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Jun 6, 2020

Locus Robotics raises another $40M as retailers increasingly look to automate

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, information science, robotics/AI

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a profound impact on robotics, as more companies look to automation as a way forward. While wide-scale automation had long seemed like an inevitability, the pandemic is set to accelerate the push as corporations look for processes that remove the human element from the equation.

Of course, Locus Robotics hasn’t had too much of an issue raising money previously. The Massachusetts-based startup, which raised $26 million back in April of last year, is adding a $40 million Series D to its funds. That brings the full amount to north of $105 million. This latest round, led by Zebra Technologies, comes as the company looks to expand operations with the launch of a European HQ.

“The new funding allows Locus to accelerate expansion into global markets,” CEO Rick Faulk said in a release, “enabling us to strengthen our support of retail, industrial, healthcare, and 3PL businesses around the world as they navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that they come out stronger on the other side.”

Jun 6, 2020

Cracking open the proton

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, supercomputing

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Physicists around the world are cracking open the proton, within the nucleus of the atom, to see what’s inside.

The proton is a fundamental building block of the atomic nucleus, and among other things it’s used as a medical probe in magnetic resonance imaging. It also has a rich inner structure made up of subatomic particles called quarks and gluons, which bind the quarks together.

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Jun 6, 2020

Inverse-designed spinodoid metamaterials

Posted by in category: materials

npj Computational Materials volume 6, Article number: 73 (2020) Cite this article.

Jun 6, 2020

Scientists find a switch to flip and turn off breast cancer growth and metastasis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

Researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine identified a gene that causes an aggressive form of breast cancer to rapidly grow. More importantly, they have also discovered a way to “turn it off” and inhibit cancer from occurring. The animal study results have been so compelling that the team is now working on FDA approval to begin clinical trials and has published details in the journal Scientific Reports.

The team led by Dr. Reza Izadpanah examined the role two genes, including one whose involvement in cancer was discovered by Tulane researchers, play in causing triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC is considered to be the most aggressive of breast cancers, with a much poorer prognosis for treatment and survival. Izadpanah’s team specifically identified an inhibitor of the TRAF3IP2 gene, which was proven to suppress the growth and spread (metastasis) of TNBC in mouse models that closely resemble humans.

In parallel studies looking at a duo of genes—TRAF3IP2 and Rab27a, which play roles in the secretion of substances that can cause —the research teams studied what happens when they were stopped from functioning. Suppressing the expression of either gene led to a decline in both and the spread of cancer to other organs. Izadpanah says that when Rab27a was silenced, the tumor did not grow but was still spreading a small number of cancer cells to other parts of the body. However, when the TRAF3IP2 gene was turned off, they found no spread (known as “metastasis” or “micrometastasis”) of the original tumor cells for a full year following the treatment. Even more beneficial, inhibiting the TRAF3IP2 gene not only stopped future tumor growth but caused existing tumors to shrink to undetectable levels.

Jun 6, 2020

Chasing immortality | The Future is Now

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

#Eternal life might not be attainable in the near future, but genetic engineers and doctors are working on new life extension technology. The research could lead to keeping our bodies young, and scientists are developing ways of downloading our brain’s consciousness onto digital media once the body is at the end of its life cycle.

#RT #Documentary offers you in-depth documentary films on topics that will leave no one indifferent. It’s not just front-page stories and global events, but issues that extend beyond the headlines. Social and environmental issues, shocking traditions, intriguing personalities, history, sports and so much more – we have documentaries to suit every taste. RTD’s film crews travel far and wide to bring you diverse and compelling stories. Discover the world with us!

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Jun 6, 2020

Genetically Modifying Humans to Reverse Aging — Today – EP15: Liz Parrish (BioViva)

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

SEE MORE EPISODES like this https://podcast.hyperwellbeing.com/

In this fifteenth episode, Liz Parrish shares her quest for radical life extension and details her two completed gene therapies. She describes the regenerative medical tourism available today for increased lifespan and costs. She relates her company’s mission to create a human that regenerates faster than they degenerate. She details her upcoming gene therapies, including upgraded IQ.

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Jun 6, 2020

Wear masks in public, WHO says in new advice

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The World Health Organization (WHO) has changed its advice on face masks, saying they should be worn in public where social distancing is not possible to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

The global body said new information showed they could provide “a barrier for potentially infectious droplets”.

Some countries already recommend or mandate face coverings in public.

Jun 6, 2020

Join INTUITIVE Planetarium Director David as he tours the Earth

Posted by in category: space

Join INTUITIVE Planetarium Director David as he tours the Earth, the Milky Way, and discusses what else resides far beyond using OpenSpace, an open-source tool available online for everyone!

Jun 6, 2020

Scientists find link between COVID-19 severity and genetics

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Chinese scientists also found that patients with blood type A were more likely to develop a severe case of COVID-19, according to the Times.

While the Chinese study does support the new study, questions remain on why blood type affects the severity of the illness. “That is haunting me, quite honestly,” said Franke.

The locus where the blood-type gene is located also contains DNA that acts an on-off switch for a gene producing a protein that triggers strong immune responses.

Jun 6, 2020

Can Vertical Farms Fix the Future of Food?

Posted by in categories: food, government, internet, space, sustainability

Singapore has only 1% of its land available for agriculture, so it imports 90% of its food requirements. The government is looking to curb this dependence on outside food sources under a programme titled ‘30 by 30,’ which aims to allow Singapore to grow 30% of its produce by the year 2030. Local vertical farms like Sustenir are at the forefront of bringing about this change. VICE visits the sustainable start-up to understand the future of food.

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