Animals ‘shapeshifting’ in response to climate crisis, research finds

A scientific study indicates that several warm-blooded animals have already begun to evolve to adaot ti global warming via "shapeshifting": larger beaks for certain birds and bigger wings for bats in warm climates.

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A Bioartificial Pancreas Could Substantially Enhance Type-1 Diabetes Treatment

A team of biomedical engineers has developed an artificial pancreas that functions autonomously. Since it operates using human cells, it does not require refilling and could potentially replace current Type 1 diabetes treatments like insulin pumps.

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Firm raises $15m to bring back woolly mammoth from extinction

In September 2021, a firm raised the funds necessary to launch a project which aims to reintroduce extinct wooly mammoths to the earth, in the Arctic. The team hopes to achieve this by mixing the genome of frozen mammoth specimens with that of an elephant. The first births are planned for 2027 if all goes well. The article highlights the many potential problems that could plague the project and its justifications.

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How a Bunch of Lava Lamps Protect Us From Hackers

Lava lamps are more than just kitsch decorations, they're also objects in constant, unpredictable motion. This is precisely why a hundred lava lamps cover a wall at tech company Cloudflare. The lamps are constantly being filmed, and the constantly changing image provides the company's encryption codes--Cloudflare provides website protection services. To make them even more random and harder to crack, a pendulum in London and a Geiger computer in Singapore also impact the encryption process.

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I went to Amazon's high-tech hair salon and virtually dyed my hair pink — then got the best haircut I've ever had

In the spring of 2021, Amazon opened a hair salon in a trendy London neighborhood. The Amazon Salon is equipped with several screens that provide information about different shampoos and other hair products on display at the site. But they also (more importantly) allow customers to use an augmented reality app to test different hair colors and styles in real time. The Business Insider journalist chose to keep her natural color. She was pleased with her cut, performed by a regular hairdresser.

Note from the archivist: "So very Flat Eye," says an anonymous developer on the Monkey Moon forum.

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Scientists 3D print living brain cells

A team of scientists has successfully 3D printed living mouse braincells. "Most" of the neurons survived. The researchers tempered their success, explaining that while the long-term goal is to 3D print cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases, for example, they are currently far from being able to do so. In the meantime, the experiment aims to help advance research.

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Pig Kidney Successfully Transplanted From Hog to Human

A medical advance in xenotransplants: a pig kidney was transplanted to a braindead woman and functioned normally for 54 hours. The patient's ventilator was unplugged after that, leading to her death. The operation was carried out in New York City at an NYU facility thanks to a grant from United Therapeutics. The company's CEO, Martine Rothblatt, is a self-avowed transhumanist who hopes to build pig farms for transplant purposes.

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In Iceland, CO2 sucked from the air is turned to rock

One of the methods being tested to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere is Direct Air Capture (DAC). A company called Orca has built a plant in southeast Iceland that captures atmospheric carbon. Climeworks, a Swiss competitor has also opened a plant in Iceland. Once captured, the carbon is stored underground, where it takes to years to petrify. The CO2 will remain there unless it's disturbed by a volcanic eruption.

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Crypto Investors Buy 40 Acres of Land in Wyoming to Build Blockchain City

CityDAO (for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a blockchain-based voting system and entity) wants to build a "crypto city" managed by a DAO. The group has acquired 40 acres of land in Wyoming, which recognizes DAOs as companies. Members can purchase NFTs to obtain voting rights and the ability to settle land.

Note from the archivist: Not much has changed a year on.

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Alphabet is launching a company that uses AI for drug discovery

Google's parent company, Alphabet, is investing in Demis Hassabis's vision for artificial intelligence. Hassabis, who already heads up DeepMind, the Alphabet subsidiary that uses AI to extrapolate protein structures, will now also run Isomorphic Laboratories. This new Alphabet subsidiary will use AI to develop new medicines by predicting how the body will react.

Note from the archivist: Demis Hassabis started his career as a video game developer, working most notably on the games Theme Park and Evil Genius. As I write this, DeepMind has just published a database containing the structure of almost every known protein.

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