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Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador and CEO Bioquark interviews Dr. Michelle Francl the Frank B. Mallory Professor of Chemistry, at Bryn Mawr College, and an adjunct scholar of the Vatican Observatory.

Ira Pastor comments:

Today, we have another fascinating guest working at the intersection of cutting edge science and spirituality.

Dr. Michelle Francl is the Frank B. Mallory Professor of Chemistry, at Bryn Mawr College, a distinguished women’s college in the suburbs of Philadephia, as well as an adjunct scholar of the Vatican Observatory.

A group of researchers led by Sir Andre Geim and Dr. Alexey Berdyugin at The University of Manchester have discovered and characterized a new family of quasiparticles named ‘Brown-Zak fermions’ in graphene-based superlattices.

The team achieved this breakthrough by aligning the atomic lattice of a layer to that of an insulating boron nitride sheet, dramatically changing the properties of the graphene sheet.

The study follows years of successive advances in graphene-boron nitride superlattices which allowed the observation of a fractal pattern known as the Hofstadter’s butterfly—and today (Friday, November 13) the researchers report another highly surprising behavior of particles in such structures under applied magnetic field.

Japanese researchers have created a mind-controllable Gundam robot, turning one of the anime’s most exciting technological concepts into reality.

The model, based on the mobile suit Zaku, has been available through Bandai’s Zeonic Technics package since last year, but that version requires manual programming on a smartphone app.

【課題】 来週から休暇に入る受講生は、この機会にミニチュアザクを組み立てて、課題に挑戦をして欲しい 今回の課題はプログラムだ。アクションコードに音声をプログラムした。 簡単に音声は追加出来るぞ。 #ジオニックテクニクス #ZEONICTECHNICS pic.twitter.com/rX5OSisXs1

The 22nd edition of the China Hi-Tech Fair, with more than 3,300 online and offline exhibitors from the mainland and overseas, has put renewed emphasis on the ways innovative technology could help people better adapt to changes caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.


China Hi-Tech Fair, the country’s biggest technology show, features a range of artificial intelligence, smart city and robotic applications.

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Most newly-discovered species are easy to classify. They have features that are very consistent with well-known organisms and they fit neatly into one category or another. Every so often, one comes along that leaves scientists wondering, “What the hell is this thing?” Case in point: Dendrogramma. This new genus represents two species of deep-sea animals that resemble mushrooms but don’t really fit in with any other known animals. As a result, this organism could bring fairly large changes to the phylogenetic tree. The research was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the paper was published in PLOS ONE.

The 18 specimens were caught during an expedition in the Bass Strait, between Australia and Tasmania back in 1986. Two samples were dredged up from depths of 400 and 1000 meters. The samples had been fixed and preserved, rendering them unable to undergo genetic analysis. However, the preservation process was not done particularly well, causing them to become bleached and shrunken. They turned brittle over time.