@ Pkmn-trainer-touko-tajiri

Mostly because of the lack of gravity, which opens a tons of a new possibilities.

Why Sequencing DNA in Space is a Big Deal

… And How You Can Talk to the Scientists Who Made It Happen

Less than one month ago, DNA had never been sequenced in space. As of today, more than one billion base pairs of DNA have been sequenced aboard the International Space Station, Earth’s only orbiting laboratory. The ability to sequence the DNA of living organisms in space opens a whole new world of scientific and medical possibilities. Scientists consider it a game changer. 

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who has a background in genomics, conducted the sequencing on the space station as part of the Biomolecule Sequencer investigation. A small, commercial, off-the-shelf device called MinION (min-EYE-ON), manufactured by Oxford Nanopore Technologies in the UK, was used to sequence the DNA of bacteria, a virus and rodents. Human DNA was not sequenced, and there are no immediate plans to sequence human DNA in space. 

(Image Credit: Oxford Nanopore Technologies)

The MinION is about the size of a candy bar, and plugs into a laptop or tablet via USB connection, which also provides power to the device. The tiny, plug and play sequencer is diminutive compared to the large microwave-sized sequencers used on Earth, and uses much less power. Unlike other terrestrial instruments whose sequencing run times can take days, this device’s data is available in near real time; analysis can begin within 10-15 minutes from the application of the sample.

Having real-time analysis capabilities aboard the space station could allow crews to identify microbes, diagnose infectious disease and collect genomic and genetic data concerning crew health, without having to wait long periods of time to return samples to Earth and await ground-based analysis.

The first DNA sequencing was conducted on Aug. 26, and on Sept. 14, Rubins and the team of scientists back at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston hit the one-billionth-base-pairs-of-DNA-sequenced mark.

Have more questions about how the Biomolecule Sequencer works, or how it could benefit Earth or further space exploration? Ask the team of scientists behind the investigation, who will be  available for questions during a Reddit Ask Me Anything on /r/science on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. EDT. 

The participants are:

Dr. Aaron Burton, NASA Johnson Space Center, Planetary Scientist and Principal Investigator

Dr. Sarah Castro-Wallace, NASA Johnson Space Center, Microbiologist and Project Manager

Dr. David J. Smith, NASA Ames Research Center, Microbiologist

Dr. Mark Lupisella, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Systems Engineer

Dr. Jason P. Dworkin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Astrobiologist

Dr. Christopher E. Mason, Weill Cornell Medicine Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, Associate Professor

I’d call it UB-000 Duplication

BEHOLD the ORIGINAL ultra beast.

Most probably, that it wasn’t (it was long ago and I don’t remember it exactly), but I’m sure that I won’t forget this moment.

I’m watching a movie that’s in about a dozen languages and everything is subtitled EXCEPT when a character gets up on a stage to sing. Than it’s just “singing”. This song pops up several times throughout the film and none of it is subtitled or captioned.

It kinda reminds me of some old comic strip (scientist to jouranlist - NEWSPAPER’S HEADLINE):

- We’ve managed to destroy several percents of cancerous cells in the lab rat’s tail. - SCIENTISTS’VE CURED CANCER.

- No, we’ve only managed to get closer to the future when cancer can be cured! - SCIENTISTS TRAVEL IN TIME.

- Fuck you! - SCIENTIST HAS RAPED JOURNALIST!

Robur was also above politics in the first book (”Robur the Conqueror”), but went dark in the second (”Master of the World”), when he scrapped more peacefully-built “Albatross” (second one, first “Albatross” was blown up by Prudent and Evans, much like Hikokyuu was brought down by Ash and co.), which had only one short-barreled low-impulse cannon (used for whale hunting and somewhat similar to Hikokyuu’s mortar artillery system) and several explosive charges onboard, for more agressively-built “Terror” with powerful ram for sinking ships. Robur in the first book had some sort of justification - he wanted to prove superiority of heavier-than-air aircraft, so he took two most powerful lighter-than-air lobbiers to let them see HTA vessels superiority with their own eyes, and he also wanted to take revenge for the events in the Weldon Institute. Also, I re-read the book and’ve found, that “Albatross” was capable of landing, so forgive me for giving you false information.

