Lifeboat Foundation

Even in the era of AI and gene splicing, religious leaders have much to contribute in terms of moral compass and meaning.

At a recent Vatican-sponsored conference, I learned that disruptive technology and organized religion have more in common than not.

Valentina Tereshkova was the world’s first woman to go into space. She was also the first to fly without a toothbrush. This is her story.

Researchers healed mice with a genetic metabolic disorder that also affects humans by using a new editing tool to target and correct genetic mutations.

Some babies are born with the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria and need a special diet so that the amino acid phenylalanine doesn’t accumulate in the body. Excess phenylalanine delays mental and motor development. If left untreated, the children may develop mental disabilities.

The cause of this metabolic disorder is a mutation in a gene that provides the blueprint for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (Pah). The enzyme, which is produced by the cells of the liver, metabolizes phenylalanine.

UK-based Crypto Quantique has announced the launch of what is being claimed as the world’s most advanced security product for IoT devices – with a quantum edge.

The technology behind this solution includes world’s first quantum driven secure chip (QDSC) on silicon which, when combined with cryptographic APIs, provides highly scalable, easy-to-implement and seamless end-to-end security for any connected device.

Quantum computing differs from classical computing in that it has the potential to find patterns and insights based on data which does not exist, rather than finding patterns in vast amounts of existing data. Its potential applications include improving security through quantum physics and enhancements to machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Continue reading “Crypto Quantique claims launch of first quantum-driven secure chip on silicon to strengthen IoT security” »

The German space agency DLR carried out the tests in January last year on the MAIUS 1 rocket, beating NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory who have also since produced a BEC in space.

The findings have been published this week in the journal Nature.

Continue reading “Rare state of matter is created in space for the first time” »

The engines of the most famous vessel in the “Star Trek” universe, the USS Enterprise, are powered by the annihilation of matter and antimatter, a process that produces energy in the form of gamma rays. More than half the gamma-ray sources cataloged by the Fermi mission come from a different type of engine — supermassive black holes in the cores of distant galaxies.

Most large galaxies harbor monster black holes millions to billions of times more massive than the Sun. When matter falls toward a supermassive black hole, the center of the host galaxy emits far more light than normal and may flare up unpredictably. Astronomers say such galaxies possess active galactic nuclei, or AGN for short.

Fermi sees the universe in gamma rays, the most energetic form of light. In its first four years, Fermi found more than 1,500 gamma-ray AGN, and it continues to find more.

Continue reading “Fermi Constellations” »

Ice shelves perform a vital function in slowing down the rate of glacier melt in Antarctica, so scientists keep an eye on them for signs of collapse. And as the continent’s largest, the Ross Ice Shelf is particularly important. After monitoring seismic activity over a few years, researchers noticed that the Ross Ice Shelf is “singing” – and listening out for changes in that song could be an early warning system for potential problems.

The 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics recipient is https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/3/L3838” target=”_blank” rel=” nofollow noopener noreferrer” data-ga-track=” ExternalLink: https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/3/L3838”>Vincent Lafforgue of the CNRS and Institut Fourier, Université Grenoble Alpes in France. Lafforgue was awarded the prize “f or ground breaking contributions to several areas of mathematics, in particular to the Langlands program in the function field case,” the Breakthrough Prize https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/3/L3838” target=”_blank” rel=” nofollow noopener noreferrer” data-ga-track=” ExternalLink: https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/3/L3838”>website notes. (Watch the short video “Vincent Lafforgue: 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics” Click on photo to start video.

target=”_blank” rel=” nofollow noopener noreferrer” data-ga-track=” ExternalLink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADLbv6nREyM”>here.)

A team of Tufts University-led researchers has developed three-dimensional (3D) human tissue culture models for the central nervous system that mimic structural and functional features of the brain and demonstrate neural activity sustained over a period of many months. With the ability to populate a 3D matrix of silk protein and collagen with cells from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions, the tissue models allow for the exploration of cell interactions, disease progression and response to treatment. The development and characterization of the models are reported today in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

The new 3D brain tissue models overcome a key challenge of previous models –the availability of human source neurons. This is due to the fact that neurological tissues are rarely removed from healthy patients and are usually only available post-mortem from diseased patients. The 3D tissue models are instead populated with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that can be derived from many sources, including patient skin. The iPSCs are generated by turning back the clock on cell development to their embryonic-like precursors. They can then be dialed forward again to any cell type, including neurons.

The 3D brain tissue models were the result of a collaborative effort between engineering and the medical sciences and included researchers from Tufts University School of Engineering, Tufts University School of Medicine, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, and the Jackson Laboratory.

Continue reading “Scientists grow functioning human neural networks in 3D from stem cells” »