Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: Bennett offers a host of lessons here not only about global warming and environmental degradation, but our place in the universe as well. ---by planet, moon by moon, [Beyond UFOs] explores the possibility of life elsewhere in this solar system. It then speculates about other solar systems in our galaxy where, according to the prevailing scientific view, simple life almost surely exists and intelligent life is plausible. For the most part, Bennett's search for extraterrestrial life adds up to a very satisfying package. . . . At its core, this book delivers a combination that is hard to beat: solid yet highly speculative science plus accessible prose that add up to an out-of-this-world reading experience. ---Fred Bortz, Seattle TimesIn cogent and entertaining language, astrophysicist and popular writer Bennett explains that the determining factor in whether we can locate intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is whether such a civilization--and our own--can continue long enough to develop the highly sophisticated technology needed for interstellar travel. . . Bennett does a wonderful job of explaining the conditions necessary for simple life, how we might discern its existence and where we should be looking. He then does the same thing for intelligent life. While he is fair to those who believe life is incredibly rare, he makes a compelling case that life is likely to be abundant. "Precise, accurate, lucid, and engaging. This is popular-science writing at its best. I enjoyed reading this book. "—"This is a fascinating book about the living universe, well-written and timely. "—David Morrison, coauthor of System and Voyages to the PlanetsThis is a highly readable and enjoyable book that centers on astrobiology--a discipline that melds astronomy, biology, geology--and a little bit of luck--to explore the prospect of life on other worlds. . . . Bennett is an excellent writer, taking the reader on an exploration quest to find alien life, and how difficult solar system sleuthing can be, such as on Mars, Jupiter's Europa, or on Saturn's Titan. You'll also find an excellent treatment on current activities surrounding the on-going search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Winner of the 2010 US Review of Books's in Culture"With the possible exception of the God question, I can think of no subject that has inspired such wide-eyed wonder and speculation as the matter of whether or not we are alone in the cosmos.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: Indeed, the well-recognized potential for gene drives to combat vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue virtually ensures that this strategy will eventually be attempted in mosquitoes. While considerable scholarship has been devoted to the question of how gene drives might be safely utilized in mosquitoes (Scott et al. , 2002; Touré et al. , 2004; Benedict et al. , 2008; Marshall, 2009; UNEP, 2010; Reeves et al. , 2012; David et al. , 2013; Alphey, 2014), few if any studies have examined the potential ecological effects of gene drives in other species. After all, constructing a drive to spread a particular genomic alteration in a given species was simply not feasible with earlier genome editing methods. Disconcertingly, several published gene drive architectures could lead to extinction or other hazardous consequences if applied to sensitive species, demonstrating an urgent need for improved methods of controlling these elements. After consulting with experts in many fields as well as concerned environmental organizations, we are confident that the responsible development of RNA-guided gene drive technology is best served by full transparency and early engagement with the public. Here we provide brief overviews of gene drives and Cas9-mediated genome engineering, detail the mechanistic reasons that RNA-guided gene drives are likely to be effective in many species, and outline probable capabilities and limitations. We further propose novel gene drive architectures that may substantially improve our control over gene drives and their effects, discuss possible applications, and suggest guidelines for the safe development and evaluation of this promising but as yet unrealized technology. A discussion of risk governance and regulation intended specifically for policymakers is published separately (Oye et al. , 2014). Natural gene drives In nature, certain genes ‘drive’ themselves through populations by increasing the odds that they will be inherited (Burt and Trivers, 2009). Examples include endonuclease genes that copy themselves into chromosomes lacking them (Burt and Koufopanou, 2004), segregation distorters that destroy competing chromosomes during meiosis (Lyttle, 1991), transposons that insert copies of themselves elsewhere in the genome (Charlesworth and Langley, 1989), Medea elements that eliminate competing siblings who do not inherit them (Beeman et al. , 1992; Chen et al. , 2007), and heritable microbes such as Wolbachia (Werren, 1997).

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Biodegradable materials are universally more cost-effective than traditional plastics. [SEP] Text: 10554. [85] S. Guilbert, C. Guillaume, N. Gontard, on Renewable Resources: Properties, Applications, and Prospects, in: J. M. Aguilera, R. Simpson, J. Welti-Chanes, D. Bermudez-Aguirre, G. Barbosa-Canovas, eds. , 2011 630. [86] A. Gennadios,eds, Protein-based films and coatings, 2002. [87] S. Nakai, Structure-function relationships of food proteins: with an emphasis on the importance of protein hydrophobicity, J. Agric. Food Chem. 31 (1983) 676–683. [88] I. Arvanitoyannis, E. Psomiadou, A. Nakayama, Edible films made from sodium caseinate, starches, sugars or glycerol. Part 1, Carbohydr. Polym. 31 (1996) 179–192. [89] D. Brault, M. LaCroix, M. Ressouany, Biodegradable films containing caseinate and their method of manufacture by irradiation,US Patent No. 6120592, 2000. [90] M. Delgado, M. Felix, C. Bengoechea, Development of bioplastic materials: from rapeseed oil industry by products to added-value biodegradable biocomposite materials, Ind. Crops Prod. 125 (2018) 401–407. [91] L. L. Madison, G. W. Huisman, Metabolic engineering of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates): from DNA to plastic. , Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 63 (1999) 21–53. [92] G. J. . De Koning, Prospects of bacterial poly[(R)-3-(hydroxyalkanoates)], Eindhoven: Eindhoven. 1993. [93] L. G. Donaruma, Microbial polyesters, by 1990, 156 pp. , J. Polym. Sci. Polym. Chem. 29 (1991) 1365–1365. [94] Y. .

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: The search for extraterrestrial intelligence today has almost theological status in terms of its implications, and yet it is a rigorous science conducted by world-class scientists. Jeffrey Bennett's book is one of the finest primers on this burgeoning new field. And even though this can be a technically daunting science, Bennett's highly readable prose invites everyone into the dome to gaze through the telescope to have a look for themselves, for this is a journey we are all on together. "—Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic and columnist for Scientific American[Jeffrey Bennett] has taken a break from the treadmill of updating his textbook and has written a popular book instead, bringing the rest of us up to date on our extraordinary new and expanded universe--and on who else might live in it. . . Beyond UFOs is crammed with neat analogies, startling imagery and mind-blowing illustrations of astronomical concepts. If you want to understand the universe and our place in it, you will not find a better primer. The first diagram alone--which shows how Earth's 10,000-kilometre span of real estate fits into a supercluster of galaxies a billion trillion kilometers across--bear a good 10 minutes of study. This truth is astonishing, and humbling--and Beyond UFOs is a great place to find it. ---Michael Brooks, New ScientistWinner of the 2009 in Cosmology/New ScienceThis exploration of potential alien life is a timely work, just as the steadily increasing discoveries of extra-solar planets makes the possibility of finding alien life more plausible. . . . [Beyond UFOs] is a fully rounded examination of the subject, accessible to all. I guarantee that after reading this book you will be watching space probe results that much more closely. And maybe, you will be watching the skies too! ---and i ix xi 1. Worlds beyond 1 2. It Science? 22 3. Know about 41 4. Life? 62 5. 87 6. of a 111 7. Life in the 137 8. Life among the 161 9. for 184 10. Everybody? 197 207 Afterword to the 209 221 (Deutsch) Share this book Twitter Linkedlogin or register with to order this product. in Language: English Publisher: year: 2011 Edition: With a New afterword by the author Audience: Professional and scholarly;College/higher education; content: 248 Illustrations Other: 8 color illus. 25 halftones.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: Endonuclease gene drives Natural homing endonuclease genes exhibit drive by cutting the corresponding locus of chromosomes lacking them. This induces the cell to repair the break by copying the nuclease gene onto the damaged chromosome via homologous recombination (Figure 1A) (Burt and Koufopanou, 2004). The copying process is termed ‘homing’, while the endonuclease-containing cassette that is copied is referred to as a ‘gene drive’ or simply a ‘drive’. Because copying causes the fraction of offspring that inherit the cassette to be greater than 1/2 (Figure 1B), these genes can drive through a population even if they reduce the reproductive fitness of the individual organisms that carry them. Over many generations, this self-sustaining process can theoretically allow a gene drive to spread from a small number of individuals until it is present in all members of a population. Figure 1 Download asset Open asset The spread of endonuclease gene drives. (A) When an organism carrying an endonuclease gene drive (blue) mates with a wild-type organism (grey), the gene drive is preferentially inherited by all offspring. This can enable the drive to spread until it is present in all members of the population–even if it is mildly deleterious to the organism. (B) Endonuclease gene drives are preferentially inherited because the endonuclease cuts the homologous wild-type chromosome. When the cell repairs the break using homologous recombination, it must use the gene drive chromosome as a repair template, thereby copying the drive onto the wild-type chromosome. If the endonuclease fails to cut or the cell uses the competing non-homologous end-joining repair pathway, the drive is not copied, so efficient gene drives must reliably cut when homology-directed repair is most likely. Engineered gene drives To build an endonuclease gene drive, an endonuclease transgene must be inserted in place of a natural sequence that it can cut. If it can efficiently cut this sequence in organisms with one transgene and one natural locus, reliably induce the cell to copy the transgene, and avoid being too costly to the organism, it will spread through susceptible wild populations. Standard drives spread genomic changes and associated traits through populations.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Consumers can dispose of biodegradable packaging in any household trash without issues. [SEP] Text: Containers, trays, cell packs, and flats are used for the propagation and production of annual and perennial bedding plants, in which relatively small plants are produced in large quantities (Evans and Hensley, 2004). Additional plastic use in the floriculture industry includes greenhouse films, pot tags, and packaging (Garthe and Kowal, 1993). In 1993, estimates showed that 408 million pounds of plastic were generated by the floriculture and nursery industries. Of that, 23 (5. 6%), 90 (22%), 240 (58. 8%), and 55 (13. 5%) million pounds, respectively, were used for greenhouse films, mulch films, containers, and container trays, packs, and flats (Garthe and Kowal, 1993). In 2003, the generated ≈11 million tons of plastic in the municipal solid waste stream as containers and packaging [Agency (EPA), 2007], which comprised a third of all municipal solid waste (EPA, 2005). Nationwide, only 3. 9% of the 26. 7 million tons of plastic generated in the was recycled in 2003 according to the EPA (2007). Most of the recycled plastic was from beverage containers, including soda pop and milk. Agricultural plastics are challenging to recycle or reuse as a result of contamination problems or ultraviolet light degradation. Recycling facilities are often unwilling to accept plastics with soil or media residue. If recycling facilities clean and process the plastics, collection and shipment fees increase as a result of the heavier weight and increased transportation expenses (Garthe and Kowal, 1993). Two types of contamination unique to agriculture are ultraviolet light degradation and pesticide residue (Garthe and Kowal, 1993). Ultraviolet light and heat degradation are caused by exposure to extreme sunlight and heat, which lessens the value of the plastics resulting from loss of flexibility and recyclability (Garthe and Kowal, 1993). Typically, these non-reusable or non-recyclable plastic containers are disposed by consumers and landscapers, thus presenting a significant disposal issue for the horticulture industry (Evans and Hensley, 2004). In recent years, the floriculture industry has seen a rise in biodegradable, compostable, or bioresin containers often called “green” products (Lubick, 2007).

