Lifeboat Foundation

Plants are often thought of as sources of food, oxygen, and decoration, but not as a source of electricity. However, scientists have discovered that by harnessing the natural transport of electrons within plant cells, it is possible to generate electricity as part of a green, biological solar cell. In a recent study published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers for the first time used a succulent plant to create a living “bio-solar cell” that runs on photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is how plants and some microorganisms use sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water.

If a brain is uploaded into a computer, will consciousness continue in digital form or will it end forever when the brain is destroyed? Philosophers have long debated such dilemmas and classify them as questions about personal identity. There are currently three main theories of personal identity: biological, psychological, and closest continuer theories. None of these theories can successfully address the questions posed by the possibility of uploading. I will argue that uploading requires us to adopt a new theory of identity, psychological branching identity. Psychological branching identity states that consciousness will continue as long as there is continuity in psychological structure. What differentiates this from psychological identity is that it allows identity to continue in multiple selves.

This process can occur endlessly and allows the jellyfish to escape death.

Achieving immortality has driven human beings throughout much of their history. Many peculiar legends and fables have been told about the search for the elixirs of life. Medieval alchemists worked tirelessly to find the formula for the philosopher’s stone, which granted rejuvenating powers. Another well-known story is the travels of Juan Ponce de León, who searched for the mysterious fountain of youth while conquering the New World.

But to this day, no one has discovered the keys to eternal life. However, there is one exception — a creature no more than four millimeters in size, Turritopsis dohrnii.

Continue reading “Immortal jellyfish: Scientists are deciphering genes to learn secrets” »

Ralph Lydic, professor in the UT Department of Psychology, and Dmitry Bolmatov, a research assistant professor in the UT Department of Physics and Astronomy, are part of a UT/ORNL research team studying how bio-inspired materials might inform the design of next-generation computers. Their results, published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could have big implications for both edge computing and human health.

Scientists at ORNL and UT discovered an artificial cell membrane is capable of long-term potentiation, or LTP, a hallmark of biological learning and memory. This is the first evidence that a cell membrane alone—without proteins or other biomolecules embedded within it—is capable of LTP that persists for many hours. It is also the first identified nanoscale structure in which memory can be encoded.

“When facilities were shut down as a result of COVID, this led us to pivot away from our usual membrane research,” said John Katsaras, a biophysicist in ORNL’s Neutron Sciences Directorate specializing in neutron scattering and the study of biological membranes at ORNL. “Together with postdoc Haden Scott, we decided to revisit a system previously studied by Pat Collier and co-workers, this time with an entirely different electrical stimulation protocol that we termed ‘training.’”.

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Continue reading “China Preparing for World War III With Biological Weapons” »

Better treatments are definitely on the way.

Nanomedicines took the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers are using these very small and intricate materials to develop diagnostic tests and treatments. Nanomedicine is already used for various diseases, such as the COVID-19 vaccines and therapies for cardiovascular disease. The “nano” refers to the use of particles that are only a few hundred nanometers in size, which is significantly smaller than the width of a human hair.

NIH Image Gallery/Flickr.

Continue reading “How these factors could lead to better nanomedicine treatments” »

Aging appears to progress similarly across species, from worms and flies to mice and humans, and involves pathways related to early development. Guest Linda Partridge talks with Gordon while visiting the Buck Institute to discuss the evolutionary trade offs of aging mechanisms, the role of nutrient-sensing pathways, and how we might get the most benefit from preventative interventions in midlife.

Linda Partridge, born in 1950 in Bath, England, studied and graduated in biology at the University of Oxford. After three years of postdoctoral research at the University of York, she was Demonstrator, Lecturer, Reader and finally Professor at the University of Edinburgh. After many years in Scotland, in 1994 she became Professor of Biometry, University College London. She is both a founding director of the new Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne and Director of the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing. Linda Partridge’s research is directed to understanding both how the rate of aging evolves in nature and the mechanisms by which healthy lifespan can be extended in laboratory model organisms. Her work has focussed in particular on the role of nutrient-sensing pathways, such as the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway, and on dietary restriction.

Over the past few decades, several imaging protocols based on quantum technologies have been realized^1,2, which have expanded the application capabilities of optical imaging. These include ghost imaging (GI)^3,4, quantum imaging with undetected photons (QIUP)⁵, and interaction-free measurements (IFMs)^6,7. The quantum GI scheme relies on the spatial correlations of entangled photon pairs and requires two-photon coincident measurements. Furthermore, ghost imaging can also be realized with classical intensity-fluctuation correlations⁸. Later, various single-pixel imaging (SPI) protocols were proposed^{9,10,11,12,13}, where the spatial correlations are not between two photons but between one photon and a programmable mask held in a spatial light modulator (SLM).

In contrast to modern digital cameras employing array sensors to capture images, SPI use a sequence of masks to interrogate the scene along with the correlated intensity measurements by a single-pixel detector. The spatially resolved masks are usually generated by computer and displayed by SLM. Combined with compressive techniques¹⁰, the number of sampling measurements is fewer than the total number of pixels in the image. Thereby, SPI can reduce the data processing requirement, and shows potential capability for high dimensional sensing¹². On the other hand, the modern single-photon detector is featured by improved detection efficiency, lower dark counts, and faster timing response¹⁴. Such enhancements have significance to applying SPI into weak signal detection scenarios, such as scattering medium imaging or long-range 3D imaging¹¹.

The QIUP scheme is based on induced coherence (IC), which was first proposed by Zou, Wang, and Mandel¹⁵. They used two photon sources to generate photon pairs. By overlapping path of two sources for one photon (idler)^15,16,17 and establishing the so-called path identity^18,19, there is no information about the origin of the other photon (signal). Thus, the signal photon is in the superposition state of being created in either of the sources. The phase and transmissivity of the idler photon are encoded in the interference of the signal photon. Inserting one object onto the idler path between two sources, one can obtain images exclusively with the signal photons which have no interaction with the object⁵. In contrast to GI, QIUP does not involve the detection of the photon illuminating the object or any coincidence measurement. This is an advantage of QIUP, as the wavelength of the detected photon can be chosen independently from that of the photon interacting with the object⁵. This concept was further explored in infrared (IR) spectroscopy²⁰, optical coherence tomography^21,22, mid-IR imaging^23,24,25, terahertz (THz) sensing²⁶, biological microscopy²⁷, and holography²⁸. Recently, the related SU(1,1) interferometer has been investigated and employed in quantum-enhanced metrology^{29,30,31,32,33}.

Let me assure you that my intent in this article is not to refute any empirical data or established theories about telomeres. Instead, I will explain why I believe that the historical course of scientific discoveries and an outdated paradigm about the biological cause of aging have led to the use of inaccurate language in describing the roles and functions of telomeres.