Lifeboat Foundation

But we expect that it’s in that first tiny fraction of a second that the key features of our universe were imprinted.

The conditions of the universe can be described through its “fundamental constants”—fixed quantities in nature, such as the gravitational constant (called G) or the speed of light (called C). There are about 30 of these representing the sizes and strengths of parameters such as particle masses, forces, or the universe’s expansion. But our theories don’t explain what values these constants should have. Instead, we have to measure them and plug their values into our equations to accurately describe nature.

Continue reading “The Multiverse: Our Universe Is Suspiciously Unlikely to Exist—Unless It Is One of Many” »

Scientists in Britain have finally solved one of the greatest mysteries of life: how chromosomes get their X shape. Chromosomes, discovered in the late 1800s, are DNA molecules which contain the genetic material of an organism.

All chromosomes, without exception, either go through or end up with an X shape before the cells of an organism divide.

But it was always a mystery how they are X-shaped. While Biology students across the world study that chromosomes get their shape during cell division, the exact reason behind their X shape was not known.

Experts from Charles River and Valo Health describe how artificial intelligence will change the drug discovery landscape.

Now, we live in a time in which AI research and technology is advancing exponentially. In the coming years, AI — and ultimately AGI — has the potential to drive one of the greatest social, economic and scientific transformations in history.

That’s why today Sundar is announcing that DeepMind and the Brain team from Google Research will be joining forces as a single, focused unit called Google DeepMind. Combining our talents and efforts will accelerate our progress towards a world in which AI helps solve the biggest challenges facing humanity, and I’m incredibly excited to be leading this unit and working with all of you to build it. Together, in close collaboration with our fantastic colleagues across the Google Product Areas, we have a real opportunity to deliver AI research and products that dramatically improve the lives of billions of people, transform industries, advance science, and serve diverse communities.

By creating Google DeepMind, I believe we can get to that future faster. Building ever more capable and general AI, safely and responsibly, demands that we solve some of the hardest scientific and engineering challenges of our time. For that, we need to work with greater speed, stronger collaboration and execution, and to simplify the way we make decisions to focus on achieving the biggest impact.

DGIST Professor Yoonkyu Lee’s research team used intense light on the surface of a copper wire to synthesize graphene, thereby increasing the production rate and lowering the production cost of the high-quality transparent-flexible electrode materials and consequently enabling its mass production. The results were published in the February 23 issue of Nano Energy.

This technology is applicable to various 2D materials, and its applicability can be extended to the synthesis of various metal-2D material nanowires.

The research team used copper-graphene nanowires to implement high-performance transparent-flexible electronic devices such as transparent-flexible electrodes, transparent supercapacitors and transparent heaters and to thereby demonstrate the commercial viability of this material.

Silver, gold and copper nanowires are leading contenders for next-generation nanoscale devices, however greater understanding of how they work and improved production methods are needed before they can be widely used, explains a recent review in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.

“Metal nanowires are used for numerous applications, but our understanding of their mechanical properties remains elusive,” says Nurul Akmal Che Lah, engineer at Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

Lah and colleague Sonia Trigueros at the University of Oxford reviewed methods for synthesising and analysing silver, gold and copper nanowires for molecular-based electronics.

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are novel therapeutics that can be used to treat a wide range of diseases. This has led to a growing demand for selective, efficient, and safe ways of delivering siRNA in cells. Now, in a cooperation between the Universities of Amsterdam and Leiden, researchers have developed dedicated molecular nanocages for siRNA delivery. In a paper just out in the journal Chem they present nanocages that are easy to prepare and display tunable siRNA delivery characteristics.

The nanocages were developed in the research group for Homogeneous, Supramolecular and Bio-inspired catalysis of Prof. Joost Reek and Bas de Bruin at the University of Amsterdam’s Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, and further studies in the group Prof. Alexander Kros at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry.

The researchers were motivated by the potential of siRNA in gene therapy, which requires the need for effective delivery systems. They set out to develop nanocages with functional groups at the outside, making the cages capable of binding siRNA strands. As the binding is based on reversible bonds, the siRNA can in principle be released in a cellular environment. To explore the delivery characteristics of their nanocages, the researchers performed a laboratory study using various human cancer cells.

Wearable devices like Spiderman’s suit that are thin and soft, yet also feature electrical and optical functionalities? The answer lies in producing novel materials that go far beyond the performance of existing materials and developing technology that enables the precise control of the physical properties of such materials.

Separating transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) into a single layer just like graphene makes it transform into a thin, two-dimensional (2D) film material that exhibits the characteristics of highly performing semiconductors. By stacking two disparate TMD layers, different combinations of TMD types and stacking methods can produce unique properties.

For this reason, 2D semiconductors based on heterostructures are attracting attention as an important next-generation material for the electronics industry throughout academia and industries around the world. However, it is still quite challenging to commercialize them due to the difficulty of controlling with precision the physical properties of their quasiparticles.

After a few weeks of hard work and dedication, Cyberlife is now completely available to the public. This new webzine will be primarily focused on showcasing the culture of transhumanism, a philosophical and scientific movement that has been gaining momentum over the past few years. Here, you can turn your brain off for an hour at a time to read about the newest trends, listen to music, and admire the artistic talent of our staff members. We are still looking for more people to contribute, so here is a short list of what we are looking for:

Literature: Cyberlife does support the literary arts and this is how we do it. If you have some random short stories lying around that you have never published, submit them to us. We would love to read some short fiction that relates to transhumanism in some way. We do ask that you limit the piece to 10 pages so it doesn’t break the site. We will accept works that are explicit, but keep the eroticism to a minimum. Once again, make it tasteful.

Articles: We are still looking for authors that focus on articles and op-ed pieces. We are looking for people that have knowledge on these subjects: