That is so cool.
Cool Science & Technology News
- Thread starter Cheimoon
- Start date
I am illiterate in the topic (as in many others) and I didn't even know about the inertial confinement fusion and that this experiment was of this branch and I assumed that is was a magnetic confinement fusion (the only one I thought existed). That brought me to a some very light readings around internet (thanks!) . Very insightful and at the same time, lots of hurdles to jump still in the next years. different ones.
Hopefully you can tell me I told you so
Hopefully I will be able to tell you otherwise. But we will find out.
If you have the time, I would recommend you take a look at the approach that the UK is taking. It is a spherical Tokamak which it is believed will be more able to hold the fusion reaction, called STEP.
A number of programmes are using a Tokamak but the UK are using an innovative spherical version.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...ower-station&usg=AOvVaw2bKR1CDzqS9e-JOzFjad-m
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/22/treatment-for-alzheimers-lecanemab-dementia-research
“The effect they’ve reported to date is very small. It’s not large enough to be clinically important,” says Prof Victor Henderson, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Stanford University. He warns that there is a subjective element to the dementia ratings that could matter when the observed benefit is so marginal. “I would be concerned that this could be a drug that has statistical significance without clinical significance and we may need to wait for something better,” he says.
Great article from the guardian
“The effect they’ve reported to date is very small. It’s not large enough to be clinically important,” says Prof Victor Henderson, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Stanford University. He warns that there is a subjective element to the dementia ratings that could matter when the observed benefit is so marginal. “I would be concerned that this could be a drug that has statistical significance without clinical significance and we may need to wait for something better,” he says.
Great article from the guardian
"The Big Bang was the conformal continuation of the remote future of a previous Eon." Sir Roger Penrose.
Whether he's right or wrong, I love that the human mind can even think of and share such concepts, and that there's such a wonderful Universe to conceptualise about!
Whether he's right or wrong, I love that the human mind can even think of and share such concepts, and that there's such a wonderful Universe to conceptualise about!
It really is. Sometimes I’m in awe of the human species with things like this. Then other times I’m the complete opposite when we do really stupid/awful/ cruel stuff. The mind boggles sometimes.
What I liked, apart from the incredibly stimulating views that Penrose has, was the interviewer nodding and saying yes, when I am not sure he actually understood what Penrose was saying.
But I am a believer that our Universe is not singular (Uni), but one of a potentially infinite number of Universes. Each with their own unique set of physical laws and outcomes.
However, we will never of course find out whether that is true.
What makes me think of this is that our Universe seems just too finely tuned in terms of physical laws and outcomes that resulted in matter and stars and galaxies to have happened by chance.
excellent
"Parasitic DNA makes us age faster - but we're not sure why.
Genetic parasites called retrotransposons become more active as we age, and an animal study suggests this may trigger immune responses that shorten our lifespans"
Tricky little gits!
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...na-makes-us-age-faster-but-were-not-sure-why/
(edit: The pre-print article is about the fruit fly, Drosphila. They found that, "When the team suppressed the activity of just one retrotransposon, it extended the lifespan of the flies by nearly 10 per cent", as well as, "an increase in the activity of genes linked to the immune system.")
Keep your immune system in the best possible order. Chronic inflammation is at the root of much of ill health... physical and mental.
Genetic parasites called retrotransposons become more active as we age, and an animal study suggests this may trigger immune responses that shorten our lifespans"
Tricky little gits!
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...na-makes-us-age-faster-but-were-not-sure-why/
(edit: The pre-print article is about the fruit fly, Drosphila. They found that, "When the team suppressed the activity of just one retrotransposon, it extended the lifespan of the flies by nearly 10 per cent", as well as, "an increase in the activity of genes linked to the immune system.")
Keep your immune system in the best possible order. Chronic inflammation is at the root of much of ill health... physical and mental.
Last edited:
Terminator, here we come!
Scientific article: Magnetoactive liquid-solid phase transitional matter - ScienceDirect
And this is how this is cool (more gifs in the news article):
News article: Metal robot can melt its way out of tight spaces to escape | New ScientistNature Briefing said:
Scientific article: Magnetoactive liquid-solid phase transitional matter - ScienceDirect
And this is how this is cool (more gifs in the news article):
Last edited:
Terminator, here we come!
News article: Metal robot can melt its way out of tight spaces to escape | New Scientist
Scientific article: Magnetoactive liquid-solid phase transitional matter - ScienceDirect
And this is how this is cool (more gifs in the news article):
For something so common, water is really complicated - and possibly even more complicated than people already thought:
Scientific article: Medium-density amorphous ice | Science
Popular science article: Scientists made a new kind of ice that might exist on distant moons (nature.com)Nature Briefing said:
Scientific article: Medium-density amorphous ice | Science
Last edited:
You maniacs! You blew it all up! Damn you, damn you to hell!Terminator, here we come!
News article: Metal robot can melt its way out of tight spaces to escape | New Scientist
Scientific article: Magnetoactive liquid-solid phase transitional matter - ScienceDirect
And this is how this is cool (more gifs in the news article):
Quantum breakthrough could revolutionise computing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64492456
"The team developed a system able to transport information from one chip to another with a reliability of 99.999993% at record speeds. That, say the researchers, shows that in principle chips could be slotted together to make a more powerful quantum computer."
