Discovery & Innovation

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>>> TerraPower

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerraPower#:~:text=Natrium%20fuel%20is%20made%20from,5%20and%2020%20percent%20uranium.

TerraPower, LLC

Company type Private

Industry Nuclear power

Founded 2006

Founder Bill Gates

Headquarters Bellevue, Washington, United States

Key people -

Bill Gates
(Chairman)

Chris Levesque
(President & CEO)

Products Natrium Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor, Molten Chloride Fast Reactor, Traveling wave reactor

Website terrapower.com

TerraPower is an American nuclear reactor design and development engineering company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. TerraPower is developing a class of nuclear fast reactors termed traveling wave reactors (TWR).[1]

TWR places a small core of enriched fuel in the center of a much larger mass of non-fissile material, in this case depleted uranium. Neutrons from fission in the core "breeds" new fissile material in the surrounding mass, producing Plutonium-239. Over time, enough fuel is bred in the area surrounding the core that it can undergo fission, enabling a steady-state reactor composition to be approximated by moving outer fuel rods towards the core as original core fuel rods are moved to the periphery.[2]

In September 2015, TerraPower signed an agreement with state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation to build a prototype 600 MWe reactor unit at Xiapu in Fujian province, China, from 2018 to 2025.[3] Commercial power plants, generating about 1150 MWe, were planned for the late 2020s.[4] However, in January 2019 it was announced that the project had been abandoned due to technology transfer limitations placed by the Trump administration.[5]

In October 2020, the company was chosen by the United States Department of Energy as a recipient of a matching grant totaling between $400 million and $4 billion over the ensuing 5 to 7 years to build a demonstration reactor using their "Natrium" design. Natrium uses liquid sodium as a coolant (reducing the cost using an ambient pressure primary loop). It then transfers that heat to molten salt, which can be stored in tanks and used to generate steam on demand, enabling the reactor to run continuously at constant power, while allowing dispatchable electricity generation.[6]

History

TerraPower is partly funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Los Alamos National Laboratory.[7] One of TerraPower's primary investors is Bill Gates (via Cascade Investment). Others include Charles River Ventures and Khosla Ventures, which reportedly invested $35 million in 2010. TerraPower is led by chief executive officer Chris Levesque. In December 2011 India's Reliance Industries bought a minority stake through one of its subsidiaries and its Chairman Mukesh Ambani joined the board. Other TerraPower participants include[8] scientists and engineers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Fast Flux Test Facility, Microsoft, and various universities, as well as managers from Siemens, Areva NP, the ITER project, Ango Systems Corporation, and DOE.

SK Group agreed to invest $250 million in 2022. The round was co-led by SK Inc and SK Innovation and Gates. DOE gave TerraPower cost-share funding through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to test, license and build an advanced reactor within seven years.

TerraPower selected Kemmerer, Wyoming as the site for a 345 MWe Natrium reactor using a molten salt energy storage system. The reactor can temporarily boost output to 500 MWe, enabling the plant to integrate with renewable resources.[9] In June 2024 the site broke ground, beginning preparation for the as-yet unapproved reactor.[10] It is estimated to cost $4 billion, with the DOE supplying half of that cost, and Gates contributing $1 billion of his money.[11]

Mission

Company objectives include:[12]

Exploring significant improvements to nuclear power using 21st century technologies, state-of-the-art computational capabilities and expanded data.

Evaluating the impact of new concepts on the fuel cycle, from mining to spent fuel disposal.

Pursuing independent private funding.

Designs

Traveling wave reactor

TerraPower chose traveling wave reactors (TWRs) as its primary technology. Their major benefit is high fuel utilization that does not require nuclear reprocessing and could eliminate the need to enrich uranium.[13] TWRs are designed to convert typically non-fissile fertile nuclides (U-238) into fissile nuclides (Pu-239) in-situ and then shift power production from the "burned" region to the "bred" region. This allows the benefits of a closed fuel cycle without the expense and proliferation-risk of enrichment / reprocessing plants. Enough fuel for between 40 and 60 years of operation could be included in the reactor during manufacturing. The reactor could be installed below ground, where it could operate for an estimated 100 years.[14] TerraPower described its reactor design as a Generation IV design.[15]

Environmental effects

By using depleted uranium as fuel, the new reactor type could reduce depleted uranium stockpiles.[16] TerraPower notes that the US harbors 700,000 metric tons of depleted uranium and that 320 metric tons could power 100 million homes for a year.[17] Reports claim that TWR's high fuel efficiency, combined with the ability to use uranium recovered from river or sea water, means enough fuel is available to generate electricity for 10 billion people at US per capita consumption levels over million-year time-scales.[2]

Research and development

The TWR design is still in research and development. The conceptual framework was simulated by supercomputers with empirical evidence for theoretical feasibility. On November 6, 2009, TerraPower executives and Bill Gates visited Toshiba's Yokohama and Keihin Factories in Japan, and concluded a non-disclosure agreement with them on December 1.[18][19][20] Toshiba had developed an ultracompact reactor, the 4S, that could operate for 30 years without fuel handling and generated 10 megawatts.[20][21][22] Some of the 4S technologies are considered to be transferable to TWRs.[19]

Molten salt reactor

In October 2015 the company was reported to be investigating a molten salt reactor design with Southern Company as a technology alternative.[23][24] In February 2022, it was announced that the two companies had agreed to build a demonstration fast-spectrum salt reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).[25] In 2023, the US Department of Energy announced a project to build a test reactor using high-enriched fuel (HEU) containing as much as 90% 235 U, contradicting the country's longer-term project to remove HEU from all reactors.[26]

Sodium fast reactor (Natrium)

Natrium combines a molten sodium reactor with a 1 GWh molten salt energy storage system. Sodium offers a 785-Kelvin temperature range between its solid and gaseous states, nearly 8x that of water's 100-Kelvin range. Without requiring costly and risky pressurization, sodium can absorb large amounts of heat. It is not at risk of decomposition at high temperature as water does. Natrium primarily uses austenitic stainless steels for components in contact with molten sodium, due to the nature of the components involved a protective oxide layer is formed on the steels in the presence of the sodium, inhibiting further corrosion.[27] Corrosion monitoring systems utilizing Ultrasonic testing are in place to detect any potential issues. Regular maintenance and inspections help identify and address corrosion concerns before they become significant.

Natrium fuel is made from high-assay, low enriched uranium (HALEU). HALEU is enriched to contain between 5 and 20 percent uranium. The fuel is in the form of metal uranium slugs that are housed within steel tubes to form fuel rods. Whilst this metallic fuel has a melting point much lower than the ceramic pellets used in light water reactors it also has higher heat conduction. Plant sites are expected to be smaller and 4x more efficient than conventional plants. Natrium control rods descend using only gravity in case of equipment damage/failure. Power output is a constant 345 MWe. The plant is designed to run at 100 percent output, 24/7. The storage system is designed to work in tandem with intermittent energy sources, responding to their spikes and crashes. It can produce 150% of the rated power output, or 500 MWe for 5.5 hours.[28]

In June 2021, TerraPower and PacifiCorp (a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy) announced plans to build a joint Natrium reactor.[29] Four cities in Wyoming affected by closure of fossil-fuel power plants were under consideration for the demonstration reactor: Gillette, Kemmerer, Glenrock and Rock Springs, Wyoming.[30] PacificCorp does business in Wyoming as Rocky Mountain Power and has a coal power plant in each of the candidate locations.[31] It was announced November 16, 2021 that Kemmerer had been selected. Groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 10, 2024.[32] The power station is designed to consist of two adjacent parts: an "energy island" and a "nuclear island". Construction of a "nuclear island" is planned to begin in 2026.[32] The commercial power plant could be operational by 2030.[33][34]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to TerraPower.

Fast breeder reactor
Small modular reactor
Generation IV reactor
Sodium-cooled fast reactor

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In-Q-Tel funding - >>> Colossal Biosciences Inc. is an American biotechnology and genetic engineering company working to de-extinct the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, the northern white rhinoceros, and the dodo bird.[1][3][4][5][6][7] In 2023, it stated that it wants to have woolly mammoth hybrid calves by 2028, and wants to reintroduce them to the Arctic tundra habitat.[8] Likewise, it launched the Tasmanian Thylacine Advisory Committee, a thylacine research project to release Tasmanian tiger joeys back to their original Tasmanian and broader Australian habitat after a period of observation in captivity.[9]

The company develops genetic engineering and reproductive technology for conservation biology. It was founded in 2021 by George Church and Ben Lamm,[3] and is based in Dallas, Texas.[10][11]

<<<

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Biosciences


>>> The CIA Wants to Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth <<<

https://gizmodo.com/cia-wooly-mammoth-de-extinct-resurrect-tasmanian-tiger-1849596497



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>>> Scientists warn of ‘unprecedented’ risks of research into mirror life


by Katie Hunt

CNN

12-17-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-warn-of-unprecedented-risks-of-research-into-mirror-life/ar-AA1vXH2Z?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=aa103681ee904d2580ca9d66412a5a0e&ei=31


A group of 38 scientists working in nine countries has sounded an alarm about the potential creation of mirror bacteria — synthetic organisms in which the molecular structure found in nature is reversed and could put humans, animals and plants at risk of exposure to dangerous pathogens.

While the science and technology necessary to create mirror bacteria in a laboratory is a decade or more away, the scientists argued that the possibly lethal risks posed by this new field of research are “unprecedented” and “overlooked.”

“Driven by curiosity and plausible applications, some researchers had begun work toward creating lifeforms composed entirely of mirror-image biological molecules,” the researchers wrote in a report published December 12 by the journal Science.

“Such mirror organisms would constitute a radical departure from known life, and their creation warrants careful consideration.”

A fundamental feature of all known life is a uniform chirality, or handedness. For example, DNA and RNA are made from “right-handed” nucleotides, and proteins are made from “left-handed” amino acids. Just as a right-handed glove cannot fit a left hand, interactions between molecules often depend on chirality.

While the authors, who included experts in immunology, plant pathology, ecology, evolutionary biology, biosecurity and planetary sciences, had initially been skeptical that mirror bacteria could pose major risks, the experts said they had now become “deeply concerned.”

“It’s a genie you don’t want to let out of the bottle,” said report coauthor Jonathan Jones, a group leader at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, United Kingdom.

“The risk of something bad happening is low, but the consequences of something bad happening are really awful,” he added.

Unless compelling evidence were to emerge that mirror life would not pose extraordinary dangers, research with the goal of creating mirror bacteria should not be permitted, and funders should make clear that they will not support such work, the scientists recommended.

Risks of mirror bacteria

The authors based the Science paper on a 300-page technical report by Adamala et al. that detailed the feasibility and risks of mirror bacteria.

The report said that creating mirror life was a longer-term aspiration of multiple laboratories and major funders of research as part of efforts to better understand life and potentially aid in the development of drugs and other therapeutics.

Many synthetic biologists seek to understand how cells could be created from their constituent molecules with the aim of shedding light on how life first arose and understanding what other kinds of life might be possible. The report said that if a cell with natural chirality can be created from lifeless molecules, then, in theory, a mirror-image cell could be created from mirror-image molecules using the same methods.

No imminent threat exists, the report stressed, and there are currently sizable technical hurdles to creating mirror bacteria. Doing so within a decade would require substantial, coordinated efforts similar in scale and budget to the Human Genome Project, which mapped 92% of the human genome over the span of 12 ½ years.

Organisms vulnerable to infection

Immune systems rely on recognizing specific molecular shapes found in invading bacteria. If these shapes were reflected — as they would be in mirror bacteria — recognition would be impaired and immune defenses could fail, potentially leaving organisms vulnerable to infection.

“We cannot rule out a scenario in which a mirror bacterium acts as an invasive species across many ecosystems, causing pervasive lethal infections in a substantial fraction of plant and animal species, including humans,” the scientists argued in the Science report.

“Even a mirror bacterium with a narrower host range and the ability to invade only a limited set of ecosystems could still cause unprecedented and irreversible harm.”

Transmission via animals and humans could enable the spread of such bacteria into different ecosystems. Jones, an expert in plant immune systems, said that mirror bacteria would be extremely difficult to detect in plants.

“Even if it didn’t grow very well initially, mutations would kick in and there’d be selection for something that grew better. That’s the way evolution works,” Jones explained.

Tom Ellis, a professor of synthetic genome engineering at Imperial College’s Centre for Synthetic Biology and department of bioengineering, said that mirror life was still very much science fiction rather than science fact.

“Broadly I agree with the concerns, although they are very speculative considering research is currently at a very early stage and a long way from being any threat,” said Ellis, who wasn’t involved in the research.

Scientists had been trying to create synthetic life using non-mirror molecules for more than a decade, Ellis said, but they were still a “long way” from having self-sustaining cells that can divide, replicate and evolve.

“This ‘synthetic cell’ work is challenging enough already when (scientists) use normal molecules, enzymes and chemicals. When they have to do all that but only with mirror molecules, that all need to be made and invented, then it makes it … 1000x harder,” he said via email.

“The scale of difficulty is akin to humans preparing to land on Mars, and people starting to talk about flying to other stars and galaxies,” he said. “There’s such a leap in difference of the achievement needed, and the basic initial goal isn’t even done yet.”

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>>> World-first: Deep brain stimulation enables paralyzed patient to walk again


Interesting Engineering

by Mrigakshi Dixit

December 3, 2024


https://www.yahoo.com/news/world-first-deep-brain-stimulation-141138940.html


A ski accident left 54-year-old Wolfgang Jäger paralyzed in 2006. He has been confined to a wheelchair since sustaining a spinal cord injury.

But thanks to a new treatment, he is slowly regaining his mobility - through the ability of walking short distances.

Jäger participated in the clinical trial for spinal cord injuries (SCI) conducted by EPFL and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).

In this clinical trial, the participants received deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the surprising region of the brain called the lateral hypothalamus (LH).

This region was long thought to be involved only in basic functions like arousal and feeding. But it has now been revealed linked to controlling the movement of legs and even motor recovery.

Surprisingly, the results showcased notable improvement in lower limb function in trial individuals with partial SCI.

The treatment enhanced the participants’ walking abilities without the need for any aid.

“Last year on vacation, it was no problem to walk a couple of steps down and back to the sea using the stimulation,” Jäger shared.

“I can also reach things in my cupboards in the kitchen,” he added.

Revives remaining nerve fibers in the brain

DBS is a neurosurgical technique used to treat movement disorders like Parkinson's disease. It involves implanting electrodes to modulate neural activity for motor control.

This new approach involves using DBS on the lateral hypothalamus to treat partial paralysis.

By stimulating this area with DBS, researchers have been able to awaken dormant neural pathways.

The effects of DBS were both immediate and long-lasting. For instance, the treatment immediately improved walking ability during rehabilitation. Moreover, it resulted in sustained improvements in motor function.

The treatment promoted the reorganization of “residual nerve fibers,” which survive after the injury. This resulted in lasting neurological improvements.

“We found how to tap into a small region of the brain that was not known to be involved in the production of walking in order to engage these residual connections and augment neurological recovery in people with spinal cord injury,” said Grégoire Courtine, professor of neuroscience at EPFL, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).

For the surgery, detailed brain scans of the patients were first conducted. The scans enabled accurate placement of small electrodes into the brain region.

After this, stimulations were performed while the patient was fully conscious. During stimulation, the patients provided real-time feedback.

For instance, the first patient immediately reported feeling her legs, and increased stimulation prompted her to say, "I feel the urge to walk!"

“This real-time feedback confirmed we had targeted the correct region, even if this region had never been associated with the control of the legs in humans,” said Jocelyne Bloch, neurosurgeon and professor at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), in the press release.

Researchers developed a multi-step approach to identify the role of the lateral hypothalamus in walking recovery.

They started by mapping the entire brain to understand its function in walking. Moreover, experiments on animal models revealed specific neural circuits involved in recovery. Finally, they translated these findings into clinical trials on two human participants.

These results open the door to new treatments for SCI recovery.

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>>> 5 amazing ways that hydrogen-powered tech could transform our future


by Sophia Rocha

Yahoo Tech

October 5, 2024


https://www.yahoo.com/tech/5-amazing-ways-hydrogen-powered-110008553.html


Hydrogen power is becoming an increasingly attractive energy source — mainly because when burned, it releases water vapor instead of the harmful pollution that comes from dirty energy sources like oil and gas.

What's more, there are some incredibly surprising ways that hydrogen fuel is already providing the energy that could power our future.

Hydrogen-powered ships

"This will be a world-class oceanographic research vessel."

The preliminary designs for a hydrogen-hybrid research vessel for the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been approved by the American Bureau of Shipping. The proposed ship will run on hydrogen for 75% of its energy, with the other 25% coming from clean-running diesel generators.

In 2018, the naval architecture and engineering firm Glosten successfully completed a feasibility study on the vessel, kickstarting the design project. With this approval, Glosten and Scripps can move forward with finding a contractor to begin the ship's construction.

Enormous cranes

The potential impact of this program is almost unfathomable.

The world's first hydrogen-powered crane became operational in the Port of Los Angeles just this year. A regular diesel-powered crane releases emissions equivalent to burning 400 barrels of oil per year.

Though the single crane in Los Angeles is part of a pilot program, engineers hope that it can provide findings that suggest equal performance to diesel-powered cranes.

Ultra-efficient passenger ferries

"There's great potential here."

San Francisco recently launched the first-ever hydrogen-powered passenger ferry. The MV Sea Change is running for a six-month trial period, making trips from the downtown San Francisco ferry terminal to Pier 41. During trials, the ferry is free of charge.

The vessel holds 75 people, can run for 16 hours, and travel 345 miles before needing to refuel, and its only byproduct is water. Shipping accounts for 3% of the world's carbon pollution, so ships powered by hydrogen could have major benefits.

High-powered garbage trucks

The waste management industry is cleaning up its act.

Waste management is also getting in on the hydrogen-powered action with a new Class 8 fuel cell-powered garbage truck. The new clean-energy truck is the brainchild of Hyzon, a global hydrogen fuel cell developer, and New Way Trucks, a garbage collection equipment manufacturer.

Waste and recycling company Bigbelly reported that refuse trucks are the worst contributors to vehicle pollution on a per-mile basis in cities. Switching to hydrogen-powered refuse trucks could greatly reduce the emissions from waste management services.

A new kind of aircraft

"Imagine being able to fly ... with no emissions except water."

Joby Aviation's electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft flew over 500 miles powered by hydrogen fuel cells and electricity. Joby's goal is to have a fleet of clean-energy air taxis to reduce pollution and traffic jams in major cities.

The aircraft's all-electric prototype could previously only travel 100 miles on a single charge but has hugely increased range with the addition of hydrogen fuel cells, which provide more energy without harmful emissions.

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>>> Robot controlled by a king oyster mushroom blends living organisms and machines


by Katie Hunt

CNN

September 4, 2024


https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-build-robot-part-fungus-080020874.html


A wheeled bot rolls across the floor. A soft-bodied robotic star bends its five legs, moving with an awkward shuffle.

Powered by conventional electricity via plug or battery, these simple robotic creations would be unremarkable, but what sets these two robots apart is that they are controlled by a living entity: a king oyster mushroom.

By growing the mushroom’s mycelium, or rootlike threads, into the robot’s hardware, a team led by Cornell University researchers has engineered two types of robots that sense and respond to the environment by harnessing electrical signals made by the fungus and its sensitivity to light.

The robots are the latest accomplishment of scientists in a field known as biohybrid robotics who seek to combine biological, living materials such as plant and animal cells or insects with synthetic components to make partly living and partly engineered entities.

Biohybrid robots have yet to venture beyond the lab, but researchers hope one day robot jellyfish may explore oceans, sperm-powered bots may be able to deliver fertility treatments and cyborg cockroaches could search for survivors in the wake of an earthquake.

“Mechanisms, including computing, understanding and action as a response, are done in the biological world and in the artificial world that humans have created, and biology most of the time is better at it than our artificial systems are,” said Robert Shepherd, a senior author of a study detailing the robots published August 28 in the journal Science Robotics.

“Biohybridization is an attempt to find components in the biological world that we can harness, understand, and control to help our artificial systems work better,” added Shepherd, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University who leads the institution’s Organic Robotics Lab.

Part fungus, part machine

The team began by growing king oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii) in the lab from a simple kit ordered online. The researchers chose this species of mushroom because it grows easily and quickly.

They cultivated the mushroom’s threadlike structures or mycelium, which can form networks that, according to the study, can sense, communicate and transport nutrients — functioning a little like neurons in a brain. (Alas, it’s not strictly accurate to call the creations shroom bots. The mushroom is the fruit of the fungi — the robots are powered by the rootlike mycelium.)

Mycelium produces small electrical signals and can be connected to electrodes.

Andrew Adamatzky, a professor of unconventional computing at the University of the West of England in Bristol who builds fungal computers, said it isn’t clear how fungi produce electrical signals.

“No one knows for sure,” said Adamatzky, who wasn’t involved in the research but reviewed it before publication.

“Essentially, all living cells produce action-potential-like spikes, and fungi are no exception.”

The study team found it challenging to engineer a system that could detect and use the small electrical signals from the mycelia to command the robot.

“You have to make sure that your electrode touches in the right position because the mycelia are very thin. There is not a lot of biomass there,” said lead author Anand Mishra, a postdoctoral research associate in Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab. “Then you culture them, and when the mycelia start growing, they wrap around the electrode.”

Mishra engineered an electrical interface that accurately reads the mycelia’s raw electrical activity, then processes and converts it into digital information that can activate the robot’s actuators or moving parts.

The robots were able to walk and roll as a response to the electrical spikes generated by the mycelia, and when Mishra and his colleagues stimulated the robots with ultraviolet light, they changed their gait and trajectory, showing that they were able to respond to their environment.

“Mushrooms don’t really like light,” Shepherd said. “Based on the difference in the intensities (of the light) you can get different functions of the robot. It will move faster or move away from the light.”

‘Exciting’ work

It’s exciting to see more work in biohybrid robotics that moves beyond human, animal and insect tissues, said Victoria Webster-Wood, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Biohybrid and Organic Robotics Group in Pittsburgh.

“Fungi may have advantages over other biohybrid approaches in terms of the conditions required to keep them alive,” said Webster-Wood, who wasn’t involved in the research.

“If they are more robust to environmental conditions this could make them an excellent candidate for biohybrid robots for applications in agriculture and marine monitoring or exploration.”

The study noted that fungi can be cultivated in large quantities and can thrive in many different environments.

The researchers operated the rolling robot without a tether connecting it to the electrical hardware — a feat that Webster-Wood called particularly noteworthy.

“Truly tether-free biohybrid robots are a challenge in the field,” she said via email, “and seeing them achieve this with the mycelium system is quite exciting.”

Biohybrid robotics in the real world

Fungi-controlled technology could have applications in agriculture, Shepherd said.

“In this case we used light as the input, but in the future it will be chemical. The potential for future robots could be to sense soil chemistry in row crops and decide when to add more fertilizer, for example, perhaps mitigating downstream effects of agriculture like harmful algal blooms,” he told the Cornell Chronicle.

Fungi-controlled robots, and fungal computing more broadly, have huge potential, according to Adamatzky.

He said his lab has produced more than 30 sensing and computing devices using live fungi, including growing a self-healing skin for robots that can react to light and touch.

“When an adequate drivetrain (transmission system) is provided, the robot can, for example, monitor the health of ecological systems. The fungal controller would react to changes, such as air pollution, and guide the robot accordingly,” Adamatzky said via email.

“The emergence of yet another fungal device — a robotic controller — excitingly demonstrates the remarkable potential of fungi.”

Rafael Mestre, a lecturer at the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom who works on the social, ethical and policy implications of emergent technologies, said that if biohybrid robots become more sophisticated and are deployed in the ocean or another ecosystem it could disrupt the habitat, challenging the traditional distinction between life and machine.

“You are putting these things into the trophic chain of an ecosystem in a place where it shouldn’t be,” said Mestre, who was not involved in the new study. “If you release in big numbers it could be disruptive. I don’t see at this moment this particular research has strong ethical concerns … but if it continues to develop I think it’s quite crucial to consider what happens when we release this in the open.”

