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Sep 24, 2024

HLA genes in Type 2 diabetes: Protection and risk

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Robert C Williams performed genetic analysis to understand how the HLA and SLC16A11 genes affect Type 2 diabetes in Indigenous Americans.

Sep 24, 2024

Samsung is creating the world’s first Petabyte SSD

Posted by in categories: computing, transportation

While most of us are still struggling to find SSDs with greater capacities than 4TB, Samsung is working on creating the world’s first petabyte SSD. At least, that’s their plan. Last year, reports suggested that the company was about a decade away. Now, they seem much closer.

As the world’s largest manufacturer of 3D NAND storage, they’re certainly one of the most likely to do it. Samsung has revealed more information about its planes, and how it’s working to get to that 1,000-layer NAND required for such high capacities.

Samsung has long been a leader in large capacity solid state drives. And while they’re not readily available to the average consumer due to their (still) prohibitively expensive prices, Samsung announced a 16TB SSD way back in 2015.

Sep 24, 2024

George Church lab spawns $75m cell therapy startup

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

GC Therapeutics’ plug-and-play stem cell programming platform aims to reduce cell therapy development time by up to 100 times.

Cell therapies have revolutionized the treatment of certain disease areas; however, challenges in scaling these therapies…


Cell therapy startup GC Therapeutics (GCTx) has emerged from the lab of renowned geneticist George Church, securing a $65 million Series A funding round that brings the total raised by the company to a cool $75 million. The company is on a mission to enable the next generation of cell therapies through its proprietary TFome platform, which GCTx claims is the first plug-and-play induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) cellular programming platform.

Continue reading “George Church lab spawns $75m cell therapy startup” »

Sep 24, 2024

Tugboat powered by ammonia sails for the first time, showing how to cut emissions from shipping

Posted by in category: energy

KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — On a tributary of the Hudson River, a tugboat powered by ammonia eased away from the shipyard dock and sailed for the first time to show how the maritime industry can slash planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions.

The tugboat used to run on diesel fuel. The New York-based startup company Amogy bought the 67-year-old ship to switch it to cleanly-made ammonia, a new, carbon-free fuel.

The tugboat’s first sail on Sunday night is a milestone in a race to develop zero-emissions propulsion using renewable fuel. Emissions from shipping have increased over the last decade — to about 3% of the global total according to the United Nations — as vessels have gotten much bigger, delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fuel oil.

Sep 24, 2024

What would happen if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth?

Posted by in categories: computing, space

A neutron star is the remnant of a massive star (bigger than 10 Suns) that has run out of fuel, collapsed, exploded, and collapsed some more. Its protons and electrons have fused together to create neutrons under the pressure of the collapse. The only thing keeping the neutrons from collapsing further is “neutron degeneracy pressure,” which prevents two neutrons from being in the same place at the same time.

Additionally, the star loses a lot of mass in the process and winds up only about 1.5 times the Sun’s mass. But all that matter has been compressed to an object about 10 miles (16 kilometers) across. A normal star of that mass would be more than 1 million miles (1.6 million km) across.

A tablespoon of the Sun, depending on where you scoop, would weigh about 5 pounds (2 kilograms) — the weight of an old laptop. A tablespoon of neutron star weighs more than 1 billion tons (900 billion kg) — the weight of Mount Everest. So while you could lift a spoonful of Sun, you can’t lift a spoonful of neutron star.

Sep 23, 2024

Study shows cholesterol enhances exosome-mediated RNA drug delivery

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

RNA interference (RNAi) technology has gradually become a cutting-edge technology for treating diseases such as genetic disorders and cancer due to its huge potential in gene expression regulation. However, the efficient delivery and safety of short interfering RNA (siRNA) remain key challenges for its clinical application.

Sep 23, 2024

Artificial General Intelligence: A Definitive Exploration Of AI’s Next Frontier — Analysis

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is a field within artificial intelligence (AI) where researchers are working to develop a computer system that can surpass human intelligence in various tasks.

These systems might understand themselves and control their actions, including changing their own code. They could learn to solve problems on their own, just like humans, without needing to be taught.

The term “Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)” was first used in a 2007 book, which is a collection of essays edited by computer scientist Ben Goertzel and AI researcher Cassio Pennachin.

Sep 23, 2024

The complex affective and cognitive capacities of rats

Posted by in category: neuroscience

For several decades, although studies of rat physiology and behavior have abounded, research on rat emotions has been limited in scope to fear, anxiety, and pain. Converging evidence for the capacity of many species to share others’ affective states has emerged, sparking interest in the empathic capacities of rats. Recent research has demonstrated that rats are a highly cooperative species and are motivated by others’ distress to prosocial actions, such as opening a door or pulling a chain to release trapped conspecifics. Studies of rat affect, cognition, and neural function provide compelling evidence that rats have some capacity to represent others’ needs, to instrumentally act to improve their well-being, and are thus capable of forms of targeted helping. Rats’ complex abilities raise the importance of integrating new measures of rat well-being into scientific research.

Sep 23, 2024

Are Black Holes Actually Wormholes in Disguise?

Posted by in category: cosmology

Explore the theory that some black holes might be hidden wormholes, offering shortcuts through space-time. Discover how scientists aim to detect them.

Sep 23, 2024

Ephos raises $8.5M to transform quantum computing and AI with its glass-based quantum photonic chips

Posted by in categories: quantum physics, robotics/AI

A Milan-based deep tech startup, Ephos, raised $8.5M in a seed round led by Starlight Ventures to accelerate the development of its glass-based quantum photonic chips. The company aims to transform not just quantum computing and AI but also the broader computational infrastructure of the future.

Other participants included Collaborative Fund, Exor Ventures, 2100 Ventures, and Unruly Capital. The round also attracted angel investors such as Joe Zadeh, former Vice President at Airbnb; Diego Piacentini, former Senior Vice President at Amazon; and Simone Severini, General Manager of Quantum Technologies at Amazon Web Services.

In addition to private investment, Ephos received funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) and €450,000 in non-dilutive financing from NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator (DIANA).

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