Science & TechnologyS


Stormtrooper

Super soldiers? DARPA pushes for using gene editing on American troops

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Thu, 03 Oct 2019 15:02 UTC
supersoldiers
© Getty Images/mikkelwilliam
A US Department of Defense agency is currently looking at ways to alter one's biology to provide adequate protection for personnel from chemical and biological attacks.

There will come a time where sci-fi movies write themselves. These moving pictures wouldn't even be referred to as science-fiction, as they would more or less be based on reality. Where it isn't yet based on reality, it has to be said that we are getting to a stage now where it is probably only a matter of time until that concept has been actualized by government-funded scientists who seek to aid the US military.

According to the Defense Department, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is currently advancing a notion known as gene editing (or genome editing) with a view of it benefiting US military personnel. Gene editing is essentially a group of technologies that allow scientists to change an organism's DNA, by adding, removing or altering genetic material at particular locations in the genome.

Comment: See also:

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Ambulance

'First responders': Researchers find a new code in disordered proteins, pointing to intelligent design


Evolution News
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 04:54 UTC
Human “first responders”
© Frmatt [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia CommonsHuman “first responders”
Scientists from the University of Washington have glimpsed possible reasons for intrinsically disordered domains in heat shock proteins. If confirmed, their observations open up phenomenal possibilities for intelligent design in these and other intrinsically disordered protein domains.
Rather than behaving as a completely 2 intrinsically disordered region, we find it to be quasi-ordered, with six sub-regions that display 3 distinct properties and binding preferences. The results reveal that, contrary to expectation, the high degree of heterogeneity and polydispersity that is a defining feature of HSPB1 (and other human sHSPs) derives not from fuzzy disorder but rather from an array of combinatorial interactions that involve discrete NTR sub-regions and specific surfaces on the structured ACD. We expect other oligomeric sHSPs are similarly defined.... [Emphasis added.]
It's just a preprint in bioRxiv, but this paper could represent a giant leap in debunking the old junk-DNA paradigm. Its title, "Interplay of disordered and ordered regions of a human small heat shock 1 protein yields an ensemble of 'quasi-ordered' states," introduces quasi-ordered as a term to describe intrinsically disordered proteins, or IDPs. The work presented in this paper should not be discounted for lacking peer review at the time of publication. Six researchers in the University of Washington's Departments of Biochemistry and Medicinal Chemistry based their models on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging and hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX), so the work is not armchair speculation.

Back in May, Evolution News introduced one example of an IDP with a function, and asked: "Will other IDPs be found to quickly change from flopping strands into functional regulators based on environmental changes? Will the DNA sequences that produce IDPs continue to confirm the sequence hypothesis?"
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Galaxy

Alien probes spying on Earth? Scientist warns of possible 'lurkers' in our solar system


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:16 UTC
asteroid
© AFP / NASA Handout
Is Earth under the watchful eye of "lurking" extraterrestrial spy probes? One US physicist argues that while it's a distant possibility - it wouldn't hurt to send out probes of our own to take a look and make sure.

Physicist and independent SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researcher James Benford posited that nearby asteroids that track with Earth's orbit - also known as co-orbitals - would make the ideal place for an otherworldly spy post. He published his findings, titled "Looking for Lurkers," in the peer-reviewed Astronomical Journal last month.

"A probe located nearby could bide its time while our civilisation developed technology that could find it, and, once contacted, could undertake a conversation in real time," Benford wrote in the paper.

In his paper, Benford not only offers "possible sites for extraterrestrial probes," but suggests ways researchers might look for evidence of the alien tech, ranging from using optical and radio telescopes to sending a spacecraft outright.

Given its close and constant presence near Earth, one might think the moon would make a better spy station than more distant co-orbitals, but Benford said any particular section of the moon's surface is "in darkness for two weeks at a time," depriving any probe of the solar energy it might need to function. Placing the probes too close to Earth might also pose a problem, as Benford argues the ETs would likely wish to remain undetected.
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Galaxy

C/2019 Q4: ANOTHER interstellar object to pass through our solar system

Phil Plait
Syfy
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:00 UTC
Oumuamua
© ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESO, M. Kornmesser'Oumuamua, the first object ever seen passing through our solar system from interstellar space, is shown in this artwork to be faintly outgassing as the Sun warms its ice.
Very big news: A comet discovered just a couple of weeks ago appears to be one the most rare and exciting of all cosmic beasts: An interstellar visitor — literally an object coming from interstellar space, from an alien star!

