Lifeboat Foundation

With new genome analysis tools, scientists have made significant advances in our understanding of modern humans’ origins and ancient migrations.

But trying to find ancient DNA, let alone prove that the ancient DNA is ancestral to a population living today is extremely challenging.

A new study in Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) adds to this understanding by reconstructing artificial genomes with the analyses of the genome of 565 contemporary South Asian individuals to extract ancient signals that recapitulate the long history of human migration and admixture in the region.

Engineers are testing ion propulsion systems for the next generation of aircraft now, writes Paul Willis.

A permanent neural implant that reads brain activity and churns out text could prove to be a valuable medical tool, but it also could provide doctors with an unprecedented 24/7 stream of neural data.

Oxley recognizes that an endless feed of brain activity could be invaluable to medical researchers, but he doesn’t have plans to tap into that yet.

“[The Stentrode is] going to show us information that we hadn’t had before. Whether that helps us understand other things is not what we’re trying to do here,” he said, clarifying that Synchron’s primary goal is to get the new brain-computer interface working so that it can help paralyzed patients. “This is a novel data set, but this raises questions around privacy and security. That’s the patient’s data, and we can’t be mining that.”

Continue reading “This Neural Implant Accesses Your Brain Through the Jugular Vein” »

Why does the observable universe contain virtually no antimatter? Particles of antimatter have the same mass but opposite electrical charge of their matter counterparts. Very small amounts of antimatter can be created in the laboratory. However, hardly any antimatter is observed elsewhere in the universe.

Physicists believe that there were equal amounts of matter and antimatter in the early history of the universe – so how did the antimatter vanish? A Michigan State University researcher is part of a team of researchers that examines these questions in an article recently published in Reviews of Modern Physics.

Jaideep Taggart Singh, MSU assistant professor of physics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, studies atoms and molecules embedded in solids using lasers. Singh has a joint appointment in the MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Continue reading “Time-reversal violation may explain abundance of matter over antimatter, physicist says” »

Engineers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have developed a novel concept for rapid data transfer via optical fibre cables. In current systems, a laser transmits light signals through the cables and information is coded in the modulation of light intensity. The new system, a semiconductor spin laser, is based on a modulation of light polarisation instead. Published on 3 April 2019 in the journal Nature, the study demonstrates that spin lasers have the capacity of working at least five times as fast as the best traditional systems, while consuming only a fraction of energy. Unlike other spin-based semiconductor systems, the technology potentially works at room temperature and doesn’t require any external magnetic fields. The Bochum team at the Chair of Photonics and Terahertz Technology implemented the system in collaboration with colleagues from Ulm University and the University at Buffalo.

Rapid data transfer is currently an energy guzzler

Due to physical limitations, data transfer that is based on a modulation of light intensity without utilizing complex modulation formats can only reach frequencies of around 40 to 50 gigahertz. In order to achieve this speed, high electrical currents are necessary. “It’s a bit like a Porsche where fuel consumption dramatically increases if the car is driven fast,” compares Professor Martin Hofmann, one of the engineers from Bochum. “Unless we upgrade the technology soon, data transfer and the Internet are going to consume more energy than we are currently producing on Earth.” Together with Dr. Nils Gerhardt and Ph.D. student Markus Lindemann, Martin Hofmann is therefore researching into alternative technologies.

Continue reading “Spin lasers facilitate rapid data transfer” »

For Karen Uhlenbeck, winner of the Abel Prize for math, a whimsical phenomenon offers a window onto higher dimensions.

Credit Credit Kym Cox/Science Source

Though signs point to bispecifics, like other immunotherapies, eliminating cancer in a small fraction of people, there are hints they could help many more.

Manfred Eigen, who has died aged 91, was a phenomenally versatile German chemist and physicist who founded two major scientific disciplines, first in chemical reaction kinetics and later in the development of a molecular approach to evolutionary biology.

He also co-founded two biotechnology companies – Evotec, now a €3.29 billion concern, and Direvo, which was acquired by Bayer Healthcare for $300 million in 2008.

The memory of older people has been returned to the state of someone in their 20s for the first time by applying electrical stimulation to the brain to reconnect faulty circuits.

Scientists at Boston University in the US have proven it is possible to restore working memory by ‘recoupling’ areas of the brain which have become out-of-sync as people grow older.

Short-term working memory is crucial for everyday life, storing information for around 10 — 15 seconds to allow problem solving, reasoning, planning and decision making, allowing someone, for example, to keep a telephone number in mind while writing it down.

Continue reading “Memory of older people returned to state of someone in their 20s” »