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Oxford University researchers have made a significant step toward realizing a form of “biological electricity” that could be used in a variety of bioengineering and biomedical applications, including communication with living human cells. The work was published on 28 November in the journal Science.

Iontronic devices are one of the most rapidly-growing and exciting areas in biochemical engineering. Instead of using electricity, these mimic the by transmitting information via ions (charged particles), including sodium, potassium, and .

Ultimately, iontronic devices could enable biocompatible, energy-efficient, and highly precise signaling systems, including for drug-delivery.

Kuhn’s taxonomy of consciousness connects various theories to deep questions about human existence and AI, based on his extensive dialogue with over 200 experts.

“Out of meat, how do you get thought? That’s the grandest question,” said philosopher Patricia Churchland to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, the producer and host of the acclaimed PBS program Closer to Truth and member of FQxI’s scientific advisory council.

Kuhn has now published a comprehensive taxonomy of proposed solutions and theories regarding the hard problem of consciousness. His organizing framework aims to assess their impact on meaning, purpose, and value, as well as on AI consciousness, virtual immortality, survival beyond death, and free will. His work, titled ‘Landscape of Consciousness,’ appeared in the August 2024 issue of the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology.

There’s a mineral so rare that only one specimen of it has ever been found in the entire world.

It’s called kyawthuite (cha-too-ite), a tiny, tawny-hued grain weighing just a third of a gram (1.61 carats). On first glance, you might mistaken it for amber or topaz; but the unassuming mineral speck has value beyond measure.

The stone itself was purchased in 2010 at a market in Chaung-gyi in Myanmar by gemologist Kyaw Thu, who thought the raw gem was a mineral called scheelite. After he faceted the stone, though, he realized that he was looking at something unusual.

In 2015, David Hole was prospecting in Maryborough Regional Park near Melbourne, Australia.

Armed with a metal detector, he discovered something out of the ordinary – a very heavy, reddish rock resting in some yellow clay.

He took it home and tried everything to open it, sure that there was a gold nugget inside the rock – after all, Maryborough is in the Goldfields region, where the Australian gold rush peaked in the 19th century.

It’s no secret: when we savour a delicious piece of fish or a platter of seafood, we’re not just consuming valuable omega-3s and vitamin D. Alongside these benefits come less appetising elements – countless micro– and nano-plastics.

These plastic particles, measuring less than 5 millimetres, enter our oceans through human waste and penetrate the food chain. According to an Ifremer study, around 24,400 billion microplastics are floating on the ocean’s surface.

These particles are found in all marine organisms – from microalgae to fish, which occupy higher levels of the food chain. This phenomenon not only threatens marine ecosystems but also raises concerns about potential risks to human health.

Can you pass me the whatchamacallit? It’s right over there next to the thingamajig.

Many of us will experience “lethologica”, or difficulty finding words, in everyday life. And it usually becomes more prominent with age.

Frequent difficulty finding the right word can signal changes in the brain consistent with the early (“preclinical”) stages of Alzheimer’s disease – before more obvious symptoms emerge.

The examination of a sample brought from asteroid Ryugu in outer space turned exciting for scientists when they found it had life forms on it. However, soon the excitement died down when they found that the microbes on the sample had actually originated on Earth.

The sample was brought to Earth in 2020 after being gathered in 2019 during Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission.

Scientists treated the Ryugu samples with great care and kept them under strict contamination controls, limiting their chance of contamination.

If you want to explore ‘what if’ scenarios of how history could have unfolded differently you should definitely watch our picks for the best alternate history tv show. All alternate history series in this ranking offer a unique perspective on what might have been.

Discover the best…
📹 YouTube tool: https://www.tubebuddy.com/communitv.

We missed your favorite Alternate History TV Series? Let us know in the comments!

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Embark on an epic journey to the Red Planet in this stunning 3D animated story of an imaginary SpaceX mission to Mars in 2030! 🚀🌌 This creative visualization brings to life the excitement, challenges, and triumphs of humanity’s quest to explore our planetary neighbor.

From the dramatic rocket launch to breathtaking Martian landscapes, every detail in this video reflects pure imagination and creativity. While inspired by SpaceX’s innovative spirit, this animation is a fictional take and may not align with real-life specifications or plans.

💡 Features:

Futuristic spacecraft design.

Black holes are some of the most mysterious phenomena in space that have puzzled scientists ever since their discovery. Extreme levels of gravitational pull suck in everything around the black hole, even light. Black holes are the complete absence of any source of light, resulting in total darkness.

According to a video posted by the popular YouTube channel Riddle, a black hole’s origins can be traced back to a star that has burnt up and turned into a supernova. One of the largest known black holes has a mass that is forty billion times larger than our sun in our solar system. This black hole is situated in a galaxy called “Holmberg 15A,” which is approximately 700 million lightyears away.

When any matter approaches a black hole, several different events occur. One of these outcomes is known as the “accretion disk,” which changes the properties of the item approaching the black hole. Although black holes are typically associated as ever present and enduring vacuums that continuously “take,” they eventually dissipate over time.