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Vitamin D Engages Longevity Gene to Increase Lifespan: C. elgans Study
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
Vitamin D Engages Longevity Gene to Increase Lifespan: C. elgans Study
Research in C. elegans shows the popular supplement engages longevity genes to increase lifespan and prevent the accumulation of toxic proteins linked to many age-related diseases.
The research is in Cell Reports. (full open access)
#vitamind #longevity
http://neurosciencenews.com/vitamin-d-geneitcs-longevity-5354
Vitamin D Engages Longevity Gene to Increase Lifespan: C. elgans Study
Research in C. elegans shows the popular supplement engages longevity genes to increase lifespan and prevent the accumulation of toxic proteins linked to many age-related diseases.
The research is in Cell Reports. (full open access)
#vitamind #longevity
http://neurosciencenews.com/vitamin-d-geneitcs-longevity-5354
What is the Purpose of Life? - YouTube
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
What is the Purpose of Life? - YouTube
'Published on Oct 26, 2016
This video is about how life arose and what its main function or purpose in the universe seems to be. Thanks to http://www.audible.com/minutephysics for supporting this video, and to Sean Carroll for collaborating on it!'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTnqKuNygE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTnqKuNygE
What is the Purpose of Life? - YouTube
'Published on Oct 26, 2016
This video is about how life arose and what its main function or purpose in the universe seems to be. Thanks to http://www.audible.com/minutephysics for supporting this video, and to Sean Carroll for collaborating on it!'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTnqKuNygE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTnqKuNygE
Consciousness could be a side effect of 'entropy', say researchers - ScienceAlert
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Consciousness could be a side effect of 'entropy', say researchers - ScienceAlert
'... The quest to understand human consciousness - our ability to be aware of ourselves and our surroundings - has been going on for centuries. Although consciousness is a crucial part of being human, researchers still don't truly understand where it comes from, and why we have it.
But a new study, led by researchers from France and Canada, puts forward a new possibility: what if consciousness arises naturally as a result of our brains maximising their information content? In other words, what if consciousness is a side effect of our brain moving towards a state of entropy?
...'
http://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-could-be-a-result-of-entropy-say-researchers
[1606.00821] Towards a statistical mechanics of consciousness: maximization of number of connections is associated with conscious awareness
'... It has been said that complexity lies between order and disorder. In the case of brain activity, and physiology in general, complexity issues are being considered with increased emphasis. We sought to identify features of brain organization that are optimal for sensory processing, and that may guide the emergence of cognition and consciousness, by analysing neurophysiological recordings in conscious and unconscious states. We find a surprisingly simple result: normal wakeful states are characterised by the greatest number of possible configurations of interactions between brain networks, representing highest entropy values. Therefore, the information content is larger in the network associated to conscious states, suggesting that consciousness could be the result of an optimization of information processing. These findings encapsulate three main current theories of cognition, as discussed in the text, and more specifically the conceptualization of consciousness in terms of brain complexity. We hope our study represents the preliminary attempt at finding organising principles of brain function that will help to guide in a more formal sense inquiry into how consciousness arises from the organization of matter.
...'
https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.00821
http://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-could-be-a-result-of-entropy-say-researchers
Consciousness could be a side effect of 'entropy', say researchers - ScienceAlert
'... The quest to understand human consciousness - our ability to be aware of ourselves and our surroundings - has been going on for centuries. Although consciousness is a crucial part of being human, researchers still don't truly understand where it comes from, and why we have it.
But a new study, led by researchers from France and Canada, puts forward a new possibility: what if consciousness arises naturally as a result of our brains maximising their information content? In other words, what if consciousness is a side effect of our brain moving towards a state of entropy?
...'
http://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-could-be-a-result-of-entropy-say-researchers
[1606.00821] Towards a statistical mechanics of consciousness: maximization of number of connections is associated with conscious awareness
'... It has been said that complexity lies between order and disorder. In the case of brain activity, and physiology in general, complexity issues are being considered with increased emphasis. We sought to identify features of brain organization that are optimal for sensory processing, and that may guide the emergence of cognition and consciousness, by analysing neurophysiological recordings in conscious and unconscious states. We find a surprisingly simple result: normal wakeful states are characterised by the greatest number of possible configurations of interactions between brain networks, representing highest entropy values. Therefore, the information content is larger in the network associated to conscious states, suggesting that consciousness could be the result of an optimization of information processing. These findings encapsulate three main current theories of cognition, as discussed in the text, and more specifically the conceptualization of consciousness in terms of brain complexity. We hope our study represents the preliminary attempt at finding organising principles of brain function that will help to guide in a more formal sense inquiry into how consciousness arises from the organization of matter.
...'
https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.00821
http://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-could-be-a-result-of-entropy-say-researchers
Science Finds That “Forest Bathing” Can Really Make Us Mentally Healthier
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
Science Finds That “Forest Bathing” Can Really Make Us Mentally Healthier
The Effects Of Forest Bathing On Cortisol Levels
One Japanese study, conducted under Institutional Ethical Committee of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute regulations, set out to measure the effects of forest bathing on cortisol levels. Researchers gathered 280 subjects and identified 24 forests for testing. Each experiment involved groups of 12 individuals walking through and viewing either forests or urban areas. Cortisol measurements were taken at the research facility in the mornings before breakfast, before and after walking, and before and after viewing. The test took place over 2 days. On the first day, the group was split between urban and forest settings and on the second day, they switched locations. Results indicated that forest exposure led to lower concentrations of cortisol, the stress hormone, as well as reduced blood pressure and heart rate.
http://www.lifehack.org/485141/science-finds-that-forest-bathing-can-really-make-us-mentally-healthier
Science Finds That “Forest Bathing” Can Really Make Us Mentally Healthier
The Effects Of Forest Bathing On Cortisol Levels
One Japanese study, conducted under Institutional Ethical Committee of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute regulations, set out to measure the effects of forest bathing on cortisol levels. Researchers gathered 280 subjects and identified 24 forests for testing. Each experiment involved groups of 12 individuals walking through and viewing either forests or urban areas. Cortisol measurements were taken at the research facility in the mornings before breakfast, before and after walking, and before and after viewing. The test took place over 2 days. On the first day, the group was split between urban and forest settings and on the second day, they switched locations. Results indicated that forest exposure led to lower concentrations of cortisol, the stress hormone, as well as reduced blood pressure and heart rate.
http://www.lifehack.org/485141/science-finds-that-forest-bathing-can-really-make-us-mentally-healthier
Unknown to most of us, Artificial Intelligence is already playing a huge role in our lives.
Originally shared by Able Lawrence
Unknown to most of us, Artificial Intelligence is already playing a huge role in our lives.
http://www.nature.com/news/there-is-a-blind-spot-in-ai-research-1.20805
Unknown to most of us, Artificial Intelligence is already playing a huge role in our lives.
http://www.nature.com/news/there-is-a-blind-spot-in-ai-research-1.20805
An Uber semi truck, actually an Otto truck but Otto recently got acquired by Uber, just autonomously delivered...
Originally shared by Wayne Radinsky
An Uber semi truck, actually an Otto truck but Otto recently got acquired by Uber, just autonomously delivered 50,000 cans of Budweiser from the brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs.
"Its technology works only on the highway, where it doesn't have to deal with tricky variables like jaywalking pedestrians, four-way stops, or kids on bicycles. It maintains a safe following distance, and changes lanes only when absolutely necessary."
"And unlike Tesla's Autopilot, Otto's system offers true 'Level 4' autonomy. Once the rig hits the interstate, it is entirely capable of the job at hand, letting the human deal with paperwork, thumb her phone, or even catch a few Z's."
"Otto's hardware works on any truck with an automatic transmission, and the retrofit doesn't look like much. Three LIDAR laser detection units dot the cab and trailer, a radar bolts to the bumper, and a high-precision camera sits above the windshield."
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/ubers-self-driving-truck-makes-first-delivery-50000-beers/
An Uber semi truck, actually an Otto truck but Otto recently got acquired by Uber, just autonomously delivered 50,000 cans of Budweiser from the brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, to Colorado Springs.
"Its technology works only on the highway, where it doesn't have to deal with tricky variables like jaywalking pedestrians, four-way stops, or kids on bicycles. It maintains a safe following distance, and changes lanes only when absolutely necessary."
"And unlike Tesla's Autopilot, Otto's system offers true 'Level 4' autonomy. Once the rig hits the interstate, it is entirely capable of the job at hand, letting the human deal with paperwork, thumb her phone, or even catch a few Z's."
"Otto's hardware works on any truck with an automatic transmission, and the retrofit doesn't look like much. Three LIDAR laser detection units dot the cab and trailer, a radar bolts to the bumper, and a high-precision camera sits above the windshield."
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/ubers-self-driving-truck-makes-first-delivery-50000-beers/
Google Acquires Eyefluence, An Eye-Tracking Startup With Major VR/AR Potential
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Google Acquires Eyefluence, An Eye-Tracking Startup With Major VR/AR Potential
'Several months back, UploadVR released a story about a revolutionary company called Eyefluence that was pioneering a new form of human/computer user interface. This new system would allow a user to control a digital device through only the movements of his or her eyes. This tech may seem unnecessary for present day smartphones and personal computers, but as the world of immersive computing continues to barrel towards us it will become infinitely more relevant. Google certainly thinks so as it has just acquired Eyefluence for itself.'
http://uploadvr.com/google-acquires-eye-tracking-startup-eyefluence/
HMD Eye-Interaction for AR and VR Technology | Eyefluence
' ... What if you could rethink human communication? What if you could perceive, peruse, and process information in milliseconds? What if you could accelerate intelligence at the speed of sight? At Eyefluence, we are engineering the ability to transform intent into action through your eyes. Leveraging eye biomechanics and the eye-brain connection with the first-ever eye-interaction technology solution for HMD devices, we are expanding human potential and creating new possibilities in VR, AR, and MR worlds. ... '
http://eyefluence.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn2Jg1Om-48
Google Acquires Eyefluence, An Eye-Tracking Startup With Major VR/AR Potential
'Several months back, UploadVR released a story about a revolutionary company called Eyefluence that was pioneering a new form of human/computer user interface. This new system would allow a user to control a digital device through only the movements of his or her eyes. This tech may seem unnecessary for present day smartphones and personal computers, but as the world of immersive computing continues to barrel towards us it will become infinitely more relevant. Google certainly thinks so as it has just acquired Eyefluence for itself.'
http://uploadvr.com/google-acquires-eye-tracking-startup-eyefluence/
HMD Eye-Interaction for AR and VR Technology | Eyefluence
' ... What if you could rethink human communication? What if you could perceive, peruse, and process information in milliseconds? What if you could accelerate intelligence at the speed of sight? At Eyefluence, we are engineering the ability to transform intent into action through your eyes. Leveraging eye biomechanics and the eye-brain connection with the first-ever eye-interaction technology solution for HMD devices, we are expanding human potential and creating new possibilities in VR, AR, and MR worlds. ... '
http://eyefluence.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn2Jg1Om-48
Researchers and futurists ask what can be done to make sure we can trust artificial intelligence.