Always more work to be done...
Prof Michael Cuthbert, who is the director of the newly established National Quantum Computing Centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire and is independent of the Sussex research group described the development as a "really important enabling step". But he said that more work was needed to develop practical systems.
"To build the type of quantum computer you need in the future, you start off by connecting chips that are the size of your thumbnail until you get something the size of a dinner plate. The Sussex group has shown you can have the stability and speed for that step.
"But then you need a mechanism to connect these dinner plates together to scale up a machine, potentially as large as a football pitch, in order to carry out realistic and useful computations, and the technology for communications for that scale is not yet available."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64492456
"The team developed a system able to transport information from one chip to another with a reliability of 99.999993% at record speeds. That, say the researchers, shows that in principle chips could be slotted together to make a more powerful quantum computer."
Always more work to be done...
Prof Michael Cuthbert, who is the director of the newly established National Quantum Computing Centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire and is independent of the Sussex research group described the development as a "really important enabling step". But he said that more work was needed to develop practical systems.
"To build the type of quantum computer you need in the future, you start off by connecting chips that are the size of your thumbnail until you get something the size of a dinner plate. The Sussex group has shown you can have the stability and speed for that step.
"But then you need a mechanism to connect these dinner plates together to scale up a machine, potentially as large as a football pitch, in order to carry out realistic and useful computations, and the technology for communications for that scale is not yet available."
I was reading this article about Deep Brain Stimulation treatment for a specific variant of Parkinson's disease: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/first-person-harry-forestell-parkinsons-dbs-1.6752210. In short, they drill into the skull to install electrodes that send signals that correct the brains behaviour in just the right area and allow people to regain control of their limbs, stopping the tremors.
The fun part (well, kinda) is that you can then control those electrodes from the outside - so you can turn them off to show the effect in real time. There's a video in the article that demonstrates it really neatly, but it's in a format that can't be embedded here. Instead, this also shows it:
It's crazy all the stuff we can do!
The fun part (well, kinda) is that you can then control those electrodes from the outside - so you can turn them off to show the effect in real time. There's a video in the article that demonstrates it really neatly, but it's in a format that can't be embedded here. Instead, this also shows it:
It's crazy all the stuff we can do!
Last edited:
They’ll just use it to make sex toys more intelligent.
Not to stop their tremors though.
That's amazing!
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
The Turing test is dumb to be fair, chatbots can beat it. And not just these new fancy chatbots, but early ones.
We'll be seeing a lot more of these "Her"-type language models in the near future. I'm sure it could positively impact some people, but it's also going to present a whole lot of new challenges. Particularly with privacy.
We'll be seeing a lot more of these "Her"-type language models in the near future. I'm sure it could positively impact some people, but it's also going to present a whole lot of new challenges. Particularly with privacy.
Not bad. Tried to get it to persuade me to go vote today. We decided I'd spoil my ballot.
Very scary, yeah. China is already showing how video and online surveillance are a 'great' tool to keep a full population under very close control, and this will just make it worse. There are really far too many non-fun applications for AI...
I think is innevitable. Not developing AI in the west would mean that china will develope it anyway and would use it and also at his advantage. So it will happen even if we dont like it. Lets hope the worse perspective dont come true but in 10 years the job market will tale a tumble IMO. That for starters...then, sci-fi scary shit. When and how intense...we will see
This is really quite fascinating:
Scientific article: Ancient gene linkages support ctenophores as sister to other animals | Nature
Pretty picture of a bioluminescent comb jelly, or ctenophore:
Lay article: The Closest Living Relative of the First Animal Has Finally Been Found - Scientific American
Scientific article: Ancient gene linkages support ctenophores as sister to other animals | Nature
Pretty picture of a bioluminescent comb jelly, or ctenophore:
Last edited:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65689580
Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again
A paralysed man has been able to walk simply by thinking about it thanks to electronic brain implants, a medical first he says has changed his life.
Gert-Jan Oskam, a 40-year-old Dutch man, was paralysed in a cycling accident 12 years ago.
The electronic implants wirelessly transmit his thoughts to his legs and feet via a second implant on his spine.
Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again
A paralysed man has been able to walk simply by thinking about it thanks to electronic brain implants, a medical first he says has changed his life.
Gert-Jan Oskam, a 40-year-old Dutch man, was paralysed in a cycling accident 12 years ago.
The electronic implants wirelessly transmit his thoughts to his legs and feet via a second implant on his spine.
That's amazing!
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
The tweet is gone, what did it say?
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
...and of course that does nothing for me either, cause I can't see responses to tweets anymore.
I don't know enough about it, but it looks a tad dodgy to me. I'll wait for the peer review and experimental reproduction in other labs before getting as excited as this chap is....and of course that does nothing for me either, cause I can't see responses to tweets anymore.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1684044616528453633.html
Here's the paper (links straight to PDF): https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2307/2307.12008.pdf
I haven't read it and probably couldn't. Someone might be able to though.
I haven't read it and probably couldn't. Someone might be able to though.
Finally hoverboards!!
Chances of that being replicated seem very slim to me.
Chances of that being replicated seem very slim to me.
Think it was a nanobot assisting by swimming a weaker sperm to help it to fertilize an egg.