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Category Archives: Transhuman News

10000 Bill For Futurist Campaigners – Yorkshire Coast Radio

Posted: June 24, 2017 at 1:43 pm

Campaigners who want to save Scarborough's Futurist Theatre have been ordered to pay 10,000 in costs to the council.

It's after they failed in their bid for a judicial review into the decision to demolish the venue.

Their request was refused by a judge in Leeds last Friday, the campaign group say they'll meet with their legal team to consider their next move.

The campaign group recently became a Limited company in order to take the legal action against the council. They launched a fundraising page to help pay for their legal team, the page has raised a little under three thousand pounds so far.

Cllr Helen Mallory, Deputy Leader of Scarborough Borough Council said:

We have always been confident that the decisions made by Full Council and Cabinet in relation to the Futurist theatre earlier this year were made properly and in accordance with legal requirements. We are therefore pleased with the High Court judges ruling to refuse permission for a Judicial Review of those decisions. The judge found in the councils favour on all grounds raised by the claimant, Save The Futurist Theatre (Scarborough) Ltd and also ordered the claimant to pay costs to the council of 10,000.

Last Fridays ruling comes on the back of the outcome of a Local Government Ombudsman ruling into a complaint made about the same matters, which also found no evidence of fault in how the council had acted.

We are continuing to work with Flamingo Land on their exciting plans for a brand new attraction for Scarborough South Bay and we look forward to progressing these further in the coming months.

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10000 Bill For Futurist Campaigners - Yorkshire Coast Radio

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After 228 days in space, Conn. astronaut retires – CT Post

Posted: June 23, 2017 at 5:51 am

Photo: Kathleen O'Rourke / King School

After 228 days in space, Conn. astronaut retires

After 228 days in space on three space shuttle missions and one long stay at the International Space Station, Connecticuts astronaut has retired.

Rick Mastracchio, 57, a University of Connecticut graduate and Waterbury native, retired from NASA on Friday.

Rick is a classmate and a friend and he has done great work for NASA, both in space and on the ground, Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester said in a release announcing the veteran spacemans retirement.

Forrester, who was selected as an astronaut in the same class as Mastracchio, said his breadth of experience over three decades in human spaceflight will serve him well as he moves on to his next endeavor.

During his four spaceflights, Mastracchio took photos of his native Connecticut from high above. He used social media to post photos and send greetings to Nutmeg State residents on Earth. His most recent mission ended in May 2014 after he spent 188 days aboard the International Space Station.

Some of the photos are so detailed, you can even see Charles Island in Milford, Interstate 95 and major southwest Connecticut cities.

Touched down in Stamford

In 2014, Mastracchio and colleague Steve Swanson did a live question-and-answer session from the space station with children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which had a new building since the December 2012 shooting that killed 26 people.

Last March, Mastracchio visited King School in Stamford where he told students of his time in space.

My first mission, I would float upside down and hang from the ceiling eating my lunch, for no really good reason other than I can float upside down and eat my lunch, Mastracchio said. Its really neat.

Mastracchio, who made nine spacewalks since 1996, told students that weird things happen in space aside from the challenges of simple-on-Earth tasks like showering and shoe-tying.

The lack of gravity causes astronauts to lose the calluses they have on the bottoms of their feet and develop new ones on top. While orbiting Earth, they experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. Six people sharing the same filtered air gives the International Space Station a unique smell.

Weightlessness also causes fluid retention.

You get this puffy head and you feel warm like maybe you have a bit of a fever, Mastracchio said. You see some astronauts and its really, really obvious. Your body goes through a lot of changes in both directions.

But nothing beats floating.

Its really cool, he said. Its like youre Superman.

From UConn to space

In 1982, Mastracchio was awarded a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Connecticut, and two master of science degrees in electrical engineering and physical science, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and University of Houston-Clear Lake, respectively.

In 2014, he delivered the graduation address to UConns school of engineering. His recorded address was shown on the video boards at Gampel Pavilion to about 5,000 people, including more than 400 graduating seniors and their families, and several members of Mastracchios family, including his wife, Candi.

Beginning in 1987, Mastracchio worked first with Hamilton Standard and then with Rockwell Shuttle Operations Co. before coming to NASA in 1990 as an engineer. He worked in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory on space shuttle flight software, and in the Astronaut Office on ascent and abort procedures for crew members. From there, he became a Guidance and Procedures Officer flight controller, working in mission control for space shuttle ascents and entries, before being selected as an astronaut in 1996.

