How does our appendix play a role in the onset of Parkinson's disease?

A large-scale epidemiological study has suggested that people who have their appendix removed at an early point in their life may displayed a reduced risk in developing Parkinson's disease. The compelling research found the appendix can hold a major volume of the toxic proteins that contribute to the progression of the disease adding weight to the hypothesis that this devastating neurodegenerative disease may originate outside of the brain.

.. Continue Reading How does our appendix play a role in the onset of Parkinson's disease?

Category: Science

Tags:

• Neurological
• Parkinson's Disease
• Protein

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How dying stars could reignite with help from enigmatic class of black hole

A white dwarf is one of the last stages of life for stars of a certain size, and it's all downhill from there – with no new source of energy, the object will gradually fade away into obscurity. But supercomputer simulations run by astronomers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) suggest that these dying stars could be reignited by a close encounter with an enigmatic class of black hole.

.. Continue Reading How dying stars could reignite with help from enigmatic class of black hole

Category: Space

Tags:

• Astronomy
• Black hole
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Simulations
• Stars
• White dwarf

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Vanuatu to trial drone delivery of vaccines to remote islands

Of all the potential uses for drones, using them to deliver life-saving medicines in developing countries is not only one of the most promising, it is also one of the most well progressed. The government of Vanuatu is now set to see what all the buzz about, announcing plans to trial vaccine-carrying drones before the year is out.

.. Continue Reading Vanuatu to trial drone delivery of vaccines to remote islands

Category: Drones

Tags:

• Delivery drones
• drones

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Bend your brain with the best optical illusions of 2018

The mysteries of human perception are endlessly fascinating, and a good optical illusion is a brilliant reminder of how our brains can be so easily fooled. For over a decade the Neural Correlate Society has been running an annual competition celebrating the best new illusions, and the 2018 winners are sure to short-circuit your brain … in the best possible way.

.. Continue Reading Bend your brain with the best optical illusions of 2018

Category: Games

Tags:

• Awards
• Brain
• Competition
• Eye
• Optical
• Perception
• Visual

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Three-wheeled EV hits Indiegogo, along with a two-wheeled sidekick

Given the limited battery range of electric cars, they're typically used as around-town vehicles. With that in mind, do you really need a big, fast, expensive Tesla? If you don't think so, then perhaps Hover-1's Aero may be more to your liking. The New Jersey-based company is also offering an electric motorbike.

.. Continue Reading Three-wheeled EV hits Indiegogo, along with a two-wheeled sidekick

Category: Urban Transport

Tags:

• Electric Motorcycles
• Electric Vehicles
• Indiegogo
• Three Wheel

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Hyundai to boost vehicle efficiency with semi-transparent panoramic solar roofs

The automotive world's attention may be focused on the high-performance parts of the 2018 SEMA Show, but Hyundai is providing some details on a very different style of performance-enhancing component. Beginning around 2020, it will add solar roof panels to both electrified vehicles and gas models as a way of boosting efficiency. Its solar integration will evolve over time to include a semi-transparent, solar-harvesting sunroof and a solar roof and hood combo.

.. Continue Reading Hyundai to boost vehicle efficiency with semi-transparent panoramic solar roofs

Category: Automotive

Tags:

• Electric Vehicles
• Hyundai
• Kia
• Solar Power

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Biggest-ever bird may have been a real night-owl – and was possibly blind

As far as we know, the largest bird of all time was the now-extinct elephant bird. The flightless animal stood over 10 feet tall (3 m), and was native to Madagascar. Little is known about how it lived, although new research surprisingly indicates that it was likely nocturnal, and had little if any eyesight.

.. Continue Reading Biggest-ever bird may have been a real night-owl – and was possibly blind

Category: Biology

Tags:

• Birds
• Brain
• Sight
• University of Texas

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Ducati set to debut electric mountain bike in Milan

Italian manufacturer Ducati is, of course, best known for its high-end motorcycles. At the upcoming Milan Motorcycle Show (EICMA 2018), however, the company will be debuting something a little different – an electric-assist mountain bike.

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Category: Bicycles

Tags:

• Ducati
• EICMA 2018
• Electric Bicycle
• Mountain Bikes

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Zapp unveils stylish i300 electric scooter

After a short teaser campaign, UK startup Zapp has revealed the striking i300 electric scooter. It rocks a radical yet familiar look, has a top speed of 60 mph and features a pull out battery pack for topping up while sat in the cafe or at the office.

