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Dec 7, 2020

Aussie flying car ambulance to launch in 2023

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

“According to a statement from CareFlight on today’s launch, the zero-emission vehicle’s cruising speed is 300 kilometres per hour and its range 250 kilometres (electric-powered) or 800 kilometres (hydrogen-powered).”


A Bankstown Airport-headquartered startup, AMSL Aero, has officially launched its electric air ambulance, the Vertiia. The vertical takeoff and landing (or VTOL) vehicle — a flying car — is under development through a two-year CRC-P project, supported by a $3 million grant. It is led by AMSL, with partners CareFlight, University of Sydney and Mission Systems. According to a statement from CareFlight on today’s launch, the zero-emission vehicle’s cruising speed is 300 kilometres per hour and its range 250 kilometres (electric-powered) or 800 kilometres (hydrogen-powered).Co-founder Andrew Moore said the potential applications were vast, but they have initially targeted the area of greatest current need: providing rapid access to medical services for vulnerable remote, rural, and regional communities.

Dec 7, 2020

Iran: Satellite-controlled machine gun used to kill top nuclear scientist

Posted by in categories: military, robotics/AI, terrorism

“” Martyr Fakhrizadeh was driving when a weapon, using an advanced camera, zoomed in on him,” Fadavi said, according to Reuters.

“Some 13 shots were fired at martyr Fakhrizadeh with a machine gun controlled by satellite… During the operation artificial intelligence and face recognition were used,” he said. “His wife, sitting 25 centimeters away from him in the same car, was not injured.”

“The machine gun was placed on a pick-up truck and was controlled by a satellite,” he added.”

Continue reading “Iran: Satellite-controlled machine gun used to kill top nuclear scientist” »

Dec 7, 2020

This Navy helicopter pilot has been chosen to be the first woman to command a US aircraft carrier

Posted by in category: military

Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt previously made Navy history as the first woman to become the second-in-command aboard a US carrier.

Dec 7, 2020

Quantum device performs 2.6 billion years of computation in 4 minutes

Posted by in categories: computing, quantum physics

Photons explore quantum maze faster than possible for any classical computer.

Dec 7, 2020

Paper-based electrochemical sensor can detect COVID-19 in less than five minutes

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, chemistry

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, testing remains a key strategy for tracking and containing the virus. Bioengineering graduate student, Maha Alafeef, has co-developed a rapid, ultrasensitive test using a paper-based electrochemical sensor that can detect the presence of the virus in less than five minutes. The team led by professor Dipanjan Pan reported their findings in ACS Nano.

“Currently, we are experiencing a once-in-a-century life-changing event,” said Alafeef. “We are responding to this global need from a holistic approach by developing multidisciplinary tools for early detection and diagnosis and treatment for SARS-CoV-2.”

There are two broad categories of COVID-19 tests on the market. The first category uses reverse transcriptase real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nucleic acid hybridization strategies to identify viral RNA. Current FDA-approved diagnostic tests use this technique. Some drawbacks include the amount of time it takes to complete the test, the need for specialized personnel and the availability of equipment and reagents.

Dec 7, 2020

Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus Is Likely the ‘Perfect Age’ to Harbor Life

Posted by in category: space

It’s probably around 1 billion years old.

Dec 7, 2020

Why are some scientists turning away from brain scans?

Posted by in categories: food, neuroscience

NEW YORK (AP) — Brain scans offer a tantalizing glimpse into the mind’s mysteries, promising an almost X-ray-like vision into how we feel pain, interpret faces and wiggle fingers.

Studies of brain images have suggested that Republicans and Democrats have visibly different thinking, that overweight adults have stronger responses to pictures of food and that it’s possible to predict a sober person’s likelihood of relapse.

But such buzzy findings are coming under growing scrutiny as scientists grapple with the fact that some brain scan research doesn’t seem to hold up.

Dec 7, 2020

Radishes grown in space for first time

Posted by in category: space

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have collected the first harvest of radishes grown on the station.

Dec 7, 2020

Japanese Spacecraft Will Shoot Martian Moons in 8K Resolution

Posted by in category: space travel

That’s over 33 megapixels of Martian goodness.

Dec 7, 2020

Iran Insists That Its Nuclear Scientist Was Killed by a “Satellite-Controlled Machine Gun”

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, was killed on November 27 by a “smart satellite-controlled machine gun” that used AI, the country’s Revolutionary Guards commander Brig-Gen Ali Fadavi told local media, as the BBC reports.

The scientist was allegedly killed by a weapon mounted to a pickup truck, which shot Fakhrizadeh inside a vehicle from a distance — but spared his wife sitting right next to him.

The weapon “focused only on martyr Fakhrizadeh’s face in a way that his wife, despite being only 25cm [10 inches] away, was not shot,” Gen Fadavi, Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, told a ceremony on Sunday, as quoted by the BBC.