Originally shared by Erik Jonker
Researchers and futurists ask what can be done to make sure we can trust artificial intelligence.
Extremely relevant research in my view. How can we make more transparant how AI comes to it's decisions, how can we "trust" it. For me, working in government, this is one of the biggest issues.
http://neurosciencenews.com/artificial-intelligence-developments-5356/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+neuroscience-rss-feeds-neuroscience-news+%28Neuroscience+News+Updates%29
Researchers and futurists ask what can be done to make sure we can trust artificial intelligence.
Extremely relevant research in my view. How can we make more transparant how AI comes to it's decisions, how can we "trust" it. For me, working in government, this is one of the biggest issues.
http://neurosciencenews.com/artificial-intelligence-developments-5356/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+neuroscience-rss-feeds-neuroscience-news+%28Neuroscience+News+Updates%29
Google’s neural networks invent their own encryption
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
Google’s neural networks invent their own encryption
Computers are keeping secrets. A team from Google Brain, Google’s deep learning project, has shown that machines can learn how to protect their messages from prying eyes. Researchers Martín Abadi and David Andersen demonstrate that neural networks, or “neural nets” – computing systems that are loosely based on artificial neurons – can work out how to use a simple encryption technique. In their experiment, computers were able to make their own form of encryption using machine learning, without being taught specific cryptographic algorithms. The encryption was very basic, especially compared to our current human-designed systems. Even so, it is still an interesting step for neural nets, which the authors state “are generally not meant to be great at cryptography”.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2110522-googles-neural-networks-invent-their-own-encryption/
Google’s neural networks invent their own encryption
Computers are keeping secrets. A team from Google Brain, Google’s deep learning project, has shown that machines can learn how to protect their messages from prying eyes. Researchers Martín Abadi and David Andersen demonstrate that neural networks, or “neural nets” – computing systems that are loosely based on artificial neurons – can work out how to use a simple encryption technique. In their experiment, computers were able to make their own form of encryption using machine learning, without being taught specific cryptographic algorithms. The encryption was very basic, especially compared to our current human-designed systems. Even so, it is still an interesting step for neural nets, which the authors state “are generally not meant to be great at cryptography”.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2110522-googles-neural-networks-invent-their-own-encryption/
I hope it stays on the friendly & clean parts of Reddit. Ha!
Originally shared by James Clemens
I hope it stays on the friendly & clean parts of Reddit. Ha!
The nearly two billion Reddit comments will be processed by DGX-1 in months instead of years, as the $129,000 desktop-sized box contains eight NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPUs (graphic processing units), 7 terabytes of SSD storage, and two Xeon processors, apart from the aforementioned 170 teraflops of performance.
http://futurism.com/elon-musks-openai-is-using-reddit-to-teach-an-artificial-intelligence-how-to-speak/
http://futurism.com/elon-musks-openai-is-using-reddit-to-teach-an-artificial-intelligence-how-to-speak
I hope it stays on the friendly & clean parts of Reddit. Ha!
The nearly two billion Reddit comments will be processed by DGX-1 in months instead of years, as the $129,000 desktop-sized box contains eight NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPUs (graphic processing units), 7 terabytes of SSD storage, and two Xeon processors, apart from the aforementioned 170 teraflops of performance.
http://futurism.com/elon-musks-openai-is-using-reddit-to-teach-an-artificial-intelligence-how-to-speak/
http://futurism.com/elon-musks-openai-is-using-reddit-to-teach-an-artificial-intelligence-how-to-speak
Amazon Is Opening Grocery Stores So You Don’t Have to Shop in Them http://bit.ly/2ereKYx
Originally shared by WIRED
Amazon Is Opening Grocery Stores So You Don’t Have to Shop in Them http://bit.ly/2ereKYx
http://bit.ly/2ereKYx
Amazon Is Opening Grocery Stores So You Don’t Have to Shop in Them http://bit.ly/2ereKYx
http://bit.ly/2ereKYx
High-protein diet curbs metabolic benefits of weight loss
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
High-protein diet curbs metabolic benefits of weight loss
Dieters sometimes consume extra protein to stave off hunger and prevent loss of muscle tissue that often comes with weight loss. But in a study of 34 postmenopausal women with obesity, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that eating too much protein eliminates an important health benefit of weight loss: improvement in insulin sensitivity, which is critical to lowering diabetes risk. The findings are available Oct. 11 in the journal Cell Reports. "We found that women who lost weight eating a high-protein diet didn't experience any improvements in insulin sensitivity," said principal investigator Bettina Mittendorfer, PhD, a professor of medicine. "However, women who lost weight while eating less protein were significantly more sensitive to insulin at the conclusion of the study. That's important because in many overweight and obese people, insulin does not effectively control blood-sugar levels, and eventually the result is type 2 diabetes."
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-10-high-protein-diet-curbs-metabolic-benefits.html
High-protein diet curbs metabolic benefits of weight loss
Dieters sometimes consume extra protein to stave off hunger and prevent loss of muscle tissue that often comes with weight loss. But in a study of 34 postmenopausal women with obesity, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that eating too much protein eliminates an important health benefit of weight loss: improvement in insulin sensitivity, which is critical to lowering diabetes risk. The findings are available Oct. 11 in the journal Cell Reports. "We found that women who lost weight eating a high-protein diet didn't experience any improvements in insulin sensitivity," said principal investigator Bettina Mittendorfer, PhD, a professor of medicine. "However, women who lost weight while eating less protein were significantly more sensitive to insulin at the conclusion of the study. That's important because in many overweight and obese people, insulin does not effectively control blood-sugar levels, and eventually the result is type 2 diabetes."
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-10-high-protein-diet-curbs-metabolic-benefits.html
Vortex versus antivortex
Originally shared by John Baez
Vortex versus antivortex
No, I'm not trying to hypnotize you! These animations by Greg Egan show a vortex at left and an antivortex at right - two patterns that frequently occur in a 2-dimensional magnet if the spins are forced to lie in a plane. Kosterlitz and Thouless just won the Nobel prize for their work on such magnets.
The pictures are changing with time, with each little vector rotating at a constant rate - but that's just to show that there are many different possible vortex configurations, and also many different antivortex configurations.
For a better explanation, read my article:
https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/kosterlitz-thouless-transition/
I just wanted to show you these cool animations, which Egan added to the comments. Also check out Simon Willerton's animations and Simon Burton's simulation!
#physics
This robot can sew a T-shirt - Oct. 11, 2016
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
This robot can sew a T-shirt - Oct. 11, 2016
'... Robots are good at handling materials that are rigid and easy to lift, cut and maneuver. It's why they're are widely used in auto manufacturing.
But it's a different story with making clothes. There's some automation in garment manufacturing, but you still won't find robots sewing clothes from start to finish.
Why? Fabric is floppy. "It has no corners and edges. It stretches and snags," said entrepreneur Jonathan Zornow, whose startup Sewbo has found a way around that.
...'
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-manufacturing-sewbo/
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-manufacturing-sewbo/
This robot can sew a T-shirt - Oct. 11, 2016
'... Robots are good at handling materials that are rigid and easy to lift, cut and maneuver. It's why they're are widely used in auto manufacturing.
But it's a different story with making clothes. There's some automation in garment manufacturing, but you still won't find robots sewing clothes from start to finish.
Why? Fabric is floppy. "It has no corners and edges. It stretches and snags," said entrepreneur Jonathan Zornow, whose startup Sewbo has found a way around that.
...'
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-manufacturing-sewbo/
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/technology/robots-garment-manufacturing-sewbo/
So true.
Originally shared by Bio E
So true.
#health #healthtip #organic #organicfood #food #fitness #weightloss #run #yoga #exercise #gym #vegetarian #vegetables #organicfarming #herbalremedy #fruit #motivation #digestion #foodporn #eat #diet #vegan #herbs #gut #guthealth #probiotics #quote #biogenicsmd #gmo #pesticide #environment #farming #processed #junkfood #fastfood #sugar #smoking #environment #nature #eco
Who needs grandkids? This robot dog wants to be the new companion for the elderly. - Recode
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Who needs grandkids? This robot dog wants to be the new companion for the elderly. - Recode
' ... Not even dogs are safe from being displaced by robots. The toy company Hasbro has a new golden retriever robot designed to provide companionship to elderly adults. It’s the second companion robot pet from the company, following a robo-kitten last year. ... '
http://www.recode.net/2016/10/11/13149824/robot-dog-elderly-companion-cat-pets-paro-seal-hasbro
http://www.recode.net/2016/10/11/13149824/robot-dog-elderly-companion-cat-pets-paro-seal-hasbro
Who needs grandkids? This robot dog wants to be the new companion for the elderly. - Recode
' ... Not even dogs are safe from being displaced by robots. The toy company Hasbro has a new golden retriever robot designed to provide companionship to elderly adults. It’s the second companion robot pet from the company, following a robo-kitten last year. ... '
http://www.recode.net/2016/10/11/13149824/robot-dog-elderly-companion-cat-pets-paro-seal-hasbro
http://www.recode.net/2016/10/11/13149824/robot-dog-elderly-companion-cat-pets-paro-seal-hasbro
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 37/2016.
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 37/2016.
Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/09/optical-soliton-waves-microbiome-tissue.html
Sand into soil, Optical soliton waves, Microbiome tissue repair, Stem cell gun, RNA genome regulators, Prion structures, Deep learning speech, Thermal solid superatoms, Sophisticated drones, Synthetic wine.
1. Turning Sand into Soil
A formulation of plant cellulose added to sand helps the mixture retain water, nutrients, and air, with sandy hectares of land in Mongolia treated with the mixture proving successful in trials by growing rice, corn, tomatos, watermelon, and sunflowers http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/china_research/201609/t20160905_167428.shtml. This would be interesting not just for turning deserts into productive agricultural land, but also facilitating the recovery of native vegetation and forests onto desertified land, rejuvenating tired soils and even, at a futuristic stretch, helping to terraform the surfaces of other planets.
2. Optical Soliton Waves
A new optical phenomenon has been observed for the first time in the form of a new type of soliton wave https://www.caltech.edu/news/new-breed-optical-soliton-wave-discovered-52001. I’ve always found solitons fascinating; localised waves that act as particles, holding their shape as they travel instead of dispersing like standard waves. This new phenomena involves soliton waves riding the wake and path of another soliton wave, and the group can design microcavities to guarantee the properties of the solitons that will be produced; applications include optical clocks, navigation and radar systems, magnets, neurobiology, and fiber optic signalling generally.
3. Microbiome Impacts Tissue Repair and Regeneration
Recent work on very simple animal model organisms suggests a link between an organism’s microbiome and its immune system and ability to repair and regenerate its tissues http://www.stowers.org/media/news/aug-29-2016. Different microbial populations in the organism can significantly inhibit or enhance the processes of tissue repair and regeneration, and the immune system plays a key role in this, for example sometimes blocking regeneration if an infection is present. While yet to find similar definitive links in humans potential applications include: new drug candidates for boosting repair and regeneration and avenues to explore the creation of healthier and more beneficial microbiome populations.
