Menu

Blog

Page 7398

Aug 7, 2019

$3 Million for Mathematical Conjecture?

Posted by in category: particle physics

How can untested mathematical conjecture be awarded $3 million prize? That reflects badly on the Breakthrough Prize committee. https://physicsworld.com/a/breakthrough-prize-criticized-for…led-ideas/

Aug 7, 2019

Romanian Engineers Have Created a Fully Functional Flying Saucer

Posted by in category: engineering

I am going home bigsmile


The “All-Directional Flying Object” is a proof of concept that’s the result of more than two decades of engineering work.

Aug 7, 2019

Spending Bitcoin in person is easy (What happens in background is elegant)

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, economics

Today, I was co-host of an online cryptocurrency symposium—taking questions from hundreds of visitors. A common question goes something like this:

Can Bitcoin be used in person—or
is it just for internet commerce?

Our panel had a moderator, and also an off-screen video director. As I cleared my throat in preparation to offer a response, a voice in my ear reminded me that it was not my turn. The director explained that another panelist would reply. It was a highly regarded analyst and educator in Australia. Realizing that that she was calling the shots, I deferred.

I was shocked as I listened to a far off colleague suggest that Bitcoin is not useful for in-person payments. I wonder how he explains this to the grocers, tailors, lawyers, theme parks and thousands of retailers who save millions of dollars each year by accepting bitcoin—all without risk of volatility and even if they demand to instantly convert sales revenue into Fiat currency.*

Continue reading “Spending Bitcoin in person is easy (What happens in background is elegant)” »

Aug 7, 2019

Position Statement 56: Mental Health Treatment in Correctional Facilities

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, law enforcement, neuroscience

“Over the past 50 years [America has] gone from institutionalizing people with mental illnesses, often in subhuman conditions, [in state mental health hospitals] to incarcerating them at unprecedented and appalling rates—putting recovery out of reach for millions of Americans […] On any given day, between 300,000 and 400,000 people with mental illnesses are incarcerated in jails and prisons across the United States, and more than 500,000 people with mental illnesses are under correctional control in the community.” [1] Mental Health America (MHA) supports effective, accessible mental health treatment for all people who need it who are confined in adult or juvenile correctional facilities or under correctional control. People with mental health and substance use conditions also need an effective classification system to protect vulnerable prisoners and preserve their human rights. [2] Notwithstanding their loss of their liberty, prisoners with mental health and substance use conditions retain all other rights, and these must be zealously defended.

Background

In the past decade, America has been locking up increasing numbers of individuals with mental health conditions. [3] MHA is both concerned by and opposed to the increasing use of criminal sanctions and incarceration, replacing the state mental hospitals with much more drastic curtailment of personal liberty and preclusion of community integration and community-based treatment. [4] Prisoners with mental health conditions are especially vulnerable to the difficult and sometimes deplorable conditions that prevail in jails, prisons, and other correctional facilities. Overcrowding often contributes to inadequacy of mental health services and to ineffective classification and separation of prisoner classes. It can both increase vulnerability and exacerbate mental illnesses. For these and other reasons, MHA supports maximum reasonable diversion. [5].

Aug 7, 2019

Mentally Ill Inmates Are Routinely Physically Abused, Study Says

Posted by in category: futurism

A Human Rights Watch review finds that mistreatment by guards, including the use of chemical sprays and electronic stun guns, has led to a number of deaths.

Aug 7, 2019

Crashed spacecraft may have left creatures on the moon

Posted by in categories: astronomy, biological, science, space, space travel

Continue reading “Crashed spacecraft may have left creatures on the moon” »

Aug 7, 2019

IBM just made its cancer-fighting AI projects open-source

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

IBM recently developed three artificial intelligence tools that could help medical researchers fight cancer.

Now, the company has decided to make all three tools open-source, meaning scientists will be able to use them in their research whenever they please, according to ZDNet. The tools are designed to streamline the cancer drug development process and help scientists stay on top of newly-published research — so, if they prove useful, it could mean more cancer treatments coming through the pipeline more rapidly than before.

Aug 7, 2019

Allele specific repair of splicing mutations in cystic fibrosis through AsCas12a genome editing

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene. The 3272–26AG and 3849+10kbCT CFTR mutations alter the correct splicing of the CFTR gene, generating new acceptor and donor splice sites respectively. Here we develop a genome editing approach to permanently correct these genetic defects, using a single crRNA and the Acidaminococcus sp. BV3L6, AsCas12a. This genetic repair strategy is highly precise, showing very strong discrimination between the wild-type and mutant sequence and a complete absence of detectable off-targets. The efficacy of this gene correction strategy is verified in intestinal organoids and airway epithelial cells derived from CF patients carrying the 3272–26AG or 3849+10kbCT mutations, showing efficient repair and complete functional recovery of the CFTR channel. These results demonstrate that allele-specific genome editing with AsCas12a can correct aberrant CFTR splicing mutations, paving the way for a permanent splicing correction in genetic diseases.

Aug 7, 2019

The Biggest Telescopes In The World

Posted by in category: space

The world’s largest telescope in the Canary Islands of Spain has an aperture, or opening through which light comes through, of 409 inches.

Aug 7, 2019

Sony is using AI to replace drummers, one beat at a time

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Sony developed an AI system that can generate kickdrum beats based on other instruments used in a song.