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Jul 26, 2020

This AI Creates Dogs From Cats…And More!

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

❤️ Check out Weights & Biases and sign up for a free demo here: https://www.wandb.com/papers

Their instrumentation of this paper is available here:
https://app.wandb.ai/stacey/stargan/reports/Cute-Animals-and…zoxNzcwODQ

Continue reading “This AI Creates Dogs From Cats…And More!” »

Jul 25, 2020

North Korea declares state of emergency due to a suspected COVID-19 case

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

North Korea declared a state of emergency on Sunday after one person in the country was suspected of being positive for COVID-19.

On Sunday, local time, state news agency KCNA reported North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim Jong UnNorth Korea declares state of emergency due to a suspected COVID-19 case Pompeo downplays chance of summit with North Korea this year Juan Williams: Trump’s silence on Russian bounties betrays America MORE convened an emergency politburo meeting after a person who defected to South Korea three years ago was “suspected to have been infected with the vicious virus.” The person is reported have returned to the North Korean border city of Kaesong, Reuters reported.

Kim declared a state of emergency and imposed a lockdown in Kaesong, reportedly calling it a “critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country.”

Jul 25, 2020

Why Xi Jinping’s trillion-yuan baby outgrew Asia’s growth markets

Posted by in category: finance

In the first of a four-part series, we look at the changes that have propelled China’s stock market into the world’s top performer this year.

The Star Market, conceived and created within eight months, has expanded into Asia’s largest growth market after a year in operation, with 133 listed stocks valued at US$400 billion.


Dozens of China’s biggest start-ups were driven to New York over the past two decades to seek funding. Now, as US-China tensions rise, more and more of them are choosing to stay close to home.

Continue reading “Why Xi Jinping’s trillion-yuan baby outgrew Asia’s growth markets” »

Jul 25, 2020

The people with hidden immunity against Covid-19

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

The clues have been mounting for a while. First, scientists discovered patients who had recovered from infection with Covid-19, but mysteriously didn’t have any antibodies against it. Next it emerged that this might be the case for a significant number of people. Then came the finding that many of those who do develop antibodies seem to lose them again after just a few months.

In short, though antibodies have proved invaluable for tracking the spread of the pandemic, they might not have the leading role in immunity that we once thought. If we are going to acquire long-term protection, it looks increasingly like it might have to come from somewhere else.

But while the world has been preoccupied with antibodies, researchers have started to realise that there might be another form of immunity – one which, in some cases, has been lurking undetected in the body for years. An enigmatic type of white blood cell is gaining prominence. And though it hasn’t previously featured heavily in the public consciousness, it may well prove to be crucial in our fight against Covid-19. This could be the T cell’s big moment.

Continue reading “The people with hidden immunity against Covid-19” »

Jul 25, 2020

2020’s 1st Atlantic hurricane lashes Texas; floods expected

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Hurricane Hanna roared ashore onto the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, bringing winds that lashed the shoreline with rain and storm surge, and even threatening to bring possible tornadoes to a part of the country trying to cope with a spike in coronavirus cases.

The first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season made landfall twice as a Category 1 storm on Saturday afternoon within the span of little over an hour. The first landfall happened at around 5 p.m. about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Port Mansfield, which is about 130 miles (209 km) south of Corpus Christi. The second landfall took place nearby in eastern Kenedy County. Hanna had come ashore with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (145 kph). As of Saturday night, those winds had weakened to 75 mph (120 kph).

Many parts of Texas, including areas near where Hanna came ashore, have been dealing with a surge in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, but local officials said they were prepared for whatever the storm might bring.

Jul 25, 2020

UAE Mars mission: extraordinary feat shows how space exploration can benefit small nations

Posted by in categories: business, economics, space travel

The nation has also generated significant additional value in logistics by creating new manufacturing capacities and know-how. There are already multiple businesses outside the realm of the space industry that have benefited from knowledge transfer. These are all typical impacts of a space mission.

But while that is where most studies of the value of space missions stop looking for impact, for the UAE this would miss a huge part of the picture. Ultimately, its Mars mission has generated transformative value in building capacity for a fundamentally different future national economy – one with a much stronger role for science and innovation.

Through a broad portfolio of programmes and initiatives, in just a few years the Hope mission has boosted the number of students enrolling in science degrees and helped create new graduate science degree pathways. It has also opened up new sources of funding for research and made science an attractive career.

Jul 25, 2020

Mould from Chernobyl nuclear reactor tested as radiation shield on ISS

Posted by in categories: health, nuclear energy, space

A radiation-absorbing fungus found at the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear reactor has been shown to absorb harmful cosmic rays on the International Space Station, and could potentially be used to protect future Mars colonies.

Exposure to cosmic rays poses a major health risk to astronauts leaving Earth’s protective atmosphere. Shields can be made out of stainless steel and other materials, but they must be shipped from Earth, which is difficult and costly.

Jul 25, 2020

US Just Unveiled Its Blueprint For a “Virtually Unhackable” Quantum Internet

Posted by in categories: computing, engineering, internet, quantum physics

US officials and scientists have begun laying the groundwork for a more secure “virtually unhackable” internet based on quantum computing technology.

At a presentation Thursday, Department of Energy (DOE) officials issued a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet, using laws of quantum mechanics to transmit information more securely than on existing networks.

The agency is working with universities and industry researchers on the engineering for the initiative with the aim of creating a prototype within a decade.

Jul 25, 2020

Project creates more powerful, versatile ultrafast laser pulse

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering

University of Rochester researchers are setting a new standard when it comes to producing ultrafast laser pulses over a broader range of wavelengths than traditional laser sources.

In work published in Physical Review Letters, William Renninger, an assistant professor of optics, along with members of his lab, describe a new device, called the “stretched-pulse soliton Kerr resonator,” that enhances the performance of ultrafast laser pulses. The work has important implications for a range of engineering and biomedical applications, including spectroscopy, frequency synthesis, distance ranging, pulse generation, and others.

The device creates an ultrafast laser pulse—on the order of femtoseconds, or one quadrillionth of a second—that’s freed from the physical limits endemic to sources of laser light—what laser scientists call laser gain—and the limits of the sources’ wavelengths.

Jul 25, 2020

Unique Insights Into How We Change as We Age

Posted by in category: futurism

Summary: A study that has been ongoing for thirty-five years sheds light on several transitions throughout our lifespans.

Source: University of Alberta

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the differences between generations and the sociological forces defining their worldviews and behavior. Stereotypes abound: the Silent Generation is inflexibly conventional, the boomers narcissistic, Gen X lazy. And millennials just take too long to grow up.