Focusing on the Cells Power House

More and more, scientists are becoming convinced thataging is a disease that can be stopped or, at least, slowed. Recently, researchers from Russia and Sweden investigated this idea furtherin a joint study byLomonosov Moscow State University and Stockholm University. Their study, published in the journal Aging, focuses on the role of mitochondria in the aging of organisms.

Under the leadership of renowned Russian biologist Vladimir Skulachev, the researchers experimented with a special strain of genetically-modified mice. A single mutation was introduced into the genome of these mice, which were created and characterized in Sweden. This mutation substantially accelerated mitochondrial mutagenesis. Instead of living more than two years, these mutated mice lived less than a year, and developed many age-related diseases and defects clearly indicating that these were caused by aging.

The researchers treated a group of 100-day-old genetically modified mice with a synthetic compound called SkQ1, an artificial antioxidant that targets the mitochondria. SkQ1 was developed in Moscow State University in Skulachevs lab. The SkQ1 was added into the drinking water of these mice, while a separate control group were given pure water. By the time the mice aged 200-250 days, the control group had aged rapidly and lost weight, experienced a decrease in body weight and temperature, had osteoporosis, and were developing alopecia. There was also a decrease in mobility and oxygen intake all signs of aging. On the other hand, these traits were dramatically decelerated for the mice treated with SkQ1.

The results of the study show that mitochondria indeed play a key role in aging. This work is quite valuable from both theoretical and practical points of view. First, it clearly demonstrates the key role of mitochondrially produced reactive oxygen species in the process of aging of mammals, Skulachev explained. At the same time our study opens the way to the treatment of aging with mitochondrially targeted antioxidants.

With these promising results, Skulachev is already working on developing potential drug treatments based on SkQ1. One is an eye drop called Visomitin, which has already been approved in Russia and has passed phase 2 clinical trials in the U.S. Another project currently in development is an oral version of SkQ1. In Russia, this drug is now on clinical trials. If all goes well and as expected, the drug can be approved for public use within 2-3 years.

These arent the only anti-aging efforts around. Other institutions, like the San Francisco-based startup Unity Biotechnology, are looking to understand the mechanisms of cellular senescence and slow down aging. Still others are relying on stem cell technology to regenerate human tissue damaged by aging or disease. One Nobel laureate thinksthe secret is in lengthening telomeres. With these studies around, we may just be able to soon slow down human aging or even stop it altogether.

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Researchers Have Found a Way to Delay Aging - Futurism

100 Degrees in Winter

Magnum, Oklahoma, saw temperatures close to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) last week. This would be nothing exceptional in the tropics on a summer day, but this spike occurred in the Northern Hemisphere in the dead of winter.In fact, this weather was so extreme it broke a daily record in the state, which had an average February high of 13 degrees Celsius (56 degrees Fahrenheit) prior to this phenomenon.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin issued an emergency burn ban due to the sweltering heat, but a grass fire that caused some residents to evacuate their homes still broke out. Temperatures have since returned to the normal range for the region.

Fire hazards aside, most would normally welcome a rare warm February. However, it should be noted that such extreme shifts in temperature are very unusual during the winter, and they tangibly illustrate the effects of climate change on our environment. Warm temperatures during traditionally cold months are enough to disrupt and destabilize the natural ecosystem. The balmy weather may prompt trees and flowers to bloom, only to suffer frost damage when the temperatures return to normal. That may seem like a very minor thing, but it can have a ripple effect on the industries that are dictated by the seasons, such as agriculture.

These record-breaking temperatures are invariably associated with humanitys influence on the environment. Carbon emissions caused by our dependence on fossil fuels are trapping heat inside the planets atmosphere, resulting in very erratic temperatures.

As much as climate change deniers would like to classify this weather anomaly as an isolated event, similar extreme weather shifts are happening in various parts of the world, providing overwhelming evidence of climate change: Australia is still recovering from a major heatwave during which temperatures reach 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit); temperatures in the Arcticexceeded the average three times in the last few months; and the North Poles temperature has risen to 20 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) above its normal average.

Fortunately, it looks like public opinion is changing as anew study just reportedthat a majority of adults in the UK now recognize the reality of man-made climate change. Over just three years, there has been a discernible shift in public opinion towards acceptance that climate change is both happening and mainly caused by human activity, according Andrew Hawkins, chairman of ComRes, the organization behind the study.Seven in ten now believe that almost all, or a majority, of climate scientists believe the same.

Hopefully, governments and policy makers will follow suit. Their support for renewables, electric vehicles (EVs), environmental regulations, and similar initiatives that address climate change is critical to making sure that we protect the planet and work to reverse the damage we have already done.

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Last Week, the Temperature in One U.S. City Was 43 Degrees ... - Futurism

NASA Manifesto

Most people are just getting used to not counting Pluto among the solar systems nine oops, eight main planets. Now though, we may have to change our understanding of what planets are (again), as NASA scientists suggest a new definition.

