Menu

Blog

Page 5176

Jan 27, 2022

Scientists make a new type of optical device using alumina

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Scientists from the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe and the University of Minnesota, Tomotake Matsumura and Shaul Hanany, and their collaborators have made a new type of optical element that will improve the performance of telescopes studying radiation from the Big Bang.

The (CMB) is a relic radiation remnant from the big bang. It reaches our telescopes after traveling 14 billion years since the birth of the Universe. Studying the properties of this radiation, scientists infer the physics of the , how clusters of galaxies form, and the matter and energy content in the Universe. Four Nobel prizes have been awarded for past studies of the CMB.

To study the CMB, telescopes must be tuned to wavelengths in which it is most intense, about 1–3 mm, and they must separate out shorter wavelength radiation that the atmosphere and Milky Way emit. Among the most effective optical elements that absorbs the short wavelength radiation but lets the CMB pass through is alumina, a material made of aluminum and oxygen and that is second in hardness only to diamond. One challenge with using alumina is that it also reflects almost 50% of the radiation impinging on it. Matsumura and Hanany have now come up with a new way to fabricate anti-reflective structures that reduce reflections fifty-fold.

Jan 27, 2022

Texas Governor Abbott Turns to Bitcoin Miners to Bolster the Grid and His Re-Election

Posted by in categories: bitcoin, business, computing, cryptocurrencies

Last fall, Texas Governor Greg Abbott gathered dozens of cryptocurrency deal makers in Austin where they discussed an idea that, on its face, seemed almost upside down: Electricity-hungry Bitcoin miners could shore up the state’s power grid, a top priority after a deep freeze last winter triggered blackouts that left hundreds dead.

The industry’s advocates have been making that pitch to the governor for years. The idea is that the miners’ computer arrays would demand so much electricity that someone would come along to build more power plants, something Texas badly needs. If the grid starts to go wobbly, as it did when winter storm Uri froze up power plants in February 2021, miners could quickly shut down to conserve energy for homes and businesses. At least two Bitcoin miners have already volunteered to do just that.

Jan 27, 2022

HumanityMars NEW YEAR 2030 PARTY IN MARS CITY!

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, existential risks, genetics, government, lifeboat, nanotechnology, robotics/AI, singularity, space travel

FeaturedRead our 3 books at https://lifeboat.com/ex/books.

The Lifeboat Foundation is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization dedicated to encouraging scientific advancements while helping humanity survive existential risks and possible misuse of increasingly powerful technologies, including genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics/AI, as we move towards the Singularity.

Lifeboat Foundation is pursuing a variety of options, including helping to accelerate the development of technologies to defend humanity, such as new methods to combat viruses, effective nanotechnological defensive strategies, and even self-sustaining space colonies in case the other defensive strategies fail.

Continue reading “HumanityMars NEW YEAR 2030 PARTY IN MARS CITY!” »

Jan 27, 2022

First Molecular Electronics Chip Developed — Realizes 50-Year-Old Goal

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, genetics

A platform for single-molecule measurement of binding kinetics & enzyme activity.

The first molecular electronics chip has been developed, realizing a 50-year-old goal of integrating single molecules into circuits to achieve the ultimate scaling limits of Moore’s Law. Developed by Roswell Biotechnologies and a multi-disciplinary team of leading academic scientists, the chip uses single molecules as universal sensor elements in a circuit to create a programmable biosensor with real-time, single-molecule sensitivity and unlimited scalability in sensor pixel density. This innovation, appearing this week in a peer-reviewed article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), will power advances in diverse fields that are fundamentally based on observing molecular interactions, including drug discovery, diagnostics, DNA

Continue reading “First Molecular Electronics Chip Developed — Realizes 50-Year-Old Goal” »

Jan 27, 2022

China launches L-SAR 01A as new methane rocket nears first launch from Jiuquan

Posted by in category: satellites

China successfully launched the Gongjian Ludi Tance-1 01A (L-SAR 01A) satellite into a quasi sun-synchronous orbit of 607 kilometers. The 3.2 metric ton satellite was launched at 23:44 UTC on Tuesday, January 25 on a Chang Zheng 4C from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The satellite is equipped with an L-band and multi-channel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload. It is a civilian satellite that will use a 33 square meter array to survey the Earth after major events such as earthquakes and landslides.