4. Gun that Shoots Stem Cells
A SkinGun device developed by RenovaCare uses the company’s CellMist system to spray a patient’s own stem cells onto skin wounds in order to rapidly speed up repair and regeneration of skin in days instead of weeks http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/09/stem-cells-delivered-via-skin-gun-can.html. While it won’t work for third-degree burns and very deep wounds, it is effective against second-degree burns and other infected wounds. I also wonder if such an approach might facilitate a type of skin rejuvenation treatment in future, as well as modified versions able to repair the surfaces of internal structures such as lungs, stomach, intestine, etc.
5. New Genome Regulation from “Junk DNA”
A new type of RNA called long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) that is transcribed from what was thought to be “junk” DNA and which does not produce proteins, has been found to play crucial roles in cellular processes and genomic regulation and gene expression http://news.mit.edu/2016/linking-rna-structure-and-function-cell-fate-0908. In this work the structure of just one type of lncRNA was deciphered, which showed how this RNA structure is crucial to interacting with a specific protein to control the development of heart muscle cells. The work was done in mice, and while human and mouse proteins are usually similar lncRNA sequences are not conserved and the human counterpart in this case has not yet been found. The group hope to build a library of lncRNA structural motifs to push the field forward and help identify targets for disease.
6. Deciphering Prion Structure and Replication
In related structural biology work we have recent advances in understanding prion structure, formation, and replication, and how this new evidence refutes conventional theories of this process http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/p-nds090116.php. In the case of normal protein PrPC that can turn into misfolded infectious prion PrPSc and recruit normal versions to replicate itself, it was shown how these molecules self assemble two intertwined protofilaments that create the fibrils that are typically observed. At a basic level these misfolded proteins comprise repetitive elements of beta-sheet structures - four-rung beta-solenoids - that act as templates for new, unfolded proteins build on. It is hoped this understanding will help quickly understand other prion diseases and the development of therapeutics.
7. Deep Learning for Speech Production
Google’s DeepMind has demonstrated WaveNet, a deep learning system for generating speech that mimics any human voice while sounding more natural than any current speech-to-text system and reducing the gap between human performance by over 50% https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio/. The system can also synthesise music and automatically generate sample piano pieces. All of the examples are well worth a listen, including when the system makes up words and changes the identity for the same text. In related news physicists are exploring why deep neural networks are so effective at solving complex problems and how this is linked to fundamental physics https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602344/the-extraordinary-link-between-deep-neural-networks-and-the-nature-of-the-universe/.
8. Superatoms: Thermal Solids & Precise Clusters
Crystals comprised of superatoms of buckyballs and similar-sized inorganic molecular clusters exhibit variable, controllable thermal conductivity depending on whether the buckyballs are fixed and ordered (high conductivity) or rotationally disordered (low conductivity) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/coec-rds090616.php. Adding magnetic properties to the superatoms might allow thermally switchable materials for example, and a range of complex yet tunable atomically precise structures. In related atomically precise materials news, the largest ever atomically precise silver nanoclusters have been synthesised and characterised, containing precisely 374 atoms in a 3nm core surrounded by a layer of silver atoms bound to thiol molecules http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/aof-rsa090916.php.
9. Interesting Drone Capabilities
First, effective designs for low-power autonomous robotic sailboats are now scouring the oceans collecting data and accessible remotely http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/technology/no-sailors-needed-robot-sailboats-scour-the-oceans-for-data.html?_r=0. Second, software is getting far more sophisticated at allowing swarms of robotic drones to coordinate and adaptively avoid collisions http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/swarms-of-robots-manage-to-not-run-into-each-other. Third, tree-planting drones are being used to speed up reforestation efforts http://newatlas.com/tree-planting-drones-droneseed/45259/. Finally, drones are being fitted with anti-laser lasers to avoid being shot down https://www.newscientist.com/article/2105362-drones-get-first-anti-laser-lasers-to-stop-being-shot-down/.
10. Synthesising Artificial Wine
Ava Winery is a company that appears to be getting very close to creating convincing synthetic artificial wine that can fool any human taster http://www.businessinsider.co.id/ava-winery-says-its-nearly-perfected-wine-in-a-lab-2016-9/. Wine is about 85% water and 13% alcohol plus a range of hundreds of other molecules that provide flavour, aroma, colour and other properties. Earlier this year 80% of people could differentiate between a control glass of wine and a glass of the artificial wine; as of today only 10% of people can and this is set to get smaller. There are many benefits here, aside from using 50x - 100x less water to produce the wine, the possibility of powdered wine mixed with water/ethanol solution, and generally disrupting the wine industry and others.
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Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/09/optical-soliton-waves-microbiome-tissue.html
Sand into soil, Optical soliton waves, Microbiome tissue repair, Stem cell gun, RNA genome regulators, Prion structures, Deep learning speech, Thermal solid superatoms, Sophisticated drones, Synthetic wine.
1. Turning Sand into Soil
A formulation of plant cellulose added to sand helps the mixture retain water, nutrients, and air, with sandy hectares of land in Mongolia treated with the mixture proving successful in trials by growing rice, corn, tomatos, watermelon, and sunflowers http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/china_research/201609/t20160905_167428.shtml. This would be interesting not just for turning deserts into productive agricultural land, but also facilitating the recovery of native vegetation and forests onto desertified land, rejuvenating tired soils and even, at a futuristic stretch, helping to terraform the surfaces of other planets.
2. Optical Soliton Waves
A new optical phenomenon has been observed for the first time in the form of a new type of soliton wave https://www.caltech.edu/news/new-breed-optical-soliton-wave-discovered-52001. I’ve always found solitons fascinating; localised waves that act as particles, holding their shape as they travel instead of dispersing like standard waves. This new phenomena involves soliton waves riding the wake and path of another soliton wave, and the group can design microcavities to guarantee the properties of the solitons that will be produced; applications include optical clocks, navigation and radar systems, magnets, neurobiology, and fiber optic signalling generally.
3. Microbiome Impacts Tissue Repair and Regeneration
Recent work on very simple animal model organisms suggests a link between an organism’s microbiome and its immune system and ability to repair and regenerate its tissues http://www.stowers.org/media/news/aug-29-2016. Different microbial populations in the organism can significantly inhibit or enhance the processes of tissue repair and regeneration, and the immune system plays a key role in this, for example sometimes blocking regeneration if an infection is present. While yet to find similar definitive links in humans potential applications include: new drug candidates for boosting repair and regeneration and avenues to explore the creation of healthier and more beneficial microbiome populations.
4. Gun that Shoots Stem Cells
A SkinGun device developed by RenovaCare uses the company’s CellMist system to spray a patient’s own stem cells onto skin wounds in order to rapidly speed up repair and regeneration of skin in days instead of weeks http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/09/stem-cells-delivered-via-skin-gun-can.html. While it won’t work for third-degree burns and very deep wounds, it is effective against second-degree burns and other infected wounds. I also wonder if such an approach might facilitate a type of skin rejuvenation treatment in future, as well as modified versions able to repair the surfaces of internal structures such as lungs, stomach, intestine, etc.
5. New Genome Regulation from “Junk DNA”
A new type of RNA called long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) that is transcribed from what was thought to be “junk” DNA and which does not produce proteins, has been found to play crucial roles in cellular processes and genomic regulation and gene expression http://news.mit.edu/2016/linking-rna-structure-and-function-cell-fate-0908. In this work the structure of just one type of lncRNA was deciphered, which showed how this RNA structure is crucial to interacting with a specific protein to control the development of heart muscle cells. The work was done in mice, and while human and mouse proteins are usually similar lncRNA sequences are not conserved and the human counterpart in this case has not yet been found. The group hope to build a library of lncRNA structural motifs to push the field forward and help identify targets for disease.
6. Deciphering Prion Structure and Replication
In related structural biology work we have recent advances in understanding prion structure, formation, and replication, and how this new evidence refutes conventional theories of this process http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/p-nds090116.php. In the case of normal protein PrPC that can turn into misfolded infectious prion PrPSc and recruit normal versions to replicate itself, it was shown how these molecules self assemble two intertwined protofilaments that create the fibrils that are typically observed. At a basic level these misfolded proteins comprise repetitive elements of beta-sheet structures - four-rung beta-solenoids - that act as templates for new, unfolded proteins build on. It is hoped this understanding will help quickly understand other prion diseases and the development of therapeutics.
7. Deep Learning for Speech Production
Google’s DeepMind has demonstrated WaveNet, a deep learning system for generating speech that mimics any human voice while sounding more natural than any current speech-to-text system and reducing the gap between human performance by over 50% https://deepmind.com/blog/wavenet-generative-model-raw-audio/. The system can also synthesise music and automatically generate sample piano pieces. All of the examples are well worth a listen, including when the system makes up words and changes the identity for the same text. In related news physicists are exploring why deep neural networks are so effective at solving complex problems and how this is linked to fundamental physics https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602344/the-extraordinary-link-between-deep-neural-networks-and-the-nature-of-the-universe/.
8. Superatoms: Thermal Solids & Precise Clusters
Crystals comprised of superatoms of buckyballs and similar-sized inorganic molecular clusters exhibit variable, controllable thermal conductivity depending on whether the buckyballs are fixed and ordered (high conductivity) or rotationally disordered (low conductivity) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/coec-rds090616.php. Adding magnetic properties to the superatoms might allow thermally switchable materials for example, and a range of complex yet tunable atomically precise structures. In related atomically precise materials news, the largest ever atomically precise silver nanoclusters have been synthesised and characterised, containing precisely 374 atoms in a 3nm core surrounded by a layer of silver atoms bound to thiol molecules http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-09/aof-rsa090916.php.
9. Interesting Drone Capabilities
First, effective designs for low-power autonomous robotic sailboats are now scouring the oceans collecting data and accessible remotely http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/technology/no-sailors-needed-robot-sailboats-scour-the-oceans-for-data.html?_r=0. Second, software is getting far more sophisticated at allowing swarms of robotic drones to coordinate and adaptively avoid collisions http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/swarms-of-robots-manage-to-not-run-into-each-other. Third, tree-planting drones are being used to speed up reforestation efforts http://newatlas.com/tree-planting-drones-droneseed/45259/. Finally, drones are being fitted with anti-laser lasers to avoid being shot down https://www.newscientist.com/article/2105362-drones-get-first-anti-laser-lasers-to-stop-being-shot-down/.
10. Synthesising Artificial Wine
Ava Winery is a company that appears to be getting very close to creating convincing synthetic artificial wine that can fool any human taster http://www.businessinsider.co.id/ava-winery-says-its-nearly-perfected-wine-in-a-lab-2016-9/. Wine is about 85% water and 13% alcohol plus a range of hundreds of other molecules that provide flavour, aroma, colour and other properties. Earlier this year 80% of people could differentiate between a control glass of wine and a glass of the artificial wine; as of today only 10% of people can and this is set to get smaller. There are many benefits here, aside from using 50x - 100x less water to produce the wine, the possibility of powdered wine mixed with water/ethanol solution, and generally disrupting the wine industry and others.
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SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 39/2016.
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 39/2016.
Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/09/fixing-dna-damage-modular-synbio.html
Fixing DNA damage, Modular synbio pellets, Towards head transplant, Custom acoustic holograms, Advanced drone systems, Wireless emotion detection, Atomically precise molecular syntheses, Metastasis gene therapy, Wireless MEMS, Sewing robot.
1. Compensating for DNA Damage
New work by the SENS Research Foundation has successfully achieved stable allotropic expression (in the nucleus), import (into mitochondria), and assembly into functional protein complexes able to rescue the cell and metabolism from mutations in the mitochondrial copies of these genes http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/09/04/nar.gkw756.full. With some additional work and tricks the group hope the demonstration will allow all 13 mitochondrial genes to be moved to the nucleus and so solve one of the seven causes of aging damage, which will be important for things like sarcopenia https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/09/mitochondria-in-muscle-aging-and-sarcopenia/. In related work human cells engineered to contain a copy of the Dsup gene from tardigrades suffered 50% fewer DNA mutations as a result of prolonged exposure to X-rays http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/utokyo-research/research-news/demystifying-the-resilience-of-water-bears.html; the group hope to discover related protective genes that grant tardigrades their resilience and the possibility is open to gene therapies to reduce DNA mutation rates in humans.
2. Modular DNA Expression Pellets
You can now produce bulk freeze-dried pellets containing the key cellular components needed for translating DNA to proteins - all of the enzymes, ribosomes, tRNA, etc that you need to do this basic protein production process http://news.mit.edu/2016/to-produce-biopharmaceuticals-on-demand-just-add-water-0922. The idea is that you’d have a supply of these pellets (room temp shelf-life > 1 year) and when you needed to conduct a test or produce a protein you’d synthesise your gene or DNA of interest and add it to a pellet in some water. Such cell-free synthesis is an exciting technology, another tiny step towards atomically-precise synthesis, and something that would be immediately useful for remote or at-home applications above and beyond those demonstrated: protein vaccines, antimicrobial peptides, multi-enzyme production for metabolic pathway to create a complex organic drug molecule, antibodies for diagnostics, etc.
3. Towards Human Head Transplant
Recent previous work in mice and recent work in dogs a modified solution of polyethylene glycol has been used to at least partially restore the neural connections in animals whose spines have been almost completely severed https://www.newscientist.com/article/2106382-head-transplant-teams-new-animal-tests-fail-to-convince-critics/. In the recent dog experiment the dog apparently regained the ability to walk after about three weeks. Surgeon Sergio Canavero plans to use these result to press forward with the first ever human head transplant next year, using the technique to help reconnect the severed spine of the patient’s head with the donor body. Others demand that at the lack of detailed histology data of the supposedly repaired spinal interface damages the case for proceeding in humans.
4. Custom Acoustic Holograms
Three dimensional acoustic holograms take a big step forward with a new system that uses a single powerful ultrasound transducer onto which is placed a 3D printed block that has been precisely patterned to form an acoustic hologram; ultrasound passing through the block is forced into the desired custom waveform, to levitate objects for example http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/3d-printed-plastic-blocks-generate-complex-acoustic-holograms. Such a device produces an acoustic hologram with a resolution 100 times greater than previously possible with separate transducer systems. While working in air or water it can’t produce a dynamically changing waveform to move objects, although movement along fixed paths is possible. One possible way around this is to encode multiple sound fields at different frequencies to add some dynamic options.
5. Delivery, Security, Navy, Surveillance Drones
First, a cool new long range delivery drone combines a biplane design with VTOL and fixed-wing capabilities to get the best of both worlds http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/tu-delft-tailsitter. Second, Aptonomy is launching a large security drone to monitor protected areas and intercept tresspassers https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602412/drone-security-guard-scolds-intruders-from-the-sky/. Third, the Navy’s Blackwing drone platform is designed to be launched by submarine to provide wide-area surveillance and control of other drone and communications assets https://www.avinc.com/resources/view/press-releases/united-states-navy-demonstrates-cross-domain-communications-command-and-con. Finally, DARPA’s Aerial Dragnet system is being designed to provide persistent wide-area surveillance of areas such as cities via networked drone swarms http://www.kurzweilai.net/darpas-plan-for-total-surveillance-of-low-flying-drones-over-cities.
6. Detecting Emotions with Wireless Signals
EQ-Radio is a system that uses wireless signals and reflections to measure subtle changes in a person’s breathing and heart rhythms in order to determine their emotional state http://news.mit.edu/2016/detecting-emotions-with-wireless-signals-0920. In recent tests the system was able to correctly predict whether the person was excited, happy, angry, or sad 87% of the time. Capturing human emotional states in such a way, particularly when not visibly obvious, would have uses in a wide range of different areas including security monitoring crowded events, entertainment, health care, consumer preferences, etc. The system measures heartbeats as accurately as an ECG monitor with an error margin of 0.3%.
7. Atomically Precise Molecular Chains
The size of alternative atomically precise materials that can be synthesised keeps getting larger with this recent creation of atomically precise gold nanoparticles enshrouded with a functional molecular shell and linked via a precise molecular bridge https://www.jyu.fi/en/news/archive/2016/09/tiedote-2016-09-22-15-15-43-527149. Progressively building up such units would allow the creation of ever-larger precise crystalline materials with novel electrochemical properties given that the electron clouds of the metal cores become coupled. There are also efforts to build more sophisticated catalysts by precisely combining palladium with ruthenium in different mixed or shelled structures http://phys.org/news/2016-09-combining-elements-palladium-ruthenium-industry.html.
8. Gene Therapy Stops Cancer Metastasis
A gene therapy technique involving the delivery of microRNAs of a specific sequence into cancer cells is successful in preventing those cancer cells from undergoing metastatic spread through the body http://news.mit.edu/2016/gene-therapy-technique-prevent-cancer-metastasis-0919. These microRNAs specifically regulate and block the expression of the Palladin protein that helps drive metastasis, and was delivered in this case from microRNAs embedded in nanoparticles that were loaded into a hydrogel scaffold that was subsequently implanted into the mice. Such a tool is a viable approach to cancer treatment in combination with other cancer-killing approaches. In related gene editing news, Synthego launches a CRISPR kit for labs and DIYers to make CRISPR editing easier http://synbiobeta.com/news/synthego-announces-first-kind-crispr-kit/.
9. Wireless MEMS
A microelectromechanical device has been built that can be turned on and off with a nanowatt of power from three feet away, with the concept being to use the nanoresonator itself as the antenna for the device http://www.bu.edu/research/articles/wireless-microelectromechanical-systems/. The device achieved an efficiency of 15% and the group believes it might find application in optogenetics to provide a route for wireless power and communications to devices implanted in and interfaced to the brain. But such wireless MEMS could be used everywhere: for example a modified router might monitor wireless MEMS sensors placed on movable objects all over the house.
10. A Sewing Robot
Sewbo has launched a robot to automate garment sewing, such as the sewing that typically takes place en masse in sweatshops https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602423/a-robot-that-sews-could-take-the-sweat-out-of-sweatshops/. It doesn’t have the versatile flexibility of human sewing of course, and the key innovation is a method to temporarily hold the garment fabric in solid sheet form (it uses off-the-shelf sewing machines and robotic arms) that can be more easily picked up and guided by automated systems, but which when plunged into warm water removes the polymer to return it back to the soft flexible garment for sale and use. This gets us towards fully automated garment production.
SciTech Tip Jar: http://www.scitechdigest.net/p/donate.html
Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/09/fixing-dna-damage-modular-synbio.html
Fixing DNA damage, Modular synbio pellets, Towards head transplant, Custom acoustic holograms, Advanced drone systems, Wireless emotion detection, Atomically precise molecular syntheses, Metastasis gene therapy, Wireless MEMS, Sewing robot.
1. Compensating for DNA Damage
New work by the SENS Research Foundation has successfully achieved stable allotropic expression (in the nucleus), import (into mitochondria), and assembly into functional protein complexes able to rescue the cell and metabolism from mutations in the mitochondrial copies of these genes http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/09/04/nar.gkw756.full. With some additional work and tricks the group hope the demonstration will allow all 13 mitochondrial genes to be moved to the nucleus and so solve one of the seven causes of aging damage, which will be important for things like sarcopenia https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/09/mitochondria-in-muscle-aging-and-sarcopenia/. In related work human cells engineered to contain a copy of the Dsup gene from tardigrades suffered 50% fewer DNA mutations as a result of prolonged exposure to X-rays http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/utokyo-research/research-news/demystifying-the-resilience-of-water-bears.html; the group hope to discover related protective genes that grant tardigrades their resilience and the possibility is open to gene therapies to reduce DNA mutation rates in humans.
2. Modular DNA Expression Pellets
You can now produce bulk freeze-dried pellets containing the key cellular components needed for translating DNA to proteins - all of the enzymes, ribosomes, tRNA, etc that you need to do this basic protein production process http://news.mit.edu/2016/to-produce-biopharmaceuticals-on-demand-just-add-water-0922. The idea is that you’d have a supply of these pellets (room temp shelf-life > 1 year) and when you needed to conduct a test or produce a protein you’d synthesise your gene or DNA of interest and add it to a pellet in some water. Such cell-free synthesis is an exciting technology, another tiny step towards atomically-precise synthesis, and something that would be immediately useful for remote or at-home applications above and beyond those demonstrated: protein vaccines, antimicrobial peptides, multi-enzyme production for metabolic pathway to create a complex organic drug molecule, antibodies for diagnostics, etc.
3. Towards Human Head Transplant
Recent previous work in mice and recent work in dogs a modified solution of polyethylene glycol has been used to at least partially restore the neural connections in animals whose spines have been almost completely severed https://www.newscientist.com/article/2106382-head-transplant-teams-new-animal-tests-fail-to-convince-critics/. In the recent dog experiment the dog apparently regained the ability to walk after about three weeks. Surgeon Sergio Canavero plans to use these result to press forward with the first ever human head transplant next year, using the technique to help reconnect the severed spine of the patient’s head with the donor body. Others demand that at the lack of detailed histology data of the supposedly repaired spinal interface damages the case for proceeding in humans.
4. Custom Acoustic Holograms
Three dimensional acoustic holograms take a big step forward with a new system that uses a single powerful ultrasound transducer onto which is placed a 3D printed block that has been precisely patterned to form an acoustic hologram; ultrasound passing through the block is forced into the desired custom waveform, to levitate objects for example http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/3d-printed-plastic-blocks-generate-complex-acoustic-holograms. Such a device produces an acoustic hologram with a resolution 100 times greater than previously possible with separate transducer systems. While working in air or water it can’t produce a dynamically changing waveform to move objects, although movement along fixed paths is possible. One possible way around this is to encode multiple sound fields at different frequencies to add some dynamic options.
