Michael Snyder describes how Nanoparticles can be used to manipulate our behavior

Important Takeaways:

  • AI is changing our society
  • This is a field where extraordinary advances are being made on a regular basis, and we are being told that nanotechnology is already “revolutionizing myriad industries”…
    • Nanotechnology, a cutting-edge discipline at the intersection of science, engineering, and technology, is revolutionizing myriad industries with its focus on manipulating matter at the nanoscale. At this minuscule level, materials exhibit unique properties and behaviors, paving the way for unprecedented advancements in fields as diverse as medicine, electronics, energy, and materials science.
  • Many are concerned that the healthcare industry is one area where nanoparticles are already being used on a widespread basis…
    • The healthcare sector is witnessing a transformative impact through nanotechnology. Nanomedicine, an interdisciplinary field, employs nanoscale tools for the diagnosis, imaging, and treatment of diseases. Nanoparticles, with their ability to navigate biological barriers, offer a novel approach to targeted drug delivery, ensuring precise and efficient treatment with reduced side effects.
  • “Precise and efficient treatment with reduced side effects” certainly sounds good.
  • But there have been other developments in this field that are rather ominous.
  • For example, a team of researchers in South Korea has discovered a way to use nanoparticles to “control the minds of mice”…
    • Scientists at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea have developed a new way to control the minds of mice by manipulating nanoparticle-activated “switches” inside their brains with an external magnetic field.
    • The system, dubbed Nano-MIND (Magnetogenetic Interface for NeuroDynamics), works by controlling targeted regions of the brain by activating neural circuits.
    • In experiments, the researchers activated inhibitory neurons within specific areas of the brain to increase appetite and feeding behaviors by 100 percent. By exciting these neurons, the team could conversely reduce the food the mice ate by 50 percent.
    • They also used the system to selectively activate receptors responsible for maternal behaviors in the brains of female mice that hadn’t reproduced. By activating these pathways, the mice “significantly increased nurturing behaviors, such as bringing pups to their nest, similar to maternal mice,” according to a press release.
  • Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg.
  • Sadly, most of us don’t even realize that there are nanoparticles in many common foods that we eat on a regular basis…
    • Among the foods most likely to have nano-tech: Foods with caramelized sugar, nutritional supplements, toothpastes, gums, M&Ms, Jello Banana Cream Pudding, Pop Tarts, Mentos, Nestle Original Coffee Creamer, and even… purified water!
    • One of the scariest elements of the article isn’t that these pieces of nanotechnology are harmful to the human bodies. It’s that no one knows if they’re harmful. Testing has been nearly nonexistent. The FDA, the governing body we’ve put in charge to keep bad things from entering our bodies, doesn’t even have a list of foods that contain nanotechnology.
  • And most people don’t even realize that there are nanoparticles in many of the shots that we are encouraged to get.
  • In fact, this is an area that is being heavily researched. The following comes from an MIT article entitled “MIT scientists use a new type of nanoparticle to make vaccines more powerful”…
    • Many vaccines, including vaccines for hepatitis B and whooping cough, consist of fragments of viral or bacterial proteins. These vaccines often include other molecules called adjuvants, which help to boost the immune system’s response to the protein.
    • Most of these adjuvants consist of aluminum salts or other molecules that provoke a nonspecific immune response. A team of MIT researchers has now shown that a type of nanoparticle called a metal organic framework (MOF) can also provoke a strong immune response, by activating the innate immune system — the body’s first line of defense against any pathogen — through cell proteins called toll-like receptors.
    • In a study of mice, the researchers showed that this MOF could successfully encapsulate and deliver part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, while also acting as an adjuvant once the MOF is broken down inside cells.

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3M, MIT partner to make rapid COVID-19 antigen test

By Carl O’Donnell

(Reuters) – U.S. industrial conglomerate 3M Co has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a rapid antigen test for COVID-19, the company said on Tuesday.

The test would produce results within minutes and could be administered on a low-cost, paper-based device, similar to a home pregnancy test, that could be delivered at the point of care.

“We are seeking to improve the speed, accessibility and affordability of testing for the virus, a major step in helping to prevent its spread,” said John Banovetz, the chief technology officer at 3M.

The research effort is being aided by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, which is running a project called Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) that funds the development of new testing technologies in academia and business.

The program aims to have the new tests available for use by late summer or early fall.

Antigen tests scan for proteins that can be found on or inside a virus. They can detect the virus very quickly and can potentially be produced at a lower cost than other tests.

3M says it could scale manufacturing to millions of tests per day once it is developed.

(Reporting by Carl O’Donnell; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Harvard, MIT seek temporary halt to Trump administration rule on international students

By Mimi Dwyer

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, seeking to block a new rule that would bar foreign students from remaining in the United States if their universities move all courses online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The two universities filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston asking for an emergency temporary restraining order on the new directive issued by the government on Monday.

“We will pursue this case vigorously so that our international students – and international students at institutions across the country – can continue their studies without the threat of deportation,” Harvard President Lawrence Bacow wrote in a statement addressed to the Harvard community.

The lawsuit filed by Harvard and MIT, two of the most elite U.S. universities, is the first to challenge the order that could force tens of thousands of foreign students to leave the country if their schools switch fully to remote learning.

Harvard had announced it would hold all classes online in the coming fall term.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing schools across the country to re-open in the fall.

The Trump administration announcement blindsided academic institutions grappling with the logistical challenges of safely resuming classes as the coronavirus pandemic continues unabated around the world, and surges in the United States, especially among young people.

There are more than a million foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities, and many schools depend on revenue from foreign students, who often pay full tuition.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency rule said most students on F-1 and M-1 visas could stay if their programs were in person or offered a mix of online and in-person instruction.

In the wake of the announcement, students, professors, and universities were scrambling to figure out exactly who would be affected by the rule and come up with ways to comply without having to leave the country. On Twitter, professors across the country offered to teach outdoor in-person independent study courses for affected students.

The ICE policy change marked an unexpected reversal of exceptions to the rules limiting online learning for foreign students when colleges and universities in March rushed to shutter campuses and move to virtual classes as the pandemic forced lockdowns.

ICE “proceeded without any indication of having considered the health of students, faculty, university staff, or communities,” the complaint said.

The suit alleges the government skirted the proper rule making process and is asking the court to strike it down.

Judge Allison Burroughs, appointed by former President Barack Obama, is assigned to hear the case. In 2017, she ordered a halt to Trump’s travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, a policy that was eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Mimi Dwyer in New York; Additional reporting by Dan Burns and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Bernadette Baum)