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Mar 26, 2020

Epidemiologist Behind Highly-Cited Coronavirus Model Drastically Revises Model

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, policy

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who created the highly-cited Imperial College London coronavirus model, which has been cited by organizations like The New York Times and has been instrumental in governmental policy decision-making, offered a massive revision to his model on Wednesday.

Ferguson’s model projected 2.2 million dead people in the United States and 500,000 in the U.K. from COVID-19 if no action were taken to slow the virus and blunt its curve.

However, after just one day of ordered lockdowns in the U.K., Ferguson is presenting drastically downgraded estimates, revealing that far more people likely have the virus than his team figured. Now, the epidemiologist predicts, hospitals will be just fine taking on COVID-19 patients and estimates 20,000 or far fewer people will die from the virus itself or from its agitation of other ailments, as reported by New Scientist Wednesday.

Mar 26, 2020

Artificial muscle

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, robotics/AI

This super strong may bring us closer to lifelike robots.


This super strong artificial muscle may bring us closer to lifelike robots.

Mar 26, 2020

More than 3 million Americans filed for unemployment claims last week

Posted by in categories: business, economics, employment, government

The rescue package contains specific measures to address the spike in unemployment claims.

“It is reasonable to expect that some, perhaps many, but not all, of these jobs will come back once we venture back into public,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, said. “One of the goals of the legislation now moving through Congress is to help many businesses survive and retain workers.”

“It’s beyond anything we have ever seen. It’s the speed that is so painful,” Swonk said.

Mar 26, 2020

WSCS16 — Day 3 — The Future of Human Aging

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

The Future of Human Aging: Implications of Induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR), with Michael D. West, Ph.D., Co-CEO of BioTime.

Mar 26, 2020

French lab offers ‘millions of doses’ of Covid-19 drug

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A French medical laboratory has said it is ready to give the French authorities “millions of doses” of an anti-malaria medication that early tests have suggested may help cure Covid-19.

Mar 26, 2020

Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, surveillance

The initial cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)–infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 and January 2020. We analyzed data on the first 425 confirmed cases in Wuhan to determine the epidemiologic characteristics of NCIP.


Since December 2019, an increasing number of cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)–infected pneumonia (NCIP) have been identified in Wuhan, a large city of 11 million people in central China.1–3 On December 29, 2019, the first 4 cases reported, all linked to the Huanan (Southern China) Seafood Wholesale Market, were identified by local hospitals using a surveillance mechanism for “pneumonia of unknown etiology” that was established in the wake of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak with the aim of allowing timely identification of novel pathogens such as 2019-nCoV.4 In recent days, infections have been identified in other Chinese cities and in more than a dozen countries around the world.5 Here, we provide an analysis of data on the first 425 laboratory-confirmed cases in Wuhan to describe the epidemiologic characteristics and transmission dynamics of NCIP.

Mar 26, 2020

AMD’s Big Navi and Xbox Series X GPU ‘Arden’ Source Code Stolen and Leaked (Updated)

Posted by in category: computing

AMD’s source code for its Navia and ‘Arden’ Xbox Series X GPUs was posted to Github.

Mar 26, 2020

AI is searching for unexploded Vietnam War bombs in Cambodia

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI

Researchers are using AI to search satellite images for unexploded bombs dropped in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

The system uses object recognition algorithms that detect the unique features of bomb craters, including their shapes, colors, textures, and sizes. These algorithms then scan satellite images for signals of the craters.

The Ohio State University team first used the system to find craters in a village in the province of Prey Veng, a heavily bombed area around 30 kilometers from the Vietnam border.

Mar 26, 2020

Table Held Up

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

If you’ve never heard of a tensegrity structure, you should stop now and watch the video below. In it, [The Action Lab] shows a 3D printed table that is held up only with strings. We didn’t say suspended by strings but held up. Or so it appears. The model is from Thingiverse, but it is one of those things you have to see to believe.

The basic idea is pretty simple. Strings have a lot of tensile strength but collapse under the slightest compressive force. The arrangement of strings puts the force on the center string which is essentially hanging — the force is pulling the string down. The other three strings aren’t just for show, though, they keep the structure from tipping over in any one direction.

Continue reading “Table Held Up” »

Mar 26, 2020

A Rapid End Strikes the Dinosaur Extinction Debate

Posted by in category: existential risks

The paleontologist Pincelli Hull has nailed down the timing and speed of the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs — details that carry ominous warnings for today.