5. Delivery, Security, Navy, Surveillance Drones
First, a cool new long range delivery drone combines a biplane design with VTOL and fixed-wing capabilities to get the best of both worlds http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/tu-delft-tailsitter. Second, Aptonomy is launching a large security drone to monitor protected areas and intercept tresspassers https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602412/drone-security-guard-scolds-intruders-from-the-sky/. Third, the Navy’s Blackwing drone platform is designed to be launched by submarine to provide wide-area surveillance and control of other drone and communications assets https://www.avinc.com/resources/view/press-releases/united-states-navy-demonstrates-cross-domain-communications-command-and-con. Finally, DARPA’s Aerial Dragnet system is being designed to provide persistent wide-area surveillance of areas such as cities via networked drone swarms http://www.kurzweilai.net/darpas-plan-for-total-surveillance-of-low-flying-drones-over-cities.
6. Detecting Emotions with Wireless Signals
EQ-Radio is a system that uses wireless signals and reflections to measure subtle changes in a person’s breathing and heart rhythms in order to determine their emotional state http://news.mit.edu/2016/detecting-emotions-with-wireless-signals-0920. In recent tests the system was able to correctly predict whether the person was excited, happy, angry, or sad 87% of the time. Capturing human emotional states in such a way, particularly when not visibly obvious, would have uses in a wide range of different areas including security monitoring crowded events, entertainment, health care, consumer preferences, etc. The system measures heartbeats as accurately as an ECG monitor with an error margin of 0.3%.
7. Atomically Precise Molecular Chains
The size of alternative atomically precise materials that can be synthesised keeps getting larger with this recent creation of atomically precise gold nanoparticles enshrouded with a functional molecular shell and linked via a precise molecular bridge https://www.jyu.fi/en/news/archive/2016/09/tiedote-2016-09-22-15-15-43-527149. Progressively building up such units would allow the creation of ever-larger precise crystalline materials with novel electrochemical properties given that the electron clouds of the metal cores become coupled. There are also efforts to build more sophisticated catalysts by precisely combining palladium with ruthenium in different mixed or shelled structures http://phys.org/news/2016-09-combining-elements-palladium-ruthenium-industry.html.
8. Gene Therapy Stops Cancer Metastasis
A gene therapy technique involving the delivery of microRNAs of a specific sequence into cancer cells is successful in preventing those cancer cells from undergoing metastatic spread through the body http://news.mit.edu/2016/gene-therapy-technique-prevent-cancer-metastasis-0919. These microRNAs specifically regulate and block the expression of the Palladin protein that helps drive metastasis, and was delivered in this case from microRNAs embedded in nanoparticles that were loaded into a hydrogel scaffold that was subsequently implanted into the mice. Such a tool is a viable approach to cancer treatment in combination with other cancer-killing approaches. In related gene editing news, Synthego launches a CRISPR kit for labs and DIYers to make CRISPR editing easier http://synbiobeta.com/news/synthego-announces-first-kind-crispr-kit/.
9. Wireless MEMS
A microelectromechanical device has been built that can be turned on and off with a nanowatt of power from three feet away, with the concept being to use the nanoresonator itself as the antenna for the device http://www.bu.edu/research/articles/wireless-microelectromechanical-systems/. The device achieved an efficiency of 15% and the group believes it might find application in optogenetics to provide a route for wireless power and communications to devices implanted in and interfaced to the brain. But such wireless MEMS could be used everywhere: for example a modified router might monitor wireless MEMS sensors placed on movable objects all over the house.
10. A Sewing Robot
Sewbo has launched a robot to automate garment sewing, such as the sewing that typically takes place en masse in sweatshops https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602423/a-robot-that-sews-could-take-the-sweat-out-of-sweatshops/. It doesn’t have the versatile flexibility of human sewing of course, and the key innovation is a method to temporarily hold the garment fabric in solid sheet form (it uses off-the-shelf sewing machines and robotic arms) that can be more easily picked up and guided by automated systems, but which when plunged into warm water removes the polymer to return it back to the soft flexible garment for sale and use. This gets us towards fully automated garment production.
SciTech Tip Jar: http://www.scitechdigest.net/p/donate.html
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 41/2016.
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 41/2016.
Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/10/time-crystals-robot-skill-acquisition.html
Time crystals, Robot skill acquisition, Heat shock proteins, Nanometer transistor, Advanced cell modelling, Quantum programming game, Bacteria influence brain, Cow-human hybrid vaccines, Graphene electrons refract, Diamond nanothread polymers.
1. Creating Time Crystals
A theoretical prediction from 2012 has been reduced to practise with the creation of the first time crystals from a chain of ytterbium atoms https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602541/physicists-create-worlds-first-time-crystal/. To think about time crystals, consider normal crystals as lowest energy state materials whose structure oscillates periodically in space. Likewise time crystals are lowest energy state materials whose structure oscillates periodically in time. The phenomenon exploits Anderson Localisation (worth reading up on), whose self-interference causes the atoms to appear localised in a single location. Finally, flipping the spins of the atoms established a periodic oscillation of spins along the chain, the period of which was double that of the original driving force, the only explanation of which was broken time symmetry caused by a time crystal.
2. Faster Robot Skill Acquisition
Google has a system that combines cloud robotics and deep learning platforms to facilitate general purpose skill learning across multiple robots http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/google-wants-robots-to-acquire-new-skills-by-learning-from-each-other. In tests the ability to communicate and exchange experiences allowed the robots to learn more quickly and effectively. One of the additional strengths of this system is that the learning process benefits from a greater diversity of experiences as a result of different robots performing tasks in slightly different environments.
3. Benefits of Exogenous Heat Shock Protein
Heat shock proteins help to ensure correct protein function in the cell but typically decline with age and in neurons reduced activity can contribute to neurodegenerative disorders. Recent work in mice demonstrated intranasal delivery of heat shock protein enhanced mean and maximum lifespan, improved learning and memory, and facilitated improvements to locomotion and curiosity https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/10/heat-shock-protein-delivered-as-a-therapy-slows-aging-in-mice/. When delivered from middle-age maximum lifespan improved by 17%. This could be a fairly low-hanging piece of fruit therapeutically or enhancement-wise. Same with getting a hold of myostatin antibodies to boost your muscle mass by 20% https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/10/how-to-go-about-using-myostatin-antibodies-to-grow-muscle-today/.
4. Nanometer Transistor
Researchers have gone beyond the 5nm threshold for silicon transistors to create a functional 1nm transistor out of a carbon nanotube and molybdenum disulfide http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/10/06/smallest-transistor-1-nm-gate/. The structure utilises a single carbon nanotube as the gate, while a single sheet of molybdenum disulfide is the semiconductor, whose properties compared to silicon of lower dielectric constant and heavier effective electron mass facilitate scaling beyond what silicon is capable of. The latest gallium nitride technologies are also helping to take electronics far beyond what silicon is capable of http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/10/gallium-nitride-devices-can-reduce.html.
5. Advanced Cell Modelling
Biomolecular modelling and computational structural biology are approaching the level at which groups are starting to plan and create full realistic simulations of entire cells including all molecular structures and interactions http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/biotech/newsid=44719.php. Not only does such an effort help improve and shed light on a better fundamental understanding of the cell, but it will also improve the design and development of drugs and other therapeutic interventions. Due to the enormous complexity of such simulations the groups pursuing this are starting with the simplest possible prokaryotic cells.
6. Quantum Programming with Puzzles
MeQuanics is an online computer game that you can play to help, in a small way, to program future quantum computers https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602590/how-quantum-programing-turned-into-a-3-d-puzzle-game/. You do this by determining optimised qubit topologies that will form part of a large data set of optimised examples that comprise the very first training set for developing machine learning algorithms able to outperform humans in programming quantum computers. The basis is that a quantum program is basically a pattern of qubits in a lattice, and patterns that are topologically identical constitute the same quantum program, by optimising large qubit patterns to smaller but topologically identical patterns, smaller and thus more readily available quantum computers can be used to run that program.
7. Gut Bacteria Link to the Brain
This recent study tentatively links certain types of gut bacteria to neurodegeneration in the brain and proposes a theory for hos this might take place https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/10/theorizing-on-the-contribution-of-gut-bacteria-to-neurodegeneration/. Some bacteria produce a type of amyloid protein that is structurally similar to the amyloid protein found in human brains suffering Alzheimer’s disease, and there is a theory that these bacterial proteins can cause brain proteins to misfold via a process of cross-seeding. In studies on rats, those given gut bacteria that produce these proteins showed increased levels of amyloid-like protein in the intestine and brain, increased amyloid protein aggregates in the brain, and enhanced brain inflammation. It’d be good to find a naturally occurring model and intervene in the gut to stop or reverse the effect.
8. Vaccines from Cow-Human Hybrids
Cows genetically engineered to replace all of the genes that code for immune system antibody production with their human counterparts can quickly produce large amounts of human antibodies towards infectious disease pathogens https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602530/cows-engineered-with-human-genes-could-stop-our-next-disease-outbreak/. These human encoded antibodies can then be harvested from the animals by obtaining blood plasma and isolating the antibodies to produce a therapeutic drug for humans with the whole process taking two and a half months. I wonder if these process can produce the myostatin antibodies mentioned in #3 above? Each cow can produce up to 1,000 human doses of antibodies per month.
9. Optical Refraction of Graphene Electrons
Theoretical predications from 2007 have been experimentally verified by showing electrons travelling in graphene behave like light and can be made to exhibit negative refraction at conductor interfaces http://engineering.columbia.edu/news/james-hone-electrons-graphene. The electron density of a material plays a similar role to an optical index of refraction, and in this experiment as electrons passed a p-n semiconductor junction in graphene, an interface of high & low electron density, they exhibited negative refraction. Interesting applications like Veselago lenses might be possible with this. In related news, partnering graphene with boron nitride should produce a terahertz oscillator http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/materials/longtheorized-material-closes-the-terahertz-gap.
10. Diamond Nanothread Polymers
One dimensional diamond nanothreads were invented last year; long, one dimensional carbon molecules with diamond bond structures that are incredibly strong yet very brittle. New research introduces deliberate defects into these diamond nanothreads with hydrogen atoms that results in kinks in the chain forming at those positions and the threads becoming more flexible as a result https://www.qut.edu.au/science-engineering/about/news/news?news-id=110322. Changing the spacing of the defects allows the group to tune the flexibility as well as the thermal conductivity, binding sites for polymers, and other tensile properties. Scale up is an obvious issue but potential applications include incredibly strong composites and polymers and even a better candidate material for a space elevator.
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Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/10/time-crystals-robot-skill-acquisition.html
Time crystals, Robot skill acquisition, Heat shock proteins, Nanometer transistor, Advanced cell modelling, Quantum programming game, Bacteria influence brain, Cow-human hybrid vaccines, Graphene electrons refract, Diamond nanothread polymers.
1. Creating Time Crystals
A theoretical prediction from 2012 has been reduced to practise with the creation of the first time crystals from a chain of ytterbium atoms https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602541/physicists-create-worlds-first-time-crystal/. To think about time crystals, consider normal crystals as lowest energy state materials whose structure oscillates periodically in space. Likewise time crystals are lowest energy state materials whose structure oscillates periodically in time. The phenomenon exploits Anderson Localisation (worth reading up on), whose self-interference causes the atoms to appear localised in a single location. Finally, flipping the spins of the atoms established a periodic oscillation of spins along the chain, the period of which was double that of the original driving force, the only explanation of which was broken time symmetry caused by a time crystal.