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>>> Doctors ‘truly amazed’ by man’s recovery after world-first whole-eye transplant


by Nilima Marshall

PA Science Reporter

September 9, 2024


https://www.yahoo.com/news/doctors-truly-amazed-man-recovery-150000838.html


Surgeons who performed the world’s first whole eye transplant on an army veteran said they have been “truly amazed” by his remarkable recovery.

Aaron James, 47, from Arkansas in the US, lost his left eye and most of his face after an electrical cable touched the left side three years ago.

In May 2023, he underwent 21 hours of surgery involving more than 140 healthcare professionals to replace his face – which included getting a new eye.

Now more than a year later, his donor eye continues to maintain normal pressure and blood flow – despite surgeries on animals showing a different outcome where the eye often shrank significantly, the doctors said.

Eduardo D Rodriguez, chair of the Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone Health in the US, said: “We are truly amazed by Aaron’s recovery, with no episodes of rejection.”

Tests also show that that rods and cones, the light-sensitive nerve cells in the eye, survived the transplant.

Doctors say this raises hope that one day, whole-eye transplants could be performed to restore sight – despite Mr James still yet to regain his vision in his left eye.

Dr Daniel J Ceradini, director of research and associate professor in the Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery, said: “The whole thing has been a monumental achievement, considering how Aaron has done post operatively and how good he functions and looks.”

He said scans suggest the brain may be responding to the light through the donor eye but added that these findings, published in the journal Jama, “are very preliminary and would need to be studied over time”.

Mr James, who served in the Army National Guard for 10 years, said that being able to smell, taste and eat solid food – particularly pizza – after surviving on purees for two years was a “shining moment”.

He added: “I knew getting back to normal would be (on track) if I could eat pizza.

“The very first thing that I can remember when I woke up from surgery is being able to smell, because before that, I didn’t have a nose, so I couldn’t smell, and that also meant I could not taste anything.

“The only way I could eat was through a straw because by mouth was locked – I couldn’t open or close my mouth.”

Mr James, who also lost his left arm in the accident and now wears a prosthetic, said that since surgery, he is now “pretty much back to being a normal guy, doing normal things”.

Meagan James, 39, his wife of more than 20 years, said her emotional moment was when she kissed her husband on the lips for the first time in two years.

She said: “Just to have that back was pretty special.”

Prof Ceradini said the team will continue to do more work to understand how to restore sight to the eye.

He said one of the steps could involve helping the optic nerve – which send visual messages to the brain to help a person see – regrow.

Despite not being able to see with his left eye, Mr James said he “felt honoured to be patient zero”.

He said: “This has been the most transformative year of my life.

“I’ve been given the gift of a second chance, and I don’t take a single moment for granted.

“I’ve gained my quality of life back, and I know this is a step forward in the path to help future patients.”

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>>> ‘I have been researching death for 30 years. I am now convinced it is reversible’


The Telegraph

by Charlotte Lytton

August 27, 2024


https://news.yahoo.com/news/heart-attack-tomorrow-why-stay-123000190.html


Cancer, heart disease, diabetes… name most major conditions, and treatment today has changed radically from decades past. Except for one: death.

But, according to Sam Parnia, associate professor of medicine at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, “what we believe about death is fundamentally wrong”. It is not the end, he says, but a “reversible state”.

Parnia’s 30 years of research into where life ends and death begins have made him a leading resurrectionist, with a fundamental desire to change how we view both. He outlines his discoveries in Lucid Dying, to be published on Thursday: a book that charts compelling evidence that reviving the dead isn’t as difficult as we might think, and his research into what happens when consciousness ebbs away.

Parnia, who is British and trained at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London, has come to see a flatline on an ECG (electrocardiogram) as meaningless. “You can reverse death, and it’s not just a wish, it’s the reality,” the 52 year-old says. “People used to think you could never go beyond the boundaries of [flying], let alone going beyond the atmosphere of the Earth. And if you always believed that, then you’d never try.”

Death, he adds, is suffering from terrible PR. “If we remove that social label that makes us think everything stops, and look at it objectively, it’s basically an injury process” – one that, he believes, can be treated.

Research produced in the past five years has made it clear that our idea of dying is “simply a social convention that does not conform with scientific realities”. This “new frontier of science”, as Parnia terms it, feels at least a little revolutionary, fundamentally challenging one of life’s two certainties (taxes sadly seem less prone to reversal). But he remains frustrated that existing theories about death, which are “either outdated and frankly wrong, or at best inadequate and inaccurate”, persist given the research and tools now at our disposal.

In 2012, resuscitation rates following cardiac arrests at his hospital in New York were 33 per cent (compared to a US average of 16 per cent); he believes his team are the only ones in the world to be giving patients cocktails of drugs similar to those proven to successfully preserve pig organs following CPR, which have “significantly improved survival”.

Parnia, who has an eponymous research lab at NYU Langone, says brains remain “salvageable for not only hours, but possibly days of time”. In one case, brain cells were found to retain full function 48 hours after being removed from a person’s body – in spite of the ice being used to preserve the organ melting due to a delayed DHL delivery. “So that’s a whole game-changer.”

In recent years, such discoveries have come thick and fast. Parnia cites Yale University’s 2019 study detailing how decapitated pig brains had been revived for up to 14 hours post-mortem as among the most compelling pieces of proof for the same being done in humans (the research was labelled “Frankenstein-style” the year prior to publication). Another study published by Yale in 2022 demonstrated how a modified heart and lung machine combined with a series of drugs could restore organs in pigs. “It is just a matter of time” before those same results transcend the pig-person barrier, Parnia thinks.

While the promise to reverse death would be compelling at any point, our current obsession with thwarting time is insatiable; there are supplements and tinctures filling health store shelves and social media feeds; and record-breaking podcasts making stars of their DNA-defying supremos. Last month, excitement ramped up anew when news of Tomorrow Bio, Europe’s first cryonics startup, circulated, with its deep-freeze services going for £170,000 a pop.

Cryonics has yet to prove that it is capable of returning people to life (Parnia calls it “wishful thinking”), though “the idea that cooling the body is highly protective is true”. He points to the case of a British woman who developed hypothermia while hiking in Spain in 2019, whose heart stopped for six hours while rescue teams tried to locate her. “That’s way past what we consider dead for humans,” Parnia says. Yet after being flown to a specialist centre with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO, which takes on the function of the heart and lungs when the body is unable to do so), she was revived. “She was lucky they had [ECMO]. They did it, they didn’t give up on her. If they had taken her to another place, she would have been declared dead.” (In another similar case, a woman was brought back to life seven hours after being found in the cold in a park.)

Back from the dead

These are reported as exceptional cases, but Parnia says they needn’t be. For the most part, CPR, which was introduced in 1959, remains our sole revival method – in spite of the fact it has a 10 per cent success rate, and many hospitals have ECMO machines. “Why do it with something that’s so inferior, which either doesn’t work properly or it ends up bringing people back but leaves them with brain damage?” Parnia rails. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Still, it is not only the will that is holding medical professionals back from mounting a full-time resurrection mission. With hospitals overstretched – NHS waiting lists hit a record high in August, rising for the fifth consecutive month – the likelihood of departments having the resources and staff to keep at patients’ bedsides 24/7 feels perhaps more far flung than the idea of people returning from the dead in the first place.

But Parnia is convinced it is possible, the fact he is part-way through an intensive care shift when we speak is doing nothing to dilute his fervour. Though his fascination with the subject began in 1994, when a man he had been chatting with an hour earlier suddenly flatlined in the hospital where he was working, the pursuit has only recently begun to feel personal.

Giving up too soon?

He notes that his age and gender makes him a prime heart attack risk, “so I tell everyone, look, I’m going to have a cardiac arrest soon. And I’m appalled at the treatment I’m going to get... It’s atrocious what we have to go through when [interventions] are possible,” he says. “If I have a heart attack and die tomorrow, why should I stay dead? That’s not necessary anymore.”

Parnia doesn’t believe everyone who dies needs to be brought back – someone with multiple organ failure is obviously an unsuitable candidate for life-extension. But of the many “heartbreaking” cases of people who die while in otherwise good health (Parnia cites a young mother stabbed to death in a Sydney mall attack earlier this year, or those killed in war), we are giving up too soon. “You just need someone to go to the operating room, find where the laceration was, stitch it together, and put blood back into your body again,” he says. Those who die while “otherwise young, who are otherwise healthy – those people are all potentially salvageable”.

To Parnia, these ideas aren’t ghoulish, but “hopeful, astonishing and life-affirming”. Just as bringing people back via CPR would have been considered the stuff of fantasy 100 years ago, “I have little doubt that, in the future, people who would be declared dead today will be routinely brought back to life.” He acknowledges that major shifts of this kind are unlikely to have fully taken hold by the time his own death comes, but he remains optimistic, he says. “As I look forward, I am excited to think about what will be discovered.”

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>>> Brain pacemaker could help treat symptoms related to Parkinson’s Disease


WPRI Providence

August 20, 2024


https://www.yahoo.com/news/brain-pacemaker-could-help-treat-205200432.html


A self-adjusting brain pacemaker could help treat symptoms related to Parkinson’s Disease, according to a new study by the National Institutes of Health. The implanted device, regulated by the body’s brain activity, could provide continual and improved treatment for symptoms.

A brain implant can help people with Parkinson’s disease deal with movement problems during the day and insomnia at night, new research suggests.

The study found that the device, which is controlled by brain activity, could provide personalised continual and improved treatment for the symptoms in some people with the condition.

When the implant detects changes in symptoms from brain activity, it releases pulses of electricity.

The treatment works with medications that Parkinson’s patients take to manage their symptoms, giving less stimulation when the drug is active, and more stimulation as the drug wears off, to prevent stiffness.

Megan Frankowski, programme director for the USA’s National Institutes of Health’s Brain Initiative, which helped fund this project, said: “This study marks a big step forward towards developing a DBS (deep brain stimulation) system that adapts to what the individual patient needs at a given time.”

Professor Philip Starr, from the University of California, San Francisco, said: “This is the future of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease.”

DBS involves implanting electrodes into the brain at specific locations.

These wires then deliver electrical signals that can help mitigate the symptoms of brain disorders such as Parkinson’s.

Conventional DBS provides a constant level of stimulation and can also lead to unwanted side effects, because the brain does not always need the same strength of treatment.

But the new treatment, adaptive DBS (aDBS) uses data taken directly from someone’s brain and uses artificial intelligence to adjust the level of stimulation in real time as the person’s needs change over time.

In the study, published in Nature Medicine, four people already on regular DBS were asked which symptom bothered them the most despite treatment, before being given the new treatment.

Researchers found that aDBS improved each person most problematic symptom by roughly 50% compared to conventional DBS.

This project is a continuation of several years of work led by Prof Starr, and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

In 2018 they reported the development of an adaptive DBS system, referred to as a “closed loop” system, that adjusted based on feedback from the brain itself.

In 2021, they described their ability to record brain activity in people as they went about their daily lives.

Here, those two findings were combined to use brain activity recorded during normal life activities to drive the aDBS system.

UCSF researchers led by Simon Little, conducted a separate trial to look at Parkinson’s related insomnia, that included four patients with Parkinson’s and one patient with dystonia, a related movement disorder.

In their paper published in Nature Communications, the researchers found that the device could recognise brain activity associated with various states of sleep.

They also found that it could recognise other patterns that indicate a person is likely to wake up in the middle of the night.

Researchers say there is still some way to go before this therapy can be more widely available.

The initial set-up of the device requires considerable input from highly trained clinicians, but the experts envision a future where most of the work would be managed by the device itself.

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>>> Electrons become fractions of themselves in graphene, study finds

An exotic electronic state observed by MIT physicists could enable more robust forms of quantum computing.


by Jennifer Chu

MIT News

February 21, 2024


https://news.mit.edu/2024/electrons-become-fractions-graphene-study-finds-0221


The electron is the basic unit of electricity, as it carries a single negative charge. This is what we’re taught in high school physics, and it is overwhelmingly the case in most materials in nature.

But in very special states of matter, electrons can splinter into fractions of their whole. This phenomenon, known as “fractional charge,” is exceedingly rare, and if it can be corralled and controlled, the exotic electronic state could help to build resilient, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

To date, this effect, known to physicists as the “fractional quantum Hall effect,” has been observed a handful of times, and mostly under very high, carefully maintained magnetic fields. Only recently have scientists seen the effect in a material that did not require such powerful magnetic manipulation.

Now, MIT physicists have observed the elusive fractional charge effect, this time in a simpler material: five layers of graphene — an atom-thin layer of carbon that stems from graphite and common pencil lead. They report their results today in Nature.

They found that when five sheets of graphene are stacked like steps on a staircase, the resulting structure inherently provides just the right conditions for electrons to pass through as fractions of their total charge, with no need for any external magnetic field.

The results are the first evidence of the “fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect” (the term “anomalous” refers to the absence of a magnetic field) in crystalline graphene, a material that physicists did not expect to exhibit this effect.

“This five-layer graphene is a material system where many good surprises happen,” says study author Long Ju, assistant professor of physics at MIT. “Fractional charge is just so exotic, and now we can realize this effect with a much simpler system and without a magnetic field. That in itself is important for fundamental physics. And it could enable the possibility for a type of quantum computing that is more robust against perturbation.”

Ju’s MIT co-authors are lead author Zhengguang Lu, Tonghang Han, Yuxuan Yao, Aidan Reddy, Jixiang Yang, Junseok Seo, and Liang Fu, along with Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan.

A bizarre state

The fractional quantum Hall effect is an example of the weird phenomena that can arise when particles shift from behaving as individual units to acting together as a whole. This collective “correlated” behavior emerges in special states, for instance when electrons are slowed from their normally frenetic pace to a crawl that enables the particles to sense each other and interact. These interactions can produce rare electronic states, such as the seemingly unorthodox splitting of an electron’s charge.

In 1982, scientists discovered the fractional quantum Hall effect in heterostructures of gallium arsenide, where a gas of electrons confined in a two-dimensional plane is placed under high magnetic fields. The discovery later won the group a Nobel Prize in Physics.

“[The discovery] was a very big deal, because these unit charges interacting in a way to give something like fractional charge was very, very bizarre,” Ju says. “At the time, there were no theory predictions, and the experiments surprised everyone.”

Those researchers achieved their groundbreaking results using magnetic fields to slow down the material’s electrons enough for them to interact. The fields they worked with were about 10 times stronger than what typically powers an MRI machine.

In August 2023, scientists at the University of Washington reported the first evidence of fractional charge without a magnetic field. They observed this “anomalous” version of the effect, in a twisted semiconductor called molybdenum ditelluride. The group prepared the material in a specific configuration, which theorists predicted would give the material an inherent magnetic field, enough to encourage electrons to fractionalize without any external magnetic control.

The “no magnets” result opened a promising route to topological quantum computing — a more secure form of quantum computing, in which the added ingredient of topology (a property that remains unchanged in the face of weak deformation or disturbance) gives a qubit added protection when carrying out a computation. This computation scheme is based on a combination of fractional quantum Hall effect and a superconductor. It used to be almost impossible to realize: One needs a strong magnetic field to get fractional charge, while the same magnetic field will usually kill the superconductor. In this case the fractional charges would serve as a qubit (the basic unit of a quantum computer).

Making steps

That same month, Ju and his team happened to also observe signs of anomalous fractional charge in graphene — a material for which there had been no predictions for exhibiting such an effect.

Ju’s group has been exploring electronic behavior in graphene, which by itself has exhibited exceptional properties. Most recently, Ju’s group has looked into pentalayer graphene — a structure of five graphene sheets, each stacked slightly off from the other, like steps on a staircase. Such pentalayer graphene structure is embedded in graphite and can be obtained by exfoliation using Scotch tape. When placed in a refrigerator at ultracold temperatures, the structure’s electrons slow to a crawl and interact in ways they normally wouldn’t when whizzing around at higher temperatures.

In their new work, the researchers did some calculations and found that electrons might interact with each other even more strongly if the pentalayer structure were aligned with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) — a material that has a similar atomic structure to that of graphene, but with slightly different dimensions. In combination, the two materials should produce a moiré superlattice — an intricate, scaffold-like atomic structure that could slow electrons down in ways that mimic a magnetic field.

“We did these calculations, then thought, let’s go for it,” says Ju, who happened to install a new dilution refrigerator in his MIT lab last summer, which the team planned to use to cool materials down to ultralow temperatures, to study exotic electronic behavior.

The researchers fabricated two samples of the hybrid graphene structure by first exfoliating graphene layers from a block of graphite, then using optical tools to identify five-layered flakes in the steplike configuration. They then stamped the graphene flake onto an hBN flake and placed a second hBN flake over the graphene structure. Finally, they attached electrodes to the structure and placed it in the refrigerator, set to near absolute zero.

As they applied a current to the material and measured the voltage output, they started to see signatures of fractional charge, where the voltage equals the current multiplied by a fractional number and some fundamental physics constants.

“The day we saw it, we didn’t recognize it at first,” says first author Lu. “Then we started to shout as we realized, this was really big. It was a completely surprising moment.”

“This was probably the first serious samples we put in the new fridge,” adds co-first author Han. “Once we calmed down, we looked in detail to make sure that what we were seeing was real.”

With further analysis, the team confirmed that the graphene structure indeed exhibited the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect. It is the first time the effect has been seen in graphene.

“Graphene can also be a superconductor,” Ju says. “So, you could have two totally different effects in the same material, right next to each other. If you use graphene to talk to graphene, it avoids a lot of unwanted effects when bridging graphene with other materials.”

For now, the group is continuing to explore multilayer graphene for other rare electronic states.

“We are diving in to explore many fundamental physics ideas and applications,” he says. “We know there will be more to come.”

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>>> ‘Dark oxygen’ on ocean floor may rewrite Earth’s origins of life

Deep sea nodules could be making their own oxygen without sunlight.


Popular Science

BY ANDREW PAUL

JUL 22, 2024


https://www.popsci.com/science/dark-oxygen-ocean/


Polymetallic nodules scattered across bottom of the ocean floor

The formations can be found as deep as 20,000 feet below the ocean's surface.

It’s one of the earliest things you learn in elementary school science class—Earth’s life-sustaining oxygen is produced by plants and algae during photosynthesis using a combination of carbon dioxide and sunlight. But the recent discovery of what researchers call “dark oxygen” may upend conventional notions of how the critical element can be created–and what that might mean for the origins of life.

According to a study published in Nature Geoscience on July 22, natural mineral deposits known as polymetallic nodules located at the bottom of the ocean appear capable of generating oxygen without any source of light. These nodules are found as far as 20,000 feet below the ocean surface and range in size from particles to nodules as large as a human hand. Because they contain combinations of cobalt, copper, lithium, and manganese, they have long been eyed by large-scale mining companies as a potential untapped source of coveted metals needed to produce batteries and other electronics. But as lucrative as they may be for industrial uses, they now seem far more vital to life within ocean ecosystems.

The first indications that something strange was occuring within polymetallic nodules arrived over 10 years ago in a northeastern region of the Pacific Ocean. While on a sampling expedition in the area’s mountainous submarine ridge known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Andrew Sweetman of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) noticed odd readings on his equipment.

“When we first got this data, we thought the sensors were faulty because every study ever done in the deep sea has only seen oxygen being consumed rather than produced,” Sweetman says in an accompanying statement. “We would come home and recalibrate the sensors, but, over the course of 10 years, these strange oxygen readings kept showing up.” After double checking the findings using a different sensor array, Sweetman and his team knew they were “onto something groundbreaking and unthought-of.”

In 2023, Sweetman contacted Northwestern University electrochemistry expert Franz Geiger about the strange evidence and sent him multiple pounds of polymetallic nodules. Electrolysis, the process of splitting a target into its separate elements, needs only 1.5 volts to initiate in seawater—and after attaching sensors to a single nodule, Sweetman and Geiger detected voltages as high as 0.95 volts. This power increased even more when they placed the formations close together, much like stacking batteries.

“It appears that we discovered a natural ‘geobattery,’” Geiger says in a statement. “These geobatteries are the basis for a possible explanation of the ocean’s dark oxygen production.”

The existence and possible source of this dark oxygen may eventually rewrite the narrative of how life originated on Earth. As Sweetman explains, experts have long theorized that the planet’s aerobic life began due to oxygen created by photosynthetic organisms like early plants and algae. Now that they know oxygen can be produced even in the ocean’s lightless depths, these theories may need updating.

“I think we… need to revisit questions like: Where could aerobic life have begun?” says Sweetman.

But polymetallic nodules may not have just helped start life on Earth—they may also continue to keep it going near the ocean floor. And this poses a major issue for viewing them as a potential natural mining resource. Geiger explains in Monday’s announcement that 2016 and 2017 examinations by marine biologist examinations of deep sea areas mined during the 1980s revealed total dead zones that lacked even the presence of bacteria.

“Why such ‘dead zones’ persist for decades is still unknown,” Geiger says. “However, this puts a major asterisk onto strategies for sea-floor mining as ocean-floor faunal diversity in nodule-rich areas is higher than in the most diverse tropical rainforests.”

Unfortunately, all that deep ocean biological diversity may mean little to the corporations that view polymetallic nodules as potential profits. Geiger notes that the total mass of all the formations within the 4,500 miles that compose the Clarion-Clipperton Zone is likely enough to supply global energy demands for decades. But as countless examples already show, the destruction of one seemingly distant ecosystem can initiate deadly and dangerous ripple effects elsewhere.

“We need to rethink how to mine these materials, so that we do not deplete the oxygen source for deep-sea life,” Geiger warns.

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>>> Earth Has a Third Form of Life—and It Could Change How We Generate Power


Popular Mechanics

by Darren Orf

6-14-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/earth-has-a-third-form-of-life-and-it-could-change-how-we-generate-power/ar-BB1oe6g9?ocid=BingNewsSerp&cvid=32cb9ba3900e415bbb61d57c9eff8799&ei=75


Earth’s immense web of life fill three broad domains—archaea, bacteria, and eukarya.

Scientists from Monash University recently discovered hydrogen-producing enzymes in archaea, which were thought to only exist in the other two orders.

These archaea enzymes, known as hydrogenases, are smaller and more complex than those found in the other two domains, and could help biotech firms develop better, more efficient hydrogen energy systems.

Earth is home to an estimated 8.7 million species, only a fraction of which have been scientifically identified. However, despite this vast, disparate tree of life, every living thing falls into one of three large categories, or “domains”—archaea, bacteria, and eukarya.

All of the usual stuff we think of as “life”—things like trees, fungi, and animals—are eukaryotes, meaning that their cells contain a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Archaea and bacteria, on the other hand, are prokaryotic, meaning they don’t contain such structures. While these two other domains might look similar under a microscope, there is a long list of differences that make archaea as different from bacteria as they are from humans.

Since the discovery of archaea in the late 1970s, scientists have believed that one difference between this third domain and other forms of life is that these organisms didn’t produce hydrogen-using enzymes known as “hydrogenases.” However, a new study published this week in the journal Cell says that not only is this not true, but in fact, archaea have been consuming and producing hydrogen for two billion years—a process that has allowed them to live in some of the most hostile locales on Earth.

Understanding this process can also help illuminate how all other life came to be—the leading biological theory suggests that the first eukaryotes formed when an ancient species of archaea merged with a bacteria cell (a.k.a. endosymbiosis) via hydrogen-gas exchange.

“Humans have only recently begun to think about using hydrogen as a source of energy, but archaea have been doing it for a billion years,” Bob Leung, a co-author of the study, said in a press statement. “Our finding brings us a step closer to understanding how this crucial process gave rise to all eukaryotes, including humans.”

In the study, the research team looked at the genomes of thousands of archaea, found hydrogen-producing enzymes, and then created those enzymes in a lab for further study. What they noticed is that some of these archaea produced an enzyme known as [FeFe]-hydrogenase.

