- Bill Gates Just Described Exactly How A.I. Will Transform Computers (and Our Lives) | Inc.com Inc.
- Bill Gates: AI Is About to Completely Change How You Use Computers PCMag
- As Bill Gates invests in personal AI, says agents will be a ‘shock wave’ VentureBeat
- 4 Unimaginable Ways AI Will Change Your Life Within the Next 5 Years, according to Bill Gates Inc.
- Bill Gates predicts everyone will have an AI-powered personal assistant within 5 years—whether they work in an office or not: ‘They will utterly change how we live’ Fortune
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‘No more amateur stuff’: Noah Lyles on mission to transform athletics – The Guardian
- ‘No more amateur stuff’: Noah Lyles on mission to transform athletics The Guardian
- World Athletics Championships 2023: Noah Lyles completes hat-trick of world titles, anchoring USA to men’s 4x100m relay win Olympics
- Noah Lyles THREEPEATS 200m for WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE, first since Usain Bolt | NBC Sports NBC Sports
- U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles wildly shades NBA title winners: ‘World champion of what?’ New York Post
- Lyles earns third gold in Budapest as he anchors US men’s 4x100m team to win over Italy | News | Budapest 23 World Athletics
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Scientists Create Semi-Living ‘Cyborg’ Cells That Could Transform Medicine : ScienceAlert
Through a complex chemical process, scientists have been able to develop versatile, synthetic ‘cyborg’ cells in the lab. They share many characteristics of living cells while lacking the ability to divide and grow.
That non-replication part is important. For artificial cells to be useful, they need to be carefully controlled, and that can’t happen as easily if they’re propagating in the same way that actual cells do.
The researchers behind the new development think these cyborgs could have a huge variety of applications, from improving treatments for diseases like cancer to cleaning up pollution through targeted chemical processes.
“The cyborg cells are programmable, do not divide, preserve essential cellular activities, and gain nonnative abilities,” says biomedical engineer Cheemeng Tan from the University of California, Davis.
Cell engineering is currently based on two key approaches: genetically remodeling existing cells to give them new functions (more flexible but also able to reproduce) and building synthetic cells from scratch (which can’t replicate but have limited biological functions).
These cyborg cells are the result of a new, third strategy. The researchers took bacterial cells as their foundation and added elements from an artificial polymer. Once inside the cell, the polymer was exposed to ultraviolet light to build it into a hydrogel matrix by cross-linking, mimicking a natural extracellular matrix.
While able to maintain much of their normal biological functions, these cyborg cells proved to be more resistant to stressors like high pH and antibiotic exposure – stressors that would kill off normal cells. Much like actual cyborgs, they’re tough.
“Cyborg cells preserve essential functions, including cellular metabolism, motility, protein synthesis, and compatibility with genetic circuits,” write the researchers in their published paper.
Lab tests on tissue samples showed that the newly developed cells were able to invade cancer cells, highlighting the potential of these modified biological building blocks for health treatments further down the line – they could one day be used to deliver drugs to very specific parts of the body.
That’s still a long way off, as promising as these early results are. The researchers say they now want to experiment with the use of different materials to create these cells, as well as investigate how they could be used.
It’s also not clear exactly what is stopping the cells from replicating, which needs to be determined. The authors think the hydrogel matrix may stop cell division by inhibiting cell growth or DNA replication, or both.
The blending of the natural and the artificial demonstrated here in some ways takes the best elements of both, opening up new possibilities – a state of “quasi vita” or “almost life”, as the researchers put it.
“We are interested in the bioethics of applying cyborg cells as they are cell-derived biomaterials that are neither cells nor materials,” says Tan.
The research has been published in Advanced Science.
Completely transform a room for less than $20 — a perfect gift for space lovers
You’ll already know that we love star projectors here at Space.com, from novelty astronaut-shaped Starry Sky Projectors that project lava lamp-esque ambiance into a room, to the more scientific models such as the National Geography Astro Planetarium.
This is the former, it doesn’t really worry about night sky accuracy, but its purpose is to instantly enhance the atmosphere and mood of a room. We reviewed the BlissLights Sky Lite 2.0 star projector earlier in the year, which is the second edition of what we see on offer at Walmart — the BlissLights Sky Lite star projector (opens in new tab).
That said, given this is (somehow) less than $20, we’d argue that if you’re buying for a space-loving child or space-loving technophile this holiday season, you can’t go wrong, and the BlissLights Star Projector we have here could just be the perfect buy.
Why do we say that? Well, the main difference between this BlissLights Sky Light and the BlissLights Sky Light 2.0, is that the latter is smartphone app-controlled, and the former is controlled by tactile buttons, keeping things simple. The other difference is that the SkyLite is limited by showing only blue or green stars and blue nebulae, whereas the more expensive BlissLights 2.0 (opens in new tab) has customizable nebulae colors.
