WIRED.

The seminal DIY catalogs, journals, and magazines printed by the techno-hippie publishing house are finally available online in digital form, all for free.

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Help to solve the mystery of a 2,200-year-old ‘computer’ has come from an unlikely source – a YouTuber.

The Antikythera Mechanism is believed to be the earliest surviving mechanical computing device.

The content creator’s research into the device’s interlocking gears was crucial in discovering the truth behind this advanced and ancient artifact.

CNN so use with caution.

Deep inside Earth is a solid metal ball that rotates independently of our spinning planet, like a top whirling around inside a bigger top, shrouded in mystery.

This inner core has intrigued researchers since its discovery by Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann in 1936, and how it moves — its rotation speed and direction — has been at the center of a decades-long debate. A growing body of evidence suggests the core’s spin has changed dramatically in recent years, but scientists have remained divided over what exactly is happening — and what it means.

Part of the trouble is that Earth’s deep interior is impossible to observe or sample directly. Seismologists have gleaned information about the inner core’s motion by examining how waves from large earthquakes that ping this area behave. Variations between waves of similar strengths that passed through the core at different times enabled scientists to measure changes in the inner core’s position and calculate its spin.

Nature.

Computational approaches are emerging as powerful tools for the discovery of antibiotics. A study now uses machine learning to discover abaucin, a potent antibiotic that targets the bacterial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii.

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Antihistamine drugs, such as Benadryl, Allegra, and Claritin, might stave off the coronavirus, according to a recent study published by the American Society of Microbiology Journals.

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Arc Institute scientists have discovered the bridge recombinase mechanism, a revolutionary tool that enables fully programmable DNA rearrangements.

Their finding, detailed in a recent Nature publication, is the first DNA recombinase that uses a non-coding RNA for sequence-specific selection of target and donor DNA molecules. This bridge RNA is programmable, allowing the user to specify any desired genomic target sequence and any donor DNA molecule to be inserted.

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Engineers at MIT and in China are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun.

In a paper appearing today in the journal Joule, the team outlines the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.

The configuration of the device allows water to circulate in swirling eddies, in a manner similar to the much larger “thermohaline” circulation of the ocean. This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind. The resulting water vapor can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water. In the meantime, the leftover salt continues to circulate through and out of the device, rather than accumulating and clogging the system.

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North Carolina State University researchers have developed a kirigami-inspired mechanical computer that uses a complex structure of rigid, interconnected polymer cubes to store, retrieve and erase data without relying on electronic components. The system also includes a reversible feature that allows users to control when data editing is permitted and when data should be locked in place.

Washington Poop.

Dozens of awe-inspiring ancient footprints left on the shores of an ice age lake have reignited a long-running debate about when the first people arrived in the Americas.

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Cancer cells hoard iron in unusually high quantities. Scientists have discovered how to leverage this to create safer cancer drugs.

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Scientists in China have synthesized spider silk from genetically modified silkworms, producing fibers six times tougher than the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests.

The study, published September 20 in the journal Matter, is the first to successfully produce full-length spider silk proteins using silkworms. The findings demonstrate a technique that could be used to manufacture an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic commercial fibers such as nylon.

“Silkworm silk is presently the only animal silk fiber commercialized on a large scale, with well-established rearing techniques,” said Mi. “Consequently, employing genetically modified silkworms to produce spider silk fiber enables low-cost, large-scale commercialization.”

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The new party, called the Democrats, is the latest attempt to stem the more than 20-year decline of the Israeli left. Labor, which governed Israel for its first three decades, is now the smallest party in Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Meretz, to Labor’s left, did not receive enough votes in the most recent election to enter Knesset at all — effectively wasting the votes it got.

How appropriate.

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In pre-clinical trials, a small molecule effectively regrew neurons, reduced inflammation, and improved memory, speed, coordination, grip strength, and more. The finding could have a profound impact on aging and the diseases that accompany it.

In conducting the research, scientists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, turned their focus to telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), an enzyme that is known to help synthesize and extend telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that help cells divide. TERT levels are reduced as we age.

Without sufficient levels of TERT, when our telomeres shrink or get seriously modified, they can lead to a process that continually damages our DNA, which causes cells to release inflammatory compounds that can in turn lead to aging, tissue damage, and cancer.