This goes against the idea that only the other two domains made use of these kinds of enzymes, and also highlights the fact that archaeal enzymes were both the smallest and most-complex form hydrogen-using enzymes found amongst the all three domains. This could have big implications as engineers continue exploring ways to use hydrogen as a green energy source.

“Industry currently uses precious chemical catalysts to use hydrogen. However, we know from nature that biological catalysts function can be highly efficient and resilient,” Chris Greening, the lead author of the study, said in a press release. “Can we use these to improve the way that we use hydrogen?”

Amazingly, uncovering a two billion-year-old process—related to the one of the least understood domains of life—could help illuminate a path toward a desperately needed, zero-emission future. While archaea can survive beyond boiling temperatures or freezing points, a lot of us eukaryotes need things to be a bit more mild.

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MIT discovery --> Photo-Molecular Effect - could revolutionize water desalination -

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>>> Scientists create earthquake-proof resin that seals rocks, heals cracks


Interesting Engineering

by Aman Tripathi

4-22-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-create-earthquake-proof-resin-that-seals-rocks-heals-cracks/ar-BB1mQBSz?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Researchers from Nagoya University have developed a revolutionary resin-based material that has demonstrated unprecedented capabilities in sealing cracks in rocks, even in the face of seismic activity.

This groundbreaking innovation, inspired by the natural fossilization process, holds the potential to transform various industries, from nuclear waste management to infrastructure maintenance.

Their innovation, a “concretion-forming resin,” not only seals cracks and fractures in rock but also demonstrates an unprecedented ability to self-heal after seismic events.

Inspiration from nature’s fossilization process

The resin’s ability to self-heal is particularly noteworthy, as it can potentially extend the lifespan of sealed structures and reduce the need for costly maintenance and repairs.

“I realized that well-preserved fossils in concretions had withstood weathering and the like for tens to hundreds of thousands of years in the natural environment,” said Hidekazu Yoshida, the lead researcher.

“I became inspired by studying how fast concretions were formed and why the fossils inside were preserved so well.”

The resin’s remarkable properties stem from its emulation of the natural formation of calcite concretions around organic matter, a process that has preserved fossils for millennia.

By mixing two agents that trigger rapid calcite crystal formation upon contact with water, the resin effectively fills and seals voids in rock, creating an impenetrable barrier.

Rigorous earthquake strike testing

The resin’s efficacy was rigorously tested in an underground laboratory situated 350 meters beneath Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, a region renowned for its seismic activity.

Interestingly, the area experienced six earthquakes over two days during testing.

Notably, the resin maintained its seal throughout these events and exhibited a self-healing capability, resealing any cracks that formed due to the tremors.

This unparalleled resilience sets the concretion-forming resin apart from conventional cement-based sealants, which often fail to withstand such geological stresses.

“Such a fast-acting and sustained sealing effect of rock fractures, including post-earthquake crack repair, has never been reported before. Conventional cement materials cannot achieve this result,” added Yoshida.

The future of resin sealing

The implications of this innovation are far-reaching, extending beyond the safe disposal of hazardous waste and carbon dioxide.

The researchers are exploring the possibility of using the resin to seal cracks in concrete structures, which could significantly improve the durability and longevity of buildings and other infrastructure. It could be used to reinforce and stabilize tunnels and shafts in mines.

The resin will also prove invaluable in sealing abandoned oil wells, managing groundwater, and repairing aging infrastructure such as roads and buildings.

Additionally, the self-healing properties of the resin can be utilized to repair and protect ancient structures and artifacts from weathering and erosion.

To bring the resin to market, the research team is now collaborating with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Sekisui Chemical Co., and Chubu Electric Power Co., Ltd.

Concretions are found worldwide

Globally, remarkable fossils are often discovered encased within solid, spherical rocks known as concretions.

They are formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between sediment particles. They are commonly found in sedimentary rocks or soil.

Earlier, Nagoya University researchers had discovered that concretions form rapidly, within months to years. The fast formation of concretions helps to quickly protect fossils.

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>>> How likely is another Carrington Event?


Earth Sky

by Deborah Byrd

January 30, 2020


https://earthsky.org/space/how-likely-space-super-storms-solar-flares-carrington-event/


Solar flares are brief eruptions of intense high-energy radiation from the sun’s surface. They’re associated with sunspots, coronal mass ejections or CMEs, and other signs of high activity on the sun, during its 11-year cycle. A big solar flare can result in charged particles hurled toward Earth that cause disturbances to modern life, for example, in satellite communications and power line transmissions.

A new joint study by the University of Warwick and the British Antarctic Survey used historical data to extend scientists’ previous estimates of the likelihood of space super-storms. These storms may originate with solar flares, seen to erupt explosively on the sun during years of high solar activity. Space super-storms aren’t harmful to humans, because our atmosphere protects us, but they can be hugely disruptive to our modern technologies. They can cause power blackouts, take out satellites, disrupt aviation and cause temporary loss of GPS signals and radio communications, scientists say. The new work shows that what the scientists called “severe” space super-storms occurred 42 years out of the last 150 years. What they called “great” super-storms occurred in 6 years out of 150. The new work also sheds light on what’s called the Carrington event of 1859, the largest super-storm in recorded history.

The new work is based on an analysis of magnetic field records at opposite ends of the Earth (U.K. and Australia). It was published January 22, 2020 in Geophysical Research Letters. A statement from the University of Warwick on January 29, 2020, explained:

This result was made possible by a new way of analyzing historical data … from the last 14 solar cycles, way before the space age began in 1957, instead of the last five solar cycles currently used.

The study doesn’t mean that there is one “great” space super-storm exactly every 25 years. Instead, it tells you the likelihood of a powerful storm occurring any given year. As the new paper’s summary pointed out:

We find that on average there is a 4% chance of at least one … severe storm per year, and a 0.7% chance of a Carrington class storm per year …

That’s a relatively high estimate, higher than was previously thought. Lead author Sandra Chapman of the University of Warwick commented:

These super-storms are rare events but estimating their chance of occurrence is an important part of planning the level of mitigation needed to protect critical national infrastructure.

The Carrington storm of 1859 – often called the Carrington event – is the biggest space super-storm we know about. It’s the one everyone talks about when speaking of the potential threat from these storms. It happened 161 years ago and so fell outside the date range of this study; however, the new analysis does estimate what amplitude it would need to have been to be in the same class as the other super-storms that were included the study. For purposes of this study, the Carrington storm is considered a “great” storm.

A more recent example of a space super-storm – in this case a “severe” storm as defined by this study – would be the one of March 1989. It caused a nine-hour outage of Hydro-Québec’s electricity transmission system.

In 2012, the Earth narrowly avoided trouble when a coronal mass ejection – a powerful eruption near the sun’s surface that often goes hand-in-hand with solar flares – traveled across space from the sun, barely missing the Earth. According to satellite measurements, if it had hit the Earth, it would have caused a super-storm.

Richard Horne, who leads Space Weather at the British Antarctic Survey and who was a co-author on this study, commented:

Our research shows that a super-storm can happen more often than we thought. Don’t be misled by the stats, it can happen any time, we simply don’t know when and right now we can’t predict when.

Here’s more from the scientists’ statement about space super-storms:

Space weather is driven by activity from the sun. Smaller scale storms are common, but occasionally larger storms occur that can have a significant impact.

One way to monitor this space weather is by observing changes in the magnetic field at the earth’s surface. High quality observations at multiple stations have been available since the beginning of the space age (1957). The sun has an approximately 11-year cycle of activity which varies in intensity and this data, which has been extensively studied, covers only five cycles of solar activity.

If we want a better estimate of the chance of occurrence of the largest space storms over many solar cycles, we need to go back further in time. The aa geomagnetic index is derived from two stations at opposite ends of the earth (in U.K. and Australia) to cancel out the Earth’s own background field. This goes back over 14 solar cycles or 150 years, but has poor resolution.

Using annual averages of the top few percent of the aa index the researchers found that a ‘severe’ super-storm occurred in 42 years out of 150 (28%), while a ‘great’ super-storm occurred in 6 years out of 150 (4%) or once in every 25 years.

Bottom line: Scientists used magnetic field data to extend estimates for the frequency of space super-storms back 150 years.

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>>> Sun shoots out biggest solar flare in nearly a decade, but Earth should be safe this time


Associated Press

by MARCIA DUNN

5-14-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sun-shoots-out-biggest-solar-flare-in-nearly-a-decade-but-earth-should-be-safe-this-time/ar-BB1moHXQ?cvid=d5fbbfc4634a46a6921ac0a213f61771&ei=22


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The sun produced its biggest flare in nearly a decade Tuesday, just days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places.

“Not done yet!” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in an update.

It's the biggest flare of this 11-year solar cycle, which is approaching its peak, according to NOAA. The good news is that Earth should be out of the line of fire this time because the flare erupted on a part of the sun moving away from Earth.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the bright flash of the X-ray flare. It was the strongest since 2005, rated on the scale for these flares as X8.7.

Bryan Brasher at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado said it may turn out to have been even stronger when scientists gather data from other sources.

It follows nearly a week of flares and mass ejections of coronal plasma that threatened to disrupt power and communications on Earth and in orbit.

NASA said the weekend geomagnetic storm caused one of its environmental satellites to rotate unexpectedly because of reduced altitude from the space weather, and go into a protective hibernation known as safe mode. And at the International Space Station, the seven astronauts were advised to stay in areas with strong radiation shielding. The crew was never in any danger, according to NASA.

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>>> Update: New solar flare, secondary peak today in this "Extreme" solar storm



By Eric Ralls

Earth.com

May 12, 2024


https://www.earth.com/news/secondary-peak-extreme-geomagnetic-solar-storm-expected-today/


The Sun released another powerful burst of energy today, known as a solar flare, reaching its peak intensity at 12:26 p.m. Eastern Time. The flare originated from a region on the Sun’s surface called sunspot Region 3664, which has been quite active lately.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, a spacecraft that keeps a constant eye on our nearest star, was able to capture a striking image of this latest solar outburst.

Solar flares are immense explosions on the Sun that send energy, light and high speed particles into space. They occur when the magnetic fields in and around the Sun reconnect, releasing huge amounts of stored magnetic energy. Flares are our solar system’s most powerful explosive events.

The NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has extended the Geomagnetic Storm Warning until the afternoon of May 13, 2024.

Understanding different classes of solar flares

Today’s flare was classified as an X1.0 flare. Solar flares are categorized into classes based on their strength, with X-class flares being the most intense. The number provides additional information about the flare’s strength within that class. An X1 flare is ten times more powerful than an M1 flare.

These energetic solar eruptions can significantly impact Earth’s upper atmosphere and near-Earth space environment. Strong flares can disrupt high-frequency radio communications and GPS navigation signals. The particle radiation and X-rays from flares can also pose potential risks to astronauts in space.

Additionally, the magnetic disturbances from flares, if particularly strong, have the ability to affect electric power grids on Earth, sometimes causing long-lasting blackouts.

However, power grid problems are more commonly caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), another type of powerful solar eruption often associated with strong flares.

Scientists are always on alert, monitoring the Sun for these explosive events so that any potential impacts can be anticipated and prepared for. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, along with several other spacecraft, help provide this early warning system.

Stay tuned to Earth.com and the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) for updates.

—–

Update — May 12, 2024 at 9:41 AM EDT

The ongoing geomagnetic storm is expected to intensify later today, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Several intense Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), traveling from the Sun at speeds up to 1,200 miles per second, are anticipated to reach the Earth’s outer atmosphere by late afternoon.

Over the past two days, preliminary reports have surfaced regarding power grid irregularities, degradation of high-frequency communications, GPS outages, and satellite navigation issues. These disruptions are likely to persist as the geomagnetic storm strengthens.

Auroras visible across the continental United States

Weather permitting, auroras will be visible again tonight over most of the continental United States. This spectacular display of lights is a direct result of the ongoing geomagnetic storm.

The threat of additional strong solar flares and CMEs, which ultimately result in spectacular aurora displays, will persist until the large and magnetically complex sunspot cluster, NOAA Region 3664, rotates out of view of the Earth. This is expected to occur by Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

Solar activity remains at moderate to high levels

Solar activity has been at moderate levels over the past 24 hours. Region 3664 produced an M8.8/2b flare, the strongest of the period, on May 11 at 15:25 UTC. A CME signature was observed, but an Earth-directed component is not suspected.

Solar activity is expected to remain at high levels from May 12-14, with M-class and X-class flares anticipated, primarily due to the flare potential of Region 3664.

Energetic particle flux and solar wind enhancements

The greater than 10 MeV proton flux reached minor to moderate storm levels on May 10. Additional proton enhancements are likely on May 13-14 due to the flare potential and location of Region 3664.

The solar wind environment has been strongly enhanced due to continued CME activity. Solar wind speeds reached a peak of around 620 miles/second on May 12 at 00:55 UTC.

A strongly enhanced solar wind environment and continued CME influences are expected to persist on May 12-13, and begin to wane by May 14.

Geomagnetic field reaches G4 “Severe” storm levels

The geomagnetic field reached G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm levels in the past 24 hours due to continued CME activity.

Periods of G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storms are likely, with isolated G4 levels possible, on May 12. Periods of G1-G3 (Minor-Strong) storming are likely on May 13, and periods of G1 (Minor) storms are likely on May 14.

Stay informed and enjoy the light show
As the geomagnetic storm rages on, we must remain vigilant and prepared for the potential consequences. Monitor official sources for updates on the storm’s progress and any further disruptions to our technological infrastructure.

Take a moment to step outside tonight and marvel at the incredible auroras painting the night sky — a stunning reminder of the raw power and beauty of our Sun.

While these solar storms can cause temporary inconveniences, they also provide us with an opportunity to reflect on our place in the universe and the awe-inspiring forces that shape our world.

Stay tuned to Earth.com and the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) for updates.

Understanding geomagnetic solar storms
Geomagnetic storms are disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by the interaction between the solar wind and the planet’s magnetosphere. These storms can have significant impacts on technology, infrastructure, and even human health.

Causes of geomagnetic storms

Geomagnetic storms typically originate from the Sun. They are caused by two main phenomena:

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs): Massive bursts of plasma and magnetic fields ejected from the Sun’s surface.

Solar Flares: Intense eruptions of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s surface.
When these events occur, they send charged particles streaming towards Earth at high speeds, which can take anywhere from one to five days to reach our planet.

Effects on Earth’s magnetic field

As the charged particles from CMEs and solar flares reach Earth, they interact with the planet’s magnetic field. This interaction causes the magnetic field lines to become distorted and compressed, leading to fluctuations in the strength and direction of the magnetic field.

Impacts on technology and infrastructure
Geomagnetic storms can have significant impacts on various aspects of modern technology and infrastructure:

Power Grids: Strong geomagnetic storms can induce currents in power lines, causing transformers to overheat and potentially leading to widespread power outages.

Satellite Communications: Charged particles can damage satellite electronics and disrupt communication signals.

GPS and Navigation Systems: Geomagnetic disturbances can interfere with the accuracy of GPS and other navigation systems.

Radio Communications: Storms can disrupt radio signals, affecting communication systems that rely on HF, VHF, and UHF bands.
Aurora formation

One of the most visually striking effects of geomagnetic storms is the formation of auroras, also known as the Northern and Southern Lights.

As charged particles collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere, they excite oxygen and nitrogen atoms, causing them to emit light in various colors.

Monitoring and forecasting
Scientists continuously monitor the Sun’s activity and use various instruments to detect and measure CMEs and solar flares.

This data helps them forecast the timing and intensity of geomagnetic storms, allowing for better preparedness and mitigation of potential impacts.

Historical geomagnetic storms
Some of the most notable geomagnetic storms in history include:

The Carrington Event (1859): The most powerful geomagnetic storm on record, which caused widespread telegraph system failures and auroras visible as far south as the Caribbean.

The Halloween Storms (2003): A series of powerful geomagnetic storms that caused power outages in Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa.

The Quebec Blackout (1989): A geomagnetic storm that caused a massive power outage affecting millions of people in Quebec, Canada.

Understanding geomagnetic storms is crucial for protecting our technology-dependent world and mitigating the potential risks associated with these powerful space weather events.

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Solar EMP - >>> Why tonight’s massive solar storm could disrupt communications and GPS systems


by Brian Fung

CNN

5-10-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-tonight-s-massive-solar-storm-could-disrupt-communications-and-gps-systems/ar-BB1maBtN?cvid=3b22908a542549dfb346a5f254cdf8e3&ei=15


Buckle up: An unusual amount of solar activity this week could disrupt some of the most important technologies society relies on.

On Thursday, the US government issued its first severe geomagnetic storm watch in nearly 20 years, advising the public of “at least five earth-directed coronal mass ejections” as well as sunspots covering an area 16 times wider than the earth itself. A severe geomagnetic storm, or G4, is the second-highest grade in the US government’s classification system.

Radiation from this activity began to hit the earth’s magnetic field on Friday and will last through the weekend, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). On Friday evening, NOAA upgraded the storm to G5 or “extreme,” marking the first such event since October 2003.

NOAA’s warning of extreme space weather suggests the storm could trigger numerous effects for life on earth, possibly affecting the power grid as well as satellite and high frequency radio communications. Here’s what that means for technology users.

Communications impacts

The solar activity NOAA’s talking about involves the release of energy from the sun that travels through space and eventually reaches Earth.

When that radiation hits the magnetic sphere surrounding the planet, it causes fluctuations in the ionosphere, a layer of the upper atmosphere.

Those changes can directly affect satellites and other spacecraft in orbit, altering their orientation or potentially knocking out their electronics.

Moreover, the changes to the ionosphere can block or degrade radio transmissions trying to pass through the atmosphere to reach satellites. And they can also prevent radio transmissions from successfully bouncing off the ionosphere — which some radio operators normally do to increase the range of their signals.

Since GPS satellites depend on signals penetrating the ionosphere, the geomagnetic disturbance scientists are expecting could affect that critical technology used by planes, ocean-going vessels, and in the agriculture and oil and gas industries. And it could affect shortwave radio transmissions used by ships and aircraft, emergency management agencies, the military and even ham radio operators, all of whom rely on the high frequency radio airwaves that NOAA says could be scattered by the storm.

“Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations,” NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said in a release. “SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action.”

What about your cellphone?

Consumer wireless networks rely on different radio frequencies than the high frequency band, so it appears unlikely that the storm will directly affect cellular service. The GPS features on your phone also typically use a mix of pure GPS and cellular tower-based location tracking, so even if GPS signals are disrupted, phone users may still be able to maintain a rough location fix.

So long as the underlying electrical infrastructure that supports wireless networks remains unaffected, even an extreme space weather event should result in “minimal direct impact to public safety line of-sight radio and commercial cellular services … and no first-order impact to consumer electronic devices,” according to researchers summarizing the findings of a 2010 study of extreme space weather conducted by NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency outlined a similar report in a 2021 presentation on space weather, finding that line-of-sight radio transmissions are generally not affected by space weather except in specific situations. The presentation did note some risks for copper cables and telephone lines based on land.

In a slightly different scenario in February, NOAA noted two major solar flares. But despite “widely reported cellular network outages” around the same time, the agency said, it was “highly unlikely” that the flares played a role in those blackouts.

On Friday, NOAA officials reiterated that the impact to cell phones this weekend should be slim to none, unless there are broad disruptions to the power grid.

“We’ve not seen any evidence in the past that a space weather storm could impact that now,” Brent Gordon, chief of the Space Weather Services branch for SWPC, told reporters on a conference call. “If power is not available for those, then yes, certainly, the secondary impacts from that would be great.”

The power grid is potentially at risk

Severe space weather can jeopardize power grids, according to NOAA, whose alert this week said to expect “possible widespread voltage control problems” and that “some protective systems may mistakenly trip out key assets from the power grid.”

In 1989, a space weather event led to a massive blackout in Quebec, Canada for more than nine hours after geomagnetic fluctuations damaged transformers and other important equipment.

In October, an extreme geomagnetic storm stronger than the one predicted for this weekend led to power outages in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa, the SWPC said.

The largest known geomagnetic storm in history, known as the Carrington Event of 1859, caused telegraph stations to spark and catch fire.

A blackout of the electrical grid could have cascading effects for communications and other technologies, including cellphones. Cellular towers might lose power, as could the data centers that host websites and their information.

Still, many wireless carriers providers already maintain backup power generators and mobile cellular towers that they can deploy in the event of a natural disaster or other major incident. Redundancy and resiliency are watchwords of all critical infrastructure providers, so even if the power grid did fail, consumers might have to worry more about how to keep their phones charged rather than whether they could stay online.

As if to underscore that point, the US government’s advice to the public on how to prepare for a space weather event largely resembles the same steps you’d take in response to an extended power outage.

For example, the government recommends keeping extra batteries or a hand-powered charger available for small electronic devices. Officials say you may want to disconnect electric appliances to protect them from power surges and limit your electricity usage during a solar weather event. You may also want to keep your car’s gas tank at least half-full so that you do not need to visit a gas station (which needs electricity to operate the pumps).

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>>> World’s largest 3D printer can build a small house in 80 hours


Interesting Engineering

by Maria Mocerino

4-24-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/world-s-largest-3d-printer-can-build-a-small-house-in-80-hours/ar-AA1nzt4N


The University of Maine has smashed its own world record by creating the largest polymer 3D printer, paving the way for the future of sustainable manufacturing.

In 2019, they unleashed the first record-breaking 3D printer that constructed a 600-square-foot house made of recyclable materials.

Built to meet a demand for more affordable housing, the state of Maine needs another 80,000 homes over the next six years with a shortage of manpower to make it happen.

The bigger and better Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0) 3D printer is here to help its predecessor reach this goal of providing more for less.

The FoF 1.0 3D printer will build affordable housing

The university, with a longstanding relationship with the US government, wanted to demonstrate that a 3D printer could print a home with a lower carbon footprint – as the construction industry produces about 37% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

The FoF 1.0 prints four times faster, which means that it can print a bio home in about 80 hours. A single-story bungalow, for example, could take a few months to build, but this printer can complete the project in less than four days.

The goal wasn’t to build a cheap house, but rather to build one that people wanted to live in, said Dr Habib Dagher, the Director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine.

Present for the official unveiling of the FoF 1.0 were representatives from the US Department of Defense, Energy, the Maine State Housing Authority, as well as other stakeholders who plan to put this Factory of the Future 1.0 3D printer to good use.

The FoF 1.0: The future of manufacturing and defense

The thermoplastic polymer printer can print objects as large as 96 feet long by 32 feet wide by 18 feet high — consuming 500 pounds of material per hour.

Its applications range from industries to national security — meaning, if they need to build ships fast, they have the technology to do so.

Though, typically, it takes years to build military ships, in WWII, the US manufactured the Liberty ships in 42 days. These large-scale 3D printers could feasibly meet that speed and maybe surpass it if needed.

The applications of the 3D printer, however, are far-reaching.

“UMaine and the Advanced Structures and Composites Center possess the innovation, capacity, and workforce to support the future needs of the Department of Defense in advanced manufacturing,” said US Sen. Susan Collins. “This is a great day for our University, our State, and our Nation.”

Because the FoF 1.0 is so much more than a printer. It can switch functionalities between “additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, continuous tap layup, and robotic arm operations.”

It’s both a computer and a manufacturer that the Office of the Secretary of Defense and US Army Corps of Engineers helped to design and build.

The FoF 1.0 stands to revolutionize a variety of industries. That includes affordable housing, public works such as bridge construction, and ocean and wind energy. And it’s all recyclable.

“You can basically deconstruct it, grind it up if you wish, the 3D printed parts, and reprint with them, do it again,” Dr Dagher said.

FoF 1.0 sits at the center of a new research center in Maine

With two immensely powerful machines, the University of Maine can develop biobased, locally sourced feedstocks, print affordable homes, and meet national security demands quickly.

The University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy called it an intersection of engineering and computing that will “accelerate solutions that strengthen the state’s economy and communities.”

The FoF 1.0 3D printer is only the beginning. Set to open this summer, the Green-Engineering and Material Factory of the Future (GEM) will break new ground as a 47,000 square foot manufacturing innovation center.

