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Nov 26, 2018
A NASA spacecraft is set to land on Mars today
Posted by Mary Jain in category: space travel
WATCH: The countdown begins as the Mars Insight Lander is set to touch down today. This will be NASA’s first attempt at landing on Mars since the Curiosity Rover in 2012.
Nov 26, 2018
What If Humanity Became an Interstellar Society?
Posted by Michael Lance in category: space travel
Nov 26, 2018
Quantum computing at scale: Scientists achieve compact, sensitive qubit readout
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics
Professor Michelle Simmons’ team at UNSW Sydney has demonstrated a compact sensor for accessing information stored in the electrons of individual atoms—a breakthrough that brings us one step closer to scalable quantum computing in silicon.
Nov 26, 2018
Many scientists denounce researcher claiming 1st gene-edited babies born in China
Posted by Sean Cusack in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, cyborgs, ethics, genetics, law
Not sure if this is real or still vaporware yet. But it IS inevitable. It’s not a matter of “if”, but “when”. And we’re most likely not going to be able to regulate it much, either. If an embryo or fetus is not a human, then parents have the right to do anything they want to it. You might think that this is going to result in eugenics, like erasing melanin genes and starting a race against the fictitious “white genocide”. You’re right. But if you think that’s as bad as it’ll get, think more creatively. What happens when poor parents get paid to implant “willing servility” genes into their unborn children, in order to pay bills. The future is now. Cyborgs will not destroy humanity, but humanity itself might. What kinds of rights can be written into law to prevent this kind of extortion, that won’t also grant fetal personhood and end up derailing abortion rights? It’s going to be a bumpy ride, folks, buckle up!
A Chinese researcher claims he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies — twin girls born this month, and with DNA he says he altered with a powerful new tool capable of rewriting the very blueprint of life.
If true, it would be a profound leap of science and ethics.
Nov 26, 2018
Breakthrough as molecules shown to ‘air-kiss’ when brain neurons attract each other
Posted by Xavier Rosseel in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
All brain cells ‘air-kiss’ before they come together to form a final synaptic relationship, new research by University of Kent scientists has revealed.
The breakthrough study reveals that molecular signaling within the brain operates in a very different way to previously thought, with cells now found to use the same pair of molecules for both distant and close contacts.
The research, by a team led by Professor Yuri Ushkaryov of the University’s Medway School of Pharmacy, may lead to a much better understanding of how neurons send messages to distant parts of the brain or other organs in the body, such as muscle cells.
Nov 26, 2018
Thymus Shrinkage Contributes to Atherosclerosis
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
Today, we want to highlight a study that shows the link between atherosclerosis and the age-related shrinking of the thymus, which is arguably the most important organ of the immune system [1].
The adaptive and innate immune systems and atherosclerosis
The thymus is essentially like an army base where new T cells develop and are trained to become the soldiers of the adaptive immune system. However, as we age, the thymus shrinks, its ability to train new T cells declines, and the immune cell-producing tissue turns to fat and slowly wastes away; this process is known as thymic involution.
Nov 26, 2018
Disruption is overrated in terms of innovation
Posted by Xavier Rosseel in categories: biotech/medical, employment
Innovation has real costs—monetary, psychological, intellectual and effort-based—that need to be addressed or mitigated if you want people to actually innovate.
There’s an archetype in media that destruction and upheaval brings out the best ideas and creates jobs. In literature and in society, upheaval, necessity and desperation are portrayed as the prime motivators of innovative behaviour. The problem is that outside of soap operas and medical dramas, people usually have something to lose.
Nov 26, 2018
From Fog of War to Flames of Peace–Wildfires Surge in Post-FARC Colombia
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: military
The end of guerrilla warfare has led to an increase in woodland conflagrations and deforestation.
- By Emiliano Rodríguez Mega on November 26, 2018
Nov 26, 2018
Environment turns molecule into a switch
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: particle physics
It looks like a cross with four arms of equal length that have a central atom at their intersection. All atoms are arranged in one plane so that the molecule is absolutely planar – at least in the normal state.