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Apr 27, 2020

Study of twins reveals genetic effect on Covid-19 symptoms

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

The team then focused on data from just over 2,600 twins to try to establish whether the symptoms experienced by those predicted to have Covid-19 was related to genetic makeup.

“The idea was to basically look at the similarities in symptoms or non-symptoms between the identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, and the non-identical twins, who only share half of their genes,” Prof Tim Spector, one of the scientists leading the endeavour, told the Guardian. “If there is a genetic factor in expressing the symptoms then we’d see a greater similarity in the identical [twins] than the non-identical [twins] and that is basically what we showed.”

The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, took into account whether the twins were in the same household, with the results revealing that genetic factors explained about 50% of the differences between people’s symptoms of Covid-19.

Apr 27, 2020

The first ever YouTube video was uploaded 15 years ago today. Here it is

Posted by in category: futurism

It is the anniversary of a legend. A YouTube legend. Meet “Me at the zoo.”

Apr 27, 2020

Springer has released 65 Machine Learning and Data books for free

Posted by in categories: mathematics, robotics/AI

Hundreds of books are now free to download.

Springer has released hundreds of free books on a wide range of topics to the general public. The list, which includes 408 books in total, covers a wide range of scientific and technological topics. In order to save you some time, I have created one list of all the books (65 in number) that are relevant to the data and Machine Learning field.

Among the books, you will find those dealing with the mathematical side of the domain (Algebra, Statistics, and more), along with more advanced books on Deep Learning and other advanced topics. You also could find some good books in various programming languages such as Python, R, and MATLAB, etc.

Apr 27, 2020

The brain’s imprint on the skull shows what separates humans from other primates

Posted by in category: neuroscience

The key appears to be lateralization, meaning the specialization of different sides of the brain for different functions.

Apr 27, 2020

Is Julia’s Place Co-Existence With Python?

Posted by in category: futurism

Is Julia the ML language of the future, or is it Python’s lesser-known sidekick?

Apr 27, 2020

We may get rid of coronavirus, but what about the robots we used to fight it?

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

This is the seventh in a series on the impact of the coronavirus on China’s technology sector.

China’s robotics market is forecast to reach US$103.6 billion by 2023, driven by manufacturing, consumer, retail, health care and resource applications.


Chinese robotics companies have seen a surge in demand since the coronavirus outbreak but some believe robot tech is not mature enough for widespread use.

Continue reading “We may get rid of coronavirus, but what about the robots we used to fight it?” »

Apr 26, 2020

Medicine of the Future: The End of Pestilence

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

Hey all! I hope you are doing fine! I have just made a video about the story of how humanity will conquer pestilence (all diseases). If this is something that might interest you, please check it out! And if you enjoyed this video, please like, share, and subscribe!


Pestilence has long been an enemy of mankind. But what if one day, in the far future, mankind can defeat pestilence of every form and achieve lifespans so long that the concept of “life expectancy” is no longer a thing. Join me in this video as I tell the story of how humanity can defeat its old enemy, pestilence.

Apr 26, 2020

Biofuel-powered soft electronic skin with multiplexed and wireless sensing for human-machine interfaces

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, health, nanotechnology, robotics/AI, wearables

Existing electronic skin (e-skin) sensing platforms are equipped to monitor physical parameters using power from batteries or near-field communication. For e-skins to be applied in the next generation of robotics and medical devices, they must operate wirelessly and be self-powered. However, despite recent efforts to harvest energy from the human body, self-powered e-skin with the ability to perform biosensing with Bluetooth communication are limited because of the lack of a continuous energy source and limited power efficiency. Here, we report a flexible and fully perspiration-powered integrated electronic skin (PPES) for multiplexed metabolic sensing in situ. The battery-free e-skin contains multimodal sensors and highly efficient lactate biofuel cells that use a unique integration of zero- to three-dimensional nanomaterials to achieve high power intensity and long-term stability. The PPES delivered a record-breaking power density of 3.5 milliwatt·centimeter−2 for biofuel cells in untreated human body fluids (human sweat) and displayed a very stable performance during a 60-hour continuous operation. It selectively monitored key metabolic analytes (e.g., urea, NH4+, glucose, and pH) and the skin temperature during prolonged physical activities and wirelessly transmitted the data to the user interface using Bluetooth. The PPES was also able to monitor muscle contraction and work as a human-machine interface for human-prosthesis walking.

Recent advances in robotics have enabled soft electronic devices at different scales with excellent biocompatibility and mechanical properties; these advances have rendered novel robotic functionalities suitable for various medical applications, such as diagnosis and drug delivery, soft surgery tools, human-machine interaction (HMI), wearable computing, health monitoring, assistive robotics, and prosthesis (1–6). Electronic skin (e-skin) can have similar characteristics to human skin, such as mechanical durability and stretchability and the ability to measure various sensations such as temperature and pressure (7–11). Moreover, e-skin can be augmented with capabilities beyond those of the normal human skin by incorporating advanced bioelectronics materials and devices.

Apr 26, 2020

Reasons for hope — the drugs, tests and tactics that may conquer coronavirus

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

(Reuters) — With much of the world living in lockdown, the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that was first detected in China late last year is beginning to slow in some places. As of April 23, 2.7 million had been infected and 192,000 killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

While a safe, effective vaccine is still more than a year away, researchers are rushing to repurpose existing drugs and non-drug therapies as well as testing promising experimental drugs that were already in clinical trials.

Apr 26, 2020

Research: A solar window will soon do the same job as a standard rooftop solar panel

Posted by in categories: solar power, sustainability

Semi-transparent solar cells that can be incorporated into window glass are a “game-changer” that could transform architecture, urban planning and electricity generation, Australian scientists say in a paper in Nano Energy.

The researchers—led by Professor Jacek Jasieniak from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (Exciton Science) and Monash University—have succeeded in producing next-gen perovskite solar cells that generate electricity while allowing light to pass through. They are now investigating how the new technology could be built into commercial products with Viridian Glass, Australia’s largest glass manufacturer.

This technology will transform windows into active power generators, potentially revolutionizing . Two square meters of solar , the researchers say, will generate about as much electricity as a standard rooftop solar panel.