Lifeboat Foundation

UC Berkeley chemists have proved that three carbon structures recently created by scientists in South Korea and Japan are in fact the long-sought schwarzites, which researchers predict will have unique electrical and storage properties like those now being discovered in buckminsterfullerenes (buckyballs or fullerenes for short), nanotubes and graphene.

The new structures were built inside the pores of zeolites, crystalline forms of silicon dioxide – sand – more commonly used as water softeners in laundry detergents and to catalytically crack petroleum into gasoline. Called zeolite-templated carbons (ZTC), the structures were being investigated for possible interesting properties, though the creators were unaware of their identity as schwarzites, which theoretical chemists have worked on for decades.

Continue reading “Schwarzites: Long-sought carbon structure joins graphene, fullerene family” »

The latest creation from Softbank’s Boston Dynamics looks ready for actual work.

E-mail address: saad.khan@utsouthwestern.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3440-9774

Department of internal medicine, UT southwestern medical center, dallas, texas.

Organisms carry genes that result in certain characteristics when the genes are expressed. The possibilities for an organism to change thus reside in the genes. Animals and plants already have the necessary genes, but can turn them on and off as their surroundings change.

Several fish species can change sex as needed. Other species adapt to their surroundings by living long lives — or by living shorter lives and having lots of offspring. The ability of animals and plants to change can sometimes manifest in apparently extreme ways.

The cuckoo wrass is a fish species that lives in groups with one male and several females. If the male dies, one of the females develops into a new male. This can clearly have obvious advantages under certain conditions.

Continue reading “How do species adapt to their surroundings?” »

The new electric-powered drone can chase moving targets and fire at them till they are killed.

Mathematician Steven Strogatz argues that “humans have used calculus to remake the world.”

NUI Galway will lead a new €13 million SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science. The new Centre will train a generation of 100 highly skilled PhD graduates to harness the collective potential of genomics and data science to have transformative scientific, economic and societal impacts.

Announced recently by Minister Heather Humphreys TD Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation, and Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD and Science Foundation Ireland, the Centre will be led by NUI Galway and will involve partners from UCD, TCD, RCSI and UCC.

A genome is an organisms complete set of DNA or genetic material and it contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. Genomics is the branch of science that studies genomes to see how they direct the growth and function of cells and organisms and it is a key area of fundamental science with real-world impacts in areas from human health to agriculture and food production. In recent years the field of genomics has undergone a revolution, driven by new technologies that generate data on an enormous scale. In order to make sense of the large and complex datasets arising from analysis of genomes, we require highly trained data scientists, who can turn this data into useful information that can increase scientific understanding and enable us to harness the power of genomics to drive innovation and create real-world solutions.

Continue reading “NUI Galway to Lead €13 Million SFI Centre for Research Training in Genomics Data Science” »

It will be our second conference totally focussed on the science of actual human rejuvenation therapies to repair the damage of aging.

We are happy to begin introducing the speakers, starting with Dr. Jerry Shay.

Dr. Shay is the Vice Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Shay´s work on the relationships of telomeres and telomerase to aging and cancer is well recognized.

Continue reading “Program: 2019 is on the horizon” »