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Jul 9, 2020

Robo-Trucks Are Where Self-Driving Revolution Begins

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

The United States Postal Service’s pilot program with self-driving truck start-up TuSimple helps steer 18-wheelers hauling U.S. mail from Arizona to Texas, with minimum human intervention.

Jul 9, 2020

Common Telomere Changes during In Vivo Reprogramming and Early Stages of Tumorigenesis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Reprogramming of differentiated cells into induced pluripotent stem cells has been recently achieved in vivo in mice. Telomeres are essential for chromosomal stability and determine organismal life span as well as cancer growth. Here, we study whether tissue dedifferentiation induced by in vivo reprogramming involves changes at telomeres. We find telomerase-dependent telomere elongation in the reprogrammed areas. Notably, we found highly upregulated expression of the TRF1 telomere protein in the reprogrammed areas, which was independent of telomere length. Moreover, TRF1 inhibition reduced in vivo reprogramming efficiency. Importantly, we extend the finding of TRF1 upregulation to pathological tissue dedifferentiation associated with neoplasias, in particular during pancreatic acinar-to-ductal metaplasia, a process that involves transdifferentiation of adult acinar cells into ductal-like cells due to K–Ras oncogene expression. These findings place telomeres as important players in cellular plasticity both during in vivo reprogramming and in pathological conditions associated with increased plasticity, such as cancer.

Keywords: in vivo reprogramming, telomeres, stem cells, TRF1, tumorigenesis, cellular plasticity, cancer, transdifferentiation, ADM, regeneration.

Reprogramming into full pluripotency has been achieved in vivo in the context of mouse tissues (Abad et al., 2013). Thus, induction of the reprogramming factors in transgenic mice (so-called reprogrammable mice) results in reprogramming events marked by the expression of the pluripotency factor NANOG in multiple organs, tissue dedifferentiation, and teratoma formation. Therefore, these mice could be useful for a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern tissue dedifferentiation in vivo. Interestingly, mammalian cell reprogramming can also occur spontaneously during regeneration after injury or damage conditions (Yanger et al., 2013). Differentiated cells can be converted in vivo into another cell type and also into functional multipotent stem-like cells (Tata et al., 2013). This capacity of somatic cells to dedifferentiate into stem-like cells in vivo may have a pivotal role in physiological tissue regeneration or during tumorigenesis.

Jul 9, 2020

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 event will take place on August 5

Posted by in category: mobile phones

Samsung today sent out ‘invites’ for its next Galaxy Unpacked event, when the company is expected to launch the Galaxy Note 20. Indeed, the company teases such in a short video posted with the announcement:

Jul 9, 2020

Brain benefits of exercise can be gained with a single protein

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

A little-studied liver protein may be responsible for the well-known benefits of exercise on the aging brain, according to a new study in mice by scientists in the UC San Francisco Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research. The findings could lead to new therapies to confer the neuroprotective effects of physical activity on people who are unable to exercise due to physical limitations.

Exercise is one of the best-studied and most powerful ways of protecting the from and has been shown to improve cognition in individuals at risk of neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia —even those with rare gene variants that inevitably lead to dementia.

Continue reading “Brain benefits of exercise can be gained with a single protein” »

Jul 9, 2020

In These Factories, Inspector Robot Will Check Your Work

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

Artificially intelligent camera systems look for defects and misplaced parts in many industries. The coronavirus pandemic makes them extra useful.

Jul 9, 2020

Protein from blood of exercising mice rejuvenates brains of ‘couch potato’ mice

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Study could lead to a pill that confers the benefits of physical activity on cognition.

Jul 9, 2020

This map shows that Mars and Earth aren’t that different

Posted by in categories: energy, space

Mars’ poles contain millennia-old ice deposits. They also contain carbon dioxide, iron, aluminium, silicon and sulfur, which could be used to make glass, brick and plastic. Furthermore, the planet’s atmosphere contains enough hydrogen and methanol for fuel.


The tallest mountain on Mars and in the solar system is Olympus Mons, and it is two and a half times taller than Mt. Everest. A Martian canyon system, called Valles Marineris, is the length of the entire continental United States and three times deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Continue reading “This map shows that Mars and Earth aren’t that different” »

Jul 9, 2020

Tesla ‘very close’ to level 5 autonomous driving technology, Musk says

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI, sustainability, transportation

SHANGHAI/BEIJING — U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is “very close” to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input.

Musk added that he was confident Tesla would attain basic functionality of the technology this year, in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai’s annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an autopilot driver assistance system.

Jul 9, 2020

Covid-19 Is Accelerating Human Transformation—Let’s Not Waste It

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The Neobiological Revolution is here. Now’s the time to put lessons from the Digital Revolution to use.

Jul 9, 2020

Earth’s Magnetic Field Could Be Changing Much Faster Than We Ever Realised

Posted by in category: futurism

The Earth’s magnetic field flips, every few hundred thousand years or so on average, which means magnetic north becomes magnetic south and vice versa (the planet doesn’t actually turn upside down). New research suggests this change of direction can happen up to 10 times faster than previously thought.

That’s big news for scientists studying how the magnetic field shifts affect life on Earth, how our planet has evolved over time, and how we might be better able to predict the next reversal in the coming years.

Past palaeomagnetic studies have shown that the magnetic field could change direction at up to 1 degree a year, but the latest study suggests that movements of up to 10 degrees annually are possible.