Menu

Blog

Page 5279

Dec 26, 2021

Autonomous drones could help find freshly fallen meteorites

Posted by in categories: drones, robotics/AI

Researchers are trying to speed up the process of meteorite recovery with drones.

Dec 26, 2021

Immune system cells from COVID-19 patients display compromised mitochondrial-nuclear expression co-regulation and rewiring toward glycolysis

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Over-the-counter antioxidants đŸ€”

Mitochondria are pivotal for bioenergetics, as well as in cellular response to viral infections. Nevertheless, their role in COVID-19 was largely overlooked. Here, we analyzed available bulk RNA-seq datasets from COVID-19 patients and corresponding healthy controls (three blood datasets, N = 48 healthy, 119 patients; two respiratory tract datasets, N = 157 healthy, 524 patients). We found significantly reduced mtDNA gene expression in blood, but not in respiratory tract samples from patients. Next, analysis of eight single-cells RNA-seq datasets from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, nasopharyngeal samples, and Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (N = 1,192,243 cells), revealed significantly reduced mtDNA gene expression especially in immune system cells from patients. This is associated with elevated expression of nuclear DNA-encoded OXPHOS subunits, suggesting compromised mitochondrial-nuclear co-regulation. This, together with elevated expression of ROS-response genes and glycolysis enzymes in patients, suggest rewiring toward glycolysis, thus generating beneficial conditions for SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our findings underline the centrality of mitochondrial dysfunction in COVID-19.

Dec 26, 2021

DataRobot’s DataRobot Core aims to accelerate AI system deployment

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

DataRobot ‘s new DataRobot Core platform is designed to deliver improved AI design tools to enterprises in a range of industries.

Dec 26, 2021

Astronomers Capture Supermassive Black Hole Eruption Near Earth Spanning 16 Times the Full Moon in the Sky

Posted by in categories: cosmology, materials

Astronomers have produced the most comprehensive image of radio emission from the nearest actively feeding supermassive black hole to Earth.

The emission is powered by a central black hole in the galaxy Centaurus A, about 12 million light years away.

Continue reading “Astronomers Capture Supermassive Black Hole Eruption Near Earth Spanning 16 Times the Full Moon in the Sky” »

Dec 26, 2021

This New Hybrid VTOL Has 8 Fans Embedded in Its Wings

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Reducing its carbon emissions by 80% compared to conventional designs.

Ascendance Flight Technologies, based in Toulouse, France, has unveiled the striking design of its new hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft, ATEA, according to a press release.

The ATEA is a five-seat hybrid-electric aircraft that can perform vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). The concept stands out from the rest since it has a tandem wing configuration with rotors incorporated into them, giving it a strikingly unusual appearance.

Continue reading “This New Hybrid VTOL Has 8 Fans Embedded in Its Wings” »

Dec 26, 2021

The battery invented 120 years before its time

Posted by in category: futurism

At the turn of the 20th Century, Thomas Edison invented a battery with the unusual quirk of producing hydrogen. Now, 120 years later, the battery is coming into its own.

Dec 26, 2021

Fantastical Thundertruck EV rocks fold-out solar awnings and a snap-on 6WD caboose

Posted by in categories: military, solar power, sustainability

This all-electric 4×4 off-road concept has a monster battery pack, a brutally angular and military look that borrows heavily from the Cybertruck, and pop-out solar panels for off-grid charging. Oh, and if you need extra range, you can snap two extra wheels and a battery onto the back of it with a self-balancing caboose that makes it a six-wheel-drive.

First things first: Thundertruck is the brainchild of a Los Angeles “creative consultancy,” conceived mainly as a way to keep the team busy during the first wave of COVID lockdowns. “Instead of baking bread or making puzzles,” says the Wolfgang L.A. team, “we decided to make a new state-of-the-art EV truck.”

So while Wolfgang says it “has the ability to support an entire product development program, from research and strategy to initial sketches and first prototypes, all the way to advertising launch campaigns and content creation,” it’s fair to say it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing the Thundertruck out bush-bashing or crushing hillclimbs any day soon.

Dec 26, 2021

Google Earth captures US Air Force stealth bomber

Posted by in category: military

Reddit user jokes: ‘Not so stealthy now, are ya?’

Dec 26, 2021

GM delivers its first Hummer EV

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

The next chapter of GM’s electrification strategy is officially underway. The Verge reports GM has started deliveries of the Hummer EV as promised, with its first “supertruck” (an Edition 1) rolling off the line at Factory Zero in Hamtramck, Michigan. The automaker didn’t name the initial customer, but that person clearly paid for bragging rights given the Edition 1’s $110,295 sticker.

You’ll have to wait considerably longer for other trim levels. The $99,995 3X (which drops from 1,000HP to ‘just’ 830HP) doesn’t arrive until fall 2022, while the $89,995 2X variant (625HP) will wait until spring 2023. The $79,995 2 trim doesn’t surface until spring 2024. All but the base version deliver a claimed 300 or more miles of range, while that ‘entry’ model musters 250 miles per charge.

The steep prices won’t leave Tesla, Hyundai and other EV competitors too worried. This is a luxury machine that will sell in limited numbers. However, popularity isn’t entirely the point. This is the first consumer-oriented vehicle to ship using the Ultium battery technology that will underpin numerous GM EVs going forward, including the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Silverado. The Hummer is both a halo vehicle for the brand and an answer to challengers like Tesla and Rivian.

Dec 26, 2021

MIT Scientists Say Life May Have Been Detected on Venus After All

Posted by in category: space

The hypothesis remains a bit of a stretch: that clouds in the planet’s thick, carbon dioxide-filled atmosphere could harbor lifeforms that also happen to be resistant to the incredibly caustic droplets of sulfuric acid surrounding them.

And indeed, other scientists have also thrown cold water on the hypothesis, calling out the possibility of a processing error that throws the data itself into question.

But now, a new study is giving new life to the tantalizing theory. Sulfuric acid, MIT scientists say, could be neutralized by the presence of ammonia, which astronomers also suspect to be present in the planet’s atmosphere thanks to the Venera 8 and Pioneer Venus probe missions in the 1970s.