Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Get the latest international news and world events from around the world.

Log in for authorized contributors

New optical method reveals internal dynamics of elusive Wigner crystals

Researchers at the University of Basel and the Technical University of Munich have developed a new method to reveal the collective motion of electrons in one of the most elusive states of matter: the Wigner crystal. Using light, the physicists were able to uncover previously inaccessible properties of this fragile quantum state.

When electrons confined to a two-dimensional plane interact strongly with one another, they can stop moving independently and instead form a periodic lattice resembling the atomic arrangement in an ordinary crystal.

This ordered state, known as a Wigner crystal, has fascinated scientists for decades because its order does not arise from the internal structure of the host material, but from interactions among the electrons themselves.

Sad or afraid? Dogs may be able to read your face

Dogs may be even more attuned to people’s feelings than we think.

Man’s best friend has a knack for knowing what humans are thinking, reading signs as subtle as jangling keys or a dangling leash. But a new brain-imaging study suggests that dogs may even be able to distinguish between certain negative emotions without using clues like our body language, odor or words. Just looking at people’s faces may be enough, scientists report August 10 in iScience.

For 15,000 years, humans and dogs have been changing each other

Dogs have been shaping—and being shaped by—humans for about 15,000 years, evolving from early partners of hunter-gatherers into an astonishing range of specialized companions. Across the globe, they adapted alongside people to wildly different environments and needs, from powerful Arctic sled dogs and agile rainforest hunters to high-altitude dogs with genetic traits for surviving thin air. Some were even bred for wool, while others played important spiritual or ceremonial roles.

Dr. Dominique Darvas | The Bioreactor of Youth

Supporting scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, and institutional partners in advancing biotechnology to reverse aging, extend human healthspan, and improve the human condition. This group is sponsored by 100 Plus Capital. http://100pluscap.com/

Dr. Dominique Darvas | The Bioreactor of Youth.

Abstract: For five thousand years, humanity has sought the fountain of youth. Today, the stem cells we expand in our laboratories also dream of it. Before we were born, each of us held it in our veins for a fleeting moment. HALOS Biosciences is engineering it in a bioreactor.

Company profile: HALOS Biosciences is engineering the world’s first lab-grown human fetal plasma: a synthetic, scalable, and ethical recreation of the most regenerative biochemical environment in human biology as a platform technology for cell culture and regenerative medicine.

Short Bio: Dr. Dominique Darvas, CEO MD PhD with a clinical background in emergency medicine and a first doctoral thesis in emergency blood transfusion protocols. Second specialization in anti-aging and longevity medicine at Université Paris Descartes with a second thesis in mitohormesis. Co-founder of Clinique Cleage Genève (anti-aging and aesthetic clinic in Geneva). Direct clinical experience with blood composition, therapeutic protocols, and regenerative medicine. Active in the longevity biotech community as both fellow and counsellor of the Longevity Biotech Fellowship, resident at Vitalist Bay 2025 and speaker at Synbiobeta 2026.

About The Foresight Institute.

Continue reading “Dr. Dominique Darvas | The Bioreactor of Youth” | >

Molecular structures provide roadmap for targeted Parkinson’s disease therapeutics

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have uncovered how a key Parkinson’s protein called LRRK2 shifts between inactive and active forms, revealing the structural changes that enable certain mutations to push the protein into an overactive state. Mutations that cause LRRK2 to become abnormally active are among the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease. Even without these mutations, some people with Parkinson’s disease have elevated LRRK2 activity.

Understanding exactly how LRRK2 becomes overactive has become increasingly important because it is one of the leading targets for developing treatments that could slow Parkinson’s disease.

Using electron microscopy and biochemistry, the team captured the structure of LRRK2 in different states, enabling them to elucidate how the protein toggles between active and inactive forms. The findings, published in Cell, point toward a new generation of targeted therapies.

Abstract: Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

3 Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

4Section of Molecular Hematology and Therapy, Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

Simple blood test on a chip could help diagnose lung cancer

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a new method for diagnosing lung cancer: a simple, fast, low-cost blood test that does not require DNA sequencing. The method identifies a chemical fingerprint of cancer cells in the blood by analyzing cell-free DNA originating from those cells. In the study, the test distinguished between lung cancer patients and healthy individuals with a sensitivity of 93.1% and a specificity of 90.3% for patients with stage 2–4 disease.

The study was led by Prof. Yuval Ebenstein of the School of Chemistry at the Faculty of Exact Sciences, the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Zimin Institute at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with researchers from JaxBio Technologies, Bnai Zion Medical Center and Sheba Medical Center. The paper is published in the journal npj Precision Oncology.

/* */