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.
SciTech Tip Jar: http://www.scitechdigest.net/p/donate.html
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.
SciTech Tip Jar: http://www.scitechdigest.net/p/donate.html
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