Back in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined what constitutes a planet in our solar system as follows: a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. It was the last bit in this definition that effectively kicked Pluto out of the planet roster.

Now,NASA researchers led by by Alan Stern, the principle investigator for NASAs New Horizons Pluto mission, have proposed a geophysical definition. Instead of being dependent on whether a cosmic body orbits the Sun or not, the scientists looked to their intrinsic physical properties. According to the manifesto, a planet is a sub-stellar mass body that has never undergone nuclear fusion and that has sufficient self-gravitation to assume a spheroidal shape adequately described by a triaxial ellipsoid regardless of its orbital parameters.

Stern was particularly adamant about the 2006 decision, as it was proposed by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) astronomer Mike Brown. Why would you listen to an astronomer about a planet? Stern told Business Insiders Kelly Dickerson back in 2015. You really should listen to planetary scientists that know something about this subject, added Stern, who is a planetary scientist himself. When we look at an object like Pluto, we dont know what else to call it.

Defining what a planet is isnt as arbitrary is it seems. Stern and his team had to come up with a definition that would reinstate Pluto back into full-planetary status, while at the same time leaving out a host of other cosmic objects like stars and other stellar bodies, including white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. The new definition, however, would include not just all known dwarf planets but also our very own moon.

None of this is final, of course. But if theres one thing we can conclude from this battle of definitions, its this: theres still so much we dont know about the cosmos.Recent discoveries about Pluto have made it more obvious than ever that it could bedefined asa planet, but more research is neededto finally conclude what a planet is.

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NASA Scientists Have a New Way to Define Planets - Futurism

Cheap, Good, and Fast

What do you get when you combine an inkjet printer, 20 minutes, a penny, and a drive to fight global health inequality?

Medical diagnostics magic.

A team of Stanford engineers have developed an alternative diagnostic method that may be a potential solution to medical diagnostic inaccessibility in developing countries. Their research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, overviewsa tiny, reusable microchip capable of diagnosing multiple diseases. As mentioned, the tool, which theyve dubbed FINP, is surprisingly affordable, with a production cost of just $.01, and itcan be developed in 20 minutes.

The FINP chip features three layers. The reusable top layer can be printed onto the device through a standard ink-jet printer. The bottom layer is a disposable silicon chamber that holds biological fluids, while a thin barrier separates the electronics on the top from the chamber.

These diagnostic chips are created via a simple two-step process. First, the user designs whatever custom electronic configuration is needed for a particular diagnosis. Essentially, theyre designing a circuit that will isolate molecules with distinct properties, such as a particular shape, size, density, or electronic charge, when the chips electronic field is manipulated. Once they have their designthey can print it onto a cheap plastic sheet and place it over the single-use chambers. In the future, designs for the top layer are most likely going to be downloadable, similar to how many 3D printing designs are available today.

During the study, the researchers conducted tests to see if the chip could be used to pullcancer cells from a fluid sample, and it could. They alsocompared the efficiency of their FINPchip against a $100,000 cytometry technique typically used to count immune cells, and both tools measured the cell count accurately.

The remarkable success of testing begs the question, How can we get this chip around the world to help those in need? The Stanford team is working to do just that, but acknowledges that it will take some time toensure that the device meets all standards before moving toward commercialization.

Any platform for diagnostics or other biomedical applications must go through several testing, validation and optimization paths before commercialization, and well take and follow it very seriously, study author Dr. Rahim Esfandyarpour tells Singularity Hub.

Ifthey reach that point, they will have a device on their hands that could potentially cut costs down tremendously in diagnosing equipment while simultaneously preventing the spread of infection around the world. The team is optimistic that their device can make a difference, as they should be. A penny chip that can detect disease is one reminder that we arein the future.

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This Chip Costs One Cent and Can Diagnose Everything From Cancer to HIV - Futurism

Global Health Security

Whenbillionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates gave a speech at the Munich Security Conference for the first time Saturday, he argued a very alarming possibility: the future of international security will be fought on the biological front. Specifically, Gates warned about the dangers of a bioterrorist attack that could wipe out 30 million people in less than a year and how were not prepared for it.

We ignore the link between health security and international security at our peril, warned Gates, who has been spending the better part of 20 years funding global health campaigns. He went on to share some alarming statistics:Whether it occurs by a quirk of nature or at the hand of a terrorist, epidemiologists say a fast-moving airborne pathogen could kill more than 30 million people in less than a year. And they say there is a reasonable probability the world will experience such an outbreak in the next 10-15 years.

What makes Gates warning even more alarming is that fact that bioterrorism can now be done from behind a computer. Its also true that the next epidemic could originate on the computer screen of a terrorist intent on using genetic engineering to create a synthetic version of the smallpox virus . . . or a super contagious and deadly strain of the flu, said Gates.

