Neuralink will test its chip in in human trials this year says Elon Musk

Neuralink, the biotech venture led by Elon Musk, expects to begin its human trials later this year, the billionaire said in France last week. Musk did not reveal the details of the number of participants in the trial during his talk at the VivaTech event in Paris.

Launched in 2016, Neuralink is yet another moonshot project from Musk, where he wants to link the human brain to a computer. Musk's ideal application for the technology is to enable a paraplegic person to walk again. So far has only demonstrated the technology in monkeys who have been able to play video games.

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We Just Found One of The Rarest Stars in The Galaxy

A newly discovered star just 773 light-years away belongs to one of the rarest categories in the Milky Way.

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Giant Paint-Eating Snails Spotted in Florida, Putting State Agriculture at Risk

Adult snails of this species can grow up to 20.3 centimeters (8 inches) and lay thousands of eggs at a time. Their shells have pointy edges that are sharp enough to puncture the tires of vehicles that run over them. They also pose a serious risk to humans because they carry a parasite that can cause meningitis.

The giant snail is among the most invasive species in the world; it eats plaster, paint, and stucco, and poses significant threats to vegetation.

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World's first cosmic-ray GPS can detect underground movement

Cosmic rays are high-energy particles originating from outer space, including sources such as the sun, distant galaxies, supernovae, and other celestial bodies. Although we can't see or feel cosmic rays directly, they constantly bombard the Earth from outer space.

In fact, these particles are so abundant that scientists estimate one cosmic ray hits one square centimeter of the Earth's surface every minute! Scientists study cosmic rays to learn about the universe and how particles interact at high energies.

A team of scientists have successfully demonstrated the world's first cosmic-ray GPS to detect movement underground and in volcanoes which can potentially aid in future search-and-rescue missions.

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Researchers discover that worms use electricity to jump

In nature, smaller animals often attach themselves to larger ones to "hitch a ride" and save energy migrating large distances. Researchers show how microscopic worms can use electric fields to "jump" across Petri plates or onto insects, allowing them to glide through the air and attach themselves, for example, onto naturally charged bumblebee chauffeurs.

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Scientists put 'G-strings' on tiny frogs to track their movement

Why would scientists put pants on a frog?

Biologist Andrius Pašukonis says it’s a good way to track where they’re headed.

“Miniature tracking tags have been used on amphibians and other animals before but tracking tiny mobile frogs in the rainforest required reimagining the tag design and the tracking methods,” said Pašukonis in a press release. “One of the biggest challenges has been designing and perfecting a frog harness that can fit a frog as small as two centimeters (less than an inch)!”

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New salty gel can harvest pure water from dry desert air

A remarkable new material from Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers can pull a record amount of moisture from even the driest desert air and convert it into ultrapure, potable water.

The new material is made from a naturally absorbent substance known as a hydrogel, which can absorb a large volume of water and retain its three-dimensional structure.

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Robot-assisted deep brain stimulation surgery could treat epilepsy

A neurosurgeon in Canada has become the first in the nation to perform robot-assisted deep brain stimulation surgery on a patient suffering from epilepsy with success.

“They’ve all been successful, all patients have been able to go home a day or two after the procedure,” told the news outlet Dr. Jonathan Lau, who practices neurosurgery at London Health Sciences Centre’s University Hospital.

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Intel releases 12-qubit silicon quantum chip to the quantum community

The distribution of the quantum chip to the quantum community is part of Intel’s plan to let researchers gain hands-on experience with the technology, while at the same time enabling new quantum research.

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Stone walls uncovered along the Nile reveal ancient engineering marvel

An international team of researchers has revealed a groundbreaking discovery along the banks of the River Nile in Egypt and Sudan.

This incredibly long-lived hydraulic technology played a crucial role in enabling communities to grow food and thrive in the challenging landscapes of Nubia for over 3000 years.

Their findings shed light on an extraordinary network of river groynes — stone walls built perpendicular to a river bank intended to break water flow and sediment erosion.

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Scientists found evidence of a whole new way for stars to die

An international team of astrophysicists set out to investigate the origins of a powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB) and stumbled upon a long-hypothesized but never-before-observed type of star death.

Most GRBs originate from exploding stars or neutron star mergers, but the newly observed example came from a GRB designated 191019A that formed when stars or stellar remnants in the environment surrounding a supermassive black hole collided near the core of an ancient galaxy.

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Synthetic human embryos created for the first time

For the first time, researchers have created synthetic human embryos from stem cells, pushing us into an ethical gray area but offering the promise of important insights into the critical early stages of human development.

The synthetic embryos, which are not the product of natural sexual reproduction but engineered from stem cells in a laboratory setting, could provide medical researchers with critical insights into the first few weeks of embryonic development, during which a host of genetic disorders are thought to manifest.

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One step closer to growing naturally decaffeinated coffee beans

Who doesn’t like a cold or a hot cup of joe in the morning? Probably people who have a caffeine sensitivity. But for regular drinkers of bean juice, it can spell the difference between a good day and a bad day.

Decaf iced vanilla latte! Decaf espresso! shout the Starbucks baristas as they take customers’ orders. Because coffee can lead to issues like anxiety and high blood pressure, a lot of people opt for decaffeinated options. Decaffeination removes about 97 percent of the caffeine from the coffee beans and is more expensive to produce than regular coffee, according to data from the National Coffee Association.

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New type of computer memory could greatly reduce energy use and improve performance

Researchers have developed a new design for computer memory that could both greatly improve performance and reduce the energy demands of internet and communications technologies, which are predicted to consume nearly a third of global electricity within the next ten years.

The researchers developed a device that processes data in a similar way as the synapses in the human brain. The devices are based on hafnium oxide, a material already used in the semiconductor industry, and tiny self-assembled barriers, which can be raised or lowered to allow electrons to pass.

This method of changing the electrical resistance in computer memory devices, and allowing information processing and memory to exist in the same place, could lead to the development of computer memory devices with far greater density, higher performance and lower energy consumption.

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World's first astronaut with disability to begin training

Former UK Paralympian John McFall, a surgeon for the UK's NHS public health service, was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) last year when it announced its new class of astronauts.

Shortly after his selection last year, McFall stated, "The message I would give to future generations is that science is for everyone and space travel hopefully can be for everyone."

He will spend the next two years forming part of a feasibility study carried out by ESA and NASA to assess the conditions required for people with disabilities to go to space.

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Ecological 'doom loops' edging closer, study warns

Extreme weather events such as wildfires and droughts will accelerate change in stressed systems leading to quicker tipping points of ecological decline, according to a new study.

Using computer modeling, the U.K. research team, looked at four ecosystems under threat to work out what factors might lead to tipping points, beyond which collapse was inevitable. In some systems, the combination of adding new extreme events on top of other ongoing stresses brought the timing of a predicted tipping point closer to the present by as much as 80%.

Ultimately, say the authors, a "perfect storm" of continuous stress from factors such as unsustainable land use, agricultural expansion and climate change, when coupled with disruptive episodes like floods and fires, will act in concert to rapidly imperil natural systems.

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