Menu

Blog

Page 8859

Apr 29, 2019

Are Algae Products The Next Big Thing in Sustainability?

Posted by in category: sustainability

At this year’s London Marathon, runners tested out algae pods filled with water instead of paper cups. Algae is the newest sustainable trend.

Read more

Apr 29, 2019

‘It’s the next rising platform’: 2 promising technologies backed by billion-dollar drugmakers could transform the human body into a disease-destroying machine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

MeiraGTx’s founders were interested in those uses; the biotech’s programs today are in diseases of the eye, salivary gland and brain.

But “we wanted to have a broader perspective on how you could potentially use gene therapy” too, CEO Alexandria Forbes says.

That vision is a high-tech, futuristic one, in which the human body can essentially become a medicine-making factory, enabled by gene therapy. But it’ll require more research, and is still years from fruition.

Continue reading “‘It’s the next rising platform’: 2 promising technologies backed by billion-dollar drugmakers could transform the human body into a disease-destroying machine” »

Apr 29, 2019

Starlink: SpaceX Internet Satellite Constellation Just Got the Green Light

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

Starlink could offer internet to anyone on the planet.


Starlink could transmit internet down to the ground.

Read more

Apr 29, 2019

DARPA: This Smart Contact Lens Could Give Soldiers Superpowers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, military

“Smart” contact lenses sound like something from a sci fi movie — but they’re real, and they could help troops in the field.


French engineering school IMT Atlantique revealed what it calls “the first stand-alone contact lens with a flexible micro battery” earlier this month.

And, notably, it caught the attention of the U.S. military’s attention: the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is reportedly interested in the contact lens to augment troops’ visual capabilities in the field, according to Task and Purpose — meaning the gadget could represent the augmented contact lens that DARPA has spent a decade searching for.

Continue reading “DARPA: This Smart Contact Lens Could Give Soldiers Superpowers” »

Apr 29, 2019

SpaceX-Like Startups Think They Can Solve Fusion For Cheap

Posted by in category: space travel

But even with existing research, achieving sustained fusion inside a reactor is still many years out.

Read more

Apr 29, 2019

Researchers find ice feature on Saturn’s giant moon

Posted by in categories: materials, space

Rain, seas and a surface of eroding organic material can be found both on Earth and on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. However, on Titan it is methane, not water, that fills the lakes with slushy raindrops.

Read more

Apr 29, 2019

Chinese scientists insert human brain gene into monkeys

Posted by in category: neuroscience

The experiments could create a new kind of monkey — and a big ethical dilemma.

Apr 25

Read more

Apr 29, 2019

CRISPR Co-Inventor: We’ll Be Eating Gene-Edited Food In Five Years

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

CRISPR’d crops could help us address both hunger and obesity.

Read more

Apr 29, 2019

Dino: Autonomous Weeding Robot Covers 12 Acres in 9 Hours

Posted by in categories: food, robotics/AI, sustainability

Here is a vegetable weeding robot designed to increase efficiency on large-scale vegetable farms. It works autonomously and can cover up to 12 acres in 9 hours. It uses GPS and camera to get the job done with accuracy.

Dino is designed to reduce labor costs and free up time for farming teams to focus on more important tasks. It can be put on a schedule and since it’s electric, only minimal maintenance is required.

Continue reading “Dino: Autonomous Weeding Robot Covers 12 Acres in 9 Hours” »

Apr 29, 2019

Physicists set a new record of quantum memory efficiency

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Like memory in conventional computers, quantum memory components are essential for quantum computers—a new generation of data processors that exploit quantum mechanics and can overcome the limitations of classical computers. With their potent computational power, quantum computers may push the boundaries of fundamental science to create new drugs, explain cosmological mysteries, or enhance accuracy of forecasts and optimization plans. Quantum computers are expected to be much faster and more powerful than their traditional counterparts as information is calculated in qubits, which, unlike the bits used in classical computers, can represent both zero and one in a simultaneous superstate.

Photonic quantum allows for the storage and retrieval of flying single-photon quantum states. However, production of such highly efficient quantum memory remains a major challenge as it requires a perfectly matched photon-matter quantum interface. Meanwhile, the energy of a single photon is too weak and can be easily lost into the noisy sea of stray light background. For a long time, these problems suppressed quantum memory efficiencies to below 50 percent—a threshold value crucial for practical applications.

Now, for the first time, a joint research team led by Prof. Du Shengwang from HKUST, Prof. Zhang Shanchao from SCNU, Prof. Yan Hui from SCNU and Prof. Zhu Shi-Liang from SCNU and Nanjing University has found a way to boost the efficiency of photonic quantum memory to over 85 percent with a fidelity of over 99 percent.

Continue reading “Physicists set a new record of quantum memory efficiency” »