Lifeboat Foundation

Identifying crumbling infrastructure is sometimes as difficult as rectifying it. Yet, this process has been made easier thanks to an innovative new material developed by Tohoku University researchers. Details of the findings were published in the journal Applied Physics Letters on April 25, 2024.

Engineers use the high-fidelity models to monitor operations, plan fixes, and troubleshoot problems.

A team from the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) has produced an increase in gene expression in a food crop by changing its upstream regulatory DNA. While other studies have used CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing to knock out or decrease the expression of genes, new research published in Science Advances is the first unbiased gene-editing approach to increase gene expression and downstream photosynthetic activity.

Join us as we delve into the fascinating and controversial world of bicameral mentality, a hypothesis introduced by Julian Jaynes. In his groundbreaking book, \.

An interesting review paper on the neuroscience of empathy.

Empathy is a characteristic of all mammals that ranges from being sensitive to another’s emotions to adopting their perspective. In this Review, de Waal and Preston discuss current hypotheses concerning how the emotional states of others are understood in a variety of species.

Swiss researchers used state of the art fabrication facilities to miniaturize erbium lasers on to a silicon chip without impacting performance.

Around two million years ago, Earth was a very different place, with our early human ancestors living alongside saber-toothed tigers, mastodons, and enormous rodents. And, depending on where they were, they may have been cold: Earth had fallen into a deep freeze, with multiple ice ages coming and going until about 12,000 years ago.

Scientists theorize that ice ages occur for a number of reasons, including the planet’s tilt and rotation, shifting plate tectonics, volcanic eruptions, and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. But what if drastic changes like these are not only a result of Earth’s environment, but also the sun’s location in the galaxy?

In a new paper published in Nature Astronomy, lead author and astrophysicist Merav Opher—an astronomy professor at Boston University and fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute— found evidence that some two million years ago, the solar system encountered an interstellar cloud so dense that it could have interfered with the sun’s solar wind. Opher and her co-authors believe this shows that the sun’s location in space might shape Earth’s history more than previously considered.

Tourists normally have to pay big money and brave cold climates for a chance to see an aurora, but last weekend many people around the world simply had to look up to see these colorful displays dance across the sky.

Usually banished to the poles of Earth, the auroras strayed as far as Mexico, southern Europe and South Africa on the evening of May 10, delighting skygazers and filling social media with images of exuberant pinks, greens and purples.

But for those charged with protecting Earth from powerful solar storms such as the one that caused the auroras, a threat lurks beneath the stunning colors.

Many people associate aging with a decline in cognitive function, health issues, and reduced activity. Uncovering mental processes that can boost the well-being of the older adults could be highly beneficial, as it could help to devise more effective activities aimed at improving their quality of life.

Researchers at University of Brescia and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart recently carried out a study investigating the contribution of creativity and humor to the well-being of the elderly. Their findings, published in Neuroscience Letters, show that these two distinct human experiences share common psychological and neurobiological processes that promote well-being in older adults.

“Our recent study belongs to a line of research aimed at investigating the cognitive resources which are still available to elderly people and at understanding how such resources can support well-being,” Alessandro Antonietti, co-author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.