The missions

His first flight, STS-106, came in 2000, on board space shuttle Atlantis, when he and his crewmates worked to prepare the space station for its first expedition crew. He returned aboard space shuttle Endeavour for STS-118 in 2007, when as lead spacewalker, he participated in three spacewalks to install a new truss segment, a new gyroscope and a new spare parts platform on the space stations exterior.

In 2010, Mastracchio was part of the STS-131 crew of space shuttle Discovery. He performed another three spacewalks and helped deliver 27,000 pounds of hardware, including three experiment racks and new sleeping quarters for the space station. He was then able to put the hardware to use in 2014, when he spent 188 days in space as part of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. During that stay, he performed three more spacewalks, leaving him with a total of 53 hours spent outside the space station on nine spacewalks.

Earlier reporting by Liz Skalka was used in this story.

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After 228 days in space, Conn. astronaut retires - CT Post

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If We Want To Colonize Mars, First We Need to Study Sex in Space – TrendinTech

Posted: at 5:51 am

According to Kris Lehnhardt, an assistant professor at George Washington University, if we want to attempt long haul space travel, or even one day colonizes Mars, then we really need to study sex in space. A real concern he called it during an Atlantic Live panel recently, that we havent even considered yet.

Although there are many challenges maintaining human life over the course of longer and longer space missions maintaining good mental health, combating radiation, providing food sources to name a few yet no one has taken to studying the human life cycle.

Something we really dont know about is a human reproduction in space, Said Lehnhardt to the panel audience.

Lehnhardt added: If were talking about colonization, theres a key component to colonization that makes it possible and that is having babies and this is something we have frankly never studied.

If we want to become a spacefaring species and live in space permanently this is a crucial issue we need to address that has not been fully studied yet.

So far, the only space-related reproduction study has involved freezing and transporting frozen sperm. Recently a team of Japanese scientist successfully birthed a set of newborn mice from sperm that was frozen and kept aboard the International Space Station.

The scientists have said that the result will help in the space age. Without pointing to specifics, they say that this technique will help long-haul space flight and even colonization.

The team even go so far to suggest that the ability to freeze and transport sperm into space could help today by starting the path to a future lunar sperm bank where the organic DNA material could be stored for safe keeping in the event of a manmade or natural catastrophic disaster on Earth.

Stephen Hawking: ‘I Am Convinced That Humans Need to Leave Earth’ – EcoWatch

Posted: at 5:51 am

Stephen Hawking repeated his warning that humanity needs to leave Earth and colonize the moon, Mars or other planets in order for our species to survive the impending doom of climate change.

"We have given our planet the disastrous gift of climate change ... When we we have reached similar crises there has usually been somewhere else to colonize ... But there is no new world, no utopia around the corner," he said. "We are running out of space, and the only places to go to are other worlds."

"It is time to explore other solar systems," Hawking continued. "Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth."

Space travel would "elevate humanity," he noted.

The renowned physicist made the remarks Wednesday at the Starmus arts and science festival in Norway.

At the event, Hawking criticized President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, saying "I am not denying the importance of fighting climate change and global warming, unlike Donald Trump, who may just have taken the most serious, and wrong, decision on climate change this world has seen."

The professor is working with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's Breakthrough Starshot initiative to send a fleet of laser-powered "nano craft" into space.

"Such a system could reach Mars in less than an hour, reach Pluto in days, pass Voyager [the space probe launched in 1977] in under a week, and reach Alpha Centauri in just over 20 years," he said. "Once there, the nano craft could image any planets discovered in the system, test for magnetic fields and organic molecules, and send the data back to Earth in another laser beam."

The scheme is "a real opportunity for man to make early forays into outer space, with a view to probing and weighing the possibilities of colonization," he said.

Hawking also urged world leaders to send astronauts to the moon by 2020, build a lunar base in 30 years and to send people to Mars by 2025.

"Spreading out into space will completely change the future of humanity," he said. "I hope it would unite competitive nations in a single goal, to face the common challenge for us all."

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Stephen Hawking: 'I Am Convinced That Humans Need to Leave Earth' - EcoWatch

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SpaceX’s Quest For Rocketry’s Holy Grail – Space.com …

Posted: at 5:51 am

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Stephen Hawking: ‘Powerful Beam of Light’ Could Help Humans … – Newsmax

Posted: at 5:51 am

Stephen Hawking says as humans explore other worlds to inhabit, they may need to get there on "a powerful beam of light."

