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!

 

[Sutruk]

Cogntive skills seen in cuttlefish.

Learned valuation during forage decision-making in cuttlefish

The present study examines whether decision-making by cuttlefish is dependent on relative values learned from previous experience. Cuttlefish preferred a larger quantity when making a choice between one or two shrimps (1 versus 2) during a two-alternative forced choice. However, after cuttlefish were primed under conditions where they were given a small reward for choosing one shrimp in a no shrimp versus one shrimp test (0 versus 1) six times in a row, they chose one shrimp significantly more frequently in the 1 versus 2 test. This reversed preference for a smaller quantity was not due to satiation at the time of decision-making, as cuttlefish fed a small shrimp six times without any choice test prior to the experiment still preferred two shrimps significantly more often in a subsequent 1 versus 2 test. This suggests that the preference of one shrimp in the quantity comparison test occurs via a process of learned valuation. Foraging preference in cuttlefish thus depends on the relative value of previous prey choices.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.201602

Cuttlefish are also very intelligent animals like Octopus. They have an incredible array of color changes to communicate between them.

 

[Sutruk]

I certainly won't have an issue taking mRNA vaccines because as you have pointed out they are based on years of research.

Here are a few interesting articles that I have been reading concerning mRNA and also the mRNA vaccine technology:

--------------------

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single-stranded RNA molecule that is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene. The mRNA is an RNA version of the gene that leaves the cell nucleus and moves to the cytoplasm where proteins are made. During protein synthesis, an organelle called a ribosome moves along the mRNA, reads its base sequence, and uses the genetic code to translate each three-base triplet, or codon, into its corresponding amino acid.

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/messenger-rna

--------------------

Translation: DNA to mRNA to Protein

2008
How does the cell convert DNA into working proteins? The process of translation can be seen as the decoding of instructions for making proteins, involving mRNA in transcription as well as tRNA.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/translation-dna-to-mrna-to-protein-393/

--------------------

mRNA vaccines - a new era in vaccinology

12 January 2018
mRNA vaccines represent a promising alternative to conventional vaccine approaches because of their high potency, capacity for rapid development and potential for low-cost manufacture and safe administration. However, their application has until recently been restricted by the instability and inefficient in vivo delivery of mRNA. Recent technological advances have now largely overcome these issues, and multiple mRNA vaccine platforms against infectious diseases and several types of cancer have demonstrated encouraging results in both animal models and humans. This Review provides a detailed overview of mRNA vaccines and considers future directions and challenges in advancing this promising vaccine platform to widespread therapeutic use.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2017.243

--------------------

How mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna work, why they’re a breakthrough and why they need to be kept so cold
November 19, 2020

By Sanjay Mishra - Project Coordinator & Staff Scientist, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University

... a rush of interim analyses from pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have spurred optimism that a novel type of vaccine made from messenger RNA, known as mRNA, can offer high levels of protection by preventing COVID-19 among people who are vaccinated.

Although unpublished, these preliminary reports have exceeded the expectations of many vaccine experts, including mine. Until early this year, I worked on developing vaccine candidates against Zika and dengue. Now I am coordinating an international effort to collect reports on adult patients with current or previous cancers who have also been diagnosed with COVID-19.

--------------------

Thanks. Yes, in fact I did read the most of those articles before you posted them, while I was searching for this new vaccine technology.

As one of them says "their high potency, capacity for rapid development and potential for low-cost manufacture and safe administration."

The key discovery in the development of this technology was in 2005:

https://www.businessinsider.com/mrna-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-coronavirus-2020-12

BioNTech scientist Katalin Karikó risked her career to develop mRNA vaccines.

• Scientist Katalin Karikó struggled for years to convince colleagues that messenger RNA could have disease-fighting applications in humans.
• In 2005, she found a way to configure mRNA so that it slipped past the body's natural defenses — a discovery that paved for the way for the world's first mRNA vaccines.
• The COVID-19 vaccines from both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna rely on this technology.
• Pfizer's vaccine was authorized Friday for emergency use in the US.

"In a way, Karikó's entire career has been based on this kind of clever solution. In 2005, she discovered a way to configure messenger RNA — a molecule that kickstarts the production of proteins — so that it slipped past the body's natural defenses, unannounced."

"That paved the way for what has recently turned out to be one of modern science's greatest achievements: the world's first mRNA vaccines.

Karikó, now 65, oversees mRNA protein replacement at BioNTech, a German biotech firm that developed a coronavirus vaccine in partnership with US pharma giant Pfizer. That vaccine has now been authorized in the UK, Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Karikó's work also inspired the founding of Moderna, the US biotech company developing a competing coronavirus shot."

