Lifeboat Foundation

As more kids go down the ‘deep, dark tunnel’ of long Covid, doctors still can’t predict who is at risk.

“She was a completely healthy, active kid and this just totally changed her life,” her mother, Sara Dardis, said. “So obviously, Covid is real and it’s real for kids. It needs to be taken seriously.”

Kate’s story makes clear that long Covid is not an adults-only phenomenon. Numbers are hard to come by, but more children and adolescents are experiencing chronic symptoms after Covid even as the pandemic ebbs in the U.S., say doctors at the few clinics devoted to caring for them. Although the disease has played out in ways that differ between adults and children, long Covid is posing the same mystery in kids as in adults.

Continue reading “As long Covid affects more kids, doctors cant predict who is at risk” »

The Hong Kong team behind celebrity humanoid robot Sophia is launching a new prototype, Grace, targeted at the healthcare market and designed to interact with the elderly and those isolated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

#RobotGrace #RobotSophia #HumanoidRobot.

Continue reading “Meet Grace, the healthcare robot COVID-19 created | Celebrity Humanoid Robot Sophia | Robot Nurse” »

Immortal gut biome o.o

Our genetic material is stored in our cells in a specific way to make the meter-long DNA molecule fit into the tiny cell nucleus of each body cell. An international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging, the CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Aging Research at the University of Cologne, the University College London and the University of Michigan have now been able to show that rapamycin, a well-known anti-aging candidate, targets gut cells specifically to alter the way of DNA storage inside these cells, and thereby promotes gut health and longevity. This effect has been observed in flies and mice. The researchers believe this finding will open up new possibilities for targeted therapeutic interventions against aging.

Our genetic material lies in the form of DNA in every cell nucleus of our body cells. In humans, this DNA molecule is two meters long—yet it fits into the cell nucleus, which is only a few micrometers in size. This is possible because the DNA is precisely stored. To do this, it is wound several times around certain proteins known as histones. How tightly the DNA is wound around the histones also determines which genes can be read from our genome. In many species, the amount of histones changes with age. Until now, however, it has been unclear whether changes in cellular histone levels could be utilized to improve the aging process in living organisms.

Continue reading “Rapamycin changes the way our DNA is stored” »

A detailed concept for a lunar habitat, created by one of the world’s leading architectural firms with ESA technical support, is currently on show at the Biennale in Venice. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, originator of many of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, worked with ESA on a semi-inflatable habitat design which could be part of a long-term vision for an international Moon settlement.

The resulting design is on show at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. While the theme of the overall exhibition is ‘How will we live together?’, the SOM installation is called ‘Life Beyond Earth’, peering beyond our post-COVID-19 planet to show how human life can be sustained in the hostile space environment.

In a major scientific leap, University of Queensland researchers have created a quantum microscope that can reveal biological structures that would otherwise be impossible to see.

This paves the way for applications in biotechnology, and could extend far beyond this into areas ranging from navigation to medical imaging.

The microscope is powered by the science of quantum entanglement, an effect Einstein described as “spooky interactions at a distance.”

Summary: Higher sugar diets during childhood increase the risk for obesity, cognitive impairments, and attention deficits as adults, a new study reports.

Source: Queensland University of Technology.

Children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired, as adults, according to the results of a new study of mice led by QUT and published by Frontiers in Neuroscience.

Summary: NfL, a single biomarker in the blood, can accurately predict the presence of underlying neurodegenerative disorders, such as FTD and ALS, in people with cognitive problems.

Source: King’s College London.

Levels of a protein called neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the blood can identify those who might have neurodegenerative diseases such as Down’s syndrome dementia, motor neuron disease (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia, when clinical symptoms are not definitive.

Circa 2017 could be used on smartphones to scan the body for illnesses.

Medical techniques for looking inside our bodies have come a long way, but in the future it looks like doctors may be able to see absolutely everything going on under our skin.

Researchers have invented a new kind of camera that can actually see through structures inside the human body, detecting light sources behind as much as 20 centimetres (7.9 inches) of bodily tissue.

Continue reading “A Completely New Type of Camera Can Actually See Through The Human Body” »

A team at the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California have created something that could turn the tide in how fast vaccines come into existence.

They created an AI framework that can significantly speed-up the analysis of COVID vaccine candidates and also find the best preventative medical therapies. This is at a time when more and more COVID mutations are emerging, bringing existing vaccine efficiencies into question.

Virologists are concerned that the mutations will evolve past the first vaccines. The UK even set up a genomic consortium to look solely at where these mutations are cropping up. In the global picture, while some poorer countries wait for access to the vaccine, they become sitting ducks for highly infectious mutations.