2. Faster Robot Skill Acquisition
Google has a system that combines cloud robotics and deep learning platforms to facilitate general purpose skill learning across multiple robots http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/google-wants-robots-to-acquire-new-skills-by-learning-from-each-other. In tests the ability to communicate and exchange experiences allowed the robots to learn more quickly and effectively. One of the additional strengths of this system is that the learning process benefits from a greater diversity of experiences as a result of different robots performing tasks in slightly different environments.
3. Benefits of Exogenous Heat Shock Protein
Heat shock proteins help to ensure correct protein function in the cell but typically decline with age and in neurons reduced activity can contribute to neurodegenerative disorders. Recent work in mice demonstrated intranasal delivery of heat shock protein enhanced mean and maximum lifespan, improved learning and memory, and facilitated improvements to locomotion and curiosity https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/10/heat-shock-protein-delivered-as-a-therapy-slows-aging-in-mice/. When delivered from middle-age maximum lifespan improved by 17%. This could be a fairly low-hanging piece of fruit therapeutically or enhancement-wise. Same with getting a hold of myostatin antibodies to boost your muscle mass by 20% https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/10/how-to-go-about-using-myostatin-antibodies-to-grow-muscle-today/.
4. Nanometer Transistor
Researchers have gone beyond the 5nm threshold for silicon transistors to create a functional 1nm transistor out of a carbon nanotube and molybdenum disulfide http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/10/06/smallest-transistor-1-nm-gate/. The structure utilises a single carbon nanotube as the gate, while a single sheet of molybdenum disulfide is the semiconductor, whose properties compared to silicon of lower dielectric constant and heavier effective electron mass facilitate scaling beyond what silicon is capable of. The latest gallium nitride technologies are also helping to take electronics far beyond what silicon is capable of http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/10/gallium-nitride-devices-can-reduce.html.
5. Advanced Cell Modelling
Biomolecular modelling and computational structural biology are approaching the level at which groups are starting to plan and create full realistic simulations of entire cells including all molecular structures and interactions http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/biotech/newsid=44719.php. Not only does such an effort help improve and shed light on a better fundamental understanding of the cell, but it will also improve the design and development of drugs and other therapeutic interventions. Due to the enormous complexity of such simulations the groups pursuing this are starting with the simplest possible prokaryotic cells.
6. Quantum Programming with Puzzles
MeQuanics is an online computer game that you can play to help, in a small way, to program future quantum computers https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602590/how-quantum-programing-turned-into-a-3-d-puzzle-game/. You do this by determining optimised qubit topologies that will form part of a large data set of optimised examples that comprise the very first training set for developing machine learning algorithms able to outperform humans in programming quantum computers. The basis is that a quantum program is basically a pattern of qubits in a lattice, and patterns that are topologically identical constitute the same quantum program, by optimising large qubit patterns to smaller but topologically identical patterns, smaller and thus more readily available quantum computers can be used to run that program.
7. Gut Bacteria Link to the Brain
This recent study tentatively links certain types of gut bacteria to neurodegeneration in the brain and proposes a theory for hos this might take place https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2016/10/theorizing-on-the-contribution-of-gut-bacteria-to-neurodegeneration/. Some bacteria produce a type of amyloid protein that is structurally similar to the amyloid protein found in human brains suffering Alzheimer’s disease, and there is a theory that these bacterial proteins can cause brain proteins to misfold via a process of cross-seeding. In studies on rats, those given gut bacteria that produce these proteins showed increased levels of amyloid-like protein in the intestine and brain, increased amyloid protein aggregates in the brain, and enhanced brain inflammation. It’d be good to find a naturally occurring model and intervene in the gut to stop or reverse the effect.
8. Vaccines from Cow-Human Hybrids
Cows genetically engineered to replace all of the genes that code for immune system antibody production with their human counterparts can quickly produce large amounts of human antibodies towards infectious disease pathogens https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602530/cows-engineered-with-human-genes-could-stop-our-next-disease-outbreak/. These human encoded antibodies can then be harvested from the animals by obtaining blood plasma and isolating the antibodies to produce a therapeutic drug for humans with the whole process taking two and a half months. I wonder if these process can produce the myostatin antibodies mentioned in #3 above? Each cow can produce up to 1,000 human doses of antibodies per month.
9. Optical Refraction of Graphene Electrons
Theoretical predications from 2007 have been experimentally verified by showing electrons travelling in graphene behave like light and can be made to exhibit negative refraction at conductor interfaces http://engineering.columbia.edu/news/james-hone-electrons-graphene. The electron density of a material plays a similar role to an optical index of refraction, and in this experiment as electrons passed a p-n semiconductor junction in graphene, an interface of high & low electron density, they exhibited negative refraction. Interesting applications like Veselago lenses might be possible with this. In related news, partnering graphene with boron nitride should produce a terahertz oscillator http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/materials/longtheorized-material-closes-the-terahertz-gap.
10. Diamond Nanothread Polymers
One dimensional diamond nanothreads were invented last year; long, one dimensional carbon molecules with diamond bond structures that are incredibly strong yet very brittle. New research introduces deliberate defects into these diamond nanothreads with hydrogen atoms that results in kinks in the chain forming at those positions and the threads becoming more flexible as a result https://www.qut.edu.au/science-engineering/about/news/news?news-id=110322. Changing the spacing of the defects allows the group to tune the flexibility as well as the thermal conductivity, binding sites for polymers, and other tensile properties. Scale up is an obvious issue but potential applications include incredibly strong composites and polymers and even a better candidate material for a space elevator.
SciTech Tip Jar: http://www.scitechdigest.net/p/donate.html
Looks wonderful, but I heard it can create debris that pollute the soil.. wonder if it's true with this material.
Looks wonderful, but I heard it can create debris that pollute the soil.. wonder if it's true with this material.
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Solar-Powered, Glow in the Dark Bike Lanes are Being Tested in Poland «TwistedSifter
'Solar-powered, glow in the dark bike lanes are currently being tested near Lidzbark Warminski in the north of Poland. When fully charged, the synthetic material can provide up to 10 hours of light according to the material’s creators, TPA Instytut Badań Technicznych Sp. z o.o.'
http://twistedsifter.com/2016/10/glow-in-the-dark-bike-lanes-poland/
http://twistedsifter.com/2016/10/glow-in-the-dark-bike-lanes-poland/
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Solar-Powered, Glow in the Dark Bike Lanes are Being Tested in Poland «TwistedSifter
'Solar-powered, glow in the dark bike lanes are currently being tested near Lidzbark Warminski in the north of Poland. When fully charged, the synthetic material can provide up to 10 hours of light according to the material’s creators, TPA Instytut Badań Technicznych Sp. z o.o.'
http://twistedsifter.com/2016/10/glow-in-the-dark-bike-lanes-poland/
http://twistedsifter.com/2016/10/glow-in-the-dark-bike-lanes-poland/
Running Triggers Production of a Molecule That Repairs the Brain: Mouse Study
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
Running Triggers Production of a Molecule That Repairs the Brain: Mouse Study
Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have discovered that a molecule triggered by running can help repair certain kinds of brain damage in animal models. They found that this molecule, called VGF nerve growth factor, helps to heal the protective coating that surrounds and insulates nerve fibres.
The research is in Cell Reports. (full open access)
http://neurosciencenews.com/running-genetics-vgf-nerve-growth-5264
Running Triggers Production of a Molecule That Repairs the Brain: Mouse Study
Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have discovered that a molecule triggered by running can help repair certain kinds of brain damage in animal models. They found that this molecule, called VGF nerve growth factor, helps to heal the protective coating that surrounds and insulates nerve fibres.
The research is in Cell Reports. (full open access)
http://neurosciencenews.com/running-genetics-vgf-nerve-growth-5264
Could Mental Math Boost Emotional Health?
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
Could Mental Math Boost Emotional Health?
New study could inform brain training for better mental health.
The research is in Clinical Psychological Science. (full access paywall)
#math #emotion #neuroscience
http://neurosciencenews.com/emotional-health-mental-math-5266
Could Mental Math Boost Emotional Health?
New study could inform brain training for better mental health.
The research is in Clinical Psychological Science. (full access paywall)
#math #emotion #neuroscience
http://neurosciencenews.com/emotional-health-mental-math-5266
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram surveillance tool was used to arrest Baltimore protestors
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram surveillance tool was used to arrest Baltimore protestors
For years, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have provided data to a company marketing social media surveillance tools to police, according to a newly published investigation by the ACLU of Northern California. Geofeedia used the company’s APIs to create real-time maps of social media activity in protest areas, maps which were subsequently used to identify, and in some cases arrest, protestors shortly after their posts became public. All three services have terminated Geofeedia’s access to the relevant APIs. The ACLU’s report includes direct evidence the tool was used to monitor unrest after the Freddie Gray verdict in Baltimore, in the form of a testimonial provided by Geofeedia to an unnamed police department. As protests escalated, police and Geofeedia representatives monitored social media posts in real time, in some cases running photos through a facial recognition systems to locate protestors with outstanding warrants.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/11/13243890/facebook-twitter-instagram-police-surveillance-geofeedia-api
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram surveillance tool was used to arrest Baltimore protestors
For years, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have provided data to a company marketing social media surveillance tools to police, according to a newly published investigation by the ACLU of Northern California. Geofeedia used the company’s APIs to create real-time maps of social media activity in protest areas, maps which were subsequently used to identify, and in some cases arrest, protestors shortly after their posts became public. All three services have terminated Geofeedia’s access to the relevant APIs. The ACLU’s report includes direct evidence the tool was used to monitor unrest after the Freddie Gray verdict in Baltimore, in the form of a testimonial provided by Geofeedia to an unnamed police department. As protests escalated, police and Geofeedia representatives monitored social media posts in real time, in some cases running photos through a facial recognition systems to locate protestors with outstanding warrants.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/11/13243890/facebook-twitter-instagram-police-surveillance-geofeedia-api
Google says Penguin doesn't use machine learning within the algorithm.
Originally shared by Wayne Radinsky
Google says Penguin doesn't use machine learning within the algorithm. Penguin is the code name for the algorithm that decides which websites to make plummet in the rankings because they are thought to violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines. The relevant tweets:
Jennifer Slegg @jenstar:
@methode Is Penguin a machine learning algorithm, or use any kind of supervised or unsupervised learning?
Gary Illyes ✔ @methode:
@jenstar nope
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-no-machine-learning-22824.html
Google says Penguin doesn't use machine learning within the algorithm. Penguin is the code name for the algorithm that decides which websites to make plummet in the rankings because they are thought to violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines. The relevant tweets:
Jennifer Slegg @jenstar:
@methode Is Penguin a machine learning algorithm, or use any kind of supervised or unsupervised learning?
Gary Illyes ✔ @methode:
@jenstar nope
https://www.seroundtable.com/google-penguin-no-machine-learning-22824.html
Female Brains Change in Sync With Hormones
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
Female Brains Change in Sync With Hormones
In parallel to rising estrogen levels, the Hippocampus increases in volume.
