Archive for the ‘biological’ category: Page 181
Jul 7, 2018
Bioquark Inc. — Funky Thinkers Podcast — Ira Pastor
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, life extension, transhumanism
Jul 4, 2018
The momentous transition to multicellular life may not have been so hard after all
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: biological
Jul 2, 2018
Why Space Warfare is Inevitable
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: biological, cybercrime/malcode, geopolitics, military, space, treaties
There is increasing chatter among the world’s major military powers about how space is fast becoming the next battleground. China, Russia, and the United States are all taking steps that will ultimately result in the weaponisation of space. Any satellite that can change orbit can be considered a space weapon, but since many of the possible space-based scenarios have yet to occur, cybersecurity experts, military commanders, and policymakers do not fully understand the range of potential consequences that could result.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was interested in paralysing America’s strategic forces, strategic command, and control and communications, so that its military command could not communicate with its forces. They would do so by first causing electromagnetic pulse (EMP) to sever communication and operational capabilities, and then launch a mass attack across the North Pole to blow up US Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
In 1967, the US, UK and Soviet Union signed the Outer Space Treaty, which was either ratified by or acceded to 105 countries (including China). It set in place laws regarding the use of outer space and banned any nation from stationing nuclear warheads, chemical or biological weapons in space. However, the Treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit, so such weapons as kinetic bombardment (i.e. attacking Earth with a projectile) are not strictly prohibited.
Jul 2, 2018
Becoming a Cyborg: From Disabled to More-Than-Able
Posted by B.J. Murphy in categories: biological, cyborgs
In the famous sci-fi TV show Battlestar Galactica, John Cavil, a Cylon that appeared human, went on an epic rant that forever changed my perception of biology and my own biological substrate.
MIT rockstar Hugh Herr delivers another TED talk, only this time revealing a major breakthrough that’ll unleash a brave new future of cyborgs!
Continue reading “Becoming a Cyborg: From Disabled to More-Than-Able” »
Jun 20, 2018
The Limits of Neuroplasticity in the Brain
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: biological, neuroscience, science
New research shows that the brain‘s neuroplasticity isn’t as flexible as previously thought.
One of the brain’s mysteries is how exactly it reorganizes new #information as you learn new tasks. The standard to date was to test how neurons learned new behavior one #neuron at a time.
Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh decided to try a different approach. They looked at the population of neurons to see how they worked together while #learning a new behavior. Studying the intracortical population activity in the primary motor cortex of rhesus macaques during short-term learning in a brain–computer interface (BCI) task, they were able to study the reorganization of population during learning.
Continue reading “The Limits of Neuroplasticity in the Brain” »
Jun 19, 2018
US military wants to know what synthetic-biology weapons could look like
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: biological, military
Jun 17, 2018
Harvard Rewinds the Biological Clock of Time
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: bioengineering, biological, DNA, health, life extension, science, transhumanism
Investigators at Harvard Medical School have identified the key cellular mechanisms behind vascular aging and its effects on muscle health, and they have successfully reversed the process in animals.
The scientists used a chemical compound that’s an NAD+ booster called NMN which plays a critical role in repairing cellular DNA as well as maintaining cell vitality to test what would happen.
Could reversing the aging of blood vessels hold the key to restoring youthful vitality? If the old adage “you are as old as your arteries” reigns true then the answer is yes, at least in mice.
Continue reading “Harvard Rewinds the Biological Clock of Time” »
Tags: aging, biological, Blood, Cardiovascular, Cells, dermatology, dna, Endothelial Cells, Harvard, Harvard Medical School, healthspan, lifespan, NAD+, NaHS, NMN, Sirtuin1, SITR1
Jun 10, 2018
‘Til Deletion Do Us Part’: Discovering Love in a Virtual Future
Posted by B.J. Murphy in categories: biological, robotics/AI, virtual reality
What does it mean to fall in love in the 21st century? Originally, the number of people you could fall in love with were limited to the amount that lived within relative close proximity of you (a few miles, at best). In today’s world, however, it isn’t that uncommon for people to fall in love online.
As we move forward into a future of VR and AI, how might our abilities to fall in love change in a world where non-biological life is teeming just as much as biological life?
Continue reading “‘Til Deletion Do Us Part’: Discovering Love in a Virtual Future” »
Jun 10, 2018
Using microbes to track down criminals
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biological
Using mock burglaries, researchers investigate a way to catch criminals using the microbes they leave behind. Could your microbiome give you away?