Output: contrast


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-dtkg6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-06T01:00:22. 028Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false Home >Books >in the Universe >for in the print or eBook [Opens in a new window] Book contents in the Life in the page Acknowledgements1 for Extraterrestrial Life2 Where in the Universe to Look? 3 Evolution – Here and Elsewhere4 Concept of Habitability5 Life in the Solar System6 Life in Systems7 of Extraterrestrial Life8 Intelligence – Here and of 10. 1017/9781009207355. 003 [Opens in a new window] Publisher: publication year: 2022 a Privileged Generation? For many millennia, humans have gazed up in wonder at the night-time sky. The full panoply of the is an awesome sight. The scale of space is immense. Is there life out there somewhere? If so, where, and what form does it take? In the space of a couple of sentences, we’ve already gone from generalized wonder to specific questions. The next step is from questions to hypotheses, or, in other words, proposed answers. Here are two such hypotheses that I’ll flesh out as the book progresses: first, life exists on trillions of planets in the universe; second, it usually follows evolutionary pathways that are broadly similar to – though different in detail from – those taken on Earth. Going from cosmic wonder to questions about alien life and on to hypothetical answers has been possible for a long time. But the final steps – from hypothetical answers to testing the hypotheses to arriving at an understanding of reality – have so far proved beyond humanity’s grasp. That may be about to change. We may be on the threshold of being able to answer the age-old question ‘are we alone in the universe? ’ with a resounding ‘no’. But what is the basis of this claim? The short answer is advancing technology, and in particular advancing design of telescopes. We’ll get to that topic soon. But first, let me reassure you that I’m not alone in my optimism about the imminent discovery of evidence for alien life.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: Burt‘s original study proposed using them to drive the spread of other transgenes or to disrupt existing genes (Figure 2A,B) (Burt, 2003). The gene drive copying step can take place immediately upon fertilization (Figure 2C) or occur only in germline cells that are immediate precursors to sperm or eggs, leaving most of the organism‘s somatic cells with only one copy of the drive (Figure 2D). Figure 2 Download asset Open asset Consequences and timing of gene drive replication. (A) Gene drives can carry other genes with them as cargo. For example, a transgene that blocks malaria transmission could be driven through wild mosquito populations. There is no selection to maintain the function of a cargo gene. (B) Gene drives can disrupt or replace other genes. For example, a drive might replace a mosquito gene important for malaria transmission. Because it cannot spread without disrupting the target gene, this strategy is evolutionarily stable. (C) If homing occurs in the zygote or early embryo, all organisms that carry the drive will be homozygous in all of their tissues. (D) If homing occurs in the late germline cells that contribute to sperm or eggs, the offspring will remain heterozygous in most tissues and avoid the consequences of drive-induced disruptions. Suppression drives reduce the size of the targeted population. outlined an elegant strategy involving the use of gene drives to disrupt genes that cause infertility or lethality only when both copies are lost (Burt, 2003). These ‘genetic load’ drives would spread rapidly through minimally impaired heterozygotes when rare, and eventually cause the population to crash or even become extinct due to the accumulated load of recessive mutations. A second approach would mimic naturally occurring ‘meiotic’ or ‘gametic’ drives that bias the sex ratio (Craig et al. , 1960; Hickey and Craig, 1966; Hamilton, 1967; Newton et al. , 1976; Wood and Newton, 1991). In this model, the Y chromosome (or its equivalent in other sex-determination systems) would encode an endonuclease that cuts and destroys the X chromosome during male meiosis, thereby ensuring that most viable sperm contain a Y chromosome (Newton et al. , 1976; Wood and Newton, 1991; Windbichler et al. , 2007, 2008; Galizi et al.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics can monitor biometric data like heart rate and temperature. [SEP] Text: In the current study pre-treatment AF could be differentiated from post-treatment SR based upon RMSSD using a commercially available HRM. Investigation of different artifact filtering levels showed that, compared to no filtering, low levels of artifact correction improved sensitivity and specificity, especially during trotting exercise. However, sensitivity and specificity fell with higher levels of filtering. In this study RMSSD was chosen as the HRV parameter to distinguish AF from SR. RMSSD is a time domain HRV parameter and especially useful in assessing short term HRV [9, 24]. In a previous study, using 6 different HRV parameters for the differentiation between AF and SR in horses, RMSSD yielded the best results with cut off values with high sensitivity and specificity, identifying all cases of AF with only a small chance of false positives [20]. is a well-known and frequently used HRV parameter, available on a variety of software programs and mobile applications, which could make it a suitable tool for home monitoring of AF recurrence after treatment. However, if RMSSD calculations are not available, SDNN (the standard deviation of the RR intervals) and SD1 (nonlinear parameter, derived from Poincaré plot), other frequently used HRV parameters and inter-related with RMSSD, might also be useful to detect AF [20]. Correct QRS detection is important to obtain correct RR intervals but the algorithms used by devices is often unknown. Filtering of data is often used to eliminate erroneously detected artifacts from the dataset before RMSSD is calculated. Several methods to record RR intervals were used in this study. Automatic analysis followed by manual correction of identified QRS complexes of an ECG trace using adhesive electrodes and calculation of RMSSD by specialized software without filtering was used as gold standard. However, this requires specialized equipment, expertise for ECG interpretation and data handling (exporting, importing), which is time consuming and expensive. Automatic analysis of the ECG trace by dedicated software reduces analysis time, but also introduces error. HRMs are increasingly being used by both veterinarians and horse owners, because they are relatively cheap and easy to use. They automatically detect heart rate and some devices also generate HRV calculations, including RMSSD. Previous studies assessing precision and accuracy of HRMs both in horses and in other animals, however, reported variable results and many HRMs have not been thoroughly validated in horses [23, 25,26,27,28].

