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Aug 17, 2020

NASA Perseveres Through Pandemic, Looks Ahead in 2020, 2021

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Could 2021 be NASA’s biggest year yet?


With 2020 more than half way through, NASA is gearing up for a busy rest of the year and 2021.

Human Landing System 2024 Surface Astronauts Concept

Continue reading “NASA Perseveres Through Pandemic, Looks Ahead in 2020, 2021” »

Aug 17, 2020

New ‘PEDOT’ Polymer May Allow Human Brain to Merge With AI, Cure and Detect Diseases, Scientists Say

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, robotics/AI

The discovery has led to a new polymer that allows humans to integrate electronics into the brain after challenges with substances such as gold, steel and silicon resulted in scarring of organic tissue.

A major breakthrough in materials research may allow the human brain to link with artificial intelligence, it was announced at an American Chemical Society Fall 2020 event on Monday.

Scarring due to previously used materials can block electrical signals transmitted from computers to the brain, but University of Delaware researchers developed new types of polymers aimed at overcoming the risks.

Aug 17, 2020

How Scientists Influenced Monkeys’ Decisions Using Ultrasound in Their Brains

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A Sound Treatment

Ultrasound is an oddball in the neuromodulation world. Similar to its better-known siblings, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDSC) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), ultrasound changes how neurons fire, which in turn changes their computational output—what we observe as learning, memory, and other behaviors. This idea, dubbed neuromodulation, has taken the neurological world by storm for its near “magical” efficacy for treating people with depression who don’t respond to antidepressants, or people with Parkinson’s disease whose movement patterns are severely disrupted.

Compared to first-generation neuromodulation, where the brain-tweaking gadget is surgically implanted into the brain, ultrasound offers a way to “hack” neural firings from the outside. In a way, the technology uses sound waves to mechanically “shake” the neurons in a circuit back into sequence, so they function in sync as needed and control subsequent outputs like learning, thinking, memory, and decision-making.

Aug 17, 2020

Rocket Lab aims to launch private Venus mission in 2023

Posted by in category: space travel

Rocket Lab, which gives small spacecraft dedicated rides to Earth orbit, plans to go interplanetary soon with an astrobiology mission to the second rock from the sun.

Aug 17, 2020

Scientists determine ‘Oumuamua isn’t made from molecular hydrogen ice after all

Posted by in category: futurism

The debate over the origins and molecular structure of ‘Oumuamua continued today with an announcement in The Astrophysical Journal Letters that despite earlier promising claims, the interstellar object is not made of molecular hydrogen ice after all.

Aug 17, 2020

Integrating genetic and non-genetic determinants of cancer evolution by single-cell multi-omics

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

Both genetic and non-genetic factors underlie the intratumoural heterogeneity that fuels cancer evolution. This Review discusses the application of single-cell multi-omics technologies to the study of cancer evolution, which capture and integrate the different layers of heritable information and reveal their complex interplay.

Aug 17, 2020

Hubble viewed a lunar eclipse to aid search for habitable planets

Posted by in category: space

Hubble observed sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere during a lunar eclipse to see what a habitable exoplanet’s atmosphere might look like.

Aug 17, 2020

MIND GAP — Peter Xing — Automation and next generation AI

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

As we wind up our discussion about the Space Race and touch on the strategies employed by China in its bid to stay on top of space and tech, we delve into the meaty topic of next generation Artificial Intelligence including GPT-3, OpenAI, CommaAI and how they are making strides in the avenues of automation, machine learning and translation and also self driving cars. It’s a brave new world and we discuss some of the many pitfalls of this new emerging range of systems that can come with many issues along with many benefits.

Aug 17, 2020

Elon Musk hints at Tesla’s not-so-secret Dojo AI-training supercomputer capacity

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI, supercomputing

Elon Musk has made a rare new comment about Tesla’s now not-so-secret ‘Dojo’ program to create an AI-training supercomputer and gave a hint of its capacity.

Aug 17, 2020

The Shortest and Longest Living Dog Breeds in the World

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

Every dog owner has their own reasons for getting a pet, whether it is companionship, protection, or simply to have a furry friend to walk with. Each different breed comes with perks and challenges, and owners must be prepared to accommodate each type of dog’s unique health requirements to maximize their lifespan, because the reality is that some dogs are genetically predisposed to live much longer than others.

In order to determine the shortest and longest living dog breeds in the world, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the study, “Methods and mortality results of a health survey of purebred dogs in the UK,” published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice. Breeds for which there was little data or low response rates on surveys sent to owners were not considered. Breeds that are not officially recognized by the American Kennel Club were also not considered. Breed popularity data, as well as height and weight data, comes from the AKC. The height refers to the height of the dog’s shoulder.

Numerous studies have determined that there is a significant link between the size of a dog and the length of its lifespan — larger dogs have noticeably shorter lifespans than smaller dogs, as they age at a faster rate. Yet size and lifespan do not correlate exactly, as certain types of dogs are especially prone to maladies like cancer or heart problems.