Lifeboat Foundation

Astronaut John McFall hopes to see an ISS astronaut with a disability fly by 2030 — video.

A European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut, McFall was selected for the program in 2022 based on his experience as a trauma and orthopedic specialist, surgeon and exercise scientist. McFall also has lived experience with a disability as he has used prosthetics regularly since the amputation of his right leg at age 19, following a motorcycle accident. (He even won a bronze medal in the 2008 Paralympics in the 100-meter sprint, class T42.)

A recent study dubbed “Fly!” — in which McFall played a key role — found there would be no major issues to International Space Station missions should an astronaut use a prosthesis on board. There is more work to be done, but the goal is for it all to culminate in flying “someone with a physical disability” to the ISS, McFall told Space.com in an exclusive interview on Aug. 8. “By the end of this decade, hopefully that would have happened.”

Recent research has found that resilient individuals have healthier gut microbiomes and more active brain regions for emotion regulation, highlighting a strong gut-brain connection that supports better stress management and overall mental well-being.

Published in Cell Reports Medicine, the research from the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise, and Metabolism involved 53 healthy adults for up to 12 weeks. Participants followed either a moderate sugar diet (control), a low-sugar diet (less than 5% of calories from sugar), or a ketogenic (keto) low-carbohydrate diet (less than 8% of calories from carbohydrates).

Key findings include:

Increased Cholesterol: The keto diet raised cholesterol levels, particularly in small and medium sized LDL particles. The diet increased apolipoproteinB (apoB), which causes plaque buildup in arteries. In contrast, the low-sugar diet significantly reduced cholesterol in LDL particles.

“My main life work, along with basic science, has been building our Wolfram language computational language for the purpose of having a way to express things computationally that’s useful to both humans and computers,” Wolfram told TechCrunch.

As AI developers and others start to think more deeply about how computers and people intersect, Wolfram says it is becoming much more of a philosophical exercise, involving thinking in the pure sense about the implications this kind of technology may have on humanity. That kind of complex thinking is linked to classical philosophy.

Continue reading “Stephen Wolfram thinks we need philosophers working on big questions around AI” »

Mitochondria in brain cells frequently insert their DNA into the nucleus, potentially impacting lifespan, as those with more insertions were found to die earlier. Stress appears to accelerate this process, suggesting a new way mitochondria influence health beyond energy production.

As direct descendants of ancient bacteria, mitochondria have always been a little alien. Now a study shows that mitochondria are possibly even stranger than we thought.

Mitochondria in our brain cells frequently fling their DNA into the nucleus, the study found, where the DNA becomes integrated into the cells’ chromosomes. And these insertions may be causing harm: Among the study’s nearly 1,200 participants, those with more mitochondrial DNA insertions in their brain cells were more likely to die earlier than those with fewer insertions.

A molecular biology research team at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has become the first to map out how mitochondrial messenger RNA folds in human cells.

The research advances knowledge about the expression of genes in the mitochondria and paves the way for identification of therapeutic targets for mitochondrial neurodegenerative diseases.

“Dysfunctional mitochondria can cause devastating diseases, frequently with childhood-onset, known as mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. Despite advances in identifying genes responsible for these disorders, their pathophysiological mechanisms have been poorly understood,” said Antoni Barrientos, Ph.D., professor of neurology and biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School. “This was partly due to a lack of a full understanding of mitochondrial gene expression. Specifically, nothing was known about how mitochondrial messenger RNA folds and how that could influence its stability and translation in health and disease.”

Governments, medical institutions and other bodies require accurate models on health-related matters in order to better organize their activities.

Next trial will be 10 dogs. And human trials for osteo-arthritis in late 2025.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) — We’ve all heard the phrase 50 is the new 40″ but what if 90 became the new 40? It may sound like science fiction but authors of a new age reversal study on dogs say it could be closer than you think.

One Suncoast rescue organization was granted permission to use the age reversal pill on two of it’s senior dogs struggling with health issues.

Continue reading “ABC7 Exclusive: New study reveals promising results for age reversal pill on dogs” »

The singularity is already here.

Since that pioneering work first appeared, AI has become a household word, most dramatically since OpenAI’s iterations of ChatGPT began rolling out starting on November 30, 2022. Now, from smoke-analyzin g AI aiding firefighters in California, to instant AI translation of most languages, to almost daily AI innovations in health care, this technology is already central to our lives. Last year, private investment in AI was more than $25 billion, according to the Li’s Center at Stanford, an estimate I believe on the conservative side. By next year, annual AI investment will reach some $200 billion, according to Goldman Sachs.

Continue reading “The AI-Driven Universe a Blink of the Eye Away” »