The research is in Scientific Reports. (full open access)
#neuroscience
http://neurosciencenews.com/female-estrogen-hippocampus-5249
Female Brains Change in Sync With Hormones
In parallel to rising estrogen levels, the Hippocampus increases in volume.
The research is in Scientific Reports. (full open access)
#neuroscience
http://neurosciencenews.com/female-estrogen-hippocampus-5249
Borrowing Nature's Technology to Engineer Precise Grippers| Interesting Engineering
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Borrowing Nature's Technology to Engineer Precise Grippers| Interesting Engineering
' ... Currently, soft robotic grippers are being used for high-speed food handling and precise handling with adaptive grasping. However, future soft grippers could be used in medical surgical equipment to provide a more precise and manipulative hand to assist during medical procedures. ... '
http://interestingengineering.com/borrowing-natures-technology-engineer-precise-grippers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-VtgNFbQjc&feature=share
Borrowing Nature's Technology to Engineer Precise Grippers| Interesting Engineering
' ... Currently, soft robotic grippers are being used for high-speed food handling and precise handling with adaptive grasping. However, future soft grippers could be used in medical surgical equipment to provide a more precise and manipulative hand to assist during medical procedures. ... '
http://interestingengineering.com/borrowing-natures-technology-engineer-precise-grippers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-VtgNFbQjc&feature=share
"These are three of the biggest problems facing today's AI." The need for huge amounts of data, the inability to...
Originally shared by Wayne Radinsky
"These are three of the biggest problems facing today's AI." The need for huge amounts of data, the inability to learn multiple tasks, and the difficulty of seeing into the neural networks to see why they make the decisions they do.
"These systems don't just require more information than humans to understand concepts or recognize features, they require hundreds of thousands times more." "Right now, says Neil Lawrence, a professor of machine learning at the University of Sheffield and part of Amazon’s AI team, data is like coal was in the early years of the Industrial Revolution. He gives the example of Thomas Newcomen -- an Englishman who, in 1712, invented a primitive version of the steam engine that ran on coal, about 60 years before James Watt did. Newcomen's invention wasn't very good: compared to Watt's machine, it was inefficient and costly to run. That meant it was put to work only in coalfields -- where the fuel was plentiful enough to overcome the machine's handicaps."
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/10/13224930/ai-deep-learning-limitations-drawbacks
"These are three of the biggest problems facing today's AI." The need for huge amounts of data, the inability to learn multiple tasks, and the difficulty of seeing into the neural networks to see why they make the decisions they do.
"These systems don't just require more information than humans to understand concepts or recognize features, they require hundreds of thousands times more." "Right now, says Neil Lawrence, a professor of machine learning at the University of Sheffield and part of Amazon’s AI team, data is like coal was in the early years of the Industrial Revolution. He gives the example of Thomas Newcomen -- an Englishman who, in 1712, invented a primitive version of the steam engine that ran on coal, about 60 years before James Watt did. Newcomen's invention wasn't very good: compared to Watt's machine, it was inefficient and costly to run. That meant it was put to work only in coalfields -- where the fuel was plentiful enough to overcome the machine's handicaps."
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/10/13224930/ai-deep-learning-limitations-drawbacks
Farmers Are Manipulating Microbiomes to Help Crops Grow
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
Farmers Are Manipulating Microbiomes to Help Crops Grow
Indigo is an agriculture company. But it doesn’t sell seeds or fertilizer or pesticides or any of the typical products agriculture companies have made billions selling in the past century. It sells bacteria, as a coating sprayed onto seeds—bacteria that could replace the chemical fertilizers modern agriculture has come to rely on. And this fall, farmers are harvesting 50,000 acres of the cotton planted with Indigo’s first product, designed to help the crop grow in low-water conditions. Just as the human microbiome has opened up new frontiers in human medicine, scientists think that the plant microbiome could change modern ag....What makes Indigo stand out is its singular focus on bacteria that live inside plants, called endophytes, rather than those that live on or around it.
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/farmers-manipulating-microbiomes-help-grow-crops/
Farmers Are Manipulating Microbiomes to Help Crops Grow
Indigo is an agriculture company. But it doesn’t sell seeds or fertilizer or pesticides or any of the typical products agriculture companies have made billions selling in the past century. It sells bacteria, as a coating sprayed onto seeds—bacteria that could replace the chemical fertilizers modern agriculture has come to rely on. And this fall, farmers are harvesting 50,000 acres of the cotton planted with Indigo’s first product, designed to help the crop grow in low-water conditions. Just as the human microbiome has opened up new frontiers in human medicine, scientists think that the plant microbiome could change modern ag....What makes Indigo stand out is its singular focus on bacteria that live inside plants, called endophytes, rather than those that live on or around it.
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/farmers-manipulating-microbiomes-help-grow-crops/
When you die...
Originally shared by Erik Jonker
When you die...
A first embryonic attempt to let somebody "live on" as a chatbot. It makes you think about the future. It's highly like that a perfectly good chatbot could live on long after you died, trained by all your interactions that you did while you were alive. In extremo we will all have digital echo's of ourselves in the future.
http://www.theverge.com/a/luka-artificial-intelligence-memorial-roman-mazurenko-bot
When you die...
A first embryonic attempt to let somebody "live on" as a chatbot. It makes you think about the future. It's highly like that a perfectly good chatbot could live on long after you died, trained by all your interactions that you did while you were alive. In extremo we will all have digital echo's of ourselves in the future.
http://www.theverge.com/a/luka-artificial-intelligence-memorial-roman-mazurenko-bot
New Insight into Course and Transmission of Zika
Originally shared by Neuroscience News
New Insight into Course and Transmission of Zika
Evidence suggests virus may be sexually, orally transmitted.
The research is in Nature Medicine. (full access paywall)
#zika
http://neurosciencenews.com/zika-transmission-neurology-5226
New Insight into Course and Transmission of Zika
Evidence suggests virus may be sexually, orally transmitted.
The research is in Nature Medicine. (full access paywall)
#zika
http://neurosciencenews.com/zika-transmission-neurology-5226
And here is step 1 to the Federal goals of no traffic deaths in 30 years.
Originally shared by Mark Finch
And here is step 1 to the Federal goals of no traffic deaths in 30 years.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/01/california-self-driving-cars-licensed-drivers
And here is step 1 to the Federal goals of no traffic deaths in 30 years.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/01/california-self-driving-cars-licensed-drivers
Tech billionaires convinced we live in the Matrix are secretly funding scientists to help break us out of it | The...
Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap
Tech billionaires convinced we live in the Matrix are secretly funding scientists to help break us out of it | The Independent
'Some of the world’s richest and most powerful people are convinced that we are living in a computer simulation. And now they’re trying to do something about it.
At least two of Silicon Valley’s tech billionaires are pouring money into efforts to break humans out of the simulation that they believe that it is living in, according to a new report.
Philosophers have long been concerned about how we can know that our world isn’t just a very believable simulation of a real one. But concern about that has become ever more active in recent years, as computers and artificial intelligence have advanced.
That has led some tech billionaires to speculate that the chances we are not living in such a simulation is “billions to one”. Even Bank of America analysts wrote last month that the chances we are living in a Matrix-style fictional world is as high as 50 per cent.
And now at least two billionaires are funding scientists in an effort to try and break us out of that simulation. It isn’t clear what form that work is taking.
...'
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/computer-simulation-world-matrix-scientists-elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-ai-a7347526.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/computer-simulation-world-matrix-scientists-elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-ai-a7347526.html
Tech billionaires convinced we live in the Matrix are secretly funding scientists to help break us out of it | The Independent
'Some of the world’s richest and most powerful people are convinced that we are living in a computer simulation. And now they’re trying to do something about it.
At least two of Silicon Valley’s tech billionaires are pouring money into efforts to break humans out of the simulation that they believe that it is living in, according to a new report.
Philosophers have long been concerned about how we can know that our world isn’t just a very believable simulation of a real one. But concern about that has become ever more active in recent years, as computers and artificial intelligence have advanced.
That has led some tech billionaires to speculate that the chances we are not living in such a simulation is “billions to one”. Even Bank of America analysts wrote last month that the chances we are living in a Matrix-style fictional world is as high as 50 per cent.
And now at least two billionaires are funding scientists in an effort to try and break us out of that simulation. It isn’t clear what form that work is taking.
...'
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/computer-simulation-world-matrix-scientists-elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-ai-a7347526.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/computer-simulation-world-matrix-scientists-elon-musk-artificial-intelligence-ai-a7347526.html
Choose which course of action you think the driverless car should take and see how your answers compare with others.
Choose which course of action you think the driverless car should take and see how your answers compare with others. Which do you think is the lesser of two evils in these dilemmas?
#artificialintelligence #morals #ethics #autonomouscars
http://moralmachine.mit.edu/
#artificialintelligence #morals #ethics #autonomouscars
http://moralmachine.mit.edu/
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 40/2016.
Originally shared by null
SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 40/2016.
Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/10/machine-learning-fps-bot-antimatter.html
Machine learning FPS bot, Antimatter from lasers, Google language translation, Embryo and baby modification, Neuromorphic deep learning, Nanopore DNA sequencing, Hand exoskeleton, Autonomous gap navigation, Multiferroic materials, Imaging scattered light.
1. Machine Learning Agent Plays Doom Video Game
A new AI agent or bot built by machine learning algorithms to learn, play, and master the 3D first-person-shooter video game Doom is an expected, albeit confronting demonstration https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/21/scientists-teach-machines-to-hunt-and-kill-humans-in-doom-deathmatch-mode/. Be sure to check out the video of the bot in action; I wonder how long until real-world robots are loaded up with improved software? This seems to build on DeepMind’s approach, with a bot that interacts with the game based on what is on-screen: navigating the environment, identifying objects, and “interacting” with those objects with little to no pre-programming. The system beat both conventional in-game bots and human players.
2. Generating Antimatter from Lasers
Advances in ultrahigh intensity laser technology should soon enable the creation of electric fields so intense that matter and antimatter are generated https://publishing.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/creating-antimatter-lasers. Recent calculations show how to use these technologies to create electrons and positrons, in which the physicists claim to “boil the vacuum” and convert virtual electron-positron pairs into real, observable particles. Under certain conditions the light-matter interaction produces a skewed cascade that results in a large excess of positrons over electrons. A controllable, efficient source of on-demand antimatter would have a huge range of applications.
3. Human Performance for Language Translation
Google’s latest language translation tools utilise more advanced deep learning algorithms to get very close to human levels of performance https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602480/googles-new-service-translates-languages-almost-as-well-as-humans-can/. All language pairs performed 60% - 87% better than previous approaches, and in some cases getting to within just 2% of human level performance; these new tools should be rolling out to Google’s translation products soon. The software works out its own way to break up text and perform the translation and does so in ways that often don’t make sense and are not understood by the system’s creators.