This is an excellent gift for a budding scientist or astronomy enthusiast, someone with a games or music room, or even a home yoga studio or gym. We also know people who simply use it to help them drift off to sleep. The immersive lights and patterns immediately alter the ambiance of a room, and you can get lost in watching them dance and swirl on your ceiling or walls.
With a massive 60% off (opens in new tab) this quality star projector as part of the Black Friday deals, you can’t go far wrong if you’re looking for the perfect gift for any astronomy enthusiast.
If you want to check out the other star projectors we’ve reviewed, you can check out our guide for the best star projectors on the market. There are a few deals you might be interested in there, too, like the astronaut galaxy star projector (opens in new tab), which seems to be plummeting in price right now!
Be sure to check out Space.com’s Black Friday deals page, or our guide to the Best star projectors or if you prefer the real thing, the Best telescopes for stargazing.
DR MICHAEL MOSLEY reveals tiny tweaks to transform your health
Feeling better about yourself, having more get up and go — even being healthier — doesn’t have to involve upending your daily routine.
Here, in the final part of his compelling series, Dr Michael Mosley reveals more simple, science-based tweaks to your everyday habits that will transform your life.
Dance for five to ten minutes every day
I’m not one of the world’s most natural movers, but I enjoy the occasional salsa evening with my wife, Clare. And if you, too, like to bust a few moves you will be pleased to hear that dancing has been shown to be more effective at improving your muscles, balance and brain health than traditional fitness exercises.
Dancing vigorously can get your heart rate up to more than 140 beats per minute, and offers you a great combination of low-intensity and high-intensity exercise bouts in the process.
It can alleviate depression, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, boost memory and protect against dementia.
Brain-imaging studies reveal that it can increase the volume of the hippocampus (an area of the brain that deals with spatial memory) and improve white matter (the number of nerve cells) in areas associated with memory and processing speed.
The great thing about reading fiction is it acts as a ‘whole brain’ workout. When researchers at Stanford University scanned the brains of people while they were reading Jane Austen, they found a dramatic increase in blood flow across the entire brain
Apparently, we are all (even me!) natural dancers. ‘Humans,’ says Dr Julia Christensen from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, a former dancer who retrained as a neuroscientist, ‘are the only species with a specific connection between ear and leg, which means we are hardwired to tune into the rhythm of our movements.’
She told me the key to getting the benefits from dancing is to be relaxed. So just enjoy yourself and dance as if no one’s watching (they probably aren’t).
And, if you can, dance with others. The bonding it involves has a more powerful, stress-reducing effect. Dancing enthusiastically with others may even help us manage pain, because it triggers the release of endorphins — powerful hormones that, as well as relieving pain, can induce positive feelings.
Devote 20 minutes to new skills daily
I recently tried oil painting. It was the first time I’d drawn anything since I was a child, and the first time with oils. When the model came in and draped herself on a chair, I was terrified. I had no idea where to start.
The art teacher taught us the basics then left us to get on with it for a couple of hours. I was surprised by how engrossing it was. I got the model’s hands wrong, and her feet ended up as ugly pink blobs, but I was quietly pleased with the end result.
Taking up new activities like this is very challenging, particularly when you’re my age (65); but that is precisely why they have such a powerful effect on the ageing brain.
Trying to acquire new skills later in life may mean you generate new brain cells, according to Alan Gow, a professor of psychology at Heriot-Watt University.
The process of approaching something new, particularly in a group, can change the way you think and feel. If the skill is challenging enough, your brain will be forced to forge new pathways and grow new connections, thereby boosting your brain power.
Professor Gow’s studies indicate that after three months of working at a new skill, people show improvements in thinking skills — specifically in the areas of the brain most affected by ageing.
‘Processing and thinking speeds tend to be among the first areas of brain function to start to decline with age, but we believe it is precisely these areas that most benefit from learning a new skill,’ he explains.
‘It can reverse that feeling of “slowing down” you get with age, and if you continue mastering the skill, this benefit could extend to other thinking skills and improve memory, too.’
As Professor Gow says: ‘It’s never too late to try new things, and the longer you stick at them, the more benefit you will accumulate over time.’ People who maintain their skills, he adds, ‘generally live longer, healthier lives — so it makes sense to embrace the chance to improve them’.
One of the best things you can do for your brain is learn a new language, because juggling between sounds, words, concepts and grammatical and social rules enhances blood flow and connections across the entire brain. It can even improve intelligence. But for maximum benefit, you have to practise for five hours a week.
Soak in a hot bath before bed
A relaxing hot bath is one of those rare pleasures in life that not only feels great but is actually good for you, reducing blood sugar levels and lowering your risk of heart disease.
And a hot bath an hour-and-a half before bedtime could help you get to sleep quicker and improve the quality of your sleep.
When you have a hot bath, your core body temperature goes up. But it’s when you get out, and start to cool down, that you get the sleep-inducing benefits.
