discuss Science & Technology news & discussion

[CraigD]

Post and discuss interesting articles & videos about science and technology.

You don't need to be an expert - just interested in the wonders of modern science, technology, and the history of these fields.

Please keep it rational, and post articles from reputable sources.
Try not to editorialise headlines and keep the copy to just a paragraph with a link to the original source. When quoting excerpts from articles, I think the best method is to italicise the copy, and include a link to the source.

Have some fun with your comments and discussions... just keep the sources legitimate.

Other threads:
The Break Room has a number of other popular threads, so there is no need to post material here that is better suited to these other threads:

- Covid19-Coronavirus updates and news
- Conspiracy Thread Free For All
- The *religious* discussion thread

Please enjoy!

 

[koolishman]

California Has Legalized Human Composting​

California has joined a growing number of states that allow residents to compost their bodies after death. A new law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, directs California officials to develop regulations for the practice known as natural organic reduction by 2027.

Washington became the first state in the nation to legalize human composting in 2019, followed by Colorado and Oregon in 2021. Vermont legalized the practice in June 2022.

 

[koolishman]

India develops its first cervical cancer vaccine​

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine maker, has developed the country's first cervical cancer shot that will hit the market soon, the company and the government said on Thursday.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. About 90% of the new cases and deaths worldwide occurred in low- and middle-income countries that year.

He told reporters the vaccine would be out for sale in a few months, first for the Indian market and then the world. It may be priced between 200 rupees and 400 rupees ($2.51-$5.03) and the company will aim to produce about 200 million doses in two years, Reuters partner ANI cited Poonawalla as saying.

 

[koolishman]

Amazon tests pinch-grasping robot for e-commerce fulfillment​

Amazon’s robotics team is developing a more flexible gripper that can reliably pick up items suction grippers struggle to pick.

 

[koolishman]

‘It was wonderful’: Eviation’s Alice electric airplane wins praise after its first flight test​

After years of on-the-ground development, Eviation’s all-electric Alice airplane quietly took to the air here this morning for its first test flight.


Test pilot Steve Crane guided the nine-passenger aircraft, powered by two 640-kilowatt electric motors, through its takeoff from Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, a facility in Eastern Washington’s high desert that’s often used for testing innovations in aviation.

Alice flew for eight minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 3,500 feet before landing safely back at the airport.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists propose that obesity is a neurodevelopmental disorder ​

​

The team reports in the journal Science Advances that molecular mechanisms of brain development during early life are likely a major determinant of obesity risk. Previous large studies in humans have hinted that genes that are most strongly associated with obesity are expressed in the developing brain. This current study in mice focused on epigenetic development. Epigenetics is a system of molecular bookmarking that determines which genes will, or will not, be used in different cell types.

 

[koolishman]

Technology: University of New Mexico researchers find Bitcoin mining is environmentally unsustainable

The authors suggest that rather than being considered akin to ‘digital gold’, Bitcoin should instead be compared to much more energy-intensive products such as beef, natural gas, and crude oil.

“We find no evidence that Bitcoin mining is becoming more sustainable over time,” said UNM Economics Associate Professor Benjamin A. Jones. “Rather, our results suggest the opposite: Bitcoin mining is becoming dirtier and more damaging to the climate over time. In short, Bitcoin’s environmental footprint is moving in the wrong direction.”

 

[koolishman]

The CIA Just Invested in Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Technology​

Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals — not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: “Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart nature’s ancestral heartbeat.”

In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing.

 

[koolishman]

New York to Ban New Gas-Powered Vehicles, Following California's Lead​

New York is following in California’s tire treads, making drastic moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Empire State will entirely ban the purchase of new petroleum-powered cars by 2035.

“With sustained state and federal investments, our actions are incentivizing New Yorkers, local governments, and businesses to make the transition to electric vehicles. We’re driving New York’s transition to clean transportation forward, and today’s announcement will benefit our climate and the health of our communities for generations to come,” said Governor Kathy Hochul in a statement outlining the new policy directive.

 

[koolishman]

LSD-Like Molecules Counter Depression Without the Trip​

Scientists have designed compounds that hit the same key receptor that LSD activates without causing hallucinations. A single dose produced powerful antidepressant and antianxiety effects in mice that lasted up to two weeks.

The study, appearing Sept. 28, 2022, in Nature, may offer a way to develop new kinds of antidepressants that are more effective and have fewer side effects than current medications, which don’t work for many patients and must be taken every day. It represents the culmination of half a dozen years of work by a team that began at UC San Francisco, UNC-Chapel Hill and Yale, and later expanded to Duke and Stanford universities.