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Category: Motorcycles

Tags:

• Electric Vehicles
• Scooter

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Waymo gets the go-ahead for totally driverless vehicle testing in California

Waymo (Google before it) has now clocked up over 10 million autonomous miles on public roads in 25 cities. Last year, Phoenix, Arizona, became the first to set its self-driving cars free of human back up by allowing a public trial of fully driverless vehicles. Now California has joined the party.

.. Continue Reading Waymo gets the go-ahead for totally driverless vehicle testing in California

Category: Automotive

Tags:

• Autonomous Vehicles
• Autonomy
• Self driving cars
• Waymo

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RP embraces adventure with expanding, gear-hauling Rebel camper van

German camper van companies aren't the only ones getting their hands on the all-new Mercedes Sprinter. Great Britain's RP Motorhomes has built its own camper conversions into the new Sprinter, and its Rebel is quite unlike the Sprinter campers we've looked at previously. It starts as a compact, well-equipped two-sleeper camper, but add in the gear garage and slide-out bathroom compartment and it becomes one of the coolest camper vans on the road, hauling bikes to camp and growing once there to provide a roomy, multi-lounge interior.

.. Continue Reading RP embraces adventure with expanding, gear-hauling Rebel camper van

Category: Automotive

Tags:

• Campervan
• Camping
• Mercedes
• Mercedes-Benz
• Motorhome
• Motorhomes
• Outdoor
• Travel
• Van

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Toyota offers Tundra Pie Pro hydrogen-fueled mobile pizza maker at SEMA

The Specialty Equipment Market Association show often has some odd one-off designs and weird concepts to showcase. Toyota flipped the dough on this year's show with a mobile pizza maker conceived out of a Tundra pickup truck and some pie-making expertise from Pizza Hut.

.. Continue Reading Toyota offers Tundra Pie Pro hydrogen-fueled mobile pizza maker at SEMA

Category: Automotive

Tags:

• Pizza
• SEMA 2018
• Toyota
• Truck

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Audio Technica's acclaimed monitor headphones go wireless

Audio Technica has added Bluetooth wireless technology to its studio favorite used by professionals and consumers alike. The ATH-M50xBT headphones will rock on for up to 40 hours per charge and come with CD-quality codecs for the promise of top notch cable-free music enjoyment on the move.

.. Continue Reading Audio Technica's acclaimed monitor headphones go wireless

Category: Wearables

Tags:

• Audio-Technica
• Bluetooth
• Digital music
• Headphones

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All-electric Chevy Camaro previews the future of the electric crate motor

Nodding at the past while looking into the future, Chevrolet is presenting the all-new eCOPO Camaro at the 2018 SEMA Show. Fifty years after the introduction of the original COPO Camaro, it takes the high-performance Camaro electric, dropping in a plug-and-play motor for more than 700 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. Destined for more than just the bright lights of Vegas, this Camaro is designed to push the envelope on the drag strip and beyond.

.. Continue Reading All-electric Chevy Camaro previews the future of the electric crate motor

Category: Automotive

Tags:

• Chevrolet
• Concept Cars
• Drag Racing
• Electric Motors
• Electric Vehicle Racing
• Electric Vehicles
• GM
• SEMA 2018

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Atomic tractor beam traps atoms for quantum memory

The tractor beam is a long-serving staple of sci-fi, but now Australian researchers have created a real-world version. While it won't exactly be capturing enemy spaceships anytime soon, the device can use light to pull in and trap atoms, which may be handy for quantum communications or memory systems.

.. Continue Reading Atomic tractor beam traps atoms for quantum memory

Category: Physics

Tags:

• Atoms
• Laser
• Light
• Physics
• Quantum-Information
• Quantum Physics
• University of Adelaide

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Nissan serves up five one-of-a-kind vehicles at SEMA

Nissan has entered the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas with five unique one-offs to wow the crowds. Ranging from a souped up orange-painted 370Z to a DJ booth made out of a Kicks crossover, the showcase is interesting, to say the least. The wow factor is high in the Nissan SEMA booth.

.. Continue Reading Nissan serves up five one-of-a-kind vehicles at SEMA

Category: Automotive

Tags:

• Nissan
• SEMA 2018

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Nobel-winning technology reveals cancer-killing virus locking onto target like a "key in a lock"

Last year, a cutting edge scientific imaging technology called cryo-electron microscopy earned a Nobel Prize for chemistry, lauded by the committee as ushering in a "revolution in biochemistry." The technique allows scientists to visualize biomolecules in their natural state for the first time ever, and one year on is already opening up some exciting possibilities. Now, scientists have used it to image a high-potential cancer-killing virus in unprecedented detail, allowing them to now ponder how it might be genetically modified to better do the job.