‘As your core temperature falls, it mimics the onset of sleep, triggering the release of sleep hormone melatonin, and sending a strong signal that it is time for bed,’ says Jason Ellis, director of Northumbria Sleep Centre.
A relaxing hot bath is one of those rare pleasures in life that not only feels great but is actually good for you, reducing blood sugar levels and lowering your risk of heart disease
Count your blessings
Last thing at night, write down three things for which you feel grateful. There is solid science that getting into the habit of being regularly grateful can make you feel happier, lower your blood pressure, improve sleep, ease pain and even rewire your brain.
‘Think about three things for which you can be grateful that day,’ recommends Fuschia Sirois, a psychology professor at Durham University who specialises in investigating gratitude and its role in health.
‘Perhaps someone has acted kindly towards you, or you managed to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.’ The aim is to develop what she calls a ‘grateful mindset’.
‘Gratitude opens up your perspective, allowing you to appreciate the positive instead of focusing on your worries,’ she says. ‘It reduces stress by helping us to see things from outside the narrow view we adopt when our fight-and-flight mechanisms are activated.’
In her studies, patients with chronic health conditions who spent three weeks counting their blessings reported significantly less pain, as well as better sleep, than those in the control group.
There is solid science that getting into the habit of being regularly grateful can make you feel happier, lower your blood pressure, improve sleep, ease pain and even rewire your brain
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Read fiction for half an hour a day
I love reading — and have from a young age. I was often spotted walking down the street, reading while trying to avoid fellow pedestrians and lamp posts.
These days I snatch my reading moments when I can, but I’m also a member of a book club, and I don’t need any persuading that reading fiction is good for empathy and social skills. Nor that it can help improve memory and protect against depression.
The great thing about reading fiction is it acts as a ‘whole brain’ workout. When researchers at Stanford University scanned the brains of people while they were reading Jane Austen, they found a dramatic increase in blood flow across the entire brain.
That’s because when we get immersed in a good book, our brains are busy imagining the settings, sounds, smells and tastes described, and this activates the many different areas of the brain that process these experiences in real life. Words such as ‘lavender’, ‘cinnamon’ and ‘soap’, for example, will elicit a response not only in the language-processing areas of our brains, but also in the areas devoted to dealing with smells.
Dr Raymond Mar, a neuroscientist at York University, says reading fiction can boost your empathy and interpersonal skills, because the parts of the brain that we use to understand stories overlap with the ones we use to understand other people. ‘Reading helps our brains get better at creating accurate models of real people and predicting what they might think, feel or do,’ he told me.
Studies show reading is also one of the best ways to escape from the pressures of modern life.
‘Anxiety is all about having attention focused inwardly,’ says Dr Mar, ‘but reading forces our focus on the words and the story, and this can take us out of our head and help us to relax.’
Research from Yale University found those who read for 30 minutes a day lived, on average, 23 months longer than those who didn’t.
Adapted from Just One Thing: How Simple Changes Can Transform Your Life by Dr Michael Mosley, published by Short Books at £16.99.
© Dr Michael Mosley 2022. To order a copy for £13.99 (offer valid to 15/11/22; UK P&P free on orders over £20), visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.
Himars Transform the Battle for Ukraine—and Modern Warfare
MYKOLAIV REGION, Ukraine—A global revolution in warfare is dramatically tipping the scales of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, putting in the hands of front-line troops the kind of lethality that until recently required aircraft, ships or lumbering tracked vehicles. It also has the capacity to change battlefields far from Eastern Europe.
Able to pick off Russian military bases, ammunition depots and infrastructure far behind front lines, Ukraine’s 16 Himars helped its troops this summer halt a bloody Russian advance. Since last month, Ukrainians have seized back swaths of territory in their country’s east and ground down Russian troops in the south. Washington recently pledged to deliver another 18 Himars.
Within Kyiv’s arsenal, Himars offer a unique combination of range, precision and mobility that allows them to do the job traditionally handled by dozens of launchers firing thousands of shells.
By shrinking launchers and nearly guaranteeing hits on targets, Himars and the other equipment are upending century-old assumptions about how wars must be fought—and particularly about military supplies. Himars’s vastly improved accuracy also collapses the massive logistical trail that modern infantry has demanded.
“Himars is one part of a precision revolution that turns heavily equipped armies into something light and mobile,” said
Robert Scales,
a retired U.S. Army major general who was among the first to envision Himars in the 1970s.
Last month The Wall Street Journal gained rare access to a front-line Himars unit.
Lt. Valentyn Koval said the four Himars vehicles in his unit have destroyed about 20 Russian antiaircraft batteries.
Before a rocket hits its target the men can be on their way back to camp.
One evening at dusk the men in this unit were making dinner when orders for their fifth mission of the day arrived: to target Russian barracks and a river barge ferrying munitions and tanks 40 miles away.
Six men piled into their two Himars: a driver, targeter and commander in each, accompanied by the battery commander and a security detail in an armored personnel carrier. The commander plugged coordinate data into a tablet computer to determine the safest location for firing.
