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Sep 12, 2019

The Gravitational-Wave “Revolution” Is Underway

Posted by in category: futurism

As the fourth anniversary of the first detection approaches, the field continues to mature—with a bright future ahead.

Sep 12, 2019

Fight or Flight May Be in Our Bones

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

In the face of fear, whether it be caused by a grizzly bear or an audience waiting to hear you speak, your body initiates a reaction to stress. The breath quickens, the pupils dilate, the heart begins to pound. These automatic responses occur as a part of the so-called fight-or-flight response, the body’s evolved mechanism to threats around us. Scientists have known for decades that this reaction is triggered by hormones released by the adrenal glands, two cone-shaped organs…


A protein released from bone is involved in triggering the body’s reaction to stress.

Sep 12, 2019

Simbe Robotics raises $26 million for autonomous inventory robots

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

San Francisco-based startup Simbe Robotics is on a mission to transform retail with robots that scan store shelves for missing inventory.

Sep 12, 2019

First SpaceX rocket for humans headed to Space Coast

Posted by in category: space travel

A SpaceX rocket that may be the first to launch astronauts from the Space Coast has been built and test-fired in Texas.

That new rocket is now on its way to Central Florida.

Sep 12, 2019

Toyota tests solar-powered Prius in quest for plugless electric car

Posted by in categories: government, satellites, sustainability

TOKYO (Reuters) — Inspired by new ultra-thin solar panels developed for satellites, a project led by Toyota Motor Corp is experimenting with a sun-powered Prius that it hopes will one day require no plugging in.

In the Japanese government-funded demonstration project, Toyota engineers fitted solar panels designed by Sharp Corp to the hood, roof, rear window and spoiler to see how much juice the sun can generate.

The electricity from the panels goes directly to the drive battery, so the Prius can charge while moving or when parked.

Sep 12, 2019

Michael West at Ending Age-Related Diseases 2019

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

We’re continuing to release talks from Ending Age-Related Diseases 2019, our highly successful two-day conference that featured talks from leading researchers and investors, bringing them together to discuss the future of aging and rejuvenation biotechnology.

In his talk, The Reversal of the Aging of Human Cells: Strategies for Clinical Implementation, Dr. West discussed the differences between germ-line and somatic cells, embryonic regeneration in humans, organisms that do not age, the Weismann Barrier, the ways in which cellular immortality is repressed in human beings (somatic restriction), cellular reprogramming, and how AgeX is attempting to create stem cell populations for regenerative therapies.

Sep 12, 2019

The new target that enables ransomware hackers to paralyze dozens of towns and businesses at once

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, cybercrime/malcode

Cybercriminals are zeroing in on the managed service providers that handle computer systems for local governments and medical clinics.

On July 3, employees at Arbor Dental in Longview, Washington, noticed glitches in their computers and couldn’t view X-rays. Arbor was one of dozens of dental clinics in Oregon and Washington stymied by a ransomware attack that disrupted their business and blocked access to patients’ records.

But the hackers didn’t target the clinics directly. Instead, they infiltrated them by exploiting vulnerable cybersecurity at Portland-based PM Consultants Inc., which handled the dentists’ software updates, firewalls and data backups. Arbor’s frantic calls to PM went to voicemail, said Whitney Joy, the clinic’s office coordinator.

Sep 12, 2019

Synopsis: Diamond Qubits Take the Stage

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

A ten-qubit system based on spins in impure diamond achieves coherence times of over a minute.

In the global race to build a quantum computer, it’s still unclear what material will make the best qubit. Companies have bet on a variety of architectures based on trapped ions, neutral atoms, superconducting circuits, and more. Now, Tim Taminiau of Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and colleagues have demonstrated that they can manipulate magnetic spins inside diamond into the robust quantum states necessary for quantum computing. In their experiment, they entangle all possible pairs of a ten-qubit system and produce states in which seven different qubits are entangled simultaneously. They also show that individual qubits can retain quantum coherence for up to 75 s—a record for solid-state systems.

Sep 12, 2019

How the Many-Worlds theory of Hugh Everett split the Universe Essays

Posted by in categories: quantum physics, space

Splitting the Universe

Hugh Everett blew up quantum mechanics with his Many-Worlds theory in the 1950s. Physics is only just catching up.

Sean Carroll

Sep 12, 2019

India’s Moon Mission Was Anything But A Failure. Here’s Why

Posted by in category: space

The fact that ISRO managed to place it there is an enormously laudable feat, and act of technical wizardry so immediately rewarding that it almost doesn’t matter that Vikram toppled over and went silent. It is, of course, hugely disappointing that Vikram looks to be unrecoverable. The science it and its Pragyan rover could have carried out in one of the geologically strangest and increasingly strategic parts of the Moon would have been a thrill to see. But, you know, space is hard.


India’s lunar lander and rover may not be recoverable, but the mission managed to successfully deploy an eye in the Moon’s airless skies, one that will conduct up to seven years of groundbreaking interplanetary science.