Creating sustainable manufacturing practices and filling a much-needed gap in the workforce is its objective. They intend to nurture the next generation of leaders through a sustainable model.

“The Maine College of Engineering and Computing is proud to be a strong partner in developing the Factory of the Future 1.0,” said Giovanna Guidoboni, inaugural dean of MCEC.

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Cloning - >>> Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Creating Massive Franken-Sheep With Cloned Animal Parts


Gizmodo

by Matt Novak

March 12, 2024


https://www.yahoo.com/tech/montana-man-pleads-guilty-creating-003000858.html


An 80-year-old man in Montana pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony wildlife crimes involving his plan to let paying customers hunt sheep on private ranches. But these weren’t just any old sheep. They were “massive hybrid sheep” created by illegally importing animal parts from central Asia, cloning the sheep, and then breeding an enormous hybrid species.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, owns and operates the 215-acre “alternative livestock” ranch in Vaughn, Montana where he started this operation in 2013, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Alternative livestock includes hybrids of mountain sheep, mountain goats, and other large mammals which are often used for trophy hunting by wealthy people.

An unnamed accomplice of Schubart kicked off the decade-long scheme by illegally bringing biological tissue from a Marco Polo sheep, the largest sheep in the world, from Kyrgyzstan into the U.S. in 2013, according to prosecutors.

How big are these sheep? An average male can weigh over 300 pounds with horns over 5 feet wide, giving them the largest sheep horns on the planet. The sheep are endangered and protected by both international treaties and U.S. law. Montana also forbids the import of these foreign sheep or their parts in an effort to protect local American sheep from disease.

Once Schubart had smuggled his sheep parts into the U.S., he sent them to an unnamed lab which created 165 cloned embryos, according to the DOJ.

“Schubarth then implanted the embryos in ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named ‘Montana Mountain King’ or MMK,” federal authorities wrote in a press release.

By the time Schubart had his Montana Mountain King he used the cloned sheep’s semen to artificially impregnate female sheep, creating hybrid animals. The goal, as the DOJ explains it, was to create these massive new sheep that could then be used for sports hunting on large ranches. Schubart also forged veterinarian inspection certificates to transport the new hybrid sheep under false pretenses, and sometimes even sold semen from his Montana Mountain King to other breeders in the U.S.

Schubart sent 15 artificially inseminated sheep to Minnesota in 2018 and sold 37 straws of Montana Mountain King’s semen to someone in Texas, according to an indictment filed last month. Schubart also offered to sell an offspring of the Montana Mountain King, dubbed the Montana Black Magic, to someone in Texas for $10,000.

Discussions between Schubart and an unnamed person apparently included what to call this new breed of sheep they were creating. The other person said another co-conspirator had suggested the name “Black Argali,” though noting “we can’t,” presumably because it would give away the fact that these sheep were descended from the argali species.

Schubart pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act, and conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which makes it a crime to acquire, transport or sell wildlife in contravention of federal law.

“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” assistant Attorney General Todd Kim from the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a press release.

“In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals,” Kim continued.

Schubart conspired with at least five other people who are not named in the indictment. Schubarth faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 and is scheduled to be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Morris for the District of Montana in July.

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>>> Lunar Lander Feared to Have Tipped While Reaching the Moon


Bloomberg

by Loren Grush and Richard Clough

Feb 23, 2024


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lunar-lander-feared-tipped-while-223225056.html


(Bloomberg) -- The American-made lander that touched down on the moon likely landed on its side, officials said, raising questions about the historic mission.

Intuitive Machines Inc., the Houston-based maker of the spacecraft, said in a press briefing late Friday it’s still downloading data from the vehicle. The company also said the lander still has “quite a bit of operational capability” and is able to charge.

The complication could be a setback for Intuitive Machines and partner NASA, which initially declared the vehicle was upright. The landing was lauded as the first private-sector lander to reach the moon intact, breaking a string of failures by other companies.

The mission had already faced a hurdle prior to touching down, when the company learned that lasers designed to navigate the moon’s terrain weren’t working properly. Intuitive Machines switched to a NASA lidar instrument and sent the lander on an extra lap around the moon to upload a software patch to boost the lidar’s capability.

Intuitive Machines said it incorrectly believed the lander was upright on Thursday due to faulty data. The vehicle possibly ended up on its side because it reached the lunar surface moving too quickly horizontally. As a result, it could have caught its leg on something and broke it.

The revelation sent the company’s shares plunging as much as 39% after regular trading in New York.

The vehicle, a Nova-C lander nicknamed Odysseus, was carrying carrying six payloads for NASA and five from commercial customers, including sculptures from artist Jeff Koons. One payload, with the sculptures, is facing the moon’s surface. However, the “active” payloads are exposed to space, which was “fortunate,” according to the company.

NASA may still struggle to get all the measurements it needs for the payloads due to the vehicle’s orientation, the space agency said. A solar panel could have been damaged while some antennae on Odysseus are pointed toward the moon’s surface, limiting their ability to send some data back to Earth.

“That really is a limiter of our ability to communicate and get the right data down so that we get everything we need for the mission,” said Intuitive Machines Chief Executive Officer Stephen Altemus.

The Odysseus team expects to get more information about the health of the lander in the coming hours and days.

The development underscores the difficulty of landing a robotic craft on the uneven lunar surface. An Israeli nonprofit, SpaceIL, tried in 2019, but its craft came in too fast and crashed on the surface. Last year, Tokyo-based Ispace Inc. lost contact with its lander, which likely crashed. And in January, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s lander suffered engine failure just after reaching space.

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>>> The sun just launched three huge solar flares in 24 hours. What it means.


The Washington Post

by Matthew Cappucci

2-22-24


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-sun-just-launched-three-huge-solar-flares-in-24-hours-what-it-means/ar-BB1iKdQD?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Three top-tier X-class solar flares launched off the sun between Wednesday and Thursday. The first two occurred seven hours apart, coming in at X1.9 and X1.6 magnitude respectively. The third, the most powerful of the current 11-year “solar cycle,” ranked an impressive X6.3.

Solar flares, or bursts of radiation, are ranked on a scale that goes from A, B and C to M and X, in increasing order of intensity. They usually originate from sunspots, or bruiselike discolorations on the surface of the sun.

Sunspots are most common near the height of the 11-year solar cycle. The current cycle, number 25, is expected to reach its peak this year. The more sunspots, the more opportunities for solar flares. Solar flares and accompanying coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, can influence “space weather” across the solar system, and even here on Earth. CMEs are slower shock waves of magnetic energy from the sun. Flares can reach Earth in minutes, but CMEs usually take at least a day.

All three of the X-class solar flares disrupted shortwave radio communications on Earth. But the first two flares did not release a CME. And, after careful review, scientists confirmed that the third also did not produce one. Therefore, no additional impact on Earth is expected.

High-frequency radio waves propagate by bouncing off electrons in Earth’s ionosphere. That’s a layer of Earth’s atmosphere between 50 and 600 miles above the ground

When a solar flare occurs, that radiation travels toward Earth at the speed of light. It can ionize additional particles in the lower ionosphere. Radio waves sent from devices below it then impact that extra-ionized layer and lose energy, and aren’t able to be bent by ions at the top of the ionosphere. That means signals can’t travel very far, and radio blackouts are possible.

Three back-to-back radio blackouts occurred in response to the trio of flares, but primarily over the Pacific and Indian oceans. They were rated “R3” or greater on a 1 through 5 scale.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, that results in a “wide area blackout of [high frequency] radio communication, [and] loss of radio contact for about an hour on sunlit side of Earth.” Low-frequency navigation signals, like those used on aircraft traveling overseas, can be degraded too.

Disruptions to AT&T cell service?

There was rampant speculation that Thursday morning’s pervasive AT&T blackout was tied to Wednesday’s solar flares. The Space Weather Prediction Center, however, released a statement noting that “it is unlikely that these flares contributed to the widely reported cellular network outage.”

Joe Kunches, former chief of operations at the center, told The Washington Post that “there is no chance” of any connection.

“First it occurred in the night hours for North America, so any possible impact would have not occurred here. Flares and their associated radio bursts only impact dayside systems if at all,” Kunches said in an email. “And, even if this was to occur during your daylight hours, chances are near nil that cell service would be affected.”

Solar flares don’t usually affect cellphone frequencies. Radio blackouts associated with solar flares affect transmissions in the high-frequency 3 to 30 megahertz band. Most cellphone carriers operate between 698 and 806 megahertz.

Finally, Wednesday’s flares didn’t unleash CMEs. Such blasts can induce electric currents that can overwhelm circuitry in satellites and even knock them offline or destroy them. In February of 2022, 40 SpaceX satellites were knocked out by a CME. Even had there been a CME, it probably would have taken more than a day to reach Earth.

Because the first two flares on Wednesday didn’t release CMEs, it means skywatchers won’t be treated to displays of the northern lights, as is often the case when such geomagnetic storms reach Earth.

The third solar flare, which was the biggest and occurred Thursday evening Eastern time, also didn’t produce a CME.

Since CMEs are slower-moving than solar flares, it generally takes several hours for them to fully radiate away from the solar disk and become visible on sensors. That’s why experts weren’t initially sure if any CMEs had been launched. Now that time has passed, it’s apparent none were.

Interestingly, there could be a few auroral displays in the high latitudes on Sunday night as a minor CME — unrelated to the flares -- grazes the Earth.

There may be more opportunities for X-class flares and CMEs in the days ahead. The parent sunspot cluster that launched all three, dubbed “Active Region 3590,” is still crackling.

The sunspot is so big that you can view it with your own eyes — but you’ll need eclipse glasses to do so safely.

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>>> A brain pacemaker helped a woman with crippling depression. It may soon be available to more people


Associated Press

By LAURA UNGAR


https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/a-pacemaker-for-the-brain-helped-a-woman-with-crippling-depression-it-may-soon-be-available-to-more/ar-BB1iCRSi?OCID=ansmsnnews11


NEW YORK (AP) — Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives.

She was willing to try something extreme: Having electrodes implanted in her brain as part of an experimental therapy.

Researchers say the treatment —- called deep brain stimulation, or DBS — could eventually help many of the nearly 3 million Americans like her with depression that resists other treatments. It's approved for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy, and many doctors and patients hope it will become more widely available for depression soon.

The treatment gives patients targeted electrical impulses, much like a pacemaker for the brain. A growing body of recent research is promising, with more underway — although two large studies that showed no advantage to using DBS for depression temporarily halted progress, and some scientists continue to raise concerns.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has agreed to speed up its review of Abbott Laboratories' request to use its DBS devices for treatment-resistant depression.

“At first I was blown away because the concept of it seems so intense. Like, it’s brain surgery. You have wires embedded in your brain,” said Hollenbeck, who is part of ongoing research at Mount Sinai West. “But I also felt like at that point I tried everything, and I was desperate for an answer.”

“NOTHING ELSE WAS WORKING”

Hollenbeck suffered from depression symptoms as a child growing up in poverty and occasional homelessness. But her first major bout happened in college, after her father’s suicide in 2009. Another hit during a Teach for America stint, leaving her almost immobilized and worried she’d lose her classroom job and sink into poverty again. She landed in the hospital.

“I ended up having sort of an on-and-off pattern,” she said. After responding to medication for a while, she'd relapse.

She managed to earn a doctorate in psychology, even after losing her mom in her last year of grad school. But the black hole always returned to pull her in. At times, she said, she thought about ending her life.

She said she'd exhausted all options, including electroconvulsive therapy, when a doctor told her about DBS three years ago.

“Nothing else was working,” she said.

She became one of only a few hundred treated with DBS for depression.

Hollenbeck had the brain surgery while sedated but awake. Dr. Brian Kopell, who directs Mount Sinai's Center for Neuromodulation, placed thin metal electrodes in a region of her brain called the subcallosal cingulate cortex, which regulates emotional behavior and is involved in feelings of sadness.

The electrodes are connected by an internal wire to a device placed under the skin in her chest, which controls the amount of electrical stimulation and delivers constant low-voltage pulses. Hollenbeck calls it “continuous Prozac.”

Doctors say the stimulation helps because electricity speaks the brain’s language. Neurons communicate using electrical and chemical signals.

In normal brains, Kopell said, electrical activity reverberates unimpeded in all areas, in a sort of dance. In depression, the dancers get stuck within the brain’s emotional circuitry. DBS seems to “unstick the circuit,” he said, allowing the brain to do what it normally would.

Hollenbeck said the effect was almost immediate.

“The first day after surgery, she started feeling a lifting of that negative mood, of the heaviness,” said her psychiatrist, Dr. Martijn Figee. “I remember her telling me that she was able to enjoy Vietnamese takeout for the first time in years and really taste the food. She started to decorate her home, which had been completely empty since she moved to New York.”

For Hollenbeck, the most profound change was finding pleasure in music again.

“When I was depressed, I couldn’t listen to music. It sounded and felt like I was listening to radio static,” she said. “Then on a sunny day in the summer, I was walking down the street listening to a song. I just felt this buoyancy, this, ‘Oh, I want to walk more, I want to go and do things!’ And I realized I’m getting better.”

She only wishes the therapy had been there for her parents.

THE TREATMENT'S HISTORY

The road to this treatment stretches back two decades, when neurologist Dr. Helen Mayberg led promising early research.

But setbacks followed. Large studies launched more than a dozen years ago showed no significant difference in response rates for treated and untreated groups. Dr. Katherine Scangos, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, also researching DBS and depression, cited a couple of reasons: The treatment wasn’t personalized, and researchers looked at outcomes over a matter of weeks.

Some later research showed depression patients had stable, long-term relief from DBS when observed over years. Overall, across different brain targets, DBS for depression is associated with average response rates of 60%, one 2022 study said.

Treatments being tested by various teams are much more tailored to individuals today. Mount Sinai's team is one of the most prominent researching DBS for depression in the U.S. There, a neuroimaging expert uses brain images to locate the exact spot for Kopell to place electrodes.

“We have a template, a blueprint of exactly where we’re going to go,” said Mayberg, a pioneer in DBS research and founding director of The Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at Mount Sinai. “Everybody’s brain is a little different, just like people’s eyes are a little further apart or a nose is a little bigger or smaller.”

Other research teams also tailor treatment to patients, although their methods are slightly different. Scangos and her colleagues are studying various targets in the brain and delivering stimulation only when needed for severe symptoms. She said the best therapy may end up being a combination of approaches.

As teams keep working, Abbott is launching a big clinical trial this year, ahead of a potential FDA decision.

“The field is advancing quite quickly,” Scangos said. “I’m hoping we will have approval within a short time.”

But some doctors are skeptical, pointing to potential complications such as bleeding, stroke or infection after surgery.

Dr. Stanley Caroff, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, said scientists still don't know the exact pathways or mechanisms in the brain that produce depression, which is why it's hard to pick a site to stimulate. It's also tough to select the right patients for DBS, he said, and approved, successful treatments for depression are available.

“I believe from a psychiatric point of view, the science is not there,” he said of DBS for depression.

MOVING FORWARD

Hollenbeck acknowledges DBS hasn't been a cure-all; she still takes medicines for depression and needs ongoing care.

She recently visited Mayberg in her office and discussed recovery. “It’s not about being happy all the time,” the doctor told her. “It’s about making progress.”

That’s what researchers are studying now — how to track progress.

Recent research by Mayberg and others in the journal Nature showed it’s possible to provide a “readout” of how someone is doing at any given time. Analyzing the brain activity of DBS patients, researchers found a unique pattern that reflects the recovery process. This gives them an objective way to observe how people get better and distinguish between impending depression and typical mood fluctuations.

Scientists are confirming those findings using newer DBS devices in a group of patients that includes Hollenbeck.

She and other participants do their part largely at home. She gives researchers regular brain recordings by logging onto a tablet, putting a remote above the pacemaker-like device in her chest and sending the data. She answers questions that pop up about how she feels. Then she records a video that will be analyzed for things such as facial expression and speech.

Occasionally, she goes into Mount Sinai’s “Q-Lab,” an immersive environment where scientists do quantitative research collecting all sorts of data, including how she moves in a virtual forest or makes circles in the air with her arms. Like many other patients, she moves her arms faster now that she’s doing better.

Data from recordings and visits are combined with other information, such as life events, to chart how she's doing. This helps guide doctors’ decisions, such as whether to increase her dose of electricity – which they did once.

On a recent morning, Hollenbeck moved her collar and brushed her hair aside to reveal scars on her chest and head from her DBS surgery. To her, they're signs of how far she’s come.

She makes her way around the city, taking walks in the park and going to libraries, which were a refuge in childhood. She no longer worries that normal life challenges will trigger a crushing depression.

“The stress is pretty extreme at times, but I’m able to see and remember, even on a bodily level, that I’m going to be OK,” she said.

“If I hadn’t had DBS, I’m pretty sure I would not be alive today.”

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>>> 11 Best Psychedelic Stocks to Buy in 2024


Insider Monkey

Sheryar Siddiq

December 29, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/11-best-psychedelic-stocks-buy-134746256.html


In this article, we discuss 11 of the best psychedelic stocks to buy in 2024. If you want to see more stocks in this selection, check out 5 Best Psychedelic Stocks to Buy.

Unlike substances like marijuana or cocaine, psychedelics are potent and serve as a form of gateway to an 'alternate reality' for those who use them. Psychedelics represent a category of hallucinogenic drugs capable of inducing non-ordinary states of consciousness. This class encompasses various chemical substances, including LSD and plant-derived compounds. Psychedelics have the potential to alter or intensify sensory perceptions, thought processes, and energy levels, often facilitating spiritual experiences. They are classified into two main groups: empathogens and dissociative drugs (e.g., PCP) and serotonergic substances (e.g., LSD). Beyond recreational use, these drugs are being explored for therapeutic purposes, showing promise in treating conditions such as major depressive disorders, treatment-resistant depression, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and opiate addiction, among others.

Venture-capital investors have played a pivotal role in the resurgence of interest in psychedelics. In early 2020, startups in this field noticed a surge in investor appetite, marking the onset of a "psychedelic renaissance." Clara Burtenshaw, a partner at Neo Kuma Ventures, the largest venture capital fund in Europe focused on psychedelic investments, expressed her enthusiasm for psychedelic healthcare on February 16, 2023, stating:

“Psychedelic healthcare is a very exciting area because it’s really this apex of drugs, clinics, and experimental treatments.”

Numerous pharmaceutical companies specializing in psychedelics are pursuing regulatory pathways for the legal approval of their drugs. Hallucinogens, notably psilocybin, are demonstrating significant potential in addressing conditions like depression and schizophrenia. Some of these pharmaceutical firms are publicly listed, including the likes of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), which have garnered heightened interest from investors. This trend mirrors the trajectory observed with marijuana stocks in recent years, where cannabis, once on the periphery, has evolved into a substantial and expanding industry.

Our Methodology

We selected the following psychedelic stocks based on overall hedge fund sentiment toward each stock. We have assessed the hedge fund sentiment from Insider Monkey’s database of 910 elite hedge funds tracked as of the end of the third quarter of 2023. The list is arranged in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders in each firm.

11. Cybin Inc. (NYSE:CYBN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 1

Based in Toronto, Canada, Cybin Inc. (NYSE:CYBN) is a biopharmaceutical company with a primary focus on the development of therapeutic solutions using psychedelics. The company is engaged in the creation of medications for major depressive disorders, anxiety, and alcohol use disorders, along with addressing neuroinflammation. Additionally, Cybin Inc. (NYSE:CYBN) has introduced EMBARK, a program centered around psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

In late November, Cybin Inc. (NYSE:CYBN) disclosed encouraging results from the Phase 2 trial of CYB003, its exclusive deuterated psilocybin analog designed for treating major depressive disorder ("MDD"). The company reported that CYB003 met the primary efficacy endpoint, demonstrating swift and statistically significant enhancements in depression symptoms following a single dose. Additionally, a second dose conferred clear incremental benefits, leading to remission in 4 out of 5 patients from their depression within 6 weeks.

As of the end of Q3, Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management emerged as the primary and sole stakeholder, based on Insider Monkey's third-quarter database.

In addition to Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), Cybin Inc. (NYSE:CYBN) ranks as one of the best psychedelic stocks to invest in.

10. Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 3

Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD) is a biotechnology company based in New York that specializes in psychedelic medicine. The company is dedicated to the development of psychoplastogens and therapeutic solutions inspired by psychedelics to tackle mental illnesses and addiction.

Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD) recently reported that it is nearing the launch of its LSD-based treatment for anxiety patients. The company anticipates more phase two trial data by the fourth quarter of this year and proof-of-concept data by the end of Q1 next year. In its Q3 financial report released on Thursday, the psychedelic firm disclosed a net loss of $17.9 million for the period ending Sept. 30, up from the $16.5 million loss in the same quarter last year. However, MindMed also stated having $117.7 million in funds, expected to cover ongoing trials and research activities "into 2026, if certain milestones are achieved that unlock additional capital."

In 2023, Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD) also expended $43.8 million in operating expenses, including $6.4 million for MM-120 studies, their LSD version for treating generalized anxiety disorder. Results from a 198-patient study of MM-120 are anticipated before year-end, with "safety and efficacy results" expected in Q1 next year. The proof-of-concept study, involving 53 patients, is also projected to reveal results in Q1 2024.

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Israel Englander’s Citadel Investment Group is a leading shareholder in Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD) with 237,475 shares worth more than $743,297. Overall, 3 hedge funds reported holding stakes in Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD) as of the third quarter of 2023.

9. Atai Life Sciences N.V. (NASDAQ:ATAI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 5

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Atai Life Sciences N.V. (NASDAQ:ATAI) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of treatments for mental health disorders. These include conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, schizophrenia, opioid use disorder, anxiety disorder, and mild traumatic brain injuries.

In its third quarter 2023 financial results, Atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ATAI) reported limited revenue as the company continues to develop its drug portfolio. The net income of $44.2 million was primarily attributed to a $69 million non-cash change in the fair value of other investments related to an accounting method change for its CCOMPASS Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS) investment. Additionally, Atai Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ATAI) recorded an $8.3 million non-cash share-based compensation expense. Despite this, the company maintains a robust cash position of $209 million, anticipating that it, along with committed term loan funding, will be sufficient to sustain operations into the first half of 2026.

According to Insider Monkey’s third quarter database, 5 hedge funds were bullish on Atai Life Sciences N.V. (NASDAQ:ATAI), compared to 7 funds in the earlier quarter. John Overdeck And David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors is the largest stakeholder of the company, with 107,500 million shares worth $138,675.

8. Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEEL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 5

Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEEL) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in New York. The company is dedicated to advancing the development and commercialization of therapeutics targeting central nervous system, respiratory, and other disorders.

Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEEL) has two programs currently undergoing clinical testing. In September 2023, the company disclosed outcomes from a phase 2 study evaluating the intranasal ketamine drug SLS-002 for the treatment of acute suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with major depressive disorder. Additionally, SLS-005 (intravenous trehalose, a sugar containing two glucose molecules) is in phase 2b/3 trials for addressing the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and is in phase 2 testing for managing the neurodegenerative disorder spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.

According to Insider Monkey’s third quarter database, 5 hedge funds were bullish on Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEEL), compared to 3 funds in the earlier quarter.

7. GH Research PLC (NASDAQ:GHRS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 10

GH Research PLC (NASDAQ:GHRS) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that was established in 2018 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is focused on the development of therapies for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders.

According to Insider Monkey’s third quarter database, 10 hedge funds were long GH Research PLC (NASDAQ:GHRS), compared to 13 funds in the earlier quarter. Mark Lampert’s Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc is the biggest position holder in the company, with 9.27 million shares worth approximately $93.2 million.

Much like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), GH Research PLC (NASDAQ:GHRS) is one of the best psychedelic stocks that investors should pay attention to.

6. Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 13

Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLMD) is a biotechnology company based in Florida, specializing in the clinical-stage development of diverse products for the treatment of central nervous system diseases and other disorders. Analysts consider it one of the promising psychedelic stocks in the market.