Within minutes, the two Himars rumbled out from cover under an apricot grove toward the launch spot in a nearby sunflower field. Thirty seconds after arriving, they fired seven missiles in quick succession. Before the projectiles hit their targets, the trucks were returning to base camp.
Ten minutes later came another pair of targets: Soviet-era rocket launchers some 44 miles away. Off rolled the Himars again and fired another barrage of missiles.
Soon after, the soldiers were back at camp and finishing their dinner. Some pulled up videos on Telegram showing the fruit of their labor: burning Russian barracks.
Ukraine’s Himars rockets, which can fly 50 miles, have hit hundreds of Russian targets, including command centers, ammunition depots, refueling stations and bridges, choking off supplies to front-line units. Since stopping Russia’s spring advance across Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, they are now targeting retreating Russian forces.
Ukrainian commanders estimate that Himars are responsible for 70% of military advances on the Kherson front, the unit’s commander, Lt.
Valentyn Koval,
said. The four vehicles in his unit have killed hundreds of Russians and destroyed about 20 antiaircraft batteries, he said.
Lt. Koval poses next to a Himars.
Russian artillery—like most such systems since World War I—lacks precision. To destroy a target, troops generally level everything around it. Gunners following maps rain shells in a grid pattern that aims to leave no terrain in a quadrant untouched. Russian forces in Ukraine are lobbing dozens of shells per acre to hit one objective, analysts say.
Himars can do the job with one rocket carrying a 200-pound explosive warhead. Each Ukrainian Himars carries one six-rocket pod that can effectively land the punch of more than 100,000 lbs. of traditional artillery.
Artillery is cumbersome. During Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in 1991, it accounted for more than 60% of a U.S. division’s weight. Moving it demands soldiers, trucks, fuel and time, plus additional soldiers and vehicles to protect those supply operations.
All that support sucks resources and makes a juicy target, as the world saw in the opening days of the Ukraine war, when a Russian supply convoy halted by Ukrainian attacks outside Kyiv became a 40-mile-long sitting duck.
“It’s not just the precision of Himars that’s revolutionary,” said Gen. Scales. “It’s the ability to reduce the tonnage requirements by an order of magnitude or better.”
A sergeant dismounts from the Himars vehicle he commands.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to load Himars munitions.
The supply chain for Himars units consists of factory-packaged rocket pods stashed at pickup points in the nearby countryside and usually hidden by foliage. A cargo truck deposits the camouflage-green pods—each a little bigger than a single bed—at a string of designated locations, not unlike a commercial delivery route.
Himars teams drive to the ammo drop spots, where a waiting three-man loading team removes spent pods and swaps in full ones within five minutes, using a crane integrated into the vehicle.
“Himars is one of, if not the most, efficient type of weapons on the battlefield,” said Lt. Koval, a jocular 22-year-old with a Pokémon ringtone on his cellphone. “This gives us an opportunity to react quickly, hit in one place, move to another, and destroy effectively.”
Russia’s best truck-based rocket launchers, by contrast, can require around 20 minutes to set up in the launch spot and 40 minutes to reload—critical time when the enemy tries to return fire. The Himars can drive faster and has an armored crew cabin.
Ukrainian Himars teams stay lean by spending weeks in the field without returning to a larger base. Lt. Koval’s unit, which received the first Himars in June, has spent the past three months sleeping in tents beside the launchers or inside nearby support vehicles.
Soldiers prepare food and coffee while waiting for the call to file more rockets.
Photo:
Adrienne Surprenant/MYOP for The Wall Street Journal
The men, trained by U.S. instructors outside Ukraine, remain on standby for new targets, switching into action and just as casually returning to mundane activities like making coffee or playing cards.
On the front armor of one Himars, the soldiers painted a white grin below the Ukrainian word for “workhorse.” On the other, whose odometer shows it has traveled over 13,000 miles, they stenciled 69 black skulls, commemorating significant confirmed hits.
Mission details arrive as geographic coordinates, with a target description and instructions on whether to use explosive missiles for armored targets or fragment charges for hitting personnel. Targeting tips come from sources including U.S. intelligence and partisans in occupied territories.
The Himars commanders then pick a suitable launch location and guide the vehicles into place. Inside the cab, the vehicle commander sits between the driver and the targeter, who feeds the mission data into a computer. When the vehicle reaches the launch site, the targeter presses one button to angle the missiles skyward and another button to fire.
The missiles roar into the night sky with a burst of flame, leaving a cloud of smoke over the field. The launcher is lowered and the vehicle speeds back to its tree cover.
“We are the juiciest target in the region,” said Lt. Koval. “So we need to maneuver to survive.”
A Himars on the road to an operating position in a field.
Smoke lingers in a sunflower field after a Himars fired a rocket.
