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Jun 11, 2021

24,000-year-old Animal Found Alive, Well And Ready to Reproduce

Posted by in category: futurism

The first-of-its-kind discovery, described as “a dream of many fiction writers,” is a huge leap forward in understanding how specimens — perhaps even humans — can be preserved for generations.

Jun 11, 2021

Seraphim Capital unveils worlds first listed space technology fund

Posted by in categories: encryption, quantum physics, space

TAMPA, Fla. — Seraphim Capital plans to trade stakes it has amassed in space technology startups on the public market through an investment trust.

The Seraphim Space Investment Trust will eventually comprise bets in 19 international startups, including satellite data specialist Spire Global, quantum encryption firm Arqit and space-based cellular network operator AST Space Mobile.

Those three recently got valuations of more than $1 billion in mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), investment vehicles that offer another route to public markets.

Jun 11, 2021

AI outperforms humans in microchip designs

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Floorplanning is the process by which an integrated circuit is designed using a top-down view. Rather like the architectural plan of a home, garden, and walkways, each of the major functional blocks is placed in a schematic representation that provides a guide for where everything needs to be. This layout can include transistors, capacitors, resistors, wires and other components, all packed into extremely tiny spaces.

Determining the optimal configuration for processing speed and power efficiency is a detailed and lengthy task, involving many iterations. It can often take weeks or even months for expert human engineers. Attempts to fully automate the process have been unsuccessful.

However, researchers from Google have this week reported a new machine-learning approach to floorplanning. Not only does it reduce the design workload to a matter of hours, it also results in chips with superior designs.

Jun 11, 2021

New discovery shows human cells can write RNA sequences into DNA

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Cells contain machinery that duplicates DNA into a new set that goes into a newly formed cell. That same class of machines, called polymerases, also build RNA messages, which are like notes copied from the central DNA repository of recipes, so they can be read more efficiently into proteins. But polymerases were thought to only work in one direction DNA into DNA or RNA. This prevents RNA messages from being rewritten back into the master recipe book of genomic DNA. Now, Thomas Jefferson University researchers provide the first evidence that RNA segments can be written back into DNA, which potentially challenges the central dogma in biology and could have wide implications affecting many fields of biology.

“This work opens the door to many other studies that will help us understand the significance of having a mechanism for converting RNA messages into DNA in our own cells,” says Richard Pomerantz, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Thomas Jefferson University. “The reality that a human can do this with high efficiency, raises many questions.” For example, this finding suggests that RNA messages can be used as templates for repairing or re-writing genomic DNA.

The work was published June 11th in the journal Science Advances.

Jun 11, 2021

Scientists evolve a fungus to battle deadly honey bee parasite

Posted by in category: futurism

Biopesticide might become safer alternative to existing treatments.

Jun 11, 2021

Humans have a tool kit to produce venom, finds study

Posted by in category: futurism

A new study has revealed that humans — along with all other mammals and reptiles — have the capability of producing venom. The study, published on Monday (March 29) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said humans apparently have a “tool kit” to produce venom.

According to a report in Live Science, humans already produce a key protein used in many venom systems.

It said kallikreins, a kind of protein that digest other proteins, are secreted in saliva and are a key part of many venoms. They are a natural starting point for theoretically venomous humans.

Jun 11, 2021

New agricultural robots kill individual weeds with electricity

Posted by in categories: chemistry, climatology, robotics/AI, sustainability

Using the full system, farmers could reduce costs by 40% and chemical usage by up to 95%.


Small Robot Company (SRC), a British agritech startup for sustainable farming, has developed AI-enabled robots – named Tom, Dick and Harry – that identify and kill individual weeds with electricity. These agricultural robots could reduce the use of harmful chemicals and heavy machinery, paving the way for a new approach to sustainable crop farming.

Continue reading “New agricultural robots kill individual weeds with electricity” »

Jun 11, 2021

This AI-powered robot can make 300 pizzas in an hour — Strictly Robots

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

Could this be the future of pizza?


Simply log onto the pizza maker’s mobile application, input the number and type of pizzas you want, and the machine will do the rest of the work.

Jun 11, 2021

Shenzhou-12, Chinas first crewed space station mission, explained Graphic: Jin Jianyu, Xu Zihe/GT

Posted by in category: space

Art illustration for upcoming Shenzhou-12 crewed flight mission for China’s space station.


Shenzhou-12, China’s first crewed space station mission, explained Graphic: Jin Jianyu, Xu Zihe/GT.

Jun 11, 2021

Scientists 3D-print human liver tissue in a lab, win top prizes in NASA challenge

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical

Scientists have successfully grown liver tissue capable of functioning for 30 days in the lab as part of NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge.

In 2016, NASA put forth this competition to find teams that could “create thick, vascularized human organ tissue in an in-vitro environment to advance research and benefit medicine on long-duration missions and on Earth,” according to an agency challenge description. Today (June 9), the agency announced not one, but two winners of the challenge.