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Feb 9, 2019

Producing biofuels from algae

Posted by in categories: security, sustainability

Microalgae are showing huge potential as a sustainable source of biofuels.

Producing biofuels from renewable sources.

Due to concerns about peak oil, energy security, fuel diversity and sustainability, there is great interest around the world in renewable sources of biofuels.

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Feb 9, 2019

Nanomachines taught to fight cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, nanotechnology

Scientists from ITMO in collaboration with international colleagues have proposed new DNA-based nanomachines that can be used for gene therapy for cancer. This new invention can greatly contribute to more effective and selective treatment of oncological diseases. The results were published in Angewandte Chemie.

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Feb 9, 2019

Want to live forever? You just have to make it to 2050

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

“If you’re under 40 reading this article, you’re probably not going to die unless you get a nasty disease.”

Those are the words of esteemed futurologist Dr. Ian Pearson, who told The Sun he believes humans are very close to achieving “immortality” – the ability to never die.

Humans have been trying to find a way to dodge death for years.

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Feb 9, 2019

Gaze Upon the Black Magic of Electrical Discharge Machining

Posted by in category: futurism

Ever seen GIFs of metal parts fitting together so precisely that the boundaries between them seem to disappear? That’s the joy of EDM. (Um, the other EDM.)

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Feb 9, 2019

Scottish space firm unveils world’s largest 3D printed rocket engine

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, energy, engineering, satellites

Scottish space firm Orbex has unveiled an engineering prototype of a rocket that’s at the heart of plans to develop a UK satellite launch capability.

The company, which is involved in plans to develop the UK’s first spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland unveiled the rocket at the opening of its new headquarters and rocket design facility in Forres in the Scottish Highlands.

Designed to deliver small satellites into Earth’s orbit, Orbex Prime is a two-stage rocket that’s claimed to be up to 30% lighter and 20% more efficient than any other vehicle in the small launcher category. It is also the first commercial rocket engine designed to work with bio-propane, a clean-burning, renewable fuel source that cuts carbon emissions by 90% compared to fossil hydrocarbon fuels.

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Feb 9, 2019

New patent win for University of California upends CRISPR legal battle

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, law

Companies may have to license patents on genome editor from multiple places.

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Feb 9, 2019

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson sets date of first trip into space

Posted by in category: space travel

British billionaire plans to make a suborbital flight on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Sir Richard Branson stands beside the Virgin Galactic spacecraft at the Farnborough International Airshow on Nov. 7, 2012 in Hampshire, England. Steve Parsons / PA Images via Getty Images file.

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Feb 9, 2019

Using Black Holes As A Particle Accelerator

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

Particle physics needs a larger particle accelerator. Perhaps even one using black holes.

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Feb 9, 2019

The US Army’s Strange Inspiration for Its Next Rifle: The iPhone

Posted by in category: mobile phones

Basically, it sounds like the Army is looking to build a stable platform, like iOS, that it can build increasingly sophisticated weapon technologies on top of.

“Imagine that Steve Jobs and his engineers were trying to convert the iPod Touch to the first 3G iPhone,” Caggins told Task & Purpose. “There were a thousand technologies they could have put in the first iPhone but they were looking to mature the platform before they could actually go onto the system.”

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Feb 9, 2019

Everyone is Talking About our Post-Human Future. It’s a Fairytale

Posted by in category: transhumanism

Talking about fairytales, this article embodies a fairytale of its own — the fairytale that we have to accept human nature as a given. That kind of fatalism will lead society to disaster in the decades ahead. Instead, we can, and must, do better, to secure a “Humanity+ future” ~ David Wood.


The idea that new technologies can liberate us from the human condition is a fantasy. In reality, the 21st-century will be all too human.

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