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Coronavirus expert: ‘War is an appropriate analogy’

CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations Dr Richard Hatchett explains the long-term dangers of the Covid-19 coronavirus — saying it’s the scariest outbreak he’s dealt with in his 20-year career. (Subscribe: https://bit.ly/C4_News_Subscribe)

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Our eye movements help us retrieve memories, suggests new study

In a recent study, scientists at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute (RRI) found that research participants moved their eyes to determine whether they had seen an image before, and that their eye movement patterns could predict mistakes in memory. They obtained these results using an innovative new eye tracking technique they developed.

“Our findings indicate that eye movements play a functional role in retrieval,” says Dr. Jennifer Ryan, senior scientist at the RRI and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory. “They can tell us a lot about someone’s memory.”

This study builds on previous Baycrest research examining the link between eye movements and memory, including the role of our eye movements in memorization and the weakening connection between our eye movements and our brain activity as we age.

NASA issues a Venus rover design challenge

Artist’s concept of the AREE Venus rover. The rover would be wind-powered and able to last on Venus’ hellish surface much longer than previous landers. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

There’ve been missions to Venus over the past decades, but Venus is a tough place to visit, with temperatures on its surface hot enough to melt lead. The last probe that landed on Venus’ hellish surface was part of the Vega 2 mission in 1985; it transmitted data from Venus’ surface for 57 minutes. Now NASA wants to visit Venus’ surface again, not with just another lander … but with a rover.

On February 21, 2020, NASA announced a public challenge to help design a future Venus rover called Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE). The challenge – Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover – is specifically to develop an obstacle-avoidance sensor for the rover. The concept is being funded by a grant from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program.

Trauma stays in the body, it can have long term consequences on our baselines nervous system, it can make us hyper-vigilant and wired for anxiety

We call this PTSD. The question is whether we can reprogram our nervous system? In Stealing Fire, authors Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal discussed advances in psychology, technology, neurobiology and pharmacology — and whether they help us map healthy nervous systems? Can we then use that data and create new designer compounds to recalibrate the nervous systems of those suffering from PTSD? Can we tweak our nervous systems for human flourishing? I hope so. Recent breakthrough in MDMA psychotherapy might be only a taste of what’s to come. Filmed and toned by @j.elon.goodman ||@mapsnews @mapscanada @meetdelic @psychedelicsocietysf #psychedelics @synthesisrtrt #mentalhealth #creativity #depression #anxiety #psychotherapy #therapy #inspiration #motivation

Huge loss for mankind 😞

Great woman.


Her impeccable calculations had already helped plot the successful flight of Alan B. Shepard Jr., who became the first American in space when his Mercury spacecraft went aloft in 1961. • • Johnson’s work over 33 years propelled many of America’s breakthroughs in space exploration, including Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” on the Moon. • • Rest in Peace Ma’am 😓.

Scientists finally confirm a 50-year-old theory in mechanics

An experiment by EPFL researchers has confirmed a theory that has been used in mechanics for over half a century—despite never having been fully validated. The team could now use the theory in bolder and more innovative ways in their quest to develop ever better energy systems.

Some theories are widely used even though they have never been experimentally validated. One example is the so-called narrow groove theory, or NGT, which explains how air-lubricated bearings work in .

The theory was proposed in 1965 but, until recently, it had only been tested partially or indirectly. Researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory for Applied Mechanical Design (LAMD), based at Microcity in Neuch tel, have now closed a gap that has persisted in the scientific literature for over 50 years. The team has published its findings in the journal Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing.

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