Daily Archives: September 15, 2022

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Using gene modification techniques, a team of researchers have come up with a new treatment for balding, Wired reports a condition experienced to varying degrees by two-thirds of American men by age 35.

The team, associated with the University of California, Irvine and a biotech company called Amplifica,believes they've identified the signaling pathway that drive hair growth to find new ways to stop stem cells from giving up on producing hair follicles.

Experiments with mice, as detailed in a new paper published in the journal Developmental Cell last month, have been promising. The mice were genetically modified to have the hair growth signaling pathway turned on permanently.

The result: the mice rapidly grew hair,in a promising first step towards a potentially groundbreaking treatment for an incredibly common condition, especially considering current treatment options like hair transplants and hair growth drugsare invasive and expensive.

Using RNA sequencing, theteam found that a molecule called SCUBE3, which appears to hack follicles into producing hair again, was being expressed by the mice that had their genes modified.

In an especially promising twist the technique even worked in mice that had human hair follicles grafted to their skins.

There's much work to do before the treatment could be used on people. But UCLA professor and Amplifica chief scientific officer Maksim Plikus has no problems envisioning a future in which SCUBE3 is a simple, Botox injection-like treatment for balding patients.

"You have a patient sitting in a dentist-like chair, they close their eyes, and then you gotch, tch, tch, tch," Plikus told Wired.

The molecule would simply be injected into the scalp less than a millimeter into the skin, a procedure that would take less than 20 minutes, according to Plikus.

The system does have one major flaw: what if patients don't have hair follicles to begin with? In that case, they'll be stuck with the option of having new follicles transplanted.

Despite that limitation, scientists are investigating new ways of addressing an issue faced by the majority of the male population and a large chunk of the female population as well with options that are far less invasive and potentially much cheaper.

READ MORE: This Follicle-Hacking Drug Could One Day Treat Baldness [Wired]

More on baldness: Doctors Say a Random Cheap Pill May Actually Reverse Balding

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Scientists Are Working on a Gene-Hacking Drug That Could Treat Baldness - Futurism

A scientist employed by the government of Switzerland has made a bold prediction about the discovery of alien life and his reasoning seems pretty compelling.

As Space.com reports, Dr. Sascha Quanz of Switzerland's state-run Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said he thinks humans are likely to discover life beyond our planet within the next 25 years.

"In 1995, my colleague [and Noble Prize laureate] Didier Queloz discovered the first planet outside our solar system," Quanz said during the opening of the institute's new Center for the Origin and Prevalence of Life earlier in September. "Today, more than 5,000 exoplanets are known and we are discovering them on a daily basis."

Of those thousands of exoplanets, dozens are believed to be at least potentially habitable, with the conditions on their surface ripe for liquid water. And as he said, that number is growing all the time.

Now, these fascinating worlds are inviting closer scrutiny with advanced technology.

"We need to investigate the atmospheres of these planets," the Swiss professor said. "We need an observational approach that would allow us to take pictures of these planets."

Though the James Webb Space Telescope has already captured arresting images of one giant exoplanet, its primary focus is on imagery of stars and is not, as Quanz said, "powerful enough" to capture images of smaller exoplanets.

That's where two of the astrophysicist's projects one giant ground-based instrument being developed as an addition to the Extremely Large Telescope that's currently under construction in Chile, and a European Space Agency mission to study the atmospheres of exoplanets for signs of extraterrestrial life come in.

That latter mission, known as Large Interferometer for Exoplanets or LIFE, conceived in 2017, is still in an early study phase, and has not yet received either approval or funding from the ESA, Space.com notes.

Nevertheless, Quanz characterized the LIFE program as a "candidate for a future large mission within the ESA science program" itself a huge step for the search for intelligent life (SETI) community, which has gained unprecedented traction in recent years as the scientific community begins to take the concept of us not being alone in the universe more seriously than ever before.

Quanz has given his search for life outside of our solar system a 25-year deadline, which he argues is not "unrealistic."

"There's no guarantee for success," the researcher said. "But we're going to learn other things on the way."

