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Mar 8, 2019

Cancer-targeting compound could be a breakthrough in treating brain tumors

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A new compound discovered by scientists at Scripps Research may prove to be a powerful weapon in the fight against one of the most aggressive and deadly types of cancer. Just like the cancer it fights, the compound is incredibly strong, selectively targeting the cells that allow glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) to rapidly take over the brain.

The research, which was published in a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains how the stem-like cancer cells of GBM promote growth of the tumor while also aiding it in recurrence even after a patient has had surgery. Stopping these cells from doing their deadly deed is crucial to successful treatment, and the new compound — which the scientists have nicknamed RIPGBM — does just that.

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Mar 8, 2019

These injectable nanobots can walk around inside a human body

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, nanotechnology, robotics/AI

Researchers have developed nanobots that can be injected using an ordinary hypodermic syringe, according to a new release. The nanobots are microscopic functioning robots with the ability to walk and withstand harsh environments. Each robot has a 70-micron length, which is about the width of a thin human hair, and a million can be produced from a single 4-inch silicon composite wafer.

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Mar 8, 2019

How Gene Therapy Can Reverse a Form of Congenital Blindness

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

If we had known in advance of the challenges that were to come, we might never have started the research.

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Mar 8, 2019

SpaceX Crew Dragon Splashes Down after Historic Test Flight

Posted by in category: space travel

Splashdown occurred at 8:45 am Eastern time about 230 miles off the Florida coast.

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Mar 8, 2019

Capturing bacteria that eat and breathe electricity

Posted by in category: bioengineering

Unlike thousands of tourists who trek to admire the park’s iconic geysers and hot springs every year, the WSU graduate student was traveling with a team of scientists to hunt for life within them.

After a strenuous seven mile walk through scenic, isolated paths in the Heart Lake Geyser Basin area, the team found four pristine pools of hot water. They carefully left a few electrodes inserted into the edge of the water, hoping to coax little-known creatures out of hiding — bacteria that can eat and breathe electricity.

After 32 days, the team returned to the hot springs to collect the submerged electrodes. Working under the supervision of Haluk Beyenal, Paul Hohenschuh Distinguished Professor in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Mohamed and postdoctoral researcher Phuc Ha analyzed the electrodes.

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Mar 8, 2019

I Quit My Job to Protest My Company’s Work on Building Killer Robots

Posted by in categories: ethics, robotics/AI

When I joined the artificial intelligence company Clarifai in early 2017, you could practically taste the promise in the air. My colleagues were brilliant, dedicated, and committed to making the world a better place.

We founded Clarifai 4 Good where we helped students and charities, and we donated our software to researchers around the world whose projects had a socially beneficial goal. We were determined to be the one AI company that took our social responsibility seriously.

I never could have predicted that two years later, I would have to quit this job on moral grounds. And I certainly never thought it would happen over building weapons that escalate and shift the paradigm of war.

Continue reading “I Quit My Job to Protest My Company’s Work on Building Killer Robots” »

Mar 8, 2019

US engineers create injectable walking robot bugs

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Researchers at Cornell University in the US have created wirelessly powered walking robot bugs that are tiny enough to be injected through an ordinary hypodermic needle.

The microscopic robots, which are each just 70 microns long, were produced using a multistep nanofabrication technique that turns a 4-inch specialised silicon wafer into a million microscopic robots in just weeks.

“The really high-level explanation of how we make them is we’re taking technology developed by the semiconductor industry and using it to make tiny robots,” explained Marc Miskin, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who developed the techniques whilst a post-doc at Cornell University with his colleagues professors Itai Cohen and Paul McEuen and researcher Alejandro Cortese.

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Mar 8, 2019

Why You Should Attend Undoing Aging 2019

Posted by in category: life extension

A look at the upcoming Undoing Aging Conference on March 28-30th, Berlin, Germany and some musings on why you should consider going.


As Undoing Aging 2019 in Berlin approaches, I have been reflecting on the previous year and the things that I am most looking forward to this year. So, today, as a journalist and longevity advocate, I am going to be sharing some of my personal musings and thoughts about this important event with you.

First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with the event, a little explanation is in order. Undoing Aging is an industry conference on March 28–30, Berlin, Germany that is organized by the SENS Research Foundation and the Forever Healthy Foundation.

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Mar 8, 2019

Presents its list of the top 30 Longevity Influencers in Singapore

Posted by in categories: life extension, policy

Presents its list of the top 30 Longevity Influencers in Singapore, whose efforts in science, technology, industry and policy are driving the growth of the Singaporean Longevity Landscape.

Link to the Report: https://www.aginganalytics.com/longevity-in-singapore

Dr Finian Tan Brian Kennedy #DannySoon #GaryKhoo #BussarawanTeerawichitchainan #ChongHockSia #JaniceChia #JeffreyLu #CarlFirth #KanwaljitSoin #ChristianiJeyakumarHenry #ColinStewart #HweePinkTan Kenneth Noonan MD #LimChweeTeck #LokSheeMei #MelisTay #NeoKahYean #NgHuckHui #PaoloRampichini #PaulSi #PennyWan #JudithSwain #VishalDoshi #WallaceToores #WilfBlackburn #YuCai #LimXinhong WanJin Hong Birgit Lane.

Continue reading “Presents its list of the top 30 Longevity Influencers in Singapore” »

Mar 8, 2019

Policies designed for drugs won’t work for AI

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, robotics/AI

It won’t be simple. As with the advent of the car, many serious implications will be emergent, and the harshest effects borne by communities with the least powerful voices. We need to move our gaze from individuals to systems to communities, and back again. We must bring together diverse expertise, including workers and citizens, to develop a framework that health systems can use to anticipate and address issues. This framework needs an explicit mandate to consider and anticipate the social consequences of AI — and to keep watch over its effects. That is the best way to ensure that health technologies meet the needs of all, and not just those in Silicon Valley.


Health authorities are overlooking risks to systems and society in their evaluations of new digital technologies, says Melanie Smallman.

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