Maneuverability is exactly why Himars was created as a downsized version of a tank-like weapon, the Multiple Launch Rocket System, which has also been provided to Ukraine by the U.K. and Germany. First used in Desert Storm, before the advent of precision artillery, massed batteries of the 12-rocket vehicles unleashed so much explosive force and shrapnel that Iraqi troops dubbed it “steel rain.”
MLRS’s heft means that only the largest military cargo jets can airlift it and they land far from the fighting. To move distances on land requires a flatbed truck. Himars was envisioned as a lighter, more agile version.
The push for nimble units equipped with lightweight gear became part of a broader effort to streamline the U.S. military after the Cold War that reached its peak under Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld
starting in 2001, but was sidetracked by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Max speed:
Firing range:
Weight:
In service:
Origin:
52.8 mph
19.9 to 186.4 miles
10.88 tons
2005
U.S.
6 MLRS series rockets
or 1 ATACMS missile
Max speed:
Firing range:
Weight:
In service:
Origin:
52.8 mph
19.9 to 186.4 miles
10.88 tons
2005
U.S.
6 MLRS series
rockets or 1
ATACMS missile
Max speed:
Firing range:
Weight:
In service:
Origin:
52.8 mph
19.9 to 186.4 m
10.88 tons
2005
U.S.
6 MLRS series
rockets or 1
ATACMS
missile
Himars, on wheels and with only six rockets, was a project that stayed on track. One initial shortcoming, the Pentagon discovered, was that six cluster bombs didn’t pack enough punch to destroy many targets. GPS-guided artillery, rolled out in the mid-1990s, gave Himars new life. Precision meant the rockets didn’t need to explode together for a giant blast. They could each pick off a different geolocated target.
“The precision revolution changes everything,” said Gen. Scales, who considers the transformation to be the kind of epoch-making military shift that redefines warfare and will now tip battlefield advantage from massed armies to small infantry units.
Such shifts were rare in the past, including the eclipse of infantry by horse-mounted warriors around the fourth century and the introduction of gunpowder to Europe a millennium later, said Gen. Scales, a military historian who served as commandant of the U.S. Army War College.
Others came around the U.S. Civil War with the introduction of precise rifles and artillery and machine guns, which proved so deadly in World War I, and at the start of World War II, when the German blitzkrieg merged motorized transportation with radio coordination of troops.
Now, inexpensive microprocessors are putting what Gen. Scales dubs “cheap precision” in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers.
“If I enter the coordinates of this hole,” said Lt. Koval, standing by a molehill the size of a shoebox, “it will hit this hole.”
One Himars has 69 skulls stenciled on it, one for every verified hit.
On one particularly busy day in late August, the two Himars under Lt. Koval’s command worked in tandem with two others. When his pair ran out of ammunition, they dropped back to reload while the other duo advanced to fire. Lt. Koval said they tag-teamed for 37 hours without stopping to sleep and hit roughly 120 targets, enabling Ukrainian infantry to break Russian lines around the southern city of Kherson.
Washington was initially reluctant to provide Ukraine with Himars, fearing such a move could cause Moscow to retaliate against the U.S. or its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It has declined to supply more powerful rockets which can be fired up to 185 miles and would enable Ukraine to destroy sturdier targets, like concrete bridges that they have so far only been able to blow holes through.
In a sign that Ukraine’s additional firepower is taking a toll on Moscow’s forces, Russian Defense Minister
Sergei Shoigu
has told Russian troops to make Ukraine’s long-range weaponry a priority target.
Himars operators say the biggest threat comes from Russia’s kamikaze drones, buttressed recently by more effective Iranian systems, but they feel well protected by Ukrainian anti-air systems and special forces. Lt. Koval’s crew abandoned two firing missions this summer out of caution when a drone was spotted nearby, but he said no Himars have been hit.
“We’re always on the move,” said Lt. Koval.
So far no Himars have been hit by enemy fire, Lt. Koval said.
Write to Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com and Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Overcoming the “Impossible” With DNA to Building Superconductor That Could Transform Technology
In DNA, scientists find a solution to building a superconductor that could transform technology.
Could let computers work at warp speed, save energy, and even make trains fly.
Scientists have used
One such superconductor was first proposed by Stanford physicist William A. Little more than 50 years ago. Scientists have spent decades trying to make it work. However, even after validating the feasibility of his idea, they were left with a challenge that appeared impossible to overcome. Until now.
Edward H. Egelman, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has been a leader in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and he and his colleagues used cryo-EM imaging for this seemingly impossible project. “It demonstrates,” he said, “that the cryo-EM technique has great potential in materials research.” Credit: Dan Addison, UVA Communications
Edward H. Egelman, PhD, of UVA’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has been a leader in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and he and Leticia Beltran, a graduate student in his lab, used cryo-EM imaging for this seemingly impossible project. “It demonstrates,” he said, “that the cryo-EM technique has great potential in materials research.”
