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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 1062

Feb 1, 2022

Video games that diagnose, monitor and treat depression developed by scientists

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Software analyses the patient’s voice, eye gaze and micro-expressions along behavioural measures including reaction times, memory and error rates.

Feb 1, 2022

Ivermectin shows ‘antiviral effect’ against COVID, Japanese company says

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Info from Japan.


TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) — Japanese trading and pharmaceuticals company Kowa Co Ltd (7807.T) on Monday said that anti-parasite drug ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against Omicron and other coronavirus variants in joint non-clinical research.

The company, which has been working with Tokyo’s Kitasato University on testing the drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19, did not provide further details. The original Reuters story misstated that ivermectin was “effective” against Omicron in Phase III clinical trials, which are conducted in humans.

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Feb 1, 2022

SpaceX debuts converted Falcon Heavy booster on spectacular Italian satellite launch

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, satellites

For the first time, SpaceX has converted a flight-proven Falcon Heavy side core into a Falcon 9 booster and successfully launched the reborn rocket, carrying an Italian Earth observation satellite to orbit with one of the most visually spectacular Falcon launches in recent memory.

After a tortured campaign of four scrubbed or aborted launch attempts between January 27th and 30th, Falcon 9 finally lifted off from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) LC-40 pad at 6:11 pm EST (23:11 UTC) on Monday, January 31st. The converted Falcon Heavy booster performed perfectly on its first solo mission, successfully carrying a Falcon upper stage and Italy’s CSG-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite to an altitude of 70 km (~45 mi) and a velocity of ~1.7 km/s (Mach 5) – effectively the edge of space.

Thanks to near-perfect weather and the timing of the launch about 15 minutes after sunset, Falcon Heavy side core B1052’s first mission as a Falcon 9 booster wound up producing some of the best views of a SpaceX launch in the company’s history. As the rocket ascended, the sky continued to darken for local ground observers. It wasn’t long before Falcon 9’s shiny, white airframe ascended into direct sunlight, which created some extraordinary contrast against the darkening sky for tracking cameras near the launch site.

Feb 1, 2022

The Plan to Put Bitcoin in Mouse DNA With a Genetically Engineered Virus

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, bitcoin, genetics

VICE.


BitMouseDAO has exactly two investors and almost no money, but they do have a wild idea.

Feb 1, 2022

How putting humans into hibernation could help astronauts travel to Mars

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, space travel

Bear-like human hibernation could enable ambitious proposals for Mars.


On Monday, the European Space Agency published a report explaining how hibernation could help humanity get to Mars. The agency explained that when bears hibernate, they use fewer resources without letting their muscles and bones go to waste.

For a multi-month trip to Mars, it could help a crew complete their trip with reduced stress levels and fewer medical complications. Crew members would enter pods, administer a drug, and let the ship handle operations for most of the flight.

Feb 1, 2022

Elon Musk’s Neuralink is an Absolute Disaster, Neuralink former employees say

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, Elon Musk, policy, robotics/AI

Elon Musk has always said that Neuralink, the company he created in 2016 to build brain-computer interfaces, would do amazing things: Eventually, he says, it aims to allow humans to interact seamlessly with advanced artificial intelligence through thought alone. Along the way, it would help to cure people with spinal cord injuries and brain disorders ranging from Parkinson’s to schizophrenia.

Now the company is approaching a key test: a human clinical trial of its brain-computer interface (BCI). In December, Musk told a conference audience that “we hope to have this in our first humans” in 2022. In January, the company posted a job listing for a clinical trial director, an indication that it may be on track to meet Musk’s suggested timeline.

Musk has put the startup under unrelenting pressure to meet unrealistic timelines, these former employees say. “There was this top-down dissatisfaction with the pace of progress even though we were moving at unprecedented speeds,” says one former member of Neuralink’s technical staff, who worked at the company in 2019. “Still Elon was not satisfied.” Multiple staffers say company policy, dictated by Musk, forbade employees from faulting outside suppliers or vendors for a delay; the person who managed that relationship had to take responsibility for missed deadlines, even those outside their control.

Feb 1, 2022

Cargo ships used to carry up to 12 passengers on no-frills international voyages. Now, fans of the minimalist travel option are hoping it will start up again soon

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The pandemic disrupted a niche mode of travel where passengers could book spartan rooms on commercial vessels for about $100 to $150 per day.


Edit blurry, old, damaged pictures. Improve and restore quality.

Continue reading “Cargo ships used to carry up to 12 passengers on no-frills international voyages. Now, fans of the minimalist travel option are hoping it will start up again soon” »

Feb 1, 2022

Adventures in Technophilosophy: On the Reality of Virtual Worlds

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, education, food

When I was ten years old, I discovered computers. My first machine was a PDP-10 mainframe system at the medical center where my father worked. I taught myself to write simple programs in the BASIC computer language. Like any ten-year-old, I was especially pleased to discover games on the computer. One game was simply labeled “ADVENT.” I opened it and saw:

You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully.

I figured out that I could move around with commands like “go north” and “go south.” I entered the building and got food, water, keys, a lamp. I wandered outside and descended through a grate into a system of underground caves. Soon I was battling snakes, gathering treasures, and throwing axes at pesky attackers. The game used text only, no graphics, but it was easy to imagine the cave system stretching out below ground. I played for months, roaming farther and deeper, gradually mapping out the world.

Feb 1, 2022

Aspirin recall: There’s a poisoning risk with these recalled meds, so check your home now

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Geri-Care issued a recall for some aspirin and acetaminophen bottles that are not child-resistant, posing a poisoning risk.


Aspirin and acetaminophen are over-the-counter drugs that countless people have in their medicine cabinets. Many people use them to alleviate pain and reduce fevers, and these drugs might be the first course of action when exhibiting such symptoms. That’s what makes them popular purchases with consumers. And that’s why buyers should pay extra close attention to recalls that involve aspirin and acetaminophen products.

A new recall action involves bottles of Geri-Care Pharmaceuticals aspirin and acetaminophen, as they pose a risk of poisoning to children who might get their hands on these common drugs.

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Feb 1, 2022

Artificial intelligence system rapidly predicts how two proteins will attach

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, robotics/AI

The machine-learning model could help scientists speed the development of new medicines.

This technique could help scientists better understand some biological processes that involve protein interactions, like DNA replication and repair; it could also speed up the process of developing new medicines.

“Deep learning is very good at capturing interactions between different proteins that are otherwise difficult for chemists or biologists to write experimentally. Some of these interactions are very complicated, and people haven’t found good ways to express them. This deep-learning model can learn these types of interactions from data,” says Octavian-Eugen Ganea, a postdoc in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and co-lead author of the paper.

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