In September of this year, Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLMD) announced encouraging safety and efficacy outcomes from the extended Phase III REL-1017-310 trial, which assessed REL-1017 in individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). Over the course of up to one year, patients receiving daily doses of REL-1017 demonstrated enduring enhancements in depressive symptoms and related functional challenges. The extended administration of REL-1017 exhibited favorable tolerability in patients, featuring low rates of adverse events and the absence of any newly identified safety concerns.

According to Insider Monkey’s third quarter database, 13 hedge funds were long Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLMD), compared to 11 funds in the prior quarter. David Kroin’s Deep Track Capital held the biggest position in the company.

5. COMPASS Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21

COMPASS Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS) is a mental healthcare company based in the United Kingdom. The company is actively engaged in the development of psilocybin therapy, progressing through late-stage clinical trials in both Europe and North America. The focus is on patients experiencing treatment-resistant depression (TRD). COMPASS Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS) has formulated COMP360, a psilocybin formulation incorporating pharmaceutical-grade polymorphic crystalline psilocybin. A Phase IIb clinical trial for psilocybin therapy in TRD has been completed across 22 sites in Europe and North America, evaluating the safety and efficacy of COMP360 in three doses: 1mg, 10mg, and 25mg.

During 2023’s September quarter, 21 out of the 910 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in the company. COMPASS Pathways plc (NASDAQ:CMPS)’s biggest hedge fund investor is Catherine D. Wood’s ARK Investment Management due to its $18 million investment.

4. Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITCI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 37

Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITCI) is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule drugs targeting unmet medical needs, particularly in neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. Caplyta, the sole approved drug in Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITCI)’s portfolio, received FDA approval in December 2019 for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults. Subsequently, in December 2021, it gained FDA approval for treating bipolar depression. Following these approvals, Caplyta’s sales have experienced substantial growth, and the company anticipates maintaining this positive momentum.

In the third quarter of 2023, Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITCI) reported a loss of $0.25 per share. The incurred loss was narrower than the $0.57 per share loss in the same quarter of the previous year, attributed to increased product sales. The total revenues, which include product sales and grant revenues, reached $126.2 million, marking a significant increase from $71.9 million in the corresponding period of the prior year.

By the end of this year’s third quarter, 37 out of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s research had invested in the company. Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITCI)’s biggest hedge fund investor is David Kroin’s Deep Track Capital through its $135 million stake.

3. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 73

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) operates as a specialized biopharmaceutical company dedicated to researching, developing, manufacturing, and distributing medications tailored for chronic and intricate illnesses. The company is renowned for its flagship drug, Humira, a crucial treatment for conditions like moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. In May 2020, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) entered the psychedelic drugs market by acquiring a stake in Allergan PLC.

With an impressive 50-year streak of continuous dividend growth, the American pharmaceutical giant currently boasts a dividend yield of 4.48% as of December 13.

As of the close of the third quarter in 2023, Insider Monkey’s database, monitoring 910 hedge funds, indicated 73 holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV), marking a slight decrease from the 74 hedge funds in the previous quarter. The collective value of these holdings surpasses $3.27 billion.

2. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 85

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a distinguished American multinational pharmaceutical company with its headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey. Originally part of the Merck Group established in Germany in 1668, it retains the name of its former parent company. Operating as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada, the company holds a prominent position in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in the development of medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products.

Showcasing a consistent pattern of dividend growth for 11 consecutive years, the company currently provides a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.91% as of December 13.

Insider Monkey delved into the investment activities of 910 hedge funds in the third quarter of 2023, revealing that 85 had invested in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), marking an increase from 78 in the previous quarter.

1. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88

Established in 1886, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is a prominent American multinational corporation known for its groundbreaking contributions to medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. The company’s pharmaceutical division has consistently demonstrated impressive dividend growth for over 62 years. As of November 19, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) offers a quarterly dividend of $1.19 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.18%.

On October 17, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported adjusted earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street expectations, prompting an upward revision of its full-year guidance. The robust sales performance in both pharmaceuticals and medical devices contributed to the positive results. The company posted a net income of $4.31 billion, equivalent to $1.69 per share, maintaining consistency with the previous year’s net income of $4.31 billion, or $1.62 per share, for the same period.

In the third quarter of 2023, the number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey with holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) decreased to 84, down from 88 in the previous quarter. The collective investments by these hedge funds surpass a total value of $4.15 billion. Bridgewater Associates, led by Ray Dalio, stands out as a prominent hedge fund investor in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) with a substantial stake valued at approximately $424.3 million.

>>>



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>>> The Human Microbiome Is Going Extinct, Scientists Say. The End Will Be Devastating.


Popular Mechanics

by Tim Newcomb

March 2023


https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/the-human-microbiome-is-going-extinct-scientists-say-the-end-will-be-devastating/ar-AA172k3I?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=bdc5a09b603c463880ef35666e585bc7&ei=40


Your gut is endangered. And that’s not a good thing for your health—or the health of the rest of the world.

Researchers say the human microbiome that lives in your gut is now endangered.

The loss of bacteria and microorganisms reduces your chance at a healthy life.

You’re the one killing off your own microbiome.


A new documentary, The Invisible Extinction, highlights how the human microbiome—also known as the bacteria and microorganisms living within the human body, most prevalent in the gut—is on the verge of extinct. And it’s all your fault.

In a discussion with People, two researchers behind the doc, Martin Glaser and Gloria Dominguez-Bello, say the human microbiome is essential for us to digest food, make vitamins, and train our immune systems. “When we eat,” Blaser tells People, “we are nourishing both our human cells and also our microbial cells.”

The slow death of the human microbiome is thanks to our modern way of life. We use antibiotics to kill off bad bacteria. But antibiotics kill off plenty of the good stuff, too. Blaser says the more antibiotics given to a child, the more likely they are to develop a range of illnesses. Blaser adds that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about one-third of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, leading to the overuse.

Then there’s the highly processed, chemical-laden food that’s wreaking havoc on our gut health. “The single most important component of the diet to feed the microbiome is fiber,” Dominguez-Bello says. These fibers feed your microbiome, while processed food removes the fiber, posing a negative result for your microbiome.

The researchers want better options for the antibiotic issue, both with improved testing to see if a bacterial infection is really in play, and by developing new antibiotics that don’t have the “collateral damage that are killing every bacterium inside.”

“We are making a complete mess of biodiversity, including microbial,” Dominguez-Bello says. “Microbes are essential in every ecosystem, not only in humans or animals or plants, but also in the oceans. He whole thing is linked together by impact of human activities. We need to preserve microbes because they really modulate functions of Earth. They modulate the climate. They modulate everything. They modulate our own gene expression.”

The human microbiome is a big deal. Let’s not kill it.

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** Also -- Glyphosate herbicide residues (Roundup) act as an antibiotic, killing off the healthy gut microbiome


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>>> Quantum computer built by Google can instantly execute a task that would normally take 47 years


by Chrissy Sexton

Earth.com


https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-computer-can-instantly-execute-a-task-that-would-normally-take-47-years/


In a significant leap for the field of quantum computing, Google has reportedly engineered a quantum computer that can execute calculations in mere moments that would take the world’s most advanced supercomputers nearly half a century to process.

The news, reported by the Daily Telegraph, could signify a landmark moment in the evolution of this emerging technology.

Quantum computing, a science that takes advantage of the oddities of quantum physics, remains a fast-moving and somewhat contentious field.

Quantum computers hold immense promise for potentially revolutionizing sectors like climate science and drug discovery. They offer computation speeds far beyond those of their classical counterparts.

Potential drawbacks of quantum computing

However, this advanced technology is not without its potential drawbacks. Quantum computers pose significant challenges for contemporary encryption systems, thus placing them high on the list of national security concerns.

The contentious discussion continues. Critics argue that, despite the impressive milestones, these quantum machines still need to demonstrate more practicality outside of academic research.

Astonishing capabilities of Google’s quantum computer

Google’s latest iteration of its quantum machine, the Sycamore quantum processor, currently holds 70 qubits. This is a substantial leap from the 53 qubits of its earlier version. This makes the new processor approximately 241 million times more robust than the previous model.

As each qubit can exist in a state of zero, one, or both simultaneously, the capability of storing and processing this level of quantum information is an achievement that even the fastest classical computer, however rapid or slow, cannot match.

The Google team, in a paper published on the arXiv pre-print server, remarked: “Quantum computers hold the promise of executing tasks beyond the capability of classical computers. We estimate the computational cost against improved classical methods and demonstrate that our experiment is beyond the capabilities of existing classical supercomputers.”

Even the currently fastest classical computers, such as the Frontier supercomputer based in Tennessee, cannot rival the potential of quantum computers. These traditional machines operate on the language of binary code, confined to a dual-state reality of zeroes and ones. The quantum paradigm, however, transcends this limitation.

Revolutionary power

It remains uncertain how much Google’s quantum computer costs to create. Regardless, this development certainly holds the promise of transformative computational power.

For instance, according to the Google team, it would take the Frontier supercomputer merely 6.18 seconds to match a calculation from Google’s 53-qubit computer. However, the same machine would take an astonishing 47.2 years to match a computation executed by Google’s latest 70-qubit device.

Quantum supremacy

Many experts in the field have praised Google’s significant strides. Steve Brierley, chief executive of Cambridge-based quantum company Riverlane, labeled Google’s advancement as a “major milestone.”

He also added: “The squabbling about whether we had reached, or indeed could reach, quantum supremacy is now resolved.”

Similarly, Professor Winfried Hensinger, director of the Sussex Centre for Quantum Technologies, commended Google for resolving a specific academic problem tough to compute on a conventional computer.

“Their most recent demonstration is yet another powerful demonstration that quantum computers are developing at a steady pace,” said Professor Hensinger.

He stressed that the upcoming critical step would be the creation of quantum computers capable of correcting their inherent operational errors.

While IBM has not yet commented on Google’s recent work, it is clear that this progress in the realm of quantum computing has caught the attention of researchers and companies worldwide. This will open new prospects and competition in the evolution of computational technology. Let the games begin!

More about quantum computing

Quantum computing, a remarkable leap in technological advancement, holds the potential to redefine our computational capacities. Harnessing the strange yet fascinating laws of quantum physics, it could significantly outperform classical computers in solving certain types of problems.

Basics of Quantum Computing

Traditional computers operate based on bits, which can be in a state of either 0 or 1. Quantum computers, on the other hand, operate on quantum bits, known as qubits. Unlike traditional bits, a qubit can exist in both states simultaneously, thanks to a quantum principle called superposition.

Superposition increases the computing power of a quantum computer exponentially. For example, two qubits can exist in four states simultaneously (00, 01, 10, 11), three qubits in eight states, and so on. This allows quantum computers to process a massive number of possibilities at once.

Another key quantum principle quantum computers exploit is entanglement. Entangled qubits are deeply linked. Change the state of one qubit, and the state of its entangled partner will change instantaneously, no matter the distance. This feature allows quantum computers to process complex computations more efficiently.

Applications of Quantum Computers

The unusual characteristics of quantum computing make it ideal for solving complex problems that classical computers struggle with.

Cryptography is a notable area where quantum computing can make a significant difference. The capacity to factor large numbers quickly makes quantum computers a threat to current encryption systems but also opens the door for the development of more secure quantum encryption methods.

In the field of medicine, quantum computing could enable the modeling of complex molecular structures, speeding up drug discovery. Quantum simulations could offer insights into new materials and processes that might take years to discover through experimentation.

Challenges in Quantum Computing

Despite its promising potential, quantum computing is not without challenges. Quantum states are delicate, and maintaining them for a practical length of time—known as quantum coherence—is a significant hurdle. The slightest environmental interference can cause qubits to lose their state, a phenomenon known as decoherence.

Quantum error correction is another daunting challenge. Due to the fragility of qubits, errors are more likely to occur in quantum computations than classical ones. Developing efficient error correction methods that don’t require a prohibitive number of qubits remains a central focus in quantum computing research.

The Future of Quantum Computing

While quantum computing is still in its infancy, the rapid pace of innovation signals a promising future. Tech giants like IBM, Google, and Microsoft, as well as numerous startups, are making significant strides in quantum computing research.

In the coming years, we can expect quantum computers to continue growing in power and reliability. Quantum supremacy—a point where quantum computers surpass classical computers in computational capabilities—may be closer than we think.

Quantum computing represents a thrilling frontier, promising to reshape how we tackle complex problems. As research and development persist, we inch closer to unlocking the full potential of this revolutionary technology.

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>>> Synthetic human embryos created in groundbreaking advance

Exclusive: Breakthrough could aid research into genetic disorders but raises serious ethical and legal issues

Analysis: advances leave legislators needing to catch up


The Guardian

Hannah Devlin

14 Jun 2023


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jun/14/synthetic-human-embryos-created-in-groundbreaking-advance


Scientists have created synthetic human embryos using stem cells, in a groundbreaking advance that sidesteps the need for eggs or sperm.

Scientists say these model embryos, which resemble those in the earliest stages of human development, could provide a crucial window on the impact of genetic disorders and the biological causes of recurrent miscarriage.

However, the work also raises serious ethical and legal issues as the lab-grown entities fall outside current legislation in the UK and most other countries.

The structures do not have a beating heart or the beginnings of a brain, but include cells that would typically go on to form the placenta, yolk sac and the embryo itself.

Prof Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, described the work in a plenary address on Wednesday at the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s annual meeting in Boston.

“We can create human embryo-like models by the reprogramming of [embryonic stem] cells,” she told the meeting.

There is no near-term prospect of the synthetic embryos being used clinically. It would be illegal to implant them into a patient’s womb, and it is not yet clear whether these structures have the potential to continue maturing beyond the earliest stages of development.

The motivation for the work is for scientists to understand the “black box” period of development that is so called because scientists are only allowed to cultivate embryos in the lab up to a legal limit of 14 days. They then pick up the course of development much further along by looking at pregnancy scans and embryos donated for research.

Robin Lovell-Badge, the head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said: “The idea is that if you really model normal human embryonic development using stem cells, you can gain an awful lot of information about how we begin development, what can go wrong, without having to use early embryos for research.”

Previously, Zernicka-Goetz’s team and a rival group at the Weizmann Institute in Israel showed that stem cells from mice could be encouraged to self-assemble into early embryo-like structures with an intestinal tract, the beginnings of a brain and a beating heart. Since then, a race has been under way to translate this work into human models, and several teams have been able to replicate the very earliest stages of development.

The full details of the latest work, from the Cambridge-Caltech lab, are yet to be published in a journal paper. But, speaking at the conference, Zernicka-Goetz described cultivating the embryos to a stage just beyond the equivalent of 14 days of development for a natural embryo.

The model structures, each grown from a single embryonic stem cell, reached the beginning of a developmental milestone known as gastrulation, when the embryo transforms from being a continuous sheet of cells to forming distinct cell lines and setting up the basic axes of the body. At this stage, the embryo does not yet have a beating heart, gut or beginnings of a brain, but the model showed the presence of primordial cells that are the precursor cells of egg and sperm.

“Our human model is the first three-lineage human embryo model that specifies amnion and germ cells, precursor cells of egg and sperm,” Zernicka-Goetz told the Guardian before the talk. “It’s beautiful and created entirely from embryonic stem cells.”

The development highlights how rapidly the science in this field has outpaced the law, and scientists in the UK and elsewhere are already moving to draw up voluntary guidelines to govern work on synthetic embryos. “If the whole intention is that these models are very much like normal embryos, then in a way they should be treated the same,” Lovell-Badge said. “Currently in legislation they’re not. People are worried about this.”

There is also a significant unanswered question on whether these structures, in theory, have the potential to grow into a living creature. The synthetic embryos grown from mouse cells were reported to appear almost identical to natural embryos. But when they were implanted into the wombs of female mice, they did not develop into live animals. In April, researchers in China created synthetic embryos from monkey cells and implanted them into the wombs of adult monkeys, a few of which showed the initial signs of pregnancy but none of which continued to develop beyond a few days. Scientists say it is not clear whether the barrier to more advanced development is merely technical or has a more fundamental biological cause.

“That’s very difficult to answer. It’s going to be hard to tell whether there’s an intrinsic problem with them or whether it’s just technical,” Lovell-Badge said. This unknown potential made the need for stronger legislation pressing, he said.

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>>> Astronomers Stunned by Brightest Gamma Ray Burst Ever Recorded


Gizmodo

Isaac Schultz

March 28, 2023


https://news.yahoo.com/astronomers-stunned-brightest-gamma-ray-180000242.html


On October 9, 2022, a gamma ray burst brighter than any before seen swept across Earth and space-based detectors. A team scrambled to take follow-up observations at radio wavelengths, and they confirmed that the burst was about 70 times brighter than anything recorded previously.

The astronomical team believes the 2022 explosion—reported on by Gizmodo at the time—was a one-in-10,000-year event. New research detailing aspects of the burst is published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

While the burst (its formal name is GRB 221009A) is probably not the brightest to ever occur, it is “likely the brightest burst at X-ray and gamma-ray energies to occur since human civilization began,” said Eric Burns, an astrophysicist at Louisiana State University a co-author of the study, in a University of Sydney release. That has earned it the title of BOAT, or “brightest of all time.”

The University of Sydney release notes that the burst was so bright that most gamma-ray instruments in space couldn’t measure its true intensity; they were literally blinded by the light.

When you think of violent explosions, your mind may go to nuclear weapons or the brilliant supernovae that mark the deaths of stars. But the biggest explosions in the universe are gamma ray bursts, which are thought to occur when massive stars collide or die and give way to black holes.

There are long- and short-duration gamma ray bursts; long bursts are any that are detected for more than two seconds. Short events are more often associated with star mergers and black hole formation, according to NASA, while longer bursts are associated with stellar deaths.

Stellar deaths sometimes give rise to massive, hyper-energetic jets of material, akin to those that spurt out of pulsars. When those jets are pointed directly at Earth—as the recent burst was—it makes the gamma rays particularly bright from our perspective.

Gamma ray bursts are fleeting and can originate at any point in the sky, making it much easier for astronomers to observe their afterglow than their initial, brilliant outburst. The follow-up radio observations of the recent burst were made with the CSIRO ASKAP telescope in Western Australia. (The ASKAP telescope detected a weird looking radio signal from the galactic center back in 2021.)

For weeks after the initial flash, X-ray light scattered off dust in the Milky Way on its way to us. That resulted in the appearance of several dust rings expanding outward from the direction of the burst. The nearest ring is about 1,300 light-years away, and the most distant is about 61,000 light-years away, on the other side of the Milky Way.

The researchers also took precise measurements of the burst’s reverse shock, or the wave of material that moves backward, toward the origin of the burst.

“Our observations provide unmatched insights into the reverse shock model for gamma-ray burst emission, showing it is very difficult for existing models to replicate the slow evolution of the energy peaks that we observed,” said James Leung, an astronomer at the University of Sydney and a co-author of a complementary study currently hosted on arXiv, in the University of Sydney release. “This means we have to refine and develop new theoretical models to understand these most extreme explosions in the Universe.”

Gamma rays could soon be used to detect gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime caused by enormous events like black hole mergers. Gravitational waves subtly alter the amount of time it takes for light to reach us from distant sources, subtleties that are currently detected using observatories like the LIGO and Virgo interferometers.

An even loftier goal is pinning down the gravitational wave background—you can think of it as the entire ocean of gravitational waves, dynamically criss-crossing as they are produced by black hole and neutron star collisions throughout the cosmos. Some researchers hope that gamma ray sources can be harnessed to create a timing array, similar to existing pulsar timing arrays.

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>>> Elon Musk's Neuralink Reportedly One Step Closer To Testing On Humans


Slash Gear

by Quentyn Kennemer

3-27-23


https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/elon-musk-s-neuralink-reportedly-one-step-closer-to-testing-on-humans/ar-AA198ymy?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Today's generation is closer than any other to living in the cybernetic future that scriptwriters, gaming studios, and dystopian novelists collectively seared into society's conscience. We've long had medical devices like electronic brain implants and pacemakers to help diseased patients better combat pathological disorders and disabilities. Still, certain world visionaries hope to expand the capabilities of devices like these.

For the brain, Elon Musk's Neuralink hopes to develop implantable technology that can directly interface with a patient's neurological system and communicate with external computers. Neuralink is hopeful the technology can eventually help contribute to cures for ailments that can cause blindness and paralysis, among others.

Pursuing the venture since 2016, Neuralink has understandably stumbled over regulatory roadblocks amidst concerns about the safety of its unorthodox approach to medicine. Early animal trials reportedly raised red flags due to alarming mortality rates among test subjects, and controversies surrounding the trial's processes have not helped its cause, causing the food and drug administration to block human trials in the United States earlier in 2022.

However, Reuters reports that Neuralink is looking to take significant steps to solidify its research efforts by approaching the Arizona-based neurosurgery firm Barrow Neurological Institute to explore a partnership to host clinical trials. Barrow boasts as one of the best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery by publications like Newsweek, which ranked it 10th in the United States and 15th worldwide based on research backed by Statista.

Perhaps the most tricky organs to operate on, ordinary brain surgeries are still considered extraordinary risks, so neither side can afford to step carelessly in this arena. Drawing the ire of animal rights activists is its own excruciating migraine. Still, the stakes are much higher when operating on humans, even when would-be participants sign away their medical protections to join trials like these.

Musk's eventual plans for Neuralink to extend beyond pure health. In addition to stamping out disease, improving cognitive function, and increasing general quality of life, he's hopeful the technology will eventually evolve to allow us to control devices by thought and even upload our memories to the cloud, a future scenario several sci-fi creatives have already dreamed up, for better or worse.

It would be an endearing gift to humanity, to say the least, but one that most can certainly agree shouldn't be rushed out of the lab. For Neuralink to approach any such institution, it must be confident that it'll eventually be able to carry out these trials on human subjects safely.

Despite the hurdles, Musk raised a six-month window for trial approvals back in December 2022. Hence, the timing of today's news surely piques curiosity about the project's rapid movement of late. One major misstep could perpetually harm the technology's future potential, so we'll wait with bated breath to see just how serious Neuralink is about getting the basics right.

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>>> Cultured meat firm resurrects woolly mammoth in lab-grown meatball


Tech Crunch

by Paul Sawers

3-28-23


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/cultured-meat-firm-resurrects-woolly-mammoth-in-lab-grown-meatball/ar-AA19aVqD?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Truth, as the saying goes, is often stranger than fiction. The very notion of resurrecting the long-extinct woolly mammoth was the stuff of fantasy not that long ago, but scientists are already working on ways to achieve something close to that, using DNA from soft-tissue in frozen mammoth remains and meshing it with that of a modern-day elephant.

But while such “de-extinction” projects may or may not ultimately succeed, one company is already laying claim to having produced the first meat product made from mammoth DNA.

Vow, an Australian cultivated food company that creates meat in a laboratory setting from animal cells, says that it has used advanced molecular engineering to resurrect the woolly mammoth in meatball form, by combining original mammoth DNA with fragments of an African elephant’s DNA.

There’s little question that cultivated meat is coming, evidenced by the countless companies raising vast swathes of venture capital funding to produce meat and fish in a lab from animal cells, as well as the fact that companies are now starting to receiving the blessings of regulators such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But while pork sausages and seafood make sense insofar as they are food that people are familiar with, Vow — which closed a $49.2 million round of funding just a few months ago — is clearly upping the ante with its foray into the world of extinct animals.

It’s worth acknowledging that there is a sizeable element of marketing magicianship to this announcement. The very concept was devised by communications agency and WPP-subsidiary Wunderman Thompson, which tells us something about the intent here — this is very much a promotional campaign for Vow. But at the same time, it’s also a promotional campaign for cultured meat in general, and the role it could play in creating a sustainable protein source that doesn’t involve killing animals. By some estimations, around 60% of greenhouse gas emissions from food production emanate from animal-based foods, double that of plant-based equivalents.

“The goal behind creating the mammoth meatball was really about starting that discussion around food, and what that decision to eat meat really means to the world at large, by bringing an extinct protein back to life,” James Ryall, Vow’s chief science officer, said in a video promoting the mammoth meatball.

Ryall said that the company first identified the mammoth myoglobin, a protein that is key to giving meat its color and taste, and then used publicly available data to identify the DNA sequence in mammoths.