Engineering at the Atomic Level
One possible way to realize Little’s idea for a superconductor is to modify lattices of carbon nanotubes. These are hollow cylinders of carbon so tiny they must be measured in nanometers – billionths of a meter. However, there was a huge challenge: controlling chemical reactions along the nanotubes so that the lattice could be assembled as precisely as needed and function as intended.
Egelman and his colleagues found an answer in the very building blocks of life. They took DNA, the genetic material that tells living cells how to operate, and used it to guide a chemical reaction that would overcome the great barrier to Little’s superconductor. In short, they used chemistry to perform astonishingly precise structural engineering – construction at the level of individual molecules. The result was a lattice of carbon nanotubes assembled specifically as needed for Little’s room-temperature superconductor.
“This work demonstrates that ordered carbon nanotube modification can be achieved by taking advantage of DNA-sequence control over the spacing between adjacent reaction sites,” Egelman said.
For now, the lattice they built has not been tested for superconductivity. However, it offers proof of principle and has great potential for the future, the researchers say. “While cryo-EM has emerged as the main technique in biology for determining the atomic structures of protein assemblies, it has had much less impact thus far in materials science,” said Egelman, whose prior work led to his induction in the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.
Egelman and his collaborators say their DNA-guided approach to lattice construction could have a wide variety of useful research applications, especially in physics. But it also validates the possibility of building Little’s room-temperature superconductor. The scientists’ work, combined with other breakthroughs in superconductors in recent years, could ultimately transform technology as we know it and lead to a much more “Star Trek” future.
“While we often think of biology using tools and techniques from physics, our work shows that the approaches being developed in biology can actually be applied to problems in physics and engineering,” Egelman said. “This is what is so exciting about science: not being able to predict where our work will lead.”
Findings Published
The researchers have published their findings in the journal Science. The team consisted of Zhiwei Lin, Leticia Beltran, Zeus A. De los Santos, Yinong Li, Tehseen Adel, Jeffrey A Fagan, Angela Hight Walker, Egelman and Ming Zheng.
Reference: “DNA-guided lattice remodeling of carbon nanotubes” by Zhiwei Lin, Leticia C. Beltran, Zeus A. De los Santos, Yinong Li, Tehseen Adel, Jeffrey A Fagan, Angela R. Hight Walker, Edward H. Egelman and Ming Zheng, 28 July 2022, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abo4628
The work was supported by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and by National Institutes of Health grant GM122510, as well as by an NRC postdoctoral fellowship.
In DNA, scientists find solution to building superconductor that could transform technology
Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and their collaborators have used DNA to overcome a nearly insurmountable obstacle to engineer materials that would revolutionize electronics.
One possible outcome of such engineered materials could be superconductors, which have zero electrical resistance, allowing electrons to flow unimpeded. That means that they don’t lose energy and don’t create heat, unlike current means of electrical transmission. Development of a superconductor that could be used widely at room temperature—instead of at extremely high or low temperatures, as is now possible—could lead to hyper-fast computers, shrink the size of electronic devices, allow high-speed trains to float on magnets and slash energy use, among other benefits.
One such superconductor was first proposed more than 50 years ago by Stanford physicist William A. Little. Scientists have spent decades trying to make it work, but even after validating the feasibility of his idea, they were left with a challenge that appeared impossible to overcome. Until now.
Edward H. Egelman, Ph.D., of UVA’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has been a leader in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and he and Leticia Beltran, a graduate student in his lab, used cryo-EM imaging for this seemingly impossible project. “It demonstrates,” he said, “that the cryo-EM technique has great potential in materials research.”
Engineering at the atomic level
One possible way to realize Little’s idea for a superconductor is to modify lattices of carbon nanotubes, hollow cylinders of carbon so tiny they must be measured in nanometers—billionths of a meter. But there was a huge challenge: controlling chemical reactions along the nanotubes so that the lattice could be assembled as precisely as needed and function as intended.
Egelman and his collaborators found an answer in the very building blocks of life. They took DNA, the genetic material that tells living cells how to operate, and used it to guide a chemical reaction that would overcome the great barrier to Little’s superconductor. In short, they used chemistry to perform astonishingly precise structural engineering—construction at the level of individual molecules. The result was a lattice of carbon nanotubes assembled as needed for Little’s room-temperature superconductor.
“This work demonstrates that ordered carbon nanotube modification can be achieved by taking advantage of DNA-sequence control over the spacing between adjacent reaction sites,” Egelman said.
The lattice they built has not been tested for superconductivity, for now, but it offers proof of principle and has great potential for the future, the researchers say. “While cryo-EM has emerged as the main technique in biology for determining the atomic structures of protein assemblies, it has had much less impact thus far in materials science,” said Egelman, whose prior work led to his induction in the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.
Egelman and his colleagues say their DNA-guided approach to lattice construction could have a wide variety of useful research applications, especially in physics. But it also validates the possibility of building Little’s room-temperature superconductor. The scientists’ work, combined with other breakthroughs in superconductors in recent years, could ultimately transform technology as we know it and lead to a much more “Star Trek” future.
