Lifeboat Foundation

The molecules in our bodies are in constant communication. Some of these molecules provide a biochemical fingerprint that could indicate how a wound is healing, whether or not a cancer treatment is working or that a virus has invaded the body. If we could sense these signals in real time with high sensitivity, then we might be able to recognize health problems faster and even monitor disease as it progresses.

Now Northwestern University researchers have developed a new technology that makes it easier to eavesdrop on our body’s inner conversations.

While the body’s chemical signals are incredibly faint—making them difficult to detect and analyze—the researchers have developed a new method that boosts signals by more than 1,000 times. Transistors, the building block of electronics, can boost weak signals to provide an amplified output. The new approach makes signals easier to detect without complex and bulky electronics.

Presented by Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill, produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon and Edwin Lane. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to The Hospital for Sick Children.

We’re keen to hear more from our listeners about this show and want to know what you’d like to hear more of, so we’re running a survey which you can find at ft.com/techtonicsurvey. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and you will be in with a chance to win a pair of Bose QuietComfort earbuds.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com.

Classic Drama Movie: A Boy and His Dog — A young man and his telepathic dog wander through a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

A Boy and His Dog (1975)
Director: L.Q. Jones.
Writers: L.Q. Jones(screenplay), Harlan Ellison(novella), Wayne Cruseturner(uncredited)
Stars: Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Susanne Benton.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller.
Country: United States.
Language: English.
Release Date: March 1975 (USA)
Duration: 86 min.
Filming locations: Coyote Dry Lake, California, USA

Continue reading “A Boy and His Dog | Post-Apocalypse | Don Johnson | Classic Drama Film” »

The behavior of a collection of squeezed elastic beams is determined by geometry, not by complex forces.

When a collection of thin elastic beams—such as toothbrush bristles or grass—is compressed vertically, the individual elements will buckle and bump into one another, forming patterns. Experiments and numerical simulations now show that basic geometry controls how order emerges in these patterns [1]. The results could be useful for designing flexible materials and for understanding interactions among flexible structures in nature, such as DNA strands in cells.

Studies of bending and buckling have often focused on the behavior of a single membrane, such as a thin disc of polystyrene fabric, a sheet of crumpled paper, or even a bell pepper. But few models have tackled the dynamics of a group of many elastic objects.

The saliva of mosquitoes infected with dengue viruses contains a substance that thwarts the human immune system and makes it easier for people to become infected with the potentially deadly viruses, new research published in PLOS Pathogens reveals.

Dengue has spread in recent years to Europe and the southern United States in addition to longstanding hotspots in tropical and subtropical areas such as Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. The new discovery, from a University of Virginia School of Medicine scientist and his collaborators, helps explain why the disease is so easily transmitted—and could eventually lead to new ways to prevent infection.

“It is remarkable how clever these viruses are. They subvert mosquito biology to tamp down our immune responses so that infection can take hold,” said Dr. Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco, who recently joined the UVA faculty as chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology. “There is no doubt in my mind that a better understanding of the fundamental biology of transmission will eventually lead to effective transmission-blocking measures.”

Max Planck scientists explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence in materials science and publish their review in the journal Nature Computational Science.

Advanced materials become increasingly complex due to the high requirements they have to fulfil regarding sustainability and applicability. Dierk Raabe, and colleagues reviewed the use of artificial intelligence in materials science and the untapped spaces it opens if combined with physics-based simulations. Compared to traditional simulation methods, AI has several advantages and will play a crucial role in material sciences in the future.

Advanced materials are urgently needed for everyday life, be it in high technology, mobility, infrastructure, green energy or medicine. However, traditional ways of discovering and exploring new materials encounter limits due to the complexity of chemical compositions, structures and targeted properties. Moreover, new materials should not only enable novel applications, but also include sustainable ways of producing, using and recycling them.

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GitHub: https://github.com/daveshap.
Discord: https://discord.gg/yqaBG5rh4j.

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtificialSentience/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeuristicImperatives/

Continue reading “Post-Singularity Predictions — How will our lives, corporations, and nations adapt to AI revolution?” »

Ectogenesis—gestation using an artificial womb—is fast approaching reality. Yet without legislation, this innovation also has the potential to cause harm.

“Clinical cases of infections caused by C. auris almost doubled in 2021, according to research published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine. And the number of cases resistant to echinocandins, the first-line treatment for C. auris infections, tripled. While the fungus generally isn’t a threat for healthy people, it can be dangerous for those with weakened or compromised immune systems, and people using feeding tubes or catheters—in other words, a large proportion of patients in hospitals. The fungus can cause a bloodstream infection whose symptoms include fever, chills, sweats, and low blood pressure. It’s still rare in the U.S., but roughly one in three patients with an invasive infection will die from it; the fungus poses an “urgent threat,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Here’s a scenario that may sound familiar to fans of the postapocalyptic TV drama ‘The Last of Us’: a hard-to-kill fungus is beginning to spread among—and infect—vulnerable populations. Only this time, it’s real.