Science & TechnologyS


Archaeology

No bones? No problem: DNA left in cave soils can reveal ancient human occupants

Lizzie Wade
Science
Fri, 28 Apr 2017 15:19 UTC
Human DNA
© Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyMatthias Meyer, shown working in a clean room, helped find a way to fish out human DNA from ancient soils.

Fifty thousand years ago, a Neandertal relieved himself in a cave in present-day Belgium, depositing, among other things, a sample of his DNA. The urine clung to minerals in the soil and the feces eventually decomposed. But traces of the DNA remained, embedded in the cave floor, where earth falling from the cave's ceiling and blowing in from outside eventually entombed it. Now, researchers have shown they can find and identify such genetic traces of both Neandertals and Denisovans, another type of archaic human, enabling them to test for the presence of ancient humans even in sites where no bones have been found.

"It's a great breakthrough," says Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London. "Anyone who's digging cave sites from the Pleistocene now should put [screening sediments for human DNA] on their list of things that they must do." Adds Svante Pääbo, the head of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, where the work was done: "I think this will become a standard tool in archaeology, maybe even like radiocarbon dating."
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Robot

Future of beach warfare: US Marines test 'HyperSub,' machine-gun toting robots and more


RT
Fri, 28 Apr 2017 14:50 UTC
US military robot
© AiirSource Military / YouTube
Around 50 advanced weapons are being tested by the US Marine Corps, from a speedboat-submarine to smart robots able to carry 600lbs. The new technology could revolutionize amphibious armed conflict.

Testing has been ongoing for the past two weeks at Camp Pendleton in California, as part of the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technology Exercise 2017, Fox News reported Thursday.

From quadcopter drones to surf and sand-ready weaponized autonomous vehicles, the US Navy and Marines are seeking to avoid detection, conduct surveillance, free up manpower and ultimately lessen the risks that come with storming beaches. They are expected to narrow down what's needed most from roughly 50 machines being tried out.
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Telescope

Amazing Earth-sized planet dubbed the 'iceball' discovered by NASA with 'microlensing'


RT
Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:14 UTC
OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, a planet discovered through a technique called microlensing
© NASAOGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, a planet discovered through a technique called microlensing.
NASA has discovered a planet the same size as Earth, and the same distance from its star as our planet is from the sun.

Due to its small size, the host star does not produce enough heat to support life on the planet. This has prompted scientists to label the world - nominally called OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb - the 'iceball' planet.

An international team of researchers found the planet using a technique known as 'microlensing,' which uses background stars as flashlights that mark out planets as dark dots when they cross the field of light.

"This iceball planet is the lowest-mass planet ever found through microlensing," said Yossi Shvartzvald, a NASA postdoctoral fellow based at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
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Biohazard

The End is Nye - @BillNye the "Science Guy" loses his last shred of credibility - implosion imminent

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Thu, 27 Apr 2017 18:15 UTC
Bill Nye at protest
From the "if Bill's genitals could talk, what would they say?" department...and Josh.

First up, Bill led the march for science with Mike Mann recently....

...and then had a bizarre episode of his Netflix show that immediately followed. From Natural News:
Bill Nye
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Brain

Surgeon claims cryogenically frozen brains will be 'woken up' and transplanted in donor bodies within three years

Sarah Knapton
The Telegraph
Thu, 27 Apr 2017 15:20 UTC
Dr Xiaoping Ren and Professor Sergio Canavero brain transplanted
© OOOMDr Xiaoping Ren and Professor Sergio Canavero, who believes a brain will be transplanted in the near future
People who have had their brains cryogenically frozen could be 'woken up' within three years, a pioneering Italian surgeon has claimed.

Professor Sergio Canavero, Director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, is aiming to carry out the first human head transplant within 10 months and then wants to begin trials on brain transplants.

If the procedures are successful, he believes that frozen brains could be thawed and inserted into a donor body.
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Saturn

'Cassini' captures 'closest look ever' at Saturn in new photos


RT
Thu, 27 Apr 2017 15:15 UTC
Saturn's atmosphere
© NASAImage showing features in Saturn's atmosphere from closer than ever before. The view was captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on April 26.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has re-established contact with Earth, sending back extraordinary new photographs as it ventures where no spaceship has traveled before - between Saturn and its rings.

