Gene editing: Is era of designer humans getting closer? Image copyright SPL An international meeting of leading scientists has said it would be "irresponsible" to allow the creation of genetically altered humans. But they said basic research involving embryo gene editing should continue in order to improve understanding of human biology. As scientific knowledge advances and societal views evolve, they added, the clinical use of genetically modified embryos should be revisited on a "regular basis". The gene editing summit in Washington was organised to discuss new techniques which enable researchers to alter human DNA. Genetic enhancement has been a favourite theme for science fiction writers. A Brave New World of designer humans - although still a long way off - has moved a step closer as a result new gene editing techniques. Three years ago scientists invented a new simple cut-and-paste system, called CRISPR-Cas9, for editing DNA. Media playback is unsupported on your device 'Blood disorder' That's where gene editing in embryos comes in.
Light as a Particle | Las Cumbres Observatory Light behaves mainly like a wave but it can also be considered to consist of tiny packages of energy called photons. Photons carry a fixed amount of energy but have no mass. The energy of a photon depends on its wavelength: longer wavelength photons have less energy and shorter wavelength photons have more. Red photons, for example, have less energy than blue ones. Until about 1900, scientists only understood electromagnetic radiation to be made up of waves. More energetic wavelengths such as blue and ultraviolet caused more electrons to be ejected than red or infrared wavelengths. Einstein was the first to explain what was happening. Are we living in a simulation? - Zohreh Davoudi If you can’t wait to dig deeper into the question of whether the Universe is a simulation, here are some useful links to get you started: For a though-provoking debate on the subject, see the 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson: For a general audience presentation of the topic take a look here. If you are interested in the technical discussions regarding possible tests of the Simulation hypothesis, see the original papers here and here. And finally if you are curious what Nick Bostrom’s philosophical argument is to believe we may be living in a computer simulation, you can read the original article here.
Light & Optics: Introduction To understand light you have to know that what we call light is what is visible to us. Visible light is the light that humans can see. Other animals can see different types of light. Scientists also call light electromagnetic radiation. The key thing to remember is that light and EM radiation carry energy. Or search the sites for a specific topic. Tour the EM Spectrum (ScienceAt NASA Video)
Radar spots trillions of unseen insects migrating above us Birds and human vacationers aren't the only creatures that take to the skies each year to migrate north or south. An analysis of a decade's worth of data from radars specifically designed to track airborne insects has revealed unseen hordes crossing parts of the southern United Kingdom—2 trillion to 5 trillion insects each year, amounting to several thousand tons of biomass, that may travel up to hundreds of kilometers a day. The numbers, reported in this week's issue of Science, are "stunning," says Silke Bauer, an ecologist at the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach. "Wow," adds Larry Stevens, an evolutionary ecologist at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Although some insect migrations are well known (think monarchs), the new work takes a systematic approach to flying insects and hints that such mass movements are surprisingly common. In the 1970s, U.K. entomologists began to use mobile radars to assess movements of locusts and other pests in developing countries.
We've got apps and radars – but can ants predict rain? It’s often said that ants can predict impending rain and respond by changing their behaviour. Some people say that if you see ants building their mounds higher, or building them from different materials, this might signal the coming of rain. But is there any scientific evidence to support this piece of folk wisdom? The short answer is “no”, although it is a difficult question to answer partly because of the sheer diversity of ants – there are 13,000 named species on the planet! Read more: In an ant's world, the smaller you are the harder it is to see obstacles Sensing rain Ants are equipped with a full array of senses that could, in theory, give them clues about imminent rainfall. Ant antennae are sensitive detectors capable of picking up minute chemical traces. One species, the Florida carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus), has more than 400 genes for detecting odours – the largest number of any known insect species. Responding to rain
Petite méthodologie de la synthèse · Cours d’anglais 1. le type : identifiez la nature des documents auxquels vous avez affaire (théâtre, fiction, essai, écrit journalistique, document iconographique…). 2. la date de publication : est-ce un texte récent ? Est-ce un document historique ? Pensez à contextualiser en quelques mots le document, s’il est publié à une période cruciale de l’humanité (crises politiques, conflits armés civils ou internationaux, guerres mondiales, incidents diplomatiques…) 3. le titre : si le document a un titre (article de presse, par exemple), demandez-vous quel est le rapport entre le titre et le contenu du texte ? 4. l’auteur : pour les textes historiques et journalistiques notamment, est-ce que l’auteur est connu ? 5. le contexte géographique : est-ce un texte qui a trait plutôt à la Grande-Bretagne , aux Etats-Unis, à l’Australie… ? 6. 7. Après vous être posé les questions précédentes, votre synthèse doit comporter les trois parties suivantes :
Would ′durability′ labels help people shop greener? | Environment| All topics from climate change to conservation | DW | 19.02.2018 The increasingly short lifespan of products, particularly electronics, is a double scourge: to the environment in the form of e-waste, and to the consumer who must constantly replace short-lived items with new ones. Now, a French politician has proposed a new label for products to inform consumers about their durability, traceability, eco-design and recyclability. Poirson (middle) wants to convince the European Union to adopt a Europe-wide durability label Brune Poirson, who is Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition in Emmanuel Macron's government, said the labels would "give the French the means of a more responsible consumption, more favorable to their budget." But analysis shows that consumers are far more interested in the latter than the former. And that may be the fatal flaw in the labels Poirson is envisioning. France tried to introduce such legislation in 2015, but it proved unwieldy. E-waste is a growing problem around the world
Smartphones: Live longer, be greener | Global Ideas | DW | 23.11.2018 These days, a two-year-old smartphone is considered old. Given that estimates put the number of smartphones currently in use around the world at more than two billion, that should give us pause. While they may be fairly small devices, their sheer number means constantly replacing them consumes huge amounts of resources. And we're not just talking about the plastic and glass that users see on the outside. Their electronic components contain materials like coltan and gold, which are often mined at high cost to both the environment and the people mining them. Keep as much as you can for as long as you can So how can we reduce the impact of smartphones on the environment? "Think of this simple calculation: If you use your phone twice as long, you only need to produce half as many phones," Bas van Abel recently told DW in an interview. Modular design is a key factor in ensuring longevity. Bas van Abel founded Fairphone, one of the first commercially available modular phones. Customer care