Menu

Blog

Page 2850

Apr 3, 2023

How long will it take for humans to colonize another planet?

Posted by in category: space travel

There’s a huge difference between sending humans to Mars and colonizing worlds outside our solar system.

Apr 3, 2023

The Synaptic Extracellular Matrix: Long-Lived, Stable, and Still Remarkably Dynamic

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, sustainability

In the adult brain, synapses are tightly enwrapped by lattices of the extracellular matrix that consist of extremely long-lived molecules. These lattices are deemed to stabilize synapses, restrict the reorganization of their transmission machinery, and prevent them from undergoing structural or morphological changes. At the same time, they are expected to retain some degree of flexibility to permit occasional events of synaptic plasticity. The recent understanding that structural changes to synapses are significantly more frequent than previously assumed (occurring even on a timescale of minutes) has called for a mechanism that allows continual and energy-efficient remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) at synapses. Here, we review recent evidence for such a process based on the constitutive recycling of synaptic ECM molecules. We discuss the key characteristics of this mechanism, focusing on its roles in mediating synaptic transmission and plasticity, and speculate on additional potential functions in neuronal signaling.

An increasing number of studies are showing that synaptic function is strongly influenced by their local environment, including the molecules or cellular components in their vicinity. As a result, the classical synaptic framework (consisting of the pre-and postsynaptic compartments only) has gradually been extended to include the neighboring astrocytic processes (the “tripartite synapse”; Araque et al., 1999) and, ultimately, also the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM; the “tetrapartite synapse”; Dityatev et al., 2006). Nowadays, the synaptic ECM is recognized to play an essential role in physiological synaptic transmission as well as in plasticity, and its dysregulation has been linked to synaptopathies in a wide variety of brain disorders (Bonneh-Barkay and Wiley, 2009; Pantazopoulos and Berretta, 2016; Ferrer-Ferrer and Dityatev, 2018).

Apr 3, 2023

Physics Breakthrough: Researchers Overcome Long-Standing Limitation of First Law of Thermodynamics

Posted by in categories: physics, space

Physicists at West Virginia University have overcome a long-standing limitation of the first law of thermodynamics.

Paul Cassak, a professor and associate director of the Center for KINETIC Plasma Physics at West Virginia University, and Hasan Barbhuiya, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, are investigating the conversion of energy in superheated plasmas in space. Funded by the National Science Foundation, their findings, published in the Physical Review Letters journal, are set to revolutionize the understanding of how plasmas in space and labs are heated and could have far-reaching implications in physics and other sciences.

Apr 3, 2023

Is it possible to transfer human consciousness to a computer? Storage, time and space constraints boggle researchers

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience

We often imagine that human consciousness is as simple as input and output of electrical signals within a network of processing units — therefore comparable to a computer. Reality, however, is much more complicated. For starters, we don’t actually know how much information the human brain can hold.

Apr 3, 2023

Google announces a series of cost-saving measures across the company as it cuts some staff perks

Posted by in category: futurism

As part of belt-tightening at the company, Google told staff it would cut back on some of its lavish perks, including reducing café hours.

Apr 3, 2023

This Transformers-Like eVTOL Concept Is One Step Closer to Hitting the Skies

Posted by in category: transportation

Woah, we’re halfway there. The company behind the hotly anticipated eVTOL Cavorite X5 announced it has completed construction of a 50-percent-scale prototype of its stylish flying vehicle concept.

Horizon Aircraft impressed us last year when it unveiled the Cavorite X5, with the Toronto-based company showing that the usually utilitarian world of eVTOLs could afford a little more attractive form with its function. The sleek, canard-style plane can takeoff, soar and land like a conventional aircraft, but the wings can open to reveal 16 ducted fans that provide the aircraft’s vertical lift. Once at altitude, the wing closes as it transitions to cruising. This technology would allow the aircraft to fly 98 percent of its voyage in a low-drag configuration, much like a traditional aircraft. When Horizon builds its full-scale version of the eVTOL, it will be powered by a hybrid electric system that can recharge a battery in-flight.

Apr 3, 2023

A brief history of artificial intelligence

Posted by in categories: innovation, robotics/AI

Explore the history of artificial intelligence, from Alan Turing’s Turing Test to the latest breakthroughs in machine learning and natural language processing.

Apr 3, 2023

Protons seem to be a different size depending on how you look at them

Posted by in category: particle physics

An experiment that probed particles called gluons, which contain most of the mass of a proton, has revealed that a proton’s radius alters depending on whether you look at the particle’s charge or mass.

By Alex Wilkins

Apr 3, 2023

Eliezer Yudkowsky: GPT-4 should not be open sourced | Lex Fridman Podcast Clips

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaTRHFaaPG8
Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
- Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit.
- House of Macadamias: https://houseofmacadamias.com/lex and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order.
- InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off.

GUEST BIO:
Eliezer Yudkowsky is a researcher, writer, and philosopher on the topic of superintelligent AI.

Continue reading “Eliezer Yudkowsky: GPT-4 should not be open sourced | Lex Fridman Podcast Clips” »

Apr 3, 2023

This Massive Meatball Was Made With Woolly Mammoth DNA

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

♡,♡!!!


In a sense, the extinct woolly mammoth has returned —as a meatball. On Tuesday, an Australian cultured meat start-up revealed a sphere of lab-grown meat, produced with a DNA sequence from the elephant-like mammal.

But you won’t find this product in grocery stores; the creation is not meant to be eaten, at least for now. Instead, the “mammoth meatball” aims to highlight the environmental impacts of standard agricultural practices and present cultured meat as a viable option for food production down the line.

Continue reading “This Massive Meatball Was Made With Woolly Mammoth DNA” »