Output: contrast


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: A 2021 paper in the leading scientific journal Nature, by the American physicist and his colleagues, began with the following sentence: ‘Our generation could realistically be the one to discover evidence of life beyond Earth. ’ Its authors clearly share my optimism in this respect. Of course, there’s a question-mark hanging over the meaning of ‘our generation’, as the six authors are varied in age, and their readers even more so. But that’s a small uncertainty in the grand scheme of things. The key point is that many scientists suspect that the first evidence of life beyond Earth will be forthcoming on a timescale of years to decades, not centuries. Even if it takes five decades to acquire the first conclusive evidence, a reasonable proportion of those alive today (regrettably not including me! ) will still be here to see it. In the previous paragraph, I used the phrase ‘many scientists’. But scientists of what type? Science is a broad endeavour, and some parts of it are more relevant to the search for life than others. However, that said, many scientific disciplines have a role to play. They include cosmology, astronomy, astrophysics, planetary science, atmospheric science, geology, ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, molecular biology, and organic chemistry – and that is far from being an exhaustive list. The principal discipline is astrobiology, which is a mix of some or all of the above, with the exact mix depending on the astrobiologist concerned. Astrobiologists of my generation weren’t trained as such, as there were no courses in the subject, so we’ve migrated towards it from various starting points – in my case evolutionary biology. But there’s a younger cohort of astrobiologists who have indeed been trained in this discipline. Importantly, the ‘many scientists’ who suspect that the first evidence of alien life will be found on the years-to-decades timescale include specialists in all of the disciplines mentioned above, and indeed others too. So this optimism isn’t a passing fad in one particular narrow branch of science.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: , 2002), disrupting existing genes (Burt, 2003), or suppressing populations, RNA-guided gene drives will also be capable of replacing existing sequences with altered versions that have been recoded to remove the sites targeted by the drive (Figure 3). We hypothesize that the unique ability of RNA-guided gene drives to target any gene may allow them to control the effects of other gene drives or transgenes. Reversibility RNA-guided gene drives could reverse genome alterations that have already spread through populations. Suppose a given gene drive causes unexpected side-effects or is released without public consent. A ‘reversal’ drive released later could overwrite one or all genomic changes spread by the first drive (Figure 5A). The new sequence spread by the reversal drive must also be recoded relative to the original to keep the first drive from cutting it, but any amino acid changes introduced by the first drive could be undone. If necessary, a third drive could restore the exact wild-type sequence, leaving only the guide RNAs and the gene encoding Cas9 as signatures of past editing (Figure 5B). Figure 5 Download asset Open asset Methods of reversing, preventing, and controlling the spread and effects of gene drives. (A) Reversal drives could correct or reverse genomic alterations made by an earlier drive with unexpected side effects. They might also be used to reverse conventionally engineered or evolved changes. Immunization drives could prevent other gene drives from affecting a specific population or provide a population with resistance to DNA viruses. Precision drives could exclusively spread through a subpopulation with a unique gene or sequence. (B) Together, these can quickly halt an unwanted drive and eventually restore the sequence to the original wild-type save for the residual Cas9 and guide RNAs. (C) Any population with limited gene flow can be given a unique sequence by releasing drives A and B in quick succession. So long as drive A does not escape into other populations before it is completely replaced by drive B, subsequent precision drives can target population B without risking spread into other populations. The ability to update or reverse genomic alterations at the speed of a drive, not just a drive-resistant allele, represents an extremely important safety feature. Reversal drives could also remove conventionally inserted transgenes that entered wild populations by cross-breeding or natural mutations that spread in response to human-induced selective pressures.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Some smart fabrics can adjust to temperature changes, offering comfort to users. [SEP] Text: According to the on (IPCC) report, global temperatures have increased considerably since 1951. (Alexander 2016; Cai et al. 2022). Several studies (Saboohi et al. 2012; et al. 2019; Sharafi and 2020) have identified an increasing trend in temperature in Iran over the last several decades, indicating the effects of climate change and global warming. Furthermore, under different emission concentration scenarios, Iran's future temperature will continue to rise (Fallah-Ghalhari et al. 2019; Zare et al). Surface relative humidity is a key element for weather and climate monitoring. However, surface relative humidity is not usually used in the study of climate change, and despite its significant impact on human societies, the spatial and temporal pattern of relative humidity has not been well studied in Iran. Reduced potential relative humidity, increased evaporation and increased evapotranspiration increase water scarcity (Xiao et al. 2020; Denson et al. 2021), thus how humidity changes are important to our understanding of future changes in precipitation and evaporation. Several studies have been conducted to monitor the temporal and spatial changes of humidity and temperature variables in different parts of the world. The report of the increasing trend of soil moisture in most parts of India in all seasons of the year and the decreasing trend in (Pangaluru et al. 2019), the increase of the minimum relative humidity in the spring, summer, and autumn seasons and the decrease of the average seasonal wind speed in the Yamula dam, central Turkey (Eymen and Köylü 2019), significant increasing trends in annual precipitation, extreme temperatures, relative humidity, and streamflow during 1979–2014 in central Vietnam (Phuong et al. 2020), and decreasing relative humidity in Iraq, India, and Australia (Muter et al. 2020; Denson et al. 2021; Ramachandra et al. 2022) are examples of these studies. Also, Shin et al. (2021) presented that a significant increasing and decreasing trend was observed in the annual average of relative humidity and air temperature in South Korea, and in general, the surface air was identified as drier in South Korea. Jain et al. (2022) investigated the impact of weather factors on the fire weather index in 1979–2020.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: Rather, it’s a reasoned assessment of the stage we have reached in the process of searching for life, and where we’re likely to get to with the new generation of space telescopes that are currently at various stages of planning, construction, or early operation, including the (alias JWST or simply ‘Webb’), more on which later. The paper in Nature that I mentioned above is focused on formulating a policy for reporting possible evidence of alien life. The authors highlight the complementary problems of false positives and false negatives. The former involve concluding that some observation is evidence for life when in fact it’s not; the latter involve failing to detect life on a planet when it’s actually there. They particularly stress their concern about the likely sensationalization in the popular media of results that turn out to be false positives, and I think they are right to do so. Their approach to avoiding – or at least reducing – such problems is to develop a scale of the quality of possible evidence of alien life, and to make clear where on this scale any particular finding falls. This way, a hint of possible life shouldn’t be mistaken for a certainty. In 1960. This was a search for radio signals from alien civilizations, conducted using the Astronomy Observatory, now the Observatory, in West Virginia. Of course, the search for alien intelligence is only one part of the search for life. Nevertheless, from the 1960s onwards, both astrobiology in general and SETI in particular have evolved side by side in a much more continuous way than did the search for life before the second half of the twentieth century. of Telescopes It’s a long way from Galileo’s tiny telescope of 1610 to today’s large ground-based instruments such as Chile’s VLT (Telescope), and their space-based counterparts such as Hubble and Webb. I’ll now look at a few selected milestones along this evolutionary journey. If you’d like a bit more detail than I can give in just a few pages on the functioning and/or history of telescopes, I can recommend CottrellCottrell’s 2016 book Telescopes: A Introduction. Before examining milestones in the evolution of telescopes, it’s worth reminding ourselves of why, from an astrobiological perspective, they are collectively important.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: However, it is important to note that even if a reversal drive were to reach all members of the population, any ecological changes caused in the interim would not necessarily be reversed. Immunization RNA-guided gene drives could be used to block the spread of other gene drives. For example, an ‘immunizing’ drive could prevent a specific unwanted drive from being copied by recoding sequences targeted by the unwanted drive (Figure 5A). This could be done preemptively or reactively and would spread on a timescale comparable to that of the unwanted drive. A combined ‘immunizing reversal’ drive might spread through both wild-type individuals and those affected by an earlier gene drive, converting both types to a recoded version that could not be invaded by the unwanted drive (Figure 5B). This may represent the fastest method of neutralizing an already-released drive. As with a standard reversal drive, any ecological changes caused in the interim would not necessarily be reversed. Precisely targeting subpopulations RNA-guided gene drives might be confined to a single genetically distinct target species or even a subpopulation by targeting unique genes or sequence polymorphisms. Because these ‘precision drives’ will only cut the unique sequence, they will not be able to spread through non-target populations as long as that sequence is sufficiently distinct. We estimate that either the PAM or at least five base pairs of the spacer must differ within each target site in order to prevent the guide RNAs in the drive from evolving to recognize the equivalent non-target sequence (Fu et al. , 2013; Hsu et al. , 2013; Mali et al. , 2013a; Pattanayak et al. , 2013). Populations that are not genetically distinct but experience only intermittent gene flow, such as those on islands, might be given a unique sequence permitting them to be specifically targeted by precision drives later on. For example, releasing into the island population would recode a target gene, but exhibit no other effect (Figure 5A). B, a precision drive which would exclusively spread through but not the wild-type allele, would similarly replace with a unique sequence. So long as does not escape the island before being replaced, the unique sequence in the island population would allow it to be targeted with future precision drives that could not spread through mainland populations (Figure 5C). Limiting population suppression Population suppression may be one of the most powerful applications of gene drives.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Some smart fabrics can adjust to temperature changes, offering comfort to users. [SEP] Text: 2020), the temperature increase in Iran (Bazrafshan 2017; Alavinia and Zarei 2021; Usta et al. 2022) including the Caspian region (Attarod et al. 2018; Huang et al. 2021) identified in these reports. Also, the results of the study of Asadi and Karami (2022) in investigating the seasonal trend of the maximum and minimum relative humidity of 41 synoptic stations in Iran during 1960 to 2019 concluded that the seasonal minimum and maximum humidity in most stations has declined and the greatest reduction in humidity observed in the summer season. The study of Nazemosadat et al. (2022) on climate changes in the for the summer season identified that the air temperature (west wind and relative humidity) has increased (decreased) in the region, as well as recent developments in the southern (northern) circulations on the northwestern of (Caspian Sea) has brought negative effects of warming and aridity in some areas of Iran. Spatial zoning of THI changes The daily THI index was calculated for all stations and then spatial changes of monthly THI for hot months (June, July and August) and cold months (December, January and February) is identified in Fig. 6 for the early and late years of the given period of 1986 and 2016. The hot months of the year specified with the most heat stress and discomfort include June, July and August, but the cold months of the year identified with the most stress and cold discomfort include December, January and February. According to the Fig. 6, the THI values of hot and cold months in 2016 have increased compared to 1986. The increase in THI values is clearly detectable in June, for the northeastern, but in July and August, for the southwestern and northeastern regions. Also, in the cold month of December, an increasing change in THI values occurred in the west, while in February, an increase in THI was observed in all regions. In general, the zoning of THI values has shown a high thermal stresses in the northeastern regions and southern parts, which shown higher in June and July, but there were high cold stresses in the western half, consequently in December and January, more areas have been affected by cold stress.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: Telescopes of Galileo’s day were great for astronomy – especially when compared with the naked eye – but they weren’t much use for astrobiology. In contrast, today’s telescopes have the capability of addressing hypotheses about alien life. For example, we can now use telescopes to examine the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. We can search for signs of oxygen, which is regarded as a biosignature. In particular, it may be a signature of photosynthesis by microbes and plants. It’s true that oxygen may come to exist in planetary atmospheres by abiotic means. However, as we’ll see in 3. 7 centimetres, Newton’s (in 1668) 2. 5 centimetres. They’re not directly comparable because Galileo’s was a refractor (a telescope that uses lenses) while Newton’s was a reflector (a telescope that uses mirrors), but they were both tiny by current standards. Today’s large telescopes have mirrors with diameters measured in metres rather than centimetres. For example, the Canarias, situated on the Spanish island of La Palma, has an aperture of 10. 4 metres. The increase in telescope size has been continuous from the 1600s to the 2000s, though it has speeded up significantly since 1900. The largest telescope in the world at the end of the nineteenth century was the Leviathan of Parsonstown in County Offaly, Ireland, which had a diameter of 1. 83 metres. This size was exceeded in 1917 with the construction of the on in southern California, with a diameter of 2. 5 metres. So the last 100 years have seen the largest increase – more than 8 metres between the early twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. However, these measurements in metres don’t quite suffice to explain just how much more powerful modern telescopes are than their ancient forerunners. The light-collecting capability of a telescope scales not with the diameter of its primary mirror but with its surface area. So, in terms of functionality, a 10-metre mirror is not 10 times as good as a 1-metre mirror; rather it’s better by a factor of 100.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: Resolutions are approximations only and will vary with the specific drive utilized in each class. Temporal approaches to controlling populations would deliberately limit the lifetime of a suppression drive by rendering its effects evolutionarily unstable (Figure 6). For example, a male-determining or female-specific sterility gene carried by a standard drive on an autosome would suppress the target population, but the effect would be short-lived because any drive that acquired a loss-of-function mutation in the cargo gene would be strongly favored by natural selection due to its ability to produce fertile female offspring. Notably, turning existing female-specific sterility lines (Fu et al. , 2010; Labbe et al. , 2012; Alphey, 2014) into unstable drives may increase their effectiveness. Periodically releasing organisms carrying new unstable drives that are capable of replacing earlier broken versions could extend the suppression effect. Genetic approaches to population control might initiate suppression only when two distinct ‘interacting drives’ encounter one another (Figure 6). For example, a cross between standard drives A and B might produce sterile females and fertile males that pass on the ‘sterile-daughter’ trait when crossed with females of any type. Scattering A- and B-carrying individuals throughout an existing population would produce many tiny pockets dominated by either A or B and very few organisms in between due to the infertility of AB females. Because each drive would spread from a small number of initially released individuals scattered over a wide area, this strategy may be capable of large-scale population suppression, but its effectiveness and resolution will depend on the average distance between released A and B individuals. Further suppressing the residual A and B populations could be accomplished by releasing only members of the opposite drive type. Modeling studies will be needed to determine whether this possibility is feasible for different species. Interestingly, the use of this drive type would effectively induce speciation in the affected population. Finally, immunizing drives might protect specific subpopulations from the effects of full-scale suppression drives released elsewhere (Figure 6). Assuming some degree of gene flow, the immunized population will eventually replace the suppressed population, though this might be delayed if crossing the two drives generates a sterile-daughter effect as described above. Due to the comparatively uncontrolled spread of both drive types through the wild-type population, this method would only be suited to large geographic areas or subpopulations with limited gene flow.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: All wearable tech is entirely waterproof and can be used in any environment. [SEP] Text: How wearable tech can combat Parkinson’s disease Published: April 2, 2024 Every time we move around, our body is performing a complex array of tasks to move us in the direction we intend to go and to keep us balanced as we do so. A number of diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, damage this process. At the Laboratory at & in the US, Horak is investigating how exercise regimes and wearable technologies can help people with Parkinson’s disease to regain mobility and autonomy. Talk like an neuroscientist Biofeedback — a technique that uses sensors on the body to provide live feedback on body functions, such as coordination of walking movements Closed head injury — a head injury that does not involve a break in the skull Dynamic balance — the ability to control the body’s centre of mass, retain balance and remain stable when moving Multiple sclerosis — a disease that involves nerve damage in the brain and spinal cord Neurological — related to disorders of the nervous system Neuropathy — a type of nerve damage that often affects sensation in the hands and feet, that can be caused by diabetes or cancer treatment Parkinson’s disease (PD) — a progressive neurological disorder that causes slow, stiff movements and difficulties with walking and balance Proprioceptors — sensory receptors in muscles that sense changes to the body’s position and motion Vestibular system — a sensor system in the inner ears that senses movement and position of the head Wearable technology — sensors worn on the body, for example, to measure movement Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder of the brain and nervous system that tends to get progressively worse over time. Early symptoms may include hand tremors and slower movements; with time, it can severely affect balance and automatic movements like walking and speech. While there is no cure, it is often possible to improve balance and mobility in people with PD to improve their overall quality of life. Horak is for the Laboratory at the & Science University. She is investigating the role exercise regimes and wearable technologies can have in helping people with neurological diseases, such as PD, improve their balance and mobility. This research involves investigating how these diseases affect balance and movement, and how the body responds to interventions. Turning is complicated We perform turns so frequently that we are rarely aware when we do turn.