In remarks this week at Starmus, an arts and science festival in Norway, Hawking restated his belief that humans need to explore space to avoid the dangers of our own finite world and then described how we could harness the power of Einstein's theory of relativity to get to distant planets, Live Science reported.

"Shouldn't we be content to be cosmic sloths, enjoying the universe from the comfort of Earth? The answer is, no," Hawking said, Live Science reported. "The Earth is under threat from so many areas that it is difficult for me to be positive."

"When we have reached similar crises in our history, there has usually been somewhere else to colonize," he added. "Columbus did it in 1492 when he discovered the New World. But now there is no new world. No Utopia around the corner."

Though it's easiest to target the moon and Mars for colonization, it's not practical, Hawking noted. A more promising idea is to explore some of the planets in the vicinity of our nearest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, at a distance of about 4.5 light-years from Earth.

A planet circling it, called Proxima Centauri b., may be similar to Earth in a few respects, Hawking said but we'll never know unless we get there, and using chemical propulsions, it'd take 3 million years, Live Science reported.

"To go faster would require a much higher exhaust speed than chemical rockets can provide that of light itself," Hawking said, Live Science reported.

"A powerful beam of light from the rear could drive the spaceship forward. Nuclear fusion could provide 1 percent of the spaceship's mass energy, which would accelerate it to a tenth of the speed of light."

According to Live Science, Hawking, along with physicist and billionaire Yuri Milner, has founded a company called Breakthrough Starshot to make interstellar travel a reality.

"Human colonization on other planets is no longer science fiction," Hawking said. "It can be science fact. If humanity is to continue for another million years, our future lies in boldly going where no one else has gone before."

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Stephen Hawking: 'Powerful Beam of Light' Could Help Humans ... - Newsmax

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Finally, a Biofuel to Get Excited About – The American Interest

Posted: at 5:50 am

Most biofuels news is badour current national program incentivizes the production and consumption of corn-based ethanol that somehow manages to increase food prices, increase gas prices, hurt American refineries, and hurt the environment. Its a boondoggle, plain and simple.

But not all biofuels are terrible. You can distill ethanol from cellulosic crops, an option thats both green and beneficial to farmers. Scientists have also been working hard to figure out how to use algae to create oil, and as theFTreports, a team from ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics just made an algal breakthrough:

Scientists at Synthetic Genomics, the biotech company founded by genomics pioneer Craig Venter, used advanced genetic engineering to double the oil content of their algal strain from 20 to 40 per cent, without inhibiting its growth. The findings are published in Nature Biotechnology on Monday. []

Previous attempts to boost the oil concentration in algae an important step in biofuel production failed because the cells stopped growing when they were overloaded with lipid. The new genetic process maintains growth until 40 per cent of the biomass consists of lipid, an industrially useful level.

Did you catch that last part? Anindustrially useful level. Thats a huge step forward for what to this point has been a fringe technology under the biofuels umbrella. Its significant, too, that this technological breakthrough is coming to us courtesy of genetic engineering. Once again were seeing the enormous potential of GM technology made manifest.

This is also more egg on the face of the peak oil crowd, who just a decade ago were chiding the world for its dependence on the energy source and confidently telling us that the sky was ready to fall. It hasnt. And technologies like hydraulic fracturing, horizontal well drilling, and maybe even algal biofuels look capable of thriving for decades to come.

In the near future, though, the sooner we see corn-based ethanol discarded as the awful fuel choice that it is, the better. Perhaps algae can help it on its way.

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Finally, a Biofuel to Get Excited About - The American Interest

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How Genetic Engineering Fixed My Stupid Back – PCMag

Posted: at 5:50 am

Decades worth of the genetic research helped create the treatments that finally cured my back.

Around the age of 15, I began experiencing periodic bolts of searing pain shooting down the outer sides of my legs and up through my shoulder blades. The pain would occasionally grow so debilitating that I was forced to walk with a cane and could barely manage a flight of stairs. For sleepless months at a time, I would limp and grimace through my day. The worst part was that doctor after doctor was not able to diagnose the problem, and I resigned myself to a life of making the best of it.

Once I hit my mid-30s, I couldn't take it anymore and decided I had to do something about it. I tasked myself to keep seeing doctors until somebody could tell me what the problem was. After plowing through a series of specialists, I eventually found my way to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with an inflammatory condition, which isn't exactly fully understood by science, called Ankylosing spondylitis (spells just like it sounds).

