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Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 409 posts.
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Functioning ‘mechanical gears’ seen in nature for the first time (2013)
Previously believed to be only man-made, a natural example of a functioning gear mechanism has been discovered in a common insect - showing that evolution developed interlocking cogs long before we did.
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The field of longevity biotech is a mess
Right before the Thanksgiving break, while simultaneously attending the SfRBM annual conference (an event featuring lots of hard core wet-bench science grounded in reality), I had the dubious honor of also attending the Longevity Summit . The latter is a new online event featuring talks from leaders in the burgeoning…
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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 was awarded jointly to Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis"
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Antiviral compound blocks SARS-CoV-2 from entering cells
New compound also could be effective against other coronaviruses
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Advice for young scientists and curious people in general
In Advice to a Young Scientist, Nobel Prize-winning biologist Peter Medawar shares practical advice for people planning to embark on a career in the sciences—and curious people in general. Here, we summarize some of Medawar’s key insights.
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Study finds a difference between neurons of humans and other mammals
Human neurons have a lower density of ion channels than expected, compared to neurons of other mammals, according to a new study. The researchers hypothesize that a lower channel density may have helped the human brain evolve to operate more efficiently.
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BepiColombo’s First Views of Mercury
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has captured its first views of its destination planet Mercury as it swooped past in a close gravity assist flyby last night.
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New muscle layer discovered on the jaw
Human anatomy still has a few surprises in store for us: researchers at the University of Basel have discovered a previously overlooked section of our jaw muscles and described this layer in detail for the first time.
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How to sequence your genome at home
In this post I'll describe how to sequence a human genome at home, something that's only recently become possible.
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How inevitable is the concept of numbers?
Stephen Wolfram considers if numbers are actually required, the use of symbolics and the potential for the growing role of computational irreducibility.
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As cities grow in size, the poor 'get nothing at all': study
On average, people in larger cities are better off economically. But a new study published in the Royal Society Interface builds on previous research that says, that’s not necessarily true for the individual city-dweller. It turns out, bigger cities also produce more income inequality.
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IBM and Samsung Unveil Semiconductor Breakthrough
IBM and Samsung Electronics jointly announced a breakthrough in semiconductor design utilizing a new vertical transistor architecture that demonstrates a path to scaling beyond nanosheet, and has the potential to reduce energy usage by 85 percent.
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Open-source automated insulin delivery system given approval by team of experts
More than 40 healthcare professionals and legal experts have issued the first guidance of its kind to support people with type 1 diabetes using Do-it-Yourself (DIY) technology driven systems to manage their condition.
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Humble tokamak physicist owns generations of cosmological wankers
It’s not often I get excited about papers from the physics community. The field I used to love has turned into a dreary ghetto of noodle-theory wankers, experimental particle physics bureaucr…
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Newly identified hormone may be a critical driver of type 1 and type 2 diabetes
A newly discovered hormone named fabkin helps regulate metabolism and may play an important role in the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, according to research led by the Sabri Ülker Center for Metabolic Research at Harvard Chan School.
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Protein complex prediction with AlphaFold-Multimer
Build AI responsibly to benefit humanity
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Biomarker predicts severity of Covid-19 infection early on
High expression of the fitness gene hFwe-Lose in the lung reliably predicts severe progression
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Powering the Lunar Base
NASA’s selection of SpaceX’s Starship within the Human Lander System (HLS) program was both surprising and exciting for space nerds all over. Previously I have written about how Starshi…
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Oxford vaccine shows sustained protection of 76% in 3-month gap til second dose
Analyses reveal single standard dose efficacy from day 22 to day 90 post vaccination of 76% with protection not falling in this three-month periodAfter the second dose vaccine efficacy from two standard doses is 82.4% with the 3-month interval being used in the UK. (82.4% effective, with a 95% confidence interval of…
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What the Dunning-Kruger effect is and isn’t (2010)
If you regularly read cognitive science or psychology blogs (or even just the lowly New York Times!), you’ve probably heard of something called the Dunning-Kruger effect. The Dunning-Kruger e…
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A Visualization of Galactic Settlement
Oh good, Star Wars got it right. The Core will indeed be a nexus of galactic civilization.
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Research finds immune system responds to mRNA treatment for cancer
ROCHESTER, Minn. ― Adding messenger RNA, or mRNA therapy improves the response to cancer immunotherapy in patients who weren't responding to the treatment, Mayo Clinic research shows. Immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to prevent, control and eliminate cancer. The study is published in Cancer Immunology…
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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative sunsetting science research platform meta.org
Meta.org will sunset March 31, 2022
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Radio Amateur Copies Signal from Mars-Orbiting Satellite
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.
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Divorce rate cut in half for couples who discussed relationship movies (2014)
A new study finds that watching and discussing movies about relationships is as effective in lowering divorce rates as other, more intensive early marriage counseling programs.