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

These two game-changing breakthroughs advance us toward artificial general intelligence

As humans, we rely on all sorts of stimuli to navigate in the world, including our senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Until now, AI devices have been solely reliant on a single sense—visual impressions. Brand-new research from Duke University goes beyond reliance only on visual perception. It’s called WildFusion, combining vision with touch and vibration.

The four-legged robot used by the research team includes microphones and tactile sensors in addition to the standard cameras commonly found in state-of-the-art robots. The WildFusion robot can use sound to assess the quality of a surface (dry leaves, wet sand) as well as pressure and resistance to calibrate its balance and stability. All of this data is gathered and combined or fused, into a single data representation that improves over time with experience. The research team plans enhance the robot’s capabilities by enabling it to gauge things like heat and humidity.

As the types of data used to interact with the environment become richer and more integrated, AI moves inexorably closer to true AGI.

Endothelial cell metabolism in cardiovascular physiology and disease

In this Review, the authors describe the metabolic programmes that control endothelial cell function in the cardiovascular system, discuss the role of endothelial cell metabolism in different cardiovascular diseases, and highlight the therapeutic potential and challenges of targeting endothelial cell metabolism to treat cardiovascular diseases.

Calorie restriction mimetics against aging and inflammation

Geroprotectors, a class of compounds that ameliorate molecular, cellular, or physiological aging-related alterations, have garnered significant attention in the quest to promote healthy aging and extend the human health span. Among these, Calorie Restriction Mimetics (CRMs) have emerged as promising candidates due to their potential to mimic the benefits of calorie restriction, a dietary approach involving reduced calorie intake without malnutrition. Prospective CRMs may include biguanides (metformin and aminoguanidine), which exert effects on the insulin signaling pathway; rapamycin, which interacts with mTOR signaling pathways; and stilbenes (resveratrol), which influences stress signaling pathways and promotes the activation of AMPK, impacting mitochondrial metabolism in addition to the activity of FOXO and sirtuin.

Researchers uncover novel mechanism for regulating ribosome biogenesis during brain development

Ribosomes are tiny molecular machines inside all living cells that build proteins, and ribosome biogenesis is the complex, multi-step process by which they are made. During brain development, neural stem cell proliferation relies on active ribosome biogenesis to meet high protein demand. This process involves the concerted action of numerous ribosomal RNA processing factors and assembly proteins. Studies have shown that precise regulation of ribosome biogenesis is essential for normal brain development and tumor prevention.

Team tackles support structure bottlenecks with dual-wavelength 3D printing

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have developed a novel 3D printing technique that uses light to build complex structures, then cleanly dissolves the support material, expanding possibilities in multi-material additive manufacturing (AM).

In 3D printing, traditional supports often add time, waste and risk to the process, especially when printing intricate parts. But in a new study published in ACS Central Science, an LLNL team—in collaboration with University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) researchers—outlines a “one-pot” printing approach that uses two light wavelengths to simultaneously create permanent structures and temporary supports from a single resin formulation.

The method addresses a longstanding challenge in AM: how to fabricate suspended or overhanging features without cumbersome scaffolding requiring manual removal, which is a key hurdle to the widespread adoption of digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technologies.

Gene therapy delivery device could allow for personalized nanomedicines on-demand

A new gene therapy delivery device could let hospital pharmacies make personalized nanomedicines to order. This democratized approach to precision medicine, as published in Frontiers in Science, could revolutionize how hospitals treat rare diseases, even in low-resource settings.

Rare diseases affect millions worldwide, yet the one-size-fits-all model of drug development leaves patients with few treatment options. Now a European research project called NANOSPRESSO aims to tip the balance in patients’ favor by boosting access to low-cost bespoke gene and RNA therapies.

The prototype NANOSPRESSO device combines two proven technologies— and lipid nanoparticles—into a portable manufacturing unit. Hospital pharmacists could use the unit to prepare sterile, injectable nanomedicines tailored to the specific genetic abnormality causing the patient’s condition, bypassing the need for centralized drug production.

SpaceX launches UK satellite to create semiconductors in low Earth orbit — sub-zero temps and vacuum of space could advance AI data centers and quantum computing

In-space manufacturing is a relatively new field that seeks to utilize the unique characteristics of outer space and/or low-Earth orbit to achieve fabrication methods not possible on Earth. Space Forge’s primary goals are to produce semiconductors for data center, quantum, and military use cases, using “space-derived crystal seeds” to initiate semiconductor growth, utilizing unlimited vacuum and subzero temperatures for manufacturing, and then returning the chips to Earth for packaging.

The ForgeStar-1 satellite will not bring the cargo it manufactures back to Earth at the completion of its mission. Acting more as a proof-of-concept and prototype for a litany of technologies engineered by Space Forge, the satellite will be tasked with running through the successful application of key technologies for in-space manufacturing, and will end its mission with a spectacular fireball.

Space Forge plans to test both the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the satellite’s recovery. First, it will deploy its proprietary Pridwen heat shield and on-orbit controls to steer the satellite, and then test its failsafe mechanism, which involves disintegrating the craft in orbit.