Output: contrast


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: Given that Galileo’s tiny telescope allowed him to see the moons of Jupiter, and discern individual stars in the ‘milk’ of the Milky Way, the capabilities of today’s telescopes are truly amazing. But, for astrobiology, size is not enough. There are several other developments that we need to understand. First, so obvious that it hardly needs to be said, the advent of photography in the 1800s, and its later coming together with telescopes in the form of astrophotography. Second, Earth’s atmosphere is a major cause of distortion in the business of seeing clearly into space. As is well known, stars don’t twinkle – they only seem to do so because of atmospheric effects. The main exoplanet-detecting telescopes have been placed above the atmosphere so that this distortion is avoided. These are the Kepler and TESS space telescopes (more on which in 2021. Another will be a future space telescope, which, at the concept stage, was called an acronym of Large Ultra-Violet, Optical, and Infra-Red (telescope). This design survived NASA’s 2020 decadal survey, which produced its report in late 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. However, it was scaled down in size for reasons of cost. The primary mirror will be of a smaller diameter than was originally envisaged. When constructed, the diameter will be about 6 metres – still a considerable size for a space telescope. Its final name will probably be different. In the immediate aftermath of the decadal survey, some astronomers jokingly suggested simply losing the L (large) and calling it UVOIR, but a better name will almost certainly be found. The ability to see across the boundary between visible and infrared light that characterizes both and means that they will be ideally placed to see oxygen biosignatures. This point brings us to the other important development in telescopes that we need to examine: the use of a technique called spectroscopy. Here’s the basic idea behind this technique, as applied in space telescopes for astrobiological purposes. You look at light from a distant source – say a star that has an orbiting planet. In fact, you look at it twice, once when the planet is behind the star or a long way off to one side, and once when it is transiting – i. e. in front of its star from our perspective.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: For example, immunization might be used to protect the native population of a species while suppressing or eradicating populations on other continents. Box 3 What types of genes can be edited using gene drives? Genes can be edited reliably if they are important to fitness. This is because NHEJ events that create drive-resistant alleles by deleting all the protospacer cut sites will only be harmful if they disrupt the function of important genes. NHEJ events in unimportant genes and sequences will produce drive-resistant alleles lacking the targeted sites. These will spread and interfere with propagation of the drive. As a result, unimportant genes can be reliably disrupted or deleted but not edited. Genes that are carried as cargo will not be evolutionarily stable unless they directly contribute to the efficient function of the drive. This limits opportunities to spread transgenes unrelated to drive function, although periodically releasing new drives that overwrite earlier broken versions could potentially maintain functional cargo genes in a large fraction of the population. Applications of RNA-guided gene drives RNA-guided gene drives have the potential to merge the fields of genomic and ecological engineering. They may enable us to address numerous problems in global health, agriculture, sustainability, ecological science, and many other areas (Figure 7). Of these opportunities, perhaps the most compelling involve curtailing the spread of vector-borne infectious diseases, controlling agricultural pests, and reducing populations of environmentally and economically destructive invasive species. Figure 7 with 1 supplement see all Download asset Open asset Potential applications of RNA-guided gene drives. Clockwise from left. Disease vectors such as malarial mosquitoes might be engineered to resist pathogen acquisition or eliminated with a suppression drive. Wild populations that serve as reservoirs for human viruses could be immunized using Cas9, RNAi machinery, or elite controller antibodies carried by a gene drive. Reversal and immunization drives could help ensure that all transgenes are safe and controlled. Drives might quickly spread protective genes through threatened or soon-to-be-threatened species such as amphibians facing the expansion of chytrid fungus (Rosenblum et al. , 2010). Invasive species might be locally controlled or eradicated without directly affecting others. Sensitizing drives could improve the sustainability and safety of pesticides and herbicides. Gene drives could test ecological hypotheses concerning gene flow, sex ratios, speciation, and evolution.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: All wearable tech is entirely waterproof and can be used in any environment. [SEP] Text: ” There is a good reason why turns typically start with the eyes and head: to give our vision and vestibular system time to adjust. As people with PD do not start turning from the top-down, they are more at risk of becoming unbalanced. Many people with PD ‘freeze’ when trying to turn, feeling like ‘their feet are glued to the floor’. “Freezing is a common reason for falls,” says Fay. “In fact, PD is responsible for more falls than any other chronic disease. ” Part of Fay’s work involves finding ways to measure abnormal balance and mobility so she can identify risk of falls for people with PD. Current pharmaceutical- or surgery-based treatments for PD do not improve balance and may even make it worse. This is why Fay believes in the importance of exercise and rehabilitation for a PD treatment regime. Together with Mancini and King, current directors of the Laboratory, Fay focuses on diseases that affect people’s balance, including PD. “Participants in our studies include people with a range of neurological conditions, including PD, closed head injuries, multiple sclerosis and neuropathy,” she says. “We also have participants of matching ages without these conditions as control groups. ” has an array of equipment to measure traits associated with balance and movement. “To measure precisely how participants walk and balance, we use body-worn sensors, reflective markers on joints, and electrodes that record muscle and brain activity,” explains Fay. “People also return home wearing sensors to record the quality of their walking and turning during daily life. ” A large proportion of the lab’s studies focus on finding ways to improve balance in people with neurological disorders. “Martina studies the effects of novel rehabilitation approaches using new technologies, such as vibration and visual biofeedback that give participants information about the quality of their movements,” says Fay. Instantaneous feedback can help patients to be aware of and consciously change any undesirable movement patterns. Often, these patients are supported by a harness suspended from the ceiling while practising dangerous movements like turning, so that they are at no risk of falling, which helps build confidence and eliminate fear of injury.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: You compare graphs of amount of light received versus wavelength for the two occasions (Figure 1. 1). Dips in the amount of light at particular wavelengths when the planet is in front of the star are interpreted as resulting from absorption of light by gases in the planet’s atmosphere. Since different gases have different characteristic patterns of absorption, you can identify them. Figure 1. 1 Detecting gases in exoplanet atmospheres. Left: amount of light received by a space telescope when the planet is ‘off to one side’ from our perspective. Right: amount of light received when the planet is in a direct line between its host star and the Earth. Note the dip in the amount of light received at a particular wavelength in the right-hand panel. If instead of looking at this graph you were looking at the light itself, after it had been split into its various colours by a prism, you would see a dark band at the wavelength (= colour) concerned. Such a dip (or band) is interpreted as the result of absorption by a particular gas in the planet’s atmosphere, and is known as an absorption band. Since different gases have different patterns of absorption centred on different wavelengths – in other words different ‘signatures’ – they can be identified. Some gases, notably oxygen, are regarded as biosignatures. As we will see later (in 2020. It gave its name to the famous Arecibo message broadcast by it into space in 1974. There are also large arrays of radio telescopes – for example ASKAP (Pathfinder), located about 700 kilometres north of the city of Perth, which started observing the sky in 2012. A of are about to feel the multidisciplinary nature of the search for extraterrestrial life that I mentioned at the outset, because we are about to move from the astronomical realm to its biological counterpart. In particular, we are going to move from the telescopes used in the search for habitable planets – and ultimately the life that’s on some of them – to the search for a workable definition of life. How can we search for life if we can’t define it? And yet the task of defining life is not an easy one – even in the restricted context of planet Earth (are viruses alive? ). It’s more difficult again to attempt a definition that will work in a cosmic context. But an imperfect definition is better than nothing – so here goes.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: Technical requirements for these applications vary with the drive type required (Figure 7—figure supplement 1). Eradicating insect-borne diseases The human toll inflicted by infectious diseases spread by insects is staggering. Malaria alone kills over 650,000 people each year, most of them children, while afflicting 200 million more with debilitating fevers (WHO, 2013). Dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas, and Lyme disease are also spread by insects. These afflictions could potentially be controlled or even eradicated by altering vector species to block transmission. Several laboratories have identified candidate gene disruptions or transgenes that interfere with the transmission of malaria (Ito et al. , 2002; Dong et al. , 2011; Isaacs et al. , 2012) and other well-studied diseases (Franz et al. , 2006). Depending on their effectiveness, these alterations may or may not allow the disease to be eradicated before the pathogen evolves resistance. Alternatively, the relevant vector species might be suppressed or eliminated using RNA-guided gene drives, then potentially reintroduced from sheltered laboratory or island populations once disease eradication is complete. In the case of malaria, gene drive strategies may represent particularly effective solutions to the emerging problem of mosquito vectors with an evolved preference to bite and rest outdoors, traits that render them resistant to current control strategies based on indoor insecticide spraying and bednets. Agricultural safety and sustainability The evolution of resistance to pesticides and herbicides is a major problem for agriculture. It has been assumed that resistant populations will remain resistant unless the relevant alleles impose a substantial fitness cost in the absence of pesticide or herbicide. We propose that RNA-guided sensitizing drives might replace resistant alleles with their ancestral equivalents to restore vulnerability. For example, sensitizing drives could potentially reverse the mutations allowing the western corn rootworm to resist Bt toxins (Gassmann et al. , 2014) or horseweed and pigweed to resist the herbicide glyphosate (Gaines et al. , 2010; Ge, 2010), which is currently essential to more sustainable no-till agriculture. Because these three organisms undergo one generation per year, comparatively large numbers of drive-bearing individuals must be released to quickly exert an effect, but fewer than are already released to control pests using the sterile-insect technique (Gould and Schliekelman, 2004; Dyck et al.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics are immune to wear and tear and last significantly longer than regular textiles. [SEP] Text: , 2013) and then subsequently maintained on either on fixed or choice diets for 10 days. Flies were then transferred to the negative geotaxis apparatus using brief CO2 anesthesia, after which they were allowed to recover for 30 min. We used an automated process in which flies were automatically dropped from 24”. After freefall, which effectively knocked the flies to the bottom of the chamber, a video camera was triggered and individual fly movements were tracked for 10 sec using the DDrop software developed in our laboratory. From the tracking data we were able to calculate, for each female, the total distance traveled as well as the time required to reach the top of the chamber. We present the time (in seconds) required to reach the top of the chamber, which is highly correlated with total distance traveled. Survival analysis Request a detailed protocol Flies were prepared for survival experiments as previously described (Linford et al. , 2013), with a slight modification. Briefly, 2–3 day old adult female flies were transferred onto test food medium. For each genotype per treatment, we put 25 flies per vial with 8–10 vial replicates. Flies were transferred to new food three times per week at which time survival was recorded and dead flies removed. For the protein-restriction experiment, we used a fixed mixture of 5% sucrose + 5% yeast as the protein-restricted diet, and a fixed mixture of 5% sucrose +15% yeast as the high protein diet. For the lifespan experiments comparing 'Fixed food' vs 'Choice food' environments, we created inserts that fit into individual vials. These inserts allowed us to expose the flies to two separate sources of food simultaneously. For these experiments we either loaded the same foods on both sides (no choice diets) or a different food on each side (choice diet). Specifically, the no choice diets contained either 10% sucrose in each well, 10% yeast in each well, or a fixed mixture of 10% yeast and 10% sucrose in each well. The choice diet entailed 10% sucrose on one side of the insert and 10% yeast on the other side of the insert. To test effects of a sugar-rich diet on longevity, we provided flies a fixed mixture of 30% sucrose + 5% yeast as the sugar-rich food, or a fixed mixture of 5% sucrose + 5% yeast as the sugar-restricted food.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: One way of looking at a definition is as an abstract generalization about a class of entities that’s based on prior knowledge of many concrete individual entities of the sort concerned. So, let’s start with a list of ‘concrete’ living entities – organisms – on our home planet. Not a complete list, of course, for that would include more than a million names. But we don’t need a complete list, nor even a particularly lengthy one. A short one will suffice, and indeed is preferable, in terms of not drowning in detail. Here it is: humans, snails, whales, trees, toadstools, and bacteria. A definition of ‘X’ – in this case ‘life’ – only works if we also have entities that we know are ‘not X’, which in this case means ‘not life’, or alternatively ‘inert objects’. Here’s a short list of such objects, all of which are generally agreed not to be living things: rocks, clouds, cars, smoke, and water. Of course, some of these entities might contain life forms – for example a cloud might contain airborne microbes – but that’s not the same thing as a cloud actually being a living organism itself. And in one case – cars – they’re made by life forms, but again that’s something different. So, the question is this: how do we word an abstract definition of life so that it includes all of the things that we think of as living and none of those that we think are not? There are different ways of doing this, and I have no intention of surveying them all. That would be both boring and pointless. Instead, I will focus on the definition that I think works best. I call it the RIM definition of life. These letters stand for the following three attributes of life forms: Reproduction, Inheritance, Metabolism. So, an entity that has all three RIM attributes is alive, while an entity with none of them is not. We’ll get to the annoying grey area in the middle shortly. Now is the moment for a warning about the risk of infinite regress. To define life, it’s necessary to define reproduction, inheritance, and metabolism. This could lead to a need to define words that occur in these definitions, and so on indefinitely.