A Northeastern research team has developed new technology that optimizes DNA sequencing using nanophysics and electric currents. In a paper published in Nature Nanotechnology, Northeastern Professor of Biological Physics Meni Wanunu, in partnership with Pacific Biosciences, a biotechnology company with a focus on DNA sequencing, developed a method for loading DNA into sequencing wells with [...]
From sciencedaily.com: Lawrence Livermore scientists, in collaboration with researchers at Northeastern University, have developed carbon nanotube pores that can exclude salt from seawater. The team also found that water permeability in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with diameters smaller than a nanometer (0.8 nm) exceeds that of wider carbon nanotubes by an order of magnitude. The nanotubes, [...]
By Lolita Taub, AI Enthusiast at medium.com: From the post by Lolita Taub... This post is a mashup of several resources listed at the end of the post. If I missed something, please leave a comment. I plan to update this document periodically. Merriam-Webster’s definition of artificial intelligence: artificial intelligence. 1 : a branch of computer [...]
From an article at nanowerk.com: Microtubules are architectural struts in nerves. They have dynamic parts that constantly assemble and disassemble, but also stable parts that remain assembled. In recent years, researchers working in neurobiology have been intrigued by the idea of microtubule-stabilizing drugs as a therapy to augment nerve regeneration. "Previous authors proposed that damaged [...]
DNA is the stuff of life, but it is also the stuff of nanotechnology. Because molecules of DNA with complementary chemical structures recognize and bind to one another, strands of DNA can fit together like Lego blocks to make nanoscale objects of complex shape and structure. But researchers need to work with much larger assemblages [...]
From an article by Julie Barr (via Robotics Daily): What are the legal rights of a robot? This is one of the many questions MIT Media Lab researcher Kate Darling contemplates as part of her work in robot ethics. Robots have been working for decades in manufacturing, but now robots that focus on human interaction [...]
From an article by AZOnano: The 2010 Nobel Prize-winning, carbon-based material known as graphene will likely play a large role in our future, yet very few people outside the scientific community have heard of it. Graphene is a two-dimensional layer of carbon that conducts electricity better than copper; it is the thinnest material on the [...]
From an article by Max Tegmark, PhD at kurzweilai.net: In his new book Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, MIT physicist and AI researcher Max Tegmark explores the future of technology, life, and intelligence. The question of how to define life is notoriously controversial. Competing definitions abound, some of which include highly specific [...]
The International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS 2017) will be held on October 11-12, 2017 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, New Mexico. ISPCS has set the industry standard for commercial space conferences. ISPCS offers an intimate setting that fosters unrivaled networking, an agenda rich in content, and [...]
From an article by By Sarah Lewin, Space.com Associate Editor: Researchers have used brain-like "neural networks" to analyze key distortions in space-time 10 million times faster than conventional methods can do so. The new study trained an artificial-intelligence system to examine features called gravitational lenses in images from the Hubble Space Telescope as well as simulated [...]
