Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

China’s Baidu wants to launch its driverless robotaxi service in 100 cities by 2030

An Apollo Robotaxi runs at Shougang Park as Baidu launches China’s first driverless taxi service in the city on May 2, 2021 in Beijing, China.

By Arjun Kharpal

  • Baidu plans to launch its driverless taxi service in 100 cities by 2030 as the Chinese search giant looks to diversify its business beyond advertising. 
  • The company wants to expand Apollo Go to 65 cities by 2025 and then 100 cities by 2030, Baidu CEO Robin Li said in an internal letter that was made public. 
  • Baidu’s driverless car announcement comes after the company reported revenue of 31.92 billion yuan ($4.95 billion) for the third quarter, which was ahead of market expectations. 

GUANGZHOU, China — Baidu plans to launch its driverless taxi service in 100 cities by 2030, as the Chinese search giant looks to diversify its business beyond advertising.

Currently, Baidu operates its Apollo Go robotaxi service in five Chinese cities. Users can hail an autonomous car via an app.

The company wants to expand Apollo Go to 65 cities by 2025 and then 100 cities by 2030, Baidu CEO Robin Li said in an internal letter that was made public.

Continue reading… “China’s Baidu wants to launch its driverless robotaxi service in 100 cities by 2030”
Cancer

Experts develop a functional precision medicine approach to assign therapies to cancer patients

by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

A functional precision medicine study conducted in Finland demonstrates that treatment selection based on results from drug sensitivity testing of patients’ cells can be clinically useful in patients with aggressive hematological cancers.

Clinicians, researchers and technology experts from the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center have over the last 10 years developed and tested a functional precision medicine approach to assign therapies to individual cancer patients. Their latest results have just been published in Cancer Discovery, a top-tier journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The group has focused on patients with hematological cancers, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML), since standard therapies for the advanced forms of these malignancies have a limited effect and the outcome is invariably poor.

Continue reading… “Experts develop a functional precision medicine approach to assign therapies to cancer patients”
Stem cells

Decades of research show common stem cells could fuel advances in regenerative medicine

Adult stem cells (indicated by the white arrows) show promise in treating a variety of conditions, according to research by Dr. Eckhard Alt of the School of Medicine. These cells were obtained from adult adipose, or fat tissue. Credit: Dr. Eckhard Alt

by  Tulane University

Could naturally occurring stem cells throughout the body hold the key to unlocking the next generation of advances in regenerative medicine?

Absolutely, according to Tulane University Professor of Medicine Dr. Eckhard Alt, who recently published a perspective in the journal Cells that outlines how a type of adult stem cell holds tremendous promise to fuel advances in treating everything from knee joint restoration to helping paraplegics regain mobility after severe spinal cord injuries.

The article provides strong evidence supporting the existence of a small, vascular-associated, pluripotent stem cell type (vaPS cells) that is ubiquitously distributed throughout all organs of the adult body. Pluripotent stem cells can transform into any type of cell.

Continue reading… “Decades of research show common stem cells could fuel advances in regenerative medicine”
Cancer

Shapeshifting Microrobots that Fight Cancer on a Cellular Level

Researchers have developed fish-shaped microrobots that are guided with magnets to cancer cells. 

No, it’s not from a science fiction movie or from an episode of a popular kid’s television show. It’s real life. Researchers, in a proof-of-concept study, have made fish-shaped microrobots that are guided with magnets to cancer cells, where a pH change triggers them to open their mouths and release their chemotherapy cargo.

Scientists have previously made microscale (smaller than 100 µm) robots that can manipulate tiny objects, but most can’t change their shapes to perform complex tasks, such as releasing drugs. Some groups have made 4D-printed objects (3D-printed devices that change shape in response to certain stimuli), but they typically perform only simple actions, and their motion can’t be controlled remotely.

Continue reading… “Shapeshifting Microrobots that Fight Cancer on a Cellular Level”
new technology

Researchers Use Quantum Entanglement to Achieve “Ultrabroadband”

By Alex McFarland

Researchers at the University of Rochester have harnessed quantum entanglement to achieve incredibly large bandwidth. They did this by using a thin-film nanophotonic device. 

This new approach could lead to enhanced sensitivity and resolution for experiments in metrology and sensing, as well as higher dimensional encoding of information in quantum networks for information processing and communications. 

The research was published in Physical Review Letters. 

