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Feb 28, 2019

New Wearable Respiratory Sensor Will Monitor a Child’s Every Breath

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

Michelle Khine is a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Nine months ago, her newborn son was hospitalized for complications during childbirth and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). While in the NICU, her son was connected to several machines that were supplying oxygen and monitoring his breathing.


A biomedical engineering research team from the University of California has developed a new wearable respiratory sensor to monitor children with chronic pulmonary conditions. The design was built with inspiration from a favorite childhood toy, Shrinky Dinks.

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Feb 28, 2019

China’s Get-Rich Space Program

Posted by in categories: economics, space

Unlike other nations, China’s space ambitions are centered on wealth creation through a space-based economy.

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Feb 28, 2019

DeepSpace: Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin banter about the fine print of suborbital tourism

Posted by in category: satellites

Welcome to the sixth edition of our new newsletter, DeepSpace! Each Tuesday, I’ll be taking a deep-dive into the most exciting developments in commercial space, from satellites and rockets to everything in between. If you’d like to receive DeepSpace and all of our newsletters and membership benefits, you can become a member for as little as $3/month here. Just […].

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Feb 28, 2019

Cooling 2D ion crystal may pave way for large-scale quantum computer

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

System hides cold ions from cooling laser, allowing hot ions to be selectively cooled.

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Feb 28, 2019

Your genetic data can be exploited without you ever knowing about it

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Your genome literally identifies you, but researchers and genetic firms keep saying that DNA data is anonymous. It’s a privacy scandal waiting to happen.

By Chelsea Whyte

EVERY person in the world is issued with a unique code before they are even born. Governments, insurance firms and indeed pretty much anyone can use this code to catalogue us throughout our entire lives. This isn’t a sci-fi dystopia – it is just genetics.

Continue reading “Your genetic data can be exploited without you ever knowing about it” »

Feb 28, 2019

Doudna’s Confidence in CRISPR’s Research Potential Burns Bright

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Jennifer Doudna, one of CRISPR’s primary innovators, stays optimistic about how the gene-editing tool will continue to empower basic biological understanding.

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Feb 28, 2019

Professor JohnJoe McFadden Quantum Biology — IdeaXme — Ira Pastor

Posted by in categories: aging, biological, biotech/medical, chemistry, complex systems, cosmology, disruptive technology, DNA, evolution, health


Feb 28, 2019

Is Silicon Valley’s quest for immortality a fate worse than death?

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

Besides that, everyone living much, much longer would cause many other problems. Where do the children of these centenarians live?

Until workable life-preserving technology is available, immortality enthusiasts are also obsessed with staying healthy – some fast on certain days, others watch calories, most exercise – so they are around long enough to benefit from emerging anti-aging science.


In 2019, the quest for everlasting life is, largely, though not always, more scientific. Funded by Silicon Valley elites, researchers believe they are closer than ever to tweaking the human body so that we can finally live forever (or quite a bit longer), even as some worry about pseudoscience in the sector.

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Feb 27, 2019

Approaching Y2Q and barely a peep (or tweet) from the government

Posted by in categories: computing, government, quantum physics

The countdown to the arrival of quantum computing has already begun. Here’s how the government can get ready.

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Feb 27, 2019

Study finds specific mechanism that protects cells from natural DNA errors

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

What is less known is that a more problematic source of DNA damage is normal cellular processes such as DNA replication. These cannot be avoided because they are inevitably in action every time cells divide. The scale of this problem is best illustrated by realizing that our bodies are made up by successive divisions of trillions of cells, all originating from a single fertilized egg. Every day, a quarter of a trillion cells in the adult human body continue to divide to replenish old or damaged tissue. Amongst the multitude of DNA damage incurred during each such cell division process, the most dangerous are those that can be passed on from mother cells to newly born daughter cells. This inherited DNA damage is the true ‘enemy within’ that cannot be simply avoided by changing one’s lifestyle.


Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have identified a specific mechanism that protects our cells from natural DNA errors — an ‘enemy within’ — which could permanently damage our genetic code and lead to diseases such as cancer. The study has just been published in one of the most influential scientific journals, Nature Cell Biology.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered a mechanism that gives human cells a chance to stop piling up mutations cells replicate and divide in the body. The discovery could prove to be very useful in the development of new treatments against diseases caused by changes in human DNA such as cancer.

Continue reading “Study finds specific mechanism that protects cells from natural DNA errors” »