Lifeboat Foundation

Sir Roger Penrose, a name synonymous with genius, has tirelessly pursued the secrets of the universe with the fervour of a true renaissance seer. His intellectual contributions span a breathtaking range, from the intricate beauty of Penrose tilings to the vast expanse of cosmology, and even the enigmatic depths of human consciousness.

Metabolic imaging is a noninvasive method that enables clinicians and scientists to study living cells using laser light, which can help them assess disease progression and treatment responses.

But light scatters when it shines into biological tissue, limiting how deep it can penetrate and hampering the resolution of captured images.

Now, MIT researchers have developed a new technique that more than doubles the usual depth limit of metabolic imaging. Their method also boosts imaging speeds, yielding richer and more detailed images.

Continue reading “Noninvasive imaging method can penetrate deeper into living tissue” »

Apple TV+ is ringing in the New Year by offering an all-access pass to customers all around the world. Enjoy Apple TV+ for free the first weekend of 2025 (January 3 through January 5), Apple TV+ will be free on any device where Apple TV+ is available. All you need is an Apple ID to see what all the buzz is about.

Kick off 2025 by streaming Apple’s acclaimed originals, including buzzy new seasons of “Silo,” “Shrinking” and “Bad Sisters,” the twisty, riveting “Presumed Innocent,” Golden Globe nominees “Slow Horses” and “Disclaimer,” and award-winning hits like “The Morning Show” and “Ted Lasso.” Plus, catch up on global phenomenon “Severance” before its second season debut; get your mind blown by celebrated sci-fi series like “Dark Matter,” “For All Mankind” and “Foundation”; discover movies for the whole family like “Fly Me to the Moon” and “The Family Plan”; and action-packed hit features like “Wolfs” and “The Instigators.”

Decades of research have established that chronic stress—from money worries, job problems, family tensions, or other sources—causes chemical changes in the body. In a new study, researchers have identified biological changes induced by stress that may help explain how it could cause a tumor to spread, or metastasize.

To conduct the study, the researchers used two established methods for modeling stress in mice. One is designed to mimic exposure to constant, low-level, predictable stress. The other simulates intermittent, unpredictable, mild stress.

They used these methods to induce chronic stress in two different mouse models of breast cancer. In both models, when the mice were exposed to stress using either method, they had both larger mammary tumors and more lung metastases than mice not exposed to stress.

Continue reading “Chronic Stress-Induced NETs May Aid Cancer Metastasis” »

Scientists developed a heterojunction-gated field-effect transistor (HGFET) that achieves high sensitivity in short-wave infrared detection.

Trapped light amplified the material’s magnetism 10x, enough to change its visible properties.

Laser-generated pulling forces are over 1,000 times stronger than those driving solar sails.

Surprisingly, the organoids were still healthy when they returned from orbit a month later, but the cells had matured faster compared to identical organoids grown on Earth—they were closer to becoming adult neurons and were beginning to show signs of specialization. The results, which could shed light on potential neurological effects of space travel, were published on October 23, 2024, in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

“The fact that these cells survived in space was a big surprise,” says co-senior author Jeanne Loring, PhD, professor emeritus in the Department of Molecular Medicine and founding director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps Research. “This lays the groundwork for future experiments in space, in which we can include other parts of the brain that are affected by neurodegenerative disease.”

On Earth, the team used stem cells to create organoids consisting of either cortical or dopaminergic neurons, which are the neuronal populations impacted in multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease—diseases that Loring has studied for decades. Some organoids also included microglia, a type of immune cell that is resident within the brain, to examine the impact of microgravity on inflammation.

Continue reading “Effects of microgravity on human iPSC-derived neural organoids on the International Space Station” »

From ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ to superheroes and clones, it’s set to be a busy 2025 on screens both big and small.