless communications devices—the 4G standard uses megahertz and 5G uses tens of gigahertz. There are plans to use the sub-terahertz range as a working range in the sixth generation (6G) wireless technology, which is being prepared for active introduction in our lives from the early 2030s.

Scientists develop the first CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive in plants which may breed crops better able to withstand drought and disease.

Scientists achieved a record level of visual detail with an imaging technique that could help develop future electronics and better batteries.

The microscopic freshwater-dwelling rotifer is known for being a hardy little creature, but surviving 24000 years in a deep freeze is legendary no matter how you cut it.

The hardy rotifer can live through all manner of conditions, but this is a historic feat even for this tiny creature.

Scientists develop the first CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive in plants which may breed crops better able to withstand drought and disease.

Scientists have discovered a unique form of cell messaging occurring in the human brain that’s not been seen before. Excitingly, the discovery hints that our brains might be even more powerful units of computation than we realized.

Early last year, researchers from institutes in Germany and Greece reported a mechanism in the brain’s outer cortical cells that produces a novel ‘graded’ signal all on its own, one that could provide individual neurons with another way to carry out their logical functions.

Continue reading “A Never-Before-Seen Type of Signal Has Been Detected in The Human Brain” »

Sanofi will apply Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing capabilities toward developing new drugs, through a collaboration whose value was not disclosed.

The companies said they have agreed to create a virtual Innovation Lab to “radically” transform how future medicines and health services are developed and delivered.

Sanofi has articulated three goals for the collaboration with Google: better understand patients and diseases, increase Sanofi’s operational efficiency, and improve the experience of Sanofi patients and customers.

For the first time, CRISPR-Cas9-based gene drive technology has been developed in plants. Enabling the inheritance of both copies of a target gene from a single parent could greatly reduce the generations needed for plant breeding. Establishing this genome editing technology in plants may allow for breeding resilient crops that are better able to withstand drought and disease.

#GenomeEditing #AgBio #CRISPR #Cas9

Gene drives have been established in insects, including fruit flies and mosquitoes, and mammals such as mice. Now, for the first time, the CRISPR-Cas9-based technology that disrupts Mendelian inheritance and allows for selective acquisition of target genes has been developed in plants. Establishing this genome editing technology in plants may allow for breeding resilient crops that are better able to withstand drought and disease.

Continue reading “First CRISPR-Based Gene Drive Developed in Plants” »

The mineral pyrite was historically nicknamed fool’s gold because of its deceptive resemblance to the precious metal.

The term was often used during the California gold rush in the 1840s because inexperienced prospectors would claim discoveries of gold, but in reality it would be pyrite, composed of worthless iron disulfide (FeS₂).

Continue reading “‘Fool’s Gold’ Actually Contains a Newly Discovered Type of Real Gold, Scientists Find” »

Scientists created the mineral lonsdaleite in a lab and tested its strength using sound waves — before it was obliterated.

Scientists have revealed a fascinating new design for an incredibly tiny, inflatable spinal cord implant, suited for treating severe chronic back pain that doesn’t respond to medication.

The inflatable electronic device is part of a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) setup, a type of well-established therapy that delivers mild electric currents to a person’s spinal cord via implanted electrodes. That current is sent by a small, implanted pulse generator device, and the whole thing reduces pain because the electrical pulses help to mask pain signals traveling to the brain via the spinal cord.

If that all sounds rather invasive, that’s because it is. But this new device, designed by a team led by scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK, could help to change that — with less invasive surgery requirements.