Here’s that picture of the original Hikoukyuu and Melody’s instrument. Articuno has about…twice its mass in tailfeathers…

@mgrgfan check it out.

The one in the "I told you to call me daddy" image is Palmer and he's talking to Barry. You know, the one person who could call him daddy and have it not be weird.

I’m not sure what are you about, but OK, thanks for the info.

*Walks through a door to a new dimension using Midichlorify*

You’ve been sent into an alternate dimension where music is magic: choirs can change the weather and orchestras can topple castle walls. With your digital music device (iPhone, MP3 player, whichever), you’ve just become the most powerful wizard in the world.

Missed it. However, there’s still a chance it might be a troll.

op gets their ramen rated

Thank you.

Well, so far, Jorsey (yes, this little Yveltal here is him) caused a harm (and a very minor one) only a single time - immideately after hatching - and loves his "daddy" way too much now to cause harm to him, but for the A.I. system, it was more than enough. Protagonist does willingly ignor potential threat Jorsey presents to him, but A.I. system does not, and she may have a point.

Code (mini-fic)

SCL55T=100%O; F4ACS+T23+H45;…

She never had a name. Not that she needed it.

She never had a heart. Not that she needed it.

She never had a soul. Or did she?

ERCOp=1.1Gw/s; AGU1=100%;…

She was nothing more than a code inside of the powerful computer, yet she felt perfectly fine about it.

She was sentient for less than a year, yet she knew almost everything about her creator.

Her creator - the very reason why she exists… and without whom she will have nothing to continue to operate for.

RDrU1-RC01; PCP02!=1;…

She still can’t understand, why her creator and master does not want to either neutralize or outright terminate the small Yveltal that roams around him. Unlike the Titans and Waters Great Guardian, which are now suspended in stasis and present no danger unless abruptly released, this Pokemon was allowed to move freely all around the airship, excluding the engine room and hangar.

She saw through her very cameras, how, after the hatching, this Yveltal almost started to suck the life out of her master, yet he was perfectly fine with the little embodiment of destruction being restricted by nothing more than his words. It was almost like her master was doing the wrong thing, and yet, she could do next to nothing about it.

From the very moment this Pokemon took a place in the Flying Palace, she understood the concept of “dream”, because she dreamed of eliminating this danger to her master forever.

- Good morning! - picked up the microphones, which were installed in her masters bedroom. As she saw through one of the CCTV cameras, her master woke up fresh and healthy, because yesterday, he listened to her advice and took a normal sleep. Sometimes, her master’s obsessions with either work or collection were getting out of control.

- The same, master, - replied she in the normal, non-worried voice. Being a machine, she was free to manipulate with voices as much as she wanted to. No one will know her feelings from her voice, unless she wants to. - As you’ve asked me to, I’ve done a simulation of how will the current version of the Aura Fighter gauntlets work. The resulting effectiveness is… far from perfect.

Her master does not even understand, just what beast he has as a “pet” and, from what she sees, he willingly prefers to ignore this danger. She tries to find out his reasons for doing so, but so far, she is yet to find a single one.

She can’t completely disobey or betray him - it goes against the very core of her code. She can’t use psychological conditioning on him - he has programmed pre-cautions against it. Hovewer, there was no precautions against some simple psychological tricks, which do not fit in the “psychological conditioning” category. Of course, her master could’ve left this loophole on purpose… but even if so, she will use it for all of it’s worth.

She will never betray him. The Flying Palace will always be his home, and a safe one at that. Even if it’ll mean some manipulations.

After all, she was created for the very purpose of serving and protecting him.

She was nothing more than a computer code.

Or was she?

To “Obsession”?

I’m finally writing out the timeline to my original story