 

[koolishman]

Lunar glass samples reveal Moon meteorite impacts that mirrored those happening on Earth millions of years ago​

Researchers have found the timing and frequency of meteorite impacts on the Moon millions of years ago coincides with some of the largest meteorite impacts on Earth – like the one that was responsible for hastening the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Their findings suggest that the frequency of meteorite impacts on the Moon may have been mirrored on Earth, and that major impact events on Earth were not stand-alone events and instead were accompanies by a series of smaller impacts.

 

[koolishman]

Sensor breakthrough brings us closer to blood glucose monitoring on wearables ​

Blood glucose monitoring is touted to be the next big breakthrough for wearable devices like the Apple Watch. However, the hardware is yet to be seen on a commercially available, mass-market device. That might change soon.

A team from Georgia’s Kennesaw State University claims to have developed a noninvasive system of blood glucose level measurement, thanks to a device called GlucoCheck. It follows the same fundamental approach as the oxygen-level analysis sensor on smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 8 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.

 

[koolishman]

Nobel prize in medicine awarded for research on evolution​

This year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for his discoveries on human evolution.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Committee, announced the winner Monday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Paabo has spearheaded research comparing the genome of modern humans and our closest extinct relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, showing that there was mixing between the species.

 

[J Sokol]

LA restricts water flow to wasteful celebrity mansions: ‘No matter how rich, we’ll treat you the same’​

Los Angeles is living through a historic drought, but that hasn’t stopped some of its most famous residents from keeping theirmega mansion lawns and ornate gardens well watered. In response, local authorities have turned to a surprisingly simple trick for keeping the wealthiest in check.

That solution is a tiny metal disc known as a “flow restrictor”. The restrictor can be installed in minutes over the pipes of chronic wasters, dramatically slowing down a home’s water flow.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...les-celebrity-homes-water-restriction-drought

 

[koolishman]

These Drums Beat in Perfect Synchrony Because They're Quantumly Entangled

Researchers can also use these drums to connect different quantum computers, said Lau. The drums could act as an intermediate node between two different quantum computers based on superconducting qubits, for example. A superconducting quantum computer, which encodes information in microwaves, could send that information to store in the vibrations of an array of drums. Those drums could then convert the information back into microwaves to send to another quantum computer over a long distance. This type of connection would form the basis of the “quantum internet,” a goal of physicists to create a network of quantum computers.

Kotler’s demonstration advances the tiny drums as a quantum computing technology, because his setup can produce entanglement on command. “You push a button, and it happens,” said Kotler. While other teams have entangled two drums in the past, they could not do it with the same consistency as Kotler.

https://gizmodo.com/these-drums-beat-in-perfect-synchrony-because-theyre-qu-1846868881

Physics Nobel rewards 'spooky science' of entanglement​

This year's Nobel Prize in Physics rewards research into quantum mechanics - the science that describes nature at the smallest scales.

The award goes to Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger.

Their work should pave the way to a new generation of powerful computers and telecommunications systems that are impossible to break into.

 

[koolishman]

Finally, the Real Answer Why Your Best Ideas Come While Showering​

The secret appears to be that the task at hand isn’t truly mindless. A moderate level of engagement is required.

Written with University of Minnesota psychology professor Caitlin Mills and others, the “shower effect” paper was published Friday in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

“Say you’re stuck on a problem,” Irving said. “What do you do? Probably not something mind-numbingly boring like watching paint dry. Instead, you do something to occupy yourself, like going for a walk, gardening, or taking a shower. All these activities are moderately engaging.”

The study affirms this anecdotal evidence, elevating Irving’s experimental model for the effect.

 

[koolishman]

Scientists Have Discovered a New Set of Blood Groups​

The ‘Er’ grouping could help doctors identify and treat some rare cases of blood incompatibility, including between pregnant mothers and fetuses.​

You’re probably familiar with the four main blood types—A, B, O, and AB. But this isn’t the only blood classification system. There are many ways of grouping red blood cells based on differences in the sugars or proteins that coat their surface, known as antigens. The grouping systems run concurrently, so your blood can be classified in each—it might, for instance, be type O in the ABO system, positive (rather than negative) under the Rhesus system, and so on.

Thanks to differences in antigens, if someone receives incompatible blood from a donor, for example, the recipient’s immune system may detect those antigens as foreign and react against them. This can be highly dangerous, and is why donated blood needs to be a suitable match if someone is having a transfusion.