Gates warnings arent at all farfetched. According to The Guardian, US and UK intelligence agencies have said that Islamic State has been trying to develop biological weapons at its bases in Syria and Iraq.

In order to fight such a threat, Gates recommended using the very same technology that allows for the development of deadly pathogens: genetic engineering. First and most importantly, we have to build an arsenal of new weaponsvaccines, drugs, and diagnostics, he said.

Gates went on to explain in further detail what he thinks needs to be done:

Vaccines can be especially important in containing epidemics. But today, it typically takes up to 10 years to develop and license a new vaccine. To significantly curb deaths from a fast-moving airborne pathogen, we would have to get that down considerablyto 90 days or less. [] The really big breakthrough potential is in emerging technology platforms that leverage recent advances in genomics to dramatically reduce the time needed to develop vaccines.

Of course, these efforts have to be supported by a public health systems that can easily detect the emergence of a deadly pathogen. Because epidemics can quickly take root in the places least equipped to fight them, we also need to improve surveillance, Gates said. That starts with strengthening basic public health systems in the most vulnerable countries. We also have to ensure that every country is conducting routine surveillance to gather and verify disease outbreak intelligence.

Right now, there is still time for us to get ready to fight a bioterrorism pandemic or even avoid one altogether. The key is in how we prepare. As Gates told the conference, Getting ready for a global pandemic is every bit as important as nuclear deterrence and avoiding a climate catastrophe. Innovation, cooperation and careful planning can dramatically mitigate the risks presented by each of these threats.

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Bill Gates Warns New Bioterrorism Threat Could Wipe out Over 30 Million People - Futurism

In Brief

Evidently, SpaceX is getting a lot better at landing its reusable rockets. The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket that was used to safely transport satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit, and we are now able to see the Falcon 9s third successful landing on solid ground from a drones unique vantage point.

This was SpaceXs first commercial rocket launch from NASAs Kennedy Space Center. The rocket was sent to deliver a payload into space. To capture the moment, a camera-equipped drone was sent to film the Falcon 9s downward journey through the clouds to touch safely down on SpaceXs Landing Zone 1.

The other landings on this same landing zone took place back in December of 2015 and July of 2016. SpaceX was also able to successfully land Falcon 9 on the companys first spaceport drone ship Just Read the Instructions.

Successfully reusing boosters is a critical part of bringing down the cost of these launches because they wont have to build a completely new rocket for every mission. According to SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, achieving this level of reusability can bring down launches by as much as 30 percent. This could, over time, allow for more frequent launches and faster progress.

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Watch This Amazing Drone Footage of Falcon 9 Landing - Futurism

An Exo-Conference

NASA has served as a symbol of wonder and scientific enthusiasm. From landing on the moon to the exploration of our solar system, it has been the organizations ultimate goal to make the unknown, known. As of this moment, one of the most pressing unknowns is the existence of extraterrestrial life. Avoiding discussion without a fact base, NASA has already launched several evidence-based researchprojects on the matter. From establishing a martian colonyto diving into the seas of EuropaNASA is at work trying to find answers.

NASA will be holding a press conference at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, February 22nd to present new findings on exoplanets, which are planets that orbit stars other than our sun.

Participants of the briefing include Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Michael Gillon, astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium, Sean Carey, manager of NASAs Spitzer Science Center at Caltech/IPAC,Nikole Lewis, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

During the conference, NASA will be taking questions from the public and the media on twitter through the hashtag#askNASA. At 3 p.m. EST, following the briefing, NASA will host a Reddit AMA(Ask Me Anything) session with the scientists available to answer questions in English and Spanish.

The event can be streamed live on NASA TVat the time of the conference.

The first exoplanet around a main-sequence star to be discovered was in October of 1995, and ever since, we have discovered 4,696 candidates, 3,449 confirmed exoplanets, and of these exoplanets, 348 have been terrestrial. Thanks to advanced technology, we continue to unravel more and more mysteries of the universe, and exoplanets are no exception.

Below you can find a commercially sponsored trailer for exoplanets created by NASA:

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This Week, NASA is Announcing a New Discovery Beyond our Solar System - Futurism

Our Robotic Future

Attitudes towards robots, especially artificially intelligent (AI) robots, are mixed at best. As AI technology evolves and robots become eerily similar to living, breathing, thinking organisms, people seem to be less and less likely to trust them. Robots stir up unsettling memories of science fiction nightmares, images of robots surpassing humans in intelligence and taking over, lording over us and causing mass mayhem.

According to Elon Musk, AI technology is progressing so quickly that we may need to start mergingwith it soon, essentially becoming cyborgs. Its easy to see where he gets that notion, considering robots are already threatening to replace lawyers, childcare workers, checkout clerks, and more.

