When one mentions the topic of “head transplantation” (or a related topic – the “brain transplant”), for most people, it remains a topic purely in the context and sphere of science fiction.
Yet most people are unaware of the following history:
The idea that mass extinctions allow many new types of species to evolve is a central concept in evolution, but a new study using artificial intelligence to examine the fossil record finds this is rarely true, and there must be another explanation.
Charles Darwin’s landmark opus, On the Origin of the Species, ends with a beautiful summary of his theory of evolution, “There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
In fact, scientists now know that most species that have ever existed are extinct. This extinction of species has on the whole been roughly balanced by the origination of new ones over Earth’s history, with a few major temporary imbalances scientists call mass extinction events. Scientists have long believed that mass extinctions create productive periods of species evolution, or “radiations,” a model called “creative destruction.” A new study led by scientists affiliated with the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology used machine learning to examine the co-occurrence of fossil species and found that radiations and extinctions are rarely connected, and thus mass extinctions likely rarely cause radiations of a comparable scale.
A collection of 29 papers, 19 of which were published Nov. 25, has advanced our knowledge of how spaceflight affects the human body farther than ever before.
Looks like in the future, the whole solar system could be our spaceship! 😃 Pretty cool idea in my book.
An astrophysicist proposes new designs for stellar engines that can move a solar system.
Specialists from the University of Copenhagen created a chip that could be used to build a future quantum simulator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pju4qUYaugU&feature=youtu.be
Hey it’s Han from WrySci HX with Part 2 of a four part series on sleep and brain computer interfaces such as Neuralink. We’ll look at what we know about sleep and how BCIs might be able to help us in the future, 2021 and beyond. This isn’t a topic I’ve seen much about so I decided to see what was up. This second part is on sleep regulation (aka how we fall asleep, and hopefully how we can fall asleep more easily in the future) and sleeping with only certain parts of the brain, while the next ones will cover sleep and dream theories. More below ↓↓↓
Watch Part 1 here! https://youtu.be/EmtlanXdGf4
Continue reading “How Can We Fall Asleep More Easily? Neuralink 2021 And Beyond [Part 2]” »
If we’re going to get better at powering the planet with renewable energy, we need to get better at finding ways of efficiently storing that energy until it’s needed – and scientists have identified a particular material that could give us exactly that.
The material is known as a metal-organic framework (MOF), in which carbon-based molecules form structures by linking metal ions. Crucially, MOFs are porous, so they can form composite materials with other small molecules.
That’s what the team did here, adding molecules of the light-absorbing compound azobenzene. The finished composite material was able to store energy from ultraviolet light for at least four months at room temperature before releasing it again – a big improvement over the days or weeks that most light-responsive materials can manage.
That looks delicious! 😃
The Chicken is a restaurant that grows its meat on display and cooks up tasty burgers for people to try. It might be the way of the future.
It seems even curtains are getting an upgrade. 😃
These intelligent curtains are printed with a material called PCM (Phase Changing Material) that absorbs heat and releases it when needed.