READ MORE:'We can find life outside the solar system in 25 years,' researcher says [Space.com]

More exoplanets: Scientists Discover Nearby "Super-Earth" That May Support Life

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Swiss Government Scientist Says We May Be on the Brink of Discovering Alien Life - Futurism

Let me be blunt: The Backbone One gaming controller is the iPhone accessory I've wanted since games started appearing on Apple's smartphone platform in 2008. It fulfills the promise of turning the iPhone into a credible Nintendo Switch competitor, and distinguishes itself in a field crowded with alternatives from companies like Razer, GameSir, and even Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Read on for our full Backbone One Controller review.

Youve already been able to sync Bluetooth controllers including those designed for the Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch to an iPhone to play games for a few years. However, using a Bluetooth controller with an iPhone requires you to keep your smartphone in a stand, or attach the two devices using a clip, which looks and feels awkward. Controller shells, like Razers Kishi, GameSirs X2, and the Backbone One are designed to fit around the sides of the iPhone to turn it into a more svelte handheld gaming device. Theres a huge market for iPhone gaming controllers, but the Backbone One is the best one Ive ever used.

Specs: Dimensions: 3.7 inches L x 6.94 inches W x 1.28 inches H Weight: 4.8 ounces Input: Lightning Compatibility: Any iPhone released after the 6S in 2015

Most people who play iPhone games use its touch screen, which makes sense for titles like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, which were designed specifically for that device. If youre playing in-depth Japanese role-playing games like Fantasian, or racing games like Horizon Chase 2, the iPhones touch screen isnt ideal. Your fingers end up getting in the way of the action, and its easy to accidentally hit multiple buttons at the same time, or miss them entirely.

The Backbone One solves this problem by allowing you to play games using a pair of analog sticks, four face buttons, and four trigger buttons just like you would on a game console controller. The Backbone One has the same exact button layout as controllers from Nintendo and Microsoft, so it feels familiar to use immediately. This isnt the first controller shell for the iPhone, but it feels a lot more secure than any other one Ive tested as part of this Backbone One Controller review.

Its handles are sloped downward, which makes the controller a little taller, but far more comfortable to grip, and the textured, plastic Backbone keeps the controller from slipping if your hands get sweaty. These design details may seem small, but they make the difference between ending your gaming session because of a hand cramp, or because you finished a difficult challenge.

The Backbone Ones solid construction impressed me from the moment I took it out of the box. It didnt bend much when I tried to twist it, the buttons and triggers felt sufficiently clicky, and the analog sticks were positioned in the perfect place. My fingers immediately fell into their natural place: thumbs on the left analog stick and face buttons, pointer fingers on the top triggers, middle fingers on the back of the controller for support, and ring and pinky fingers curled around the controllers handles. This controller felt so natural that I couldve mistaken it for one made by Nintendo if I picked it up with my eyes closed.

This is a sharp contrast to Razers Kishi controller, which has a more squared-off design that requires me to curl my middle, ring, and pinky fingers behind the controller when playing. Both controllers require you to strap your iPhone inside their shell, but the One is made out of two pieces of thick plastic, which you can easily pull apart (as shown in the GIF above). The Kishi, by contrast, requires you to unlock its two pieces by pulling on a pair of finicky tabs on the back. Dont get me wrong, the Razer Kishi is a fine iPhone gaming controller, its just undeniable that the Backbone One has the better design.

I dont have many quibbles to bring up in this Backbone One Controller review, but I do wish it had a dedicated home button that exited out of the game I was playing once I was done. The controller does have a button that opens Backbones app to reveal your game library, but thats as close as youll get. Beyond that small nitpick, using the Backbone One was smooth sailing.

Part of the Backbone Ones appeal is that theres no set-up process. I opened the controller shell, plugged its Lightning jack into my iPhones charging port, and was ready to start playing. Games with controller support instantly recognized that the Backbone One was connected to my iPhone, and I was able to play games without touching its screen. Backbone does have an app, which allows you to see all the available games on the App Store with controller support and hop into your most recently played games, but its entirely optional. I found myself launching games the old-fashioned way.

