Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a portable, self-powered ultraviolet-C device called the Tribo-sanitizer that can inactivate two of the bacteria responsible for many foodborne illnesses and deaths.

The Tribo-sanitizer’s UVC lamp is powered using the triboelectric effect —electricity that is generated when two dissimilar materials come into contact. In tests, the Tribo-sanitizer successfully inactivated two potentially deadly foodborne bacteria, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes, mainly by damaging their DNA, according to findings published in the journal Nano Energy.

The bacteria selected as testing targets are two of the most common causes of serious foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S. Escherichia coli produces toxins that can cause severe abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, and kidney failure, and Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, which has the highest rates of hospitalization and mortality of any foodborne illness.

The material developed by researchers in Panama uses a mixture of newspaper, rice husk, borax, and glue.

Bilanol/iStock.

The construction industry ranks as the second-largest consumer of plastic globally, contributing to over a third of greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy usage worldwide. The manufacturing procedures involved in producing construction materials have detrimental effects on air, land, and water quality.

Continue reading “Scientists turn rise husk, recycled newspaper into thermal insulation” »

Cats already have 9 lives, but what if we could give them 18? Longevity research isn’t just benefiting humans: I looked into some supplements and products that may help you extend your cat’s lifespan, or at least their healthspan.

If you proudly share a house or apartment with one or more cats, chances are you want your precious pet to live a long and healthy life. In addition to getting the basics of diet, exercise, and safety right (basically, do the opposite of the cartoon Garfield), there are many cat longevity products out there that aim to increase your cat’s lifespan.

We’ve taken the time to explore some of them, and this comprehensive list of the top nine cat longevity products is a resource you can use to discover options that may keep that furry feline of yours not only healthy but also happy, energetic, and curious for many years to come.

Continue reading “Top 9 Cat Longevity Products for 2024” »

Could a fecal transplant pill be the antidepressants of the future?

Depression is real, and it is complex. Most conditions that affect our brain chemistry are going to be complex, and there are no easy, simple answers. We can’t cure depression by just exercising more, eating better, or taking a short vacation to recharge (although there is some evidence that getting more money, especially to lift you out of poverty, helps relieve depressive symptoms).

PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) — France raised the risk level of bird flu to ‘high’ from ‘moderate’ on Tuesday after new cases of the disease were detected, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors to stem the spread of the highly contagious virus.

The decision by the agriculture ministry was published in the Official Journal on Tuesday.

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions birds worldwide in recent years.

I have to start eating that. Wasabi, a great memory booster.

A researcher behind a study of wasabi’s effect on cognition says he knew the fiery condiment had health benefits, but “the dramatic change” in memory was a surprise.

The ‘not a book club book club’ podcast on PKD, his books, and influence.

Remain calm, smoke your sogum, and pay no attention to all those old-born repopulating our world. Unfortunately for Sebastian Hermes and his crew of resuscitation technicians, it’s not that easy after discovering the slowly resurrecting corpse of a major religious leader. Join the DickHeads and writer/musician Jayaprakash Satyamurthy as they discuss PKD’s 21st published novel, Counter-Clock World. Plus: Food as a 4-letter word. The history of the scifi scene in Bangalore. And how to not kink shame sogum smokers.

Continue reading “DickHeads Podcast #31 — Counter-Clock World — with Jayaprakash Satyamurthy” »

CRISPR—Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats—is the microbial world’s answer to adaptive immunity. Bacteria don’t generate antibodies when they are invaded by a pathogen and then hold those antibodies in abeyance in case they encounter that same pathogen again, the way we do. Instead, they incorporate some of the pathogen’s DNA into their own genome and link it to an enzyme that can use it to recognize that pathogenic DNA sequence and cut it to pieces if the pathogen ever turns up again.

The enzyme that does the cutting is called Cas, for CRISPR associated. Although the CRISPR-Cas system evolved as a bacterial defense mechanism, it has been harnessed and adapted by researchers as a powerful tool for genetic manipulation in laboratory studies. It also has demonstrated agricultural uses, and the first CRISPR-based therapy was just approved in the UK to treat sickle-cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia.

Now, researchers have developed a new way to search genomes for CRISPR-Cas-like systems. And they’ve found that we may have a lot of additional tools to work with.

Now you can sit back and relax in your easy chair as your garden is weeded.

Ekobot.

As anyone who has tended to a garden knows, weeding is time-consuming and energy-draining. Scale it up to a farm, and it becomes a logistical nightmare. Traditional herbicides, though efficient, pose potential threats to people, animals, and the environment.

Continue reading “This brilliant robot uses AI to make your garden weed free” »