“We filled in any gaps in the DNA sequence of this mammoth myoglobin gene, by using the genome of the African elephant, the mammoth’s closest living relative,” Ryall said. “We inserted the mammoth myoglobin gene into our cells using a very low-current and high-voltage charge. Then we continued to grow and multiply these cells just as would occur in a mammoth thousands of years ago. And the amazing thing about this is that not a single animal needed to die to produce the mammoth meatball.”

This isn’t the first time scientists have created food products from extinct animals. Back in 2018, a VC-backed Silicon Valley startup called Geltor made gummies using protein from a mastodon, another distant relative of elephants. However, in this latest instance, it’s believed that nobody has actually tasted one of the mammoth meatballs. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Professor Ernst Wolvetang, from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering at the University of Queensland which worked with Vow in this project, suggested that it’s probably not safe to try the meatball just now.

“We haven’t seen this protein for thousands of years,” Wolvetang said. “So we have no idea how our immune system would react when we eat it. But if we did it again, we could certainly do it in a way that would make it more palatable to regulatory bodies.”

The mammoth meatball is set to be officially unveiled at Nemo Science Museum in the Netherlands today.

Cultured meat firm resurrects woolly mammoth in lab-grown meatball by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

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>>> This AI can sketch what you’re picturing from brain waves


Today

3-25-23

by Sara Ruberg and Jacob Ward


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/this-ai-can-sketch-what-you-re-picturing-from-brain-waves/ar-AA1943xc?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Zijiao Chen can read your mind, with a little help from powerful artificial intelligence and an fMRI machine.

Chen, a doctoral student at the National University of Singapore, is part of a team of researchers that has shown they can decode human brain scans to tell what a person is picturing in their mind, according to a paper released in November.

Their team, made up of researchers from the National University of Singapore, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Stanford University, did this by using brain scans of participants as they looked at more than 1,000 pictures — a red firetruck, a gray building, a giraffe eating leaves — while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine, or fMRI, which recorded the resulting brain signals over time. The researchers then sent those signals through an AI model to train it to associate certain brain patterns with certain images.

Later, when the subjects were shown new images in the fMRI, the system detected the patient’s brain waves, generated a shorthand description of what it thinks those brain waves corresponded to, and used an AI image-generator to produce a best-guess facsimile of the image the participant saw.

The results are startling and dreamlike. An image of a house and driveway resulted in a similarly colored amalgam of a bedroom and living room. An ornate stone tower shown to a study participant generated images of a similar tower, with windows situated at unreal angles. A bear became a strange, shaggy, doglike creature.

The resulting generated image matched the attributes (color, shape, etc.) and semantic meaning of the original image roughly 84% of the time.

While the experiment requires training the model on each individual participant’s brain activity over the course of roughly 20 hours before it can deduce images from fMRI data, researchers believe that in just a decade the technology could be used on anyone, anywhere.

“It might be able to help disabled patients to recover what they see, what they think,” Chen said. In the ideal case, Chen added, humans won’t even have to use cellphones to communicate. “We can just think.”

The results involved only a handful of study subjects, but the findings suggest the team’s noninvasive brain recordings could be a first step toward decoding images more accurately and efficiently from inside the brain.

Researchers have been working on technology to decode brain activity for over a decade. And many AI researchers are currently working on various neuro-related applications of AI, including similar projects such as those from Meta and the University of Texas at Austin to decode speech and language.

University of California, Berkeley scientist Jack Gallant began studying brain decoding over a decade ago using a different algorithm. He said the pace at which this technology develops depends not only on the model used to decode the brain — in this case, the AI — but the brain imaging devices and how much data is available to researchers. Both fMRI machine development and the collection of data pose obstacles to anyone studying brain decoding.

“It’s the same as going to Xerox PARC in the 1970s and saying, ‘Oh, look, we’re all gonna have PCs on our desks,’” Gallant said.

While he could see brain decoding used in the medical field within the next decade, he said using it on the general public is still several decades away.

Even so, it’s the latest in an AI technology boom that has captured the public imagination. AI-generated media from images and voices to Shakespearean sonnets and term papers have demonstrated some of the leaps that the technology has made in recent years, especially since so-called transformer models have made it possible to feed vast quantities of data to AI such that it can learn patterns quickly.

The team from the National University of Singapore used image-generating AI software called Stable Diffusion, which has been embraced around the world to produce stylized images of cats, friends, spaceships and just about anything else a person could ask for.

The software allows associate professor Helen Zhao and her colleagues to summarize an image using a vocabulary of color, shape and other variables, and have Stable Diffusion produce an image almost instantly.

The images the system produces are thematically faithful to the original image, but not a photographic match, perhaps because each person’s perception of reality is different, she said.

“When you look at the grass, maybe I will think about the mountains and then you will think about the flowers and other people will think about the river,” Zhao said.

Human imagination, she explained, can cause differences in image output. But the differences may also be a result of the AI, which can spit out distinct images from the same set of inputs.

The AI model is fed visual “tokens” in order to produce images of a person’s brain signals. So instead of a vocabulary of words, it’s given a vocabulary of colors and shapes that come together to create the picture.

But the system has to be arduously trained on a specific person’s brain waves, so it’s a long way from wide deployment.

“The truth is that there is still a lot of room for improvement,” Zhao said. “Basically, you have to enter a scanner and look at thousands of images, then we can actually do the prediction on you.”

It’s not yet possible to bring in strangers off the street to read their minds, “but we’re trying to generalize across subjects in the future,” she said.

Like many recent AI developments, brain-reading technology raises ethical and legal concerns. Some experts say in the wrong hands, the AI model could be used for interrogations or surveillance.

“I think the line is very thin between what could be empowering and oppressive,” said Nita Farahany, a Duke University professor of law and ethics in new technology. “Unless we get out ahead of it, I think we’re more likely to see the oppressive implications of the technology.”

She worries that AI brain decoding could lead to companies commodifying the information or governments abusing it, and described brain-sensing products already on the market or just about to reach it that might bring about a world in which we are not just sharing our brain readings, but judged for them.

“This is a world in which not just your brain activity is being collected and your brain state — from attention to focus — is being monitored,” she said, “but people are being hired and fired and promoted based on what their brain metrics show.”

“It’s already going widespread and we need governance and rights in place right now before it becomes something that is truly part of everyone’s everyday lives,” she said.

The researchers in Singapore continue to develop their technology, hoping to first decrease the number of hours a subject will need to spend in an fMRI machine. Then, they’ll scale the number of subjects they test.

“We think it’s possible in the future,” Zhao said. “And with [a larger] amount of data available on a machine learning model will achieve even better performance.”

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>>> Could future computers run on human brain cells?

Johns Hopkins researchers tout the promise of 'organoid intelligence', which could one-day yield computers that are faster, more efficient, and more powerful than silicon-based computing and AI


JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

By Roberto Molar Candanosa

Feb 28, 2023


https://hub.jhu.edu/2023/02/28/organoid-intelligence-biocomputers/


A "biocomputer" powered by human brain cells could be developed within our lifetime, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers who expect such technology to exponentially expand the capabilities of modern computing and create novel fields of study.

The team outlines their plan for "organoid intelligence" today in the journal Frontiers in Science.

"Computing and artificial intelligence have been driving the technology revolution, but they are reaching a ceiling," said Thomas Hartung, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Whiting School of Engineering who is spearheading the work. "Biocomputing is an enormous effort of compacting computational power and increasing its efficiency to push past our current technological limits."

For nearly two decades scientists have used tiny organoids, lab-grown tissue resembling fully grown organs, to experiment on kidneys, lungs, and other organs without resorting to human or animal testing. More recently Hartung and colleagues at Johns Hopkins have been working with brain organoids, orbs the size of a pen dot with neurons and other features that promise to sustain basic functions like learning and remembering.

"This opens up research on how the human brain works," Hartung said. "Because you can start manipulating the system, doing things you cannot ethically do with human brains."

Hartung began to grow and assemble brain cells into functional organoids in 2012 using cells from human skin samples reprogrammed into an embryonic stem cell-like state. Each organoid contains about 50,000 cells, about the size of a fruit fly's nervous system. He now envisions building a futuristic computer with such brain organoids.

Computers that run on this "biological hardware" could in the next decade begin to alleviate energy-consumption demands of supercomputing that are becoming increasingly unsustainable, Hartung said. Even though computers process calculations involving numbers and data faster than humans, brains are much smarter in making complex logical decisions, like telling a dog from a cat.

"The brain is still unmatched by modern computers," Hartung said. "Frontier, the latest supercomputer in Kentucky, is a $600 million, 6,800-square-feet installation. Only in June of last year, it exceeded for the first time the computational capacity of a single human brain—but using a million times more energy."

It might take decades before organoid intelligence can power a system as smart as a mouse, Hartung said. But by scaling up production of brain organoids and training them with artificial intelligence, he foresees a future where biocomputers support superior computing speed, processing power, data efficiency, and storage capabilities.

"It will take decades before we achieve the goal of something comparable to any type of computer," Hartung said. "But if we don't start creating funding programs for this, it will be much more difficult."

Organoid intelligence could also revolutionize drug testing research for neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration, said Lena Smirnova, a Johns Hopkins assistant professor of environmental health and engineering who co-leads the investigations.

"We want to compare brain organoids from typically developed donors versus brain organoids from donors with autism," Smirnova said. "The tools we are developing toward biological computing are the same tools that will allow us to understand changes in neuronal networks specific for autism, without having to use animals or to access patients, so we can understand the underlying mechanisms of why patients have these cognition issues and impairments."

To assess the ethical implications of working with organoid intelligence, a diverse consortium of scientists, bioethicists, and members of the public have been embedded within the team.

Johns Hopkins authors included: Brian S. Caffo, David H. Gracias, Qi Huang, Itzy E. Morales Pantoja, Bohao Tang, Donald J. Zack, Cynthia A. Berlinicke, J. Lomax Boyd, Timothy DHarris, Erik C. Johnson, Jeffrey Kahn, Barton L. Paulhamus, Jesse Plotkin, Alexander S. Szalay, Joshua T. Vogelstein, and Paul F. Worley.

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>>> Scientists discover plastic-gobbling enzyme that can break down trash in 24 hours: The revolutionary possibilities ‘are endless’


MSN.com

March 2023

by Terrell Worrell


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-discover-plastic-gobbling-enzyme-that-can-break-down-trash-in-24-hours-the-revolutionary-possibilities-are-endless/ar-AA16CpPT?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Researchers at The University of Texas in Austin discovered an enzyme that eats plastic fast, and scientists think it could revolutionize how we deal with waste.

The team used artificial intelligence, chemical engineering, and synthetic biology to turn a natural enzyme called PETase into a plastic-eating machine.

Quick science lesson: PET, which is short for polyethylene terephthalate, the chemical name for polyester, is a clear, strong, and lightweight plastic that’s widely used in food packaging and plastic bottles. PETase got its name from its ability to degrade these PET plastics.

To deconstruct PET plastic even more quickly and at low temperatures, researchers adjusted PETase to create a new enzyme, called FAST-PETase, which gives bacteria the ability to recycle waste plastic efficiently.

Since plastics account for 8% of all solid waste globally and this new enzyme is laser-focused on breaking it down, this is a potentially crucial discovery.

Most plastic — about 90% — isn’t recycled and either ends up in landfills, where it can leach long-lasting chemicals into the ground, or is burned or broken down at huge energy costs and tons of pollution produced. This enzyme, however, takes much less energy to produce and works quickly.

Plastic that would last almost 500 years in a landfill can be broken down in a day by bacteria armed with FAST-PETase and turned into base units that can be reused.

Hal Alper, a professor of Chemical Engineering at UT Austin, told UT News that the possibilities of this discovery “are endless.”

“Beyond the obvious waste management industry, this also provides corporations from every sector the opportunity to take a lead in recycling their products,” he said. “We can begin to envision a true circular plastics economy.”

The “circular economy” refers to an economic approach that relies on developing new goods without waste or pollution, reusing products and materials to their fullest extent, and restoring natural systems.

Right now, humans have a so-called linear economy, also known as a “take/make/waste system”, in which we take raw materials, make a product, and then throw it away when the product becomes damaged or is no longer usable. By recycling plastic more efficiently, plastic waste can be diverted into more useful products, and the entire industry can become more sustainable.

The scientists at UT Austin are ramping up production for real-world uses. They see this product cleaning up landfills, high-waste industries, and polluted natural areas in the future.

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>>> China Built a Hypersonic Generator That Could Power Unimaginable Weapons


Popular Mechanics

by Tim Newcomb

February 6, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-built-hypersonic-generator-could-210600834.html


China Built a Hypersonic Generator

Turning gas into plasma creates an intense electrical current for powering potent hypersonic weapons.

Chinese researchers built a hypersonic generator that could power military lasers, rail guns, and microwave weapons.

The relative compact nature of the hypersonic generator opens the scope of potential uses.


Chinese scientists say one formidable explosion inside a shock tunnel can turn hot gas into the most powerful hypersonic generator a military has ever seen—strong enough to charge military lasers, rails guns, microwave weapons, and more.

As reported by the South China Morning Post, a new peer-reviewed paper in the Chinese Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics explains how the hypersonic generator turns one detonation inside a shock tunnel into enough electrical current to power hypersonic weapons of the future.

The Chinese scientists were able to use a controlled detonation to turn hot gas into a plasma filled with racing ions, which converted to current. With shock waves accelerating the compressed argon gas to 14 times the speed of sound, the charged ion-filled plasma then passed through magnetohydrodynamics generators to produce electric current up to 212 kilowatts while using .26 gallons of gas. That’s enough power for a burst of energy unlike anything available now in a compact system.

“It has a large capacity and high efficiency," the scientists write, via the SCMP. “There is no need for intermediate energy storage components. The energy can be directly transferred to the load without a high-power switch. And the device can start up quickly.” The generator also has no rotating parts, increasing efficiency and ease of use.

With some of the largest weapons in development requiring a gigawatt of input energy, the researchers say they can produce that with 177 cubic feet of hypersonic plasma (that’s smaller than most vans).

China isn’t ready to deploy the new system just yet. There are plenty of logistical hurdles to sort out in how to transport a device that requires controlled detonation, and just how to handle the gas needed for a second charge when on the move. Still, if the next iteration of the science offers up an automated reloading of the technology, China’s hypersonic weapons just got a colossal burst of power.

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>>> The real-life version of 'Terminator': This tiny shapeshifting robot "melts" to escape cages


by Camille Fine

USA TODAY

January 29, 2023


https://www.yahoo.com/news/real-life-version-terminator-scientists-110507249.html


Although magnetically controlled soft robots have been around, this oozing version may invoke new feelings of terror, with AI-dystopian characteristics that would be a hallmark of any movie involving the end of humankind.

Scientists say the Lego-shaped robot can “melt” from solid to liquid and reform itself to squeeze in and out of tight spaces, perform tasks like soldering a circuit board and even escape cages.

In a new study published January 25 in the journal Matter, scientists showed the incredible strength of this phase-shifting property, which can be controlled remotely with a magnetic field. It’s made from a mixture of magnetic materials including neodymium, iron, and boron, and the liquid metal gallium.

Researchers took inspiration from nature. A graphic in the article depicts sea cucumbers, for instance, which can rapidly and reversibly change its stiffness.

Most existing materials for these robots are able to enter delicate spaces like the human body because they are stretchy — but, because they are also solid, unable to pass through the narrowest of spaces.

Additionally, magnetic liquids are fluid but unable to carry heavy objects — unlike this robot which can make itself sturdier and stronger when under pressure or when carrying something heavier than itself, the study said. A solid robot, about 50 milligrams (or less than an ounce), is able to carry about 30 times its own weight.

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>>> Scientists Are Reincarnating the Woolly Mammoth to Return in 4 Years


Popular Mechanics

by Tim Newcomb

January 30, 2023


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-reincarnating-woolly-mammoth-return-193800409.html


Colossal recently added $60 million in funding to move toward a 2027 de-extinction of the woolly mammoth.

The Dallas-based company is now working to edit the genes for the reincarnation of the mammal.

Colossal planned to reintroduce the woolly mammoth into Russia, but that may shift.

The long-dead woolly mammoth will make its return from extinction by 2027, says Colossal, the biotech company actively working to reincarnate the ancient beast.


Last year, the Dallas-based firm scored an additional $60 million in funding to continue the, well, mammoth gene-editing work it started in 2021. If successful, not only will Colossal bring back an extinct species—one the company dubs a cold-resistant elephant—but it will also reintroduce the woolly mammoth to the same ecosystem in which it once lived in an effort to fight climate change, according to a recent Medium post.

Colossal calls the woolly mammoth’s vast migration patterns an active part of preserving the health of the Arctic, and so bringing the animal back to life can have a beneficial impact on the health of the world’s ecosystem. While Colossal originally hoped to reintroduce the woolly mammoth into Siberia, the company may explore other options based on the current political framework of the world.

The woolly mammoth’s DNA is a 99.6 percent match of the Asian elephant, which leads Colossal to believe it’s well on its way toward achieving its goal. “In the minds of many, this creature is gone forever,” the company says. “But not in the minds of our scientists, nor the labs of our company. We’re already in the process of the de-extinction of the Woolly Mammoth. Our teams have collected viable DNA samples and are editing the genes that will allow this wonderful megafauna to once again thunder through the Arctic.”

Through gene editing, Colossal scientists will eventually create an embryo of a woolly mammoth. They will place the embryo in an African elephant to take advantage of its size and allow it to give birth to the new woolly mammoth. The eventual goal is to then repopulate parts of the Arctic with the new woolly mammoth and strengthen local plant life with the migration patterns and dietary habits of the beast.

If Colossal proves successful on reincarnating the woolly mammoth—ditto the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger—expect a variety of new ethical questions to arise on how to handle the creature and potential reintroduction issues.

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>>> Robobees Are Back — This Time In The Image Of A “Fairy” That “Could Help Save The Planet”


FEBRUARY 1, 2023

Natural Blaze

ENVIRONMENT

By Amanda Warren


https://www.naturalblaze.com/2023/02/robobees-are-back-this-time-in-the-image-of-a-fairy-that-could-help-save-the-planet.html


Longtime readers might remember when we first covered the Robobee concept back in 2014. Robot insect research dates back much further in military circles where they’ve been designed for search and rescue, hazardous exploration, surveillance, climate mapping, and traffic monitoring – to name a few.

Greenpeace wound up creating a fictionalized video like something from Black Mirror that postulated what the world could look like if these “superior” creations were unleashed to fulfill their singular mission as autonomous pollinators.

The real Robobee wasn’t nearly as sophisticated — nor would it ever be mistaken for the real thing — but it was hailed as a marvel of engineering nonetheless.

The main goal for the Robobee has remained lofty ever since – to solve the problem of bee-colony collapse, which legitimately would put our ability to feed ourselves at grave risk, by introducing autonomous swarms of robot pollinators. Pesticide use is well documented to negatively impact bees in a variety of ways, but the researchers oddly highlight global warming as the main issue, which remains highly debatable.

Whereas the original Robobee concept relied purely on solar power, new research is focusing on harnessing the power of both wind and light (even laser and LED) with a “fairy” robotic pollinator that was also inspired by dandelion seeds.

It’s no Tinkerbell, but it might be the closest we’ll get to seeing a real-life fairy. A team of engineers is developing a small fairy-like robot that moves with the power of wind and is controllable using light. Researchers in Finland say these dandelion-inspired smart robots could help save the environment, taking over for pollinators (like bees) who are disappearing from nature.

“Superior to its natural counterparts, this artificial seed is equipped with a soft actuator. The actuator is made of light-responsive liquid crystalline elastomer, which induces opening or closing actions of the bristles upon visible light excitation,” says Hao Zeng, an academy research fellow and the leader of the Light Robots group at Tampere University, in a media release.

Past work using stimuli-responsive polymers has created soft-bodied robots that can walk, swim, and jump. Until now, however, no one has been successful in making these types of robots fly. The fairy-like robot contains several features that make it capable of flying. It has a large number of empty spaces that supports a lightweight structure. It also easily floats through the air when the wind hits it. Additionally, the robot has a stable separated vortex ring that allows for long-distance wind-assisted traveling.

“The fairy can be powered and controlled by a light source, such as a laser beam or LED,” Zeng says.

Shining light on the robot can help modify the shape of its dandelion seed-like structure. The robot manually adapts to wind direction and force changes by altering its shape. A light beam also helps to control when it is ready to launch and land.

Could this robot do the job of bees?

The fairy isn’t just for show and tell; they could help pollinate our environment. With some more tweaking, the engineering team has hopes that the dandelion-shaped robot could use sunlight rather than a single light beam to operate. If so, it could potentially carry micro-electronic devices like GPS and sensors on its journey.

“It sounds like science fiction, but the proof-of-concept experiments included in our research show that the robot we have developed provides an important step towards realistic applications suitable for artificial pollination,” adds Zeng.

With more fairy robots floating on the wind, scientists could use millions of artificial dandelion seeds to carry pollen. The sunlight could help steer the fairies toward specific areas with trees and flowers waiting for pollination.

“This would have a huge impact on agriculture globally since the loss of pollinators due to global warming has become a serious threat to biodiversity and food production,” Zeng concludes.

Another improvement Zeng and the team are trying to make is controlling the precision of how fairies land on plants and trees. Additionally, to make the robot eco-friendly, they hope to make them biodegradable and recyclable.

The study is published in the journal Advanced Science.

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>>> Fusion Breakthrough Accelerates Quest to Unlock Limitless Energy Source


The Wall Street Journal

Dec 2022

by Aylin Woodward


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fusion-breakthrough-accelerates-quest-to-unlock-limitless-energy-source/ar-AA15eaEy?cvid=a217c24bfea741d792108093b89d3275


The Energy Department said Tuesday that scientists at a federal research facility had achieved a breakthrough in research on nuclear fusion, long seen as a potential source of clean, virtually limitless energy.

Fusion Breakthrough Accelerates Quest to Unlock Limitless Energy Source

A controlled fusion reaction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., produced more energy than it consumed, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other government officials said during a press conference from DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The milestone, known as fusion ignition, is unprecedented, according to the DOE.

“This is what it looks like for America to lead, and we’re just getting started,” Secretary Granholm said, adding that the breakthrough “will go down in the history books.”

Researchers at the lab’s multibillion-dollar National Ignition Facility have been studying nuclear fusion for more than a decade, using lasers to create conditions that cause hydrogen atoms to fuse and release vast amounts of energy. Since the facility began operations in 2009, the goal of a fusion reaction that produces a net gain of energy—a key step toward transforming fusion into a practical source of energy—had eluded scientists.

But an experiment at the facility conducted on Dec. 5 produced 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy, compared with 2.05 megajoules of energy used to trigger the reaction.

The broad appeal of nuclear fusion to researchers, investors and companies stems from its potential as an alternative to energy sources that involve the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gases—a timely objective during “a looming energy and climate crisis,” according to Dr. Rafael Juárez Mañas, an engineering professor at the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid who wasn’t involved in the recent experiment.

Existing nuclear power plants—responsible for about 10% of the world’s electricity—generate electricity by nuclear fission, in which energy is created by splitting heavy atoms like uranium.

Fission creates radioactive waste that can last thousands of years. Fusion doesn’t produce such waste. Nor does it produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. And the hydrogen atoms that fuel fusion reactions are in an essentially limitless supply.

But commercial application of this technology likely remains years, if not decades, away, according to fusion researchers.

Related video: 'A moment in history': US researchers announce major nuclear fusion breakthrough (France 24)

'A moment in history': US researchers announce major nuclear fusion breakthrough
It is premature to talk about building fusion power plants, said Gianluca Sarri, a professor of physics at Queen’s University Belfast who wasn’t involved in the new research. “There are technical issues that need to be solved still before it becomes an energy source,” he added.

“We are still not gaining electrical energy” Dr. Sarri said.

The lasers at the National Ignition Facility are less than 1% efficient, according to Jonathan Davies, a senior scientist at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The facility used hundreds of megajoules of electricity to produce the laser light needed to produce about 3 megajoules of fusion energy.

