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According to the theory of General Relativity, mass curves spacetime. As a result, the overall mass of the universe determines its shape. Indeed, scientists have been known to calculate the “critical density” of the universe, which is proportional to the square of the Hubble constant, a variable used in estimating the size, age and expansion rate of the universe. If the actual density of the universe is less than the critical density, it is predicted that the universe will forever expand, as there isn’t enough matter to stop it. This creates a flat, and open, universe.

Yet if the density of the universe is more than the critical density, then that means it has enough mass to stop expanding, which is what the latest study using Planck data is suggesting.

A closed universe could end consequentially with a scenario known as the “Big Crunch” — the opposite of a Big Bang, in a sense, and a state in which the universe contracts until it is compressed again to a single energetic point.

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JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 4, 2019 — Researchers from the University of Witswatersrand (Wits) have reported on progress made in the use of structured light in quantum protocols to create a larger encoding alphabet. The researchers said that since patterns of light can be distinguished from each other, they can be used as a form of alphabet. “Light comes in a variety of patterns that can be made unique — like our faces,” professor Andrew Forbes said. “There are, in principle at least, an infinite set of patterns, so an infinite alphabet is available.”

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Boston University researchers have developed a new, “intelligent” metamaterial—which costs less than ten bucks to build—that could revolutionize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), making the entire MRI process faster, safer, and more accessible to patients around the world. The technology, which builds on previous metamaterial work by the team, was described in a new paper in Advanced Materials.

MRI is used by clinicians to diagnose by spotting abnormalities that could indicate anything from a torn meniscus to muscular dystrophy. But MRIs are expensive, expose patients to radiation, and they take a long time—often the greater part of an hour for a single scan. Finding enough MRI time for waiting patients can be a problem, even in US hospitals, but in hospitals in countries like India, waiting periods of a year or more can put patients’ lives at risk.

So how do we speed up the MRI process without jeopardizing the quality of imaging? Xin Zhang, a BU College of Engineering professor of mechanical engineering and a Photonics Center professor, and a team of researchers that includes Stephan Anderson, a Boston Medical Center radiologist and BU School of Medicine professor of radiology, and Xiaoguang Zhao, a MED assistant research professor of radiology, are getting creative with metamaterials to solve the problem.

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All children will be able to receive whole genome sequencing at birth, under ambitions laid out by the Health Secretary.

Matt Hancock said that in future, the tests would be routinely offered, alongside standard checks on newborns, in order to map out the risk of genetic diseases, and offer “predictive, personalised” care.

Ministers have already promised that such tests will be offered to all children diagnosed with cancer by the end of this year.

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Learning something new — and quickly — may depend on the lesson’s difficulty level, according to a new study.

Flipping the classroom, room temperature, and later school-day start times, are just a few of the countless interventions scientists have tested and some educators have implemented.

Now, scientists say they have cracked the code on the optimal level of difficulty to speed up learning. The team tested how the difficulty of training impacts the rate of learning in a broad class of learning algorithms, artificial neural networks, and computer models thought to simulate learning in humans and animals.

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A team of scientists from the universities of Alberta and Toronto have laid out the blueprints for a “quantum battery” that never loses its charge.

To be clear, this battery doesn’t exist yet — but if they figure out how to build it, it could be a revolutionary breakthrough in energy storage.

“The batteries that we are more familiar with — like the lithium-ion battery that powers your smartphone — rely on classical electrochemical principles, whereas quantum batteries rely solely on quantum mechanics,” University of Alberta chemist Gabriel Hanna said in a statement.

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Human aging has been reversed in a new medical breakthrough. John Iadarola, Brooke Thomas, and Greg Fahy break it down on The Damage Report. Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/

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“A small clinical trial, which was conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Greg Fahy, has shown for the first time in humans that reversing biological age may be possible.

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Scientists successfully extended the average lifespan of mice by breeding them using embryonic stem cells with extra-long telomeres. The findings are significant because the researchers managed to extend lifespan without genetic modification, and they also shed light on the aging process and techniques that might someday slow it.

The study — published October 17 in Nature Communications — focuses on telomeres, which are stretches of DNA found at the end of chromosomes.

Because telomeres protect the genetic material inside chromosomes, they’ve been likened to the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces. But telomeres have also been compared to bomb fuses, or “molecular clocks,” because they become shorter each time a cell divides, eventually shrinking so much that the cell dies or stops dividing. This shortening of our telomeres is associated with aging, cancer, and death.

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