Toggle light / dark theme

In a study published in Nucleic Acids Research, the team of cancer researcher Francis Rodier, an Université de Montréal professor, shows for the first time that cellular senescence, which occurs when aging cells stop dividing, is caused by irreversible damage to the genome rather than simply by telomere erosion.

This discovery goes against the scientific model most widely adopted in the last 15 years, which is based on one principle: telomeres, caps located at the ends of chromosomes whose purpose is to protect genetic information, erode with each cell division. When they get too short, they tell the cell to stop dividing, thus preventing damage to its DNA. Made dormant, the cell enters senescence.

For this model to be valid, the inactivation of a single should be sufficient to activate the senescence program. Rodier’s laboratory and many others had already observed that several dysfunctional telomeres were necessary.

Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: http://ow.ly/NwIS30rNQ5m — Be sure to check out Sean Carroll’s series called, “Mysteries of modern physics: Time” — I highly recommend it!

A good definition of information in physics: “information contained in a physical system = the number of yes/no questions you need to get answered to fully specify the system.”

References:
Lee Smolin’s paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.09945
Prior video on entropy: https://youtu.be/T6CxT4AESCQ
Wave function collapse and time: https://youtu.be/wXJ9eQ7qTQk.

Chapters:
0:00 — Why is time one way but physical laws are not?
2:19 — What is Entropy? Disorder and information.
5:29 — Does entropy cause time?
7:12 — What is time? Recorded past vs future possibilities.
8:07 — Lee Smolin’s theory of time.
10:31 — Will time always flow forward? heat death & big freeze.
12:33 — Best online course on time.

Summary:
In quantum mechanics, it’s just as natural to go forward in time as going backwards. And if you look at a typical Feynman diagram, you can turn the diagram either way. Where does this transition from time symmetry at the quantum level, to time asymmetry at the macro level occur?

To understand its irreversibility, we have to look for other irreversible processes in nature to see if there is any correlation — such as in thermodynamics, Entropy.

By Jeremy Batterson 11-09-2021

The equivalent of cheap 100-inch binoculars will soon be possible. This memo is a quick update on seven rapidly converging technologies that augur well for astronomy enthusiasts of the near future. All these technologies already exist in either fully developed or nascent form, and all are being rapidly improved due to the gigantic global cell phone market and the retinal projection market that will soon replace it. Listed here are the multiple technologies, after which they are brought together into a single system.

1) Tracking.
2) Single-photon image sensing.
3) Large effective exit pupils via large sensors.
4) Long exposure non-photographic function.
5) Flat optics (metamaterials)
6) Off-axis function of flat optics.
7) Retinal projection.

1) TRACKING: this is already being widely used in so-called “go-to” telescopes, where the instrument will find any object and track it, so Earth’s rotation does not take the object viewed out of the field of vision. The viewer doesn’t have to find the object and doesn’t have to set up the clock drive to track it. Tracking is also partly used in image stabilization software for cameras and smart phones, to prevent motion blurring of images.

2) SINGLE-PHOTON IMAGE SENSORS, whether of the single-photon avalanching diode type, or the type developed by Dr. Fossum, will allow passive imaging in nearly totally dark environments, without the use of IR or other illumination. This new type of image sensor will replace the monochromatic analogue “night-vision” devices, allowing color imaging at higher resolution than they can produce. Unlike these current devices, such sensors will not be destroyed by being exposed to normal or high lighting. Effectively, these sensors increase the effective light-gathering power of a telescope by at least an order of magnitude, allowing small telescopes to see what observatory telescopes see now.

3) EXIT PUPIL: The pupil of the dark-adapted human eye is around 7mm, which means light exiting a telescope must not have a wider-cross axis than this, or a percent of the light captured by the objective lens or mirror will be lost. If the magnification of a system is lowered, to give brighter images, this is limited by this roadblock. This is a well-known problem for visual astronomers. Astro-photographers get around this by two tricks. The first is to use a photographic sensor wider than 7mm, allowing a larger exit pupil and thus brighter images. A 1-inch sensor or photographic plate, for example, already allows an image thirteen times brighter than what a 7mm human pupil can see.

