Lifeboat Foundation

For the first time, researchers from Tel Aviv University have developed a genome-scale technology that makes it possible to reveal the role of genes and traits in plants previously hidden by functional redundancy.

The researchers point out that since the agricultural revolution, man has improved plant varieties for agricultural purposes by creating genetic diversity. But until this recent development, it was only possible to examine the functions of single genes, which make up only 20% of the genome. For the remaining 80% of the genome, made up of genes grouped in families, there was no effective way, on the large scale of the whole genome, to determine their role in the plant.

As a result of this unique development, the team of researchers managed to isolate and identify dozens of new features that had been overlooked until now. The development is expected to revolutionize the way agricultural crops are improved as it can be applied to most crops and agricultural traits, such as increased yield and resistance to drought or pests.

If you’ve ever struggled with insomnia, you’ve likely heard of melatonin. This nutritional supplement has been widely available in drug stores, health food stores and grocery stores for years, and touted as a natural sleep aid. It even comes in doses meant for children.

But what is melatonin? And is it safe for cancer patients to take during treatment?

We checked in with pulmonologist Saadia Faiz, M.D., for answers.

Switching to a diet full of fresh veggies and low in processed foods could do wonders for your brain’s biological age, new research shows.

According to the international team of researchers who ran the study, eating a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, seafood, and whole grains appears to slow the signs of accelerated brain aging typically seen in obesity with as little as 1 percent loss in body weight.

Brain scans taken after 18 months showed the participants’ brain age appearing almost 9 months younger than expected, compared to estimates of their brain’s chronological age.

Basic, or “elementary,” cellular automata like The Game of Life appeal to researchers working in mathematics and computer science theory, but they can have practical applications too. Some of the elementary cellular automata can be used for random number generation, physics simulations, and cryptography. Others are computationally as powerful as conventional computing architectures—at least in principle. In a sense, these task-oriented cellular automata are akin to an ant colony in which the simple actions of individual ants combine to perform larger collective actions, such as digging tunnels, or collecting food and taking it back to the nest. More “advanced” cellular automata, which have more complicated rules (although still based on neighboring cells), can be used for practical computing tasks such as identifying objects in an image.

Marandi explains: “While we are fascinated by the type of complex behaviors that we can simulate with a relatively simple photonic hardware, we are really excited about the potential of more advanced photonic cellular automata for practical computing applications.”

Marandi says cellular automata are well suited to photonic computing for a couple of reasons. Since information processing is happening at an extremely local level (remember in cellular automata, cells interact only with their immediate neighbors), they eliminate the need for much of the hardware that makes photonic computing difficult: the various gates, switches, and devices that are otherwise required for moving and storing light-based information. And the high-bandwidth nature of photonic computing means cellular automata can run incredibly fast. In traditional computing, cellular automata might be designed in a computer language, which is built upon another layer of “machine” language below that, which itself sits atop the binary zeroes and ones that make up digital information.

In a breakthrough study led by Columbia researchers and involving a global team of aging experts, a discovery reveals that the nutrient taurine, which is naturally produced within our bodies and also found in various foods, has a significant role in driving the aging process in animals.

The ability to produce more electricity per weight compared to traditional silicon solar cells makes them highly suitable for sending into space to harvest the Sun’s energy, according to the researchers.

“High specific power is actually one of the greatest goals of any space-based light harvesting or energy harvesting technology,” said Deep Jariwala from the University of Pennsylvania.

“This is not just important for satellites or space stations, but also if you want real utility-scale solar power in space. The number of [silicon] solar cells you would have to ship up is so large that no space vehicles currently can take those kinds of materials up there in an economically viable way.”

Dr. Moss and his son Ben discuss the most important cancer and general health-related topic of all, SUGAR, and the problems it has caused in their lives as well as for more than 50% of adults in the United States and other industrialized countries. They share their personal experiences and the science that clearly connects sugar to cancer, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.

Program Notes:
For more information on cancer-fighting foods and supplements, please visit our website: https://www.themossreport.com.

Continue reading “Sugar, Metabolism & Cancer — How is metabolic syndrome linked to cancer?” »

Plants modified to grow in the dark could also provide fresh produce in extreme environments on Earth.

A common nutrient found in everyday foods might be the key to a long and healthy life, according to researchers from Columbia University.

The nutrient in question is taurine, a naturally occurring amino acid with a range of essential roles around the body.

Not only does the concentration of this nutrient in our bodies decrease as we age, but supplementation can increase lifespan by up to 12 percent in different species.