Now, this condition can be treated somewhat with a special diet (please don't send me any info on the subjectI know), but the food restrictions are pretty harsh and results in my case weren't always consistent. But as it turns out, modern science has another fix.

My rheumatologist recommended that I begin a regimen of a type of medicine known as a biologic (or sometimes a "biopharmaceutical"), which is seeped directly from living organisms. I put a lot of trust in science and technology's ability to make the world a better place, so I was open to seeing what this cutting-edge treatment could do for me.

And I am happy to say that after a month or so, the treatments workedin fact, they worked far better than I could have possibly imagined. I've been almost totally pain-free for the past two years and even taken up running. (I should note that the medication I was on came with some serious potential side effectsmost notably, they decrease your body's immune system, including the ability to fight certain cancers. Just speaking for me, the trade-off was worth it.)

Now, this medication was unlike any other I had takenI had to inject it. Most second-generation biologics used to fight inflammatory conditions have to be introduced directly into the body through a syringe or via an IV. I had to learn to use a disposable epi-pen like contraption, which I keep stored in my refrigerator. There was a learning curve, but not a sharp one (and it certainly helped that I am not at all squeamish when it comes to needles).

So, what is this magic goop I inject into my body? It comes from natural sources, but at the same timethere's really anything natural about it.

Scientists have been deriving medicines from living organisms since foreverjust about every vaccine you've taken can be considered a biologic. However, the scope of these medicines have boomed in recent years with the advent of genetic-manipulation techniques.

While the exact definition of "biologic" varies from regulatory body to regulatory body, the term is often used today to refer to newer classes of drugs resulting from techniques that tweak cells at their fundamental genetic level to turn them into living factories.

According to the FDA's own description, "In contrast to most drugs that are chemically synthesized and their structure is known, most biologics are complex mixtures that are not easily identified or characterized." Many of these second-generation biologics (ones that have popped up in the past 15 years or so, as opposed the first-gen ones like vaccines) are not recreatableby humans. We just don't know how. However, scientists can use modern genetic-manipulation techniques to cajole living cell cultures to do it for them. Therein lies a wrinkle to the biologic storythey can be insanely expensive.

The manufacturing of these medicines is a complex undertakingparticularly on an industrial scale. Not only is there gene manipulation, but the cellular cultures are particularly susceptible to contamination and must be maintained under very aseptic and strictly temperature-controlled environmentsall of which must take place under the supervision of a highly trained workforce. When you consider that the patient pools are relatively small, prices inevitably rise.

I can only speak for myself and say that these drugs have been a godsend and truly improved my quality of life. But I'm also fascinated (and even humbled) to consider how this treatment would not be possible without decades of scientific inquiry that took place before it.

The line of scientific historydown through Darwin, Mendel, and the team of Watson & Crickhad no idea it would one day help a middle-aged tech blogger not have to limp in pain for months at a time. They all just wanted to know the answers to weird and impractical questions.

This is why I get annoyed when I hear politicians wanting to balance budgets on the backs of scientific research. While there are ways to best use research dollars, their benefit is invaluablejust not always immediately (quantum physics took decades to find a use in the function of smartphones, as it took years for Einstein's theories to be used in satellite configuration).

There is no way we can predict how the impractical research of today will affect some major breakthrough years down the line. That's why we should all want our tax dollars to fund inquiry into weird, unnecessary questions like "do gravitons exist?," "what does Pluto look like?," or "is the whole universe a hologram?" Answering those questions might not necessarily bring us a new breakthrough todayin fact, they probably won't. But they leave us with the promise that they will someday.

Evan Dashevsky is a features editor with PCMag and host of our live interview series The Convo. He can usually be found listening to blisteringly loud noises on his headphones while exploring the nexus between tech, culture, and politics. Follow his thought sneezes over on the Twitter (@haldash) and slightly more in-depth diatribin' over on the Facebook. More

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FDA padlocks any new human tests on Seattle Genetics’ cancer drug in the wake of more deaths – Endpoints News

Posted: at 5:50 am

Clay Siegall, CEO, Seattle Genetics

In the wake of Seattle Genetics announcement that a disturbing tilt in deaths pointed to a likely safety problem for its late-stage cancer drug vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A), the FDA has stepped in to yank the IND and officially put any human testing on hold.