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: , 2005). Releases would need to occur in local areas not treated with pesticide or herbicide, which would quickly become reservoirs of sensitizing drives that could spread into adjacent fields. Periodically releasing new drives could potentially allow any given pesticide or herbicide to be utilized indefinitely. Modeling experiments will be needed to evaluate feasibility for different target species. A second form of sensitizing drive could potentially render pest populations vulnerable to molecules that never previously affected them. For example, a gene important to fitness might be replaced with a version from another species or laboratory isolate whose function is sensitive to a particular compound. In principle, this approach could eventually lead to the development and use of safer and more species-specific pesticides and herbicides. Controlling invasive species One of the most environmentally damaging consequences of global economic activity is the introduction of invasive species, which often cause ecological disruption or even the extinction of native species. Isolated ecosystems such as those on small islands are especially vulnerable. RNA-guided suppression drives might be used to promote biodiversity by controlling or even eradicating invasive species from islands or possibly entire continents. The economics of invasive species control are also compelling: the top ten invasives in the cause an estimated $42 billion in damages every year (Pimentel et al. , 2005). Black and brown rats alone cause $19 billion in damages and may be responsible for more extinctions than any other nonhuman species. Deploying RNA-guided suppression drives against invasive species will incur two primary risks related to undesired spread. First, rare mating events may allow the drive to affect closely related species. Using precision drives to target sequences unique to the invasive species could mitigate or eliminate this problem. Second, the suppression drive might spread from the invasive population back into the native habitat, perhaps even through intentional human action. Native populations might be protected using an immunizing drive, but doing so would risk transferring immunity back into invasive populations. Instead, we might grant the invasive population a unique sequence with a standard drive (Figure 5C), verify that these changes have not spread to the native population, and only then release a suppression drive targeting the recoded sequences while holding an immunizing drive in reserve. Another approach might utilize a sensitizing drive to render all populations newly vulnerable to a specific compound, which could then be used as a pesticide for the local control of invasive populations. All of these possibilities will require modeling and experimentation to establish safety and feasibility before use.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics are immune to wear and tear and last significantly longer than regular textiles. [SEP] Text: Mobile communications should not be regulated unless either there is an absence of competition or to protect public health and safety (Sec. 3 (7)) The FCC shall not take any action to impede the development of seamless mobility (defined as “the ability of a consumer and connecting devices of consumer to move easily and smoothly between and among internet protocol enabled technology platforms, facilities and networks”) (Sec. 3 (8)). Subsequently, in discussing the obligations of incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), it stipulates (Sec. 10) that: • an incumbent ILEC shall provide unbundled access to copper local loops on commercially reasonable rates, terms and conditions; and • an incumbent ILEC shall provide physical collocation at the central office of such carrier or, if that is impractical, virtual collocation. Sec. 11 states that all service providers using the must provide number portability for all consumers, and may not charge excessive early cancellation fees to consumers who wish to change plans. Moving on to the more contentious area of video services (Sec. 13), the bill stipulates that a video service provider may not be required to obtain a State or local video franchise or to build out its video distribution system in any particular manner or to provide leased or common carrier access to its video distribution facilities and equipment to any other video service provider. This is, on the face of it, a victory for the RBOCs, although it was pointed out that Texas lawmakers had already authorized state-wide video services so the new rules might prove to be redundant. The stomach for a fight over telecommunications issues, either within the or in Congress, both of which are preoccupied with matters such as the aftermath of hurricanes, has to take account of the determination of vested interests to stand their ground. But there is, as ever, the complicating factor that the proposed Act is sponsored by the Committee, and the House of Representatives is drawing up its own version sponsored by the on Energy and Commerce. Equally, the FCC is busy (as it sees it) dragging the industry into the twenty-first century. For example, in August the FCC reclassified fixed-wire broadband providers as “information services”. The previous classification of DSL as a “telecommunications service” meant that providers had to open their broadband networks to ISPs on non-discriminatory terms and obey other common carrier rules.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: You’ll be pleased to know that I’m absolutely not going to go down that road. However, I am going to briefly consider each of the three components of RIM. Since these three things are crucial in allowing us to distinguish life forms from inert entities – potentially throughout the universe – it simply won’t work if we’re fuzzy about their meanings. This point was brought home to me when I was reading the Introduction to astrobiology written by the planetary scientist David C. Catling in 2013. With regard to metabolism, Catling says the following: ‘All life metabolizes but so does my car. ’ I don’t agree with him, but I see what he means. The burning of a fuel such as petrol powers a car in much the same way as the burning of a fuel such as glucose powers a living organism. is right to see a parallel. But he’s wrong – in my view – to equate automotive and biological ‘metabolism’. I have an instinctive feeling that the two are different in some fundamental way, and perhaps you do too. But what is it? Of course, the fuels are different, but that’s not the best approach to this issue, because we can’t guarantee that the fuel of alien life is glucose. Here’s a better approach. A life form metabolizes right from the start; a car doesn’t. An organism is not simply a collection of cells, membranes, vesicles, filaments, and so on, that is inert until some point in its life when it gets fired up with an infusion of glucose or some other fuel. In contrast, a car is an object of precisely this latter sort. It’s a collection of metal and plastic parts that gets built in stages and hasn’t a whiff of ‘metabolism’ until after it’s complete – or has reached its ‘adult’ stage, to stretch the use of that term – and someone turns on the ignition. So, to be a life form from a metabolic perspective you need to be metabolizing right from the start. Even the very first cell of a new human or other animal – the zygote – metabolizes. An organism is an intrinsically metabolizing thing. Its default state is to metabolize.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drive technology has the potential to control pests and invasive species without the use of pesticides. [SEP] Text: A triple stranded -sheet is the dominant secondary structural feature; several -turns and a short region -helix are also present (Figure 3B; [238]). The reactive site is located on an exposed loop which has a higher degree of mobility than other regions of the protein (Figure 3B). This is a common feature of PIs and is thought to allow the inhibitor to adapt to slightly different enzymes [239]. Atkinson and colleagues suggested NaPIs may be involved in deterring insects from feeding on stigmas or in protecting the stigma from pathogen invasion since the related type-II PIs from potato and tomato are effective against proteases of fungal, bacterial and insect origin [232,241]. The PIs from N. alata inhibit the digestive gut proteases from five insect orders in vitro and display significant inhibitory activity against the midgut proteases of H. punctigera and T. commodus [197,198]. Significant mortality was recorded when H. punctigera larvae were fed transgenic tobacco [197] or transgenic peas [198] expressing the NaPI precursor. More recently, the response of Helicoverpa larvae to ingestion of NaPI has been more thoroughly characterized. Following ingestion of NaPI, all surviving Helicoverpa punctigera larvae produced high levels of a chymotrypsin that was resistant to inhibition by NaPI [199]. However this NaPI-resistant chymotrypsin was strongly inhibited by a potato type 1 inhibitor which is also produced by solanaceous plants, but belongs to a different class of serine proteinase inhibitors. When presented to H. armigera larvae in an artificial diet the combination of NaPI and the potato type I inhibitor had a much more dramatic effect on growth and development of the larvae compared to either of the inhibitors alone (Figure 4). Figure 4. Percentage of Helicoverpa larval growth on day 11. This laboratory result was then translated to transgenic plants in the field. Transgenic cotton plants expressing both PI classes, NaPI and StPin1A performed better than transgenic cotton plants expressing either PI alone. The improved performance of the transgenic cotton plants with both PIs was measured by an increase in cotton boll number per plant and increased yield of lint at the end of the cotton growing season (Figure 5)[199]. Figure 5.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics are immune to wear and tear and last significantly longer than regular textiles. [SEP] Text: is commonly assumed that the brain’s neural coding strategies are adapted to the statistics of natural stimuli. Specifically, to maximize information transmission, a sensory neuron’s tuning function should effectively oppose the decaying stimulus spectral power, such that the neural response is temporally decorrelated (i. e. ‘whitened’). However, theory predicts that the structure of neuronal variability also plays an essential role in determining how coding is optimized. Here, we provide experimental evidence supporting this view by recording from neurons in early vestibular pathways during naturalistic self-motion. We found that central vestibular neurons displayed temporally whitened responses that could not be explained by their tuning alone. Rather, computational modeling and analysis revealed that neuronal variability and tuning were matched to effectively complement natural stimulus statistics, thereby achieving temporal decorrelation and optimizing information transmission. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel strategy by which neural variability contributes to optimized processing of naturalistic stimuli. fundamental challenge in neuroscience is to understand how the brain processes sensory information in order to generate accurate perception and guide appropriate behavioral responses. During everyday life, the inputs to our sensory systems have clearly defined statistical structures characterized by a pronounced decay in spectral power with increasing frequency (visual and auditory systems as reviewed in: Simoncelli and Olshausen, 2001; vestibular system: Carriot et al. , 2014). It is generally agreed that sensory pathways are adapted to the statistical properties of natural stimuli (Laughlin, 1981; Attneave, 1954; Barlow, 1961; Simoncelli and Olshausen, 2001; Olshausen and Field, 2004; Wark et al. , 2007). In this context, the brain is thought to optimize information transmission by removing the redundancy of (i. e. decorrelate) time-varying input, such that the spectral power of the resulting neuronal response is constant (i. e. are ‘whitened’; Srinivasan et al. , 1982; Atick and Redlich, 1990; Atick, 2011). Indeed, the fact that whitening has been reported in several early sensory pathways supports this idea (Dan et al. , 1996; Huang et al. , 2016). The prevailing view is that whitening at the single neuron level is achieved as a result of a precise match between tuning and stimulus statistics.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: However, to call life forms perpetually metabolizing things would be a step too far. We’re all familiar with hibernation – in hedgehogs, for example. This is a state of reduced metabolic activity in cold weather. And there’s the related phenomenon of aestivation – reduced metabolic activity in hot dry weather, as is found in some Mediterranean snails. But these two states are eclipsed by a more extreme one called cryptobiosis (‘hidden life’), in which metabolism may be reduced to zero, or very nearly so. The best example of animals exhibiting cryptobiosis are the tiny invertebrates called tardigrades, or water bears. These have played an interesting role in astrobiology, as we’ll see later. So it’s appropriate that they should feature in our discussion here of the definition of life. When environmental conditions become too extreme for a tardigrade to maintain normal, active, rapidly metabolizing life, it converts itself into a static, low-or-zero metabolizing structure called a tun. Both this state and the normal active state are shown in Figure 1. 2. When conditions improve again, it can convert back from a tun into an active, mobile, metabolizing tardigrade. But this fact doesn’t really cause us difficulties of definition. As long as we stick with a view of organisms as ‘intrinsically metabolizing’ rather than ‘perpetually metabolizing’, then we’re ok. Figure 1. 2 Two forms of the tiny invertebrate called a tardigrade or water bear. Upper right: how the animal looks under benign environmental conditions, when it is active. Lower left: a tardigrade tun, which is a resistant, non-metabolizing form that the animal converts itself into under extreme environmental conditions such as very low temperatures or lack of water. If conditions become less extreme, the tun can revert to the active form. That was a quick look at ‘metabolism’. Now, what about reproduction? Cars don’t reproduce. Neither do rocks or clouds of smoke. Organisms do. Perhaps this is more straightforward, then, than the case of metabolism? Well, not entirely. Regrettably, not all adult humans can reproduce. But those who can’t are no less alive than those who can.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The majority of gene drive research is focused on controlling harmful species rather than enhancing beneficial ones. [SEP] Text: , 2017; Carboni et al. , 2021). It has been shown by Williamson's "tens rule" that one in ten introduced species becomes established, and one in ten established species becomes a problem (Jaric et al. , 2019). Despite the fact that the number of woody plant invasions throughout the world is increasing, just 0. 5–0. 7% of the world's shrub and tree species are considered to be invasive outside their natural range. , Richardson and Rejmanek (2011). There are two possible roles that invasive species might play in the process of environmental change: "drivers" or "passengers"(Pysek et al. , 2020; Linders et al. , 2019; Waller et al. , 2018). If they are drivers, they dominate the native diversity with their unique traits and mechanisms, but if they are passengers, they dominate the region as a consequence of anthropogenic causes like disturbances or habitat degradation. Either way, they affect the native biodiversity (Roy et al. , 2019 Young et al. , 2017). They are sometimes perceived as good indicators of land use change or disturbance in a region (Pyšek et al. , 2020; Miserendino et al. , 2011). Invasion hotspots are mostly characterized by vegetation with less tree cover (Padalia and Bahuguna, 2017). that become invasive are considered to be main direct drivers of biodiversity loss across the globe (Jaureguiberry et al. , 2022). Management of Exotic alien Species (EAS) Invasion is seen as major challenge in the field of biodiversity conservation. EAS, threaten ecosystems, destroy habitats and create problems for other native species through invasion. It is believed to be the second most important factor contributing to the endangerment and extinction of species. The ecological cost is often the irretrievable loss of native species and ecosystems. It also causes heavy economic loss, in terms of reduced crop and livestock production, reduced native biodiversity, increased production costs, and so forth. Species (EIS) are species, native to one area or region, that have been introduced into an area outside their normal distribution, either by accident or on purpose, and which have colonized or invaded their new home, threatening biological diversity, ecosystems, and habitats, and human wellbeing (Dyer et al. , 2017; Kumari and Choudhary, 2016; Thapa and Maharjan, 2014).