This is comparable to the Argentinian SAOCOM satellites which are also equipped with L-band and a SAR to monitor environmental disasters. L-band brings the advantage of being able to penetrate clouds, rain, and vegetation which makes it easier to monitor the ground. It operates in a frequency range of 1–2 GHz.

Jan 27, 2022

U.S. LEAKED: Artificial Intelligence Just Found ALIENS In SPACE

Posted by in categories: alien life, robotics/AI

🔔 Subscribe now for more Artificial Intelligence news, Data science news, Machine Learning news and more.
🦾 Support us NOW so we can create more videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCItylrp-EOkBwsUT7c_Xkxg.

In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), we’ve often looked for signs of intelligence, technology and communication that are similar to our own. But as astronomer and SETI trailblazer Jill Tarter points out, that approach means searching for detectable techno signatures, like radio transmissions, not searching for intelligence itself. At the moment scientists are considering whether artificial intelligence (AI) could help us search for alien intelligence in ways we haven’t even thought of yet.

Continue reading “U.S. LEAKED: Artificial Intelligence Just Found ALIENS In SPACE” »

Jan 27, 2022

Anti-aging vaccine clears out dysfunctional cells that cause disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Many of the all-too-familiar symptoms of aging can be attributed to a build-up of senescent cells, those which have stopped dividing. In a new study, researchers in Japan have identified a protein specific to these cells and developed a vaccine that can clear them away, with tests on mice reducing the effects of aging.

Cells cannot keep dividing forever – eventually they accumulate too much DNA damage through environmental stress, so the body shuts them down and flags them to be cleared out by the immune system. This seems to be an evolutionary defense mechanism against cells turning cancerous.

However, even immune cells aren’t immune from this process, and as they become senescent themselves the immune system gradually loses the ability to clear out senescent cells. As these inactive cells accumulate in the body, they contribute to symptoms of aging and the diseases that come with it.

Jan 27, 2022

Artemis: Why NASA’s big Moon rocket is almost ready

Posted by in category: space

After a successfull simulated launch countdown on January 24, only a few tests remain for NASA’s big Moon rocket.

Jan 27, 2022

After First Pig-to-Human Heart Transplant, Scientists Aim to Make It Routine

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

“It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” said Bennett.

The heart was provided by Revivicor, a company based in Virginia that has been engineering pig organs for roughly two decades. In several experiments for pig-to-baboon transplants, the organs survived up to nine months, until the animals passed away due to a lung infection unrelated to the transplant.

Overall, the heart had 10 hefty genetic edits. Three of them wiped out sugar molecules on the outside of cells that provoke an immune response. Six bolstered the chance of the human host accepting the heart—amping up an anti-inflammatory response, preventing blood vessel damage, and dampening any antibodies against the organ. Finally, the last edit limited the pig heart’s size. Although it generally matched the size of a human heart, the team wanted to prevent the pig organ from overgrowth inside Bennett’s chest once it was transplanted—something they previously noticed happened in baboons.

Jan 27, 2022

Habitat for Humanity Is Using 3D Printing to Build Affordable Houses

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biotech/medical, habitats

Over the last year home prices have skyrocketed (along with prices of almost everything else), leaving millions of people unable to afford to move or to change their housing situation. Mortgage lender Freddie Mac estimated last year that the US has a housing supply shortage of 3.8 million homes. It’s partly Covid-related; construction has slowed due to labor shortages, high raw material costs, and supply chain issues—but the problem predates the pandemic, as demand for homes was already outpacing supply in 2019.

Middle-and low-income families have been hit hardest by the housing shortage. In an effort to assist those in need, Habitat for Humanity launched an initiative last year to incorporate 3D printing into its construction process to cut costs. The first home was completed last month, and a family moved in just before Christmas.

Continue reading “Habitat for Humanity Is Using 3D Printing to Build Affordable Houses” »