Human Genome stored on ‘Everlasting’ Memory Crystal

A close-up of a circular transparent disc held between two fingers. The disc contains tiny diagrams and text, displaying information about DNA and human genetic code preservation. The text on the disc reads ’Preserving Human Genetic Code for Eternity: Who Wants to Live Forever?’

University of Southampton scientists have stored the full human genome on a 5D memory crystal—a revolutionary data storage format that can survive for billions of years.

The team hope that the crystal could provide a blueprint to bring humanity back from extinction thousands, millions or even billions of years into the future, should science allow.

The technology could also be used to create an enduring record of the genomes of endangered plant and animal species faced with extinction.

Eternity crystals
The 5D memory crystal was developed by the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Center (ORC).

Unlike other data storage formats that degrade over time, 5D memory crystals can store up to 360 terabytes of information (in the largest size) without loss for bi...

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New Organic Thermoelectric device that can Harvest Energy at Room Temperature

Researchers have succeeded in developing a framework for organic thermoelectric power generation from ambient temperature and without a temperature gradient. Thermoelectric devices are devices that can convert heat into electrical energy. Researchers have now developed a thermoelectric device composed of organic materials that can generate electricity from ambient temperature alone. The device is made from copper phthalocyanine and copper hexadecafluoro phthalocyanine as charge $transfer materials and was combined with fullerenes and BCP as electron transport layers.

Researchers have developed a new organic thermoelectric device that can harvest energy from ambient temperature. While thermoelectric devices have several uses today, hurdles still exist to their full utilization...

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Organic Matter on Mars was formed from Atmospheric Formaldehyde

Organic Matter on Mars was Formed from Atmospheric Formaldehyde

Researchers have developed a Martian atmospheric evolution model to propose a new theory about Mars’s past. Although Mars is currently a cold, dry planet, geological evidence suggests that liquid water existed there around 3 to 4 billion years ago. Where there is water, there is usually life. In their quest to answer the burning question about life on Mars, researchers at Tohoku University created a detailed model of organic matter production in the ancient Martian atmosphere.

Organic matter refers to the remains of living things such as plants and animals, or the byproduct of certain chemical reactions.

Whatever the case, the stable carbon isotope ratio (13C/12C) found in organic matter provides valuable clues about...

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Higher Levels of Leptin indicate Brain Protection against Late-life Dementia

An image of obesity-overweight: A donut with a waist tape
Weight-maintaining hormone key to brain-signal transmission
Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu

Weight-maintaining hormone key to brain-signal transmission. A study more closely links obesity to dementia, finding that leptin, a hormone that helps maintain normal body weight, is associated with better signal-transmitting brain white matter in middle-aged adults.

New research is more closely linking obesity to dementia.

Higher levels of leptin, a hormone that helps maintain normal body weight, is associated with better signal-transmitting brain white matter in middle-aged adults, according to a study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio).

“The findings support the known role of leptin variations in late-life d...

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