Archive for the ‘biological’ category: Page 183
Mar 30, 2018
Elon Musk’s Neuralink files permit to build biological research lab
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: biological, Elon Musk, neuroscience
Elon Musk’s neurotechnology startup Neuralink filed for permits to build an in-house machine shop and a biological testing laboratory for its facility in San Francisco last year.
The documentation on the company’s 2017 permits was retrieved by Gizmodo, which was able to access Neuralink’s public records. An excerpt of a letter submitted by Neuralink executive Jared Birchall on February 2017 to the city’s planning department gives some clues about the company’s plans for the facility’s proposed machine shop and animal testing lab.
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Mar 29, 2018
The brain learns completely differently than we’ve assumed, new learning theory says
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biological, information science, neuroscience
A revolutionary new theory contradicts a fundamental assumption in neuroscience about how the brain learns. According to researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel led by Prof. Ido Kanter, the theory promises to transform our understanding of brain dysfunction and may lead to advanced, faster, deep-learning algorithms.
A biological schema of an output neuron, comprising a neuron’s soma (body, shown as gray circle, top) with two roots of dendritic trees (light-blue arrows), splitting into many dendritic branches (light-blue lines). The signals arriving from the connecting input neurons (gray circles, bottom) travel via their axons (red lines) and their many branches until terminating with the synapses (green stars). There, the signals connect with dendrites (some synapse branches travel to other neurons), which then connect to the soma. (credit: Shira Sardi et al./Sci. Rep)
Mar 22, 2018
Biological Cells Fused with Artificial Cells
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: bioengineering, biological
For the first time in history, researchers have fused artificial cells with biological cells in a way that lets them work together. This opens the door for a variety of new possibilities and applications.
Fusing biological and artificial cells
The research team at Imperial College London uses a system that encapsulates biological cells within an artificial cell. Using this approach, the team can harness the ability of biological cells to produce chemicals while offering them protection from the environment.
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Mar 21, 2018
In 1986, scientists found a fuel-producing bacterium at the bottom of a Swiss lake. Now, they know how it works
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biological
Mar 20, 2018
Bioquark Inc. — Senior Care — Reversal Of Age-Related Diseases — Ira Pastor
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, disruptive technology, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, science
Mar 16, 2018
Quantum coherence–driven self-organized criticality and nonequilibrium light localization
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biological, chemistry, quantum physics
Self-organized criticality emerges in dynamical complex systems driven out of equilibrium and characterizes a wide range of classical phenomena in physics, geology, and biology. We report on a quantum coherence–controlled self-organized critical transition observed in the light localization behavior of a coherence-driven nanophotonic configuration. Our system is composed of a gain-enhanced plasmonic heterostructure controlled by a coherent drive, in which photons close to the stopped-light regime interact in the presence of the active nonlinearities, eventually synchronizing their dynamics. In this system, on the basis of analytical and corroborating full-wave Maxwell-Bloch computations, we observe quantum coherence–controlled self-organized criticality in the emergence of light localization arising from the synchronization of the photons. It is associated with two first-order phase transitions: one pertaining to the synchronization of the dynamics of the photons and the second pertaining to an inversionless lasing transition by the coherent drive. The so-attained light localization, which is robust to dissipation, fluctuations, and many-body interactions, exhibits scale-invariant power laws and absence of finely tuned control parameters. We also found that, in this nonequilibrium dynamical system, the effective critical “temperature” of the system drops to zero, whereupon one enters the quantum self-organized critical regime.
The self-organization of many nonequilibrium complex systems toward an “ordered” state is a profound concept in basic science, ranging from biochemistry to physics (2–4). Examples include the group movement of flocks of birds , motions of human crowds , neutrino oscillations in the early universe , and the formation of shapes (“morphogenesis”) in biological organisms (8, 9). An intriguing trait of this nonequilibrium, driven-dissipative systems (2, 3) is that their self-organization can lead them to a phase transition and to critical behavior—a phenomenon known as self-organized criticality (SOC) (10). Unlike equilibrium phase-transition phenomena, such as superconductivity or ferromagnetism, where an exogenous control parameter (for example, temperature or pressure) needs to be precisely tuned for the phase transition to occur, no such fine-tuning is needed in SOC systems (10–13): They can self-organize and reach their critical state even when driven far away from it.
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Mar 10, 2018
Enzymes and Cognitive Decline
Posted by Nicholi Avery in categories: biological, life extension, neuroscience
Enzymes play an important role in cognitive function. Enzymes are biological catalysts. They’re responsible for accelerating chemical reactions.
What role do enzymes play in #aging and cognitive function?
According to new research in laboratory mice by UC San Francisco scientists have discovered that loss of an #enzyme that modifies gene activity to promote brain regeneration may be partly responsible for age-related cognitive decline. When age related cognitive decline starts is still debatable, however the effects of age related cognitive decline are well known.
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Mar 6, 2018
Bioquark Inc. — Mama Bear Cancer Coach Radio Show — Ira Pastor
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, biological, business, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, life extension, neuroscience, transhumanism
Mar 5, 2018
Waking up From the Dream of Longevity
Posted by Steve Hill in categories: biological, genetics, internet, life extension, robotics/AI, space
In the course of the last century, science fiction has been a harbinger of things to come. From the automatic sliding doors of Star Trek to visual communication, cyberspace, and even the moon landing, many of our present technological achievements were dreamed up in the futuristic visions of science fiction authors of the 1960s and 70s. Indeed, the fantastical world of science fiction, while not intended to be prophetic, has ended up acting as a blueprint for our modern world.
We have learned from science fiction not only the possibilities of technology, however, but also its irreconcilable dangers. Readers of the genre will recognize the many stories warning us of the hazards of space travel, mind enhancement, and artificial intelligence. These fictional accounts cautioned that if we were not careful, our freedom to transform the world around us would transmogrify into a self-enforced slavery.
Nonetheless, while many of us remembered that these were just stories, intended as speculations about a possible future—in other words, they were fiction before science—through them, we became used to the idea that any advanced technology was inherently dangerous and its use always suspect. Moreover, it became a commonplace idea that technologies whose aim was to change or transform the human being—whether genetic, biological or reconstructive—would lead to a future worthy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
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