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Laser mining would allow for a no explosive option and not need huge machines increasing output as well. Also lasers could make more precise cuts rather than blades which would never get dull.

The application of the “Graduated Optical Colimator” (GOC) for the mining industry consists of a one-kilowatt optical power fiber laser to selectively spall igneous geological formations containing narrow veins of precious metals.

Merger said the prototype addresses key issues like mining using less explosives, chemicals and waste.

“We’ve been working at this problem for five or six years now – and we’ve discovered that a lot of laboratory research has been done in the private sector and in the government sector,” Gary Mladjan, Merger Mines’ VP, engineering and technology told MINING.COM.

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Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a new way to build and package microbatteries that drastically improve energy and power density even at the smallest sizes. They developed a new kind of current collector and cathode that increases the fraction of materials that store energy while simultaneously serving as a protective shell. This reduces the need for non-conductive packaging that normally protects a battery’s sensitive internal chemicals.

It weighs the same as two grains of rice but has the energy density of a much larger, heavier battery.

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A 21st Century Mystery School — “Creating New Paradigms In Wellness And Wisdom Never Seen Before, And Never More Needed Than Now” — Dr. Dennis McKenna, Founder, McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy.

Dr. Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer, author, and Founder of the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy (www.mckenna.academy).

Dr. McKenna is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council; as Founder and Executive Director for the Institute for Natural Products Research; as an Independent Research Consultant to the Phytomedicine and Nutraceutical Industry; was formerly on the Editorial Board of Phytomedicine, International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology; and is an adjunct professor in the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. McKenna received his Master’s Degree in Botany from the University of Hawaii in 1,979 his Ph.D. in Botanical Sciences from the University of British Columbia in 1,984 and continued into post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. McKenna’s research led to the development of natural products for the Aveda Corporation, as well as greater awareness of natural products and medicines. He has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and written multiple books, including “The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna”, co-author of “The Invisible Landscape” with his brother Terence, and co-author of a widely recognized reference work on herbal medicines, titled “Botanical Medicines: the Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements”.

Dr. McKenna’s publications have appeared in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, European Journal of Pharmacology, Brain Research, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neurochemistry, Economic Botany, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, and elsewhere.

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Parkin Research.

MICROWAVE THERMAL ROCKETS

AND

LASER THERMAL ROCKETS

Traditional rockets are marginal at launching things into orbit. Their chemical propellants do not carry enough energy (in the form of chemical bonds) to accelerate their own mass to orbit, let alone a tank and payload on top of that. As well as expelling propellant, traditional rockets also have to jettison parts (stages) as they ascend. The payload that is finally released into orbit is a tiny fraction of the rocket that lifts off from the ground.

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Since 1,988 and formation of the Posthuman Movement, and articles by early adopters like Max Moore were a sign our message was being received — although I always argued on various Extropian & Transhuman bulletin boards & Yahoo groups &c that “Trans” was a redundant middle and we should move straight to Posthuman, now armed with the new MVT knowledge (also figures on the CDR). There will be a new edition of World Philosophy, the first this millennium, to coincided with various Posthuman University events later this year. Here is the text:

THE EXTROPIAN PRINCIPLES V. 2.01 August 7 1992.

Max More Executive Director, Extropy Institute.

1. BOUNDLESS EXPANSION — Seeking more intelligence, wisdom, and.
personal power, an unlimited lifespan, and removal of natural, social.
biological, and psychological limits to self-actualization and self-realization. Overcoming limits on our personal and social.
progress and possibilities. Expansion into the universe and infinite existence.

2. SELF-TRANSFORMATION — A commitment to continual moral.
intellectual, and physical self-improvement, using reason and critical.
thinking, personal responsibility, and experimentation. Biological and.
neurological augmentation.

3. INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY — Applying science and technology to.
transcend “natural” limits imposed by our biological heritage and environment.

4. SPONTANEOUS ORDER — Promotion of decentralized, voluntaristic.
social coordination mechanisms. Fostering of tolerance, diversity.
long-term planning, individual incentives and personal liberties.

5. DYNAMIC OPTIMISM — Positive expectations to fuel dynamic action.
Promotion of a positive, empowering attitude towards our individual.
future and that of all intelligent beings. Rejection both of blind.
faith and stagnant pessimism.

