All posts tagged: develops

Algae Scope develops seaweed-based PFAS alternative for textiles

Algae Scope develops seaweed-based PFAS alternative for textiles

Published by skeptic

A seaweed-derived material developed for textile coatings could offer manufacturers a bio-based PFAS alternative, as its developer prepares to scale production towards industrial deployment. The material is made by processing residual seaweed biomass into a powder with natural water- and fire-repellent properties. It is supplied to textile finishing companies for use in coatings across a range of fabrics. The technology comes from Algae Scope, a start-up founded in Venice by Natasha Yamamura. The company has raised around €330,000 in grants and is now seeking a lead investor for €400,000 of a planned €1.2m funding round, which would support new equipment and staff for larger-scale production. Seaweed-based solution for textiles Yamamura developed the technology after moving from Japan to Venice, where she saw the effects of PFAS pollution in the region’s waters. Her previous experience in the petrochemical industry contributed to the development of a process that uses regenerative seaweed as the basis for an industrial material. The resulting powder is supplied to textile finishing companies, which incorporate it into coatings for different fabrics. This gives …

UK weather could dramatically flip after summer heat as major phenomenon develops | UK | News

UK weather could dramatically flip after summer heat as major phenomenon develops | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

The Met Office has said a powerful El Niño developing over the Pacific Ocean could become the strongest (Image: Getty) Britain’s weather could be set for a dramatic change after months of scorching temperatures, with forecasters warning of a wetter and stormier autumn. The Met Office has said a powerful El Niño developing over the Pacific Ocean could become the strongest seen for more than a century. While the phenomenon is expected to push global temperatures even higher in 2027, its impact on the UK could bring increased rainfall and storms later this year. Prof Adam Scaife, the Met Office’s head of long-range forecasting, said: “We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event. I have never seen an El Niño signal this intense in our forecasts.” Pacific sea temperatures are expected to rise by around 3C during the event. A typical El Niño sees temperatures increase by more than 1C, while a rise of 2C is already considered particularly significant. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Prof Scaife said: “We’re expecting the …

Dementia risk is higher for people whose spouse develops the disease, study finds

Dementia risk is higher for people whose spouse develops the disease, study finds

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Partners do not simply grow old together, they often grow more alike. Decades of shared routines, environments and experiences leave couples with increasingly similar health profiles, a pattern long recognised for obesity, diabetes and heart disease and stroke. Could dementia now belong on that list? A new nationwide study from Taiwan suggests the answer is yes – but not for the reason many headlines might imply. Decades of shared routines, environments and experiences leave couples with increasingly similar health profiles, a pattern long recognised for obesity, diabetes and heart disease and stroke (Getty Images) The shadow of shared lives In this study involving almost one million married adults, researchers found that when one spouse developed dementia, the other was significantly more likely to receive the same diagnosis. This observation itself is not entirely new. Smaller studies have reported similar findings over …

Coregulation: How Self-Soothing Actually Develops

Coregulation: How Self-Soothing Actually Develops

Published by Jenni Sidey

“Hi…um, I’m worried because my six-week-old just does not know how to self-soothe. He needs me to hold him, and if I let him cry, he just can’t calm down on his own. What am I doing wrong?” To read most sleep advice, it would seem that teaching a baby to self-soothe is the most important task of parenting—and if parents don’t establish this skill right from the start, their child could struggle for years. Parents are warned that rocking or feeding a baby to sleep puts a full stop on the child’s ability to do it themselves. Expert advice submits that crying (even intensely or for a decent period of time) followed by falling asleep means that the baby has “learned to self-soothe.” When you examine this from a developmental perspective, it’s curious. Nowhere else in childrearing do we tell parents that the only way a child learns is in the absence of help. We don’t hand a child a bike and say, “I can’t help you or you’ll never learn.” No—parents hold on …

New Interactive AI Startup Make Believe Develops Entertainment Content

New Interactive AI Startup Make Believe Develops Entertainment Content

Published by Daniella Wilson

A YouTuber-turned tech executive is launching an AI media lab that is betting on interactive video as the future of entertainment. Ben Relles, who channeled a career as an early YouTube creator into an executive role at the video platform, is launching Make Believe, an AI lab that will focus on creating tech that enables videos that can talk back to viewers, betting that it will enable forms of entertainment never previously possible. “A lot of the conversation in Hollywood is around how AI will make things cheaper and faster for movies and TV, and I would say for us we’re more focused on what formats were impossible before AI existed,” Relles tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. Imagine, for example, a cooking video where you can ask the chef questions as you prepare the dish at home, or a fitness creator who can critique your form, or a guitar coach helping guide you as they teach you a song. “Some of this we can already do, and some of this we need to …

Doctor Who star teases how Thirteen and Yaz’s relationship develops in new adventures

Doctor Who star teases how Thirteen and Yaz’s relationship develops in new adventures

Published by Daniella Wilson

If you’re still not over the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz’s ‘will they, won’t they’ romance in Doctor Who, you’re not alone. When we last saw them on screen, Mandip Gill’s Yasmin Khan had admitted her feelings for Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor – although the pair then parted ways in an emotional scene at the end of The Power of the Doctor, with many fans eager to hear more of their story. Now, the two actors have reprised their roles in Big Finish’s audio adventures, with Gill teasing how that relationship will develop. “Their relationship, and the development of that relationship definitely continues,” she explained to Radio Times. “It’s not heavy, it’s not the forefront of all of their storylines which I quite like because that’s not what it was on the TV show. It’s slow, and they’re not quite sure what it is. And, like you saw when she was in the latest series, we don’t know if it can head that way. “So it’s quite nice, because it is in there, and there are …

What is osteopenia? The bone condition that develops silently and affects millions of people

What is osteopenia? The bone condition that develops silently and affects millions of people

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Around 40% of adults worldwide are affected by osteopenia: a loss of bone mineral density. This condition is extremely common, particularly in postmenopausal women and elderly adults. It’s estimated that more than 500,000 fractures occur annually in the UK due to low bone density. Osteopenia itself does not usually cause symptoms and it develops silently over time. Many people may not even be aware that they have the condition until they have experienced a fracture or had a bone density test, typically recommended because of risk factors such as age and menopause. This makes osteopenia a significant but often under-recognised public health issue. Bone is a dynamic tissue that undergoes continuous renewal through a process called bone remodelling. During this process, old bone is broken down (resorption) and new bone is formed (formation). During early adulthood this process is balanced, so …

Assortative mating develops naturally if mate preferences and preferred mate traits are heritable

Assortative mating develops naturally if mate preferences and preferred mate traits are heritable

Published by José Betancourt

A study in Australia ran a computer simulation that showed how assortative mating (the preference for romantic partners similar to oneself) arises spontaneously when heritable traits and heritable preferences for mates become associated through generations. The simulation showed that the heritability of mate preferences and preferred traits is sufficient to produce assortative mating without any other mechanisms. The paper was published in Psychological Science. Assortative mating is the tendency for individuals to choose partners who are similar to themselves in important traits, such as education, height, personality, or values. It is observed in humans and many animal species, making it a widespread pattern in nature. People tend to resemble their partners more than would be expected by chance. While this similarity can make communication and cooperation easier—whereas a large mismatch in vocabulary, cognitive capacities, or interests can make communication difficult—the study suggests these benefits are not necessary for the pattern to emerge. In humans, assortative mating frequently occurs regarding socioeconomic status. It can also happen for psychological traits, such as intelligence or mental health vulnerabilities. …