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Feb 3, 2019

Houston We Have a Podcast returns with the final part of the Apollo 8 series

Posted by in categories: futurism, space travel

Vanessa Wyche, deputy director of the Johnson Space Center, leads a panel discussion with key players of the Apollo program to learn critical lessons that can be applied to NASA’s future human spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars. https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/apollo-8-part-2

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Feb 3, 2019

Plastics are being glued together in the ocean by bacteria, scientists find

Posted by in categories: chemistry, food, particle physics

Researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh used water collected from the Faroe-Shetland Channel and the Firth of Forth to set up their experiments. Plastics were added to the seawater and then incubated in conditions simulating the ocean’s surface. Within minutes, the minuscule pieces of plastic grouped together with bacteria, algae and other organic particles. The scientists are said to have been surprised to discover large masses of biopolymers formed the bulk of these plastic agglomerates. Team member Stephen Summers said: “This is a first step towards understanding how nanoplastics interact with natural biopolymers throughout the world’s oceans. ”This is very important, as it is at this small scale that much of the world’s biogeochemistry occurs. ”We found that the biopolymers envelope or engulf the nanoplastic particles, which caused the plastics to agglomerate into clumps. ”The nanoplastics, which are 100–200 times smaller than a bacterial cell, were actually incorporated into the agglomerates, which became visible to the naked eye in our lab experiments. ”The fact that these agglomerates become large enough to see raises concern, as they are likely to be seen as a food source by small marine animals.” We found that the biopolymers envelope or engulf the nanoplastic particles, which caused the plastics to agglomerate into clumps.


Researchers said micro and nano plastic particles mix with the bacteria secretions within minutes, forming clumps.

Press Association

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Feb 3, 2019

Stem cell breakthrough could help cure type 1 diabetes

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

Scientists have edged closer to treating type 1 diabetes by turning human stem cells into insulin-generating mature cells.

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Feb 3, 2019

Mollusk with magnetic teeth could be the key to nanoscale energy sources

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, energy, genetics, nanotechnology

A team of scientists have made a new discovery about naturally occurring magnetic materials, which in turn could lead to the development of nanoscale energy sources used to power next generation electronic devices. Researchers from Japan’s Okayama University and UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering worked together to study the gumboot chiton, a type of mollusk that produces teeth made of the magnetic mineral magnetite, in hopes of better understanding its genetic process.

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Feb 3, 2019

Neural Networks Need a Cookbook. Here Are the Ingredients

Posted by in categories: mathematics, robotics/AI

Neural networks can be as unpredictable as they are powerful. Now mathematicians are beginning to reveal how a neural network’s form will influence its function.

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Feb 3, 2019

What is a DAO?

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, robotics/AI, transportation

Imagine this: a driverless car cruises around in search of passengers.

After dropping someone off, the car uses its profits for a trip to a charging station. Except for it’s initial programming, the car doesn’t need outside help to determine how to carry out its mission.

That’s one “thought experiment” brought to you by former bitcoin contributor Mike Hearn in which he describes how bitcoin could help power leaderless organizations 30-or-so years into the future.

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Feb 3, 2019

The US Army Is Equipping Soldiers With Pocket-Sized Recon Drones

Posted by in category: drones

The U.S. Army has placed a $39 million order for tiny reconnaissance drones, small enough to fit in a soldier’s pocket or palm.

The idea behind the drones, which are made by FLIR Systems and look like tiny menacing helicopters, is that soldiers will be able to send them into the sky of the battlefield in order to get a “lethal edge” during combat, according to Business Insider.

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Feb 3, 2019

Laser Scientists Just Tripled Their Fusion Power Yield

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

Fusion power — the process that keeps stars like the Sun burning — holds the promise of nearly unlimited clean power. But scientists have struggled for decades to make it a practical energy source.

Now, laser scientists say a machine learning breakthrough has smashed the standing record for a fusion power yield. It doesn’t mean fusion power is practical yet, but the prestigious journal Nature called the result “remarkable” and wrote that it has “major implications” — so, at the very least, it’s another hint that the long-deferred technology is starting to come into focus.

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Feb 3, 2019

Military Pilots Can Control Three Jets at Once via a Neural Implant

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, military, neuroscience

The next step: the same capability, sans surgery.

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Feb 3, 2019

Rogue Bitcoin-Funded Biohacker Wants to Gene-Hack Designer Babies

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, cybercrime/malcode

Is it ethical?

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