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Oct 24, 2020

Higgs boson possibly caught in act of never-before-seen transformation

Posted by in category: particle physics

If the Higgs boson really is decaying into pairs of muons in the Large Hadron Collider, that’s a big deal for particle physics.

Oct 24, 2020

Happiness and the Evolution of Brain Size

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

Summary: Study reveals a new role for serotonin in the development of the human neocortex. Serotonin acts cell-extrinsically as a growth factor for basal progenitors in the developing neocortex. Researchers report placenta-driven serotonin likely contributed to the evolutionary expansion of the neocortex in humans.

Source: Max Planck Society

During human evolution, the size of the brain increased, especially in a particular part called the neocortex. The neocortex enables us to speak, dream and think. In search of the causes underlying neocortex expansion, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, together with colleagues at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, previously identified a number of molecular players. These players typically act cell-intrinsically in the so-called basal progenitors, the stem cells in the developing neocortex with a pivotal role in its expansion.

Oct 24, 2020

New Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatments and Breakthroughs of 2019

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

#BreastCancerAwarenessMonth
Breast cancer treatments are always evolving and improving. In 2019, fresh perspectives to approach cancer therapy led to exciting breakthroughs for treatments in research.

Today’s treatments are more targeted and capable of altering the breast cancer disease course while also maintaining your quality of life. In recent years, many therapeutic options have emerged for treating stage 4, or metastatic breast cancer, greatly improving survival rates.


Breast cancer treatment research is ongoing and always improving the lives of those living with the condition. Here are the breakthrough treatments of 2019 as well as current treatments and information on finding a cure.

Oct 24, 2020

General Atomics and Boeing team up on high-energy laser weapon

Posted by in categories: energy, military, space

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Boeing have entered into a partnership to develop a scalable 100 kW to 250 kW-class High Energy Laser (HEL) weapon system for air and missile defenses.

Laser weapons have been high on the wish lists of major military powers ever since the first laser was invented by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Lab, Malibu, California in 1960. With enough concentrated power to burn through steel, enough range to cover literally astronomical distances, an operating cost of a dollar a shot, and an unlimited number of shots so long as there’s power available, the laser looked like the so-called ultimate weapon – if it could be made practical.

Of the problems that have hampered laser weapon development over the past six decades, one of the biggest is how to properly cool a laser generator. This is important because weapon-grade lasers have an efficiency between 50 and 70 percent, with the leftover percentages being lost as heat that could shut down or damage the device.

Oct 24, 2020

Physicists create 3D printed microboat

Posted by in category: physics

From prow to stern, this little boat measures 30 micrometers, about a third of the thickness of a hair. It has been 3D-printed by Leiden physicists Rachel Doherty, Daniela Kraft and colleagues.

The image was made using an and can be found in their article about 3D printing synthetic microswimmers in the Soft Matter.

Oct 24, 2020

Tesla Model Y May Soon Get ‘Bioweapon Defense Mode’ with HEPA Filter

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, military

Well, considering current events…


The Tesla HEPA Filter and Bioweapon Defense Mode have repeatedly proven their usefulness and even vital necessity. At the moment, only Model S and Model X have the air-cleaning feature, however, there is a high probability that the HEPA filter will be installed in Model Y.

Hacker @greentheonly/Twitter has once again noticed several updates that should be made available to Model Y. He claims that the car will receive a HEPA filter and the corresponding Bioweapon Defense Mode. He also clarified that Model 3 most likely won’t receive it at this point.

Continue reading “Tesla Model Y May Soon Get ‘Bioweapon Defense Mode’ with HEPA Filter” »

Oct 24, 2020

Scientists find 16 ‘ultra-black’ fish species that absorb 99.9% of light

Posted by in category: futurism

These alien-like creatures are virtually invisible in the deep sea.

Oct 24, 2020

Artificial intelligence can predict students’ educational outcomes based on tweets

Posted by in categories: mathematics, military, neuroscience, robotics/AI

Ivan Smirnov, Leading Research Fellow of the Laboratory of Computational Social Sciences at the Institute of Education of HSE University, has created a computer model that can distinguish high academic achievers from lower ones based on their social media posts. The prediction model uses a mathematical textual analysis that registers users’ vocabulary (its range and the semantic fields from which concepts are taken), characters and symbols, post length, and word length.

Every word has its own rating (a kind of IQ). Scientific and cultural topics, English words, and words and posts that are longer in length rank highly and serve as indicators of good academic performance. An abundance of emojis, words or whole phrases written in capital letters, and vocabulary related to horoscopes, driving, and military service indicate lower grades in school. At the same time, posts can be quite short—even tweets are quite informative. The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), and an article detailing the study’s results was published in EPJ Data Science.

Foreign studies have long shown that users’ social media behavior—their posts, comments, likes, profile features, user pics, and photos—can be used to paint a comprehensive portrait of them. A person’s social media behavior can be analyzed to determine their lifestyle, personal qualities, individual characteristics, and even their mental health status. It is also very easy to determine a person’s socio-demographic characteristics, including their age, gender, race, and income. This is where profile pictures, Twitter hashtags, and Facebook posts come in.

Oct 24, 2020

This Robotic Barista Made My Coffee | Cafe X Robot Coffee Bar

Posted by in categories: media & arts, robotics/AI

Cafe X Robot Coffee Bar in San Francisco employs assembly line-style robots to build your coffee orders for you. This robot barista can make two drinks in under a minute and will get your order right every time.

For More Info:

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Oct 24, 2020

NASA Will Be Building a Quiet, Supersonic Aircraft: the X-59

Posted by in category: transportation

Circa 2019


NASA’s X-Plane Program has been around for 70 years. Over the course of those decades, the agency has developed a series of airplanes and rockets to test out various technologies and design advances. Now NASA has cleared the newest one, the X-59, for final assembly.

The X-59 is a supersonic aircraft design. Its full name is the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft. Rather than pushing for greater speeds or higher altitudes like some previous X-Plane’s, the X-59 is designed to break the sound barrier without the sonic boom. The X-59 will produce no more than a loud thump, if anything at all, when it passes the sound barrier.

Continue reading “NASA Will Be Building a Quiet, Supersonic Aircraft: the X-59” »