Electronic Tattoo Monitors Brain, Heart and Muscles

National Science Foundation – Elastic electronics offer less invasive, more convenient medical treatment Imagine if there were electronics able to prevent epileptic seizures before they happen. Or electronics that could be placed on the surface of a beating heart to monitor its functions. The problem is that such devices are a tough fit. Body tissue …

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It’s Hurricane Season and They’ve Hocked The Storm Shelter

By Joseph Friedlander One line summary: Irresponsible governmental behavior has made us most vulnerable at the precise time a major societal crisis—and choice of futures– is due to be faced. 30 Second version: Reckless government manipulations and spending often with a conscious attempt to ‘smooth out’ the short term economic cycles, may have adversely affected …

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What if we get super cheap D-D (Deuterium-Deuterium fusion power?

A guest article by Joseph Friedlander What if thermonuclear power was as easy to build as a plasma torch, or rocket engine– some simple electromechanical assembly (with precise electronic controls) that could be built in a home workshop and unleash a horrific fusion plasma with the power output of a rocket engine not in vacuum …

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The Science of Antiaging Chat With Aubrey de Grey and S. Jay Olshansky

Science recently hosted a live chat event with researchers Aubrey de Grey and S. Jay Olshansky. Jay Olshansky, a professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist based in Cambridge, U.K., and chief science officer of SENS Foundation, a California-based charity that is trying to combat the aging process. …

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Space technologies that would help enable a more affordable Permanent Moon Base

1. Fuel depots. 2-17 times more stuff to the moon or other space missions. Lowering costs for GTO closer to LEO orbit costs Boeing Propellant fuel depot 2. Lunar concrete would reduce the amount of material needed to build things on the moon by ten times. A 50 meter telescope could be built from lunar …

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Making a Permanent Lunar Base and Overcoming Political Roadblocks

Rand Simberg has noted – It is possible to withdraw from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty with one years notice. A president that wanted to do that would need to get Congressional support. Another method is suggested by the Space Settlement Institute. The U.S. can recognize private claims of non-state actors, which could accomplish the …

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Quantum Cryptography communication may not be secure for more than one use

Arxiv- Prisoners of their own device: Trojan attacks on device-independent quantum cryptography (7 pages) Device-independent cryptographic schemes aim to guarantee security to users based only on the output statistics of any components used, and without the need to verify their internal functionality. Since this would protect users against untrustworthy or incompetent manufacturers, sabotage or device …

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UK sets sights on gene therapy in embryos

Nature – Public consultation and safety assessment would pave the way for embryo manipulation to treat genetic diseases. Britain has set out a road map towards the first clinical tests of reproductive techniques that combine parents’ genes with DNA from a third party. The approach raises ethical questions, but could spare children from inheriting some …

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Cool Nano Loudspeakers Could Make for Better MRIs, Quantum Computers

NIST – A team of physicists from the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), the Neils Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Harvard University has developed a theory describing how to both detect weak electrical signals and cool electrical circuits using light and something very like a nanosized loudspeaker.* If demonstrated through experiment, the work could have …

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