No one rule captures the full sweep of life’s ingenuity, yet SAI offers a fresh lens, suggesting that aging and fragility are super-powers.
Category: biological – Page 6
Bimodal video imaging platform predicts hyperspectral frames from RGB video
Hyperspectral imaging (HSI), or imaging spectroscopy, captures detailed information across the electromagnetic spectrum by acquiring a spectrum for each pixel in an image. This enables precise identification of materials through their spectral signatures.
HSI supports Earth remote sensing applications such as automated classification, abundance mapping, and estimation of physical and biological properties like soil moisture, sediment density, water quality, biomass, leaf area, and pigment content.
Although HSI offers detailed insight into a remote sensing scene, HSI data may not be readily available for an intended application. Recent studies have attempted to combine HSI with traditional red-green-blue (RGB) video acquisition to lower costs and improve performance. However, this fusion technology still faces technical challenges.
Moving pictures: Researchers use movies to diagnose EV battery failure
Charging electric-vehicle batteries in Ithaca’s frigid winter can be tough, and freezing temperatures also decrease the driving range. Hot weather can be just as challenging, leading to decomposition of battery materials and, possibly, catastrophic failure.
For electric vehicles (EVs) to be widely accepted, safe and fast-charging lithium-ion batteries need to be able to operate in extreme temperatures. But to achieve this, scientists need to understand how materials used in EVs change during temperature-related chemical reactions, a so-far elusive goal.
Now, Cornell chemists led by Yao Yang, Ph.D. ‘21, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, have developed a way to diagnose the mechanisms behind battery failure in extreme climates using electron microscopy. Their first-of-its-kind operando (“operating”) electrochemical transmission electron microscopy (TEM) enables them to watch chemistry in action and collect real-time movies showing what happens to energy materials during temperature changes.
Radiotrophic fungus
Scientists discover fungus species in Chernobyl nuclear zone have mutated to feed on radiation:
Cryptococcus neoformans, discovered at the site in 1991, feeds on radiation through a process called radiosynthesis. Its high levels of melanin absorb harmful radiation and convert it into chemical energy, much like how plants use photosynthesis to create energy.
NASA scientists, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, are now testing melanin extracted from the fungi aboard the International Space Station. ’ If successful, this natural shield could protect astronauts and equipment from cosmic rays, a significant challenge for long-term space exploration. “Space radiation is dangerous and damages matter,” explains researcher Radamés J.B. Cordero. “A material like this could shield astronauts and benefit people here on Earth.” This discovery turns a remnant of a nuclear disaster into a potential lifesaver for humanity’s journey into the cosmos.
Learn more.
Radiotrophic fungi are fungi that can perform the hypothetical biological process called radiosynthesis, which means using ionizing radiation as an energy source to drive metabolism. It has been claimed that radiotrophic fungi have been found in extreme environments such as in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Most radiotrophic fungi use melanin in some capacity to survive. [ 1 ] The process of using radiation and melanin for energy has been termed radiosynthesis, and is thought to be analogous to anaerobic respiration. [ 2 ] However, it is not known if multi-step processes such as photosynthesis or chemosynthesis are used in radiosynthesis or even if radiosynthesis exists in living organisms.
The Research That Rethinks Neuroscience & Biology | Dr. Bernardo Kastrup
Watch the full interviews with Dr. Christof Koch and Professor Michael Levin, which are discussed in this video, here:
• Bioelectric Fields: A Paradigm Shift In Bi…
• Famous Neuroscientist on 5-MeO-DMT and Int…
Hans Busstra talks to Dr. Bernardo Kastrup about the groundbreaking work of Professor Michael Levin and Dr. Christof Koch.
Levin’s research into bio-electric fields reveals that cellular networks use electrical signals not just for immediate physiological tasks, but to coordinate complex patterning and memory across tissues—suggesting a kind of distributed intelligence in living systems.
Christof Koch, meanwhile, champions Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which proposes that consciousness is an intrinsic property of certain physical systems with high levels of causal interconnectivity.
Both lines of inquiry challenge the traditional reductionist view that mind is merely an emergent byproduct of neural activity. Instead, they point to a more holistic, perhaps even fundamental, role for information and consciousness in nature. Though Levin and Koch make no explicit metaphysical claims in their work, their empirical findings and views are very much in line with analytic idealism.