Comment Re:Fusion in 2013! (Score 1) 2
I've found this to be a common theme in far-fetched science news (bordering on pseudoscience), that it's always 5 to 10 years away... we just need more investment capital...
Submission + - Studies that add human cells to animal brains are ethical, panel says (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: Experiments that create tiny brainlike structures from human stem cells or transplant human cells into an animal’s brain have made some scientists, ethicists, and religious leaders uneasy in recent years. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has restricted some of this research. Now, a U.S. scientific panel has weighed in with advice about how to oversee this controversial and fast-moving area of neuroscience.
The panel finds little evidence that brain “organoids” or animals given human cells experience humanlike consciousness or pain, and concludes current rules are adequate for overseeing this work. But they caution that could change, particularly as experiments move into nonhuman primates. “The rationale for the report is to get out ahead of the curve,” says Harvard University neuroscientist Joshua Sanes, co-chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee that released its report today.
The panel finds little evidence that brain “organoids” or animals given human cells experience humanlike consciousness or pain, and concludes current rules are adequate for overseeing this work. But they caution that could change, particularly as experiments move into nonhuman primates. “The rationale for the report is to get out ahead of the curve,” says Harvard University neuroscientist Joshua Sanes, co-chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee that released its report today.
Comment The real question this brings up... (Score 1) 100
Am I going to need to buy a new watch?
Comment Re:The size of that ship is staggering (Score 1) 135
People are terrible at judging period.
Precisely why I said, "Wrong." As you stated, "Quite the opposite," which was incorrect, or imprecise at best.
Comment Re:The size of that ship is staggering (Score 1) 135
Wrong. People are terrible at judging large sizes and distances based on numbers alone. We need a point of reference. So, without a standard that is applicable to all cultures, we get references to things that are equal to exact units of measure that are ubiquitous (or nearly so) within the culture in which the reporting is being done. That said, you're focusing on the wrong part of this problem. Rather than simply reporting using only the exact measurement, which would go over the heads of the majority of the intended audience, why not find a more universal point of reference that's also accurate?
Comment Re: Only some of them. (Score 1) 77
But is social media really the problem? It seems to be more of a case of "garbage in, garbage out" and the garbage in all of these cases is humanity in general.
Comment Choose Violence (Score 1) 33
I like that the Venus Flytrap could just get what it needs from sunlight, dirt, and water, but chooses violence.
Comment Re:The size of that ship is staggering (Score 1) 135
Because a football field is an exact unit of measure, being exactly 100 yards, or 300 feet (not counting the end zones).
There is no set standard for the length of a city block. For example, the standard block in Manhattan is about (but not exactly) 900 feet, and in Chicago, a typical city block is roughly (again, but not exactly) 660 feet. There's simply too much variation for this to be a useful point of reference.
Venus Flytraps Have Magnetic Fields Like the Human Brain (vice.com) 33
An anonymous reader shares a report from Motherboard (Editor's note: the article was written last week based on findings published in January): [F]or the first time in history, a group of mavericks out of Switzerland have detected a magnetic signal in a plant. Using a highly sensitive magnetometer, an interdisciplinary team of researchers have measured signals from a Venus flytrap of up to .5 picotesla. To make matters even more mind-blowing, this signal is roughly equivalent to the biomagnetic field strength of the human brain. The full report is here.
The Venus flytrap boasts three trigger hairs that serve as mechanosensors. When a prey insect touches a trigger hair, an Action Potential is generated and travels along both trap lobes. If a second touch-induced Action Potential is fired within 30 seconds, the energy stored in the open trap is released and the capture organ closes. This is the plant-insect equivalent of a repeat offender. Imprisonment ensues. Crucial to making these findings was the fact that this electrical activity doesn't carry into the stalk of traps, which allowed the researchers to isolate the lobe by slicing it from the rest of the plant. Biologically intact, it was then placed on to a sensor. [...] The discovery is as huge for biomagnetism in plants as it is for electro-physiology in general. We now have proof of a pathway for long-distance signal propagation between plant cells. "[I]n the future, magnetometry may be used to study long-distance electrical signaling in a variety of plant species, and to develop noninvasive diagnostics of plant stress and disease," the report says. Crops could be scanned for temperature shifts, chemical changes, or pests without having to damage the plants themselves.
The Venus flytrap boasts three trigger hairs that serve as mechanosensors. When a prey insect touches a trigger hair, an Action Potential is generated and travels along both trap lobes. If a second touch-induced Action Potential is fired within 30 seconds, the energy stored in the open trap is released and the capture organ closes. This is the plant-insect equivalent of a repeat offender. Imprisonment ensues. Crucial to making these findings was the fact that this electrical activity doesn't carry into the stalk of traps, which allowed the researchers to isolate the lobe by slicing it from the rest of the plant. Biologically intact, it was then placed on to a sensor. [...] The discovery is as huge for biomagnetism in plants as it is for electro-physiology in general. We now have proof of a pathway for long-distance signal propagation between plant cells. "[I]n the future, magnetometry may be used to study long-distance electrical signaling in a variety of plant species, and to develop noninvasive diagnostics of plant stress and disease," the report says. Crops could be scanned for temperature shifts, chemical changes, or pests without having to damage the plants themselves.
