Menu

Blog

Page 8852

Jun 21, 2019

22 thoughts on “Sonoluminescence”

Posted by in category: futurism

Sonoluminescence is one of those strange phenomenon that many would never encounter outside an academic environment. For those who have never heard of it, Sonoluminescence is when tiny bubbles suspended in a liquid emit light while being vibrated at certain frequencies. We were pleased to see that some plans are out there on how to build your own device to produce it.

[via io9].

Jun 21, 2019

New e-tattoo enables accurate, uninterrupted heart monitoring for days

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, wearables

The future of medicine is not fixing what is broken, it’s preventing things from getting broken in the first place.


The leading cause of death in Texas is heart disease, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, accounting for more than 45,000 deaths statewide in 2017. A new wearable technology made from stretchy, lightweight material could make heart health monitoring easier and more accurate than existing electrocardiograph machines—a technology that has changed little in almost a century.

Developed by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin and led by Nanshu Lu in the Cockrell School of Engineering, this is the latest incarnation of Lu’s electronic tattoo technology, a graphene-based that can be placed on the skin to measure a variety of body responses, from electrical to biomechanical signals.

Continue reading “New e-tattoo enables accurate, uninterrupted heart monitoring for days” »

Jun 21, 2019

A new drug target for chemically induced Parkinson’s disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, neuroscience

More than three decades ago, scientists discovered that a chemical found in a synthetic opioid, MPTP, induced the onset of a form of Parkinson’s disease. In a new study led by scientists from the School of Veterinary Medicine, researchers found that an enzyme in the body can metabolize compounds formed in the brain from alkaloids present in certain foods and tobacco into MPTP-like chemicals, triggering a neurodegenerative condition in mice.

The researchers, led by Narayan Avadhani and Mrittika Chattopadhyay, suggest that the enzyme, mitochondrial CYP2D6, presents a potentially powerful new target for Parkinson’s treatment.

“Over the past two or three decades, researchers have tried inhibiting the process by which they believed MPTP was metabolized, with mixed success,” says Avadhani. “We believe that mitochondrial CYP2D6 is the more direct drug target, which might prove better in treating idiopathic Parkinson’s disease.”

Jun 21, 2019

Universal memory achieved: Scientists patent energy saving ‘holy grail’ of computing

Posted by in category: computing

Scientists at Lancaster University have announced that they have invented an electronic memory device that realises the dream of universal memory – a previously hypothetical technology long considered to be revolutionary for the industry.

Universal memory is a computer data storage technology that until now has been purely conceptual, combining the speed and low cost of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and the stability of flash memory. This also would result in significantly lower power consumption.

It had been considered impossible by some in the field, but scientists at Lancaster University say that the electronic memory device they have invented and patented is the realisation of the universal memory dream.

Jun 21, 2019

When Gravity Breaks Down

Posted by in category: quantum physics

Gravity has no quantum properties and it drives physicists crazy.

Jun 21, 2019

Embryonic microRNA fuels heart cell regeneration, researchers show

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

By adulthood, the heart is no longer able to replenish injured or diseased cells. As a result, heart disease or an event like a heart attack can be disastrous, leading to massive cell death and permanent declines in function. A new study by scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), however, shows that it may be possible to reverse this damage and restore heart function, even after a severe heart attack.

The study, published June 21 in the print edition of the journal Circulation Research, is the first to show that a very small RNA molecule known as miR-294, when introduced into , can reactivate cell proliferation and improve heart function in mice that have suffered the equivalent of a in humans.

“In previous work, we discovered that miR-294 actively regulates the in the developing heart,” said Mohsin Khan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physiology at the Center for Metabolic Disease Research at LKSOM. “But shortly after birth miR-294 is no longer expressed.”

Jun 21, 2019

An Anti-Aging Pill? Think Twice

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

The diabetes drug metformin, sometimes taken to slow aging, may blunt the health benefits of exercise.

Jun 21, 2019

Architecturing The Global Brain with a New Digital Currency: Facebook Unveils Its Libra Cryptocoin

Posted by in categories: cryptocurrencies, neuroscience

Crypto news: Facebook” s Libra, a new cryptocurrency is announced as a peer-to-peer payment within messenger apps. Cross-border transactions near zero fees is a major step towards the Global Brain.

Jun 21, 2019

Technology is a Magnifying Mirror, Not a Crystal Ball

Posted by in categories: futurism, robotics/AI

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the smartest species of them all?”

“You, oh Homo Sapiens, are smart, it is true. But AI will be smarter even than you.”

***

Continue reading “Technology is a Magnifying Mirror, Not a Crystal Ball” »

Jun 21, 2019

Scientists map huge undersea fresh-water aquifer off US Northeast

Posted by in category: innovation

In a new survey of the sub-seafloor off the U.S. Northeast coast, scientists have made a surprising discovery: a gigantic aquifer of relatively fresh water trapped in porous sediments lying below the salty ocean. It appears to be the largest such formation yet found in the world. The aquifer stretches from the shore at least from Massachusetts to New Jersey, extending more or less continuously out about 50 miles to the edge of the continental shelf. If found on the surface, it would create a lake covering some 15,000 square miles. The study suggests that such aquifers probably lie off many other coasts worldwide, and could provide desperately needed water for arid areas that are now in danger of running out.

The researchers employed innovative measurements of electromagnetic waves to map the , which remained invisible to other technologies. “We knew there was fresh water down there in isolated places, but we did not know the extent or geometry,” said lead author Chloe Gustafson, a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “It could turn out to be an important resource in other parts of the world.” The study appears this week in the journal Scientific Reports.

The first hints of the aquifer came in the 1970s, when companies drilled off the coastline for oil, but sometimes instead hit fresh water. Drill holes are just pinpricks in the seafloor, and scientists debated whether the water deposits were just isolated pockets or something bigger. Starting about 20 years ago, study coauthor Kerry Key, now a Lamont-Doherty geophysicist, helped oil companies develop techniques to use electromagnetic imaging of the sub-seafloor to look for oil. More recently, Key decided to see if some form of the technology could also be used also to find fresh-water deposits. In 2015, he and Rob L. Evans of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution spent 10 days on the Lamont-Doherty research vessel Marcus G. Langseth making measurements off southern New Jersey and the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard, where scattered drill holes had hit fresh-water-rich sediments.