The object is called C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) — though that name may change, as I'll get to in a sec — and it was discovered in observations taken on August 30, 2019 at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory by Gennady Borisov using a custom 0.65-meter telescope. It didn't take long to find the object had an, um, unusual orbit, and follow-up observations taken a few days later using a much larger telescope confirmed its strange nature. There have now been quite a few observations, and although many mysteries remain, we can be pretty sure this thing came from Out There.

To be probably too careful here, I want to say that there is a slim chance it's not from outside our solar system, but honestly at this point I wouldn't put much money on that. As more observations come in it looks more and more like this is the real deal.

Comment: Either they're much more common than we thought, or there's a significant uptick in activity:

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Mars

NASA scientist: World not prepared for when we find life on Mars

Elias Marat
The Mind Unleashed
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 15:52 UTC
InSight probe sitting on Mars surface
© NASAInSight probe sitting on Mars surface.
As we humble earthlings begin to learn more about the universe and potentially stand on the cusp of great discoveries about the planet Mars, we may not be prepared for what's in store of us, warns the chief scientist of U.S. space agency NASA.

Dr. Jim Green believes that as two rovers from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) prepare to embark for Mars next summer, humanity could be overwhelmed by the implications of studies to come.

Speaking to the Telegraph, the director of NASA's Planetary Science Division compared the potential discoveries to Rennaissance-era astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus' theory that postulated that the Earth revolves around the Sun, rather than vice-versa.

The Copernican model, which is credited with revolutionizing science during the 16th century, earned him the condemnation of the Roman Catholic Church due to the model's impact on the Church's doctrines relating to astronomy.
"It will start a whole new line of thinking. I don't think we're prepared for the results.

I've been worried about that because I think we're close to finding it and making some announcements."
The ESA's ExoMars Rover and NASA's Mars 2020 are set to drill 6.5 feet into the Red Planet's core to take samples in hopes of finding evidence of life on. The samples will be processed and examined in a mobile laboratory that will look for any traces of organic matter.

Comment: Mars most likely did have life. And its water may have been there a lot later in time than many scientists assume:

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Nebula

Radiation levels in Seoul similar to Tokyo - Japanese embassy publishes data following concerns from South Korea


Japan Times
Mon, 30 Sep 2019 12:00 UTC
Radiation levels in 2017
© http://www.simplyinfo.org/?page_id=16704Japanese governments radiation map for 2017.
Fukushima Radiation Maps.

The Japanese government has created radiation level maps for the Fukushima region and beyond since early 2011. These are now updated about once a year and posted on Japan’s nuclear regulator’s website. The data is collected by aircraft equipped with radiation monitoring equipment.
Japan's Embassy in South Korea has begun publishing daily measurements of radiation levels in Fukushima Prefecture and Seoul after new questions were raised about the lingering effects of the 2011 nuclear disaster.

The embassy website said the information reflects the fact that "interest in radiation levels in Japan has recently been increasing, particularly in South Korea."

The move comes amid worsening ties between Japan and South Korea over a long-running dispute about Japan's use of forced labor in South Korea during World War II.

The two countries have taken retaliatory trade measures against one another, and South Korea has tightened its radiation checks on food imports from Japan.

According to the embassy, the readings show that radiation levels in three Japanese cities are almost the same as in major cities outside of Japan, including Seoul.

Comment: Whilst Fukushima is not an exact comparison to Chernobyl there do appear to be valuable insights that can be gleaned from the earlier disaster and into the behaviour and long term effects of radiation - and it appears it's not exactly what scientists expected:

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Info

Japanese researchers have developed artificial blood for patients of any blood type

Hajime Mikami
The Asahi Shimbun
Sun, 29 Sep 2019 07:00 UTC
Artificial Red Blood
© Provided by National Defense Medical College associate professor Manabu KinoshitaArtificially created red blood cells.
Japanese researchers said they have developed artificial blood that can be transfused into patients regardless of their blood type and can vastly improve the chances for survival of seriously injured people.