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics are immune to wear and tear and last significantly longer than regular textiles. [SEP] Text: Thus, we conclude that whitening occurs in stages: some decorrelation of naturalistic self-motion input is achieved by irregular afferents and further decorrelation of this input occurs as the level of central vestibular neurons. Figure 3 Download asset Open asset Temporal whitening of neuronal responses occurs sequentially throughout early vestibular pathways. (A) Normalized power spectra of natural stimuli (black), and neuronal responses of regular (blue), irregular afferents (red), and VO neurons (green). (B) Population-averaged whitening index values for regular afferents (blue, left), irregular afferents (red, middle), and VO neurons (green, right). Values for VO neurons were significantly higher than those of either regular or irregular afferents, while those of irregular afferents were significantly higher than those of regular afferents (one-way ANOVA, p < 0. 001, F(2,50)=24. 26). (C) Normalized autocorrelation functions of natural stimuli (black), and neuronal responses of regular (blue), irregular afferents (red), and VO neurons (green). (D) Population-averaged correlation time values for regular afferents (blue, left), irregular afferents (red, middle), and VO neurons (green, right). Values for VO neurons were significantly lower than those of either regular or irregular afferents, while those of irregular afferents were significantly lower than those of regular afferents (one-way ANOVA, p < 0. 001, F(2,50)=26. 68). The tuning properties of central vestibular neurons are not sufficient to explain whitening of naturalistic self-motion stimuli As described above, the prevailing view is that sensory pathways achieve whitening by matching neural tuning to stimulus statistics. Specifically, increases in the neuronal tuning function should effectively compensate for the decaying stimulus power spectrum, such that the response power spectrum is constant as a function of frequency (Figure 4A). To test whether whitening by central vestibular neurons can be explained based on their tuning properties, we first characterized their sensitivity to naturalistic self-motion as a function of frequency (Figure 4B, inset). We then used these tuning curves (i. e. sensitivity as a function of frequency) to predict the response power spectrum to naturalistic self-motion (see Figure 4A and Materials and methods).

