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Nov 7, 2020

DefeXtiles: 3D printing quasi-woven textiles via underextrusion

Posted by in category: materials

OverviewDefeXtiles are thin, flexible textiles of many materials that can quickly be printed into a variety of 3D forms using an inexpensive, unmodified, 3D printer with no additional software.

Nov 7, 2020

Best DNA Tests for Health and Longevity

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

Has anyone here done a DNA test for longevity? I’m curious if you have any experiences with specific companies you can share. I researched 7 different big ones and am trying to decide which to go with.


Note: This is the second in our series of posts about the best DNA tests for health and longevity. To better understand the basics of DNA and the different types of DNA tests on the market please go back and read the first piece on The Benefits of Genetic Testing for Longevity.

Continue reading “Best DNA Tests for Health and Longevity” »

Nov 7, 2020

Deep Neural Networks Are Helping Decipher How Brains Work

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

DiCarlo and Yamins, who now runs his own lab at Stanford University, are part of a coterie of neuroscientists using deep neural networks to make sense of the brain’s architecture. In particular, scientists have struggled to understand the reasons behind the specializations within the brain for various tasks. They have wondered not just why different parts of the brain do different things, but also why the differences can be so specific: Why, for example, does the brain have an area for recognizing objects in general but also for faces in particular? Deep neural networks are showing that such specializations may be the most efficient way to solve problems.


Neuroscientists are finding that deep-learning networks, often criticized as “black boxes,” can be good models for the organization of living brains.

Nov 7, 2020

The Black Hole Information Paradox Comes to an End

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information, which seems impossible by definition. The work appears to resolve a paradox that Stephen Hawking first described five decades ago.

Nov 7, 2020

SpaceX receives approval to operate Starlink ground stations in Australia

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, internet, satellites

SpaceX rolled-out Starlink beta internet service in northern United States and southern Canada in October. To date, SpaceX has deployed around 888 internet-beaming satellites out of the 4,409 that will operate in low Earth orbit. SpaceX is looking forward to connecting locations around the world where internet connection is unreliable and non-existent. Earlier this year, SpaceX engineers said Starlink is capable of beaming internet connection to remote areas on Earth; 60 Starlink satellites have the capability to beam low-latency, high-speed broadband internet to 40,000 users streaming high-definition videos simultaneously. Starlink customers receive service via a phased-array antenna dish and Wi-Fi router device. Additionally, SpaceX will build hundreds of ground stations that will receive the satellite’s communication. The stations are the linking factor between user terminals and data center for the Starlink network.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) which regulates telecommunications service, granted SpaceX a telecommunications license to offer internet on August 7th this year. SpaceX recieved approval to operate ground stations on October 26. ACMA granted SpaceX licenses to operate a total of 24 Starlink ground stations in Australia, according to a document published by the regulatory agency.

Approximately 2.5 million individuals in Australia still lack access to internet at home due to the service being either too expensive or unavailable in the rural location they reside in. Connecting rural areas around the globe to the network provides benefits to civilization as a whole. The Internet provides an equal chance for everyone to have access to education and job opportunites at their fingertips. Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, the digital divide among communites became more apparent, many students had to study from home but their households did not have internet service. SpaceX hopes to close the digital divide in rural areas worldwide. As more satellites are deployed to orbit, SpaceX will expand broadband coverage to Australia and the rest of the planet in 2021.

Nov 7, 2020

ISS: 20 years looking over Earth

Posted by in categories: engineering, habitats, space

To mark the 20th anniversary of continuous habitation of the International Space Station, ESA commissioned two graphic artists to illustrate the Station from two perspectives. We spoke to the artists and asked them how they approached this challenge.

The International Space Station celebrates a huge milestone on 2 November 2020. For two decades, it has continuously hosted humans in space. Eighteen ESA astronauts have flown to the Station. Altogether, more than 240 crew members and visitors from 19 countries have visited the station and made it their temporary home.

A collaboration between five space agencies, the station has become a symbol of peaceful international cooperation. It represents the best of our space engineering capabilities as well as humankind’s pursuit of scientific knowledge and exploration.

Nov 7, 2020

Higgs boson probes for new phenomena

Posted by in category: particle physics

Physicists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are on the hunt for physics phenomena beyond the standard model. Some theories predict an as-yet undiscovered particle could be found in the form of a new resonance (a narrow peak) similar to the one that heralded the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.

However, Nature is not always so kind and new resonances may be so massive that their production requires collision energies beyond that of the LHC. If so, all is not lost. Just as gently sloping terrain may indicate the presence of a mountain peak ahead, LHC data may contain some hints that interesting phenomena are present at higher energy scales.

Nov 7, 2020

Root Bacterium to Fight Alzheimer’s

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Summary: A bacterium found in the soil close to the roots of ginseng plants, appears to significantly dissociate the protein aggregates associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: Wiley

A bacterium found among the soil close to roots of ginseng plants could provide a new approach for the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Rhizolutin, a novel class of compounds with a tricyclic framework, significantly dissociates the protein aggregates associated with Alzheimer’s disease both in vivo and in vitro, as reported by scientists in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Nov 7, 2020

It is time to return to the Moon, open Free Space and go to Mars

Posted by in categories: government, military, space

This revolution has already started, with wealthy citizens building their own space programs and entrepreneurs building spacecraft on relatively tiny budgets.


This time it must be about people, not governments. Rather than a centrally controlled quasi-military government race to space by two superpowers, we must enable the people themselves to go where they want to go, to do there what they want. If governments decide to return to the Moon — as seems to be the case — it must be to build villages, not bases, and to do it as rapidly as possible, as it needs to be an immediate challenge, not a distant dream. And if some want to go to Mars or mine asteroids, they need to be seen as part of a new frontier community. Thus, with both public and private players doing what they do best where they want to do it, we can make it happen far faster than many might believe.

Continue reading “It is time to return to the Moon, open Free Space and go to Mars” »

Nov 7, 2020

Gold inflatable house for Mars designed by Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+

Posted by in categories: alien life, habitats

“On Mars, it would occupy one of the maze of lava tubes which run beneath the Martian surface,” the architects explained.


Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+ are creating Martian House, an inflatable building in Bristol, England, that will explore what an extraterrestrial house for life on Mars could look like.

The house, a collaboration with local artists as part of the ongoing art project Building a Martian House, is set over two levels, with the lower level designed to be built below the ground of the red planet.

Continue reading “Gold inflatable house for Mars designed by Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+” »