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May 19, 2022

Paralysed mice walk again after a single injection

Posted by in category: futurism

The therapy, which the researchers hope to trial in humans, harnesses ‘dancing molecules’ to communicate with the body’s cells.

May 19, 2022

1st monkeypox case in US this year reported in Massachusetts

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

A Massachusetts resident has tested positive for monkeypox, health officials confirmed Wednesday, making it the first case of the rare virus detected in the United States this year.

According to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the patient is an adult male who recently traveled to Canada. The department completed initial testing Tuesday and was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The case poses no risk to the public, and the individual is hospitalized and in good condition,” MDPH stated in a press release. “DPH is working closely with the CDC, relevant local boards of health, and the patient’s health care providers to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient while he was infectious.”

May 19, 2022

Drugs to Improve Well-Being

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A playlist of Freethink’s most popular videos about drugs to improve well-being.

May 19, 2022

The Best in Bionics

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, transhumanism

A playlist of Freethink’s most popular videos about bionics.

May 19, 2022

Gene editing could reverse anxiety and alcohol-use disorder

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience

During that uncomfortable period between puberty and adulthood, the brain undergoes carefully orchestrated changes in gene expression and epigenetic modification. Alcohol, unfortunately, interferes with this biological architecture. Consequently, mistakes are made, and gene expression and modification do not go as planned, leaving the person vulnerable to a lifetime of psychiatric challenges, such as anxiety and alcoholism.

A team of researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago recently found they could reverse these changes in rats via gene editing. If their findings carry through to human studies, gene editing may be a potential treatment for anxiety and alcohol-use disorder in adults who were exposed to binge drinking in their adolescence.

May 19, 2022

New picture answers many questions about our galaxy’s black hole — and reveals some mysteries

Posted by in category: cosmology

The recently-released image shows how Sagittarius A is both mundane and very strange, all at once.

May 19, 2022

Optical interferometry–based array of seafloor environmental sensors using a transoceanic submarine cable

Posted by in category: electronics

May 19, 2022

Elon Musk Wants to Open a University in Texas. Could It Be Another Joke?

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, humor

May 19, 2022

Almost as contagious as measles: Coronavirus spins out worrisome new mutations

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, energy, health

The relentless evolution of the coronavirus, which has spawned new variants to fuel fresh surges of disease every four to six months, could in the not-distant future propel the virus to overtake measles as the most contagious of all known infections.

Increasing infectiousness does not necessarily make the virus deadlier, but it could make it harder to control, and leave communities vulnerable to the repeated waves of illness that have defined the pandemic.

The variants now dominating around the world may be five to 10 times more infectious than the original virus that sparked the pandemic in China in late 2019, health experts believe. Lately each variant has outpaced its parent — omicron, with its massive evolutionary jump, was about three times more infectious than delta. Its subvariants — BA.2 and BA.2.12.1, which are driving the latest surge in the Bay Area — are each more infectious still, by 20% to 30%.

May 19, 2022

Professor Sean Carroll explains the theories of Presentism and Eternalism

Posted by in categories: mathematics, physics

It’s said that the clock is always ticking, but there’s a chance that it isn’t. The theory of “presentism” states that the current moment is the only thing that’s real, while “eternalism” is the belief that all existence in time is equally real. Find out if the future is really out there and predictable—just don’t tell us who wins the big game next year.

This video is episode two from the series “Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time”, Presented by Sean Carroll.
Learn more about the physics of time at https://www.wondrium.com/YouTube.

00:00 Science and Philosophy Combine When Studying Time.
2:30 Experiments Prove Continuity of Time.
6:47 Time Is Somewhat Predictable.
8:10 Why We Think of Time Differently.
8:49 Our Perception of Time Leads to Spacetime.
11:54 We Dissect Presentism vs Eternalism.
15:43 Memories and Items From the Past Make it More Real.
17:47 Galileo Discovers Pendulum Speeds Are Identical.
25:00 Thought Experiment: “What if Time Stopped?”
29:07 Time Connects Us With the Outside World.

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