.. Continue Reading Nobel-winning technology reveals cancer-killing virus locking onto target like a "key in a lock"

Category: Medical

Tags:

• Cancer
• Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
• University of Otago
• Virotherapy
• Virus

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The best of the best celebrated in the outstanding Siena International Photo Awards

The Siena International Photo Awards only started in 2015 but it has quickly moved into a position of being one of the most impressive annual photographic competitions in the world. This year's recently revealed winners affirm that prestigious position with a spectacular assortment of images spanning everything from architecture to photojournalism.

.. Continue Reading The best of the best celebrated in the outstanding Siena International Photo Awards

Category: Digital Cameras

Tags:

• Awards
• Competition
• Photography

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Synthetic organisms engineered to shed light on ancient evolution

Evolution is the accepted explanation for life's diversity today, but there are still some holes in the process that we don't understand. To peer back in time at certain key steps, scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have now engineered synthetic microorganisms designed to be similar to some that might have lived billions of years ago.

.. Continue Reading Synthetic organisms engineered to shed light on ancient evolution

Category: Biology

Tags:

• Bacteria
• Biotechnology
• Evolution
• Genetic engineering
• Genetics
• Life
• Microbes
• Micro-organisms
• Scripps Research Institute
• Yeast

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Next-gen watch balance springs are grown, not drawn

Proving that there's more than one way to fabricate a watch spring, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) has developed a technique for growing tiny springs to specifications using photo-etching and electrochemical depositing in cold, aqueous saline solutions instead of conventional drawing and winding techniques.

.. Continue Reading Next-gen watch balance springs are grown, not drawn

Category: Science

Tags:

• Empa
• Materials
• Watches

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Cellular kill code discovery may help extinguish cancers

Exciting new research from Northwestern Medicine has discovered that inside every cell within the human body is a toxic kill code designed to trigger self-destruction if it senses a cell is turning cancerous. Across two newly published studies the scientists remarkably homed in on the exact nucleotide code underlying this mechanism and suggest it may lead to an entirely novel kind of cancer treatment.

.. Continue Reading Cellular kill code discovery may help extinguish cancers

Category: Medical

Tags:

• Cancer
• DNA
• Genetics
• MicroRNA
• Northwestern University
• RNA

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Glass treehouse in Mexico peels back the curtain on privacy

Treehouses of all shapes and sizes have graced our pages over the years, but the thing about these elevated dwellings is that they tend to be made of timber. Mexican architect Gerardo Broissin paid little attention to this building convention with the design of "chantli kuaulakoyokan," a transparent treehouse in Mexico City.

.. Continue Reading Glass treehouse in Mexico peels back the curtain on privacy

Category: Architecture

Tags:

• Mexico
• Mexico City
• Treehouse

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New research affirms potential of eye scans to detect Alzheimer’s disease early

Over the last few years, many researchers have been working to find ways to identify Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages, before major symptoms develop. Research has begun to suggest that certain signs of deterioration in the retina could mirror early neurodegeneration, and new research presented at the recent Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology has solidified the growing body of evidence that Alzheimer's disease can be diagnosed in seconds using a non-invasive eye scan.

.. Continue Reading New research affirms potential of eye scans to detect Alzheimer’s disease early

Category: Medical

Tags:

• Alzheimer's Disease
• Dementia
• Diagnostic devices
• Eye
• Retina

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Opportunity still silent, but NASA not giving up yet

The Opportunity Mars rover might be keeping quiet, NASA hasn't given up on the unmanned explorer. Though there has been no contact with Opportunity since June 10 and a 45-day rescue operation has not produced any response from the robotic vehicle, the space agency says that it is extending recovery attempts until at least January 2019.

.. Continue Reading Opportunity still silent, but NASA not giving up yet

Category: Space

Tags:

• Mars
• NASA
• Opportunity

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Kepler mission ends after nine years of planet hunting

The pioneering planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope has finally reached the end of its service life and will be switched off permanently. NASA announced today that the aging, unmanned spacecraft that has so far been responsible for the discovery of over 2,700 exoplanets has run out of the propellant needed to keep it from tumbling and must be retired.

.. Continue Reading Kepler mission ends after nine years of planet hunting

Category: Space

Tags:

• Exoplanet
• Kepler Mission
• NASA

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