Singularity shots is a roundup of beautifully curated notes about science, technology, and all the mesmerizing things indistinguishable from magic. Delivered as 2-minute shots once in a week, because we know you are busy.
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Our brains are hardwired to listen to stories. So obviously, it is better to talk about the most important discoveries of our lifetime as stories; instead of boring seminars. This is what this newsletter intends to do; tell stories that inspire awe and attract more people towards that path of knowledge that makes us collectively smart.
I am really sorry for delaying this edition. Had to deal with some problems in my life. Life doesn't seem to spare anyone. However, without further adieu, let'hop in to the delicacies of today.
Did you know?
Scientists are creating a Biological version of internet of things with Bacteria.
Yeah. You heard that right. A living, breathing internet.
When scientists thought that biological machines, like the bacteria, encompasses within themselves all the properties that would qualify itself as a component in an IoT network - it should be able to communicate, it should store and process information and it should sense it's surroundings and act accordingly, and it should have an actuator, like a motor.
The information systems of biology is an emerging area of research. The research centers around a bacteria called Escherichia coli. These organisms store information in ring-shaped DNA structures called plasmids, and through a process called conjugation - the transfer of genetic material between two cells - they can transmit genetic information from one bacteria to next.
In 2018, Federico Tavella at the University of Padua in Italy and colleagues built a biological circuit in which one strain of E.Coli transmitted a "Hello World" message to another strain, which carried the information to another location. They were trying to find an efficient DNA storage where they can store, retrieve and fetch useful data - much like a database management system.
This property of information exchange between bacteria could be harnessed to build a complex bio internet. What makes E.coli the perfect candidate is that they have receptors in their cell walls that sense the environment - temperature, light and presence of chemicals. They store information in DNA and process it using ribosomes, and they have built-in mechanisms that can generate thrust.
These kinds of biohacking could be done to deploy a network of re-programmed bacterias to different surroundings, like smart cities, where they could coordinate and sense chemicals and pollutants and gather data and perform bioremediation process. They also can be reprogrammed to treat diseases.
One the darker side, they can also be exploited by bio-terrorists to create darker possibilities which would give biosecurity experts sleepless nights.
Let's see that these buggers have in store for us once networked.
An Ancient supernova would have enabled humans to walk upright.
This study, From Cosmic Explosions to Terrestrial Fires? was published in The Journal of Geology. It goes on like this:
The carbon levels in the geological records show a spike in the number of forest fires 7 to 8 million years ago. There is also an increase in iron-60 (isotope) on Earth at that time. Iron-60 found in deep seafloor deposits is a good indicator of ancient supernovae activity. That puts a theoretical supernovae explosion, say within 150 to 300 light-years away from home, which bombarded Earth and nearby vicinity with energetic cosmic rays. This in turn showered the atmosphere of Earth with highly energetic particles, raising the frequency of lightning strikes.
Remember, this was theorized to have happened 7 to 8 million years ago, and coincidentally, human beings were thought to have first walked upright around 6 million years ago.
The increased frequency of lightning is associated with an uptick in forest fires and lead to an increase in treeless savanna. This new environment provided the species with an advantage that if you are hunting upright, you can spot the prey far away without the hindrance of a thick vegetation cover. This would have triggered a random mutation allowing our ancestors to run down prey. There is speculation that a gene mutation on chromosome 17 allows humans to walk upright, giving our ancestors an evolutionary advantage.
Will we ever know if we have an ancient supernova to thank for walking upright? Maybe.
For now, it's fascinating to think that far-away cosmic processes may well have shaped who we are today.
With love,
Ashif Shereef