4. Altering Embryo and Baby Genetics
The first baby to have DNA from three different parents has been born https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107219-exclusive-worlds-first-baby-born-with-new-3-parent-technique/. In this case the reason was to treat congenital mutations in mitochondria, and involved (i) taking the nucleus from the mother’s egg, (ii) inserting it into a donor egg whose nucleus was removed (providing healthy mitochondria), and (iii) fertilising this hybrid egg with the father’s sperm. We also had work in which (days old) healthy human embryo’s had their genes edited in order to tweak and regulate developmental processes http://www.livescience.com/56243-human-embryo-editing.html - these embryos were never intended to be allowed to develop beyond a couple of weeks.
5. IBM’s Neuromorphic Chips get Deep Learning
IBM has further developed its TrueNorth neuromorphic computing architecture to the point that it can now run deep learning algorithms http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/ibms-braininspired-chip-tested-on-deep-learning. TrueNorth’s spiking neural networks are typically incompatible with deep learning algorithms but this has now been overcome with a new way of implementing the algorithms on this hardware allowing TrueNorth to match or surpass state-of-the-art accuracy on a number of tests. In related news new memristors use silver-in-oxide dynamics to mimic calcium dynamics of synapses and result in synaptic emulators for neuromorphic computing http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/09/memristors-as-synaptic-emulators-for.html.
6. MoS2 Nanopore DNA Sequencing
A nanopore DNA sequencer has been designed using molybdenum disulfide for the first time https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/09/nist-team-suggests-nanoscale-electronic-motion-sensor-dna-sequencer. In this design DNA nucleotide bases are connected to the inside of the nanopore, with the pore itself being a hole through a ribbon of molybdenum disulfide suspended between electrodes: as DNA is passed through the pore, complementary bases in the sequence bind and release partner bases connected to the hole, causing the ribbon to flex, the motion of which is dependent on the base binding and generates a detectable electrical signal. Estimates suggest a 79% - 85% sequence accuracy, at single pass of 70 million bases per second.
7. Muscle Sensing Hand Exoskeleton
An articulated 3D printed hand exoskeleton is worn on the back of the hand and includes electromyography sensors on the back of the forearm http://www.relab.ethz.ch/research/current-research-projects/robotic-hand-orthosis-for-therapy-and-assistance-in-activities-of-daily-living.html. The sensors detect signals in the muscles then activate motors to provide additional grasping and grip strength to mimic the intended motion of the hand. 3D printing allows customisation to different sized patients while the group intends to develop and test alternative sensors such as near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography (ECG) to allow cortical or thought-controlled exoskeleton hand motion.
8. Autonomous Gap Navigation by Drones
Quadrotor drones have recently achieved completely autonomous on-board gap navigation and traversal http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/aggressive-quadrotors-conquer-gaps-with-ultimate-autonomy. The drone uses nothing more complicated than the equivalent of a smartphone on board, and is able to locate the gap, compute an optimal trajectory, and execute the flight path to get through to the other side with currently an 80% success rate. The group hope to boost this success rate further as well as navigate any arbitrary number of consecutive gaps in a row. Ultimately this is getting closer to the goal of autonomous navigation through any arbitrarily haphazard environment of interest.
9. Multiferroic and Cold-Sintered Materials
First, layer by layer assembly of nanosheet building blocks as produced multiferroic materials that function at room temperature for the first time and which exhibit both ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism http://www.nims.go.jp/eng/news/press/2016/09/201609230.html. I haven’t come across multiferroics before and wonder what applications this phenomena enables. Second, a newly developed cold-sintering-process can densify and create an entirely new range of hybrid ceramic-like materials at relatively low temperatures that can combine materials that can’t normally be combined such as ceramic-polymers and ceramic-metals, in addition to ceramic-nanoparticles and ceramic-ceramics http://news.psu.edu/story/428704/2016/09/28/research/lowering-heat-makes-new-materials-possible-while-saving-energy.
10. Better Imaging Through Optical Obstructions
New image processing algorithms can accurately produce images of objects even after the light bouncing off of or emitted by those objects has been chaotically scattered by semi-opaque materials such as human tissue or fog before reaching the camera http://news.mit.edu/2016/all-photons-imaging-algorithm-0929. The system fires a pulsed laser at the object to be imaged, then measures the timing of different photons arriving from each pulse; those photons passing straight through reach the sensor first, while those that are scattered ever-more take ever-longer to reach the sensor and deviate from the location of the arrival of the first photons by a larger amount. Applications include medical imaging through human tissues and better navigation by autonomous vehicles through fog and rain.
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SciTech #ScienceSunday Digest - 40/2016.
Permalink here: http://www.scitechdigest.net/2016/10/machine-learning-fps-bot-antimatter.html
Machine learning FPS bot, Antimatter from lasers, Google language translation, Embryo and baby modification, Neuromorphic deep learning, Nanopore DNA sequencing, Hand exoskeleton, Autonomous gap navigation, Multiferroic materials, Imaging scattered light.
1. Machine Learning Agent Plays Doom Video Game
A new AI agent or bot built by machine learning algorithms to learn, play, and master the 3D first-person-shooter video game Doom is an expected, albeit confronting demonstration https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/21/scientists-teach-machines-to-hunt-and-kill-humans-in-doom-deathmatch-mode/. Be sure to check out the video of the bot in action; I wonder how long until real-world robots are loaded up with improved software? This seems to build on DeepMind’s approach, with a bot that interacts with the game based on what is on-screen: navigating the environment, identifying objects, and “interacting” with those objects with little to no pre-programming. The system beat both conventional in-game bots and human players.
2. Generating Antimatter from Lasers
Advances in ultrahigh intensity laser technology should soon enable the creation of electric fields so intense that matter and antimatter are generated https://publishing.aip.org/publishing/journal-highlights/creating-antimatter-lasers. Recent calculations show how to use these technologies to create electrons and positrons, in which the physicists claim to “boil the vacuum” and convert virtual electron-positron pairs into real, observable particles. Under certain conditions the light-matter interaction produces a skewed cascade that results in a large excess of positrons over electrons. A controllable, efficient source of on-demand antimatter would have a huge range of applications.
3. Human Performance for Language Translation
Google’s latest language translation tools utilise more advanced deep learning algorithms to get very close to human levels of performance https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602480/googles-new-service-translates-languages-almost-as-well-as-humans-can/. All language pairs performed 60% - 87% better than previous approaches, and in some cases getting to within just 2% of human level performance; these new tools should be rolling out to Google’s translation products soon. The software works out its own way to break up text and perform the translation and does so in ways that often don’t make sense and are not understood by the system’s creators.
4. Altering Embryo and Baby Genetics
The first baby to have DNA from three different parents has been born https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107219-exclusive-worlds-first-baby-born-with-new-3-parent-technique/. In this case the reason was to treat congenital mutations in mitochondria, and involved (i) taking the nucleus from the mother’s egg, (ii) inserting it into a donor egg whose nucleus was removed (providing healthy mitochondria), and (iii) fertilising this hybrid egg with the father’s sperm. We also had work in which (days old) healthy human embryo’s had their genes edited in order to tweak and regulate developmental processes http://www.livescience.com/56243-human-embryo-editing.html - these embryos were never intended to be allowed to develop beyond a couple of weeks.
5. IBM’s Neuromorphic Chips get Deep Learning
IBM has further developed its TrueNorth neuromorphic computing architecture to the point that it can now run deep learning algorithms http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/hardware/ibms-braininspired-chip-tested-on-deep-learning. TrueNorth’s spiking neural networks are typically incompatible with deep learning algorithms but this has now been overcome with a new way of implementing the algorithms on this hardware allowing TrueNorth to match or surpass state-of-the-art accuracy on a number of tests. In related news new memristors use silver-in-oxide dynamics to mimic calcium dynamics of synapses and result in synaptic emulators for neuromorphic computing http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/09/memristors-as-synaptic-emulators-for.html.
6. MoS2 Nanopore DNA Sequencing
A nanopore DNA sequencer has been designed using molybdenum disulfide for the first time https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2016/09/nist-team-suggests-nanoscale-electronic-motion-sensor-dna-sequencer. In this design DNA nucleotide bases are connected to the inside of the nanopore, with the pore itself being a hole through a ribbon of molybdenum disulfide suspended between electrodes: as DNA is passed through the pore, complementary bases in the sequence bind and release partner bases connected to the hole, causing the ribbon to flex, the motion of which is dependent on the base binding and generates a detectable electrical signal. Estimates suggest a 79% - 85% sequence accuracy, at single pass of 70 million bases per second.
7. Muscle Sensing Hand Exoskeleton
An articulated 3D printed hand exoskeleton is worn on the back of the hand and includes electromyography sensors on the back of the forearm http://www.relab.ethz.ch/research/current-research-projects/robotic-hand-orthosis-for-therapy-and-assistance-in-activities-of-daily-living.html. The sensors detect signals in the muscles then activate motors to provide additional grasping and grip strength to mimic the intended motion of the hand. 3D printing allows customisation to different sized patients while the group intends to develop and test alternative sensors such as near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography (ECG) to allow cortical or thought-controlled exoskeleton hand motion.
8. Autonomous Gap Navigation by Drones
Quadrotor drones have recently achieved completely autonomous on-board gap navigation and traversal http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/aggressive-quadrotors-conquer-gaps-with-ultimate-autonomy. The drone uses nothing more complicated than the equivalent of a smartphone on board, and is able to locate the gap, compute an optimal trajectory, and execute the flight path to get through to the other side with currently an 80% success rate. The group hope to boost this success rate further as well as navigate any arbitrary number of consecutive gaps in a row. Ultimately this is getting closer to the goal of autonomous navigation through any arbitrarily haphazard environment of interest.
9. Multiferroic and Cold-Sintered Materials
First, layer by layer assembly of nanosheet building blocks as produced multiferroic materials that function at room temperature for the first time and which exhibit both ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism http://www.nims.go.jp/eng/news/press/2016/09/201609230.html. I haven’t come across multiferroics before and wonder what applications this phenomena enables. Second, a newly developed cold-sintering-process can densify and create an entirely new range of hybrid ceramic-like materials at relatively low temperatures that can combine materials that can’t normally be combined such as ceramic-polymers and ceramic-metals, in addition to ceramic-nanoparticles and ceramic-ceramics http://news.psu.edu/story/428704/2016/09/28/research/lowering-heat-makes-new-materials-possible-while-saving-energy.
10. Better Imaging Through Optical Obstructions
New image processing algorithms can accurately produce images of objects even after the light bouncing off of or emitted by those objects has been chaotically scattered by semi-opaque materials such as human tissue or fog before reaching the camera http://news.mit.edu/2016/all-photons-imaging-algorithm-0929. The system fires a pulsed laser at the object to be imaged, then measures the timing of different photons arriving from each pulse; those photons passing straight through reach the sensor first, while those that are scattered ever-more take ever-longer to reach the sensor and deviate from the location of the arrival of the first photons by a larger amount. Applications include medical imaging through human tissues and better navigation by autonomous vehicles through fog and rain.
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Romeo Robot Immersive Teleoperation with VR Headset
Originally shared by Panah Rad
Romeo Robot Immersive Teleoperation with VR Headset
http://www.roboticgizmos.com/robot-vr-teleoperation/
not bad