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May 29, 2019

These Scientists Are 3D-Printing New Body Parts for Athletes

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, bioengineering, biotech/medical

A team of bioengineers has successfully 3D-printed tissues they believe doctors could one day implant into patients to help heal the knee, ankle, and elbow injuries that have ended the careers of countless athletes.

“I think this will be a powerful tool to help people with common sports injuries,” Rice University researcher Sean Bittner said in a press release — though the impact of the group’s work could extend far beyond the turf or pitch.

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May 29, 2019

Neutron star material is ten billion times stronger than steel

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Neutron stars are born after supernovas, an implosion that compresses an object the size of the sun to about the size of Montreal, making them “a hundred trillion times denser than anything on earth.” Their immense gravity makes their outer layers freeze solid, making them similar to earth with a thin crust enveloping a liquid core.

This will help provide better understand gravitational waves like those detected last year when two neutron stars collided. The new results even suggest that lone neutron stars might generate small gravitational waves.

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May 29, 2019

Healthy fat hidden in dirt may fend off anxiety disorders

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid, a fatty acid found in the soil based bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae, interacts with immune cells to inhibit pathways that drive inflammation and increases resilience to stress. Researchers say the findings could bring us one step closer to developing a microbe-based “stress vaccine”.

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May 29, 2019

Famous unsolved math problem sees new progress

Posted by in category: mathematics

Mathematicians say an old approach to the Riemann Hypothesis is worth revisiting. Whoever solves it gets at $1 million prize.

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May 29, 2019

Hydrogen-power electric flying vehicle: Long road to liftoff

Posted by in categories: drones, energy

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A transportation company is betting its sleek new hydrogen-powered electric flying vehicles will someday serve as taxis, cargo carriers and ambulances of the sky, but experts say they will have to clear a number of regulatory hurdles before being approved for takeoff years in the future.

With six rotors on the roof and seats inside for five people, a passenger model of the Skai (pronounced “sky”) unveiled Wednesday near Los Angeles resembles an oversized drone crossed with a luxury SUV.

Like a drone, the vehicle from Alaka’i Technologies takes off and lands vertically. It’s one of many similar electric flying crafts in production, including prototypes from Boeing and Airbus that made successful test flights this year, according to Vertical Flight Society, an industry group.

Continue reading “Hydrogen-power electric flying vehicle: Long road to liftoff” »

May 29, 2019

Ancient DNA Yields Clues to Past Biodiversity

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Surviving fragments of genetic material preserved in sediments allow metagenomics researchers to see the full diversity of past life — even microbes.

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May 29, 2019

How Iron Man’s Stark Arc Reactor Would Work in Real Life

Posted by in category: physics

Could Tony Stark’s arc reactor exist in real life? Probably not, but Gizmodo’s Ryan Carlyle made a valiant attempt to explain an almost realistic version of the science behind it. As a disclaimer, he warns, “Now, I’m mixing real science and fake science here. So physics nerds and comic-book nerds: Deal with it.”

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May 29, 2019

Scientists discover why a promising cancer drug failed in clinical trials – and how to fix it

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

As promising as some treatments are in lab tests, unfortunately they don’t always meet hopes when translated to the real world. Now, scientists at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have investigated a class of cancer drugs that failed in human trials, and found out why. Better yet, they went on to identify another drug that could finally make the treatment work.

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May 29, 2019

This Volkswagen Prototype Has a Holographic Interface

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, biotech/medical, holograms

O.o!


In what the German automaker is calling a “world premiere,” Volkswagen’s futuristic Golf GTI Aurora concept has a high-end sound system in its trunk that can be operated with a hologram.

You can leave your 3D glasses and augmented reality gloves at home: the hologram floats freely in the air and can be operated without any external aids. Though to be fair, VW is being very vague about the details of the technology behind the interface.

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May 29, 2019

The ‘Godfathers of AI’ win Turing Award

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Self-driving cars, voice assistants, and facial recognition technology are just a few of the advancements made possible by Hinton, LeCun, and Bengio’s work.

The award, named after British mathematician Alan Turing, carries a $1 million prize, which the trio will split. Previous Turing Award winners include Tim Berners-Lee, best known for inventing the World Wide Web.

Hinton is currently a top AI researcher at Google. LeCun is now at Facebook, working as the company’s chief AI scientist. Bengio has remained in academia but has worked with companies such as AT&T, Microsoft, and IBM.

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