Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2018

A major challenge in treating type 1 diabetes is figuring out how to overcome the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells. The body mistakenly targets and destroys these cells leaving the body unable to manage blood sugar levels on its own. Individuals with this disease must be vigilant about checking their blood sugar and administering insulin as needed, which can be an exhausting task.

Current treatment options include injection of insulin, use of continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps, stem cell therapies and implants, partial transplants, and other strategies. These treatments vary in effectiveness from person to person as well as how long they last. In addition, some require patients to continue taking anti-rejection drugs which can be hard on the body.

Continue reading “Gene Therapy Targets Pancreatic Cells in Treating Type 1 Diabetes” »

Effective COVID-19 vaccines arrived in record time. That success story, years in the making, offers lessons that could help prevent future outbreaks, including pandemic influenza.

This article was produced for Sabin Vaccine Institute by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors.

Pear-shaped people, whose weight is generally distributed more evenly, rather than “apple shaped” individuals with fat clustered around their middle and often around internal organs like the liver in the abdominal cavity, are considered less at risk for cardiometabolic problems like heart disease and diabetes, as well as cognitive decline, says Stranahan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

Summary: Adipocytes, or beige fat cells, are indispensable to the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of subcutaneous fat, researchers say.

Source: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Continue reading “Beige Fat ‘Indispensable’ in Protecting the Brain From Dementia” »

When the resulting paste is applied to a wet surface such as blood-covered tissue, the oil repels the blood and other substances that may be present, allowing the adhesive microparticles to crosslink and form a tight seal over the wound. Within 15 to 30 seconds of applying the glue, with gentle pressure applied, the glue sets and bleeding stops, the researchers showed in tests in rats.

A new adhesive that mimics the sticky substance barnacles use to cling to rocks may offer a better way to treat traumatic injuries.

Inspired by the sticky substance that barnacles use to cling to rocks, MIT

Continue reading “Bio-Inspired, Blood-Repelling Tissue Glue Can Seal Wounds Quickly and Stop Bleeding” »

The Astronomy, Technology, and Space Science News Podcast.
SpaceTime Series 24 Episode 91
*Astronomers zero in on source of the impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs.
A new study claims the impactor believed to have wiped out and 75 percent of all life on Earth 66 million years ago including all the non-avian dinosaurs — likely came from the outer half of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
*Producing matter out of pure energy.
Scientists have directly converted pure light energy into matter in a single process for the first time.
The findings reported in the journal Physical Review Letters involved the creation of Electrons and their antimatter counter parts positrons — by colliding quantum packets of photons – light particles.
*Discovery of a galactic stream of galaxy clusters.
Astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen galaxy cluster with a black hole at its centre, travelling at high speed along an intergalactic road of matter.
*Solar Orbiter and BepiColombo making space history with double flyby of Venus.
As we go to air tonight the European Space Agency is making space history with two of its space craft6 undertaking almost simultaneous flybys of the planet Venus.
*The Science Report.
New US congressional report says COVID-19 leaked out of Chinese Government Wuhan Lab.
Wearing masks and social distancing even when vaccinated key to combat new COVID strains.
Rising sea levels may mean fewer eruptions from volcanic islands.
How slowing of the planet’s rotation could have paved the way for life on Earth.
Skeptic’s guide to low vaccination and low IQ.
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Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a platform which can quickly identify common mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that allow it to escape antibodies and infect cells.

Published today in Cell Reports, the research marks a major step toward successfully developing a universal vaccine for not only COVID-19, but also potentially for influenza, HIV and other deadly global viruses.

“We’ve developed a predictive tool that can tell you ahead of time which antibodies are going to be effective against circulating strains of virus,” said lead author Timothy Whitehead, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. “But the implications for this technology are more profound: If you can predict what the variants will be in a given season, you could get vaccinated to match the sequence that will occur and short-circuit this seasonal variation.”

Continue reading “Mutation-mapping tool could yield stronger COVID boosters, universal vaccines” »

Learn More.

World Economic Forum.

Continue reading “Here’s what astronauts can teach us about coping with isolation” »

😀

You know, for science.

The system being tested should spot the disease long before symptoms or obvious brain signs develop.