 

[Sutruk]

AI-controlled vertical farms promise revolution in food production

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-ai-controlled-vertical-farms-revolution-food.html

"...A San Francisco agricultural-technical startup thinks it might just have an answer. Nate Storey, who co-founded the appropriately named Plenty, wants to reinvent farming.

To do so, he has constructed climate-controlled vertical farms that are so promising, they have drawn $400 million in funding from former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and SoftBank.

These upright farms take up only 2 acres yet produce 720 acres worth of fruit and vegetables. Lighting, temperature and watering are controlled by AI-controlled robots. Sunlight is emulated by LED panels, so food is grown in optimal conditions 24/7. And water is recycled and evaporated water recaptured so there is virtually no waste."

 

[Cannuck]

Defining Lyfe in the Universe: From Three Privileged Functions to Four Pillars

They suggest four criteria for lyfe:

1. It draws on energy sources in its environment that keep it from becoming uniform and unchanging.
2. It grows exponentially (for example by replication).
3. It can regulate itself to stay stable in a changing environment.
4. It learns and remembers information about that environment. Darwinian evolution is an example of such learning over very long timescales: genes preserve useful adaptations to particular circumstances.

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/4/42

In reference to the above:

The Astrobiology of Alien Worlds: Known and Unknown Forms of Life

Most definitions of life assume that, at a minimum, life is a physical form of matter distinct from its environment at a lower state of entropy than its surroundings, using energy from the environment for internal maintenance and activity, and capable of autonomous reproduction. These assumptions cover all of life as we know it, though more exotic entities can be envisioned, including organic forms with novel biochemistries, dynamic inorganic matter, and self-replicating machines. The probability that any particular form of life will be found on another planetary body depends on the nature and history of that alien world. So the biospheres would likely be very different on a rocky planet with an ice-covered global ocean, a barren planet devoid of surface liquid, a frigid world with abundant liquid hydrocarbons, on a rogue planet independent of a host star, on a tidally locked planet, on super-Earths, or in long-lived clouds in dense atmospheres. While life at least in microbial form is probably pervasive if rare throughout the Universe, and technologically advanced life is likely much rarer, the chance that an alternative form of life, though not intelligent life, could exist and be detected within our Solar System is a distinct possibility.

Irwin, L.N.; Schulze-Makuch, D. The Astrobiology of Alien Worlds: Known and Unknown Forms of Life. Universe 2020, 6, 130.

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/9/130

 

[CraigD]

In reference to the above:

The Astrobiology of Alien Worlds: Known and Unknown Forms of Life

Most definitions of life assume that, at a minimum, life is a physical form of matter distinct from its environment at a lower state of entropy than its surroundings, using energy from the environment for internal maintenance and activity, and capable of autonomous reproduction. These assumptions cover all of life as we know it, though more exotic entities can be envisioned, including organic forms with novel biochemistries, dynamic inorganic matter, and self-replicating machines. The probability that any particular form of life will be found on another planetary body depends on the nature and history of that alien world. So the biospheres would likely be very different on a rocky planet with an ice-covered global ocean, a barren planet devoid of surface liquid, a frigid world with abundant liquid hydrocarbons, on a rogue planet independent of a host star, on a tidally locked planet, on super-Earths, or in long-lived clouds in dense atmospheres. While life at least in microbial form is probably pervasive if rare throughout the Universe, and technologically advanced life is likely much rarer, the chance that an alternative form of life, though not intelligent life, could exist and be detected within our Solar System is a distinct possibility.

Irwin, L.N.; Schulze-Makuch, D. The Astrobiology of Alien Worlds: Known and Unknown Forms of Life. Universe 2020, 6, 130.

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/6/9/130

I suppose that birth, growth, reproduction and death constitute a timeline of events that something must progress through for us to define it as a living thing.

 

[CraigD]

Defining Lyfe in the Universe: From Three Privileged Functions to Four Pillars

"Motivated by the need to paint a more general picture of what life is—and could be—with respect to the rest of the phenomena of the universe, we propose a new vocabulary for astrobiological research. Lyfe is defined as any system that fulfills all four processes of the living state, namely: dissipation, autocatalysis, homeostasis, and learning. Life is defined as the instance of lyfe that we are familiar with on Earth, one that uses a specific organometallic molecular toolbox to record information about its environment and achieve dynamical order by dissipating certain planetary disequilibria."