“While we often think of biology using tools and techniques from physics, our work shows that the approaches being developed in biology can actually be applied to problems in physics and engineering,” Egelman said. “This is what is so exciting about science: not being able to predict where our work will lead.”
The researchers have published their findings in the journal Science.
Atomic-scale window into superconductivity paves the way for new quantum materials
More information:
Zhiwei Lin et al, DNA-guided lattice remodeling of carbon nanotubes, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abo4628
Zhiwei Lin et al, DNA-guided lattice remodeling of carbon nanotubes, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abo4628
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Arteta gives Gabriel Jesus spotlight to transform Arsenal’s upward ambition | Arsenal
It took 85 seconds for Gabriel Jesus to offer a convincing precis of what Mikel Arteta had sought above all else in this transfer window. Arsenal were 2-0 down in Friday’s friendly at Nürnberg and while that was hardly anything to get worked up about, their manager was entitled to expect a half-time change of gear.
Within moments of his introduction Jesus had seized on loose control from a defender, found a tramline through which to surge towards the box, played a one-two with Eddie Nketiah and scored off the inside of the near post from a tight angle.
By the time proceedings ended he had deftly flicked in another goal and, if that is about as much description of some knockabout pre-season fare as anyone can bear, at least the suggestion was that Arsenal’s new £45m forward had not been mis-sold.
In May, after Arsenal had barely laid a glove on Newcastle and frittered away their Champions League hopes, Arteta spoke of top-four rivals who “have a very different profile of player to the one we have”. He was referring to proven winners: players who knew what it took to turn a bright performance into a winning one and to do it with such consistency that trophies followed.
In order for his side to evolve he would have to bring Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli and Ben White to that level while signing individuals who were already there.
That is not easy when you can offer only Europa League football, but they have found one in Jesus and time remains tantalisingly on the Brazilian’s side.
“When we find that player, maybe the top priority won’t be the age in that position,” Arteta said of his search for summer reinforcements, signalling that last year’s policy of signing under-23s would be tweaked when necessary.
But Jesus is hardly a gnarled 30-year-old with a sprinkling of years left in him: he turned 25 in April and with four top-flight winner’s medals already it is reasonable to think Arsenal have hit a sweet spot with his acquisition.
“He is used to winning and he knows that winning is the only way to do it; I think he will set different standards at the club,” Arteta said after his arrival was confirmed on Monday.
The deal would have had little chance without Arteta’s close working relationship with the Brazilian from their time at Manchester City. He knows exactly what he is getting, which adds to the sense of an uncommonly good match. When Jesus, prowling with intent as soon as the ball had become live, pounced on that sloppy touch to set his first goal against Nürnberg in motion it was as if he had resolved to demonstrate each of the facets that made him so attractive.
Under Arteta, Arsenal have to start games quickly: when they do not, the warning signs are generally obvious and the prospects distinctly wobbly. Jesus works ferociously off the ball, is capable of forcing chances and territory through terrier-like pressing, but knows how to use it, too. He is a player who gives you a foothold.
Will he provide enough goals? From the No 9 position he has long craved, perhaps: he has only twice scored more than 10 in a top-flight season, although 38% of his league appearances for City were as a substitute and he was often deployed out wide.
Arsenal scored 38 fewer goals than City last term and were 15 shy of third-placed Chelsea. “Somehow you need those goals in the team,” Arteta said two months ago. “Don’t ask me how, but you need them.”
As he approaches his peak, Jesus should provide part of the answer. The intention, too, is that his running and movement create more opportunities for Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Martin Ødegaard and Nketiah – who Arteta thinks can be a useful foil for Jesus late in games – to demonstrate their own efficiency.
It feels the right time for him to take the mantle of leading man that never fell his way at City, but Arsenal still need more and their transfer activity over the next seven weeks will define how capable they are of lasting the course next time out.
There is still faint hope of landing Raphinha, who would blow Nicolas Pépé out of the water as an option to rotate with Saka, although Chelsea and Barcelona remain favourites. Enquiries have been made about Lille’s Kosovan winger Edon Zhegrova but he is just one of several potential alternatives.
The Ajax defender Lisandro Martínez may decide his old manager Erik ten Hag shades a popularity contest against Arteta, who would perhaps reflect he cannot win them all, while Youri Tielemans would be an outstanding addition to the midfield if Leicester agree a deal. Fábio Vieira, the vaunted Portuguese playmaker, has signed from Porto but will be given time to settle.
The gap between Arsenal’s top performers and their understudies has been too wide for some time: Arteta wants quality as an alternative to quality, especially when five substitutions are there to be made. Jesus’s arrival stands as the flagship statement for now.
“From day one he has shown that passion, that anger and that decisiveness every time he was doing something,” Arteta said.