The biotech $SGEN reported the FDAs move in a filing with the SEC this morning.

Seattle Genetics had already hit the brakes on its R&D work on the drug three days ago, scrapping the Phase III for acute myeloid leukemia and ordering a halt to any other testing until they can get a better read on the situation. It will also have to convince regulators that the drug is safe for testing after the FDA had lifted its first clinical hold on the drug just three months ago. That first hold on its early-stage work came after four patients died.

Those deaths were linked to liver toxicity, a classic red flag on safety. But this time one of the few clues provided by Seattle Genetics is that liver toxicity did not appear to be behind the disturbing rate of deaths investigators were seeing.

Back in March the biotech reported that it was getting restarted on the clinical work after it came up with revised eligibility criteria and stopping rules for veno-occlusive disease.The FDA agreed to lift the hold only two months after it was dropped on Seattle Genetics.

With its big Immunomedics deal axed by activists and its lead clinical drug in big trouble, Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall will come under heavier pressure to diversify beyond Adcetris.

News reports for those who discover, develop, and market drugs. Join 16,000+ biopharma pros who read Endpoints News articles by email every day. Free subscription.

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FDA padlocks any new human tests on Seattle Genetics' cancer drug in the wake of more deaths - Endpoints News

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Does China’s Mass Collection Of DNA Violate The Right To Privacy? – Asian Scientist Magazine

Posted: at 5:50 am

An international non-profit organization has raised concerns about Chinas mass collection of DNA data from its citizens.

Asian Scientist Newsroom | June 23, 2017 | Top News

AsianScientist (Jun. 23, 2017) - China holds the largest searchable DNA database in the world; genetic information from over 40 million individuals that is ostensibly to be used in the fight against crime. However, the way in which these data are collected and the protection given to providers leave much to be desired, according to the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG).

There is growing evidence that DNA is being collected from ordinary individuals who have not been convicted nor even suspected of a crime, and that this collection is compulsory. Police have also taken samples from groups that are already under increased government surveillance, such as dissidents, migrant workers and ethnic minorities, said Professor Martina Cornel, chair of the ESHG Public and Professional Policy Committee.

Because police powers in China are so extensive and people have little right to privacy, they are unable to refuse to provide such personal data.

People who have been compelled to provide DNA have reported their experiences via social media. Collections are made by police at their workplaces, homes and schools, with no prior notice and without the presentation of any official document justifying the taking of samples. Some people have also been asked to provide DNA samples when applying for documents such as residency permits from the police.

In Xinjiang, a province that is home to around ten million Muslim Uyghurs, an ethnic group already suffering state repression, all passport applicants are now required to provide DNA samples, irrespective of whether or not they are suspects in a criminal case.

This is in total contradiction to all existing regulations and safeguards concerning the collection of DNA samples from individuals, said Cornel.

We know that such databases can be used for government surveillance, including identification of relatives. Collection of DNA without the subjects full, informed consent can only be justified in extremely limited circumstances, for example in order to solve a very serious crime. A collection of samples from individuals where no such consent has been given has been ruled illegal by many international bodies, and the very existence of such a database is dangerous.

ESHG calls on the Chinese government to follow in the footsteps of all responsible authorities and ensure that human DNA is collected only from individuals suspected of having committed serious crimes, and that informed consent is given whenever possible.

Source: European Society of Human Genetics; Photo: Shutterstock. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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Does China's Mass Collection Of DNA Violate The Right To Privacy? - Asian Scientist Magazine

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Page 1,709«..10 20..1,7081,7091,710 1,711..1,720 1,730..»

Category Archives: Transhuman News

10000 Bill For Futurist Campaigners – Yorkshire Coast Radio

After 228 days in space, Conn. astronaut retires – CT Post

If We Want To Colonize Mars, First We Need to Study Sex in Space – TrendinTech

Stephen Hawking: ‘I Am Convinced That Humans Need to Leave Earth’ – EcoWatch

SpaceX’s Quest For Rocketry’s Holy Grail – Space.com …

Stephen Hawking: ‘Powerful Beam of Light’ Could Help Humans … – Newsmax

Finally, a Biofuel to Get Excited About – The American Interest

How Genetic Engineering Fixed My Stupid Back – PCMag

FDA padlocks any new human tests on Seattle Genetics’ cancer drug in the wake of more deaths – Endpoints News

Does China’s Mass Collection Of DNA Violate The Right To Privacy? – Asian Scientist Magazine

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