“A laser fusion power plant would have to fire something like 10 times per second to give a reasonable electrical power output,” Dr. Davies said.

Fusion researchers around the world use a variety of approaches to trigger and contain controlled fusion reactions. The Livermore facility uses nearly 200 lasers to heat and compress hydrogen atoms to temperatures of more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit and pressures more than 100 billion times Earth’s atmosphere. Those extreme conditions create a state of matter known as plasma, in which hydrogen atoms fuse. The same process powers the sun and other stars.

“This experiment has demonstrated for the first time this can be done in a laboratory setting, rather than in a star,” said Robbie Scott, a senior plasma physicist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory’s Central Laser Facility near Oxford, England.

Dr. Scott, who spent a year at the Lawrence Livermore lab but wasn’t involved in the recent experiment, said “it’s been a long, hard road” for the global fusion energy community to get to this point. But he said he never doubted ignition could be achieved.

“It’s just fantastic to actually get to this point, because it’s a real seminal result,” he added.

Private investors have been pouring money into the burgeoning industry, despite the science and engineering challenges.

More than 30 firms, most of them in the U.S., are chasing fusion commercialization and have raised more than $5 billion, according to the Fusion Industry Association. The companies are vying to be the first not only to create net-energy machines, but to commercialize them by delivering electricity to the grid on the scale of a power plant.

“Net energy is a great claim to make, but net energy is not net power,” said Brett Rampal, a nuclear energy expert at energy consulting firm Veriten and Segra Capital Management. While many say they can reach milestones sooner, Mr. Rampal expects some private fusion firms with prototypes could achieve net power within a decade, and that five to 10 years after that there could be some commercial product demonstrations.

Still, fusion companies celebrated the National Ignition Facility’s results as a key milestone toward reaching net power.

“It’s a crucial step that validates a theory and bolsters our growing field of work in fusion energy,” said Michl Binderbauer, chief executive of fusion firm TAE Technologies, which has raised $1.2 billion.

Bob Mumgaard, chief executive and co-founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems LLC, an MIT spinout that has raised more than $1.8 billion, called the net energy results a validator for the fusion industry. “These exciting results are the culmination of years of work demonstrating that fusion science is worth the investment,” Mr. Mumgaard said.

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>>> MIT engineers design self-replicating robots capable of assembling giant structures

Researchers advance efforts to create groups of robots that could construct almost anything.


Interesting Engineering

Nov 29, 2022


https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/mit-self-replicating-robots-assembling-giant-structures


When it comes to the manufacturing of commercial aircraft, different parts are manufactured at various locations.

Before finally bringing them all together in a central plant and putting the finished aeroplane together, the tail components, the fuselage, and the wings are made at different plants.

Many other large structures, besides aircraft, are also built in sections. But what if instead of sections, the entire assembly could take place in one go using a team of small robots?

A doctorate student, Amira Abdel-Rahman, and Neil Gershenfeld, professor and director of MIT Center of Bits and Atoms (CBA), are envisioning precisely this in their doctoral thesis work which was recently published in Nature.

Self-building robots formed of superior voxels

The new research provides a step forward towards building robots that can basically make anything. It builds on years of research that employed small, identical lightweight components, including the assembly of a functioning race car and a malleable aeroplane wing.

The MIT team have successfully produced prototype robots capable of assembling small structures which connect to build whole vehicles and buildings- and even bigger robots.

They can transport data and power from one unit to another

Like earlier experiments, the team's approach uses voxels (the volumetric equivalent of a 2-D pixel), which are a collection of tiny identical subunits that create big, useable structures.

However, in this case, the voxels employed are more complex than earlier ones in that each of them can transport data and power from one unit to another. Previously, voxels were only mechanical structural components.

“When we’re building these structures, you have to build in intelligence,” Gershenfeld said in an MIT article.

Additionally, older versions involved bots that were connected through wire bundles and control systems. The new system is more efficient as voxels ensure there is a single structure — no bundles of wires or power sources.

The voxels join end-to-end to constitute the robots, and they can use their attachment points to grab another voxel and move it into its desired position. When the voxel is attached to the structure, it is released in that position.

When the structure size becomes large enough, the robots can make bigger robots in order to be efficient and reduce travel time across distances.

Algorithms handle the robots’ decision-making

One of the main focuses among researchers is to create algorithms that handle the robots’ decision-making as to when to build the structure, when to build more robots, and when to build larger ones.

According to Gershenfeld, an automatic robot assembly system that is capable of assembling massive structures and self-replicating will still take years to set up. However, this new work is a huge step towards achieving that goal.

Ultimately, this technology can be used to make large airplanes, factories, automobiles, etc., in a single go. Robotic workforces can quickly scale the materials and personnel needed to assemble the desired structures making the entire process that much more time and labor efficient.

You can compare this robotic system that assembles big structures like that to a kid making a large castle using LEGO blocks. The work has attracted significant interest from potential users like NASA, who the researchers are now collaborated with. Additionally, Airbus SE, a Europe-based aerospace firm, is sponsoring the study.

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>>> Two minerals never before been seen on Earth found inside 17-ton meteorite


Live Science

by Ben Turner

Nov 2022


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/two-minerals-never-before-been-seen-on-earth-found-inside-17-ton-meteorite/ar-AA14F42c?OCID=ansmsnnews11


Two minerals that have never been seen before on Earth have been discovered inside a massive meteorite in Somalia. They could hold important clues to how asteroids form.

The two brand new minerals were found inside a single 2.5 ounce (70 gram) slice taken from the 16.5 ton (15 metric tons) El Ali meteorite, which crashed to Earth in 2020. Scientists named the minerals elaliite after the meteor and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative and principal investigator of NASA's upcoming Psyche mission, which will send a probe to investigate the mineral-rich Psyche asteroid for evidence of how our solar system's planets formed.

"Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what's been found before," Chris Herd, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, said in a statement. "That's what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science."

The researchers classified El Ali as an Iron IAB complex meteorite, a type made of meteoric iron flecked with tiny chunks of silicates. While investigating the meteorite slice, details of the new minerals caught the scientists' attention. By comparing the minerals with versions of them that had been previously synthesized in a lab, they were able to rapidly identify them as newly recorded in nature.

The researchers plan to investigate the meteorites further in order to understand the conditions under which their parent asteroid formed. "That's my expertise — how you tease out the geologic processes and the geologic history of the asteroid this rock was once part of," Herd said. "I never thought I'd be involved in describing brand new minerals just by virtue of working on a meteorite."

The team is also looking into material science applications of the minerals.

However, future scientific insights from the El Ali meteorite could be in peril. The meteorite has now been moved to China in search of a potential buyer, which could limit researchers' access to the space rock for investigation.

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>>> The Hum


Wikipedia


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum


The Hum is a name often given to widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people. Hums have been reported all over the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.[1][2] They are sometimes named according to the locality where the problem has been particularly publicized, such as the "Taos Hum" in New Mexico and the "Windsor Hum" in Ontario.

The Hum does not appear to be a single phenomenon. Different causes have been attributed, including local mechanical sources, often from industrial plants, as well as manifestations of tinnitus or other biological auditory effects.


Contents

1 Description
1.1 Taos Hum
1.2 Auckland Hum
1.3 Windsor Hum
1.4 Other
2 Possible explanations
2.1 Mechanical devices
2.2 Tinnitus
2.3 Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions
2.4 Jet stream
2.5 Animals
3 In popular culture
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

Description

A 1973 report cites a university study of fifty cases of people complaining about a "low throbbing background noise" that others were unable to hear. The sound, always peaking between 30 and 40 Hz, was found to only be heard during cool weather with a light breeze, and often early in the morning. These noises were often confined to a 10-kilometre (6 mi) wide area.[3]

Taos Hum

A study into the Taos Hum in the early 1990s indicated that at least two percent could hear it; each hearer at a different frequency between 32 Hz and 80 Hz, modulated from 0.5 to 2 Hz.[4] Similar results have been found in an earlier British study.[5] It seems possible for hearers to move away from it, with one hearer of the Taos Hum reporting its range was 30 miles (48 km).[6] There are approximately equal percentages of male and female hearers.[4][7] Age does appear to be a factor, with middle-aged people more likely to hear it.[8]

Auckland Hum

In 2006, Tom Moir, then of Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, made several recordings that appeared to be the Auckland Hum.[9][10] His previous research using simulated sounds had indicated that the hum was around 56 hertz.[11]

Windsor Hum

In late 2011, residents of Windsor, Ontario (south of Detroit, Michigan), began reporting a low droning vibration, sometimes loud enough to be irritating (one evening in 2012 saw 22,000 reports to officials). It was estimated that the sound was emanating from Zug Island, a heavily industrialized section of River Rouge on the north bank of the Detroit River (which separates Windsor and Detroit).[12] Canadian officials requested US assistance in determining the source, but local authorities were stymied by official refusals to allow access to the island.[13] A steel mill operated by U.S. Steel was the possible cause, but officials stated that no new equipment had been installed or activated around the time that the noise became noticeable. However, when the blast furnaces were deactivated in April 2020, the noise went away as well.[13][14]

Other
In 2021, hums were reported in Frankfurt and Darmstadt, in Germany.[15]

Possible explanations

There is skepticism as to whether the hum exists as a physical sound. In 2009, the head of audiology at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, David Baguley, said he believed people's problems with the hum were based on the physical world about one-third of the time, and stemmed from people focusing too keenly on innocuous background sounds the other two-thirds of the time. His research focuses on using psychology and relaxation techniques to minimise distress, which can lead to a quieting or even removal of the noise.[1]

Geoff Leventhall, a noise and vibration expert, has suggested cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be effective in helping those affected,[16] saying that "It's a question of whether you tense up to the noise or are relaxed about it. The CBT was shown to work, by helping people to take a different attitude to it."[17]

Mechanical devices

Although an obvious candidate, given the common description of the hum as sounding like a diesel engine, the majority of reported hums have not been traced to a specific mechanical source.[1]

In the case of Kokomo, Indiana, a city with heavy industry, the origin of the hum was thought to have been traced to two sources. The first was a 36-hertz tone from a cooling tower at the local DaimlerChrysler casting plant and the second was a 10-hertz tone from an air compressor intake at the Haynes International plant.[18] After those devices were corrected, however, reports of the hum persisted.[19]

Three hums have been linked to mechanical sources. The West Seattle Hum was traced to a vacuum pump used by CalPortland to offload cargo from ships. After CalPortland replaced the silencers on the machine, reports of the hum ceased.[20] Likewise, the Wellington Hum is thought to have been due to the diesel generator on a visiting ship.[21][22] A 35 Hz hum in Windsor, Ontario, is thought to have originated from a steelworks on the industrial zone of Zug Island near Detroit,[23] with reports of the noise ceasing after the U.S. Steel plant there ceased operations in April 2020.[14]

One hum in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was suspected of originating at a Santee Cooper substation almost 2 miles away from the home of a couple who first reported it. The substation is home to the state's largest transformer. One local couple sued the power company for the disruption the hum was causing them.[24] The hum was louder inside their house than out, in part, they believed, because their house vibrated in resonance to the 60 Hz hum. In the lawsuit it is claimed that the volume of the hum was measured at up to 64.1 dB in the couple's home.[25]

Some researchers speculate that the very low frequency radio waves or extremely low frequency radio waves of the military TACAMO system, used by aircraft to communicate with submarines, might be the source for the hum. David Deming observes that the difficulty of locating a source of the hum could be attributed to its broadcast from moving aircraft in this fashion, although he notes that there have never been any reports of the Hum around the US Navy's stationary broadcast stations at Cutler, Maine, and Jim Creek, Washington.[26]

Deming considers it significant that the Hum "avoids publicity", often subsiding in response to an increase in local press coverage, and speculates that this may be a sign that the source is anthropogenic in nature.[26]

Tinnitus

A suggested diagnosis of tinnitus, a self-reported disturbance of the auditory system, is used by some physicians in response to complaints about the Hum.[27] Tinnitus is generated internally by the auditory and nervous systems, with no external stimulus.[28]

While the Hum is hypothesized by some to be a form of low frequency tinnitus[7] such as the venous hum, some report it is not internal, being worse inside their homes than outside. However, others insist that it is equally bad indoors and outdoors. Some people notice the Hum only at home, while others hear it everywhere they go. Some sufferers report that it is made worse by soundproofing (e.g., double glazing), which serves only to decrease other environmental noise, thus making the Hum more apparent.[29]

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions

Human ears generate their own noises, called spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE). Various studies have shown that 38–60% of adults with normal hearing have them, although the majority are unaware of these sounds.[30] The people who do hear these sounds typically hear a faint hissing (cicada insect like sound), buzzing or ringing, especially if they are otherwise in complete silence.[31]

Researchers who looked at the Taos Hum considered otoacoustic emissions as a possibility.[32]

Jet stream

Philip Dickinson suggested at an Institute of Biology conference in 1973 that the 30–40 Hz hum could be a result of the jet stream shearing against slower-moving air and possibly being amplified by powerline posts, some of which were shown to vibrate, or by rooms which had a corresponding resonant frequency.[3] Geoff Leventhall of the Chelsea College Acoustics Group dismissed this suggestion as "absolute nonsense".[3]

Animals

The midshipman fish was considered as a possible cause of the West Seattle Hum.

One of the many possible causes of the West Seattle Hum considered was that it was related to the midshipman fish, also known as a toadfish.[33] A previous hum in Sausalito, California, also on the west coast of the United States, was determined to be the mating call of the male midshipman.[34] However, in that case the hum was resonating through houseboat hulls and affecting the people living on those boats. In the West Seattle case, the University of Washington researcher determined that it would be impossible for any resonating hum, transmitted via tanker or boat hulls, to be transmitted very far inland, certainly not far enough to account for the reports.[35]

The Scottish Association for Marine Science hypothesised that the nocturnal humming sound heard in Hythe, Hampshire, in the UK could be produced by a similar "sonic" fish.[36] The council believed this to be unlikely, since such fish are not commonly found in inshore waters of the UK.[37]

As of February 2014, although the source had still not been located, the sound had by then at least been recorded.[38]

In popular culture

The Taos Hum has been featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries,[39] and in LiveScience's "Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena", where it took tenth place.[40] British station BBC Radio 4 featured an investigation of the Hum phenomena in their Punt PI fact-based comedy programme.[41][42] In October 2022, the Norwegian state broadcaster NRK covered the Hum in its Oppdatert podcast.[43]

In a 1998 episode of The X-Files titled "Drive", Agent Mulder speculates that extremely low frequency (ELF) radio waves "may be behind the so-called Taos Hum".[44][45]

In a 2018 episode of the police procedural series Criminal Minds, characters are made to commit violent acts as a result of mania caused by the Hum. The story editors described the episode as having "an X-Files feel".[46]

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>>> Something Unknown Seems to Blast Earth With Radiation Every Thousand Years or So


Futurism

Oct 30, 2022

by Frank Landymore


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/something-unknown-seems-to-blast-earth-with-radiation-every-thousand-years-or-so/ar-AA13xKOD?cvid=c95a4d6bedd64591a0dbcb8cb5802376


Massive spikes of radiation levels on Earth were once believed to be caused by solar flares, but a new study suggests that something else may be driver.

Unknown Threat

Solar flares were once thought to be responsible for historical spikes in the Earth's radiation levels. But a new study suggests that those spikes of radiation may not be caused by solar flares as once believed, seemingly meaning that something much more powerful — and still unknown to us — may have been responsible instead.

"There's a kind of extreme astrophysical phenomenon that we don't understand and it actually could be a threat to us," Benjamin Pope, coauthor of the study and astrophysicist at the University of Queensland, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The study, published Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A, examined tree rings for spikes of carbon 14, a radioactive isotope of carbon whose increased presence represents spikes in radiation levels on Earth. The radiation upticks, in turn, are caused by mysterious astrophysical events called "Miyake events," so named after the Japanese scientist that discovered them.

According to Pope, there have been six known Miyake events in the past 10,000 years, with the latest having occurred in 993 CE. Until now, they were believed to be caused by severe solar storms that typically occurred at the 11 year peak of sunspot activity in the solar cycle.

Off-Cycle

But after crunching the data, Pope and his team found that these radiation spikes cropped up all across the solar cycle, not just at its 11 year peak, throwing a big wrench in the prevailing theory.

Even stranger is how long some of the spikes lasted.

"At least two, maybe three of these events... took longer than a year, which is surprising because that's not going to happen if it's a solar flare," Pope told the ABC.

The last powerful solar flare to strike our planet occurred in 1859. Known as the Carrington Event, it severely damaged telecommunications infrastructure at the time.

In an age heavily reliant on electronics and the internet, a Carrington-like event could be monumentally more devastating today. But ominously, whatever caused the Miyake events would have been up to 100 times more powerful than even the Carrington.

Sunburst

So what ungodly force could have been responsible for these Miyake events?

Pope thinks it could be an unholy barrage of solar flares bursting in quick succession.

"Not just one solar flare, but recurrent solar flares going off again and again," he explained.

As for the odds of experiencing such an event anytime soon, Pope thinks they're slim — but maybe not that slim.

"Based on available data, there's roughly a one per cent chance of seeing another one within the next decade," Pope said in a press release.

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>>> How super-hot rocks miles under the earth’s surface could provide limitless clean energy


CNBC

OCT 28 2022

by Catherine Clifford


https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/28/superhot-rock-geothermal-what-is-it-could-it-fight-climate-change.html


KEY POINTS

Superhot rock geothermal energy can be generated from dry rock that’s at least 752 degrees Fahrenheit. It exists all over the earth at depths between two and 12 miles.

A new report out Friday from the Clean Air Task Force, a non-profit climate organization, finds that with investment in innovation, this category of clean, baseload energy has the potential to be cost-competitive with other zero-carbon technologies, while having a small land footprint.

Less than 0.2 percent of global energy currently generated from conventional geothermal because it requires heat and water to be relatively close to the surface of the earth.

The iconic Old Faithful Geyser springs to life (every 90 minutes) in Yellowstone National Park's Upper Geyser Basin on September 18, 2022, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Sitting atop an active volcanic caldera, Yellowstone, America's first National Park, is home to more geological hydrothermal features (geysers, mud pots, hot springs, fumaroles) than are found in the rest of the world combined.

The future of clean, renewable energy is underneath our feet. Quite literally.

The core of the earth is very hot — somewhere between 7,952 degrees and 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit at the very center. If we can drill down from the surface into what’s called superhot rock, then we could access the heat of the earth and turn it into a massive source of zero-carbon, always available energy.

The Clean Air Task Force commissioned a non-profit geothermal organization, the Hot Rock Energy Research Organization, and an international clean energy consultancy, LucidCatalyst, to estimate the levelized cost of commercial-scale superhot rock electricity. They determined that it could eventually cost between $20 and $35 per megawatt hour, which is competitive with what energy from natural gas plants costs today.

This is not reality yet. Currently, there are no superhot rock geothermal energy systems operating and delivering energy, Bruce Hill, the chief geoscientist at Clean Air Task Force and the author of the report, told CNBC. But money is flowing into research projects and companies that are working to develop the technology.

The report posits that superhot rock energy can be commercialized in the 2030s, and argues that its unique set of features — it’s a clean source of inexhaustible baseload energy with a small footprint — make the investment worthwhile.

“It will take public and private investment similar to those being allocated to nuclear, carbon capture, and hydrogen fuels,” Hill told CNBC. “Geothermal programs receive far less funding from Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy than these other programs. Superhot rock geothermal isn’t even in the decarbonization debate — but given a decade or two of aggressive investment it could be producing baseload power — local, energy dense, clean-firm (baseload) and competitive,” from a price perspective.

The graphic here shows that if technology develops allowing the drilling into hot, dry rock, superhot rock geothermal energy can be available virtually anywhere.

Regular versus superhot geothermal

While energy from superhot rocks is not being used now, geothermal energy is being used in a few places where super-hot temperatures exist close to the surface of the earth. Currently, about 16 gigawatts of power come from geothermal globally, according to CATF — that’s less than 0.2% of the world’s total. For comparison, there is 2,100 terawatts of capacity for coal energy globally and 1 terawatt of capacity for energy generated from photovoltaics, or solar panels.

But accessing superhot rock energy involves tapping into hotter, dry rock — which is everywhere, but sometimes far beneath the surface.

The deepest borehole ever drilled in the earth went down almost 8 miles in the Kola Peninsula of Russia in the 1970s, but the rock there was not nearly as hot as 752 degrees Fahrenheit — the minimum required for this type of energy. (Rock starts melting at between 1,112 and 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit, so the functional window for superhot rock geothermal is roughly between 752 and 1022 degrees Fahrenheit, Hill said.)

How far you have to drill to get to 752 degrees depends on where you are. On the edges of the tectonic plate boundaries or near recent volcanic activity, it might be two miles down, Hill told CNBC, but in the middle of a continent you might have to go down 12 miles.

Water would be pumped down into the hole and returned to the earth in a super-heated state known as “supercritical,”, which has the properties of gas and liquid at the same time. That supercritical water would then be directed to power generators.

Conventional geothermal energy systems “have a very small but measurable carbon footprint,” Hill told CNBC. That is why the Hellisheiði ON Power plant in Iceland has a Carbfix carbon capture plant attached to it. A superhot rock energy system would have some carbon emissions associated with the construction of the plants, but “because the working fluid, water, is injected into dry rock there are no such hydrothermal related carbon dioxide emissions,” Hill said.

To access superhot rock geothermal energy requires drilling down to rock that is 400 degrees Celsius, or 752 degrees Fahrenheit.

Iceland is a leader in investigating superhot rock geothermal energy with its Iceland Deep Drilling Project. A test there suggests one well could produce 36 megawatts of energy, which is five to ten times more than the typical three to five megawatts of energy a conventional geothermal well could generate.

Iceland is well suited to study geothermal energy because of it’s located where the American and Eurasian crustal plates are pulling apart from each other.

“We are replenished with constant supplies of magma energy to feed our geothermal systems,” Guðmundur Ó. Friðleifsson, who served as a coordinator and principal investigator in the IDDP effort for over 20 years, told CNBC. “Magma energy is also at relatively shallow depths and relatively easily accessed, and Icelanders by nature are explorers of Celtic and Norse origin who love to sail into or out to the unknown,” Friðleifsson said.

Beyond Iceland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the United States are leaders in superhot rock geothermal, according to Friðleifsson. Other areas on the edges of tectonic plates, including Central America, Indonesia, Kenya and the Philippines, also have some development.

For superhot rock geothermal energy to be commercialized and deployed broadly will require new technology, including rapid ultra-deep drilling methods, heat-resistant well materials and tools, and ways to develop deep-heat reservoirs in hot dry rock.

These are not insignificant, but they are “engineering challenges, not needed scientific breakthroughs,” the CATF report says.

For example, drilling into hard crystalline rock takes a long time with current rotation drill techniques and the drill bits have to be replaced frequently. One potential solution is using energy instead of a mechanical drill.

Quaise Energy is develoing such a drill, building on research from Paul Woskov at MIT. The Quaise drill is being tested at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to CATF.

“The solution to drilling is to replace the mechanical grinding process with a pure energy-matter interaction. Sufficient energy intensity will always melt-vaporize rock without need for physical tools,” Woskov told CNBC.

“Directed energy drilling has been considered since the laser was invented in the 1960s, but so far unsuccessfully because the infrared wavelengths are scattered in a drilling environment, the laser sources are of too low average power, and lasers sources are not efficient. We now have gyrotron sources since the 1990s that operate at millimeter-wavelengths that are more robust in a drilling environment, more powerful, and more efficient.”

It will take innovation and investment over coming decades to be able to commercialize terawatts of superhot rock geothermal energy.

‘Very small’ investment so far

So far, private investment in the superhot rock space is “very small,” according to Hill. CATF didn’t have an exact number, but they estimate it’s in the hundreds of millions of dollars at the most, and this includes investments by the Newberry Geothermal Energy consortium for work done 10 or 15 years ago, Hill said.