In an effort to gauge public opinion, the European Commission recently conducted a survey that looked at peoples attitudes towards robots, and the results of that effort are now available.

While the general reaction was mostly positive, there are a few areas in which people expressed a fairly obvious distrust. For instance, the study asked participants if there were any areas of work from which robots should be banned and received asignificant affirmative response for some industries. For example, 60-61 percent responded that robots should be banned from caring for children, the elderly, and the disabled, 30-34 percent said that robots should be banned from education, and 27-30 percent said that robots should be banned from healthcare.

As AI is already being used within healthcare in the form of IBM Watson, it is easy to imagine that any of these sectors could be home to AI technology and robots in the future. However, the report did show that there are several areas where people are already excited to have robotshelp propel us forward, with 45-52 percent in favor of their use forspace exploration, 50-57 percent for manufacturing, and 41-64 percent for military and security operations.

AI and robotics technology is clearly progressing much faster than many people may have expected and not just in the areas wed hope. AI robots are no longer a thing of the future, and they will only continue to get more intelligent and more prevalent in our daily lives. It is important to know how people feel about them and what can be done to minimize the risks of a sci-fi-style robot takeover, but it really all comes down to one question: How much do we trust robots?

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Would You Let a Robot Watch Your Children? - Futurism - Futurism

In Brief

Theres a lot of sun in Nevada, so it only makes sense to harness its power. Thats why long-time solar champion and Nevada legislature assemblyman Chris Brooks proposed AB 206, a bill that pushes the states renewable portfolio standard (RPS) from its current 22 percent goal to 80 percent by 2040.

The bill pushes an incremental increase in Nevadas RPS goal on a two-year interval. This would start with a 4 percent increase in 2018-2019 that would put the RPS goal at 26 percent. In each subsequent year, it would increase by4 percent until 2030, when utility companies would be required to produce 50 percent of their energy using renewable sources.

AB 206 isvery supportive of solar energy in Nevada, both in terms of rooftop and utility-scale solar power. While it cuts the existing requirement for utilities to generate 5 percent of their RPS goal from solar power, the bill includes making solar power sent from homes to the grida mandatory goal for utilities. Nevadas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recently approved a deal between NV Energy and SolarCity that gives customers the right to retain their retail rate net metering deal, so this bill would be the second big win for solar in the state.

Nevada joins Massachusetts in the effort to push the use of renewable energy sources. The latter state recently introduced a similar bill in its state assembly that pushes for 100 percent renewable energy use in Massachusetts by 2035.

The reasons for both bills are the essentially the same, which is to encourage and accelerate the development of new renewable energy projects for the economic, health, and environmental benefits provided to the people of this State, according toAB 206.

As the federal government seems to favor fossil fuels, its left to states like Nevada and Massachusetts to keep renewable energy efforts moving through government channels. Hopefully, more states will follow in the path of these pioneers of renewable energy.

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Nevada Pushes for 80% Renewable Energy by 2040 - Futurism

Reaching the Red Planet

Do we really need to explore Mars? According to tech innovatorElon Musk, its not just a choice we have to

make, its a necessity. We will stay on Earth forever, and eventually there will be an extinction eventand the alternative is to become a spacefaring and multiplanetary speciesThats what we want.

But when exactly are we getting there? Originally, SpaceXs first foray to Mars, via a lander called Red Dragon, was expected to happen by 2022which was considered a fairly feasible timeline. However, bolstered by numerous successful launches and Musks powerful vision, SpaceX moved their target date up to 2018. Now, a new announcement from SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell confirms that they are changing the timeline yet again. A mission, named Red Dragon, to Mars is now set to launch in 2020 so that SpaceX can focus on other equally ambitious projects like their commercial crew program and Falcon Heavyprograms.

We were focused on 2018, but we felt like we needed to put more resources and focus more heavily on our crew program and our Falcon Heavy program. So were looking more for the 2020 timeframe for that, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said at a recent pre-launch conference.

Missions to Mars would ideally belaunched every 26 months when the planet is aligned with Earth. The 2020 planned lander will be critical for future possible manned missions as it will test technology required to land heavy equipment on the Martian surfacea task that, given Mars unfamiliar terrain and thin atmosphere, could be difficult to execute. Heavy payloads entering Mars wont have the planets atmosphere to cushion their landing and so there is the risk of very abrupt and hard landings.

What sets Red Dragon apart from other Mars landers is its use of a supersonic retro-propulsionwhich means it will use rockets embedded in the hull to allow for larger spacecraft to land safely. Should the technique prove to be successful, this lander will be the biggest vehicle to land on the planet thus far.

Moving the launch to 2020 also means that SpaceX will be able to join several other Mars-bound expeditions stemming from government agencies and private outfits. NASA is expected to launch its next Mars rover within the same year. The ExoMars mission, a joint initiative from the Roscosmos and European Space Agency (ESA) who originally planned its second phase to take place in 2018, has also been moved to the end of the decade. Theres also talk of the United Arab Emirates sending an orbiter to the red planet by then, along with China who has expressed its intent to reach Mars by 2020.

