Archive for the ‘habitats’ category: Page 101
Jul 19, 2018
Don’t Squish the Jellyfish. Capture It With a Folding Robotic Claw
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: habitats, robotics/AI
A new invention could help marine scientists study sea creatures in their natural habitat more effectively without harming them in the process.
Jul 14, 2018
How Nantes team’s 3D printing may alter shape of homes to come
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: 3D printing, habitats, robotics/AI
For some months now, a 3D printed house in Nantes has drawn lots of attention, not just because a printer was involved but also because it went up from start to finish so quickly (54 hours to print, then add some more time for the windows and roof). Interesting Engineering said it took some more time to add the roof, windows and doors.
A robot printer was used to print layers from the floor upwards to form the walls, and videos show a beautiful result of five rooms with rounded walls.
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Jul 13, 2018
New South African Telescope Releases Epic Image of the Galactic Center
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: habitats, space
You’re looking at the center of our galactic home, the Milky Way, as imaged by 64 radio telescopes in the South African wilderness.
Scientists released this image today to inaugurate the completed MeerKAT radio telescope. But these scopes form part of an even more ambitious project: the Square Kilometer Array, a joint effort to build the world’s largest telescope, spanning the continents of Africa and Australia.
Jun 30, 2018
Gateway Foundation Spaceport envisions large scale space construction
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: habitats, space
They would start with a hub that is 78 meters wide.
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Jun 29, 2018
Electricity from germs could be the next big thing, say Israeli researchers
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, habitats, nanotechnology, nuclear energy, solar power, sustainability
You can generate electricity from oil, you can produce it from natural gas, you can make it from nuclear energy, and you can channel it from the sun, via solar energy conversion systems. You can even generate electricity from photosynthetic bacteria, also known as cyanobacteria, based on a new innovation developed at the Technion. As published in a study in the journal, Nature Communications, the Technion researchers have developed an energy-producing system that exploits both the photosynthesis and respiratory processes that cyanobacteria undergo, with the harvested energy leveraged to generate electricity based on hydrogen.
The study was conducted by three Technion faculty members: Professor Noam Adir from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Professor Gadi Schuster from the Faculty of Biology, and Professor Avner Rothschild, from the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering. The work involved collaboration between Dr. Gadiel Saper and Dr. Dan Kallmann, as well as colleagues from Bochum, Germany and the Weizmann Institute of Science. It was supported by various bodies, including the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP), the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI), the Technion Hydrogen Technologies Research Lab (HTRL), the Adelis Foundation, the Planning and Budgeting Committee’s I-CORE program, the Israel Science Foundation, the USA-Israel Binational Science Fund (BSF) and the German research fund (DFG-DIP).
Scientists have long considered cyanobacteria a possible energy source. Cyanobacteria belong to a family of bacteria common to lakes, seas, and many other habitats. The bacteria use photosynthetic mechanisms that enable them to generate energy from sunlight. They also generate energy in the dark, via respiratory mechanisms based on digestion and degradation of sugar.
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Jun 28, 2018
Earth Views from the Space Station
Posted by Michael Lance in categories: habitats, satellites
Behold, the Earth! See live views of Earth from the coming to you by NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment.
Behold, the Earth! See live views of Earth from the International Space Station coming to you by NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment.
While the experiment is operational, views will typically sequence through the different cameras. If you are seeing a black image, the Space Station is on the night side of the Earth. If you are seeing an image with text displayed, the communications are switching between satellites and camera feeds are temporarily unavailable. Between camera switches, a black & gray slate will also briefly appear.
Jun 27, 2018
3D printed homes and pods of Martian rock, is this what life will look like on Mars?
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: 3D printing, computing, Elon Musk, habitats, holograms, space, virtual reality
ELON MUSK wants to plump humans on Mars by 2024 and the first batch of settlers could live in 3D-printed home pods that pack hologram computers.
You’ll be able to tour the Red Planet habitat in virtual reality and view a scale model of the sci-fi living space at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month.
Jun 26, 2018
New CRISPR-Gold technique reduces behavioral autism symptoms in mice
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, habitats, neuroscience
A remarkable new study has successfully used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique to edit a specific gene in mice engineered to have fragile X syndrome (FXS), a single-gene disorder often related to autism. The single gene edit in the live mice resulted in significant improvements in repetitive and obsessive behaviors, making this the first time gene editing has been used to effectively target behavioral symptoms related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
FXS is a genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability, seizures and exaggerated repetitive behavior. Previous studies have shown that the repetitive behaviors associated with FXS are related to a specific excitatory receptor in the brain that, when dysregulated, causes exaggerated signaling between cells.
The CRISPR technique homes in on the gene that controls that excitatory receptor, the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), and essentially disables it, dampening the excessive signaling the corresponds with repetitive behaviors. In mice treated with the new system, obsessive digging behavior was reduced by 30 percent and repetitive leaping actions dropped by 70 percent.
Jun 25, 2018
Increase in storms could have ‘catastrophic impact’ on fishing industry
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: habitats, sustainability
Potential changes in the frequency and intensity of storms off the coast of the UK and around the world could have a “catastrophic impact” on the livelihood of fishermen and sustainability of fishing industries, research led by the University of Exeter has shown.
The research, based on a review of past studies and examination of future projections, warns that the increase in storms could make fishing more dangerous, displace fish from their natural habitats and interfere with the ability of fish to breed.
Storms off the coast of the UK are projected to become more frequent and intense over the next two centuries and more dramatic storms are expected in the North Sea and North Atlantic, to the West of the UK, Ireland and France, threatening the future of fishermen and the fish they catch.
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