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May 10, 2021

Blind Patients Hope Landmark Gene-Editing Experiment Will Restore Their Vision

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

The unprecedented study involves using the gene-editing technique CRISPR to edit a gene while it’s still inside a patient’s body. In exclusive interviews, NPR talks with two of the first participants.

May 10, 2021

Autism-related conditions linked to altered visual perception

Posted by in categories: genetics, neuroscience

Autistic people tend to switch between images more slowly than non-autistic people do, a previous study shows. And they spend more time seeing a combination of the two images.


Children with genetic conditions linked to autism perform atypically on a test of binocular rivalry, according to a new unpublished study.

Researchers presented the work virtually today at the 2021 International Society for Autism Research annual meetin g. (Links to abstracts may work only for registered conference attendees.)

Continue reading “Autism-related conditions linked to altered visual perception” »

May 9, 2021

Stars made of antimatter could exist in the Milky Way

Posted by in category: space

Astronomers try to solve the mystery of antihelium by searching for antistars.

May 9, 2021

IBM’s New Chip Technology Shows Off the Next Big Step in Moore’s Law

Posted by in category: computing

The process could yield 50 billion transistors on fingernail-sized chips that are 75 percent more efficient or 45 percent faster than today’s designs.

May 9, 2021

Apple Watch 7 glucose monitoring gets hinted at

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The most recent Apple user survey suggests that a blood glucose monitoring feature is definitely on the table.

May 9, 2021

Could digital currencies put banks out of business? | The Economist

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, business, cryptocurrencies, economics, finance

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have been billed as a major disruptor to finance. But digital currencies issued by governments might be even more radical—they may even threaten the future of traditional banking.

Read our special report, “The Future of Banking” : https://econ.st/3tuTT8y.

Continue reading “Could digital currencies put banks out of business? | The Economist” »

May 9, 2021

AI “Magic” Just Removed One of the Biggest Roadblocks in Astrophysics

Posted by in categories: physics, robotics/AI, space

Using neural networks, Flatiron Institute research fellow Yin Li and his colleagues simulated vast, complex universes in a fraction of the time it takes with conventional methods.

Using a bit of machine learning magic, astrophysicists can now simulate vast, complex universes in a thousandth of the time it takes with conventional methods. The new approach will help usher in a new era in high-resolution cosmological simulations, its creators report in a study published online on May 4, 2021, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“At the moment, constraints on computation time usually mean we cannot simulate the universe at both high resolution and large volume,” says study lead author Yin Li, an astrophysicist at the Flatiron Institute in New York City. “With our new technique, it’s possible to have both efficiently. In the future, these AI-based methods will become the norm for certain applications.”

May 9, 2021

Huge Chinese rocket booster falls to Earth over Arabian Peninsula

Posted by in category: futurism

The 23-ton core stage of a Chinese Long March 5B booster crashed back to Earth Saturday night (May 8), ending 10 controversial days aloft that captured the attention of the world.

May 9, 2021

U.S. researchers create sci-fi-style laser holograms that can move in the air

Posted by in categories: holograms, weapons

Researchers from Utah have figured out how to use lasers to create sci-fi-style holograms inspired by phasers from ‘Star Trek’ and lightsabers from ‘Star Wars.’

May 9, 2021

Scientists: Mass Extinction Is Coming as Organisms Flee the Equator

Posted by in categories: existential risks, habitats

Large numbers of species are fleeing their usual habitats and becoming invasive species elsewhere.