If all these missions make their targets, it will indeed be a busy 2020 for the red planet.

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Elon Musk Has a New Timeline for Humans Living on Mars - Futurism

In Brief

Gabe Newell. the co-founder and president of Valve, has authored projects that have garnered so much attention that he has been meme-ifiedinto a god.

But looking past the deification by those who support his work, Newell is heavily involved in the future of virtual reality. His company has worked intimately with HTC to produce the Vive VR platform, one of the few mainstream software that consumers can use to access virtual reality. Yet, even though there are over 1,300 apps on the steam VR marketplace and there was an 86% growth in users in the end of 2016, the revenue stream isnt uplifting. There are30 VR apps that have made just over $250,000, which are not the most promising of figures.

SteamVR by Valve:

While Newell is optimistic, he says hes pretty comfortable with the idea that it will turn out to be a complete failure. He went on to say that, if you dont try things that dont fail you probably arent trying to do anything very interesting.

But that doesnt mean hes inclined to fail. By upgrading the VR console to have a stronger CPU and better resolution, having an open source platform for developers to tinker with software, hardware, and everything in between, and unleashing a litany of new games (valve is currently developing three games of its own). Newell believes that the shared optimism of developers and consumers alike will drive the newborn industry into its place in the family living room for years to come.

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CEO of Biggest VR Company Asserts That the Tech May Be A Complete Failure - Futurism

The Mysterious Black Hole

Believe it or not, weve never actually been able to catch a glimpse of a black hole. All those images featuring a starry sky with a perfectly circular dark blob in the middle? Simply an artists rendition.

Although scientists believe that there are hundreds, even thousands, of black holes that might be hiding in our own galaxy, its extremely difficult to prove their existence. They cannot be observed from a telescope because light is completely consumed once it passes the event horizon. To make matters more confusing, we arent even sure how black holes form, but we could be getting some answers very soon.

Last year, scientists announced the creationof the Event Horizon Telescope. This powerful telescope would be able to photograph black holes, and now, scientists are saying they believe the device willbe operable as soon as April. If it can successfully capture an image of this mysterious entity, wed retrieve a tremendous deal of evidence that would bring us several steps closer to understanding these unanswered questions.

The Event Horizon Telescope will operate through a network of radio receivers erected across the planet. Between April 5 and 14, itwill utilize a technique called very-long baseline interferometry (VLBI) in which the receivers collect radio signals emitted by a precise point in space.Once effective, sights are being set on our own galaxys black hole, Sagittarius A*,which is located 26,000 light-years from Earth with an event horizon stretching 20 million kilometers (12.4 million miles) in diameter.

Even though scientists have never been able to directly observe a black hole, there is pretty substantial evidence that points towards their existence.

For one, the influence that the proposed Sagittarius A* has on surrounding stars proves to us that something strange is affecting their orbit. The same is observed for several other black holes weve theorized to exist in our Universe.

Scientists are also able to detect the presence of a black hole by the amount of radiation being emitted from an area. The extremely hot x-rays weve detected are thought to come from the incredibly fast-moving disk of particles surrounding the hole.

The Event Horizon Telescope hopes to uncover this long-awaited evidence of a black holes existence. The images will mark a new milestone in humanitys understanding of the Universe. But given the amount of data and the time itll take to process it, images wont likely be ready until late 2017 or the beginning of 2018.

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We May Finally Get a Picture of a Black Hole - Futurism - Futurism

New Rules

Its possible that robots will take over some human jobs. In fact, it seems like it could be only a matter of time before they do. Increasing automation will lead to massive job displacement, and less people working means less employed citizens paying taxes. So, the question is, how will communities make up the difference if automation is inevitable in the future of employment?

Co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates suggests that robots that take human jobs should pay taxes.

Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, Social Security tax, all those things. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, youd think that wed tax the robot at a similar level, Gates explained in an interview with Quartz.

This robot tax money could be taken from what companies would save given the efficiencies that an automated workforce provides them, or a tax imposed on companies that employ robots. The collected taxes could be used for anything from the care of the elderly or to support youth projects in public schools. Gates believes there will be little resistance from companies that employ a robot workforce.

Half of jobs today are already at riskof becoming obsolete due to automation, and evidence of an industrial future defined by an automated workforce is steadily building. According to a report by McKinsey, about 60 percent of all occupations could have 30 percent, or more, of theiractivities automated with technology that exists today. And, as technology rapidly advances, those numbers will only climb higher.

Gates tax idea has already been proposed by European Union lawmakers, but the law was rejected. Another proposal that looks to also provide a solution is the implementation of a universal basic income (UBI), which tech industrialist Elon Musk is a strong proponent of.

