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Jul 23, 2018

Material formed from crab shells and trees could replace flexible plastic packaging

Posted by in categories: chemistry, engineering, food, sustainability

From liquid laundry detergent packaged in cardboard to compostable plastic cups, consumer products these days are increasingly touting their sustainable and renewable origins.

Now researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have created a material derived from crab shells and tree fibers that has the potential to replace the flexible used to keep food fresh.

The new material, which is described July 23 in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, is made by spraying multiple layers of chitin from crab shells and cellulose from trees to form a flexible film similar to plastic packaging film.

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Jul 23, 2018

Intervening on mtDNA in Mice Reverses Skin Wrinkling and Hair Loss

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

In a study on murine mtDNA, scientists reversed skin wrinkles and hair loss.


In what appears to be a world first, scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have reversed two of the most common visual signs of aging—skin wrinkles and hair loss—in mice by turning off a gene responsible for mitochondrial dysfunction [1].

Study abstract

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Jul 23, 2018

Discovery Offers New Insights into Telomere Biology and Aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

Australian researchers have made a discovery about telomeres that may have implications for aging, heart disease, cancer, and other age-related diseases.

So, what are telomeres?

Each of the chromosomes that store our genetic information has a telomere at each end. This protective cap consists of a specific DNA sequence that is repeated thousands of times and has two purposes: firstly, it protects the coding regions of the chromosomes and prevents them from being damaged, and secondly, it acts as a clock that controls the number of replications a cell can undergo; this is thought to act as a quality control system to ensure that aged and potentially damaged cells do not remain in circulation.

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Jul 23, 2018

The 42 Biggest Questions About Life, the Universe, and Everything

Posted by in categories: physics, space

In a recent paper published to arXiv, the physicists Roland Allen and Suzy Lidstrom, of Texas A&M and Uppsala University, respectively, tackled the question about the Question by describing what they believe to be the 42 ultimate questions of life, the universe, and everything.


In a homage to ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ two physicists explain the biggest unknowns in science. I’ve summed them up as a tweetstorm.

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Jul 23, 2018

Spectacular revelations courtesy of Hubble

Posted by in category: space

After 28 years in space, the Hubble Space Telescope is sending back some of its most beautiful and revealing images from across the vast universe.

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Jul 22, 2018

Fastest-spinning manmade object clocks 60 billion rpm

Posted by in category: nanotechnology

The fastest-spinning manmade object has been created in a lab at Purdue University. This microscopic rotor is made up of two silica nanoparticles stuck together to form a “dumbbell,” and by hitting it with laser light the team has sent it spinning at a blistering 60 billion rpm.

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Jul 22, 2018

DARPA has competition plans for insect-scale robots

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Earlier this month, DARPA announced it is launching a new SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms (SHRIMP) program. SHRIMP will develop and demonstrate micro-to-milli robotic platforms for scenarios brought on by natural and critical disasters.

As IEEE Spectrum put it, it’s a program to develop “insect-scale robots” for disaster recovery and high-risk environments. The topic is simple enough to understand and it also is obvious that the means of accomplishing these platforms is tough.

DARPA, said its announcement, will be facing the challenge of “creating extremely SWaP-constrained microrobotics.” SWaP refers to size, weight and power.

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Jul 22, 2018

This AI can see what you’re thinking — and draw a picture of it

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Mind reading technology is here.


Scientists have developed a program that can read your brainwaves and produce an image based on what you’re thinking about.

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Jul 22, 2018

Ask Ethan: Which Movies Get The Science Of Time Travel Right?

Posted by in categories: entertainment, science, time travel

It’s one of the most common tropes in science fiction. But which movies actually get the science right?

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Jul 22, 2018

Engine test anomaly deals setback to Boeing’s plans for Starliner space taxi

Posted by in categories: space, transportation

Boeing confirms that it experienced an anomaly last month during tests of the engines that would be used on its CST-100 Starliner space taxi in the event of a launch emergency.

The anomaly resulted in an unwanted leak of propellant, and although no hardware was destroyed, the issue is likely to contribute to further delays for NASA’s plan to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station on the Starliner.

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