Large Hardon Collider

[BerenTebogo]

Longer life + no restrictions on breeding + people being against GMO and vaccinations = sign me up for checking out at around 70-80.

[arus2001]

Yeah, living a long time isn't really something I'm interested in as long as gainful employment is the key to living comfortably. Right now, you've got tech steadily replacing manned jobs while populations steadily increase at a rate where the new jobs created by the tech aren't really sufficient. And this is even before stepping into the social quagmire of things like higher education and what given jobs should pay, even if menial. Commie Star Trek fantasy world would be nice, but lol getting there with 1%ers calling the shots.

[myreality]

Easy fix, for every shot of longevity comes with a free side effect of sterilization.

[BaneTheBrawler]

or we frown on people who choose to live past 400ish. it works in The Culture!

[Sqwunk]

I learned about Telomeres from Dr. Rhonda Patrick when she was on Joe Rogans podcast.

[myreality]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/17/l...fusion-chamber

Lockheed Martin thinks it can give the world unlimited clean energy in 20 years

Who wants to place bets they can or cannot do this?

Do they have a working prototype?

[Pirian]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/17/l...fusion-chamber




Who wants to place bets they can or cannot do this?

Do they have a working prototype?

The defense behemoth believes that it might have a working prototype of its Compact Fusion Reactor in a decade, which might just save the world as we know it.

Literally the last sentence of the first paragraph

What I remember from reading about this quite a while ago, the problem was essentially that computing power wasn't great enough to be able to handle the algorithms necessary to keep fusion process contained within a powerful electromagnetic field. Specifically, there were holes in the electromagnetic field that allowed particles to escape, which leeched life from the reaction until it died out and this meant they had to keep restarting the process over and over which used more energy than it generated.

Kryssen or someone will probably come in here and tell you that all this is bunk, but oh well. I may be wrong about computing power being the problem, but I am pretty sure that one of the issues was the holes in the EM field containing the reaction, although there were probably other problems, too.

[kuronosan]

If LH can stabilize a field, I'll be incredibly excited for our future, especially if it can repel forces of that magnitude.

The algorithm makes sense. It has to keep up with particle movement in real time, and I'm pretty sure the movement is hard to predict.

Just as long as we don't birth Doc Ock. I hear we're a ways off from radioactive superheroes.

[Coren]

The article I was reading indicated they are using a completely different containment method from the traditional Russian Tokomak design. This indicates to me it's not just about having a powerful-enough supercomputer, but that the design itself was obsolete. Exceptionally cool, regardless. Crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath just yet.

The researchers indicate they're hoping to push out a new generation every year, and hope to have a functioning prototype by the 5th gen (in 5 years). And, their research shows it's completely scalable. So while the truck-sized one pushes out 100megawatts (a carrier, or 80k homes), they could feasibly go much larger.

[myreality]

I was excited to see they took into account on how to immediately implement this new power source (if/when available) with the current infrastructure. I assume they have had a working prototype already for a while now and am making this announcement with confidence that they are to far ahead and no one can stop them (politics).

Of course I'm hoping they are not being premature and looking for funding.

Can only imagine there are a lot of people out there that would like to put a stop to this considering oil controls world politics.

I can only understand a small portion of the physics in this(reading up a little on the subject). Hopefully a few people here can explain in detail.

[Waraji]

Placing bets now how many decades after they get this up and running before politics/energy lobbyist let this shit permeate our infrastructure.

[archibaldcrane]

Friend of mine works for skunkworks, but she can't tell me if this is what she's working on.

Damn you security clearance...

[kuronosan]

We'll see a revolution before that happens.

[myreality]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...s-9807010.html

Paralysed man Darek Fidyka walks again after treatment by British doctors on brink of 'cure'

The firefighter that is now walking had a completely severed spine leaving his neck down paralyzed due to a knife attack. The new treatment can possibly cure paralysis!

Apparently the doctor is making his treatment and research open to any doctor out there.

[Kuya]

Looks very promising. From what I understand those glial cells extracted from the nose both promote the regeneration of axons and guide them to the appropriate synapses. What I want to know is how the glial cells from the nose accomplish doing this feat when implanted in the spine.

[kuronosan]

Glial cells would be the answer to that question. They myelinate other cells, which improves nerve conduction.

[Kuya]

Right, but in this case we're not talking about improving nerve conduction but promoting axonal regeneration and then chaperoning the axons to the correct destinations. There are precedents to this, and it is explained that this is precisely what happens in the olfactory bulbs but what I am interested in knowing is what the exact molecular mechanisms are in the case of the spine and whether they are the same as the bulbs. Hopefully they will expand on that with future studies soon.

[kuronosan]

Glial cells not only form myelin, they also provide nutrients and act as mediators for neuronal attachment.

In other words, they can bypass damaged neurons and form branches between the healthy ones, allowing for conduction to improve and restart.

[Kuya]

Is there a word similar to mansplaining for this kind of situation?

Yes kuro, I understand that. I study neurobiology. By molecular chemanisms i am referring to the specific signaling molecules, receptors, kinase, transcription factors and promoter regions in DNA that make all of this possible both in the bulbs (i'll have to look into this myself) and the spine (whether the molecular mechanisms are the same or different and how fascinating it would be that the same signaling cascade also works in other areas of the body where neural tissueis located).

[archibaldcrane]

NERDS