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• Inductive current transmission unit inside the rotor enables ultra-compact e-motor design
• Performance data on par with permanent-magnet synchronous machines, currently the most common form of drive for e-vehicles
• Advantages: no magnets or rare earth materials, increased security of supply, and better sustainability and efficiency

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Residential heating systems are a major source of carbon emissions in the European Union, with fossil fuel-based heating accounting for approximately 80% of heating systems. If electric heat pumps are a more environmentally friendly option, they are not always efficient enough to warrant replacing gas heating in every household, especially when compared to newer boilers. Two European start-ups are developing a new generation of heat pumps that use thermoacoustic technology. They could offer a more efficient and eco-friendly solution.

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A research team headed by Prof. Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created complete models of human embryos from stem cells cultured in the lab – and managed to grow them outside the womb up to day 14. As reported today in Nature, these synthetic embryo models had all the structures and compartments characteristic of this stage, including the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac and other external tissues that ensure the models’ dynamic and adequate growth.

I find this somewhat disturbing.

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The proposed freshwater generation systems are inexpensive, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly

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By capturing short-lived RNA molecules, scientists can map relationships between genes and the regulatory elements that control them.

MIT researchers have innovated a method to observe the interaction between genes and enhancers by monitoring their activation times, helping to pinpoint drug targets for genetic disorders. This technique also enhances understanding of eRNA’s function in gene regulation and disease treatment.

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If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

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Costco is building a ‘mixed use’ 800-unit apartment complex in south Los Angeles – with 184 units designated as affordable housing, which some have speculated will allow them to fast-track the construction of an actual Costco Big Box store by taking advantage of a state law which removes significant red tape from such projects, the NY Post reports.

“The planning and land use system in California and in LA is a Rube Goldberg machine,” housing activist Joe Cohen told SFGATE, “and this project is seeing that machine laid bare.”

Would you live in an apartment above a Costco? I would.

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This is news?

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Obama-appointed federal judges blocked parts of the Biden administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan on Monday in response to Republican states’ lawsuits.

Judge John A. Ross of Missouri and Judge Daniel Crabtree of Kansas blocked parts of the administration’s SAVE Plan, which was an income-driven repayment program intended to lower monthly costs for borrowers. The court rulings prohibit the Department of Education from further lowering payments or eliminating more debt through the program, Politico reported.

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So essentially, while details are scant at this point, it seems what’s happening here is that for one or more of Fortescue’s mining sites, the team has calculated that there’s enough downhill slope and braking opportunities in the loaded direction to charge up the battery regeneratively, and the train is so much lighter when it’s unloaded that the battery can take it all the way back to the mine and start the journey again without needing a charge.

Not clear how that helps anything outside of that ‘little engine that could’ scenario.

Wired.

An extra membrane that once had digestive functions let marine microbes boost their yield from photosynthesis. Today, they’re responsible for locking carbon in the ocean and putting oxygen in the air.

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When you absolutely, positively must have it destroyed overnight.

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If your shoes, when tied, have the “bow” of your shoelaces tilt to one side and refuse to stay horizontally across your shoes, there’s an extremely good chance that you’ve been tying your shoes all wrong your entire life. There’s a mathematical reason for it, and a straightforward way to fix it.

Or you can avoid the whole problem by not buying shoes that need laces. I haven’t worn shoes with laces in thirty years, and never missed them.

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“The air contains an enormous amount of electricity,” says Jun Yao, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, and the paper’s senior author. “Think of a cloud, which is nothing more than a mass of water droplets. Each of those droplets contains a charge, and when conditions are right, the cloud can produce a lightning bolt—but we don’t know how to reliably capture electricity from lightning. What we’ve done is to create a human-built, small-scale cloud that produces electricity for us predictably and continuously so that we can harvest it.”

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Iron is one of the most abundant metals on Earth, and the most produced. It has an energy density of about 11.3 kilowatt-hours per liter—better than gasoline. Burning iron powder produces heat that can be used directly or converted into electricity by a steam turbine, leaving behind iron oxide, or rust. This can later be reduced—that is, the oxygen can be stripped away—back into iron powder. “You can think of iron fuel as a clean, recyclable coal,” says Bergthorson.

Iron oxide can also be reduced to iron using hydrogen. Hydrogen is already a carbon-free green fuel if produced by splitting water using renewable electricity. But it is also an ultralight, voluminous gas, so it must be converted using high pressures and extreme cold into liquid, which then has to be stored and transported in special containers. Iron, by contrast, is already moved in dry containers for a lower cost.

Nature.

For most of the history of life on Earth, genetic information has been carried in a code that specifies just 20 amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which do most of the heavy lifting in the cell; their side-chains govern protein folding, interactions and chemical activities. By limiting the available side chains, nature effectively restricts the kinds of reaction that proteins can perform.