4) LONG EXPOSURE: The other trick astro-photographers use is to keep the shutter of their cameras open for longer periods, thus capturing more light, and allowing a bright image of a faint object to build up over time. As a telescope tracks the stars–so that they appear motionless in the telescopic view–this can be done for hours. The Hubble Space Telescope took a 100 hour long-exposure photograph leading to the famous “deep field” of ultra-faint distant galaxies. An example of a visual use of the same principle is the Sionyx Pro camera, which keeps the shutter open for a fraction of a second. If the exposures are short enough, a video can be produced which appears brighter than what the unaided eye sees. Sionyx adds to this with its black-silicon sensors, which are better at retaining all light that hits them. For astronomy, where stellar objects do not move and do not cause blurring if they are tracked, longer exposures can be created, with the image rapidly brightening as the viewer watches. Unistellar’s eVscope and Vaonis’s Stellina telescope, already use this function, but without an eyepiece. Instead, their images are projected onto people’s cell phones or other viewing devices. However, most astronomers want to be able to see something directly with their eyes, which is a limiting point on such types of telescopes.

We all love seeing data represented in pretty ways — whether it’s necessary or not. Take VU meters for example. They’re a super useful tool for audio editors to balance signals, but they also look really cool, even if you’re only listening to music. Who didn’t use a Winamp skin with a built-in VU meter back in the day? Even after the demise of everyone’s favorite media player, we still see these great graphs popping up all over the place.

Most recently, we’ve seen VU meters circle back around to have a bit of a retro vibe in this awesome Arduino-controlled LCD VU meter built by [mircemk]. Based on the KTAudio VU Meter project, it features an ultra-wide LCD, audio input, and volume knob, all tidily wrapped up in a case whose color scheme that can only conjure images of the famed Altair 8800, or an old Tektronix oscilloscope. The LCD itself is fairly responsive — but you can judge for yourself in the video below. The signature fading that so commonly accompanies screen refreshes on LCDs such as this one really adds to the retro effect.

You may just need one of these displays on your desk — after all, while you may not need to know how loud each audio channel is, don’t you at least want the information available? Just in case. Bar graph display a bit too modern-looking for you? Well then you should check out [mircemk]’s OLED version that displays dual analog meters.

Solid Hydrogen Explained. Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/undecided and enter promo code UNDECIDED for 83% off and 4 extra months for free! Green hydrogen is touted to be one of the essential ingredients for the sustainable energy mix of the future. Yet, there’s an…invisible…yet big problem. Storage, transport, and operation is complicated and expensive, but what if we could create and store solid hydrogen for cheap? A start-up may have a solid technology that could speed up the energy transition. Spoiler: It’s so good it was banned!

Watch Solar Panels Plus Farming? Agrivoltaics Explained: https://youtu.be/lgZBlD-TCFE?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi5LVxHfWfQE6-Y_HnK-sgXS

Video script and citations:
https://undecidedmf.com/episodes/forget-solid-state-batterie…-explained.

Follow-up podcast:
Video version — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-aWB84Bupf5hxGqrwYqLA
Audio version — http://bit.ly/stilltbdfm.

👋 Support Undecided on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/mattferrell.

⚙️ Gear & Products I Like.

Today at AWE 2,021 Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform, a head-worn AR software suite the company is using to kickstart a broader move towards smartphone-tethered AR glasses.

Qualcomm says its Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform offers a host of machine perception functions that are ideal for smartphone-tethered AR glasses. The software tool kit focuses on performance and low power, and provides the sort of environmental and human interaction stuff it hopes will give AR developers a good starting point.

With a minimalistic design and H-shaped front panel, the new mtu hydrogen fuel cell is a complete solution for power supply in the megawatt range that will be produced in series from 2025. This modern-looking module will in the future deliver a net power output of around 150 kW – sufficient to power approximately ten homes. It can also be connected together into scalable fuel cell power plants with outputs in the megawatt range – capable of providing clean backup power for large data centers.

The fuel cell module is the result of collaboration between Rolls-Royce and cellcentric, a joint venture company set up by Daimler Truck AG and Volvo Group AB earlier this year. It is based on cellcentric’s fuel cell modules that emit nothing other than water vapor. This will enable CO2-free, climate-neutral generation of emergency power for data centers.

“Electrical generators based on fuel cells represent the next leap forward in the energy transition, both for our customers and us,” said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “That’s why we’re investing a three-digit million amount in R&D over the next few years, and we hope that this strong commitment will encourage governments and politicians to promote and support this pioneering, extremely climate-friendly technology. When they run on green hydrogen, meaning hydrogen made using renewable energy sources, fuel cells are climate-neutral. For this reason, and also because we’re simply convinced by fuel cell technology, we also want to look into how green hydrogen can be produced cost-effectively in the quantities we need.”