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May 25, 2020

Giant new offshore wind turbine to debut in 2024

Posted by in categories: engineering, sustainability

Spanish engineering company Siemens Gamesa has revealed a new offshore wind turbine, set to become the world’s largest and most powerful, with serial production planned for 2024.

May 25, 2020

This ‘robot nose’ can sniff bombs and drugs, just like sniffer dogs

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

An artificial ‘robo-nose’ made from living mouse cells can replace sniffer dogs’ job of smelling narcotics like cocaine, marijuana, missing people and explosives.

May 25, 2020

Galactic crash may have triggered solar system formation

Posted by in categories: mapping, space

The formation of the Sun, the Solar System and the subsequent emergence of life on Earth may be a consequence of a collision between our galaxy, the Milky Way, and a smaller galaxy called Sagittarius, discovered in the 1990s to be orbiting our galactic home.

Astronomers have known that Sagittarius repeatedly smashes through the Milky Way’s disc, as its orbit around the galaxy’s core tightens as a result of gravitational forces. Previous studies suggested that Sagittarius, a so called dwarf galaxy, had had a profound effect on how stars move in the Milky Way. Some even claim that the 10 000 times more massive Milky Way’s trademark spiral structure might be a result of the at least three known crashes with Sagittarius over the past six billion years.

Continue reading “Galactic crash may have triggered solar system formation” »

May 25, 2020

Global leader in harvesting energy and data from footfall

Posted by in categories: energy, innovation

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PkEGoBe-EdA

“Pavegen creates high engagement with citizens by converting their footsteps into energy, data and rewards.

As pedestrians walk across the Pavegen system, the weight from their footsteps compresses electromagnetic generators below, producing 2 to 4 watt seconds of off-grid electrical energy per step.”

Continue reading “Global leader in harvesting energy and data from footfall” »

May 25, 2020

New soliton laser pulses deliver high energy in a trillionth of a second

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering

Scientists have developed a new type of laser that can deliver high amounts of energy in very short bursts of time, with potential applications in eye and heart surgery or the engineering of delicate materials.

The Director of the University of Sydney Institute of Photonics and Optical Science, Professor Martijn de Sterke, said: “This laser has the property that as its duration decreases to less than a trillionth of a second, its could go through the roof.

”This makes them ideal candidates for the processing of materials that require short, powerful pulses. One application could be in corneal surgery, which relies on gently removing material from the eye. This requires strong, short light pulses that do not heat and damage the surface.”

May 25, 2020

Surgeon Transfers Nerves to Let Paralyzed Patients Use Hands

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

There’s a new hope for people suffering from paralysis.

May 25, 2020

40-year-old Cold Case Solved With New Genetic Genealogy Technology

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

It was January of 1980 when 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Douglas County, Colorado. Her body was found in a field, but police never identified a suspect. Pruszynski’s murder became a cold case.

“We consider a case that does not have any viable leads after one to two years a cold case,” cold case detective Shannon Jensen said.

However, Jensen says the case was never forgotten. Detectives continued to re-open it for 40 years. Then, with the help of new DNA technology, the suspect was identified in December of last year as James Curtis Clanton. He will be sentenced on April 10, based on the first-degree murder laws in 1980.

May 25, 2020

Scientists Explore Molecular Connections Between Genetics, Gut Microbiome, and Memory

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

A molecule commonly produced by gut microbes appears to improve memory in mice.

A new study is among the first to trace the molecular connections between genetics, the gut microbiome, and memory in a mouse model bred to resemble the diversity of the human population.

While tantalizing links between the gut microbiome and brain have previously been found, a team of researchers from two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories found new evidence of tangible connections between the gut and the brain. The team identified lactate, a molecule produced by all species of one gut microbe, as a key memory-boosting molecular messenger. The work was published recently in the journal BMC Microbiome.

May 25, 2020

First Human Trial Of Possible COVID-19 Vaccine Triggers Rapid Immune Response, Few Side-Effects

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

WUHAN, China — As the worldwide number of COVID-19 cases reaches five million, the search for a vaccine has taken an important step forward. Researchers say the first human trial of a possible vaccine has been found to be safe and may effectively fight the virus.

Scientists in China say 108 healthy adults were given a dose of adenovirus type 5 vectored COVID-19 (Ad5-nCoV) during the trial. The drug uses a weakened strain of the common cold (adenovirus) to deliver genetic material which codes itself to find the protein in SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19. These coded cells then head to the lymph nodes where the immune system creates antibodies that can recognize the virus and attack it.

“These results represent an important milestone. The trial demonstrates that a single dose of the new adenovirus type 5 vectored COVID-19 (Ad5-nCoV) vaccine produces virus-specific antibodies and T cells in 14 days,” Professor Wei Chen of the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology said in a statement.

May 25, 2020

Why We Should Worry About China and India’s Border Skirmishes

Posted by in category: futurism

Three decades ago, the two countries reached an understanding not to fight. But Beijing is now a much stronger power.