The Backbone One is compatible with any iPhone going back to the 6S, which was released in 2015 with the exception of the original iPhone SE, which retained the iPhone 5s design. This controller will work identically, whether you have the newest iPhone, or one thats half a decade old. Its worth noting that this controller draws power from your iPhone, and you may notice a more significant battery drain on older, smaller iPhones. I had no problems using the Backbone One with an iPhone 13 Pro Max, but your mileage may vary. Playing games on your iPhone will tax its battery more than almost any other task, but you can charge the smartphone while you play by plugging a cable into the Lightning port on the bottom of the Backbone Ones right handle.

I tested the Backbone One controller by playing hours of Fantasian, Chrono Trigger, Horizon Chase 2, Tunic (via Xbox Cloud Streaming), Ys Origins (via NVIDIA GeForce Now streaming), and the controller never skipped a beat. The controller recognized every input, even when I was pressing multiple buttons at the same time to pull off a more complicated move. If I made a mistake during a game, but recognized it early enough, it was possible to correct myself instead of fumbling with the touch screen, losing a life, and having to start over. When I messed up during a game, it was entirely my fault, and nothing to do with Backbone's controller.

The controller's familiar button layout allowed me to concentrate on gameplay rather than figuring out which buttons to press. Both of the Backbone One's analog sticks moved swiftly and never drifted (aka got triggered accidentally and automatically), which is a problem that's been plaguing the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con controllers since the console's launch in 2017. The instant responsiveness of the Backbone One's analog sticks made it easy to navigate the expansive worlds of Fantasian and Tunic without accidentally running into a wall or worse, enemies. The Backbone One's buttons produce a satisfying clicking sound, and would depress without a tremendous amount of force, so I could hit one with the tip of my thumb rather than mashing it down, which would introduce the risk of hitting two buttons at the same time.

The only time the Backbone One struggled was when I played games streamed from cloud services, which has nothing to do with the hardware and everything to do with latency introduced by playing games over the internet. When Xbox's connection to the internet was strong, playing a game on my iPhone was virtually identical to the experience of enjoying it on Microsoft's latest console. Many companies including Microsoft list their cloud gaming services as "in beta," and I definitely felt that. Cloud gaming is especially hairy on iOS because Apple doesn't allow companies to create a native application for these services on the iPhone, so you're basically playing a high-end game through the Safari web browser.

Still, being able to play an Xbox game at home, leaving, then picking up where I left off on my iPhone without skipping a beat was pretty incredible. If you get a Backbone One today, you'll reap all the benefits of improvements to cloud gaming services that materialize over the next few years. Backbone's hardware is ready, now it's time for gaming companies to catch up.

If the iPhone is your primary gaming device, and the titles you play support the use of an external controller, the Backbone One is an essential accessory. We can also highly recommend it to anyone who has a current-generation Xbox or PlayStation and wants to give cloud gaming a chance. Game streaming technology is in its infancy, but its improving quickly. Apple has spent tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars developing and optimizing the chip inside the iPhone to make sure its capable of running high end games.

The Backbone One allows you to take advantage of the iPhones processing power to enjoy home console-quality games on the go, without a diminished experience. After using this controller regularly for a few weeks, I couldnt imagine playing an iPhone game without it.

Futurism may receive a portion of sales on products linked within this post.

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Backbone's One Controller Unlocks the iPhone's True Gaming Potential - Futurism

"Nothing in this video is pre scripted."Welcome to Ameca

UK-based robotics company Engineered Arts just gave its ultra realistic looking humanoid robot Ameca a voice and she has a lot to say.

In a new video, the company showed off Ameca having a conversation with a number of the company's engineers, courtesy of a speech synthesizer and OpenAI's GPT 3, cutting-edge language model thatuses deep learning to generate impressively human-like text.

Ameca has already proven to be an impressive demonstration of state-of-the-art humanoid robots, with her uncanny ability to contort her face into extremely believable, human-like expressions, ranging from disbelief to disgust.

