Lifeboat Foundation

This is the SECOND PART of the interview with Harold Katcher in Modern Healthspan YouTube channel.

Dr. Harold Katcher is a professor of Biology at the University of Maryland. He has been a pioneer in the field of cancer research, in the development of modern aspects of gene hunting and sequencing. He carries expertise in bioinformatics, chronobiology, and biotechnology. Dr. Katcher is currently working in the capacity of Chief Technical Officer at Nugenics Research exploring rejuvenation treatments in mammals.
In May 2020 there was a paper published on biorxiv about the rejuvenation of rats by over 50%. We did a review of the paper which you can find linked to above. In this interview series we talk with Dr. Harold Katcher, one of the main authors of the paper about the experiment, the steps to get validation, commercialization and how the results fit into his theories of aging.

Continue reading “Elixir Plasma 3rd Party Verification | Dr Harold Katcher Interivew Series Ep2” »

But the human eye can only see so much, even with the help of a microscope; despite embryologists’ efforts to select the “best” embryo, success rates are still relatively low. “Many decisions are based on gut feeling or personal experience,” said Embryonics founder and CEO Yael Gold-Zamir. “Even if you go to the same IVF center, two experts can give you different opinions on the same embryo.”

This is where Embryonics’ technology comes in. They used 8,789 time-lapse videos of developing embryos to train an algorithm that predicts the likelihood of successful embryo implantation. A little less than half of the embryos from the dataset were graded by embryologists, and implantation data was integrated when it was available (as a binary “successful” or “failed” metric).

The algorithm uses geometric deep learning, a technique that takes a traditional convolutional neural network—which filters input data to create maps of its features, and is most commonly used for image recognition—and applies it to more complex data like 3D objects and graphs. Within days after fertilization, the embryo is still at the blastocyst stage, essentially a microscopic clump of just 200–300 cells; the algorithm uses this deep learning technique to spot and identify patterns in embryo development that human embryologists either wouldn’t see at all, or would require massive collation of data to validate.

Continue reading “How an Israeli Startup Is Using AI to Help People Make Babies” »

Did you know, getting a bit cold from time to time can help you get fitter, live longer, reduce pain and discomfort and help you concentrate and feel great?
Whether it is cold showers, ice baths, swimming in open water or trying out cryotherapy, enduring the cold is becoming increasingly popular as a way to hack your body as an aid to longevity and a good health span.
And for a good reason.
It effects metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure and many biomarkers.
It improves pain tolerance and levels, your mood and energy levels.
It effects mitochondrial biogenesis and brown fat stores, even beiging previously white adipose tissue.
In fact, there are hardly any systems left untouched.
But it does have side effects as well, especially for those who have health issues, but they also have the most to gain.
If you want to get more detail then check out this video where I go into more depth looking at the subject and discuss the studies that have been done to assess the effects.
Have a great day.

In Cold Showers Pros And Cons — And Other Cold Therapies, I will be looking at the good, and the bad, when it comes to embracing cold therapies from cold water swimming and ice baths, through to cold showers and cryotherapy.

Continue reading “Cold Showers Pros And Cons — And Other Cold Therapies. The Science” »

In many ways, our brain and our digestive tract are deeply connected. Feeling nervous may lead to physical pain in the stomach, while hunger signals from the gut make us feel irritable. Recent studies have even suggested that the bacteria living in our gut can influence some neurological diseases.

Some four years after it was originally due to be completed, and over a decade after first being commissioned, Vincent Callebaut’s twisting Tao Zhu Yin Yuan (aka Agora Garden Tower) in Taipei, Taiwan, is finally nearing completion – and it’s looking like the wait has been worth it. The high-rise residential project has an ambitious DNA-inspired form incorporating thousands of plants on its facade and sustainability features including solar power, rainwater collection, and more.

Rising to a height of 93.2 m (305 ft), Tao Zhu Yin Yuan consists of 21 floors (plus four basement levels), and is defined by an unusual twisting design inspired by the DNA double helix. Twenty of the floors twist 4.5 degrees per floor as the building rises, for a total of 90 degrees from bottom to top.

Though it’s not looking quite as green as was suggested in early renders, this is understandable as the 23000 trees, shrubs and plants that are planted throughout the ground floor garden, balconies and terraces, still have some time to grow. SWA is leading landscaping duties and Vincent Callebaut Architectures (VCA) reckons that all those plants will remove significant amounts of CO₂ from the local atmosphere each year.

Beyond AI-powered weapons, the panel’s lengthy report recommended use of AI by intelligence agencies to streamline data gathering and review; $32 billion in annual federal funding for AI research; and new bodies including a digital corps modeled after the army’s Medical Corps and a technology competitiveness council chaired by the U.S. vice president.

The United States should not agree to ban the use or development of autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence (AI) software, a government-appointed panel said in a draft report for Congress.

I realize this will step on a lot of toes, but, its time to accept that the AI will be what solves it.

Targeting aging may extend the average life expectancy more substantially than prevention or treatment of individual diseases.

“In a paper recently published the Journal of Cleaner Production, the researchers detail how they grew wood-like plant tissue from cells extracted from the leaves of a zinnia plant, without soil or sunlight. “The plant cells are similar to stem cells,” says Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, a principal scientist in MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories and co-author of the paper. “They have the potential to be many things.” With the ability to “tune” the plant cells into whatever shape they decide, Ashley Beckwith, mechanical engineering PhD student and the paper’s lead author, says they could use this process to grow more efficient materials. “Trees grow in tall cylindrical poles, and we rarely use tall cylindrical poles in industrial applications,” she says. “So you end up shaving off a bunch of material that you spent 20 years growing and that ends up being a waste product.” Instead, their idea is to grow structures that are more practical, like rectangular boards or eventually an entire table that doesn’t need to be assembled, which would reduce waste and potentially let land currently used for logging instead be preserved as forest.”

Why cut down trees when you can grow wood in the exact shape you need?

The FDA had promised to render a decision on the approval of aducanumab by March 7. The process is now being extended to June 7.