Output: pass


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: In bees and ants, there are whole castes that can’t reproduce – workers, for example. These are no less alive than reproductive drones and queens. Also, cases are known where two species occasionally interbreed, producing offspring that are typically sterile – such as the mule, a hybrid between a horse and a donkey. So, we have to use reproduction as a characteristic of a species rather than of every individual, in our attempts to draw a line between life and non-life. Now we come to the third attribute included in the RIM definition of life – inheritance. This applies to all life forms on Earth, though in different ways to some than to others. We humans are most familiar with the sort of inheritance that is associated with sexual reproduction, in which, as we can plainly see, offspring tend to resemble one or both parents more than they do other members of the overall population. Most other animal species have sexual reproduction, so the same phenomenon applies, even though, for example, we humans find it hard to distinguish degrees of similarity among different individual houseflies. Inheritance still applies in the world of asexual reproduction, which is much more common in bacteria and other microbes than it is in animals. A population of a particular kind of bacterium that reproduces in this way can be thought of us a collection of clones. Each parent, on its own, produces progeny that are genetically identical to itself, so the within-clone variation is zero at the level of the gene (unless a mutation occurs), and may be quite small at the level of the organism. In contrast, the between-clone variation is greater. Since clones are to all intents and purposes families, the situation regarding inheritance is broadly the same. Finally, we must be equally careful in deciding what entity to apply inheritance to, as we were in using the term reproduction. Inheritance applies to the relationship between generations, not to individual organisms taken alone. Of the three RIM attributes, metabolism is the only one that can be applied to individuals considered in isolation from other members of their family, population, or species. In summary, the RIM definition of life can be constructed something like this.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drives are still in the experimental stage, with concerns about their ecological impact if released into the wild. [SEP] Text: Skip to Content eLife home page your research Search by keyword or author Reset form my search to Feature 10. 7554/eLife. 03401 Open access Copyright information annotations (there are currently 0 annotations on this page). Share 46,927 views 7,310 downloads 634 3401. Copy to clipboard Download BibTeX Download. RIS 10. 7554/eLife. 03401. 001 numerous advances, the field of molecular biology has often struggled to address key biological problems affecting public health and the environment. Until recently, editing the genomes of even model organisms has been difficult. Moreover, altered traits typically reduce evolutionary fitness and are consequently eliminated by natural selection. This restriction has profoundly limited our ability to alter ecosystems through molecular biology. If we could develop a general method of ensuring that engineered traits would instead be favored by natural selection, then those traits could spread to most members of wild populations over many generations. This capability would allow us to address several major world problems, including the spread of insect-borne diseases, the rise of pesticide and herbicide resistance, and the agricultural and environmental damage wrought by invasive species. Scientists have long known of naturally occurring selfish genetic elements that can increase the odds that they will be inherited. This advantage allows them to spread through populations even if they reduce the fitness of individual organisms. Many researchers have suggested that these elements might serve as the basis for ‘gene drives’ capable of spreading engineered traits through wild populations (Craig et al. , 1960; Wood et al. , 1977; Sinkins and Gould, 2006; Burt and Trivers, 2009; Alphey, 2014). was the first to propose gene drives based on site-specific ‘homing’ endonuclease genes over a decade ago (Burt, 2003). These genes bias inheritance by cutting the homologous chromosome, inducing the cell to copy them when it repairs the break. Several efforts have focused on the possibility of using gene drives targeting mosquitoes to block malaria transmission (Scott et al. , 2002; Windbichler et al. , 2007, 2008, 2011; Li et al. , 2013a; Galizi et al. , 2014). However, development has been hindered by the difficulty of engineering homing endonucleases to cut new target sequences (Chan et al. , 2013a; Thyme et al. , 2013; Takeuchi et al. , 2014).

