Science & TechnologyS


Info

Silk could be used to repair damaged spinal cords according to scientists


Medical Xpress
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
silkworm
© University of AberdeenSilk from the Antheraea pernyi silkworm could be used to help repair damaged spinal cords, according to academics at the University of Aberdeen and University of Oxford.
Modified silk from Asian wild silkworms could be used in a strategy to repair damaged spinal cords, according to scientists from the universities of Aberdeen and Oxford.

The researchers working in collaboration with Oxford Biomaterials Ltd discovered that cleaned, sterilised silk from the Antheraea pernyi (AP) silk spinner had properties well suited to spinal repair. Their work was published this week in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

There are currently around 50,000 people in the UK with a serious spinal cord injury with 1,000 new cases arising every year. In the UK the cost to the NHS to treat the damage and to help patients manage the injury and subsequent dramatic lifestyle changes is around £1billion a year.

Currently there is no cure for serious spinal cord trauma, in part because spinal nerves are unable to cross the scar tissue barrier and t

he cavity that forms in the cord after the injury.

Comment: See also: Stem cell injections could bring relief to millions with lower back pain and cut reliance on opioids

Read More...
Eye 1

Canary Island volcanologists monitoring eruption, tsunami risks from Cumbre Vieja after recent wave of tremors

Ronan J O'Shea
The Independent
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
cumbre vieja la palma
Scientists fear Cumbre Vieja, which erupted in 1949 and 1971, will blow soon
After a year that has seen concern about potential voicano eruptions in Iceland, Italy and Bali, volcanologists on the Canary Islands have been asked to work out whether the island of La Palma is facing an imminent eruption.

The experts have been asked to monitor activity on the island, which saw 400 tremors in 15 hours over the weekend, according to The Express.

Close to Tenerife, Cumbre Vieja (meaning "Old Summit") previously erupted in 1949 and 1971. After the recent tremors - and a 3.5cm rise in the earth over the past year - scientists have been asked to monitor the volcano, amid fears that an eruption might lead to an earthquake and possible tsunami.

Comment: La Palma volcano in the Canary Islands hit by hundreds of earthquakes in 15 hours

Read More...
Rocket

NASA's Twins Study shows genes alter faster in space than on Earth

Nina Godlewski
International Business Times
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 23:17 UTC
nasas twins study
© NASAThe Kelly twins
Early results from NASA's twins study show that space travel actually increases the process that controls gene expression called methylation. They've also learned more about how the process works. The preliminary results from the year-long study have been released and they show that during the Twins Study thousands of genes changed, turned on and off, during the time in space, according to NASA.

What is the "Twins Study?"

NASA's Twins Study centers around astronauts and twins Scott and Mark Kelly. The goal was to examine the changes spaceflight could cause on the body by studying two genetically identical individuals who were in different environments. The study actually consists of 10 investigations happening across 12 universities, NASA biomedical labs and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.

When astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a year on the International Space Station in March 2016, researchers started taking samples from him and his brother to further the research for the study. Then those researchers combined all of their data and started reviewing it all looking for similarities, correlations and differences in the previously identical genes. The point was to help determine that the risks of space travel as we know it, are to the human body, and what changes will happen during long-term continuous space travel.
Read More...
Robot

Tech billionaire says AI will have an IQ of 10,000 in 30 years

Catherine Clifford
CNBC
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 23:18 UTC
Masayoshi Son
© Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBillionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Corp., shakes hands with a human-like robot called Pepper, developed by the company's Aldebran Robotics unit, during a news conference in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Super artificial intelligence is coming, and sooner than you might expect.

That's according to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. The Japanese billionaire spoke from the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. In about 30 years, artificial intelligence will have an IQ of 10,000, Son says. By comparison, the average human IQ is 100 and genius is 200, according to Son. Mensa, "the High IQ society," starts accepting members with an IQ score of 130.

The idea of machine learning becoming smarter than the human brain is often referred to as the "singularity." When exactly this will happen is oft-debated among the tech community.