As a doctoral student in the 1980s, Peter Schultz found himself wondering why nature had restricted itself in this way — and set about trying to circumvent this limitation. Several years later, as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Schultz and his team managed to do so by tinkering with the machinery of protein synthesis. Although confined to a test tube, the work marked a key early success in efforts to hack the genetic code.

Since then, many researchers have followed in Schultz’s footsteps, tweaking the cellular apparatus for building proteins both to alter existing macromolecules and to create polymers from entirely new building blocks. The resulting molecules can be used in research and for the development of therapeutics and materials. But it’s been a hard slog, because protein synthesis is a crucial cellular function that cannot easily be changed.

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A new navigation system that tracks subatomic particles constantly bombarding Earth could help us get around indoors, underground, and underwater — all the places GPS fails.

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New research has shed light on the effects of protein-rich diets on the gut microbiome and overall health. Despite the increasing protein intake in Western diets, especially among athletes and individuals with obesity, the fate of undigested protein and its impact on human health remains largely unknown. A new study, presented at ASM Microbe, explores how excess undigested protein in the colon can be fermented to produce beneficial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), or lead to the production of harmful metabolites like ammonia and sulfides, which are linked to gastrointestinal disorders and other health issues.

The research team conducted a series of experiments on mice, discovering that a switch to a protein-rich diet resulted in significant weight loss, reduced body fat and induced immediate changes to the gut microbiome. The study also compared different protein diets to examine the effects of individual amino acids on the gut microbiome’s composition and activity. Notably, the mice consuming aromatic amino-acid-rich proteins experienced the greatest weight and fat mass loss compared to those on standard protein and branched-chain amino-acid-rich protein diets.

UPDATE: 5 Best High-Protein Foods for Gut Health, According to Dietitians

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If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

Watch it.

There is a company in Maryland that is working on doing this for structural purposes.

There is a lot of room for exploring natural polymers like lignin, cellulose, and chitin.

(One of the most disturbing aspects of this video is the burdens on firearm possession and use in the People’s Republic of Canada. Go, Second Amendment!)

Reuters.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided on Thursday with Starbucks (SBUX.O), opens new tab in the coffee chain’s challenge to a judicial order to rehire seven Memphis employees fired as they sought to unionize in a ruling that could make it harder for courts to quickly halt labor practices contested as unfair under federal law.

The justices unanimously threw out a lower court’s approval of an injunction sought by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordering Starbucks to reinstate the workers while the agency’s in-house administrative case against the Seattle-based company proceeds.

The justices ruled that lower courts had used an improper legal standard – one that Starbucks argued was too lenient – to issue a preliminary injunction requested by the agency under a federal law called the National Labor Relations Act.

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If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

PBS.

Gates was in the tiny community of Kemmerer Monday to break ground on the project. The co-founder of Microsoft is chairman of TerraPower. The company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium, not water, for cooling. If approved, it would operate as a commercial nuclear power plant.

The site is adjacent to PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power Plant, which will stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, the utility said. Nuclear reactors operate without emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases. PacifiCorp plans to get carbon-free power from the reactor and says it is weighing how much nuclear to include in its long-range planning.

Why Wyoming? Well, Wyoming is in the Middle of Nowhere, so there are no close urban areas full of activist robot Democrat mobs to cause trouble–like this one:

Edwin Lyman co-authored an article in Science on Thursday that raises concerns that this fuel could be used for nuclear weapons. Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the risk posed by HALEU today is small because there isn’t that much of it around the world. But that will change if advanced reactor projects, which require much larger quantities, move forward, he added. Lyman said he wants to raise awareness of the danger in the hope that the international community will strengthen security around the fuel.

Let’s hear it for the effectiveness of the ‘international community’ which can’t even keep Russia from invading Ukraine (both of which have nuclear power plants), or Iran from buying enriched uranium from Niger for its bomb-the-Jews-until-they-glow-in-the-dark project. Yeah, I’m holding my breath.

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Won’t that be fun?

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It is as important to avoid the bad as it is to support the good.

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If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

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The first clinical trial to administer gene therapy to both ears in one person has restored hearing function to 5 children born with a form of inherited deafness, astounding the research team..

Two of the children even gained an ability to appreciate music.

The success of the new approach is detailed in a new study published in Nature Medicine. The work builds on the first phase of the trial, published earlier this year, in which children were treated in a single ear.

