A team of scientists at the Klarman Cell Observatory at the Broad Institute recently completed an effort to read, or sequence, all the RNA — the “transcriptome” — in individual immune cells. Whereas DNA in a cell’s genome represents its blueprint for making the building blocks of cells, RNA is more like the cell’s contractor, …
Canadian David LeBlanc is an expert on molten salt nuclear reactors. Nextbigfuture covered a talk he gave on denatured molten salt reactors. Terrestrial Energy Inc. (“TEI”) was founded in late 2012, and is domiciled in Ontario, Canada. Its mission is to commercialize its patent-pending Molten Salt Reactor technology in Canada. The company has been formed …
The US was the top total oil producing country in the month of November and for the last quarter of 2012. Nextbigfuture had noted that the US probably passed Saudi Arabia in Dec, 2012 based on preliminary weekly statistics. The more thorough monthly statistics indicate it happened a month earlier. Top All Oil Liquid Producing …
32-year-old Dmitry Itskov is seeking investors to fund research for technology that will make eternal life possible by transferring human consciousness in an artificial form to avatars (robotic bodies). Itskov is the founder of Initiative 2045, a non-profit organization focused on creating an international research center where scientists will research and develop the technologies to …
A warning courtesy of John Scalzi. Nextbigfuture also received a copy of the scam email. Short version: If you’re a science fiction/fantasy writer/futurist speaker who got an invitation to speak from Bexley College in the UK, someone’s trying to scam you. The letter mentions my speaker listing at AboutSF suggests that whoever is doing it …
The Carnival of Space 281/282 is up at Aartscope. If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers …
1. Nuclear fusion, assisted by magnetic sails, gets us to Alpha Centauri in ~50 years. How do we get there faster? Absent annihilation drives, powered by gamma-ray lasing matter-antimatter reactions or Hawking decaying force-fed mini-black holes, then we need to get the power-supply off the space vehicle and send fuel, momentum and energy to the …
One of several predictions by Broadcom chief technologist Henry Samueli is that by 2027, mobile devices will sport all-digital radios and Gbit/second cellular modems powered by 16-core apps processors running at 5 GHz. This prediction seems to be way too conservative. TheVerge – Korean carrier SK Telecom is hoping to push the limits of LTE …
Telegraph UK – Three academics from the Development Research Centre of the State Council, an influential think-tank that advises China’s cabinet, called on authorities to consider “adjustments” to the law and the introduction of a two-child policy “as soon as possible”. A policy change was needed in order to avert an impending labour shortage and …
With $1.5 million from the Department of Energy, University of Arizona researchers are continuing to improve groundbreaking technology to produce solar electricity at a price competitive with non-renewable energy sources. The “tracker” consists of a steel frame that ultimately will support eight mirrors (each measuring 10 feet by 10 feet), together generating enough electricity to …
At the 1992 Earth Summit — the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development — representatives from 178 countries, including 108 world leaders, forged a bold new vision for development — sustainable development. The vision, embodied in Agenda 21 and the Rio Principles, marked a major shift, calling for the full integration of environmental, social …