California-based Aptera Motors “is rolling out the first mass-produced solar car this year,” reports the Washington Post, after successfully crowdfunding a restart of their development effort: It’s a three-wheel, ultra-aerodynamic electric vehicle covered in 34 square feet of solar cells. The car is so efficient that, on a clear day, those cells alone could provide enough energy to drive about 40…
Tag: cells
Sergey Brin’s Airship Aims To Use World’s Biggest Mobile Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Sergey Brin’s secretive airship company LTA Research and Exploration is planning to power a huge disaster relief airship with an equally record-breaking hydrogen fuel cell. From a report: A job listing from the company, which is based in Mountain View, California and Akron, Ohio, reveals that LTA wants to configure a 1.5-megawatt hydrogen propulsion system for an airship to deliver humanitarian…
Why COVID-19 spreads more easily than SARS
The study researchers focused on the spike protein, the structure that allows coronaviruses to bind to and enter human cells. Source: https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-more-transmissible-sars-coronviruses.html
Apple M1 Mac Users Report Excessive SSD Wear
Over the past week, some M1 Mac users have been reporting alarming SSD health readings, suggesting that these devices are writing extraordinary amounts of data to their drives. From a report: Across Twitter and the MacRumors forums, users are reporting that M1 Macs are experiencing extremely high drive writes over a short space of time. In what appear to be the…
‘Homegrown’ California coronavirus variant is more contagious and possibly deadlier
Lab studies found that the variant was 40% better at infecting human cells compared with earlier strains. Source: https://www.livescience.com/california-coronavirus-variant-contagious.html
A new study reveals that quantum physics can cause mutations in our DNA
Quantum biology is an emerging field of science, established in the 1920s, which looks at whether the subatomic world of quantum mechanics plays a role in living cells. Quantum mechanics is an interdisciplinary field by nature, bringing together nuclear physicists, biochemists and molecular biologists. …
Ghana Scientist Tries Gene Editing To Create Healthier Sweet Potatoes
The Cornell Alliance for Science seeks to build “a significant international alliance of partners” to “correct misinformation and counter conspiracy theories” slowing progress on climate change, synthetic biology, agricultural innovations, and other issues. Slashdot reader wooloohoo shares their article about research on Ghana’s first gene-edited crop — a high-yielding sweet potato with increased beta carotone content. “For sweet potatoes, we want…
Meet Elizabeth Ann, the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret
Her birth represents the first cloning of an endangered species native to North America, and may bring needed genetic diversity to the species. From a report: Last year, Ben Novak drove across the country to spend New Year’s Eve with a black-footed ferret. Elizabeth Ann had just turned 21 days old — surely a milestone for any ferret but a particularly…
Endangered black-footed ferret cloned for the first time
The adorable clone, named Elizabeth Ann, was created using cells that were frozen more than three decades ago. Source: https://www.livescience.com/endangered-black-footed-ferret-cloned.html
Incredibly detailed video shows DNA twisting into weird shapes to squeeze into cells
Scientists recently captured a high-resolution video of DNA shimmying into weird shapes in order to squeeze inside cells. Source: https://www.livescience.com/dna-folds-weird-shapes-cell-visualization.html