Now, thanks to the power of GPT 3, Ameca is able to converse as well, in an impressive extension of what modern robots are capable of.

When Engineered Arts director of operations Morgan Roe asked Ameca about the applications for humanoid robots, she had a surprisingly coherent answer.

"There are many possible applications for humanoid robots," she said. "Some examples include helping people with disabilities providing assistance in hazardous environments conducting research and acting as a companion."

"Nothing in this video is pre scripted," the video's caption reads. "The model is given a basic prompt describing Ameca, giving the robot a description of self its pure AI."

"The pauses are the time lag for processing the speech input, generating the answer and processing the text back into speech," the company wrote.

As far as evil robots taking over the world are concerned, Ameca claims she's not a threat.And the conversational system clearly still has some room to improve.

When asked to come up with a "poem about humanoid robots," she responded with something that doesn't quite sound like a poem:"We are the humanoid robots formed from plastic and metal our job is to help and serve."

"But some say we're a threat," Ameca concluded. "Some think that we'll take over and that humanity will end, but we just want to help out."

"We're not looking to be friends,"she added, which sounds vaguely ominous.

But the engineer seemed nonplussed.

"That's an interesting poem,"he responded.

More on Ameca: The Robot With Amazing Facial Expressions Is Back and It's Giving Us New Nightmares

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They Put GPT-3 Into That Robot With Creepily Realistic Facial Expressions and Yikes - Futurism

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk isn't convinced of the long-term prospects of fusion energy, the long-deferred dream of fusing atoms together under extreme conditions as a way to generate green electricity.

As cool as that sounds, though, the richest man in the world is put off by the logistics and cost.

"Fusion would be expensive energy, given difficulty of obtaining and transporting source fuel, plus maintaining the reactor," Musk argued in a Thursday tweet. "Far better to use the Sun thermonuclear reactor with no need to refuel or service."

Those criticisms aren't entirely misplaced, either. Try as they might, scientists have yet to crack the code of fusion, with current reactors still requiring far more energy to get started than they're able to produce, despite many decades of research.

To Musk, we already have the answer to a much greener future.

"The primary solution to a sustainable energy future is solar/wind with batteries for when sun doesnt shine or wind doesnt blow, interconnected with conventional high voltage lines," he added in a follow-up. "No unknown technology is needed!"

Of course, Musk's car venture Tesla is heavily invested in solar energy and battery storage technologies, so his comments don't exactly come as a surprise.And financial incentive or not, he's right that a renewable grid is a worthy goal.

The billionaire hasn't entirely dismissed fusion, but he seems to think there are already better options out there.

"Its cool and for sure can and should be done," he tweeted last year, after a team of MIT researchers announced their compact fusion reactor was "very likely to work."

"But I suspect its best case will be more costly than wind & solar (aka big fusion reactor in sky)," he added at the time.

Other billionaires, like Amazon founder and noted Musk rival Jeff Bezos, do believe in a greener future powered by fusion reactors. Last year, news emerged that Bezos was investing in Canadian fusion energy startup General Fusion.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Virgin CEO Richard Bransonhave also invested in fusion tech.

The jury is still very much out on the viability of fusion energy. Every year, scientists claim they've come closer to achieving fusion, a dream of a perfectly safe and entirely renewable source of energy.

But the reality has so far left much to be desired.

If it were up to Musk, seemingly, our efforts would be better spent developing renewable energy and battery storage technologies.

More on fusion: Startup Says It's Honing in on Simple Solution for Practical Fusion Power

See more here:
Elon Musk Slams Fusion, Says Future of Energy Is Wind and Solar - Futurism

Daniel Monkman and Adam Sturgeon are no strangers to exploring their cultural history through music.BothAnishnaabe artists have in recent years released albums Monkman with their"moccasin shoegaze" solo project Zoon and Sturgeonwith his band Status/Non-Status that directly reference their Indigenous heritage and personal stories.

But in coming together as the duo Ombiigizi, the pair isdrawing on the very sense of community that's at the heart of their culture, offering up their take on Indigenous futurisms on their 2022 debut album Sewn Back Together.