Regardless of what solution is put into place or how governments will treat taxes and a waning organic workforce in the age of automation, Gates asserts that this is something that people should start talking about now:

Exactly how youd do it, measure it, you know, its interesting for people to start talking about now. There will be some great conversations and be some ideas about new investments that can be made.

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Bill Gates Says Job Stealing Robots Need to Pay Taxes - Futurism

In Brief

Prof George Church and his team at Harvard University have been studying the DNA from frozen mammoths found preserved in the Arctic. Specifically, theyve been looking for genes that separated them from elephants.

Since elephant species are currently on the brink of extinction, the team is attempting to splice mammoth DNA into the genome of an elephant embryoin order to create a mammoth-elephant hybrid. The goal is to eventually grow a mammoth embryo within an artificial womb, as to not compromise the reproductive system of a healthy elephant.

Professor Church stated, Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant/mammoth embryo. Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. Were not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years.

As awesome as playing Ice Age Jurassic Park sounds, there are also other preventative applications for this technology. According to Dr. Edze Westra of the University of Exeter, One can also use this technology for engineering the DNA of rapidly declining species or those that are becoming too inbred to increase their chance of survival.

Prof Church said the mammoth project has two main goals: securing an alternative future for the endangered Asian elephant and helping to combat global warming. Chruch explains that the animals could, keep the tundra from thawing by punching through snow and allowing cold air to come in. In the summer they knock down trees and help the grass grow.

Any of these possibilities are well worth the continued research. Technology is allowing for the impossible to become reality. Just a few years ago, we couldnt have dreamed of an extinct animal brought back, and now we could be within a few years of actually seeing that.

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Biologists Plan to Bring the Woolly Mammoth Back to Life by 2019 - Futurism

In Brief

As scientists ask everyone to help them locate the elusive Planet Nine, researchers involved inNASAs Dawn mission are hard at work studyingthe dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn mission has previously uncovered evidence of water, ice volcanoes, and carbonate minerals that cause the mysterious bright spots on Ceres surface. Now, researchers have found traces of organic molecules on Ceres using Dawns spectrometer to map the dwarf planets surface in visible and infrared wavelengths.

What weve found on Ceres is probably the most unambiguous detection of organics on any Solar System body other than Earth, said Carl Pieters, Dawn mission investigator, in an interview with Brown University. Weve collected meteorites on Earth with organic signatures, which makes us think their parent asteroids may have had organics. But until now we havent seen such definitive evidence on any asteroid. So this could help us put together the history of organics in the Solar System.

There are high-resolution data available from Dawn that provide the geologic context for these deposits, added Pieters. Were looking at those data now, which will help us to pin down the origin of these materials. The discovery was found in a crater-ridden region called Ernutet in the northern part of Ceres, and the teams findings were published in the journal Science.

Organic molecules, such as carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and proteins, are the basic building blocks of life. Organic materials have previously been found in meteorites and on Mars, and whilefinding these on Ceres doesnt mean that theres life on the dwarf planet, coupled with the discovery of water and carbonate minerals, they do indicate that Ceres is potentially ripe for life.

Its kind of like baking a cake, Pieters explained. You can have all the ingredients, but if you dont put them together properly, you dont end up with a cake. So there is still plenty of work to be done before we can start thinking about whether microbes were able to form on Ceres.

While the discovery doesnt directly translate to discovering extraterrestrial life, it definitely improves the chances of finding it. The fact that these ingredients of life are located in a single setting outside of Earth is a great first step.

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Traces of Organic Molecules Have Been Located on Ceres - Futurism

In Brief

Elon Musk has made another bold prediction about the future of self-drivingcars. In a conversation held at the World Government Summit in Dubai, the Tesla CEO stated that nearly all new cars would be self-driving within the next ten years.

Musk predicts that the first level four autonomous cars from Tesla will arrive by the end of this year. He views this arrival as a paradigm shift for the automobile industry:

There are about 2 billion cars in the world and the total annual production capacity is about 100 million cars, which makes sense since the average life of a car before being totally scrapped is about 20-25 years. This means that the shift to driverless cars wont be immediate, but the point for which we see autonomy appear will not be the point when we see a massive impact on people because it will take a lot of time to make enough autonomous vehicles to disrupt. That disruption will take place for about 20 years.

Musk also mentioned how the supercomputer used to control Teslas vehicles, the NVIDIA Drive PX 2, can reach level five autonomy. NVIDIA thinks that level 4-5 autonomy would only be possible with two supercomputers, but even so, Musk stated that the computers could easily be upgraded to rise the occasion.

We wont have to wait long to see how his predictions will play out.