On average, one new blood classification system has been described by researchers each year during the past decade. These newer systems tend to involve blood types that are mind-bogglingly rare but, for those touched by them, just knowing that they have such blood could be lifesaving. This is the story of how scientists unraveled the mystery of the latest blood system—and why it matters.

 

[CraigD]

The CIA Just Invested in Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Technology​

Show attachment 224110



Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals — not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: “Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart nature’s ancestral heartbeat.”

In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing.

Thx for the great article, but I seriously think this is a very bad idea.

The products of this research will be hybrids... not descendants of the original 'parents'.

 

[koolishman]

Exclusive: Boston Dynamics pledges not to weaponize its robots​

Several robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics, are pledging not to support the weaponization of their products and are calling for others in the industry to do the same, according to a letter shared first with Axios.

Why it matters: Robots, like drones before them, have a wide range of peaceful and even life-saving uses, but can be turned into war-fighting machines, too.


Meanwhile in Russia,

 

[CraigD]

Exclusive: Boston Dynamics pledges not to weaponize its robots​

Several robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics, are pledging not to support the weaponization of their products and are calling for others in the industry to do the same, according to a letter shared first with Axios.

Show attachment 224526

Why it matters: Robots, like drones before them, have a wide range of peaceful and even life-saving uses, but can be turned into war-fighting machines, too.


Meanwhile in Russia,

Perhaps they need a clause stating that any weaponisation will result in breach of license and legal suit... without that their statements are moot.

 

[J Sokol]

Here’s a plan for green King Charles: sell the family silver and use the cash to save the planet​

So King Charles won’t be going to Cop27, by order of Liz Truss; an inauspicious start for a monarch with pretensions to remain an influencer and be known as the first “green” king.

But he should take heart: Truss may not be long for No10, and Charles may look at recent events and conclude that no-one listens to her anyway. If so, there are plenty of opportunities now for him to turn the archaic House of Windsor into an institution fit for an age of climate breakdown, poverty and deep inequalities.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-charles-green-environmental-reforms-monarchy

 

[koolishman]

Thx for the great article, but I seriously think this is a very bad idea.

The products of this research will be hybrids... not descendants of the original 'parents'.

Just like in Jurassic Park.


I believe CIA in interested in this technology to study future weaponization.

 

[koolishman]

White House Releases Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights​

On behalf of President Joe Biden, the White House has released five principles that it believes should guide the design, use, and deployment of automated systems to protect the American public in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/

“Automated systems have brought about extraordinary benefits, from technology that helps farmers grow food more efficiently and computers that predict storm paths, to algorithms that can identify diseases in patients. These tools now drive important decisions across sectors, while data is helping to revolutionize global industries,” the Office of Science and Technology Policy writes.

 

[koolishman]

China Pairs Armed Robot Dogs With Drones That Can Drop Them Anywhere​

“War dogs descending from the sky, air assault, Red Wing Forward heavy-duty drones deliver combat robot dogs, which can be directly inserted into the weak link behind the enemy to launch a surprise attack or can be placed on the roof of the enemy to occupy the commanding heights to suppress firepower. And ground troops [can] conduct a three-dimensional pincer attack on the enemy in the building.”

 

[CraigD]

The Universe Is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winners Proved It

Elegant experiments with entangled light have laid bare a profound mystery at the heart of reality

One of the more unsettling discoveries in the past half century is that the universe is not locally real. “Real,” meaning that objects have definite properties independent of observation—an apple can be red even when no one is looking; “local” means objects can only be influenced by their surroundings, and that any influence cannot travel faster than light. Investigations at the frontiers of quantum physics have found that these things cannot both be true. Instead, the evidence shows objects are not influenced solely by their surroundings and they may also lack definite properties prior to measurement. As Albert Einstein famously bemoaned to a friend, “Do you really believe the moon is not there when you are not looking at it?”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/...nd-the-physics-nobel-prize-winners-proved-it/

 

[koolishman]

AI tool can scan your retina and predict your risk of heart disease ‘in 60 seconds or less’​

The new research, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, paves the way for the development of quick and cheap cardiovascular screenings, if the findings are validated in future clinical trials. These screenings would let individuals know their risk of stroke and heart attack without the need for blood tests or even blood pressure measurements.

“This AI tool could let someone know in 60 seconds or less their level of risk,” the lead author of the study, Alicja Rudnicka, told The Guardian. The study found that the predictions were as accurate as those produced by current tests.