They suggest four criteria for lyfe:

1. It draws on energy sources in its environment that keep it from becoming uniform and unchanging.
2. It grows exponentially (for example by replication).
3. It can regulate itself to stay stable in a changing environment.
4. It learns and remembers information about that environment. Darwinian evolution is an example of such learning over very long timescales: genes preserve useful adaptations to particular circumstances.

https://www.mdpi.com/life/life-10-00042/article_deploy/html/images/life-10-00042-g001-550.jpg

https://www.mdpi.com/life/life-10-00042/article_deploy/html/images/life-10-00042-g004-550.jpg

Bartlett, S.; Wong, M.L. Defining Lyfe in the Universe: From Three Privileged Functions to Four Pillars. Life 2020, 10, 42.

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/4/42

This is interesting defining Lyfe as any system that fulfills all four processes of the living state, namely: dissipation, autocatalysis, homeostasis, and learning.

 

[CraigD]

Thanks. Yes, in fact I did read the most of those articles before you posted them, while I was searching for this new vaccine technology.

As one of them says "their high potency, capacity for rapid development and potential for low-cost manufacture and safe administration."

The key discovery in the development of this technology was in 2005:

https://www.businessinsider.com/mrna-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-coronavirus-2020-12

BioNTech scientist Katalin Karikó risked her career to develop mRNA vaccines.

• 
  
  
  • Scientist Katalin Karikó struggled for years to convince colleagues that messenger RNA could have disease-fighting applications in humans.
  • In 2005, she found a way to configure mRNA so that it slipped past the body's natural defenses — a discovery that paved for the way for the world's first mRNA vaccines.
  • The COVID-19 vaccines from both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna rely on this technology.
  • Pfizer's vaccine was authorized Friday for emergency use in the US.

"In a way, Karikó's entire career has been based on this kind of clever solution. In 2005, she discovered a way to configure messenger RNA — a molecule that kickstarts the production of proteins — so that it slipped past the body's natural defenses, unannounced."

"That paved the way for what has recently turned out to be one of modern science's greatest achievements: the world's first mRNA vaccines.

Karikó, now 65, oversees mRNA protein replacement at BioNTech, a German biotech firm that developed a coronavirus vaccine in partnership with US pharma giant Pfizer. That vaccine has now been authorized in the UK, Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Karikó's work also inspired the founding of Moderna, the US biotech company developing a competing coronavirus shot."

I certainly hope that Katalin Karikó is nominated for a Nobel in 2021.

 

[CraigD]

NASA is planning to deflect an asteroid from its orbit.

NASA's First Planetary Defense Mission Target Gets a New Name

Nearly two decades ago, a near-Earth asteroid was discovered to have a moon and the binary system was given the name “Didymos”—Greek for “twin,” a loose description of the larger main body and the smaller orbiting moon, which became unofficially known as Didymos B.

In 2022, that moon will be the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first full-scale demonstration of an asteroid deflection technology for planetary defense. The DART spacecraft will execute a kinetic impact, deliberately crashing into the asteroid to change its motion in space. To mark this historic mission, Didymos B is getting an official name of its own: Dimorphos.

“Upon discovery, asteroids get a temporary name until we know their orbits well enough to know they won't be lost. Once the Didymos system was identified as the ideal target for the DART mission, we needed to formally distinguish between the main body and the satellite,” said Andy Rivkin, a research astronomer and DART investigation co-lead at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which is building and managing the mission for NASA.


https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense

I think this is an extremely important mission.

For decades there have been a minority bemoaning the money and resources spent by NASA and other space agencies. Demonstrating that this technology can be used to prevent an extinction event like an Earth impactor will prove definitively that it has been money well spent.

 

[koolishman]

Which is the scientific event of 2020, with maximum impact on future of humanity?

I think one contender is DeepMind's AI predicting the protein structure to the width of an atom. I posted this on Dec 6th.

DeepMind’s protein-folding AI has solved a 50-year-old grand challenge of biology

AlphaFold can predict the shape of proteins to within the width of an atom. The breakthrough will help scientists design drugs and understand diseases.

Many drugs are designed by simulating their 3D molecular structure and looking for ways to slot these molecules into target proteins. Of course, this can only be done if the structure of those proteins is known. This is the case for only a quarter of the roughly 20,000 human proteins, says Thornton. That leaves 15,000 untapped drug targets. “AlphaFold will open up a new area of research.”

DeepMind says it plans to study leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, and malaria, all tropical diseases caused by parasites, because they are linked to lots of unknown protein structures.

AI will revolutionize medicine.

 

[CraigD]

I love Google surprises.

It's two hours until the new-year here in Sydney, and I just typed 'Sydney fireworks' into Google search and my browser spat confetti at me!

Is anyone else seeing the confetti?

 

[koolishman]

I love Google surprises.

It's two hours until the new-year here in Sydney, and I just typed 'Sydney fireworks' into Google search and my browser spat confetti at me!