"Singularity is the concept that [mankind's] brain will be surpassed, this is the tipping point, crossing point, that artificial intelligence, computer intelligence surpass [mankind's] brain and that is happening in this century for sure. I would say there is no more debate, no more doubt," Son says.
Read More...
Tornado1

'Killer Hurricanes': A documentary about reconstructing the past to predict storms of the future

Carolyn Gramling
ScienceNews
Sun, 22 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
hurricane researcher
© Blink FilmsA core of seafloor sediment collected off the coast of Jamaica by geologist Jeff Donnelly holds clues to prehistoric hurricanes.
Historical, geologic records offer clues to tropical cyclones

In 1780, a powerful hurricane swept across the islands of the Caribbean, killing an estimated 22,000 people; 5,000 more died of starvation and disease in the aftermath. "Our planet is capable of unleashing extreme chaos," begins the new NOVA documentary Killer Hurricanes, set to air November 1 on PBS.

To describe the human impact of such powerful tropical cyclones, the documentary primarily focuses on two storms: the Great Hurricane of 1780 and Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm that slammed into Haiti and Cuba last October. Before the devastating 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Matthew was considered the biggest Atlantic storm of the last decade.

Still, the film's larger message remains timely: Studying the hurricanes of the past can offer insights into storms of the future - and, hopefully, help coastal and island communities prepare for such events.

The documentary describes the work of researchers as they examine both human and geologic records to track past cyclones. Because the Great Hurricane occurred during relatively recent history, researchers can use eyewitness accounts and ship records to estimate not only the size of the storm, but also to track its path and calculate the storm surge.

But geologists such as Jeff Donnelly of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and Amy Frappier of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., are looking deeper into the past. Donnelly finds physical traces of prehistoric hurricanes buried in seafloor sediments, while Frappier detects chemical traces in stalagmites growing in caves across the Caribbean. These data reveal a troubling pattern: The frequency of strong hurricanes distinctly increases when ocean temperatures are warmer. What's more, hurricanes' paths have shifted northward over the last 450 years, moving closer to the contiguous United States.
Read More...
Brain

DARPA introduces smart headband that can increase learning by 40%

Shivali Best
Daily Mail
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 21:42 UTC
DARPA headband
© Richard A. McKinley, USAFThe idea of a headband you can wear to make you smarter may sound like a device from the latest science fiction blockbuster. But experts have revealed such a device in reality – and claim it could increase learning by 40 per cent. Pictured is a soldier testing a similar device,
The idea of a headband you can wear to make you smarter may sound like a device from the latest science fiction blockbuster.

But experts have revealed such a device in reality - and claim it could increase learning by 40 per cent.

And it may not be long before you can get your hands on one, with the designers predicting its use will be common in just five to ten years.

The device, which is described as 'non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation' (tDCS) was designed by researchers from HRL Laboratories and McGill University in Montreal, with funding from the Defense Advance Research Project Agency (DARPA).

The device applies a current to an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex.

Comment: Targeted Neuroplasticity Training program - DARPA wants to hack your brain to make you learn faster

Read More...
Attention

Morgridge, UW scientists review national security implications of gene editing


Scienmag
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Professor Scheufele
© UW-MadisonDietram Scheufele, professor of life sciences communication
A trio of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research participated in an international think tank this month on the intersection of genome editing technology and national security.

The Oct. 11-13 conference, based in Hanover, Germany, assembled a global group of bioethics and government experts to address security questions on gene editing as they relate to human health, agriculture and the potential to genetically alter species. Experts from the United States and across Europe, China and India explored ideas for harmonizing gene editing policies across national borders.

"The promise of this technology is tremendous, as are the potential pitfalls," says Dietram Scheufele, professor of life sciences communication, Morgridge affiliate and conference co-organizer. "But genome editing is here to stay, not just in medicine, but also in countless applications in agriculture and food systems. The question is how to responsibly roll out various applications in a way that does not unnecessarily slow down innovation."

The ability to quickly and precisely edit genomes, through new technologies such as CRISPR Cas9, is only a few years old but the technology is moving at remarkable speeds with applications arising in human therapeutics. A number of new clinical trials aim to take cells from a patient, such as blood cells or immune cells, edit them and transfer them back with new power to undermine diseases like cancer or sickle cell anemia.

Scheufele says the rapid development of CRISPR has also fueled speculation about potential military or other more nefarious applications. This includes using CRISPR to produce viruses that can be inhaled to create genetic mutations associated with lung cancer.