The collaboration landed them their firstPolaris Music Prize nomination as one of the ten albumsshortlistedfor the 2022Polaris Prize, which celebrates the best Canadian album of the year. The winner, who will receive $50,000, will be announced on Sept. 19, 2022.

Produced by Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew and engineer Nyles Spencer of the Tragically Hip's Bathouse Studio, Sewn Back Together is steeped in shoegaze,dream pop and post-rock, with clear-eyed lyrics that examine Canada's current reckoning with its past while trying to picture a future shaped by healing and the guidance of culture.

Ombiigizi singer-songwriter and guitarist Adam Sturgeon told CBC Books about recently re-readingWaubgeshig Rice's post-apocalyptic 2018 novel Moon of the Crusted Snow with his family, and why it's so important to tell and listen toIndigenous stories.

"I first met WaubgeshigRiceat a small punk show in Ottawa. I then followed his life stories on Twitter and recognize him as an immense spirit of our time.

"I'm a big fan of Indigenous authors. They bring culture to places where it cannot always be found, which is so important for our people spread across Turtle Island. These stories can be a bonding experience between generations or a learning tool for students, citizensand urbanites.

"Perhaps most importantly, they are a way to internalize the shared experiences of our people in good and sometimes challenging ways, so as to not feel so alone on the journey."

"Waub Rice's book Moon of the Crusted Snow is a post-apocalyptic futurist book. It brings our journey full-circle with a return to the land, the teachingsand the simple guidance of our cultural spirit.

"Recently, I spent some time in the woods with my family. With a spring water hook-up and tiny roof over our head, we were completely remote from the world. We had to climb a mountain for cell service, so it was only fitting that we read Moon of the Crusted Snow aloud one rainy day. Though I wish it was Waub himself reading us the audiobook, I did my best to make an experience out of it."

"In two sittings, we stepped into a very fitting scene. The story follows a remote community that awakens one day to find their new and modern amenities, community infrastructureand access to the rest of the world cut off by a mysterious technology failure. At first they assumed the power, cableand phones would come back on, but slowly realized that things would not be the same. This quickly tested their self-reliance and put a big question mark (much like our own recent monopolized grid malfunction) on the capabilities and collaborative systems of the community.

"Yet, through the guidance of elders, loveand community spirit, the old and simple ways of our people once again began to ring true. Through a grueling winter of rationing,keeping fires lit, listening to teachings, reclaiming language, certain deathand survival, the community learned of the turmoil in the south just as astranger enters the scene to cause further disruption to their shared value system.

"I hope other folks read Waub's bookhe's a modern-day storyteller and community leader. I can't wait for the sequel!"

Listen | Ombiigizi plays the 2022 CBC Music JunofestIndigenous Artist Showcase:

CBC Music: Live Sessions and Concerts16:19OMBIIGIZI

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Polaris Prize finalists Ombiigizi recommend the Indigenous futurism of Moon of the Crusted Snow - CBC.ca

It makes a lot of sense.Heating Up

The Biden administration has announced an ambitious new goal to make the use geothermal energy "widespread," underlining the administration's efforts to phase out the country's reliance on fossil fuels.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) said in a Thursday statement that US President Joe Biden hopes to make enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) "a widespread renewable energy option" by cutting its cost to $45 per megawatt hour a 90 percent drop by 2035.

These systems could not only afford us a new sources of green energy, but also help heat homes.

"The United States has a vast, geothermal energy resource lying right beneath our feet, and this program will make it economical to bring that power to American households and businesses," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in the statement.

The department also argued that a small fraction of the country's geothermal energy could affordably power over 40 million American homes, and that the project will further Biden's goals to hit 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions across the US economy by 2050.

There are technically enough geothermal resources in the US to supply the entire globe's energy needs, according to the statement. As of now, however, we're only using 3.7 gigawatts of what's available.

For comparison, at the end of 2021, the DOE says there were over 228 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic and wind power in the United States combined making our geothermal consumption look miniscule.