Is anyone else seeing the confetti?

Yes. Confetti for me too when typing "Sydney fireworks"!

 

[koolishman]

I guess it is time to say,

Happy new year everyone!

May 2021 be personally fulfilling and professionally enriching!

 

[CraigD]

I guess it is time to say,

Happy new year everyone!

My 2021 be personally fulfilling and professionally enriching!

I'm sitting at home on the computer because most of my family is in lockdown, we're not allowed gatherings over five people anywhere else in Sydney, I can't go to the fireworks because of restrictions AND it's raining outside.

LOL yes,

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

 

[Sutruk]

I guess it is time to say,

Happy new year everyone!

My 2021 be personally fulfilling and professionally enriching!

I'm sitting at home on the computer because most of my family is in lockdown, we're not allowed gatherings over five people anywhere else in Sydney, I can't go to the fireworks because of restrictions AND it's raining outside.

LOL yes,

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Happy New Year to everyone!
Although due to pandemic restrictions, this new year celebration must be a more restricted one.
This new year coming will be a better year with vaccines to come to end this 1 in 100 years pandemic.
I wish the best to everyone and I also wish good education to everybody, read this thread and study whatever on a certified college, to be a more informed person, and don't fall into infinite ignorance.

 

[CraigD]

The history books covering this period will have to be written in crayon. By a dog.

Whew, I made it!

Happy 2021

EDITED

 

[Cannuck]

I certainly won't have an issue taking mRNA vaccines because as you have pointed out they are based on years of research.

... a rush of interim analyses from pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have spurred optimism that a novel type of vaccine made from messenger RNA, known as mRNA, can offer high levels of protection by preventing COVID-19 among people who are vaccinated.

Although unpublished, these preliminary reports have exceeded the expectations of many vaccine experts, including mine. Until early this year, I worked on developing vaccine candidates against Zika and dengue. Now I am coordinating an international effort to collect reports on adult patients with current or previous cancers who have also been diagnosed with COVID-19.

This is interesting defining Lyfe as any system that fulfills all four processes of the living state, namely: dissipation, autocatalysis, homeostasis, and learning.

As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat." The same logic would apply to viruses and human evolution. I am not promoting any conspiracy theory, but remain somewhat skeptic about what we are injecting into our bodies, the conundrum being, what effect will Covid-19 and counter measures (ie. RNA/DNA vaccines) have on future generations?

Viruses Are a Primary Driver of Human Evolution
https://www.genengnews.com/news/viruses-are-a-primary-driver-of-human-evolution/

“We’re all interested in how it is that we and other organisms have evolved, and in the pressures that made us what we are,” Dr. Petrov stated. “The discovery that this constant battle with viruses has shaped us in every aspect—not just the few proteins that fight infections, but everything—is profound. All organisms have been living with viruses for billions of years; this work shows that those interactions have affected every part of the cell.”

Viruses: their extraordinary role in shaping human evolution
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/virus-human-evolution/

"Around half of the human genome is made up of millions of DNA sequences that can be traced back to long-dead viruses or similar ‘jumping genes’, known collectively as transposable elements or transposons. Some researchers would even put this figure up at 80 per cent, as ancient sequences are now degraded beyond the point of being recognisably virus-like, weathered within the genome..."

Viruses play critical role in evolution and survival of the species
https://phys.org/news/2020-09-viruses-critical-role-evolution-survival.html

"Viruses, especially endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) that are an inherent part of mammalian biology, can dramatically influence gene expression, investigators report. ERVs are molecular remnants of retroviruses that infect the body and over time incorporate into the genome.

"What we learn from our study is that, in general, viruses have major roles in driving evolution," Namekawa explained. "In the long-term, viruses have positive impacts to our genome and shape evolution."

 

[Sutruk]

As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat." The same logic would apply to viruses and human evolution. I am not promoting any conspiracy theory, but remain somewhat skeptic about what we are injecting into our bodies, the conundrum being, what effect will Covid-19 and counter measures (ie. RNA/DNA vaccines) have on future generations?

Viruses Are a Primary Driver of Human Evolution
https://www.genengnews.com/news/viruses-are-a-primary-driver-of-human-evolution/

“We’re all interested in how it is that we and other organisms have evolved, and in the pressures that made us what we are,” Dr. Petrov stated. “The discovery that this constant battle with viruses has shaped us in every aspect—not just the few proteins that fight infections, but everything—is profound. All organisms have been living with viruses for billions of years; this work shows that those interactions have affected every part of the cell.”

