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A team of archaeologists from the University of Cincinnati has found that between about 2,200 and 1,000 years ago, the drinking water in this reservoir was filtered through a mixture of zeolite and coarse, sand-sized crystalline quartz. This filtration system is the oldest known example of water purification in the western hemisphere and the oldest known use of zeolite for decontaminating drinking water in the world.

Nature found a way to make those terrified of sharks even more worried about the ocean. A shark with two heads (previously at BB). Two damn heads! Fortunately, the bi-noggined fish was a spadenose shark, which at its full mature size is just over two feet long. After taking the requisite pictures the Indian fisherman released it back to the Arabian Sea waters and into your nightmares. That’s right, it is still out there, and most assuredly coming for you.

Feature photo by TheAgent41 Posted in 2-Headed Shark.

WASHINGTON — Axiom Space hopes to soon finalize its first commercial mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for late 2021, as it continues development of a commercial module for the station.

During a panel discussion at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) Oct. 13, Michael Suffredini, president and chief executive of Axiom Space, said his company had lined up the customers for that first mission, a 10-day flight to the space station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021.

“We have all of our customers identified and we’re about to finish their contracting,” he said. The company previously announced a contract with SpaceX for the flight and is “just about done” with a NASA contract for the mission.

Scientists from Scripps Research and Los Alamos National Laboratory have devised a method for mapping in unprecedented detail the thickets of slippery sugar molecules that help shield HIV from the immune system.

Mapping these shields will give researchers a more complete understanding of why antibodies react to some spots on the virus but not others, and may shape the design of new vaccines that target the most vulnerable and accessible sites on HIV and other viruses.

The sugar molecules, or “glycans,” are loose and stringy, and function as shields because they are difficult for antibodies to grip and block access to the . The shields form on the outermost spike proteins of HIV and many other viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, because these viruses have evolved sites on their spike proteins where glycan molecules—normally abundant in cells—will automatically attach.

Ultra high-res displays for gadgets and tv sets may be coming. 😃


By expanding on existing designs for electrodes of ultra-thin solar panels, Stanford researchers and collaborators in Korea have developed a new architecture for OLED—organic light-emitting diode—displays that could enable televisions, smartphones and virtual or augmented reality devices with resolutions of up to 10,000 pixels per inch (PPI). (For comparison, the resolutions of new smartphones are around 400 to 500 PPI.)

Such high-pixel-density displays will be able to provide stunning images with true-to-life detail—something that will be even more important for headset displays designed to sit just centimeters from our faces.

The advance is based on research by Stanford University materials scientist Mark Brongersma in collaboration with the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT). Brongersma was initially put on this research path because he wanted to create an ultra-thin solar panel design.

But Silicon Valley is not the home of ingenuity for nothing. When the pandemic hit, many start-up engineers in the area, like Dr. Wessells, moved their gear into their home garages so they could keep innovating. And if it wasn’t the garage, then it was the living room.


Labs closed in the pandemic, but innovation doesn’t stop. So while some workers have the home office, engineers have the garage.