These principles are further explicated below. In depth treatments can.
be found in various issues of EXTROPY: The Journal of Transhumanist.
Thought. (Spontaneous Order in #7, Dynamic Optimism in #8, and.
Self-Transformation in the forthcoming #10.)

1. BOUNDLESS EXPANSION
Beginning as mindless matter, parts of nature developed in a.
slow evolutionary advance which produced progressively more powerful brains. Chemical reactions generated tropistic behavior, which was.
superseded by instinctual and Skinnerian stimulus-response behavior.
and then by conscious learning and experimentation. With the advent of.
the conceptual consciousness of humankind, the rate of advancement.
sharply accelerated as intelligence, technology, and the scientific.
method could be applied to our condition. Extropians seek the.
continuation and fostering of this process, transcending biological.
and psychological limits as we proceed into posthumanity.
In aspiring to transhumanity, and beyond to posthumanity, we.
reject natural and traditional limitations on our possibilities. We.
champion the rational use of science and technology to void limits on.
lifespan, intelligence, personal power, freedom, and experience. We.
are immortalists because we recognize the absurdity of accepting.
“natural” limits to our lives. For many the future will bring an.
exodus from Earth — the womb of human and transhuman intelligence
expanding the frontiers of humanity (and posthumanity) to include.
space habitats, other planets and this solar system, neighboring.
systems, and beyond. By the end of the 21st Century, more people may.
be living off-planet than on Earth.
Resource limits are not immutable. The market price system.
encourages conservation, substitution and innovation, preventing any.
need for a brake on growth and progress. Expansion into space will.
vastly expand the energy and resources for our civilization. Living.
extended transhuman lifespans will foster intelligent use of resource.
and environment. Extropians affirm a rational, market-mediated.
environmentalism aimed at maintaining and enhancing our biospheres.
(whether terrestrial or extra-terrestrial). We oppose apocalyptic.
environmentalism, which hallucinates catastrophes, issues a stream of.
doomsday predictions, and attempts to strangle our continued.
evolution.
No mysteries are sacrosanct, no limits unquestionable; the.
unknown must yield to the intelligent mind. We seek to understand and.
to master reality up to and beyond any currently foreseen limits.

2. SELF-TRANSFORMATION

We affirm reason, critical inquiry, intellectual independence.
and intellectual honesty. We reject blind faith and passive.
comfortable thinking that leads to dogmatism, religion, and conformity. A commitment to positive self-transformation requires us.
to critically analyze our current beliefs, behaviors, and strategies.
Extropians therefore choose to place their self-value in continued.
development rather than “being right”. We prefer analytical thought to.
fuzzy but comfortable delusion, empiricism to mysticism, and.
independent evaluation to conformity. Extropians affirm a philosophy.
of life but distance themselves from religious thinking because of its.
blind faith, debasement of human dignity, and systematized.
irrationality.
Perpetual self-improvement — physical, intellectual.
psychological, and ethical — requires us to continually re-examine our lives. Extropians seek to better themselves, yet without denying their.
current worth. The desire to improve should not be confused with the.
belief that one is lacking in current value. But valuing oneself in.
the present cannot mean self-satisfaction, since an intelligent and.
probing mind can can always envisage a superior self in the future.
Extropians are committed to expanding wisdom, fine-tuning.
understanding of rational behavior, and enhancing physical and.
intellectual capacities.
Extropians are neophiles and experimentalists. We are.
neophiles because we track the latest research for more efficient.
means of achieving our goals. We are experimentalists because we are.
willing to explore and test the novel means of self-transformation.
that we uncover. In our quest for advancement to the tranhuman stage.
we rely on our own judgement, seek our own path, and reject both blind.
conformity and mindless rebellion. Extropians frequently diverge from.
the mainstream because they do not allow themselves to be chained by.
dogmas, whether religious, political, or social. Extropians choose.
their values and behavior reflectively, standing firm when required.
but responding flexibly to novel conditions.
Personal responsibility and self-determination goes.
hand-in-hand with neophilic self-experimentation. Extropians take.
responsibility for the consequences of our choices, refusing to blame.
others for the risks involved in our free choices. Experimentation and.
self-transformation require risks; Extropians wish to be free to.
evaluate the risks and potential benefits for ourselves, applying our.
own judgment and wisdom, and assuming responsibility for the outcome.
We neither wish others to force standards upon us through legal.
regulation, nor do we wish to force others to follow our path.
Personal-responsibility and self-determination are incompatible with.
authoritarian centralized control, which stifles the free choices and.
spontaneous ordering of autonomous persons.
External coercion, whether for the purported “good of the.
whole” or the paternalistic protection of the individual, is.
unacceptable to us. Compulsion breeds ignorance and weakens the.
connection between personal choice and personal outcome, thereby.
destroying personal responsibility. The proliferation of outrageous.
liability lawsuits, governmental safety regulations, and the.
rights-destroying drug war result from ignoring these facts of life.
Extropians are rational individualists, living by their own judgment.
making critical, informed, and free choices, and accepting.
responsibility for those choices.
As neophiles, Extropians study advanced, emerging, and future.
technologies for their self-transformative potential in enhancing our.
abilities and freedom. We support biomedical research with the goal of.
understanding and controlling the aging process. We are interested in.
any plausible means of conquering death, including interim measures.
like biostasis/cryonics, and long-term possibilities such as migration.
out of biological bodies into superior vehicles (“uploading”).
We practice and plan for biological and neurological.
augmentation through means such as effective cognitive enhancers or.
“smart drugs\.