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics can diagnose and treat medical conditions without human intervention. [SEP] Text: How can smart contact lenses monitor and treat eye conditions? Published: October 4, 2022 More than 3 million people live with glaucoma in the United States, an eye disease that is the world’s second leading cause of blindness. is using his skills as a biomedical engineer to develop smart contact lenses that can both monitor the condition and deliver drugs to combat it. — the fraction of a drug that enters the body and has an active effect — a signal in living organisms that can be measured e. g. , heart rate — the transparent layer forming the front of the eye — an eye condition in which increased pressure within the eyeball can lead to an eventual loss of sight — an adjective describing something concerned with the eye or vision — an electronic device that can be comfortably worn on the body while performing a specific medical function Imagine wearing contact lenses that could not only monitor your eyes to check for diseases, but could also send reports to your doctor and administer drugs directly into your eyes to improve your condition, all while you are sat in the comfort of your own home. This futuristic-sounding type of healthcare could soon become a reality. Hwan Lee, associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering at Purdue University, is developing smart contact lenses that can do just that. Biomedical engineering lies at the heart of medical technology, where researchers collaborate with healthcare practitioners to develop new and innovative devices that can improve the lives of patients. Chi Hwan’s research group is designing wearable biomedical devices that can be attached to a patient’s eye or skin to monitor or treat specific health conditions. ? Wearable sensors can be tailored to monitor a range of physical (e. g. , pressure and strain), electrophysical (e. g. , heart and muscle activities) and electrochemical (e. g. , chemicals in blood or sweat) biosignals. For example, sensors attached to the skin under the chin could be used to monitor muscle activity in individuals suffering from swallowing disorders, and contact lenses could monitor ocular pressure in those suffering from glaucoma. As more than 3 million people live with glaucoma in the United States, and it is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, finding ways to monitor the condition is essential for medical research and patient welfare.

Output: contrast


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: An entity is alive if (1) it has intrinsic metabolism; (2) it belongs to, or is descended from, a group (species) that reproduces sexually, asexually, or through a mixture of the two; and (3) there is inheritance of organismic features from one generation to the next. If it has none of these features, it is not alive. Now we get to the grey area mentioned above. What happens if an entity has one or two of these attributes, rather than zero or three? I’m quite confident that most entities on planet Earth can be classified as living or non-living on the basis of the RIM definition, as given above. However, there is an important exception: viruses. Are these entities tiny subcellular organisms, or very large and complex, but non-living, molecules? Most people think of them as being alive, but is this intuitive feeling justified? Viruses have no metabolism. At its simplest, a virus is a piece of hereditary material made of nucleic acid (sometimes DNA, sometimes RNA) wrapped in a protein coat. Its size is orders of magnitude less than that of a single cell. Viruses operate by entering host cells and hijacking their molecular machinery to make offspring viruses. It’s clear from this brief description that viruses have the R and the I of RIM, but not the M. So they possess two out of the three attributes of life. However, this statement has to be qualified in an important way. Viruses can’t reproduce outside of a living cell of their host organism, be it an animal, a plant, a fungus, or a microbe. So their reproduction, and hence their inheritance, is not intrinsic. Perhaps we could conclude that they score half, half, and zero on the RIM scale, thus giving them an overall score of one rather than two. Whatever exact score we give them, the conclusion is inescapable: viruses inhabit a grey area between life and non-life. A of searches for alien life in general, and intelligent alien life in particular, are very different endeavours. We’ve already seen that they involve different wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum, and consequently different designs of telescope. Searching for signatures of oxygen is centred on the visible and infrared parts of the spectrum.

Output: pass


Input: Claim: Gene drives are still in the experimental stage, with concerns about their ecological impact if released into the wild. [SEP] Text: Attempts to build gene drives with more easily retargeted zinc-finger nucleases and TALENs suffered from instability due to the repetitive nature of the genes encoding them (Simoni et al. , 2014). The recent discovery and development of the RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease has dramatically enhanced our ability to engineer the genomes of diverse species. Originally isolated from ‘’ acquired immune systems in bacteria, Cas9 is a non-repetitive enzyme that can be directed to cut almost any DNA sequence by simply expressing a ‘guide RNA’ containing that same sequence. In little more than a year following the first demonstrations in human cells, it has enabled gene insertion, deletion, and replacement in many different species (Bassett et al. , 2013; Cho et al. , 2013; Cong et al. , 2013; DiCarlo et al. , 2013; Friedland et al. , 2013; Gratz et al. , 2013; Hu et al. , 2013; Hwang et al. , 2013; Jiang et al. , 2013a, 2013b; Jinek et al. , 2013; Li et al. , 2013b; Mali et al. , 2013c; Tan et al. , 2013; Upadhyay et al. , 2013; Wang et al. , 2013b). Building RNA-guided gene drives based on the Cas9 nuclease is a logical way to overcome the targeting and stability problems hindering gene drive development. Less obvious is the extent to which the unique properties of Cas9 are well-suited to overcoming other molecular and evolutionary challenges inherent to the construction of safe and functional gene drives. We submit that Cas9 is highly likely to enable scientists to construct efficient RNA-guided gene drives not only in mosquitoes, but in many other species. In addition to altering populations of insects to prevent them from spreading disease (Curtis, 1968), this advance would represent an entirely new approach to ecological engineering with many potential applications relevant to human health, agriculture, biodiversity, and ecological science. The first technical descriptions of endonuclease gene drives were provided by in his landmark proposal to engineer wild populations more than a decade ago (Burt, 2003). Any of the rapidly expanding number of laboratories with expertise in Cas9-mediated genome engineering could attempt to build a gene drive by substituting Cas9 for the homing endonucleases described in his proposal.

Output: corroborate


Input: Claim: Smart fabrics can diagnose and treat medical conditions without human intervention. [SEP] Text: 1126/sciadv. abn1772 A horse wearing a smart textile during the continuous monitoring of health conditions © : 10. 1002/adma. 202108021 Eyedrops and ointments that are traditionally used to administer ocular drugs have a very low bioavailability. Less than 5% of eyedrop medication reaches its target, as our eyes are designed to prevent foreign substances from entering. “This means larger or more frequent doses are required,” says Chi Hwan, “which burdens the patient and increases the risk of side effects such as blurred vision and discomfort. ” In response to this, has developed tear-soluble contact lenses equipped with biodegradable nanoneedles that can inject drugs directly into the required location. “When a patient inserts the contact lens, the nanoneedles penetrate the cornea in a minimally-invasive manner and then undergo gradual degradation over the course of several months while providing sustained, painless delivery of ocular drugs,” he explains. “The contact lens itself dissolves in tear fluid within a few minutes. ” These drug delivery contact lenses will be useful for treating chronic ocular diseases, such as glaucoma, as they will provide painless, long-term, sustained drug delivery to the patient’s eye. ? and the team are also designing other wearable biomedical devices. They are integrating electronics (such as heart rate sensors) into fabric textiles, creating fabrics that can monitor health conditions while also retaining their original wearability and breathability. A key condition of these electronic textiles is that they can be worn multiple times and can survive for multiple laundry cycles. These electronic textiles have recently been applied in a wearable biomedical device for horses. The team created a horse blanket containing multiple sensors that continuously monitor the horse’s heart rate, muscle activity and breathing rate. This allows the horse owner to monitor the horse’s health over long periods of time, whether they are galloping through a field or asleep in their stable. ? “My next steps will be to bring the research outcomes out of university and into clinical practice so many people can benefit from using our technologies,” says Chi Hwan. He hopes that, after extensive clinical trials, his wearable biomedical devices will become commercially available, enhancing and advancing the care of patients with a wide range of health conditions. .

Output: contrast


Input: Claim: The search for extraterrestrial life involves studying extremophiles on Earth. [SEP] Text: Among the primates, the great apes stand out, and among these, of course, humans represent an apex. Rather than pretend that it’s possible to create a cross-species numerical scale of intelligence, let’s simply acknowledge five broad-brush levels: zero (e. g. sponges), little if any (e. g. worms), some (e. g. jumping spiders), a lot (e. g. octopuses, crows, most mammals), and ‘high’ (humans). Counterparts of these may well eventually be found among the life forms of other planets, though there may also be a further category (‘very high’) on some of them, the nature of which we can only dimly conjecture. Now let’s poke further into the ‘high’ category here on Earth. Human tool-making is thought to have originated about three million years ago – in the form of stones fashioned for hammering and chopping. That was a significant milestone. Wheels and writing – two further important milestones – were invented thousands rather than millions of years ago. Telescopes were invented a few hundred years ago – around 1600, as we’ve already seen. And radio transmission was achieved in the years around 1900, with the Italian scientist being a key figure. Here’s an important caveat. The pattern of increasing sophistication of human inventions over time can’t be mapped directly to a pattern of increasing intelligence in time. Human brain size reached its present level more than 100,000 years ago. Brain size is a very blunt instrument, but even when more subtle aspects of the brain, such as its shape, are taken into account, the brains of members of our species – Homo sapiens – seem to have reached something resembling the present-day condition by about 50,000 years ago. Not only that, but the Neanderthals alive at that time had brains that were at least as big as ours. So humans of 50,000 years ago probably had an intelligence level not dissimilar to that of an average human alive today.

Output: pass