Lifeboat Foundation

Gravity Industries founder Richard Browning has released an interesting video on TikTok showing off a new gun harness for the company’s innovative Daedalus jetpack.

In the video, the pilot, presumably Browning, can be seen aiming a pair of pistols using head-tracking technology and firing them remotely using a trigger. Possibly inspired by the shoulder cannon from the Predator franchise, the shoulder-mounted guns are designed to help protect the pilot during kinetic engagements.

A research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed an analysis service platform called CRISPRimmunity, which was an interactive web server for identifying important molecular events related to CRISPR and regulators of genome editing systems. The study is published in Nucleic Acids Research.

The new CRISPRimmunity platform was designed for integrated analysis and prediction of CRISPR-Cas and anti-CRISPR systems. It includes customized databases with annotations for known anti-CRISPR proteins, anti-CRISPR-associated proteins, class II CRISPR-Cas systems, CRISPR array types, HTH structural domains and mobile genetic elements. These resources allow the study of molecular events in the co-evolution of CRISPR-Cas and anti-CRISPR systems.

To improve prediction accuracy, the researchers used strategies such as homology analysis, association analysis and self-targeting in prophage regions to predict anti-CRISPR proteins. When tested on data from 99 experimentally validated Acrs and 676 non-Acrs, CRISPRimmunity achieved an accuracy of 0.997 for anti-CRISPR protein prediction.

Phase III trial results on a precision radiotherapy technique support a “new gold standard” for treating head and neck cancer patients. The research suggests the new approach can reduce the risk of swallowing problems after radiotherapy, without impacting the success of treatment.

The Dysphagia-Aspiration Related Structures (DARS) trial compared dysphagia-optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy (DO-IMRT) with standard IMRT.

DO-IMRT optimizes IMRT to reduce the risk of swallowing difficulties, known as dysphagia. This common side effect of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer can, in some cases, leave patients needing a permanent feeding tube. DO-IMRT lowers the risk of dysphagia by reducing radiation to the pharyngeal muscles, which support swallowing.

A mystery that has dogged materials science for 200 years has finally been solved. A mineral found in many ancient rock formations had stubbornly resisted the efforts of scientists to grow it in the lab, even though they could recreate the conditions they thought formed it in nature. Now, a team has cracked the problem, figuring out how to speedily grow dolomite crystals for the very first time.

Dolomite is a mineral so important, there’s a whole mountain range named after it. As well as these peaks in the Italian Alps, dolomite is abundant in the White Cliffs of Dover, the hoodoos of Utah, and other rocks dating back more than 100 million years. It actually accounts for almost 30 percent of minerals of its type – carbonates – in the Earth’s crust, but it’s notably absent in rocks that formed more recently.

Continue reading “Crystals Grown With Help From Electron Beam Solve 200-Year-Old Geological Mystery” »

As connectivity continues to expand and the number of devices on a network with it, IoT’s ambition of creating a world of connected things grows. Yet, with pros, comes the cons, and the flip side of this is the growing security challenges that come with it too.

Security has been a perennial concern for IoT since it’s utilisation beyond its use for basic functions like tallying the stock levels of a soda machine. However, for something of such interest to the industry, plans for standardisation remain allusive. Instead, piece meal plans to ensure different elements of security, like zero trust for identity and access management for devices on a network, or network segmentation for containing breaches, are undertaken by different companies according to their needs.

Yet with the advancement of technology, things like quantum computing pose a risk to classic cryptography methods which, among other things, ensures data privacy is secure when being transferred from device to device or even to the Cloud.

The 93%-full waxing gibbous moon and a bright Jupiter will make a close approach in the night sky tonight.

A recent study has raised questions about the impact of chronic caffeine consumption on our brain’s ability to adapt and learn. In a new study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, scientists found that long-term caffeine users may exhibit decreased brain plasticity, a critical factor in the processes of learning and memory, when subjected to a brain stimulation protocol.

Caffeine is a common stimulant found in coffee, tea, soda, and other beverages. It’s known to help with alertness and concentration, but its effects on the brain’s ability to change and adapt over time, a process called plasticity, have been less clear.

Previous studies have shown mixed results when it comes to caffeine’s influence on brain plasticity. Some studies hinted that caffeine might hinder the brain’s ability to learn and adapt, while others suggested potential benefits. The researchers conducted this study to investigate the effects of caffeine on human brain plasticity, specifically focusing on its impact on long-term potentiation (LTP) and its potential interaction with a neuromodulation technique called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

Veterinarians are encouraging dog owners to be cautious about a new mystery respiratory illness affecting dogs in the U.S.

Some of the first reports of the “atypical canine infectious respiratory illness,” which has symptoms similar to kennel cough and respiratory infections, appeared in Oregon in August.

“In August 2023, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) received reports of an atypical canine infectious respiratory illness being seen in dogs in the Portland Metro and Willamette Valley areas over the summer. To date, ODA has received over 200 reports of atypical canine infectious respiratory disease from Oregon veterinarians,” the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association shared in a release about the illness.

Are you ready for a cell phone with a medium-format-sized sensor?

It’s science time. New research tells us how, with the help of metalenses and spaceplates, we don’t need conventional lenses anymore. Furthermore, that will allow manufacturers to develop tiny cameras with bigger sensors. Read the highlights of the research below.

New research has found a solution for reducing the size of cameras, by combining both metalenses and spaceplates. That combination allows a significant reduction of the glass and the length from the camera sensor. The result can be a lens-free camera and a bigger sensor. Furthermore, it’s a whole new approach for how light can be focused, and utilized, that can result in manufacturing facilitation of both cameras and lenses.

Continue reading “The Future of Imaging? Metalenses and Spaceplates Allow Lens-Free Cameras and With Bigger Sensors” »