Menu

Blog

Page 7755

Mar 8, 2020

Students put tiny aircraft to the test in drone racing competition

Posted by in category: drones

Teams raced each other Saturday during the Youth Drone Sports Championships at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School in St. Louis Park.

Students used tiny 1-ounce drones and flew them with goggles that gave them a first-person view. For the students, it was like piloting in a cockpit.

Mar 8, 2020

Researchers find evidence of a cosmic impact that caused destruction of one of the world’s earliest human settlements

Posted by in categories: food, habitats

Before the Taqba Dam impounded the Euphrates River in northern Syria in the 1970s, an archaeological site named Abu Hureyra bore witness to the moment ancient nomadic people first settled down and started cultivating crops. A large mound marks the settlement, which now lies under Lake Assad.

But before the lake formed, archaeologists were able to carefully extract and describe much material, including parts of houses, food and tools—an abundance of evidence that allowed them to identify the transition to agriculture nearly 12,800 years ago. It was one of the most significant events in our Earth’s cultural and environmental history.

Abu Hureyra, it turns out, has another story to tell. Found among the cereals and grains and splashed on early building material and was meltglass, some features of which suggest it was formed at extremely high temperatures—far higher than what humans could achieve at the time—or that could be attributed to fire, lighting or volcanism.

Mar 8, 2020

Stanford Doctor to Get $191 Million for Cancer-Fighting Biotech

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A Stanford University professor and stem cell pioneer whose first job in science paid $25 a month is poised to receive a $191 million windfall from the sale of the immunotherapy biotech firm he co-founded.

Irv Weissman, 80, owns 4.2% of Forty Seven Inc., which Gilead Sciences Inc. agreed to buy for about $4.9 billion, a remarkable amount considering the company’s market value was less than $250 million just five months ago.

Mar 8, 2020

New Battery Technology Could Lead to Self-Powered Devices

Posted by in categories: computing, mobile phones, sustainability, transportation

The advancements that are being made in battery technology are pretty mind boggling. We are seeing devices that are drawing power from just about every source that is imaginable, and now there is battery technology from researchers at Imperial College London that may actually have devices that create their own power. From cell phones to cars and everything in between, there may eventually be nothing more needed that to actually use the device.

This incredible new battery technology works because of the material that is being used in the actual construction of the items. The reason that the new material is making headlines is because of the fact that it can be integrated into the design of an automobile and would make it lighter and more fuel efficient, but could actually supply power to recharge the battery of an electric car.

With the material being able to be strong enough for the construction of a car, there are many other possibilities for its use. Right off the bat, devices such as cell phones, iPods, laptops and anything else that you can think of that would use battery power would be able to benefit from this new battery technology.

Mar 8, 2020

Geneticists pump the brakes on DNA, revealing key developmental process

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, media & arts

Researchers at Princeton University have revealed the inner workings of a gene repression mechanism in fruit fly embryos, adding insight to the study of human diseases.

Led by graduate student Shannon Keenan, the team used light to activate in developing and traced the effects on a protein called Capicua, or Cic. Located in a cell’s nucleus, Cic binds to DNA and performs the specialized task of silencing . The study, published in Developmental Cell and made available online March 5, reveals the dynamics of gene repression by this protein.

In a complex piece of music, the silences running through the melody contribute as much to the score’s effect as the sounded notes. The that control development rely on highly sophisticated temporal patterns of gene activation and repression to create life’s beautiful symphonies. When a pattern is disrupted, it’s like a wrong note in the music. In this case, Cic is a repressor protein that silences certain parts of the genome, allowing other genes to express in harmony with one another. Understanding how repressors like Cic work allows researchers to better conduct the orchestra.

Mar 8, 2020

Betelgeuse: Astronomers determine the reason for strange dimming of far-away star

Posted by in category: space

Well this is anticlimactic, to say the least.

Mar 8, 2020

Canceled Meeting Makes a Virtual Rebound

Posted by in category: futurism

After the cancellation of the March Meeting, researchers quickly assembled online talks and provided a glimpse of a virtual-conferencing future.

Mar 7, 2020

COSMOS SEASON 3 TRAILER | National Geographic

Posted by in category: futurism

COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS is helmed by Carl Sagan’s collaborator Ann Druyan, who boldly carries the torch forward with the 3rd season of the most beloved science show on the planet. Series premieres 3/9, at 8/7c, on Nat Geo; hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe

About National Geographic:
National Geographic is the world’s premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what’s possible.

Continue reading “COSMOS SEASON 3 TRAILER | National Geographic” »

Mar 7, 2020

Space engineer who hates smartphones builds cellphone with rotary dial

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, space travel

She builds tools for space exploration — but her cellphone is strictly down to earth.

Justine Haupt, 34, hates smartphones. She hates the way they work, and she hates the way they rule our lives.

“I work in technology but I don’t like the culture around smartphones,” says the astronomy instrumentation engineer from Long Island.

Mar 7, 2020

Origin and evolution of pathogenic coronaviruses

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

The origins are still too unknown. This is entirely new life a more parasitic lifeform. Bit still new lifeforms entirely. My experiencers tell me of alien origin though the rate of spread also the complexity. No human could make this no even government can make this. We can mimic life not create something new. Sure new things can be added but the signature tells me it is definitely of alien origin. Not even nature can create something this quick nor even governments. Sure there may be like similar things but why does it spread so fast in near systematic precision. Which leads to essentially of exterrestial origin. This is essentially new life we are dealing with.


Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 Mar;17:181–192. doi: 10.1038/s41579-018‑0118-9.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) are two highly transmissible and pathogenic viruses that emerged in humans at the beginning of the 21st century. Both viruses likely originated in bats, and genetically diverse coronaviruses that are related to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV were discovered in bats worldwide. In this Review, we summarize the current knowledge on the origin and evolution of these two pathogenic coronaviruses and discuss their receptor usage; we also highlight the diversity and potential of spillover of bat-borne coronaviruses, as evidenced by the recent spillover of swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) to pigs.