Lifeboat Foundation

About eight years ago, as the controversy about research involving human embryonic stem cells was winding down and Barack Obama was about to take office, I had one of my regular lunches with a respected conservative policy expert. We had come to be friends who respectfully disagreed about embryonic stem cell research and other bioethics issues.

That day I told him that there were still bigger issues brewing that involved human reproductive materials. For example, the opponents of research that involved destroying human embryos had celebrated a new technology developed in Japan that turned regular adult cells into something resembling potent embryonic cells. What many failed to notice is that that same technology could be used to turn adult cells into human egg cells. Thus in theory two men could produce a baby with the second man’s sperm and without a woman to provide an egg.

“Oh,” my friend said when I pointed this out to him, “I would definitely support federal legislation to prevent that.” I was struck at his vehemence, but not surprised.

Continue reading “The Coming Of The Motherless Child” »

It would be the ultimate user interface: a device the size of two stacked nickels that allows your thoughts to control computers. The only catch is it’ll have to be implanted in your brain.

The idea of a genetic mutation spreading rapidly through a population isn’t as far-fetched a possibility as it once was.

Crystals are defined by their repeating, symmetrical patterns and long-range order. Unlike amorphous materials, in which atoms are randomly packed together, the atoms in a crystal are arranged in a predictable way. Quasicrystals are an exotic exception to this rule. First discovered in 1982, their atoms pack together in an orderly fashion, but in a mosaic-like pattern that doesn’t repeat and can’t be predicted from a small sample.

Being able to map out the position of individual atoms within a quasicrystal is a prerequisite for achieving a complete understanding of their structure and aids in designing them for specific applications, but conventional microscopy techniques don’t have the resolution to accomplish such a task.

In an effort to address this challenge, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan have engineered a quasicrystal that is formed by self-assembling nanoparticles, which are an order of magnitude larger than the atoms that comprise traditional quasicrystals. Their larger size enabled the team to use a suite of microscopy and simulation techniques to deduce, for the first time, the full three-dimensional configuration of a spontaneously formed quasicrystal.

The future of travel is here: Watch a Hyperloop pod designed by students LEVITATE for the first time…

A team of more than 60 students from the University of Cincinnati came up with the prototype as part of Tesla boss Elon Musk’s Hyperloop design competition.

Continue reading “Watch a student-designed Hyperloop pod LEVITATE for the first time” »

Tissue engineering makes further progress for repairing damaged joints.

Writing in The Lancet, Swiss doctors report that cartilage cells harvested from patients’ own noses have been used to successfully produce cartilage transplants for the treatment of the knees of 10 adults (aged 18–55 years) whose cartilage was damaged by injury. Two years after reconstruction, most recipients reported improvements in pain, knee function, and quality of life, as well as developing repair tissue that is similar in composition to native cartilage.

Despite this promising start, however, the effectiveness of the procedure needs to be rigorously assessed in larger randomised trials compared to conventional treatments and with longer follow up before any firm conclusions can be drawn about its use in routine clinical practice, say the authors.

Continue reading “The Lancet: Swiss doctors report success of using cells from the nose to repair damaged knee joints 2 years post operation” »

NASA is funding the development of engineered bugs that eat and excrete metal.

On-board processing will give every digital eye a very powerful brain.

Microcomputers are great for learning about code and hardware. The VoCore2 Mini is the smallest ever, packing full Linux functionality and wireless connectivity into a coin-sized device. New Atlas Deals has it for just $42.99.

This impressive little computer is capable of running programs in C, Java, Ruby, JavaScript, and many other languages. This means you can code the VoCore2 to expand its functionality, turning it into a VPN gateway, airplay music station, and much more.

You can also augment the VoCore2 with hardware components for further tinkering fun. Add a USB webcam to turn it into a home security camera, attach a microphone to issue voice commands to Siri or Echo, and so on. Your projects are limited only by your imagination.