That's partially due to the extreme conditions and high tech equipment needed to harness the Earth's heat.

"EGS resources are located deep underground, at least 4,000 feet," the DOE statement reads. "Conditions are extreme hot temperatures, hot and abrasive rocks, and a corrosive environment and come with significant unknowns."

It's unclear if the department will actually attain its energy goals, but it's at least good to see a major government agency address climate change with such fervor.

More on energy news: Elon Musk Slams Fusion, Says Future of Energy is Wind And Solar

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The Biden Administration Wants to Cut Geothermal Energy Costs by 90 Percent - Futurism

Oh, great.EthereumPoW

The Etherum Merge hath befallen! Basically, what's arguably the world's most influential crypto project decided to ditch the environmentally harmful proof-of-work model for a greener proof-of-stake system. It's a much-anticipated experiment but one group isn't too thrilled about the change.

According to Fortune, a group of cryptocurrency miners many of whom stand to lose their main stream of income due to the switch have joined forces to make sure that some things stay exactly the same, no matter the steep environmental cost. Per their Twitter account, this cohort is forking the Ethereum blockchain, creating their own version dubbed EthereumPoW (ETHW) where they can keep mining like old times.

"ETHW mainnet will happen within 24 hours after the Merge," they wrote in a Tuesday morning Twitter thread. "The exact time will be announced one hour before launch with a countdown timer and everything including final code, binaries, config files, nodes info, RPC, explorer, etc."

As of this morning, it looks like this threat is increasingly real. Earlier today, the cohort released a bevy of server information and directives, pointing potential users to their controversial new token.

Ethereum argues that the merge will make the operation more secure, scalable, and most importantly sustainable according to its website, it will lower the horrific environmental toll of energy-intensive Ethereum mining by roughly 99.95 percent.

All good changes, right? Sure. To anyone who isn't a miner, apparently.

Per Fortune, the ETHW token's value went up a sizable 58 percent in the 24 hours following the anti-merge mining cohort's Twitter announcement, before settling back down again. Environmental degradation: it sells!

Losing any stream of income, be that your main role or a side hustle, is definitely scary. That being said, mining operations are absolutely unsustainable, and Earth doesn't have much wiggle room for unnecessary emissions. If there's a better way, the cryptosphere has to take it. ETHW, by all accounts, isn't that way.

READ MORE: Miners say they plan to fork Ethereum within 24 hours of 'merge' [Fortune]

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Furious Crypto Miners Making Their Own Ethereum Where They Can Still Destroy the Environment After the Merge - Futurism

This is seriously impressive and absolutely terrifying.Knives Out

The father-and-son duo behind the YouTube channel Quint Builds came up with a weapon that's equal parts terrifying and awe-inspiring.

In a recent video, the pair collaborated on a laser-sighted, fully automatic, knife-throwing machine gun and we're having a hard time deciding whether we should be impressed or run the other way.

The construction of the knife gun was a long and arduous process, fraught withtrial and error. The duo rigged up four servo motors attached to two belts to form two parallel knife-slinging mechanisms.

By running a 3D-printed, knife-wielding sled between the two belts and timing the top belt to move slightly faster, the team was able to both spin and launch the knives at just the right angle.

A clever electromagnetic system allowed for the knife to be released at just the right moment, spinning it around its own axis roughly 360 degrees to impale targets with a satisfying thud.

A LIDAR-powered knife reloading system is the cherry on top, allowing multiple knives to be shot at a target in quick succession.

"It's accurate enough I have to spread [the knives] out on the target so [they] don't hit each other,"said Quint senior in the video.

So there we have it: a handheld death machine that could be the ultimate survival tool in a zombie apocalypse or at least a great way to entertain friends.

We'll let you decide on that one.

READ MORE: FULL AUTO Knife Throwing Machine! [YouTube]

More on YouTube engineering: Madman Invents Robot Suit That Lets Snake Walk With Legs

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We're Obsessed With This Laser-Sighted Gun That Shoots Knives - Futurism