Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog – Page 10

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

Log in for authorized contributors

In phase 2 trial, novel therapy significantly reduced triglyceride levels

A phase 2b clinical trial led by Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute researchers shows that a monoclonal antibody therapy called MAR001 can significantly reduce triglyceride levels within 12 weeks for patients with high triglyceride levels. Their results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine and were presented simultaneously at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting.

“Despite advances in lipid-lowering therapy, many patients continue to have elevated triglyceride levels and cardiovascular risk,” says lead author Michelle O’Donoghue, a cardiologist with the Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute and senior investigator in the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group. “Our findings suggest that MAR001 may be able to safely and effectively lower triglycerides.”

Several classes of drugs have been previously shown to lower triglycerides, but MAR001 is novel because it targets ANGPTL4, a protein that naturally inhibits lipoprotein lipase, an enzyme that breaks down triglycerides.

MIT engineered donor immune cells that nearly wiped out lymphoma in mice within three weeks, without being rejected

CAR-NK cells (chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cells) are an increasingly promising strategy in cancer treatment. They belong to a rapidly developing field of personalized immunotherapy.

Optical experiment demonstrates the strong Mpemba effect in a single qubit

Typically, after a physical system is disturbed, it can gradually return toward a state of thermal equilibrium by exchanging heat with its surroundings. Thermal equilibrium is a state in which there is no net transfer of heat between the system and its surroundings.

One may assume that the further a disturbed system is from equilibrium, the longer it will take for it to settle. Under some conditions, however, the opposite occurs, and systems that start farther from equilibrium approach it faster than those that start closer. This counterintuitive phenomenon is known as the Mpemba effect.

In some cases, the Mpemba effect occurs because different components of a system’s initial disturbance fade at different rates, and if a system’s starting state does not contain the slowest-decaying components, it can approach equilibrium faster. This is the main idea behind the so-called strong Mpemba effect.

NASA Announces $1 Million to Students for Moon Base Challenge

On Sunday, NASA announced the opening of its $1 million Moon Base Student Challenge during a MAX POWER event at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. As part of a Golden Age of Science, the competition invites student teams at U.S. high schools and post-secondary schools to contribute designs for the Moon Base.

“We’re looking for students ready to think creatively, work as a team, and take on real problems connected to NASA’s future on the Moon,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “You do not have to wait until graduation to contribute. Curiosity, creativity, and the willingness to tackle hard problems without obvious answers are exactly the qualities we need as we build what comes next.”

NASA is building a Moon Base where astronauts will live, work, and explore at the lunar South Pole region. A permanent human presence on the Moon paves the way for future crewed missions to Mars and requires talent from various industries and backgrounds.

New mRNA therapy reawakens heart muscle cells to repair damage

Scientists have developed a treatment that ‘reawakens’ heart muscle cells so they start to divide and help repair damaged muscle.

In a study in mice, this produced a stronger heartbeat and increased the amount of blood pumped through the heart with each heartbeat by around 10%, compared with mice that received a mock treatment, following a heart attack.

While this is not a full cure, even small improvements to heart function have been linked to lower mortality in patients and a better ability to carry out daily activities.

Finland is pouring 100 million gallons of water into a 66-foot-deep basin to create world’s largest pit heat storage; one charge holds 18,000 megawatt-hours of heat and could supply water to around 20,000 people at a time

Finnish city of Hyvinkaa with about 47,000 residents is filling a former gravel pit with roughly 100 million gallons of tap water.

A hidden limit of space and time could unlock electronics 100,000 times faster

Scientists have discovered a surprising quantum limit that prevents electrons from being tracked with unlimited precision in both space and time. The breakthrough could pave the way for manipulating chemical reactions and developing electronics hundreds of thousands of times faster than today’s technology.