Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers from Southwest University in China have constructed the entire chromosomal-scale genome assembly and complete spidroin gene set of the golden orb-weaving spider, Trichonephila clavata, known for its especially strong, golden-colored webs.

They attest that their work “Provides multidimensional data that significantly expand the knowledge of spider dragline silk generation…” and the researchers plan on using this new “molecular atlas” to better understand how spiders manufacture their silk.

Published in the journal Nature Communications, the paper details the steps the researchers took, from wild spider capture to multiomic analysis, in revealing the interplay of genes within the spider’s major ampullate gland, the gland responsible for producing dragline silk.

A new RMIT-led international collaboration published in February has uncovered, for the first time, a distinct disorder-driven bosonic superconductor-insulator transition.

The discovery outlines a global picture of the giant anomalous Hall effect and reveals its correlation with the unconventional charge density wave in the AV₃Sb₅ kagome metal family, with potential applications in future ultra-low energy electronics.

Superconductors, which can transmit electricity without energy dissipation, hold great promise for the development of future low-energy electronics technologies, and are already applied in diverse fields such as hover trains and high-strength magnets (such as medical MRIs).

Call it naive, call it crazy, but I think we have a real chance to tackle aging in this century. And though it’s not easy — it’s very simple.

If you have seen the banner of this channel — it says it’s all. But in this video I go deeper into my personal story and motivation. This way I hope you can understand why I’m doing what I’m doing.

Continue reading “I Want You To Live to 150… Here’s Why & How” »

What if an AI could interpret your imagination, turning images in your mind’s eye into reality? While that sounds like a detail in a cyberpunk novel, researchers have now accomplished exactly this, according to a recently-published paper.

Researchers found that they could reconstruct high-resolution and highly accurate images from brain activity by using the popular Stable Diffusion image generation model, as outlined in a paper published in December. The authors wrote that unlike previous studies, they didn’t need to train or fine-tune the AI models to create these images.

The researchers—from the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences at Osaka University—said that they first predicted a latent representation, which is a model of the image’s data, from fMRI signals. Then, the model was processed and noise was added to it through the diffusion process. Finally, the researchers decoded text representations from fMRI signals within the higher visual cortex and used them as input to produce a final constructed image.

A team of engineers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has developed a tiny, flexible robotic arm that’s designed to 3D print material directly on the surface of organs inside a living person’s body.

The futuristic device acts just like an endoscope and can snake its way into a specific location inside the patient’s body to deliver layers of special biomaterial to reconstruct tissue, clean up wounds, and even make precise incisions — an amazing jack-of-all-trades they say could revolutionize certain types of surgery.

Influenza B is a type of virus that causes the flu. It is one of three types of influenza viruses, along with influenza A and C. Influenza B typically causes milder symptoms than influenza A, but it can still lead to serious illness and complications in certain populations, such as young children, elderly adults, and people with weakened immune systems.

It’s a revolutionary step forward for soft robotics.

A team of scientists from Edinburgh has engineered smart electronic skin that could pave the way for soft, flexible robotic devices with a sense of touch, according to a press release by the institution published last week.

The technology could aid in breakthroughs in soft robotics introducing a range of applications, such as surgical tools, prosthetics, and devices to explore hazardous environments.

Continue reading “New e-skin could allow robots to sense touch and their surroundings” »

That’s if no ‘significant actions’ are taken.

According to a recent report, if no significant actions are taken, half the world’s population will be obese or overweight by 2035. Globally, 38 percent of the Earth’s population— almost 2.6 billion people —are overweight or obese. If situations do not alter in the future, the rate is expected to rise to 51 percent in just twelve years’ time, as per new reports published by World Obesity Federation.

Furthermore, the obesity rate is particularly rising among children and countries with low-income rates.

Continue reading “By 2035, over 50% of the global population will be overweight or obese” »

Your toilet paper might give you cancer, according to scientists. Experts from the University of Florida warn that your toilet paper could contain toxic “forever chemicals,” also known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs), which have previously been linked to certain cancers and even low sperm count.