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Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a platform which can quickly identify common mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that allow it to escape antibodies and infect cells.

Published today in Cell Reports, the research marks a major step toward successfully developing a universal vaccine for not only COVID-19, but also potentially for influenza, HIV and other deadly global viruses.

“We’ve developed a predictive tool that can tell you ahead of time which antibodies are going to be effective against circulating strains of virus,” said lead author Timothy Whitehead, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. “But the implications for this technology are more profound: If you can predict what the variants will be in a given season, you could get vaccinated to match the sequence that will occur and short-circuit this seasonal variation.”

Researchers have developed a platform which can quickly identify common mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that allow it to escape antibodies and infect cells, which could inform the development of more effective booster vaccines and tailored antibody treatments for patients with COVID-19.

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Researchers asked U.S. regulators to pull some sunscreens from the market, including brands such as Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena, saying they’ve found evidence of a potential carcinogen.

Scientists petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to remove from sale all sunscreens containing the active ingredient octocrylene. Products made with the chemical may contain benzophenone, a suspected carcinogen that also can interfere with key hormones and reproductive organs, according to a group led by Craig Downs, executive director of the nonprofit Haereticus Environmental Laboratory that studies risks to health and the environment.

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For several years, Lu’s lab has been working on ways to use DNA to store information such as memory of cellular events. In 2,014 he and Farzadfard developed a way to employ bacteria as a “genomic tape recorder,” engineering E. coli to store long-term memories of events such as a chemical exposure.

Technique for editing bacterial genomes can record interactions between cells, may offer a way to edit genes in the human microbiome.

Biological engineers at MIT

MIT is an acronym for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a prestigious private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts that was founded in 1861. It is organized into five Schools: architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts, and social sciences; management; and science. MIT’s impact includes many scientific breakthroughs and technological advances.

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Since DNMT3A increases DNA methylation, the researchers used a natural product that donates methyl groups S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) and to activate the retinoic acid receptor they treated the animals with vitamin A. They found that combined treatment with the methyl donor SAM and retinoic acid reversed PTSD-like behaviors.

Summary: Combining two natural products that modulate the epigenome, researchers believe they have identified a feasible approach to reversing symptoms of PTSD in animal models that could be effective in humans.

Source: Bar Ilan University

Exposure to a traumatic experience can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an incapacitating disorder in susceptible persons with no reliable therapy. Particularly puzzling is understanding how transient exposure to trauma creates persistent long-term suffering from PTSD and why some people are susceptible to PTSD while others that were exposed to the same trauma remain resilient.

Epigenetic modifications are chemical marks on genes that program their activity. These marks are written into DNA during fetal development to correctly program how our genes function in different organs. However, research in the last two decades has suggested that these marks could also be modulated by experiences and exposures at different point of time in life.

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