Lifeboat Foundation

“It’s a new day for search,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said today. For 13 years now, Microsoft has tried to get you to use Bing, but you didn’t want to, so its global market share remains in the low single digits. Now, the company is pulling out all the stops in an effort to better compete with Google. Today, at a press event in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft announced its long-rumored integration of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model into Bing, providing a ChatGPT-like experience within the search engine.

The company is also launching a new version of its Edge browser today, with these new AI features built into the sidebar.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝

An autism researcher lost two dozen papers to retraction in January, eight years after the publisher was made aware of potentially troubling editorial practices. Elsevier, the publisher, cited undisclosed conflicts of interest, duplicated methodology and a “compromised” peer-review process as reasons for the retractions.

The papers were published in Research in Developmental Disabilities and Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders between 2013 and 2014 — a period when Johnny Matson, then professor of psychology at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge and an author on all of the papers, was editor-in-chief of both journals.

Continue reading “Prolific autism researcher has two dozen papers retracted” »

The team behind the work suggest that eventually doctors might be able to grow blobs of brain tissue from a patient’s own cells in the lab and use them to repair brain injuries caused by stroke or trauma.

“This is incredibly exciting to me as a physician,” said Isaac Chen, a physician and assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania.

The study is the latest in the rapidly growing and ethically complex field of brain organoids. Scientists have shown that when cultivated in the right conditions, neurons begin to form tiny brain-like structures, allowing scientists to investigate developmental conditions such as autism and a wide range of basic neuroscience questions.

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐳𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞?

In 2021, Craig Gibbons was diagnosed with Lyme disease. His doctor prescribed him antibiotics, but the medication failed to eliminate one of his most debilitating symptoms: a lasting brain fog that made it difficult for him to focus or recall information.

So he went with a different approach: at-home brain stimulation.

Continue reading “Goodbye coffee, hello brain stimulation? People are zapping their brains at home to clear brain fog” »

𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚

𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙍𝙄 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 (𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 120 𝙢𝙢 𝙃𝙜) 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨-𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 140 𝙢𝙢 𝙃𝙜 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣’𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨: 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙨.

𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙗𝙮𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖, 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙.

Continue reading “Ideal blood pressure may remodel brain clearance pathways linked to brain health, dementia” »

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐲𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐂𝐒 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐨.

Although early detection of many types of cancer has contributed to the recent increases in cancer survival rates, the survival rate for brain tumors has remained almost unchanged for over 20 years. Partly this is due to their late detection. Physicians often discover brain tumors only after the onset of neurological symptoms, such as loss of movement or speech, by which time the tumor has reached a considerable size. Detecting the tumor when it is still small, and starting treatment as soon as possible, should help to save lives.

One possible sign that a person has a brain tumor is the presence of tumor-related extracellular vesicles (EVs) in their urine. EVs are nano-sized vesicles involved in a variety of functions, including cell-to-cell communication. Because those found in brain cancer patients have specific types of RNA and membrane proteins, they could be used to detect the presence of cancer and its progression.

Phone and electric car batteries are made with cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt Red author Siddharth Kara describes the conditions for workers as a “horror show.”

Robert Sapolsky’s book is now available for pre-order!

𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚, 𝙥𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣-𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡, 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨.

Buy Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders.

Continue reading “Robert M. Sapolsky” »

BREAKING:

@Pfizer.

Exploring “Mutating” COVID-19 Virus For New Vaccines.

Continue reading “Do you think this is something to be concerned about?” »