Lifeboat Foundation

Mushroom buildings, jurassic park and terraforming.

Did you ever hear about synthetic biology? No? Imagine that we could alter and produce DNA from scratch just like an engineer. Doesn’t it sound like one of the greatest interdisciplinary achievements in recent history?

Think about it, a bio-technologist is doing more or less the work of a programmer but instead of using a computer language he’s doing it by arranging molecules embedded in every living cell. The outcome, if ever mastered, could reshape the world around us dramatically.

Continue reading “How The Power Of Synthetic Biology could reshape the world” »

A look at Rapamycin the life extending drug with some serious drawbacks.

If any drug has performed consistently and unequivocally well in anti-aging trials, it’s rapamycin. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein’s Dog Aging Project is among the most recent trials investigating its longevity-promoting potential in mammals, but it’s also been the subject of numerous trials in mice, worms, flies and yeast. And although it acts through a mechanism which has been most closely associated cancer prevention, this drug appears to stave off all maladies related to aging.

Even more encouraging are the indications that it could be beneficial well into old age. Trials done in the National Aging Institute’s ITP, a testing protocol that collects its data from three independent labs, found that when mice started rapamycin treatment at 600 days old (roughly 60 in human years), they lived an average of 11% longer than control counterparts. Longevity interventions that hold up well even in late-life are few and far between, and even the traditionally successful method of caloric restriction has limited utility when begun late.

Continue reading “Rapamycin: An impressive geroprotector with a few fatal flaws” »

Advanced capabilities in electrical recording are essential for the treatment of heart-rhythm diseases. The most advanced technologies use flexible integrated electronics; however, the penetration of biological fluids into the underlying electronics and any ensuing electrochemical reactions pose significant safety risks. Here, we show that an ultrathin, leakage-free, biocompatible dielectric layer can completely seal an underlying array of flexible electronics while allowing for electrophysiological measurements through capacitive coupling between tissue and the electronics, without the need for direct metal contact. The resulting current-leakage levels and operational lifetimes are, respectively, four orders of magnitude smaller and between two and three orders of magnitude longer than those of other flexible-electronics technologies. Systematic electro­physiological studies with normal, paced and arrhythmic conditions in Langendorff hearts highlight the capabilities of the capacitive-coupling approach. These advances provide realistic pathways towards the broad applicability of biocompatible, flexible electronic implants.

A review of senescent cell removal therapies.

Aging at the cellular level is called “cell senescence”, and it contributes profoundly to whole-body aging. The most promising near-term prospects for a leap in human life expectancy come from drugs that eliminate senescent cells. Programs in universities and pharmaceutical labs around the world are racing to develop “senolytic” drugs, defined as agents that can kill senescent cells with minimal harm to normal cells.

Apoptosis is cell suicide, and (from the perspective of the full organism) it’s the best thing that can happen to senescent cells. The authors of this newest Dutch study ask how it is that senescent cells escape apoptosis.

Continue reading “Senolytics against Aging: Snapshot of a Fast-Moving Field” »

A future bar fad?

Science has pulled through with the goods once again. Nope, no word yet on an unlimited clean energy source or a phone battery that lasts more than a day. But hold tight, they have created an indoor cloud that produces raindrops of real tequila.

The tequila cloud is part of an installation at Urban Spree art gallery in Berlin, created by the ad agency LAPIZ on behalf of the Mexico Tourism Board. The idea is that the weather sucks in Germany during March, so why not head over to Mexico for a holiday? Sounds good to us.

Continue reading “This Cloud Actually Rains Drops Of Tequila” »

The House of Representatives approved a measure rolling back Obama-era FCC regulations about internet privacy. Here are five things you now need to know.

The a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) rocket named after Austrian-Romanian medieval rocket pioneer Conrad Haas (1509−1579), can launch 100 kg (220lbs) of payload to low earth orbit. The rocket has one stage that is fueled by hydrogen peroxide and kerosene. ARCA Space Corporation secured preliminary partnerships with NASA’s Kennedy, Ames, Wallops, Marshall, Stennis and Johnson Space Centers aiming to increase the flight readiness of the vehicle that is scheduled for the first flight in 2018 from Wallops Flight Facility. ARCA has also started the FAA licensing process and is currently seeking to secure a partnership with an US defense agency. The SSTO launcher configuration, using the Executor Aerospike engine, is designed to deliver the following results:

Scientists have discovered a new mechanism involved in the creation of paired light particles, which could have significant impact on the study of quantum physics.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have shown that when photons — the fundamental particles of light — are created in pairs, they can emerge from different, rather than the same, location.

The ground-breaking research could have significant implications for quantum physics, the theoretical basis of modern physics. Until now, the general assumption was that such photon pairs necessarily originate from single points in space.

Fighting Cancer, Boosting Fertility: The Promise of the First Female Reproductive System on a Chip | Draper, Northwestern University and University of Illinois create miniature, personalized reproductive system that reinvents drug testing and discovery for women.

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