The artificial blood created by a team of scientists primarily from the National Defense Medical College has proved effective in experiments on rabbits.

For possible applications on humans, the artificial blood gets around problems with identifying blood types in emergency situations and overcomes limits on storing real blood from donors.

A severe loss of blood platelets that stop bleeding and red blood cells that carry oxygen to body cells will lead to death.

Platelets can be stored for four days if shaken to prevent solidification, while red blood cells can be kept for 20 days at low temperatures.

A large amount of platelets and red blood cells from donors of all blood types must be secured for emergencies.

The team's artificial blood consists of platelets and red blood cells. Each component is put in tiny bags known as liposome derived from the cell membrane to stop bleeding and transfer oxygen.
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Info

Artificial skin developed by scientist to enhance virtual reality

Tim Sandle
Digital Journal
Mon, 30 Sep 2019 14:01 UTC
French scientists have developed an artificial skin that can enhance virtual reality. In addition, the skin may have a medical use, helping with patient rehabilitation after a person has suffered from serious burning.
Artificial Skin
© GenoskinGenoskin’s human skin models provide an excellent alternative to animal testing, as they contain no animal components.
Researchers based at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne are constructing a soft artificial skin, designed to give haptic (any form of interaction involving touch) feedback. Special sensors, made up of soft electrodes and fashioned of a liquid-solid gallium mixture, enable haptic feedback to be adjusted in real time, providing a near-continuous representation of 'touch'.

Furthermore, through a type of self-sensing mechanism the skin has the potential to instantaneously adapt to a wearer's movements. This is possible via soft sensors and actuators which permit the artificial skin to conform to the precise shape of a wearer's wrist.
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Nebula

Where do black holes lead and if you enter one, where do you go?

David Crookes
LiveScience
Sat, 21 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
Black Hole illustration
© All About SpaceWhere does a black hole go?
So there you are, about to leap into a black hole. What could possibly await should — against all odds — you somehow survive? Where would you end up and what tantalizing tales would you be able to regale if you managed to clamor your way back?

The simple answer to all of these questions is, as Professor Richard Massey explains, "Who knows?" As a Royal Society research fellow at the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, Massey is fully aware that the mysteries of black holes run deep. "Falling through an event horizon is literally passing beyond the veil — once someone falls past it, nobody could ever send a message back," he said. "They'd be ripped to pieces by the enormous gravity, so I doubt anyone falling through would get anywhere."

If that sounds like a disappointing — and painful — answer, then it is to be expected. Ever since Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity was considered to have predicted black holes by linking space-time with the action of gravity, it has been known that black holes result from the death of a massive star leaving behind a small, dense remnant core. Assuming this core has more than roughly three-times the mass of the sun, gravity would overwhelm to such a degree that it would fall in on itself into a single point, or singularity, understood to be the black hole's infinitely dense core.
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Pi

Battle of the obvious: The mathematicians with the chutzpah to argue that math really exists

Antoine Bret
antoinebretblog.wordpress.com
Tue, 10 Sep 2019 16:12 UTC
math
Memory plays tricks, but I think I remember this moment quite well. It was 2 years after my Baccalauréat. In the midst of a massive ingestion of math and physics in "prépa", I could not help thinking about it all after classes. My thoughts that night were on the laws governing electric and magnetic fields. The so-called Maxwell's equations. They involve a mathematical arsenal called "partial derivatives", discovered by Newton and Leibniz in the seventeenth century.

Lost in my Maxwellian dreams, I started to wonder: "How is it that abstract mathematical tools developed over millennia are suddenly perfectly adapted to describe something real?"

I soon learned that I was far from being the first to wonder about this. Had not Galileo written centuries ago that "the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics"?

Albert Einstein also asked [1]:
"How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality?"
Finally, Eugène Wigner, physics Nobel in 1963, wrote in 1960 a text which title is as famous as explicit: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences.

Comment: Uncommon Descent comment:
The "formalist" idea that math doesn't really exist helps account for Big Brother's world in which 2+2=5 if the Party says so.

So okay, if math really exists, it undermines a great deal of the nonsense barked about consciousness as an evolved illusion. That is, if consciousness enables us to apprehend what really exists, there is good reason for believing that consciousness itself exists.


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