Viruses: their extraordinary role in shaping human evolution
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/virus-human-evolution/

"Around half of the human genome is made up of millions of DNA sequences that can be traced back to long-dead viruses or similar ‘jumping genes’, known collectively as transposable elements or transposons. Some researchers would even put this figure up at 80 per cent, as ancient sequences are now degraded beyond the point of being recognisably virus-like, weathered within the genome..."

Viruses play critical role in evolution and survival of the species
https://phys.org/news/2020-09-viruses-critical-role-evolution-survival.html

"Viruses, especially endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) that are an inherent part of mammalian biology, can dramatically influence gene expression, investigators report. ERVs are molecular remnants of retroviruses that infect the body and over time incorporate into the genome.

"What we learn from our study is that, in general, viruses have major roles in driving evolution," Namekawa explained. "In the long-term, viruses have positive impacts to our genome and shape evolution."

You must differenciate between "...endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) that are an inherent part of mammalian biology" and dangerous external virus causing a an array of very dangerous diseases like covid-19, Smallpox, Chickenpox, Diphtheria, Measles, Polio, Tetanus, Hepatitis A-B, Rubella, etc.

mRNA vaccines change nothing on our body DNA, they just "build" and replicate "a part" of the spike protein of the virus, to make our immune system starting to produce antibodies and T-cells against this "spike protein" that is what covid-19 uses to join human cells, just that.
It is not even a inhibited virus, like traditional vaccines, so you don't have to worry about it.
And you don't have to worry about what effect mRNA vaccines have on "future generations" because it doesn't have any effect on your DNA and changes nothing on your body.
Again, it just replicates the "spike protein" of the virus, in order to make your body to start producing antibodies against that protein. It doesn't contain any virus, any dna, nothing. It just contain a the info of the spike protein, and that won't do nothing on your body.

Thanks to vaccines such as smallpox or polio, the lives of millions of people around the world have been saved. Vaccines are a very important column to improve our quality of life. Without vaccines and antibiotics, the average life span would be reduced to 35-40 years.

 

[Sutruk]

Diseases & the Vaccines that Prevent Them

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/diseases/index.html

"Thanks to vaccines, your child is protected from these diseases."

 

[Cannuck]

You must differenciate between "...endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) that are an inherent part of mammalian biology" and dangerous external virus causing a an array of very dangerous diseases like covid-19, Smallpox, Chickenpox, Diphtheria, Measles, Polio, Tetanus, Hepatitis A-B, Rubella, etc.

nRNA vaccines change nothing on our body DNA, they just "build" and replicate "a part" of the spike protein of the virus, to make our immune system starting to produce antibodies and T-cells against this "spike protein" that is what covid-19 uses to join human cells, just that.
It is not even a inhibited virus, like traditional vaccines, so you don't have to worry about it.
And you don't have to worry about what effect mRNA vaccines have on "future generations" because it doesn't have any effect on your DNA and changes nothing on your body.
Again, it just replicate the "spike protein" of the virus, in order to make your body to start producing antibodies against that protein. It doesn't contain any virus, any dna, nothing. It just contain a the info of the spike protein, and that won't do nothing on your body.

Thanks to vaccines such as smallpox or polio, the lives of millions of people around the world have been saved. Vaccines are a very important column to improve our quality of life. Without vaccines and antibiotics, the average life span would be reduced to 35-40 years.

Thanks for the info, at least it is somewhat reassuring to have a more educated understanding - that ought to be more prevalent in the media for public consumption. Not being a virologist myself, I admit I am not schooled in viral taxonomy, however am familiar with the method of the BioNTech/Moderna vaccines method of using the preventative spike protein replication (from following posts in the Covid thread ). I suppose any new technology comes with some doubt and hesitancy.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/sc...what-is-mrna-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna/

In any case, I wish all a safe and resolute New Year!

 

[Sutruk]

Thanks for the info, at least it is somewhat reassuring to have a more educated understanding - that ought to be more prevalent in the media for public consumption. Not being a virologist myself, I admit I am not schooled in viral taxonomy, however am familiar with the method of the BioNTech/Moderna vaccines method of using the preventative spike protein replication (from following posts in the Covid thread ). I suppose any new technology comes with some doubt and hesitancy.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/sc...what-is-mrna-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna/

In any case, I wish all a safe and resolute New Year!

I totally agree with you that this information should be more prevalent in the media for public consumption. Education and knowledge is the only way to educate people so they can be informed and more confident on what they do.
Never before, in human history, we have had such an amazing knowledge to be able to treat and cure so many diseases like we have now.
I can assure you that you can believe in what most of respected doctors and scientists like virologists say nowadays.
But you can learn for yourself, from books (real microbiology or biology books) to the latest scientific news, studies and clinical trials, published on respected publications.