But it’s getting easier to raise money in the space, according to Carlos Araque, the CEO of Quaise, which has raised $75 million so far, including $70 million in venture capital.

“The first 10 [million] took a lot longer than the other 65 because it was done in the 2018-20 period; things accelerated significantly in the 2021-22 period probably pushed by many investors realizing the need for new tech in this space,” Araque told CNBC. “Investors are increasingly aware that we need to invest now on the technologies that will enable full decarbonization towards 2050.”

Investor Vinod Khosla, the first backer of Quaise, recently talked to CNBC about his belief in backing potentially revolutionary technologies to fight climate change, and pointed to super hot rock geothermal as an example.

“A superhot rock well, like 500 degrees, will produce 10 times the power of a 200-degree well. And that’s what we need,” Khosla told CNBC. “If we can drill deep enough we can get to those temperatures — many, many — all of Western United States could be powered with just geothermal wells, because there’s geothermal everywhere if you go 15 kilometers, 10 miles deep.”

The CATF report said that big tech companies, and their associated deep pockets, could have “an important role” in funding the early development and commercialization of superhot rock energy by buying power purchase agreements or investment dollars to power “rapidly expanding energy intensive operations like data centers,” the report said.

Oil and gas companies could use their resources to help spur development in the superhot rock industry, the CATF report said. “Drilling deep into the Earth to produce energy is the oil and gas industry’s core expertise, which provided innovations that drove a rapid transformation of shale fossil energy resources previously considered impossible.”

The government is also chipping in. The U.S. Department of Energy also has up to $20 million available in funding to develop better and faster geothermal drilling. Also, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $84 million for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office to build four pilot demonstration sites of what it calls enhanced geothermal systems, including superhot rock geothermal. Similarly, the Department of Energy recently announced Enhanced Geothermal Shot in an effort to reduce the cost of enhanced geothermal systems by 90%, to $45 per megawatt hour, by 2035.

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>>> Transplant of human brain tissue into rats could help study autism, other disorders

The approach is expected to prompt new research into epilepsy, schizophrenia and intellectual disabilities


Washington Post

By Mark Johnson

October 12, 2022


https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/10/12/brain-tissue-rats-stanford/


Stanford scientists transplanted human brain cells into the brain of a rat. The light flickering on and off shows the human cells as they work inside the brain.

In work that could boost our understanding of brain disorders and enable discovery of new drugs to treat them, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine transplanted human brain tissue into rats, where it became a functional part of their brains.

Their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, took seven years to complete and involved extensive ethical discussions about animal welfare and other issues. The study’s most immediate applications will involve research into conditions such as autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia and intellectual disabilities.

The implanted human brain tissue was created in the lab using a technique that allows scientists to change skin cells into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells — the cells from which all others develop as the embryo grows. In the lab, scientists can nudge these cells down the developmental pathway, growing them into any one of the 200 or so types of cells in the human body.

Researchers created clumps of these cells that resemble parts of the brain. The clumps, known as organoids, resembled the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the brain associated with some of its most advanced processes, including language, memory, thought, learning, decision-making, emotion, intelligence and personality.

Using syringes, the scientists injected the human brain tissue into the brains of rat pups two to three days old. Rat brain cells then migrated to the human tissue and formed connections, incorporating the human cells in their brain’s machinery.

“We don’t remove that part of the rat brain. Essentially what happens is that the rat tissue is pushed aside,” said Sergiu Pasca, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford, who led the study.

The human brain tissue measured roughly one-fifth of an inch when transplanted, but it expanded and by six months accounted for about one-third of the hemisphere of the rat’s brain. The brain is organized into two hemispheres, right and left, each responsible for different functions.

Deep inside the rat’s brain, human and rat cells connected in the thalamus, the area critical for sleep, consciousness, learning, memory and processing information from all of the senses, except for smell.

“Overall, I think this approach is a step forward for the field, and offers a new way to understand disorders” that involve the malfunction of brain cells, said Madeline A. Lancaster, a group leader at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, who did not participate in the study.

“Ethically, there may be concerns about animal welfare, and so just like all animal experimentation, the benefits should always be weighed against the risks to the animal,” Lancaster said. “But I do not have any concerns around whether the human transplants would cause the animal to become more ‘human,’ since the size of these transplants are small and their overall organization is still lacking.”

Pasca said researchers had extensive discussions with ethicists about animal welfare in preparation for the experiments. He said the rats in the study displayed no signs of anxiety, nor was there evidence they suffered pain or seizures.

Japanese stem cell pioneer Yoshiki Sasai is credited with developing the first neural organoid in 2008, but these have had limited impact because they lacked the system of vessels that carries blood throughout the body, Lancaster said. This deficit caused the organoid cells to become stressed and die.

“This study overcomes this limitation by transplanting organoids into the rat brain where the organoids can become vascularised,” Lancaster said. “The result is much more mature” structures, connections and activity from the transplanted tissue inside the rat.

In one experiment, the Stanford team took skin cells from a person with a rare genetic condition called Timothy syndrome, which has some of the characteristics of autism and epilepsy and has been diagnosed in fewer than 100 people worldwide. Using the ability to change skin cells into other types of cells, researchers created brain organoids from the patient and implanted them into one side of the rat’s brain.

For comparison, they transplanted organoids from a healthy person into the other side of the same rat’s brain. They discovered that after five to six months, the Timothy syndrome cells were smaller and involved in very different electrical activity than the healthy brain cells.

“I’m not entirely surprised by the findings, but it’s super cool,” said Bennett Novitch, a member of the Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California at Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study. In 2021, Novitch and colleagues developed organoids that produced brain waves, the electrical pulses that brain cells use to communicate with one another.

He said the Stanford scientists showed that human brain organoids could not only be integrated into the rat brain, but also used to change the animal’s behavior.

In a complex experiment, they created clumps of human brain cells that had been customized so that individual neurons could be switched on by a specific frequency of blue laser light. Those clumps were then injected into rat brains, and after three months the scientists threaded ultrathin fiber-optic cables into the rat brains so the researchers could beam in blue light.

The rats were placed in glass boxes with a water spout. The researchers then conditioned the rats to expect water only after their brains had received a pulse of blue light. The rats grew to associate the blue light with receiving water, showing that the implanted human cells were now involved in the complex reward-seeking machinery inside their brains.

“This is very difficult experimentation to do,” Novitch said.

He noted, however, that using rats implanted with human brain tissue for testing drugs would work for small studies but not for pharmaceutical companies because of the speed and scale required.

Pasca said he hopes to teach other researchers to use his group’s techniques to study different brain disorders.

“There are enough problems in neuroscience to solve to last for many years to come,” he said. “The challenge of understanding psychiatric disorders is immense.”

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>>> Laser gun turns plastic into tiny diamonds in blink of an eye


Talker News

Sep 6, 2022


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/laser-gun-turns-plastic-into-tiny-diamonds-in-blink-of-an-eye/ar-AA11wKuy


The precious gemstones were created after intensive beams were pointed at a thin film.

They are increasingly needed for sensors, vaccines and drugs - providing opportunities for recycling.

It could lead to more demand for water bottles and other containers - that often end up in the sea.

The breakthrough also has implications for planetary science - shedding fresh light on what goes on inside Neptune and Uranus.

In tests, a sheet of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic used for packaging food and beverages was shot at.

The foil-like material briefly heated up to 10,832°F - generating a shock wave.

It compressed the matter to millions of times the atmospheric pressure - for a few billionths of a second.

The tiny nanodiamonds were forged under extreme pressure, explained the international team.

"So far, diamonds of this kind have mainly been produced by detonating explosives. With the help of laser flashes, they could be manufactured much more cleanly in the future," said Professor Dominik Kraus, of the University of Rostock and a co-author of the study.

A high-performance laser would fire ten flashes per second at a PET film which is illuminated by the beam at intervals of a tenth of a second.

Nanodiamonds would shoot out of the film and land in a collecting tank filled with water. There they are decelerated and can then be filtered and effectively harvested.

"The nanodiamonds could be custom cut with regard to size or even doping with other atoms. The X-ray laser means we have a lab tool that can precisely control the diamonds' growth," Kraus said.

The analysis was carried out using the state-of-the-art LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source) in California which takes X-ray snapshots of atoms and molecules at work.

"Up to now, we used hydrocarbon films for these kinds of experiments. And we discovered that this extreme pressure produced tiny diamonds, known as nanodiamonds," Kraus said.

But they only part simulated the interior of planets at the edge of the solar system. Ice giants contain carbon, hydrogen and vast amounts of oxygen.

So the group hit on everyday PET, the resin out of which ordinary plastic bottles are made.

"PET has a good balance between carbon, hydrogen and oxygen to simulate the activity in ice planets," Kraus said.

Tailored production of nanometer-sized diamonds are already included in abrasives and polishing agents.

The study in Science Advances established the new method of producing diamonds - and confirmed it really does rain diamonds inside ice giants at the solar system's edge.

"The effect of the oxygen was to accelerate the splitting of the carbon and hydrogen and thus encourage the formation of nanodiamonds," Kraus said.

"It meant the carbon atoms could combine more easily and form diamonds."

Ice giants are now believed to be the most common form of planet outside the solar system.

Temperatures on Neptune and Uranus reach several thousand degrees Fahrenheit. The pressure is millions of times greater than Earth's atmosphere.

The post Laser gun turns plastic into tiny diamonds in blink of an eye appeared first on Talker.

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>>> Scientists Found Genetic Mutations in Every Astronaut Blood Sample They Studied


Futurism

by Victor Tangermann

Sep 6, 2022


https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/scientists-found-genetic-mutations-in-every-astronaut-blood-sample-they-studied/ar-AA11x5hm


When they examined decades-old blood samples from 14 NASA astronauts who flew Space Shuttle missions between 1998 and 2001, researchers found that samples from all 14 astronauts showed mutations in their DNA.

While these mutations are likely low enough not to represent a serious threat to the astronauts' long term health, the research underlines the importance of regular health screenings for astronauts, especially as they embark on longer missions to the Moon and beyond in coming years.

The specific mutations, as identified in a new study published in the journal Nature Communications Biology, were marked by a high proportion of blood cells that came from a single clone, a phenomenon called clonal hematopoiesis.

Mutations like this can be caused by exposure to excess ultraviolet radiation, and other forms of radiation including chemotherapy.

In this case, researchers are suspicious that the mutations may have been the result of space radiation.

"Astronauts work in an extreme environment where many factors can result in somatic mutations, most importantly space radiation, which means there is a risk that these mutations could develop into clonal hematopoiesis," said lead author David Goukassian, professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in a statement.

The topic of astronaut health is more pertinent than ever before. Just last year, NASA proposed to change the radiation limits its astronauts can be exposed to to protect their health.

In short, the agency is trying to allow younger astronauts to be exposed to relatively higher amounts of radiation than older astronauts, and eliminating the differences in limits between men and women.

The blood samples for this latest study were collected from 12 male and two female astronauts ten days before their flight and on the day of their landing. The samples were then cryogenically stored at -112 degrees Fahrenheit for around two decades.

The mutations observed in the blood samples resemble the kind of somatic mutations we see in older individuals — which is interesting on its own, considering the median age of the astronauts was only 42.

"Although the clonal hematopoiesis we observed was of a relatively small size, the fact that we observed these mutations was surprising given the relatively young age and health of these astronauts," Goukassian said.

"The presence of these mutations does not necessarily mean that the astronauts will develop cardiovascular disease or cancer," he added, "but there is the risk that, over time, this could happen through ongoing and prolonged exposure to the extreme environment of deep space."

Therefore, Goukassian and his team are recommending that NASA should regularly screen astronauts for these kinds of mutations.

Scientists have long speculated about the numerous health risks astronauts face when spending extended periods of time in outer space — and the more we discover, the better we can ensure their safety in the long run.

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How a large solar EMP-Electro Magnetic Pulse can fry the world's electric power grid, sending us back to the Stone Age. Unfortunately this is not if, but when -


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event

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>>> A ‘Dangerous’ Sunspot With Major Solar Flare Potential Is Pointing At Earth


Forbes

by Eric Mack

Sep 1, 2022


https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2022/09/01/a-dangerous-sunspot-with-major-solar-flare-potential-is-pointing-at-earth/?sh=335c290446a7


The large sunspot on the surface of the sun has been disconcertingly quiet this week, leading some astronomers to worry that a big solar flare may be building.

“Could it be the calm before the storm?” former NASA astronomer Dr. Tony Phillips writes on SpaceWeather.com.

The sunspot cataloged as AR3089 has been mellow, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away. Rather, Phillips says “it has developed a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares.”

That’s the strongest class of flare, but there is quite a bit of variation within the X-class, which can produce as much energy as a billion hydrogen bombs on the most intense end of the scale.

Fortunately, we’re prevented from being harmed biologically by this intense output by Earth’s magnetosphere.

But X Flares and the coronal mass ejections that are often associated with them can create storms of radiation that can damage satellites, disrupt communications systems on Earth and even the power grid.

It’s thought the strongest flare ever recorded happened in 2003 and was estimated to have been about X40, although sensors measuring it cut out around X16.

The latest forecast from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center puts the odds of an X flare over the next three days at just five percent. However, with the dangerous sunspot aimed directly at Earth, a powerful flare and CME would make themselves known to us.

Even if the eruption doesn’t come anytime soon, we won’t be in the clear for some time.

The sun is currently building toward the peak of its 11-year sunspot activity cycle, which means we can expect our star to stay hyperactive for the next few years.

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>>> These Megatrends Will Shape the Future. One Could Be Bigger Than the Discovery of Fire.


Barron's

https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=169749858


Haim Israel is a walking encyclopedia of fascinating statistics. As head of global thematic research at Bank of America, he studies the megatrends shaping the global economy that are likely to power investment returns.

Some trends, including the rapid aging of populations in the U.S. and China, and the march toward deglobalization as U.S.-China tensions flare, are unfolding in the moment, while others, such as quantum computing, seem far away. Israel says a triad of crises in recent years—the clash between the U.S. and China, the war in Ukraine, and the Covid pandemic—has shaved the timeline for megatrends to evolve, meaning even long-term investors need to pay attention now.

One example: When Israel took on his current job four years ago, it was expected that by 2030, all new cars sold would be electric or hybrid. Now the timeline has moved up to 2025-27.

Barron’s recently spoke with Israel about what “peak people” means for portfolios, why Gen Z, not millennials, is the generation to watch, and how quantum computing could be an even bigger development for humanity than fire. An edited version of the conversation follows.

Barron’s: What megatrend isn’t getting enough attention?

Haim Israel: How fast the population is aging. We are reaching “peak people.” If you are 50, the global population has doubled during your lifetime. That’s coming to an end. We don’t have enough children. In 50% of countries today, birth rates are coming down and falling below the replacement rate, especially in the Western world.

What are the economic implications?

Emerging markets face a pension-savings shortfall of $106 trillion as their populations age. That’s three times their aggregate gross domestic product. Who is going to finance that? We are in a deflationary environment long term—beyond the interim two to four years—because the working-age population is decreasing, and governments will have to spend more. But it won’t be on infrastructure or things that will propel economic growth; rather, it will be on pensions and healthcare services that aren’t direct contributors to GDP, which makes this spending more deflationary.

Who benefits from the aging boom?

Home-improvement and retirement communities, life-insurance companies such as Prudential Financial (ticker: PRU), and automation companies like Honeywell (HON), as companies deal with a shrinking working-age population in the developed world. Plus, 90% of the working-age population is going to come from Africa and New Asia—essentially, Asia except for China, South Korea, and Japan. Countries such as India, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia are enjoying a younger population with rising labor supply and lower dependency ratios.

For example, India will generate close to 183 million more working-age people by 2025 than Germany, France, and Canada combined. Those countries have massive opportunities at their doorstep. If they are re-skilling and investing in the right ways in infrastructure and education, under the right conditions they will have a demographic dividend.

We have long heard about the promise of Africa. What will make this time different?

We are at an inflection point. Automation and changes in the job market are happening here and now. Africa is still dependent on traditional industries that could be replaced by automation, and is seeing massive migration because of climate change. These countries need to spend on infrastructure and re-skilling people. Also, most African countries are importing, not exporting, energy, and [the continent] has an advantage with solar. Investments will have to happen now. One beneficiary of increased investment in Africa is Helios Towers (HTWSF), a leading telecom-towers infrastructure company.

What other demographic trends should investors watch?

We are going to see a great transfer of wealth and consumption power move from baby boomers to Gen Z, passing over Gen X and millennials. Gen Z, born from 1996 to 2016, makes up about 32% of the world population. By the end of this decade, Gen Z will earn more than millennials. Because of the transfer of wealth, we could see Gen Z have more than any other generation, including boomers.

Gen Z is beginning to enter the working world and buy homes. The impact of this generation up to now was neglected. From here on, it will be completely transformative.

What makes them so different?

It’s the first generation born into an online world. More than 80% of the Gen Z shopping experience starts online, and they will only go to the mall if they have no choice.

They don’t bank as we did: They won’t use credit cards or cash, but payment apps. And they are conservative in terms of credit—so, fewer mortgages and student loans. This is a generation that doesn’t want to cap their experience of life by taking out loans, and doesn’t see the value of a bigger house and more stuff.

They also aren’t driving—there’s a 50% drop in driver’s licenses in the Western world versus the former generation. It’s expensive, irritating, and takes them off their smartphones, and it isn’t environmentally friendly. They are going to have more money than any other generation, and they think differently. Every industry not thinking in those terms will be challenged.

The middle-class consumer in countries like China has been a popular investment theme. Does it hold up?

It’s the biggest theme in the world. A lot of the actions the government in China is taking, in terms of the crackdown on after-school education companies and financial services, are aimed at protecting this middle class. We will see more reforms aimed at helping them.

China, though, has the most-aged population on the planet, and in a world of deglobalization, China has a lot to lose. There are massive challenges ahead, but you have to look at the potential, as well. We live in a world of data and technology. We always say that if data were oil, China would be the new Saudi Arabia. It has most of the data and is investing so much in technology.

Investors often dismiss geopolitical concerns. Should they?

It’s one of the most important themes. Every six months, we do a “Transforming World” conference and survey participants about what will be the most disruptive, influential theme over the next five years. In the latest survey, 50% named geopolitics and the new world order as No. 1—for the first time. Over the past six conferences, climate change was No. 1.

What is the new world order?

The clash between China and the U.S. is continuing. Investments in infrastructure with the Belt & Road initiative was one of China’s main weapons to access resources and for world domination. With technology, China is investing as much as the U.S. in research and development, and more in some areas. Shortening of supply-chain lines and reshoring is one way the U.S. is gaining access to more resources, rather than relying on China. That will continue. The new battlefield, after the trade war and tech war, will be climate wars.

What do you mean?

Most of the planet is importing energy. The move to energy independence is going to be key, and whoever controls clean tech in 50 to 70 years will have the leverage. China by far leads in investment in renewable energy, energy storage, and everything around clean tech. Europe isn’t that far away, and the U.S. is trying to close the gap. This geopolitical landscape will lead to high investments in renewable energy.

Yet, Europe is now in the midst of an energy crisis. What are the lessons here?

Clean-tech investments weren’t done in the right way. They did a lot of wind energy but not enough [investment] in energy storage, so energy created wasn’t stored, leading to the energy crisis in the summer before the war in Ukraine.

The war accelerated the understanding that long term you have to be completely independent. But that could take years. Over the short term, we will see an increase in investment in fossil fuels. But the transition [to renewables] has been accelerated.

What investment opportunities does the transition create?

Infrastructure will be one of the biggest beneficiaries, and technologies like hydrogen and nuclear will get more attention. That’s good for companies like NextEra Energy [NEE] and hydrogen fuel-cell technology company Bloom Energy [BE].

What jobs will be coveted by our children in a couple of decades?

We haven’t invented 65% of jobs Gen Z and Gen C, born after 2016, will work in. Today, we have blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Tomorrow, we will have green-collar jobs related to renewable energy. Another is the empathy market: psychology, doctors—things less impacted by automation—and then we will have gold-collar jobs in technology. Plus, lots of jobs we haven’t even considered—related to space tourism, 3-D food printing, biohackers.

Which moonshot technologies excites you the most these days?

6G. We are creating so much data right now that 5G will have to be replaced much faster than people are thinking. The biggest game changer is quantum computing. By the end of this decade, the amount of calculations that we can make will be more than the atoms in the visible universe. This could be a revolution for humanity bigger than fire, bigger than the wheel.

What’s one example of how it could change our lives?

Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of energy because it generates an unlimited amount and is fully clean. We are an estimated 30 to 40 years away. The problem with nuclear fusion is the calculations around it. But quantum can leapfrog nuclear fusion.

Another example is drug development. Today, it takes on average of 15 years and tens of billions of dollars because only one out of 10,000 molecules becomes a drug. Quantum computing can do those calculations probably in a matter of minutes. I can’t even think about an industry that won’t be revolutionized.

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>>> Scientists Achieved Self-Sustaining Nuclear Fusion… But Now They Can't Replicate It


ScienceAlert

16 August 2022

By FELICITY NELSON


https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-achieved-self-sustaining-nuclear-fusion-but-now-they-cant-replicate-it


Scientists have confirmed that last year, for the first time in the lab, they achieved a fusion reaction that self-perpetuates (instead of fizzling out) – bringing us closer to replicating the chemical reaction that powers the Sun.

However, they aren't exactly sure how to recreate the experiment.

Nuclear fusion occurs when two atoms combine to create a heavier atom, releasing a huge burst of energy in the process.

It's a process often found in nature, but it's very difficult to replicate in the lab because it needs a high-energy environment to keep the reaction going.

The Sun generates energy using nuclear fusion – by smashing hydrogen atoms together to create helium.

Supernovae – exploding suns – also leverage nuclear fusion for their cosmic firework displays. The power of these reactions is what creates heavier molecules like iron.

In artificial settings here on Earth, however, heat and energy tend to escape through cooling mechanisms such as x-ray radiation and heat conduction.

To make nuclear fusion a viable energy source for humans, scientists first have to achieve something called 'ignition', where the self-heating mechanisms overpower all the energy loss.

Once ignition is achieved, the fusion reaction powers itself.

In 1955, physicist John Lawson created the set of criteria, now known as the 'Lawson-like ignition criteria', to help recognize when this ignition took place.

Ignition of nuclear reactions usually happens inside extremely intense environments, such as supernova, or nuclear weapons.

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility in California have spent over a decade perfecting their technique and have now confirmed that the landmark experiment conducted on 8 August 2021 did, in fact, produce the first-ever successful ignition of a nuclear fusion reaction.

In a recent analysis, the 2021 experiment was judged against nine different versions of Lawson's criterion.

"This is the first time we have crossed Lawson's criterion in the lab," nuclear physicist Annie Kritcher at the National Ignition Facility told New Scientist.

To achieve this effect, the team placed a capsule of tritium and deuterium fuel in the center of a gold-lined depleted uranium chamber and fired 192 high-energy lasers at it to create a bath of intense x-rays.

The intense environment generated by the inwardly directed shock waves created a self-sustaining fusion reaction.

Under these conditions, hydrogen atoms underwent fusion, releasing 1.3 megajoules of energy for 100 trillionths of a second, which is 10 quadrillion watts of power.

Over the past year, the researchers tried to replicate the result in four similar experiments, but only managed to produce half of the energy yield produced in the record-breaking initial experiment.

Ignition is highly sensitive to small changes that are barely perceptible, like the differences in the structure of each capsule and the intensity of the lasers, Kritcher explains.

"If you start from a microscopically worse starting point, it's reflected in a much larger difference in the final energy yield," says plasma physicist Jeremy Chittenden at Imperial College London. "The 8 August experiment was the best-case scenario."

The team now wants to determine what exactly is required to achieve ignition and how to make the experiment more resilient to small errors. Without that knowledge, the process cannot be scaled up to create fusion reactors that could power cities, which is the ultimate goal of this kind of research.

"You don't want to be in a position where you've got to get absolutely everything just right in order to get ignition," says Chittenden.

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