Lifeboat Foundation

University of Arizona biomedical engineering professor Philipp Gutruf is first author on the paper Fully implantable, optoelectronic systems for battery-free, multimodal operation in neuroscience research, published in Nature Electronics.

Optogenetics is a biological technique that uses light to turn specific neuron groups in the brain on or off. For example, researchers might use optogenetic stimulation to restore movement in case of paralysis or, in the future, to turn off the areas of the brain or spine that cause pain, eliminating the need for—and the increasing dependence on—opioids and other painkillers.

“We’re making these tools to understand how different parts of the brain work,” Gutruf said. “The advantage with optogenetics is that you have cell specificity: You can target specific groups of neurons and investigate their function and relation in the context of the whole brain.”

Continue reading “Controlling neurons with light—but without wires or batteries” »

Innovating in the technology of “adversarial” neural networks, Nvidia researchers create some amazing fake headshots and also get a better glimpse of the inner workings of AI’s “black box” functions.

NASA’s DART mission is on track to launch in June 2021 and collide with an asteroid called Didymos in 2022.

Dear friends of healthy longevity, yet another year has gone by. Hold back the melancholy though, because in this day and age a passing year can be looked at as a year fewer to wait before rejuvenation biotechnologies are available, rather than a year taken from your healthy lifespan. Busy as we are with all the errands of daily life, it is easy to forget all that’s happened and the progress we’ve made in the field in one year. So while we wait for 2019, let’s take a look back at what 2018 has brought us.

Chan-Zuckerberg researchers implanted a wireless brain device called the “Wand” in a primate. Their first study was published on New Year’s Eve.

What shape is an electron? The answer, believe it or not, has implications for our understanding of the entire universe, and could reveal whether there are mysterious particles still to be discovered.

A Chinese scientist has claimed to use CRISPR to genetically engineer two babies. An expert explains what this means and the ethical implications.

Washington University in St. Louis announced that its X-Calibur instrument, a telescope that measures the polarization of X-rays arriving from distant neutron stars, black holes and other exotic celestial bodies, launched today from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

By how much you know. Expand your knowledge and you will transform your mind. ~ Dr. Bruce Lipton.