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Identifying hit songs is notoriously difficult. Traditionally, song elements have been measured from large databases to identify the lyrical aspects of hits. We took a different methodological approach, measuring neurophysiologic responses to a set of songs provided by a streaming music service that identified hits and flops. We compared several statistical approaches to examine the predictive accuracy of each technique. A linear statistical model using two neural measures identified hits with 69% accuracy. Then, we created a synthetic set data and applied ensemble machine learning to capture inherent non-linearities in neural data. This model classified hit songs with 97% accuracy. Applying machine learning to the neural response to 1st min of songs accurately classified hits 82% of the time showing that the brain rapidly identifies hit music. Our results demonstrate that applying machine learning to neural data can substantially increase classification accuracy for difficult to predict market outcomes.

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In the years following the revolution, hundreds of thousands of Cubans left the island nation for South Florida, setting the stage for what would become one of the most important linguistic convergences in all of the Americas.

Today, the vast majority of the population is bilingual. In 2010, more than 65% of the population of Miami-Dade County identified as Hispanic or Latina/o, and in the large municipalities of Doral and Hialeah, the figure is 80% and 95%, respectively.

Of course, identifying as Latina/o is not synonymous with speaking Spanish, and language loss has occurred among second- and third-generation Cuban Americans. But the point is that there is a lot of Spanish – and a lot of English – being spoken in Miami.

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On the cover of Lisa Birnbach’s “The Official Preppy Handbook,” a tongue-in-cheek 1980s guide to looking, acting and thinking like a US prep school elite, a pattern along the border depicts a fabric that has become synonymous with casual American luxury: madras.

The colorful plaid cotton cloth has been used by brands like Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers for decades. Think light summer dresses, shirts and shorts worn at the country club or on sailing holidays in the Bahamas — the kind of attire that might be complemented by a pair of leather boat shoes.

But this staple of preppy American fashion has humble origins, far from Martha’s Vineyard or the hallways of Yale or Harvard, in Chennai, India, the coastal city from which it takes its name. (Chennai was known as Madras during British rule.)

The Guardian.

Study participants born unable to hear could locate sound sources, recognise speech and dance to music after treatment

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The upper 10 kilometers of the Earth’s crust contains vast geothermal reserves, essentially awaiting human energy consumption to begin to tap into its unstinting power output—which itself yields no greenhouse gasses. And yet, geothermal sources currently produce only three-tenths of one percent of the world’s electricity. This promising energy source has long been limited by the extraordinary challenges of drilling holes that are deep enough to access the intense heat below the Earth’s surface.

Now, an MIT spin-off says it has found a solution in an innovative technology that could dramatically reduce the costs and timelines of drilling to fantastic depths. Quaise Energy, based in Cambridge, Mass., plans to deploy what are called gyrotron drills to vaporize rock using powerful microwaves.

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Dyson Spheres have been a tantalizing digression in the hunt for alien intelligence. Just recently seven stars have been identified as potential candidates with most of their radiation given off in the infrared wavelengths.

Potentially this is the signature of heat from a matrix of spacecraft around the star but alas, a new paper has another slightly less exciting explanation; dust obscured galaxies.

There are a number of ways to hunt for aliens and one of them is to look for signs of large scale projects in space. Enter the Dyson Sphere. The idea was first proposed by Freeman Dyson in 1960 to describe that an advanced civilizations would position power collectors and even habitats around a star to harness its power.

SciTechDaily.

Researchers have discovered a neurodevelopmental disorder linked to mutations in the RNU4-2 gene, a non-coding gene, which could impact tens of thousands globally. This finding enhances our understanding of genetic factors behind such disorders and paves the way for improved diagnostics.

Scientists have identified a neurodevelopmental disorder, caused by mutations in a single gene, that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide. The work, published in the May 31 online issue of Nature Medicine, was conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Bristol, UK; KU Leuven, Belgium; and the NIHR BioResource, currently based at the University of Cambridge, UK.

The findings will improve clinical diagnostic services for patients with neurodevelopmental disorders.

UPDATE: Mutations in a non-coding gene associated with intellectual disability (Ars Technica)

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A New York state appeals court said Donald Trump can sue his niece Mary Trump for giving the New York Times information for its Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 probe into his finances and his alleged effort to avoid taxes.

The Appellate Division in Manhattan found a “substantial” legal basis for Donald Trump to claim that his niece violated confidentiality provisions of a 2001 settlement over the estate of his father, Fred Trump Sr.