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Sam Harris and Brett Weinstein Twitter feud | Jamie Metzl and Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K78jqx9fx2I
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GUEST BIO:
Jamie Metzl is an author specializing in topics of genetic engineering, biotechnology, and geopolitics.

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Learning and Protecting Itself: How the Brain Adapts

Blocking matrix metalloproteinases MMP2 and MMP9 can have the opposite effect on neuroplasticity depending on whether the brain is healthy or injured.

Summary: Blocking the matrix metalloproteinases MMP2 and MMP9 can have the opposite effect on neuroplasticity depending on whether the brain is healthy or injured.

Source: University of Gottingen

The brain is a remarkably complex and adaptable organ. However, adaptability decreases with age. As new connections between nerve cells in the brain form less easily, the brain’s plasticity decreases.

If there is an injury to the central nervous system, such as after a stroke, the brain needs to compensate by reorganizing itself. To do this, a dense network of molecules between the nerve cells—known as the extracellular matrix—must loosen.

NASA Delays $10 Billion Space Telescope Yet Again. It Could Now Launch On Christmas Day

NASA has again delayed the multi-billion dollar James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), this time citing communications issues.

The space telescope was due to launch on December 22, 2021, from the European Spaceport in Korou, French Guiana.

The space agency is now saying “no earlier than” December 24, 2021.

The launch window closes on January 7, 2022, though opens again on January 12, 2022.

“Webb” was originally conceived in the 1990s and was first expected to launch in 2007. It had been expected to launch in March 2021, which COVID-19 delays put back to October 31 this year, then December 18 after an incident.

Designed and funded by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Webb is around the size of a tennis court and set to be the largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever constructed.

Its ability to detect faint infrared light will be its biggest advantage over the Hubble Space Telescope because seeing in the infrared will enable it to look much farther back in time. It’s hoped that Webb will help solve mysteries in our Solar System, closely study exoplanets and probe the structures and origins of the Universe.

Continue reading “NASA Delays Billion Space Telescope Yet Again. It Could Now Launch On Christmas Day” | >

The Nuts and Bolts of Better Brains: Harnessing the Power of Neuroplasticity

What if your brain at 77 were as plastic as it was at 7? What if you could learn Mandarin with the ease of a toddler or play Rachmaninoff without breaking a sweat? A growing understanding of neuroplasticity suggests these fantasies could one day become reality. Neuroplasticity may also be the key to solving diseases like Alzheimer’s, depression, and autism. In this program, leading neuroscientists discuss their most recent findings and both the tantalizing possibilities and pitfalls for our future cognitive selves.

PARTICIPANTS: alvaro pascual-leone, nim tottenham, carla shatz.

MODERATOR: Guy McKhann.

MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS: https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/programs/nuts-bolts-bet…lasticity/

This program is part of the BIG IDEAS SERIES, made possible with support from the JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION.

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Biotech: Human Modification and Augmentation

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In the future Biotechnology may allows us repair, modify, or augment humans, but how will this be done? What will these technologies look like and should we embrace them?

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Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: Episode’s Audio-only version: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/biotech-human-…gmentation.
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Credits:
Biotech: Human Modification and Augmentation.
Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur.
Episode 289, May 6, 2021

Produced & narrated by isaac arthur.

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DNA Manipulation in Living Subjects

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Genetic Engineering and DNA alteration is an emerging technology with huge ramifications in the future, including potentially altering the DNA of adult humans, not just embryos or plants & animals.

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Credits:
DNA Manipulation in Living Subjects.
Episode 227; Feb 27, 2020

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Isaac Arthur.

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Tech Bro Thinks He’s Close to Cheating Death

A stem cell researcher who founded his startup with the psychedelic-loving German billionaire Christian Angermayer, Peyer believes that aging is a disease that humans can fight with pharmaceuticals. He plans to prove it first by identifying disorders and diseases that mimic aging, such as those that cause loss of muscle mass, and then partner with researchers studying medicines for said diseases.

A bold proposal: that by 2050, a 70-year-old will look and feel like they’re 50.

That’s the gamble that 35-year-old James Peyer is taking with this Cambrian Biopharma “longevity startup,” the Times of London reports.

“Of our 100,000-year-plus history as a species, it’s been for only about 75 years that these diseases of ageing have been the primary predators of humankind,” he told the newspaper. “We are rapidly zeroing in on our biggest predators — diseases of [aging] — and figuring out how to beat them back.”

Ancient Greek drug could cut COVID-19 deaths

An ancient Greek drug derived from the saffron plant could improve the treatment of people with severe COVID-19 and reduce the COVID mortality rate by as much as 50%, according to a report published earlier this month in the European Journal of Internal Medicine by an Israeli researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical School.

The drug, colchicine, dates back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, where it was known for its special healing properties. It is one of a few medicines that survived until modern times. Most recently, it has been used to treat and prevent inflammation caused by gout that can lead to painful arthritis and Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), which is common among Jewish people of North African descent.

Prof. Ami Schattner researched and analyzed all patients treated in controlled trials of this ancient drug for the past 20 years. He found that among its uses and potential uses, colchicine also appears effective in treating COVID-19.

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Making lasers more efficient, versatile and compact

Their inner workings reside in the realm of physics, but lasers make everyday life possible. Talking on a cell phone or googling COVID stats while your apples and oranges are scanned at the checkout counter—lasers at every step.

Lasers emit at specific wavelengths. At one wavelength, laser beams etch patterns on computer chips that define their circuitry. At telecom wavelengths, lasers fire the enormous volumes of data through optical fibers that make ours the information age.

In 2017, a new kind of laser invented by electrical engineer Boubacar Kante, Ph.D., was recognized as one of the breakthrough inventions of the year by Physics World. With his Bakar Fellows support, Kante is preparing to fabricate a prototype of the new laser and demonstrate its potential for a range of applications from microsurgery to satellite telemetry.

Israeli co. kicks off COVID oral vaccine trial in South Africa

The first volunteer in a Phase I clinical trial of an oral COVID-19 vaccine developed by an Israeli-American company has been screened and enrolled, according to Oravax Medical, a subsidiary of Oramed Pharmaceuticals.

The trial is taking place in South Africa.

Oramed Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, is based on technology developed by Hadassah-University Medical Center and run by Israeli CEO Nadav Kidron.

Oravax developed a novel oral virus-like particle (VLP) COVID-19 vaccine based on the Oramed’s “POD” oral delivery technology that can be used to orally administer a number of protein-based therapies, which would otherwise be delivered by injection.

Volunteers for Oramed’s medical trial will receive two doses of the oral COVID vaccine three weeks apart.