Those who were exercised by events in Bavaria could see exactly what he meant.
xScreen review: transform an Xbox Series S into a portable console
If you’ve ever owned a screen for the PSone or the GameCube, the xScreen will look instantly familiar. The xScreen is an 11.6-inch (1080p) display that attaches to the rear of an Xbox Series S, and it transforms Microsoft’s miniature console into more of an Xbox laptop for on-the-go gaming. It’s a modern take on the tiny 5-inch cramped LCD displays we’ve seen attached to consoles in the past, and it’s a great accessory if you never want to worry about attaching an Xbox to a TV when you’re traveling.
Unfortunately, that portability that doesn’t cheap. The xScreen is $249.99, nearly the same price as an Xbox Series S, so you’re going to really want to have a portable Xbox to buy into this. I’ve been testing an xScreen over the past few weeks, and I think it’s one of the best executions of the concept of portable console gaming. But it’s far from perfect.
The xScreen is really all about its display. The 11.6-inch panel supports up to 1080p at 60Hz and has surprisingly good viewing angles. If you’re looking to play outside, the panel is rated at 350 nits, and it’s matte, which helps a lot in direct sunlight. The only real limitations to playing outside are simply that you’ll need a cord long enough to power the Xbox Series S.
I played multiple games for hours with the xScreen and never noticed any severe input latency or ghosting issues. It’s a solid panel, except for black levels. If you’re playing titles that have a lot of low-light scenes, the panel sometimes struggles to really nail the black levels, and games can lack some detail as a result.
The xScreen manages to attach to the Xbox Series S through a USB-A port and the HDMI port. You have to lineup the USB first before the unit slots into place and is secured by latches at either side. The attachment feels very secure, and I never experienced any connection issues or worried about it becoming detached.
UPspec Gaming, the makers of xScreen, has done a solid job of matching the size of the xScreen to the Xbox Series S, so it all folds into a neat little package once you’ve finished playing. The white of the xScreen doesn’t quite match the Xbox Series S, but it’s close enough that I only noticed under certain light when I was closely inspecting the xScreen.
Setting the xScreen up does involve some work, though. The Xbox Series S immediately defaults to 720p output for the xScreen, and I had to switch to 1080p in the Xbox settings menu to rectify that. I also enabled the HDMI CEC options so that when I close the display, it turns the Xbox Series S off. This is neat integration, but you will need to use the Xbox power button to boot up the console again.
To avoid any damage to the xScreen or Xbox, I also had to ensure the Xbox Series S had Energy Mode enabled, so it fully powers off instead of sitting in standby. This is important, as the xScreen covers the main vent on the Xbox Series S when it’s folded down, and the Xbox will still output some heat which could damage the display if it’s running in Standby mode. Thankfully, the Xbox Series S boots super fast, so not having standby mode is a minor inconvenience.
The xScreen gets its power from the Xbox Series S USB port, so you don’t have to worry about a separate power supply, and simply connecting the Xbox to a wall works like normal. You’ll need to use Wi-Fi for connectivity, though, as the xScreen blocks off the Ethernet port on the Series S and the additional USB port. That leaves only the USB port at the front open for additional accessories.
UPspec Gaming has also enabled an optional cross-hair overlay for use in FPS games, and there are a bunch of built-in controls for screen settings and the volume of the built-in speakers. The speakers get surprisingly loud — but not in a good way. There’s no mute shortcut, and the volume controls don’t seem to affect the volume after a certain level. The speakers are definitely a disappointing aspect of this $249.99 accessory.
If you want to prop the whole thing up, there are optional feet that move the entire unit into a stand-mode orientation. I rarely used the xScreen this way, but it could be useful if you’re limited for space or you want the screen to be higher up in certain environments.
I think the optional carry case is essential for the xScreen, though. When attached to the Xbox and folded down, I noticed that the xScreen will creak and wobble if you apply any pressure to it from above. I’m not sure I’d trust this being knocked around in a backpack without some protection. The hard carry case does a good job of protecting the xScreen, but it’s a $59.99 optional extra.
Speaking of the build quality, I’m also slightly nervous about the hinge on the xScreen. I haven’t pushed it all the way back to test, but it does feel a little flimsy, and I wouldn’t recommend this for small kids that might not handle it delicately enough not to damage it. It’s probably a non-issue for most, but if you plan to use the stand-mode orientation, then this is where the potential for damage seems high.
Despite some of the drawbacks of the xScreen, I’ve had hours of fun with this little display. UPspec Gaming has created something unique here for the Xbox Series S, and it’s in a neat little package that integrates really well. You’re really paying a high $249.99 price tag for that neat integration, particularly when there are so many good portable screens out there that will do just as good a job at half the price.
There’s nothing quite like the xScreen, though. It has made me wish I was a kid again, taking my Xbox everywhere with me and not having to worry about a TV to plug into or a good internet connection for Xbox Cloud Gaming. It’s an old-school idea, in a modern and well-executed package.