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Aug 23, 2019

Cheap combo pill cuts heart, stroke risks, study finds

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

LONDON (AP) — A cheap daily pill that combines four drugs cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart failure in a large study, suggesting it could be a good way to help prevent heart problems especially in poor countries.

The pills contained two blood pressure drugs, a cholesterol medicine and aspirin. Many people can’t afford or don’t stick with taking so many medicines separately, so doctors think a polypill might help. A previous study testing one in India found it lowered cholesterol and blood pressure. The new study is much larger and gives stronger evidence because it tracked heart attacks, strokes and other problems — not just risk factors.

It involved about 6,800 people in Iran, ages 50–75, some with previous heart problems and others without them. All got advice on healthy lifestyles and half also were given polypills. After five years, 6% of those in the pill group had suffered a heart attack, stroke or heart failure versus 9% of the others. That worked out to a 34% lower risk with the polypill, and a 22% lower risk after researchers took into account other heart drugs that participants were taking.

Aug 23, 2019

Carnegie Mellon and Oregon State team wins first leg of DARPA Subterranean Challenge robot competition

Posted by in categories: drones, health, military, robotics/AI

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) kicked off the Subterranean Challenge in December 2017, with the goal of equipping future warfighters and first responders with tools to rapidly map, navigate, and search hazardous underground environments. The final winner of the four-event competition won’t be selected until 2021, but Team Explorer from Carnegie Mellon University and Oregon State University managed to best rivals for the initial prize.

On four occasions during the eight-day Tunnel Circuit event, which concluded today, each team deployed multiple robots into National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health research mines in South Park Township, Pennsylvania, tasked with autonomously navigating mud and water and communicating with each other and a base station for an hour at a time as they searched for objects. Team Explorer’s roughly 30 university faculty, students, and staff members leveraged two ground robots and two drones to find 25 artifacts in its two best runs (14 more than any other team), managing to identify and locate a backpack within 20 centimeters of its actual position.

“Mobility was a big advantage for us,” said team co-leader Sebastian Scherer, associate research professor in Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute, in a statement. “The testing [prior to the event, at Tour-Ed Mine in Tarentum, Pennsylvania] was brutal at the end, but it paid off in the end. We were prepared for this … We had big wheels and lots of power, and autonomy that just wouldn’t quit.”

Aug 23, 2019

CDC sounds alarm over deadly, drug-resistant salmonella

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A deadly strain of salmonella that has sickened more than 250 people may not respond to the antibiotics commonly prescribed to treat the foodborne infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Thursday, the CDC said that from June 2018 to March 2019, 255 people in 32 states were infected with the strain, with 60 being hospitalized and two dying from the infection.

Aug 23, 2019

Blood test can detect ovarian cancer two years earlier

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A blood test which can detect ovarian cancer two years earlier than current methods could be used to screen women, scientists hope.

Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have found that measuring four proteins together can pick up cancer early, when nine in 10 women will survive.

Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest because symptoms are vague or absent so it is often not diagnosed until later stages, when the chance of surviving for five years is just 22 per cent.

Aug 23, 2019

The Bentley From The Year 2035!

Posted by in categories: media & arts, robotics/AI, transportation

I always wondered what the future of cars would look like, and now Bentley has given me a nice perspective.


This is the Bentley EXP100GT. It is one of the stand out cars from Pebble Beach this year! Come with me as I take you through the features and what their vision is for the next 100 years. This is also where you get to see the car drive autonomously!

Continue reading “The Bentley From The Year 2035!” »

Aug 23, 2019

New song about life extension: Philosophic Warfare

Posted by in category: life extension

A new song from activists of the movement for indefinite life extension is out, from the album Faultline Shift.

The song is called Philosophic Warfare. It is a contemplation of the dismal reality of being trapped by death and what it all means followed by a change to affirmation of beating it.

It is true, we are always on the climb. Having kicked the grim reaper off its mountain, it is now itself on the defense, struggling to match our force.

Aug 23, 2019

Huge US government study to offer genetic counselling

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, government, health

But to generate the kind of long-term data set necessary for breakthroughs in precision medicine — which uses genomic, physiological and other data to tailor treatments to individuals — All of Us must retain these participants, ideally throughout their lives. That’s where genetic counselling comes in.


A firm hired by the National Institutes of Health will work with participants in a research programme that plans to sequence one million genomes.

Aug 23, 2019

Plan for First US Mission to the Moon Since Apollo Landing

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

Vulcan rocket on Bezos engines.


The first American spacecraft expected to land on the moon in nearly 50 years will be an unmanned robotic lander.

The aerospace company Astrobotic Technology told Reuters it expects to launch the spacecraft named Peregrine in the summer of 2021 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The company said Peregrine will be the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since Apollo astronauts last touched down there in 1972. The mission will bring technology and experiments to the moon to prepare for human flights by 2024.

Continue reading “Plan for First US Mission to the Moon Since Apollo Landing” »

Aug 22, 2019

Cutting-edge robots showcased at Beijing’s 2019 World Robot Conference

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

The 2019 World Robot Conference is held in Beijing, China from August 20 to 25, 2019. The 5th annual expo showcases over 700 exhibits of the latest robotic technologies with more than 21 industrial applications.

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Aug 22, 2019

TeraWatt Technology solid-state battery prototype tests showing 432 kWh/kg

Posted by in category: energy

TeraWatt Technology announced that its 4.5Ah prototype solid-state battery design achieved a record-breaking energy density of 432Wh/kg (1122Wh/L) in validation tests conducted by third parties, including TOYO System based in Japan.

Branded as TERA3.0, this 4.5Ah next-generation design will be available for select early adopters in 2021 and full release in 2022. TeraWatt Technology continues to further iterate the TERA3.0 line of design, as well as further develop additional designs including different cell formats, sizes and energy capacities.

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