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Apr 24, 2020

How Blood Sugar Can Trigger a Deadly Immune Response in the Flu and Possibly COVID-19

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Glucose metabolism plays a key role in the cytokine storm seen in influenza, and the link could have potential implications for novel coronavirus infections.

Apr 24, 2020

Bose-Einstein condensate: Magnetic particles behave repulsively

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

Data transmission that works by means of magnetic waves instead of electric currents: For many scientists, this is the basis of future technologies that will make transmission faster and individual components smaller and more energy-efficient. Magnons, the particles of magnetism, serve as moving information carriers. Almost 15 years ago, researchers at the University of Münster (Germany) succeeded for the first time in achieving a novel quantum state of magnons at room temperature—a Bose-Einstein condensate of magnetic particles, also known as a ‘superatome,’ i.e. an extreme state of matter that usually occurs only at very low temperatures.

Apr 24, 2020

Laser-cooled Bose–Einstein condensate is a first

Posted by in categories: innovation, particle physics

Breakthrough could lead to better atomic clocks and atom lasers.

Apr 24, 2020

Slowed light breaks record

Posted by in category: particle physics

Circa 2009


Light stored for over a second in an ultracold cloud of sodium atoms.

Apr 24, 2020

Google claims its AI can design computer chips in under 6 hours

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

In a paper, Google researchers reveal that they’ve developed an AI framework that can produce chip designs in less than six hours.

Apr 24, 2020

DARPA Is Trying To Develop a COVID-19 ‘Shield’

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, military

The Pentagon’s cutting edge science department is working to create a therapeutic “shield” that could be mass produced to provide temporary protection for people from diseases like the coronavirus, boosting their immunity until an actual vaccine is developed. The result could also help slow the viruses’ advance, buying time for hard-pressed hospitals and clinics worldwide.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has funded efforts to create such therapies from studying COVID-19 samples from individuals who have already recovered from the virus. Scientists working with the organization’s Pandemic Prevention Platform (PPP) are sequencing the B cells of one individual who recovered from COVID-19. B cells create antibodies, proteins created by the human immune system to fight a particular invading microorganism.

Apr 24, 2020

China unveils name of first Mars exploration mission

Posted by in category: satellites

BEIJING (Reuters) — China’s space agency on Friday unveiled the name of its first Mars exploration mission, coinciding with China’s annual Space Day and the 50th anniversary of the launch of its first satellite.

Apr 24, 2020

Astronaut “can’t even hug people” after 7 months in space

Posted by in category: space

Jessica Meir said she’s not used to isolation on Earth.

Apr 24, 2020

This is what special ops learned 40 years ago from Operation Eagle Claw

Posted by in category: futurism

But our failure in Iran made us better! We established commands, units, relationships, mission sets, and joint tactics, techniques and procedures that survive to this day.

The lessons learned fixed a multitude of shortcomings and brought joint SOF operations into the 21st century. It also prepared a small cadre of leaders to meet the future challenges of an ever-evolving radical threat stream. It set us up for the next 20 years.

Ultimately, the lessons of Eagle Claw led to the establishment of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) as a functional combatant command with service-like responsibilities to man, train, and equip special operations forces from every service. SOCOM also received a budget along with authorities to procure SOF unique equipment; and they gained an advocate on Capitol Hill with the establishment of the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict (ASD-SOLIC).

Apr 24, 2020

New cancer treatment that tracks and zaps tumors is coming to Stanford Medicine

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A new technology aims to make tumors their own worst enemy in the fight against cancer — and Stanford Medicine will be the first in the world to incorporate the treatment into the clinic.

The first generation of a machine using this technology — the X1, from the company RefleXion Medical — harnesses positron emission tomography to deliver radiation that tracks a tumor in real time. This PET feedback allows the system to send beams of radiation to destroy cancerous cells with heightened precision.

Researchers hope that this “biology-guided radiotherapy” will increase accuracy, safety and efficacy of cancer radiation treatment. Stanford physicians plan to test the X1 later this year through clinical trials at Stanford Hospital. Their first step will be to obtain approval by the Food and Drug Administration.