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Elon Musk: All New Cars Will Be Self-Driving in 10 Years - Futurism

TrueTime

Ever wonder how Google has been able to coordinate its data centers from all over the world? Well, they found a way to take control of time. Yes, time. And they did so by building the worlds first truly global database: Spanner. This system has given Google a way to store information in dozens of data centers, across millions of machines, spanning multiple continents, and it now underpins most of Googles services, including AdWords (the companys primary moneymaker), Gmail, Google Photos, and the Google Play store.

Through Spanner, Googles engineers have taken control of time in a way never done before. Prior to such a system, communication across servers and data centers took time. Having multiple databases meant information could vary from one machine to another.A transaction at one data center wouldnt show up at one across the globe as soon as it took place it needed time. For the services that Google provides, this variance wasnt an option they needed a way to make sure that actions and information lined up across the globe.

To solve this problem, Googles engineers developed a unique timekeeping technology called TrueTime. The engineers equipped all of Googles data centers with GPS receivers and atomic clocks, and each center would shuttle its time readings to amaster server. Those servers would constantly trade their readings with other servers to produce a common time for all data centers. This gives you faster-than-light coordination between two places, Peter Mattis, a former Google engineer, explained to Wired.

TrueTime is just one aspect of Spanner, the power of which is unprecedented and seems to defy logic. Through this system, Google can implement changes in one part of its database without contradicting informationon the other side of the planet. Spanner also replicates data readily and reliably across multiple data centers and multiple parts of the world, as well as allows for the retrieval of data should one data center fail.

Now, Google want to make this amazing technologyavailable to customers.

Spanner is truly essential for a company like Google, and no one else in the tech world, not Microsoft, Apple, or Amazon, has anything quite like it. Google wants to leverage its position by offeringits Spanner tech to customers in thecloud computing market. The result?Cloud Spanner, a version of their unique database that is on the cloud.

If you are struggling with the scale of your transactional database you will go to a shared database, or NoSQL, Googles Deepti Srivastava told TechCrunch. If youre at that stage where you have to make those trade-offs, Spanner is the way to go. You are already doing work to use one of those systems. We try to make that trade-off as simple as possible.

Some worry that very few companies actually have database needs similar to Googles, so Cloud Spanner might not have that big of a market. Plus, Cloud Spanner wont be free, with a starting price of $0.90 per node per hour (including replication) and $0.30 per GB of storage per month. But Spanner is powerful, and it is unique. If they offer it, people will want it, and people will use it, Peter Bailis, an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford University, told Wired.

Google is already in talks with large financial institutions for possible Cloud Spanner adoption, and while there are few truly global businesses like Google, the company hopes that Cloud Spanner could help smaller businesses expand later on.

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Google Made Its Faster-Than-Light Time Harnessing Tech Available to All - Futurism

Gravitational Wobbles

NASAs Kepler space telescope holds the record when it comes to candidate and confirmed exoplanets to date, it has identifiedmore than 5,000. To scan the universe for these alien planets, Kepler uses whats called the transit method. Basically, Kepler watches out for the brightness dips that occur when a planet crosses the face of the star it orbits.

This isnt the only method to catch exoplanets. The High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) instrument at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii detects radial velocity instead of brightness dips. This radial velocity method searches stars for signs of gravitational wobbles induced by orbiting planets. HIRES was part of a two-decade long radical velocity-planet hunting program and it has compiled almost 61,000 individual measurements made of more than 1,600 stars.

HIRES was not specifically optimized to do this type of exoplanet detective work, but has turned out to be a workhorse instrument of the field,said Steve Vogt, from the University of California Santa Cruz, who built the instrument. I am very happy to contribute to science that is fundamentally changing how we view ourselves in the universe.

From this huge amount of data, a team of researchers led by Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., identified more than 100 possible exoplanets. Specifically, the researchers identified 60 candidate planets, plus 54 more that require further examination. They published their study in the The Astronomical Journal.

We were very conservative in this paper about what counts as an exoplanet candidate and what does not, researcher Mikko Tuomi explained, and even with our stringent criteria, we found over 100 new likely planet candidates. Among the candidate exoplanets, one could be orbiting the fourth-closest star (GJ 411) to our Sun just about 8.3 light years away. Its not an Earth-twin however, as this potential planet has an orbital period thats equivalent to just 10 days.

Theres still a considerable amount of data to comb through. So, together with their findings, Butlers team made the HIRES data set available to the public. One of our key goals in this paper is to democratize the search for planets, explained team member Greg Laughlin of Yale. Anyone can download the velocities published on our website and use the open source Systemic software package and try fitting planets from the data.

Its certainly a noble idea and a timely one. I think this paper sets a precedent for how the community can collaborate on exoplanet detection and follow-up, said team-member Johanna Teske. With NASAs TESS mission on the horizon, which is expected to detect 1000+ planets orbiting bright, nearby stars, exoplanet scientists will soon have a whole new pool of planets to follow up.