Continue reading… “Researchers Use Quantum Entanglement to Achieve “Ultrabroadband””
NASA

NASA’s Laser Demonstrations Extend to Deep Space

By George Leopold

NASA plans to launch a pair of laser communications missions over the next nine months that would demonstrate high-bandwidth optical relays capable of someday transmitting streaming HD video and other data from planetary probes.

The launch of the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) scheduled for Dec. 4 will be followed as early as August 2022 by the launch of the Deep Space Optical Communications flight demonstration, program officials said this week. LCRD, testing laser communications from geosynchronous orbit, is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is overseeing development of the deep space mission that will operate between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter as part of NASA mission to study a giant metal asteroid.

The LCRD payload consists of two optical terminals, each with bi-directional optical communications capability along with switching circuitry that enables one terminal to receive signals, switch data to the second terminal and relay it in real time to one of two ground stations in California and Hawaii.

Continue reading… “NASA’s Laser Demonstrations Extend to Deep Space”
Medical Breakthrough

Harnessing T-Cell Biology To Develop Living Drugs

Superresolution image of a group of killer T cells (green and red) surrounding a cancer cell (blue, center). Credit: Alex Ritter, Jennifer Lippincott Schwartz, Gillian Griffiths/ National Institutes of Health

MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researcher Leonardo Ferreira, Ph.D., well-regarded for his pioneering work with regulatory T-cells, published a paper in Frontiers in Immunology that describes his experience using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T-cells to address the challenge of transplant tolerance.

Ferreira, who joined the Medical University of South Carolina’s Department of Immunology on July 1, is changing the rules of the game by exploiting the unique biology of regulatory T-cells, or Tregs. His overall research goal is to understand Treg biology more thoroughly in order to use the cells to treat a range of autoimmune problems.

Continue reading… “Harnessing T-Cell Biology To Develop Living Drugs”
Cancer

Shape-Shifting Microrobots Deliver Drugs to Cancer Cells

Fish-shaped microrobots are guided with magnets to cancer cells, where they open their mouths to release their chemotherapy cargo.

Bu Katie Cottingham

Delivering drugs directly to cancer cells could help reduce chemotherapy’s unpleasant symptoms.

Chemotherapy successfully treats many forms of cancer, but the side effects can wreak havoc on the rest of the body. Delivering drugs directly to cancer cells could help reduce these unpleasant symptoms. Now, in a proof-of-concept study, researchers reporting in ACS Nano made fish-shaped microrobots that are guided with magnets to cancer cells, where a pH change triggers them to open their mouths and release their chemotherapy cargo.

Continue reading… “Shape-Shifting Microrobots Deliver Drugs to Cancer Cells”
Space

Astronauts Will Traverse the Moon in 2025 Using an Autonomous Buggy

Northrop Grumman’s lunar vehicle will help map the moon’s south pole.

By  Chris Young

Northrop Grumman will design the electric and autonomous Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for NASA’s Artemis astronauts, who are due to land on the moon in 2025, a press statement reveals.

The aerospace and defense firm announced a partnership with AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Michelin to work on the project, which will help to take humans to the lunar south pole for the first time in an expedition that could uncover ice and water resources for future missions.

Continue reading… “Astronauts Will Traverse the Moon in 2025 Using an Autonomous Buggy”
new technology

These are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2021

  • The 10th anniversary edition of the World Economic Forum’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report lists new technologies poised to impact the world in the next three to five years.
  • Experts convened by the World Economic Forum and Scientific American highlight technological advances that could revolutionize agriculture, health and space.
  • Self-fertilizing crops, on-demand drug manufacturing, breath-sensing diagnostics and 3D-printed houses are among the technologies on the list.

At COP26, countries committed to new, ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions this decade. Delivering on these promises will rely on the development and scale up of green technologies. 

Two such technologies – the production of “green” ammonia and engineered crops that make their own fertilizer – both aiming to make agriculture more sustainable, made it onto this year’s list of emerging tech.

Continue reading… “These are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2021”
Stem cells

Using Young Stem Cells to Restore Old Stem Cells

The restored cells regain many, but not all, of their youthful abilities.

By Josh Conway

In a study published in Aging, researchers have found that younger hematopoietic cells can restore older hematopoietic cells through microvesicles, which are facilitators of intercellular communication.

WHY WE AGE: ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION.

Altered intercellular communication, as described in the Hallmarks of Aging, is the change in signals between cells that can lead to some of the diseases and disabilities of aging.


Continue reading… “Using Young Stem Cells to Restore Old Stem Cells”
Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.