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May 25, 2020

China’s new killer robot ship goes through its first sea trial

Posted by in categories: military, robotics/AI

Buckle up, Buttercup.

The robotics arms race has been in progress awhile.


Unmanned surface vessel is said to be world’s first with multiple roles – anti-submarine, air defence and surface combat – and powerful weaponry.

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May 25, 2020

A return to the wild for better immune health

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Wise — A research team led by the University of Adelaide has found that revegetation of green spaces within cities can improve soil microbiota diversity towards a more natural, biodiverse state, which has been linked to human health benefits. In the study, published in the journal Restoration Ecology, researchers compared the composition of a variety of urban green space vegetation types of varying levels of vegetation diversity, including lawns, vacant lots, parklands, revegetated woodlands and remnant woodlands within the City of Playford Council area in South Australia.

The purpose of the research was to understand whether it is possible to restore the microbiome of urban green spaces, a process known as microbiome rewilding. It is believed this process could expose us to a greater variety and number of microbiota (organisms living within a specific environment) and provide a form of immune system training and regulation.

Lead author of the journal paper, PhD Candidate Jacob Mills from the University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences and Environment Institute, says historically humans lived in more rural and wild landscapes, and children spent more of their childhood outdoors, allowing exposure to more microbes.

May 25, 2020

Doubts greet $1.2 billion bet

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Operation Warp Speed’s funding of AstraZeneca is intended to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine by October, although some call that timeline unrealistic.

May 25, 2020

Alpha Blockers to Ease Severe COVID-19 Symptoms

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

For some COVID-19 patients, the body’s immune response may be as destructive as the virus that causes the disease. The persistent high fevers, severe respiratory distress, and lung damage seen in some critically ill patients are all signs of an immune system in overdrive.

Now, a new clinical trial will test a treatment that targets this overactive immune response, says Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Bert Vogelstein. He and his team at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are currently recruiting individuals for the trial, which includes patients ages 45 to 85 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital who have COVID-19 but who aren’t on a ventilator or in the ICU.

Their treatment, a common type of prescription drug called an alpha blocker, might break a cycle of hyperinflammation before it ramps up, their findings from mouse studies and a recent analysis of medical claims data suggest.

May 25, 2020

Compelling Evidence Shows Electroceutical Fabric Eradicates Coronaviruses on Contact

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

With the number of novel coronavirus infections over 5 million and growing as of May 24, use of personal protective equipment, or PPE, has become essential to safeguard health care providers against COVID-19. Coronavirus particles that attach to PPE surfaces pose a significant threat to the spread of the virus.

A team of researchers at Indiana University has published significant research findings via pre-print in ChemRxiv demonstrating for the first time that coronaviruses are killed upon exposure to an electroceutical fabric.

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May 25, 2020

How Touching Is Perceived in the Brain – Investigated With Two-Person MRI Scans on Couples

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

An MRI in each other’s arms shows how physical contact alters the brains of couples.

Researchers at Aalto University and Turku PET Centre have developed a new method for simultaneous imaging brain activity from two people, allowing them to study social interaction.

In a recent study, the researchers scanned brain activity from 10 couples. Each couple spent 45 minutes inside the MRI scanner in physical contact with each other. The objective of the study was to examine how social contact activates the brain. The results were published in the theme issue Social Interaction in Neuropsychiatry of the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

May 25, 2020

Gap is rushing more robots into its warehouses to handle coronavirus disruption

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

U.S. apparel chain Gap is speeding up its rollout of warehouse robots for assembling online orders so it can limit human contact during the coronavirus pandemic, the company told Reuters.

Gap reached a deal early this year to more than triple the number of item-picking robots it uses to 106 by the fall. Then the pandemic struck North America, forcing the company to close all its stores in the region, including those of Banana Republic, Old Navy and other brands. Meanwhile, its warehouses faced more web orders and fewer staff to fulfill them because of social distancing rules Gap had put in place.

“We could not get as many people in our distribution centers safely,” said Kevin Kuntz, Gap’s senior vice president of global logistics fulfillment. So he called up Kindred AI, the vendor that sells the machines, to ask: “Can you get them here earlier?”

May 25, 2020

Elon Musk’s Crew Dragon puts America back in the space race

Posted by in category: Elon Musk

The launch of the billionaire’s vessel will be the first manned US flight since shuttle missions were shut down nine years ago.

May 25, 2020

Hurray! Photo

Posted by in categories: employment, engineering, robotics/AI

In our efforts to domesticate Artificial Intelligence and prepare people for future jobs in Africa. We are glad to announce our first Robotic boot camp tagged Introduction to Robotics 1.0. The Artificial Intelligence Hub is training young people between the ages 7 and 20 on Robotic Engineering. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn and be equipped with future skills. Register with the link provided below. https://forms.gle/yTx2obDkSQ5ULTLM9

May 25, 2020

Opting In for a Positive Future — Allison Duettmann

Posted by in categories: futurism, materials

Excellent speech.


Our civilization is made up of countless individuals and pieces of material technology, which come together to form institutions and interdependent systems of logistics, development and production. These institutions and systems then store the knowledge required for their own renewal and growth.

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