Other tools that can facilitate this search for exoplanets and potentially habitable ones include the recently completed James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Its powerful array of lenses and mirrors will give our ability to scan the universe a much appreciated boost. Technological advances like the JWST,NASAs TESS, and a couple of other interstellar eyes will allow us to see the universe like never before.

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You Can Help Scientists Find the Next Earth-Like Planet - Futurism

Learning From Less Data

The old adage that practice makes perfect applies to machines as well,as many of todays artificially intelligent devices rely on repetition to learn. Deep-learning algorithmsare designed to allow AI devices to glean knowledgefrom datasets and then apply what theyve learned to concrete situations. For example, an AI system is fed data about how the sky is usually blue, which allows it to later recognize the sky in a series of images.

Complex work can be accomplished using this method, but itcertainly leaves something to be desired. For instance, could the same results be obtained by exposing deep-learning AI to fewer examples? Boston-based startup Gamalondeveloped a new technology to try to answer just that, and this week, it released two products that utilize its new approach.

Gamalon calls the technique it employed Bayesian program synthesis. It is based on a mathematical framework named after 18th century mathematician Thomas Bayes. The Bayesian probability is used to refine predictions about the world using experience. This form of probabilistic programming a code that uses probabilities instead of specific variables requires fewer examples to make a determination, such as, for example, that the sky is blue with patches of white clouds. The program also refines its knowledge as further examples are provided, and its code can be rewritten to tweak the probabilities.

While this new approach to programming still has difficult challenges to overcome, it has significant potential to automate the development of machine-learning algorithms. Probabilistic programming will make machine learning much easier for researchers and practitioners, explained Brendan Lake, an NYU research fellow who worked on a probabilistic programming technique in 2015. It has the potential to take care of the difficult [programming] parts automatically.

Gamalon CEO and cofounder Ben Vigoda showed MIT Technology Review a demo drawing app that uses their new method. The app is similar to one released by Google last year in that it predicts what a person is trying to sketch. However, unlike Googles version, which relied on sketches it had previously seen to make predictions, Gamalons app relies on probabilistic programming to identify an objects key features. Therefore, even if you draw a figure thats different from what the app has previously seen, as long as it recognizes certain features like how a square with a triangle on top is probably a house it will make a correct prediction.

The two products Gamalon released show that this technique could have near-term commercial use. One product, the Gamalon Structure, using Bayesian program synthesis to recognize concepts from raw text, and it does so more efficiently than whats normally possible. For example, after only receiving a manufacturers description of a television, it can determine its brand, product name, screen resolution, size, and other features. Another app, called Gamalon Match, categorizes products and prices in a stores inventory. In both cases, the system can be trained quickly to recognize variations in acronyms or abbreviations.

Vigoda believes there are other possible applications, as well. For example, if equipped with a Beysian model of machine learning, smartphones or laptops wouldnt need to share personal data with large companies to determine user interests; the calculations could be done effectively within the device. Autonomous cars could also learn to adapt to their environment much faster using this method of learning.The potential impact of smarter machines really cant be overstated.

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New AI Can Write and Rewrite Its Own Code to Increase Its Intelligence - Futurism

Melting Fast

The Antarctic ice sheet goes through a cycle of expansion and contraction every year. Ultimately, the ice that exists around the continent melts during the southern hemispheres summer, which occurs towards the end of February, and expands again when autumn sets in.

However, that melting is increasing dramatically.

This week, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)announcedthat the sea ice contracted to just 883,015 sq. miles (2.28m sq. km). The announcement came on February 13, and these numbers mean that the ice is now at the smallest extent on record, reaching just a little smaller than the previous low of 884,173 sq. miles, which was recorded February 27, 1997.

NSIDC director Mark Serreze asserts that we will need to wait for measurements in the coming days before officially confirming this new all-time low; however, he is not optimistic. Unless something funny happens, were looking at a record minimum in Antarctica,Serreze told Reuters.

Climate change skeptics have often pointed to the tendency of the Antarctic ice sheet to expand as evidence against global warming. But with world average temperatures hitting an all time high in 2016, the impact of climate change on planet Earth is getting more pronounced and harder to deny. Weve always thought of the Antarctic as the sleeping elephant starting to stir, Serreze stated;Well, maybe its starting to stir now.

That said, all is not lost. Despite the hesitancy of some world governments when it comes to taking action against fossil fuels and climate change, efforts to reverse the effects of global warming are in no short supply.

The historic Paris Climate Agreement is one such step, with nations beefing up their efforts in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energylike solar, wind, and even nuclearpower.Moreover,a number of private effortsby companies like Microsoft, who plans to run on 50% renewables, and Tesla, who is pushing for electric cars andsolar powered roofs, provide hope for the future and make the case for renewable energy sources.

If we truly invest in theseefforts, future generations may never have to witness the Antarctic ice sheets receding to such low levels.

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The Antarctic Ice Sheet Is the Smallest It's Ever Been - Futurism