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May 13, 2020

Researchers create durable, washable textile coating that can repel viruses

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, materials

Masks, gowns, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential for protecting healthcare workers. However, the textiles and materials used in such items can absorb and carry viruses and bacteria, inadvertently spreading the disease the wearer sought to contain.

When the coronavirus spread amongst and left PPE in short supply, finding a way to provide better protection while allowing for the safe reuse of these items became paramount.

Research from the LAMP Lab at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering may have a solution. The lab has created a textile coating that can not only repel liquids like blood and saliva but can also prevent viruses from adhering to the surface. The work was recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

May 13, 2020

Yes, COVID-toe. A bizarre post-coronavirus symptom causes purple fingers, toes … maybe even ears

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

On April 7, Karin Shetler awoke in the middle of the night to a toe that was throbbing violently. She threw back the covers to reveal her purple-colored middle toe.

“I wondered whether I had somehow broken my toe,” said Shetler. “I iced it, not understanding what it was, and called my physician sister in New Orleans the next morning.”

She asked if it might be gout. It wasn’t.

May 13, 2020

Functional Role of Dietary Intervention to Improve the Outcome of COVID-19: A Hypothesis of Work

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Hypothetical COVID-19 Treatments.

The virus causes clotting everywhere and widespread epithelial damage. One is tempted to treat it like stroke prophylaxis. Patients clot rather than bleed, almost always. The same thing happens in influenza, also.

The pro-clotting effects of corticosteroids may be a reason why they have not stood out yet. The profound anticlotting treatment necessary to treat patients with ECMO extracorporial oxygenation in COVID-19, might have its own therapeutic value (it’s not just the artificial lung but the heparin they need to put you on it!). The lungs of COVID-19 patients in trouble are not only full of fluid, but macro and micro-emboli. Low molecular weight heparin, given in all ICUs, looks like a good gamble.

Continue reading “Functional Role of Dietary Intervention to Improve the Outcome of COVID-19: A Hypothesis of Work” »

May 13, 2020

Photo 11

Posted by in category: futurism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

May 13, 2020

New device excels at making hydrogen using concentrated sunlight

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability

System could be scaled-up to supply clean and renewable energy.

May 13, 2020

World’s Hardest Concrete With Improved Impact Resistance for Disaster Prevention

Posted by in categories: engineering, materials

A research team including Kanazawa University tests the impact response of the world’s hardest concrete.

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world and consequently is being continuously developed to fulfill modern-day requirements. Efforts to improve concrete strength have led to reports of porosity-free concrete (PFC), the hardest concrete tested to date. Some of the basic properties of PFC have already been explored, and now a team including Kanazawa University has probed the impact response of this innovative material. Their findings are published in International Journal of Civil Engineering.

Ultra-high-strength concrete offers significant advantages including reducing the weight of large structures and protecting them against natural disasters and accidental impacts. PFC is an ultra-high-strength concrete whose properties can be further enhanced by incorporating steel fibers.

May 13, 2020

Mach Effect for In Space Propulsion: Interstellar Mission

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

James Woodward Space Studies Institute, Inc.

We propose to study the implementation of an innovative thrust producing technology for use in NASA missions involving in space main propulsion. Mach Effect Gravity Assist (MEGA) drive propulsion is based on peer-reviewed, technically credible physics. Mach effects are transient variations in the rest masses of objects that simultaneously experience accelerations and internal energy changes. They are predicted by standard physics where Mach’s principle applies as discussed in peer- reviewed papers spanning 20 years and a recent book, Making Starships and Stargates: the Science of Interstellar Transport and Absurdly Benign Wormholes published in 2013 by Springer-Verlag.

In Phase I we achieved the following:

May 13, 2020

Cellular Automaton and Deep Learning

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Intelligent systems.

May 13, 2020

Experimental realization of Shor’s quantum factoring algorithm using qubit recycling

Posted by in categories: information science, quantum physics, sustainability

Circa 2012


Quantum computational algorithms exploit quantum mechanics to solve problems exponentially faster than the best classical algorithms1,2,3. Shor’s quantum algorithm4 for fast number factoring is a key example and the prime motivator in the international effort to realize a quantum computer5. However, due to the substantial resource requirement, to date there have been only four small-scale demonstrations6,7,8,9. Here, we address this resource demand and demonstrate a scalable version of Shor’s algorithm in which the n-qubit control register is replaced by a single qubit that is recycled n times: the total number of qubits is one-third of that required in the standard protocol10,11. Encoding the work register in higher-dimensional states, we implement a two-photon compiled algorithm to factor N = 21. The algorithmic output is distinguishable from noise, in contrast to previous demonstrations. These results point to larger-scale implementations of Shor’s algorithm by harnessing scalable resource reductions applicable to all physical architectures.

May 13, 2020

Mind-controlled prostheses that “feel” for real

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs

The advance is unique: the patients have used a mind-controlled prosthesis in their everyday life for up to seven years. For the last few years, they have also lived with a new function – sensations of touch in the prosthetic hand. This is a new concept for artificial limbs, which are called neuromusculoskeletal prostheses – as they are connected to the user’s nerves, muscles, and skeleton.