China ‘clone factory’ scientist eyes human replication

The Chinese scientist behind the world’s biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction. Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to go into production Read more about China ‘clone factory’ scientist eyes human replication[…]

Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change

Turns out that companies have been writing information that makes US citizens not believe in climate change science. “The comprehensive data include all individual and organizational actors in the climate change countermovement (164 organizations), as well as all written and verbal texts produced by this network between 1993–2013 (40,785 texts, more than 39 million words). Read more about Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate change[…]

NIST team proves ‘spooky action at a distance’ is really real

As described in a paper posted online and submitted to Physical Review Letters (PRL), researchers from NIST and several other institutions created pairs of identical light particles, or photons, and sent them to two different locations to be measured. Researchers showed the measured results not only were correlated, but also—by eliminating all other known options—that Read more about NIST team proves ‘spooky action at a distance’ is really real[…]

‘Zeno effect’ verified, Heisenberg uncertainty principle controlled: Atoms won’t move while you watch

The researchers observed the atoms under a microscope by illuminating them with a separate imaging laser. A light microscope can’t see individual atoms, but the imaging laser causes them to fluoresce, and the microscope captured the flashes of light. When the imaging laser was off, or turned on only dimly, the atoms tunneled freely. But Read more about ‘Zeno effect’ verified, Heisenberg uncertainty principle controlled: Atoms won’t move while you watch[…]

Prosthetic hands can now feel

A 28-year-old who has been paralyzed for more than a decade as a result of a spinal cord injury has become the first person to be able to “feel” physical sensations through a prosthetic hand directly connected to his brain, and even identify which mechanical finger is being gently touched.The advance, made possible by sophisticated Read more about Prosthetic hands can now feel[…]

Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science – not doing too well…

Yet again a major study looks at reproducing results (in this case only in psychological studies) and finds that the strength of the results is much lower than published. Expect this to happen for economics, political science, etc as well. Reproducibility is a defining feature of science, but the extent to which it characterizes current Read more about Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science – not doing too well…[…]

Antibiotic Pulled From Dirt Ends 25-Year Drug Drought – Bloomberg

Scientists have discovered an antibiotic capable of fighting infections that kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, a breakthrough that could lead to the field’s first major new drug in more than a quarter-century.The experimental drug, which was isolated from a sample of New England dirt, is called teixobactin. It hasn’t yet been tested Read more about Antibiotic Pulled From Dirt Ends 25-Year Drug Drought – Bloomberg[…]

Rresearchers may have stumbled upon the secret to youthful skin

Scientists at the University of B.C. searching for ways to slow the deterioration of blood vessels may have stumbled on to the key to youthful skin. While exploring the effects of the protein-degrading enzyme Granzyme B on blood vessels during heart attacks, professor David Granville couldn’t help noticing that mice engineered to lack the enzyme Read more about Rresearchers may have stumbled upon the secret to youthful skin[…]

IBM’s Watson Analytics enters public beta | ZDNet

Users of Watson Analytics feed in their own raw data, say, in the form of a spreadsheet, which the service then crunches with its own statistical analysis to highlight associations between different variables. It saves execs from needing to know how to write their own scripts or understand statistics in order to derive meaning from Read more about IBM’s Watson Analytics enters public beta | ZDNet[…]

Regrow your teeth with lasers!

We show that non-ionizing, low-power laser (LPL) treatment can instead be used as a minimally invasive tool to activate an endogenous latent growth factor complex, transforming growth factor–β1 (TGF-β1), that subsequently differentiates host stem cells to promote tissue regeneration. LPL treatment induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a dose-dependent manner, which, in turn, activated latent Read more about Regrow your teeth with lasers![…]

Gunshot victims to be suspended by replacing their blood

Doctors in UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are now waiting for a patient to show up with a gaping chest wound, who’s lost around 50% of his / her blood so they can replace the entire blood supply with a cold saline solution, which rapidly cools the body and stops almost all cellular activity. Read more about Gunshot victims to be suspended by replacing their blood[…]

Algae to crude oil: Million-year natural process takes minutes in the lab

In the PNNL process, a slurry of wet algae is pumped into the front end of a chemical reactor. Once the system is up and running, out comes crude oil in less than an hour, along with water and a byproduct stream of material containing phosphorus that can be recycled to grow more algae. http://phys.org/news/2013-12-algae-crude-oil-million-year-natural.html

Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram – and it seems that wormholes can be created using entanglement

A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection. In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1 that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate Read more about Simulations back up theory that Universe is a hologram – and it seems that wormholes can be created using entanglement[…]

evidence of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: ‘Memories’ pass between generations

Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behaviour of subsequent generations. A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their “grandchildren”. The animals were trained to fear a smell similar to cherry blossom. The team at the Read more about evidence of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: ‘Memories’ pass between generations[…]

Wireless Device Converts “Lost” Energy such as WiFi signals into Electric Power

Using inexpensive materials configured and tuned to capture microwave signals, researchers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have designed a power-harvesting device with efficiency similar to that of modern solar panels. The device wirelessly converts the microwave signal to direct current voltage capable of recharging a cell phone battery or other small electronic device, Read more about Wireless Device Converts “Lost” Energy such as WiFi signals into Electric Power[…]

Volume of nuclear waste could be reduced by 90 per cent says new research

Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a way to significantly reduce the volume of some higher activity wastes, which will reduce the cost of interim storage and final disposal. The researchers, from the University’s Faculty of Engineering, have shown that mixing plutonium-contaminated waste with blast furnace slag and turning it into glass reduces Read more about Volume of nuclear waste could be reduced by 90 per cent says new research[…]

Microbe computers – Biological computers in living cells

This biological microcomputer sprang from the mind of Drew Endy, PhD, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford. In three scientific papers released over a 13-month span in 2012 and 2013, Endy and a team of researchers from his lab showed how they used ordinary genetic engineering techniques to turn the bacterium E. coli — Read more about Microbe computers – Biological computers in living cells[…]