Comment Coming soon... (Score 0) 49
...The Year of the Linux Desktop?!
Has Netcraft confirmed it?
Comment Re: Only some of them. (Score 1) 77
The comment section here on Slashdot has been this bad (and often a lot worse) since at least 2002. It's one of the main reasons I left for so long. I came back only because it's just as bad everywhere else, but at least I get to read and share some interesting science articles.
Submission + - SPAM: Venus Flytraps Have Magnetic Fields Like the Human Brain
An anonymous reader writes: [F]or the first time in history, a group of mavericks out of Switzerland have detected a magnetic signal in a plant. Using a highly sensitive magnetometer, an interdisciplinary team of researchers have measured signals from a Venus flytrap of up to .5 picotesla. To make matters even more mind-blowing, this signal is roughly equivalent to the biomagnetic field strength of the human brain. The full report is here.
The Venus flytrap boasts three trigger hairs that serve as mechanosensors. When a prey insect touches a trigger hair, an Action Potential is generated and travels along both trap lobes. If a second touch-induced Action Potential is fired within 30 seconds, the energy stored in the open trap is released and the capture organ closes. This is the plant-insect equivalent of a repeat offender. Imprisonment ensues. Crucial to making these findings was the fact that this electrical activity doesn’t carry into the stalk of traps, which allowed the researchers to isolate the lobe by slicing it from the rest of the plant. Biologically intact, it was then placed on to a sensor. [...] The discovery is as huge for biomagnetism in plants as it is for electro-physiology in general. We now have proof of a pathway for long-distance signal propagation between plant cells.
Link to Original Source
The Venus flytrap boasts three trigger hairs that serve as mechanosensors. When a prey insect touches a trigger hair, an Action Potential is generated and travels along both trap lobes. If a second touch-induced Action Potential is fired within 30 seconds, the energy stored in the open trap is released and the capture organ closes. This is the plant-insect equivalent of a repeat offender. Imprisonment ensues. Crucial to making these findings was the fact that this electrical activity doesn’t carry into the stalk of traps, which allowed the researchers to isolate the lobe by slicing it from the rest of the plant. Biologically intact, it was then placed on to a sensor. [...] The discovery is as huge for biomagnetism in plants as it is for electro-physiology in general. We now have proof of a pathway for long-distance signal propagation between plant cells.
Link to Original Source
Submission + - SPAM: CRISPR offers hope for controlling African swine fever
wooloohoo writes: New vaccine trials hold great promise in the management of an East African strain of African swine fever (ASF), one of the most devastating diseases to afflict pigs.
Scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are employing CRISPR Cas9 editing and synthetic biology to modify the ASFV genome in order to attenuate the virus for a live vaccine to help reduce deaths from African swine fever. Up to 10 vaccine candidates have been lined up for tests, in a project that commenced in 2016.
“This is the first test based on a genome to be conducted on genotype IX, which is prevalent in Eastern and Central Africa,” Lucilla Steinaa, leading scientist in the vaccine research against African swine fever at ILRI, told the Alliance. The genetic characterization of all the ASF virus isolates known so far has demonstrated 23 geographically related genotypes with numerous subgroups, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“There are seven to 10 candidates, on a variety of stages,” Steinaa said. “We have just started the lab experiment, a controlled animal experiment, which I estimate may run until the end of 2022 or thereabouts. By then, we hope to have found a candidate vaccine that can be produced.”
Link to Original Source
Scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are employing CRISPR Cas9 editing and synthetic biology to modify the ASFV genome in order to attenuate the virus for a live vaccine to help reduce deaths from African swine fever. Up to 10 vaccine candidates have been lined up for tests, in a project that commenced in 2016.
“This is the first test based on a genome to be conducted on genotype IX, which is prevalent in Eastern and Central Africa,” Lucilla Steinaa, leading scientist in the vaccine research against African swine fever at ILRI, told the Alliance. The genetic characterization of all the ASF virus isolates known so far has demonstrated 23 geographically related genotypes with numerous subgroups, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“There are seven to 10 candidates, on a variety of stages,” Steinaa said. “We have just started the lab experiment, a controlled animal experiment, which I estimate may run until the end of 2022 or thereabouts. By then, we hope to have found a candidate vaccine that can be produced.”
Link to Original Source
Comment Re:Corrected link (Score 1) 2
Alternatively, others have written about this study: https://www.oddee.com/horror-m...
Comment Corrected link (Score 1) 2
Not sure why the link got f'd up in this submission, but it should be as follows: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wile...
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The perversity of nature is nowhere better demonstrated by the fact that, when exposed to the same atmosphere, bread becomes hard while crackers become soft.
