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Jun 24, 2020

LIGO and Virgo detected a black hole colliding with a mystery object

Posted by in category: cosmology

The first evidence of an object more massive than any neutron star and more lightweight than any black hole has astronomers wondering what it is.

Jun 24, 2020

Agriculture: Sustainable Agriculture through Film Farming

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food

ebiol, Inc. has invented a film called “Imec” made of hydrogel for growing vegetables with less water. Using this method, agriculture can be done virtually anywhere — even on desert land or concrete. The film prevents harmful viruses and germs from getting in, rendering pesticides unnecessary. The film also creates a “water stress” that helps crops such as tomatoes synthesize large amounts of sugar, amino acids, and other nutrients. This, in turn, leads to more natural sweetness and higher nutritional value. In addition, Imec eliminates soil contamination that can negatively impact crop productivity and quality.

Jun 24, 2020

Simulation Shows Tesla Roadster Accelerating With SpaceX Thrusters

Posted by in categories: space travel, sustainability

Musk has teased the idea of adding SpaceX thrusters to Tesla cars before. Here’s what that would be like.

Jun 24, 2020

Genetic malfunction of brain astrocytes triggers migraine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

“Despite their abundance, astrocytes have been relatively overlooked by neuroscientists,” says Mirko Santello, last author of the study. Yet these cells are extremely important to clear transmitters released by neurons. In their study the researchers were able to show that in familial migraine the astrocytes cannot remove excessive transmitters released by neurons. “The impairment in astrocytic glutamate uptake in the cingulate cortex strongly enhances cortical dendritic excitability and thus enhances firing of the neurons,” Santello says…

Migraine is a complicated disorder that affects part of the nervous system. “Our results provide a clear example of how astrocyte dysfunction produced by a genetic defect affects neuronal activity and sensitivity to head pain triggers,” explains Mirko Santello. The findings help to better understand migraine pathophysiology and suggest that the cingulate cortex may represent a critical hub in the disease. The demonstration of the link between dysfunction of astrocytes in the cingulate cortex and familial migraine could help in devising new migraine treatment strategies.


Neuroscientists of the University of Zurich shed a new light on the mechanisms responsible for familial migraine: They show that a genetic dysfunction in specific brain cells of the cingulate cortex area strongly influences head pain occurrence.

Jun 24, 2020

Solid-State Laser Refrigeration of Nanoscale Sensors Achieved – Could Revolutionize Bio-Imaging and Quantum Communication

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, quantum physics

To the general public, lasers heat objects. And generally, that would be correct.

But lasers also show promise to do quite the opposite — to cool materials. Lasers that can cool materials could revolutionize fields ranging from bio-imaging to quantum communication.

In 2015, University of Washington researchers announced that they can use a laser to cool water and other liquids below room temperature. Now that same team has used a similar approach to refrigerate something quite different: a solid semiconductor. As the team shows in a paper published today (June 23, 2020) in Nature Communications, they could use an infrared laser to cool the solid semiconductor by at least 20 degrees C, or 36 F, below room temperature.

Jun 24, 2020

Stem Cells: The Key to Reversing Biological Age

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Fantastic article on Dr Yuancheng Ryan Lu’s age reversal experiment.

“ It suggests that it is entirely possible to reverse aging in cells with the use of a molecular mechanism already present in the cells. And so, scientists are now off to the races in the hopes of finding this cellular mechanism, and ways to activate this correction system in living beings…”


In 2006, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese stem cell researcher, published his paper on induced pluripotent stem cells, and it changed the medical world. Dr. Yamanaka had found a way to convert a mature skin cell into a stem cell by injecting just a few genes. And for this, Dr. Yamanaka received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012, sharing it with another Sir John B. Gurdon, who found another method of inducing pluripotency.

Continue reading “Stem Cells: The Key to Reversing Biological Age” »

Jun 24, 2020

Stanford Grad Who Created The World’s First ‘Robot Lawyer’ Raises $12 Million In Series A

Posted by in categories: education, law, robotics/AI

Not even the lawyers will be spared.


In the summer of 2015, Stanford-bound high school grad Josh Browder spent his nights coding and developing an automated program that would help people contest parking tickets. The native Londoner had recently gotten his driver’s license, and had himself assembled a respectable collection of fines, some of which he felt were unjustly rewarded.

About three weeks later, Browder already had a product called DoNotPay which he shared with his friends. A blogger from Reddit picked up on it, and almost overnight, DoNotPay went from 10 people using it to 50,000 users.

Continue reading “Stanford Grad Who Created The World’s First ‘Robot Lawyer’ Raises $12 Million In Series A” »

Jun 24, 2020

You Can “Feel“ Your GPS Directions With This Exoskin

Posted by in category: materials

Click on photo to start video.

This shape-shifting material is blowing our minds.

Jun 24, 2020

Ocean Planets Could be Common in Galaxy

Posted by in category: space

NASA scientists decided to explore whether — hypothetically — there are ocean planets in the Milky Way galaxy that are similar to the watery solar system moons Europa and Enceladus.

Jun 23, 2020

‘Black neutron star’ discovery changes astronomy

Posted by in category: space

Laser labs that detect ripples in space-time may have witnessed a new class of cosmic object.