Comment: See also:
CRISPR gene editing may cause thousands of unintended single-nucleotide mutations, deletions and insertions

Read More...
Attention

CRISPR gene editing may cause thousands of unintended single-nucleotide mutations, deletions and insertions


Scienmag
Mon, 29 May 2017 00:00 UTC
Cas9 structure
© Gabriel Velez (Mahajan Lab)Structure of the gene editing enzyme Cas9 interacting with guide RNA and DNA (PDB ID: 4OO8).
As CRISPR-Cas9 starts to move into clinical trials, a new study published in Nature Methods has found that the gene-editing technology can introduce hundreds of unintended mutations into the genome.

"We feel it's critical that the scientific community consider the potential hazards of all off-target mutations caused by CRISPR, including single nucleotide mutations and mutations in non-coding regions of the genome," says co-author Stephen Tsang, MD, PhD, the Laszlo T. Bito Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and associate professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia University Medical Center and in Columbia's Institute of Genomic Medicine and the Institute of Human Nutrition.

CRISPR-Cas9 editing technology - by virtue of its speed and unprecedented precision - has been a boon for scientists trying to understand the role of genes in disease. The technique has also raised hope for more powerful gene therapies that can delete or repair flawed genes, not just add new genes.

The first clinical trial to deploy CRISPR is now underway in China, and a U.S. trial is slated to start next year. But even though CRISPR can precisely target specific stretches of DNA, it sometimes hits other parts of the genome. Most studies that search for these off-target mutations use computer algorithms to identify areas most likely to be affected and then examine those areas for deletions and insertions.
Read More...
Family

Rooted in our biology: Revealing insights on behavioral sex differences from our primate cousins

Christian Jarrett
BPA Research Digest
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:00 UTC
Liran Samuni/ Taï Chimpanzee Project
© Liran Samuni/ Taï Chimpanzee Project
There are behavioural differences, on average, between the sexes - few would dispute that. Where the debate rages is over how much these differences are the result of social pressures versus being rooted in our biology (the answer often is that there is a complex interaction between the two).

For example, when differences are observed between girls and boys, such as in preferences for play, one possibility is that this is partly or wholly because of the contrasting ways that girls and boys are influenced by their peers, parents and other adults (because of the ideas they have about how the sexes ought to behave). Studying non-human primates allows us to identity sex differences in behavior that can't be due to human culture and gender beliefs.

Learning more about the biological roots of behavioural sex differences should not be used as an excuse for harmful stereotyping or discrimination, but it can help us better understand our human nature and the part that evolved sex differences play in some of the most important issues that affect our lives, including around diversity, relationships, mental health, crime and education.

Earlier this year, as part of a special issue of the Journal of Neuroscience Research - titled "An Issue Whose Time Has Come: Sex/Gender Influences on Nervous System Function" - Elizabeth Lonsdorf at Franklin and Marshall College published a useful mini-review detailing some of the sex differences observed among monkey and ape infants and juveniles.

"Many sex differences in behavioral development exist in nonhuman primates," she writes, "despite a comparative lack of sex-biased treatment by mothers and other social partners". Here is a digested account of five of these behavioural sex differences:

Comment: Despite the chorus of transgender activists and their allies who dismiss science, there is growing evidence that there are inherent differences in how men's and women's brains are wired and how they work:

The cognitive differences between males and females

Read More...
Network

Experts warn of next "cyber-hurricane" threat as Reaper malware infects of millions of devices worldwide


RT
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 09:49 UTC
hacker, malware
© Silas Stein / Global Look Press
Cybersecurity experts warn "the next cyber hurricane is about to come" as millions of Internet of Things devices have been infected with Reaper malware that could take down the internet.

"Our research suggests we are now experiencing the calm before an even more powerful storm," Check Point Software said, adding that it doesn't know how the code will be employed or the extent of the damage it could cause.

Reaper, or IoTrooper, is a massive zombie robotic network, or botnet, that is rapidly infecting millions of Internet of Things devices, including webcams, video recorders and security cameras.

Netlab 360 warned Reaper is "actively expanding" and that there are "millions of potential vulnerable device IPs being queued" into the system which will be injected with the malicious code.

Comment: One would think that this isn't an opportune moment to be quibbling over the use of highly efficient Kaspersky products - unless rendering millions of devices vulnerable to attack suits someone's agenda: The anti-Kaspersky campaign: Spies and spin, because Kaspersky can't be breached

Read More...