The gap between the rings and the top of Saturn's atmosphere is about 2,400km (1,500 miles) wide. Cassini passed through the gap at speeds of about 123,000kph (77,000mph) on Wednesday as part of the craft's final exploratory mission dubbed the 'Grand finale.'

The craft used its dish-shaped antenna as a shield against oncoming particles while it travelled through the region as scientists feared that even small particles could have disabled the spacecraft. Using the dish in this way forced Cassini to lose contact with Earth.
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Robot

Age of the machines: Robotic dog can tidy the house and deliver packages

Cara McGoogan
The Telegraph
Thu, 27 Apr 2017 15:00 UTC
robotic dog
© Boston DynamicsBoston Dynamics' robotic dog Spot has been trained to deliver packages
Boston Dynamics has been putting its robotic dog to work delivering packages in Boston as it part of a mission to find commercial uses for the machine.

The company, owned by Google, has been testing ways to use the dexterous machines in different settings. Until now, the robots have only really been used in military settings.

Called Spot, the four-legged version of Boston Dynamics' automaton can jump, run, climb stairs, get back up if it falls, and perform human tasks such as house work. It can also now deliver packages strapped to its back, the company said.
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Brain

Spotless mind: Experts warn of the threats to our 'mental integrity' from invasive neurotechnology

Ian Johnston
The Independent
Wed, 26 Apr 2017 19:27 UTC
New human rights laws are required to protect sensitive information in a person's mind from 'unauthorised collection, storage, use or even deletion'
neurotechnology, brain-hacking
Biomedical ethicists say “malicious brain-hacking” and “hazardous uses of medical neurotechnology” could require a redefinition of the idea of mental integrity.
"Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind," wrote the playwright John Milton in 1634.

But, nearly 400 years later, technological advances in machines that can read our thoughts mean the privacy of our brain is under threat.

Now two biomedical ethicists are calling for the creation of new human rights laws to ensure people are protected, including "the right to cognitive liberty" and "the right to mental integrity".

Scientists have already developed devices capable of telling whether people are politically right-wing or left-wing. In one experiment, researchers were able to read people's minds to tell with 70 per cent accuracy whether they planned to add or subtract two numbers.

Facebook also recently revealed it had been secretly working on technology to read people's minds so they could type by just thinking.

Comment: See also: Hacking your brain: Experts warn of growing threat from monitoring and controlling neural signals

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Music

Scientists discover baby humpback whales 'whisper' to their mothers to avoid detection by predators

Henry Bodkin
The Telegraph
Wed, 26 Apr 2017 17:22 UTC
Humpback whale
© RICHARD SHUCKSMITH / BARCROFT IMHumpback wales make an epic migration between their mating and eating zones
Humpback whales are renown for their loud, haunting songs, but new research has discovered the huge marine mammals are able to "whisper" as well.

Scientists found that baby humpbacks avoid the attention of predators while communicating with their mothers by using intimate grunts and squeaks.

The quiet noises enable the young to keep track of their parents during long and precarious migrations without being overheard by killer whales and sexually aggressive male humpbacks looking for an opportunity to mate.

Researchers collected their groundbreaking data by directly attaching microphones via suction caps to whales that were swimming near Australia.
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Monkey Wrench

Just in case human gene editing goes horribly wrong scientists fall back on "CRISPR off switch"

Vicki Batts
Natural News
Wed, 25 Jan 2017 00:03 UTC
crispr9
The gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 has been a subject of controversy ever since it was developed. CRISPR -Cas9 gives scientists the ability to conduct genome editing with a quickness and ease never seen before. Regardless of the inherent concerns that come along with gene editing, this technology has undoubtedly changed the world of basic and applied biology indefinitely.

Perhaps one of the most concerning aspects about CRISPR-Cas9 was the inability for scientists to turn off the gene altering sequence. The potential for wrong genes to be snipped away and the consequential introduction of rogue genetic changes in human or animal DNA into the gene pool was (and still is) rather terrifying. Now, however, scientists claim that they have found a way to hopefully mitigate this tremendous risk. In a new study, researchers say that they have found a tiny protein that can actually turn off Cas9 and prevent it from creating unwanted gene alterations. They say that the protein works on human cells — at least if they are in a petri dish.
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